A ten-meter gout of flame followed them, and seemed to lick at his back like a hungry beast whose prey has just managed to escape its vicious jaws.

Then the flame was gone, snuffed out by the shock wave that followed, a shock wave that caused the entire compound to crumble in on itself.

De Vries hadn’t stopped running. He carried Warren and Sinunu to one of the still functional vehicles and yelled orders to the man driving it. Rachel watched as the two limp bodies were loaded up and the vehicle streamed out of sight. She wanted to be with Warren and Sin, but that would leave no one with Julius.

Nearly deafened by the roaring in her ears, she lifted her head, and called out for help. “He’s dying.”

Within moments, de Vries was there, with Killian on his heels.

Rachel looked up at the vampire. “You’ve got to help him!”

De Vries knelt beside Julius. He studied him for a few moments before doing what she guessed was some kind of magic. Then he looked Rachel in the eye. “I can heal him, but he’s infected now.” He pointed to the blood-soaked ground where Julius had fallen.

Rachel looked down at Julius, who was gazing up at her, trying to speak. She leaned close, and with an effort, she could make out his voice over the shouts of the men around him.

“Rachel, it’s my time. Accept it.”

Rachel looked into his eyes, and knew there was nothing she could do to stop the inevitable. Her heart hardened again and she stood.

“Give me the flamethrower,” she said.

Surprisingly, it was Biggs who handed her the weapon.

She strapped it on and pointed the nozzle down at Julius’ body. He was in pain and would soon change as the virus took control. Rachel stepped back and triggered the flame watching as the man’s body was consumed by the ravenous jaws of fire.

She tossed the flamethrower to the ground, and looked up.

De Vries smiled softly at her. “I know it’s difficult.”

A trembling hit Rachel, and she sat down heavily. “Not as difficult as it should be.”

De Vries nodded. “Listen, there’s something I have to do, and I’m not sure how it’s going to work out. So if I don’t see you again, I want you to know that you’ve shown an old vampire what being human means again.”

Rachel looked up. “Where are you going?”

De Vries smiled, and looked behind him, then back at her. “The bad guy is getting away, and I’m probably the only one who can stop him.”

With that, he turned to mist and disappeared into the smoke of the battlefield.

Rachel looked around her at all the wreckage. Among the battered vehicles, two were still burning.

Just off to her left, she saw a few of the Fratellanza men loading a heavy green container into one of the Citymaster trucks. She knew that box, had seen a number of them being loaded.

“Hey!” she yelled to the men with the container. She struggled back to her feet. “Hey, boys. Let me talk to you for a moment.”

39

Lucky for us, cybemancy isn’t widespread and probably won’t become so-this drek is heavy magic. Stands to reason that the few magicians who know the rituals guard their secrets very, very carefully and probably charge staggering fees for their services. The clinics apparently can’t do the whole cybermancy thing without these mages, and there are maybe only three or four of them on the whole planet. And nobody knows for sure who the frag they are.

– 

Posted to Shadowiand BBS by Captain Chaos, New Magic e-doc, 10 January 2057

Pakow hit the ground hard as the shock wave caused the earth to roll beneath his feet. For the better part of a minute, he simply lay there, the pain ratcheting through his body. He smelled blood and feces and knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

Choking on the foul dust that floated through the air, he tried to stand, but found he couldn’t.

So close, he thought, just another hundred meters and I would have made it.

His hand tightened convulsively on the chip he still held. I’m sorry, Shiva. I let you down again.

With that thought, Pakow grew angry. Wake had done this to him. Wake had cost him everything, and for what? For some stupid project that was supposed to save the world. What good would it do to save the world when saving it meant changing it beyond recognition?

Fueled by his anger, Pakow found the strength to pull himself up onto his hands and knees. The back of his coveralls were drenched in blood, as was the front. In the dim orange light from what was left of the compound, the blood was black, and looked evil.

Pakow almost smiled at the thought. I’ve seen more blood than most living men, and this is the first time I’ve ever thought of it as being good or evil. I guess it takes dying to put things into perspective.

He pushed himself to one knee and then to his feet. Staggering like a drunken man, he made his way toward the helipad.

If I can just make it, Wake can heal me. He has to. Who else is familiar enough with his work to be any use? Who else is going to be willing to help a madman destroy everything he cares about?

As he got closer to the low rise that hid the helipad from the rest of the compound, Pakow could hear the quiet whine of electric turbines.

He paused to rest for a moment, and turned to look at his weaving tracks in the fine dust. Like a damn snake that’s lost its mind.

Pakow smiled at the thought, and realized that blood loss was making him giddy.

Got to get there before it’s too late.

With that sobering thought, he started off again.

He crested the rise to find the helipad in darkness. Only the high-pitched turbine sound gave any indication that there was life down below.

“Did you bring the chip?” Wake’s voice floated out from the empty landscape to his left, causing Pakow to stumble.

Turning, he saw the tall, skinny form appear, only steps away.

“You’ve been there all along,” said Pakow, pointing a finger at Wake. “Been standing there watching me, and you didn’t even try and help?”

Wake smiled in the dim light, and his eyes glittered. “I couldn’t, actually. It would have compromised the spell I was casting. Did you bring the chip?”

Pakow looked down at his chest, at the fresh blood covering the ash-clotted old blood. “I’m hurt bad. I need some help.”

Wake nodded as Pakow looked back up at him. “Yes you do. Did. You. Bring. The. Chip?”

Pakow stared at Wake for a moment. “Help me.”

Wake shook his head. “I would if I could, Doctor Pakow. Believe me, it won’t be easy to replace you, but that is a cross I will just have to bear.”

Pakow felt the strength go out of his legs, and he sank to his knees. “What are you saying?”

Wake moved forward. “I’m sorry. I truly am. But it was you who led the wolf to our door, and even though I understand why you did it, that is still a big no-no.”

Pakow shook his head to clear it. Wake’s voice was drifting in and out and it was starting to confuse him. He suddenly felt far away from his body. The pain was still there, but it was disconnected somehow.

He tried to speak, but Wake shushed him with the press of his long fingers to Pakow’s lips. “Still, I would probably have saved you, but you’re too much of a risk to me now. If I took you with me, it wouldn’t take them long to find you. Not with all the blood you’ve left on the ground. If they found you, they’d find me too. I can’t allow that to happen. I’m very Sorry.”

Pakow talked past Wake’s fingers. “Shiva? My daughter?” Wake smiled gently, and Pakow thought it was the first time he’d ever seen the man look human. “Except for your recent actions, you have served me well. Rest easy. I’ll make sure your wife and daughter are well cared for.”

Pakow looked into that face and knew that Wake couldn’t be trusted to keep his word. “Shiva would never take anything from you,” be said bitterly. “She knows right from wrong, and you are evil. She would never take your charity.”