The Lilith's head came up and her luminous purple gaze peered directly into Mordecai's intense blue eyes.
"Still, you gave me aide when it meant certain death for your people," he continued softly. "I am honor-bound to give you aide this one time, in return. Come inside, quickly. I have managed to elude the Brotherhood this last time, but if they tracked you, . . ."
Nodding her understanding, the heavily cloaked Lilith stepped into the room. But, as Mordecai was about to close the door, she held out her hand to catch it before it began to swing shut.
"Please forgive me and my presumption, but I am not the only one of my people that seeks refuge within your walls," she husked. As Mordecai frowned, she turned to gesture just outside the doorway. A heartbeat later four more heavily cloaked forms appeared, almost scuttling along the hallway with obvious fear. One by one, the Lilith pulled them into Mordecai's room. Only when the last was inside, did she let him close the door.
As the Lilith assembled the other four, at first Mordecai suspected that she had brought some of the vampiric guards that had protected the nest, as protection for herself. But, as he noted the small, rather diminutive forms and a strong, spiced musk scent coming from them, not unlike night lilies and jasmine, he knew they were no guards.
"Breeders?" he hissed tightly. "You brought breeders into a psionic's refuge? Are you mad?"
"Desperate," the Lilith tiredly replied, turning away from her four companions to face the big psionic once more. "This is all that's left of the nest that you found downtown. All the others are dead, or captured by the Brotherhood. I had no choice, as a Lilith. I had to bring them along with me. It's in my blood."
"Huh," Mordecai grunted, unimpressed. Breeders fetched a high price by psionic bounty hunters; they were the underpinnings of any nest, the creatures that allowed the vampires to maintain their numbers through reproduction. Each breeder could generate perhaps ten spawn over her reproductive life cycle, with each of those growing into adult vampires capable of killing hundreds, if not thousands of humans over the course of their long life spans. The urge to burn them down where they stood was almost overwhelming!
But Mordecai's honor held him in cold chains of reason. As long as the Lilith was with them, they were safe. She had protected him and now, by force of honor, he would protect them. Still, he shook his head in wonder, letting a low sigh whistle out between his teeth.
"I may regret this for the rest of my life, but, . . . . you'll find safety within these walls."
Again the Lilith sagged with relief, knowing that she and the breeders had stood on the brink of a very deep precipice by coming for help to the most powerful hardwire on the planet. They had been snatched back from the edge by the barest of margins.
Turning away from the vampires, Mordecai recharged his psionic cortex. As he did, he glanced over at the Lilith.
"Before I do anything else, I must know. How the hell did you find me? The entire Brotherhood is bending every resource into locating me and, for the most part, failing. Yet here you are, knocking on my damn hotel room door as if it was the most natural thing."
The Lilith leveled that purple eyed gaze at him once more.
"Vampires are night creatures," she replied, the words coming slowly as if she was confessing an old secret. "As such, we have enhanced capabilities with sight and scent. As a Lilith, especially. I use pheromones to control, manipulate and coerce whenever possible, to the benefit of my people. Because of that capability, I also can track particular scents across great distances."
"Like mine," Mordecai said with a frown. While he could control his psionic traces, he couldn't necessarily control his bio-chemical ones. That certainly explained how, in some of the reports he had read, vampires were able to detect psionics in deep stealth. And how this Lilith managed to find him.
"Like yours," the Lilith confirmed. "It's not usual to have such a powerful psionic visit a vampire nest and not burn it to the ground. So I made a mental note of your scent, especially in light of your vow. That memory allowed me to track you across a city filled with Normals."
"Fantastic!" the man in black muttered with a frown. Then he was mentally shaking himself.
"You'll need UV shielding," he noted perfunctorily, using psyken to create a thin, but strong barrier in not only the windows, but also the room's very walls, effectively locking out any UV radiation that might injure the day-fragile vampires. He kept the flows tight and thin, to prevent any spill over that might harm the five night creatures as they watched him work in fascination.
A quick sweep with enhanced vision yielded that the shield was seamless after he completed it. He then began pulling open a subspace pocket where he kept extra gear.
"And you'll need something to protect you from psionic energy while you're hanging out with me."
"There's such a thing?" the Lilith asked softly, wanting to step forward in curiosity at seeing a hole appear in the middle of the air but holding back as she sensed psionic energies at work.
Mordecai chuckled softly at the wondering tone in her voice.
"Of course. We just didn't want the technology to fall into your hands, for obvious reasons." His fingers found what they were looking for and he drew back, a section of the material he used to make neuron armor in his hands. "It's called 'neuron armor' and it provides nearly flawless passive protection against psionic attack."
"A very handy material to have," the Lilith conceded, pausing to glance all around her. "Is, . . is it safe to remove these cloaks? They are extremely uncomfortable."
"If you're wondering if I've put the UV shielding in place, yes. And it's also without psionic energies incorporated into it, so it shouldn't be harmful to you and yours at all. You should be able to remove your cloaks without fear of injury." He looked down at the neuron armor material as he heard the soft rustle of clothing being removed.
"Besides, I'll need to get some sort of measurement on your bodies to fit you, . . ." He went on before he looked up.
Only to hear his voice fail in his throat as he found his eyes drinking in the sight of the Lilith standing naked in the center of the room. From head to toe, she had to be one of the most magnificent examples of the female form that he had ever seen. But, quickly considering what he was looking at, he didn't find it that difficult to push his natural desires into the back of his mind. Just in time as the Lilith slowly and sensuously slid her hand along her body, starting with the neatly trimmed pubic hair clustered at her sex, up her taut and sculpted belly, over her aggressively firm and large breasts to end sliding up her neck.
"Nice," he husked tightly before clearing his throat and deliberately looking away. "Paladin, scan the Lilith for her body measurements."
A line of blue light became visible, moving upwards from the Lilith's legs as it scanned over her body. She frowned and blinked rapidly as it went over her face before disappearing.
"Measurements made and calculated, Mordecai," the little A.I. reported. At his command, they were shown on the holographic display, it's appearance causing all five vampires to murmur softly in amazement.
"It would seem that you possess a high degree of technological advancement," the Lilith commented softly and Mordecai grunted noncommittally in reply, weaving a tight bundle of psyken together to do the alterations on the armored material to create the neuron armor fitted for the vampire queen.
Seeing that he wasn't going to comment on it further, the Lilith shrugged.
"By the way, my name is Aizea."
"Mordecai," the man in black muttered, holding up the completed armor as he waited for the last residues of the little psyken robot he had created to work, faded. "Here, it's done. Come close and I'll show you how to put it on."
With a nod, Aizea stepped close, a light smile dancing over her full lips as she felt the warmth of Mordecai's body brushing against her naked skin as he reached around her to put the armor on. The man in black, however, was deliberately oblivious to her obvious physical charms as he quickly worked.
"The armor functions by blocking any psionic energy from reaching the central nervous system," he explained as the armor fitted smoothly to the Lilith's body. "The seal is on the left side, the armor opening like a shell. I would recommend wearing it directly against your skin for maximum effectiveness."
Aizea nodded as he stepped back, twisting slightly as she tested the fit of the armor, now sheathing completely her upper body from neck to pubis. It fit her like a glove, the material as supple and smooth as finely tanned doeskin. As she moved, she could feel it shift to accommodate her, almost intelligently working to maintain its coverage of her body despite her twisting. She was, however, still naked from the waist down.
"And this will protect my brain as well?" she asked, running her hands over the smooth, black composite material.
"Only from indirect attack," Mordecai indicated. "It won't even protect me in the case of a direct attack. However, what protection it gives you now, will be sufficient to keep you safe around me, even if I have to use psionic energies relatively extensively." He turned to indicate the bathroom. "I've teleported some additional clothing into there, if you don't have anything to wear over the armor." He looked from Aizea to the four breeders. "Enough for all five of you, I believe. You may want to grab a shower as well."
"A shower?" Aizea's eyebrow rose at what she thought might be a slight. "Are you suggesting we smell?"
Mordecai's answering smile was faint. It was ironic that she would ask that in light of her earlier comment about their scent tracking capabilities. That was because, despite their blood hunger, he knew vampires as a people were almost fastidiously clean. To the point of being fanatical about it, as if they could psychologically distance themselves from the animalistic nature of their liquid diet.
"Not at all. Not to me, anyway. But I've recently learned that the Brotherhood's been employing werewolves as part of their tracking teams in the effort to find me. An hour beneath those cloaks would've been enough to produce a scent even the most inexperienced werewolf could track. And you've most likely been under them since the fall of the nest, several days ago." He looked down at Paladin. "Now, if you could have the breeders step forward so I can measure them for the armor, . . . .?"
A half-hour later found Mordecai frowned as he stared down at the updated map of the city. With the probes completing their latest scan with the parameter data that he had given them, it now was covered with several boldly colorful splotches which marked the locations the ESETs had been working at, including Samson's house.
Connecting the splotches of high activity were now spidery lines of light, the trace scans of the ESET members' individual signatures, outlining their movements over the last two or three hours. The man in black gnawed on the inside of his cheek as he followed the glowing green lines that stretched from Samson's house to a location downtown which glowed with minimal psionic energy. 'Quick Poison's bolt hole,' he silently marked the spot on his mental map. As good a place as any to start the search for Tabitha, whose pattern remained unaccounted for, even with the trace scans.
"That's quite the map," Aizea commented softly as she stepped from the bathroom, the sound of the shower still running inside telling the man in black that the breeders were now cycling through the water. The stunning Lilith had resheathed herself in the neuron armor then had pulled a tee shirt and shorts onto her body to cover the rest.
"It's a scan of the city, keyed to locate spots of intense psionic activity," Mordecai replied without looking up even as the Lilith stepped to his side, slowly drying her long hair with a towel.
"Looking for something in particular?" Aizea asked, leaning close enough for Mordecai to catch a whiff of her pheromones, her body working to replace the ones she had sluiced off in the shower. "Or just tracking the Brotherhood's movements?"
"A little of each, actually." Mordecai's frown tightened. "There was an attempt by one of the local nations to ask for my help against the Brotherhood which I turned down. They were subsequently attacked and destroyed by a team of destroyers."
"Psionics against psionics?" The Lilith was puzzled, a frown of her own dancing on her lips. "Is it akin to the clan warfare that we vampires sometimes engage in, over territory or resources?"
"Close. The Brotherhood is a very large organization, as you know, with an internal mandate that states they have dominion over all psionics. Those that don't join them voluntarily are destroyed."
"Barbaric," Aizea declared with a frown, shaking her head. Mordecai couldn't help but chuckle lightly. It was funny that a vampire, which sucked blood to stay alive, would call any other behavior barbaric.
"Maybe," he conceded with a smile as Aizea turned that frown onto him, likely wondering why he was laughing. "But that's not my concern right now. What I'm looking for is a possible survivor of that psi nation that got destroyed. If I can find her, I might be able to discover what happened to the Alliance."
"And perhaps assuage your guilt over not rendering them aide, when they asked it, yes?" Aizea commented as she drew back, a slight smile dancing about her lips.
Mordecai could only grimace. The Lilith was insightful, all right. His honor was begging to be satisfied. However, he got the feeling that it wouldn't have satisfaction until the Brotherhood was destroyed, completely!
Seeing Mordecai's expression, Aizea's smile grew.
"A psionic with honor," she said softly. "Will wonders never cease?"
That only earned her a hard look from the man in black. He turned away, abruptly standing.
"I need to go and take a look at several of the locations on the map, to see if my survivor has been there. That means, . . . ."
"That we'll be here all by ourselves." Aizea nodded her understanding, tossing the towel onto the bed as one of the breeders stepped from the bathroom, drying herself off. She was also dressed and armored.
"We need to regenerate anyway. We've been a number of days without rest."
"Food?" Mordecai asked, almost wondering if he wanted to hear the answer. "Do you need to take a trip to find a warm body?"
Aizea shook her head 'no'.
"While blood meals from a human render us the greatest benefit, we can subsist on the blood of lesser beings, if we have to. And we don't necessarily need it fresh either, although," she smiled tightly, "I prefer it that way."
"Ah." That was more information about vampires that Mordecai hadn't been aware of. The alliance, as tenuous as it might be, seemed to be yielding benefits already, if only in terms of information. With a thought, he tucked it away for safekeeping.
"Well, you might make use of what's in the fridge, then. It's not fresh, but it'll give you some strength."
Curiosity painted on her face, Aizea stepped to the little mini fridge sitting on the dresser as part of the room's complimentary wet bar. She looked over her shoulder at the man in black, standing with his arms crossed over his barrel chest, then pulled it open. And immediately smiled at what she found.
The tiny bottles of liquor and mixer that usually filled such a convenience had been removed, to be replaced by several bags of what appeared to be whole human blood, the official hospital seals still intact on their plastic faces. Each litre container was stacked neatly against its fellows, the fridge now holding what looked to be a good baker's dozen litres of the red life fluid.
"How did you, . . .?" Aizea looked over her shoulder in wonder at the big man, who now wore a slight smile of satisfaction.
"There's a Red Cross donors' clinic running at one of the local hospitals right now. I was able to obtain several litres of relatively fresh, whole blood, Type O positive and screened for Hep A, B & C as well as HIV for a, . . . 'sizeable' cash donation. I figured it might come in handy. And avoid having one of your little brood mares sink her teeth into my neck at an inopportune moment, resulting in her immediate death." He made a gesture with his head.
"They should be good for several days, if you keep them, . . . ."
"Refrigerated," Aizea finished the sentence for him, nodded her understanding. "Rest assured, we will do so. Such is the preciousness of this, that we will work to preserve it at all costs!" She turned with glistening eyes to the big psionic. "Again you've done us a great service, Mordecai." She began to step towards him, a bow wave of pheromones preceding her.
Quickly the man in black held up a forestalling hand.
"Forget about it. And if you have a kiss planned for me, save it. I've got to get going." He grabbed his jacket off the back of a nearby chair and shrugged it on as he began to step towards the door.
"Just keep your heads down and don't go looking for trouble. I should be back in a couple of hours!"
As soon as the hotel room was closed behind him, the very walls of the room now heavily warded, the man in black began pulling in enough energy to form a teleportal. No use in trying to hide his existence in the city. They knew he was there and he knew they knew. This time he wouldn't let Mindfire, or anybody else catch him unawares, even with something as inconspicuous as a psi virus. Which, Mordecai conceded with a grimace, was pretty damn clever, if he had to say so. If he had been only slightly less aware of what was going on, the ambush would have caught him completely by surprise.
The wards, of course, had the added benefit of protecting the vampires, which he had, oddly enough, taken under his wing. That caused another grimace to ripple across his face. A psionic protecting vampires? This damn change node was twisting accepted behavior so much, he wouldn't be surprised if the Lilith wanted to bed him next!
Pushing that, and all other thoughts out of his mind, Mordecai pulled open a teleportal with his will. And, with the familiar iris opening, he was gone.
Jumping quickly to the first location he thought was interesting on his map, a position in the northwest section of the city, the man in black made a quick telepathic sweep as he stood in the shadows of an alleyway. His eyes narrowed as he stared hard at the small block of condos in front of him. There: signatures of the other ESET, the Elementals, all over the place.
Forming a tight probe, shielded against ward detection as well as he could, Mordecai slid his heightened senses forward, penetrating the building with a thought as he followed the signatures' tracings inside. And almost immediately found himself looking into the kitchen of one of the condos, currently occupied by the six members of the Elementals ESET team.
Penetrating their simple wards, not set solidly probably due to the fact that they were unaware of his continued presence in the city, Mordecai tuned into their conversation. In doing so, he quickly discovered that they were, indeed, ignorant of his presence. Not only that, they also seemed to either be unaware, or uncaring of the Brotherhood's network getting destroyed.
It was enough to make him wonder about the ESET policy of non-communication. To be both unaware or uncaring of the Brotherhood's heavy losses in the city and the fomenting rebellion of the fifteen local nations was tantamount to gross negligence. In the least, it was going to get them very dead, if they weren't careful.
And, by all appearances, they were far from that. As the conversation became audible, the man in black quickly discovered that they were discussing their return to headquarters in Europe, their job of assisting Quick Poison in subsuming the Alliance almost complete with Samson's destruction at the hands of Quick Poison. Apparently they had been responsible for the cleanup of outlying Alliance elements.
There was so much useless blather beyond that point that Mordecai almost pulled his probe out, content with what he had learned. It was only when one of them, a hard mover by her signature, mentioned something about the capture of the nation's females that Mordecai found his attention jerked back to the conversation.
As he listened raptly, they disclosed the fact that all the breeding age females from the Alliance had been summarily rounded up and shipped back to Europe, destined for a breeding facility in France. That information made Mordecai's thoughts darken.
It appeared the Brotherhood had already implemented its breeding program to produce their psionic Super race, using captured females from subsumed nations as primary breeding stock. The realization knotted the man in black's stomach. That information wasn't included in the reports Samson had given him, which meant the Alliance's snoops weren't aware of it either; not a good thing to discover.
But, as Mordecai drew out his probe when he saw he wasn't going to discover any additional information of usefulness, he realized that one good thing had come of his eavesdropping. He now knew where Tabitha, if she had survived, was headed: for the mysterious French breeding facility. Now, all he had to do was find that and he was all set!
A second jump to the location of the second team, Quick Poison yielded that they were in much the same boat as the Elementals: preparing to return to Europe for a little rest and recreation before reassignment, now that their primary goal had been realized. Withdrawing his probe, Mordecai started walking down the street, shoulders hunched as his mind raced.
If the Brotherhood had put their breeding program into motion, that meant they felt pretty secure about their ability to launch the Armageddon Project without interference. Perhaps even considering what had happened to Preacher here, in Calgary. If anything, that might have urged the Brotherhood to greater speed in accomplishing the milestones as set out in the file he had downloaded from Constantine. And that translated directly towards the Brotherhood being even more prepared by the time the launch date rolled around, and able to withstand any disruption Mordecai and the lone gunmen may make.
'Which means I need to make another disruption immediately and soon!' he mused darkly as he continued striding along the street. 'Before the Brotherhood's infrastructure becomes too strong to attack!' A tight grin appeared on his face. 'And, by the looks of it, hitting their breeding facility will accomplish just that, as well as allow me to retrieve Tabitha in the meantime. Two times the hurt, which, I must admit, makes me kinda happy!'
****