"Wake up!" A harsh voice cut through the pain wracked darkness as Valeria struggled to obey. A chaotic jumble of images suddenly flooded her mind as she remembered the Vertibird flipping end over end as a rocket destroyed one of its twin rotors. Alarms were blaring as sparks and flames filled the cockpit, and she could see the blood-red sky outside whipping past the gaping hole where the hatch had been. Then there was an explosion of fire and noise as something smashed into her head and the world shattered into darkness.
"The mistress wants to know why you wear her face!" The voice bellowed again, and she became aware that her hands were tied behind her and a huge hand was holding her upright by her armored collar. Valeria's eyes snapped open and she looked around in bewilderment. She was in a courtyard beneath a boiling red sky with the flickering blue image of a woman looking impassively down on her from the top of a dry fountain. Standing around the fountain were the massive forms of Nightkin wearing tattered clothes and bits of armor.
"Mistress says you will die if you don't answer Davison now!" Valeria's head was twisted about and she found she was staring into the furious white eyes of a Nightkin.
"Are you…Davison?" Valeria gasped, as she fought to focus her scattered thoughts and make sense of the madness about her.
"I speak for the mistress!" The mutant growled. "And she wants to know why you wear her face!" Valeria's head was twisted back toward the hologram and Valeria stared into the glowing woman's blank eyes.
"The mistress also wants to know why you were with…humans!" Davison growled. "These humans were tough, not like the others. They killed Tabitha and many of my kin!"
"Where are the…humans?" Valeria asked, trying desperately to understand what had happened since the crash.
"We chased the ones that killed Tabitha out of the Villa." Davison snarled. "But these humans are tougher, and we can't kill them…yet. They are trapped with the last aircraft near the edge of town. The ones with you were all dead."
"Were there any human women with them?" Valeria asked in the faint hope the mutant could tell her Veronica's fate.
"You are the only one!" Davison growled as his grip tightened on Valeria's neck. "And you look like the mistress or we would have left you to die with the others!"
"The…blue woman is your mistress?" Valeria said as she craned her neck to look back at the hologram.
"Yes!" The mutant snapped. "When the master died, we had no leader until I found Antler. Then Magog promised us a new leader, and we came here to serve him. The new master promised us Stealth Boy's if we could get into the Casino." Davison wrenched Valeria's head up to see the shadowed bulk of the tower on the cliffs above the hologram.
"At first we did as the master said." Davison growled as he lowered Valeria's head to again face the hologram. "But the tasks were…difficult for my kin and many were killed by traps. So many I realized that Antler was right and we had been tricked. But Antler was gone, and there were no new voices." Davison suddenly sounded almost plaintive as his grip relaxed slightly on Valeria's collar.
"Then I started to listen to the voices from the speakers. I heard them say, 'begin again' and I knew the Mistress was speaking to me." Davison wrenched Valeria's head around to glare into her eyes once again. "You wear her face, and the Mistress wants to know why!"
Valeria's battered body ached and her head throbbed, but she realized that her life hung on her next words to a delusional mutant and his followers.
"I…I speak with the voice of Vera!" She rasped, trying to sound as forceful as she could. "I wear her face, but I am not a weak human!" Sensing Davison's confusion Valeria wrenched free and staggered to her feet. Every bone and muscle in her body protested, but she knew she had to take the initiative. Forcing herself upright she glared at Davison and swept the assembled mutants with a contemptuous gaze. Davison's huge muscles bunched as he snarled and clenched his fists.
"What does the Mistress command?" He finally growled.
Startled that her desperate gambit had worked, Valeria stared speechless at the huge mutant, until his scowl made her blurt the first thought that came to her mind."
"What tasks did the false Master wish you to do?"
"He wanted us to start something called the Gala." Davison replied shaking his massive head with a growl. "It requires co-ordination and technical ability that we do not have. The false master became impatient and ordered us to use our remaining Stealthboys and attack the Casino. Keene refused, but I obeyed the and led my kin past the holograms." Davison growled with rage, as did the other mutants standing around the fountain.
"Why didn't Keene obey the master?" Valeria demanded as imperiously as she could.
"I don't know." The mutant snarled. "Keene is smart, maybe too smart. Keene doesn't like to obey orders."
"So despite your best efforts the assault failed." Valeria said as she folded her arms with a scowl.
"The holograms are stupid." Davison sneered. "With our Stealthboys it was easy to get past them, but the doors to the Casino are strong. Our strength and weapons were not enough and we had to go back through the holograms." Davison shook his head and growled with fury at the memory.
"Our Stealthboys were depleted and the holograms killed many of us before we got clear. I knew I had been tricked, and Vera was our real master. I was leading what remained of my kin back where Tabitha and the others waited when the humans appeared."
"Where is Tabitha?" Valeria demanded. She had no idea how many questions the mutant would tolerate, or how long the delusion that she was the "Voice of the Mistress" would hold, but she had to know more.
"Tabitha's over there!" Davison jerked his head toward the shadows of the courtyard where Valeria could see the bodies of Supermutants sprawled on the cobblestones.
"The false master put Tabitha on watch at the fountain. She was too crazy to be trusted with anything else. The humans killed Tabitha after their Vertibird crashed. They shot at us too, but retreated to the desert gate." Davison waved his arm at an ornate iron gate behind him that hung slightly ajar. "Without Stealthboys they will be killed by the white-eyed mutants."
"So without Stealthboys you are all trapped here as well." Valeria observed. She had no idea what Davison meant by "white-eyed mutants", but knew she had to focus her questions on more immediate concerns.
"Yes, that is why we are talking to the Mistress." Davison growled. Valeria risked a moment of silence as she tried to sort what she had learned. The mutants were all starting to shift and mutter to themselves when Valeria locked eyes with Davison.
"Was there a Nightkin in the crash where you found me?" She demanded.
"No, there was only you and the dead humans." Davison said shaking his head. "We took all the weapons we found and brought you here."
Valeria considered the possibility that Magog had survived, before asking the question weighing on her mind the most.
"The humans that killed Tabitha. Was there a ghoul with them?"
"All the humans wore armor." Davison snarled. "Only the one giving orders wasn't wearing a helmet, and he was no ghoul."
Valeria fought to suppress the despair that welled up within her. Davison could have described Colonel Royez, and Valeria knew that Dean and Veronica were on his Vertibird.
"Is there a crash near here?" She demanded.
"Yes." Davison replied with a nod.
"Take me there!" Valeria snapped as she scowled into Davison's small eyes. Davison glared back defiantly, then suddenly broke eye contact and looked away.
"This way." He grumbled before turning and lumber toward one of the side streets. As Valeria followed she saw the other mutants start to follow as well. Then she noticed that one was carrying a massive super-sledge that she immediately recognized as her own. Apparently it was one of the weapons Davison had mentioned. She briefly considered demanding its return, and then thought better of it. For the moment she had the grudging goodwill of Davison and his small force, but his sullen demeanor made her doubt the insane mutant would follow her orders for long.
Thunder rumbled overhead, drowning out the eerie singing echoing through the empty streets. The mutants shambled through the thickening red mist apparently oblivious to the ghostly singing. Valeria assumed their indifference was due to exposure and realized it was probably the constant singing that shaped Davison's delusion about the 'Mistress'.
Davison stopped under a dead tree and pointed toward a churning wall of red mist. The bulk of a crashed Vertibird rested on a pile of rubble and was partly obscured by the mist. Valeria nodded grimly and stepped toward the wreck. The reek of copper and sulfur was strong as she approached the fog, and Valeria recalled the smell lingering around the rocket at Furnace Creek. She took a deep breath before plunging into the cloud and climbing the pile of rubble.
Almost immediately her eyes began to burn and water as she ducked under the remains of a wing and peered through a rent in the hull into the almost intact passenger compartment. The mist hadn't completely filled the wreck, and the brief relief from the burning vapor gave Valeria a chance to scan the dim interior with her night-adjusted eyes. She could see no bodies from her vantage point so she turned to look for the hatch. The thick cloud made it almost impossible to see but she spotted the opening near the collapsed wall of one of the buildings. She began to cough uncontrollably as she climbed up to the hatch and pulled herself inside the wrecked aircraft.
Sparks were snapping and sizzling from the remains of the cockpit adding the reek of burning plastic and ozone to the sulfurous stench of the cloud. Valeria wiped her streaming eyes with her arm and covered her mouth as she searched the compartment for any sign of Veronica. There were none, and Valeria felt a small surge of hope that maybe her friend was still alive somewhere in the ruins. Valeria gritted her teeth against a wave of nausea as the poisonous vapor began to burn her skin. Valeria turned and staggered out of the wreck, seeking cleaner air somewhere in the ruined apartment building. Valeria was barely able to see a staircase leading down from a shattered living room and she leaped down the steps in a desperate attempt to escape the cloud. She stumbled on the loose rubble and almost fell out the open front door to the cobbled street. For a moment she heard nothing but the roaring of blood in her ears as she took huge shuddering breaths of untainted air. Then she heard a new voice growl.
"So this is your so-called mistress?"
Valeria looked up and saw the square was now filled with blue skinned mutants scowling and muttering at her as they gripped a motley assortment of weapons.
"She wears the face of the mistress." Davison said defensively to a giant mutant wearing a red tunic with a massive club of concrete and rebar steel slung on his back.
"So what?" The newcomer snarled. "The cloud has spread ever since the humans appeared with their Vertibirds. If we don't get out of the city we'll all choke to death!"
"The mistress says to begin again." Davison growled. "We follow her, not you Keene!"
"Follow her where?" Keene snarled as he narrowed his eyes in rage.
"To the beginning." Davison replied, shaking his head in confusion. "Back to the Mojave."
"The humans stand in the way." Keene snarled as he leaned down to glare into Davison's eyes. "Even if they weren't, you know what lies beyond them. How do you think we'll get past the Tunnelers without Stealthboys?"
"The old man promised us Stealthboys, but mistress says that he lied!" Davison protested.
"The human lied, as they all do." Keene growled. "But the Casino is our only chance now."
"No!" Davison bellowed. "Mistress says the old man has tricked you! The false master lied to lead us to our deaths!"
Keene sneered, then opened his mouth as if to reply, before suddenly driving his fist into Davison's face. Caught by surprise, Davison reeled back with a howl as blood flew from his shattered mouth. Keene tore his club from his back, and before Davison could act, brought it down on the mutant's head. As Davison fell with a shattered skull, the other mutants roared and bellowed as Keene's followers attacked the other mutants.
Valeria scrambled to her feet, as Keene whirled to face her.
"Now you die!" He roared as he charged with his rebar club raised for a killing blow.
Valeria knew there was no escape and with a scream launched herself at the huge mutant. Unable to check his swing, Keene smashed his club into the pavement as Valeria drove her shoulder into his abdomen. Off balance, Keene was hurled back into one of the stucco walls, shattering the yellow plaster as the shoulder spikes of Valeria's armor tore into his stomach. Keene bellowed with pain and fury as tried to seize Valeria's head as she ducked and wrenched her shoulder free with a shower of blood. Keene howled and swung a vicious backhand at Valeria as she tried to leap back, catching her under the arm and flinging her to the pavement.
For a second Valeria was stunned by the impact, and with a roar of triumph, Keene fell on her, clamping a huge hand on her armored neck as he drew fist back for a killing blow. With a scream of desperate fury, Valeria slammed her hands over Keene's ears and drove her clawed thumbs into his eyes. Blinded, Keene howled in agony as his blow shattered the street next to Valeria's head. Her eyes blazing, Valeria screamed as she shoved her thumbs through the mutant's eye sockets and into his brain. Valeria flung Keene's convulsing corpse from her and leaped to her feet. Her eyes were wild through the mask of Keene's blood as her mouth gaped and she shrieked a scream of raw fury.
The terrible sound slashed through the chaos of battle and froze the Nightkin in their tracks. They all turned, some with their weapons still raised as Valeria fell silent and stood bloodied and snarling, her eyes blazing with berserk wrath. Her bloody fingers were hooked like claws as she waited for the mutants to attack or flee. They did neither as one dropped to his knees, then another followed suit. Valeria glared uncomprehendingly as the mutants all kneeled before her, their weapons falling to the blood-slimed street as Vera's song echoed about them.