No Such Thing As Werewolves (37 page)

“Thanks, David. I appreciate you covering for me. Has any one asked why I wasn’t there today?” his host asked. He paused for a moment as he listened to the response. “Hey, are you following the data we’ve been tracking on that sun spot?”

There was another pause. Ahiga could hear a voice on the other end of the speaking device, but couldn’t make out the words.

“I’ve been a little busy,” Trevor replied. The lack of context was maddening. Another pause.

“Yeah, well they’re going to want to make time for this. If this thing keeps growing, it could release a CME bigger than the Carrington Event. That could do catastrophic damage to the world’s power grid,” Trevor said, tone somber. Ahiga was pleased that the unblooded seemed to understand the magnitude of what was to come. A part of it at least. “Have you notified the Director?”

“Are you kidding?” The voice on the other end said, finally loud enough for Ahiga to make out words. “The Director doesn’t take calls from me. I’m just your sidekick. You want to notify the guy? You’re going to have to call him yourself.”

Ahiga left his perch, circling the house until he was near one of the other heartbeats. It was low and strong, familiar. There. Blair stood in the backyard, eyes closed, presumably so he could focus on his hearing. He was studying his surroundings but had not yet found Ahiga. The whelp was learning in spite of himself. Ahiga could not help but revel in the sight. It was a tiny ember of hope, but it was more than he’d had just moments ago.

He retreated back up the hillside, loping on four legs at a ground-eating pace he could maintain for hours. Soon it would be time to present himself, but first Blair and his pack must have the time to discover the truth. Only then could Ahiga hope to sway them to his cause.

Chapter 51- Sorry

Blair inhaled deeply, eyes closing as he savored the nectar of the gods—coffee. He opened them, sipping at the scalding liquid as footsteps padded into the kitchen behind him. The first hint of sunrise touched the eastern horizon, almost banishing the horrors of the night before.

“So, uh, sorry for ripping out your throat,” Liz said, rubbing at sleep-tousled hair as she entered the kitchen from the hallway that led back to the bedrooms. She didn’t meet Blair’s gaze.

She wore a thick white bathrobe that fell to her ankles. Trevor had supplied one for Blair as well, and the warm fluffy fleece was heavenly. He took another sip of his coffee as he considered a response. The rational world had died back in Peru. How screwed up was it when getting your arms pulled out of your sockets was like the third most notable thing that had happened to you on a given evening?

“Now, that’s not something you hear every day. I’m sorry I put a bag over your head and tackled you into a wall,” Blair replied, lowering his mug and shooting her a grin.
 

“I’m
not
sorry for shooting you in the face,” Trevor said, expression deadpan. Until Liz smiled, Blair didn’t understand he was joking. Trevor stood at the stove, frying up some scrambled eggs in a huge cast-iron skillet. “I mean, you did tear apart my garage, and it’s going to take the next few weeks to fix the holes you put in my ceiling.”

“Trevor, I don’t even know what to say…” Liz said, trailing off as she stared up at the wide furrow in the dining room ceiling. Bits of plaster still dusted the carpet, the trail leading into the kitchen where they stood.
 

“I’m totally telling Mom,” he said, but his lips quivered at the edge of a smile. He removed his glasses to clean them on the SDSU T-shirt he’d emerged with just after Blair had awoken. “You’re going to be grounded for weeks, and don’t think that ‘but I’m a werewolf’ thing is going to hold any weight with Mom.”

“I take it back. I’m not sorry for tearing your house apart,” Liz said, grabbing a blue mug from the cabinet and pouring some coffee. She took a moment to slug Trevor in the shoulder before adding sugar. “All joking aside, I have got to find a way to control this.”

“You will. Blair has, if what I saw last night is any indication,” Trevor said, turning the gas off and ladling the eggs into a large bowl. He had already set out orange juice and toast. “It’s just going to take some study. All three of us are scientists, well two of us, anyway. I think your belief in woo woo disqualifies you, Liz. You’re one of those hippie liberal arts scientists.” Trevor grinned, setting the bowl of eggs on the table and sliding into one of the blocky chairs.
 

“Environmental conservation is a real degree,” Liz growled, though with no real heat. She took the chair to Trevor’s right, folding her legs underneath her as she ladled some eggs onto her plate. “Listen, I know this is a lot to take on. We didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Liz, you’re family. Even if you weren’t, this is bigger than you,” Trevor said, setting a piece of toast on the edge of his plate. “These attacks are spreading fast. Faster than anything we’ve ever seen. They’re all over South and Central America, and there’ve been a few incidents in Los Angeles too. If we can’t get a handle on this, the human race is in real trouble. Do you remember when we were kids and we talked about the
Aliens
movie? What would happen if one of those things got loose down here? Liz, this is the same thing. It’s already out of control, and given what I saw last night, there’s no way even the military is going to be able to contain this.”

“I think it’s even worse that that,” Blair said. He set his fork down meticulously and then folded his hands in his lap. “We were stalked by a werewolf that came out of the pyramid. He claimed to be inside the whole time that thing was buried, and from what I’ve seen I believe it’s true. He claims some sort of ancient enemy is coming. That we’re all in terrible danger. He says werewolves were created to serve as champions. So even if we do manage to contain this, there’s something worse coming.”

“Something worse?” Trevor asked. He took a liberal swallow of his juice. Blair didn’t know the guy well, but considering the subject, he seemed far too calm.

“Yes,” Liz interjected. She rested her elbows on the table, gesturing at Trevor with her fork. “We don’t know what, exactly. This werewolf claimed that the HIV virus was the key. He says it’s not new. He says it existed thousands of years ago. Many thousands, apparently.”

“If HIV is so ancient, why did we just discover it a few decades ago? Wouldn’t it have been there all along?” Trevor asked. He dabbed at his goatee with a napkin, a bit of egg spoiling his serious demeanor.
 

“That’s something you might be qualified to answer, actually,” Blair said, wolfing down a mouthful of eggs. They were hot but incredibly good. “Ahiga, that’s the old man, claimed that the virus thrives on sunlight. He compared it to plants. He says that we’ve entered a new age and that the sun is changing. He also said that a more massive change is coming soon. That we’re running out of time.”

“Shit,” Trevor said, setting his fork down. The blood had drained from his face.

“What is it?” Liz asked, laying a concerned hand on his forearm. Blair went cold. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what came next.

“Well, he’s definitely right about the sun changing. We’ve seen more activity in the last six months than in the previous two years. And the previous two years were more active than the previous ten. About six weeks ago a sunspot began developing. Normally they blow after a few days, maybe a week. This one is still growing,” Trevor explained, leaning back in his chair. “If this Ahiga is right, he could be talking about a coronal mass ejection far, far worse than the one back in 1989. If that’s the case, our power grid will be in shambles. It would be the perfect time for this ancient enemy to make an appearance. Or for an ever-growing army of werewolves to spread across the globe.”

“So if that’s the case, what can we do about it?” Blair asked, setting his fork down. He’d lost his appetite. “Is there a government agency we can warn or some emergency backup plan we can get them to activate?”

“Sort of. I can try contacting the agency I report to, warning them about what’s coming,” Trevor said, finishing his juice. He set down the empty glass, and he shuffled eggs across his plate. “The government definitely won’t listen. The group I’m a part of monitors CMEs, but we don’t have a plan in place for a massive event. Even if I did, we don’t have hard data to show them. Getting it is a serious problem just due to the nature of CMEs. They come in two parts. The first wave will hit earth about eight minutes after it leaves the sun. The second wave, the dangerous part, will arrive two to three days later. No one in the government will take a warning seriously until we see the first part. The best I can do is monitor for that.”

“The whole HIV thing will sound even more far-fetched,” Liz said, leaning back in her chair as she brushed a lock of hair from her face. “Those poor people have been persecuted for decades. Even if Ahiga is right, we have no proof. It will just sound like another unjustified rant from the religious right.”

Everyone was silent as they considered the implications. They knew what was going to happen but couldn’t convince anyone of the truth.

“So what
can
we do?” Blair finally asked.

“Hmm,” Trevor said. His face lit up a moment later. “Technically, I work for the government, but most of our budget comes from a grant from a private corporation. The government won’t listen, but they might. They make power substations. If there’s even a chance that a lot of their assets will be damaged, they will definitely want to know about it.”

“Until then we can try to determine if this werewolf thing is viral. Maybe understanding it will help stop it,” Liz said, nibbling on a piece of bacon. “That’s something people will listen to. Every government in the western hemisphere must be panicked about the attacks. If we can offer help understanding the cause, at least some of them have to listen.”

“After breakfast we’ll get cleaned up and head into town to get you some clothes,” Trevor said, picking up his plate and bringing it to the sink. “In the meantime I’ll call my friend Erik. I’ll see if he can overnight one of those CellScopes his startup makes so we can do some blood work. He works with a network of doctors, so if we upload the data Erik can probably have it analyzed pretty quickly.”

“All of that’s helpful, but we still need to decide on a long-term plan,” Blair said, wiping his mouth with a napkin and dropping the crumpled ball onto his plate. He couldn’t believe he was about to say this, “I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I think we need to return to Peru. Every answer we need is in that pyramid. Maybe even a way to stop the werewolves
and
this ancient enemy.”

“That place is still a death trap,” Liz said, standing to bring her plate to the sink where Trevor had begun washing dishes. “We’d still have to deal with Mohn.”

“I know,” Blair said, bringing his own plate. “But it’s the last thing they’d expect, right? We’ll have surprise on our side, plus the use of the new abilities we’ve been learning. Ahiga will help too, if we can find him.”

“You two want to go up against a fortified Mohn installation?” Trevor asked, shutting off the water and wiping his hands on a dishrag. “Liz is right. That’s suicide unless you get a whole lot more firepower than we have right now.”

“I think we should focus on learning what we can about the virus,” Liz said. “If it is a virus. That and whether or not we can prove that a solar event is coming. That doesn’t necessarily tell us what we need to do, but it’s something we have control over right now. We can at least get some answers, and then hopefully a solution will present itself.”

“That’s pretty much all you guys,” Blair said, suppressing a sigh. “There’s not much I’ll be able to contribute without access to the temple itself. I guess I’ll start compiling information on the attacks. At least we can figure out how quickly this is spreading and get some idea of what areas are affected.” It wasn’t the most valuable research, but it could prove useful. Doing that was better than sitting around.

“That could be important,” Trevor agreed, dropping the rag and heading toward the hallway. “I’m going to go call Erik.”

Trevor and Liz filed out of the room, voices fading down the hall. Blair sat at the table for several minutes, allowing the magnitude of the situation to wash over him. It was all so much to take in. He was lost and didn’t mind admitting it. The answer was the same as it had been every time he’d been overwhelmed in his life. Find something he could do that would move him toward his goal; then do it. When it was done, do something else. Complete enough small tasks and eventually he would reach that goal.

Unfortunately, for that method to work, he needed to know what his goal actually was. What did he want? Wake the Mother? Then what? The uncertainty was horrible. He simply didn’t know enough to make an informed decision.
 

If only Ahiga were here. Blair was finally ready to listen to the old man.

Chapter 52- We Have Them

Jordan unbuckled his pistol and dropped the sidearm atop the hastily erected desk, dropping onto the cot without bothering to kick off his boots. The sound of the rapidly expanding military base thrummed through the thin plastic wall, troops drilling overpowered by the whine of rotors as a helicopter landed. He didn’t care. That wasn’t going to keep him from sleeping.

Exhaustion didn’t even begin to describe the malaise that had crept into his body over the last few days. It had dulled his reaction time enough that he’d finally decided getting a few hours of sleep was all right. The world was unlikely to self-destruct any more than it already had in the next four hours.