The Last Raven: An Urban Fantasy Noir (Riftborn Book 1), page 28
“Why does she want to give humans this power?” I asked.
“She wants an army,” Hannah said. “No idea why, something to do with a Project Blessed.”
“What the hell is Project Blessed?” I asked.
Hannah shrugged. “There’s nothing more on it. Just the name and the idea to create an army. I wonder if she’s been working on it for so long that there’s no digital footprint of the idea. She might have notes about it, or she might have put it on a flash drive and taken it with her, but that’s all we know about it.”
“So, what is Mason’s angle?” I asked.
“Mason wants to sell the serum to everyone,” Hannah said. “There’s a ton of information about it. He wants to give the serum to humans, security, the military, the police. Imagine having all of those people taking this serum. They’re meeting someone in Canada to discuss the deal. It looks like Callie has agreed to take several people to this meeting to show them the benefits of this serum.”
“And the serum itself?” I asked.
“No idea where it is; a few samples will be with them, I imagine,” Hannah said. “But from Callie’s notes, I think there are two serums. One given to Mason for use, and a second, more potent one. Nothing about what that’s being used for. We know that the first one unravels people, but the second doesn’t seem to have similar issues attached.”
“None of this sounds good,” I said.
“It’s not even slightly,” Emily said. “They’ve made a serum to allow a group of people to just hulk out and turn into monsters.”
“Until they got it working, they used prisoners to test it,” Hannah said. “The idea appears to be that they want to inject the subject with this shit, drop them behind enemy lines, and watch the fireworks and dead bodies mount. That’s what Mason is involved for. His money is buying that serum, but the second, more potent version, there’s no information on it, but even more, there’s nothing to suggest that Mason has any clue it exists.”
“Callie is using Mason’s money to create a better version of a serum he’s paid her to make,” I said.
“The weaker serum is a problem in itself,” Emily said. “We need to stop this deal or at least find out who it was sold to.”
None of what they’d told me sounded like something that I wanted to be accessible to anyone, let alone governments and militaries. “Okay, so, how much can you tell me about this fjord and how to infiltrate it?”
“I did some more checking,” Hannah said. “It’s now called Kangiqtualuk Uqquqti, and was a popular destination with climbers before Mason essentially made a home there. There’s an Inuit settlement by the name of Pond Inlet a few hundred kilometres from there.”
Hannah took the laptop back, clicked a few things and showed me the screen again. This time it contained satellite photos. “Mason’s people have built a sizeable structure there.”
There was one large building and a dozen smaller that surrounded it. There were gates, fences, several guard towers, and it was going to be tough to get in in any way except climbing up the almost-sheer cliff face that sat close to one side. There was a ramp that went down to the water, and a small dock had been made. A large yacht was anchored there. “When were these taken?”
“Two hours ago,” Hannah said. “I have friends who I now owe an exceptionally large favour to.”
“Boat is out,” I said. “They’d see us coming for miles. Can’t land there on that airstrip. What about Pond Inlet?”
“There’s an airstrip there,” Hannah said. “But you’d have to rent snowmobiles and go hundreds of kilometres through the harshest of conditions. Maybe five or six hours, depending on speed.”
“I’ll manage,” I said. “Whoever else is coming can stay at the settlement with the plane. Can you arrange snowmobiles for us? Let’s say four, just in case.”
“A lot of people there work for the Canadian government,” Hannah said. “Some people there owe the RCU. I can get it sorted. You’re going to need someone who knows the area, too. You can’t just get on a snowmobile and go there without almost dying.”
“Then we’ll need a guide,” I said.
“I’ll go get everything sorted I need to,” Hannah said, and stood to leave.
I went back to where I’d been sitting before Ruby had entered, and found my Talon mask on the floor. I picked it up, placing it on the chair, and went to get ready to go end the misery that Mason, Callie, and Dan had started.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The plane was fuelled and ready for take-off when we arrived, and while there were considerably more of us going than I’d expected there to be, the jet was big enough to seat us all comfortably. Gabriel and Bill went up to the cockpit to fly the thing, while George sat in the back.
There were warm clothes on board, and everyone grabbed what they needed.
Ji-hyun sat opposite me and had gone to sleep the second the plane had taken off. A trick she’d always been able to do, and frankly something that I was quite envious of. I found a small library at the rear of the jet, picked up a book by an author I hadn’t read before, and settled in for the several hours of flying. The book, as it turned out, was pretty good. A fantasy story about gangsters, and I’d finished it well before we were due to land, picking up a second—this one about a siege and a blood cult—and settled in to get through that one, too.
I hadn’t even made it halfway when the announcement of landing sounded throughout the cabin.
The jet landed with an unpleasant bump and Ji-hyun woke up, looking around.
“Nice dreams?” I asked her.
“No,” she said, without elaborating. I’d known Ji-hyun a long time, and she’d had nightmares about her childhood in Korea for a lot of it. I knew bits and pieces about what happened to her—about her family being murdered, and her being the only survivor. She wasn’t someone you pressed for further information unless you wanted to have her thumb pressed into your windpipe.
The jet came to a stop and Gabriel entered the cabin, opening the door and letting in the frigid air from outside. I was glad that I’d worn one of the thick, black coats that had been provided, along with a hat, trousers, and boots. Even with several layers of clothes, I still felt the cold.
We climbed down the steps to the tarmac and were met by a large Inuit man in a huge dark grey coat that would have fit me and Ji-hyun without any problems. “I’m your guide,” he said.
“Lucas,” I told him, shaking his hand.
“Peter Irniq,” he said.
“You human?” I asked after he’d met everyone, and we walked away to the control tower and large building beside it.
Peter nodded. “I hear you’re after Mason and his people.”
It was my turn to nod. “He’s a danger to everyone.”
“People used to come here on their way to Kangiqtualuk Uqquqti,” he said, opening the door to a rush of warm air and motioning for us all to get inside to the waiting area beyond.
“What happened?” Ji-hyun asked.
“Mason arrived and the people weren’t allowed there anymore,” Peter said, closing the door and pulling back his hood.
I would have guessed that Peter was in his forties, although I have a hard time guessing human ages. He was clean-shaven and had long dark hair that was tied back, although some of it still spilled over his ears.
“We’ve got four snowmobiles,” Peter said. “They’re pretty high-spec and will go about a hundred and fifty miles per hour if you push it.”
“Sounds like fun,” Nadia said from the corner of the room.
“Don’t push them,” Peter warned. “You stay behind me, and you go where I go. I’ve lived here my whole life, and it’s still dangerous out there. You go too fast too quick and you hit something you didn’t see, you’re going to get hurt. Hurt people out there do not fare well. The weather is harsh, but the bears are just as deadly if they get close.”
“Bears?” George enquired.
“Polar bears,” Peter said.
“Everyone understand the plan?” I asked, wanting to steer the conversation away from the danger of polar bears.
“We stay here,” Gabriel said. “It’s going to be a long journey.”
“Five hours to get there if we’re lucky,” Peter said. “Once there, we’re going to want to find shelter.”
“Once the research outpost they’ve created is under our control, we’ll use it for the night,” I said.
“Come back tomorrow morning,” Ji-hyun said.
“You’ve got me for three days,” Peter said. “There’s a hunter’s spot between here and there, about two hours in. We can stop, rest, warm up and head out again.”
“Can’t we just go straight there?” Nadia asked.
“I’ll need food and water,” Peter said. “We can’t be stopping for toilet breaks on the way there, so we’re going to have to stop somewhere.”
“You do this a lot?” I asked.
“In winter?” Peter asked. “No, because it’s stupid. I understand that this is important and that lives are on the line, but it’s still reckless and dangerous to do this.”
“I understand,” I said. “We still have to do it.”
“I’ll make sure everything is ready, and once you’re prepared, we’ll head out. If at any point I think it’s too dangerous to continue, we don’t. That’s the deal I made and the deal I’m sticking to. Human or not, you don’t want to be out there in the middle of nowhere if a storm hits. We find shelter and you find another way.”
“Agreed,” Ji-hyun said before anyone else could speak.
George and Bill remained behind, waving us off as we loaded up any weapons and gear we’d need onto the snowmobiles and set off. It didn’t take long for the town to vanish behind us, and I quickly understood why this place was so dangerous. There was a mountain range in the distance, but there was also a second, smaller one in the opposite direction further away. Actually finding your bearings would be next to impossible if you got lost out there, especially if a storm hit.
While we followed Peter on the snowmobiles I had very little concept of time. I had a watch on, and there was a digital clock on the snowmobile, but it kept getting frosted over, and I didn’t want to keep removing my hand from the handlebars while in conditions I wasn’t used to being in. I might have walked over the Alps, but that was walking. If Hannibal had used snowmobiles over the Alps, I think the war would have been a whole lot different.
We’d been given small communication devices to stay in contact with one another, but apart from Nadia shouting Wheeeeeeeeeeee every few minutes until Ji-hyun told her to either stop or be buried out there, no one said much of anything.
“We’re stopping up ahead,” Peter said, moving slightly to the right and continuing on until we reached a large cabin.
We all stopped and waited while Peter made sure that the cabin had heat before we entered. The cabin was essentially two rooms, one large room and a smaller bathroom. The larger room had a bunk bed in one corner, a table in the middle next to a sink and small stove, and that was it.
I felt the heat come up through the floor. “This is the best place ever,” I said.
“It was used by scientists and people coming to see the cliffs,” Peter said, filling the kettle with water and boiling it.
“Who keeps the water fresh and power on?” Ji-hyun asked.
“Me,” Peter said. “Or, rather, I’m one of three who come up here once a week to make sure it’s all secure and there’s enough supplies, water, et cetera. There are still scientific experiments being run here; there’s another hut about two hundred metres north that’s measuring something to do with the ice and underground nutrients. There hasn’t been anyone there for a few months now, but we still go and make sure it’s not overrun by bears.”
“Bears overrun cabins?” Nadia asked, looking out of the window at the vastness beyond.
Everyone turned to look out of the nearest window.
“They’d get in if food was there,” Peter said. “It’s why everything here is in tins and why the door is reinforced steel. They don’t usually bother us unless they’re hungry or sick.”
“How far to Mason’s settlement?” I asked.
“About the same distance as from town to here,” Peter said, pouring four mugs of coffee and putting sugar in each.
“I don’t take sugar,” Nadia said as Peter passed her a mug.
“You need something sweet,” he said.
Nadia shrugged and drank the still-far-too-hot coffee in one long gulp. “Nice,” she said, the skin around her mouth now a little red.
Peter looked back at Ji-hyun and me.
“You get used to it,” I said.
“He’s lying,” Ji-hyun said, blowing on her coffee. “You never do.”
We drank our drinks, used the facilities we needed to use, and returned to our snowmobiles.
Peter raised his hand for everyone to wait and pointed ahead. I followed his arm, not seeing what I was meant to be concerned about, and then the polar bear moved, along with the small cub beside it.
“Is this a problem?” Ji-hyun asked over the comm.
“No,” Peter said. “Not yet.”
“Cute bear,” Nadia said. “I want to pet it.”
I looked back at Nadia, who had a beaming smile. “You know it would kill you?”
Nadia appeared to be considering it for a moment. “I guess,” she said eventually. Her chains jangled as they wrapped around her body, and I wondered if they helped keep her warm.
We set off again, making a large circle around the bears, the mother of whom was watching us every time I looked over. I wasn’t concerned that they’d be able to kill us or even do any real damage except to Peter, and we wouldn’t let that happen, but that didn’t mean I wanted to hurt her or her cub just for doing what came naturally.
Soon, we were back in the never-ending void of snow. It was beginning to get dark as Peter’s voice came over the comms: “It’s about half a kilometre ahead, down a hill,” he said, slowing up and pulling the snowmobile over to a ridge, where we all followed.
The darkness happened all at once. One minute it was light and then it was dark. It didn’t feel like there’d been any gradually getting darker; it was just changed like someone flicking a switch.
Nadia, Ji-hyun, and I followed Peter to the ridge, looking down at the large compound ahead. I removed a pair of binoculars from my pack and set about looking for a good entrance.
At the front were two guards, next to a checkpoint. Forty-foot-high chain-linked, barbwire-topped fencing encompassed the entire camp, with two high guard posts, one near the entrance and one further in. There were only half a dozen buildings: a large warehouse-like structure at the far edge of the compound, and five smaller albeit identical-looking buildings between the compound entrance and the larger building. Guards walked around the camp, occasionally going into one or other of the buildings, and two more guards remained outside of the larger structure.
“That’s a lot of firepower,” Nadia said, using her fingers to create circles and holding them up to her eyes.
“You want these?” I asked her, motioning to the binoculars, which she took.
“Is she . . .” Ji-hyun asked, leaving the last word unsaid.
“I think she’s been accessing the rift,” I said.
“Does that make them . . .” Peter didn’t finish the sentence but gesticulated toward Nadia.
“I’m not crazy,” Nadia said, passing me the binoculars back. “When we reach a point where things can go in wildly different timelines, the rift makes me see dozens of different timelines, makes my head jumbled. I have to tune them out, pick the one with the highest probability. In dozens of those timelines, I’m already holding binoculars. In one of them, I did pet the polar bear.”
“What happened?” I asked before I could stop myself.
“It was bloody,” Nadia said with a smile. “But so worth the loss of limbs. Not for that Nadia; that Nadia screamed a lot. But for me. It was worth it for me.”
I looked over at Peter, who just shook his head and went back to the task at hand. “You want me to stay here until you’ve secured the facility?” he asked.
I nodded. “You okay with that?”
“I am,” he said, removing a rifle as the rest of us remained in position.
“How do you want to do this?” Ji-hyun asked as she went with me to the snowmobiles, where we both picked up silenced MP5s with rift-tempered rounds. It was beginning to snow, and it rapidly got worse. Whatever happened, we were going to be staying the night in the facility.
“Those guard towers and the two at the entrance need dealing with first,” I said on returning to the ridge. “Preferably at the same time.”
“I’ll do the furthest tower,” Ji-hyun said.
“I’ve got the gates,” Nadia said, walking back to her snowmobile.
“That leaves me with the closest tower,” I said.
Nadia returned shortly with a huge sniper rifle that she dropped the tripod on just before the barrel and placed on the ground before unrolling a mat and putting that down in front of it.
Nadia looked over at Ji-hyun and me, who were staring at her and the faintly purple glowing rifle barrel.
“Barrett M82, special edition,” she said. “I had it custom built. Fifty-calibre bullets and a rift-tempered barrel. It’ll kill revenants, humans, polar bears, probably most riftborn wouldn’t feel too good about it. Also tanks.”
“It kills tanks?” Ji-hyun asked.
“Not kill as such,” Nadia clarified. “Fuck up. It’ll fuck up tanks.”
“How loud is it going to be?” I asked.
“The rift-tempered barrel absorbs noise,” Nadia said. “Also, I can use my chains to wrap around it, absorbing more sound and enabling me to control the speed and power of the shot.”
“I didn’t see that in your kit,” I said.
“I had it in a bag,” Nadia said, looking through the scope. “Built it here. It’s my toy.”
Ji-hyun and I shared an expression of part terror and part admiration.
“You going or what?” Nadia asked without looking up.
