The dark general looked up as Varrik entered the council chamber. He waved the other council members into silence as the young blood approached the dais and stood, waiting to be addressed.
"I hope you have good news for us, Varrik." He rumbled.
"Yes, my Commander."
"You have certainly kept us waiting long enough." The leader observed dryly.
Varrik stared straight ahead, "You will recall, my Commander, that their ship was equipped with the new stealth technology?"
A slight frown wrinkled his superior's craggy brows, signalling clearly that he was not interested in excuses, "Be that as it may, I trust that you have now located the targets we seek?"
"We have managed to trace the signal from their ship, O fearsome one," Once past infancy, it was unacceptable for a Rough Skull to show any fear but there was a certain sense of relief in Varrik's tone at being able to report success, "It is located on the ooman planet." He continued "I was able to get a lock on it after something magnified the broadcast frequency of their scanner. I am certain that the message we intercepted from the …. juvenile originated from that ship. The two comms signatures are the same."
"The ooman planet," The dark one began to tap one of his talons on the council table, apparently thinking. "I had anticipated this." He said finally, then he turned to the senior yautja who stood at his right hand "D'Jukai, what is our current proximity to that world?"
The other nodded at him and touched a control on the table before them, bringing up a glowing three-dimensional plan of the ship's location, "Our current position has us within striking distance, as you ordered. We can be on them within a few units."
"Good." The Commander splayed his talons, stretching them towards the glowing sphere that represented the Earth, "We must seize this opportunity to intercept them before they use their cloaking capabilities to slip through our grasp. Assemble a force to go down to the surface, Varrik. I want our fiercest fighters to accompany us. The renegades are cunning and they have evaded us for a long time."
Varrik frowned, "Exactly what offences are they accused of, my Commander?" He asked cautiously, "I thought they had done service to the clan before now, on board the Void Cutter and… on Hirai."
"Oh, they have many crimes to answer for, enough to confirm their death sentences many times over, chief amongst them the blasphemous progeny they have spawned together."
Varrik shook his head, "But, surely, that is just an evil rumour?"
"An evil rumour which spoke to us through the message you intercepted, do you not even believe your own eyes?" His superior laughed harshly, his laughter echoed by the other senior Rough Skulls around the table, "Varrik, you brought us the evidence of their treasonous behaviour yourself!"
The youngblood stayed silent. His head was dipped in obedience but his expression showed his uneasy state of mind, "What orders then, downfall of empires?"
"Take them alive. I need them and their profane spawn breathing for now, but be on your guard. The Abomination and the Witch are not to be underestimated." Their leader stretched out one hand, curling his talons into a fist, "Bring them to me!"
Ostrowski stood at the side of the police helipad, foot tapping impatiently as he waited for the copter to land. He deeply regretted that Carravino wasn't here – there were few people he trusted as much – but he knew his brother in arms was not up to it, physically or mentally. The hostiles could do that you: Ostrowski knew the absolute, primal terror they could inspire. That feeling of being hunted, it was beyond what most people could imagine or bear.
In a paradoxical way, he admired Woods. She must have experienced that terror too, but she had managed to face them on their own terms somehow. Ostrowski didn't know how she had forged her partnership with her alien ally. He wasn't sure he believed the crazy rumour about her hostile hybrid pregnancy, but he remembered seeing her punch that fucker right in the head in Nevada and he had to admit, she'd got guts.
Waiting with him at the helipad were those members of his team who were still alive, the ones who had not gone on Carravino's ill-fated expedition to capture Woods. The three of them – Shaw, Oman and Vance – had sustained only minor injuries in their fall from the cliff face.
The giant copters that were currently landing in front of them contained the last of his available reinforcements. Ostrowski knew three of the others; Torres, Rawles and Decard. They all had hostile combat experience and for his purposes that made them invaluable. The rest of the soldiers here, he didn't know. He had been assured by his superior that they were the most elite she'd been able to requisition. Still, with only twenty of them, he felt they might not be enough.
When they were all assembled in one of the briefing rooms – the local police banished in the name of protecting classified information – he pressed the button to bring up Lex's picture on the screen.
"You all know who this woman is," He said shortly, "So I'm not going to waste time going over her rap sheet. What you need to know is that six days ago, she took out five of our guys and wounded Carravino. I think we have to accept that the level of threat that she poses is higher than we originally thought. From what we've seen, she's got stealth tech and incendiaries and she's already used them to do a lot of damage."
"Sir?" Decard, a grim-faced eyed former merc spoke up, "Are we authorised to use deadly force?"
Ostrowski had not been looking forward to this question, "No." He said "Our bosses want her alive."
"They can't be serious," This from Rawles, a onetime cop whose boyish face had led many suspects to assume, wrongly, that he wouldn't shoot them, "Even after she killed more of our guys, we can't take her out?"
"Those are the orders." Ostrowski told them, "Bottom line is: she is an information asset, first and foremost." There were a few disbelieving looks around the room.
"That's total bullshit!" Rawles sputtered, "It's – "
"It's the way they want it done, soldier. Those are the orders." Ostrowski finished for him, "Now, the pulse rifles have dart launchers but I want you all to understand that you are not to fire any live rounds. You have a short time to familiarise yourself with the rest of the information on Woods before we leave."
As the rest of the squad turned and began to talk amongst themselves Torres, an ex-marine and the only woman in the group, spoke up, "Sir, I just want to ask what our contingency plan is going to be if hostiles show up?"
"In that eventuality we'll need serious firepower." His jaw tightened, "We can't have them running around uncontained so we'll need to take them out ASAP. What have we got?"
"We've got armour piercing, sir and grenade launchers," Decard said, "Plus incendiaries and RPGs, if you want to deploy them."
"Not in our first team," Ostrowski looked thoughtful "But I want a second team covering us, just in case Woods' hostile friend decides to materialise."
"You mean that fucker from Nevada?" Decard said, voicing the thoughts of all of them.
"Yes. We have to be prepared for the possibility that Woods's hostile accomplice might engage us. He engaged with our team in Nevada and he engaged with the cops in San Francisco, so it's a real possibility. I want you all to be ready. If he does show his ugly face, we need to wipe him off the board fast."
At that moment there was a frantic knocking at the door.
"Yes?" He barked and a local officer came into the room, slightly breathless.
"Sir – we've had a call in from Paulson and Hernandez. They're pursuing a suspect vehicle: they think it's Woods!"
"Where?"
"Going along the 165, by Eyrie Creek. Heading up towards the mountains."
"Have the rest of my backup units arrived yet?"
"Yes sir. They're out on the helipad now."
"Good." He turned to the rest of his team, "Alright people, even without lethal force, if we bring her in, she'll be spending the rest of her life looking at the inside of an isolation cell. Let's bag this murdering bitch!"
Ambrose tried not to think about the knives on her hands as she sat beside him.
"How long will it take to reach this place?" She asked.
"Maybe half an hour?" He kept his eyes on the road, "What is it you're planning to do when we get up there?"
"I told you, I'm leaving."
"Leaving?" He said quietly, "Where is it you're planning on going?"
She sighed, he saw in his peripheral vision that she had flipped open the metal gauntlet again and was consulting it, "I just have to get there, you don't need to know where I'm going."
"What about the people you believe are chasing you?"
"If I make it, they can't follow me."
"But why?"
She didn't answer him, just continued to press buttons on the gauntlet.
"Is there someone you're meeting?"
"I really hope so," She frowned, "My mask was damaged in the crash, so my messages are coming through fragmented. Something seems to be wrong with my wristcom, so maybe that's damaged too…"
His eyes flashed over to the gauntlet, "That thing is a communication device?"
"Look Doctor – "
"James."
"James… even if I tell you, you won't believe me," She said, "And it's better for you if you don't know. That way they can't interrogate you afterwards. They might leave you alone…"
He noticed that she was casting frequent glances over her shoulder. After a little while she pushed the metal visor onto her face again and looked at the road behind them. Ambrose frowned a little as the snowy banks on either side of them flew past. He couldn't tell what significance the mask had for her, but the sight of her wearing it froze his marrow. They were moving through woodlands now, the forest getting thicker and darker as they got nearer to the falls. He found himself wondering if she was considering killing him too and whether anyone would ever find his body out here, "Probably not until spring, under all this snow." He thought and shuddered, even though he told himself he was being silly.
"There are police following us." She said.
"What?" He squinted in the rear view, but couldn't see anything.
"They're trying to keep back far enough so they're out of sight, but I know they're there." She said it quite unemotionally "That means there'll be others coming soon. We need to get there faster."
He put his foot down but the road behind them seemed totally empty of any other vehicles, "Why are you so sure we're being followed?"
"They passed us on their way to your place. They will have been looking for me, so they'll be following."
"I can't see them." He cast another anxious glance behind them in the mirror.
"No," She said, "But I can."
"Lex," He said, in a voice taut with worry, "Whatever you're thinking of doing when we get up there, I promise you, there's a better way."
She gave a little chuckle, the laughter sounding hollow inside the mask "I seriously doubt that."
"I want to help you, Lex."
"Then make this car go faster."
"Look," Ambrose said, trying a different tack, "You're not well. You've been through a difficult experience. It's only natural that you're struggling to separate reality from these paranoid fantasies - "
She said nothing, just sat, waiting for him to go on.
"If the police really are after you, then I can talk to them – "
He tailed off as he realised they had reached their destination. Here was the dirt track, with a sign pointing the way to the Falls. In peak season, families came here to picnic and couples went for romantic walks. The sun was not setting yet but, in the icy grip of the winter, it was pretty much deserted. The trees were gaunt, frosted ghosts of their summer selves, the scene a study in monochrome. Ambrose had always thought it a beautiful place but he was struck by how bleak and desolate it seemed, now the warm weather had fled.
He pulled the SUV into the deserted, snow-covered clearing that served as a rough parking lot during the tourist season. As he stepped out of the vehicle, there was a high-pitched scream above them and he started. Looking up, he saw the shape of predatory wings far overhead: a pair of hunting eagles, wheeling around each other in awful circles.
Lex was looking around "I told you to take us to the top of the falls," She said, sounding displeased, "Why have you brought me here?"
"There isn't a way to get the car to the top," He explained desperately, hoping she believed him, "If we want to go up there, we'll have to walk."
She looked at him for a moment, then adjusted the strange device like a small backpack she wore "Fine, but we need to move quickly. I don't want to be caught down here."
"Lex?" He tried again "I've got experience of working in the criminal justice system. If you'd just tell me what's going on, I'll speak to them. Explain the pressures you've been under: Losing your children and – "
He heard her sigh and she looked at him for a moment, "I'm afraid I haven't been honest with you James," She said, "The night you found me, I killed some men. Five of them. Men who work for the government."
He stared at her in horror. It sounded fantastical, but the way she said it was so matter-of-fact, so believable. "If you killed people, why didn't I see them?" He said weakly "Where were the bodies?"
"I left them in the forest." The dark eye sockets of the mask stared at him, unblinking, "I've killed people before, too. I'm on the FBI's most wanted list. So, do you still think they're going to listen when you tell them to let me go?"
His mouth opened, soundlessly and then shut again.
"That's right." She said harshly "Now, get moving. Night fall is less than an hour away."
Paulson and Hernandez pulled up on the roadside next to the turning for the Falls.
"OK, they must have come in here." Paulson said "Let's go check it out."
Hernandez nodded, getting out of the car "What are we going to do if she's waiting for us in the parking lot?"
She swallowed "We have to keep eyes on. We can use the trees as cover, see if they're still in the vehicle."
The two of them moved as quietly as they could, the snow muffling all sound anyway. They circled round through the dark pines until they could see the blue SUV, sitting alone in the snow. "Looks empty," Paulson whispered as they crept closer, ducking down behind the icebound greenery.
"You think it could be a trap?" Hernandez frowned "They said she had explosives – "
"Why would she want to blow up her ride out of here?" Paulson hissed back.
"Why come here at all?"
"Let's at least go see if they've left any tracks."
As they approached the vehicle, guns at the ready, Hernandez looked twitchy. Paulson could tell he was expecting an armed assailant to leap out or a bomb to go off at any moment. She forced herself to move forward, holding her sidearm out in front of her like a talisman against evil.
As they reached the car, she allowed herself to relax a little. It was clear the vehicle was deserted. Hernandez gestured to the floor with his gun, where footprints could be seen – but they were scuffed and confused. She thought she could see two sets of tracks and the direction they led in.
"I think they're going towards the Falls trail." Said Hernandez.
Paulson grimaced "I don't like the sound of that, let's get back to the car and radio in, let them know what's going on."
The sun was setting, gilding the edges of the clouds, as Ambrose stumbled up the narrow trail towards the falls. She followed behind him. It was fortunate that he knew this trail well, as he was distracted, his mind still in a state of turmoil. He couldn't stop thinking about what she'd said. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to believe her claim to be a multiple murderer, "It's a part of her delusional state, a fantasy that casts her as an all-powerful, avenging angel instead of a victim." He thought, desperately trying to make sense of it all, "Question is: what part of that fantasy is she enacting by bringing me here?"
"You don't really expect me to believe all this Jason Bourne stuff, do you Lex?" He said, as they walked, "Killing government agents? You must admit, it sounds pretty far-fetched."
"I don't care if you believe me," She said, her tone flat, "Just keep walking." Since she had put the mask on, he noticed that her speech had changed. Now, it was just a series of brusque instructions. Despite her ridiculing the idea, he wondered again if the mask was symbolic of something for her: enabling her to take on a different persona. There was definitely something more threatening about her now. Whether the name 'Scar' referred to a real person or to some murky, hidden part of her psyche, he couldn't tell. In her delirium, she had said it repeatedly, mixed in with the names of her children; sometimes cursing and sometimes, sobbing and beseeching.
"It's going to be dark soon." He said "We won't be able to see much up there after sunset."
"I can see fine. Worry about yourself."
"Why do I need to worry, Lex?" He said quietly. "Am I going to be another body, left out in the woods?"
She was silent for a while, "That isn't what I want," She said finally, "But I admit I … don't know what will happen. The people chasing me will be here very soon."
"Am I a hostage?"
"I hope it won't come to that."
"What is it you think you're going to find up there?"
"I told you: a way out."
The trail took them up alongside the falls and as they climbed, he could hear the roar of the water. He could still see it, the white torrent turned to fire now by the sunlight and the frosted trees around them turned to bright copper. The bite of the cold made him shiver and he was beginning to stumble in the twilight, but he noticed that neither the failing light or the falling temperature seemed to affect her. The further they went, the more otherworldly she seemed. The dark hair, that had made her seem romantic when she was asleep, now made her look savage and unearthly as it tumbled around that awful mask.
All of sudden she came to a halt and turned. He could hear nothing over the noise of the Falls but she had been alerted by some sound or other signal he couldn't perceive. She touched the side of her mask, gazing back down the slope.
"They're coming." She said.
So it's the weekend and it's nearly Christmas - I am hanging on so hard for the start of the holidays!
LovyDovy7: I'd imagine Selim might think the way his parents met was touching and romantic (because he is a sensitive soul and he adores them both), but Isaac and Spyrro? Maybe not so much. Me, I'm just uber-touched that you like my stories. I'm good with being a guilty pleasure! :) I don't know about doing another one as this one still has quite a long way to go (my stories do tend to stretch on and on in my head forever). I swore I wouldn't write this one, so never say never,!
lexia the beautiful wolf: You may not have too long to wait!
Tenjp: Glad you enjoyed the others, and the cloning! Scar definitely has some serious making up to do. He's not really very good at apologies.