ANTIVENOM Read online

  Charlie wraps his arms around the boy, giving him a great hug.

  The pressure from the embrace frees Jambavan’s tears, and he cries.

  Schermer clears her throat. “We’re not through here yet. Colonel?”

  Charlie releases Jambavan, and as he makes his way to the front, he glances to the faces of the others present. He doesn’t recognize many, and two knights he would recognize—Tatsu and Flying Eagle—are nowhere to be found. He frowns. Hmm, must be on duty. He reaches the front and turns around to face the group.

  Some slight conversation has sprouted up in the room, and Schermer whistles. “Order of Knights, attention!”

  Everyone snaps into the attention stance.

  “At ease.”

  They each slide a leg out and stand at the ready.

  “There’s an emergency that requires immediate action. The situation is straightforward. Dr. Melgaard is believed to be en route to New Zealand. We believe he’s behind High Councilor Wollstone’s kidnapping, and it’s possible that he’s brought her with him. At the very least, we need to attempt a rescue operation and apprehend the doctor. We don’t know what his plans are, or those of this mysterious entity called Væir, but from what happened here in DC, it’s clear that if additional plans exist, they must be stopped. Colonel Costanza is going to lead a team to neutralize any threat the doctor may pose, recover him if possible, and if Ms. Wollstone is present, rescue her.”

  Charlie connects with the gazes of the knights looking at him. He spots Eddy and Jambavan standing alongside Enrique in a wheelchair. Jambavan stands tall, and Charlie nods to him.

  Schermer continues. “We have cooperation from the U.S. military, and the team will fly out at fourteen-hundred hours. After refueling in Hawaii and picking up a fixer, they’ll be continuing to New Zealand. Colonel?”

  Charlie takes a step forward. “I regret that I don’t know all of you and your strengths; I’ve been out of action for a little while. I’ve identified some key roles required for this mission, and if any of these are your specialty, please stick around and introduce yourself after the meeting. The son of a bitch we need to murder has shown a penchant for electronic gadgets. Two human specialists from the military will be joining us to help us on that angle, so we’ll also need to keep their needs in mind.”

  There’s a slight murmur in the gathered crowd, but Charlie continues. “The two humans, plus myself and the fixer brings the count up to four.” He scans the room. “I can only take six of you, so hard choices need to be made. I’ll need someone experienced in medicine and battlefield surgery. Infiltration skills will be useful. Also, I have the feeling we’ll be needing firepower, so if you have any modern, tactical weapons experience, you’re needed.” His eyes fall on Jambavan, and much to Charlie’s disappointment, the boy casts his eyes away.

  “Finally, New Zealand has a variety of geographies and climates, including mountains and rivers. To cover the bases, anyone with climbing experience, aqueous assault or whatever, or nonconventional warfare would also be an asset.” His eyes meet Eddy’s. “We’re going to get him and bring Mary back, whatever the costs. If you have a personal vendetta, or any additional information that may be useful, please also stay behind and speak with me. That is all. Thank you.”

  He takes a step back, and everyone in attendance looks to Schermer.

  She clears her throat. “There’s more. We’re moving the House of Elders and High Council members who are present to a more secure location, but I’m short of guards. Anyone that doesn’t stay behind to speak with Colonel Costanza, please wait for me in the hall. I have authority from the War and Defense Cabinet to temporarily conscript additional guards. Dismissed.”

  Most of the knights stream out of the lounge, while about a dozen stay behind. Charlie raises his hands up. “Everyone, please form a circle.”

  Jambavan and Eddy roll Enrique forward, and they stand alongside Charlie. Past them stand Hecate, Ricochet, Deina, Ghost, Gabriel, Naga, Balena, and on Charlie’s other side, Qilin.

  Charlie looks each in the eye. “Okay, well, let’s go around and just say your name and why you stayed behind. Jambavan, start.”

  The newest member of the Order of Knights pauses before meeting Charlie’s gaze. “I can offer advice on climbing and some tactical weapons, but I’m afraid I can’t go with you.” He swallows and steels his eyes. “The doctor is responsible for events that lead to my knight’s death, and I feel I am currently too emotionally compromised to participate in this mission.” A tear breaks free, and it meets his snarling teeth. “I would ignore my orders and allegiance to anyone just to see him bleed. I would be a risk, and I cannot be included in this mission…sir.”

  Charlie frowns, but he nods. “I will see him bleed for you... Next.”

  Eyes fall onto the squire in the wheelchair. “I’m Enrique, and I should be able to walk around again tomorrow. I don’t have any skills that you’re looking for necessarily, but I’ll volunteer to help.”

  Charlie smirks. “Next.”

  Eddy snaps into attention. “My squire name is Leo, sir. Dr. Melgaard hurt my friend, and I’m good with computers. Also, I’m a really good shot with rifles. Finally, I’m creative and good at improvisation.”

  Charlie grins and gives his son an approving nod before moving down the line. “Next.”

  The woman with green-tipped hair who wears Victorian-styled leather clears her throat. “I’m Hecate. I collected a device from one of the metro tunnels. Studying it may give insight to the tech you’ll face.”

  Carlie swallows. “Would you mind joining us, Hecate? Your mid-range deadliness is legendary.”

  “I’d be happy to, Colonel. I also have some climbing experience.”

  “Excellent, but call me Charlie. Next.”

  A man with a buzzed haircut and sharp features salutes. “Ricochet, sir. Tactical weapons at your disposal.”

  Charlie salutes back. “Next.” He looks at the woman beside Ricochet, and he recognizes her as the other junior guard that has been helping with hospital security. She still wears combat boots, but her usually stern face is softened today.

  “Deina, sir. Besides being trained in modern weaponry, I have dual PhDs in psychology and criminal justice with a specialty in hostage negotiation. Also, I’ve written three books on megalomania and the psychosis of villainy. Dr. Melgaard is clearly demented, and my skills will be invaluable on this mission.”

  Charlie squints and tilts his head. “That’s a very impressive resume, but I’m not sure we’ll need those skills.”

  “I beg to differ sir, especially if there’s a larger plan.”

  He frowns. “Negotiating with them wasn’t part of my plan, but—”

  “Sir?”

  “What?”

  “You need me on this mission.”

  “We have limited space, and I’ll discuss it with my…the prime minister and the War and Defense Cabinet. Thank you. Next?”

  Deina frowns.

  The short woman beside her is dressed in blacks and very dark grays. Like Ricochet, she has never met Charlie. “I’m Ghost. I can sneak into anywhere and kill anyone.”

  Charlie laughs. “Think you could use our help, or should we just send you?”

  She smiles. “I don’t like guns or techie things, so I’ll need some help. Besides, I’d get lonely by myself.”

  Others chuckle, and even Deina cracks a smile. Charlie asks the next in line to introduce themselves.

  “I am Gabriel. I believe we met in the early 1800’s, sir. Since then, I have gained extensive medical training and have served as a battlefield surgeon in fifteen warzones since 1935.”

  Charlie swallows while nodding in recollection. “Welcome back, Gabriel... Hopefully we won’t need your expertise.”

  “Unfortunately, I believe you will.”

  Charlie frowns and turns to the m
onster standing beside Gabriel. “Next.”

  The knight tilts his bald and tattooed head down to look Charlie dead in the eyes. “My name is Naga. I have amphibious warfare experience. Also, I saw firsthand the devastation the doctor caused in DC. I would gladly sacrifice my life to end his.”

  Charlie studies the huge knight’s unflinching eyes. “Thank you, Naga. Next.” You look familiar...

  An African American woman with short cropped black hair looks back at him. “Balena sir, active Navy SEAL.” She doesn’t show any emotion, just a steadfast determination.

  “Done. Have we met?”

  “No.”

  Charlie shrugs. “Okay. Next.” He turns to the last knight in the circle, Qilin, to his right. In line with the huge Naga and the slightly taller-than-typical Balena, Qilin looks almost miniaturized. “I have no experience related to what you’re looking for, but if you need a sword, you’ll never meet a faster one than mine.”

  Her brother’s was certainly fast... I wonder if those scars will ever fade. Charlie nods then looks around the circle to all the volunteers. “If I had my way, I’d bring you all. I’ll announce the team in exactly one hour. Please meet me back here then, and...thank you for your help in this.” A shiver quakes through his body, and the bones in his neck crack. “We’ll take Melgaard dead or alive. We WON’T be coming back empty handed.”

  Eddy leaves the mission briefing and begins mentally preparing, not considering that his dad may not ask him to come. I don’t have much gear, but I do have Sophia’s bowie, Dad’s wakizashi—Ukigumo, and the leather satchel. He rubs his hand on the oiled leather, then remembers he has something else useful too. The beads!

  He returns to the small lobby with snack machines and sits in a quiet corner. He opens the bag, pulls out the last strand of Sophia’s blood beads, and counts them. Nine. And Dad said he’s picking six, plus him and the fixer is eight. That’ll leave one extra. Eddy smiles, slips the strand into his pocket, and gets up. Some knight has gotta have an EDC on them with monofilament, they just gotta.

  The third knight Eddy asks, Fenix, has some fishing line in his every day carry, and he is pleased to provide it.

  “Thank you, sir.” Eddy turns and jogs away.

  “Put some in yours next chance you get!” Fenix sighs. Good luck kid. If your dad takes you along, I hope to see you after.

  Eddy strings each bead on a separate, short piece of monofilament, then smiles when he realizes that the perfect knot to use is called the blood knot. So meta.

  He puts them all safely in his bag except one, then gets up to look for his mom.

  He finds her and gives her the extra bead. “I’m going to give one to each team member, but I thought you should have this one—it’s the last one.”

  Sadie takes it. “Why’s it on a loop of fishing line?”

  “So you can attach it to something using string or webbing. The hole through the beads are too small otherwise.”

  “Good thinking, but I don’t really think I’ll need this.”

  “Yeah, well…I mean no, but I was hoping you could find somebody to figure out how they’re made. So we can someday make more.”

  Sadie smiles. “Now that is really good thinking, Leo. Nice work. Maybe Dr. Peeters will know someone who can reverse engineer this.”

  He beams.

  “I have to go though, I’ve got a lead on some decent coffee, and then I have to do a briefing.”

  “’Kay, later mom.”

  “I’m done for now, you can open your eyes... Erica?” Dr. Kazumi Oshiro leans over Mary’s body to get a better angle to see Erica Wakkana, Mary’s nurse. She must be asleep. That’s right, Lars kept her up on the flight. Kazumi looks down at her black latex gloves that are slicked with blood. She takes them off the proper way—out of habit. “I guess that now that I’m a vampire, I don’t need to be careful about contagions… One more benefit.”

  She smiles as she tosses the gloves into a garbage container, then she inspects her work. Mary’s arm is now cleanly amputated, with the humerus bone extending exactly two and a half centimeters past the severed flesh. Kazumi hammered pins into the bone to hold the muscles in position, she inserted catheters into the main blood vessels, and the tips of the radial, median, and ulnar nerves have been clamped in place. Beside Mary on the blood-soaked sheets sit a variety of sample containers that now hold all the material that Kazumi removed. This didn’t take as long as I expected.

  She looks out the window beside her to the bare, rocky peaks of the Southern Alps mountain range below. Even in the darkness before the day’s light, she’s able to see some detail. The helicopter banks, and her view changes. Another ten minutes of following rivers until we reach The Plant. Then the work really begins.

  Eight minutes later, the helicopter passes by Lake Grave, then turns and flies along a valley between peaks. When they reach Bligh Sound, the helicopter follows it south around a mountain, then it turns east. When the helicopter banks north for the approach, Kazumi stretches to see through the cockpit’s windshield. There it is. Magnificent.

  Væir’s modern fortress, “The Plant,” looms ahead, sitting in a cove on the side of a mountain. The building—which took over ten years and almost a hundred million dollars to build—spans the area between two ravines where meltwater collects and cascades down the mountain. On both sides, far below the facility, small but sufficient hydroelectric generators supply power. Just below the building, the trees have been cleared, leaving a two-hundred-foot expanse of steep, bare rock. Above the building is a jagged, wind-whipped ridge, and stretching high into the sky is a thin black tower periodically flashing a red, aircraft hazard signal.

  The light catches her attention, and she smirks at the irony. A radar and radio tower directly above where I live, but no outside cells allowed inside the facility… Bet we’d get real wicked signal. Instead, workers blind to their secretive employer’s true activities get real wicked paychecks in the form of large direct deposits into foreign bank accounts. Meanwhile, those in the know understand the need for secrecy. Has it been ten years now since they first contacted me? I’ve been here in New Zealand since they turned me, and that was over five years ago... And to think, it’s all now finally coming together...

  A helipad attached to one side of the building lights up, and the helicopter begins its descent. Then, floodlights kick on around the building and illuminate armed guards streaming onto the helipad like ants to honey.

  Kazumi turns to Erica. “Hey… Erica! Did you turn off your radio?” She leans over and flicks the little switch on Erica’s headset. “Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!”

  She jolts. “Huh?”

  “Rise and shiney, don’t be whiney!”

  “Alright, alright. I’m up.” She yawns.

  The helicopter drops off the passengers then returns to the Queenstown airport for the next group. Erica and Kazumi transfer Mary’s stretcher onto a wheeled gurney and bring her inside. When the thick, steel door closes to the helipad, Erica notices Mary’s face is covered by her disheveled hair. She reaches down and clears it away for her.

  Kazumi waits until she’s done. “I’d like to get started. Will you bring her down to the room prepped for her on residential and hook her up to a new IV and monitor?” She grabs the sample materials from beside Mary. “Lars will be pissed if this isn’t properly stored for him.”

  Erica nods. “Yeah, then I really need some shut eye.”

  Kazumi is already walking away. “Stay with her until I arrive, I’ll only be a few minutes.” She walks down the hall, then disappears through a door and into a stairwell.

  Charlie and Enrique find Flying Eagle at a guard station, and Charlie gets right to the point. “I asked for volunteers to join me on a mission, and I have some hard choices to make. Because you’re an experienced Council Guard, I think you should stay and help Lieutenant Colonel Schermer.”
>
  Flying Eagle nods. “Yeah, that’s probably good. I’d like some time with my squire, too.” He winks at Enrique.

  Enrique smiles back. “When’s your next break?”

  “Not for a long while, I think I’m manning this station until they’re ready to move everyone. Next time you swing by, grab me a snack, would ya?”

  Enrique nods. “Sure thing.”

  Charlie motions with his head down the hall. “I gotta get back to the room. Enrique, you want to hang out here for a bit?”

  He shakes his head. “I wouldn’t mind getting back on my IV, so I’ll go with you.” He glances at his dad. “Later, sir.”

  Eagle nods.

  While Charlie pushes Enrique back to their room, Eddy bumps into them and joins them.

  Inside the room, June waits by the window. As the three enter, she steps toward them. “Charlie, I’m going too. You saw last night how strong I am.”

  He shakes his head as he passes, pushing Enrique toward his bed. “It’s not your decision, June.”

  She shakes her head. “No, but you should bring me.”

  Eddy walks up to her, and with wariness in his eyes, he places his arm over her shoulder. “How’s your dad?”

  “…He’s still out, but the doctor said he should wake up soon. Oh, and Rusty is in the room with him.”

  Charlie was helping Enrique into his bed, and when he hears June, he twists to the side and almost pulls the squire to the floor. “What did you say?”

  Enrique grimaces as he catches himself, then he climbs into the bed.

  Eddy spins to face her. “Rusty?”

  She nods. “Yes, he found me this morning.”

  Charlie laughs and shakes his head. He opens his mouth, then he snorts another laugh. “Oh man, that’s a relief.”