Weapons of the Gods

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

As dawn rose, the team regrouped atop a small hill overlooking a vehicle scrapyard. The van stood hidden beneath overhanging trees, its front end concealed beneath brush and branches that Drake and Luther collected. Through phone calls they had directed the women to them and waited until the team was reunited before allowing themselves a single moment of respite.

Drake nodded as Alicia walked up to him. “Looking good.”

“Bollocks.” Alicia punched his arm and wiped her face. “I look like I barely survived a terrorist attack, which is what we did.”

“Yeah,” Mai said, a step behind. “But it is better than your normal look.”

“Where’s the safe?” Kenzie asked, sporting a new bandage across her scalp. “And for that matter — where’s the van?”

“Close,” Luther grumbled, watching Mai. “Is everyone okay?”

“I am.” Mai smiled. “But it was close. We were running on good luck there for a while.”

Kenzie glared around. “Oh, I’m fine thanks.”

“Good.” Drake led the way back to the van, confident they were alone as a golden glow of sunlight spread across the eastern horizon. They could easily see the single road twisting away for miles in both directions and had a good view across the fields. The scrapyard below wasn’t open for business yet. Thessaloniki itself lay three miles away and out of sight.

Drake ducked under the tree cover and slid back the van door with a loud crunch. “Let’s see what we’ve got. Do you have Mattheus’s prints?”

Alicia handed over the broken glass. “Mai broke it, not me.”

Luther intervened. “I have a few shaped charges left if the glass won’t work.”

“This requires finesse, Luther, not brute force.”

The bald man looked disgruntled.

Drake, with Luther’s and Mai’s help, finally managed to get the safe open by using a large piece of broken glass with Mattheus’s unblemished fingerprint. The iron door swung wide to reveal its dark innards.

Drake peered inside, holding a flashlight due to the darkness of the van’s interior under the overhanging trees. Three shelves held various useful items including weapons and ammo, an assortment of expensive chocolates, jewelry and two laptops. The shelves were high up and bunched together because the entire lower area was taken up by the Waters of Neptune.

It was a beautiful artifact, about three feet high and, as they had come to expect by now, entirely black. Neptune sat at the crest of a wave, holding her trident in her left hand, with sculpted waves lapping over her feet. The base was a flat piece with an undulating surface, fashioned to look like a rolling sea.

“A weapon?” Luther asked. “I don’t see how.”

“It’d hurt if it bonked you over the head,” Alicia pointed out. “Maybe this one’s just an artifact.”

“Or,” Drake said, seeing something for the first time, “could it be the substance these relics are made out of? Or the rare element inside?”

Luther nodded, handling the Neptune object with care. The three-foot-high piece looked quite small in his hands.

“Let’s pack it away.” Drake pulled away. “Along with whatever else we can use at Mattheus’s expense. We won this round but Tempest are getting pretty damn close.”

He walked back to the knoll of the hill and sat down among the overgrown stems of grass. Alicia came to sit by him and Mai stayed with Luther. Kenzie went to find some water to cleanse her wound. The land all around was silent and still, except for the pleasant breeze in the air. Drake took a moment to be with Alicia with no outside interference to pressurize them.

“Hanging in there, love?”

“Considering the circumstances, I’m hanging in there quite well.”

Drake remembered vividly the moment she’d decided to stop running. “Understood. We’re running again, I know, but not for long.”

“Can you really believe that?”

He had to. “It keeps me alive, sane and hopeful. Memories can’t be changed, but the future is ours to shape.”

“I think we need a rest.”

Drake studied her, wondering if she meant right now or in their near future. He thought about all they had accomplished and couldn’t see any obstacles to a vacation.

Apart from Tempest.

“Once this mission is done,” he said. “And successful. Once we’re legit again, not being hunted, there are no unresolved issues. No unsettled debts. We can kick back, if you like.”

“Didn’t we try that once before? I forget.”

“You know what I mean. Beat Tempest and then we’re clear. What else could possibly happen?”

“Don’t say that!”

“I know, I know, but it’s not like the worst, most vengeful enemy of our careers is just around the corner, is it?”

“Kovalenko is dead.”

“The Blood King? Yeah, I know, I was there. What I mean is — there are other teams capable of doing what we do. We have no personal investment and I’m pretty sure nobody can say we didn’t do our bit.”

“I don’t want anyone else to die,” Alicia said quietly.

Drake saw the hard veneer temporarily lifted and placed an arm around her shoulders. “Me too.”

“Even Mai,” Alicia added gruffly.

“Oh, I know. And Kenzie?”

“Maybe a little wounding. Nothing too bad.”

“Time to heal, then?” Drake picked up her earlier thread of taking a break.

“Time to live,” Alicia shrugged, “a different life.”

“You know?” Drake scrunched his eyes up as the sun rose higher. “To do that — we’d have to leave the… team.”

He had almost said the word “family,” but changed his mind at the last moment.

“Shit.” Alicia playfully slapped the hard ground. “They’d all bloody die without us.”

“When this is done,” Drake said. “Nothing else will be coming for us.”

Alicia looked at him for a long time, and he thought he saw a question in her eyes. They both felt it — the hollow ring to his words — but only in their bones.

“You think something’s coming?” Drake asked. “Something from the past, don’t you?”

Alicia looked away. “I have a feeling, but it’s probably nothing, just my anxiety talking. Being on the run and then tracked by a Special Forces team doesn’t help.”

Drake nodded, joining her in silence, unable to shake the exact same feeling. Even if they did manage to destroy Tempest, was the worst still to come?

Mai sat apart, studying the fields and ensuring she was weapons-ready. She’d heard Luther make the call to Cambridge and knew they were waiting to learn the location for the artifact’s hand-off point. She sat for a while, eyes closed after she’d finished her work, letting the sun warm the left side of her face. It was easy out here, simple. Part of her wanted that minimalism and a way out of the world she had inhabited for as long as she could remember. The real enemies were all gone. Her parents safe and living a clean life. Her sister with Dai over in Tokyo, the two of them as safe as anyone could be, moving toward a promising future. The dead still haunted her though as, she assumed, they did everyone that had lost a parent, to someone that had killed a mortal enemy.

Beyond Drake though, she’d never come close to finding a real, solid partner. The knowledge weighed heavily on her. Their split didn’t worry her — she had only been doing what she needed to do at the time. So, the whole Drake and Alicia thing was immaterial. It had happened — move on.

Tears sprang into her eyes, not for all the men and women she’d killed but for those that didn’t deserve it, and those she’d cared for. The thing is — life didn’t care whether she enjoyed it or not. It was up to her to make the good times, and make them memorable.

As thoughts of Grace flowed around a happier outlook she felt the presence of someone beside her. She looked up, knowing already that the shadow would be huge.

“Mind if I sit?”

She nodded, and the enormous soldier sat himself down. They didn’t speak for a minute, gauging each other’s mood, but then Luther offered a thoughtful subject.

“This team,” he said. “I’m still trying to get my head around it. Some of you are friends, some are enemies, but then you’d die for each other. And has everyone slept with everyone else? ’Cause that’s just bizarre.”

Mai laughed. “This isn’t an American sitcom, Luther. We’ve been together a long time, been to hell and back. This team was forged in fire, literally in the tomb of a god. We’re enemies and friends, united and conflicted at times. We are a family, however that sounds. You live and breathe and fight with someone long enough—” she paused “—you form the greatest bond.”

Luther shifted. “I get that. I’m a soldier. I can’t forget some of the things I’ve seen but I can use my better memories to overcome them. War will never end, but as soldiers we can make all the innocent lives we touch a little better.”

“And how about other lives?” Mai asked impulsively. “Can you make those better too?”

Luther looked anywhere but at her. “I can try.”

Mai reached out a hand. “Then… try.”

“Soldiers, eh?” Luther let out a noise that was half grumble, half laugh. “When it comes to personal, we don’t have a clue.”

“Depends what you start with.” Mai smiled again. “Let me know.”

And for the first time since she’d met him, Luther looked unsure.

A number of phone calls later, Drake announced there were two choppers inbound. One, to collect the Waters of Neptune; the other — Hayden’s recently arrived team who were flying out to them. Within half an hour the artifact was winging its way covertly to London and the entire SPEAR team was reunited. Drake tried hard not to appear overly happy to see Dahl, but when the Swede grabbed him in a bear hug he held on tight.

“Well met,” he said, meaning it.

“And you, my friend. We have a lot to catch up on.”

So, they sat like carefree companions as the sun soared higher, and each told their stories. Kinimaka had brought a bagful of food and bottled water, and shared them out equally. Hayden related their train exploit and Dahl threw in the garnish. Five weapons collected so far and they were still behind Tempest. Kinimaka spoke of the new list of weapons and how the Gates of Ishtar were claimed to be “practically unobtainable.” They wondered aloud where Tempest were at and how many weapons they might have seized.

“We’re of the mind that it’s the weapons’ material Tempest want,” Mai said. “Or the element within.”

“Makes sense,” Hayden agreed. “Why the hell didn’t I think of that? Anyway, Lauren and Secretary Crowe are doing their best in DC. Crowe helped get us out of the country.”

“Any news on the other disavowed Special Forces teams?” Drake asked.

“Not yet. Clearly, they don’t know who to trust.”

“If we could find a way…” Drake let the rest of the sentence hang, thinking hard.

“Whitehall could do it,” Dahl said. “Think it through. They’re connected everywhere, even helping us all over the world at the same time as storing the weapons and preserving our cover. Give them the job.”

“To say what exactly?” Alicia played devil’s advocate. “’How about a play date?’”

Drake tended to agree. “She’s right, in her idiosyncratic way,” he said. “First, we need to come up with a strategy. But first, let’s give Whitehall the heads up.”

“We learned a little more about the terrorist training camps that Tempest is creating,” Hayden said. “They’re run by mercs, hand-picked, and are basically a double-bluff. Recruits are fed the usual beginner shit, half-brainwashed, and introduced to several ‘father’ figures, who will be their handlers. They’re then put to use, around the world, doing Tempest’s dirty work. Stealing. Killing. Covering missions up beneath the general veneer of terrorism. With every passing day, they become stronger.”

When Dahl saw Kenzie again he smiled tentatively, unsure how to greet the woman he’d hurt. She’d wanted more than he could give; but she knew that. She’d known Dahl was married with children. And still she kept coming.

I did the right thing.

So why did it feel so wrong?

Their relationship had soured badly and even now, he wasn’t sure why Kenzie remained with the group. Privately, he thought it was for just one reason — a reason she’d never, ever reveal.

Kenzie wanted to belong to something good, doing something good, with the right people.

Dahl felt the same, and wanted her to stay. But he couldn’t see how she could get past the problems she’d wrought between them. Whilst it was true they’d had barely a moment to speak since their own clash — where Dahl told her he would keep fighting to stay with his wife — nothing had really changed. She still resented him.

Now, as the group made their decisions, he became aware that she was sat behind him. It was a perfect sunny day with no pressure. Who could stay angry on a day like this?

“How are you?” He turned slightly.

Kenzie stiffened but said nothing.

“That bad, huh?”

“What’s the point of answering?” she bit back quietly. “As if you really care.”

“I care,” he said truthfully. “Just not like you want me to.”

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself. That ship already sailed. You’re just another grunt to me now.”

“Is that what we all are?” Dahl asked.

“Pretty much.”

“Then why do you stay?” He hadn’t meant to force it, to push the sensitive part too much, but Kenzie seemed to have a knack for pushing all the wrong buttons.

“Y’know, I’m wondering the same thing.”

Kenzie walked away and leaned up against the quietly ticking chopper. Dahl saw a single chance then, an opportunity to walk up to her and try to make it better. It would take truth, honesty. It would take a huge effort.

But all too suddenly, it was time to go.

When Drake rose, Yorgi was suddenly by his side. The young Russian’s fists were clenched into tight balls and his lips were white with worry. It appeared that Yorgi had something to say and Drake had a very good idea what it would be.

“When you told us what happened to your family, why you killed your parents, I wondered if that would change you.”

Yorgi looked grateful for the easy opening. “It is not a change,” he said, the stress thickening his Russian accent. “But it has strengthened my resolve. You know what I must do, don’t you?”

Drake nodded quickly. “I saw it in your eyes, mate, even as you told the story. It’s not over, is it?”

“No. It is not.”

They walked together toward the waiting chopper, taking their time. Alicia stayed to Yorgi’s left, listening intently.

“I have to return to the graves of my kin,” Yorgi said with quiet passion. “I cannot just leave them out there, unmarked, lost in that icy wilderness forever.”

“You don’t have to go alone, mate,” Drake said. “We’ll go with you.”

“No,” Yorgi said. “This is for me. I did not come to this decision lightly, either. I told my story — it seems months ago now — and I have struggled ever since. Now I know I must go back.”

“With us.” Alicia pressed her words upon him. “Together. We’re a family, Yogi. You know that.”

The Russian smiled at the perennial nickname. “At least you have stopped calling me a girl.”

“Well, only for today.”

“Then, that is better. I will return to Russia tonight. I have to go.”

Drake fought all the protestations, all the offers of companionship. Sometimes, a person had to do something by themselves. It was the only way to overcome the old demons.

“Just keep in touch,” he said softly.

“And never forget we’re here for you,” Alicia added.

Yorgi turned away from them, tears in his eyes. “I never will,” he said. “For as long as I live.”