Part 24: Preparations For War
#
The man walking into the Sunnydale Roadside Motel seemed to be in his late forties or early fifties, though the few gray hairs and many lines in his face were the only outward signs of age. The body visible beneath the muscle shirt he wore was trim and lean, tanned skin stretching over streamlined muscle. He wore fatigue pants and military boots, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
He walked directly into a room without knocking and four heads turned to look at him.
"You're late," one of the three men already present complained.
"Blame United Airlines," he simply said, dropping his bag beside the door and taking a moment to study the others.
Julia Blackwood looked as beautiful as he remembered her, twenty years having done little to change that. Not a silver streak to be found in her short-cropped black hair, the few lines on her face accenting her natural good looks. She looked worried, though, her dark eyes overcast like a storm- clouded sky.
Henry Marcs stood next to her, leaning against the wall with arms crossed over his chest. He was the youngest of those present, having been barely out of his teens when they had first been here all these years ago. His blonde hair hung down his head in unruly strands and green eyes were studying the newcomer in return. The look in them was anything but friendly.
Allan Rush and Joshua Dandridge stood a little off to the side, both of them with nearly identical frowns on their faces. Allan was deeply tanned and black-haired, Joshua a pale blonde who could have been the poster child for every Aryan organization in the whole world. The two of them were living proof of the old saying that opposites attracted.
Daniel Stone finished his inspection of the team and nodded as if satisfied with what he saw. All of them looked like they had stayed in fighting shape and he could practically feel the anger coming off of them in waves. Except for Allan and Joshua none of them were friends. If they had ever been then circumstances and twenty years without seeing each other had taken care of that. What they did have was a common enemy and that was more than enough.
"You all know why we're here," Daniel said, skipping the pleasantries. "Julia, if you'd be so kind?"
Julia described her encounter with the blonde girl to the others, sparing none of the details. Her strength, her speed, the level of skill someone her age should not be capable of possessing. How her scent was human, but not quite.
The same kind of scent every single person in this motel room had.
"I don't think they told them about us," Julia concluded. "If anything she seemed confused by my presence."
Daniel nodded. "I expected as much. Why tell the new guys about the bad old days, eh? Would only scare them off."
"Any indication that there are more where that girl came from?" Joshua asked.
"Not that I've seen. I've heard some rumors in a demon bar downtown, though. Something about a young man who is tearing through vampires and other assorted critters on a nightly basis. They also chat about black-clad commandoes who patrol the cemeteries, though these seem to be a lot less dangerous.
"One other thing. I've heard one vampire in that bar refer to our little blonde as 'the Slayer'. I couldn't find out what they meant by that, though."
"It's the vamps' version of the bogeyman," Allan explained. "What they tell little vampires so they behave. Nothing but a legend."
"Some vamps probably saw her in action and came up with that as the only explanation," Daniel theorized. "They wouldn't know about Project Inferno."
"Let's keep it that way," Henry growled.
"Agreed! Tonight we will try and find one of those patrols Julia heard about. Follow them back to whatever place this SDO is using as their staging area here in town. Once we know where they put up house ..."
He left the sentence unfinished and five grim faces shared a look of deadly determination.
#
Thomas Burke had about half a second to save his filled coffee mug from crashing to the floor when someone flung a folder onto his desk, knocking quite a few assorted items down in the process. He managed to catch the mug, hissing when some drops of the hot coffee spilled onto his hands.
"Nice reflexes," someone commented in a scalding voice. "Hope you are just as quick with explanations."
Burke looked up and saw Buffy Summers standing beside his desk, her face filled with anger and suspicion. He frowned, puzzled. Riley had told him about Ms. Summers' boyfriend and how this Huntsman guy had put him in the hospital, was still in coma after nearly a week. Was she angry because SDO still had not managed to find any trace of him?
"Ms. Summers, I don't ..."
"Project Inferno," she just said, motioning at the folder.
Burke froze, his eyes slowly turning to the item on his desk. Numb fingers slowly opened it and regarded the first printout, his eyes quickly scanning the content. His heart skipped a beat when he recognized the coding at the top of the page. The one that translated along the lines of "SO INCREDIBLY TOP SECRET THAT NO ONE EVEN KNOWS IT EXISTS".
"How did you ...?" he began.
"You told me that the government never knew about the supernatural before the Mayor died," she interrupted him. "You told me that you knew nothing about vampires, demons, the whole boogedy boo show. You told me that the only thing this operation wants to accomplish was to destroy the monsters."
In a motion too quick for him to even perceive she had him by the throat, wrenching him out of his chair and pinning him hard against the nearest wall. Quite a few agents close by jumped out of their chairs, some of them reaching for their guns.
"No guns," Burke forced out through his constricted throat. "Ms. Summers, I assure you ..."
"You have about ten seconds to explain this to me before I get really angry, Burke."
With a final glare she let him go, taking a step back and folding her arms across her chest. Burke massaged his aching throat.
"Project Inferno," he nodded. "Yes, I've heard of it. Heard of it yesterday, to be precise. Riley told me that this creature you fought mentioned it and I made a few discreet inquiries. I ... I'm not really allowed to talk about any of it, though. It's about ten levels above top secret."
"How about I talk to you then?" Buffy offered sarcastically. "Project Inferno, codename for a black budget project that took place right here in Sunnydale in the late 1970s. Commanded by one General Robert Elling. About a hundred Frankenstein-wannabe scientists worked on possible military applications of the monsters or, as you called them back then, hostile sub- terrestrials. That ring any bells, Burke?"
Once again Burke was stunned, unable to utter a word. How did she know all this? It had taken him almost a week to find out about Project Inferno and he had been forced to call in just about every favor ever owed to him to get what little he knew. This thing had been buried so deep that even the best computer experts at the Pentagon would need months to dig up everything.
"When your little Frankensteiners thought they were ready," Buffy continued, seeming to grow angrier by the minute, "this Elling guy called in some kind of special military unit. Told them that they would have some super-secret assignment here in Sunnydale. Instead you used them as guinea pigs. Even had a funky name for them. Team 666."
Buffy got into Burke's face. "Four of them died, Burke, and the rest were transformed into some kind of human-demon half-breeds. Was this what you had planned for these guys?" She motioned to encompass the people watching them right now, about half of them agents of the operation teams. "How many of them were scheduled for a little demon-enhancement procedure, Burke?"
Burke finally managed to regain his composure and reestablished the neutral look on his face. He was all too well aware that some of his agents were giving him looks of slight suspicion.
"Ms. Summers, you have my word that nothing of what you may have read in those files, no matter how you got your hands on them, was known to me at the start of this mission. I was on the level with you and it is this mission's goal to eliminate the supernatural threat, not to exploit it."
He held her gaze, daring her to call him a liar. Finally Buffy took a deep breath and nodded for him to continue.
"As I said, I only found out about Project Inferno yesterday. I don't know much about it, but I do know that it went horribly wrong. So wrong, in fact, that those few who survived it decided to bury the whole thing and forget it ever existed. They were successful. They were so successful that, a few years later, no one in the company even knew that demons and vampires existed, much less that any attempt to exploit them had ever been undertaken."
"Great," Buffy snorted. "So your bosses managed a successful feat of selective memory. Big cheers for them. Unfortunately I get the feeling that not everyone involved managed to put things out of their minds quite so successfully, wouldn't you agree?"
She took the folder and pulled out a piece of paper, shoving it into Burke's face. It was the first page of a personnel file, the picture of a young woman immediately drawing his eyes. He read the name next to the image.
Gunnery Sergeant Blackwood, Julia M. K.I.A. August 29, 1979
"That is the woman who attacked me last week," Buffy growled at him. "Quite lively for someone who was supposedly killed in action during an undisclosed combat operation twenty years ago, wouldn't you say?"
How had she gotten her hands on these files, Burke wondered again.
"Are you certain that this ...?"
"She was one of five survivors of this experiment your bosses undertook, Burke," Buffy interrupted him once again. "According to the files they were all killed later on, along with this General Elling and just about everyone else involved, when Project Inferno was declared a failure. Only someone screwed up because she is alive and well. Why do I get the feelings her four friends might also be? Any comments?"
Burke walked past her, sitting down on his desk again and resting his head in his hands. Why was this happening to him? This was supposed to be a simply, straightforward mission. Kill some beasties. No one had said anything about working with a super- and head-strong girl or trying to explain twenty-year old screw-ups to someone who could tear off his head in a hot second.
"Ms. Summers ... Buffy. If you are right ... if all this really happened the way it was described in those files ... I'm not under the illusion that everything that is done in the name of the government is all shiny and proper, okay? I know that some terrible things have been done by people who professed to having nothing but the national interest at heart. I never met General Elling and I never heard of this Project Inferno before yesterday, but there is one thing I can guarantee you."
He looked up at her.
"I am here to kill demons, Buffy. That's all. If everything you just told me is true then that's just one more reason to carry through with that mission. And if those five unfortunate souls are really alive and looking to get revenge for something that happened twenty years ago ... well, they have my sympathies, but I will not allow this mission to fail because of other people's mistakes, okay?"
"What are you saying?" Buffy asked him, suspicion still very much in evidence on her face.
"I am saying, Buffy, that, should these people prove themselves dangerous to the success of this mission, then I will do what is necessary. I have a question for you in return. You are the Slayer. You yourself told me that this woman you fought is not human and tried to kill you. What will you do if they should turn up again?"
Buffy stared at him, but had to admit that she had no answer to that particular question.
TO BE CONTINUED
#
The man walking into the Sunnydale Roadside Motel seemed to be in his late forties or early fifties, though the few gray hairs and many lines in his face were the only outward signs of age. The body visible beneath the muscle shirt he wore was trim and lean, tanned skin stretching over streamlined muscle. He wore fatigue pants and military boots, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
He walked directly into a room without knocking and four heads turned to look at him.
"You're late," one of the three men already present complained.
"Blame United Airlines," he simply said, dropping his bag beside the door and taking a moment to study the others.
Julia Blackwood looked as beautiful as he remembered her, twenty years having done little to change that. Not a silver streak to be found in her short-cropped black hair, the few lines on her face accenting her natural good looks. She looked worried, though, her dark eyes overcast like a storm- clouded sky.
Henry Marcs stood next to her, leaning against the wall with arms crossed over his chest. He was the youngest of those present, having been barely out of his teens when they had first been here all these years ago. His blonde hair hung down his head in unruly strands and green eyes were studying the newcomer in return. The look in them was anything but friendly.
Allan Rush and Joshua Dandridge stood a little off to the side, both of them with nearly identical frowns on their faces. Allan was deeply tanned and black-haired, Joshua a pale blonde who could have been the poster child for every Aryan organization in the whole world. The two of them were living proof of the old saying that opposites attracted.
Daniel Stone finished his inspection of the team and nodded as if satisfied with what he saw. All of them looked like they had stayed in fighting shape and he could practically feel the anger coming off of them in waves. Except for Allan and Joshua none of them were friends. If they had ever been then circumstances and twenty years without seeing each other had taken care of that. What they did have was a common enemy and that was more than enough.
"You all know why we're here," Daniel said, skipping the pleasantries. "Julia, if you'd be so kind?"
Julia described her encounter with the blonde girl to the others, sparing none of the details. Her strength, her speed, the level of skill someone her age should not be capable of possessing. How her scent was human, but not quite.
The same kind of scent every single person in this motel room had.
"I don't think they told them about us," Julia concluded. "If anything she seemed confused by my presence."
Daniel nodded. "I expected as much. Why tell the new guys about the bad old days, eh? Would only scare them off."
"Any indication that there are more where that girl came from?" Joshua asked.
"Not that I've seen. I've heard some rumors in a demon bar downtown, though. Something about a young man who is tearing through vampires and other assorted critters on a nightly basis. They also chat about black-clad commandoes who patrol the cemeteries, though these seem to be a lot less dangerous.
"One other thing. I've heard one vampire in that bar refer to our little blonde as 'the Slayer'. I couldn't find out what they meant by that, though."
"It's the vamps' version of the bogeyman," Allan explained. "What they tell little vampires so they behave. Nothing but a legend."
"Some vamps probably saw her in action and came up with that as the only explanation," Daniel theorized. "They wouldn't know about Project Inferno."
"Let's keep it that way," Henry growled.
"Agreed! Tonight we will try and find one of those patrols Julia heard about. Follow them back to whatever place this SDO is using as their staging area here in town. Once we know where they put up house ..."
He left the sentence unfinished and five grim faces shared a look of deadly determination.
#
Thomas Burke had about half a second to save his filled coffee mug from crashing to the floor when someone flung a folder onto his desk, knocking quite a few assorted items down in the process. He managed to catch the mug, hissing when some drops of the hot coffee spilled onto his hands.
"Nice reflexes," someone commented in a scalding voice. "Hope you are just as quick with explanations."
Burke looked up and saw Buffy Summers standing beside his desk, her face filled with anger and suspicion. He frowned, puzzled. Riley had told him about Ms. Summers' boyfriend and how this Huntsman guy had put him in the hospital, was still in coma after nearly a week. Was she angry because SDO still had not managed to find any trace of him?
"Ms. Summers, I don't ..."
"Project Inferno," she just said, motioning at the folder.
Burke froze, his eyes slowly turning to the item on his desk. Numb fingers slowly opened it and regarded the first printout, his eyes quickly scanning the content. His heart skipped a beat when he recognized the coding at the top of the page. The one that translated along the lines of "SO INCREDIBLY TOP SECRET THAT NO ONE EVEN KNOWS IT EXISTS".
"How did you ...?" he began.
"You told me that the government never knew about the supernatural before the Mayor died," she interrupted him. "You told me that you knew nothing about vampires, demons, the whole boogedy boo show. You told me that the only thing this operation wants to accomplish was to destroy the monsters."
In a motion too quick for him to even perceive she had him by the throat, wrenching him out of his chair and pinning him hard against the nearest wall. Quite a few agents close by jumped out of their chairs, some of them reaching for their guns.
"No guns," Burke forced out through his constricted throat. "Ms. Summers, I assure you ..."
"You have about ten seconds to explain this to me before I get really angry, Burke."
With a final glare she let him go, taking a step back and folding her arms across her chest. Burke massaged his aching throat.
"Project Inferno," he nodded. "Yes, I've heard of it. Heard of it yesterday, to be precise. Riley told me that this creature you fought mentioned it and I made a few discreet inquiries. I ... I'm not really allowed to talk about any of it, though. It's about ten levels above top secret."
"How about I talk to you then?" Buffy offered sarcastically. "Project Inferno, codename for a black budget project that took place right here in Sunnydale in the late 1970s. Commanded by one General Robert Elling. About a hundred Frankenstein-wannabe scientists worked on possible military applications of the monsters or, as you called them back then, hostile sub- terrestrials. That ring any bells, Burke?"
Once again Burke was stunned, unable to utter a word. How did she know all this? It had taken him almost a week to find out about Project Inferno and he had been forced to call in just about every favor ever owed to him to get what little he knew. This thing had been buried so deep that even the best computer experts at the Pentagon would need months to dig up everything.
"When your little Frankensteiners thought they were ready," Buffy continued, seeming to grow angrier by the minute, "this Elling guy called in some kind of special military unit. Told them that they would have some super-secret assignment here in Sunnydale. Instead you used them as guinea pigs. Even had a funky name for them. Team 666."
Buffy got into Burke's face. "Four of them died, Burke, and the rest were transformed into some kind of human-demon half-breeds. Was this what you had planned for these guys?" She motioned to encompass the people watching them right now, about half of them agents of the operation teams. "How many of them were scheduled for a little demon-enhancement procedure, Burke?"
Burke finally managed to regain his composure and reestablished the neutral look on his face. He was all too well aware that some of his agents were giving him looks of slight suspicion.
"Ms. Summers, you have my word that nothing of what you may have read in those files, no matter how you got your hands on them, was known to me at the start of this mission. I was on the level with you and it is this mission's goal to eliminate the supernatural threat, not to exploit it."
He held her gaze, daring her to call him a liar. Finally Buffy took a deep breath and nodded for him to continue.
"As I said, I only found out about Project Inferno yesterday. I don't know much about it, but I do know that it went horribly wrong. So wrong, in fact, that those few who survived it decided to bury the whole thing and forget it ever existed. They were successful. They were so successful that, a few years later, no one in the company even knew that demons and vampires existed, much less that any attempt to exploit them had ever been undertaken."
"Great," Buffy snorted. "So your bosses managed a successful feat of selective memory. Big cheers for them. Unfortunately I get the feeling that not everyone involved managed to put things out of their minds quite so successfully, wouldn't you agree?"
She took the folder and pulled out a piece of paper, shoving it into Burke's face. It was the first page of a personnel file, the picture of a young woman immediately drawing his eyes. He read the name next to the image.
Gunnery Sergeant Blackwood, Julia M. K.I.A. August 29, 1979
"That is the woman who attacked me last week," Buffy growled at him. "Quite lively for someone who was supposedly killed in action during an undisclosed combat operation twenty years ago, wouldn't you say?"
How had she gotten her hands on these files, Burke wondered again.
"Are you certain that this ...?"
"She was one of five survivors of this experiment your bosses undertook, Burke," Buffy interrupted him once again. "According to the files they were all killed later on, along with this General Elling and just about everyone else involved, when Project Inferno was declared a failure. Only someone screwed up because she is alive and well. Why do I get the feelings her four friends might also be? Any comments?"
Burke walked past her, sitting down on his desk again and resting his head in his hands. Why was this happening to him? This was supposed to be a simply, straightforward mission. Kill some beasties. No one had said anything about working with a super- and head-strong girl or trying to explain twenty-year old screw-ups to someone who could tear off his head in a hot second.
"Ms. Summers ... Buffy. If you are right ... if all this really happened the way it was described in those files ... I'm not under the illusion that everything that is done in the name of the government is all shiny and proper, okay? I know that some terrible things have been done by people who professed to having nothing but the national interest at heart. I never met General Elling and I never heard of this Project Inferno before yesterday, but there is one thing I can guarantee you."
He looked up at her.
"I am here to kill demons, Buffy. That's all. If everything you just told me is true then that's just one more reason to carry through with that mission. And if those five unfortunate souls are really alive and looking to get revenge for something that happened twenty years ago ... well, they have my sympathies, but I will not allow this mission to fail because of other people's mistakes, okay?"
"What are you saying?" Buffy asked him, suspicion still very much in evidence on her face.
"I am saying, Buffy, that, should these people prove themselves dangerous to the success of this mission, then I will do what is necessary. I have a question for you in return. You are the Slayer. You yourself told me that this woman you fought is not human and tried to kill you. What will you do if they should turn up again?"
Buffy stared at him, but had to admit that she had no answer to that particular question.
TO BE CONTINUED