Karrde walked up to the door and hit the buzzer. Without a word, the door swung open and a fluorescent light came on, showing another anonymous hallway.
Vampires and their abandoned warehouses, he thought as he went in.
When he reached the end of the hall, though, he found a scene that was anything but abandoned.
Computer monitors, televisions, oscilloscopes, weapons, vehicles, mechanics tools, and three sharp-looking Humvees filled the space. Seated at one of the work benches was a hulking man, hunched over and working on a very small circuit board.
"Come in," he said without looking up, "but don't touch anything. I'll be will you in just a minute."
Karrde walked around a little bit, looking at this and that. The trucks were modified military vehicles, armored with the distinctive sloped back end, not custom commercial versions. They were rigged with full communications arrays, including radio, satellite phones, computers with wireless connections. They also had silver-edged blades on the bumpers. Oh, it was powder-coated to match the flat-black bumpers, but Karrde could tell silver, and he wasn't going to touch it to confirm his suspicion.
He was fascinated by the weapons locker area. You name it, it was there: Blades, handguns, rifles, shotguns, and several things that Karrde wasn't even sure of. There was one, item, though….
"Is that a Grand Klaive?" he asked, stunned. Klaives, like the one he had, were those rare Garou-sized knives made of silver with one purpose: to kill other Garou. A Grand Klaive was the same, but scaled up to sword size.
"Yup. Took it off a 'wolf that tried to take me out down in Albuquerque."
The man – vampire, Karrde noticed now that he was closer – was right behind him. Even with his trained senses, Karrde never knew he was there. All the more surprising was that the man was even bigger than he'd originally thought.
"You hunt Garou?" Karrde asked.
"Nah, I don't hunt much of anything. I'm an information junkie. This guy just didn't want to leave me alone." A shrug dismissed the fact that this guy had taken down a well-trained – as the Grand Klaive attested – Garou simply because he was annoyed. Karrde's assessment of the man raised by several points.
"So, Joe tells me you need some gear to go after some assholes down in the Loo?"
"Joe? Oh, you mean Joseph. I didn't think anyone would be that causal with their Prince."
"Me and Joe go back a ways. Boring story, but yeah, I still call him Joe, and he still calls me for the cases he needs help with. He gave me the run-down. Vamps and Garou, working together to nab your wife? That's just bizarre. Almost as crazy as a vamp and mutt being married."
"So you know who I am?"
"More what than who, but yeah. Just so we're even, I'm Danny Weber, Brujah. Don't sweat it. You don't try and take my head, I won't show you my silver collection. C'mon, I've got a truck loaded for ya. Joe said to give you what you need, here it is."
Danny led Mike to the third truck in the line. Painted is a semi-gloss black with flat black wheels and bumpers, it was a monster. It had the same plated silver blade sticking out from the bottom of the bumper.
"The bumper is at about knee level on a crinos, just below the waste on a homid form. The window are specially tinted to avoid the UV problems, so whenever you get your woman out, whatever time of day, get her in here and she'll be good. Hell, bring her home at noon, she can enjoy a day out for a change. Full comms, wireless internet, GPS positioning, hands-free cellphones. Full-on military computer access if you need that. Here, around back in the trunk area, I've loaded you with two shotguns, one with Dragon's Breath rounds, one with silver buck shot. Two Glocks in 10mm, loaded with silver rounds for every third shot. Anything else you need, I'm sure you can supply yourself. There's also a cooler in the back seat with four pints of good old A-Positive. If she's hurt, you may need it."
"What do I owe you for all this," Karrde asked. He had ample funds for several lifetimes, so that wasn't an issue.
"Nothing. My orders from upstairs are to give you what you need to show that, quote, 'Riverton is not a free-fire zone for anyone to run amok in.' I don't think Oberlin's very happy about vamps coming in and causing grief." Danny handed the keys over. "He did ask me to remind you to come back by the club before you get on the road. Good luck, kid. If ya need a hand, call me."
"Thanks, Danny. I'll treat her nice."
Karrde felt the rumble of the motor when he started it up. Pulling out of the garage, he drove back into town. This warehouse was out in the middle of farm country, so it was a trip all the way through town to get back to the Prince's club.
The town was mostly empty, not surprising since it was past midnight. There were a few folks still out, but the streets were clear. Karrde was alone with his thoughts as he drove, and that wasn't good. The more time he had to think, the more his anger built on itself.
Pulling back into the lot for the club, Karrde locked the truck and walked back into the club. Unlike the rest of the town, the Riverwatch was still packed to capacity. Karrde didn't wait for an escort as he made his way back to third floor, and, surprisingly, no one tried to stop him.
Oberlin was just hanging up the phone when Karrde walked into the office.
"St. Louis is run by a Gangrel named Erik Geier," the Prince started without preamble. "His official title is 'Arch Prince,' a joke from a couple of decades ago under a different Prince, but the title stuck. I just got off the phone with him, and he doesn't have any idea what's going on."
"Do you believe him," Karrde asked.
"Yeah. Erik hates the job. Gangrel can't stand being tied down that long, but he made a commitment when he led a revolt against the last Prince, a Tremere. That guy was running the city into the ground. Erik promised to straighten things up if he could get some support to take the other guy down. Anyway, yeah, I believe him because he's trying to make St. Louis respectable to Kindred again. This would certainly not be the way to do that."
"Ok, then. Does he know I'm coming? I don't want to have any surprises when I get there, and I surely don't want them thinking I'm coming to start a war."
"No, the exact opposite, in fact. Being a Gangrel, Geier actually has a lot of respect for Garou. Feels something like a kinship with them. He's offered you the use of his personal apartment for however long you need to be in town. I would recommend, however, that you get there after dark, otherwise you might be waiting outside for a while."
"I understand. Thank you, sir."
"Karrde, you and your wife helped me keep this seat, and I don't forget things like that. If there's anything else, I'm at your disposal in this."
Karrde shook the Prince's hand and left. He hadn't thought about the Sabbat incursion into Riverton for years, but it was personal survival. If Oberlin wanted to be grateful, though, who was Karrde to argue?
He got back into the truck and headed for the highway.
It was time to start the hunt for real.