Chapter 20.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
SEPT. 26, 1999 (1:00 PM/PST)
The ninja-like commandos escorted Angel, Kate Lockley, and the two Newcomers to a freight elevator. This, they all took down to the basement of the Federal Building. After that, they all marched to the loading dock, where a painted black moving van awaited them. When the doors to the cargo compartment had been closed and locked from the inside, Sergeant Riley Finn banged on the metallic rear wall of the van's cab. Thereby signaling the driver to start driving!
It was only then that Kate finally lost her temper.
"I don't know who the frig you all are. But, you are kidnapping two police officers in the performance of their duties! So, when our partners find you, you will _all_ give new meaning to the phrase 'dire consequences.' "
Riley laughed. "Good one, Det. Lockley! But, you and Sgt. Francisco aren't really under arrest. That was just a show we put on for the FBI who are bound to examine the closed-circuit security video footage once they arrive."
George and Kate looked at each other, in confusion, as they slowly lowered their hands.
"If you're not FBI," demanded the former: ". . .then who in Celine's name are you, really?!"
Riley flashed his true credentials.
"DRI: Defense Research Initiative. My superiors have ordered me to bring you and Det. Lockley (and, by association, your regular partners) into the loop."
"Concerning what?" asked Kate.
"Well, for one thing," replied Angel. ". . .the fact that vampires, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night _do_ exist."
To emphasize the point, he resumed his "game face."
* * * * *
The crash course on supernaturalism lasted all the way to their destination. Which turned out to be the Initiative's base in Sunnydale! And when the two police detectives were given a tour of the holding facility, they did not fail to come away completely amazed.
"You mean to say," George remarked, trying to get a handle on it: ". . .that the United States government has known about the existence of such things since the end of World War II?"
"Even further back than that, supposedly," replied Riley. "Urban legend has it that Abe Lincoln, himself, was a vampire hunter in his youth!"
"And you claim that this one vampire, Spike, was busted out of here as part of some contract on the life of another vampire?" Kate asked, seeking to get all the facts straight.
Angel nodded. "Prince Cyrus of the Brujah Clan."
"For what purpose, though?" she persisted. "What crime boss would be crazy enough to put out a hit on a vampire?"
"Yet another vampire!" replied a voice completely new to the subject of the discussion at hand.
Angel looked to his right and (rather miraculously) smiled. "Giles! Long time/no see."
The naturalized expatriate Englishman smiled back: "Hello, Angel. Long time/no see."
At that same moment, a similar phrase was being translated into Tenctonese by George, as the latter took the younger female Newcomer aside.
["Leeloo."] he clicked.
["Stengya."] she clicked back. ["It has been a long time."]
["Nine years since the Day of Descent, to be precise."]
["How are your wife and family?"]
["Physically, all very healthy. Especially our Earth-born daughter. She's two, now!"]
["Really?" Congratulations!"]
["Thank you. Right now, though, I must ask you about another member of my family. I think you know whom I mean."]
She nodded. ["Josweedan."]
["Yes! What happened after the Overseers conscripted him? Did he survive the crash, too? Or is he. . .?"]
["He's alive. In fact, he was drafted for the same top-secret American government project I was. The one called. . ."]
["Project: D.A.R.T.?!"] George exclaimed.
The Newcomer, who had been born Leeloo Songjet, was the one who was now surprised.
["You've heard of it?"]
["I was briefly Dart Four."] he replied with half-bitter bemusement.
["I'm sorry, Stengya. I never knew. The Feds like to keep their secrets 'compartmentalized' as they call it."]
["And in what compartment are they keeping my long-lost firstborn son?"] he demanded.
Vanessa Helsing, aka Alison Wonderland, looked at the floor in guilty embarrassment.
["I'm sorry, Stengya. I don't know. I wish I did. Really!"]
Meanwhile, Angel was introducing Kate Lockley to the deputy mayor of Sunnydale.
* * * * *
"So, let me see if I have this, correctly," began the latter. "You've been one of these Watchers since you were age twenty-two."
Giles smiled and nodded.
"And the council that governs these Watchers has known about the supernatural even longer than the Initiative."
Giles nodded, again.
"And, now, two vampiric crime families are about to duke it out in Beverly Hills?!"
"Rather crudely put," replied Giles while polishing his glasses. "But, essentially the case, yes."
"Between this Prince Cyrus and who now?"
"We've been unable to determine his true name. We only know that he calls himself 'Juan Trimerez.' Doubtless, an indulgent euphemistic reference to his clan of origin. Namely; the Spanish branch of Clan Tremere!"
"Which is that ancient order of self-vampirized wizards Angel and Finn told me about on the way here. Correct?"
"Yes! Although, we think this particular Tremere might be what is known as 'antitribu.' A sort of. . .self-disowned vampire."
"And all the ones who've tried to kill Russell Winters and his boss, this past week, all work for this Trimerez?
"Indirectly. They are actually members of a group called the Order of Teraka. A cult of assassins-for-hire! And they never stop trying to fulfill a contract until its target- -or their contractor- - are dead."
Kate Lockley shook her head. "Blood-sucking hit men with a work ethic. Great!"
Giles half-smiled apologetically. "It's not just vampires, Det. Lockley. The Order of Teraka employs other supernatural creatures, as well! Like this giant Ratkin Angel told us about, two days ago."
As if on cue, Kate suddenly recalled her conversation with Freddy W. Dobbs, back when they were interrogating Winters at One Parker Place.
"What about genetically altered Newcomers?" she asked.
tbc