ONSET: Blood of the Innocent by Glynn Stewart

Author:Glynn Stewart
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Publisher: Faolan's Pen Publishing Inc
Published: 2017-07-25T06:00:00+00:00

20

The number of silver oak leaf lapel pins lurking outside the briefing room the next morning was a surprise to David. Despite the alliance between Omicron and the Elfin—officially, the deputization of their Elfin Warrior paramilitaries as US law enforcement agents—few members of the Tolkien-obsessed supernatural social club were ever allowed on the Campus.

“David! Get over here,” a familiar voice barked, and the pieces fell into place.

Elfin Lord Jamie Riley, the Lord General of the Elfin Warriors and arguably one of the two or three most powerful people in the somewhat disorganized Elfin leadership, was a slim older man with short-cropped black hair.

He also had standing authorization to be on the Campus.

“What’s going on, Lord Riley?” David asked as he approached the Elfin Lord, nodding to several of the Elfin he knew, including Klein, who stood just behind his commander.

“David, by now you can call me Jamie,” Riley told him crossly. “If nothing else, I’m the reason you still have a damn arm, aren’t I?”

“Fair enough…Jamie,” the ONSET Commander allowed, carefully ignoring the visible wince from Riley’s bodyguard. “My question still stands.”

“Ardent called me in,” the Elfin answered. “He wanted us to validate what we could of what appears to be the intelligence windfall of the century—a windfall I understand we have you to thank for.”

“And Majestic,” David demurred. “She put us in contact with the Tahoe Oracle, which was a…different experience.”

Riley shivered.

“I’ve met its projections once,” he said quietly. “The price is always worth it, but damn if talking to a construct with a personality all its own doesn’t throw me off. Mordo onna, mal saira.”

David shook his head.

“I don’t speak Quenya,” he reminded the Elfin Lord.

“The Oracle is strange but wise,” Riley translated. “There’s much in that data dump I can’t confirm, David. Ancient history, far beyond the reach of my network. But…”

“But?”

“The Mountain exists,” he said flatly. “We know that. We know it has a guardian of immense power, which matches the Arbiter’s description. I think we’ve validated enough of the Oracle’s information, and the Oracle is a reliable-enough source in my experience, for you to launch an operation.”

“It’ll be Ardent’s call,” David replied. “But even if we aren’t certain, we can’t pass up even the chance that it’s accurate.”

“I’ll make what arguments I can,” Riley promised. “But this is your territory, David, not mine. I can’t push Ardent at all.”

“I know,” David conceded. What influence the Elfin Lord had needed to be preserved for keeping ONSET from abusing his people. Such abuse wasn’t likely, but…there was something about Colonel Kyle Ardent that made anyone with the Sight uncomfortable.

“Seems easy enough, though,” Klein pointed out, interjecting himself into the conversation. “We go to this Mountain, blow in the doors, kill all the vampires. What’s the difficulty?”

David smiled grimly.

“The difficulty, Klein, is that we’re cops. And, so far as I can tell, the vampires in that facility aren’t actually guilty of anything.”

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