"So, what have we got?"
Cross pushed the chair away from the computer desk with his feet and draped across it as it spun around, sighing and tossing a manila folder in his partner's direction. It sailed in a graceful arch and plopped down on the glass-covered coffee table, its contents sliding partially out and showing the edges of black lettering against white paper. "They're up to SOMETHING but damned if I can fathom what," he said tiredly, rubbing his tired eyes. "They've been meeting with a group of people who, as far as I can tell, have absolutely nothing to do with Takatori."
"Well, they could have something to do with Eszet," Calan pointed out, tapping the edges of the documents back under the cover of the folder compulsively.
Cross shook his head. "I was able to I.D. two of them. This is Gabrielle McGregor," he said, tapping the picture of a lively-looking girl with dark hair and eyes. "She was reported missing by her parents four years ago in Los Angeles, and now she turns up here. Her parents are professors. They've got no connection with Eszet, and as far as I can tell, she's not one of their agents. And this," he said, tapping another picture, "is Jake Delano. He's been involved in some gang activity, but hasn't committed any crimes that the NYPD could actually pin on him. Went underground about a year and a half ago and surfaces now, here. He's never left the country."
"So he's never been to Rosenkreuz," Calan ascertained, and Cross nodded.
"Neither of them have. As far as I can tell, they're connected through this girl, and she's somehow connected to the massacre a few days ago in the Bronx. All these threads connect somewhere, I just can't see the knot," he complained, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands.
Calan considered that, fingering the earpiece of his glasses thoughtfully. "Let's make it simple. These two people who are connected to the girl go down to the Bronx. Something attacks them, something the police haven't identified yet. Some kind of monster. We've got all sorts of clandestine meetings between this girl's scene and Schwarz. A mutual enemy, maybe? An element we're not seeing?"
"A secret," Cross said, remembering Calan's reading. "Something we don't understand."
"A truth putting our assumptions to lie," Calan said, flicking his fingers and producing the Tower and Moon cards. "A strange alliance."
"So there is some sort of other enemy," Cross said ponderously, drumming his fingers against his lower lip. "And two of Schwarz has been meeting with all these people for several hours now. After that attack on Farfarello and the girl earlier this week…."
"There's definitely another player in this equation. Now we just have to figure out what and who it is."
"I've got Schuldich under surveillance," Cross said, "but I can't watch him constantly. Where do we want to go from here? Do we get involved or stand back?"
Calan considered that for a long moment, sitting back on the plush couch and folding one denim-covered leg over another. His large hands laced together, the glasses dangling between them, and eventually his eyes flicked back to Cross's.
"I think we should tag them," he said simply. "We might as well throw our two cents in. At the very least, we could collect some info or something while they're distracted with this other thing."
Cross sighed and nodded. "All right. But you realize that Schu's got us pegged now. If we get too close, he'll spot us in a heartbeat."
Calan smirked. "And here I thought you wanted to see him again."
"I want to fight him again," Cross admitted. "And I want to fuck him again. But something tells me another meeting would be just a little more complicated than that."
"Something like common sense?"
"Yeah," he said ruefully. "Something like."
Calan smiled helplessly. "Oh well. Hazards of the occupation. Besides, you have Yuka. What do you need that psycho telepath for?"
"Variety is the spice of life," Cross told him imperiously, unable to hold back a grin. "So, are we moving, then?"
He nodded. "… Yeah. We're moving if it means ending this conversation before it dives headlong into the realm of Too Much Information."
Cross nodded. "I'll suit up. Meet you across the street from their hotel in an hour."
Calan nodded and rose. "See you there."
X-X-X
Sabbath sat down on her bed wearily and rubbed her temples, elbows digging small dents into her thighs. So far, so good. So far, the Inconnu and Schwarz were treating each other with distant respect. She didn't count on it lasting, but it didn't need to last long. Everything was crashing down so fast, they wouldn't have time to start fighting with each other.
"Do you have the power you need?"
She jumped and glanced at the doorway where Farfarello stood, leaning back against the closed door. She hadn't even heard him come in, though that wasn't really a surprise by now. "I don't know," she admitted. "There's no such thing as too much, at this point, but I haven't had the chance to collect much…."
"You've been taking it from me," he said succinctly, watching her with his head slightly tilted. "From us. Our coupling produces power that you've been drawing upon."
She nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. Hope you don't mind."
He ignored that. "Then, if you need more, the way to build it is obvious."
She laughed. "With this many people in the house? Sorry, Farf, but I'm really not an exhibitionist. The idea is a good one, but…."
"But you are embarrassed. Is your modesty worth your life?"
She swallowed and stared at him. "…In some situations, I'd be inclined to say 'yes'. But not in this one."
"Then deafen them to this room, as you did before," he told her, leaving the doorway and stalking toward her. "And let us see what we can accomplish in an hour." His lips curved up in a slight smirk, and she picked up a pillow to hurl at him. He batted it aside and she rolled her eyes.
"You're insatiable. And obvious."
"I'm many things," he said simply, unconcerned. He stopped at the foot of the bed. "Deafen them."
"I can't guarantee that I'll be able to…"
In a blur of movement, he was holding her tightly against the mattress and straddling her awkwardly twisted body. "Deafen them," he whispered in her ear, thumbs digging painfully into her wrists.
She gave up and reached out with her will, summoning the Circle.
Farfarello smiled, found her shoulder, and bit down.
X-X-X
"I don't like this," Scythe told his leader, eyeing Ice with his arms folded across his chest and his stern features hard. "There are too many loose threads. Too many variables we haven't tied up."
"I'm well aware," Ice told him from his position on their much-abused couch, in front of the flickering TV screen. "But our options are irritatingly limited. Have our spies discovered anything of note?"
"A few clues," the mutated telekinetic informed him. "There are a few signs of habitation."
"Four blocks in The Bronx is still a sizable area. Not nearly precise enough for a coordinated strike," Ice told him, staring evenly at the television without really seeing it, his blue eyes silvered in concentration. "And what about our other spies?"
Scythe paused before shrugging. "It's as you thought between the two of them. Otherwise, we've got nothing to work with. Getting close is impossible, with that telepath."
Ice nodded slowly and his jaw worked thoughtfully. "Schwarz thinks they will be in control of this strike," he told Scythe. "But they will be in error. Control will be in OUR hands. Get a hold of Rel and Jake. I want to speak to them privately as soon as possible."
"Done," the dark-haired man said, nodding briefly before turning on his heel to make it so.
From her spot in the corner, Catria fixed dark violet eyes on Ice. "Is it wise cutting Sabbath out of the loop?" she wondered.
"More wise than keeping her in it. She's being used, but I don't intend to let that happen to us," Ice said crisply, rising and pacing toward her. "She thinks she's going to make some sort of noble, martyr-like sacrifice for the good of all Inconnu. And while I am most decidedly NOT happy with that, her life is hers to throw away as she wishes. I know she's fully stupid enough to go through with it, so we'll plan for that."
"We should stop it, if we can," Catria protested. The sisterhood of witches was something barely understood by those who weren't a part of it, and the idea of standing aside and letting Sabbath die sat very poorly with her. "You care about Sabbath, you can't just let her kill herself…."
The sheer, bracing coldness of Ice's stare stole the words from her lips, and the breath from her lungs. "I can, and will, do whatever I need to do to minimalize casualties on OUR end. If Sabbath Williams wants to truck with the enemy, she can do that. But the Inconnu are not going to be destroyed in the process. I will not allow it."
Struggling and succeeding to recover her aplomb, Catria countered, "that's unusually altruistic, for you. What do you care about the Inconnu as a whole? Or, for that matter, about anyone other than yourself?"
Ice offered her a chilling smile. "My dear, the Inconnu stay together for one reason, and one reason only – survival. I have no interest in dying, being assimilated, or being sent off to Rosenkreuz to be reprogrammed as Eszet sees fit. No matter how powerful some of us are, alone, we would swiftly be overpowered."
"You're clever enough to evade them," she shot back, eyes narrowing. "I don't trust you…"
"Good. Then you've an ounce of intelligence in that pretty head of yours," Ice purred.
"You're an ass." Catria's jaw tightened and her fingernails dug into her palms.
"Indeed," Ice agreed, "but I'm an ass who is also your cell leader, and you will do as I say. My motives are not important. What is important is that I am allowing the sacrifice of one person in order to save the lives of several dozen. Even you should see the necessity of that."
"The necessity…" she repeated, eyes closing in frustration as she drew in a slow breath. When she spoke again, it was quietly, silk-wrapped steel in her tone. "Yes. I see it."
"Then we have an understanding," Ice said, sounding pleased as he turned and left her there, padding toward the doorway. "There are others, whom you care about, who will die if we don't cover our asses. Weigh their lives against hers and tell me what YOUR calculations come up with."
She leaned back against the plaster with a dull thump as he left her there, skull pressing against its cool hardness. It was a typical case of the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the one, but that didn't mean she needed to like it. In fact, she hated it. Her conscience couldn't rest with either option. There had to be a better way.
If there is one, she told herself, fingers digging into the wall slightly, You had better find it. And soon. Before the whole world goes to hell.
X-X-X
The room was mostly dark, and slightly damp, lit only by one flickering overhead light. There was a rickety card table beneath the lamp, surrounded by mismatched chairs. Spread across the table was a much-abused map covered with markings in different colored highlighter, most of them centered in one area. Colored markers were scattered across it, and a small, disorganized pile of grid maps was scattered near one corner. Crawford had outdone himself.
Ice gazed into two sets of dark eyes, one blue, one brown, and deliberately interlaced his fingers. "We are the three most experienced Inconnu leaders on the east coast," he said without preamble. "If any strategizing is going to be done, it needs to be done by us. I refuse to let Eszet call the shots."
"Do we know where they are?" Jake asked immediately, and Ice shook his head.
"We narrow the location down by the hour, but progress is slow and there are many levels for our spies to search."
"The risk of detection makes things tough," Rel put in, not sounding at all bothered by this. "Besides, in the words of Sun Tzu, 'When real battle is joined, plans become useless, but planning is indispensable'. Setting goals and establishing parameters for this encounter will only help us in the long run." She offered the boys a manic grin.
Ice smirked back at her. "Well said. And while our eyes and ears hone in on the precise location of The Hive, I've got a few ideas that may help us storm their gates even if we don't know precisely where the castle sits." He ran a finger down along a blue line on one of the grid maps. "This sewage tunnel was blocked off by the city fifty years ago when it became too dangerous for workers to go so deep into the system. Squatters lived down there, and vagrants, criminals escaped from various institutions who formed an entire society. Many have based novels upon the phenomenon – I'm sure you're at least passing familiar with it."
Jake nodded. "There's been no suspicious activity amongst the homeless lately. If they'd been ousted, wouldn't we know?"
"Not if they've been assimilated," Rel offered, but Ice shook his head.
"All the One I've ever seen have been wearing suits. Ties. Clothes WE don't have. They were clean shaven and straight-postured, like Jehovah's Witnesses. I think they came from somewhere else, not from homeless wanderers. But their origins don't concern me at the moment. It's more likely that all the homeless in this area are dead or in servitude. We'll anticipate them, but I don't think we'll have to deal with them. In any case, that's not the point. The point is, there are limited access ways to this particular area of sewer. Access ways that can be closed off. Or flooded."
"Flood ninety percent of the bolt-holes," Jake said instantly, perking up. "And we use the remaining ones, insuring that they have no retreat."
"They'll tear through us, then," Rel cautioned, but Ice shook his head.
"They will, but they aren't people anymore, with feelings and fears and ambitions. They won't be able to drive themselves to greater heights just because they're pinned down. Besides which, we'll be moving in on the tail of our water assault. Hopefully, I'll be able to drown a good number of them on the first sweep."
"So we lead with a monsoon," Jake said evenly, standing to examine the map more closely. "And what then? How do we coordinate this?"
"Ariadne's an idiot," Ice said flatly, "but she's got some good psions on her team. Dylan, for one, Nathan for another." A low staccato drumming began even as he spoke, the sound of thousands of small droplets of water hitting a steel roof. "Unfortunately, I don't know much about the rest of them. But I think we should resist the temptation to cluster our Wild Powers together. Schwarz is the only group that needs to get in deep. The rest of us can keep them busy at the fringes, leaving us a retreat route as soon as the One is destroyed."
"Or in case of failure," Rel pointed out.
"Then we should stick cell to cell," Jake mused. "We know our cell members better. We're used to fighting together. It will also give us a better spread of Talents across the board if we don't concentrate all our fighters in one place."
"We may have to mix it up a little," Rel protested. "There ought to be someone with the Healing talent, or at least pain-numbing, in each assault group."
"Damn Rasce for killing himself," Ice muttered. "He was the best healer I've ever seen."
"We've still got Catria, Katerina, and Nathan."
"Three healers between five cells, six counting Schwarz? I don't like those numbers."
"We could set up a rear post," Rel suggested. "Stick them behind the rest and bring people back to them for healing. But that would deaden our attack strength, having people move both ways."
"So how do we handle this?" Ice murmured, chewing on his lower lip as he considered it.
Jake shrugged. "I say, all or nothing. We charge in, we kill everything we see, we commit ourselves whole-heartedly to the attack knowing that we may all die in our tracks. It's the only way we, with inferior numbers, are going to have any chance of overwhelming them. Never underestimate the driving power of commitment… there can BE no turning back, no stopping, no faltering. We devote everything to one assault."
"And if we fail?" Ice wondered.
Rel grinned. "We'll be too dead to care! I like it – it's got a certain samurai air about it."
Ice smiled wryly. "It's got a certain seppuku air about it," he corrected sardonically. "But I agree on all counts. It would severely hamper our effectiveness if we had troops moving forward and backward, and increase the temptation to stay away from the front. We take whatever weapons we have and we go in head-first."
"I'll take Raven's Gleaning in the front," Rel offered, placing one slender finger on the tunnel she had decided was 'front'. "We've got blasting power. We'll hit hard and fast and punch through any defenses they might already have up."
"Want to carry a standard as well?" Ice joked, and all three of them laughed.
"This tunnel goes straight down," she said. "We'll drop through it and see if we can't take the fight straight to their heart. Give us about ten minutes to draw them into the bottleneck. Then we've got these tunnels here and here that come in from west and northeast. Send Auspex down one and Midnight down the other. We'll be able to flank them here and here…" she drew quick circles with the pink highlighter, "and hopefully open up their rear guard for Schwarz to slip in here." She made a green star on that tunnel. "Schwarz is going to want to move in with as much stealth as possible, so it might be prudent to see if we can cloak them, somehow."
"I could," Jake said, "Lupe can handle our group just fine while I hide Schwarz."
"And you're willing to do that?" Ice inquired. "Can you cover your own ass if they turn on us?"
Jake nodded, raising his voice a little as the drumming rain grew louder and louder. "Should I try to see if I can get Sabbath out of there as well?"
"Let Sabbath worry about herself," Rel said. "Or let the Schwarz berserker worry about her, if he's so inclined. If everybody rushes in to save Sabbath, we're going to have a serious problem."
"She doesn't want to be saved," Ice told them. "Leave her be. I'm more concerned about how many of The One we can destroy and how many of our own people we can take out of there alive. Once Schwarz nails the Core, assuming they succeed, the battle is NOT over. We'll need to take advantage of their confusion and bring as much of our powers to bear as possible. We have to wipe them out."
"Agreed," Jake murmured. "So if we're closing off all tunnels besides these and swamping them, they'll have no retreat except through us…."
"Which serves our double-purpose," Rel concluded with a cackle. "One way in, no way out."
"Will you be able to fight and hold up barriers at the same time?" Jake wondered, eyeing Ice dubiously.
Ice shook his head. "I'll freeze them in place, if possible, so I won't have to worry about them so much during the fight. What's the status on our weapons?"
"Since Griss died, we switched responsibility for upgrades onto Kaiya, from Midnight cell," Rel told him. "And Mars, from mine. They've made some good progress in the last couple of days, so we should have suitable firepower whenever we're ready to move out."
"Which will be in a couple of hours if this rain keeps up," Ice said approvingly. "Somebody make a note to congratulate Dylan on being prompt. So, we'll share these plans with Schwarz accordingly, since we'll have to coordinate with them. But afterward… Rel, I'm assuming you'll retreat to New Orleans?"
She nodded. "Yep. No safer place for us than the bayou. I'd like to see Eszet find their way through THAT place alive." She offered Ice a nasty grin, which he returned.
"We'll move west," Jake said, "probably to Detroit. Lupe is originally from there and she knows the city well. We'll cloak ourselves under the general unrest of the ghetto and see if we can disappear from Eszet's radar."
"And we'll stay here," Ice said with finality. "To make sure that any surviving fractures of The One are destroyed before they can multiply."
"Risky," Rel cautioned. "Eszet will…"
"Eszet will leave us alone if they know what's good for them," Ice said serenely. "Besides, they'll have to find us first. And I intend to make that very costly for them."
"And Midnight?"
"If Ariadne survives, she'll take care of her own Cell. If she doesn't, we'll absorb them, just like we've always done."
"Then it's time to talk to the others," Jake said quietly, tilting his head upward toward the pouring rain. "And get this show on the road."
X-X-X