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Redhound
01/03/2008 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
A Psi-Kicks story by GF Willmetts. Another piece of Psi-Kicking short fiction from Uncle Geoff in the style of all those great 1960s TV series such as The Avengers, The Challengers, The Prisoner et al. 'Who are you, Miss...er...Seeker? You have IDs here for the JTAC, Home Office, Customs, one that looks like the Intelligence service and this one for the Met. We checked that one by the way. Not current. I doubt if you've ever been to Hendon.'
The spiky red-haired woman stared into the police inspector's face before giving a broad smile. 'Spooky, isn't it? I was only issued with that one last week when I came back into the country. Bureaucracy can be slow verifying even in a digital age.'
Inspector Salthouse settled back into his chair looking at the woman. 'We've got footage of you stalking a man across the borough...'
'Did you arrest him as well?'
'He's...er...helping us with our enquiries.'
'Good! I didn't want to cold start his trail again.'
'So you admit to stalking him.'
'That's my job...Inspector...Salthouse.'
'Not a good one. We picked you up, Miss Seeker. We only found him off-camera.'
'It must be a quiet night.'
'There's an amber alert on. We're pulling anyone who is suspicious.'
'Really, Inspector. Do I look like al-Qaeda? I'm not wearing a burka. Well...not this week.'
'Who are you?'
'Oh well. Pen and paper please.' She scribbled a series of numbers onto the statement pad. 'In your chief inspector's safe there is a confidential book of telephone numbers. You should find a match for the first one under Home Office. I need to be there when you make that call. You ask for confirmation of Redhound Key One's authority. This second number will match the second one you will be given. I have a little talk with him, you get a fax clearance and we can co-operate a little.'
Salthouse looked at the phone numbers and then at the green-eyed woman still smiling, her eyes hadn't left him. It wasn't as if she wasn't co-operating. Rather too pleasant for a spook but also too knowing and confident. Too confident which meant it had to be checked. Too real to do otherwise. Throwing her into a cell just might aggravate matters.
'This really needs to be done now than later.' She closed her eyes for a second. 'I know your chief inspector's on the streets but I can open the safe for you if he won't give you the combination over an open line. I need to know where my suspect was going tonight. I also need to know about what triggered your flap alert.'
'Not until you're backed by some authority.'
'Which we won't get down here.'
That led the final decision. Escorted up to the chief inspector's office, Sara Seeker sat calmly in a chair as Salthouse closed the safe. Looking at the book, he matched the two numbers and dismissed her guard.
They were there, just as she said they would be. A bona-fide spook.
'Would you like to ring or shall I?' she asked cheerfully. 'You won't get a chance to ring that number very often on legitimate business.'
Salthouse eyed her gingerly as he sat down and rang the number and flicked on an open speaker. 'Will your boss be awake this time of night?'
'He doesn't sleep much. Personal line but I suspect he's already been informed about your alert status.'
'Yes?' a voice asked from the telephone.
The inspector gave his own details. 'I have an...officer here who says she is Redhound Key One and that you would confirm her authority...please.'
'Is this important? You know there's an alert on.'
'I'm well aware of that, sir. The flap's in my borough.'
'One moment.' There was a rustling of papers, then a drawer opening. The voice recited the second number that Sara Seeker had written down.
'You have the same number, Inspector?'
'Yes, sir.'
'May I speak to...my officer.'
Sara smiled, reached over, flicked off the speaker and took up the phone. From there, to the inspector it was a one-sided conversation.
'Hello, PM.
Perfectly stable.
You and your family?
Sorry to have been a nuisance. I thought it would be better coming from you. I needed a name to move wheels.
I can get rather single-minded and missed them when they saw me. I wasn't tracking a camera source.
No. I don't know what is going on. It may be just a coincidence.
Very stable, sir. I'm sure I can find out what is going on, too.
Will you confirm my authorisation by fax. I need to be somewhere quiet before the city awakes.
Too much distance to...read you.
Thank you, PM.
He wants to speak to you.'
Sara handed the inspector the phone. Even without scanning Salthouse, she could tell the effect on him. A few curt yes replies and he put the phone down. They waited and the fax came to life and spewed out a page of confirmation on a Downing Street typeface.
The inspector looked at it before grunting. 'A unit directly responsible to the Prime Minister?'
'Yes, but I wouldn't want that to spread around. It's sufficient for you and your chief inspector to know or anyone who asks that I have your full confidence and authorisation at your nick and won't be impeded in my talking to the prisoner. Or anything else I need to do come to that. My Met ID should do the rest. Your computer file will be updated by the morning.'
'And the other ID cards?'
'I'll have them back. Makes it easier to pave the way with equals. If I'd been allowed to show my Met card you wouldn't have looked any further. You're changing the subject. What happened to the prisoner?'
Salthouse gave an embarrassed coughed. 'A CO17 unit shot him trying to escape.'
'No wonder your thinking has been so confused. Is he alive?'
'At the hospital. Surgery and recovery. I'll drive you there myself.'
'Yes. That would be appreciated.' Dropping her handcuffs on the table, Sara picked up the piece of paper and slipped it in her pocket. Better to take it with her than let someone try to repair it shredded.
---{{{---}}}---
The body rested in state on the gurney. Arms neatly crossed on its chest. A half sheet covered its modesty. It had been stripped when the surgeon has plucked the two bullets from its chest and hadn't been redressed, other than plasti-dressing taped down, when declared dead an hour later. His clothes were in a tidy pile on a nearby chair. A John Doe. Nothing identifying on him.
When Sara and the inspector had arrived, the body had already been shipped down to the hospital mortuary. It had only been on her insistence that the body been placed here, in a small room out of the way in the basement. Sara had no wish to get in the way of the day staff and had felt the pings of consciousness of the people above as they went about their business.
Like most powerful Psionics, Sara Seeker tended to avoid the cities when they were awake. Too much mental traffic on her mind despite mental shielding and focus when tracking but she was determined not to let her prize go.
Sara studied the wood-nail piercing his small finger, his general pallor and after removing the plasti-dressing, the healed wounds where the bullets had been plucked out. The medical report indicated that the bullets had embedded and not gone through the body. Reason for death? Unknown. With other emergency surgery going on and no one to claim the body, the surgeon had moved on to the next patient after pulling them out like shotgun pellets. He hadn't even bothered with the nail in the finger in case it disturbed post-mortem evidence.
She reached out and spake to Libertine Rush briefly who had confirmed what she had thought. This wasn't a new Psionic she'd tracked but a different species that the Haitian had mentioned in one of their long talks when they'd first met. Libertine called them Vampiri Nocturna. They were the source of the vampire myth in much the same way as the Fey had given rise to the werewolf myth. As had been proven before, myths were exaggerations and distorted fears, especially from less enlightened times spooned in with superstition. The Vampiri were very secretive but not necessarily responsible for all the bad PR humans gave them. What PR they gave themselves had yet to be decided. The decisions as to what to do next were left in her hands. Libertine warned to treat them with caution.
Unlike the Fey, the Vampiri were born of humans and only later would they discover they were a species apart. Long-lived and able to recover from most wounds, but ageing didn't stop according to Libertine. They couldn't feel pain which was why they pierced their small finger with a nail. A sort of badge to enable quick recognition especially for the younger members who still looked human normal. As they grew older, their extremities still grew and he would look more cadaverous. This was a young specimen but later in life, his ears and nose would be much larger and he'd lose his hair. His gums would move further from his teeth giving the more vampiric nosteratu appearance. No wonder Normals from earlier centuries were scared of them and added all sorts of myths about them. They were long-lived but at a physical price.
Libertine also said the Vampiri had a fascination with death, probably because they couldn't die themselves. They were known to hang around at dusk around the edges of battlefields and take stock of the dead, looking out for any of their unknown brethren who would rise clean of their injuries.
Did that mean they started conflicts? Sara had no idea. The profile was mixed. Certainly with all the terrorist action there was a need to look closely. More importantly, was he connected to this current flap?
Vampiri might not know what they were until they realised conventional mortality didn't affect them. Probably why it was assumed there were so few of them about. Libertine had also warned to stay away from them as the Vampiri did much to protect their own kind and to stay in the shadows. The Haitian was polite when it came to how manipulative they were in getting what they wanted but didn't dwell on her own involvement with them. Sara could only speculate as to whether Libertine could body jump a Vampiri.
A young specimen as this Vampiri must have discovered his attributes recently. Sara arranged through Salthouse for his fingerprints to be checked. A call had come back saying he wasn't in criminal records and the military weren't playing ball and perhaps Inspector...er...Seeker should try Interpol or her boss at Number Ten. There were better ways than that and Sara was less interested in who the Vampiri was and more in what he was doing prowling through the city streets late at night looking for something. If he was seeking potentially dead people who weren't then it meant something was about to happen. A scan had revealed more details of possible al-Qaeda moves to do something from vague intelligence and people movement. It looked like the Met either had the wrong night or weren't taking any chances. The Farsighters gossip couldn't reveal anything so presumably she was involved. Sara didn't dig any deeper as the city above filled with the clutter of human minds living the day and after a meal, curled up on her chair and slept. It would be impossible to alert the population to anything until they found something and night was a day away.
Joint coincidences happened with Stable assignments as they drew moths to a flame but this felt like something she had blundered into and the police messed up royally. The Vampiri would certainly be interested in the recent dead but bombing wouldn't leave many whole bodies. If any potentially dead people were Vampiri, they were going to find themselves in worse shape alive, misshapen and maimed for an eternity. Was this Vampiri the equivalent to herself or just a protector? She needed to know more.
Sara Seeker was classified as 'Redhound' after she objected to being called a bloodhound as being called a tracker would have been too obvious reference to her function.
'I do not seek blood,' she had insisted in due seriousness before giving her usual smile. 'It would put off potential recruits for them to have such a codename associated with me. Psionics are not criminals.'
Redhound was the compromise. Better than being called a tracker or a stalker. Working out what a 'Redhound' was and it being specifically her didn't exactly cut otherwise but it could also hide her other functions. She was also one of a kind so far and the gift to share didn't extend to this singular ability she possessed. When Sara sensed a target, she would track, observe and learn before introducing herself. Many of the minor Stable talents were discovered that way rather than being throwing themselves through the Stable door. Mostly because they had taken for granted what they could do, the minor talents hadn't quite gathered what they really were. It was only fortunate that they didn't all come to her awareness at the same time or she wouldn't know which way to turn.
Sara yawned before getting up and stretching from her sleep. Waiting around for something to happen was in the nature of her job but it also ensured she was ready when it came for a little action.
The Vampiri were something else. Libertine had spoken of them when laughing about her own long life, saying she was not the only one when she had first found her. Maybe that had tuned her in? Certainly surface scans had revealed no obvious psionic talent but, for all intents and purposes, this Vampiri was dead on the slab and that didn't mean very much. Maybe they were mostly physical like the Fey?
Sara sighed and sipped her glass of water drawn from the sink. She was too excited for another meal. It would soon be dusk and the awakening. Vampiri were creatures of the night although she wondered what daylight would do to them other than allow them to heal. He would slumber until then. It would be near impossible for his people to come and rescue him during the daylight hours. Although with so little information to go on, who knew what they would or could do? Libertine Rush spoke in vague terms and continually reminded her it was safer to keep away. Sara couldn't do that. She had to find out.
The Psionic had tried darkening the room to see if the Vampiri would awaken with no effect. Whatever instinct they used to waken, it must include an awareness of sidereal time. They must really hate the spring and summer months. Maybe they moved north to have more night?
The body moved as it inhaled air into its lungs. At least it could breathe. Sara's senses triggered up to full automatically. Would he be hungry?
{I thought you would appreciate being out here instead of inside a box. Must be a bitch having to break out every time someone thinks you're dead.}
The head moved and looked at her but didn't speak. Long dark hair swept back and intent studying eyes stared at her.
Sara felt a discontinuity. Vampiri could shield.
'Speak. I prefer you not to wander around in my head.' An assured deep voice that gave nothing away in its accent.
'Sure,' Sara spoke without losing a beat. 'You were shot trying to escape the police. They must have thought you dangerous or something when you ran. A zealous marksman got you. The bullets were removed and you...died after surgery. Couldn't wait for daybreak?'
The Vampiri looked at her intently, not even bothering to look or feel the stitch-work on his chest.
'New World Psionic.'
'Old World Vampiri.' Sara retorted. 'Now we know what we are, that's formal introductions over. Do you have a name?'
The Vampiri effortlessly swung himself up off the gurney, grunting seeing his clothes waiting for him and began to dress.
Sara went on. 'As far as the police are concerned you are dead. If you're seen on the streets now, you might have to explain more...assuming they don't try shooting you again.'
'And you?'
'If I'm with you, they won't shoot. I have the clout. We might be after the same thing.'
'Which is?'
'I don't know but the police are tracking al-Qaeda movement. Is that what you were doing? Looking for bombers?'
'What were you doing?'
'Tracking you.'
The Vampiri stopped and starred at her before he slowly began to do up the buttons on his shirt. 'I am not Psionic.'
'I wasn't drawing a blank.'
'But you weren't after me originally?'
Sara paused. How much to say? How much to reveal? How much did he know? Everything in short phrases to avoid giving information away. Oh well...
'I had three targets. The first was a young Psionic. The second had a mechanical shield. Then there was you...All in the same area. Another unsual signature. More than co-incidence. All following each other. I just joined the conga line.'
The Vampiri zipped his trousers up and sat on the gurney, putting his boots on. 'Mechanical shield. A scrambler? Still not very good if you scan it.'
'You're well informed.'
'Notitia est vox.'
'If you say so. They hide better at a distance than close up.'
'But why track me than the man with the scrambler? Wouldn't he have been of more interest? A terrorist perhaps?'
Sara gave her most beaming smile. 'That's for the Norms, I track the more interesting targets.'
The Vampiri stared at her again. 'Despite the fact that he might be planting a bomb?'
'The Met are dealing with that. I'm doing my own job. I would have known about any imminent danger...'
'And you people don't like being in the city for long?' the Vampiri ended her sentence with his own question mark.
'Neither do you. At least we're having a conversation now,' Sara replied. 'I also know you were showing an interest in them. So follow you, get him..them.'
'Hmmmm....Except we have neither.'
'As in I was right?'
'Enough for the moment.'
'Do you still need to find him?'
The Vampiri slipped his jacket on, feeling down it before adding an overcoat. 'Which target? You have three.'
'Are al-Qaeda targeting humans,' Sara paused, 'or potential Vampiri? Unless you don't know who they are yet? I doubt if they do neither. So how do you know they're part of the target?'
'Of all the peoples of the world, Islam don't have any myths about my brethren.' The Vampiri swept his hair back, slipped it into a bow-string from his pocket and exercised his neck. 'In their eyes, we are seen as much a threat as the human infidels to quote them.'
'So they plan to kill some of your...brethren off as well this time. Why don't you just get them to move?'
The Vampiri gave a wry smile. 'We don't all keep close contact or the target. What about that boy you were tracking? Maybe he knows more?'
Sara's eyes glazed briefly. 'I got arrested first. You got shot. The boy disappeared into the shadows. Custody records didn't pick up anyone else when they got you or later in that area.'
The Vampiri raised an eyebrow. 'You can scan computer records?'
'The officer who was in charge last night did.' Sara smiled but thought differently. You're awfully familiar with our psionic terms.
'Can you pick up the trail again?'
'Why?'
'A terrorist and a Psionic together. If they aren't working together maybe he has some of your ethics for discovering what is going on. He could also have been kidnapped.'
'Maybe. But we won't know until I can find him.'
'My name is Fernfaire.'
'Sara Seeker.'
'You have an appropriate name.'
'And yours sound like an old supermarket chain.'
The Vampiri spelt it out. 'An evergreen matched with an old-fashioned festival.'
'Even if you don't have a Christian name.' Sara gave another beaming smile. 'Then again, that might not be appropriate.'
---{{{---}}}---
'You seem nothing like the traditional vampire mythology.'
Sara started the conversation as the pair of them walked through the streets of London. After the previous long conversation, things were kept on shorter terms now the preliminaries were over with. It was doubtful if anyone could eavesdrop but with the Vampiri refusing to let her spake at him, Sara decided this was the only way to get information.
It was cold, a little damp and dark away from the streetlights. There were few people on the streets this late. The Met were alert but weren't going to bring the centre of London to a standstill without firm evidence for a second night. With a change of officers near the hospital, no one gave Fernfaire a second glance when they left. Having turned past eleven, the only people about would be those at parties and pubs where they were. Anyone respectable would be home asleep. Few would be going home yet. The theatre district downwind was far enough away not to worry. Things weren't back to normal back there. The city was waiting like an anticipating hush.
If there were any street gangs out to bounce, Sara had no worries. Her psionic abilities would always act to protect her. As to Fernfaire? A species who could survive being fatally shot had to have some sort of edge.
'Fabrication. A lot of it by humans to keep us feared and send children to sleep with their windows closed in case we stole them. Res adepto exaggerated super annus.'
'So what is real?'
The Vampiri looked at her but didn't answer. Fernfaire was equally coy as to how much he was prepared to reveal.
It was a while before he said anything more. 'Do you know where you are going?'
'Nope. I'm just keyed to this Psionic's signature. If he's on the move then all I can do is move in his direction.'
'This is a good technique?'
'I tend to wait until someone passes by me. You wanted me to locate this one.'
'I'm amazed you ever find anyone.'
'I have a good track record for those who want to be found.'
'And you don't drive?'
'And have two moving objects?' Sara stopped and turned to him. 'Do I ask you how often you have a blood aperitif?'
Fernfaire turned to her and under the streetlights opened his mouth, showing his teeth, turning left and right. 'Does it look like I have fangs?'
Sara gave a cursory look before musing, 'They could be retractable. Anyway, from what I've read, the fangs are something Stoker added to the myth. Any blood is sucked out like leeches.'
'Do I look like a...letch?'
'A leech. Not a letch. You get hung up on spelling. No, but I doubt if a crucifix or holy water would have much effect neither.'
Finding a bench, Sara sat down. 'Whatever he's doing he's going around in circles. I'm going to wait until he tires and settles somewhere.'
'You sound like a hunter. So let's wait for our prey.'
The Vampiri sat down next to her and shared her silence for a while. Sara's eyes glazed over, oblivious to everything around her, including some gang youths across the road eyeing them both up. He was about to snarl when he saw a movement of shapes beyond them. The youths suddenly shivered and walked on. It happened a lot when one predator met another higher up the food chain. Instinctively, they would move on than die.
Fernfaire continued to study the Psionic next to him but didn't commit to any solid thoughts. The fact that Sara Seeker had breached his initial mind shield so easily either spoke much for his lack of concentration when he woke or that she was more powerful than she appeared. This new stock of Psionics would be deemed a threat that would need further assessment. Not easily beholden. As it was, he needed her for the moment. Any deeper decision would need a consultation with the elder brethren.
The moment still dictated as to whether the boy had teamed up with an al-Qaeda terrorist? He wasn't Islam or had any religious tendency. Maybe as Sara Seeker said, he was just keeping tabs on the target. If he was discovered, the boy could be killed. Too solid a thought. The Vampiri looked again at Sara Seeker, who seemed still lost in thought. Was she tracking? Would she know if the boy had been caught unawares and killed? It was just luck that he had encountered a Psionic tracker. Unfortunate, one who had powerful friends likely to miss her if she went missing.
'North-west.' Sara said slowly. 'I've triangulated. Not far from here.'
'From a single position?' Fernfaire asked with a more incredulous tone.
Sara smiled. 'Pin-pointed would be a better term. Strong Psionics tend to avoid the cities. He has an odd signature. One talent. I don't think he can spake but can shield a little. It might be a range thing. Also exhibiting strong agitated emotion now he's stopped moving.'
'He could be in trouble then?'
'Or he's with a car-bomber. In over his head.' Sara got up. 'I doubt you can turn into a bat to get there any faster? Thought not. It's not far.'
Fernfaire didn't protest over the more extended walk they took as they headed back towards the city centre before crossing several side streets to a middle-ranking street. One of the buildings had a noisy party going on in its third floor. Sara found the high emotions pique her shield which dampened much of its impact. They weren't that important to focus on for the moment.
Sara barred the way with her arm, whispering. 'Close enough. He's over there in the shadows. Seems to be waiting for something. There's a surprise. He's shielding. You should let me spake to you. It's quieter.'
The Vampiri brought his own baritone voice down to a low growl, 'Not with that party up there. If you are shielding, too, then he won't pick up your thoughts?'
She looked at Fernafaire briefly. Again, the Vampiri knew far too many psionic terms considering he's never met anyone from the Stable.
'Single talent. He's getting nervous so something must be happening. Maybe the party's breaking up soon.'
THUMMMBBBB!!!!!!!!!
The deep base thud of a distance shockwave reached them across the quiet night. Not quite like a thunderclap or even the horseguards firing a canon. At this time of night, it could only be one thing. It made no difference to the party. The music muffling the outside.
Sara's eyes glazed briefly. 'Bomb number one. Seems odd to detonate with few people around over that way but got through the cordon. Big blast. If this is the second or third, why haven't they parked the car yet?'
'We should rescue the boy.'
'He doesn't need rescuing yet.'
THUMMMBBBB!!!!!!!!!
'South-west. Not far from the other one. Still a large blast. They found it but not quite as fast enough. A few people hurt. Too close to the other one. Why do night-time detonations when there are fewer people about? They're widening their cordon, looking for the third. They think it's in the same area.'
'Then it won't be here. Let me get the boy.'
'Stay put! It's a distraction from the target. What's so special about this party? Why out here? Why is he here waiting? You're also getting agitated? Not because they've heard the blasts. Any of your brethren here?'
'Ego postulo ut eripio puer.'
'We're all at the right spot. We're early. We need to see something take place before we get in the way or...'
'Or...?'
'Events take out the wrong people by being in the wrong place. We could end up being the target.'
Sara Seeker spared him a glance. Fernfaire was used to taking advice from Psionics and obeying it. Interesting detail from the so-called uber-species. No wonder he could shield.
'There's a lot of chaos. The police waking and moving people.'
'You can contact them?' the Vampiri asked.'Warn them about a third bomb.'
'Not directly. Voices talking inside heads upset Normals. They think they're haunted or ignore those who get them. It'll take time we don't have to get my people to push through regular channels. Judging by the agitation, they don't know when these will go off. Bringing more people into the area, let alone breaking up the party up there is time we don't have. We shouldn't scare this bomber off to try later.'
A car suddenly appeared behind them, its engine barely purring as it moved into position outside the building with its noisy party.
'My! He's a smooth one. Must be high ranking. He's not carrying his scrambler or figuring he won't need it in the promised land.'
'I will get the boy now. He isn't involved.'
'Sara looked at him sternly. 'That bomber will detonate as soon as he sees you. The other two cars were parked and alone. It'll be easier if he gets out first.'
'Are you always this masterful?' Fernfaire asked. 'He could still be carrying a switch.'
'I don't only track. Things would move a lot quicker if you'd let me spake to you.'
The man got out of the car and looked around as he locked its door. Middle East, turban and bearded, he wore a short open leather jacket and loose shirt, despite the low temperature. He didn't look as though he would be here long let alone for the detonation.
Sara's eyes glazed briefly. 'The door lock activated it. We don't have long.'
Fernfaire stepped out into the street, speed walking at the bomber, who turned at the footfalls.
'Infidel!' he muttered.
'Wrong! Vampiri,' Fernfaire spat back.
Sara stepped into the street as simultaneously, the boy Psionic did further up.
The bomber looked around realising he was surrounded. 'No further, bleeder! I detonate bomb.'
The Vampiri stopped. 'I would drink from one such as you? Boy!'
Sara looked at the boy as he stepped under a streetlight. A physical presence now than a signature impression. A teen-ager, dressed warmly in a heavy coat and hat. Suddenly an important player.
The bomber suddenly began to convulse, throwing his keys into the air before falling onto the ground. The odour of pork. Human flesh. Death was that quick. Sara felt the bomber's death but too quick to scan. The boy could microwave. What a find...
She looked up. The boy had gone. As elusive as his master. Sara couldn't even track his signature. Fernfaire picked the keys off the ground, examining them as he and walked towards the car. Any interest in the boy had instantly gone now. There was a car bomb that could go off at any time.
As Sara joined him, 'It was a good thing he wasn't wearing explosives. Would have cleared the street.'
'A lieutenant. He was intended to get out.'
'You should have told me the boy was yours. I could have stopped them both...'
'And stop him doing what was necessary to him?'
The Vampiri looked at the keys once more and threw them down. All were twisted. Fried by the microwave burst. He pulled the carpentry nail from his finger and began to manipulate the driver's side door lock with it.
Sara turned her attention to the car. 'No mercury switch. There's a timer. They aren't taking chances it won't go off.'
'When will it go off?'
'Digital. Can't see numbers. Scan doesn't give second sight.'
'Won't be later than the hour if they want to kill people leaving. Sooner if he didn't want to leave it for long.'
The heel of Fernfaire's hand smashed into the window and bounced off. He smashed his elbow against the window instead but the laminated glass refused to break.
'If you're that strong, hit the lock. It's already activated. You can't do any more damage. A timer. Doesn't look like it was intended to go off early.'
Fernfaire's flat of the hand smashed into the lock, instantly pushing it through the door. Metal more malleable than glass.
No words. The door was dented and the auto-lock system disabled.. He felt the side of the door and wrenched it off its hinges. No regard to any door triggers. Only then did he ask.
''You scan any kill switches?'
Sara shook her head. 'Nothing this side. Wouldn't want to open the boot.'
Fernfaire got in and wrenched apart the dash, pulling out a couple wires, quickly hot-wiring it.
'Timer's advancing. Must have been rigged to the ignition.'
'Didn't you spot it?'
'Too many wires.'
'Anywhere...?'
Sara jumped on the edge of the car. 'Drive. I'll guide. Not much time.'
The Vampiri put the car into gear and drove, building up the speed.
'How long?'
'Drop your shield. Spaking's quicker.'
[Less than a two minutes.]
[Thought you couldn't read its clock?]
[I'm not. I'm counting down a voltage drop pulse,]
[Is there anywh...]
[Dead-end. First left.]
[Off!!!]
Fernfaire shoved and Sara went flying as the Vampiri drove the car down the cul-de-sac. The Psionic rolled, quietly cursing as she rolled off some rubbish bags.
[Three.
Two.
One!]
BOOOOOOMMMMBBBB!!!!
The cul-de-sac muffled the noise but didn't halt the shockwave or thunder from the explosion. Sara stayed down and exhaled. Basic instruction. Inflated lungs get drawn out as the blast sucked air in. It would only take seconds. The shockwave retreated around Sara but her lungs were intact. She slowly got up and shook her head. Couldn't hear a thing. She swallowed, hoping that it was just pressure. There didn't appear to be blood running from her ears.
[Fernfaire?]
The Vampiri stepped out from the cul-de-sac, brushing himself off. His overcoat in shreds. He picked something off the ground before approaching Sara Seeker.
'I didn't think you'd wait?'
Sara pointed to her ears.
[Can't hear. I didn't think you could die. What did you do? Jump in a litter bin?]
The Vampiri felt his hair and threw an orange peel away and unshielded.
[Is videor prudens res efficio.]
He held the object up. It was his small carpentry nail.
[I wouldn't have thought it'd make much difference if you don't feel pain.]
Sara involuntarily wincing as he pushed the nail between his end finger middle joint and then wiggled his finger. The nail didn't impede movement.
[I didn't want you standing over me healing again.]
[Why, Fernfaire, anyone would think I cared?]
[You don't?] The Vampiri seemed surprised.
[I'm Redhound. I can find you again.]
[You think?]
[Want to put it to the test?]
[The brethren would object.]
Sara's eyes glazed a little before looking around. She was beginning to hear slightly as well now. Across the street, some individuals were coming out of the shadows. Her psionic senses had already determined what they were.
Vampiri. Much, much older than Fernfaire. She couldn't work out where they'd come from. The streetlights showed off their age. More nosteratu than human. Balding with long teeth and hands. It confirmed what Libertine had told her. They might be long-lived but they seemed incapable of stopping parts of their body ageing or growing. No wonder the myths had grown up about them and the fear they generated. They also had the boy Psionic with them. He was smiling. That explained everything.
She turned. Fernfaire had gone. Looking back. So had the other Vampiri and the boy Psionic. Sara scanned. Either they had found and modified some scramblers or they could defy her ability whenever they chose. She couldn't sense any signatures from that direction. It was getting colder and anyone waking will wonder if they should go out on the street but she couldn't leave. Not yet.
What was it Libertine had told her?
'Dun't bee taken in, cheri. Da Vampiri does nothin' wit'out porpose. Youse isn't dere porpose dis time. Worry when dey pay serious attention to da Stable.'
Yet Fernfaire had gone out of his way to save people. Granted there might be latent Vampiri at that party but what other ulterior motive could they have? Were they actually protectors of humanity like the Stable? Maybe they were targeting al-Qaeda. They didn't even wait around to be thanked.
Sara gave a brief wry smile. Still, her own plan had worked out even if she had no live bodies to show for it. Everything had been done so quickly to prevent her acting in Fernfaire's mind. What were they trying to prove in this encounter? Events would have happened like this whether she'd been there or not although Fernfaire might have acted sooner than here.
Nothing of what happened was beyond her power but she would have to have one brief meeting with Salthouse and an explanation for Fernfaire's missing body. They could hardly arrest someone who was dead already. She'd suggest arranging the body to be taken away and let his mind fill in the rest.
Spying another bench, she walked over and waited for the police. Her hearing was only ringing now. There was a need to cement a contact here.
'Youse dis ol right, Sara.'
She turned to see a teen hoodie walk out of a doorway.
[Hello, Libertine. I can just about hear you. I was afraid the boy would have zapped you in that body. I was lucky the bomber didn't bring a scrambler on a potential suicide mission.]
The teen body sat down next to her. [Dey boy's focused elsewhere an' ah's quicker dan dat. Da police bee here soon. Best eyes not bee here. Youse got what youse wanted?]
Sara nodded. [The finishing touch was appearing deaf. Not difficult. I can still barely hear. He had to open his shield to let me spake at him. If he comes in close range again, his signature will register.]
[Dey Vampiri really pissed bin Laden.]
[With a little help from us. Was he right?] Sara paused. [Have al-Qaeda been maiming Vampiri? Is that why they've started going after them?]
[Youse knows more dan eye, Sara Seka. Dey now pissed at each others even mor'. Might save Normal lives when dey've diff'rent target. Give Stable mo room.]
[Not to mention doing some of our job. The boy Psionic. I didn't know he was working for him at first.]
[Ahs knew. Ah stray mark. Noose. Vampiri dey do little alone. Manipulate others. Dey didna spot me. 'e like you but feared da rest o'Stable 'gainst 'im.]
Sara ignored the comment. She could look after herself.
[The boy was another odd signature. Didn't seem quite natural. Deadly. Used microwaves. Not in Harbinger's class but dangerous. Glad I held off picking him when I first scanned him but...]
[Butt...?]
[If I'm competing with Vampiri in locating Psionics, I've got to get there first.]
[Dey might choose youse nex' time.]
Sara gave her smile. [And destroy a beautiful relationship?]
The wail of a police siren echoed the streets now they were near.
[Letter, Sara. Youse don't wants dis body left dancin' here.]
Sara's eyes glazed slightly as she tracked Libertine Rush's signature as the body she jockeyed quickly left. The first eye contact she'd make with someone, Libertine would jump.
Had things gone badly, Libertine was prepared to jump the bomber and get the keys. Better now to be here as a witness than have a description of a red-haired woman leaving a serious crime scene. A loose end neatly knotted. The CCTV camera would not have detected Fernfaire. The boy had been clever enough to stay in blind spots. If she was asked, the hoodie was just asking what was going on and like any streetwise wasn't going to hang around for the cops.
Earning the trust of the Vampiri would be a slow process. Let alone having one work for them. What could they offer her? More so, if they ever realised they'd been out-manipulated. Opportunity had presented itself today. An agenda discovered and more importantly, how the Vampiri worked in the field. Interestingly, the Vampiri were as curious about the Stable as she was about them. They could only think she had less information about them. Still, they were aware of their slang terms. That would need investigating.
As the armed CO17 officers surrounded her, Sara Seeker gave her warmest smile, swung her hand around showing off her Met ID.
'Unarmed officer. Situation under control. One dead. He's up the road. Static electricity or something got him. Car blew up over there. Thank you for arriving to take over. Could you inform an Inspector Salthouse I need a word...'
Mustn't say too many of those neither. I'm supposed to be deafened...
End
Sara Seeker, Libertine Rush, Fernfaire, Vampiri Nocturna, the Stable Consultancy and Psi-Kicks are (c) GF Willmetts 2008 all rights reserved
TRANSLATION:
Latin - English
notitia est vox - information is power
see if Fernfaire has a latin equivalent!!!
Res adepto exaggerated super annus. - Things get exaggerated over the years.
Ego postulo ut eripio puer. - I need to rescue the boy.
Is videor prudens res efficio. - It seemed the prudent thing to do.
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