Книга: Nomad's Galaxy: A Kurtherian Gambit Series

CONTENTS

Dedication

Legal

Image

Timeline

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Author Notes - Craig Martelle

Author Notes - Michael Anderle

Craig Series List

Michael Series List

Social Links

They say behind every great man, is a great woman,

but what if the woman is a Werewolf?

DEDICATION

We can’t write without those who support us

On the home front, we thank you for being there for us

We wouldn’t be able to do this for a living if it weren’t for our readers

We thank you for reading our books

NOMAD’S GALAXY

The Terry Henry Walton Chronicles

Team Includes

BETA / EDITOR BOOK

See Craig’s author notes

JIT Beta Readers - From both of us, our deepest gratitude!

Alex Wilson

Kelly ODonnell

Keith Verret

James Caplan

John Findlay

Kimberly Boyer

Joshua Ahles

Micky Cocker

Mike Pendergrass

Sherry Foster

If we missed anyone, please let us know!

NOMAD’S GALAXY (this book) is a work of fiction.

All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

Cover by Andrew Dobell, ^{www.creativeedgestudios.co.uk}

LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

LMBPN Publishing

PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy

Las Vegas, NV 89109

First US edition, August 2017

Editing by Mia Darien, ^{www.miadarien.com}

Find the high-res version here:

^{http://kurtherianbooks.com/timeline_jeff/}

TIMELINE

World’s Worst Day Ever (WWDE)

WWDE + 20 years – Terry Henry Walton Returns to humanity

Nomad Found

Nomad Redeemed

Nomad Unleashed

WWDE + 23 years – Terry & Char get married in New Boulder

Nomad Supreme

WWDE + 24 years – The move to North Chicago is complete, Kaeden & Kimber join Terry & Char’s family

Nomad’s Fury

WWDE + 25 years – Cordelia is born

Nomad’s Justice

WWDE + 50 years – Terry Henry is taken prisoner

Nomad Avenged

WWDE + 50 years – TH starts his war on the Forsaken

Nomad Mortis

WWDE + 82 years – TH builds the FDG for the final battle

Nomad’s Force

WWDE + 150 years – TH prepares to leave Earth behind

Nomad’s Galaxy

CHAPTER ONE

Jamaica

Terry and Char leaned back on their short lounge chairs and sipped the milk directly from freshly cut coconuts. Terry had hacked them open expertly with a small machete.

It had taken years of practice, but he had it down. Char had figured it out within a week of their move to Jamaica. Having seen that Hawaii was lacking any infrastructure and had reverted to the stone-age, they decided not to move there. Life would have been a constant struggle.

So they chose the Caribbean.

That was over fifty years ago.

The comm device buzzed, surprising Terry. Hardly anyone called anymore. It was usually he or Char who made the call to their family, just like it had been since the phone was invented.

“Cordelia! So nice of you to call,” Terry said sarcastically, until he saw Charumati’s scowl, which straightened him out. “How are you?”

“Have you two had enough sun and fun yet?” Cory asked.

“I’m not sure it’s possible to get too much of either.” Terry winked at his wife. Char smiled back and rolled her finger, wondering what was on Cory’s mind. “Out with it. Why’d you call?”

“I can’t call my parents for no reason at all besides my undying love?”

Terry thought about it for a millisecond. “No. But I’m glad you called, whatever your reason.”

“Sarah Jennifer and Sylvia need training. Our quarterly visits simply are not enough to get them where they want to be. The others miss you, too.” Cory sounded like she was pleading.

Terry waited, letting silence draw the words from his daughter.

“It’s time you came home,” Cory finally said.

“This is home. We’ve lived here longer than anywhere we’ve ever lived before. It only took fifty years, but nobody messes with us when we stroll through Kingston Town.”

“You know what I mean, Dad,” Cory said softly, not a rebuke, but a loving daughter trying to make her point with a recalcitrant parent. “Home to us. Home to the pack. You know that they’ve all come back. They would have been exposed for what they were had they stayed longer, exposed the Unknown World. We can’t have that. And they need their alpha. Please come home.”

Terry looked at Char. She smiled slowly, purple eyes sparkling. Her magnificent body was toned from the daily workouts, and well-tanned from the daily sunning. Her hands hard from the fishing that they did to relax from their days full of relaxation. Her mind sharp as ever from the management of trade coming through the Panama Canal.

For the past forty years, the ships had been coming, intermittently for a long time, but the past ten years had been a breakout. The Jamaican Export Bureau, which Terry and Char had been instrumental in building, managed the exports.

It was more than just raw materials. It was manufactured goods, too. Kingston and all of Jamaica was back on the map and a powerhouse to boot.

Terry and Char stayed because they expected Forsaken to appear, but they never did. Jamaicans worked in Jamaica and they worked for themselves.

Char nodded.

“Okay, sweetheart. Send a pod for us and a second pod that we’ll fill with all the shoes your mother has bought over the years,” Terry said.

“We better tell the bureau,” Char said, standing and putting her hands on her hips. “And I don’t have that many pairs of shoes!”

WWDE + 133

San Francisco

Hangars had been built on Treasure Island to protect the pods from the harsh bay weather. Seven pods were secured inside while the eighth pod landed, carrying its executive cargo.

A large group of people, young and old, waited on the old tarmac. There wasn’t a formation, only a mob anxious to see the wayward travelers return.

Fifty years was a long time to be away. Terry had to do it, for his own health. It had taken a long time to still the fires that burned within. The consuming rage that drove him to the edge and then wore him down.

The blow struck in Paris had driven the surviving Forsaken deep underground. Akio knew that some survived, but those Forsaken had disappeared and hadn’t been heard from since.

Eve was monitoring and everyone else was going about their business. Akio had reached the maximum number of pods that could be built at ten. He’d kept two with him, a primary and a backup, because no matter what else, he remained Bethany Anne’s representative while she was gone. No matter how much the FDG did, Earth was still Akio’s responsibility.

And the FDG was Terry’s, although after the Second Battle of Paris, he and Char had taken a long vacation. They had left San Francisco behind, but they weren’t gone either.

The comm devices had allowed them to stay in touch. Terry knew where everyone was and what they were doing. For fifty years, he’d remained behind the scenes supporting the good people who wore the logo of the unit that he’d created.

He’d personally led the FDG for sixty years, building it up from four men to the global force that it had become. He was proud of it, but for it to evolve, he needed to step back.

Leaving his kids in charge, he hadn’t stepped very far. They brought their own unique perspective to the Force, but they had Terry’s moral compass. What he liked the most was the balance that four people carried. No one or two personalities could overwhelm the others.

When Terry and Char walked off the pod, a blast of cold air shocked them back to their new reality. Their shorts and short-sleeve shirts didn’t provide much warmth in the cool of a San Francisco winter.

Cory smiled and shook her head, removing her jacket to give to her mother. Ramses gave Cordelia his jacket, leaving Terry and Ramses without coats. They tipped their chins to each other proudly. They’d tough it out together.

Sarah Jennifer and Sylvia stood behind their parents, looking like unruly teens. They shuffled their feet, arms crossed and looking down at the ground.

Kae and Marcie were there, wearing all black in the new uniform style that they had designed, purchased, and distributed. They leaned casually, in a way reminiscent of James Dean. Kimber and Auburn stood tall.

Auburn and a few others had taken the trip to Japan for a visit to the pod doc. He was enhanced and looked ten years younger than he did fifty years prior.

Mary Ellen and William waited patiently behind them. They had chosen regular lives and as hard as it was for Kae and Marcie to watch them grow old, the parents respected the children’s decision.

They both smiled peacefully, wrinkles around their eyes from years of squinting in the sunshine. And smiling. The two were the wealthiest people in all San Francisco because of the transloading facilities they had built and ran in Alameda. They expanded the infrastructure.

Kaeden and Marcie’s children had created a whole new world full of opportunity and promise. Neither Mary Ellen nor William had had children of their own, which Terry and Char were sorry to see, but they’d learned to respect all their grandchildren’s decisions, not just the ones they agreed with.

Kailin had gone to Japan with his father to get time in the pod doc. He had gone when he was young, so he perpetually looked like a lad of seventeen. Terry was curious if that had been his intent. He was a happy-go-lucky boy, even though he was over fifty.

Terry and Char hugged their family, one by one, before turning to the pack.

Sue and Timmons, Butch and Skippy, and Shonna and Merrit. The Werewolves had all come home.

Gene, Fu, Anastasia, and Bogdan. The Werebear’s children had made the trip to Japan, too, as had Fu. When her first gray hair appeared, Gene had turned into such a blubbering mess that the rest of the pack intervened to convince Fu that she couldn’t leave Gene alone. What they meant was that they didn’t want to look out for a despondent Werebear. She agreed readily once Aaron and Yanmei explained the process to her in her native Chinese.

Fu had lived decades away from China, but Chinese was her first language. She always translated in her mind, to and from her native tongue.

“The whole gang is here. It looks like the Weretigers have us outnumbered,” Char said before warmly greeting Aaron, Yanmei, and their six children. The Werecubs’ nanocytes learned how to transform the cats into humans when they reached two. According to Aaron, it was all downhill after that.

Char briefly wondered what they were doing in San Francisco. The last she heard, the cubs were scattered around China. They looked like strapping youth, three sons and three daughters.

Joseph, Petricia, and Andrew were there, too, having been recently awakened. Andrew had gone to sleep immediately after the Second Battle of Paris, but Joseph and Petricia had courted and married, as was the custom he’d grown up with in Europe, hundreds of years earlier. They lived, enjoying life as it was meant to be and not as their Forsaken souls might have once dictated.

Terry, Char, and the pack had plenty of time to catch up. The Waltons had come home.

CHAPTER TWO

San Francisco

The San Francisco garrison was only five-hundred-people strong, but the FDG numbered nearly five thousand. The rest were deployed at garrisons and outposts across the globe.

Terry had masterminded the establishment, but Kimber had made it all happen. Like she’d done in Portland, where there were now three hundred warriors and their families.

The ones she’d left there originally had mostly passed away, but their legacy was in the growth of the area. One of the main trading ports with San Francisco was Portland, because of the infrastructure that had been built using FDG manpower.

And womanpower. There had been a food fight of magnanimous proportions when the men of the Force heard about the Portland women. Kimber ended up drawing lots from the mass of volunteers. Out of five hundred warriors, she’d received four hundred and thirty-two volunteers to go to Portland.

She picked fifty, knowing that once they made it there, they wouldn’t be heard from again.

And they weren’t. She had had to send an additional fifty to make sure the post remained staffed. Service wasn’t the issue. It was the distractions, as Kimber thought of them.

Cory understood. She and Ramses spent an entire year helping the group assimilate and working to make the garrison family-friendly. The way that North Chicago had once been.

A warrior’s duties were best served when they could see what they were fighting for. Families. Community.

In the years after the fall, people fought to survive. Even as advanced as San Francisco had become, they didn’t care about the world outside, about an ideal greater than themselves. They only survived, just in a different way.

Terry Henry Walton and the Force de Guerre changed all that.

Marcie, Kim, Kae, Ramses, and six people that Terry had never seen before were waiting in the FDG conference room on Treasure Island.

Marcie called the room to attention when the colonel entered. Terry stopped. It had been a long time.

Maybe too long.

“Colonel,” Terry said to Marcie. The corner of her lip twitched into a small smile. “Majors.”

Marcie had the edge that the others did not. They were professionals, but she had that little bit extra that made her most like Terry Henry Walton. When the question came of who would replace the colonel, even Kimber recommended Marcie.

Marcie could see the bigger world, removing the humans from humanity, while making the world a better place for the people. It was a difficult balancing act.

And she was merciless when it came to enemies. She gave them one chance, before becoming their worst nightmare.

“No better friend. No worst enemy,” Terry said as he started the meeting, looking at Marcie. She held his gaze until he nodded. “You have stayed true to the principles on which the FDG was established. Integrity before all things and dedication to something greater than yourself. You have done well.”

No one smiled. They nodded in appreciation of the compliment, but as Terry Henry had always said, they were just doing their jobs.

It didn’t matter that those jobs would not have existed had they not done them. No one ordered them. It was their calling and they embraced it.

Marcie stood and looked at her family. “Where do we go from here?”

“Good question,” Terry replied. “We tour all the garrisons, all the outposts. We take the pack and we test them. I’d say unannounced inspections, but I don’t want anyone to get hurt, least of all, me.”

Char leaned forward and everyone turned toward the movement. “An announced, unannounced inspection,” she suggested. Terry tipped his chin to encourage her to expound. “You and Marcie show up after having already dropped the rest of us off. We’ll conduct an infiltration effort. All of us, which will be the single greatest attack they will have ever seen. Or probably not seen, since we’ll be standing in the compound before they realize anyone is there.”

Marcie furled her brow and pursed her lips. “Let’s give them a chance. I think you may find them a harder nut to crack than that.”

“The game is afoot!” Terry exclaimed.

“Leave tomorrow?” Char asked.

“We just got here. You don’t want to go shopping?” Terry asked, giving Char a sly look.

“No. Although I do need to replace a number of pairs of shoes that someone made me leave behind.” Char inclined her head giving Terry the hairy eyeball.

He looked behind him and then pointed at his chest. “You’re talking about me? Who can make you do anything you don’t want to do?”

“Ever since you seduced me, you’ve been making that claim,” Char said softly.

“Who climbed in whose bed wearing nothing but panties and breathing hot Werewolf air all over me?”

“Whoa!” Kaeden yelled. “That’s enough of that. You two need to get a room and work out your frustrations.”

“We have a whole house that needs to be broken in, sweetie,” Char replied.

“Make it stop!” Kimber cried, covering her ears. Cory followed suit, slapping her hands over her furry wolf ears.

Terry and Char both laughed, before Terry sat down. Marcie stood and pointed to a map pinned to the wall.

“We haven’t told you this before because we didn’t want you to flip out,” she started, speaking evenly while standing in front of the map. She stepped aside and pointed at the pins stuck into six of the seven continents. “There are hundreds of Weres that we’ve discovered. Weretigers, Werebears, and Werewolves.”

Terry’s jaw dropped. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because we have it handled. You did leave us in charge, remember?” Marcie replied smoothly.

Terry leaned back, crossed his arms, and clenched his jaw. Char leaned forward and studied the pins in the board.

“Before you ask, we’ve made contact with most of them, but not a single one was interested in joining the pack. They all have their own things going on, but nothing detrimental to humanity. Some are on our side, but in an odd way.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Terry asked impatiently.

“You’ll have to get the specifics from Gene, but there is a Werebear in Russia named Boris. He’s running operations in Scandinavia to remove threats to humanity. He has a pretty robust operation with pods, artillery, and everything, it seems.”

“Akio mentioned him before Gene went to Petersburg. When was that? Sixty, seventy years ago? Where has the time gone?” Terry uncrossed his arms and held his palms up as he shrugged.

“Boris’s son Olaf has acquired an alien energy weapon that can shoot pods down,” Marcie continued.

“Tell me that Olaf is friendly.”

“He’s fine. He’s on our side.”

Terry breathed a sigh of relief. “How can we get our hands on that?”

“You need to talk with Gene. Maybe he can introduce you to Olaf, but you need to be careful. Those Weres are not partial to strangers, and I'm sure they won't give up that weapon.” Marcie hesitated, darting looks between Char and Terry. “They have an EI, by the way.”

“Holy crap! It’s like a blend of Akio and us. How did they stay hidden?”

“They are on the other side of the world.” Marcie shrugged.

Terry thought about it for a second. “I’ll buy that. But I see a lot of pins on this side of the world.”

“They’re scattered. Lone wolves, so to speak. Disorganized. They are no threat, but wanted to be left alone. We had to run most of them down just to talk with them.”

“Maybe if I…” Terry started, but Char snapped her fingers.

“You’ve done magnificently,” Char said, cutting TH off. “We trust you’ve done the best that can be done and support whatever decisions you’ve made,” Terry said.

Char raised one eyebrow.

“We told them that we’ll leave them alone unless they start killing people, then we’d be back,” Ramses explained.

“Sounds exactly like what we would have done, doesn’t it, TH?”

Terry smiled. “Yes. Yes, it does, and your mother’s right. You have done magnificently. Thanks for minding the store.”

“Party in the hangar. Tonight,” Cory said, smiling.

“Of course there is,” Terry said and stood, since the short meeting was finished. They knew that the colonel would rather see the developments over the past fifty years than talk about them. They looked forward to introducing him and Char to a whole new world.

Flying in a pod to Portland

“We drop off the pack here—” Marcie pointed to the oversized screen at the front of the pod that everyone could clearly see. “—then Dad and I go to the town, rally the troops, and tell them that the exercise has begun. Give us an hour to make sure that we get the weapons unloaded, then do your thing. Your objective is the government building near city center.”

“A bit away from the original Portland, I see,” Char said, standing and studying the map closely. “Okay. Got it. We’ll see you in the big city.”

Char winked at her husband.

The pack grunted and cat-called. Twenty-four bodies filled the pod. The Werewolves minus Ted, the Weretigers including the grown cubs, the Werebear and his son, three Forsaken, Cory, Ramses, and their two girls, Marcie, Kae, and Kimber. With Terry and Char, it was a packed house. Had Fu and Anastasia wanted to come along, they would have had to sit on someone’s lap.

Someone gasped and started gagging. “GENE!” Marcie yelled, covering her face with her shirt. The Werebear shook his head and pointed at his son, who smiled and shrugged.

Marcie backhanded him across the chest. It made him laugh. The blow would have cracked the sternum of a lesser soul.

Terry leaned to Char as he tucked his mouth under his shirt. “I didn’t miss that.”

The pod jerked and bounced as it stayed barely above the trees on its final approach into a valley to the southwest of the garrison and the city it protected. As soon as the ramp lowered, the pack raced off, leaving Marcie and Terry behind. He manually kept the door open as the pod lifted off and flew slowly in a long arc to the city.

No one needed to know that the exercise had already begun.

***

“Colonel. It’s good to finally meet you,” the middle-aged captain said, firmly shaking Terry’s hand. The captain had not yet been born when Terry was last active with the Force.

“It’s good to be back, but I’m only an advisor. That Colonel Walton is in charge,” Terry said, pointing to Marcie.

The captain had two light gray suns sewn over his left breast pocket. Marcie had four, just like the four on Terry’s new shirt. Lieutenants had one, and majors—like Kim, Kae, and Ramses—had three.

A simple way to portray the officer ranks that the FDG used. The enlisted ranks were similar, but with lines, instead of bars. Corporal had one, sergeant had two, gunnery sergeant had three, and the new rank of sergeant major had four.

Terry approved. This was something else they hadn’t bothered sharing. He would have to not just learn to get used to everything that had changed without his knowledge, but to be good with it.

He said he supported his children.

Did he?

Marcie briefed the captain on the unannounced exercise and gave him thirty minutes to bring his warriors up to speed. The captain was surprised, took a moment to gather himself, and then jogged away to pass the word.

Because everyone loved the word, except when the word changed. They’d been preparing for an inspection and wearing their dress uniforms. They needed to change into full combat gear, do it quickly, and deploy to their duty posts.

The word would not be well received, but it was the captain’s job to make sure it was carried out.

Terry never liked those who were good in garrison, but complained about going to the field. The military existed for the sole purpose of dominating the battlefield.

At the right time, when they were called upon.

Terry Henry Walton was back, and he’d made the call. He expected this same exchange at every garrison around the world. Maybe he would tell them combat gear inspection so they wouldn’t have to change clothes.

Maybe.

He looked to Marcie and she tapped her stylish Japanese watch.

The clock was ticking.

CHAPTER THREE

Char formed the pack and they started running, heading north to the Columbia River. She planned on approaching from the water, not the hills toward which the garrison seemed to be oriented, even though they had observation posts, OPs, scattered around the city. They focused on the wilds.

A real enemy would stand on the deck of a ship and sail into port, walking into the city as if she owned the place.

Which was exactly what Char intended to do. The first thing they needed to find was a boat. She ran hard, forcing the others to keep up. Gene and Bogdan were nimble for their size. Butch and Skippy were perpetually out of shape. The others figured if they stayed ahead of the two lagging Werewolves, they were fine.

Until Char realized that it was dragging the whole group down. She stopped and stalked back to the group that slowed and then cleared the way for her to pass, ostensibly to yell at Butch and Skippy, but she didn’t. She glared at Sue, Timmons, Shonna, and Merrit, shaking her finger at them in turn.

“I don’t have to run faster than the bear. I just have to run faster than you, right?” she snarled. Everyone looked down.

Gene turned his head. “No one run faster than me. No one!” he declared. Char looked at him. Gene rarely got upset, but when he did, buildings shook.

Bogdan stood next to him, bristling. They’d kept up with Char easily and didn’t understand.

Char started to chuckle and shook her head. “Not you, my friend. It’s an old saying. When getting chased by a bear, make sure you’re not the one it catches. You are the fastest of us all, Gene. Don’t doubt that. But these slackers aren’t putting out. They’re jogging.”

Butch and Skippy caught up and immediately doubled over, gasping for air.

“What is with you?” Char demanded of them.

“I’ll be good. Just gimme a sec,” Butch stammered. Skippy couldn’t talk and settled for pointing at his mate and nodding.

Char wasn’t breathing hard. The cooler and less humid air was a comfort for her. She was happy to finally be out of the heat.

“We’re going to be doing a lot of running. You keep up, or we will drag you,” she warned.

She took off running again, and the pack bunched around her. Butch and Skippy quickly fell back.

Char ignored them. Extra training time for you, bitches. It would have been easier to stay in shape, she thought.

When they reached the water, she slowed to a walk and turned away from the city as she sought a boat.

It wasn’t long before they found a small marina with a cabin cruiser big enough to carry them all. It looked oddly out of place hogging an entire dock, while the other boats paled in comparison.

Char approached the first person she saw, a group of children fixing a large fishing net.

“Good morning, my lovelies,” Char said pleasantly. The children looked at the weaponry she carried and then to the mob behind her. Char rolled her eyes and shook her head. She had expected that they’d wait.

They didn’t.

Char looked over her shoulder, her glare freezing the pack in place. She never forgot the pain they went through while training with Akio. The pack needed a refresher. Those who had kept themselves in shape would suffer less.

“Ignore them. They’re following me, but they’re mostly harmless. I would like to borrow the big boat out there. Can you tell me who I should talk with?” Char pleasantly asked the children.

As one, they pointed to a shack a short distance away. Char nodded and turned back to the pack. “Stay here,” she ordered, leaving no doubt in any of their minds regarding their options.

Char smiled at the children as she passed, but they couldn’t see anything as they stopped what they were doing and stared at the strangers.

The last thing Char saw was Cory, Sylvia, and Sarah walking toward the children, talking softly.

The shack seemed ill-suited for one with enough wealth to own and operate the large cabin cruiser. Char checked the time and found out that the exercise had been underway for over an hour. She wasn’t in a hurry. They had until the morning.

Char knocked and put on a winning smile.

A teenaged boy answered the door and looked Char up and down before asking, “Can I help you?”

“We’d like to borrow the big cabin cruiser at the end of the dock. Who do we talk to?”

“That would be me,” he replied, offering nothing else.

Char tried not to reach out and grab him by the throat. She smiled instead. “We’d like to borrow your boat.”

“What are you willing to pay?” the boy asked, looking at Char’s hips and pointing to her pistols.

“These? I’m pretty sure I can’t do that. How about you take us for a ride? We only want dropped off in Portland. Come on, now. Take us up the river and drop us off. We’ll refill your fuel or treat you to dinner, or something like that.”

“Fuel and dinner? I’ve had better offers than that,” the boy countered.

“Not from me, you haven’t. Come on. Time’s wasting.” Char turned and walked away, signaling the pack to head to the boat.

Char walked twenty feet before noting that there weren’t any footsteps behind her. “Well?” she called over her shoulder.

“Coming,” the boy conceded. Char continued toward the dock, stopping to thank the children for their help. Cory was with them, calming them as she was able to do.

The young man stopped and stared at the two young women standing by the children.

“What are you looking at?” Sarah snapped at her fellow teenager.

“Beauty as has never stood on this dock before. Shining like a new sun, forcing the storm clouds away, casting its light like glory itself. I am smitten,” the young man said, bowing.

“Was that English?” Sylvia asked her sister.

“I think it was poetry,” Char said, leaning close to study the young man’s face.

“My mother, rest her soul, said that words and actions are the two things that define us. One creates the perception; the other, reality.”

“You don’t meet many girls, do you?” Sylvia asked.

He shrugged with a half-smile. “No.”

Sarah smiled back. “When you do, you’re going to be just fine.” She turned, grabbed her sister’s arm, and headed for the boat.

The pack strolled down the dock and boarded the cruiser. Char cautioned the mob while they waited for the boy. “Don’t say a word. Just accept his help in taking us up the river to Portland.”

The boy boarded and worked his way to the pilot’s seat. As big as the cabin cruiser was, the pack made for a tight squeeze.

Once the engine roared to life, Char cast off the lines and jumped aboard. She worked her way up front to watch the approach. “Gene. Bogdan. Get down or do something to make yourselves look small,” she ordered, giving the rest a casual once-over. She removed her pistols, watching as the boy eyed them.

Char stuffed them into her backpack, waving at Kim, Kae, Marcie, and Ramses to keep their rifles out of sight. The teenager expertly drove the boat away from the dock and exited the small marina a little more quickly than was prudent, but he was the big fish in the small pond.

“How did you come into the possession of such a fine item as this?” Char asked as she caressed the rail and looked down the clean lines of the cabin cruiser.

“Pops had this boat. Rebuilt it, added some import tech, and babied it after that. Then, he and Mom both got sick and died, left me everything. In his remaining time, he taught me all he knew about the boat. This was his pride and joy. It’s mine now and I want to do him proud.”

“I think you are doing both your parents proud,” Char said, looking at her granddaughters, who were roughly the same age as the young man.

“I miss them,” he said.

Char put a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe you can come with us, show us around. We’re doing a little thing, but hope to get some shopping out of it. I’d like to find a nice beer or two for my husband. And maybe shoes for me.”

“What brings you here?” he asked, looking at all the bodies squeezed onto his boat. He didn’t wait for an answer before yelling, “Down in front!”

Char motioned for everyone to move aside so he could see.

The young man guided the boat toward the docks, away from the larger vessels. He throttled down, and then back to cut the last of the momentum.

The boat was sitting low in the water and moved sluggishly at slow speeds. He’d never driven it with such a load, but managed. Had it been a normal ride, he would have approached the dock more quickly, counting on his young reflexes to keep him from hitting the pilings. With a gentle bump, the boat rocked into the pier. Gene reached out a massive hand and grabbed the nearest piling, holding the boat rock steady for the others to climb out. The young man shut the boat down, looked over the controls, checked the engine compartment, checked the bilge, and double-checked the lines to make sure the boat was properly tied off. He nodded appreciatively.

Char looked at her granddaughters. “Keep him with you and out of the line of fire.” It wasn’t a request.

They were inside the walls and the exercise was underway.

***

“What the hell is this all about?” one private groused to another as they leaned over the short wall and looked at the forest.

“Fuck if I know,” the second man said. They continued to look at nothing.

“When are they coming? This is bullshit. We’ve already missed lunch and dinner is next. This sucks.”

“Didn’t you pack any chow?” the second man asked.

“Nah. That makes the pack too heavy. Check this out.” The first warrior handed his pack over. The only thing in it was a feather pillow. It weighed almost nothing. The first man nodded and smiled.

They heard someone snap their fingers. They both looked behind them in shock.

Colonel Terry Henry Walton rubbed his temples and clenched his jaw. Colonel Marcie Walton had her hand out, motioning for the warrior to hand her the pack. The local captain looked furious.

“The pack,” Marcie said in a low and dangerous tone. The second man looked down as he handed her the first man’s pack. Marcie pulled her fighting knife with her off-hand and stabbed it through the offered pack and pillow within. She spun and launched the pack off her knife and over the wall toward the forest.

“What were you told to bring, Private?” the captain demanded.

“Full pack, combat load, rations for twenty-four hours,” the man replied sheepishly.

“And you refused to comply. Report to the brig,” the captain ordered.

“Wait,” Terry said, freezing everyone on place. “You have a brig?”

“Sometimes they think they’re smarter than the rest of us.” The captain kicked the ground.

Terry turned to face the man. “Who’s ‘they’?” he insisted.

“The troops, ground pounders, the riff-raff. You know, fuckers like these idiots.” The captain stood tall.

“Fuckers like these idiots?” Terry said in disbelief before looking at Marcie. She was enraged, but not at Terry Henry. Marcie couldn’t speak.

“You’re relieved, Captain. Report to the brig and put your dumb ass in there until this exercise is over. Then I’ll deal with you personally. Where’s your goddamned lieutenant?”

The two privates tried to make themselves small and unnoticed. If they could have evaporated, they would have.

The captain looked belligerent for a millisecond, until the cold glare of Terry’s blue eyes almost brought him to his knees. The legend himself stood there and the captain had failed him. He’d failed his colonel.

And Marcie had failed her father by promoting someone who held himself as more important than his people.

She grabbed the captain’s insignia, a metal insignia with two small suns pinned to the man’s pocket.

After the captain walked away to the accompaniment of a funeral dirge playing only in his mind, the two colonels shook their heads.

“I’m so sorry,” Marcie said.

Terry nodded. “That’s why we’re here. Inspect and uphold the standards of the Force. Honor, courage, commitment. You—” Terry pointed to the first man, whose pack was somewhere on the other side of the wall. “What do those words mean?”

The man stuttered and stammered. He couldn’t put intelligible words together. The second man stopped him. “They mean doing what’s right when you think no one is looking. They mean preparing for war, every day, no matter what else is going on. When that day comes, you strap on your pack and helmet, pick up your squeaky clean rifle, and you go. Do your duty because there are people counting on you, not just the ones here.”

“Do you believe that?” Terry asked softly.

“I do. I apologize for my friend here. He’s a good warrior,” the man took the opportunity to say.

“A man who stands in the line of fire to protect his friends. You, get the fuck out there and get your pack. Then get the hell back here before that tactical team catches you!”

The private hopped the low wall and ran toward the forest.

“You. You get a battlefield commission. You’ll take the captain’s place, temporarily. I hope you were paying attention, because you just got real busy.”

The warrior shook his head. “I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”

“Listen up, Captain…” Terry craned his neck to see the name embroidered on the man’s uniform. “Captain Fox. No one’s really ready for increased responsibility. All we can do is take our best shot. You’ll do fine if you stay true to the principles on which the Force de Guerre is founded. They are your guiding light. If you ever have a question, think about what those three words mean—honor, courage, commitment.”

“Yes, sir,” the man said,

“And now if a private out here doesn’t know, it’s your fault. That’s how responsibility works. You are now responsible for it all. Explain it to the private when he gets back and then precede us down the line and explain it to them, too,” Terry instructed.

“Here.” Marcie handed him the captain’s rank. “Enjoy.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Char looked at the mob, just like everyone else was doing who were walking through the area. “Spread out. Don’t look so obvious.” She rolled her eyes as they looked in different directions, but no one left the group.

Char took matters into her own hands. “You three, that way, come back around to the main building from there,” she directed, sending Joseph, Petricia, and Andrew in one direction. She sent everyone in their own direction until she reached Gene and Bogdan. “Stay with my granddaughters. Cory and Ramses, you come with me.”

Sylvia and Sarah shrugged, figuring that they’d lose their escorts in short order while doing some power shopping. “Come along,” Sarah, the older of the two, said.

Gene and Bogdan could both smell food and headed for it as soon as they were out of Char’s sight. The young man joined his fellow teenagers.

Char, Cory, and Ramses walked straight toward the main building that had been designated on the map. Char thought about putting her pistols back on, but decided that she would remain “under cover,” for whatever that meant, since she knew that all the members of the pack stood out no matter where they went.

On their way, they saw a warrior moping along. He looked old, but wore no rank. Char waved him over.

“What gives?” she asked as if he knew she was Major Charumati.

“I really fucked up. I can’t believe how badly I fucked up,” the man lamented. Char looked at Cory as if she wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. The man looked up. “Major Ramses! I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t recognize you.”

“What’s up, Skipper?” Ramses asked.

“Not anymore. Colonel Walton took my rank. I’m on the way to the brig,” he explained.

“You have a brig?” Char interjected.

“That’s the same thing he asked, and he was mad, but not as mad as Colonel Walton. She was shaking. I really fucked up.”

“Yeah, you did. Put yourself in the brig and hurry up!” Char ordered, having no idea what he’d done. “No, wait. Where are they? I need more information about this screw-up. And where are your people? Don’t you have a couple companies up here?”

The man carefully explained the entire layout and orientation of the city’s defenses, including where Terry and Marcie were. Once he finished, Char shooed him away.

Ramses closed his eyes. “Follow me,” Char said as she headed through the door of the main building. Inside, the FDG had a small checkpoint with two guards.

“What are your orders?” Char demanded as she stormed up to them. One was sitting down and one was standing casually.

“Who wants to know?” the standing woman asked. Char punched her in the stomach, ripped her rifle off her arm, and stuffed the barrel in the sitting man’s face. He hadn’t moved, his rifle slung uselessly over the back of the chair.

“I’m Major Charumati and you just failed this operational evaluation. I’m going to rub this one in Colonel Walton’s face. He will never look at Portland the same. You only have yourselves to blame. Now, report to the brig. Join Captain what’s-his-face and stay there until someone comes to collect you.”

The female warrior held out her hand for her rifle. “Oh, no. You go now. Off with you.” Char dismissed her with a wave. “Shall we?”

She, Cory, and Ramses followed the well-worn path up the stairs, because that was where the sign said the important people worked. They followed it up and made their way to the mayor’s office, walking in without knocking.

The receptionist was flustered, but Char only waved and smiled.

“Mister Mayor. You can call me Char and I’m the one that was evaluating the quality of your city’s defenses. Your garrison failed, but you, good sir, have some incredible smelling coffee. I gained quite the taste for it when we lived in Jamaica.” Char stood in front of the man’s desk.

He smiled and shrugged. “How can I begrudge such a beautiful infiltrator? Please,” the mayor said as he led the way to the tray and poured three cups. “I guess I’m at your mercy, so what do we do now?”

“I guess our part of the exercise is over, so how about a tour of your wonderful little city?” Char said happily.

“I would love to show you around,” he said, crooking an arm for her, but she held her cup in both hands and sniffed the aroma of Jamaican coffee in slow, deep breaths.

“In due time,” she suggested.

***

In the darkness, the Were had the advantage. In the darkness, they would come.

Terry replayed it in his mind, believing that Char would execute a night attack. He figured that the first thing she did that morning was find spots to watch the Force warriors establish their perimeter as well as get some sleep.

They’re coming tonight, Terry thought as he looked out and listened intently, counting on the enhanced hearing that his nanocytes gave him. “Any ideas?” Terry asked Marcie.

She shook her head. “Our people are making too much noise. I can’t hear a damn thing!”

“There is that,” Terry conceded.

A runner appeared, a young private. “Colonel Walton.” The private saluted TH, before turning to Marcie and saluting her. “Colonel Walton. The mayor and his guests request the pleasure of your company at a banquet in your honor.”

Terry closed his eyes. “What do his guests look like and is there more than twenty of them?” Terry asked.

“Beautiful women, a couple really big guys, a bunch of others, some teenagers. Yes, sir. More than twenty.”

Terry rubbed his temples again. It had been that kind of day. “I’m never going to live this down.”

Marcie asked the private where the banquet was, thanked him after he told her, and sent him on his way.

Terry started walking in the indicated direction, head held high, walking proudly.

“Colonel?” Marcie asked. He stopped and turned. “Can we let them pack it in or should we leave them out here all night?”

“I think they’ll benefit by remaining on their posts. Who knows? Maybe you and I will be conducting the attack. We’ll be the ones with egg on our faces.”

Marcie sighed heavily and hung her head as she joined Terry Henry.

“Hold your head up. We lost and badly, but we’re still proud to wear the uniform, aren’t we?” He knuckled her chin playfully. “Come on, Marcie. Let’s get it over with.”

She snorted. “It’ll never be over.”

“You got that right,” Terry agreed. “Char and I have been married nearly one hundred and ten years. In all that time, she’s never bested me like this. I think I’m doomed for the next one hundred years. After that, maybe she’ll move on, but I will learn to dread the words, ‘remember that time in Portland?’ I can hear it now.”

“And Kae won’t give me grief?” Marcie smiled as she raised her head and they marched, in step, to the place where the banquet was.

They strolled in the front door and before anyone could say anything, Terry shouted, “I wondered when you guys were going to get here!”

Char laughed as she walked up to her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck. He couldn’t help but smile when he looked into her sparkling purple eyes.

“I took pity on you,” she told him. “And the mayor offered, so here we are.”

“You are obligated to debrief with them all, because they all have a different story to tell.” Char undraped her arms from around his neck, and let him pass to work his way around the room and listen to each of their stories.

Sue, Timmons, Shonna, Merrit, Butch, and Skippy were together and talking. Terry and Marcie interrupted them. “Char says that I have to listen to everybody’s story. Looks like you’re first.”

“You won’t believe it,” Sue started.

Timmons picked up. “There we were, no shit, knee-deep in alligators.”

“Snapping and biting. Whoa! They’ve got laser beams attached to their heads, what are we going to do?” Butch added, fully engrossed in the tale.

“I can’t believe we got out alive!” Skippy added.

“It was so unbelievable, words fail us,” Merrit offered.

“And then we found ourselves here. Like my new shoes?” Shonna asked.

“Thanks for that,” Terry told them, hurrying to the next group. Char waggled her fingers at him from across the room. Marcie followed like a sad puppy.

Kim, Kae, Ramses, and Cory were gathered together. They each had a bottle of Portland’s latest addition to their beer family, a hopped-up stout. They started to speak, but he stopped them and pointed to the beer. Kae pulled a bottle from behind his back and handed it to his dad.

Terry screwed the cap off and took a long drink. He closed his eyes and savored it. Jamaican beer was okay, but it wasn’t what he was holding in his hand. “This is the best beer I’ve had in a hundred and thirty-two years, maybe ever,” he purred. He took one more drink, swirling it across his tongue repeatedly before swallowing. “Pray, continue.”

“You wouldn’t believe. We were knee-deep in the shit, throwing fists like it was our job!” Kae started. Terry rolled his finger for the story to continue.

“The enemies of all mankind surrounded us, pressing in, crushing us,” Kimber declared.

Terry rolled his finger faster.

“So we offered them some beef jerky and that was all she wrote. Asses duly kicked and here we are, a little barbecue and beer. Don’t get no better than this,” Ramses stated.

Cory smiled and shook her head. “They must have been someplace else. I can neither confirm nor deny any of it.”

Terry thanked them and continued to the next group, in the back corner away from the others. Gene tried to stop them as they worked their way past. “Don’t worry, big guy. We’ll be back to take our medicine from you in a little bit.”

Joseph bowed his head slightly as Terry and Marcie approached. Petricia smiled and nodded. Andrew chuckled.

“I hope yours is better than theirs,” Terry said, stabbing a thumb over his shoulder.

“Did theirs have blood?”

Terry looked at Marcie. “Not really,” she said.

“Indeed, then ours will be better,” Joseph stated. Terry stood patiently, waiting for the tall tale to be spun, but no one spoke.

“Well?” Terry looked at Andrew. “Andrew.”

“A waxing moon scarred the blue of the sky, a perpetual hook, there but not there,” the Forsaken said.

“Under its awesome power, we transformed into creatures of the night, clad in black leather. It wouldn’t show blood stains, you see,” Petricia offered.

“I have spent no time with you, but you seem fascinating. Tell me more.” Terry moved to stand facing her. Joseph worked his way closer until the five of them were all wedged together. “Really?”

Joseph laughed and Petricia joined him. “Yes, we went on a mission to kill Forsaken and I found the love of my life.” Terry couldn’t help but look at Andrew.

“I’m still looking,” Andrew said with a single-shoulder shrug. “It took him four hundred years. I know I’ll get lucky quicker than that and then who’s going to be jealous?”

“Jealousy is for those who aren’t comfortable in their own skin,” Joseph said matter-of-factly.

“I’ll second that. You are a wise man, Joseph.”

“It’s simply experience. Lots and lots of experience from lessons learned the hard way,” Joseph said with his hand over his heart.

“I think you still smell like fish!” Terry declared, sniffing closely. Joseph pushed him away.

“Begone, cad!” Joseph waved Terry and Marcie away, then bowed.

“Thank you for sparing us another story.” Terry slapped his old friend Joseph on the shoulder and turned to run face first into the man-mountain known as Gene the Werebear.

“Big fight. We win. Now we eat,” Gene declared. Bogdan nodded and they headed back toward the buffet. Gene tried to stifle a belch, but failed miserably. Char was trying to keep the mayor and the members of the council occupied while Terry worked his way around the room. He singled out Aaron and Yanmei next, hoping that they would be more creative.

“I know you guys aren’t up for lying, so tell me the real story. How did you get into the city?” Terry asked.

“Parachutes made from frogs’ legs,” Aaron said without blinking.

“You used to be my favorite,” Terry replied.

“We are not allowed to share the truth with you,” Yanmei said softly. “So bear with the tale, please.”

Terry nodded for Aaron to continue.

“That’s it. We parachuted in using frogs’ legs.” He turned to Yanmei.

She shook her head vigorously.

“Fine!” Terry exclaimed.

“Dude,” Aaron whispered, leaning close to Terry. “We took a boat, brought us right to the dock and we walked in, just like Forsaken would do.”

Terry’s smile disappeared. He looked to Marcie and she gritted her teeth as she shook her head.

“We’ve spent all these years preparing to a fight a battle that isn’t going to happen. No wonder those two privates were disgruntled. No attackers will ever come from those woods. A bear, maybe, but not an army, not a Forsaken, not even a Were, because they don’t have to. Free trade means anyone can walk right into the city,” Marcie lamented. “All this time. Wasted.”

“Not wasted, but we probably need to reorient their focus and establish new training guidelines,” Terry suggested.

Marcie nodded slowly.

“Come on. Let’s take the rest of our medicine so we can move on with what needs to be done.” Terry shook Aaron’s hand, before continuing on. They found Sylvia and Sarah with a young man, talking animatedly near the buffet. Terry had finished his beer and had been carrying around the empty bottle.

A young woman serving at the buffet took the bottle from him and offered him a plate. He wanted to get something to eat, but he also wanted to find out about the newcomer chatting up his granddaughters.

Terry compromised. He asked Marcie to get him a plate while he focused on the new kid.

“Hi, I’m Terry Henry Walton. Who the fuck are you?”

“Grandpa!” Sarah cried, looking for her mother to come to their rescue. Cory was occupied and didn’t see her daughter’s plea for help.

“I’m Magnus Tolliver,” the young boy replied calmly. “These elegant creatures are of your bloodline? I am appalled.”

“I’m appalled that you’re appalled,” Terry replied, unsure what to make of the well-spoken teenager. He didn’t know why he expected less from the young man, but he had. It was refreshing to be surprised by an educated soul in a world removed from where a person could study for a lifetime. “What’s your claim to fame, Magnus?”

“Claim to fame? I brought them here, and I’m spending the day before going home this evening. I live just a few miles down the river. I can make it in five minutes if I open her up.”

“And that’s how this ugly mob made their way into the city? Ingenious. I have to say that it’s refreshing to meet such a well-spoken young man. It reminds me of Shakespeare.”

Terry looked at the ceiling before narrating. “Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue. But if you mouth it, as many of our players do, I had as lief the town crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, by use all gently, for in the very torrent, tempest, and (as I may say) whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness. O, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows and noise. I would have such a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Termagant. It out-herods Herod. Pray you avoid it. Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor. Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature. For anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature...”

“Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 2,” the boy said.

“I like you,” TH said before turning to Sarah. “You can keep him.”

Terry took the plate from Marcie as he walked away before his granddaughters could express any more outrage. Marcie pointed to her eyes and then to the young man. I’ll be watching you.

They were her nieces, after all.

Char was waiting with the mayor and the council when Terry arrived. “I got my comeuppance. Nicely done, Major. I salute you for showing me the light.”

He turned to Marcie to ask whether the other garrisons would demonstrate the same inherent weakness, but thought better of it. He wanted to talk about it, but now wasn’t the time.

The more he ran it through his mind, the more the feeling of failure tugged at his soul. He didn’t mind that Char bested him. That wasn’t it at all. What bothered him was failing to properly identify the threat. He had, but hadn’t passed that down where his kids understood.

He’d made them look like idiots.

Char saw the conflicting emotions race across Terry’s features. From his stance to his shoulders, to the twitches in his face, she knew he was tormenting himself.

“If you’ll excuse us. It seems the beer isn’t sitting right with my husband, or maybe he just needs another one,” she said, smoothly leading the way outside where they could get some fresh air and Terry could eat in peace.

CHAPTER FIVE

Portland

There were benches outside the building, as if many people over the years had the same idea, preferring the serenity of the outdoors to the heat of a crowded hall.

Terry and Char sat, not needing to speak. They held hands, something Terry found comfort in because of how natural it felt. He couldn’t remember a time when her hand wasn’t in his. He looked at their hands, then followed the skin of her arm. She wore short sleeves, as always, and even with that, the Werewolf inside kept the fire burning.

TH traced a finger along her arm, enjoying the heat that she radiated. It was familiar.

“A love to last the ages,” Terry whispered.

Char pointed to the faint scar leading to her lip. “Don’t think I’ve forgiven you for making me wait two years. I have this to remind you!” Char teased.

Terry smiled. “I know. You wouldn’t be you without that and we wouldn’t be us. You know me. When I commit, I’m all in.”

“I figured that from day one, but you played hard to get. I’m glad you came around.” Char lifted Terry’s chin. “Don’t be angry with the kids or yourself over this. We learn from exercises. We fix the problems, and we try again.”

Terry rubbed his face. “That’s the issue. To do this right, we need to be looking internally, as in, a police force of some sort, an FBI, or an MI-5 to look within the walls. I never intended the FDG to be that. They cannot be, because then the people they are protecting become the enemy. We can only have one enemy.”

Char pursed her lips. “How about an off-site?”

“It’s been a million years since I heard that term. It was used by corporate executives to get away from the daily grind, clear their minds so they could think bigger thoughts, refocus on what could make their company great.”

“Something like that.” Char smiled before continuing. “We’ve been away a long time. We need to get to know the pack again and talk about what it will take to keep the world growing, protect it from itself. You’ll come up with a plan. You always do.”

“What would I do without you?” Terry said, leaning close for a passionate kiss that lasted too long.

“Grandpa!” Sylvia shouted from the doorway.

“Grandma!” Sarah exclaimed.

Terry rolled his eyes as Char shook her head.

“I’m not sure I like our titles. It makes us sound old,” Char said.

Terry didn’t take the bait. They were old, but he knew better than to say it. “You are as young and beautiful as the day we met. I yearn for your heat,” he cooed.

“Nice comeback,” Char replied. They stood, still holding hands, and turned their attention to the disaffected youth.

“What can we do you out of?” Terry pleasantly asked.

“What?” Sylvia wondered. Sarah slapped her on the arm.

“We’re going to stay with Magnus until you’re ready to leave. Mom said it would be okay with her if it was okay with you,” Sarah regurgitated quickly.

“I’m pretty sure your mother didn’t say that,” Char said coldly.

Terry was speechless as he processed what had just been said. He had to put it into words so it made sense. “My fifteen and sixteen-year-old granddaughters want to shack up with a young man and expect to get my approval. For the record, your father is still on probation.”

“No!” Sylvia cried defensively. “It’s not that at all.” She stomped her foot and crossed her arms.

Terry closed his eyes and started rubbing his temples.

Cory appeared behind her daughters. “Isn’t this a nice family get-together? Why does everyone look so unhappy?”

“I told you that one had a gift,” Char said. Terry nodded.

“Since they asked, the answer is simple. No. You may not spend the night with your new boy toy. It’s not that I’m being protective, but you two are in training. You want to be as hard as woodpecker lips? Then discipline and dedication is what it takes.”

Terry wasn’t sure they wanted to be as hard as all that, but he liked the way it sounded when he said it.

They didn’t.

Without a word, they huffed and grunted as they passed their mother on the way through the door. Terry expected that they’d be delivering the bad news to Magnus Tolliver any moment.

He even liked the boy, but not that much.

“As soon as we’re done with tomorrow’s out-brief, we’re going someplace separate where we can contemplate what this all means.”

“We could just stay here,” Cory suggested.

“There aren’t any five-star resorts to retreat to,” Char offered. “Let’s take the pod, snag a few buffalo, and come back here. I think Cory is right.”

“What about those two?” Terry asked, pointing at the doorway.

“They’ll be fine,” Cory said definitively.

“Remember that little talk about control that we seem to keep having?” Char said.

Terry returned to rubbing his temples.

“What’s the problem, Dad? Too much reality for you today? Did you get schooled too badly and all that education is melting your brain?” Cory prodded.

Terry slowly opened his eyes to look at Char. “This is your fault.”

“How so?” Char turned to face Terry. She didn’t cross her arms, but was slightly turned as if ready to throw a punch.

He liked her feisty, but that was something completely different.

“Dammit!” Terry stepped back and looked to Cordelia. “Your daughters. Your problem.”

Cory nodded. “I know.”

Terry was taken aback.

“Yes, it’s that easy. Shall we go back inside and get something to eat? Then tomorrow, we’ll go buffalo hunting. After that, we’ll figure this out. Together.”

The weight of the world still rested on Terry Henry Walton’s broad shoulders, but with Char’s and the others’ help, the load wasn’t unbearable.

The Northern Plains

“Look at that herd!” Gene exclaimed, gawking at the image on the pod’s large screen.

Only the pack had come as Terry and Char wanted to use it as a training exercise in conjunction with the more practical side of bringing home a few tons of meat to the city of Portland as a way to pay back the city’s hospitality.

The pack changed into Were form—Werewolves, Werebears, Weretigers, and Forsaken. Char didn’t change. Terry didn’t have to wonder why. He remembered the last time the Werewolf Char took on an adult buffalo by herself.

“What are you going to do?” Terry asked Joseph.

“We have our ways,” he replied mysteriously.

“Fine. Do what you want, but I don’t want to watch,” Terry replied.

“I don’t want to watch you eat, either, Neanderthal. And definitely not him!” Joseph pointed to Gene in Werebear form. “I think he’s actually gotten worse. Just when I thought Fu finally had him housebroken.”

Terry looked at Joseph, but was at a loss for words. Petricia giggled. “You are far too nice for the likes of this one,” Terry told her.

“I know, but I’ll keep him anyway.” She held onto his arm and he looked embarrassed.

The pod started to descend. Char loosened the pistols riding low across her hips. Terry conducted a quick function check of his rifle and started to rock in anticipation of the impending action.

The ramp opened as the pod settled the final few inches to touch down. The pack ran off, splitting and heading in different directions. The pod had landed in the middle of a massive herd. No matter which way they went, buffalo were there.

Terry and Char strolled off and watched the others tear up the turf as they charged their prey. The bulls rallied and faced their attackers, horns low and forward.

Gene and Bogdan pounded toward a small group, one bull and three cows, but they didn’t go after the smaller buffalo. They charged the bull, crashing into it with the force of two locomotives.

Terry winced when he saw the impact. The violence of the assault lifted the buffalo from its hooves. Before it hit the ground, Bogdan was driving its legs out from under the beast. It fell when it hit. With its head pressed into the soft earth and its vitals exposed, it didn’t have a chance against the Werebears. Gene finished it while Bogdan ran down the smallest cow and added her to their take.

The Werewolves hunted in pairs, accelerating in an arc past the waiting bulls. They weren’t keen on charging animals ten times their size.

Char had discovered the futility of that over a century earlier. The paradigm was still true.

The Weretigers looked like a pair of happy cats, seemingly playing with a small group, but all they were doing was separating one from the rest so they could do their business unmolested. When the young bull had had enough, he turned to fight, but it was too late. With furious snarls and screams, the Weretigers were already on him, their six-inch claws embedded deep in his thick neck. The other buffalo lost heart, abandoning the bull and running to join the stampede.

The frightened animals looped around their attackers and headed toward the pod. Terry guessed that a thousand animals or more were pounding their way. “Close the rear ramp!” Terry yelled into the pod as he vaulted upward, catching a hand-hold and pulling himself up to the top of the roof. Char joined him.

She pulled both pistols and waited. Terry noted that her fingers were on the triggers. She saw him looking at her hands.

“Do you need me to shoot you again?” she asked.

“No. I’m good.” He forced himself to look away. He checked on the others. “I hope the pod can lift off with all the buffalo on board.”

Char took aim. “Two trips, minimum,” she said as she fired, then fired eight more times.

Terry fired his M4 and then again. No matter how well-placed the first round was, it wasn’t enough to bring down one of the big creatures. The buffalo hunters from the nineteenth century prided themselves on single-shot kills. Terry wondered what happened to the M40 sniper rifles they’d acquired at one point, but they didn’t have anything besides the ma deuce that was close to the caliber of the old buffalo hunters.

Quantity over quality, Terry sighed to himself as the third shot brought a young bull down.

He proudly looked over at Char, his smile disappearing as she pointed to her kill, a monumental brute probably weighing more than a ton. He looked at her nine-millimeter pistols. She smiled. “Trigger control.”

Portland

The pod landed close to the meat-packing plant. They turned over three tons of meat to the wide-eyed adulation of a small crowd. The pack climbed back into the pod.

Char leaned out. “One more trip with at least that much. We’ll be back in less than an hour.”

“Do we all have to go?” Sue whined, leaning toward the open ramp.

“Yes,” Char answered simply. Sue looked at her clothes and grimaced. She was covered in blood. They were all covered in blood from field dressing their kills.

Timmons walked with a hitch. Char suspected the buffalo had fallen on him and broken his leg.

He’ll heal, she thought. Gene and Bogdan had fallen asleep. They had dined on their kills before dragging them back to the pod. Even as big as the Werebears were, it had been an extreme effort to move the buffalo. But they did it to prove they were the strongest.

No one had doubted that, but the two dragged the massive carcasses anyway. Maybe it had been a father-son contest. In the end, the buffalo were cleaned and loaded onto the pod.

The Weretigers had stayed behind and were waiting. They remained in Were form, lounging like lions on the Serengeti. They snapped at the vultures and ravens to keep them away from the meat, leaving the flock with the unattended gut piles.

When the pod landed, the Weretigers changed into human form and dressed, while the others manhandled the last of the carcasses aboard. Fifteen minutes after landing, they were on their way back to Portland.

***

“Everyone get cleaned up and meet back here in two hours,” Terry ordered. Char’s expression told them that the pack was back, and she and Terry were the alphas. Their directions were to be followed without question.

Cory had already snagged forty pounds of meat to roast over an open fire. Kim, Kae, Ramses, and Marcie had been hard at work with the garrison, conducting an attitude realignment. In their minds, they needed to cut the size of the garrison in half. The mission no longer required a large ground force, only a mobile force able to move quickly, attack and destroy small enemies. Catch the enemy wherever they may be found.

They needed a Force de Guerre made up of tactical teams, not a static land army. What would the end result look like? The conversations that the colonel was going to lead would determine that. In the interim, the four officers wanted to prepare the warriors for the news.

The man with the hole in his backpack from where Marcie stabbed it? He was discharged and sent on his way. They didn’t want the captain to be lonely as he transitioned to private life.

Marcie hadn’t even tried talking with the former captain. She didn’t want to lose her composure. The only thing she could do was respect the fact that he reported to the brig as ordered and put himself in one of the cells as he waited for his punishment to be levied. She had people to do the dirty work. Kim and Kae talked with him first and he suggested resigning. They accepted it, because they weren’t sure what to do. They’d never had to remove the person in charge before.

They felt guilty as they were the ones who had promoted him. They hadn’t realized what he was or what he had become. The captain’s failure was a hard lesson for them, that hands-off leadership didn’t mean that they could abandon their responsibilities to the front-line warriors.

A failure in leadership affected them the worst. They suffered at the captain’s hands because he thought he was superior. A brig? Kim and Kae were ashamed that they hadn’t known, that warriors were being imprisoned.

Part of the out-brief was their apology to the warriors that such an environment had been created and their vow to do better.

When the four arrived at the barbecue, they weren’t initially hungry. Terry knew their appetites, because he was always hungry. Lean buffalo steaks? That was the epitome of pure protein.

Sylvia and Sarah saw Terry and made a beeline for him. He held up his hand to keep them from interrupting as he turned to his officers.

“Spill it,” he demanded.

“We failed them,” Marcie said, standing up for all of them as the colonel was supposed to.

“Damn straight,” Terry agreed without elaborating.

The four looked at him oddly until he laughed.

“Welcome to the big leagues. You haven’t arrived until you’ve failed your people. You have to give them the responsibility. All you can do is try to pick the best people who support the ideals of the FDG. Honor. Courage. Commitment. You can’t get inside someone’s head and I don’t want you to, not like Akio can take a look. We don’t want that. We’re human and we make mistakes. It’s okay. All we can do is apologize, fix it, and move on. You still have great responsibility. There are garrisons scattered across the globe. You show up looking defeated, and you’ll find out that your problems are only just beginning,” Terry lectured the senior leaders of his Force de Guerre.

“Injustice only survives when justice allows it to continue,” Marcie quoted one of TH’s sayings. She didn’t know where he got it from.

“Or when justice doesn’t know it’s happening, which still doesn’t make it right, but we can work with ignorance. We can’t work with apathy. You know where that quote came from?” Terry asked.

The four shook their heads.

“The ultimate warrior for justice. He is called the Archangel. If you see him, you need to be somewhere else. Death follows him like a plague. If you ever hear the name Michael Nacht, tremble and bow your head. He deserves your greatest respect, just like Bethany Anne deserves your respect. Akio’s purpose in life is to serve her, and she stands arm in arm with Michael. I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m telling you this.

“Because I realized moments ago that we don’t need to turn the whole world into fucking Pollyanna central. We only need to help it survive, do our part, serve those who we can help. This captain? He has shown that even after all we’ve done, human nature embraces might-makes-right. The strongest will lead these city-states out of the destruction brought about by the WWDE, brought about by those who were strong back then, and now, no longer exist.

“This was supposed to be a meeting where we discussed the way ahead, but I’m putting one proposal on the table. We’re going to contract the FDG, leaving only the inner circle. We’re going to recover the extra weapons and lock them deep within Cheyenne Mountain. And our tac teams will put out fires. We can do no more. This war against injustice has been fought for the entirety of man’s existence. We won’t let injustice stand wherever we see it, wherever we’re called to help, but we can’t be in all places at all times. That makes us the ugly wart on humanity’s ass. This captain showed us how the FDG would degenerate to the point of being useless in executing our real mission of helping the world to survive until She returns.

“No one failed. The world simply moved on without us. Now is the time for us to flex to our new reality.” Terry looked at his family. They were barely breathing as they didn’t want to miss a word.

“Archangel, huh?” the teenage Sarah Jennifer said with a smile. “Sounds mysteriously enticing.”

“Stay the fuck away from him!” Terry said a little too sharply before softening his tone. “Steer clear, if you can, and if you can’t, don’t be a dick around Michael. It could be fatal.”

CHAPTER SIX

WWDE + 134

North Chicago

Ted stood nervously in the power plant’s parking lot. The Mini Cooper was being shut down for the last time. There were no fuel rods remaining. The power plant was going to run off coal, now that ships plied the waters and a mine was once again active.

Felicity tried to hold his hand, but it hung limp as Ted could think of nothing but his baby. The traditionally-fired power plant held no allure. Even though it was ninety percent of what he had been doing for the past century, maybe even ninety-nine percent, he still considered it trivial compared to running the nuclear reactor.

He wasn’t needed any longer. Generations of trained and experienced workers ran the plant. Without the Mini Cooper, they could handle anything that came up.

A single tear traced its way down his face. Felicity wiped it away for him, knowing that he wouldn’t do it for himself.

“Time to move to San Francisco?” Felicity suggested.

“I think so. What about the kids?”

“You mean our fifty-year-old Werewolves who look like teenagers?”

“Yes,” Ted said matter-of-factly. He never understood why she made such statements. They both knew who their children were. He was amazed that she thought he forgot those details of his life.

“They have their own lives. They are free to do what they wish. It’s called adulting.”

“I don’t think it’s called that,” Ted replied.

Felicity sighed in exasperation. “They are scattered all over. According to Terrence, they’re resurrecting the North American Pack Council, whatever that means,” she drawled slowly.

“They used to be out of New York. Gerry was the alpha. I’m not sure what happened to him,” Ted said, still watching the walls of the old power plant as it generated electricity without him.

“Did you know that Joshua Timmons is the alpha?” Felicity said, enjoying the gossipy side of the information.

Ted stared at the plant for a few seconds before it registered. “Timmons?”

“Yes. It seems that Timmons had a son and didn’t bother to tell the rest of us.” Felicity stoked the flames of the revelation.

“Timmons has a son,” Ted said as he contemplated the information. He knew that Felicity liked her share of gossip and usually inundated Ted with the inane details of other people’s lives. In this case, he wondered why she hadn’t shared sooner. It could have been her most profound tidbit ever. “Does he know?”

“No. I just found out this morning and couldn’t wait to share it with my beloved,” she said, grinning.

“But you shared it with me instead?” Ted asked innocently, before turning to her and smiling.

She recovered from the surprise quickly. Ted deadpanned well when the mood struck him, which wasn’t very often.

“We’re moving to San Francisco!” Felicity exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Ted’s neck and kissing his face. He dodged back and forth as if trying to avoid a dog’s tongue.

“Women,” he complained.

Tianjin, China

“I guess you’ll do all the talking?” Terry said, knowing that it wasn’t a question.

“Unless you learned to speak Chinese on the way over. You still could talk, but they won’t understand your barbaric tongue,” Aaron taunted. Yanmei giggled behind her hand. Marcie shook her head.

Terry turned to the others in the pod and pointed to the Weretigers. “See? This is the respect I get. Leave for fifty years and everyone forgets who you are.”

“I think it’s far worse than that, TH,” Char replied casually, looking around with a sly smile. “They remember who you were.”

“DAAAAAYUMMMM!” Timmons yelled. “I can hear the sizzling flesh from here. BUUUUUURN, baby, burn!”

Terry’s mouth worked, but he couldn’t deliver a comeback. “I got nothin’,” he finally admitted. “Char has clearly been taking it easy on me to set me up for this. Go ahead, do your worst.”

“That’s not how it works,” Butch replied. “It’ll be best when you don’t see it coming. We’ll wait. We have lots of time.”

“Literally, hundreds of years,” Skippy said, nodding.

Gene and Bogdan watched, uninterested in the banter. Gene was pre-occupied by the work he had to do on Fu’s new home. It was on the outskirts of the community where there were plenty of trees to cut down and work with. Gene took great pride in his woodworking ability. Bogdan wasn’t bad either, but he didn’t have the love for it that his father did.

Bogdan didn’t have his Fu who he would do anything for.

The pod touched down and the pack exited, strolling casually into the compound located well outside the city. They had no intention of changing into Were form.

The three Forsaken stood out, dressed in black leather, their skin covered from head to toe. They peered out from under the wide brims of their hats. Two men and one woman, the tight leather outfit showing her figure far better than those of her companions.

She liked it that way because Joseph liked it. They held hands as they walked. Terry and Char both smiled as they watched. They had left right after the Second Battle of Paris and didn’t get to see the love affair between the two Forsaken.

Terry and Char suspected it rivaled what they had, or what Gene and Fu had. “I hope that Akio holds enough sway with Bethany Anne that she allows the Forsaken to live. Well, all of us for that matter,” Terry whispered.

“I don’t want to lose my head over it,” Char replied, still enjoying the verbal jabs.

Terry could only shake his head. He angled toward Sylvia and Sarah Jennifer. He felt that he needed to be more protective. Both Sarah and Sylvia had inherited some of their parents’ nanocytes. They were both going to be long-lived as they healed quickly and completely, the nanocytes repairing injuries without leaving a scar.

Only Sarah Jennifer showed an abnormal speed that intimated she might approach Terry Henry Walton, who was barely below Akio and vampiric speed. He and Char both had the extra boost from when they paired.

Terry and Char had no idea how it worked. Neither did Akio. He chalked it up to a once in the universe perfect storm.

Aaron hesitated before going in so he could address the pack. “I suspect they aren’t ready for us. They don’t know what we are. They aren’t aware of the Unknown World,” he said.

“Why would you wait until now to tell us?” Terry wondered aloud, throwing his hands up in frustration.

“I didn’t really think about it until now. Sorry,” he mumbled.

Yanmei shrugged. “Does it matter?” she asked.

Terry mulled it over. “I guess not, and it’s probably better that the warriors don’t know. Maybe we’ll disband this garrison in entirety.”

Marcie nodded. She’d been thinking the same thing. Recruit the best and the brightest for the tactical teams. They had to be more than just strong. They had to be smart. The colonel emphasized that there would always be someone who was stronger or faster, but the one who could think through the problem the quickest would be the one to win the fight.

The pack waited outside the gate while Colonel Marcie Walton entered with Aaron and Yanmei.

Terry shifted nervously, watching closely. “Let it go,” Char encouraged. He looked at her questioningly. “The control. You haven’t had it for fifty years. Now you want to be the big bad colonel again?”

“Of course. You know me so well, and here I was thinking I was keeping my secrets so well over the past hundred years. Shit.” TH tried to look distraught but couldn’t. “I feel okay,” he said. “I feel ready to move on, but I’m not sure what’s next for us.”

“I’m sure it’ll be great, whatever it is. I know you’re not burning out on bringing down the bad guys,” Char stated.

Kim, Kae, Ramses, and Cory joined them. “Dad’s tired of going after bad guys?” Kimber asked.

“I am not!” Terry raised his head and lifted his chin in defiance.

“Me, too,” Kaeden joined in. “Sometimes I get tired of punching them right in their smug faces and blowing their heads off. But then I reload, and it’s all good.”

“Why does everyone think I need cheering up?” TH wondered.

“Because you look like you need cheering up?” Kimber said as if it were fact.

Ramses and Cory waved Sylvia and Sarah to them. “Sparring always makes you feel better. You up for a quick bout, Sarah?” Ramses asked his oldest daughter.

“Sure, if the old man can be rooted out of his pity party.”

“Here I am, minding my own business and everyone’s on me like Heinz on a hot dog.” Everyone younger than one hundred and seventy-five years didn’t understand his statement. “Fine. One ass-kicking, made to order, served up on a silver platter with big spicy meatballs, just for you.”

He pointed a finger at Sarah, then turned it upward and crooked it in a come-hither motion.

The pack gathered around. The colonel and the kid circled each other to get the feel of the ground, the sense of the air.

“Kick his ass!” Sylvia called to her sister. “If you beat him up too bad, Mom can fix him.”

Cory shushed her daughter while Ramses chuckled. “The undyingly faithful belief that their parents can fix everything.” Cory looked at him with her glowing blue eyes and shook her head. Her wolf ears popped out, her hair getting caught behind them, but she didn’t care.

Not anymore.

“You wrestle bear good. You wrestle tiny human better,” Gene said, trying to be encouraging. Bogdan elbowed his way closer. In Werebear form, Bogdan could take her, but not in human form. They’d sparred a great deal behind closed doors, a fact that Terry Henry Walton was unaware of.

“When were you wrestling with a bear?” Terry asked. Sarah shrugged as she spun, fast as a hummingbird’s wings, sending a roundhouse kick past Terry’s face. He dipped back slightly, just enough for the booted foot to pass harmlessly by his face.

He slapped the calf of her kicking leg, trying to unbalance her. She pirouetted and landed in a fighting crouch.

“I’ll be damned. I think your mother set me up,” Terry suggested. “I think it’s time for a fucking lesson.”

Terry growled and danced toward Sarah.

“Any day, old man,” she countered, side-stepping. Terry didn’t bite. He wanted her on the defensive. He bracketed her back and forth, pushing her toward the edge of the circle.

When her back was against the imaginary wall, he looked over her shoulder, mouth agape and eyes wide. She turned to see what was behind her. Terry swung with his left fist and caught her in the mid-section with everything he had. She came off her feet and flew into Sue and Timmons.

The three of them went down in a heap. Sarah gasped as she tried to draw a breath, but her diaphragm was too stunned to draw air. She rolled around, curled into the fetal position, and passed out. Cory rushed to her, glaring at Terry Henry as she rushed by.

Char tsked-tsked and shook her head.

“The best lessons are learned the hard way,” Terry said. He hadn’t even broken a sweat. He kneeled next to Sarah, watching her ragged breathing calm and come more easily. She opened her eyes.

“Nice trick,” she gasped in a breathy whisper before smiling. Cory and Terry helped her to her feet. Terry bowed to her and she bowed back.

“You have the speed, Wildflower, but you win with your mind.” She nodded as the group closed in around her, elbowing Terry to the outside of the circle.

“Shame on you,” Char told TH, taking his hand and squeezing it. “Hitting a defenseless girl.”

Terry’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. Char chuckled.

“She’s going to be great,” Terry said, “as long as she doesn’t think she’s invincible. Once she feels that way, that’s when she’ll be defenseless.”

“I’m glad we came back, lover,” Char whispered softly toward Terry’s ear.

“As am I, dearest.”

Marcie appeared behind the group and looked like she wanted to say something, but was distracted by Sarah’s obvious incapacitation.

‘What happened?’ the look on her face asked.

“Just a little sparring, pawn against the king kind of stuff. An old man beating up on a little kid,” Butch said, casting a hairy eyeball in Terry’s direction.

“I’ve sparred with her. She’s no little kid.” A smile tugged at Marcie’s lip. “In other news, it seems the garrison is part-time as they couldn’t sit around and do nothing. They are what Dad described as Reservists. So, disbanding is easy. The captain will collect all the weapons and lock them in the armory. We’ll return for them later as we have a key.”

“That was anti-climactic,” Terry said. The pack collectively shrugged. Kim, Kae, and Ramses remained still as they waited for the next order from the colonels, their commanding officers.

Terry looked at Marcie, cocking his head.

She nodded and smiled. “Mount up! Next stop, Australia!” The group trudged back to the pod, taking their time as they waited for the Weretigers to return.

“More of the same?” Terry asked Marcie.

She twisted her mouth sideways. “Yup.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Japan

“Activating the gate in forty-seven-point-one Yollisters,” the disembodied voice said, before the signal disappeared.

Akio looked at Eve to translate the reference into Earth time. Eve performed the calculations. “A little over sixteen years,” she said.

“Bethany Anne is coming home,” Akio stated.

“Will you tell Terry Henry Walton?” Yuko asked, feeling relieved that the Queen would return. They didn’t know that she was now Empress.

That didn’t matter. Bethany Anne was on her way in the greatest ship of the known universe.

“I need to meditate, try to understand what our future holds.” Akio bowed to Yuko. She hesitated.

“You have done everything without the help of the other six. How much easier would the time have passed, had we not been alone?”

Akio looked deeply into Yuko’s eyes. “Once we found Terry-san, Char-san, and their pack, we were not alone.”

San Francisco

“But why?” the sergeant asked, leading a chorus of the other sergeants as their combined voices added to the dismay.

“Because we’re contracting the FDG to a total of twelve tactical teams. We no longer need a massive ground force. I’m sorry,” Marcie explained for the twelfth time.

“It’s all I know,” someone said from the back. Auburn remained in the back with a few of his most stalwart hands. The logisticians were remaining behind to work full-time keeping the garrison’s facilities intact.

The vast majority of warriors were being converted to reserve status. Training one weekend a month. Terry had modeled it after the old National Guard, the Reserves, those units that were there in case of need, training until they were deployed. Full-time civilians. Part-time warriors, doing a little bit of everything.

Sacrificing in a way that made Terry Henry proud.

“Listen up!” Terry interjected, seizing control from his daughter-in-law. “This is how it will be. If you have issues with it, you bring it up with me, but be warned, everything that needs to be said has already been said. One weekend a month, you train like warriors! Two weeks a year, you train, weapons and tactics. Like warriors! If you’re needed, we’ll call. But we can’t maintain a full-time force with no recognizable enemy.”

“Who says we don’t get picked to be on the tactical teams?” the sergeant said gruffly. Terry bristled. He didn’t appreciate belligerence. When he first started the FDG, he would have beat the man senseless and then asked if anyone else disagreed.

Terry had not thought he’d gotten soft. He still wanted to beat the man to a bloody pulp. Maybe Terry had matured. He contemplated that aspect of his personality.

The man took Terry’s hesitation as weakness.

“Fuck this!” the sergeant shouted, looking to the others for support.

Terry’s hand seemed to rocket toward the man’s face of its own accord. The punch connected, cracking the man’s jaw. Terry watched him fall, unconscious. The colonel looked at his fist as if it were a bad dog.

He missed having a dog. He’d have to find another one. He added that to his to-do list, right behind taking out the trash.

“Anyone else care to make an ass of themselves? What part of follow your motherfucking orders did you not understand? This was the only way to maintain the Force de Guerre. You can be proud members, serving in a limited capacity, or you can be former members. There are no other options. The very best of the best have already been selected, and I’m fucking sorry that wasn’t any of you. This conversation is over. Now get this piece of shit out of my sight.”

A couple men glared at Terry for a moment too long. He started moving toward them and they made a hasty exit. Terry stopped and turned toward Marcie. He snarled at her. “This is your fucking idea of self-discipline? These ‘people’ are going to fight in a war? They would all fucking die and take us with them.”

He turned back to those remaining. “Decide whether you want to be warriors or not. Now get the fuck out of here!” Terry bellowed, fists clenched tightly at his sides. The muscles in the side of his head flexed as he worked his jaw, looking like he was chewing on shoe leather.

“GET. THE. FUCK. OUT!” Marcie screamed. Five seconds later, the sergeants dragged the unconscious man from the room as they raced out. Kim, Kae, and Ramses remained still. Terry looked at them, wondering if they were trying to be chameleons and blend into the wall behind them. He chuckled.

“I’m not angry, believe it or not,” he said calmly, hiking one cheek onto a desk as he half-sat to converse with his senior leaders, his family. “It reminds me of the French. No one suffered more than they did in World War One. They build a huge static defense to protect themselves from a resurgent Germany, but with new technology, the Third Reich drove around the Maginot Line. The French hadn’t kept up with the times and were defeated in days. It is inevitable that when you don’t have an enemy, you fight the last war. With imagination, you fight the next one. We are transitioning. Tomorrow, I want all twelve tac teams standing tall and ready to start a new training regimen. It seems that we have a base completely to ourselves and a whole world that needs our attention.”

“Ooh-fucking-rah,” Marcie said in a low voice. The others nodded.

Terry turned to Ramses. “And bring Sarah. I know she’s young, but she’s ready. There are certain people who were meant to be on the front lines of a war. I was that person, as a teenager, about a million years ago. I couldn’t wait to join the Corps. As soon as I stepped off those god-forsaken yellow footprints, I knew I was home. It smelled like home.

“Nowhere was I more comfortable than in combat. I know that sounds all kinds of crazy, but that’s how it was. I left the Corps because they couldn’t keep me in combat. I became a mercenary. Nonstop action. Infiltrating, sizing up the enemy, direct action missions. You can run, but you can’t hide!”

The others watched as Terry shared something he’d kept private. No one pried into his life, because he didn’t let people get that close and those who were already that close, knew not to ask.

“I used to be really good at killing people,” Terry said softly, looking down under a furled brow.

“You still are, Dad, but only those that need killin’,” Kaeden offered. Terry looked up. His son wasn’t afraid, nor his daughter. Marcie was more like Terry than any of them, except for Sarah. She had the look. Her eyes would strike fear into her enemies far into the future. She would freeze them with her gaze and beat them without mercy.

Her only weakness would be overconfidence, and that was why Terry had schooled her to the nth degree. She needed to be taught respect, be put in her place before being turned loose.

Terry could see her development unfold over the years. She would have to be with the strongest of them. He decided to put her with the Forsaken. She needed to be with Joseph, Petricia, and Andrew.

Marcie closed her eyes and reached into the etheric, pulling power from it to look. The three Forsaken were not far away. The Were pack was even closer. She opened her eyes and the gray mists faded. She’d been practicing over the years, but without anyone to help her, she wasn’t able to refine and improve her skills.

With the pack back in town and the Forsaken awake, there was no limit to what she could learn.

***

Terry led the four out of the conference room and were met by a group of sergeants. They were carrying pipes and clubs. One had a rifle.

Terry became furious and his eyes glowed a faint red. Marcie joined him in his anger. Her eyes started to glow, too. Kim, Kae, and Ramses walked to the side, creating a line, five across.

The man with the rifle held the trump card. The silver magazine was inserted and he was aiming at Terry Henry Walton’s head.

“We don’t like getting dumped like yesterday’s trash,” the group’s spokesman said. The man with the broken jaw stood next to him and nodded slightly, grimacing with the movement and renewed pain.

“I didn’t think you were finished, and I’m not either,” Terry said softly.

He smiled, but it wasn’t the smile of mirth. He never thought of his own people as the enemy, but these men had crossed the line. Terry Henry Walton’s pulse calmed, putting him at peace. He was home.

Faster than the eye could follow, Terry dodged out of the line of fire. Marcie replicated his movements to the other side. She was first to the man with the rifle, while Terry put the spokesman between him and the gunman.

When Terry saw Marcie grab the rifle and yank it backward across the man’s throat, Terry attacked.

None of the sergeants had yet moved when big-mouth’s neck cracked, and his body was flung into two others. The man with the broken jaw had his head caved in with the next punch.

Marcie crushed the man’s throat, dropped him, and sent three rounds skyward as she yanked the trigger and yelled her war cry.

The fight ended as quickly as it began. The remaining men knew they couldn’t outrun the leadership. The men dropped to their knees and covered their heads.

Terry took another step closer, but the men had surrendered. One man still held his pipe.

“You gonna use that thing?” Terry growled.

The pipe rolled from the man’s fingers as he released his grip.

“Get up!” Marcie growled. “Collect these traitors and dump them in the ocean.”

Terry raised a hand. “Stop. See that these men get a proper burial. They served in the FDG. They were sergeants and for whatever reason that led them astray, they were still ours, and we take care of our own.”

TH sighed and stood up straight, running his hand through his longer hair. Despite the heat, he’d gotten used to his mop that he tied behind his head.

Not a man-bun. Never a man-bun. He shivered from the thought before returning to the matter at hand.

“Can one of you give them a hand, please? They’ll need shovels.” Kim, Kae, and Ramses all nodded.

“We’ll take care of it, Dad,” Kaeden said, sounding very young. He didn’t like seeing the dead men. That morning, they had been FDG sergeants in good standing. There was no honor in their deaths and all five of the leaders knew that.

“We have a backhoe that we can use,” Kim suggested.

“I said, they’ll need shovels.” Terry enunciated each word, but he wasn’t looking at Kimber. He glared at the men who had forced his hand. “And then I don’t ever want to see these men again. Do you fucking assholes understand that?”

“Yes, sir!” one exclaimed. The others looked away as they nodded. One of them started sobbing.

Ramses was the first to act to clean up the mess and move the bodies to the FDG graveyard on Treasure Island.

Terry and Marcie walked away. Marcie was still angry, though the red glow in her eyes was fading as she tried to relax.

“They are fucking traitors!” she snarled.

“Yes, they are. How did they get that way? It’s on us. You and I are responsible for everything our people do, everything they fail to do. In some way, this is our fault. I’m not asking that we pity each other. This sucks. We dealt with it, and now we move on. The Force was too big and people lost their way. I hope we never need an FDG of that size and it wasn’t necessary. We’re not a social program. Join the FDG, get a job for life! Fuck no. Not everyone gets a career. I guess they didn’t understand that, which comes back to being our fault. I saw this in the before time. The boom-bust cycles were hard on people. I should have been more ready for it. That’s on me. So there we are.”

Terry gripped Marcie’s shoulder and shook her slightly to make her look at him. When their eyes met, the glow was gone.

“Your speed has improved. I think you might be as fast as me,” Terry told her.

“It’s been happening slowly but steadily. I think I’m drawing more power from the etheric, but I don’t know. I need somebody to teach me, help me understand what’s possible.”

“I know just the person,” Terry replied.

CHAPTER EIGHT

North Chicago

“All aboard who’s coming aboard!” Terry called from the back of the pod. Ted looked uncomfortable as Felicity smiled and glad-handed with a small crowd. Terry thought he saw their kids, but couldn’t be certain as he hadn’t met them.

“Shall we see who there is to see?” Char didn’t wait for an answer. She strolled down the ramp, heading for the group.

Terry knew that was the right thing to do. Terry and Char were legends in North Chicago and they knew people, like Mayor Camilla, also chief of the tribe. She kept herself fit and looked far younger than her eighty years. She looked past Terry and Char to see if anyone else had come, disappointed when Kaeden wasn’t there.

She turned her attention to Terry and Char. “You two and your damn youthful good looks. May Metaguas never find you and Mother Earth continue to smile upon you,” she told them.

“I don’t think we can ask for a better greeting than that,” Char replied, hugging the old woman, before turning her over to Terry.

“I hear you are doing a great job as mayor,” Terry said.

“I don’t know who you heard that from because it sucks to suck as the mayor, and believe me, after decades of Felicity, I am having a hell of a time keeping up. I suck a whole lot!”

Terry and Char chuckled. “Why do you sound like me?” Terry asked.

“I wonder,” Camilla replied. “If you have time, I’m sure Ayashe would love to see you.”

Terry winced slightly, and Char squeezed his hand, letting him know what they were going to do.

“Of course there’s time,” Char said smoothly. “Hey! Is there time to run to the diner and say hi to our old friends?”

Ted threw his hands up, shook his head, and stormed off. Felicity scowled as she watched him go.

“Maybe there isn’t time,” Char corrected herself. “Give her our best, would you, please?”

“Of course,” Camilla agreed. They shook hands one last time before joining Felicity in saying good-bye to the rest from the group, none of whom Terry or Char recognized.

“Terrence, Charlita, Billy. Say hello to Terry and Char,” Felicity said to a group of young Werewolves in human form.

“What’s up?” young Terry asked. Young Char slapped him on the arm.

Char’s purple eyes watched the younger Weres closely, not getting upset at their irreverence. “This is your opportunity to excel,” she told them. “Will you help these people or will you help yourselves? That is the question that only you can answer. When we check in from time to time, I look forward to hearing how you are doing.”

Terry let Char continue her conversation with the youngsters, Werewolves who were over sixty years old.

“Ted!” Terry yelled as he walked away. “Come on back, my man. We’re leaving!”

Ted perked up and walked quickly toward the pod. Felicity intercepted him as Char finished talking with the Weres, shaking each of their hands warmly. She gripped their shoulders and pulled them close, one by one, to whisper into their ears. Whatever she said made them smile.

She turned toward Terry and grinned as she approached.

“What was that all about?” Terry asked while watching Felicity give Ted an earful while Ted dutifully ignored her and tried to escape to the pod.

“Just me, winning friends and influencing people. I think those three have a great future ahead.” Char took Terry’s hand, and together, they sauntered toward the ramp. Felicity grabbed Ted around the neck and planted a firm kiss on his lips, holding on until he hugged her to him. They continued to hold each other for a few more seconds before walking, arm-in-arm, to join Terry and Char. The four turned and waved to the crowd.

Somebody signaled that they needed to wait. Vehicles approached, their engines revving. Smoke rose in the direction of the sound.

Terry and Char both frowned. “They need to fix that. We can’t be polluting like that just because there’s no one watching over us.”

Ted nodded. “It’s the diesel engines that we’ve gone to. It’s not as dirty as the smoke looks. They are pretty efficient, lasting longer and going farther with that fuel. It was difficult to refine the oil to gasoline. So much better keeping it as close to the original product as possible.”

“Sure,” Terry said. He wasn’t sure of anything as two jeeps hauling trailers drove into view, trailing huge clouds of black smoke.

They pulled past, and in a display of driving excellence, backed the trailers up side by side right to the bottom of the ramp. The vehicles coughed and belched one last cloud before turning off.

“The Weathers Family send their compliments and hope that this sample of their finest beef is a way to say thank you to the people who helped the family thrive. And Auburn said if they didn’t send a good sample, he’d come back here and kick their young asses,” a darker-skinned man said as he climbed out the back of the jeep and signaled for those present to start moving the packaged meats into the pod.

Felicity raised her eyebrows before walking inside and taking a seat. Char carried a massive bundle, but only one. She joined Felicity in the forward jump seats.

“Which one are you?” Terry asked.

“They call me Pennsta,” the man said.

“Penn State? But they weren’t SEC,” Terry replied.

“There is no SEC anymore, so anything goes. Grandpa, god rest his soul, left a long list of names for the kids. Most of us pick from the list, some of the upstarts don’t, but it’s not going to matter soon. We’re running out of names on that list.”

“Holy shit, that’s a lot of kids!” Terry was more surprised than he should have been. He shook his head.

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Pennsta said, offering his hand.

“And you, too, my man. I couldn’t be more proud of what Claire and Antioch have done for North Chicago.”

“I never knew them,” the man said. Gray was creeping into his dark, curly hair.

The pain of living a long life was that you got to see your friends die, reinforcing why Terry had not wanted to see Ayashe or anyone else. He didn’t want people to get too close.

Or dogs. He was happy that Ted didn’t try to bring a wolf pack on board. Not with the meat. They would have had a field day.

Terry saw the humor in it. Without saying a word, he waved to Pennsta and the other three who were in the jeeps, probably all from clan Weathers, turned, and walked into the pod. Char closed the ramp and the pod took off. The load stayed steady as they increased speed, setting the aircraft for a forty-five-minute flight to San Francisco.

Ted sat close to the touch screen and watched the flight data scroll by. Char turned it over to him and joined Terry and Felicity.

“I have to say that I will not know what to do with myself,” Felicity drawled.

“I think Sue can put in a good word for you and get you into the rotation to join the city council. You’ll help them to stay grounded. They won’t know that you have a hundred years of experience,” Terry replied.

“We’ll leave any references to my age out of the conversation, if you don’t mind. I’m twenty-nine.” Felicity smiled, beautiful as always, looking like her claimed age and not her real age, of which Terry wasn’t sure.

He had the good manners not to ask.

“I think you’ll like San Francisco,” Char said. Felicity looked at Ted, fully engrossed in the touchscreen. “Will he have anything to do?”

“We have a special project for him. Dirigibles. We’d like to put anti-gravitic propulsion systems on them, gravitic drives, I believe they are called. If anyone can do it, it’ll be Ted. He’ll have a massive manufacturing facility at his beck and call. We happen to know the owners and they are going to invest heavily in the project, assuming it gets off the ground.”

Char groaned.

Terry was pleased with his pun. Felicity panned him by yawning.

“You have to admit that was a good one!” Terry drawled.

“I do not,” Char said. Terry harrumphed and settled back to close his eyes for a short nap.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

Japan

The pod landed and Marcie exited. She bowed a full ninety degrees to Akio and Yuko. They returned her bow, not as deeply, but every bit as formally.

“When do we begin?” she asked, rolling her shoulders in expectation of sparring.

“As soon as we can calm your mind. You will meditate until I can set a leaf upon the waters of your thoughts and it will remain still. Only then will you be able to see what I want to show you.”

Marcie nodded tersely. She wanted to spar with the masters, learn from the best, and become a better combat version of herself. She could sense the fires burning within. The best outlet was aggression.

Terry had been able to stop himself when he fought the treasonous sergeants. She would not have been able to without him there.

Even though they worked for her at one time, when they aimed a rifle, raised clubs against her, they became her enemy. Enemies were to be destroyed and crushed into the earth where even their memories couldn’t exist.

But that wasn’t what Terry taught. The enemy was simply the opposing player on the chessboard of a battlefield. Hating an enemy would cause one to make mistakes. He couldn’t have that.

He re-learned that lesson in going after Mister Smith, but Char had kept him grounded, and he didn’t make mistakes common when one let their emotions guide their actions.

Marcie needed to get those under control.

Off the pod for twenty seconds and Akio had already taught her a most important lesson. She had ignored TH when he said it, but the premise seemed more profound coming from Akio.

She laughed. “Akio-sama.” And Marcie bowed deeply a second time.

San Francisco

Terry walked back and forth in front of the newest iteration of the Force de Guerre. Twenty-eight strong, six teams of four or five. Terry had also maintained thirty warriors on full duty to act as a training platoon against which the tac teams would exercise.

It wasn’t glorious duty, but if someone on the tac teams fell, their replacement would come from the training platoon. It was a coveted billet, desired by many who had been forced into reserve status.

Marcie was undergoing special training with Akio and Yuko. She’d join her team when declared fit for duty. Akio wasn’t in a rush. Eve had not identified an imminent threat. Of course, Terry wanted the tac teams and Marcie up to speed as quickly as possible.

Once Marcie returned, she’d lead Tac Team Alpha, which included Ted, Ramses, Cory, and a warrior named Destiny Chase, a woman who Terry thought could have been a ninja because of how gymnastically gifted she was. She could overcome any obstacle, in record time, and then race to the next challenge, leaving everyone else in her dust.

Cory formally joined the tac team because Terry asked her to. She was still the FDG’s healer, but when they needed her to fight, she could scrap with the best of them. She preferred not to, but as long as she was with Ramses, she resigned herself with her position.

Gene was picked to lead Tac Team Bravo. As a mayor and a father, he’d matured to the point where Terry trusted putting the lives of others in his care. Bogdan was on that team because Gene was the only one who could control the massive Werebear. Kaeden was on that team to balance the emotional charge the others carried. The lone unenhanced human was called Edwin. He had won all the hand-to-hand combat competitions and was the only undefeated member of the FDG. He won his bouts with Skippy and then Butch to cement his place in the annals of the FDG.

Terry hadn’t been pleased that Werewolves lost in a straight up fight with a human, but it was only Butch and Skippy. They were the least among them. Terry planned to deliver a lesson in humility to Edwin on this very day. People needed to know what they would be up against.

Aaron led Tac Team Charlie, with Yanmei, Kimber, Auburn, and an unenhanced human called Nick Rixon, who had a knack for understanding technical devices. Without an engineer on that team, they needed the extra edge. Auburn had been drafted into the FDG because logistics had become mundane.

And he had been enhanced. Time to pay the piper, Terry had told him. Auburn wasn’t sure who the piper was, but he wasn’t too keen on paying him. He didn’t fight it because he’d be with Kimber. He’d had her close by for too long to see her spend time away. He reassured himself that it was better for all of them if he took one for the team, as Kimber liked to say.

“Is it going to hurt?” he whispered toward Kim’s ear.

“A whole lot.” She smirked and nodded.

Auburn pursed his lips and whistled. “At least we have some Weathers Family beef for dinner.”

“Who says we get to eat dinner?” Kim taunted her husband, elbowing him to drive the point home. She might have been kidding, but she didn’t know for sure. Her father wasn’t afraid to push any of them to their limits and beyond.

Terry led Tac Team Delta personally. Char was on his team, along with Shonna, Merrit, and a young man named Tyson Kurtz. He was hard and wily. He could fight. He could think. He could move fast without being seen. He had a broad skill set that resonated with TH.

Tac Team Echo was the Werewolf team with Timmons leading Sue, Skippy, and Butch, along with a female unenhanced human called Samantha Matthews. She was like Kurtz, but not as polished. She was better with the high technology, like Nick. She would be a good understudy to the engineers on Tac Team Echo.

The last of the special Force was Tac Team Foxtrot. Joseph led Petricia, Andrew, and Sarah. Terry had pulled Andrew aside to watch over Terry’s granddaughter. He knew she would be fearless, running into the battle at breakneck speed. Terry wanted her to think out the problem before relying on her physical speed to overcome an enemy. No matter how good she was, there would always be someone better.

CHAPTER NINE

San Francisco

“It seems like we were doing this same thing yesterday, but that was a long, long time ago. We’ve lost a couple of our own, while gaining some. We’ve lost everyone from the original Force, as well as those who came after, and most of those who came after them. It always comes back to us, the protectors of humanity.”

Terry continued to walk back and forth. The tac teams weren’t in any kind of formation but those fresh from the ranks of the FDG were locked at the position of parade-rest, feet shoulder-width apart and hands locked together at the small of their backs.

“You’re going to take today and get to know each other. Once we get back from our run, find someplace comfortable where everyone can answer the questions on your sheets. Don’t lose those questions, Gene.” Terry looked at the Werebear.

“What bullshit?” Gene asked in his heavy Russian accent. Terry wasn’t sure if it was a question or not. Gene handed the paper to Kaeden. “You are not to be losing questions.”

“I’ll do my best, Uncle Gene,” Kae replied as he took the paper, folded it, and stuffed it into a pants pocket.

“What are questions?” Bogdan asked, sounding nearly identical to his father.

“They are questions about each of you. You answer them and the others learn. I’m coming by each of you and I’m not asking you what your answers are, but I’m asking him!” Terry pointed to one of the unenhanced. “He needs to know what your answers are. Everyone knows that your favorite dish is food, but do you know what theirs are?”

“Fu cook good food. It is favorite dish!” Gene exclaimed, holding his hand over his heart and nodding.

The other Weres chuckled. They had been with Gene a long time where he was crass and came across as a bumbling fool, which he was not. He was a nuclear weapons specialist, but had become a nuclear engineer under Ted’s tutelage. Now, Gene even had some culture, thanks to his wife, Fu. Bogdan was much like the old Gene.

A chip off the old block and one who the good guys wanted on their side.

“Do you fuckers know what you’re up against?” Terry asked Edwin, Nick, Samantha, Tyson, and Destiny.

“Sir, yes, sir!” they shouted as one.

“Yeah, I really don’t fucking think so. Do you have any idea how fast these people are, and how far they can run? Try one hundred miles in a day, then get up tomorrow and do it again. You will be taxed like you’ve never been before. I expect you’ve always been the strongest—” He looked at Edwin. “Or the fastest—” He tipped a chin toward Destiny. “Or the smartest—” Terry looked at Tyson Kurtz.

“You are the slowest and the weakest here. Get that through your heads right now. You are all here because you are the smartest. I think you can keep up, barely. Don’t try to outdo these people. You will die before that happens. Just keep pace, keep your wits about you, and don’t give up. Any questions?”

“No, sir,” they replied with less exuberance than their earlier outburst.

“Join your teams. Run begins in one minute. ONE MINUTE!” They ran back to their teams.

“San Mateo and back before noon?” Terry asked as the groups got ready to run.

“What is San Mateo?” Gene asked. Bogdan shook his head and shrugged.

“You can follow us, bitches,” Timmons called.

Char gave Timmons the stink-eye. He had to look away. “Or you can follow us,” Char said in a low voice. Everyone nodded. Only Gene and Bogdan didn’t know where San Mateo was.

A short thirty-nine-mile round trip and five hours to do it. Terry wasn’t sure he’d break a sweat. It was cool outside. San Francisco cool, with a stiff breeze and plenty of sea air.

Terry breathed deeply through his nose and smiled. “Reminds me of home, without all the heat. I like it here!” he declared before looking toward the harbor and frowning. “What’s that?”

When the others turned, he took off running.

“Goddammit!” Sarah yelled, a two-time victim of Terry’s cheesy ploy.

The groups took off running. Soon, the Forsaken left the rest behind, not because of Joseph but Sarah driving them. Theirs was the only tac team without a normal human. Terry had done it on purpose, but wasn’t sure why.

No one questioned it. Terry suspected he didn’t want to tempt the Forsaken if they found themselves trapped somewhere and the only available food was the unenhanced human. He thought they would rather die than dine on a human, but the lingering doubt always remained. Terry chalked it up to his generalization that all Forsaken were bad by nature. He knew that Joseph and the others were well-disciplined. They’d been stressed before, but not to the point of breaking. Joseph had been horribly injured, but he had been surrounded by a Were pack.

And Akio had been close by, too.

Terry would never make his concerns public knowledge, and he was ashamed for thinking them. He suspected that Joseph knew his deepest secrets but had given up trying to convince Terry Henry that his fears were unfounded.

TH and Char watched Sarah lead the Forsaken away from the other five tac teams as they kept pace with each other. The unenhanced were breathing steadily and maintaining good form, but they were taxed to the extreme. None of them wanted to be the first to slow down. Until that time came, they gritted their teeth and powered forward.

The team leads looked at each other and with a tip of Terry’s chin, they slowed a little at a time until they found the right pace for all. Terry wanted a challenge, not a soul-crushing denigration.

Butch and Skippy looked at each other in relief. They were constantly out of shape and had been on the verge of the warriors showing them up. They sighed and tried to mimic the good running form the others displayed. “Can’t we just take a car?” Skippy whispered.

“I heard that!” Char yelled over her shoulder.

Cory put her hands on their shoulders as Auburn ran on the other side. “All draftees are in this together,” Cory said softly, her hair trailing behind, her wolf ears flapping slightly as they ran across the wind.

“You got that right, sister,” Butch agreed in her New York City accent.

“We won’t leave you behind, make no mistake about that,” Cory said soothingly to the five warriors. They nodded but didn’t waste the energy trying to speak.

Terry turned and ran backwards so he could look at the group.

“Stop showing off,” Char told him, smiling because it was a very Terry Henry Walton thing to do.

“How about some running music to pass the time? Here we go, people, after me!” Terry turned back toward the front and took a deep breath, before singing the song of his people, a Marine Corps jody call. “If I die in a combat zone, box me up and send me home…”

Chicago

“Weres have moved in to Chicago,” Terry said as the six teams huddled around him in the pod secreted in a grove west of the city. “Our job is to conduct a reconnaissance, figure out how many there are, and then find out what they are doing. You are not to actively engage. Observe and report only. Retrograde to avoid conflict.” Terry looked at the group.

The pack was both interested and bored. Joseph looked excited as he was heading to his old tower where he intended to show Petricia where he had spent a great number of years before running across Ted, Timmons, Gerry, and Kiwi.

Andrew had seen the tower before.

He felt more and more like the third wheel, but in the renamed Tac Team Forsaken, he had Sarah’s company. She was a good listener, something Andrew had never experienced in his short Vampire life, so he found his first real friend besides Joseph.

She wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, which helped keep things above board. Otherwise, her grandparents would have intervened. There was only an eighty-year-gap between the two.

Cory and Ramses watched carefully, as parents were wont to do, but they didn’t interfere.

“Hippies,” Terry whispered out of the blue. Char looked around at the group and back at TH.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Char whispered back.

Terry muttered something unintelligible in response.

“Tac Team Alpha. You have the northernmost sector. The farthest to travel but the least populated. You should be able to move quickly. Bravo. You are east and south of Alpha.” Terry continued pointing out the op areas for each team. Delta was to remain centered between the other teams in case they needed to respond. Terry had given himself the primary mission to reinforce the others.

Char would have it no other way, because it was her pack. Still. After all this time.

They waited until well past sundown to deploy. The Were remained in human form as they headed noiselessly through the wooded area where they had concealed the pod.

Each team with their own mission. More than training.

The Weres had returned from wherever they’d gone in the intervening century.

Tac Team Echo

Timmons crouched low, with his fist raised, bringing the others on his team to a halt. He could smell the Werewolves up ahead. Musky and rank, not unlike a wet dog. If they engaged, there would be a fight.

An alpha was in that pack.

Timmons signaled for Echo to retreat and find a better spot from which to observe.

Samantha Matthews was along for the ride. She could barely see the signals in the darkness. She had no idea what they sensed or why they stopped. She was held up in back. She stayed close to Butch and Skippy, since they seemed almost as lost as she was.

She could see Butch nod in the darkness then point back the way they’d come. Butch and Skippy grabbed her as they ran past and then the only thing she could think about was keeping pace in the mad rush through ruins and foliage.

Tac Team Charlie

Aaron and Yanmei wanted to change into Weretiger form, but Terry cautioned against that. Aaron had lost his inhibition about changing, although he still didn’t remember anything from his time as a Were. He trusted Yanmei implicitly. She kept him from running astray while telling him of their exploits afterwards.

He was enthralled by her tales, not always believing them but entertained nonetheless.

Kimber kept pace while Auburn and Nick were louder than the rest of them combined. They slowed to regroup.

“We’re going to change. You keep back and follow our lead,” Aaron cautioned.

“Stop,” Kimber hissed as the Weretigers started to disrobe. “You two will disappear in the darkness, and I’ll have no way to contact you.”

Aaron and Yanmei stopped, thought about it, then put their shirts back on. Nick watched closely, still unused to how the Weres would get naked at a moment’s notice.

And how beautiful and well-muscled they were. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to it, but he liked it, although he tried not to let them catch him staring.

He wasn’t able to look at normal women the same way after joining the tac team.

And none of that mattered. No matter where they went, the others sprinted at incredible speed. It took every ounce of Nick’s energy just to keep up, let alone think about what was happening, but he wouldn’t quit. He couldn’t. Any other unenhanced human who wanted a shot at joining a tactical team needed to know that it could be done, that it had been done.

The Unknown World wasn’t a place forbidden to the unenhanced. It was a place that was really hard to get to, but not impossible. As he sucked wind, he watched Kimber try to talk Aaron and Yanmei out of changing into Weretigers. In the end, she won and they remained in human form.

While they were stopped, the Weretigers reached out with their senses and found enclaves of Weres scattered throughout the city. Here and there, one, two, or small groups.

“Where did they come from?” Yanmei asked.

Aaron shook his head.

“We’ll scout the lone Were first, then the two different pairs and finally the small groups. Ready?” Aaron asked.

“No. We have no idea where they are. Please, point out where we’ll be going,” Kim asked.

Aaron apologized profusely before climbing into a tree with Kim to point out where each target was located.

“How close do you want to get to them?” she asked.

“A block or two, no closer?” Aaron sounded unsure.

“That close?”

Aaron’s eyebrow shot upward. “Do you have something else in mind?”

“Maybe we can watch from here. Can you see what you need to see, maybe even smell some things if we get downwind from them?” Kim offered.

“I’m a bit rusty, you have to admit, and I was never really good at this warrior stuff in the first place.” Aaron deferred to Kimber.

“None of us are as smart as all of us,” she replied, before pointing ninety degrees to the side. “Over there should be directly downwind from the first few Were you pointed out.”

Aaron held out his hand for Kim to shake. She took it and pulled hard as she started to lose her balance, slapping her free hand against the trunk to catch herself.

“Watch that,” Aaron said helpfully. She shook her head and jumped the ten feet to the ground. Aaron followed her down, landing softly and soundlessly.

“Follow me,” she said quietly, making a chopping motion with her arm in the direction they were going.

Tac Team Alpha

Ted and Ramses were racing ahead. Cory was helping Destiny avoid obstacles. The two women ran quickly, but they were limited. In the brush and under the trees, Destiny couldn’t see like a Werewolf.

“Slow down,” Cory called. Ted shushed her and kept running until Ramses grabbed him by the arm.

“Ted! We have to stay together. We’ll accomplish the mission, but only if we don’t lose anyone,” Ramses whispered.

Ted looked at the ground and kicked the dirt. He was singularly focused on reaching the objective. The others were preventing him from doing that, and it was causing him a great deal of grief.

He remembered how much he didn’t enjoy working with others and now he was forced into close proximity with relative strangers. Ted sat down with his back against a tree, closed his eyes, and rocked back and forth as he tried to think through the problem.

He kept coming back to the same conclusion. He needed to go it alone. Ted stopped rocking and slowly opened his eyes. When the others looked away, he slipped into the shadows and disappeared.

Tac Team Delta

Terry’s group walked to their observation point, the OP that Terry and Char had selected to give them the best view—the abandoned tower at what used to be Midway Airport. It was mostly overgrown now, most of the buildings had collapsed long before. It was no longer prime real estate.

It was good enough for what Terry and Char wanted.

“Kurtz. You stay down here and watch, make sure no one sneaks up on us. If you get tired, let us know. Everyone needs to sleep at some point,” Terry said, slapping the young man on the shoulder.

The private shook his head. “I’ll be fine, sir. Do what you have to do, and I’ll make sure that you aren’t interrupted.”

Terry nodded, turned, and followed Char to the stairs, stepping lightly as they moved upward, with Shonna and Merrit close behind.

Kurtz settled in, but didn’t sit, didn’t lean against a wall. He wasn’t going to risk falling asleep. The colonel had trusted him with a job and he meant to do it.

The private scouted around the building, stopping every five feet to listen and watch for movement. He memorized the area around the tower. When he completed a circuit, he went around a second time, in the opposite direction, taking a different path. When he had built a model of the area within his mind, he dissected it, picking the best fields of fire based on the best avenues of approach. From where would an enemy come?

His mind worked too much to be tired. He was on a mission and it felt good. He leaned down to look closely at the ground, see what kind of creatures had left tracks. As he studied the dirt, he heard a sound that didn’t belong.

CHAPTER TEN

Tac Team Forsaken

“The middle of the road?” Sarah whispered as she jogged to keep up. The three Forsaken were walking, but quickly. They moved fast, not bothering with stealth. It made for easy going. “We’re not supposed to be seen.”

“Pish posh,” Joseph replied. Petricia smirked. “Don’t you remember? We own the night. We are creatures of the night, so walking down the middle of the road, striking fear into the hearts of our enemies, is kind of what we do!”

“Since when?” Sarah rebutted Joseph’s claim.

“Since hundreds of years ago when we used to be somebody who other people didn’t mess with. We struck terror into the hearts of the unwitting,” Joseph said, following it with an evil laugh.

“Uncle Joe,” Sarah replied. She started to laugh. “That is bullshit.”

“I told you,” Petricia said softly.

“I used to be somebody!” Joseph cried dramatically, throwing his hands out and looking upward.

The other three watched him. “You’ve never had the pleasure of the greatest movies known to mankind—the works of Boris Karloff and Vincent Price. You have no idea what you’re missing. My best humor, wasted on the ignorance of youth.”

Sarah put her fists on her hips to deliver her best look.

“We’re not alone,” Joseph said. Sarah started to shake her head, but he stopped her with a raised hand. Petricia and Andrew tensed as they looked into the night. Sarah could see, almost as well as in the daylight, but she couldn’t catch any movements.

The Forsaken must have been looking into the other dimension, where Sarah couldn’t see. She crouched and waited for direction. She knew her shortcomings, and she knew why her grandfather had put her with Joseph. He could sense more than the rest of them, including reading minds. His gifts would help keep her safe.

“There,” Andrew whispered and pointed, then added for Sarah’s edification, “a small pack of Werewolves, in Were form.”

Sarah nodded.

Joseph waved the tac team forward, and they started to run, picking up speed as they rounded a corner. Four Werewolves were there. Small as far as Were went.

The pack stood their ground, snarling and snapping their jaws at the intruders. Joseph slowed.

“Begone!” he bellowed, making a cross with his fingers.

The others didn’t think he was taking it seriously. Petricia slapped him across the arm.

“Fine,” he conceded before looking more closely at the Were. He was unable to get anything he could understand from the animal minds. “We have to catch one or two and force them back into human form.”

Andrew waved for Sarah to join him as he walked wide to the right. Joseph and Petricia moved to their left, giving each pair space to work. The Werewolves showed the fangs, continuing to stand their ground.

Joseph dashed forward, punching as he lunged and connecting with the side of a shaggy beast’s head. It rolled away with a yip, coming back onto unsteady feet. Petricia darted at the second wolf, jumping high as Joseph went low. The big male leaned back, ignoring Joseph to focus on the Forsaken coming from above. She couldn’t turn.

He caught her arm in its jaws and surged into her, knocking her backward before her feet touched the ground.

Joseph dove, hammering on the creature’s back with his fists. It let go, vaulted over Petricia, and raced down the road.

***

“I’ll take the one on the right,” Sarah said.

“Sure,” Andrew agreed as he angled left. Sarah crouched and stalked forward. The adrenaline surged through her body. Her senses sharpened and time seemed to slow down. She worked her way forward, taking two steps to the Were’s one. Sarah closed the gap quickly.

The jaws. Watch the jaws, she reminded herself, crouching lower and keeping her hands loose and in front of her.

It charged her, snapping for her face. She slapped the side of its head to redirect the jaws, then caught it by the scruff of the neck with her other hand. She pulled herself around to get behind the bitch’s head. It pranced and bucked.

Sarah didn’t know how it happened, but she found herself straddling its back. The she-wolf ran. Sarah tried to get an arm around its throat, but was hard-pressed just to hang on.

Choke it until it passes out, she thought. Sarah wrapped both arms around its neck and let herself be thrown off. She hit the ground with a grunt, but hung on tightly, twisting the Werewolf’s head sideways. It dragged her forward until it fell, huffing and scrambling with its paws as it tried to get back to its feet.

She pulled harder against the neck, no longer twisting as she compressed the soft tissue. The beast’s breathing became ragged as it struggled and tossed its head. The Werewolf’s skull smacked against her face repeatedly as it tried to beat her until she loosened her grip.

Sarah tucked her head into the neck fur and continued to squeeze. The Werewolf went limp. Sarah pushed it off and rolled way. She stood, panting and gasping for air. She smiled and nodded as she turned back. The Forsaken and the other Werewolves were nowhere to be seen.

***

Joseph stopped to look at the wound on Petricia’s arm. Werewolf bite. That would heal, eventually, but he needed her at the top of her game now. Petricia winced in pain, but stood and looked for the Werewolf. Andrew was dancing in a circle with one of the creatures.

Sarah was nowhere to be seen. The other two Werewolves were running down an alley. Joseph cut his hand and dripped some of his own blood onto Petricia’s arm. Only a few drops, but with her nanocytes working from within and his nanocytes working on the skin, her wound closed.

She flexed her hand and smiled darkly. “We have a Werewolf to catch,” she said.

“Dammit!” Andrew called out as his Werewolf was making its best speed toward the alley.

“You let it go?” Joseph asked, incredulous.

“No!” Andrew snapped back. “I was probing for weakness. I was almost ready to put it out of my misery.”

“Or something like that,” Joseph replied. He closed his eyes as he concentrated. Sarah had things well in hand not far away. “We won’t be long,” he told her, even though she couldn’t hear him.

***

Sarah started to panic, then calmed. What had she been taught?

Assess the situation, guarantee your own security, and then find a way out. She looked around, using her heightened senses to see the block and build it in her mind. Find where an enemy would be strongest, or weakest, then weigh the mission objectives.

She was banged up, but she’d heal. She had an unconscious Werewolf at her feet, but that wouldn’t remain for long. Her security depended on the Were not being able to attack her again. She took off her small backpack, removed the short length of rope that Terry had made standard issue, and trussed the Werewolf like an errant calf.

She looked around again before trying to drag the Werewolf in the direction she’d come. Sarah soon realized that none of it looked familiar. She’d been watching the Forsaken instead of the landscape. She had no idea where she was.

Sarah hung her head, furious with herself while at the same time feeling like she was going to cry. She patted the communication device in her pocket.

Using it would be admitting failure. She left it where it was, dropped the Werewolf, and strode up the middle of the street. “Who owns the night?” she asked the darkness.

***

Joseph, Petricia, and Andrew found the building that the Werewolves had gone into. They were still in Were form, but were heading out the back. The block was solid buildings. They would lose them going the long way around. Joseph made his decision instantly, pointing at the open doorway and chopping his hand as Terry had taught them.

Andrew went in first, then Petricia. Joseph checked the alley one last time before following them through.

The explosion blew Joseph back out the doorway, across the alley, and slammed him into the wall beyond. He grunted as he hit, rolled to his feet, and pulled himself forward on his way back toward the building.

He entered, squinting through the dust and smoke, until he heard their moans of pain. They were both alive, but somewhere within the creaking, groaning structure. The first beam fell, clipping Joseph’s shoulder, then another. He ran forward fearlessly, bouncing off debris and falling twice before he reached them, both mostly buried.

Another beam fell.

Petricia was buried up to her neck. Andrew’s feet were visible. He’d been tossed upside-down by the explosion.

Joseph tried to pull Petricia free. Her eyes fluttered. “Help Andrew,” she stammered, trying to lick her dirt-covered lips. She was bleeding. Joseph could smell it.

***

Sarah heard the explosion. She needed to go there, knowing instinctively that it was her people in the middle of it. She ran, her feet hammering the old pavement and dirt as she hit her top speed.

“I’m coming,” she whispered into the wind.

***

Joseph moved to Andrew and pulled on his feet, but there was too much debris. He started removing it until he could get a good grip. He pulled Andrew free. The Forsaken’s arms were broken and he was unconscious, but alive.

Joseph started clearing debris around Petricia. He pulled her free and set her down to examine her. A large wood splinter was embedded in her abdomen. “Your nanocytes will be better served without that there,” Joseph said clinically. “This might hurt a little.”

He grabbed it and yanked. She gasped in pain. Joseph put pressure on the horrendous wound as Petricia passed out.

The structure creaked. The upper floors started crashing into the floor below as it started to come down. A thousand tons of brick and steel was coming their way.

“NO!” Joseph screamed.

***

Sarah heard Joseph’s cry from up ahead. She could run no faster, only listen to the sounds of a building’s last gasp.

She slowed as bricks and debris fell into the street, and the upper floors disappeared, falling into the interior.

The rumble froze her in place as the building collapsed into itself.

***

Joseph looked at the two, grabbing Petricia and tossing her over his shoulder as he ran for the doorway. The building was coming down. Bricks rained on the unconscious form of his wife, but he couldn’t protect her. He couldn’t shield her.

He wasn’t even sure he could save her.

***

Sarah watched in horror as the building fell, exploding against the foundation and showering rubble over its neighbors as it succumbed to its death throes.

Two figures were thrown across the alley, splattering against the wall and sliding down.

Sarah shouted as she ran. When she reached them, she found Joseph struggling to get back to his feet. Petricia was injured, bleeding profusely from wounds all over her body. Joseph was bleeding as well, but his injuries were far less serious.

Sarah knew what to do. Stop the bleeding was always first. She put pressure on Petricia’s abdomen where the worst wound was slowly healing. Sarah maintained pressure with one hand while she fought with her pack to free a flask.

It was taking too long, but Sarah didn’t let up. Joseph sighed heavily as he was finally able to raise his head.

Sarah uncorked the flask and poured water on Petricia’s lips. Joseph appeared next to her, a knife hovering over his arm. He slashed into himself, and his blood poured over Sarah’s hand.

She recoiled in horror. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Joseph didn’t answer. He shook his arm to hasten the flow, then prepared to slash into his other arm. Sarah caught his wrist and fought with him. “NO!” she screamed, ripping the knife from his hand and throwing it across the alley.

She returned to putting pressure on the worst of the wounds, but Joseph’s blood was doing the trick, healing the exposed and damage organs, lacing the muscle back together and knitting the skin closed.

Joseph stumbled two steps away and collapsed.

Sarah pulled her comm device. There was no hesitation. She knew that she needed help.

***

Terry closed his comm device and thought for a moment. “Call Cory and tell her team to go to Joseph’s sector. They need her help. We’ll be waiting for her.”

Char made the call as Terry descended as far as he needed to before jumping to the ground floor. Shonna and Merrit followed his lead. They didn’t need to say a word. They waited for less than ten seconds before Char appeared.

Terry was already outside. “Joseph’s sector. We’ll meet you there,” Terry told the private. When Char left the building, Terry took off. He ran as fast as his enhanced body could go. Char was by his side, but the other Werewolves where challenged to keep up.

Kurtz had never seen anything like it. He sprinted as hard as he could and yet, in under a minute, he couldn’t even hear which way they had gone. But he remembered the map. He pushed himself hard, but he was on his own.

***

“Team Forsaken was in that explosion we heard,” Cory said as she looked around for Ted. She shook her head. “Let’s go.”

Ramses saw that Ted had disappeared. He knew Uncle Ted well enough. “The mission is yours, Ted. Good luck,” Ramses said before running after his wife and Destiny Chase.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Chicago

Terry didn’t slow down as he approached. He crouched and slid to a stop, checking on Sarah first. Her face was bruised and battered.

“What happened?” he asked her.

“Building blew up, I guess,” she ventured. Tipping her chin toward Joseph, she added, “He hasn’t said anything.”

“Where were you?” Char asked, not able to envision what had taken place.

“I was fighting a Werewolf, back that way, but when I heard the explosion, I came as fast as I could.”

“Where’s Andrew?” Terry interrupted. Sarah shrugged. Terry moved to Joseph and more firmly repeated his question. “Where’s Andrew?”

Joseph looked up with tear-filled eyes. Terry had the Forsaken by the shoulders and was shaking him.

“He’s in there,” Joseph said softly.

“What happened?” Terry said and stopped shaking the man.

“I had to choose, TH. I had to choose which one of my friends got to die. And I chose me. Take your Mameluke and end me now. Save me the pain that I will be forced to endure for the rest of time.” Joseph seized Terry by the collar and pulled him close. “Do this for me!” he growled into Terry’s face.

“No!” Terry said, shocked. He pushed Joseph back. “I won’t do it.”

The Forsaken slumped, his energy spent and his head hanging.

Terry looked to Char, pointing with an eye-flick toward the building. Is Andrew alive?

She shook her head as she sat with an arm draped around her granddaughter’s shoulders. They stayed that way as Petricia started breathing more regularly, relaxing as the pain tapered off.

Shonna and Merrit dug fruitlessly at the rubble, crawling over it as they tried to find some evidence of what had happened. They found the scent of the other three Werewolves, but they were long gone.

Cordelia and Ramses ran into the alley, followed shortly by Destiny, who slowed to a walk, putting her hands on her head as she dragged air into her tortured lungs.

Cory dropped her pack as she neared, looking at Petricia as she kneeled by her side. Cory examined the Forsaken to best determine which injuries to heal first, then she began methodically tackling the wounds.

No one said a word.

Terry stalked up and down the alley, fury rising within him. They’d been ambushed. The Weres were back and they had just declared war on Terry Henry Walton.

Petricia’s eyes opened briefly and then closed. Cory cradled her head, stroking the Forsaken’s cheeks.

When her eyes opened again, they were clear. She blinked as she looked from one face to the next. “What happened?” she mumbled.

“That’s our question for you,” Char said as Terry leaned over her shoulder, focused like a laser on Petricia’s next words.

“Werewolves lured us through here. It was a trap,” she managed to say, breathing heavily from her exertions.

“Take it easy. Relax. There’s no hurry.

Footsteps hammered their way into the alley. Kurtz had arrived. He joined Destiny in sucking wind, trying to collect his wits so he could contribute, do whatever he was ordered to do, whatever needed to be done.

Shonna called out from the top of the rubble pile. “I have them.”

“Are you going to be okay if we leave you here?” Terry asked. Char looked angrily at him, but understood. There was nothing else they could do for her.

Cory’s eyes drooped from her efforts. “You stay here with them,” Terry told his daughter. “Ramses, Joseph, with us. You two. Protect them with your lives.”

Joseph’s head lolled on his neck. Terry left him. Ramses stood and nodded. Tyson Kurtz and Destiny Chase brought their weapons to the front and took up positions on either side of Cory, Joseph, and Petricia.

Terry, Char, Sarah, and Ramses picked their way over the rubble and into the street beyond. Merrit was holding Shonna’s clothes while she sniffed the ground, having changed into a shaggy brown Werewolf. She howled at the crescent moon crossing the night sky before racing ahead, following the scent of the enemy.

The others ran behind, staying close and watching. Ramses stayed within arm’s length of Sarah. They were all in danger, and he couldn’t let anything happen to his daughter.

Japan

It had been two weeks and Marcie had yet to say a word besides her initial greeting to Akio. She wasn’t allowed to speak until her mind calmed sufficiently.

She was still meditating, walking in the garden, or sleeping. That was all Akio allowed her to do. He would guide her meditations, and then leave her alone. Those periods extended or contracted. She never knew how long she was meditating. She was sleep-deprived and her body ached to do something other than sit.

When the next session ended, she headed for the garden. She decided to run laps.

Akio intercepted her. “What are you doing?” he asked.

She raised one eyebrow in question.

“Yes, you may speak.”

“Akio-sama,” she croaked before coughing and clearing her throat. “The more I do nothing, the more my body craves something to do.”

“Meditating is not doing nothing,” Akio replied tersely.

Marcie bowed her head. “I meant physically. My mind races. My body needs to run. I humbly ask your permission to work out in conjunction with my meditation.”

Akio critically looked at her before diving deeply into her mind. The storm of her thoughts refused to calm. Her body screamed at her, turning the storm into a hurricane, keeping her from clearing away the clouds.

“Yes, Marcie-san, you may. No sparring, but the obstacle course and calisthenics. Please.” He swept his hand by, pointing the way to where she wanted to go and allowing her to pass.

She grinned and bolted on her way to the obstacle course, running through it and over it. Doing burpees by the hundreds. Then sit-ups and more calisthenics. Akio could feel the joy she radiated.

Yuko stood at his side and watched. “Have you ever seen anything like her?”

Akio smiled. “She reminds me of somebody, yes. When she is sufficiently tired, we shall see if she has better control over her mind. I suspect the answer is yes, when most others, the answer would be no.”

“Each person is unique. Each trains according to where they are best served. Each stands alone.” Yuko bowed and excused herself. She had a sparring session with Eve planned using kendo swords. She refused to be late.

“Each stands alone,” Akio replied.

Chicago

Shonna stopped, sniffed the ground, then the air, then circled as she looked for the trail. She turned her shaggy head toward her mate and started to whimper.

Char closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to sense those with etheric abilities. She discovered them, high above. “Look out!” she yelled and waved the others to follow her.

They ran, not knowing why.

Nothing happened, but they trusted their alpha and accepted that she had somehow protected them.

They huddled around the corner. Shonna changed back into human form and dressed as Char talked.

“They are on the upper floors. There’s a group of three up top and three more climbing. I’m not sure the two groups are related, though. It looks like a fight is brewing.”

“Then we better get up there,” Terry growled. “We don’t want the good guys to lose. Shonna, can you recognize the three you’ve been chasing?”

“Oh, yeah,” she replied, nodding. Terry slapped her shoulder and ran along the wall, looking for a way into the high-rise where the Werewolves had taken refuge. He was curious about the newcomers. He pulled his pistol, checked the safety with his thumb to make sure it was on, and then ran like the wind.

The others followed single file as he waved Char into the lead. She could do things he couldn’t, like sense exactly where the others were. Char flowed past, took a sharp turn as she crashed through a doorway and hit the steps at a full sprint as she headed upward, vaulting three at a time as she climbed.

***

Joseph stood, looked at Petricia. “I’m so sorry, my love,” he told her.

Tears rolled down her face. “I can’t imagine,” she whispered.

“It’s time for us to go,” he said as he prepared to pick her up.

“Are you supposed to leave?” Destiny asked, looking at the Forsaken. Her eyes darted to Cordelia, who was half-lying against a wall and sound asleep.

“We are free to do as we wish. Protect her. That is your mission now. And give these to the colonel, with our regrets.” Joseph handed the private two communication devices. He leaned back down and took Petricia into his arms.

He stood, turned, and walked away. She sobbed with her head nestled into his shoulder. His chest heaved as he joined his wife in crying through his pain.

Kurtz watched them pass, unsure of what to do. Forsaken who were too distraught to carry on. He never imagined that such a thing could happen.

Joseph continued down the alley and disappeared into the darkness.

Kurtz looked to Cory and then at Destiny. He caught the movement over her shoulder.

“Look out!” Kurtz yelled as the Werewolf leapt.

***

Char and Terry raced past the first ten floors before slowing down. Char signaled that they were getting close. Shonna, Merrit, Sarah, and Ramses were close behind, climbing as quietly as they could.

The snarling from up ahead said that the fight was underway. Terry surged ahead with Char right on his heels, both pistols out and fingers caressing the triggers as TH told her not to do.

They burst through the door and ran down a short hallway, then into an open area where a three on three Werewolf fight was underway. Terry took aim, but hesitated to fire. Char panned her pistols back and forth, unable to know which target she wanted to shoot at. The others joined them.

Shonna and Merrit were unarmed, but Ramses and Sarah carried their rifles. He took a knee at Terry’s side, aimed, and waited for the Were that would emerge as an enemy. Sarah assumed her firing position on Char’s side.

Neither had any idea how they would be able to tell good from bad.

Shonna sniffed the air. She’d been trailing them and could tell the scents apart. She could have been a gifted hunter, but had never felt the thrill. “The three are in there. We need them to separate before I can be sure,” Shonna told them as the fur was flying and bodies were being thrown around.

“Fuck this,” Terry grumbled, putting his pistol away and pulling his sword.

Char covered him as he waded forward.

“STOP!” he bellowed. A fighting pair separated in a moment of the fight. Terry thrust his sword between them. “I said FUCKING STOP!”

One Were snapped at him, so he slapped its snout with the flat of his blade. The other snapped. “Which one?” Terry yelled over his shoulder, keeping the two Werewolves apart.

Shonna eased closer. “Left,” she said.

Terry turned, ignoring the Werewolf to his right. He charged left, forcing the Were backwards. It snapped and snarled as it tried to get past the point of his blade.

“Change into human form,” he ordered. It growled at him. He slashed, skipping the blade across the Werewolf’s head, cleanly removing part of its scalp and one ear.

It yipped and lunged at Terry Henry. He drove the point of his Mameluke through its chest as he turned, letting the beast’s momentum carry it past. He rotated his wrist and arm, yanking his silvered sword free. The Werewolf flopped twice on the floor and exhaled one last time.

Terry looked toward the next pair as the tac team spread out behind him, cutting off any escape.

The Were that Shonna had designated as a non-enemy changed into human form. He was a very old man, still breathing heavily from his fight. “Thank you,” he said, before sitting next to the carcass of his enemy.

Terry didn’t bother with a reply. His focus was elsewhere.

***

Cory shot upright at the first warning yell, but wasn’t able to move before the fight started.

Destiny turned and ducked, only her lightning quick gymnastic skills saving her from getting her head bitten off. The Werewolf settled for a mouthful of shoulder, biting deeply as it spun through the air.

The warrior wasn’t heavy enough to remain upright as the Werewolf flew by and she was pulled off her feet. She flailed with one arm and two legs as the Werewolf hit heavily and clamped down on her shoulder. The breaking bones sent a shockwave of pain through her body.

Destiny Chase screamed in agony.

Tyson aimed his rifle, but the pair was twisting and turning. He couldn’t get a clean shot. He angled away to keep Cory out of his line of fire. He stalked sideways, watching over the barrel with both eyes, looking for an opening so he could squeeze off a round to free the other human from the Were’s bite.

The Werewolf had other ideas. It threw its head backwards, lifting Destiny off her feet. The woman screamed again, bloodcurdling in its terror and pain.

The woman was thrown into the air. Kurtz fired, hitting the creature in the chest. It flinched, but still caught the young woman as she fell. It bit into her stomach and then rushed toward Tyson, using its prey like a shield.

He ducked and dodged, but the only thing exposed was its legs. Kurtz swung his rifle like a club, hitting a foreleg and knocking the Werewolf over. It rolled and turned, standing on three legs, an unconscious Destiny still in its mouth.

***

“Which one?” Terry asked, not taking his eyes from the two combatants.

“Can’t tell yet.” Shonna leaned over his shoulder.

Terry yelled his war cry and charged, slamming bodily into the Werewolves and forcing them apart. He stood between them, whirling a dangerous figure eight around himself.

“That one,” Shonna said confidently. Terry turned toward his enemy. The other Werewolf jumped on Terry’s back.

He hadn’t been ready for the attack, but his training and reflexes were honed to near vampiric speed. He shrugged, twisted, caught a handful of fur, and punched the Were in the side of the head with the cross guard of his Mameluke.

He threw the stunned beast aside. He still hadn’t taken his eyes from his enemy. “You killed one of my friends,” he told it. “Change into human form. NOW!”

It bared its fangs and looked back and forth, before realizing that it was trapped. A new enemy had appeared and they were far greater than the pack of oldsters they had attacked.

He shimmered for a moment and then stood there, in his naked glory.

“Fucking Jonas!” Char shouted, throwing a table aside as she rushed forward.

“Sucks to be you,” Terry said softly.

The pistol’s report made him wince. The bullet passed too close for Terry’s comfort before slamming into Jonas’s chest. The next two rounds tore his head apart. Char jumped over the staggering Werewolf and straddled Jonas, emptying both pistols into his corpse.

Terry turned to the last pair, who were no longer fighting but watching. They were standing apart. “One of you killed my friend, and the other is free to go,” Terry told them as he walked their way, tapping the flat side of his sword blade against his hand.

“Shonna?”

One Werewolf jumped behind the other. The second tried to move away. “The one acting guilty,” she replied.

“Change into human form or I will cut your legs off one by one,” Terry said plainly.

The creature hesitated before resuming its human form. A young-looking woman appeared before them. She stood angling to give Terry the best view of her body.

“Not impressed,” he deadpanned. “Why?”

“Why what?” she replied seductively, her tongue tracing a slow line around her lips.

“You killed my friend. The last thing I want is to have sex with you. I’d be just as happy taking your head off right now, but I’d like some answers. What you say will determine how long you get to live,” Terry explained, drawing in the air with the tip of his sword.

She glared for a moment. Char moved forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Terry.

“The purple-eyed Werewolf,” the woman said. “I’d heard stories, but I didn’t think they were true.”

Terry pointed his sword at her. “Why?”

“We’re trying to secure our territory. We set a trap and your pet Forsaken walked into it. Simple as that.” She crossed her arms and stood tall in defiance.

“Why was this group here, fighting you?”

She shrugged.

“I’ll tell you why,” a new voice offered. Terry didn’t look away from the Were bitch.

“Pray, continue,” he told the voice.

“The territory they were trying to carve out was from ours. We’re just trying to keep the peace while this bunch only wanted power.”

“Jonas told us that this area was ripe for the taking. It seems like he was mistaken. You’ve made him pay for his transgression. Good riddance, I say. He was horrible in bed, too,” the Were bitch said, arms still crossed as she looked from the other Were to Terry and back. “We acted on bad information. It doesn’t make us bad, just poor judges of who we should trust.”

Terry nodded to Char to watch the Were bitch. He turned toward the other man whose pack had joined him. Three Weres, older, one much older.

“Where did you come from?” Terry asked.

“Way north, north of Hudson Bay. We stayed for a long time, until it started to get cold again. Chicago seemed like a good place to call home, so here we are,” the old Werewolf explained. “I wanted a good place for my daughter, Jacqueline, to learn honor, understand how we can blend in with humanity, be at peace outside the Unknown World.”

“I like you,” Terry replied, guiding the tip of his sword with one hand over his shoulder and into its scabbard. He slid the Mameluke home. “Do you want to take care of this thing? I’d like to get back to my friends. I think they need help.”

“If I may ask a great warrior like yourself, who are you?” The old man bowed his head slightly as he asked his question.

“I’m Terry Henry Walton, but my friends call me TH.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Chicago

“I’m Charumati.” She stepped forward to shake the oldster’s hand.

“Terrence and Charlita,” he said softly, as if remembering something from long ago.

“Terry and Char,” she said their names, turning to look at her husband. Terry wasn’t as quick to judge.

“That’s what they go by, too. Good kids. They have a great future with the North American Pack Council.”

“NAPC is operating?” Char had been a member in good standing when she lived in New York City with the pack.

“Sure. The alpha is a big male, goes by Joshua. Joshua Timmons.”

Char’s jaw dropped to the floor. Terry shuffled uncomfortably, looking for something else to do. Shonna and Merrit looked shocked. Ramses and Sarah finally slung their rifles and stood casually.

Terry held up a finger. “I need to check in with our other team.” He mashed some buttons on his device and waited.

Terry looked at it. Cory wasn’t answering. He called Joseph, and then Petricia. No answer. Char had turned her full attention to Terry’s actions as he punched buttons with greater and greater speed.

He called Kurtz and then called Destiny.

“No,” he whispered, before finding his voice. “Watch them and recall all tac teams to our pos!” he ordered Shonna and Merrit as he vaulted obstacles on his way to the stairs. Char was right behind him with Ramses and Sarah sprinting after them.

***

The Werewolf charged Kurtz again and he held it off a second time. He looked for a way to get a clean shot, aiming over the top of the barrel as he moved, never crossing his feet.

The Were charged, throwing Destiny’s body at him. He tried to dodge, but the body hit him in the chest. The Werewolf grabbed Tyson’s rifle in its mouth, twisted, and ripped it free of the sling. Kurtz staggered backward, pushing Destiny from him and ignoring the sickening splat as she hit the ground.

He crouched, a knife leaping into his hand, but he was no longer the target. The Werewolf reared back and jumped for Cory.

Kurtz was faster, throwing his body in between and slamming into the Were’s head as Cory sidestepped away. The private grabbed a handful of fur and started stabbing with the other hand. Thrust after thrust. The Werewolf yipped and looked for a place to bite, but Kurtz wore his body armor and its fangs couldn’t penetrate the Kevlar, not at the angle it had.

The private held its head tightly into his chest as it started to buck and pull backward, like a monster dog playing tug-of-war. He stabbed it in the neck again, but wasn’t finding a vulnerable point. A shot rang out as Cory had recovered his carbine and fired into the creature’s haunches.

It yelped from the pain, but refused to give in. Kurtz pulled it tighter to him, thrusting from behind the thing’s skull and driving the blade into its brain.

The Werewolf flopped to the ground, pulling Kurtz with it. It changed into a rough looking man and then started to wither. Kurtz pushed it away from him, crawling backwards to lean against the wall. Cory’s glowing blue eyes watched him.

“Destiny Chase,” he forced himself to say.

Cory shook her head. “You’re injured,” she said. Bites and scrapes. Kurtz hadn’t seen that one of the fangs and ripped through the side of his bicep, clipping his brachial artery. When he lifted his arm, blood spurted across his chest. He watched it dumbly. A second spurt, close to the first.

He clamped his arm to his side, but his strength was waning. Cory dove for him, hands out. She concentrated, taxing herself to the limit. Her nanocytes glowed blue as they left her body and healed the young private. With the artery sealed and the skin sewing itself back together, the glow faded and Cory slumped across Kurtz’s lap.

He had already passed out, head on his chest, wedged into the debris from the building’s demise. A comm device started to buzz.

***

Terry jumped from landing to landing as he raced down the stairs. Had there been an opening, he would have jumped the last five flights, taking his chances in order to save time.

When he hit the bottom stair, he burst through the door and raced into the night. He accelerated to a speed no human should have been capable of. He maintained perfect form as he ran. Char powered along behind while Sarah and Ramses had fallen back, but were still within sight.

They’d only chased the Weres for less than two miles. Retracing their steps was easy. Terry always seemed to know where he was.

Char passed Terry in the final stretch. She knew something was wrong. The Forsaken were gone, but Cory was still there with one of the privates. They ran over the rubble of the collapsed building, leaping from mound to mound and vaulting the last thirty feet to the alley where they had last seen their daughter.

Char ran to her daughter while Terry checked on the naked man lying in the street. He knew a dead Werewolf when he saw one. The knife’s hilt was sticking out of the back of its neck. Not far away, Destiny Chase’s body was cooling within a great puddle of blood.

Joseph and Petricia were nowhere to be seen.

Terry breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Char smile and nod.

He joined her, kneeling by her side and hanging his head. “I fucked this up twelve different ways from Sunday,” he lamented, stopping his self-recrimination when Ramses and Sarah arrived.

Char moved away so Ramses could be with his wife and Sarah with her mother. Ramses hugged her to him and cradled her as she slept the sleep of the exhausted. Sarah fumbled around, trying to help her parents and the warrior Kurtz get comfortable.

For some reason, she knew that he’d saved her mother’s life. She didn’t know how, but understood that the two had fought a terrible battle with the Were to protect Cordelia.

Terry and Char looked at the battlefield, an alley, strewn with debris and splattered with the blood of human, Were, and Forsaken.

“We were gone too long,” Terry started. “I know. I can’t control everything, but the world’s recovery has plunged it further into chaos. We can’t even walk through Chicago without putting our lives at risk? This was a training exercise.”

“Bullshit,” Char said softly. She grabbed Terry’s collar. He saw fear in her eyes. She leaned close. “We’re counting on you. All of us, to do what’s best for humanity.”

Terry hugged his wife, nibbling on her ear.

“I am a rock,” he said.

“Your destiny, my love.”

“Our destiny.” Terry wiped his eyes. “I must have gotten some grit during the run. Made my eyes water, but it looks like I can focus now.”

Char smiled, closed-lipped, as she looked at the carnage one more time. “Weres have always been ingenious when it came to taking over territory. Mostly harmless could be a good description, but bullies and assholes might be better.”

“They always said that you can’t legislate morality. Where do we draw the line between how much of an asshole one can be before we step in? We can’t have killings like this. I like those oldsters. They’re survivors. They aren’t going to stir up shit just to have something to do.”

Terry one-arm hugged Char as he pulled his comm device and called Shonna and Merrit. “Bring them back to the alley. All of them.” He cut it off without waiting for a reply.

Kurtz was first to awake. Sarah called TH over.

“I’m sorry, sir. He got Destiny before we could react. Used her as a shield until it got my rifle.” Kurtz looked for the words but didn’t continue. He coughed heavily to clear his lungs.

“He used his body as a shield to protect me,” Cory added sleepily.

“Where’s Joseph?” Terry asked without acknowledging their stories.

“He picked up Petricia, handed over their comm devices, and left,” Tyson answered as Cory had drifted back to sleep.

Terry looked at the private closely. “You did well, better than any unenhanced human I’ve seen taking on a Werewolf with just a knife and winning. You protected my daughter, offering your life for hers. There is no higher testament of one’s loyalty and dedication. I have nothing to give. That others can live good lives is our reward. I will promote you to lieutenant. That’s the least I can do. It may be important some day.”

Terry squeezed the man’s shoulder.

“Thank you, sir.” Kurtz didn’t know what else to say.

Tac Team Echo was the first to arrive. The four Werewolves jogged up while Samantha Matthews ran full speed. She tried not to show how hard she was breathing, failing miserably as her nostrils flared and her chest heaved.

“Who is Joshua Timmons?” Char demanded.

“What?” Timmons replied, reeling backward from the verbal assault.

“You heard me. I thought I knew you,” she said accusingly. Sue stepped away and crossed her arms as she glared at Timmons.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Timmons said as the options raced through his mind. He’d never had a mate before Sue. There had been trysts when he lived in New York City, but that was one hundred and forty years prior. “Do I have a son?”

“It appears that you do,” Char said, easing off after seeing the confusion on his face. He never knew. As the alpha, it was her place to know because of potential challengers to lead the pack. Those kinds of secrets had a tendency to be fatal to more than just the bastard pup.

Timmons looked at Sue, who was just as quick to forgive. She hugged her mate, before realizing they were in the midst of carnage. “Holy cow. What happened here?”

“Andrew is dead. Destiny Chase is dead. Joseph and Petricia are gone,” Terry answered, giving a clinical rundown of their losses.

“Oh, no!” Sue cried. “I liked Andrew.”

“We all did.” Terry’s features reflected the hard leader that he had been. He’d softened over the fifty years they spent living the tropical life, but now he was back. A stagnant FDG? Insurrection from the sergeants? And losing one of his core teams?

He snarled. “The world better watch the fuck out. We’re coming. Judge, jury, and executioner.” Terry tipped his head back and yelled at the sky. “LISTEN UP, DOUCHEBAGS! WE’RE COMING FOR YOU!”

Shonna and Merrit appeared at the end of the alley, having gone around instead of over the rubble. They had the three older Werewolves with them. They’d found clothing along the way and all were dressed.

The oldest of them bowed his head. “I hope that doesn’t mean us,” he said, barely above a whisper.

Terry, his features carved in stone, looked emotionlessly at the oldster. “No. You fought the evil ones. I need a group here to watch out for us, let us know when assholes need us to come kill them. Are you up for the job?”

“I was hoping I could take my daughter away, to the mountains outside Denver. I hear it’s nice there, lots of space.”

“Until you go, keep your eyes peeled around here. Deal?” The oldster nodded. Terry removed the comm device from Destiny’s shredded uniform, wiping the blood on his pants before handing it over to the oldster.

He punched the buttons while the old man watched. Terry’s comm device buzzed. He answered and hung up, then called back. It buzzed in the oldster’s hand. He pressed the button.

“Easy as that…”

“Gerry. I go by Gerry,” the oldster offered. Terry smiled before looking past the old Werewolf.

Terry did a double-take as the last of the enemy Were appeared from behind Merrit and approached the body of her pack member. She caressed his face lovingly.

“Your pack picked the wrong people to fuck with,” Terry told her. She gave him the finger. He leaned close to her, grabbed the hilt of Kurtz’s fighting knife, and yanked it from the dead Were’s head. He wiped the blade on the man’s bare skin before handing it back to the new lieutenant.

Sarah watched, stone-faced. Her introduction to war had been hard, showing her the cruelty that one group could inflict on another. She learned at that moment that her grandfather was the baddest of them all. She shivered, not from the cold, but from the fear that his enemies should feel.

The bitch watched Terry carefully, assessing her chances. His eyes glowed a faint red. She looked away quickly. Tonight was not a great night to die.

“Can we bury him?” she asked respectfully.

“In the rubble. One of yours with one of ours. You even think about crossing us again, it will be you, your pack, and all your friends who will join them. I’ll place your head on a pole outside this mound as a sign to everyone. We’ll even give you a plaque, in your honor. It’ll say, evil will be met with extreme prejudice.

“We’re going to let you go, so you can spread the word. If you try to build an army? Please, go ahead. I am not a fan of shooting fish in a barrel, but if you can gather all the assholes in one place, it’ll be so much easier to kill them all. Every. Single. One.”

He removed his Mameluke. She cringed as the silvered blade approached her skin. He ran the flat quickly along the side of her neck. Her skin smoked, liquefied, and then hardened afresh, leaving an ugly scar. She threw her hand to her neck and grimaced.

To her credit, she hadn’t cried out.

“Every. Single. One,” he repeated. “Bury him in there and then fuck off. Next time I see you, you die.”

He turned away as the other tac teams arrived.

“Gene and Bogdan, could you carry Destiny?” Terry asked the largest members of the group.

Nick, Edwin, and Samantha hurried to Tyson. “It was a fight for our lives. I’m not so sure we won,” he told them. They watched the Werebears pick up what remained of their friend.

“Holy fuck,” Edwin whispered.

“Reminds you how fragile we are, even after all the physical conditioning.” Kurtz climbed to unsteady feet. The nanocytes had repaired his injuries, but they couldn’t replace the blood he’d lost. He drank as much water as he could hold, but remained as weak as a kitten.

“Tactical movement to the pod, Charlie and Echo on the flanks. Delta will lead the way. Bravo in the rocking chair. Sarah, join Tac Team Delta. Where in the fuck is Ted?”

“Completing the mission,” Ramses said dryly.

“Call him and tell him to meet us at the pod, for fuck’s sake,” Terry grumbled. The three older Werewolves stayed to watch the bitch bury the last of her pack.

“Peace,” Char told him. “I hope to meet your daughter some day.”

“That would be nice. Until some day, Mistress Alpha.” The oldster bowed deeply. Terry and Char thought they heard his bones snapping and popping. One of the others had to help him stand up straight. He turned away, embarrassed by his frailty, before barking at the bitch to get to work.

As they took their positions, with Terry and Char in the lead, Kim, Kae, Auburn, Ramses, Sarah, and Cory found their way to the front. Each of them touched Terry and Char in one way or another, on the back, the arm, the side of their heads. No one said a word because they knew the pain that Terry Henry Walton was in.

***

Ted was annoyed at the incessant buzzing from his comm device. He finally had to answer it.

“What?” he snapped.

“Rally at the pod, ASAP,” Ramses said.

Ted stamped his foot and shook with anger at the interruption. He took a deep breath. “Fine. I found something Terry needs to see.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Japan

“That’s it, Marcie-san,” Akio said softly. “Feel it in your mind, the energy as it flows from the etheric. Funnel the power through you. What is it showing you?”

“Gray clouds, mist, nothing solid, nothing tangible.”

“Move forward. Walk. Swing your arms as you normally would. Wave the mist away. You control it. It doesn’t control you.”

Marcie lifted her arm as she made to get up.

“In your mind only, Marcie-san.”

She relaxed her arm and folded her hands in her lap. Her legs and arms twitched as they tried to follow her mental commands to walk. Her body relaxed and calmed as her mind reached into the etheric dimension.

Marcie vigorously waved her hands in front of her, willing the mist away through the aggression of her actions. But the mist swirled in behind her hands. She dropped her arms to her side as she strolled within the different dimension.

She took a deep breath and blew the mist away as if blowing out a candle. The world before her cleared. It was like looking at Earth from space. Lights twinkled around the landscape. With a thought, she could zoom in, take a quick look-see, then zoom back out, change her focus, and explore some place new.

She saw Akio drawing energy from the etheric. Yuko was nearby, a pale ghost as she wasn’t actively within the dimension, but she could use it and that gave her away. Marcie stretched out and the geography changed. She saw other points. Six, not far away, ghost-like, as Yuko had been. They were sleeping underneath a million tons of rubble. Marcie approached and looked at them.

Powerful. Queen’s Elite all, like Akio, but trapped. She looked closely. She couldn’t see race, color, or gender through the etheric, not with these six anyway. She stood over the crawlspace where they slept, leaning close over one and studying his face within the grayness.

His eyes popped open and Marcie jumped in the physical world as well as the etheric. She slowed her heart to normal and leaned close. His lips were moving. “Soon,” he was saying.

Marcie walked to the others, but wanted the answer. What did the Queen’s Elite mean?

She slowly opened her eyes and stretched her neck. Akio sat calmly, wearing his all-black fatigues as he usually did, and watched her.

“Soon?” she asked.

“The Queen is coming home,” Akio replied flatly. The understanding dawned on her.

“Bethany Anne is real?” she asked.

Akio didn’t dignify that with an answer.

“When?”

“A little while still. You must not tell Terry or Char, Marcie-san. Promise me.”

“I promise, but he needs to know. When will he be told?”

“When the time is right. Within three years of her return, sixteen years from now. You must secure this information within your mind, keep it from Joseph. Keep it from them all.”

“Teach me how to do that,” she replied.

“Calm your mind…” Akio started as he settled in for a new round of mental training.

San Francisco

The training platoon sobered immensely as they helped bury one of their own. Some had seen the shape Destiny Chase’s body was in when the tac teams returned.

The celebration of her life was an important factor for anyone who died while on duty with the FDG. They ended the ceremony with hearty oorah. Terry worked the crowd hard before pulling the training platoon together.

He put Lieutenant Kurtz front and center.

“Tell them the story,” Terry said. Kurtz looked at him sideways. “You want to be a leader of men, sometimes this is what you have to do.”

Kurtz nodded. “It was dark and we couldn’t see jack. We ran like the wind. Needless to say, it was all we could do to keep up with the likes of the colonel. Destiny and I were on guard duty, protecting the injured. One Werewolf showed up. Just one. It killed Destiny within a couple seconds. She didn’t know she was dead. Fought back best she could. I put a round into its haunch, but it shook that off as if I’d swatted it with an open hand. Then it came for me.”

He swallowed hard before continuing.

“Body armor saved me. Yeah, it sucks running in it, but any time you can wrap yourself up in that kind of gear, you do it. It got its jaws stuck in my gear. Cordelia shot it again and I finally managed to stuff my knife into its brain.” Kurtz pulled his fighting knife and showed it to the group.

“You fought a Werewolf with just your knife?”

“It used Destiny’s body to ram me, and then it bit through the sling. They’re not dogs. They’re smarter than you and me.”

Terry slapped him on the back.

“Since we lost everyone from Team Forsaken, we’re consolidating into five teams and not replacing Destiny. Kurtz is now a lieutenant, so if he tells any of you to do something, you do it.” Terry turned to Tyson. “And you’re on Tac Team Alpha now. Sarah is joining Delta.”

Char approved, as did Cory. She didn’t want to go into combat at all, let alone with her daughter by her side. She knew that her dad wouldn’t let anything happen to Sarah. He would die before he let anything happen to her.

***

They looked at each other. Twenty-four people, Were, enhanced, and the unenhanced. They had six pods and enough weapons to arm a regiment.

But they only had twenty-three, twenty-four when Marcie returned from training with Akio, or twenty-six if they included Akio and Yuko.

They were the defenders of all humanity. Terry had found that larger wasn’t better and that the battles weren’t fought between armies, but individuals from the Unknown World, a place the existence of which humankind didn’t need to know about.

He needed a lean force that could fight the enhanced forces of the enemy. And he needed to leave humanity out of it.

There would be no more battles like the fight he’d taken to General Tsao, a traditional ambush of a conventional force.

They never had a chance.

He needed to do the same thing with those from the Unknown World. He needed to conduct a charm offensive, as much as that thought chapped his ass. He had to find out who were friends and who were enemies.

He had five tac teams to help him.

“We scour the planet looking for infestations of Were and Forsaken. We finish them if they’re assholes. If they are minding their own business, we let them know we’re watching, and then we leave them alone.”

“Ted. Where are you?” Terry asked as Ted stared at a spot on the wall.

“You never came to see what I had to show you in Chicago,” Ted replied slowly, tearing his eyes from the spot on the wall and giving Terry some of his attention.

“I’m sorry that I did not. You will have to tell me what you saw.”

“They’re building a dirigible. It looks like they have some older motors, but I can manufacture gravitic engines for them. They’ll run so much more efficiently and far more quickly.”

Terry didn’t know what to say. Char narrowed her eyes before slowly smiling. “Ted. That is one of the most profound things I’ve ever heard. While we are looking at the little picture, you’re looking at a way to shrink the world.”

Ted smiled uncomfortably.

“Damn skippy!” Terry exclaimed. “Oh, sorry, Skippy. I didn’t mean anything by that. Damn straight, Sir Theodore!”

Ted looked confused. “That’s not my name.”

“Detached duty for you, Ted. We’ve already talked about this once, but now everything is coming together. I think we can get you access to the manufacturing facilities outside Alameda. We have an in with the owners. Gravitic drives and dirigibles. Let’s bring air travel back, set up flight routes, and move people and things. You are the man, Ted!”

Ted looked down at the table, uncomfortable with everyone looking at him.

“Off you go, Ted. I’ll let them know you’re coming. We’ll set a room up for you at the factory.”

Ted rose from his chair, looked everywhere and nowhere without making eye contact, before working his way to the door. Char followed him out to make the call to her grandchildren, the senior citizens who continued to run Alameda, and let them know that Ted would be running a major project that would revolutionize the new world.

And then there was only twenty-two.

“We need to know where they are and how many,” Terry said. “Tac Team Echo. Go to New York and find this Joshua character. If the Pack Council has been revived, from what I hear, he’ll know the numbers. Why didn’t we know any of this before now?”

People shuffled their feet.

Char looked at Butch. “Out with it!”

“We met with him in New York before we left,” she blurted out.

“WHAT?” Terry howled.

“The Council is a good thing! These are good Weres looking out for the best interest of all. And they asked us not to tell anyone,” Skippy offered.

Terry rubbed his temples as he ground his teeth. “I want to beat the crap out of both of you,” he growled.

“Honor,” Skippy suggested weakly.

“Your duty is to us and ours is to all of humanity. By all that’s holy, what fucking team are you two on?”

They didn’t answer.

“You’re on our team. You’re in Char’s pack. You serve the Force de Guerre. Does any of this sound familiar to you?” Terry said sarcastically. The two Werewolves looked away.

“Listen closely. You fuckers are going back to New York and if you go native on me, I will drop you in the middle of the ocean. Can you feel me?” Terry emphasized.

They tried to look away, but he grabbed them both by their chins. “Don’t you ever keep information from me again,” he growled.

Char walked behind them. “I don’t care if you two singlehandedly restored train service in New York, rebuilt lower Manhattan, established civilized society. Unknown World stuff? You don’t keep that to yourselves. The last thing you want is me riding in a two-wheel cart around the city with you two pulling it. And we’ll ride around until I get tired.”

“We get it! We get it! Would you guys back off?” Butch retorted.

“No. ‘Cause you fucked us,” Terry said.

“We left out a little something, that’s all.”

“Loyalty. That’s what you left. You didn’t keep yourselves in shape. You didn’t keep us informed of the return of the Were. It would be nice if we could count on them, have their back, as it may be. Timmons. Don’t let these goofy fuckers out of your sight. Samantha. Try to blend in.”

She looked like a warrior through and through, but she was going to be with four old-school New Yorkers. He hoped that would be enough, but if it wasn’t, she could handle herself.

“You leave in a month. Between now and then, you’re going to learn how to obey orders,” Terry promised with an ugly smile.

“I hear Petersburg is nice this time of year,” Gene interjected in his Russian accent, but it didn’t seem as heavy as it used to be. Bogdan nodded vigorously.

“Too bad you’re going to Germany. Observe and report. Travel the Rhine and see the most heavily-populated areas. Meet the Weres and assess. Kick their asses if they’re dicks. If you’re outnumbered, dig in and call for backup. We’ll bring the cavalry, and then we’ll kick their asses. You got any problem with kicking ass, Evgeniy?” Terry asked, using Gene’s real name.

“No, haha! You make funny. I lick ass with best of them!” Gene grinned.

No one laughed. “Kick. Kick ass,” Terry clarified.

“What? Now?” Gene asked, suddenly confused.

Terry shook his head. “Moving on. Tac Team Charlie. You’re traveling the Yangtze, from Shanghai to Wuhan, if you can make it that far. And Tac Team Delta has the most difficult job. We’re sailing the Caribbean.”

Char smiled and looked at Sarah. “We need to go shopping for swimsuits.”

“What? Why you go Caribbean?” Gene wondered.

“I’m kidding. We’re going to travel the Great Lakes, shake the bushes and see what falls out.” Terry leaned over the table and looked at the group. “Report to me daily. I want to know where you are and number and types of Were. If you’ve made contact, I want to know if they’re good or bad. No secrets. This is a job that only we can do. That’s why the FDG faltered. They couldn’t find the Forsaken or the Were. Char demonstrated that in Portland. Okay, people. Seems like we were just doing this same thing, but these are short, high impact missions. Go in, see what there is to see, and get out. You have your orders. Training starts tomorrow at oh-four-hundred. Meet on the parade deck.”

Char cleared her throat, then held up one hand with five fingers and a second hand with two fingers.

“I don’t care how much you whine and cry! Just like I said, we’re meeting on the parade deck at oh-seven-hundred!”

***

Gene and Bogdan were last, and Fu was with them, carrying a bag half her size. Gene held his hands up. Terry wondered what the hell Gene was doing.

“Lunch, unless we eat now, then breakfast,” Gene explained.

Terry shook his head. Kurtz snickered. “Is that lunch for everybody?”

“No, no. It’s just for them,” Terry said. “Obstacle course!”

They ran away like a mob. Terry was disciplining himself to be okay with their lack of military bearing. In his mind, they’d lost the first battle in a new war, a block war that would be fought in the big cities. He tried infiltration, but the Were and the Forsaken had stayed away. Once Char’s pack moved out, the others moved in. Terry had not anticipated that. It made sense when he thought about it, but he had taken their absence as a sign that they were gone, not that they were biding their time and waiting for an opening.

Some left, but Terry and Char’s family remained behind.

“What gives, Dad?” Cory asked, concern in her voice.

“Yeah. You’ve been kind of pissy lately. No one knew the Weres had been in hiding. We looked for them and didn’t find a thing. No one could have done more,” Kaeden said.

“Come on, Dad. We have a war to fight and you need your beauty sleep. You can’t show up to the O course looking like that,” Kimber teased.

“What’s wrong with the way I look?”

“Mom!” Cory called. “Would you tell him, please?”

“What? Who’s scruffy lookin’?” he asked, sticking his tongue out.

“It’s the blue jeans and the muscle shirt,” Char said, rolling her eyes.

“I like this look,” Terry said weakly. “My loving family, ganging up on me. The old man is going to bury you pups and kittens. You’ll be eating my dust for the next month.”

“It’s on, old man!” Sarah shouted. The room grew silent as everyone looked at her.

“Gene will lick her ass,” Ramses said softly in his version of a Russian accent.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

San Francisco

The whirlwind of one month of training passed. They were tired, constantly, but no one gave up. Terry held the unenhanced to a lesser standard, having them run a shorter distance or do fewer calisthenics. Even so, it was farther, faster, and more than what any normal human could do.

The four were impressive and continued to excel. Cory stepped in every now and then to repair a knee or an ankle to return them to full duty within hours, instead of days.

Terry was relentless on Butch and Skippy. He wasn’t sure he’d ever earn their loyalty through respect, so he was determined to get their obedience through fear. Char backed him up, the alpha always keeping her eyes on the wayward members of the pack.

Timmons and Sue worked the friendship and team angle. In the end, Butch and Skippy fell in line, especially once they got in better shape and were able to keep up, stand toe to toe with the best fighters, if only for a short while.

Sarah sparred with Terry Henry one time. She lasted four seconds. She lasted five with Char, but was able to spar for periods up to thirty seconds with Shonna or Merrit.

Terry didn’t let her in the ring with Gene or Bogdan. Despite her enhancements, she had a smaller body, maybe weighing one hundred twenty pounds. Gene was five times that.

After a month of hard physical training combined with sessions of social engagement that Felicity ran, the tac teams were ready to be anywhere other than Treasure Island.

Terry personally conducted the final gear check for each of the teams. Fu handed Gene and Bogdan a sack stuffed full. Terry shook his head.

“I like how Felicity taught everyone about being a politician. I hope they remember those lessons when making contact with the Weres,” Char said.

“That was my hope when I talked to her about it. We know how to piss people off. I thought it would be nice if we didn’t, at least if it wasn’t necessary.”

“Look at you, Terry Henry Walton, learning the tools of the trade.” Char wrapped her arms around his neck to look into his eyes. His hands found their way to her back and then lower.

“I’m trying,” he said, looking down. “I hated killing those guys. They were FDG! Sergeants who had been promoted based on special trust and confidence. And Marcie and I killed them. It’s tearing me apart.”

“I know, lover. I know,” Char rested her forehead against his. “They gave you no choice, but you don’t see that. You wonder how they got pushed that far. You question our efforts ever since the fall, all that time we spent in the Fallen Lands, the Wasteland. Before the WWDE, how many Were and Forsaken were out there? That’s right. A shit-ton. There are fewer now. Humanity didn’t know about the Unknown World before and they don’t know about it now. Status quo, with points in our favor, TH. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. Civilization would be different. Imagine another seventy-five years of Forsaken rule over San Francisco? I shudder at the thought.”

Terry continued to look down. “I know you’re right, but all I can see is my fist crushing a man’s skull. He had no chance.”

“He lost his chance when he took up arms against you. Remember that you’re the champion of people being responsible for the consequences of their own decisions. He chose poorly. They all did. We have a job to do, and it looks like we’re ready.”

“What would I do without you?”

“Be miserable, cranky, wrong, and cold at night,” Char rattled off quickly.

“Break’s over,” Terry said, kissing Char before letting go of her butt. “Time to earn our keep.”

He waved his arm over his head in a large circle. “Wagons, ho!” he yelled.

Shonna and Merrit were the only ones to get into the pod because they’d been there, over a century earlier, when the convoy left New Boulder on its way to establish the community of North Chicago.

“He means that it’s time to go,” Shonna told them. The others nodded and boarded the two pods.

“Then why didn’t he say time to go?” Gene wondered aloud. Bogdan shook his head.

Chicago

Tac Team Delta watched the pod fly away. Terry, Char, Shonna, Merrit, and Sarah waited until it was gone before anyone spoke.

“This is a long way from the lake,” Merrit said.

Shonna elbowed her mate. “Joseph and Petricia?” she asked. Merrit winced. He’d forgotten that their friends had walked away in Chicago. They didn’t know if they were still there or not, but they would never know if they didn’t look.

Terry wanted to talk with his friend, make sure he was okay, try to talk him into returning, although he wouldn’t make a hard sell for that. He just wanted to know that he and Petricia were surviving.

Three days of scouring the city left Terry Henry irritable. Char, Shonna, and Merrit had felt the presence of other Were, but the images faded away as Tac Team Delta approached. No one from the Unknown World would let the newcomers get close.

And they never sensed any Forsaken.

“Let’s go find us a boat,” Terry finally said.

“How about an airship?” Shonna asked, pointing. A dirigible floated skyward, a long rope hanging from it. They heard the faint sounds of the engines revving. They watched in fascination as the ship lurched forward, jerking as the engines sputtered, coughed, and belched great clouds of black smoke.

It circled and descended back to where it started.

“The only thing missing from that monster is a good engineer,” Shonna suggested.

Germany

Tac Team Alpha joined Bravo for the excursion down the Rhine. Ramses, Cory, and Tyson Kurtz joined Gene, Bogdan, Kaeden, and Edwin.

“We no do much running. Not much walking either. You like Tac Team Bravo, I think,” Gene said as his way of giving a team brief.

The pod landed outside the thriving city of Rotterdam, where they would find a boat and head down the Waal River until it met the Rhine. According to everything in the computer system, the river was still navigable with boats traveling nearly its entire length.

“You small people go first, be less obvious,” Gene told them. “In the morning, we will go.”

They settled in to the small woods where the pod had dropped them off. “I’ll take the first watch,” Kurtz told them.

“No need,” Gene said. “Bogdan and I will know if anyone come close. Internal alarm work good.”

Kurtz nodded, but he didn’t like it. Kaeden signaled to the others. They would stand watch regardless of how good Gene’s internal alarm worked. Five of them. An hour and a half each.

No problem.

Shanghai

Tac Team Charlie didn’t watch the pod leave like the other groups had done. They walked down the ramp and kept going. Kimber, Auburn, and Nick would be skylined not only because they looked different, but they felt out of place, too.

They had no experience with China. Fortunately, they were with Aaron and Yanmei.

“Just stay close. Nod and bow politely. We’ll take care of getting us onto a boat,” Aaron said confidently.

They continued into the city, making a beeline for the port.

Aaron and Yanmei slowed until they stopped. The others closed in behind them.

Aaron leaned down and whispered, “Weretigers. Not far.”

They changed direction and walked casually past small shops and homes on the outskirts of the growing city. Aaron and Yanmei approached a larger building, nondescript from the outside. Spirited yells were coming from the inside, followed by a rhythmic pounding. They’d all heard the sounds before.

The sound of a dojo during training.

Aaron and Yanmei smiled and waved the others to follow.

“Felicity has her ways, and I guess Aaron and Yanmei have theirs. Hopefully this isn’t a blood-sport contest. There can be only one!” Kim told Auburn and Nick Rixon, shaking her head.

They followed the Weretigers in, where they removed their shoes and waited patiently at the edge of the training area. Aaron and Yanmei watched the three masters carefully.

The group finished their set of high blocks and were put at rest. The three masters, all Weretigers, approached, studying Aaron and Yanmei with a critical eye. They conversed in Chinese before Aaron and Yanmei stepped onto the mat, signaling for the others to wait.

Aaron stepped up first, facing off against one of the masters. They both assumed their preferred combat position and the bout started.

Aaron was tall and lanky, but he was as quick as the master as the punches and blocks flew beyond the class’s ability to follow. They dodged kicks, rolled past each other, jumped up, struck, parried, and danced some more.

They seemed evenly matched until Aaron was able to close with the shorter master. He wrapped the man up, lifted him off his feet, and slammed him into the mat. Aaron rolled away and assumed the standing, resting position. The master gathered himself, climbed to his feet, and bowed.

Yanmei took the next bout. She assumed the praying mantis pose, moving gracefully, holding the master at bay. He circled patiently, trying a variety of attacks, each blocked as easily at the last. He left his feet in a power move and Yanmei seized the momentum, hitting him so hard in his exposed abdomen that he flew halfway across the training room before slamming into the wall. Yanmei relaxed into the resting pose and bowed deeply.

Her expression remained neutral. Kimber risked a look at the students. They were awestruck, shocked at what had taken place before them. Their masters were invulnerable. Two strangers, fresh off the street, had dominated them.

The third master bowed in place of his injured peer. The master dismissed the class and sent the students away.

“Take your shoes off and join us, please,” Aaron told the other members of Tac Team Charlie. The three removed their footwear and climbed onto the mat, each bowing to the masters as they did so.

They knew that they were in the delicate stage of negotiation and compromise.

New York

Butch and Skippy took deep breaths and listened to the sounds of the city. Timmons and Sue watched them.

Timmons wanted to meet his namesake, see if he was from an earlier liaison or if the boy simply took his name. Timmons was good with either possibility as both were flattering to his perception of manliness.

Samantha had secondary orders to keep her eye on the New York City Werewolves and call Terry if any of them lost sight of their mission.

“I’d like to see our old house,” Butch said.

“Me, too,” Skippy agreed, and they started walking.

“What the hell’s wrong with you people?” Timmons blurted. “We’re here a grand total of forty-seven seconds and already you two idiots are off on a tangent. Was there too much lead in your baby bottles or something?”

“Hey!” Butch replied, crossing her arms and tossing her head.

“One month. That’s it. We find accommodations and then we head out to canvass the city,” Timmons declared, before softening. “I hear we can take the train now.”

“We’ll need money and it so happens that we might have a bank account here that could serve our needs,” Skippy suggested.

“Lead on,” Timmons said, waving them into the lead.

Waal River

The ship was little more than a tug pushing a number of flat-bottomed barges that had been built as a floating hotel and restaurant. It was nicer than they expected. They had thought they would be sleeping on the deck.

The challenge the oversized tac team had was that even though there were seven of them, only two could sense others with the power to tap into the etheric. In Kae’s mind, the rest of them were there to provide security for the Werebears until such time as Weres or Forsaken were discovered.

Then their mission would depend on the response they received.

“What if we sail past a bunch of Were?”

“I ask captain to stop and let us off, or we swim,” Gene replied.

“We’re not jumping overboard and swimming ashore, Uncle Gene.” Kae shook his head. Ramses and Cory agreed with Kaeden.

“I swim like polar bear. Him, too.” Gene stabbed a thumb toward his son.

“I have no doubt,” Kae replied. “We can’t jump overboard because then we’d be trapped there. This is our ride.”

Kae pointed to the deck and tapped one toe.

“We can call pod. It is no problem.” Gene yawned, followed by a belch that made Bogdan laugh.

Cory turned away. Her Uncle Gene could be rough around the edges, but she liked having him on her side. “How about we cross that bridge when we come to it? I suspect that the Were will be where it is convenient to travel, as in, this ship will stop at the ports where they will be found.” Cory looked around to make sure they were alone. “What I’ve learned over all these years, living near the good people of the Unknown World, is that they like their creature comforts.”

Tyson Kurtz watched the interaction with fascination. He saw the arguments on both sides, but yielded to Cordelia. Gene seemed to be making it up as he went, but he wasn’t. He had too keen a mind for that. Tyson expected the Werebear was less concerned by small variations to a master plan.

People didn’t give the great creature enough credit. Tyson saw through the gruff exterior to the man who loved his wife so deeply, he’d bring a sack lunch to the field, despite the grief the others gave him over it.

Gene winked at Tyson. The lieutenant tipped his chin in reply.

“What’s our next stop?” Ramses asked as he stood next to Cory looking over the rail.

“No idea,” she replied. “Are all your deployments like this?”

Ramses laughed. Cory had been on plenty of deployments before and they were almost never like that, cruising on a riverboat with a soft bed and a well-stocked restaurant. Tyson and Samantha appreciated the amenities and understood Cory’s comment about the Weres even better.

If it had been up to Kurtz, he would have had them hiking the shoreline, going overland and being miserable doing it. That was what made people warriors!

He chuckled to himself. He looked forward to crawling into his bed after a good meal. “You’re getting soft, Kurtz!” he exclaimed out of the blue. Samantha Matthews scowled at him and moved farther away.

“You are soft like grub,” Gene said, then repeated it in Russian for his son. Bogdan laughed until he snorted and then started coughing.

The entire group started to laugh. Kurtz was lean muscle. He didn’t have an extra ounce of body fat. Samantha didn’t either. Keeping up with the pack took every last bit of energy. They often burned muscle for energy as they’d tapped their reserves and gone beyond.

After a month of Colonel Walton’s training, no one was sporting any extra weight, not even the Werebears.

“We are at your beck and call,” Tyson said, bowing to Gene.

“Go sleep. I call if we see wolf.” Gene waved the others away as he leaned back in a deck chair. The poor chair creaked and groaned under his weight, but he gave it no quarter. He leaned back to stress it further, almost as if he wanted it to give way.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Japan

Akio bowed deeply. “You are ready, Marcie-san.”

She returned his bow. “I cannot thank you enough, Akio-sama, Yuko-sama, for the patience and understanding you have shown me. I shall not be afraid to use what I’ve learned.”

“There is no reason to fear. It is nothing more than a different way to see. But remember, others with this ability can now see you. You’ve drawn power from the etheric. You are now a beacon in the fog.”

“I understand.” Marcie held out her hand and Akio shook it firmly as they each showed their strength. She capitulated first. She was no match for the Vampire.

She shook hands with Yuko as well, and flexed hard, but Yuko was just like Akio. Her grip was firm with vampiric strength.

Marcie walked toward the pod and stopped when she heard the faintest of footsteps. She turned. Akio and Yuko were behind her.

“There was a time not long ago where you would not have heard us,” Akio said softly.

Marcie smiled and climbed the ramp into the pod. “Where are we headed, Akio-sama?”

Akio looked at her without smiling. He manipulated the touchscreen to activate the pod’s comm system.

“Terry-san. Marcie-san has completed her training. Where would you like us to take her?”

“Her team is traveling the Rhine River looking for Were settlements. It would be best if she joined them. If you call Kaeden, you can zero in on his signal,” Terry yelled through the background noise.

“Are you okay?” Akio asked.

“Big storm on the lake. The boat is doing well, but we’re fighting. Even with the nanocytes, you can still get seasick, as Sarah has discovered. Gotta go, Akio-sama.” The noise on the channel ended.

“That didn’t sound good,” Marcie offered.

Akio didn’t answer. He called Kaeden. Marcie’s husband answered quickly. “Akio-sama. Ohayo gozaimasu.” Good morning.

“Ohayo gozaimasu, Kaeden-san. We are on our way so Marcie-san can join you. Leave your channel open and we will be there shortly.”

Kaeden did as instructed. They could hear him briefing Gene in the background.

Akio closed the ramp and the pod headed skyward, accelerating at fantastic speeds toward the north, where it would pass over the pole on its way to link up Tac Team Alpha with their leader.

Lake Michigan

SNAP! The main mast groaned under the stress after the sail was nearly torn from it. Terry and Char were struggling to bring it down. The gears had shredded, making the hand-cranks useless. The sail was caught half way down.

The wind was merciless. The waves buffeted their small boat, a thirty-footer getting tossed about like a child’s toy. Shonna and Merrit hung on to the ship’s wheel as they tried to maintain a steady course toward the trailing edge of the storm.

The boom started to swing wildly as the wind shifted. Terry grabbed it, but couldn’t keep it from slamming into Char. Terry grabbed her ankle as she was launched high over the rail. They flew into a great wave as it rolled by, tossing the boat sideways before it popped upright again.

“Grandma!” Sarah yelled before running two steps on the shifting deck and diving overboard.

Shonna and Merrit were powerless to turn the sailboat. Bringing it across the wind with the sail trapped halfway down would swamp the boat.

Sarah swam hard as Terry and Char spluttered to the surface. They grabbed their granddaughter and held on as they bobbed through the peaks and troughs of the raging lake. They watched helplessly as the boat held course. Shonna and Merrit were yelling something, but it was lost in the relentless howling of an angry wind.

The Rhine

The river cruiser pulled in to the dock specifically built to support the barge-style vessel on which Tac Teams Alpha and Bravo traveled.

Kae saw her first. Marcie, looking no different from before. They smiled at each other as lovers do. Kae was first down the gangplank, walking steadily, exercising the self-discipline of a warrior. Marcie waited for him. She carried a backpack and that was it. She appeared to be unarmed, since she hadn’t taken her rifle to Japan.

She didn’t care about the rifle. She was armed with weapons they couldn’t see, both physical and virtual.

Kaeden rushed the last step and the two came together, hugging and kissing, holding each other, oblivious to everything around them, counting on the teams to watch their backs.

“You have been gone only two months!” Gene bellowed across the dock.

Kae and Marcie laughed quietly, letting go while keeping an arm wrapped around each other’s waist. They turned to face the rest of their comrades.

Cory’s eyes glowed blue as she walked through the small crowd on the dock. She smiled as she passed. The people stopped and looked at the striking woman, unsure whether they’d seen properly. The older folks assumed it was a new fad of the younger generation. They quickly went back about their business.

“Hey, big sister,” Cory said in greeting. They’d been raised closely enough that the sisters-in-law had always treated each other as siblings.

Gene and Bogdan stopped on the way to help two men struggling with a heavy load. The Werebears picked it up with ease, pointed to an entire stack of crates, and proceeded to carry the load on board, setting it on the deck by the galley.

The foodstuffs for the next leg of the journey. Gene and Bogdan made two more trips to load food onto the boat while the others watched. The grateful men thanked the large passengers profusely for their help before disappearing into the gathering crowd, the next load of passengers.

Marcie waited for the Werebears to join them before talking about what she’d seen.

“There’s a small group of Werewolves here. I think we should sniff them out before we board. We have a couple hours, I think,” Marcie said in hushed tones as the group leaned their heads close together. She closed her eyes, calmed her mind, and reached into the etheric dimension. She found them quickly. They weren’t far.

“This way,” she said as she opened her eyes and tipped her head toward the exit. The group followed her out.

Shanghai

After spending a week at the dojo, which the Chinese called wu kwan, Kimber and Auburn had learned a great deal, advancing in their martial arts as the Weretigers had befriended the three masters.

Nick Rixon learned how much pain he could withstand. After a week of pummelings, he could barely remain upright. He wheezed with each breath, which made him suspect he had at least one broken rib, maybe more.

Maybe all of them. He couldn’t stand toe to toe with any of the enhanced. They’d hit him three times before he could react to the first strike. In between bouts, he was able to work with their latest Japanese electronics. Trade between Tokyo and Shangai was robust.

When Tac Team Charlie left the wu kwan, they carried with them a great stack of coin money, a gift from the masters. With it, they’d be able to buy passage on the Yangtze.

The group walked inland, away from the ocean harbor, to where the riverboats were. Even though the river fed the harbor, it was best to not mix the two types of shipping. Riverboats would quickly get swamped in the tidal waves of the big ships.

Aaron and Yanmei weren’t in a hurry. They’d learned from the masters that there were enclaves of Weretigers throughout China. Most were benign, minding their own business as the masters were doing. A few had banded together to form a new clan, the Qin Clan, named after Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China who had nine thousand terracotta warriors produced to stand guard over his tomb and protect him in the afterlife from his conquered enemies.

The masters didn’t know where the Qin Clan was headquartered. They had only heard rumors of their existence, but evidence of the destruction left behind after a Qin attack pointed to Weretigers who had no respect for humanity.

One attack had happened in Wuhan and that was where they were headed. On their way, they’d enjoy the scenic Chinese countryside.

And all the amenities they rated with the purchase of first-class tickets.

All Nick wanted was a bed to lay in. A soft bed.

The Rhine

A small pub in the town of Emmerich, old Germany, where the Waal became the Rhine. Dank. Dark. Full of muskiness. Where dark beer flowed from casks behind the bar.

“Dad is missing out,” Kae said when they walked in. Marcie wasn’t listening. Her eyes were drawn to three burly forms sitting in a shadowed corner. Gene and Bogdan followed her as she wound her way between the tables. The Werebears bumped people and furniture from their path. The other members of the tac team remained near the doorway.

Kae, Ramses, and Cory had seen human minions throw themselves in the path of danger when ordered by their Forsaken masters. These were Werewolves and the tac teams didn’t know if they were masters of this domain.

Marcie strolled up and stopped, stayed out of arm’s reach of the booth, and stood on the balls of her feet, her arms tensed and slightly forward. She expected a fight.

Gene and Bogdan moved in behind her, blocking her, giving her little space in which to work. Without taking her eyes from the three toughs, she saw the corner and the space above, where she could go and where she couldn’t.

The Werewolves growled at the Werebears, showing their straight white teeth. They were larger than Char or other members of her pack. Marcie didn’t care. She wasn’t intimidated by size.

The one closest to her gauged the distance and leaned slightly. She almost rolled her eyes. He lashed out a hairy mitt as he tried to grab her arm. She blocked the clumsy but insanely fast attempt and followed through with a right cross that hit him in the side of the head.

The Werewolf was thrown out of his seat, tipping the table and their beers on his fellows. He slid onto the floor. The remaining two Werewolves stood to look down at Marcie.

Their arrogant expressions had been instantly erased. The pub was deathly silent as all watched the standoff, even though they could barely see past Gene and Bogdan. A patron stood to leave, but Kae motioned for him to sit back down. He did so, reluctantly.

“I come here to have a few words with you, that’s all. Can we talk now, or do I have to beat some sense into you and then we talk?” Marcie asked casually.

“Maybe we beat sense into them first?” Gene offered. Bogdan slammed his fist into his hand threateningly.

“Stop it,” Marcie ordered the Werebear. He bristled, but her eyes flashed a pale red when she glared at him. He backed down, looking away and relaxing his hands.

“What do you want?” the Werewolf asked, with a German accent.

“We only want to make sure you aren’t causing trouble. Are you?” Marcie asked.

“No trouble here, until you showed up,” the man grunted.

“How long have you been here?” Marcie stared at the speaker, willing him to be defiant. She was at the top of her form. She knew she could best him in seconds. Him and his friend.

“A year, maybe two. This is a good place. I think we’ll stay,” the man said, trying to sound confident.

Marcie smiled. She heard the tone of his voice. He was asking permission.

“I think this is a good place, too. You are going to be my liaison in this small part of the world. We’ll stop by on occasion, say hello, make sure that you aren’t messing with the population. You have jobs, don’t you?”

“Sometimes,” the second Werewolf replied. The one on the floor groaned and grabbed the other’s pant leg to help pull himself up. His two packmates helped him up.

“What the fuck did you hit me with?” the man growled, rubbing his broken cheekbone and massaging it into place as his nanocytes went to work.

“The hammer of justice,” she replied without humor, before leaning close to them. She appreciated that they rocked back from her. “The Force de Guerre is here to keep the Unknown World from turning humanity into its slaves. You can work with them, hell, they can work for you, but not as servants. They remain free, and we won’t have a problem. Do you understand me?”

“Sure, ja, we get you,” the spokesman said. The others nodded.

“Thanks, boys,” Marcie replied happily. “Keep the beer flowing. The colonel would love to come for a visit. He takes his beer seriously.”

The Werewolf shrugged. “Who doesn’t?”

“Fair enough.” Marcie turned to leave, but the Werebears blocked her way. “Don’t we have a boat to catch?”

Gene shrugged, disappointed that he didn’t get to throw the Werewolves around the pub. Bogdan was equally bummed, but they worked their way out, excusing themselves as they bumped past the patrons.

Normal conversation returned as the Werewolves straightened their table and waved at the bartender for new mugs of the warm beer.

“Next time, I get to punch one in the head,” Gene said, tipping his head back to look down his nose at Marcie. She was treated to a view straight up his nostrils.

“Fine, Uncle Gene. Next time someone needs a punch in the head, you or Bogdan can deliver the payload.”

“Bogdan,” Gene replied proudly.

Lake Michigan

Terry, Char, and Sarah started swimming, fighting against the waves that threatened to drown them. They finally gave up as they had no idea what direction they were headed. There was nothing but water for as far as they could see. The lightning crashed, showing them the endless white caps.

“Tread water!” Terry called as the three held hands, forming a small circle to help each other remain afloat.

They kicked and fought, and drank obscene amounts of seawater. They coughed the excess from their lungs and struggled on. Sarah looked afraid. Terry and Char looked determined.

“Row, row, row your boat…” Terry started to sing, spitting out water that splashed into his open mouth as he sang.

“Are you insane?” Sarah called, turning her head away from the wind-driven spray.

“No,” Terry answered nonchalantly before he started singing a new round.

“He’s not,” Char added. “In life and death situations...” She stopped to duck under a wave that rolled over them. She shook the water from her face and continued. “He has a tendency to make light, because if you’re going to cash in, you might as well do it with a smile.”

Sarah shook her head, less frightened, but their situation had not improved any over the past two minutes. She saw no end as the storm raged from one horizon to the other.

They continued to tread water. “Looks like it’s going to be a long night,” Terry said, before starting a story about when he was in Beirut as a young Marine a long, long time before.

***

Merrit braced himself as he hung onto the wheel. Shonna tied a rope around her waist as she went forward to free the sail. She had her knife ready, just in case, although she didn’t want to cut the sail or the rope. They would have to sail back to find Terry, Char, and Sarah.

Shonna crawled upward, keeping an arm wrapped around the mast as she fought the knots with her free hand. The wind would yank the rope taut, and then drop. In between snaps, she worked at it. Finally, she jerked the rope free and the sail started to drag away from the mast. She jumped onto it and rode it to the deck, bundling it together before tying it down.

The pressure on the rudder lessened and their speed slowed. They started to get tossed about before Shonna tied a towel to the mast so they could maintain a minimum amount of forward momentum.

Merrit looked behind him, wondering how far they were from the alpha and her family. “We’re coming back for you,” he vowed.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The Yangtze

“The river is already polluted,” Aaron lamented, shaking his head. The team was leaning against the rail to look into the water, filled with flotsam and jetsam.

“It makes me sad,” Yanmei said. “We had come so far, just so we could hurry back to the place that we didn’t like.”

“Factories?” Nick asked, finally able to breathe without wheezing, able to do the least strenuous yoga only. Shanghai had not been kind to him.

Kimber and Auburn looked to Aaron and Yanmei for an answer. “I expect so,” Aaron said.

“Maybe there is something we can do,” Kim suggested.

“Take over the factory?” Aaron wondered.

“Maybe all they need is to be convinced of the errors of their ways?” Auburn replied.

“I believe a visit is in order,” Aaron said, looking at his team. “As Terry would say, if you have the ability to act, you have the responsibility. I never used to be that guy, an environmental activist. I wasn’t a polluter, but I didn’t act against it. I guess we have a different responsibility to our world now.”

Yanmei nodded and hugged Aaron. “Maybe we could ask a couple of the cubs to help out,” she offered.

Aaron smiled. Their six children were enjoying themselves in San Francisco. The parents had been overly protective and the litter was spoiled. Aaron and Yanmei were okay with that. They considered it their responsibility as parents.

Maybe it was time to put them to work. “I like that idea, should the factory need help.”

Yanmei looked at the water, lip curling in disgust. “They do,” she said.

The riverboat stopped in the next town that consisted of a patchwork of small houses and a massive mining and smelting operation. They could see that the water above the plant was a clear blue.

“Do you feel what I feel?” Aaron said, lip snarling.

“A Forsaken,” Yanmei replied. Nick winced as he ripped his bag off his shoulder and checked the rifle inside. He slapped a silver-colored magazine into place and cycled the bolt to send a round home, before hoisting the bag back onto his shoulder.

Kimber and Auburn fingered the knives at their waists.

“I think it’s time to introduce ourselves,” Aaron said. He wasn’t big on bravado. His natural fear of the Forsaken made his voice warble, even though he tried to sound confident.

“It can’t get past all of us,” Kim said. She and Auburn checked the rifles in their bags. “Maybe this calls for something a little heavier than a knife.”

Aaron heard the magazines being seated, and after being pulled to the rear and released, the bolts driving rounds into the chambers. “No fear, Uncle Aaron,” Kim told him.

“No fear, my friends,” Aaron said softly before they headed down the gangplank toward the shore on their way to the mine beyond.

New York City

“I hear you’ve been looking for me?” a Werewolf in human form asked. He dipped his head out of the shadows so they could see him. Any question of his relation to Timmons was answered instantly. “What the fuck?”

“I’m Timmons. My mate, Sue.” Sue nodded once. “Butch and Skippy. That’s Samantha, a warrior from the Force de Guerre.”

The Werewolf didn’t look happy. “What are you here for?” he snarled.

“The North American Pack Council. We hear that you’re in charge. We have a small pack and would like to make sure that we’re not working at cross purposes,” Timmons offered.

“Are you the alpha?” Joshua said derisively.

“No,” Timmons replied simply. “Charumati, originally of New York City. She killed the former alpha called Marcus.”

Joshua’s brows dipped as he looked at the four Werewolves skeptically. “Marcus? The one who used to be called the greatest among us? Killed by a bitch?”

“Yes. Would you like to talk with her?” Timmons offered.

“Why? It makes no difference which mouth tells the lie.”

Timmons sized up his son. He was bigger and younger. And an alpha. Timmons was in good shape, but wasn’t sure he could best his son. That thought made him feel proud.

My son the alpha, Timmons thought.

“We’re not here to make trouble for you. Not at all. I never knew you existed and for that, I am truly sorry.” Timmons looked at his son, hoping his apology would be accepted or at least understood.

“Spoken like a bitch’s beta,” Joshua spit.

“If you want to fight, we’ll strap on the gloves so you can try to kick my ass. If you win? You just beat up on an old man. If I win? I’m a legend. Let’s go then, nut-licker,” Timmons taunted, hoping that his son wouldn’t call his bluff.

Joshua screwed up his face as he scrutinized Timmons’s face. “That’s more like it, Pops!” Joshua said, smiling and waving at the Werewolf pack around him that everything was okay. “Balls the size of brass coconuts. There’s no way you can take me, old man. Maybe we’ll hit the ring later, just for a little one on one action, but for now, you’re good with me. What’s with the girl?”

“Samantha Matthews. She’s on our team because not all our enemies are from the Unknown World. She’s one of the best warriors in the world. She wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t.”

Joshua didn’t spare her a second look. “You have any other kids?”

Sue and Timmons shook their heads.

“Just as well. Kids are a pain.”

“You?” Timmons asked.

“Seven of the little bastards. Only two are Were, but the rest are tough.” Joshua made fists and shook them.

“I have grandkids. I suddenly feel very old,” Timmons said, looking for a chair. There weren’t any besides the one that Joshua sat in. Timmons leaned on the table.

“Where were you? We’ve been from Toronto to New York City a number of times over the years and never felt anyone else from our world,” Sue asked as she looked at the well-established pack.

“Way north. We all left the city when the food ran out. We went north of Hudson Bay, where the climate was reasonable. Stayed there a long, long time. Then we saw a dirigible and knew the world had returned, and it had returned without us! We hurried our hairy asses back here, happy with what we found. Moved right in and set up camp.” Joshua leaned back in his overstuffed chair.

“You can thank these two for a lot of that. Butch and Skippy made the steel mill what it was, built the subway, restarted manufacturing as a whole. Those two helped bring the city back.” Timmons pointed at the beaming Werewolves.

“Our pleasure,” Butch said in her New York City accent.

“I’ll be damned. Werewolves. Where would the world be without us?” Joshua asked.

Timmons remembered the work he’d done in North Chicago so the people could start rebuilding civilization. “Digging in the dirt and eating grubs raw,” Timmons offered. Sue jabbed a finger into his ribs. “That’s not why we’re here. We only want to make sure that no one from our world is turning the humans into slaves. Simple as that.”

“So what if we were?”

“Then you’d get to meet the alpha and her mate,” Timmons replied matter-of-factly.

“She kills the greatest of us all and then takes a mate? She sounds like a firecracker.”

“You have no idea. Her mate is the greatest of us all. He kills Forsaken with his bare hands. No Were can stand before him. His eyes glow red when he’s angry. The alpha’s glow purple, and their daughter’s eyes glow blue. Together, there is no one strong enough to challenge them. And there’s no need to. They will leave you alone if you aren’t treating the people like shit.”

“I guess they’ll be leaving me alone, then, won’t they, old man?” Joshua said sarcastically.

Timmons wasn’t sure if his son was kidding or not. If only Joseph were there so they could be sure.

Lake Michigan

No one remembered the storm ending. It just did. And they found themselves floating. Terry’s legs kicked rhythmically, keeping his head above water. He thought that he’d been sleeping.

“Time to find land,” Terry said aloud. The others came to with a start.

“The sun,” Char said, blinking at the brightness climbing higher in the sky.

Sarah flexed and stretched.

“East?” Terry asked. Char closed her eyes and reached into the etheric dimension, looking for a sign to tell them which direction.

Maybe even let them know that Shonna and Merrit were on their way.

She could barely feel anything. They were in the middle of a wasteland, but her Werewolf sense of smell told her that they were downwind from land.

“That way.” Char pointed, and they started to swim. At least they didn’t have to swim against the tide.

Terry pulled his comm device and realized that he’d missed a number of calls. It had been underwater, muffling the sound and deadening the vibration.

He called Merrit.

“I’m so glad you’re still alive!” the Werewolf exclaimed.

“Can you come get us?” Terry asked.

“We have to repair the sail first, but I have a first-rate engineer working on it.” Terry expected that Shonna was giving Merrit the finger.

“When she saves your ass, call Eve and see if she can direct you to our signal. I’ll leave the channel open. I have some calls to return.”

Terry called each of the teams. Everyone had issues, but no one had anything they couldn’t handle. The Forsaken in China concerned Aaron. He told the Weretiger to call Akio for backup. The long hesitation suggested that they thought they didn’t need Akio’s help.

“This isn’t a Chinese versus the Japanese thing, is it?” Terry demanded.

“No!” Aaron replied defensively. “What good are we if we call someone else to clean up the mess? And that’s what this is, TH. A mess. We’re getting ready to go in now and confront this big baddie. I’ll call you back in an hour. If I don’t, send Akio to collect our remains.”

Terry didn’t send Akio anywhere, but he understood what Aaron was saying.

“Good luck, Aaron. I don’t want to bury anyone else, so please be careful.”

“To be honest, I don’t want to be buried. That would suck a whole lot since I’ll still be breathing.”

Aaron clicked off.

Terry held the device up, marveling briefly at the technology that allowed them to communicate anywhere around the world instantly. He never took that capability for granted.

“Coming?” Char called over her shoulder as she continued side stroking her way ahead. Sarah was beside her, breast-stroking methodically to glide forward after a vigorous kick. Stroke, pull, kick, glide.

Terry hammered his way past, splashing the women as he rolled onto his back and started back-stroking.

He frowned at Char. “I don’t want to see how far away it is.”

Char nodded as she continued swimming.

“I’m not sure this could suck more,” Sarah offered, taking in a mouthful of water and spitting it out.

Chizhou, on the banks of the Yangtze River

The guards at the plant’s entrance hadn’t wanted to let the group in, but after a quick round of fisticuffs, the two guards found themselves unconscious.

“He’s upstairs,” Aaron told Tac Team Charlie as they approached the main administrative building. A factory nearby spewed a steady stream of rancid, black smoke into the air.

Auburn wrinkled his nose and growled at the sight. “Fuck that.”

“Spoken like a true warrior,” Kim replied. “Let’s get to fixing things.”

They took one step before a figure appeared in the upper window. The all-black leather outfit gave it away. “Ni hao,” the creature called. Hello.

“That’s new,” Aaron said softly, before looking upward. “Hey there. We’d like to talk with you.”

Nick tucked his carbine into his shoulder. Kim and Auburn caught the motion out of the corners of their eyes and followed suit. They were on the front line of battle. A surreptitious approach was no longer needed.

Aaron and Yanmei stood casually, but their muscles were tense.

“No need for any of that. Come on up!” the Forsaken yelled.

“Why don’t you come down?” Aaron asked. He’d heard of and seen too many Forsaken traps to go where a Forsaken told him.

“As you wish,” the creature replied congenially. He leaned back inside and disappeared from sight.

“Spread out!” Kim ordered. Auburn and Nick ran for cover. She headed in a third direction while Aaron and Yanmei put some distance between them.

The Forsaken stepped outside, adjusted its hat to best block the afternoon sun, and slowly walked toward Aaron and Yanmei, stopping a few paces away.

“Weretigers with a bunch of humans. Interesting,” the creature said in Chinese. The Forsaken was extremely short, looking half Aaron’s size. It was blocky, but entirely unimpressive from a physical stature perspective.

Aaron relaxed, but Yanmei did not. Her experience with the Forsaken was wholly different from what Aaron had seen. She loathed the creature, despite its willingness to talk first.

“What brings you here?” it asked.

Kimber shifted uncomfortably since she couldn’t understand what they were saying. She wished for Aaron to move to give her a clear line of sight. Aaron was steadfast, so Kimber stood and walked from her cover to reposition herself where she had a clean shot.

Nick held his aim steady from the flank while Auburn had to move, choosing a line of sight between the Weretigers. Not optimal, but the best he could get without getting much closer.

“Pollution,” Aaron said simply.

“That is an unfortunate side product of our process,” the Forsaken said, sounding remorseful.

“But you’re not going to change anything?” Aaron asked, although he already knew the answer.

The Forsaken’s eyes darted past before returning to focus on Aaron. Kimber caught the movement, seeing more white in his eyes. She checked behind her. A security force was moving in.

“We got company!” she called. Aaron turned but Yanmei maintained her laser-like focus on the Forsaken.

Auburn adjusted, finding new cover. Nick winced as he settled into a sitting position, removing an extra magazine and setting it in his lap. He braced his elbows on the inside of his knees as he’d been taught. He found the movements to be comforting and understood why they drilled excessively at basic movements.

In combat, there was no time to think about the mechanics of doing a warrior’s duty. He needed to see the battlefield, assess the enemy, and plan to kill every single one of them. He didn’t need to waste time thinking about holding steady on his sight picture and sight alignment.

As Aaron started to turn back, the Forsaken attacked. It was fast, but Aaron and Yanmei had just completed a week of intensive martial arts training, honing their skill to the highest level.

Aaron met the Forsaken’s rush with a knee strike to the creature’s face. It flipped backward from the violence of the impact. Yanmei stormed toward it.

Kimber fired the first shot as the security guards separated and started to run toward them. Auburn followed, and Nick started knocking down targets one by one.

Breathe, aim, squeeze, and repeat.

Ten men were down in the space of four heartbeats. The others angled away and ran for their lives.

The difference between a militia and a well-trained military.

Aaron stepped forward, not crossing his feet as he remained balanced, hands ready to block or strike. Yanmei leapt high, coiled, and brought her foot down as the Forsaken tried to roll away. She caught it on its side, cracking ribs and stopping it cold.

Aaron struck. He used his height to build additional momentum as he drove his fist downward. He caught the Forsaken in the side of the head, making the creature’s skull bounce off the concrete walk.

Yanmei followed with another into the creature’s back. And then she rained a series of kicks down upon the prone Forsaken.

One of the guards stopped when he realized no one was shooting at him anymore. He turned back. Nick shot him in the face. The others kept running as fast as their legs could propel them.

Kim stood and waved for Auburn to join the Weretigers. She signaled for Nick to cover his half of the area in front of them. Kim and Nick would make sure the others were uninterrupted as they discussed the Forsaken’s future.

“Wait!” it called, blood pooling below its head where it had impacted the concrete. It grimaced in agony as it tried to sit up. The creature held out its hand, expecting help.

No one lifted a finger. Auburn held a steady aim. Silver bullets tearing apart a Forsaken’s head would guarantee a permanent death. He only needed the Weretigers to say the word.

Or the Forsaken to do something stupid.

It struggled into a sitting a position. “We only wanted to talk,” it said in Chinese.

“Not likely,” Aaron replied in English. “I think you were counting on your minions to do your dirty work for you.”

“Not so,” the Forsaken replied.

“Lying will get you killed sooner rather than later. We have a few questions that I need answers to…”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Lake Michigan

“For fuck’s sake! How long does it take to fix a boat?” Terry raged. They’d been swimming for an entire day. Darkness was falling and he didn’t know how close they were to the shore, whether they’d made any progress at all.

Terry was angry and tired. Char was slowing down. Sarah clenched her jaw as she soldiered on.

“We need rest,” Char said as she pulled up and tread water, barely keeping her chin above the lake’s surface.

“Rescue swim,” Terry said slowly. “You both lie on your back and I’ll pull you behind me. Relax and sleep. I’ll do the work. First to wake spots me.”

Char and Sarah were too tired to argue. The three shifted around until Terry could get a hand under the neck of each woman. They were dense, not prone to floating, so he had to kick hard to keep them above the water. He could feel how quickly they relaxed to sleep the sleep of the exhausted.

He grunted and worked his jaws as he swam, kicking vigorously as he entered the twentieth straight hour of swimming. He wasn’t sure how long even his strength would hold out. “I’m going to beat the fuck out of you, Merrit, just because,” he grumbled, while continuing to kick. Relentlessly driving them toward an unseen shore.

***

“Terry is going to fucking kill us!” Merrit cried. They’d fallen asleep after fixing the sail. Night was falling, and they felt well-rested. They’d slept for too long. The wind had dropped off and was barely tickling the water’s surface. Shonna hauled the sail upright, hand over hand pulling the sail to the top of the mast. She tied one end to a cleat and then adjusted the sail against the light breeze according to Merrit’s directions.

They headed south, staying close to the breeze. At least one thing was going their way.

Merrit used his comm device to call Eve. “Can you guide us to Terry, please?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “One moment please. I have you both. It seems they are two miles to your northeast.”

“How is that possible?” Merrit said, waving wildly for Shonna to loosen the sail as he tacked across the wind, changing their direction by ninety degrees. A couple minor adjustments later and they were making the best time they could.

“I cannot say how it is possible, only that it is. Once you reach them, you are only two more miles from shore if you continue in the same direction that you are now going.”

“Thanks, Eve. I’m keeping the channel open. Yell if we need to change course.” Merrit clipped the device to his shirt collar.

“Terry and Char don’t need to know that we were taking a nap when they were only two miles away. Holy shit! Why didn’t we check that before we fixed the sail?”

Merrit shook his head. Shonna used her device to call Terry, but he didn’t answer. “I hope we’re not too late,” she said as she climbed forward to look ahead, hoping to see them bobbing between the waves.

Chizhou, on the banks of the Yangtze River

The Forsaken was trussed like a hog going on a spit. They had lugged the creature up the stairs and back into its darkened office, then ripped the coverings off the windows to let the light in. They had removed its hat and shirt, leaving the Forsaken bare-skinned and sitting close to the sun’s rays.

“No,” Aaron said as it tried to inch farther from the offending daylight.

“What are your questions so I can escape the cursed day?” it asked in Chinese. Aaron shook his head.

“English, please.”

“Ask your question, Weretiger.”

Aaron stood there silently before deciding that he didn’t have any questions. He motioned for Yanmei to ask the questions.

She sighed before glaring at the Forsaken. “How many more of you are there?”

“None. There is only me. I slept in a cave for more than a century. When I returned to the world of man, I found this operation struggling. They are doing much better now.” The creature smiled.

“Where is the Qin Clan?” Yanmei demanded, slapping the Forsaken’s face.

He smirked and remained silent. She grabbed him by the neck and dragged him into the daylight. His skin started to smoke and he cried out in pain. Then he started howling, like a wolf bays at the moon.

Yanmei kicked him out of the sun’s rays. Nick thought it curious how its skin smoked after getting exposed to the sunlight. A daywalker this one was not.

Kim and Auburn watched with mild interest, paying more attention to what they could see outside the windows. Some of the guards had returned, but they were in disarray. The leader must have been among the ones who were killed. One of the guards was trying to rally the others and having some success as he pointed wildly at the admin building and then at the men.

Kimber stood back from the window so the barrel of her rifle wouldn’t stick out. She adjusted her stance and let her heartbeat drag the front sight post around in a figure eight. She calmed her breathing and let the barrel move. Holding perfectly still in the off-hand firing position wasn’t easy.

Tracing a tight figure eight on your target was how Terry Henry had taught marksmanship. The end of the barrel only moved the width of a blade of grass but it was enough to be the difference between a kill shot and a wounded enemy fighting back.

Kim started squeezing the trigger at the outside of the curve and as the barrel came back around, the trigger completed its motion. The discharge surprised Kimber, as it was supposed to. No flinching. No jerking. The round hit the man in the back and exploded through, sending blood and gore over those closest to him.

She took aim and squeezed off a second shot at the man she determined was the next most likely to play hero. He went down, tried to crawl, and then collapsed completely.

The others ran out the gate and kept going. The two gate guards were nowhere to be seen. She wondered briefly if they had gone before or were new additions to the latest episode of the running man.

When she looked back inside the room, Yanmei was holding the Forsaken’s head in the sunlight again. Kim had no idea what transpired, but clearly it had not been in the creature’s favor.

“I’m not good with the torture,” Kimber said, pulling the Forsaken out of the light and throwing it to the floor. Yanmei snarled. “I know, Yanmei. I know. This asshat isn’t Kirkus. Terry Henry killed that fucker with his bare hands and then tore his head off with a door! What else could you ask in retribution?”

Yanmei kept her teeth bared as she glared at Kimber. Kim had never seen the usually sedate Yanmei like that. “If we need to kill it, then let’s get it done. There’s a lot of work to clean this place up!” Kim tentatively put out her hand and touched Yanmei’s arm. Concern filled Kim’s face.

The Weretiger sighed and relaxed. “You are right, Kimber. Thank you.” She walked from the room without another glance at the Forsaken.

The creature smiled as Yanmei left. Everyone jumped at the rifle’s report. The Forsaken’s head exploded spectacularly, spraying a pattern across the office’s plain wall. Nick took his finger from the trigger and clicked the weapon back to safe.

Kim and Auburn looked back and forth between the dead Forsaken and the private. “I’m not cleaning that up,” Kimber finally said.

Aaron’s mouth worked silently. Finally, he spoke. “Why?”

“Somebody had to make a decision and that thing was tearing us apart. You weren’t going to get anything from it, were you?”

“No. He wasn’t going to tell me anything. He wasn’t one of the good Forsaken.”

“So we’re good, right?” Nick asked.

“Yeah. We’re good.” Aaron stared at the body on the floor, having forgotten what they’d come there for.

“Aaron,” Kimber started. “What do you say we go find some people who work here and start setting things straight?”

“Sounds good,” Aaron said woodenly, remembering how much he hated the killing.

An explosion made the building shake.

“What now?” Kimber complained as she ran out the door.

Lake Michigan

“There they are. Go right!” Shonna called over her shoulder as she leaned over the prow, using her Werewolf vision to see the three figures floating in the water ahead. “Oh, shit!”

She ran two steps and vaulted beyond the single mast to untie the sail. Merrit worked the ship’s wheel back and forth to slow the boat.

“Ahoy!” he yelled.

“Bring that boat over here so I can shove that ‘ahoy’ up your ass!” Terry called back in a tired voice.

Shonna made a face at Merrit, confirming what he thought.

They were in trouble.

Shonna threw a rope to Terry as the boat glided by. Char and Sarah grabbed on, letting the boat pull them close to the hull. Shonna and Merrit pulled them aboard.

Terry climbed aboard last.

“We’re not very far from shore. We’ll head that way now. Eve has given us a heading,” Merrit offered.

Terry glared at him with tired eyes. “What took you so long?” he croaked.

“Once the storm settled, it took a while to jury-rig the sail. And then, I’m so sorry, but we fell asleep. Why didn’t you call Eve for a pod?”

“Because I trusted that you would be on your way as soon as you could.”

“Fuck, man. I can’t tell you how sorry we are. Fighting to keep the boat afloat with the sail dicked up took everything we had,” Merrit pleaded. He bowed his head as he sought Terry’s mercy. Shonna stood at his side, equally apologetic.

“We survived. That’s all that matters. I don’t blame you. We fell asleep, too, for a couple minutes anyway. I think we’ll get some sleep. Wake us in the morning and have breakfast ready.”

Terry smiled as he went below, joining Char and Sarah who were already dried off and sound asleep in the two beds. He covered the naked women with blankets, before stripping off his wet clothes and toweling himself dry with the one towel that the two women had used. He did the best he could, before working his way into the narrow bunk next to his wife.

He kissed her on her red-hot forehead and caressed the silver streak of hair that framed one side of her face. “My love,” he whispered before laying back. He didn’t even remember his head hitting their shared pillow.

Merrit looked to Shonna. “No more fuck-ups,” he whispered harshly.

“Back at you, nut-licker!”

“Only because I can,” he replied. They were both relieved at not being castigated for their failure. Saving the boat had taken a great effort, and they weren’t experienced sailors like Terry and Char.

“All’s well that ends well, but this isn’t the end. We’ve got a long way to go. How far do you think we’ll be able to sail up the Saint Lawrence?” Shonna asked.

Merrit shrugged. “We’ll find out soon enough.”

Tac Teams Alpha and Bravo

The Rhine

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Marcie said. Cory and Ramses sat quietly. Gene was running a big hand through his hair. Kaeden held Marcie’s hand. The unenhanced leaned against the railing and watched the others. They were on the outside looking in, no matter how much Kaeden, Marcie, and the others tried to include them.

It looked like the group was on vacation. They felt like they were on vacation.

“This is vanilla pudding of adventures,” Gene replied. Cory and Ramses chuckled. Kae raised one eyebrow as he watched Gene to see if he was joking.

He wasn’t.

“You like vanilla, Uncle Gene,” Marcie replied. “Four separate groups of Weres, all of them needed an attitude adjustment. None of them needed to be sanctioned.”

“Sanctioned?” Gene wondered.

“It’s TH’s cool term for killed, wiped off the face of the Earth, executed, blown away, those kinds of things,” Marcie explained.

“Ahh, I see.” Gene stopped playing with his hair. He adjusted his bulk within the deck chair, making it groan in protest.

“Another week and then the ship retraces its path. I wasn’t around for the planning of this thing, so what happens then? We ride it back?”

“One-way tickets,” Gene said slowly. “We are out of money and barter. We go home to Fu.”

Kaeden and Marcie looked at each other, as did Ramses and Cory. The couples liked being together. They couldn’t blame Gene for being homesick.

Edwin rolled his eyes at Kurtz, but the lieutenant shook his head, informing the young man that he shouldn’t make light of Gene’s family life.

Werebears had a tendency to settle their disputes in a physical manner. Edwin was a big man, but Gene had him by more than three hundred pounds, plus he was faster. If Edwin wanted a beating that he may never recover from, Tyson suggested he give Gene crap about being in love.

“When you put it that way, it makes the most sense,” Edwin concurred.

“Perspective, Edwin. It’s all about perspective. No matter how big and bad you are, there’s always someone bigger and badder,” Kurtz explained before turning his attention back to the conversation at hand.

“Sounds good. We’ll hike into the hills, find a secluded spot, and call for pickup. On a side note, mission success or failure? How do we brief it to the colonel?” Marcie asked.

“You can call him ‘Dad,’ for piss sake. We all know who you’re talking about,” Kaeden suggested. Marcie gave her husband a mean look.

“Discipline. It’s only us now. If we need to build the FDG back up, we’ll need some military bearing. Dad, Grandpa, and Boss won’t get it.”

“But ‘TH’ will?” Kae asked pointedly.

Marcie’s expression softened, but she didn’t answer.

“Soooo, how do we frame this?” Marcie returned to her previous question.

“A win. We mark their locations on the map and keep searching. They’ll move around, but at least we’ll get an idea of how many have come out of the woodwork.” Kae shuffled his feet. He had been there from almost the very beginning. No one realized that Were had survived as they had. “I’ll be damned if we ever thought that any survived, let alone the big numbers of them that we’re seeing.”

“Eight is big number?” Gene asked.

“It is, especially when we were expecting zero,” Kaeden replied.

“No big deal. I take eight by myself. Time for vacation!” Gene declared, getting up and heading for the restaurant. His internal feeding clock was right on time. The restaurant was opening in one minute. It never bothered Gene to be first in line. Because he expected to be somewhere in the middle for rounds two and three, and last in line as well. The others planned to wait.

They heard the heavy tread as Bogdan hurried down the passageway between the cabins to join his father.

Kae pulled Marcie into a hug. “This mission was a win. And your new skills are incredible. A month well spent with the Akio man.”

Marcie turned serious. “How is Dad doing with all the changes?”

“He thinks he failed us in turning us loose to build a big force based on incorrect assumptions. He blames himself for the way the sergeants turned on him. He is in disbelief at how many Were there are in the world. And he always expects that there will be a Forsaken uprising. Besides that, he’s great,” Kaeden told her with a smirk.

“That bad?”

“Those are the things on his mind, but you know him. He shakes it off to focus on the business at hand. He always thinks he’s responsible. Andrew and Destiny dying in Chicago hit him hard, but I don’t think as hard as Joseph leaving. That rocked him to his core. Joseph was his greatest victory. He fought the Forsaken, humbled him, and helped the others to see what was inside. There’s been nothing like it since. And now Joseph is gone.”

“Maybe Tac Team Alpha will find him and bring him back? I want to see your mom and dad happy and if that’s all it takes, I’m going to do it.”

“We are going to do it.” Kaeden smiled and drew his wife close.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Chizhou, on the banks of the Yangtze River

Three of Aaron and Yanmei’s children walked off the pod. All the workers were lined up, since the facility was temporarily closed. The parents wanted an appropriate greeting for their children. If they were going to take over management of the plant, they needed to meet the people they would lead.

The cubs were taller than their mother and shorter than their father. At over fifty years old, they were young compared to the other Were folk, but old enough to have a great deal of experience in dealing with humanity.

Ai, Bo, and Chen were the first three born. Aaron and Yanmei intercepted them. “Take off your sunglasses,” their father ordered. Bo started to make a face, but Yanmei stepped closer.

“If you are to earn the respect of these people, it starts right now. If you are to make this plant great, you need their respect. They will make you or break you. This is your job until we say it isn’t. Do you understand?” Yanmei was relentless. She’d spoiled her children long enough, but when she put her foot down, they didn’t cross her.

Their father was a different story. He’d waffle and cave with little effort from the cubs. He didn’t look the same to them, and they realized that something had happened.

Maybe it was time that they stopped crossing their father, too.

The three bowed to their parents, removed their shades, and delivered a formal greeting before turning to the other members of Tac Team Charlie to greet Kim, Auburn, and Nick.

“That’s more like it, my wonderful children,” Yanmei said, beaming. Aaron smiled as he saw his wife’s pride.

The three were introduced to the workforce, each taking one area to work with—the mine, movement of the ore, and the production facility. One for each, starting with a different way to leech the desired metals from the stone.

Settling ponds for runoff that didn’t drain into the river. Moving rock-crushing operations away from the river. And controlling the production process where the raw minerals were turned into saleable products.

Aaron and Yanmei had spent a week talking with the employees. If anyone had an answer, it was those who worked closest to the issue. They knew what the problems were. Their previous manager, the black-clad asshole, was unrelenting at production. He didn’t care about anything. People were hurt every day. Some were never seen again.

The employees didn’t know the real reason those employees disappeared. The Forsaken had cultivated a feeding ground under the masquerade of a functioning business.

The Weretigers had arrived and there was nothing more important than turning it into a sound business once again. Which meant Aaron and Yanmei had to put on their corporate hats and market the products.

“We leave the mine in capable hands as we return to Shanghai and onward to Tianjin, where our contacts should be able to hook us up…” Aaron and Yanmei degenerated into business talk that dulled the others’ senses.

“I’m thinking they can do whatever they want. I’m jumping on the pod and going home,” Kimber said as she turned and headed for the pod, hoping that it would open on her voice command. Auburn joined her. China continued to be woefully underserved in the steak department. He wanted to get back to San Francisco where he was mentoring a couple ranchers not far outside of town.

“I need a good T-bone, about two inches thick and plenty bloody,” Auburn admitted.

“Can you grill one for me, too?” Nick asked, favoring his side as he hoisted his pack onto his shoulder.

“Your ribs still hurt?” Kim asked.

Nick Rixon hesitated, but Kimber was a major and she needed to know. “Yeah, they do. I’m coughing up blood specks, too.”

Kim looked angry while Auburn was shocked. “Get in the pod!” she ordered, before turning to Aaron and Yanmei. “Are you coming?”

“Taking the riverboat,” Aaron called as he waved.

Kim punched the button and closed the ramp. She accessed the comm system. “Akio-sama. We have an injured warrior. Is there any way we can stop on our way from China and get him a few minutes in the pod doc? He’s in pretty bad shape.”

“Have you been in battle?” Akio asked plainly.

“Yes, but it wasn’t from that. We eliminated one Forsaken at our position here in a place with an unpronounceable name. Training with the Weretigers was challenging, to say the least.”

“Of course, Kimber-san. I will take control of your pod and guide it in.”

Kim clicked off.

“I don’t think it’s that bad. I just need some down time,” Nick suggested.

“No, you don’t. You need real help that only Akio can provide. I don’t know what else the pod doc will be able to do for you, but we’ll see. Maybe you’ll be able to keep up with us after a treatment.”

Nick contemplated what that meant, nodding because he didn’t understand. He closed his eyes and leaned into the jump seat, arching his back to take the pressure off his chest.

Damn, that shit hurts, he thought.

Tac Team Delta

Southern end of Lake Huron

“Looks like we’re walking from here,” Terry said as he looked at the massive blockage on what used to be a lock and dam. There was no difference between the water elevations of Huron and Lake Saint Claire, but there was no way through for their sailboat.

“Guess so,” Char said. “Canadian side?”

“Guess so,” Terry replied.

Shonna and Merrit were finally less subdued, even though Terry and Char didn’t bear them ill will over the great Lake Michigan debacle. Sarah had no idea where she was, so she accepted any direction the others gave.

“Why didn’t you call for a pod to come pick you up out of the water?” Shonna finally had the guts to ask.

“Because any minute now, you guys were going to show up. Any minute. I didn’t want to put anyone else out.” Terry shrugged.

“You would rather die than ask for help. Is that what I just heard?” Merrit asked.

“Something like that. Any time now my friends are going to come for me. Any minute,” Terry taunted.

“Well, you’ve got some lousy friends,” Merrit suggested as Terry eased the boat toward the shore.

“No, we don’t.” Terry leaned over the side as he tried to see through the chop to see underwater obstructions. He wanted to ease close enough that they could step ashore. He’d had enough of swimming.

Merrit waved and hatcheted his arm in a different direction. Terry eased the wheel as the boat started losing momentum. Merrit directed them back toward their original course as they passed a sunken tree.

“More sail!” Terry called. Shonna and Char hauled the sail higher on the mast and hung on as the wind filled it. “Less sail!”

Char gave Terry the stink-eye.

“Sorry,” he said, although he wasn’t sorry. The boat hit an abutment with more speed than Terry wanted, but Merrit grabbed an outcropping and held on.

They pulled the sail in, tied off the boat, and walked away. They didn’t know if they’d need it again or not, but there was no sense in trashing a perfectly good boat recently borrowed from the retired North Chicago fishing fleet.

Chief Ayashe, in her role as the mayor, had said that the city would always be there for Terry and Char. Terry found it hard to maintain his composure, but persevered in the end.

He looked at the boat, remembering the image with his perfect memory, filled through the years with pictures just like that one, where he went from one adventure to the next.

“As Helen Keller said, security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”

Terry looked at Shonna and Merrit before focusing on his granddaughter, who looked anxious to get going. He signaled for her to be patient. “We must remember the footpath of our lives because we will inevitably retrace our steps, even if only in our own minds.”

Japan

Nick Rixon stepped out of the pod doc feeling incredible. He’d only spent a few days in it so it could repair his ribs and damaged lungs. But he was naked. Kim, Auburn, and Akio watched him, making him blush and turn. Auburn handed the man a towel.

“I’m glad Eve was able to fix the equipment,” Kim said as she looked at the pod doc.

“Not fixed, Kimber-san, but better. This was a minor issue and easily repaired.”

“Well now,” Kim started. “Get your clothes on. Time to hit the obstacle course and see if you’re any better.”

The three left Nick on his own. He dressed in his freshly cleaned clothes. He didn’t feel any stronger, but the pain was gone. He could breathe freely once again. He hadn’t realized how much pain he had put up with.

And he never knew such a thing as the pod doc existed. He wondered how most of the team members became superhuman. He and the other unenhanced had talked about it, but Kurtz squashed the talk as unproductive.

Nick wondered what other secrets the family was keeping.

He approached the training ground where an oversized obstacle course was placed. Akio intercepted him before he reached Kim and Auburn.

“Conspiracy serves no one,” Akio said coldly.

“Akio! I didn’t see you there,” Nick replied.

Akio calmed the man’s mind, placing feelings of appreciation for all Terry and Char had done for him, appreciation for Kimber’s recognition of his injury, and helping him to get it repaired. Akio knew that the man’s DNA was receptive and if needed, he could be readily boosted, maybe even converted into a Were.

“I’m sorry,” Nick said softly. “They have been demanding, but incredibly kind. I believe that they would die for me. I would like to think that I’d take a bullet for them, too.”

“You would, Nick-san. I know you would.” Akio gripped the man’s arm as a friendly gesture and then pointed to the obstacle course. “They are waiting for you.”

One week later

San Francisco

“When is everyone else coming back?” Cory wondered. Tac Teams Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie had returned. Echo was in New York City, but meeting with various Were packs to solidify Char’s role as a neutral third party.

Tac Team Delta was running along the northern side of the Saint Lawrence Seaway and had been for a full week. Of all the teams, they were the only one who did not find anyone from the Unknown World.

Marcie wasn’t sure that Terry didn’t find exactly what he needed to find, that there wasn’t a steady stream of Were and Forsaken infiltrating the city-states.

“Call him?” Kaeden asked.

“Sure,” Cory said and held out her hand. Ramses slapped a comm device into it.

“Is that how that’s supposed to work?” Marcie asked.

“Don’t get any funny ideas,” Kaeden cautioned playfully.

“Dad?” Cory asked. “I can barely hear you. Where are you?”

“Quebec City, I think,” Terry yelled. “Send a pod!”

Kaeden looked at his sister. “Was Dad waiting for someone to call him before he asked for pickup?”

Kimber shrugged.

“Why didn’t you call for one before now?”

“We just got here. There’s a huge waterfall where there used to be a city. It rivals Niagara Falls. Impressive, but loud and really wet. Send a pod. I’ll leave my comm channel open.”

“On the way, Dad,” Cory said before closing out. She called Eve to ask her to send one of the San Francisco pods to her father’s signal and pick up Tac Team Delta.

That took all of twenty seconds. She handed the comm device back to Ramses.

Shanghai, China

“Those terms won’t do at all,” Yanmei said pleasantly. Aaron smiled and nodded.

The man across the table continued to talk with Aaron as he tried to ignore Yanmei.

“Maybe we can talk alone,” he suggested.

“Why?” Aaron replied.

“So we can reach a man’s agreement.” He only looked at Aaron.

Yanmei sat patiently. It wasn’t the first time someone tried to exclude her based solely on her gender.

“What she said, times two.” Aaron leaned forward. “You’ll find that I’m not so accommodating. I don’t have a business mind like she does, so whatever she says is a deal that works, I have to go way beyond just to make sure we meet our margins. So, my position is what she said…times two.”

“What does that mean?” the man replied, flustered. He leaned back in his chair and rolled his head back and forth. He was grossly out of shape.

A pitfall of a civilized world—one could let themselves go and still survive.

“You’ll have to talk to Yanmei if you want a real conversation. I know you need these metals for your factory. I know that we can provide them. I know that we have hundreds of employees counting on this deal while you have thousands. So, you can talk to us as equals or we walk. You have two competitors, but they are in Tianjin. We will ship our product there. I’m sure adding one ship to the mix will fill any gap in transit times.” Aaron looked to Yanmei and she nodded. He turned back to the man across the table and gave him the thumbs up.

“But, but…” the man sputtered.

“Five, four, three,” Yanmei counted down slowly. The man finally looked at her, but with contempt. “Two, one.”

She slid her chair back and stood. Aaron joined her. Without a word or another look at the man, they walked out on their way to the port to book passage to Tianjin. They had two other companies to talk with.

“WAIT!” someone yelled. Aaron hadn’t expected the man to cave. They looked over their shoulders to see the man waving them back.

“Shall I go get something for lunch while you hammer out the details?” Aaron offered.

“Capital idea,” Yanmei purred.

“I’d say go easy on him, but don’t. He needs his humanity lesson driven home. A teacher’s work is never done, is it?” Aaron kissed Yanmei on the cheek before she returned to the business office of the electronics plant and Aaron went in search of lunch.

The man’s shoulders slumped as he saw only Yanmei approach.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

San Francisco

Terry looked at the map hanging on the wall of the FDG conference room. It was tacked with pins and scraps of paper that detailed what they’d found. There was a long list in New York City with lists of information pinned throughout what had been the United States.

Many of those Weres were unconfirmed, but with the cooperation of the Pack Council, they’d shared the main locations of formal Pack members.

Char sat on the conference table and also studied the wall.

“Should we join?” Terry asked.

“There can only be one!” Char shouted, thrusting her fist in the air before lounging lazily on the table.

Terry jumped back. “Dammit! Next time give warning before you go all Highlander on me.”

She chuckled lightly.

“I’ve been the alpha for a long time. It would be hard to give any of that up.”

“You’d still be the alpha,” Terry replied. “Wouldn’t you?”

“Yes and no. I’d cede authority to the Pack Council. They could order me and my pack on some kind of mission, maybe protect a dignitary, acquire something, who knows. I want to know what they know, but I don’t want to give anything for it. Even if we join, they don’t have to tell us anything.”

“I get the impression from Timmons that he is being pressured to add our numbers to the NAPC.”

“If I was there, I’d probably have to fight the alpha. After kicking his ass six ways from Sunday, I’d have to take over and I’m simply far too busy for that nonsense.”

Terry turned his back to the map so he could look at his wife. She was sprawled across it, her head propped on one hand.

“I see how busy you are.” He hiked a cheek on the table so he could sit next to her. He rested his hand on her hip as he looked back to the map. “Imagine if we had the whole of the NAPC on the watch for Forsaken?”

“I wondered how long it would take you before you pulled the whole god and country thing on me. Do you really want to me to go fight Timmons’s son?”

Terry knew his answer as well as she did. He massaged her hip and buttocks, before climbing on the table to lay next to her.

“It would make our job easier.”

“Our job?” Char asked.

“Keep the world free from evil. Allow humanity to flourish.”

“The world you lived in, before the fall, was a violent one. Your job was violence. You have much less of that now.”

“Yes,” Terry said easily. “Because the WWDE was merciless and purged the Earth of good and bad alike. We were there to squash the evil when it rose, but the closer we get to how it was in the before time, the more it gets like it was. We are in a lull until one man decides that he wants what another man has. I feel like we should let them. The only thing we can do is make sure that it doesn’t turn into a Forsaken feeding ground. That’s not very noble of me. We should work to prevent all war. No one walks away from a war the same. It changes things. It changes people.”

He turned on his back and looked at the ceiling. Char pulled herself close and put her head on his chest.

“The right war can make things better. You, my love, are fighting the right war. I don’t always understand what drives you, but know how happy you are when you can walk through an area at peace, not worrying that someone is going to attack you. I trust you completely. I know that whatever you decide will be in the best interest of the planet. I know that when judgment day comes, whenever Bethany Anne returns, she will not find you lacking. That is your standard, isn’t it?”

Terry thought about it. “You know me better than I know myself. Maybe that standard is what’s getting me down. It’s been a long time and the more the population grows, the more is slipping through my fingers. I know that being away for fifty years had nothing to do with it. We needed the kids to find their own way. They did, and they’re better for it. The disbanding of the majority of the FDG, the realignment, all of it. Being smaller means that we need to execute more wisely and to do that, we need information. The NAPC has that reach. You have to fight Joshua, and you have to win.”

Alameda

“Ted, dear, you haven’t been home in weeks!” Felicity drawled while running her hand up and down his arm suggestively.

“Let me show you this!” Ted said excitedly. She followed him willingly, understanding that to get something, she had to give something.

Ted led her outside where the framing and superstructures of three different dirigibles were in various stages of construction. Ted’s gravitic engines had already been installed on the gondolas and were ready to be tested once the fabric was stretched and sealed.

The fabric was the holdup even though they had suppliers bringing ships filled with material from all over the world. Ted wasn’t impressed by the global reach that Mary Ellen and William had established.

Kimber and Auburn’s son Kailin had returned from a walkabout with the decision to rejoin civilization. Kim and Auburn could not have been more pleased. The boy had been enhanced, but had not gone into the FDG. Mary Ellen and William readily adopted their cousin as the heir apparent to the empire that they had built. They saw him as their legacy.

They had no regrets. With Ted’s new engines, Walton Industries was going to revolutionize the world.

It would start when the first dirigible raced skyward on its way east, to link the two coasts and the major cities in between.

Ted didn’t understand what was taking so long. “I don’t get the holdup!” Ted complained, throwing his hands up in frustration.

Felicity had stopped telling him not to make a scene or get upset with the ways of mere mortals. Not once had it worked over the past seventy years. “They’ll get there. You need a vacation, something to take your mind off this business. You’ve done your part, magnificently, I’d like to add. Now you have to wait on those who aren’t you. You are coming with me.”

Ted shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground while he shuffled his feet. She worked her way to his front so she could wrap her arms around him and look up into his face. “You are an incredible man,” she whispered to him. “A great father to our children and you are the one who brought civilization back to humanity. Engineering, my dear. There is no one better than you.”

Felicity started kissing his neck.

“That tickles,” he giggled, taking his hands out of his pockets so he could hug his wife. “You are right, Felicity. I am a great engineer.”

Felicity sighed. “I do declare. What am I going to do with you?”

WWDE + 135

Flying to New York City

Char didn’t go to New York right away. She waited until she could fly on the maiden voyage of the Spires Transcontinent, the first dirigible produced by Walton Industries.

As they waited, Char trained multiple times each day, with all the opponents. Even Sarah Jennifer stepped into the ring to face her grandmother, but Char had no choice but to fight at full speed. Sarah lasted ten seconds at most.

Gene lasted forty-five, but only because his skull was too thick and withstood the pounding that Char gave it. She walked away untouched.

Terry accelerated as fast as he could. Char stood toe to toe as they struck, blocked, and counterpunched.

They hobbled Char so she had to remain balanced while multiple attackers came at her. They even took the pod to Japan so Terry and Char could train directly with Akio and Yuko.

Sarah had wanted to go, but Terry said no. She remained behind to train with the Weres. She found that she was faster than them, but their experience usually swayed the match in their favor. She took beating after beating, but she always returned a little bit better than she was before.

Nick, Edwin, Samantha, and Tyson always watched the matches, but trained separately. Even if Char took it easy, she would end up killing the unenhanced. Nick’s short time in the pod doc had given him a slight advantage over the others, but Edwin’s size still won out.

Tyson’s intelligence kept the group focused. They needed to be ready whenever they got the call. They spent a great deal of time with the training platoon.

At one point, Kurtz asked to double the size of the active members because of the logistics demands of training in multiple areas simultaneously.

They held a competition and a number of the reservists were brought back to full-time. Others had moved on, but there were no hard feelings. Everyone served based on the needs of the Force, not on their personal desires.

Terry left Kurtz in charge as the pack headed to New York City, having secured rooms aboard the first commercial air flight in one hundred and thirty-five years.

Eight Werewolves were joined by two Werebears and two Weretigers. Fu and Felicity joined their husbands for the flight.

Kailin also joined so Ted could teach him how to fly the ship. He thought it important to learn how to do what he would ask others to do for him. Ted was reluctant to hand over the controls, but did so after Felicity’s polite encouragement.

Gene and Bogdan had to remain in their rooms. The motion of the dirigible made them uncomfortable. They flew in a pod without a problem, but being able to see the earth far below made their knees buckle.

Like father, like son.

Terry and Char enjoyed it immensely, hanging out by the windows and watching as they progressed at a slow and steady pace. The pods crossed the country in no time and they rarely saw anything.

Travel as it was meant to be. Relaxing. Something to be enjoyed. Days spent in relative luxury, stopping at various places along the way to visit and sightsee.

“When do we recharge the engines? Will they make there and back without hooking up?” Terry asked after he made his way into the small cockpit to get a tour from Kai.

Ted hadn’t offered. He didn’t like strangers in the cockpit. Terry tried to make the case that he wasn’t a stranger, but it fell on deaf ears. Ted was still angry about the bloody handprint on the sailboat. He even called Terry ‘the Defiler’ at one point.

“The entire top of the dirigible is made of solar panels. The engines recharge as we fly. They charge almost as quickly as they are discharged. Whenever we stop, they are topped off and we leave at one hundred percent.”

“Genius, Ted. Always. Genius,” Terry told the Werewolf. Ted didn’t reply as he watched Terry’s hands closely to make sure he didn’t befoul Ted’s cockpit.

“First stop, Denver!” Kailin called out. He accessed the ship-wide intercom. “First stop, Denver, coming up in a couple hours. Denver ground crew, please prepare yourselves.”

“Denver?” Terry asked.

“You bet, they’re building back up. They don’t have central power, but they do have a growing society,” Kai explained.

“How did I not know that?”

“You don’t know a lot of things,” Ted said, continuing to watch Terry’s hands. TH put his hand on a clean surface and pressed down, leaving a hand and palm print. “That’s it! You’re out of here!”

Terry left the cockpit with a smile. Ted scrubbed furiously at the panel to buff it clean. The door closed. Terry looked at it. Char waited in the narrow hallway leading from the cockpit to the dining and lounge areas.

“I suspect I shall never set foot in there again.”

“I heard,” Char replied, leading Terry back into the lounge where they found empty seats near the window to watch the Rocky Mountains that weren’t very far below them. The dirigible maintained sufficient height to clear them but no more.

“I lived down there for twenty years,” Terry said. He wasn’t talking to anyone as he was on his own journey, retracing his steps from a previous life. “Fate. Werewolves. Fear and friendship. I miss Margie Rose.”

“And Mrs. Grimes,” Char added. “They kept us grounded.”

Terry laughed to himself. “Margie Rose pegged us as a couple, tried to get us together, and then was offended when we slept together, even though we weren’t doing it.”

“I think she was well aware when your prudishness turned that corner.”

“You pronounced ‘honorable man’ wrong.” Terry raised his eyebrows to see if he had gotten a rise from his wife. She didn’t take the bait.

“You let me walk around with that scar on my face for two years.” She turned her nose in the air. Terry put his coffee down and took her hand, holding it gently. A perfect fit as it had been from the start.

“Denver, huh?” Kaeden asked, sliding a chair close to his parents. Kim, Auburn, Marcie, Cory, Ramses, and Sarah joined them. “Do you think it’s the people who stayed behind?”

“I do,” Terry replied. “The mountains will provide. Heaven knows they sustained me, as well as Char and her pack. Why not a new population in Denver?”

“We shall see,” Char said, looking over the landscape. The Fallen Lands were to the east. The Wasteland. Below them, the world was green and fertile. It only made sense that people would find where they could hunt and farm.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Denver

There was no welcoming committee. The dirigible landed in a grassy field to the south of the population center nestled into the foothills west of old Denver. The ground crew jumped out with their tools to establish a solid foundation to which the airship could be tied.

Gene and Bogdan hurried through the gondola and jumped to the ground, standing shakily for a moment before grabbing each other in a bear hug and pounding each other’s back.

“Come on, Uncle Gene, it wasn’t that bad,” Kae said as he joined the group on the ground to offload supplies for the ground team to establish a commercial facility. Five of them and five warriors from the training platoon to provide security were deposited. There was another group of ten for Chicago and ten for Pittsburgh. Butch and Skippy had secured a facility and workforce in New York City, where they still wielded significant power.

“How long?” Terry asked Kailin.

“We can leave as soon as the ground team is set up. A few hours, maybe?” Kai looked indifferent.

“You don’t need to meet with the locals or anything like that?”

Kai shook his head. Char had her eyes closed as she faced the city. “I think we’ll be here a bit longer,” she suggested. “Terry and I and some of the others need to go into town.”

Terry knew that look. “I’ll be right back,” he told her as he hurried to their small cabin to recover his weapons and gear up. He brought Char’s belt and pistols. She took them without question. The others reappeared with their gear. Kai would have been alarmed if he hadn’t been raised around warriors.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can. Don’t leave without us.”

Char was in the lead, walking determinedly toward the town to the north. When they were clear of the crew and out of sight of the gondola, they started running. Terry never worried about having the pack in one place at one time. Anyone powerful enough to take out the group would have an easier time if they were separated.

They kept their spacing as they ran. Butch and Skippy were keeping up. Terry was pleased at their change in attitude after going to the city with Timmons and Sue. There was nothing like a pack to keep a Werewolf honest.

“How many?” Terry finally asked.

“I felt five, but there could be more. They might be underground. We’ll see as we get close. Marcie?”

Marcie unfocused her eyes, jogging easily to keep pace. “Seven,” she said. “Two underground, five above. All of them close together, and they know we’re coming.”

Char ran faster. “That’s a real pack.” She leaned over her shoulder. “Be careful, people. You kids stay behind us.”

When one is over two hundred years old, someone who is only one hundred can be called a kid.

They didn’t take it negatively. They knew what she meant. Anyone who couldn’t sense those tapping into the etheric needed to be behind those with the ability to ‘see.’

They slowed and spread out as they approached a series of large warehouses. They didn’t need to surround them all. Only the one with the pack inside, where there was a stairwell that led below.

Terry waved four of the Werewolves to the rear with Gene and Bogdan. He told Aaron and Yanmei to remain out front with Shonna, Merrit, Ramses, Cory, and Sarah. The others were going inside.

Terry looked at the door, rough cut from sheet metal. They stood aside as he yanked it open.

No trap. Char stepped into the darkness, her eyes adjusting nearly instantaneously. Terry followed her in. A warehouse with minimal stock, a great open space where a table and a few chairs were near an old Franklin stove, vented through the side of the building.

Five young men stood around. There were other people inside, too. Non-Were. They stopped to look at the newcomers.

Char checked the floor for trip wires or other traps, finding it clear. She strode boldly to the pack.

“Who’s the alpha?” she asked without preamble.

“Fuck you,” the closest to her said. Before the last syllable escaped his lips, she’d slammed his face through the table.

“If I want any lip from you, I’ll peel it from the floor. Who’s the alpha?”

“Downstairs,” one of the Werewolves said. The one next to him slapped his arm. Char’s eyes flared purple in the semi-dark of the warehouse. Terry remained calm, but tensed. Marcie’s eyes glowed a faint red.

“What the fuck are you misfits?” the man farthest away asked as he inched backward.

Marcie rushed around the group. The man crouched for an instant and changed into a Werewolf. It bared its fangs, slobber dripping from its muzzle as it anticipated biting an enemy. Marcie continued forward, accelerating on her final approach.

The Werewolf opened its mouth and darted forward, aiming for its target’s right arm. The Werewolf snapped its jaws shut on empty air. Marcie dropped her hand low, coming up under the creature’s jaw, clamping her merciless grip on its throat. She carried its momentum over and past her, then she wheeled and drove the Werewolf’s face into the concrete floor. She stood and punted the stunned creature over the broken table into a heap near its packmate.

Marcie stood, brushed herself off, and walked toward the stairs. “Come on up there, Mister Alpha. We’d like a word.”

She waited.

They all waited.

They all heard the sound of two people climbing the stairs.

“Who comes into my house and barks like puppies wanting a saucer of milk?” the older Were said in a slight southern accent. He wore a shirt and tie with casual slacks.

“Saucer of milk?” Terry wondered, shaking his head. “I’m thinking you guys aren’t the A-Team.”

The alpha growled and gritted his teeth. His yellow eyes shone through the darkness.

“Seize her,” he ordered the Werewolf climbing the steps behind him.

Marcie waited, weight balanced and muscles ready. The Werewolf snarled as it reached for her, expecting the human to comply. Marcie lashed out with the heel of her hand, catching the Were on the chin and driving his head backward so ferociously, it snapped his neck and threw him backwards.

He tumbled down the stairs and out of sight.

The alpha looked at Marcie, surprised and confused. He’d been the big dog for as long as Denver had been a community. And now, his beta was taken out with a single punch from a girl who wasn’t a Were.

He looked back toward the group around the table. Only three of his pack remained standing. He took one more step and then stars exploded before his eyes. He staggered from the blow Marcie delivered to his temple. He stumbled and fell to his knees. Marcie dragged him to the remains of the table and dumped him unceremoniously on the floor at Char’s feet.

The other members of the pack took a knee in deference to their superiors.

“You are my beta now. You do as I tell you, understand?” The former alpha nodded. “My name is Charumati and you are now under the direction of the North American Pack Council. Here.”

She handed him a comm device.

“Where did you come from?” he stammered.

“I could ask you the same question. Now tell me, what are you doing here?”

“Trade,” he replied simply.

“More,” Char demanded.

“The blood trade,” he clarified.

“Explain.”

“There are those who need Were blood to heal injuries, get longer life. Vampire blood is the best, but there’s only one source for that. At present, that is. Is that what you are, some kind of new Vamp?” he asked, looking at Marcie.

Terry’s mouth fell open as he stared dumbly at the defeated alpha. The muscles in Char’s cheeks stood out as she clenched her jaw so tightly.

Marcie was revolted at the thought of feasting on blood. “Humans are drinking Were blood?” she finally asked.

“Yes. It’s all the rage,” he said with disdain.

“No more blood trade. Not in my pack,” Char said in a low and dangerous voice. She grabbed the man by his throat. “No. More.”

He nodded, unable to speak as he couldn’t draw air into his lungs.

“The new air route goes through here. We’ll be back often to check on you. Don’t fuck up. It’ll be fatal.” Char backed up one step, looked from bowed head to bowed head, and then turned toward the door, striding away boldly. Terry whistled and waved his arm in a circle over his head.

His signal that it was time to move out.

They left the warehouse, recovered the other members of the pack, and started walking back toward the field where the dirigible could be seen in the distance.

“Whoever comes through here, check up on those knuckleheads. They aren’t going to change. We’ll probably have to break them up or exorcise a couple of them, including the loser that used to be the alpha,” Char said loudly enough for all to hear.

“Well done, Marcie,” Terry said, draping an arm over his daughter-in-law’s shoulder. “No fanfare. None needed. Let your actions speak for you.”

He one-arm hugged her before letting her go. Sarah was a bit put out. Kim and Auburn looked at her. “Keep an eye on your Aunt Marcie. See how she does it and follow her lead,” Kim advised.

“I can do that,” Sarah replied and cozied up next to her Aunt Marcie. Marcie looked at Kimber.

“You’re welcome,” Kim said, trying not to laugh.

Chicago

They landed in North Chicago in the field in front of the old FDG barracks. The mayor was having trouble getting around, but with the help of a jeep, she was able to greet the passengers and crew. They didn’t need to leave a ground crew behind because North Chicago had plenty of manpower.

Terry and Kimber looked south. “Do you think they’re out there?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Terry tried not to project the sadness he felt, but he couldn’t help it. He had grown to enjoy Joseph’s friendship. And no one knew history better. Terry missed their conversations. Terry’s inevitable feelings of failure weighed on him. He hadn’t been there for Joseph and Petricia. And now they were gone.

“I hope so.” Terry modified his answer. “As long as we have hope, we can keep looking. Someday, he’ll let us find him. I will always have hope that he can forgive me.”

“There’s nothing for him to forgive,” Kim said, turning toward her father. “Nothing at all. Everyone needs their time to mourn, to energize, to do what they have to do for themselves. It’s no reflection on you or your friendship.”

“When did you get so smart?”

“I grew up watching you, and then while you and Mom were gone, I learned what you’d been trying to teach us all along. The older I get, the smarter you were.”

“I’m going to have to contemplate that one,” Terry answered with a smile. “Thanks, Kimber.”

They returned to the others. Felicity was glad-handing with the reception committee. Ted never left the dirigible. No one was surprised.

The Werebears hurried away from the airship, stopping on the small hillside to look west. Auburn joined them. “I smell it, too,”

“Beef,” Gene said.

“Saddle up!” Terry yelled as he walked toward the gondola to re-board.

“I want steak,” Bogdan said gruffly. Gene looked back at Terry.

“No you don’t!” Terry yelled as Gene and Bogdan started running away from the dirigible. “They’re pulling a runner!”

Terry took two steps and stopped. “Call for a pod!” he bellowed, using his hands to make a megaphone around his mouth.

Auburn strolled down the small hill to join the others. “I don’t blame them,” he said. “There’s nothing like a Weathers’ steak, but I may be biased.”

“All aboard!” Terry yelled. The dirigible floated majestically above the field. The gravitic engines held it an easy two feet off the ground. A stool had been placed for the passengers. Two ground crew remained to train the people from North Chicago in their duties and to arrange food deliveries for whenever the Spires Transcontinental or its sister ships passed through.

The pack loaded up, while Fu waited. “Oh crap,” Terry whispered. Fu did not look happy. She carried a large bag of their stuff. When her husband and son ran off, she’d packed quickly.

Felicity called for Ayashe. “Would you mind taking Fu to intercept her wayward family? I believe they are headed for the stockyards.”

The jeep drove close and Fu bowed in appreciation of the ride. Terry took the bag from her and loaded it into the jeep. With one last wave, they drove away.

“They don’t smoke as much as they used to,” he observed.

“Only the smoke coming from Fu’s ears,” Felicity offered.

“It’ll be the worst beating he will have ever gotten, I suspect.”

Terry waited until everyone else was aboard before handing the footstool in and jumping through the door. He secured it behind him. The ground handlers cast off the lines and the dirigible started to climb as it headed east over Lake Michigan.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Pittsburgh

“Why in the hell would anyone ever want to go to Pittsburgh?” Char complained in classic New York style.

“The Steelers and the Penguins,” Terry replied, expecting that would end any discussion on the issue.

“You don’t even like sports,” she shot back.

“I didn’t used to, but now that they are history, I think they’re worth studying, especially since they were powerhouse franchises. They were winners. The Patriots, Packers, Cowboys, Forty-Niners, all cemented their place in history.”

“So did the Buffalo Bills.” Char nodded to further emphasize her point.

“Ouch! Batting oh-fer-zero-point-zero. They are indeed in the record books on the wrong side of history!” Terry laughed. “Three rivers, great for industry and trade. It was a big place in the French and Indian War. I wonder if any of the old battlegrounds are still there, or maybe Fort Ligonier, a good example of protective architecture of the period.”

Char tipped her sunglasses down so she could look at him over the top of them. “How long have you known me?”

“I feel like I’m being held so I can be punched in the face,” Terry said through narrowed eyes.

“You go off on those historical diatribes and you know, I don’t care.”

“But you’re the love of my life. You should be interested in what I’m interested in and I’m interested in what you’re interested in,” Terry said weakly.

“Right,” Char replied dismissively. “When I want to go clothes shopping, I’ll take my daughter rather than put up with your moaning and groaning.”

“Why can’t you just go buy something? You have to physically touch every piece of clothing in the shop!”

“My point exactly. No history for me. No clothes shopping for you. I love you dearly, TH, but you can be such a man sometimes.”

Terry leaned back. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or not. I thought you liked it when I was all manly, a scruffy-faced man.” He grinned at her.

“Yes, yes, of course, all that and musky, too. Take me, Terry, take me right now!” She hesitated for a moment before returning to her book.

“I feel like I just lost a battle that I didn’t know I was fighting.”

“Touché.”

Terry turned serious. “How are you going to fight him?” he asked.

“I need him to stay there because I don’t really want to live in the city anymore. San Francisco is our home. I need to best him as quickly as possible, while leaving him alive so he can be my beta there. He already has the respect of the pack. Timmons said he was an arrogant cuss. I can work with that.”

“I like the strategy.” Terry looked at what used to be Point State Park, where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers joined to form the Ohio, an open area large enough for the dirigible to tether. The ruins of the city were in the background, but the river seemed filled with boats of various types.

The river was life, as it had been in the beginning. The three rivers were breathing life back into a fertile part of the world. Most of West Virginia was Wasteland, but water held back the desert, chasing away the heat by keeping the foliage alive.

The gravitic engines brought the dirigible along a steep descent from the north, slowing as it approached. There was no established ground crew, so the five trained crewmen and the five warriors designated for the task hopped down first, grabbed lines, and tied it off.

The group offloaded the supplies, did a quick survey of the area, and re-boarded.

Terry looked at the warriors. These were the best of the best, selected from the thousands who had been disbanded. Guard duty. Not glamorous, but necessary.

Maybe there was a place for the Force de Guerre in the world, at least until the local authorities could provide security for commercial flights.

And there still had to be a place, but Terry was adamant about not using the Force as police. He just couldn’t let them do that. They secured the airfield, and the ground crew would take care of the details surrounding servicing and managing the flights. They could only barter until there was a national currency.

No one saw that happening any time soon.

Ted remained on board the dirigible. Felicity stayed aboard, too. Without a greeting party, she had no reason to go ashore.

Terry thought about leaving the gondola, but decided not to. Everyone else was staying on board. Terry waved the five members from the FDG to him. They hurried over, coming to the position of attention when they arrived.

“Listen up, guys. These people know nothing about us. All of their perceptions of the dirigibles and the people who run them will be shaped by what you show them. You aren’t just peacekeepers. You are ambassadors for San Francisco and for the FDG, which means that you represent me. Remember that whenever you deal with the locals.”

Terry was met by a chorus of “Yes, sir!” before they ran off to help the ground crew.

Without any delay, Kailin yelled to cast off the lines and Ted maneuvered the great ship skyward.

“Next stop, New York City,” Terry said.

New York City

The group walked to the building that the NAPC called home. Were folk were in abundance. Char ignored them as an alpha could.

Terry nodded and smiled as he walked by. Marcie snarled, as did the Werewolves in Char’s pack. The stragglers from Joshua’s pack fell in behind Terry, Char, and the group.

Char continued to ignore them, but Marcie couldn’t. She fell back with Sue and Timmons to be at the rear of the group in case the Were attacked. Sarah remained by her side. Marcie nodded, but Cory and Ramses didn’t look happy.

“Stay an arm’s length away. Give yourself room to work.” Sarah smiled, eager for action.

She thought she was ready. Her parents did not. Her aunt thought the only way she’d ever be ready was to get blooded in combat. Sarah had already fought one Werewolf by herself, and that was a start. The Were surrounding them weren’t slackers, but they weren’t at Marcie or Sarah’s speed.

But the pack didn’t attack. They followed the group through the lobby, up two flights of stairs, and into a broad hallway. At one point in time, the building had been a local court. Joshua’s office was an old courtroom. He lounged behind the great wood desk that sat on a platform above everyone else in the room.

Two Werewolves in human form tried to intercept Char by interjecting their bodies into her path. She stumbled slightly as she approached.

A ruse. She took out the one to her right with a left cross, then continued spinning to deliver a right back-kick to the one on her left. He flew through the air and crash-landed through chairs on his way to the floor.

The one on Char’s right hadn’t gone down. He aimed a punch toward Char’s exposed back, but she never stopped spinning. She blocked it as she came around before delivering a front kick to launch the Were across the room.

She wiped her hands on her pants. “Is that how you greet a guest?” she demanded as part of the delicate dance when one alpha challenged another.

“Most guests are invited,” Joshua replied, still calm, but leaning forward, keeping his hands behind his desk. Terry went wide to the side. Sue and Timmons were the only others who had entered with Terry and Char. They remained at the back of the courtroom. “I expected a little more from you, pops.”

The NAPC alpha leveled a glare at Timmons that would have melted lead.

Char stopped. “Alphas worth their salt are more cordial, treating guests as friends, even if uninvited, until they prove they’re enemies. So there you have it. You’ve insulted me, so I am forced to challenge you for the leadership of the pack.”

“Why in the fuck would you want to lead this pack? You have your band of misfits that need your steady hand so they don’t get lost on the way to the short bus.” Joshua Timmons sat still, his breathing steady as his eyes darted back and forth between Terry and Char. He’d already discounted Sue and Timmons. He knew they wouldn’t act against him.

He didn’t want to kill them, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t.

Neither Terry nor Char took the bait. They both stayed on the balls of their feet, balanced and ready to act.

Misfits? So he’d been in contact with the bunch from Denver, Terry thought. He slowly reached for his .45.

Joshua watched the movement carefully. Terry looked the Werewolf in the eye as he slowly wrapped his fingers around the grip of the M1911A1.

Joshua was quickly losing his advantage. He pulled his hands from behind the judge’s bench and aimed his pistol at Terry Henry Walton. Terry pulled his pistol, dodged left, and backed up to the right.

Joshua fired into the space TH had just left.

Char’s 9mm rounds slammed into Joshua’s chest, bouncing him backward. Terry shot the Werewolf twice in the arm. The pistol fell from numb fingers. Char rushed the bench, vaulting high over it, to come down with her knees leading the way.

The impact knocked Joshua backward. She pistol-whipped him across the head, then hit him again for good measure. Terry vaulted over the rail to join Char at Joshua’s side. Terry picked up the pistol and unloaded it, keeping the magazine and ammunition, and putting the pistol on the judge’s desk.

Timmons ran forward and climbed unceremoniously over the bench so he could see if his boy still lived.

He did, because Terry and Char took mercy, solely because he was Timmons’s son.

They heard a scuffle in the hallway that lasted all of five seconds. The doors opened and the New York City Weres were forced through. Two bodies were tossed through after them by Sarah and Marcie. They strutted in, looking down at the pack before them.

“There’s been a change of leadership,” TH told those who had just joined them. Char sat sideways on the judge’s bench, Joshua’s old desk.

“Here’s how it’s going to be. I’m the alpha, but I don’t live here. I don’t want to live here. You bunch still answer to my beta, whenever he comes to, that is.” Char pointed behind her with her thumb where Sue and Timmons were talking calmly, trying to revive the injured Werewolf.

“My direction will be to keep doing what you’re doing, kind of, but you answer to me now. Daily updates with what’s going on, how you are keeping the humans out of trouble by helping them as partners should.” She waited.

She received strange looks from the group.

“What’s your name?” one of them asked.

“Charumati. This is my mate, Terry Henry Walton. Our kids, my pack, blah, blah, blah. Which one of you is going to cause me problems? Save me the trouble of hunting you down. That’ll only make your death that much more painful. Come on, now. There’s always one.”

No one raised their hand or came forward.

“Cowards,” Char taunted, but they wouldn’t bite. “That takes care of that.”

Char tossed a comm device to one of the new additions to her pack. “Make sure he gets that when he comes to. When I call, he better answer. If he doesn’t? I’m coming for you.’ Char pointed her finger at the one unlucky enough to have caught the device.

With a toss of her head, she walked out. Marcie, Sarah, Cory, and Ramses followed them. The others remained behind to make sure the new pack understood the rules. Sue and Timmons remained with Joshua to see him back to health.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

San Francisco

“Consolidating your empire?” Terry asked. Char was getting fed up with the incessant calls. The Weres that had been reporting to Joshua were now reporting directly to Char.

She regretted giving Joshua a comm device.

Terry was happy that the other devices they’d delivered had been distributed. They were getting inundated with information. He wasn’t a fan of sitting in an operation center taking reports, though.

TH wanted to be on the front lines where the action was taking place.

But there wasn’t any of that. “This has to be the absolute most boring crap I’ve ever had to listen to,” Char muttered.

Terry had to agree.

“I like the data, and we have some incredible fidelity regarding the Were population. It seems they like New York City. How many were there when you lived there?” Terry asked.

“Hundreds, maybe?”

“And Marcus was the greatest of them all?” Terry blurted.

Char scowled darkly. “So I heard.”

“I didn’t mean anything by that. Hundreds? How many died around the WWDE?”

“No idea,” Char replied, still in a foul mood.

“They disappeared for one hundred and thirty-five years. I’ll be damned. Even Butch and Skippy had no idea. Whatever the trigger was, they are flooding back from all corners of nowhere.”

“With the NAPC, at least we can keep track of them without having to chase their dumb asses down,” Char suggested.

“As the alpha, can’t you assign a deputy to take all these fucked up reports?” Terry asked. “It seems like we know a bunch of people who are good at paperwork.”

A smile spread slowly across Char’s face. “Like Joshua’s step-monster?”

“Exactly like. Maybe you can tell her that’s what you call her.” Terry was ready to do something physical, like search China on foot for the Qin Clan. He wanted to do anything other than sit around in the conference room and take calls.

Char set her device on the table and held out her hand for Terry’s. Hers buzzed, and she ignored it. She punched a couple buttons.

“No, Sue, it’s Char,” she said pleasantly. “I was just thinking about you and wondered how you were doing.” Char nodded. “Uh huh. Uh huh. Yep. You see right through me. Tell Timmons to pack a lunch because you two are fucked upside-down and sideways. Conference Room as soon as you can get here. Thanks, Sue, I owe you. Uh huh. Okay, you’re right. I don’t owe you shit.”

Char clicked off.

“That sounded like an interesting conversation.”

Char looked up at him for a moment, then went back to straightening up. When Sue arrived, disheveled from being woken from a nap, Char gave her a three-minute rundown of her duties, with the direction that she could grab anyone from the pack except Ted to put on comm and Were tracking duty.

Terry watched Char efficiently hand off all her duties, brush her hands off and splay her fingers to show that her hands were empty. She smiled and walked away.

“You have the conn, number one,” Terry said in his best Jean Luc Picard voice. He followed Char out.

Terry steered Char toward the housing area as he wasn’t sure where she was going. She seemed to just be walking. “Let’s go see if Aaron and Yanmei want to go on a walkabout of China. And if they don’t want to go, we’ll see what it’ll take until they do want to go.”

“Sounds good,” Char replied.

Terry was worried. Char looked shell-shocked.

“Are you okay, love muffin?” Terry asked.

She stopped and turned toward him. “I thought I told you never to call me that.”

“You did, but I’m fresh out of smelling salts.”

“The wheel is come full circle: I am here,” Char quoted from King Lear.

“From women's eyes this doctrine I derive: they sparkle still the right Promethean fire; they are the books, the arts, the academes, that show, contain, and nourish all the world,” Terry replied from Love’s Labor Lost.

“Aren’t we a pair?”

“A match made on the world’s stage, where we are merely players. What a great life we’ve had, Char. I wonder what the next hundred years will bring.”

“I look forward to it.”

“I think the Qin Clan better start running!”

“Why? So they can die tired?” Char parried.

“Exactly.”

WWDE + 136

Wuhai, China

“She’s where?” Terry asked.

“Back in Portland. She went to see that boy. The dirigibles are plying the west coast, so she hopped a ride. She is eighteen,” Cory explained.

“Magnus Tolliver, my arch nemesis,” Terry said slowly and clearly into the comm device.

“He’s not your arch nemesis,” Cory said, laughing.

“All right. Maybe not. Next time you talk with her, remind her to keep training. If you think it’s okay, maybe she can join us out here, in the vast desert of inland China. It’s like the Fallen Lands, except worse.”

“I’m not sure that’s the sales pitch you want to make, but she’ll probably go for it anyway. It’s just cheesy enough.”

“And who doesn’t like cheese?” Terry countered.

“Love you, Dad. You, too, Mom! I know you can hear me!” Cory called before signing off.

Aaron, Yanmei, and two of their cubs, Daquan and Fen, had been strolling the Chinese countryside for months. They hadn’t gotten a single sniff of another Weretiger. From town to town they went, looking for signs.

“The Qin Clan is so secret, even they don’t know they exist,” Terry pondered.

“We’ve covered less than ten percent of the country,” Aaron suggested. Terry pulled out a paper map.

“I believe that the trip past inner Mongolia was less than fruitful, to say the least. Methodically we walk, step after plodding step,” Terry intoned. Daquan and Fen nodded vigorously, and both started to speak at once but stopped when Terry continued. “We follow the Yellow River through this region, turning east at Wuzhong toward Shijiazhuang. We continue due east, through the center of the country until we hit the coast. Then maybe we’ll take a boat, check out all the big towns, all the way to Hong Kong and beyond.”

“I agree with this course of action,” Char said mechanically. Aaron and Yanmei started speaking Chinese with their children.

Terry’s comm device buzzed. It was Timmons.

“Joshua’s gone,” the Werewolf stated.

“Gone how? He’s dead?” Terry asked. Char moved closer to hear better.

“No. He’s disappeared along with dozens of other Weres,” Timmons explained.

“That’s a different story. On that little bit of information, I would suspect an uprising. Is he starting his own pack?”

“I don’t think so. They disappeared at different times from different places, it seems.”

“Did you check ships, dirigibles, see if they were looking for change of scenery?”

“Hang on,” Timmons said.

Terry and Char looked at each other as they waited. The others sat around until Terry rolled his finger in the air. Time to go.

As he stood, the comm device buzzed. “Timmons,” he said.

“Thank God! He’s on the dirigible, by himself, with a ticket to Denver.”

“The ship will stop in Chicago. Give Gerry a call and ask him to speak with Joshua, make sure things are okay,” Terry suggested. Char nodded in agreement.

“Will do, TH, and thank you.”

“What’s he thanking me for?” Terry asked. The others shrugged.

Char held out her hand for the device. After Terry handed it over, she mashed a couple buttons and waited.

“Gerry. I’m appointing you the alpha of the NAPC. They need someone who is present, with the calm that comes from wisdom learned over the years. I need you to do this for me, Gerry.”

There was a long hesitation. Char held the device out so she and Terry could both hear his response.

“I am old, Char. You know how we age. When we hit that magic point, we start getting old quickly. I already look different from the last time you saw me. I’m not sure I have the energy to carry out your orders, my alpha,” the man replied.

“No one is better suited to know when to pull the bullshit lever. You won’t get distracted by the minutiae that plagues the young. You’ll keep your eye on the strategic objective, which is to keep the Unknown World hidden, while helping keep the Werewolves working in conjunction with humanity to make the world a better place. Easy as pie.”

“Not so much,” Gerry countered.

“Done deal, Gerry. Hop the dirigible and run out to Denver and see what’s going on. We left a few knuckleheads there who deserved the beatings they got. They were selling their blood! By all that’s holy, what kind of crap is that? Timmons will be calling. No, the father. He’ll tell you about Weres disappearing. Fly to New York City and meet with the groups. Calm them down, and if you can, find out where they are going.”

“Yes, my alpha,” the old Werewolf said softly.

“Done.” Char shut down the device and handed it back to TH.

“Time to see what we can see,” Terry said, standing again. They’d been sitting on logs around a small campfire that they’d made. The Weretigers had gone hunting and returned with a half-eaten goat. Terry had not asked. He had butchered what was left and unspoiled by Weretiger drool for he and Char to eat.

There wasn’t anything left over. They’d have to hunt again. It was a daily thing. They burned an incredible amount of energy as they jogged through the countryside.

They had been walking, but realized it would take years to cover what they wanted to cover. The scenery was nice, but it looked the same whether they were walking or running.

“Onward, fearless travelers,” Terry said magnanimously.

Vancouver

Tac Team Bravo settled into the hills overlooking the small town outside of what used to be Vancouver. Gene and Bogdan had wanted to hunt bigger game like elk. They’d heard rumors that Were were in the area and decided to hunt, gather intel, and train.

They stopped going to areas with active reporting, thanks to the NAPC and its Were mafia.

And thanks to Akio for the comm devices that they’d distributed far and wide, keyed to the NAPC to keep those with other ideas from listening in on private FDG and tac team communications.

That was the plan.

It also meant a boring existence. Each of the tac teams were looking for something, anything to do. Char wanted to limit conflict with the Werewolves, so she let them know that each group would get an annual unannounced visit. And to keep them on their toes, she added that they may get two visits, but no more than that.

She had no intention of sending the tac teams in twice, for everyone’s sanity. As long as the visit validated what the packs were reporting, there were no issues.

There had been no issues. The tac teams liked action so they were starting to get creative, like going to Vancouver based on a single unsubstantiated rumor.

“Nothing,” Gene said. “Now we hunt.”

He waved to Bogdan and they headed into the woods.

“Nothing,” Kaeden mimicked. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know, Major,” Edwin replied. He wanted to go hunting with the Werebears, but team procedure dictated that they always have at least two together.

“What do you say we go take a look?” Kae suggested, getting up and straightening his gear, keeping his rifle on its combat sling and ready to put into action. Edwin did the same thing and the two walked toward the small town.

The FDG had been there before, but whether the people remembered them or not was a different question.

Children at the edge of town screamed when Kae and Edwin trudged through the brush and onto a rough path. They waved to no avail as the children stopped screaming long enough to run.

An adult woman appeared, grabbed the children, and hurried back into a home, slamming the door behind her.

“I’m not sure that’s the behavior of people who are dealing with nothing.” The two men looked around for signs of something strange. Nothing seemed obvious.

Nothing, except the children’s terror.

“We know there are people in that one. Let’s ask them what the hell is going on.” Kae marched straight to the door and banged on it.

“My name is Kaeden and I’m with the Force de Guerre. I am not a threat to you. You can just yell through the door if that is more comfortable for you, but what is going on? Why are you so afraid?”

“Go away!” came the reply.

“Why?” Kae pressed.

“They come from there, where you came from. You could be them!”

“Them who?” Kae waited but she didn’t expound. “You were letting your children play out there, but now you’re terrified? Please help me understand. We may be able to protect you if we know what the danger is.”

“A man, dressed in black, turns into a wolf right before our eyes! He’s been taking our livestock. Anyone stands in his way gets bitten. You dress in black,” she explained, finding a more normal tone of voice.

“We will try to find this individual and stop him. Have a nice day, ma’am.”

Kae and Edwin checked their weapons. “Time to hunt down a Werewolf?” Edwin asked.

“Time to hunt down two Werebears who can tell us where the Werewolf is. And then we have a nice conversation.” The two men headed back toward the woods.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Chicago

Kimber and Auburn had convinced Tac Team Alpha that they needed to find Joseph and Petricia. Marcie, Ramses, and Cory had agreed. They’d seen what it had done to Terry Henry before he left.

They figured it was why he left.

He’d hidden from the world for twenty years after the world’s worst day ever, because of the tragedy in his life. He carried everything inside. His kids knew that better than anyone.

Terry carried the burden of every death, whether he could have done something to prevent them or not. He needed time away for his sanity. Or he needed nonstop action.

Fifty years away? That was the perfect amount of time, because no action took place. No war, no Forsaken uprising, no evil to put down.

“Dad is either all on or needs to be gone,” Kimber suggested. Nick and Tyson simply listened. They were given insight into the legend that was Terry Henry Walton because of their position in the tac teams, but they had no input on most of the private conversations within the Walton family.

Had they tried, they feared they would have been pushed further to the outside than they already felt.

“The trial of the ultimate warrior. You may think Mom pulls the strings, but no. Dad is biding his time. He doesn’t choose his battles lightly. If he was here, we’d be training as if we had to fight the devil in Hell. And when we descended into the pit of fire, you know he’d be at the front, first burned and first to shoot back. After my time with Akio, I understand him a whole lot better,” Marcie offered.

“And?” Cory asked in a friendly voice. She wanted to know more, too.

“It’s war. Dad is lost without it. Whenever he’s not preparing for or in combat, he has to find something else to do. He is incapable of calming his mind.”

“He can relax. I’ve seen him sit on the beach for hours watching the water and sipping that god-awful beer of his,” Kimber replied.

“Relaxing the body and relaxing the mind are two different things. While he is looking at the water, his mind is a million miles away, in a history book reading about war, in the battles that he has fought, in his imagination of battles yet to come. The shock and horror of combat is where he finds peace.”

No one had an answer to that. They’d all been in combat, and they were good at it. They were warriors, but it took a long time after the last drop of blood was spilled before they could calm down. Except for Marcie. She knew how Terry Henry felt because she felt it, too. She still had enough control to calm her mind. Terry was well beyond that.

She wanted to be like him, but she didn’t. “Let’s find Joseph and then get the fuck out of here. If we can reunite Joseph and Dad, everyone will be better off. He’s got Mom traipsing around China. There’s no way she can be digging that,” Marcie said.

“You got that right,” Cory replied.

The group spread out as they walked toward the city.

New York City

Shonna and Merrit had joined Tac Team Echo, which had been trapped in San Francisco. The Werewolves wanted to go to New York City. They heard there was a play starting up on Broadway.

With the oldster called Gerry in charge of the NAPC, they abandoned their duties in the comm center, snagged a pod, and raced across the country. They landed the pod in what used to be Central Park. It had gone to hell and was heavily overgrown. Decent people didn’t go there anymore.

Even indecent people didn’t go there.

The human leadership of the city was starting to crack down. They had established a police force, one of the first in the recovering world. Sue and Timmons looked at each other with sour expressions.

They loved the old city in the before time, but after seeing what was possible, hearing the hope for a brighter future that Butch and Skippy had shared, made them want a New York City with all the glamor and none of the grit.

Too late. They had power and a subway system, real jobs, and commerce. They also had drugs, crime, and gangs.

Terry and Char had dealt with a New York City gang a long time before. It hadn’t ended well for the gang.

Shonna pointed to a new billboard. “Do you think they’ll make a difference?”

Peace Enforcers, it said.

“Absolutely,” Merrit replied. “But will it be for good or bad?”

Butch and Skippy contemplated it. “We’ll give them a chance. Let’s try to get tickets to the show. Then we’ll snoop about for a bit.”

They walked south from the ruins of Central Park to find which theater was operating.

They found it close to Capital Square, what used to be Times Square. The ticket office was closed with a handwritten note stuffed into the broken window apologizing that the show would not go on.

“They used to say that the show must go on!” Sue declared, slamming a fist into her hand.

“Times have changed,” Skippy replied. “A lot.”

The Werewolves took a disappointing walk around mid-town, pounded two different groups of muggers, both too drugged up to be any real threat, and passed small teams of uniformed Peace Enforcers who carried electrified batons.

Arc rods, they were called.

They stopped for a nice dinner, but it was crowded and after a long wait, turned out to be overpriced and not as good as they hoped.

Timmons started to laugh.

“How many times did we see this exact same thing? A new place would open. A few people would rave about it. Everyone would flock to it, then the quality would suck. In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, no one goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”

Vancouver

The two Werebears stopped hunting elk. They turned their attention to the Werewolf pack that was hunting elk. There weren’t supposed to be any Weres in the area.

Gene stood on his back paws and roared. Bogdan sniffed the ground and pointed with his muzzle. The small pack wasn’t far. Only three of them. Gene was unconcerned. He would not have cared had there been ten. In his mind, one Werebear was easily worth ten Werewolves, as long as one of them wasn’t Charumati.

Bogdan lumbered into the brush, sniffing and watching as they bore down on the Were.

***

Kaeden and Edwin started running as soon as they heard Gene’s roar. In Werebear form, they couldn’t answer their comm device. Kae expected the devices were somewhere near the pod and nowhere near where Gene and Bogdan actually were.

The roar helped clarify things. They weren’t far.

Kae took the lead, carrying his rifle with two hands as he plowed through the brush, vaulted over a stream, and pushed to run faster. He didn’t want to give the Werebears too much time to move.

Gene roared again. Much closer this time.

***

Gene went left and Bogdan went right. The Werewolves were in a glade ahead, still in human form.

When Gene appeared, they changed. Three shaggy black Werewolves snarled, showing their teeth and moving apart, but moving as one. Bogdan burst into the clearing and the Werewolves were boxed in.

They looked for a way out. One moved forward as the other two turned away.

A shot rang out as Kaeden fired his rifle into the air. “STOP!” he yelled with everything he could muster. “Silver bullets, and you probably already know that Werebears are faster than Werewolves. Your only choice is to talk with us. Change back into human form, please.”

The closest one changed. A tall man, good-looking, as Werewolves had a tendency to be. He looked from Gene to Bogdan to the two humans with rifles pointed his way. He walked across the glade to where he’d left his clothes. All black leather, making him look very much like a Forsaken. Maybe that was his shtick.

As he adjusted his hat, Kaeden’s patience ran out. “If you don’t start talking, we start shooting. Uncle Gene? How about a Werewolf snack?”

Gene growled, but shook his massive head. His small round ears wiggled as he adjusted them to focus on the two in Were form.

“We’ve done nothing wrong,” the man said, his face lost in the shadow of the wide-brimmed hat.

“Why do you dress like a Vampire?” Kae asked.

“It’s comfortable for me,” he replied.

“Fair enough, but creepy. Why do you think we’re judging whether you’ve done something wrong or not? What makes you believe we’re the Were police?”

“Aren’t you?” the Werewolf dodged.

“I’m getting tired of you not answering questions. You seem to be the alpha, so order those two to change back into human form. You have five seconds.” Kae and Edwin aimed at the Werewolf.

Five seconds passed. He stood resolute. Kae shot him in the leg with a silver bullet. He howled in pain as he tumbled to the ground.

“Change,” Kae ordered the other two. The air shimmered around them as their nanocytes went to work, converting them from Werewolves back into human form.

Edwin gasped at the two stunning women who appeared naked on the other side of the glade. They smiled and turned back and forth as if modeling.

Kaeden might have lost focus too, but for the man on the ground writhing in pain. The women appeared unconcerned with his agony.

“Maybe you’re not as important as you think you are,” Kaeden told the man on the ground before turning his attention back to the women. “Get dressed, please.” They shrugged and complied, pulling simple sundresses over their heads and belting them loosely around their waists.

“Put your tongue away, Edwin,” Kae whispered. Edwin snapped his jaws shut and flexed his fingers, trying get blood back into them.

“Where were we? Yes, can you two tell me what you’re doing here?”

“Living,” one of the women answered simply.

“What are you doing with him?”

“He’s the alpha.”

Kaeden closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The group was trying his patience.

“Let me try a different question. Convince me why I shouldn’t kill you?”

The women looked at each other, the simplicity of their answers would no longer buy them time.

“Any other Werewolves in the area, Uncle Gene?” Kae asked. The Werebear shook his head. Kae turned to Bogdan. He shook his head and moved closer to the man on the ground, who finally stopped whining. Bogdan bared his fangs as he leaned close to sniff the injured man’s head.

“Because we haven’t done anything wrong,” the women pleaded in unison.

“But he has. He used his Forsaken look and changing into Werewolf form in front of the humans to terrorize them. That has never been allowed for anyone from the Unknown World.” Kae pointed at the man with the barrel of his rifle.

He hissed at Kae.

“What do you think about relocating to San Francisco?” Kae asked.

“Sounds dreamy,” one of the women said as she smiled seductively at Edwin.

Kae looked at the man. He was sweating heavily. “I can hear you breathing from all the way over here, Private. Get yourself under control.”

“Yes, sir,” Edwin struggled to say as he gritted his teeth and fought with his own willpower.

“Come with us, please.” Kae held out a hand for the Werewolf bitches to join him. The alpha held up his hands so the other two could help him to his feet.

“Leave him,” Kae barked. The women shrugged and strolled past. Kae, Edwin, and the two women left the clearing. “Edwin, lead the way back to the pod.”

Kae left Gene and Bogdan to take care of business. A Werebear’s roar was met with a Werewolf’s howl that abruptly ended.

San Francisco

“Anyone heard from Terry or Char?” Sue asked.

“Has anyone tried to call them?” Timmons noted.

Everyone shook their head. The Werewolves of San Francisco looked at each other. The newcomers shrugged and held their hands up. They didn’t know who Terry and Char were.

“Who wants to tell them that we’ve taken in refugees?” No one volunteered.

“We know it can’t be you two,” Sue said pointing to Butch and Skippy. They were always in the dog house with Char, so couldn’t be tasked with delivering bad news. Shonna and Merrit had no vested interest. “Me or you. Rock, paper, scissors.”

Timmons rolled his eyes. They matched scissors and on the second pass, they both came up with rocks. Then Kaeden walked in.

“You need to call your mom and tell her that you’ve adopted a pair of kittens,” Sue said.

“Sure.” Kae pulled out his device. Timmons slowly relaxed his rock hand and shoved it into his pocket, refusing to look at Kae.

“Hey, Dad. How’s it going?” Kae asked innocuously. “Can I talk to Mom real quick?”

There was a short delay before Char answered.

“We caught three Werewolves outside of Vancouver. One of them was dressing like a Forsaken and terrorizing the population, along with a couple bitches he acquired somewhere along the way. Annika and Meta are their names. I think they’re Scandinavian. They’re not real talkative. The guy? Gene and Bogdan took care of him. The women are here in San Francisco with us. When are you coming home?”

Char talked for a while and then clicked off. Kaeden looked down, frowning.

“She take it badly?” Timmons wondered, feeling a pang of guilt.

“Not at all, but they’re going to be a while. Terry and Char have stopped by a monastery while Aaron and Yanmei have continued searching.”

The Werewolves snickered. Kae silenced them with a harsh look.

“Must not be a celibate monastery,” Timmons muttered under his breath. The others started snickering again. Kae stormed out.

And ran face first into Edwin, who looked like holy hell.

“What happened to you?” Kae snapped.

Edwin gave a lopsided grin and popped his eyebrows up a few times. “You know. It. Annika is amazing. You ever have a Werewolf?”

“DUDE! My mom is a Werewolf,” Kaeden snarled.

“Sorry, sir. Sorry, shit. Oh fuck. I’m sorry. I need to go.” Edwin hurriedly limped away, holding a hand over the bruises on his arm.

“Werewolves and sex! What the hell?” Kaeden grimaced, thinking about all the times he heard his parents. He shook his head.

The thought gave him the willies.

He headed for the logistics center to check in with Kimber, Marcie, and Ramses for the next training session that the reservists would take part in.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Haidong, China

Terry almost spoke, but didn’t want another hairy eyeball from the Zenmaster. Terry couldn’t pronounce the man’s name or title in Chinese without insulting every Chinese speaker within earshot, so he stopped trying.

The man seemed accepting of the title of Zenmaster in Terry’s exceptional case.

They were also accommodating regarding Terry and Char sharing the same room. Terry didn’t know why. Maybe it was the new order of things. China had lost their way in the before time, starting the cascade of events that was the world’s worst day ever, the WWDE, where the vast majority of humanity died.

It wouldn’t be Zen-like to separate the inseparable. Maybe they saw that in Terry and Char. Maybe they could see into the etheric dimension, see who pulled power from it.

Terry and Char were linked in a way that made them both stronger, their whole greater than the sum of their parts.

The Zenmaster allowed them their peace to help them find peace. Terry’s turmoil was from the lack of war, which gave him time to relive the negative events of his life. He remembered the good as well as the bad, but he only fixated on the worst parts of it all, always finding blame for something he thought could have been done better. Char’s turmoil was from her mate’s unwillingness to share the untold burden of the dead scattered throughout the wake of the Terry Henry Walton whirlwind.

The Zenmaster led them through their meditations using pictures that he drew freehand with black ink on rice paper with a thick brush. With few delicate strokes, he detailed a journey through Terry’s mind.

TH tried to focus, but his mind filled in the blanks on the page with color and dimensions, characters fighting for supremacy across a barren land. A woman and child, fighting for their lives.

And losing. Terry coughed and choked back his pain. He looked back at the drawing and started again…

Chicago

“Have you seen any Forsaken?” Kimber asked, Auburn at her side. Nick Rixon insisted on coming along and stood behind the others, his rifle cradled in his hands.

Gerry looked old and tired. “Not only have I not seen any, I haven’t heard of anyone seeing any. I am so sorry. Why are you convinced that your friend is here? It’s been two years. He could be anywhere.” Gerry was trying to be helpful, but it wasn’t helping.

“I can feel it in my bones that he’s here somewhere,” Kim said. Gerry didn’t have an answer.

“There’s a disturbing trend that started in Denver and has made its way here. The blood trade has arrived. We’ve already caught a couple humans who had trapped a Were and were systematically draining it of its blood.”

“What did you do with them?” Auburn asked.

“The humans? We gave them a taste of their own medicine. Slit a vein and let them slowly bleed out. We wanted to send a message. The Were recovered, but he hasn’t been the same.”

“What do they do with the blood?” Nick asked.

“If a human drinks the blood, they heal faster, live longer, look younger, the usual vanity issues that cause a great deal of grief. Remember Botox? Were blood is much better than that because it’s more than just skin deep. But once you drink it, you need to keep getting regular drinks or you go back to regular aging. Addictive like heroin and just as hard to get.”

“I have no idea what Botox is. Or heroin for that matter,” Kim said.

“I sometimes forget how young you old kids are,” Gerry said softly. “It’s good that you don’t know what that is, but it’s horrible that you will see its like in this new vile addiction.”

Kim nodded and frowned. “Please, Gerry. If you hear anything, please let me know. My team and I will be here as soon as humanly possible. Until then, we’ll keep searching. Joseph and Petricia must be found.”

“I will pass to you anything I hear or see, Miss Kimber.”

They shook hands and she nodded to Auburn and Nick that it was time move on. They headed back to the pod to plot their next search area.

WWDE + 138

Haidong, China

Terry and Char sat on a veranda overlooking a small valley that lay before the green and brown of the mountains beyond. After a two-hour workout, they had their morning meditation and reflection, followed by a break before chores.

“I miss coffee,” Terry said as he sipped his tea. “And beer. This monastery must have missed the memo with the recipe. They are way off the beaten path.”

Char agreed. “At least we get a healthy diet of meat,” she offered.

A year prior, there had been a food crisis. Terry and Char had offered to hunt and were successful in bagging a mountain sheep. It took their combined strength to maneuver their kill off the mountain and carry it back to the monastery.

They feasted and celebrated, quietly, without undue emotion.

Terry and Char had continued to hunt for the monastery, providing a steady diet of wild game. They were relieved from field duty.

But Terry and Char did it anyway. Service to others was an easy part of the monastery’s training for Terry and the fields interested him. Pepe and Maria had taught him to appreciate a well-cultivated field and the love of growing things.

That had been a long time ago, but Terry didn’t forget.

Char got up from her small chair and took a knee next to her husband. “How do you feel?” she asked.

“I think I may have pulled a muscle last night, but besides that, I feel good,” he teased while looking at her sparkling purple eyes. She couldn’t argue with that. He did feel good.

“Stop it,” she said, not blushing because she wasn’t embarrassed.

Terry looked back over the valley. “Are we doing the right thing?” he asked for the thousandth time.

“We’re not going back until you can be who you were meant to be,” Char said softly, resting her chin on his shoulder to enjoy the serenity of the mountains nearby. “I don’t give a shit about the Were, the Forsaken, or the evil that men do. I care about you and my family. Everything else is a distant second.

“I thought taking over the NAPC was my destiny, one Werewolf to rule them all. Sure, I was good at it, better than the last guy. You know what, TH? I hated it. I may have been good at it, but I didn’t like it. Those people need a real leader. I’m an alpha of my pack because I’m the best, but when it comes to the world, those people need you. Clear your head, see the way forward, and embrace it. Everything that happened before prepared you for this moment.”

Terry had heard it before. Char was his bedrock. Without her, his home was built on gravel.

“Soon, I think,” Terry said.

“Fucking sooner than that. I miss my kids!” Char stated in no uncertain terms, but emphasized her point by kissing Terry’s neck.

“You better watch that language or Zenmaster will have you sitting in the corner wearing a dunce cap.”

“Fuuuuuuck,” Char enunciated slowly. “Fuck. Fuck, fuck fuckity fuck. Fuckers.” Terry rubbed his stubbly cheek against hers. He opened his eyes and looked straight into the Zenmaster’s face. He didn’t look happy.

Terry could never tell whether that meant he was unhappy or not. He couldn’t read the man.

“I think he heard you,” Terry whispered.

Char stood, turned, and bowed respectfully. “Zenmaster, I must tell you that your hugeness clearly knows no bounds. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have kitchen duty.” Char strolled away in the measured pace that the monastery had adopted centuries before.

Terry was left alone with the man. TH wasn’t sure how old the bald man was. He could have been forty or one hundred and forty.

“Zenmaster,” Terry greeted softly.

“Let me tell you a story,” the man said in nearly flawless English. Terry was surprised, but he should not have been. He knew almost nothing of the Zenmaster, even after two years in his company.

“When the terrible weapons flew, shattering the Earth, village turned against village. The strongest among us seized the power. My grandfather, a peaceful man who abhorred violence, left the field to take up arms against his neighbor.”

“Peaceful men take up arms all the time, to defend what they have,” Terry offered.

“A peaceful man will defend his peace before all other things,” Zenmaster replied. “A man willing to take up arms was never a peaceful man. The battle within his soul for might over principle is waged more harshly than any soldier who fights an enemy in combat. Some men have to fight both battles. My grandfather had always been a warrior, but it took a war to let the real person into the daylight, a place that my grandfather’s masters couldn’t stand.”

Zenmaster waited. Terry tensed. A warrior who served Forsaken.

“My grandfather rose to become a great general. Once the dark ones handed him command of the army, he led it across a broken China, uniting the land under one rule, his rule. Do you know what happened?” Zenmaster asked.

Terry looked away.

“The army met someone who was stronger. One fateful day, as they traveled a road from one pillaged village to the next, the other soldiers appeared, ambushing the army, killing the general and most of his people. A thousand men entered the field of battle that day, but only a hundred left it. The violent consolidation of the peaceful villages had come to an end. The peaceful men were not given the opportunity to choose between their principle and their willingness to fight.”

Zenmaster studied Terry Henry’s features, carefully, casually. It was some time before he spoke again.

“Peace and strength can never be separated. They are always there, keeping each other company, until something upsets the balance. Could a person ever respect himself if he wouldn’t fight for what he believed in? How could he look at himself if he let another come to harm when he could have prevented it?”

Terry waited. He had kitchen duty, too, but that seemed unimportant at present.

“It is best that we maintain our convictions, know that we must balance our love with our rage, bring them out when the situation dictates, put them away when it doesn’t. And when we aren’t challenged, enjoy the moment. I hold no animosity toward the soldiers who fought my grandfather on that fateful day long ago. When one’s balance is off, someone else will surely force it back into place. My grandfather lost his way. I am here because my father refused to fight. My mother is gone, because my father refused to fight for her. My father is gone because he couldn’t live with that decision.”

“Warriors, Zenmaster,” Terry said. “Those were warriors who destroyed your grandfather’s army, not soldiers.”

Terry bowed his head, excused himself, and retreated toward the kitchen. General Tsao had been a bully who reveled in the power. Terry had set up an ambush, using the firepower he’d pulled from Cheyenne Mountain to lay waste to a conquering army, ending the swath of destruction it was leaving across the land.

The same General Tsao who refused to meet with Terry after Akio and the pack had killed the Forsaken and Weretigers deep within the darkened mine.

General Tsao who filled the vacuum with his own brand of violence. Terry crushed the man’s army and one of Terry’s snipers had ended the general’s life. Terry had looked at the bullet hole in the general’s head without remorse, without care.

Zenmaster had forgiven Terry. The old man had forgiven his grandfather, too, for losing his balance. He ran the monastery for the sole reason of helping people maintain their balance, not embracing one at the expense of the other.

Man cannot deny his true nature; he can only balance the two sides, peace and war, without letting either consume him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

WWDE + 140

Cleveland

“They said they’ve been here for more than a decade,” Kimber stated. “Weren’t my parents here less than ten years ago?”

“They said they stayed on the north side of the seaway after they ditched the boat,” Auburn replied.

“That’s right,” she agreed. “Wherever we go, there we are, with plenty of Were for company.”

“No shit,” Nick replied. He’d followed Kim and Auburn throughout the Midwest. They were working their way east, through the fertile lands, searching. With the Weretigers still in China, they’d rearranged the tac teams.

The group climbed back aboard their pod and flew the short distance back to Chicago.

The Werewolves Shonna, Merrit, Sue, and Timmons had joined them, along with Cory, Ramses, Sarah, Kaeden, and Marcie.

When all was said and done, it came back to the family, to the original pack and their newest and most stalwart warriors, Edwin, Nick, Tyson, and Samantha.

Three years after Terry and Char left, Gene had taken his family back to the Crimea.

Aaron and Yanmei had returned to San Francisco on a few occasions, but only briefly as they negotiated production rights for the gravitic engines. Their mine produced the rare minerals needed for the engines. Walton Industries set up shop in Shanghai and dirigibles plied the skies of Asia with greater and greater frequency. Ted rarely left the factory, so they built a home for him and Felicity that was attached.

She didn’t much like the noise, but surrendered to it to be able to sleep with her husband each night.

Sylvia was spending more time with Kailin in the factory, learning the ropes of running a major business.

And the NAPC powered on under the leadership of the oldster Gerry, but he was running out of steam. He’d had to hire younger Weres to be the muscle, to intimidate some of the sub-packs to comply.

He was afraid the council was fracturing. The harder he pressed, the more Weres squeezed out of his grip.

A whirlwind tour by the real alpha would bring everyone back in line in short order. He was sure of it. But he hadn’t talked with her in two years. He knew she was alive because her children passed through Chicago on occasion.

She wasn’t returning his calls. The other members of her inner circle weren’t helpful. They didn’t have the power that Char did.

The tac team was occupied looking for Joseph. They kept finding Werewolves, newer generations, some born well after the fall of mankind.

Char’s pack and the NAPC let the youngsters know that there were rules to be followed. It required more and more effort. The humans running the blood trade were becoming increasingly bold.

“I need help,” the alpha said boldly to the group. Marcie put a calming hand on the old man’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. We’ve given it seven years. Joseph is gone. If we see him again, it will be because he wants us to. What do you need from us?”

A young woman stood nearby. Gerry looked at her before looking back to the group. “My daughter, Jacqueline,” he said offhandedly by way of introduction. He remained distracted and humble, looking unlike any alpha they’d ever seen.

“The blood trade is keeping the packs in line, but it’s creating a rift. We cannot have a war between the Unknown World and the humans. That would destroy everything that we’ve been raised to believe.” The old man faltered.

“Where do you need us?”

“New York and Chicago, mainly. The city-states in Europe have issues, too, as they grow and expand,” the old man explained.

“There are less than twenty of us engaged in this fight. Europe is on its own. I’m sorry. But Chicago and New York? We can do something about those places.”

“Give us a little bit to talk it over,” Marcie told him. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

They returned to the pod. There wasn’t anything to talk about. The inside circle knew what they were going to do. Marcie looked from face to face. Each nodded when she made eye contact with them.

Marcie accessed the pod’s comm system. “Well, hello!” Terry announced happily.

“When are you lazy bastards coming back? We’re knee-deep in shit and can’t be everywhere we need to be. Human scum are kidnapping Were to steal their blood. The Unknown World isn’t our enemy, only those who know about it,” Marcie declared, turning to Kaeden. He nodded to her, not expecting the approach to work with his father, but appreciating her candor.

“Just a minute, please,” Terry said cordially. They waited one minute, which stretched to five minutes. The tac team sat and lounged as they waited.

Ten minutes later, Terry’s voice projected through the speakers. “Whoever is trying to rain on our parade, well, they called down the thunder. We’re on our way to meet you in Chicago.”

Haidong, China

Terry made two calls. The first was to Akio asking him to send a pod, and the second was to Aaron and Yanmei to inform them that they were heading home.

Akio was happy to hear from Terry and Char, having information he wanted to share, but needed to do it in person.

“We will stop on our way, Akio-sama.” Terry wasn’t sure what that was about, but didn’t bother speculating. They would find out soon enough.

Aaron and Yanmei were pleased, having stopped searching for the Qin Clan two years prior after circumnavigating the country. They joined their cubs in building a raw materials and manufacturing empire. Having an exclusive contract for production of the gravitic drives ensured their place in history.

Aaron apologized profusely, but couldn’t return to the pack for the foreseeable future. Char took the device from Terry.

“We have been blessed with your company for a long time, my friend. Do what is best for you and your family. If you are ever able to rejoin us, you will be welcome. We’ll sit on the beach and drink mai tais, tell lies, and laugh a lot,” Char said, smiling.

“You are too kind, as always, Charumati. Until then. Do you need us to send a ship?”

Terry and Char appreciated the fact that Aaron and Yanmei had a dirigible at their disposal. Terry had worked for rich people, but he’d never been one. His wealth was manifest in the quality of his friends and family.

He didn’t mind at all that those people were rich.

Japan

“Ten years, Terry-san,” Akio stated. “Bethany Anne will return to Earth in ten years.”

Terry stepped back as if ice water had been thrown in his face. “She’s coming home?” He didn’t bother to ask how Akio knew. The Vampire would not have said anything if he hadn’t been certain.

“How can we best serve her in the remaining time?” Terry wondered.

“I don’t know the answer to that, Terry-san. I know how much we’ve done to help get the world back on track. I don’t know how much is left to do.”

“Akio-sama. Keeping the Unknown World anonymous is important to keep the Were or the Forsaken from turning the humans into slaves or self-propelled meals. The blood trade must be crushed and that is why we’re returning. We will join our family and closest pack in shining the light on the evil, exposing it, and destroying it,” Terry declared.

“With that, I expect the empress will be satisfied.”

“Empress?”

“The Queen Bitch is Empress of the Etheric Empire,” Akio replied.

Chicago

The pod appeared in the northwestern sky and approached quickly, slowed during the descent, and settled next to the second pod, having recently returned from San Francisco with Annika and Meta. Marcie and the others had hatched a plan to draw the kidnappers out.

They only needed bait.

The pod landed and the ramp lowered. Terry and Char walked off, hand in hand, standing tall and looking confident.

“Thank God!” their children said as they headed in to meet them. Hugs all around, but no small talk. That had never been Terry’s thing.

“What’s the plan?” Terry asked.

Marcie delivered it succinctly using the five-paragraph order. She told him the situation, the mission, the execution, the admin and logistics, and the command and signal.

Terry counted the heads. “Butch and Skippy back in New York?” he asked.

“Of course,” Sue answered with a smirk.

“Then they will fill the role of bait there. We’ll split into two teams. Marcie, take half and we’ll take the rest. We’ll set up where Gerry thinks the most activity is here. Same in New York City. Then we’ll roll our bait out and wait. Capture the kidnappers. We want information, not them. They’re lackeys. We want to find who’s running the operation. It is their heads we will take and put on platters to send a message to the others.”

Marcie pointed out Kaeden, Cory, Ramses, Shonna, Merrit, Tyson, and Edwin, waving them toward the second pod. Cory waved good-bye to her daughter.

Sarah was under Terry’s protection and she couldn’t have been safer.

Char signaled for Sue, Timmons, Auburn, Kimber, Nick, and Samantha to join her and Sarah as they returned to the pod to refine their plan, ensure everyone knew their roles, and finalize the map details. She almost forgot the two blond-haired, yellow-eyed Were bitches.

Char leaned out of the pod and signaled for them to come aboard. They had a key role in the plan.

Gerry joined Terry and Char first. They greeted briefly, Char thanking him for his work over the past four years, before they turned back to the matter at hand.

The alpha of the NAPC pointed to the new seedy side of town, where they’d lost a couple Weres. They hadn’t seen activity lately because the Were folk were avoiding the area.

“That will change soon,” Terry said. “When the Forsaken tried to take over, we fought them. When the Were thought they could take over, we showed them the door. When the humans thought they could be players in the Unknown World? They are in for a big surprise. It would be nice if Joseph could help us, but he’s not here. This is our team, and we’re the ones who will get it done.”

Terry put his hand into the center of the group. Some knew what it was about, others didn’t. All followed suit.

“Fuck those jack-holes, on three. One. Two. Three!”

Terry winced at the half-assed response. “Once more, with feeling,” he told them, disappointed that not even Char caught the Buffy reference, before he counted down afresh.

New York City

Butch and Skippy were waiting on the outskirts of the remains of Central Park. Marcie led her team unerringly to them.

She didn’t bother with niceties. “Here’s what we need you to do…” She explained the plan, their role, and what the others would be doing.

They headed toward the most active area. Marcie sensed many Werewolves scattered along their line of travel.

“How many Were are here?”

Butch shrugged. “A hundred? Maybe more?” she replied.

“Weren’t there a couple hundred a few years back?”

“They’ve moved on, I suspect. They’re not here, but this is the place to be. The lead in the new production of King Lear is Were. He is magnificent. If you have time, I recommend you see the play.”

“No,” Marcie said definitively before clarifying. “No distractions.”

They didn’t delay as they moved into position, securing rooms in two buildings overlooking a street where Butch and Skippy stood outside by themselves, looking uncomfortable.

Marcie watched carefully, reaching into the etheric dimension occasionally to see if Weres were nearby. She expected that a Were was involved, telling the humans who to target.

And they waited.

Chicago

Annika and Meta stood on the street, looking like prostitutes of old as they waved and smiled at any passersby.

“I don’t have the words,” Terry told Char. She chuckled and shook her head.

Nick was close by, looking uncomfortable. Terry had to ask. “What’s up, Nick?”

“The women. I used to have a thing with Annika, but after two near-death experiences, I had to break it off. Those two have a thing for a man in uniform and are working their way through the barracks, leaving a wake of the broken and dying,” he said in a low voice, sounding guilty.

“The people in the barracks are adults, right?” Terry asked the leading question.

“Of course, sir.”

“I don’t see any problem, except for the dead and dying part. We’ll ask them to take it easy on the lesser souls,” Terry replied.

“Don’t do that!” Nick blurted. “They’ll kill me if they found out that I ratted them out.”

“Ratted who out?” Terry asked before Char shushed them.

A group of four men were approaching the women. “Time to party. Come with me, Nick,” Terry ordered as he left the second-floor window.

If there was a Were guiding the kidnappers, they might not notice Terry or the few nanocytes coursing through Nick’s blood, leftover from his time in the pod doc years earlier.

Terry turned back to Char before leaving the room. “I love you,” he told her before adding. “Aim true.”

“Always,” she replied.

Terry led the way down the stairs, hurrying as much as he could without making noise. Nick followed, stepping where Terry stepped so the stairs wouldn’t creak.

They hesitated at the door to see how the tactical situation had changed. Terry was surprised to see that there were six men surrounding the two Werewolves. The beautiful blondes had lost their winning smiles and were standing back to back.

Short clubs appeared in the men’s hands. Terry bolted through the door and accelerated toward the men. Besides the clubs, they carried short knives that glistened with a silver coating.

“Boys!” Terry yelled as he approached. “There’s no need for that. Who’s in charge of this mob?”

Annika and Meta both turned to face Terry. One of the men cracked Meta hard across the head. The sickening sound of a splattered melon preceded her falling. Blood ran freely from the wound, but she wasn’t dead.

Terry pulled his Mameluke into his right hand while his trusty whip found its way into his left.

Nick swung wide, looking at them through the sights of his carbine. “We only need one, Nick.”

The warrior fired, killing the one who had hit the Werewolf. The other five charged. Nick was only able to get off one more shot, before he turned his rifle into a club.

Terry was a blur of action. His sword flashed twice, while the whip danced away from him and wrapped around the neck of the one Terry had determined would survive. He pulled and the man stumbled. He cracked him on the head with the pommel of his sword before wiping his blade and putting it away.

Nick had left one of his alive, too. The man’s jaw was horribly disfigured from the butt-stroke of Nick’s rifle.

Annika was leaning over Meta, groaning in pain and rage. Char appeared.

“Sorry, dear, never got a good angle before it was all over.”

The rest of the team appeared.

“Secure the area,” Char ordered. “Look for accomplices.”

The others spread out, each taking a different cardinal direction.

“Okay, dickless, I have some questions for you,” Terry started, kneeling on the ground to make himself comfortable.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

New York City

“Butch and Skippy don’t look very open to being kidnapped,” Marcie said.

“Yup. Not sure how this is going to work. How long have we been here?” Shonna wondered.

“A while. We’ll be here as long as we need to be, so relax and make yourself comfortable.”

Shonna and Merrit sat on the floor of the long-abandoned room. Tyson and Edwin were in the room, too. Marcie had stopped by to check in. Kae, Cory, and Ramses were waiting on the other side of the street in a basement with a window facing the corner where they’d propped Butch and Skippy.

“Stay frosty,” Marcie encouraged on her way out.

She looked at the empty hallway and stopped, closed her eyes, and reached out with her enhanced senses. She found her team, the Weres, standing out brightly in the gray mist while the enhanced appeared as light shadows. She saw them, too. A few humans were around, shadows without detail. She checked briefly, but they looked disorganized.

Marcie opened her eyes and moved on, descending the stairs to the door out. She looked into the street before walking out, strolling casually into the open area and down the street. Peace Enforcers were there, but she discounted the pair that milled about. They were looking for criminals. That clearly wasn’t her or the others on the tac teams.

Motor vehicles rarely plied the streets of the city, leaving the roads to pedestrians. Cars had not yet been imported in great numbers. Vehicles from the three major brands were beginning to trickle in—Toyota, Nissan, and Honda.

Butch and Skippy had helped reestablish public transit, which advanced the city faster than anything else after the WWDE. Civilization had returned. Terry had always given the two Werewolves a hard time, because they were never concerned about staying in shape or learning what it took to be special warriors within the FDG.

That wasn’t their thing and never would be.

Marcie nodded as she walked past the two Werewolves. They both made faces at her, forcing her to look away so she wouldn’t start laughing. The moment of distraction was all it took.

Two Peace Enforcers jammed their arc rods into Marcie’s sides. Her nanocytes fought against the surge. Clubs battered her head. She thought she heard her husband yell, but it was far away.

Something exploded in the street. A car screamed in, sliding to a stop.

Marcie dove forward to escape her attackers, tucking her head to hit and roll. She came up with her hands ready. They were on her. She blocked a baton as it sent energy into her arm. She pulled away and danced backward. The second attacked.

She was done playing defense. She surged past the arc rod and hit the man in the throat with a knife-hand. She crouched and spun, driving her left fist into the man’s groin so hard it lifted him off the ground. She planted a foot and punched him in the side of the head with her right fist, accelerating his downward fall.

His head hit the pavement with a sickening crunch. Marcie grimaced as she turned to run toward Butch and Skippy, but they had been bagged and stuffed into the car. It spun its wheels as the engine revved. They caught hold of the pavement and the vehicle shot down the street away from Marcie. Kae, Cory, and Ramses worked their way past the rubble of the blown doorway and joined Marcie in the street.

The tac team had not only been seen, but compromised. Someone had plotted a counterattack that resulted in the kidnapping of the two Weres. The bait had been taken off the trap. The two Peace Enforcers had been killed, but Marcie suspected whoever planned the operation considered the security personnel expendable.

Marcie shrugged off Cory’s attempt to see if she was okay. Marcie called the pod and directed it to pick them up from the roof of the building behind her.

“We’ll be seen,” Kae told her.

“I don’t fucking care. We just lost two of our own, and we need to find them before they’re bled dry.”

Kae picked up the arc rods and the tac team jogged away, running into Shonna, Merrit, Tyson, and Edwin. They waved at them to follow on their way back into the building.

Chicago

Terry ground his teeth together, but only briefly. “They got Butch and Skippy,” he told those present. “Sounded like a high-speed hit, something done by professionals. We’re going after those who are going after us.”

The men were bound and watching them closely. Nick, Samantha, Sue, and Timmons were outside with Gerry and a few of his best Werewolves making sure the interrogation would be secure.

“We really need you to come clean. I’m not one for torture, but I will turn you over to those who relish it. One last time, who do you work for?” Terry asked calmly.

“You can suck my balls!” one of the men said boldly.

“Fair enough. I can only help those who help me. Your fate is out of my hands, no longer my responsibility. What you will be forced to endure is the consequence of your decisions, not mine.” Terry walked away without getting angry. He went outside to talk with Gerry before taking his team to New York City to help in the search for Butch and Skippy.

They weren’t his favorite Weres, but they were on his side doing what he asked them to do. He had to go after them.

***

Char let Terry leave before she leaned close to the man. He smiled as he looked into her purple eyes. She grabbed him by the crotch and twisted viciously. He screamed into her face the cry of agony.

She twisted a little further. Char backhanded the other man on her way outside. The others followed.

Char held the door as the tac team exited and Gerry and his people entered. Their grim expressions suggested that the prisoners weren’t in for a good time.

“Back to the pod, best possible speed to New York City,” Terry told the group. Three Werewolves, four enhanced, and two humans ran through the streets of Chicago on their way to a grove of trees where the pod waited.

No one wanted to get in their way. The road cleared and Terry’s tac team made good time.

Sarah had seen what her grandmother had done to the man. Sarah wanted to ask what the expectations from the various applications of pain were. She wanted to know about torture and its effectiveness as she continued her studies of the military.

They made it to the pod, loaded up, and flew away at max acceleration. Terry called Marcie so they could turn the pods over to Eve’s control. They needed her help to best manage the flight search patterns over New York City. The pods would fly as low as possible while those with the ability to sense other users of etheric energy would do their thing. They all knew what Butch and Skippy looked like within the mists of the other dimension.

“We have to find them,” Terry declared. No one disagreed. None of them seemed hopeful.

New York City was a big place, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t try.

The group of men had a five-minute head start on Marcie and her team. They assessed the roads, Shonna with Tyson on one rooftop at a main intersection and Merrit with Edwin at another. The pod restricted its search area to a cone in the direction the car had gone.

Terry’s pod didn’t arrive for another forty-five minutes.

“I think we lost them,” Marcie said softly into the comm system.

“We’ll start close to the abduction site and work our way outward in a circular pattern, see what we can see.”

“They raced off,” Marcie started. “Okay, we’ll continue as we are, tightening our pattern and staying as close to the ground as possible.”

“Sounds good, Marcie. Not your fault. We’re fighting a war and although we can’t win all the battles, we sure as hell will win the war.”

***

Marcie did not reply. She turned her attention back to the screen for a moment before diving back into the etheric, drawing on its power to help her look.

The others in the pod watched, listening for any word. There was nothing they could do but wait.

***

Terry’s pod descended in broad daylight to the spot indicated on the map. The attack site.

A number of Peace Enforcers were there. The external cameras zoomed in on the group. They pointed their batons and shook them.

Terry gave the screen the finger. Char, Sue, and Timmons did their thing, concentrating as they looked for the other Werewolves.

Sarah sat next to her grandfather, watching the screen intently.

Three blocks from the attack site, they found a well-guarded underground parking garage.

“We need to check that out,” Terry told the group, looking at the eager faces. Meta was still woozy and Annika was terrified. It wasn’t a good look on a Werewolf. “Char, Kim, Auburn, and Sarah with me. The rest of you defend this pod with your lives. Take off if you have to, but don’t let it fall into the hands of the ones attacking the Unknown World.”

“You think they’re here?” Char asked.

“I have a hunch,” Terry said. In his mind, there was no better place to hide a car than in a car park. Why guard a garage? Cars were rare, which made them enviable to own, but they were rare, so the thieves would inevitably be caught by people wealthy enough to own cars.

Which meant wealthy enough to hire muscle that would ruin a thief’s day.

The pod hovered a couple feet above the roof as it dropped the ramp and Terry led his small group toward the stairs. The pod carefully settled onto the rooftop until it was certain it could hold the weight. The engines remained running to keep the pod from crashing through should the supports give way.

Char stayed at Terry’s shoulder as they hurried down the steps, three levels, then six levels deep. Char tapped Terry’s shoulder. “Up ahead, there’s something.”

Terry hit the seventh level of the garage, the bottom level. It was lit brightly. Extra wiring ran throughout the space, which lights were hooked to.

Humans. Were or Forsaken wouldn’t need that much light.

Terry pulled his sword, carrying it in one hand. His M1911A1 pistol rested comfortable in his left as he walked through the door to the level. He waved at the others to spread out as he strolled boldly forward. At the far end, he saw what he was looking for—the place that looked like a small medical facility.

He wrinkled his nose at the stench. Terry turned to Char, who was holding her nose. The pistol in her right hand hung loosely by her side. Her finger was on the trigger as always.

Terry knew not to comment. He looked for people, but couldn’t see anyone. Kae and Ramses flared wide to the left where the most space was. The wall on the right flank would prevent any surprises from that direction. Cory stayed close to Sarah, between Terry and the wall. Char walked to his left.

Terry saw where the smell was coming from. A pile of bodies were shoved in a corner beyond the four tables. Bloody needles and rags were piled on each side table, hooked to pumps that would expedite the draining of the victims’ blood.

Each of the tables was occupied by a withered corpse. One Forsaken and three Were. Terry recognized the clothes on two of them.

They’d found Butch and Skippy.

Rifles opened up to their left, breaking the others from their reverie. They jumped for cover, but the rifles silenced. Kae and Ramses were running toward a door.

Terry and Char jumped up and dashed after them.

“Clear!” Kae called out.

The two men looked like medical orderlies. “Why did you shoot them?” Char asked.

“Weapons,” Kae said. Ramses flipped one over with a toe. Each carried a pistol at their belt.

“Good catch,” Char replied.

Terry studied the layout of the garage’s bottom level. The small room from where the orderlies had been was the only other separate space in the garage. The ramp upward and the stairs were the only way in or out.

A black Nissan Maxima sat in the middle of the garage.

Terry pointed for Kae and Ramses to watch the ramp so he could put his weapons away.

He punched buttons on his comm device. “The vehicle that took Butch and Skippy was black, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” Marcie replied. “You found it?”

“We found them. Butch and Skippy didn’t make it. We’ll contact the local pack chapter of the NAPC and set up surveillance of this garage. I would expect them to come back. One vehicle to snatch the victims, another to make the sale. They’ll be back.”

Terry saw that the keys were still in the car. “Put them in the trunk and climb in,” he told his people. Cory and Sarah picked up their friends, even though Kae and Ramses waved at them to stop, that they’d take care of it.

The women did the deed, putting the bodies in the trunk before all five piled in. Terry started the engine. It came to life, smoothly and quietly. He put it in gear and gave it some gas. The car responded better than any of the military vehicles he’d been driving. He could barely remember driving a real car.

It had been a long, long time.

He accelerated up the ramp, circling his way to the top. Kae called the pod to tell them they were driving up so the others didn’t open fire. Char called the council and told them to get someone over to the parking garage. They waffled at first, but Char was in no mood to accept anything less than immediate and unconditional compliance.

Terry slowed the car as he rolled onto the top level. He stopped, got out, and put Butch and Skippy into the pod, then Terry aimed the vehicle at the retaining wall. Held the brake down while he jammed a rod against the accelerator pedal. He vaulted free as the car screamed forward, crashing through the barrier and falling three stories to the street below. By the time it hit, Terry was already aboard and the pod was flying way.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

San Francisco

“No one ever came back,” the Werewolf said. Char didn’t look surprised. “It was a grab and go. I’m sure this will set their operation back, but I’m not sure by how far.”

“How in the fuck can humans be kidnapping Were?” Char demanded. “Someone has to be giving them up. There’s a Were or Forsaken directing them. Find that cheesedick, and we’ll break the back of their operation.”

“We have all possible feelers out, but we keep losing people. They are afraid. Ain’t that some shit? Were, afraid of humans. Something about a Golden City where Weres can live in peace. Nirvana or some crap. I can’t believe they’d fall for something like that.”

“Sanctuary never works out well, usually only for the ones running the so-called Xanadu. There is no Sanctuary,” Char declared.

“I know that and you know that, but people who are afraid are willing to put their trust in anything promising freedom and security.”

Char closed the channel and blew out a lungful of air.

“Our new enemy represents the best of everyone we’ve ever faced. They’re going after the Unknown World with a vengeance, but in a roundabout way, bringing humans into the fray, showing them how Weres can be defeated. They are waging a campaign of terror. Wars against the concept of terrorism have never succeeded. Campaigns against those behind the terror have been successful,” Terry said, reaching into his knowledge of history.

He sat quietly as he reviewed the books, one by one, looking for any title that would help them. To those who didn’t know him, they would have thought he was sleeping.

Char left him alone. “Sparring,” she said to the others. Their energy was destroyed with their most recent loss. Terry was at peace with his past, but she wondered how many new losses it would take to tip him over the edge. She needed to think too, but her best thoughts came during a good workout.

After an hour, Terry joined them—his family and closest friends, along with what remained of the FDG.

He watched until he was asked to referee, and then he stood in the ring to teach, train, and step in when called.

Sarah wanted to spar with him. Marcie and Char were the only two with sufficient speed and experience to challenge Terry Henry. Sarah was no match for them, but she wanted to be the best, which meant that she needed to fight the best until the day she could stand toe to toe with Terry Henry Walton.

He acceded after she fared well against the Werewolves, lasting more than a minute against Timmons and fighting Sue to a draw.

She was getting cocky. Terry wouldn’t pull any punches. He and Char had trained in the kung fu style at the monastery. He’d learned more techniques. His martial arts were honed to a level comparable with Akio’s.

Terry understood Sarah’s desire to challenge the best. He wanted to spar with Akio, see how much he had improved. If it was enough… If it would ever be enough.

At least fifty people gathered around to watch the fight. Sarah seemed small compared to the colonel, but she had filled out. Still a young woman, but well-muscled and well-trained.

Terry kept trying to convince her that her mind was her greatest gift. He wanted her in the books as much as in the ring, but she was an adult, responsible for her own decisions now.

Terry circled casually, but ready. He remained on the balls of his feet as he side-stepped. He crossed his feet, something he had thought he wasn’t supposed to do, but found that in some poses, the crossed feet gave him more power for certain counterstrikes, while not exposing him to greater risk.

He moved like a liquid flowing through a glass tube. Sarah was smooth, but not that smooth. She bided her time. She liked to attack first, but had been knocked senseless too many times by her grandfather to open herself up that way.

Sarah moved close, attacking with defense by preparing to counter any challenge Terry Henry would throw her way. She feinted with fake openings.

Terry danced sideways before darting in, twisting into a leg sweep. She almost cleared it when she jumped, but Terry caught her right on the knee instead.

Terry uncoiled from the ground and punched Sarah in the abdomen, launching her well out of the ring. Her feet never touched the ground.

Cory glared at her father as she rushed to her daughter’s side.

Sarah struggled to draw a breath. They helped her to her feet, and she pushed them away. She staggered back into the ring, where she stopped and bowed to her grandfather. “You teach me something new every time,” she admitted.

“You force me to learn something new. Congratulations. That is the longest you’ve ever lasted against me.” Terry bowed back.

Sarah left the ring and limped away. She climbed aboard a bus to Alameda. When she arrived, she booked passage on the next dirigible heading east.

It was time for her to move on.

Chicago

Gerry wanted to leave, but he couldn’t. He was the alpha. The world’s strongest Werewolf had entrusted him with the council’s leadership. He had no choice but to comply.

He felt old and tired, having to drag himself out of bed each day.

“What’s the latest?” he asked his daughter. She’d been consolidating the information from the routine check-ins. Her young female voice seemed to put the other pack alphas at ease. When Gerry answered, they unloaded on him.

It had been wearing him down.

Even with the better attitude from the alphas, it was wearing Jacqueline down, too.

“We’ll keep doing the best we can, dear,” Gerry said softly as he read the dispatches. At least that day, the numbers were holding steady. “Looks like I don’t need to talk with anyone today. Damn straight.”

Gerry went through his morning ritual, getting ready for the day. With nothing pending, he decided a day on the lake would be best. He knew a human with a boat and would beg for a ride.

He gathered Jacqueline to him, and they headed out. They didn’t live too far from the marina, but it was far enough.

When they walked through a shadowed block, four street toughs showed up. “She’s too young for you, old man. Give us the girl and we won’t kill you.”

“Fuck off and we won’t kill you,” Gerry growled in return, unsure of whether he had the energy or not for a fight, but he wasn’t going to go down without one.

Jacqueline was afraid, but more for her father than herself. Adrenaline surged through her body. She wondered where the surge would take her. She turned to Gerry.

“I’ll go with them, Father,” she said loud enough for the punks to hear.

“No,” the old man wailed. His knees buckled and she eased him to the ground.

“I need help,” she told the toughs. They didn’t move. They didn’t lift a finger.

She got even angrier. She left her father lying there and walked toward the men. She stopped out of arm’s reach. “What do we do now?” Jacqueline asked.

The men’s looks told her all she needed to know. She’d never had any intention of going with them. All she wanted was for them to leave her father alone. But he was on the ground and needed help. She needed to end the standoff quickly.

She charged, accelerating at her enhanced speed, shoulder-blocking two of the young men. They were thrown backward, landing heavily. She jumped, turned in the air, and came down on top of them, stomping on their chests. They gasped with the explosion of air. She thought she heard at least one rib crack under the assault.

The other two rushed her. She kicked with all her strength. Not graceful, but effective. The man couldn’t block it. He wasn’t strong enough. He took the point of her shoe on his belly button. He dropped like a rock and curled up.

The final street tough grabbed her. She ducked out of his grasp and swung her elbow behind her. She caught him in the groin. He joined his fellows on the ground, writhing in pain.

She returned to her father, helped him up, and together, they made their way back home.

WWDE + 141

Denver

The newcomers walked off the dirigible into a crowd of people. Those who had lived there for a while were gauging the quality of the new arrivals for whatever purpose suited them.

Some wanted workers for manual labor. Some wanted admin personnel. Everyone wanted engineers. Some of those waiting even held up signs.

Jacqueline was good at bookkeeping. She gravitated toward a sign looking for someone to keep the books for a growing restaurant and bar complex. The sign said, “Work for Kraven! The best place in town.”

“I’m a bookkeeper,” she said softly.

“I’m sure you are, young lady. Get in line with the rest of them,” he ordered. Her spirits sagged when she saw seven other people milling about.

No one went to the unskilled labor positions because the youngsters thought more highly of themselves than that, but most would end up there anyway. The mines and trades wanted the newcomers to know where to go when their cushy office jobs didn’t pan out.

Employers don’t pay for people to learn on the job. Not when they have a choice.

Jacqueline took one last look at the dirigible and kissed her old life good-bye. She hoped her father would forgive her, for she could no longer be his number one. She didn’t want to be in a pack.

Hell, she didn’t even want to be a Werewolf, but if she had to, then she would be a lone wolf.

***

Sarah Jennifer Walton held up a sign like the others. She was looking for ranch hands. She’d built her homestead up quickly, using some of the Walton wealth that had been shared with her.

She was making a run of it, raising horses for sale and boarding horses for those who needed space. Training horses for those who wanted a spirited steed that minded its manners.

Before leaving San Francisco, she’d never even seen a horse, but she learned quickly and had more than a knack for it. She loved the animals and the rest came easy.

Within a month, she’d purchased the ranch, then spent six more months transitioning with the previous owner. After that, she started hiring people.

Her main competitor lived far too close for comfort. Jack Childers sniffed around too often. He wasn’t old, but he thought quite highly of himself. And he liked how Sarah looked. Young and beautiful.

Just how he preferred his fillies.

Sarah was having none of it. Jack’s men would show up on occasion with offers from their boss. She’d send them away with broken bones. After a year, they stopped coming.

She knew they’d be back. Whenever she was the most vulnerable, their ugly dog faces would appear. She was building her own stable of hands, and they were good ones. Sarah wondered how much she should teach them about fighting. There was a lot she didn’t know, but there wasn’t a single man around that she couldn’t easily defeat in hand-to-hand combat.

Sarah would consider it, but first, there were the horses. She needed to get to work. The animals were counting on her for the life they were meant to lead.

San Francisco

“Get your asses in gear!” Lieutenant Kurtz bellowed. Two platoons were starting to lose their cohesion. It was only halfway on a six-mile run. “Tighten up! By all that’s holy, tighten the fuck up!” Edwin, Nick, and Samantha were running circles around the group, finding those who weren’t keeping pace and delivering a more personal approach.

All the attention the warriors never wanted.

Corporal Garcia, first squad leader of first platoon, had his entire squad in step and was the foundation of the platoon. He fell out, dropped to the rear of his squad, and yelled motivating cries from the rear. When he shouted for change, the warrior at the front would drop out, slide to the back, and hold pace there.

Everyone was given a chance to lead. Everyone was given a chance to follow.

Kurtz liked what he saw, as did the FDG’s senior officers. Besides Garcia, there were a few others who stood out. Intelligent, fit, and good leaders.

All traits critical for success in the new Force de Guerre.

Terry watched them develop. He listened to the reports from the failing NAPC. He heard what the tac teams were seeing when they deployed. He saw for himself. The world was slipping back into its former ways.

With Char by his side, Terry refused to run again. He’d been taught to face his shortcomings, to face his fears and stand up to them. Regain control over the one thing that he was in control of that raged most often out of control.

His own feelings.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

WWDE + 145

Japan

“Civilization has returned to such an extent that I no longer can parse the data. There is simply too much. I am sorry, Akio-san,” Eve apologized.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Eve. You have done magnificently over the years. You are to be commended. All I can ask is that you do your best. Focus on the bigger cities. New York City, Chicago, Tianjin, the Rhinelanders, and Paris.”

“I can do that.” Eve turned back to the multitude of screens in the command center and started eliminating noise from the remaining parts of the world, narrowing her collection to only the places that Akio mentioned.

“And Denver,” Akio added as an afterthought. Terry mentioned Denver too many times to discount its growing importance. Plus, its proximity to the most important bases highlighted it.

“Denver and its environs seem to have minimal power available. There are scant signals emanating therefrom. Are you sure you want me to focus there and not a place with more power, such as Des Moines and Pittsburgh? Both are on the coast-to-coast dirigible route and both with sustained power generation capability.”

Akio reconsidered for a moment. “Keep Denver and add Pittsburgh and Des Moines. Thank you, Eve.”

She returned to her screens, and the data started to flow.

San Francisco

Terry walked off the pod. His uniform glistened from the still-wet blood of the Vampire hunters, as the humans had taken to calling themselves.

Even though they mostly caught Weres.

And sometimes they ran into more than they bargained for.

When the hunters become the hunted, they are ill-prepared for the hurt that comes their way.

Terry and Char had run them down, while they prepared their ambush. With the lessons learned from numerous contacts, Terry had refined the way he responded. Wait and attack the attackers moments before the ambush.

The intelligence was the hardest thing to gather, but he gave up on trying to get it from others. He watched the Weres himself, learned their habits, which routes they frequented, determined the most vulnerable points, and then waited.

The other tac teams were doing that, too. Nine times out of ten, it resulted in nothing except surprising the Weres and showing them where they were most vulnerable, subject to getting kidnapped.

But in times like today, Terry guessed right and caught the Vamp hunters when they were most vulnerable.

They wouldn’t give up the buyers, so Terry dropped them naked in the middle of what remained of the Great Salt Lake. If they made it out, they’d think twice about going after Weres. If Terry or any of the others caught them again, they’d be executed on the spot.

Recidivists were dealt with in one way only.

Terry and Char returned home, where they threw their clothes in the washer. Terry put on shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, grabbed a cold beer, and headed outside. It was cold, but he was in the mood for the beach. He sat on a chair in his front yard, wearing sunglasses and a ball cap.

The other teams had returned from their missions in the previous days. They had had no luck besides raising Were awareness. They applauded Terry and Char’s engagement. Getting skunked too many times in a row was depressing.

As chairs and people appeared in Terry and Char’s front yard, the informal debriefs began.

“I think one mission a quarter,” Terry said. “We’re deploying too much for too little gain. And the worst part is, no one appreciates it.”

“They don’t know they appreciate it because we aren’t exactly advertising,” Char replied. “But they do. We’re saving Were lives and exacting retribution on those who know about the Unknown World and are abusing that knowledge.”

Terry smiled and nodded. “We are no closer to finding who started this whole thing.” Terry looked around and relaxed. “Does anyone have any ideas where this could have come from? Who would have thought to drain someone’s blood and then drink it?”

“A Were,” Marcie replied sadly.

“Most likely,” Char added in support. “I don’t think we will find out, because this seems to be a human undertaking, unenhanced exacting their revenge on a world they never knew existed. Envy is their weakness. With Were or Vampire blood, they can get some of the benefits the nanos provide without being chosen. Different gatekeepers holding sway.”

“Bethany Anne found me worthy for whatever reason. She let me through the gate.” Terry considered sharing that Akio thought BA would be returning in five years’ time, but decided against it. If the information was wrong, everyone’s spirits would be crushed.

Or would they? None of them knew Bethany Anne. To them, she was both a demon and a savior. Retribution? Fury? Don’t run afoul of BA? Terry would keep that to himself and Char. If she arrived and met with them, they would be ready and humble.

“Others don’t care what it takes to get through the gate. They are willing to do anything. I almost can’t blame them, but not everyone gets a chance at immortality. I’ve pulled strings to take care of my own.” Terry choked up, looking at his children and their families. They were there: Kaeden and Marcie, Kimber and Auburn, Cory and Ramses.

Kae and Marcie’s children were in the twilight of their lives. Having never had children of their own, they turned over the family business to Kailin, Kim and Auburn’s son. Cory’s daughter had struck out on her own shortly after the loss of Butch and Skippy.

She saw what a life in the FDG was going to be like. She knew that she would never be the best of them. She had to find her own way, as they all did at one point in their lives.

As Terry did at multiple points in his long life. Each time, he refocused to get back on track. Fifty years? That was to let his children find their way. Four years in a monastery? That was all about Terry Henry and Charumati.

They returned to the world more grounded and better versed in what they needed from life. Terry was finally aligned with what he couldn’t control and accepting of life’s inevitable failures. He wasn’t driving as hard as he used to.

Char’s pack appreciated that. Sue and Timmons and Shonna and Merrit showed up, too. They knew a lot of people, but they had few friends. The group that they joined in the yard that evening represented all of those they considered to be their family.

Aaron and Yanmei had become oligarchs of their own. They remained in China, leading Heping Industries. Peace Industries.

Gene and Fu were in the Crimea bringing the communities of the Black Sea together to form a consortium of trade and cooperation.

The Werebear as a politician and the Weretigers as business leaders.

All they needed was the opportunity, and hard work delivered the rest. The others had found themselves and their calling. Each taking a role in bringing humanity back to civilization.

Ted and Felicity had taken over the worldwide air service. Dirigibles plied the skies filled with supplies and people. The luxury of air travel was back. People dressed up to fly, like on the cruise liners of old.

Everyone could see Felicity’s influence in the design. Each ship had a luxury suite for the owners, just in case Ted and Felicity graced the dirigible with their presence. She was in her element, throwing the best parties while traveling from one city to the next, frequently to Chicago where three of her children lived.

Terry stood and the group quieted. Terry’s lectures had grown shorter and less frequent over the years. When he spoke, the group listened because what he had to say mattered.

It mattered to them as individuals. It mattered to them as a family.

“I’m glad you could make it,” Terry said. There had been no invitations. It wasn’t a scheduled affair. It was a testament to how the inner circle gravitated toward each other. The magnetism of the group’s leaders.

“In order for the Vampire hunters to come into the open, we have to step back, give them that false sense of security. Let’s look at a strategic plan for the next five years.” Terry began to pace as he thought. He caught Char rolling her eyes. “Maybe five-year planning can wait until tomorrow.”

She nodded and smiled.

“Are we making a difference?” Terry asked. The group didn’t understand the question. “When we first started out a bazillion years ago, we focused on keeping the community secure so we could survive. Then we looked for better, always a little better. North Chicago gave us the opportunity to put down roots and let the people flourish. We traveled the world, here and there, looking for the Forsaken, removing them from power, letting humanity be responsible for itself. We’re now in San Francisco and look at this place! It blossomed once we wrested it from Forsaken control.

“That’s my story anyway. Freedom isn’t something to be doled out incrementally. It either is or it is not. Once we removed the petty dictators, those from the Unknown World who sought minions and slaves, humanity found its stride. We may not agree with everything they’re doing, but it is what it is. Any leaders of these new city-states who has gotten on the wrong side of justice has been brought back in line with some gentle nudging.”

Terry watched the eyebrows at his last statement. The listeners had a different definition of gentle nudging. Some laughed.

“I think the previous Mayor of the New York City-State may disagree. You made him pee himself. Gentle, TH?” Marcie said, having taken to calling her father-in-law by the nickname he reserved for only his closest friends.

“As gentle as the individual will allow before they see the errors of their ways.” Terry put his hand over his heart and tried to look contrite, before continuing, “It’s easy to see the bad in things. When we started this, I had such high hopes for humanity, for a new world.

“But people got in the way. Human nature is overwhelmingly helpful and good, but those people generally aren’t the ones in power. There is some secret sauce to power, whether there is a flaw in those who seek it, or once in power, their dark side takes over. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, or so they say. I think human frailty cannot withstand the positive reinforcement that comes from being in charge. It’s an addiction, but there’s no world police to keep the leaders on the straight and narrow.

“That can’t be us. It has been, but it shouldn’t be. Our whole focus is on giving the people a chance. For me, it’s heartbreaking to see, but I know that it’s out of my control. It would kill all of you if we raced from city-state to city-state to be the thought police. Where would we draw the line? It would be a slippery slope. Our way or the highway. I know that I’ve given those exact same dictates in the past. I know I’m right! Or am I? Think about what the next five years could bring and our role during that time. That’s all I wanted to say. Enjoy yourselves and stay the fuck out of my beer!”

Kaeden casually put the bottle behind his leg, before realizing that he was over one hundred years old and hiding the beer he’d snuck from the refrigerator.

He hoisted it high and proud. “Here’s to you, Dad!” he shouted.

***

The conference room was filled with all the tac team members, in addition to the regular platoons’ leadership. The people were leaning forward. Terry started right away.

“What do we do for the next five years?” he asked to get the conversation started.

“Track the Weres,” Timmons called out.

“Here, here!” someone shouted.

“Recce the cities. Watch and stay engaged,” someone offered.

The ideas ranged from everything to nothing. It wasn’t helping. Terry held up his hands for silence.

“We aren’t going to commit the resources as we have in the past. If we send a tac team in, it’s for a mission. They go in, do it, and get out. If we send in a regular recon team, we risk getting caught. I can’t have the city-states thinking that we’re their overlords. That’s almost as bad as being the overseers. I won’t be the one to create a state of paranoia and animosity with those folks.

“We can take a great number of vacations, though. Our people, visiting the cities of the world in between training. One month out. One month in. Tac teams in reserve in case we see anything. Teams of two going on vacation. Reporting in weekly. I can agree with that, but nothing official. This will all be off the record. We won’t even keep track here, just in case someone sees. We train. We stay in shape. We sharpen our minds. Bad guys will be back and for some reason, when they show up, they have big guns. That’s when people won’t even know that we exist. The problem will be taken care of before they know there is a problem.”

“They won’t see us coming. They won’t even know we were there. But justice will be done!” Marcie shouted.

The group cheered and yelled. Terry was good with it. He let the chaos reign for a while before calling for calm.

“Honor. Courage. Commitment. Always remember what those words stand for. Embrace your place in this world. Your thankless place. It is incumbent upon me and the leadership to make sure your efforts are recognized. Exporting justice to the world without letting anyone see will be tiring. Don’t let it wear you down. Lots of vacations. Lots of barbecues. And a relentless physical training schedule. Anyone gets soft on me? There will be hell to pay! Okay, you lazy bastards, obstacle course!”

The group stormed from the conference room. Char, Marcie, and Kurtz stayed behind.

“You don’t expect me to run the “O” course, do you?” Char asked. “These are new jeans.”

“You don’t expect me to dignify that with an answer, do you?” Terry replied with a half-smile.

“Fine. I’ll change. Don’t start without me.” Char sauntered away.

“We’ll be doing pushups until you arrive,” Terry said after her.

“Fine!” Char hurried out the door and started running.

“I don’t know why she puts up with you,” Marcie told her father.

“Because I am the cat’s ass!” he replied. “And she secretly loves the obstacle course.”

Terry winked. Marcie slapped him on the shoulder as she headed for the door.

Lieutenant Tyson Kurtz was waiting.

“What’s to happen with us?” Tyson asked, concern creasing his face. “Time is not our friend. With each day, we grow one day older.”

“I think that you’ll still be plenty young when we ramp up operations. I am going to need you, Tyson, more than you know.”

“What aren’t you telling us?” Tyson asked.

Terry looked down his nose at the man.

“If I told you, then there wouldn’t be something I wasn’t telling you. In the interim, you’ll have to trust me. The world is a hard place, and we can’t fix it all. What we can fix, we will, and we’ll make it right. If we don’t, then who will be the champion of the average person, the ones just trying to live their lives? It’s for them that we do what we do. When judgment day comes, we can’t be found wanting,” Terry explained mysteriously. The look on his face told Kurtz that the conversation was over.

“Yes, sir. Let’s go kick some ass.” Tyson held the door for the colonel before breaking into an easy run to the obstacle course.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

WWDE + 149

China

“The Qin Clan is real,” Aaron said into his comm device. “Finally. After all these years, we have what we need to act, but we cannot delay.”

“We can be there in a couple hours,” Terry replied.

“I look forward to seeing you, TH.”

“Likewise, my friend. And congratulations. What do you say we excise this boil?”

“All of that and then some.” Aaron put the device in his pocket. It had been his constant companion for a long time. It sat unused, but not forgotten.

With the spread of their business reach, their information network expanded. And finally, when they reached far enough west, strange things started to happen. Disappearances. Malformed creatures found dead. Dark areas where no one was allowed.

Sounded to Aaron like a Forsaken stronghold, but he didn’t go in. He sent one of his most trusted humans, one who knew about the Unknown World. It was from him that the information came. Many Weretigers roamed the area. The human subjects paid homage, bowing as the creatures passed.

Shin had bowed along with the rest. He played his role well. Not being enhanced, the Weretigers never knew that they’d been found out. At least that was what Shin and Aaron had hoped.

Tibet. The roof of the world. The home of the Qin Clan, those who may have once been the Sacred Clan.

“If they are in Tibet and not bothering anyone, why are we going in?” Yanmei asked again. She’d grown comfortable with the status quo. They ran their business and the clan left them alone.

“To make sure that our business can run long into the future. I believe we are on borrowed time, my love. We are building a large dam that will keep our valley from flooding. As long as the dam holds, we will be better off. The lives of our children will be better, which brings me to what I really wanted to ask. Can we leave it to the six of them and step away?”

Yanmei smiled and reached up to cup Aaron’s face in her hand. She was tall, but Aaron was more than a foot taller. “I know. We have been interfering for too long. I’m not sorry that I spoil my kids, but you are right. It is time to move away. We have the whole world to choose from.”

“That we do. We’ll look in earnest after we deal with the clan.”

San Francisco

“Kurtz! Two squads whose sole mission will be to protect the pods. The tac teams are going in. That means you, Nick, Samantha, and Edwin are headed into the tiger pit with us. Silver bullets all the way around and don’t be afraid to use them. Weretigers don’t make easy targets. Go! Rally the warriors and meet us at the hangar in ten.”

Kurtz bolted. Too much to do and no time to do it.

Terry watched the man go. He’d been loyal and stalwart over the years. TH appreciated him and his commitment. He hoped that he’d be able to do something for the man when the time came. Terry had no idea what that would be.

What would happen when Bethany Anne returned? Had Terry been prophetic when he called it judgment day? Out of his control, but what was in his control was the upcoming confrontation with the Qin Clan. The tac team was on their way to the hangar where their packs waited. They’d been checked and rechecked over the years, weapons were always cleaned and serviced, metal surfaces oiled, and food and water regularly changed out. Their go-bags were always ready to go.

Otherwise, it would have defeated the purpose.

Terry fought the urge to run. He had plenty of time. The hangar was a five-minute walk away. It was raining, but he didn’t care about getting wet. He expected Char, Sue, and Cory, who had been shopping in town, to come screaming up in a taxi at any moment. If he was nearby, they’d send a wave over him. He expected they did it on purpose, but always denied it.

They had lots of opportunity. It was San Francisco and it rained a fair bit.

But no taxi appeared as he finished the last of his walk, joining a few of the others in the pod hangar. Kae and Marcie were closing their packs, having already verified their contents. They held their rifles loosely under their arms, having already set the combat sling so the rifle was at the perfect height and hang to be instantly put into action.

Kimber was helping Auburn adjust the harness over his body armor while the contents of their packs were spread on the ground around them.

Terry checked his own pack, taking only ten seconds to do it because he’d just checked it two days prior as part of his weekly routine. He looked at his body armor, not wanting to wear it but putting it on anyway. He never appreciated the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do leaders.

The rest trickled in over the next ten minutes. Char, Sue, and Cory were still missing. He’d talked with Char personally, and she told him they were on their way. They needed the whole team.

And he needed Char by his side as much as he needed his Mameluke and pistol. Marcie looked impatient. “Relax,” he told her.

In the long history of the world, telling someone to relax has never worked, yet it was a staple frequently delivered to the anxious.

Terry put his pack on and stood, legs shoulder width apart as if he was going into battle. He closed his eyes and meditated on the engagement. He did not know enough to form any kind of plan. He only knew there would be a fight. He calmed his mind to open it to the possibilities of what was to come.

He felt a tapping on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see the sparkling purple looking back at him.

“Are you coming?” she asked softly. She had her hand on his chest as if she could feel the warmth of his heart through his uniform and the armor.

He saw that the others had already loaded into the pod. “I am,” he replied, simply motioning for Char to go first. He always did that so he could look at her butt.

It was his thing.

And she knew it.

China

The pod landed in an open area that Aaron had directed them to outside the bustle of Shanghai.

They came in from a steep angle, landed quickly, made the pickup, and headed back out, racing west toward the roof of the world.

“Here’s what we know…” Aaron briefed the crowd cramped within the pod. Terry had an overhead image on the screen. Aaron tried to recreate what his man had observed. Yanmei added the details she remembered from the conversation.

Terry consolidated the data to form a plan. He overlaid the information on the map of his mind’s eye. A temple. Outbuildings. Extensive grounds. A dirigible spire, the likes of which were popping up around the world to take the place of the airports of old. If you build it, they will come.

They were coming all right, but they didn’t need the tower.

Char held up a hand for silence as she watched Terry think. The group waited. Terry stared unblinkingly at the screen as the plan came to mind.

“The hydra has seven heads,” Terry finally said loud enough for all to hear. “We will break into three groups from the tac teams. I’ll lead one group with Char, Kimber, Auburn, and Nick. We’ll go high, take the upper levels of the temple. Marcie takes the center with Kae, Shonna, Merrit, Aaron, Yanmei, Tyson, and Samantha. Timmons and Sue take the last group. You’re going underground. You’ll have Cory, Ramses, and Edwin. Smaller is better for the basement group. Stay together. I don’t expect you’ll find anything down there, but don’t be afraid to purge it with fire.

“Sergeant Garcia, you deploy your two squads to protect the pod. Don’t shoot any of us. Keep civilians away from the pod. If you need to challenge, our password is ‘beer is awesome’!”

Terry smiled. His passwords always included beer. It was his running joke, although not so funny since he was out. The wheat harvest had been bad the previous year and they hadn’t made any beer in Portland. Terry had avoided Europe in its entirety over the previous four years.

Which meant he hadn’t had a German beer for that long. After the op, he’d consider returning by way of Germany to pick a case or six.

“We won’t talk with Qin Clan because of the terrible things that Aaron and Yanmei confirm that the Clan has done. In any case, I doubt they’ll see our arrival as anything other than an attack. We’ll never know if they’re willing to talk. I’m okay with that. We’ll kill them wherever they choose to make their last stand. If they surrender, we’ll accept it and let them live. We can always dump them on one of the Hawaiian Islands to keep them away from humanity.” Terry grinned and started to rock. The pod was already descending toward the clan’s compound in Tibet.

The pod screamed in soundlessly, flaring above the ground, and the ramp started to open as it settled. The teams ran off and raced in three different directions.

Garcia deployed the squads in a layered defense, one group forward of a ring behind. He ran from position to position to check lines of fire. He ordered two men to cut down a tree that blocked their view. They attacked it with an axe while two others provided security.

Terry took his team to the right, where he could access the upper level of the temple using a ramp from the adjacent hillside. The majesty of the surrounding mountains wasn’t lost on him. He knew that he would appreciate the view later. Until then, they were inside the wire, in the enemy’s compound, where those who lived there would fight with claw and fang to defend what was theirs.

Marcie headed straight for a grand staircase that led from the grounds into the temple.

Timmons’s team ran alongside Marcie’s as the entrance to the underground was beside the main entrance.

Terry put the thought of the other two tactical teams out of his mind as he saw two people up ahead that Char had said were Weretigers. He pulled his sword and pistol and sped up. The others prepared their weapons. Nick focused solely on running. For him, it was a sprint, as fast as he could run and he was still losing ground.

The two changed into Weretiger form and screamed their warning. They charged fearlessly toward Terry and his team.

Terry stayed upright until the last second. Weapons fired and silver bullets cut deeply into the Were. Terry ducked and drove his sword upward as the creature leapt and passed overhead. Terry hung on, ripping the sword from the creature’s chest. TH stopped his momentum, turned, and charged, but held back when he saw the second Weretiger flop in its death throes.

He whipped around to watch the ramp as the others pumped a few more rounds into the dead Were.

Terry waved Char to him and checked the others. The thumbs up was quickly given and he continued up the ramp. Gunfire came from the direction of the main entrance. Terry didn’t look. That was out of his control. He focused on what was within his sphere.

Char pointed ahead, holding up two fingers. More Weretigers were waiting.

***

Marcie spread her team across a wide front and slowed to allow those with rifles to bring them to bear. She had started carrying a Glock pistol like Char, but only one. She counted on her superior speed and a combat knife called a Kukri.

Of course the blade was silvered because her enemies were most vulnerable to it.

Kae, Tyson, and Samantha looked over the barrels of their carbines as they climbed the steps, filling them from left to right. A group of humans appeared at the top, looking like they were going to roll logs at the incoming tac team.

“Fire!” Marcie ordered.

The three carbines sounded as one and three people dropped. Two tried to push the logs, but a second volley threw them backwards. Marcie’s tac team hadn’t slowed down. They continued up the stairs and over past the bodies.

The log defense sat impotently on the top step, useless in how it exposed its operators, but the Weretiger masters didn’t mind sacrificing a few slaves. It told Marcie all she needed to know about the masters of the complex.

***

Timmons and Sue led the way around the side of the stairs. At the base of the staircase, leading under the main temple, an entrance stood dark and unwelcoming.

They rushed through without hesitation. The Werewolves’ eyes adjusted instantaneously. The enhanced humans acclimated to the darkness almost as quickly, while Edwin remained at the entrance to make sure no one came in behind them. He took a knee and looked over the barrel of his rifle as he swept it left and right.

The firing over their heads and in the distance told them the battle was underway.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Tibet

Terry slammed into the door, attempting to rip it off its hinges. Gene would have made short work of this, he thought as the door groaned, but didn’t splinter. It bent enough to pop the inside latch. The delay between impact and the door swinging open was enough to unbalance Terry.

The door swung inward abruptly, and Terry stumbled and fell through. The Weretiger claws ripped the air above him as he went down. He rolled and fired upward, emptying his pistol into the creature. His sword-arm was pinned against the ground as the second Were turned on him. A great paw with nine-inch claws slashed toward his chest and raked across his flak vest

A hailstorm of bullets blew the Weretiger backward. Char burst through and straddled her husband, with Kimber and Auburn firing their carbines from either side of her.

Nick watched behind them. He tried to keep up with the action, but the movements of the Were and the enhanced were just a blur. He could barely follow them, let alone react.

Terry climbed to his feet, wary and taking stock of his surroundings. His pack fell to the ground, the straps victims of the last attack. He left it where it fell and pressed forward, directing Kim to watch one flank while Auburn took the other. Terry and Char headed in, side by side.

“There are a shitload of Were in here,” she told him. He didn’t take his eyes off the way ahead as he nodded tersely.

***

The main hall consisted of a vast area with statues placed in a geometric pattern. Throughout the open area, large granite blocks made it look like a life-size Legoland. Archways at the far end of the hall led into the darkness beyond.

The orange and black fur of Weretigers threaded in and out among the blocks. One leapt to the top of a stack and screamed its disapproval of the unwanted guests.

Marcie fired first, then Kaeden. Tyson and Samantha were taking aim by the time the Were jumped out of sight. Their reaction time had been only a fraction of a second, but it was too slow. Aaron and Yanmei changed into Were form.

“Fuck no!” Marcie yelled. “Do you want to get shot?”

The Weretigers made to pad away, but she stopped them. “Cover me,” Marcie snarled to Kaeden as she ripped a length of rope from her pack. She cut it quickly into lengths using her Kukri knife and tied it around the Weretigers’ necks. They snarled and snapped. “Shut up!”

They settled down. Kae fired intermittently at the targets that were using the blocks to foil his aim.

“I hope the others figure out that you’re on our side,” Marcie told Aaron and Yanmei. She kicked her pack to the side. “Triangle formation. Kae and me, this side. Shonna and Merrit on the right. You two, watch our six.”

Tyson and Samantha nodded.

“Stay close together. Do not let them get in between us,” she cautioned, hatcheting an arm toward an open area between the highest blocks. Marcie regretted that Shonna and Merrit were only armed with the shortswords they’d acquired a long time before.

They moved slowly forward. A tiger appeared on the blocks above them and leapt, landing in the open area of the combat triangle.

Right where Marcie did NOT want one to be.

***

Timmons and Sue hurried ahead. Cory and Ramses rushed after them while Edwin remained at the doorway. One way in, one way out. He watched the outdoors, but what if something got past those inside?

I’m a sitting duck, he thought. He looked down the stairs as far as the light penetrated. He removed his pack, trying to keep one eye on the outdoors. He ran down the stairs and scattered the contents of his pack up and down the landings. Anything coming up that way would disturb something and give him some time to react.

He hoped.

Edwin returned to his post, then moved outside and put his back against the wall. He shivered with the thought of getting a knife or a claw in the back. If he faced his enemy, he had a chance. He wasn’t afraid to fight anything, but he needed to know it was coming. He settled in to wait.

He listened carefully. Gunfire from the main building above, muffled as it came from inside. He couldn’t tell which group was engaged.

From the doorway, he heard nothing, not even the sound of footsteps. Edwin’s heart started to race.

***

Shonna and Merrit turned and slashed. The Weretiger pressed forward. Kae fired into nearby blocks. Marcie never saw a target although she was sure something had been there, otherwise Kae would not have fired.

She spotted an orange flash and fired. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Behind her, Shonna and Merrit were fighting a losing battle against the Weretiger. Tyson turned and unloaded into the creature. The silver bullets tore into it.

A scream of agony ripped from its throat. The Werewolves attacked and finished the creature. Tyson checked his magazine before reseating it. His eyes darted almost fanatically from one set of blocks to the next.

A rush. Three more Weretigers materialized in front of them and charged.

***

The Were occupied every dark recess on the upper level.

At least that was what Terry told himself. Char’s unerring aim, when added to his own, held the enemy at bay. Terry moved quickly, like he was in a shooting gallery looking to improve on his last score.

He never hesitated. One Weretiger got too close and pounced. Terry slashed into its forelegs with his Mameluke, but even TH’s great strength couldn’t sever both.

The creature screamed and raked Terry’s up-thrust arm with his remaining claw as it crashed into him. Terry twisted and guided the Weretiger past. Auburn jammed the barrel of his rifle against the creature to keep it away from him and pulled the trigger. Kim took aim and finished it.

Terry turned back, grimacing from the savage wound on his arm. Three slashes through the muscle all the way to the bone. The nanocytes started to knit the muscles back together as Terry watched. His arm hung uselessly by his side. He shoved his Mameluke back into its scabbard and picked up his pistol in his good hand.

“Let’s go,” he ordered. His fingers twitched on his left hand as feeling slowly returned. His arm hung at his side as he focused completely on the pistol he carried in his right hand. A flash of orange and he fired. Kim and Auburn fired.

One of their bolts locked to the rear. A new magazine was slapped into place and the bolt driven home. The empty magazine was shoved into a pocket. He didn’t need to look to know what actions took place. He knew them by heart.

They all did.

The cat screams and firing from below told Terry that Marcie was fully knee-deep in the shit.

As Terry’s team left a wide hallway and reached the balcony overlooking the main area, he risked a look down below. In that short glance, he saw that Marcie and her team would not survive the attack the Weretigers were setting up. He took a breath to yell for her to fall back when Char fired fast. He turned and crouched.

The others opened up, fired, changed magazines and kept firing. The Weretigers had had enough of the intruders. They were coming.

All of them.

***

“Fuck this!” Timmons yelled. The vibrations through the wall said that those above were fighting for their lives. Timmons and Sue sensed nothing and felt nothing.

“Call the cavalry,” Timmons growled as he turned back and started running. Sue chased after him with Cory and Ramses close behind. They accelerated to Were speed, retracing their steps in only seconds. They hit the stairs at a full run, slipping and crashing through all the junk on the stairs.

Timmons was hot when he hit the top step. A rifle barrel was whipping around to face him. Timmons caught it in one hand and pushed it away. “Follow us,” was all he said. The others rushed past Edwin on their way to the wide staircase leading to the main entrance.

Edwin sprinted to catch up, wondering briefly if he’d be able to recover his gear. He cast the thought from his mind. Marcie’s team was fighting for its life and Timmons was leading the reinforcements. This was one party they couldn’t be late for.

***

“Fall back!” Terry yelled toward the railing as he aimed and fired. One shot, one kill. Except Weretigers were tougher than that. A head shot could skip off. The round had to go through an eye, ear, the roof of the creature’s mouth, or up through its lower jaw. They didn’t stand still long enough for such precision shooting. Terry and Char were close, enough to ruin the Weres’ attacks, but it took a follow up shot or blade strike to finish the attacker.

Terry plus four against fifteen of the creatures. Terry’s bolt locked as the last spent casing ejected. He reached for his spare magazine, a move that he’d practiced a million times, but his hand flopped against the pouch at his belt. His fingers weren’t obeying his commands. He tucked the pistol under his armpit and ejected the magazine onto the floor.

A Weretiger rammed him. Terry went with the momentum, flowing forward with his attacker. He hit the ground and rolled, coming up on top of the Weretiger. He punched, using his sword’s pointed guard to crack the creature across its head. It slapped its claws into the back of Terry’s flak jacket, digging in and dragging the human toward its fangs.

Terry rained blow after blow into its head. It closed its jaws as it tried to pull away, giving the colonel the opening he needed to drag the blade across the Weretiger’s throat. He cut through the soft tissue in a rage and kicked the creature from him as he jumped back to his feet.

He slashed an attacker that was tied up with Char. Kim and Auburn stood shoulder to shoulder, firing methodically. The silver bullets and the steady pace of fire the only thing that kept the team from being overwhelmed.

Nick was down, a dead Weretiger on top of him. Terry had no time to check on the man.

It was now or never.

Terry charged into the streak of tigers, whirling his blade in a way that made it look like a solid sheet of steel.

Char stopped to change magazines.

Auburn’s bolt locked to the rear. “I’m out!” he yelled, unclipping his rifle from its combat sling and wielding it like a club.

Terry bellowed his war cry as he waded into battle.

***

Marcie roared in rage. Her eyes flared red as her adrenaline peaked. She fired and slashed, then fired again. Shonna and Merrit stayed close behind her and Kaeden. Tyson and Samantha were waging a battle of their own against a sole Weretiger that had managed to get behind them. They stood apart and fired, using the three-round burst to compensate for the Were’s speed.

They hit it often enough to hold it at bay, but they were burning through their ammunition too quickly. Tyson charged it, thrusting as if a bayonet were attached. When the barrel hit the thing’s chest, he yanked the trigger. Three silver rounds blasted through the Weretiger’s heart. It flopped to the ground. Samantha put one into its head, just to be sure.

They turned back to face a wall of Weretigers bearing down on them. The Weres were flowing over and around the blocks. Tyson high to the right, while Samantha fired at the creatures coming from high to the left. Then they turned to face those attacking from behind.

They were surrounded.

Marcie fired at point-blank range, holding her ground as she slashed and dodged. Kae fired twice, butt-stroked an attacker, and then fired again. Shonna and Merrit were pressed on their side.

They slashed back and forth, trying to hold back the tide.

The Weres bled, but they weren’t held back. Slashes appeared across the Werewolves’ chests and arms. When the Weretigers got to their legs, Shonna and Merrit went down. Holding on to each other as they fell under the onslaught.

***

Timmons ran through the front door and toward the screams and orange fur. The others spread out. They started firing into the Weretigers facing away from them. Even Cory didn’t hesitate to use her pistol. Ramses’s rifle was more effective, but the heavier firepower carried the risk of punching through a cat body and hitting one of the friendlies beyond.

He stopped firing at the group at eye-level and changed his aim to those at the side or above the group.

Kaeden cried out in pain. Samantha went down and Tyson stood over her, firing as quickly as he could pull the trigger, until he was dragged down. Even then, he kept firing as he disappeared beneath snarling, orange fur.

Only Marcie remained standing. Timmons and Sue rushed in, only to be attacked and embroiled within an ambush of Weretigers. Timmons and Sue raged. Cory and Ramses fired using their enhanced speed.

Edwin tried to make sense of it all, picking a target away from the others and firing. He growled in satisfaction when it went down, before he joined the others.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Terry dispatched his enemies with merciless efficiency. The world slowed for him as his body became one with the enhanced universe. The etheric funneled power into his nanocytes, and by extension, into him.

His healed arm seemingly acted on its own as it pulled the whip and started cracking. The Mameluke whistled as it sped through the air, far faster than the Weretigers could respond. His bull rush had caught them by surprise. He waded through them, clearing a wide path, buttressed on one side by the wall and on the other by a thirty-foot drop to the floor below.

Char moved to the wall, where she could fire from relative safety. Kimber and Auburn did the same on the balcony rail side. They covered the colonel’s flank.

All of a sudden, there was a lull in the fighting. The enemy was dead or dying. Kaeden’s scream and Marcie’s howls came clearly from the main floor.

Terry slashed an injured Weretiger, putting it out of its misery as he jumped to the railing. He saw the melee below. Only Marcie stood as Weretigers bore down on her. A writhing mass made it impossible to distinguish who was winning. Sue and Timmons had come to the rescue, only to be surrounded.

“NOOOO!” Terry yelled and vaulted over the railing. Char didn’t hesitate. She ran the ten steps across the hallway and launched herself over the railing as well. Kim and Ramses watched their parents sail through the air toward the mess below.

“Let’s go,” Kim ordered as they ran through the dying Weretigers and into the hallway beyond. The group had to come from somewhere. Those below would die if the Weretigers could add a few more to their number. “We need to torch this place.”

Nick tried to sprint after them, but he’d been slashed. His leg was bleeding and it hurt. The nanocytes were starting to work on it, but they were much slower than what he’d seen from the others. He stopped and dug a bandage out of his pack.

***

Marcie heard the yell from above, but she could barely keep up. Weretigers were dying at her hand, but there were more of them than she’d expected. Her pistol emptied, she used it as a club, but it didn’t deter the attackers like her silvered, curved knife.

A body crashed into two Weretigers, landing on them and breaking their backs with the force of the impact. Terry’s eyes glowed a vivid red as his movements blurred from their speed.

Even with Marcie’s enhanced vision, she couldn’t follow him. He moved in a deliberate circle around her group while she held the flank, trying to protect her husband. Terry ripped furry bodies off the Werewolves as Char landed on a block to the side. She aimed and fired into the attackers.

Marcie saw an opening and rushed through, hacking and slashing as she went. Rifle fire continued from Timmons’s group. Marcie cleared a path before clawing her way back to the middle.

Claws tore at her legs and she stomped at the attackers. Claws ripped at her body armor. She hacked back.

Char fired until she had not a single bullet left. She dropped her pistols, ripped off her clothes, changed into Were form, and leapt into the fray.

***

Kim and Auburn ran through the empty hallways, looking for more Weretigers or at least a door they could bolt from this side.

They found stairs down and took them.

“Nick’s not with us,” Auburn said softly, eyes darting back and forth as he expected the enemy to appear from every shadow.

“He was injured in the last attack,” Kim replied matter-of-factly. It wasn’t a surprise that he couldn’t keep up, but it didn’t change their course of action. The plan had gone to hell. As her dad had said, no plan survives first contact.

She had seen the mass of bodies on the floor below and wasn’t sure any of her people would survive. That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to do everything in her power to give them a fighting chance, including putting her body between the attackers and her family.

Auburn was new to war. He understood sacrifice only too well, but not the calculated risks of combat. She wanted to cut off reinforcements to hopefully even the odds.

When they exited the stairs at the main level, they ran face-first into two Weretigers wearing rope collars. Auburn aimed and fired.

If it hadn’t been for Kim’s quick hand to knock his barrel aside, Aaron would have taken a silver round to the face. She held up her hands and Aaron showed one fang. Yanmei tipped her head in a different direction and she padded down a side hallway with Aaron close behind. Kim and Auburn joined them.

***

Shonna and Merrit burst from the pile, their Werewolf pelts horribly crisscrossed and torn by Weretiger claws.

Terry continued without hesitation, whirling his sword and ending the lives of one Weretiger after the next. He saw human arms and legs sticking out from beneath a massive beast. He grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and threw the corpse away.

Tyson looked no worse for wear. He wasn’t even bleeding. Samantha’s flak jacket was shredded and she was covered in blood, but only some of it was hers.

Terry noticed those details in less than an instant as he was already moving on. He roared anew as he attacked the back of the Weretigers facing off against Sue and Timmons.

Attacking from the rear broke the will of the group. The Weretigers disengaged as if a recall had been blown by a silent bugle.

Terry bounced back and forth as he surveyed three hundred and sixty degrees, ceiling to floor, and back again.

Kae crawled to his knees and then stood on shaky legs. A gross tear in his flesh trailed down one arm and continued into the meat of his upper thigh. Kaeden’s nanocytes were already working to repair the damage.

Still, Kae looked exhausted. Marcie’s eyes stopped glowing and she leaned heavily against her husband. A Werewolf with a brown pelt and silver belly fur stood near them, watching the blocks, watching the space, tensed and baring her fangs.

Rifle fire echoed from the archways and Char took off, her four legs propelling her to Werewolf speed. Terry launched after her. Shonna and Merrit loped after them, but slowed when they grew dizzy from lack of blood. They fell over after a few steps.

“Watch them,” Marcie told Kaeden as she ran after her parents.

“Who is hurt the worst?” Cory called from somewhere behind Kae. He didn’t speak as he watched his wife sprinting toward the open archway. Kae pointed to Shonna and Merrit before leaning against the nearest block. His hand shook as he removed his pack.

He knew that it was from the energy coursing through his body as it repaired his injuries. It had happened when he had the crossbow bolt through his chest, too. He smiled darkly knowing that he could return to action as soon as needed.

Kae checked his rifle, inserting one of two spare magazines he kept in his pack. He sent the bolt home and forced himself upright. “Tighten up! Move over there, backs to the wall,” he ordered as he limped to help Cory with Shonna and Merrit. Tyson was already moving Samantha that way. Edwin and Ramses were helping each other while Sue and Timmons couldn’t take their eyes from the archway.

“We need someone who can still fight to stay here, just in case the Weretigers come back,” Kae explained, waving the two Werewolves to him.

Cory’s hands glowed as she placed them on the worst of the wounds.

A Weretiger’s scream interrupted her concentration.

It came from the archway. “Stay here,” Timmons told Sue as he ran toward the sound.

***

Kim and Auburn jogged after the Weretigers. The two didn’t seem to be in a hurry, but looked like they knew where they were going. They stopped before a closed door.

Kimber looked at it. Aaron nodded toward the door handle. She stood to the side and reached for the handle, watching the Weretigers tense as she prepared to throw the door open.

Auburn saw it too. He raised his rifle and crouched. He looked over the barrel. Kim raised her rifle with one hand, then slapped the handle down and shoved.

The door was barred and didn’t budge.

“FUCK!” she yelled. Aaron screamed his dismay and dragged a paw full of claws down the wood of the door, leaving a long scratch.

They didn’t have any explosives.

The group looked at the door, wondering what to do, when Terry and the Werewolf Char ran up.

“It’s blocked, locked, barred, or something,” Kim said.

Terry was looking at it when Marcie showed up. “What’s in here?” he asked her. She leaned back against the wall to catch her breath. She closed her eyes and searched the etheric dimension. Two Weretigers were close, pacing in the room beyond. She reached further and found nothing. She could sense the Werewolves in the main hall and nothing else.

“The enemy’s back is broken,” she said. “Two Weretigers in there and they don’t seem happy with their situation.”

“Let me say that I’m pleased at their unhappiness and they can eat a bag of dicks!” TH shouted at the end. He backed up against the wall and ran, jumped, coiled, and kicked near the door handle with both feet.

The large wooden door burst inward. Terry landed on the floor in the doorway. Aaron and Yanmei were first through by leaping over Terry while he rolled to his feet. Auburn and Kim leaned into the doorway, covering the colonel as he got to his feet, then the three walked in together.

Timmons arrived in time to join Marcie and Char.

Finally, the odds were in their favor.

Marcie absentmindedly scratched behind her mother-in-law’s ears as they walked into the room to join the others. Char shook her head, her Werewolf ears flapping. Marcie kept her hand resting on Char’s hairy neck as she watched Terry take charge.

“I think that’s it for the Qin Clan,” Terry said. “We can’t have Were taking over, turning humans into slaves or worse, food.”

The old man and old woman had stopped pacing when Terry broke through the door. They’d stood perfectly still as Aaron and Yanmei sniffed them and stayed near. Maybe the younger Weretigers recognized that the oldsters weren’t a threat. Not anymore, since they had no minions at their command.

“We were harming no one, keeping to ourselves. Maybe you should look closer to home to see who is trying to take over,” the old man suggested.

“We’ve done plenty of soul searching and have arrived at one clear answer. You’re bad, not us.”

“Simple as that, is it, Mister Terry Henry Walton?” the old man said. Marcie’s breath caught as she heard the old Were say her father’s name.

“I go by Colonel, actually, but yes, it really is that simple. I’d ask how you know my name, but no matter how you answer, it doesn’t really matter. Know that any Were who would make humans his or her slaves is on notice. I personally will not allow it. The Unknown World is our place to keep separate from humanity and not use to subvert them. I wonder what a bag of Weretiger blood is worth?”

“Are you running the trade?” the oldster asked.

“Of fucking course not,” Terry retorted. “There’s a fight out there, but it’s not a war. It’s human crime against the Were. We think someone from this side is directing them. My bet is on a Forsaken, but the jury is still out. We could use you slimy bastards for bait. These fuckers are good at what they do. Were are running scared. That chaps my ass, and then imagine my rage when I find out that you’re here and fucking with the locals. You aren’t any better than the Vampire hunters.”

“That cuts me deeply, Colonel Walton. We would do no such thing. You’ve befouled our sanctuary. How many humans were in here? How many skeletons did you find in our closets?”

“You’re wrong; we don’t need to check closets for skeletons; and therefore, you’re a right foul git,” Terry replied. Char cocked her head back and forth as she wondered where he had gotten that from. In all their time together, he’d never used those terms before.

They sounded familiar. British.

Harry Potter. Char shook her shaggy head. Marcie continued to scratch behind her mother-in-law’s ears.

The old Weretigers had no answer to that.

“Do we let them live?” Marcie asked.

“Isn’t that the question of the day?” Terry replied as he fixed the oldster with a penetrating gaze. “We’re going to leave, but we’re planting spies to watch you. If you try to rebuild your clan, we’ll be back. You have quite the mess out there. You might want to start cleaning that up. It’s going to take a while.”

Terry stopped on his way out to rub Char’s furry head and look into her sparkling purple eyes. “I love you,” he whispered, before turning to the rest. “Let’s get our people and get out of here.”

Aaron growled and snarled. Yanmei snapped her jaws.

“Come on!” Terry yelled over his shoulder from the hallway. The others filed out one by one, following him to the main area where they’d left their injured. Char changed back into human form and walked naked beside her husband.

Aaron and Yanmei remained in Were form. Kim and Auburn followed the group, rifles at the ready as they watched the hallway behind them. The oldsters leaned their heads into the hallway, but didn’t follow. Kim pointed to her eyes and then back at the Weretigers.

I’m watching you.

The two retreated back inside the room.

***

Nick leaned over the rail and saw the consolidation of their people. He was taken aback at seeing Char naked. He didn’t look away as quickly as he should have. The colonel caught him staring. “Get my pistol and meet us down here!” Terry yelled.

“And my magazines!” Kimber joined in.

“And my pack,” Terry added.

“And anything else of ours you find up there!” Auburn shouted.

Char found her clothes and quickly dressed. Marcie looked at her in-laws. “How much stuff did you lose up there?” she joked.

“It’s just stuff, but if we don’t have to leave it behind, we won’t! Look at this. Empty!” Terry pointed to his holster, making a sad face.

He’d already seen that no one was dead. Cory was sleeping from her efforts to heal the two Werewolves. Shonna and Merrit were sufficiently recovered to put on their torn clothing.

Samantha, Edwin, and Nick would need Cory’s help, but in due time. They weren’t critical.

With the gear collected and everyone back in human form, the group trudged from the building.

“What about the other Weretigers?” Tyson asked.

“The five or six that escaped are no threat to us. What did we kill, sixty or seventy of them? We crushed them and their hopes. The message we left with the oldsters should lead them down a different path. If not and they make us come back, we’ll simply blow the whole building and bury their dumbasses inside.”

Terry watched the surrounding area carefully. Little ammunition remained should the survivors regroup, but Char and Marcie both shook their heads. They were not close.

Maybe they were still running.

Terry smiled and nodded, happy that none of his team had gotten killed.

When they made it to the pod, Sergeant Garcia reported that two Weretigers had been killed as they tried to run through their position.

One of the warriors was holding an ear from one of the dead Were. Garcia looked surprised by the display.

Terry lost all humor and stormed up to the man, grabbing him around his throat.

“They may be our enemy, but you will respect them. I don’t ever want to see this crap again, do you understand me?” he growled. The man nodded. Terry pointed to Cory’s ears. “What do you think I would do if someone held up one of her ears?”

The man looked horrified.

“I would kill every human being who had anything to do with it, and nothing. Would. Stop. Me,” Terry emphasized.

“Sir, request permission to conduct a burial detail.” Garcia stood at attention as he made his request.

“Granted,” Terry replied. Sergeant Garcia grabbed the man by the shoulder and threw him toward the dead Weretiger, ordering him to start digging with his hands. A few of the warriors were outfitted with entrenching tools. They fell out and started digging.

Cory woke up long enough to heal one of Samantha’s cuts and a slice across the back of Edwin’s leg. She immediately fell back asleep after that, with Ramses hovering protectively over her.

“Maybe we should have blown the building this time,” Char suggested with a wry smile.

Terry had joined the others on the pod. He sat, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, relaxing during the post-combat crash as his adrenaline dipped before returning to normal.

“Maybe,” Terry conceded. “But what fun is that? And we couldn’t cave it in on a bunch of humans that we didn’t know weren’t there.”

The burial detail returned and both squads boarded the pod. Many stood in silence as they looked at the beating the group had taken. All of them were covered in blood, most of it dried and hardening.

Lieutenant Tyson Kurtz was uninjured, along with Cory, Aaron, Yanmei, and Auburn. Every other member of the teams had been raked, cut, or slashed.

They healed at an incredible rate, but their injuries stood out. Their clothes shredded. Their flak jackets rent and torn.

Sergeant Garcia sat next to Tyson. “What went on in there, Lieutenant?” he asked.

“The most incredible combat you’ve never seen. The colonels moved so fast you couldn’t see them. The others are fucking warriors. They stood nose to nose with the enemy and didn’t back down. You saw the claws those Weretigers had! None of them were afraid. They fought like demons. Each and every one.” Kurtz tipped his chin toward Terry Henry. “He jumped three stories into the middle of a bunch of them. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I’m glad they’re the good guys,” Garcia replied.

“Fucking A, Garcia.”

The comm device buried in Terry’s shirt buzzed. He opened his eyes and pulled it out.

Akio. “What do you want, my man?” Terry said before activating the device.

“Akio-sama. The Qin Clan is no more. Add sixty or seventy Weretigers to the tally,” Terry said casually, closing his eyes again as he held the comm device to his ear.

“That is good news, Terry-san, good news indeed. I think he will be pleased,” Akio replied mysteriously.

Akio wasn’t one to throw out bread crumbs hoping that Terry would follow the trail.

“He who, Akio-sama?”

“Someone I must go after and see if he is who I believe him to be. Go to San Francisco and wait for word, Terry-san.” Akio clicked off before Terry received an answer to any of his questions.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

WWDE + 150

San Francisco

“Vampires, Weres, and humans on a collision course? In New fucking York fucking City,” Terry said slowly. “And the Vampire hunters are on the prowl in Chicago? These things come in threes, so what’s the next shoe to drop?”

Felicity shook her head. She’d dragged Ted along to help her deliver the intelligence to Terry and Char. She’d been meeting with the FDG’s “vacationing” team members and finally, she had something worthwhile. Years of nothing and all of a sudden, a war had begun.

“Since Gerry resigned and disappeared, the NAPC went to shit and we lost all of our intel from Chicago. Hey, Char! What do you say we run out there to conduct a little exercise?”

Char nodded slowly. “Sounds good. Any time we can punch blood thieves in the mouth, I’m good with it.”

“Warm up the pod and call in our boys! We’re taking a little trip,” Terry announced. Felicity looked over her stylish glasses at him.

“I do declare, Terry Henry Walton, you love going to war,” Felicity drawled. “By the way, they call themselves the Black Plague.”

“Not going to war, my dear Felicity, but winning the war. There’s a big difference. The Black Plague? You gotta be shitting me.” TH shook his head. “If you’ll excuse us, we have an appointment in Chicago.”

Terry and Char immediately left the FDG conference room and started calling the tac team members. Most were somewhere else, so they grabbed Sergeant Garcia and two squads of the others. Kim and Auburn were able to join them, but no one else. Not even Kurtz. He was with the tac team members conducting mountain warfare training in the hills far to the east of San Francisco.

Terry thought about it for a millisecond. “Play the hand you’re dealt.” He checked the ammunition, had everyone load extra, and then Terry boarded the pod.

North Chicago

“Seriously, is this the time?” Valerie shot a brief frown his way, and then saw them—several people in camouflage, stepping out from the tall grass nearby. The group carried a variety of weapons, all except one, the youngest-looking of the group.

Valerie’s instincts kicked in and she sniffed. One of them was special, Were special. The Were was attractive, but in that do not mess with me sort of way that most Weres had going on. A streak of almost silver-white ran through her hair.

“That’s close enough,” a large soldier said, aiming at them, clearly eyeing Sandra’s sniper rifle.

He glanced over his shoulder and said, “Where’s the colonel?”

“He’ll be along soon enough,” the Were said, hands on her hips, assessing Valerie. She was tall, with sparkling purple eyes that studied the three, but especially Diego and Valerie, with interest.

“Please, just tell us,” Sandra said, her voice full of exhaustion. “Is this Chicago?”

The Were nodded.

“Then that must make you part of this Force de Guerre we’ve heard so much about,” Valerie said, keeping her voice level, not trying to intimidate or offend. “Keeping the peace?”

“Keeping outsiders out,” the Were said. “When need be. Especially certain types of outsiders.” Her eyes darted from Valerie to the sun at the edge of the hills, its rays casting long shadows across the ruins and trees.

“We’re either welcome or we’re not,” Valerie said, not in the mood for games.

“I have to say, I’m curious,” the Werewolf said smoothly, tilting her head slightly and sniffing the air. “So yeah, welcome to Chicago. There’s someone who’d like to meet you.”

“Thanks, Char,” a man’s voice came from the tree line, and then he stepped out, rifle slung over his shoulder. “Is she…?”

“She is,” Char replied. “And the small one’s a Were.”

“That so?” The man looked impressed, then said, “I take it you’re not with the Black Plague then?”

Valerie shook her head. “Though we do mean to stop them, so if you have any affiliation, better let us know sooner rather than later.”

The soldier looked at her, then to the man. “Whaddaya say, Colonel?”

“I don’t think we have new recruits for the FDG, TH,” Char said.

Terry nodded. “That’s true enough. But…one has to wonder what a day-walking vampire’s doing around these parts? Or for that matter, just being alive.”

A moment of unease followed between Valerie and her companions.

“Maybe we should join them?” Sandra said. “I mean, can’t hurt, right?”

Valerie pursed her lips, debating, and felt their thoughts, like a warm cup of tea with a bit of spice. She still wasn’t sure how to interpret these sensations, not exactly, but she figured that couldn’t be all bad. Perhaps safe, but guarded.

“After introductions,” Valerie said.

The man smiled and extended a hand. “Name’s Terry Henry Walton. If you’re here for the Black Plague, then we’ve got no quarrel with you.”

She took the hand in a firm grip and smiled. “Valerie, and it’s a pleasure, TH.”

His eyes narrowed. “Let’s go with Terry for now.”

She nodded. “Thing is, Terry, we’re here for more than just them. And I’d love to hear how much you know about this Black Plague group, but first, I think I better tell you everything.”

He nodded, motioning toward the outpost. “Inside, in case anyone’s watching.”

“Watching?” Sandra asked as they started walking.

Valerie gave the two a look that said, proceed with caution.

“We like to think we have this place under lockdown,” TH said as he led the way. They walked past shrubs and around the bend of the outer perimeter of the city, where they saw a small outpost ahead. “But with the rumors of the Black Plague—”

“How much do you know of them?” Valerie asked and, judging by the look he gave her, he wasn’t accustomed to being interrupted.

“Not much. We just heard about them ourselves.” He reached the outpost and held the door open for the rest, following behind a moment later.

It was dark in there, except for the light from glassless windows.

“First, I want to know what a Vampire is doing walking around in the daylight,” he said. “Second, whether you know where Akio is now.”

“You assume he gave me the power?”

Terry nodded curtly.

“I can tell you where he is, but it wasn’t him. He went to Europe, in pursuit of Michael.”

“No…” Char said, stepping forward and staring into Valerie’s eyes as if that would tell her if this was the truth. “So Michael has returned?”

“He has. And Akio and Yuko just missed him. He was going off to France, to deal with some, er, unsavory characters.”

Char and TH shared a look of excitement. TH took a big breath, then looked at her with a new level of respect.

“We don’t get many visitors here,” he said. “Nor welcome them. But if what you say is true, if you actually knew Akio and mean to go after the Black Plague, you can stay as long as you need.”

Char put a hand on his arm. “She did say they came for another reason.”

“That’s right, you did.” He furrowed his brow and stood, waiting.

Valerie leaned back against a wooden beam, arms crossed, and said, “Better get comfortable. This could take a while.” She went into the full story, about coming across the ocean and finding out about the fact that people were hunting Vampires for their blood, how she had realized the problem came from the top. That to stop it, she’d had to cut off the beast’s head, leaving Old New York in a state of flux.

“A bit too trusting, I think,” Char said. “You tell everyone you meet on the road your life story, you might want to watch out.”

“People have certainly criticized me for being too trusting in the past,” Valerie said. “Thing is, I figure it’s better to trust and have people at your side, than to not trust and stand all alone. Plus, if anyone ever betrays me, I can remove their head from their body easily enough.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It wasn’t directed at anyone here.” Valerie unfolded her arms and held her hands out, so she could show she meant no aggression. “More a statement of fact. There aren’t many that could survive once I’ve decided they shouldn’t.”

“I believe her.” Terry Henry Walton leaned back, hand on his pistol, assessing them through narrowed eyes. Finally, he raised an eyebrow and said, “Okay, here it is. We don’t interfere with people if they come to us and say they want to be part of our society. These CEOs you speak of, we don’t know if they’re here or not, but do know that one man arrived recently with a pretty big posse. The type you watch out for, because they look like some mean motherfuckers, and because a group that size can always be trouble.”

“If he’s here, he is trouble.”

Terry held up a hand. “If he is what you say, if he’s done what you say he’s done, I’d have to agree. So here’s what we’ll do. Extraction. You go in, you get him out, then you deal with him as you see fit. But you cause a scene, you make trouble in Chicago, then we’ve got ourselves a problem, you and me.”

She didn’t know this guy, but she sensed something different about him. He didn’t have the Were or vampire scent, but…there was something. That, plus the look in his eye, was enough to decide she’d trust him about this.

“You have yourself a deal,” she said.

“Oh, and Sergeant Garcia is going with you,” Terry said, pointing to a man leaning against a wall, He looked one hundred percent military from his uniform, to the short hair, to the weapons he carried. The kind of man Valerie associated with Commander Strake and the Enforcers, she thought, instantly distrusting him.

“I work best with my team, no one else.” Valerie stood tall now, staring him down.

“This is our city. Would you let outsiders enter your city fully armed without an escort?” He assessed her, then shook his head. “I didn’t think so. It’s set then.”

“Deal,” she said, shaking his hand.

Terry ran a hand through his hair and raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got a big mission ahead of you. Best get to it.”

***

Joseph awoke, exhausted and strapped to a gurney. He felt empty inside. He rolled his head back and forth, looking around to get his bearing. Petricia was on the gurney next to him. A needle was in her arm and a tube led to a bag on a hook below her.

He forced himself to look down. A needle was in his arm, too. Four other Forsaken were secured in the small room.

How long had he been here? How long had he been out? The day Andrew died, Joseph carried his injured bride into the city and made his way deep underground to a place that only the Forsaken knew.

He nursed Petricia back to health, enough where she could sleep soundly with him. Disappear into the night of the long sleep. The next thing he knew, he was here.

Wherever here was.

A young woman wearing hospital scrubs entered. She went from victim to victim, checking their bags. Each had an IV on one side and a tapped vein on the other. Joseph looked back at his own arms. He’d missed the IV on the first pass. He wondered how something so obvious could escape him.

He wasn’t sure what he was looking at. His own arms seemed to be a long ways away. His feet an interminable distance. Joseph’s head swam with his movements.

When the orderly reached him, he asked her, “Can I get some water, please?”

She jumped. “Damn!” she exclaimed. “You startled me. There’s your water right there, mister.”

She pointed at the IV.

“My stomach is churning and I feel like I’m going to pass out. How much blood have you taken?”

“On our way to all of it. We have a big delivery to make. With you six, our fortunes are made and we’ll be done with this nasty business.”

“I’ll say. What value is there in my blood?”

“Prolongs life. Heals injuries. And your blood is especially potent.”

“You give humans my blood?”

She laughed. “No. We don’t give anything away. They pay a great deal for your blood. A great deal.” She checked his bag and continued to Petricia before leaving the room.

Joseph checked his bindings He wasn’t sure he had enough strength to break free. He’d never felt so weak in all his life.

He breathed deeply in and out, forcing himself to hyperventilate as he tried to build the energy for one great burst of energy. He yanked his right arm and the bar bent toward him. He was exhausted and wanted to sleep, but every drip made him weaker. He opened his mouth and screamed silently.

Joseph yanked a second time and then a third. His arm hurt from jerking the needle around. His efforts lessened, but he was close. “For you, Petricia,” he said softly. He jerked and the bed’s pipe frame pulled free.

He undid his bindings, leaving the IV in but pulling the blood needle out. He pinched his arm to stop the bleeding, but his nanocytes had been drained dangerously low. He needed time to heal.

And people called him the Vampire.

He wrapped the IV line around his neck and wedged the bag into his collar. He stood weakly, almost falling over. He leaned forward and let himself fall toward Petricia’s bed. He freed her before pulling the needle from her arm. He pressed a bandage against it, wishing it to hurry up and heal.

He wished that she would awaken.

She didn’t.

He pulled her toward him until she was in a sitting position. He laid her over his shoulder and pulled her from the bed.

“Oh, God!” he cried through the strain. He staggered and sent his bed careening into the one next to it. He blinked to clear his vision. The woman entered again. She had someone with her.

The muscle.

The burly young man bared his teeth as he brandished his arc rod, ready to beat the weak Forsaken into submission. Joseph leaned against the bed and reached out with his mind. Since the man was already fired up, Joseph built those thoughts into an uncontrolled rage until the man screamed, holding his head.

He staggered two steps and fell. Joseph stumbled past him, stopping at the nurse. “Who is more evil, madam—the one who takes, or the one who takes back?”

She didn’t answer. He pinned her to the wall as his fangs grew. He dove in and bit deeply, draining her of her blood. He let her carcass fall to the ground. His mind cleared and he felt the strength that fresh blood gave him. He looked at the man on the floor, but no, he wouldn’t taint Petricia.

She’d never tasted human blood. She was pure. He stepped back to his table and took the bag of his own blood. He bit into it and drained it. He took Petricia’s blood bag, tied it off, and stuffed it into his pocket to keep it warm.

As he walked past the man writhing on the floor, he kicked him in the face.

Joseph stuck to the shadows as he headed out. Something was happening. It seemed that a full-on war was being waged. The Forsaken wondered how long he’d been out. His body seemed a husk of its former self. Petricia was emaciated, her heartbeat weak.

He left the building, his dearest love over his shoulder. He ran, but people were everywhere.

Or so it seemed.

His head started to spin. How weak was he that draining a human had barely given him enough energy to walk a couple hundred yards? He found a closet in which to hide, unsure of what was happening around him. Forsaken, Vampires, and Were.

A battle for supremacy within the Unknown World was underway, and Joseph could only watch.

***

“What do you say we follow, at a discreet distance, you know, just in case?” Terry asked Char.

“Sounds like a plan, lover.” Kim and Auburn had already taken a squad to the east to scout a group there. Terry figured speed would be their greatest asset.

“Corporal, watch the house for us. We’ll be back in a jif.” Terry and Char disappeared into the growing dusk.

They stayed far to the side of the track that Valerie and her team had taken. They jogged casually to keep pace. “A day-walking Vampire walks up on us like it’s nothing? And Vampires from Europe attacking New York City? What in the holy jump the fuck up and down is that all about? It’s like I was asleep at the wheel for a hundred and fifty years.”

“You weren’t. Unknown World. They are really, really good at staying hidden, just until they decide that they don’t need to. And it seems that is the point we’ve reached. Maybe you taught them to keep their heads down that much longer. Wait…” Char held her head as she drifted off the road and stopped to lean against a tree.

“The firepower, mental, etheric, so much energy being thrown around. And shit! Follow me. Hurry!” Char bolted from her spot and accelerated into a full sprint. She tore through a small checkpoint manned by a mix of humans and Weres.

She and Terry never slowed down as they raced through. “Not a threat!” Terry yelled, holding a hand up with the peace sign as he kept pace with Char.

“What?” he yelled after her.

“Joseph,” she called over her shoulder. Terry redoubled his efforts and pulled his pistol. He didn’t know if there was a threat to his friend or not, but with Char’s hair on fire, he figured it wasn’t good.

She jumped through a broken window of a derelict building and ran through the front, into the darkened recesses. “Joseph!” she called.

“In here,” came the weak reply. Terry was there when Char opened the door.

“Holy fuck, you look like shit,” Terry said without thinking. He saw the bag hanging around Joseph’s neck. “Oh no. How long have they had you?”

Terry and Char helped the two up. Char took Petricia from Joseph, grimacing at how light the full-grown woman was.

“Since the day Andrew died, I think,” Joseph said, collapsing into Terry’s arms.

Terry picked the man up, tears filling his eyes. “They had them for sixteen years, Char! The bloodsuckers had him all this time, and we thought he’d just run away.”

“Not your fault, TH. We have them now, and that is the one thing that we really are in control of in this crazy world spinning out of control. Now, let’s get the hell out of here.”

Terry and Char started running, using a measured pace to limit the jarring of their friends.

When they made it back to the camp, they immediately boarded the pod. “Corporal. We’ll send a pod back for you. Report in when Garcia makes it back.”

The corporal had no idea who the colonel and the major had carried on board. It wasn’t his place to ask.

San Francisco

Joseph and Petricia lay in Terry and Char’s bed. Cory had tried to help, but there was nothing she could do. Their nanocyte-laden blood had been depleted. They needed the nanos to replicate, and that took time and lots of food.

“Anything they want,” Terry said, holding his friend’s hand while he and Petricia slept. The kids—Kim, Auburn, Kae, Marcie, Ramses, and Cory—made daily runs to the market for fresh meat, both beef and seafood. Felicity sent stocks from the daily dirigible arrivals.

The pack stopped by, even Ted, to sit and talk in Joseph’s presence.

When Petricia finally awoke, she ate ravenously while Joseph held her.

They told stories in between eating and drinking. And they slept. Terry and Char rarely left their side. Auburn brought in a tailor who worked with leather. They had dark green leather outfits made for the Forsaken. Whenever they could go back outside, they’d be able to.

Terry had special wide-brimmed hats made in the style of Marine Drill Instructors. These were dark brown, which set off nicely against the dark green leather.

“This is too much. I like my black stuff,” Joseph said, looking at himself in the mirror.

“I think you look right handsome, dashing even,” Petricia offered.

“In that case, I accept your generosity.” Joseph bowed. As he stood, his smile disappeared. “To me, Andrew just died. To the rest of the world, it’s been sixteen years. A lifetime to many. A drop in the bucket to those like us. Forgive me if I mourn. It isn’t you and everything you’ve done for me, for us.”

“Kimber and Auburn searched for years. They dug through every basement in all of Chicago, but they never found you. We never lost hope, my friends. Never.”

“I wish I could elucidate the happenings of the time between then and now, but alas, I cannot.”

“It doesn’t matter, my friend. Big barbecue tonight. Everyone who is anyone will be coming,” Terry said.

“You mean the pack and our family,” Joseph replied.

“You got me. Gene is in the Crimea. I talked with him and he’s happy that you’ve been found, but he couldn’t come. He’s busy being somebody. Aaron and Yanmei are back. We lost Butch and Skippy to the Vampire hunters, the Black Plague fucks, but there are people hunting them all over the world, like that Valerie character. I think we haven’t seen the last of her.”

“So many changes, TH,” Joseph lamented, holding tightly to Petricia’s hand.

***

They had a fire pit in Terry and Char’s front yard. Auburn had acquired a side of beef and was turning it slowly on a spit. A large section was beyond the fire. It would be warmed, but not even cooked enough to be considered rare.

Just like Char and the others liked it. Joseph preferred his cooked to a nice medium rare. Auburn would deliver. No one knew beef like he did.

Sue and Timmons strolled around, shaking hands and making jokes. Terry wondered what was up, but they weren’t forthcoming. Not until Shonna and Merrit arrived. And then they pulled a dusty old bottle and handed it over. The label was peeled and mostly faded away, but the bottle felt familiar.

He angled the label toward the fire.

“It isn’t!” He grabbed the cap.

“That’s not a twist-off…” Timmons started to say.

Terry effortlessly ripped the cap off with his bare hand. He took a slow swig. He winced a little, then smiled slowly. “Guinness,” he said.

He moved away from the fire, found a seat, and cradled the bottle. He sipped it slowly, holding the one hundred and fifty-year-old beer in his mouth as he savored it. “The last good beer on Earth. I have so far to go,” he said, more to himself than anyone present.

“I think he’s in love, Mom,” Cory said. Ramses draped an arm over her shoulder as the children lined up to watch their father deteriorate into the ecstasy of gluttony

“Where’d you get it?” Kim asked.

“Right here in San Francisco. Excavating for a new power plant. Found it in the rubble just as you see it. Intact and meant for that man. It’s like it was a gift from God.”

The comm device in Terry’s pocket buzzed. He looked annoyed as he pulled it out, holding the bottle carefully in his other hand.

“Akio-sama, what can I do you for?” Terry said, taking another sip from his Guinness.

“Michael, Terry-san. Michael has returned. I am on my way to Europe right now, to where he was last spotted.”

“What Michael? You mean, The Michael? Bethany Anne’s Michael? Valerie said something about that, but I didn’t think it was real,” Terry exclaimed in a raspy whisper.

“Are you in San Francisco, Terry-san?”

“We are, Akio-sama. All of us, including Joseph and Petricia,” Terry said proudly, smiling at his family and friends.

“Stay there and wait for us. Bethany Anne is on her way, and she asked me to tell you something, Terry-san.”

The bottle fell from Terry’s fingers, hitting the ground and bubbling out the top. Kaeden dove for the bottle, keeping it from tipping over. Only a small bit was lost. He smiled up at his father, but Terry didn’t notice. He didn’t even know that he’d dropped the bottle in the first place.

Terry’s gaze was fixed on the fire.

“Bethany Anne asked you to tell me something?” Terry wondered.

“First, she thanks you for bringing humanity back to civilization. Second, I am to tell you to ask her about the Bad Company. It seems that the empress has plans for you, Terry-san.

“Yuko and I will find Michael and we will hold the fort, as you might say, until she arrives. Between now and then, Terry-san, relax and be ready. I’d say keep your feet on the ground, but I don’t think that’s what your future entails. Until next time, Terry-san.” Akio signed off.

“Until next time,” Terry replied, even though Akio was no longer there. Sparkling purple eyes watched Terry closely. He took Char’s hand and looked up at the stars.

“Nomad’s Earth,” Char whispered

“Nomad’s Galaxy,” Terry replied.

The End of Nomad’s Galaxy

Don’t stop now! Keep turning the pages as both Craig & Michael talk about their thoughts on this book and the overall project called the Terry Henry Walton Chronicles.

Terry Henry Walton & Charumati will return in a new series – The Bad Company, working for Nathan Lowell at the behest of General Lance Reynolds to help with the expansion of the Etheric Federation. Coming October-ish, 2017 as part of the Age of Expansion…

Author Notes - Craig Martelle

Written August 10, 2017

Thank you for reading to this point. That is incredible!!!!! You did it – you read all ten books and are still reading.

Holy crap!

Three-quarters of a million words later, we have covered one-hundred fifty years of time between the World’s Worst Day Ever and when Michael returns to Earth. Fahrvergnugen!

What an incredible ride.

Is this the end of Terry and Char? Hell no!

The story of Terry and Char on Earth ends with Book 10, but there's a whole galaxy out there that needs to be explored. Nomad's Galaxy - an end and a beginning.

I had to re-read Dark Messiah and the Darkest Night to ensure that I got the elements from Michael’s story correct within the confines of this one. There is an overlap at the end as you’ve already learned and we were meticulous in making sure that things aligned. We also brought in some of our biggest fans to double check for us.

This book will make a great deal of sense to those who have read Dark Messiah (The Second Dark Ages) and Justice is Calling (Reclaiming Honor series). If you haven’t, then that is perfectly fine. This book overlaps with those two in order to put a bow on the Terry Henry Walton Chronicles while tying everything together.

There are Easter eggs scattered throughout the book. They come in all shapes and sizes, from off-handed 80s pop references, to good ol’ Marine Corps trivia, there’s a little something for everyone. Maybe on the second read you might catch something that escaped you on the first pass.

Re-reading books is the greatest testament to a well-spun yarn. I’ve heard from a number of folks who have read this series at least a couple times. That is incredible. That’s a lot of words to grind through. Thank you for sharing your time with us.

Back in my Marine Corps days, I was always sucking wind on group runs, so I only partially remembered the Jody calls. Never fear, this is the age of the internet, so I looked them up for you.

^{http://yuuut.com/marine-corps-cadences/}

Shout out to Yuuut for memorializing the best of the cadence calls which helped me remember enough to put it into the text.

The final analysis of my garden. The hover bunnies (left no footprints, yet ate everything off right to the ground) cleaned us out – only the zucchini plant survived and it grew some righteously big leaves, but few zucchini. Next year, herbs and zucchini only. I have high hopes that I’ll be able to manage that without the mass casualties we experienced this year.

Thank you to everyone who has been so critical in making this series the runaway success that it has become. I know I thanked people in the last book, but dammit! They deserve to be recognized here, too!

Michael Anderle

My editor Mia Darien who puts up with the first drafty kind-of-stuff that I send her. Our cover artist, Andrew Dobell who took the original pictures of the models who would become Terry and Char. He turned those into a big bunch o’ covers for us, with many more to come as we see them in The Bad Company.

Diane Velasquez, Dorene Johnson, & Kat Lind – these good people make sure the overall story arc remains on track. Diane and Dorene have been maintaining a searchable concordance of all the words in Terry and Bethany Anne’s universe. That keeps us honest.

Kelly O’Donnell, Sherry Foster, James Caplan, Leo Roars, Micky Cocker, Thomas Ogden, John Findlay, Maria Stanley, and so many more who have beta read these books for us, catching typos, and making sure that when we published, it was to a professional standard.

Our readers are simply the best! You leave us great reviews (and if you’re still reading, please drop a note on Amazon, give us a few stars and even a word or two helps). It sucks to ask more of you – buying and reading the book should be enough. :)

And Michael called me Lord of the Cosmos as a promotion from Awesome Craig. So LotC it is as we go forward, into the cosmos, continuing our journey together. Here’s a picture of my home, under the aurora, in the sub-arctic of Alaska.

Please join my Newsletter (^{www.craigmartelle.com} – half way down the page – please, please, please sign up!), or you can follow me on Facebook since you’ll get the same opportunity to pick up the books on that first day they are published.

If you liked this story, you might like some of my other books. You can join my mailing list by dropping by my website ^{www.craigmartelle.com} or if you have any comments, shoot me a note at [email protected]. I am always happy to hear from people who’ve read my work. I try to answer every email I receive.

If you liked the story, please write a short review for me on Amazon. I greatly appreciate any kind words, even one or two sentences go a long way. The number of reviews an ebook receives greatly improves how well an ebook does on Amazon.

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Thank you for reading the Terry Henry Walton Chronicles!

Author Notes - Michael Anderle

Written August 18th, 2017

First, THANK YOU for not only reading this book, but reading all TEN books and now? Now you are reading the last author note for The Terry Henry Chronicles written by Craig Martelle, with collaboration support, suggestions and universe created by Michael Anderle.

I have mentioned before that Craig was the first author which I reached out to ask if he would be willing to write in The Kurtherian Gambit Universe. The short reason was I needed something post-apocalyptic to answer fan’s questions, and I can’t write post-apocalyptic / make stuff and survive (and make it believable).

But, he could.

Now, ten books later and just over three-quarters of a million words, Craig is the first of my collaborators to finish a series and I think it is awesome.

Finis, finished, fineto.

Done.

Only, it isn’t done, is it? Bethany Anne (in 4 books – number 21) will be coming back to Earth, and she has something for Terry Henry and Char to do.

Just, this time they are doing it ‘out there’. Allowing the FDG a chance to stretch their legs, and see the Universe while doing that which they do best.

Protecting those who can’t protect themselves.

Now, here is something else that the indomitable Mr. Martelle is doing – he is helping to manage the Age of Expansion (AOE) Universe. Not only is he going to be supporting other series and shepherding them in the AOE, he is going to be writing the spin-off series “Bad Company” during the Age of Expansion as well.

In short, he is going to be really, really busy.

Craig is an amazing individual, and I am blessed to be associated with him. His ethics are resolute, his efforts are superhuman and his humor keeps me in stitches.

In short, he is a damned fine Marine and a hell of a man.

Further, my hats off to ALL of the beta readers / editors / JIT Readers Craig mentioned in his Author notes, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart, as well.

Going forward, we are busy preparing multiple series for publishing in the Age of Expansion with Amy DuBoff, JN Chaney, Justin Sloan and Tommy Donbavand working behind the scenes with our first AOE author, Ell Leigh Clarke to provide you with the stories of what is happening in the Etheric Empire as it morphs into the Etheric Federation.

And no, we aren’t stopping there. There will be a new Bethany Anne series after the 21 Book Kurtherian Gambit is finished.

Bethany Anne will be back, and this time, Michael will be with her.

THANK YOU for taking this trip with us, and please understand we CAN’T do it without your support.

Best Regards,

Michael Anderle

^{Craig Martelle}

(click to go see books on Amazon)

The Terry Henry Walton Chronicles

A Kurtherian Gambit Series

Book 1 – Nomad Found

Book 2 – Nomad Redeemed

Book 3 - Nomad Unleashed

Book 4 - Nomad Supreme

Book 5 – Nomad’s Fury

Book 6 – Nomad’s Justice

Book 7 – Nomad Avenged

Book 8 – Nomad Mortis

Book 9 – Nomad’s Force

Book 10 – Nomad’s Galaxy

Free Trader Series

Book 1 – The Free Trader of Warren Deep

Book 2 – The Free Trader of Planet Vii

Book 3 – Adventures on RV Traveler

Book 4 – Battle for the Amazon

Book 5 – Free the North!

Book 6 – Free Trader on the High Seas

Book 7 – Southern Discontent (2017)

Book 8 – The Great ‘Cat Rebellion (2017)

Book 9 – Return to the Traveler (2017)

Cygnus Space Opera – Set in the Free Trader Universe

Book 1 – Cygnus Rising

Book 2 – Cygnus Expanding

Book 3 – Cygnus Arrives

End Times Alaska Series, a Winlock Press publication

Book 1: Endure

Book 2: Run

Book 3: Return

Book 4: Fury

Rick Banik Thrillers

People Raged and the Sky Was on Fire

The Heart Raged (2017)

Paranoid in Paradise (Short Story – 2017)

Short Story Contributions to Anthologies

Wisdom’s Journey (stand alone novella)

Earth Prime Anthology, Volume 1 (Stephen Lee & James M. Ward)

Apocalyptic Space Short Story Collection (Stephen Lee & James M. Ward)

Lunar Resorts Anthology, Volume 2 (Stephen Lee & James M. Ward)

Just One More Fight (stand alone novella)

The Expanding Universe, Volume 1 (edited by Craig Martelle)

The Expanding Universe, Volume 2 (edited by Craig Martelle – June 2017)

The Misadventures of Jacob Wild McKilljoy (with Michael-Scott Earle)

The Tide, a multi-author, single story extravaganza

Metamorphosis Alpha, Chronicles from the Warden, Volume 1 (with James M. Ward)

Michael Anderle

Kurtherian Gambit Series Titles Include:

First Arc

^{Death Becomes Her} (01) - Queen Bitch (02) - Love Lost (03) - Bite This (04)

Never Forsaken (05) - Under My Heel (06) - Kneel Or Die (07)

Second Arc

We Will Build (08) - It’s Hell To Choose (09) - Release The Dogs of War (10)

Sued For Peace (11) - We Have Contact (12) - My Ride is a Bitch (13)

Don’t Cross This Line (14)

Third Arc (2017)

Never Submit (15) - Never Surrender (16) - Forever Defend (17)

Might Makes Right (18) - Ahead Full (19) - Capture Death (20)

Life Goes On (21)

**New Series**

The Second Dark Ages

^{The Dark Messiah (01)}

The Darkest Night (02)

The Boris Chronicles

* With Paul C. Middleton *

^Evacuation

Retaliation

Revelation

Restitution 2017

Reclaiming Honor

* With JUSTIN SLOAN *

^{Justice Is Calling (01)}

Claimed By Honor (02)

Judgement Has Fallen (03)

Angel of Reckoning (04)

Born Into Flames (05)

Defending The Lost (06)

The Etheric Academy

* With TS PAUL *

^{ALPHA CLASS (01)}

ALPHA CLASS - Engineering (02)

ALPHA CLASS (03) Coming soon

Terry Henry “TH” Walton Chronicles

* With CRAIG MARTELLE *

^{Nomad Found (01)}

Nomad Redeemed (02)

Nomad Unleashed (03)

Nomad Supreme (04)

Nomad’s Fury (05)

Nomad’s Justice (06)

Nomad Avenged (07)

Nomad Mortis (08)

Nomad’s Force (09)

Trials and Tribulations

* With Natalie Grey *

^{Risk Be Damned (01)}

Damned to Hell (02)

Hell’s Worst Nightmare (03) coming soon

The Ascension Myth

* With Ell Leigh Clarke *

^{Awakened (01)}

Activated (02)

Called (03)

Sanctioned (04)

Rebirth (05)

The Age of Magic

The Rise of Magic

* With CM Raymond / LE Barbant *

^{Restriction (01)}

Reawakening (02)

Rebellion (03)

Revolution (04)

Unlawful Passage (05)

The Hidden Magic Chronicles

* With Justin Sloan *

^{Shades of Light (01)}

Shades of Dark (02)

Storms of Magic

*With PT Hylton*

^{Storm Raiders (01)}

Storm Callers (02)

Tales of the Feisty Druid

*With Candy Crum*

^{The Arcadian Druid (01)}

The Undying Illusionist (02)

Path of Heroes

*With Brandon Barr*

Rogue Mage (01)

The Chronicles of Oriceran

The Leira Chronicles

*With Martha Carr*

^{Quest for Magic (0)}

Waking Magic (1)

Release of Magic (2)

SHORT STORIES

Frank Kurns Stories of the Unknownworld 01 (7.5)

You Don’t Touch John’s Cousin

Frank Kurns Stories of the Unknownworld 02 (9.5)

Bitch’s Night Out

Bellatrix: Frank Kurns Stories of the Unknownworld 03 (13.25)

With Natalie Grey

AudioBooks

^{CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL LMBPN BOOKS ON AUDIBLE}

Available at Audible.com and iTunes

The Kurtherian Gambit

Death Becomes Her - Available Now

Queen Bitch – Available Now

Love Lost – Available Now

Bite This - Available Now

Never Forsaken - Available Now

Under My Heel - Available Now

Kneel or Die - Available Now

Reclaiming Honor Series

Justice Is Calling

Claimed By Honor

Judgment Has Fallen

Angel of Reckoning

Terry Henry “TH” Walton Chronicles

Nomad Found

Nomad Redeemed

Nomad Unleashed

Nomad Supreme

Nomad’s Fury

The Etheric Academy

Alpha Class

Alpha Class 2

Anthologies

Glimpse

Honor in Death

(Michael’s First Few Days)

Beyond the Stars: At Galaxy's Edge

Tabitha’s Vacation

Craig Martelle Social

For a chance to see ALL of Craig’s new Book Series

Check out his website below!

Website:

http://www.craigmartelle.com

Email List:

^{http://www.craigmartelle.com}

(Go 1/2 way down his first page, the box is in the center!)

Facebook Here:

^{https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigMartelle/}

Michael Anderle Social

Website:

^{http://kurtherianbooks.com/}

Email List:

^{http://kurtherianbooks.com/email-list/}

Facebook Here:

^{https://www.facebook.com/TheKurtherianGambitBooks/}