Hunters in the Night (7 page)

“It’s
not for you,” Newton said. “It’s for me. I need as much data as we can get to
see if other nightcrafters differ from you.”

“And
how important is that, really? I mean, it seems like the map was the more
important thing for us to do. This nightcrafter hunting isn’t going to
accomplish much.”

“Maybe
not,” Newton said. “But Dominique has her teeth sunk deep into this. She lost a
friend that night she ran into you. She does not suffer injuries like that
lightly. And she’s also taking the opportunity to fill some more holes in the
old nightcrafter files. A lot of government big wigs want to see that happen.”

“How did you guys know about us anyway? Do I finally have
clearance to know that?”

“Surveillance cameras,” Newton said. “It started here in
Britain, with an influx of close-captioned cameras set up all over the cities.
There are millions of CCTV cameras in this country, and they’ve got their
electronic eyes watching every minute of every day. A handful of nightcrafter
incidents were bound to show up. It’s just simple probability.”

“There’s a spell to disable nearby cameras,” I said.
“It’s a basic spell, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of the less careful
nightcrafters don’t think about that.”

“It could be carelessness,” Newton said, “or apathy. Or
maybe arrogance. Either way, we’ve got video of some craaaaazy shit. Each NATO
member country in Rift range has a secret agreement to filter those recordings
out before the civilians post it up for the world to see. Pretty much all of
that filtering happens automatically. There’s a networked artificial
intelligence pattern recognition program that scans and cuts out everything
before human eyes get to see it. My predecessor wrote that code, actually.”

“And where is he now?” I asked. “Retired?”

“Dead,” Newton said. “Jumped off a bridge.”

“Oh,” I said. It was all I could think of.

“He was a troubled man,” Newton said. “Not me though. No
troubles here.” He smiled, and it was a genuine gesture. Newton is irreverent
as they come. I could see how that trait could come in handy in this job.

“Let’s
get back to the task at hand,” he said as he turned his attention back to the
sensor package and poked at a few loose wires. “What’s your nightcrafter
detection range?”

“I’m
not sure,” I said. “It’s probably good enough.
Probably
. But if they’re not using any magic, I won’t be able to
find them.”

“I
guess we’ll just have to hope somebody’s feeling frisky tonight,” Newton said.

“We’ll
see,” I said. “When do we start?”

“In
just a few minutes, if you’re up to it. I just need to finalize some settings
on the sensors.”

Newton
went back to his typing and I finished my hot chocolate. It was a simple drink,
but it had a dusting of cinnamon on top of the whipped cream. It was just like
my mom used to make for me during winter holidays. A sudden wave of
homesickness hit me. I could have pushed it aside, but I didn’t. I missed home.
I missed my parents. Thoughts of them were welcome, even if they were
bittersweet.

After
a few minutes, Newton jumped out of his chair and handed me a plain blue
baseball cap. “I don’t usually wear hats,” I said.

“You
do today,” he said. There’s a mini-camera in there with a wireless Internet
connection. Whatever you look at, I’ll look at.”

“Okay,”
I said. “Typical spy gear, I guess.”

“Remember
that we’re not supposed to engage anyone you find,” Newton said as he walked
over to a large case near the window. “We’re just here to observe, and
identify. I’ll also be visually monitoring the situation from up here.” He
opened the case and pulled out a fancy digital camera and a telephoto lens
longer than my forearm.

“Nice
gear,” I said. “Pricey, though. I assume the government paid for it.”

Newton
nodded and said, “Uncle Sam is the best sugar daddy there is.”

“Do
you know how to use that thing?”

“Photography
is one of my hobbies,” Newton said as he started setting up the camera and a
tripod. “A hobby that you and I share, I believe”

I
paused, and tried to remember if I’d ever mentioned that to him. “How did you
know about that?”

“It’s
in your file,” he said.

“Exactly
how much information is in this damn file? And why do you have access to it?”

“I’m
allowed that kind of clearance for all of my research subjects,” Newton said.

“Well
now I feel like I’m at a disadvantage,” I said. “When do I get to see yours?”

Newton
gave me a mischievous little grin.

“Your
file
, you perv. When do I get to see it?”

“You
probably have access to it now,” Newton said. “Team leaders always have
clearance to access the personnel files of their squad members.”

“Wait,”
I said. “So . . . I’m the team leader?”

“Technically,
yes. Dominique made it official this morning.”

“Why
didn’t anybody tell me this earlier?”

Newton
smiled. “I wanted to take one last opportunity to push your buttons before you
assumed command.”

“Payback
is a bitch, you know.”

“I
look forward to seeing what you come up with,” Newton said. “But right now, we
have a job to do.”

“Yes,”
I said. “Let’s get to it.”

Newton
took the sensor array, stuffed it into a simple off-the-rack backpack, and
pointed to the door. I got the hint and turned the doorknob, only to find
several large men waiting in the hallway outside. It was the field team, and
they were dressed like tourists.

“Where
are they going?” I asked.

“They’re
going with you,” Newton said.

“Oh
no they’re not,” I said. “I can’t do this job with a whole squad of armed goons
following me wherever I go.”

“Dominique
wants to keep an eye on you,” Newton said.

“Is
she afraid I’ll jump ship?”

“I
think she’s just trying to protect her investment,” Newton said.

“She
can protect her investment by not driving me crazy with a bunch of James Bond
wannabes breathing down my neck.” I turned back to them and said, “No offense,
guys.”

Newton
said, “I don’t have the authority to call them off, and neither do you.”

“Fine,”
I told him. Then I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Dominique’s direct line.
Dominique’s voice, laden with irritation, answered, “What?”

“Call
off the field team,” I said. “I need to do this by myself. All these people
will blow my cover.”

“We
need specialized information gathering,” Dominique said. “That’s what Newton is
there for. But we also need to keep you both safe. That is why the field team
is there.”

“I
can handle myself just fine,” I said. “We have to do this clean and simple.
Nightcrafters have skills you can’t even imagine, and the field team doesn’t
have the training for this kind of work. Adding more people to this is just
going to increase the likelihood that we get sniffed out.”

The
line went quiet, and after a few seconds of silence I was thinking that she had
hung up on me. Then she said, “Give the phone to Newton.”

I
handed the phone to Newton and he listened intently. He didn’t say a word for
several minutes, only muttering an occasional “mmhm” in agreement. Then he hung
up, shrugged, and turned to the field agents.

“You’re
all dismissed for now,” Newton said. “Stay ready, but stay out of Kal’s way
unless we call you.”

The
team members just nodded and left.

I
smiled. “Dominique decided I can do this on my own, eh?”

“Not
exactly,” Newton said as he started packing up his gear. “The field team is
dismissed, but I’ve been ordered to trail behind you while you investigate.”

“I
don’t need—”

“A
chaperone. I know,” Newton interjected. “But Dominique was very clear. We do
this together, or we both get in a heap of trouble.”

“Fine,”
I said. It pissed me off, but Newton’s company hadn’t been a bad thing so far,
and Dominique
had
compromised so I figured it was best not to push my
luck.

Newton
retrieved a pair of dark glasses from a case. They weren’t quite as dark as
sunglasses, but they did have a noticeable tint. “I’ll keep out of sight and
about fifty yards behind you. These glasses have a heads up display that will
show me the feed from your camera and sensor array. I’ll know where you are,
what you’re seeing, and what’s going on around you.”

“I’m
assuming you’ve gone through espionage training,” I said.

“I
did,” Newton said. “I have a lot more training than you, and I can handle
myself in the field. If there’s a weak
link here, it’s you and that little crash course they put you through. You’re
not going to get me killed, are you?”

“Don’t
worry,” I said. “If I do, I’ll just bring you back.”

Newton
paused, looked at me with wide eyes, and said, “You can do that?”

* * *

Once
Newton was ready and we both double-checked our gear, we went downstairs and
outside. The chilly night air sent a shiver through me. At least, I hoped it
was just the air, and not something else. I dipped into the Rift just a little
bit. There wasn’t anything strange going on, by Rift standards.

“Keep
in radio contact,” Newton said. “The camera in your hat also has a microphone
that will pick up everything you say, and it’s sensitive so you can just mutter
to yourself and I’ll hear you. Remember that I’ll be monitoring audio, video,
and sensor readings. At the first sign of trouble, I’m calling in the cavalry.”

“Sure
thing,” I said. I didn’t tell him that the “cavalry” was most likely going to
be very ineffective against experienced nightcrafters, and that I had no
intention of getting any other NATO people involved with this. I didn’t want
anybody’s death on my hands.

Newton
gave me a nod and I knew it was all up to me now. I pulled up my collar and
walked at a brisk pace. This town was pretty normal at sunset. It was a
Saturday so there was no commuter traffic and the streets and sidewalks were
occupied by casual people trying to make the most of a weekend. There weren’t
many tourists, from what I could tell. Locals act differently than visitors.
Tourists don’t walk with practiced certainty, and they look at signs and
landmarks a lot. But these people all looked like locals heading to familiar
places and doing familiar things. I did my best to act the same way.

The
people here were happy and in no particular rush. It was a lot different than
New York City. It was nice, actually. Pretending to be a resident of this cozy
little town was fun.

Then
I felt the presence of another nightcrafter.

It
was a jolting feeling. Hard to describe, but almost like floating in a tranquil
sea and then being hit by a crashing wave that came out of nowhere. Honestly,
I’d been hoping that I wouldn’t find anybody on this trip. Now I’d actually
have to do some work.

“Got
a hit,” I said, quietly.

“Where?”
Newton said.

“Not
sure yet. I’m going to feel him out.”

“Sensors
aren’t picking up anything,” Newton said.

“Not
surprising,” I said. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”

I
walked in the direction of the waves of Rift power coming at me. I held back
from casting any magic myself and just passively let the signs come to me. I
strolled around somewhat aimlessly, just letting instinct and intuition guide
me. Newton followed me dutifully, but not so close as to make it obvious that
he was on my tail. This went on for fifteen minutes before I found my prey
standing outside a short brick building.

He
was a wide man with freckles and bulging biceps that could be seen even through
his sweater. He had a smarmy face, a cobra tattoo on his neck, and he was making
big waves in the Rift. It was like he was the center of a swirling whirlpool
drawing everything towards him whether it wanted to come along or not. He was
talking to a slender young woman who appeared completely oblivious to the spell
he was working on her.

“That
guy,” I said. “The redhead talking to the brunette.”

“Him?”
Newton said. “Really? He looks like a bartender, not a wizard.”

“Nightcrafters
come in all shapes and sizes.”

“Are
you sure?” Newton asked.

“I
am sure.”

“How?”

“Just
trust me on this,” I told him. I kept my eye on the nightcrafter while I
examined his surroundings a little more. Then I realized he was standing in
front of a small bar. Maybe he actually was a bartender.

Through
the Rift I could feel him drawing the power of the darkness to himself. He was
making no efforts at moderation, even though the spell he was casting didn’t
require anywhere near that much power. It only took me a couple of seconds to
realize what he was doing, and I immediately disliked this dude.

Newton’s
voice, a near whisper, said, “So is the bartender using magic right now?”

“Yes.
He’s using it on the girl he’s talking to.”

“Hypnosis?”
Newton asked.

“No,
something else. He’s using the darkness in her underwear to . . . uh . . .
stimulate certain things.”

Newton
made a gagging sound. “That is gross and creepy.”

“Agreed,”
I said. “But it seems to have worked. Looks like they’re exchanging phone
numbers.”

“Great,”
Newton said, his voice registering sudden excitement. “See if you can get a
good angle on her phone. I might be able to see this guy’s number. Then we can
identify him much faster.”

I
moved to my left a little bit and tilted my head down to let the hat-cam get a
good straight shot. “How’s the low light capture on this camera?”

“Best
in the world,” Newton said, “and it has a very good optical zoom. I’m looking
at our bartender’s phone number right now.”