Chapter 201

Where the Bodies Went

“Well, this is disappointingly anticlimactic,” Annie said.

Alexander glanced at her, standing just beyond the barricades they’d deployed the first time they entered the Beastworld. She was in full MetaMetal mode, gleaming under the sunlight.

Overhead, every single operational drone spread across the sky like a web.

Talia stepped up beside him. “I told you the odds were low that we’d have any trouble, Annie. The orangutan was clearly some sort of territorial apex leader. It must have gathered everything from miles around.”

“Except for the murder forest.”

Talia nodded. “Except for the murder forest.” Then she frowned. “Except I’m not sure the nomenclature holds up. From the footage, it seemed more like some sort of mycelium network linked to a secondary network of vines. The trees aren’t the problem. Plus, it’s definitely a jungle. Even if the outer edges of it look like a forest.”

Annie turned and stared at Talia for a moment, then looked up. “Droney! Translate!”

Droney drifted lower. “Nomenclature. The devising or choosing of names for things.”

Annie sighed. Then she turned to him. “Alexander. Translate.”

He blinked. “Uh… Forest dry. Jungle wet. Mushroom brains. Vine arms.”

“Got it.” She grinned. “Mushroom murder jungle. So what’s the plan now that there’s nothing to fight?”

Alexander turned to Augustus, who was waiting by the gateway, wand already in hand. “I think we’re ready to start bringing them through. Then you and Annie have the first watch while they get set up?”

Augustus nodded. “Works for me. I’ll get the portals set up.” He turned and stepped back through the gateway.

Alexander marveled at it for a moment. The first two times he’d passed through a gateway to another reality, he’d been far too busy fighting to really appreciate the moment. A single step, and they could cross not just worlds or galaxies, but an entire universe.

What really interested him was the absence of corpses, though. The team had killed hundreds of beasts when they were here last. And except for a few scattered bones, the battlefield had been picked clean.

“Do you think there are mega-ants or something?” Annie wondered.

He sure hoped not.

Talia pulled him from his thoughts. “Do you need me here, Alex? If not, I’ll head back. The Rabbit and I are still working on infiltrating the AEGIS network.”

“‘The Rabbit’?” Alexander smiled. “How is she going, anyway? I know I didn’t want to be hands-on about it, but…”

“Her name is Alice. Hence ‘Rabbit’,” she said, as if that explained anything. “And she’s really committed to the work. I helped her set up automated reporting systems to carry on her work for AEGIS and to alert us to anything that might become problematic for the people they’re targeting.”

“I’m glad. I wasn’t feeling myself that night.” He shrugged. “Maybe I should have done something about it, but I knew you’d take care of it.”

Talia patted him on the shoulder. “Despite how it seems, we are still only human.” She paused. Hesitated, even. “I’m thinking about bringing her in. Fully. I know it’s only been a few weeks, but I can’t see any reason not to. I’d set her and her grandmother up in the Fort. Assist her with the medical care she needs, while she keeps working for me.”

The Fort was what the construction crews had started calling Grimnir’s project on Astra Omnia. It was a square, floor-to-ceiling, wrap-around, fortified building that would house hundreds and provide the full range of amenities. Augustus had even started negotiating leases for what would eventually be space for a small grocery store, a bakery, and even an in-house restaurant.

He couldn’t disagree with the name, even if it struck him as terrible. They should have let him name it. He was excellent at naming things.

Alexander shook his head at the missed opportunity. “Whatever you decide, and whenever, just let me know.”

“I will. I’ll need you to pick her up.”

“What? Why?”

Talia started walking to the gateway. “She has a lot of equipment. And then there’s her grandmother. She’ll need to be wheeled out.”

“So send Auggy. He can portal to her and then open a doorway to the station.”

She stopped and turned back. “But then you won’t get to apologize for scaring her. Or officially welcome her to Grimnir, even if she is only a peripheral member.”

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He sighed. “Is that the real reason?”

Talia laughed. “No. She just has a lot of equipment. Like, a lot. It would take Auggy hours to move it all. Think of his poor back.” She stepped through the gateway.

“… Auggy has magical hands though?” Alexander said to nobody in particular.

Annie gave him a look. “How do you know that?”

“Huh?”

She turned away, whistling.

Alexander stared at the back of her metal head, willing her to feel his annoyance. Since getting back from Dubai less than twenty hours ago, it felt like everyone was messing with him.

Maybe he was just feeling the effects of not enough sleep. It had been about forty hours since he’d last slept.

Noise from the gateway drew his attention. He turned and watched the first of the mercenaries burst through in rapidly dispersing pairs, the first four splitting left and right, circling behind the gateway. Dozens more followed, spreading out in every direction.

On the other side of the gateway, he could see Augustus’s portal at the heart of the sanctum, the large circular room that held their single gateway, though with many more alcoves just waiting to be occupied. After the first few dozen soldiers, an armored personnel carrier materialized from the inky black void of Augustus’s portal. It crossed the sanctum in a second, hovertech making it glide across the concrete with barely a whisper, then slipped through the gateway and pulled to a stop beside him.

Behind it, more men and vehicles poured through. None of them paid him or Annie any attention, other than to avoid entering their personal space.

It was an understandable reaction. These men and women knew who they were working for. And Grimnir had a reputation.

The APC’s door hissed, then swung open. And a uniformed man hopped out, taking a moment to assess the mercenaries’ deployment before turning back to him and saluting.

“Sir.”

Alexander took him in. It was their first time meeting, but he knew the man standing before him was a Tier 2 superhuman in his own right. His powers were fairly modest, according to Talia, but he blazed to Alexander’s senses.

If he were a betting man, he’d say Commander Lesley Hamment was approaching Tier 3 in his mental attributes at the very least.

“Commander Hamment.”

“Just Lesley, sir. If you don’t mind.”

He nodded. “In return, it’s just Alexander or Alex. Mr. Rooke, if you must. Sir makes me feel old. And I already have enough things making me feel old.”

Lesley settled into a comfortable stance. “Understood, Mr. Rooke. I’m glad we finally have a chance to meet. I spoke at length with Ms. Carmen Reyes about the operation, of course, and she was extremely thorough.”

Alexander waited.

Lesley cleared his throat. “I mean no disrespect, but I wanted to confirm a particular detail with you directly about the rules of engagement.”

“Go on.”

“Thank you, Mr. Rooke. As per the contract, we’re receiving considerable bonus pay over our regular security duties for Grimnir during our time here. However, as my security company is also a guild registered with the System, my personnel will be claiming bounties for each beast kill that sits outside of our contract. I raised this with Ms. Reyes, and your lawyer, Ms. Sharp, and they both assured me that this was a non-issue.”

Alexander nodded. “It’s not a problem.”

“Understood. And appreciated.” Lesley paused. “However, what I wanted to address was the clause that permits Triple S personnel to undertake live training exercises outside of our security duties. Of course, as per the contract, only under very specific conditions, namely that it doesn’t reduce the security presence of the gateway.”

Alexander frowned. Jasmine had briefed him about the contract, but that was almost a week ago. “I know of it, but the details escape me right now. What’s the issue?”

“We’ve had four awakenings in the past two weeks, since we signed the contract with Grimnir. That effectively doubles our superhuman presence for this operation. As I’m sure you can understand, each of them wants to take advantage of the opportunity this mission presents. It’s more about training their powers than the bounty payouts, and while strict adherence to the letter of the contract says that we can…”

“You’re worried it would be a bad look if a bunch of your superhumans began hunting day one.”

“Yes, Mr. Rooke.”

Alexander studied the man while he considered it. “It’s fine. As long as you secure the gateway and set up the outer perimeter fortifications as planned.”

“Of course.”

“Good. I’m going to head back and get some sleep.” Droney settled nearby, responding to his intent. “But first, I wanted to introduce you to Droney.”

Lesley nodded at the drone. “Sir.”

Alexander smiled. “Droney here will coordinate my drone network. The priority is to map out the surrounding area and alert us to any threats.”

“Understood.”

“Then if that’s all, I’ll leave you to it.” Alexander waited a moment, then when it was clear Lesley had nothing else to discuss, he headed over to where Annie was still waiting by the old barricades.

“I’m already bored,” she said as he approached.

He smiled. “Well, I’m about to make your day less boring.”

She turned to him, a look of excitement on her face. “What is it? Secret mission?”

Alexander nodded. “Yep. I need you…” He paused, watching her eyes widen in anticipation, then continued. “To figure out where all the bodies went.”

Annie’s smile faded. “Ugh. I already know what it’s going to be. Giant. Bugs. Duh.”

“Probably. But we need to be sure. Check the forest first, but don’t go too deep. Just check if it’s possible that the vines crept all the way out here and dragged them back.”

“Fiiiiine. I’ll check the mushroom murder jungle for the gross corpses.”

He rapped his knuckles on her metal head. “Thanks. Have fun. Don’t let the giant insects bite.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, then took off toward the forest.

Alexander turned and made his way toward the gateway. Around him, concrete barriers and sandbags were already being unloaded from trucks and positioned. Stationary gun positions were being set up. Further out, multiple teams were fanning out beyond the perimeter, setting up seismic and motion sensors.

In barely a handful of minutes, Sentinel Security Solutions had dug themselves in. Within a day, as resources continued to flow from Astra Omnia to the island, through Augustus’s portal, and then onto the Beastworld, an entire base would grow around the gateway, encasing it from top to bottom in reinforced concrete. A fortified bunker.

From there, they would begin scouting. For threats. Training grounds. Resources. And to figure out exactly where in the other world they were.

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