Part 19 (1/2)

”While there are only two ent.i.ties emitting on that particular frequency I found another frequency, corrupted as it may be, a few miles away from their location..” Mir looked more and more confused as he spoke. ”It's a weak signal but there are thousands of them!” Fear gripped him as he suddenly looked weary. ”They don't seem strong enough currently to be a threat but there's something about them I find familiar. I just can't place it.”

Seeing that look on his face tied knots in my stomach, making me highly uneasy. ”Is it something I should be concerned with while hunting down these two?”

He stomped across the office as he threw his hands up irritated. ”I just don't know for sure.” He growled as he turned around with equal amounts of anger and fear mixed across his face. ”If I could only find the memory I could tell you with more a.s.surance but since I can't I ask that you proceed with caution.”

Falling back into my chair I let out a huff as I considered this new wrinkle. ”Do what you can to keep an eye on whatever *they' may be. For now let's focus on dealing with Smith and his mistress.”

According to the readings that Mir compiled Smith was emitting up as a very strong signal implied that he most likely had at least two implants. This meant that he would be blessed with double the abilities of his little creepy buddies. Boy was my day shaping up nicely! We surmised it was Smith who created the firestorm that took the lives of several people during our raid on the compound twenty years ago. He was clever, powerful and nursed a pretty big hatred of all things me! Mir was able to track his movements over the last twelve hours and noticed that he patrolled the perimeter every two hours while Gullveig stayed back in one of the dilapidated administrative buildings. My best bet was to catch him alone on the far side of the park during one of his regular patrols.

About an hour later I gave Gregory a call and gave him the scoop as we quickly finalized the plan. Getting up to grab my gear I quickly remembered that it was mostly burned up or buried in my old office. Over the years I had grown to dislike fire! While it purified an area it was one of the more destructive elements, destroying a part of your soul as it took your home. Guess it was a good thing that I wasn't sure someone like me even had a soul after all the things I'd done in my life.

Grabbing my coat I headed for the stairs taking them two at a time. According to the records Mir provided, we had an armory on the main floor in the restricted sector. Hitting the last step I opened the heavy metal door only to be greeted by Justine who stood there waiting for me.

”You do realize there are stalking laws these days right?” Her smile was breathtaking. h.e.l.l even at my advanced age I can appreciate beauty when I see it. For the record after the first hundred years of celibacy you get over the whole age difference debacle that your mind gets caught up in. Normally I had a rule about dating anyone under thirty five but there are always exceptions.

Giving me a sly wink as she seemed to know what I was thinking she looped her arm in mine as she guided me across the lobby. ”You spent the night in your office didn't you?” It was a rhetorical question as she already knew the answer. ”Look, you can go to the armory in a minute. First you will join me for breakfast, it's the least you could do.”

Okay that's just creepy. How the f.u.c.k did she know where I was headed? Then it hit me and I stopped short causing her to nearly trip. ”Least I could do?”

”Exactly!” She tugged my arm turning me toward the cafeteria. ”I was hired under false pretenses!” Smirking as she pulled me along. ”Besides who wants to hunt bad guys on an empty stomach?”

She had a point and I was hungry. Smith would still be there in an hour, and if not thankfully Mir could track his movements. ”It's a date then?” I aksed She giggled as she blushed crimson. ”Breakfast hardly rates as a date. How about we call this a preliminary date?”

”Seriously?” Stopping to open the door and letting her pa.s.s through before following. ”There are preliminary dates these days? Things have really gotten complicated.”

It was nice to sit for a few minutes and forget about the outside world as we ate our breakfast. She was an interesting woman both inside and out. She was older than I thought but at my age a decade really didn't make that much of a difference in the scheme of things. She served in Afghanistan for two years before leaving the armed forces and returning home to take a job at Charity Hospital and eventually ended up in my employment. Time slowed for me whenever she smiled. While I didn't like to admit it I was captivated by her sense of humor, intelligence and beauty. This was the furthest thing from the right time she could have picked for a preliminary date but when I thought about it when was there ever a good time? I was always on the hunt for something and if it wasn't Gullveig it would be something else.

This was also hardly the time to be hypocritical after the advice I had given Kira about seizing the moment and such. The hour pa.s.sed and our time together was over more quickly than I would have liked but there was work to be done. She a.s.sured me I had pa.s.sed the preliminary qualifications for an actual date and when I got back from the days work we could finalize our plans. It was hardly the time for semantics and use of the word *if' instead of *when', so I excused myself and headed for the armory in a far better frame of mind.

The armory officer was exceedingly helpful as I retrieved six new PX4's, flash bangs, as well as several actual grenades. It didn't take more than fifteen minutes to compile the items but it took a further forty to fill out the paperwork involved. Returning to my office I changed into the body armor I picked up and stowed my gear in a duffle bag. As I was checking the last few items to make sure they were secure I heard the door swing open. I didn't even have to turn around to know it was Nicholas and Kira chomping at the bit to be included in the mission.

They were coming along, but they weren't going to like what I had to say. ”You two can calm down you're both coming.”

”d.a.m.n right we are!” Nicholas grumbled as he marched across the office. ”She killed my mother and I want my pound of flesh.”

Digging in the bag I pulled four pistols out of the side compartment handing two to Nicholas and placing the others to my left for Kira. ”You do know how to use those right?”

Nicholas dropped the clip and cleared the chamber before I got the words out of my mouth. Eyeing the weapon closely he demonstrated his comfort level with the weapon. ”I'm familiar.”

Kira and Nicholas were dressed in similar body armor to my own. Surprisingly Kira picked up her weapons in silence holstering them as she waited for the catch. ”You two will be coordinating with the SOG ensuring no one escapes the park.”

”Like h.e.l.l we will!” Nicholas bellowed.

Kira put a hand on his shoulder as she gently pulled him back. She fondled the handle of her pistol as she made one of her mother's highly disapproving looks. ”So you plan on going in alone against them?”

”Not exactly.”

Nicholas tried to take a step forward but Kira held him in place. ”Let's hear what he has to say.” Giving me a stern look she kept Nicholas in check. ”Who knows, he might actually have a plan.”

They would coordinate their efforts with Gregory and the SOG to secure the area. While they handled the perimeter I would already be inside the park hunting Smith. The goal was to catch Smith at the building nearest the merry-go-round. Hopefully I could catch him by surprise and end the situation quickly without raising Gullveig's suspicions. If I failed in that option they were to enter the park immediately through the main gates to keep her busy till I arrived.

If things went smoothly we could initiate phase two of the plan by using our O.D.I.N. implants to keep in constant communication to coordinate our arrival. Once Smith was down we would proceed to Gullveig location as a unit and terminate her physical form. According to Mir the three of us were incompatible hosts for her but Gregory and his team were not. This was the main reason to keep Gregory and the SOG as far away as possible. The only reason she was able to inhabit her current body was due to the fact she took it within the first few hours of birth before the O.D.I.N system could reject the invasion. With The Staff of Gungnir we would be able to terminate her even in her ethereal form or such was the working theory.

While they had their reservations they agreed that there weren't a lot of other options. Kira and Nicholas headed out to meet Gregory who had been even less receptive of the plan. It was only the fact Gullveig could escape while destroying one or more of his men that he finally agreed. Everything had been set in motion, but something continued to tug at my memory as I headed for the door. Mir seemed to know more that he had divulged to me but there was no time to deal with that now. It was something we discuss later. Closing the door I headed for the stairs once more as the hand of fate weighed heavily on my soul.

Chapter 28.

The day was warm even as the skies above turned charcoal gray as a thunderstorm rolled in off the lake. It wouldn't be long before the sky opened up to cleanse the land of its impurities. Justine slowed the car to a near crawl as I rolled out onto a barren stretch of Paris Road near the rear entrance of the park. Using my s.h.i.+elds to camouflage my arrival I blended into the background as I entered and cut through the park. Mir was taking the continuous communications a little too literal as the three of us shared visual and auditory feed. It didn't take as long as I thought to adjust to the extraneous input but it was still a bit disconcerting to see through their eyes.

What had once been a joyous place to bring children had turned into something much more sinister. A suffocating blanket of dread accompanied the unnatural silence that enveloped the park. Nature, neglect and the elements had taken a toll on the once vibrant theme park which now lay in a creepy, crumbling, hollowed out hulk of what it had once been. The atmosphere here twisted itself into the eerie mirror image of what it once was. The stench of rot and decay permeated the area as if searching for something new to corrupt. The aging behemoth of a roller coaster that once marked the highlight of the park now barely stood as its supports rusted and fell away. I couldn't help but s.h.i.+ver at the sheer perversion as nature and man fought for supremacy. The park refused to give up the ghost as nature had long ago won the battle leaving this dismal reminder of how helpless man was against the awesome power of the elements.

Mir's alert pulled me from my revelry letting me know that Smith was slightly ahead of schedule forcing me to adjust my plan on the fly. Given the fact I couldn't make the original point of interception, *Barb's Ice Cream Shop', I fell back on plan B. This meant that I would need to take my chances of being crushed if the supports for the coaster gave way as I pa.s.sed under the crippled beast to the *Funhouse'.

Given the state of decay and the creepy jester that lay broken and slumped over the opening as it desperately clung to its prized Mardi Gras beads, the place was closer akin to a haunted house. From what I saw there wasn't anything fun left to the entire park let alone the rotting building that had once brought such joy to its visitors. Quietly I made my way through the broken door crouching in the darkness as I waited for Smith to pa.s.s.

Focusing on the feed Mir was streaming in my minds eye I was able to watch his progress through the virtual reality overlaid in real time with the world around me. It was the longest five minutes of my life as Ryker took his time strolling through the devastated theme park with hardly a care in the world. As he approached he slowed, seeming to sense my presence.

”I can feel you...” Smith taunted. ”Come out and play, I've been waiting a long time for this.” He made a show of pulling off his jacket and hanging it on the broken ticket stand just a few feet from where I stood. ”I always wanted to know which of us was better.”

Stepping out of the shadow I s.h.i.+mmered back into reality with my s.h.i.+elds in tact as I closed the distance between us then hammering his jaw with a hard right hook. ”Considering I'm not a pedifile the answer is simple really.”

Even though he rolled with the punch he still hit the ground hard enough to draw blood from several sc.r.a.pes. Pus.h.i.+ng himself to his feet he wiped the blood from his cheek as he gave me an appraising look. ”Cheap shot, on both accounts.” Spitting blood as he gave me a wicked smile. ”I like girls of all ages. h.e.l.l, your daughter is a pretty little thing!”

Now that's a just good way to p.i.s.s me off! In response to his smarta.s.s remark I threw a kick to his midsection doubling him over as I grabbed the back of his head and slamming it into my knee. His nose bloomed crimson as blood ran freely. As he staggered back and fell on his a.s.s I slowly took a step forward.

Wiping his nose he chuckled. ”I hope that's not the best you got to offer.”

He swept his long legs out quickly catching me at the knee as he took my legs out from under me. Landing hard against the pavement I felt him scramble atop me as he pummeled my face and chest with quick heavy blows.

Throwing my weight to one side I pushed him off of me. Getting to my feet first I kicked him hard in the ribs and cracking a couple of them, though unfortunately the propulsion of the kick helped him to his feet. He was stronger and tougher than he looked which meant I was in for a long hard fight.

He went on the offensive as he launched himself at me, catching me in the throat with an elbow, causing my s.h.i.+elds to give slightly under the pressure of the blow. He quickly followed with a knee to the midsection lifting me off the ground as he pushed me away, causing me to skid across the asphalt.

”You're what's she's afraid of?” He advanced on me kicking hard against my midsection. ”Pathetic! Your s.h.i.+elds won't last forever and when their down, I'm going to enjoy making you bleed.”

Rolling to my knees I blocked his next kick using its force to help me up. Wrapping fire around my right fist I slammed it hard against his jaw causing it to blister as the skin burned away.

His amus.e.m.e.nt was suddenly gone as he grimaced in pain. He kicked me hard in the midsection throwing me back a few feet, allowing him room to work. Spreading his fingers on his left hand darkness filled the empty s.p.a.ce until his whole hand was shrouded in an inky residue. Diving to the side as he flung the ichor toward me, it landed on the metal door frame where it became animated. The darkness oozed around the frame, disintegrating everything it touched including several inches of the cinderblock wall before winking out of existence. Quickly making a mental note for future reference, the black, inky, whatever the h.e.l.l you call it, was something I should probably avoid.

From the stunned look on his face I suspected most people were not quick enough to avoid his inky little friend. I got to my feet as he stumbled back a few steps trying to call forth more of the darkness. Luckily it didn't appear he had the ability to repeat the action again so quickly. Closing the gap between us I threw an elbow at his throat. Even though he was obviously taxed from the effort of calling forth the darkness he was able to move to one side causing me to only catch him in the shoulder.

He fell back against the wall of the *funhouse' and his hands suddenly glowed. The blue paint of the wall behind him turned black from the heat of his body. The sudden lack of oxygen burned my lungs as the air superheated around me. Forcing more of my will into my s.h.i.+elds I pulled a knife from its sheath and drove it through his right shoulder and was rewarded as he screamed out in pain.