Pakow laughed, a wry, almost angry sound. “Yes, but you night have told me he wanted a telecom in the room. I thought he was going to renege on the whole deal.”

The sound of a drawn-out sigh filled the hallway, and when Wake answered, Pakow could hear the exhaustion in his voice. “I apologize, Doctor Pakow. It slipped my mind. What happened?”

Pakow shook his head, though part of him realized that Wake couldn’t see him do it. “Nothing. I managed to convince him that it was an oversight, and that as soon as the procedure was started, I would make sure he got what he wanted.”

“Excellent. You are to be commended for quick thinking, though I have always known you had a devious streak.”

Something in Wake’s tone bothered Pakow. The man surely suspected what Pakow had been doing, that he’d been the one who had contacted de Vries. Or did he?

Pakow sighed heavily. One thing was certain; he wasn’t going to risk crossing Wake again. I’m sorry. de Vries. From here on. you’re on your own.

31

Voice 1: There are vampires in Ordo Maximus, and I think they have access to some magical rituals that let them use the essence drain from victims to offset the drain of cyhermantic magic. Needless to say, I haven’t gotten far trying to find out much more. Its not something I’d want to risk, frankly.

Voice 2: You think that geek de Vries was right, then?

Voice 1: He got initiated into the middling grades. I think he knew. He may even have met one or two of them. There are a hundred and one tales about how he got infected.

– 

From encrypted telecom transcripts posted to Shadowland BBS by Captain Chaos, 11 December 2056. Identity of speakers not definitively verified.

In his study. Wake leaned forward and put his head in his hands. He tried to roll his shoulders to alleviate some of the tension that had built up in his muscles, but it was no use.

Things are getting too complicated here, and the work is suffering for it. That can’t be allowed.

He straightened and turned to the telecom on his desk. Tapping in a sixteen-digit code he hadn’t used in over two years, he waited patiently for the connection. As he did, he calculated what time it would be in London. Just a bit after four in the afternoon.

The man who came on line was balding and pale, with a huge mole on his forehead. Wake reflected for a moment that he didn’t even know the man’s name. When they’d first met, names were a dangerous thing. Later, they seemed unimportant.

“Ah, it’s you,” the man said, showing discolored teeth. “It’s been a while.”

Wake hadn’t called to engage in idle chitchat. “I need to talk.”

The man nodded, staring back from the telecom display. He had a look of shock on his face that he tried to hide, but not before Wake saw it.

“Good god, man, you look like bloody hell.” The clipped British accent turned dry and disinterested, so Wake assumed there were others present.

“Is it safe to talk?”

The man nodded. “Of course. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t have gotten through. What’s on your mind?”

“I’ve finally taken care of D’imato, but now I’ve got other problems and they’re interfering with my work.”

The man’s expression turned thoughtful. “Of course, we can’t have that. What’s the problem, and what is it you need?”

Wake smiled wearily. “Things are getting… warm here. An old friend of yours has come to call-Martin de Vries. We’ve already had one attack on the compound due to your man D’imato’s incompetence and thick-headedness. From what I know of the people who hit us, I’m sure they’ll be back again to finish the job. They’ve got access to plenty of firepower, and next time they’ll come with enough to level this whole place and destroy all of my work.”

The look of distaste on the man’s face was evident. “De Vries? By the gods, when will that fool learn to leave well enough alone? Still, when you say you’ve taken care of my man”-the distaste turned to disgust-“I assume you mean that it became necessary to make your solution pemianent?”

Wake shook his head. “I wanted to consult with you first, but he has been gently removed from his position, and no one will really notice the change for another month or so.”

The man smiled. “Excellent. That will give us time to plan for his replacement. So what is it that we can do for you?”

“This locale has become difficult. I need immediate relocation. Code Azure.”

The man turned away from the telecom, and seemed to be conferring with others who Wake couldn’t see. When he turned back, he had a satisfied look on his face. “I don’t think that will be a problem. It might cost a bit, but we all agree that the expenditure is worth the service you’re providing. Besides, it wouldn’t do for de Vries to get his hands on your current research data. We’ve put too much effort into making him look as crazy as he is. This would be a bad time for him to actually acquire proof of his accusations.”

Wake nodded. He’d had no doubt that the men of Ordo Maximus would see it that way. After all, they’d already invested too much nuyen to back out now, especially when they believed they were so close.

He kept the smile from his face as he imagined those British fops, with their ridiculous vampire cabal, sitting in their posh offices looking at each other with gaping mouths once they learned that they’d funded the one thing that could make their plan obsolete.

The man continued. “I’ll make all the arrangements from this end, and we’ll have a new lab set up for you through your Zulu BioGen front.”

Wake smiled. “Thank you. I’m sorry things haven’t gone more smoothly here, but hopefully there won’t he any more little complications to detract from the work.”

The man shook his head. “Don’t be sorry. I apologize to you for saddling you with D’imato. He should have been the perfect subject, but apparently he is too unpredictable to be of any use. If you’ve found a way to remove him from the picture, we are doubly in your debt.”

Wake nodded, and hit the Disconnect without further chatter.

He sat back, grateful to realize that some of the tension in his shoulders had eased. That was the right decision, he thought. I probably should have done this a couple of months ago, but this location seemed ideal. He selected another icon from the display and touched it.

“Attention, initiate Code Azure. This is not a drill. I want all equipment not in use at this time marked red, then disconnected and moved to the loading docks for transport to the helipad. All equipment marked yellow is to be packed securely and prepared for transport on the trucks. All green equipment is to be taken to disposal. I repeat, initiate Code Azure.”

32

The only good vampire is a dead one-and I should know I’ve killed eight of them, including two nosferatu. It was no simple task, primarily because the majority of these monsters are magically active. Their ‘natural’ powers give them a huge advantage over even the best equipped, most magical powerfully (meta)humans, and their regenerative powers make it extremely difficult to inflict them with permanent, deadly damage.

– 

Posted to Shadowland BBS by “Deathblow,” vampire hunter, 14 January 2057

Sweat dripped off Rachel’s forehead as she spun to block one of Sinuou’s kicks. It had been two days since the run on the compound. and she’d healed up fast enough that she was back to training again. The salty liquid drenched her shoulders, forming a vee-shaped stain on her exercise bra and the elastic band of her shorts.

She brought her arm down a second too late, and Sinunu’s kick landed hard against Rachel’s hip.