“What now?” Flak said, breaking de Vries’ reverie. “We don’t have time to change tactics and search for our target. Your mole gave you faulty intel and now we’re on the verge of being fragged for no gain.”

“We bail,” Sinunu said. “We’ll have to regroup, and come back after we get better intel.”

From behind her, she heard Flak grunt again. “Good idea, chica. Let’s get the frag out of here.”

De Vries lifted the decoy’s body and led the group to the platform. Even under the combined weight of the entire team, the gleaming platform drifted silently downward. Then they were back in the tiled chamber again.

Sinunu looked at de Vries, who stood next to her, the decoy like a limp, naked rag over his shoulder. “What are you going to do with him?”

De Vries shrugged, the movement causing the unconscious man’s body to bounce up and down. “I’m not entirely sure. I don’t like the idea of leaving him here, so I guess I’ll take him as far as I can, and then decide.”

Sinunu nodded. It made sense. When you were on a run, you did what you could, and then you did what you had to.

They were just passing through the door of the decon chamber when Sandman’s voice came over the tacticom, “We got uninvited guests. The system bumped to full alert. The whole compound just lit up like a Christmas tree, and the grounds are swarming with people.”

“Frag it!” said Flak into the tacticom as they moved quietly into the locker room. “What did we trip?”

There was a short pause, then Sandman said, “Nothing. It wasn’t us. Evidently the bad guys are expecting some heavy-duty party crashers. They’re setting up some serious drek out there.”

Quickly, and quietly, they began to move down the hallway, Sinunu and Flak switching point at every hallway juncture.

“What’s the easiest way back to the van?”

Another pause from Sandman, this one much longer. “You’re not gonna like this, Flak. They got the back buttoned up even tighter than the front. According to Short Eyes, this place is full of vampires and they got wind of us. We’re rolling, even as we speak.”

“Drek. All right, can you stay in the system?”

“Null sheen. Hold tight for a few ticks while I work out your best exit route and how we can meet up. You solid with that?”

Sinunu stopped listening at that moment. From around the dimly lit corner, she saw movement, shadowy outlines against the wall.

“Action on our twelve,” she whispered into her tacticom. “Fade back?”

“Negative,” came Flak’s reply. “We got to get the frag out of here. Let’s light ‘em up.”

The shadow figures seemed to glide swiftly from left to right, and for just a moment, Sinunu couldn’t tell what they were doing, then it hit her. They were checking all the doors, making sure they were locked.

She heard a soft shuffle behind her, and could tell from his subtle odor that Flak was at her back.

Suddenly the shadows stiffened, going completely still.

“Now,” came Flak’s whisper.

From her left, Sinunu heard Truxa mutter a quiet chant, then give a soft clap, setting off a spell. Sinunu rolled onto the floor just as a gout of greenish-brown fluid shot over her shoulder and down the hallway. She came to a crouch as the shadowy things leapt out of the way. There were three of them, and the furthest one didn’t move fast enough.

The green acid completely engulfed it, rending flesh parts in a putrid explosion.

Sinunu didn’t have time to care. There were two of the things left, and for the first time, she had a good idea just what they were up against. If Sandman was right, these were vampires and made Number One look like a child’s toy.

The closest was a human male. She could tell by his features that he’d been black at one time, though now his dark skin was a dusky color that contrasted with the short dreds crowning his head.

He stood almost two meters, and wore only a pair of synthleather pants. His upper torso was covered in spiked studs that had surely been implanted, making him look like some vampiric porcupine. She watched as two twenty-centimeter razors snicked from his forearms. He smiled, showing his fangs.

Just behind him, tiny by comparison was a vampire woman. A mishmash of scars lined her face, making her lips form a lopsided vee shape where the bottom lip had been crudely sewn back together.

Unlike the first vampire, she seemed completely unmodified until she held up her small hands and ten-centimeter scalpels slid from beneath her fingers.

“It’s time to play,” said the woman, and suddenly they were moving. Fast.

The man streaked down the hall, an inarticulate howl coming from his lips as Sinunu took aim with the crossbow. Three bolts flew, but the man deflected them with the spurs on his arms.

Sinunu started to roll backward, knowing that the vampire would overwhelm her before she could bring her machine pistol to bear.

The monster crossed the last few meters, leaping into the air to land on top of her, when a huge, gnarled hand flashed out of the hallway.

Flak snagged the vampire just below the left spur, at the wrist. Letting his weight act as a fulcrum Flak spun the thing face-first into the wall. There was a sickening crunch, and the vampire sank to the ground, leaving a trail of black ichor oozing down the wall.

The woman shifted her target, howling for Flak’s back, which was momentarily exposed. Sinunu yelled for him to look out, but she might have saved her breath. De Vries was there, standing tall between Flak and the leaping woman.

Just as the dog had tried to do outside the compound, the woman tried to change course when she realized she was up against one of her own kind. She screamed and slashed with ten scalpels.

Before she could complete the maneuver, de Vries’ hands shot out, gripping heron both sides of the head. Driving the hapless vampire back against the wall, de Vries rammed his thumbs into her eye sockets, burying them deep into the brain.

The female vampire howled, and Sinunu watched as the life seemed to drain out of her, along with the blood that spurted from her ravaged eye sockets to trail down her scarred face.

De Vries pulled his thumbs free and turned to look Sinunu in the eye. He wiped fluid and tissue from his hands on the female vampire’s skin as she sank to the floor.

He winked at Sinunu, then nodded to the vampire Flak had downed. “You might want to stick that one. He’s about ready to come back around.”

Head spinning from what she’d just witnessed, Sinunu nodded back and fired a bolt into the body of the prone vampire. She made sure to miss the spikes, which she could now tell were deeply imbedded into the man’s skin. He convulsed once, then was still.

There was silence in the hallway for the briefest instant, then Flak’s gruff voice came over the com. “All right, kiddies. Looks like the drek is going to hit the fan in a very serious way, so let’s keep things chilly and by the numbers.”

Without a word, everybody formed up again. Sinunu looked at the crossbow with disgust. She’d thought it would be the perfect weapon to use against vampires, but now it seemed more like a useless toy.

She tossed the bow onto the dead man’s body and was about to turn away, when a small hand touched her arm. It was Rachel.

“I don’t mean to tell you your business, but don’t you think you should keep that?”

Anger bled through Sinunu’s voice. “Why? It’s useless.”

Rachel nodded. “Maybe for direct confrontation, but if we’re going to get out of here alive, direct confrontation might not be the way to go. Besides, even if you just use it for sticking them once the vampires are down, you won’t have to get so close to them to do it.”

Sinunu looked at her for a moment, and then let out a shaky laugh. “Well, well, well. Being given lessons by a newbie.” She shook her head and reached down to retrieve the crossbow. “Looks like Flak was right about you.”