Into the Void (The Godhunter, Book 10) (22 page)

“
They've been paid,” Torrent announced as he entered the new and improved common room.

The space was much larger now, on the second floor instead of ground level, and was on the opposite side of the palace from where it had been, so that it overlooked the training field. There was a wide balcony down the length of it, with two doors to access it, and several comfortable seating arrangements. Inside, the room was paneled in a golden wood and had not only the old pool tables and entertainment units but a full bar, card tables, dart boards, an air hockey table, and(against my better judgment) a Dance Dance Revolution full size arcade game. The lions loved it... sigh. I was going to put in computer terminals too but figured that all that noise would be too annoying to someone online and so I put the computers in the library sitting room, gasp.

“Who's been paid?” I tore my eyes from Aidan, who I was watching with morbid fascination as he danced away to the arrows provided. And I use the word
dance
loosely.

“
That zombie making group, Cross Fire,” Torrent plopped into the seat beside me. “I've been monitoring that account like you asked and they've just received the money.”

“
And still no leads on who owns the account?”

“
No, even though they had the safety of a numbered account, they took great pains to set up an identity that passed most thorough inspections but is truly false. There is no Theresa Lisbon.”

“
Man, why does that name sound so familiar to me?” I chewed my lip. “I could swear I know it, I've heard it someplace.”

“
Because it's the name of that cop on
The Mentalist
,” Aidan shouted over his shoulder as he continued to leap about the platform.

“
Holy shit,” I sat up straight, “he's right. Lisbon, that's what Jane is always calling her.”

“
Didn't that guy who plays Jane also star in a zombie movie?” Aidan asked.

“
Yeah,
Land of the Dead
,” I nodded. “It was pretty good too. That's a strange coincidence.”

“
So we're looking for a goddess who enjoys
The Mentalist
,” Torrent mused.

“
Or a god who enjoys dressing in drag and has a crush on Simon Baker,” I slid my eyes away guiltily. “Because you know, he's kinda dreamy.”

“
Gods in drag or Simon Baker?” Torrent sounded truly confused.

Aidan burst into laughter so violent that he ended up falling off the dancing platform.

“Shut up, Aidan,” I growled and then looked back at Torr. “Simon Baker, the guy who plays the main character. He's very attractive.”

“
Oh,” Torr nodded, “Okay. So anyway, I have no idea who this Theresa Lisbon is but once she accesses her account, I'll have another trail to follow. It's just a matter of time before I can locate her or
shim
.”

Aidan started with the laughter again, rolling on the floor and holding his belly.

“You know what?” I looked over at Torrent. “I've got an idea, there might be a way of finding them without me knowing where they are.”

“
Are you going to tell me how?”

“
Not yet,” I frowned at Aidan. “Let me give it a try first and I'll let you know how it goes.” I got up to leave but then turned back around. “If he's still like that in fifteen minutes,” I pointed to Aidan. “Hose him down with the seltzer bottle behind the bar.”

“
Hey!” Aidan stopped laughing, just as I predicted, and I smirked at him as I left. “You're a vicious woman with strange seltzer predilections!”

I went through the whole training exercise with Mrs. E first, then asked her to watch over my body as I tried it on my own. She agreed immediately, wanting to see if she could pick up any more tips during my session.

I went easily through the steps, teaching them to Mrs. E. had given me an even better grasp on them. Then, when I came to the part where I reached for the gold cord, I kept going. The vibrations became a humming in my head and I was dizzy for a second. I had to stop and just hold onto the cord. Then the dizziness subsided and I pushed on. I pulled myself completely out of my body and up the cord, hand by hand. There was a popping feeling, like opening a jar, and then I was free. The cord was still there but I didn't need it anymore. I looked down and saw my body, a very strange experience, even for me.

It was disorientating and disturbing. I had a brief moment of panic that I wouldn't be able to get back inside myself, and then I calmed down and let go of the fear. I had to do this, for even more reasons than I had originally. Mrs. E was seated calmly beside me and when I focused on her, she turned slowly and looked up at me. Not directly into my eyes but in my general area. If I'd still been in my body, I would have shivered. It was a bit creepy but then she smiled and I waved at her. She didn't see it of course but maybe she felt it.

Then I focused on where I wanted to be. Cross Fire, I wanted to be where Cross Fire held their meetings. I saw the email in my head and thought about the zombie virus. It seemed to be enough because suddenly, my astral body was pulled away swiftly. I lifted out of the palace and saw my territory from a bird's eye view for the first time. It was beautiful and I wondered why I'd never gone up before. I'd flown in Heaven but never in my own territory. I vowed to go for a flight when I got back. It would help me plan where I was going to put Trevor's valley.

Then I was gone, pulled downward very fast, and I realized that I was traveling through the Aether. It zipped by quickly though and I came out in a small room filled with people. There weren't a lot of people, only about twenty-five or so, but it seemed like more because they filled the room. They were all seated on folding chairs, facing a dry erase board mounted on the wall in front of them. A woman was standing before it and I knew she was a goddess but she was wearing a glamor and I couldn't see past it. It blurred with a shimmer around the edges but I couldn't make out her true face.

“
With this money,” she was saying, “we can buy a better facility and the ingredients to make the amounts of the virus we'll need. I expect that we'll be ready within two months to hit Washington DC.”

“
And the underground bunkers?” A man asked.

“
They'll be built with the lab,” the leader nodded. “So that everything will be prepared by the time the virus is ready.”

“
So soon?” A woman in a lab coat asked. “We'll have all the supplies stocked and gardens planted by then?”

“
They'll be enough foodstuffs to last five years,” the leader explained. “We can start the gardens for fresh food and they'll be producing by the end of the year but if we're desperate enough, we can go out into the world within a few months. Everyone should be dead by then. As you know, the reanimation only lasts a month. The gardens are really superfluous.”

“
Oh, right,” the woman settled down.

“
As far as the DC operation goes,” another man in the front row started. “Are you sure it's best to drop patient zero right in front of the White House? There's so much security there, he could be shot down quickly.”

“
Not right there on the sidewalk there isn't,” she scoffed. “He'll simply draw a crowd and even if he gets shot, he'll be up again in moments and the virus will be spreading all the faster for it.”

“
Excellent,” another woman nodded.

“
And if something goes wrong?” A guy further back asked.

“
We meet at the new facility and regroup.” The lady up front nodded. “Now, let's meet back here again in four days at two o-clock in the afternoon. I should have the new location by then and I can give everyone an update.”

I'd seen enough, I let myself be pulled back to my body, noting the location of the building they were meeting in as I floated away. It was a much faster trip home than the one out had been. In moments I was hovering over myself again, next to the golden cord. This time I used it to steady myself as I laid back down into my body. The vibrations hit immediately but I controlled them until they died down to nothing and I was able to open my eyes.

“It worked,” I said to Mrs. E. “But I've got some bad news.”

Before I could tell Mrs. E any more, Kirill came rushing into the bedroom, looking distressed.

“Kanaloa just traced in,” Kirill announced.

I jumped up and we all took the elevator down to the ground floor. We now had an honest to god(insert laugh) tracing room instead of just a wall. It was small but it didn't need to be big, and it was just to the right of the front door. Which is where we found Kanaloa waiting.

“What is it?” I went straight over to him.

“
The merfolk have taken matters into their own hands,” Kanaloa sighed. “They're destroying any sonar equipment that gets lowered into the water.”

“
Oh,” I deflated with relief. “That doesn't seem so bad. It sounds to me like they have every right to defend themselves and they're doing it without causing injury to anything living.”

“
Yes but what happens when the military can't explain how every single piece of their sonar equipment gets destroyed after it's lowered into the water?” Kanaloa looked ready to explode.

“
Oh, I see your point,” I grimaced. “They'll go into the water to find out what's up.”

“
And when they find nothing?” Kanaloa prompted.

“
I don't know,” I shrugged. “They may just keep searching. They'll probably think it's the work of enemies or radical anti-military groups.”

“
They'll search the water until they find the merfolk and then they'll destroy them. Or worse, the merfolk will openly attack them and then the merfolk will be annihilated.”

“
Kanaloa, please take a breath,” I laid a hand on his tense shoulder and he shrugged me off angrily. “Isn't this exactly what you were planning on doing yourself? Destroying the sonar?”

“
Yes but I was doing it in ways that made it seem like the equipment had just hit the reef or something natural like that. I wasn't going to destroy them all either,” Kanaloa huffed. “The merfolk aren't being so subtle.”

“
They've gone undiscovered for all this time,” I tried to reassure him. “They can go deeper into the ocean than humans can, even with submarines, and they're fast. If they don't want to be found, they won't. Give them a little credit.”

“
I love them, Vervain,” he sighed and seemed to lose steam. “These are my adopted people. They're good, innocent even, and the thought of them having to go to war with humans makes me sick. They wouldn't stand a chance. Guns against primitive spears? They'll be wiped out.”

“
No they won't,” I said calmly. “The ocean covers more area on Earth than land does. They have much more space to disappear into than humans have the means to pursue them through. It will be okay, I promise you. We'll do everything we can for them.”

“
Do you know anything yet?”

“
Just that Jerry isn't behind it but he won't stop it either,” I frowned. “He just doesn't care. So it's the angels beneath him, at least one archangel and that's Gabriel but other than that, we don't know yet. Luke is supposed to be delving further into it but if he can't find anything, I will personally deal with Gabriel, okay? We can at least start with him.”

“
Okay,” Kanaloa took a breath.

“
How about a drink?”

“
Yeah,” he gave me a small grin. “I think I could use one.”

“
I think we all could use one,” I sighed.