"Squid Vicious"
May. 18th, 2023 12:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dochermes"Squid Vicious"
3/11-3/12/2022
I.
Early on a frosty March morning, passers-by in Times Square found a badly injured Timothy Limbo lying in the alley between two buildings. Someone called for an ambulance but the EMTs were not hopeful about his chances. Timothy had four broken ribs, severe bruising, concussion, and was bleeding from nose and mouth. Strapping him to the gurney and securing him in the rear, they took his vitals. One drove while the other gave him nasal oxygen clips and tried to stanch the bleeding. Within a few blocks, though they could not know it, his enhanced healing kicked in. At a red light, Timothy unexpectedly broke free, unstrapped himself and jumped out the rear of the ambulance, brushing the confused paramedic aside. He was way down a side street and out of sightbefore the EMTs could react.
Recovering quickly, Timothy managed to get into the bathroom of a McDonalds without being stopped. He cleaned himself up as best he can, then started limping toward 38th Street. Despite his appearance, he was walking steadily and confidently enough that no one approached him.
Finally, after what seemed like the longest trudge of his life, Timothy tapped his ID code into the pad by the front door and entered the small foyer. For twenty seconds, clicks and buzzes sounded as he was scanned, identified and cleared. He did not try to locate his captain Sable, but stubbornly made it up the stairs to his rooms on the third floor. The air was cool and dry and immensely comforting. Sitting on the edge of his double bed, Timothy managed to tug off his heavy biker boots, torn jeans and leather jacket as if wrestling with stubborn living things. He stretched out on top of the covers and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
Waking easily, he blinked at the round clock hanging on the opposite wall. Two-twenty, and the yellow sunlight slanting in through his window told him it was afternoon. He felt much better, almost normal except for some stiffness. Timothy yawned and rolled over to get some high protein energy bars from his nightstand and wolf them down. He always kept a sixteen ounce of water within reach too, and sipping most of that helped his healing factor finish repairing all the damages done to his body.
The intercom panel by his headboard buzzed, he tapped the button and said, "Hi," rather uncertainly. "Sable?"
"How are you feeling?" came the voice of his captain.
"I'm okay. Give me a few minutes to clean up and I'll report."
"Take your time, I'm in the office." With a click, she broke the connection.
After a quick steaming shower, wearing fresh pants, T-shirt and sneakers, Timothy went down the staircase and turned right into the office. Sable greeted him with a mug of the Tagra tea. As he sipped it gratefully and felt the final twinges of pain ease away, Tim took a chair in front of the desk as Sable seated herself behind it facing him.
Lauren Sable Reilly's gift was enhanced perception. Gralic force augmented all her senses beyond what Human science could explain. Timothy was used to her abilities and knew she was examining him right then and there with a single glance. "I don't sense any internal damage left," she said after a few seconds. "No blood clots, no infection. Your ribs have already sealed up. Do you feel any dizziness or nausea?"
"No, captain. I'm ready for duty. Thanks for the Tagra." He put the mug down by his feet.
Sable leaned back in her swivel office chair and smiled reassuringly. She was an attractive woman in her early forties, with long straight black hair brushed back off a high forehead. A pug nose and slight overbite added to the huge dark eyes to give her a distinctive face most people liked on sight. "I have to say, I was worried when you came in this morning. Your injuries were serious enough that the Trom sensors alerted me. I stood outside your door and heard your breathing and heartbeat were fine, so I didn't bother you. Sleep seemed to be what you needed most."
"Thanks again," Timothy said. "Man! Without the Tagra healing, we'd all be in wheelchairs by now."
"We do take some punishment," Sable agreed. "So. I'm recording, starting now. I'll type it up in a few minutes and we can both add and correct the report before it goes into the files. Last night, you went out at eleven-thirty. Your aim was to check our observers and see what what you could learn about some of these senseless atrocities in the lower Manhattan area. All we had to go on was a name, 'Squid Vicious.'"
"That name cracked me up at first but now I don't find it funny. Okay. I went out on foot and walked down to the Korean neighborhood by the Empire State Building. A lot of our observers are active at night, of course. I made the rounds. Spanish Eddie, Nurse Robin, Old Lady Choi, Herman the German, the usual street folks we keep on retainer. They're all agitated. For a month now, there's been a wave of pointless violence going on. Fires started, windows smashed and cars vandalized. Some beatings and sexual assaults. Not many witnesses to any of these. Security cameras are no help. For some reason, video gets hazy and vague during the crimes."
"That's interesting," Sable interrupted. "That's what happens when we're around. Between our own gralic powers and the Eldanaran sigil we wear, recording equipment degrades in our presence. We fog film and distort videos."
"Yeah. That's true. So I thought, hey... these aren't just destructive punks. There's something Midnight War going on here. I kept going the route for a few hours, visiting the crime scenes, asking our people. At three, I got a grilled cheese and fries at an all-night corner shop and thought things over. When I left, I turned at the corner of Mulaney Street and First Avenue and got sucker punched from behind."
"Not too many people could catch you unaware like that, Tim."
"It's hard to explain. I mean, I'm not a top Kumundu master but I do have eight years training. There was a man ten feet behind me. His footsteps were even and balanced. I didn't hear the movement of a weapon being drawn. But something sure impacted the back of my head like a hammer."
"And then?"
"It's all a confused blur. I was yanked up off the ground, my arms held out to the sides, but I don't remember being aware of men holding me. I got smacked around severely enough that I was dazed, and they shook me during the beating. Then I was thrown against the side of a building and dropped. A voice said, 'Stop asking questions.' After a awhile, I was regaining my senses when some Good Samaritan saw me and called 911."
Timothy went on to relate how he escaped from the ambulance and made his way back to the base. "So here I am. There's one funny detail, though. The marks have faded but I had four or five of these on my body." He tugged back his shirt sleeve. On his inner forearm was a still visible round bruise two inches across, darker in the center. "The skin was broken but it's healed up now. I apologize for not taking a few pictures when I first saw them, but honestly I was exhausted."
"I understand," Sable said, peering with eyes that saw at the microscopic level. "Tim, this is Midnight War all right. Those marks were made by suckers such as are found on tentacles. Cephalopods."
There was an undertone of uneasiness in his comment, "SQUID Vicious."
II.
Sable called a full meeting for eight o'clock. On the second floor, most of the conference room was taken up by a long oak table at which five generations of heroes had met. Only four of the twelve chairs were occupied in person at the moment. Each member present had a tablet or laptop propped up in front of them, on the screens two additional KDF members could be seen and heard.
At the head of the table, she sat with Timothy Limbo on her right hand and Demrak Jin to her left. Ashley Whitaker, the Unicorn, was next to Tim and opposite her sat Carlo Ventura. Attending onscreen were Jocelyn Garimara, who was in Los Angeles, and Galvan, who was at home, holding the son he had with Demrak Jin.
Seated at the opposite end of the table was a newcomer. This man was tall and wide-shouldered in an immaculate black business suit with a dress white shirt and narrow tie. He had short black hair over an olive-skinned face with presentable but unremarkable features; the deepset dark eyes were notably alert and reserved. His face gave away nothing of what he was thinking. It did not look blank but simply thoughtful.
No one there remarked on his appearance, but this newcomer appeared to be a near-identical twin of KDF founding member Leonard Slade, who had died in action in 1990. None of the current members had met Slade, most had been children or unborn at the time of his death, but the resemblance still was on their minds.
After roll call, Sable opened the meeting. "Our first item of business is the admission of a new member. You have all met Frank here over the past few days.
Following the recent death of our Megan Salenger, the Trom have sent a replacement liaison. Frank Mills is a Monitor, same as founding member Leonard Slade. Unfortunately, we have just found out he has been rejected by as a student by Tel Shai."
Unicorn interrupted without preliminaries. The little platinum blonde had never hesitated to speak her mind. "And why is that? I think it's in our interests to know."
"Fair enough," Sable agreed. "Several of the Teachers are telepathic, of course. They state that Frank has, quote, 'a hidden agenda' which he declines to reveal."
"Well, THAT's ominous," grumbled Unicorn.
"Be that as it may," Sable continued, "This presents a real problem for us. Our agreement since 1979 was that the Trom provided some of their advanced tech in exchange for a Trom having access to Tel Shai secret lore. Now that deal seems in danger of failing. Without Trom devices like the Links and the CORBY stealthcopters, we risk losing much of the edge we enjoy in the Midnight War.
Unicorn blew up and raised an impeccable finger in protest. "Hey, we can function just fine on our own. No CORBYs? We have Eldanar travel crystals, and we can use regular cell phones instead of the Links. The armor is good for a lifetime if not longer. Anyway, half our team doesn't even use Trom tech. Galvan and Jin and Carlo don't need it and the rest of us will get along fine with our own abilities."
"Thank you, Ashley," Sable said calmly. "You're right. But it would be foolish to give up Trom tech if there's any way to retain it. Besides, a Trom Monitor as a member would be invaluable. His intelligence, skills and abilities would place himm among our most powerful members. So, we need to find some solution."
On their screens, the image of Jocelyn Garimara scoffed. "No sense in petitioning the Teachers of Tel Shai to change their minds. They're all over a hundred years old and completely sure of themselves. It'd be like telling a grove of oak trees to get up and move around."
"I think I have an idea," Timothy offered. "We Tel Shai knights can't directly teach Kumundu or Mind Arts or provide access to the Great Archives. But this headquarters building holds tens of thousands of rare books on the arcane and the occult. These belonged to Kenneth Dred and are the property of the KDF to use as they wish. We can provide Frank with access to them."
"Sounds like it's worth pursuing," Sable agreed. "Frank, what do you think?"
Like Slade before him, the new Trom put enough inflection into his voice that his speech sounded natural. The Trom were as close to being completely unemotional as flesh and blood sentients could be. Between the minimizing of hormones which affect behavior and a culture which had stressed logic and discipline for thousands of years, they struck Humans as both cold-blooded and rigidly formal. But Frank managed to sound normal enough.
"The proposal has merit," he said. "As I understand your rules, a Full Member must be a Tel Shai knight but the status of Associate Member is also available."
"Yes!" interrupted Demrak Jin. The Gelydran woman was wearing her snug outfit of grey sharkhide with the rough denticles on the outside, as if ready for instant action. Strapped across her back was the carved ivory sheath holding her bone-bladed knife. "I myself am an Associate Member. Those fools at Tel Shai turned me down as well..." her voice trailed down slightly, "For a bad temper which I admittedly have."
Frank Mills continued, "Of course, I will need to discuss this with the Trom Council in charge of this project. I project a high degree of probability they will approave. I would join the KDF as an Associate Member in exchange for being able to scan the rare books and send the images to the Trom Council. My full abilities would be at the team's service. We will establish a new arrangement between the Trom and the KDF, lesser in scope and productivity than the original but still very useful for both sides."
"Sounds workable to me. Okay, team, any objections?" Sable waited a minute, then went on. "Right now, I want to move on to our current mission. You've read Tim's report. I've been receiving tips and pointers from our army of observers and I think there are two likely areas where this Squid Vicious is likely to be found. One is in Tribeca. Unicorn and Carlo, that's your assignment. Take the Mustang and dig around. The other is further downtown, almost by the Battery. Timothy and Jin, that's for you. Considering the damages Tim took, I don't have to remind everyone to be even more alert than usual."
Demrak Jin made a rumbling noise deep in her narrow chest and reached back to tap the knife hilt up by her left shoulder. She came from a warrior Race in Ulgor and her thin-lipped smile was unnerving.
At the other end of the table, Frank Mills said, "I offer my services for this case, in an unofficial capacity if needed. The more I observe and interact with the team, the more competent I will be as a member."
"True." Sable nodded and looked out over the cool, unwelcoming faces of her teammates. "We'd be foolish to turn down having a Trom Monitor on hand."
"He can't replace Megan!" snapped Unicorn. "Nobody can."
Sable said, "Ashley, I know you believe in the work we do. As knights of Tel Shai and members of the Kenneth Dred Foundation, we are all that stand between innocent unknowing Humans and creatures of the night that are eager to prey on them. I am positive this is your life's work and you would not give it up for anything."
"Well, sure. Sorry if I sound... it's just that Megan's only been gone a month and already we're filling her chair, it seems disrepectful."
The bland face of Frank Mills regarded the little blonde without taking offense. "Would Megan Salenger have wanted you to turn down an arrangement which will make you and your friends safer?"
A long tense moment broke as Ashley huffed. "Yeah. I get it. Look, I'm not blaming you for Megan's death and I should give you a fair shot. That's not asking too much." She rose to her full five feet one inch and clapped both palms down on the meeting table. "Let's roll."
III.
Timothy was not surprised Demrak Jin does not recognize the pun in the name 'Squid Vicious' and he suggested the Gelydra to listen to music once in a while.. any kind of music. She had been living in the surface world for years and had not taken advantage of any of its various arts.
Close to midnight found the team of Timothy, Frank and Jin approaching an auto body shop in one of the worst part of lower Manhattan. Right next to an embankment edging the East River was a block long lot with a wire fence around it and a plain wooden sign FRANK'S. This was mostly a junk yard filled with cast iron bathtubs and sinks, broken furniture, unidentifiable machine parts and random scraps of metal. The pothole-riddled ground was a maze of jagged masonry and ankle deep rain puddles. It also boasted a small brick garage with a sign advertising body work and salvage. Eight bikers were there with their Harleys, working on a stolen BMW which was being painted for resale on the black market.
Facing the KDF team as he entered was a wide short man with a tan raincoat tossed over his shoulders. He was markedly bizarre in appearance, with a bald pointed head, and smooth unhealty-looking grey skin. Even this late at night, he was wearing round oversized sunglasses with nearly opaque lenses. "Our hours of business are clearly posted," he announced in a deep mournful voice. "So you are trespassing. My Squidlings and I must conclude you are burglars and home invaders, and so we are forced to defend ourselves."
Suddenly, Tim remembered everything. Frank Pugliese had been a bodyguard for a Red Sect warlock whom he tried to rob and been cursed by a Darthan spell as punishment.
Demrak Jin whipped her bone-bladed long knife from its sheath across her back and charged. From Squid's ribs at each side sprouted two thick, rubbery tentacles stretching eight feet in length, lined with hooked suckers. These were extremely tough and strong. These had taken Timothy off-guard the night before, but Demrak Jin was ready for them. She stamped down hard on one tentacle, pinning it to the cold concrete floor. Even as another of the limbs whipped around her torso, Jin sliced entirely through it with her bone-bladed knife. The severed limb whipped about wildly. Jin sprang in close and drove her knife to the hilt into Squid's chest, then kicked the wounded man back away from her.
As Squid sagged to the ground and the tentacles spasmed and twitched, she whirled around to confront the gang. Timothy had dropped several of them with his anesthetic dart gun, but more ran into the garage began shooting at the KDF members. Several of the gang are using AR-15s and the barrage was heavy enough that Timothy shielded Jin with his body, since he was wearing the Trom armor.
The merciless drumming of hundred of bullets across his back forced Timothy down on to his knees, still bent protectively over Jin. Her sharkhide suit would have shredded away within seconds and her body perforated beyond recognition. Even the flexible Trom armor was tested to its limits. Its film structure worked by dispersing impact over its entire surface, which worked fine against a single shot by even a high-powered rifle, but this barrage was too much.
Within a second of the onslaught, Frank Mills unclipped a small flat device from his belt and swung it back and forth as if waving a flashlight. The Squidlings dropped straight down where they stood. The hot rifles fell from limp hands and the shooters made no effort to even catch themselves. Their nervous system restarted normal functions after that disruption but it would be quite a while before any of them would even attempt to move around.
Even as the final gang member hit the ground, Mills replaced the beam projector to his belt and swung around to his new teammates. "How much damage have you sustained?"
Demrak Jin wriggled out from under Tim and immediately began supporting him instead. "I am unharmed. My comrade took the attack meant for me."
"Ow ow ow," Tim mumbled, stretched out face down in the cold gravel. "I was just getting over being beat half to death last night. My luck is all bad."
"Scanning now. No significant internal damage shows. The bruising is extensive and severe." Mills examined his Link's screen. "Even with your advanced healing, Timothy, I suggest you do not try to walk for the immediate future."
"Yeah, I'm not enthusiastic about trying out for the Marathon!" Tim groaned. Very little remained of the back of his jacket or pants and, as Jin carefully turned him over, the detached front of his field suit dropped off to the ground.
Without a word, Frank Mills silently launched straight up into the dark sky. Timothy and Jin were taken aback. They had become used to seeing Megan use her gravity shield but for some reason, neither had considered that Mills would have the same equipment.
"Where do you suppose he's gone off to?" asked Tim.
"I neither know nor care," the Gelydra said. "Can you sit up? Timothy, I do not know how many times we have saved each others' lives. But I think I am in your debt."
Starting to feel better, Timothy exhaled more easily than before. "Ahh, who can keep track? The important thing is we know we have each other's back."
"Maybe I am the first of my Race to understand teamwork. We are stubborn and solitary by nature. But then," she added with uncharacteristic wistfulness, "I am the Gelydra who fell in love with a Melgar! There is something wrong with me."
Daring to touch her, Tim reached over and patted her shoulder. "Not as far as I can see, Jin."
Silently, without any flash or roar from his device, Frank Mills descended and landed perfectly on both feet next to them. "I must report that the enemy has escaped. I scanned the surrounding area for a distance greater than he could have run."
"Wait, you don't think... Did he jump in the East River?"
"There is a high degree of probability he did so. My sensors do not penetrate water effectively. It seems likely that the 'Squid Vicious' has been altered more than he first seemed to be. In addition to the extensible tentacles, he was not seriously harmed by his wounds and he has remained under water for at least nineteen minutes."
"More of a Squid than we thought," Timothy added in a low voice.
Demrak Jin took a few determined steps toward the embankment before Tim called, "Hey wait! Don't go after him."
"Why not? If anyone can slay a Human squid, it is a daughter of Ulgor. I will bring you back his head as a trophy."
"He is several miles away by now."
"I can track him by his ammonia scent. He will not escape me, I promise you that."
"Please, Jin," Tim said. "We need you to come back to base. In a few minutes, the NYPD will be arriving in full battalion force. I'm sure there's enough evidence in plain sight to arrest all these Squidlings. An obvious chop shop with a stolen car half taken apart, dozens of firearm violations, probably a lot of illegal drugs and paranaphenalia. But the last thing we need is to get caught up in the investigation because we were waiting here for you to come out of the river with someone's cut off head."
Even Demrak Jin had to see the bizarre humor in that last sentence. "Bah. So be it. There will be another time." As she helped Tim maneuver himself into the rear seat of the KDF's car, Frank Mills got behind the wheel and started it up. As it happened, he was just turning right at the next intersection when flashing blue and red lights could be seen arriving at the Squidlings' shop.
5/19/2023
3/11-3/12/2022
I.
Early on a frosty March morning, passers-by in Times Square found a badly injured Timothy Limbo lying in the alley between two buildings. Someone called for an ambulance but the EMTs were not hopeful about his chances. Timothy had four broken ribs, severe bruising, concussion, and was bleeding from nose and mouth. Strapping him to the gurney and securing him in the rear, they took his vitals. One drove while the other gave him nasal oxygen clips and tried to stanch the bleeding. Within a few blocks, though they could not know it, his enhanced healing kicked in. At a red light, Timothy unexpectedly broke free, unstrapped himself and jumped out the rear of the ambulance, brushing the confused paramedic aside. He was way down a side street and out of sightbefore the EMTs could react.
Recovering quickly, Timothy managed to get into the bathroom of a McDonalds without being stopped. He cleaned himself up as best he can, then started limping toward 38th Street. Despite his appearance, he was walking steadily and confidently enough that no one approached him.
Finally, after what seemed like the longest trudge of his life, Timothy tapped his ID code into the pad by the front door and entered the small foyer. For twenty seconds, clicks and buzzes sounded as he was scanned, identified and cleared. He did not try to locate his captain Sable, but stubbornly made it up the stairs to his rooms on the third floor. The air was cool and dry and immensely comforting. Sitting on the edge of his double bed, Timothy managed to tug off his heavy biker boots, torn jeans and leather jacket as if wrestling with stubborn living things. He stretched out on top of the covers and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
Waking easily, he blinked at the round clock hanging on the opposite wall. Two-twenty, and the yellow sunlight slanting in through his window told him it was afternoon. He felt much better, almost normal except for some stiffness. Timothy yawned and rolled over to get some high protein energy bars from his nightstand and wolf them down. He always kept a sixteen ounce of water within reach too, and sipping most of that helped his healing factor finish repairing all the damages done to his body.
The intercom panel by his headboard buzzed, he tapped the button and said, "Hi," rather uncertainly. "Sable?"
"How are you feeling?" came the voice of his captain.
"I'm okay. Give me a few minutes to clean up and I'll report."
"Take your time, I'm in the office." With a click, she broke the connection.
After a quick steaming shower, wearing fresh pants, T-shirt and sneakers, Timothy went down the staircase and turned right into the office. Sable greeted him with a mug of the Tagra tea. As he sipped it gratefully and felt the final twinges of pain ease away, Tim took a chair in front of the desk as Sable seated herself behind it facing him.
Lauren Sable Reilly's gift was enhanced perception. Gralic force augmented all her senses beyond what Human science could explain. Timothy was used to her abilities and knew she was examining him right then and there with a single glance. "I don't sense any internal damage left," she said after a few seconds. "No blood clots, no infection. Your ribs have already sealed up. Do you feel any dizziness or nausea?"
"No, captain. I'm ready for duty. Thanks for the Tagra." He put the mug down by his feet.
Sable leaned back in her swivel office chair and smiled reassuringly. She was an attractive woman in her early forties, with long straight black hair brushed back off a high forehead. A pug nose and slight overbite added to the huge dark eyes to give her a distinctive face most people liked on sight. "I have to say, I was worried when you came in this morning. Your injuries were serious enough that the Trom sensors alerted me. I stood outside your door and heard your breathing and heartbeat were fine, so I didn't bother you. Sleep seemed to be what you needed most."
"Thanks again," Timothy said. "Man! Without the Tagra healing, we'd all be in wheelchairs by now."
"We do take some punishment," Sable agreed. "So. I'm recording, starting now. I'll type it up in a few minutes and we can both add and correct the report before it goes into the files. Last night, you went out at eleven-thirty. Your aim was to check our observers and see what what you could learn about some of these senseless atrocities in the lower Manhattan area. All we had to go on was a name, 'Squid Vicious.'"
"That name cracked me up at first but now I don't find it funny. Okay. I went out on foot and walked down to the Korean neighborhood by the Empire State Building. A lot of our observers are active at night, of course. I made the rounds. Spanish Eddie, Nurse Robin, Old Lady Choi, Herman the German, the usual street folks we keep on retainer. They're all agitated. For a month now, there's been a wave of pointless violence going on. Fires started, windows smashed and cars vandalized. Some beatings and sexual assaults. Not many witnesses to any of these. Security cameras are no help. For some reason, video gets hazy and vague during the crimes."
"That's interesting," Sable interrupted. "That's what happens when we're around. Between our own gralic powers and the Eldanaran sigil we wear, recording equipment degrades in our presence. We fog film and distort videos."
"Yeah. That's true. So I thought, hey... these aren't just destructive punks. There's something Midnight War going on here. I kept going the route for a few hours, visiting the crime scenes, asking our people. At three, I got a grilled cheese and fries at an all-night corner shop and thought things over. When I left, I turned at the corner of Mulaney Street and First Avenue and got sucker punched from behind."
"Not too many people could catch you unaware like that, Tim."
"It's hard to explain. I mean, I'm not a top Kumundu master but I do have eight years training. There was a man ten feet behind me. His footsteps were even and balanced. I didn't hear the movement of a weapon being drawn. But something sure impacted the back of my head like a hammer."
"And then?"
"It's all a confused blur. I was yanked up off the ground, my arms held out to the sides, but I don't remember being aware of men holding me. I got smacked around severely enough that I was dazed, and they shook me during the beating. Then I was thrown against the side of a building and dropped. A voice said, 'Stop asking questions.' After a awhile, I was regaining my senses when some Good Samaritan saw me and called 911."
Timothy went on to relate how he escaped from the ambulance and made his way back to the base. "So here I am. There's one funny detail, though. The marks have faded but I had four or five of these on my body." He tugged back his shirt sleeve. On his inner forearm was a still visible round bruise two inches across, darker in the center. "The skin was broken but it's healed up now. I apologize for not taking a few pictures when I first saw them, but honestly I was exhausted."
"I understand," Sable said, peering with eyes that saw at the microscopic level. "Tim, this is Midnight War all right. Those marks were made by suckers such as are found on tentacles. Cephalopods."
There was an undertone of uneasiness in his comment, "SQUID Vicious."
II.
Sable called a full meeting for eight o'clock. On the second floor, most of the conference room was taken up by a long oak table at which five generations of heroes had met. Only four of the twelve chairs were occupied in person at the moment. Each member present had a tablet or laptop propped up in front of them, on the screens two additional KDF members could be seen and heard.
At the head of the table, she sat with Timothy Limbo on her right hand and Demrak Jin to her left. Ashley Whitaker, the Unicorn, was next to Tim and opposite her sat Carlo Ventura. Attending onscreen were Jocelyn Garimara, who was in Los Angeles, and Galvan, who was at home, holding the son he had with Demrak Jin.
Seated at the opposite end of the table was a newcomer. This man was tall and wide-shouldered in an immaculate black business suit with a dress white shirt and narrow tie. He had short black hair over an olive-skinned face with presentable but unremarkable features; the deepset dark eyes were notably alert and reserved. His face gave away nothing of what he was thinking. It did not look blank but simply thoughtful.
No one there remarked on his appearance, but this newcomer appeared to be a near-identical twin of KDF founding member Leonard Slade, who had died in action in 1990. None of the current members had met Slade, most had been children or unborn at the time of his death, but the resemblance still was on their minds.
After roll call, Sable opened the meeting. "Our first item of business is the admission of a new member. You have all met Frank here over the past few days.
Following the recent death of our Megan Salenger, the Trom have sent a replacement liaison. Frank Mills is a Monitor, same as founding member Leonard Slade. Unfortunately, we have just found out he has been rejected by as a student by Tel Shai."
Unicorn interrupted without preliminaries. The little platinum blonde had never hesitated to speak her mind. "And why is that? I think it's in our interests to know."
"Fair enough," Sable agreed. "Several of the Teachers are telepathic, of course. They state that Frank has, quote, 'a hidden agenda' which he declines to reveal."
"Well, THAT's ominous," grumbled Unicorn.
"Be that as it may," Sable continued, "This presents a real problem for us. Our agreement since 1979 was that the Trom provided some of their advanced tech in exchange for a Trom having access to Tel Shai secret lore. Now that deal seems in danger of failing. Without Trom devices like the Links and the CORBY stealthcopters, we risk losing much of the edge we enjoy in the Midnight War.
Unicorn blew up and raised an impeccable finger in protest. "Hey, we can function just fine on our own. No CORBYs? We have Eldanar travel crystals, and we can use regular cell phones instead of the Links. The armor is good for a lifetime if not longer. Anyway, half our team doesn't even use Trom tech. Galvan and Jin and Carlo don't need it and the rest of us will get along fine with our own abilities."
"Thank you, Ashley," Sable said calmly. "You're right. But it would be foolish to give up Trom tech if there's any way to retain it. Besides, a Trom Monitor as a member would be invaluable. His intelligence, skills and abilities would place himm among our most powerful members. So, we need to find some solution."
On their screens, the image of Jocelyn Garimara scoffed. "No sense in petitioning the Teachers of Tel Shai to change their minds. They're all over a hundred years old and completely sure of themselves. It'd be like telling a grove of oak trees to get up and move around."
"I think I have an idea," Timothy offered. "We Tel Shai knights can't directly teach Kumundu or Mind Arts or provide access to the Great Archives. But this headquarters building holds tens of thousands of rare books on the arcane and the occult. These belonged to Kenneth Dred and are the property of the KDF to use as they wish. We can provide Frank with access to them."
"Sounds like it's worth pursuing," Sable agreed. "Frank, what do you think?"
Like Slade before him, the new Trom put enough inflection into his voice that his speech sounded natural. The Trom were as close to being completely unemotional as flesh and blood sentients could be. Between the minimizing of hormones which affect behavior and a culture which had stressed logic and discipline for thousands of years, they struck Humans as both cold-blooded and rigidly formal. But Frank managed to sound normal enough.
"The proposal has merit," he said. "As I understand your rules, a Full Member must be a Tel Shai knight but the status of Associate Member is also available."
"Yes!" interrupted Demrak Jin. The Gelydran woman was wearing her snug outfit of grey sharkhide with the rough denticles on the outside, as if ready for instant action. Strapped across her back was the carved ivory sheath holding her bone-bladed knife. "I myself am an Associate Member. Those fools at Tel Shai turned me down as well..." her voice trailed down slightly, "For a bad temper which I admittedly have."
Frank Mills continued, "Of course, I will need to discuss this with the Trom Council in charge of this project. I project a high degree of probability they will approave. I would join the KDF as an Associate Member in exchange for being able to scan the rare books and send the images to the Trom Council. My full abilities would be at the team's service. We will establish a new arrangement between the Trom and the KDF, lesser in scope and productivity than the original but still very useful for both sides."
"Sounds workable to me. Okay, team, any objections?" Sable waited a minute, then went on. "Right now, I want to move on to our current mission. You've read Tim's report. I've been receiving tips and pointers from our army of observers and I think there are two likely areas where this Squid Vicious is likely to be found. One is in Tribeca. Unicorn and Carlo, that's your assignment. Take the Mustang and dig around. The other is further downtown, almost by the Battery. Timothy and Jin, that's for you. Considering the damages Tim took, I don't have to remind everyone to be even more alert than usual."
Demrak Jin made a rumbling noise deep in her narrow chest and reached back to tap the knife hilt up by her left shoulder. She came from a warrior Race in Ulgor and her thin-lipped smile was unnerving.
At the other end of the table, Frank Mills said, "I offer my services for this case, in an unofficial capacity if needed. The more I observe and interact with the team, the more competent I will be as a member."
"True." Sable nodded and looked out over the cool, unwelcoming faces of her teammates. "We'd be foolish to turn down having a Trom Monitor on hand."
"He can't replace Megan!" snapped Unicorn. "Nobody can."
Sable said, "Ashley, I know you believe in the work we do. As knights of Tel Shai and members of the Kenneth Dred Foundation, we are all that stand between innocent unknowing Humans and creatures of the night that are eager to prey on them. I am positive this is your life's work and you would not give it up for anything."
"Well, sure. Sorry if I sound... it's just that Megan's only been gone a month and already we're filling her chair, it seems disrepectful."
The bland face of Frank Mills regarded the little blonde without taking offense. "Would Megan Salenger have wanted you to turn down an arrangement which will make you and your friends safer?"
A long tense moment broke as Ashley huffed. "Yeah. I get it. Look, I'm not blaming you for Megan's death and I should give you a fair shot. That's not asking too much." She rose to her full five feet one inch and clapped both palms down on the meeting table. "Let's roll."
III.
Timothy was not surprised Demrak Jin does not recognize the pun in the name 'Squid Vicious' and he suggested the Gelydra to listen to music once in a while.. any kind of music. She had been living in the surface world for years and had not taken advantage of any of its various arts.
Close to midnight found the team of Timothy, Frank and Jin approaching an auto body shop in one of the worst part of lower Manhattan. Right next to an embankment edging the East River was a block long lot with a wire fence around it and a plain wooden sign FRANK'S. This was mostly a junk yard filled with cast iron bathtubs and sinks, broken furniture, unidentifiable machine parts and random scraps of metal. The pothole-riddled ground was a maze of jagged masonry and ankle deep rain puddles. It also boasted a small brick garage with a sign advertising body work and salvage. Eight bikers were there with their Harleys, working on a stolen BMW which was being painted for resale on the black market.
Facing the KDF team as he entered was a wide short man with a tan raincoat tossed over his shoulders. He was markedly bizarre in appearance, with a bald pointed head, and smooth unhealty-looking grey skin. Even this late at night, he was wearing round oversized sunglasses with nearly opaque lenses. "Our hours of business are clearly posted," he announced in a deep mournful voice. "So you are trespassing. My Squidlings and I must conclude you are burglars and home invaders, and so we are forced to defend ourselves."
Suddenly, Tim remembered everything. Frank Pugliese had been a bodyguard for a Red Sect warlock whom he tried to rob and been cursed by a Darthan spell as punishment.
Demrak Jin whipped her bone-bladed long knife from its sheath across her back and charged. From Squid's ribs at each side sprouted two thick, rubbery tentacles stretching eight feet in length, lined with hooked suckers. These were extremely tough and strong. These had taken Timothy off-guard the night before, but Demrak Jin was ready for them. She stamped down hard on one tentacle, pinning it to the cold concrete floor. Even as another of the limbs whipped around her torso, Jin sliced entirely through it with her bone-bladed knife. The severed limb whipped about wildly. Jin sprang in close and drove her knife to the hilt into Squid's chest, then kicked the wounded man back away from her.
As Squid sagged to the ground and the tentacles spasmed and twitched, she whirled around to confront the gang. Timothy had dropped several of them with his anesthetic dart gun, but more ran into the garage began shooting at the KDF members. Several of the gang are using AR-15s and the barrage was heavy enough that Timothy shielded Jin with his body, since he was wearing the Trom armor.
The merciless drumming of hundred of bullets across his back forced Timothy down on to his knees, still bent protectively over Jin. Her sharkhide suit would have shredded away within seconds and her body perforated beyond recognition. Even the flexible Trom armor was tested to its limits. Its film structure worked by dispersing impact over its entire surface, which worked fine against a single shot by even a high-powered rifle, but this barrage was too much.
Within a second of the onslaught, Frank Mills unclipped a small flat device from his belt and swung it back and forth as if waving a flashlight. The Squidlings dropped straight down where they stood. The hot rifles fell from limp hands and the shooters made no effort to even catch themselves. Their nervous system restarted normal functions after that disruption but it would be quite a while before any of them would even attempt to move around.
Even as the final gang member hit the ground, Mills replaced the beam projector to his belt and swung around to his new teammates. "How much damage have you sustained?"
Demrak Jin wriggled out from under Tim and immediately began supporting him instead. "I am unharmed. My comrade took the attack meant for me."
"Ow ow ow," Tim mumbled, stretched out face down in the cold gravel. "I was just getting over being beat half to death last night. My luck is all bad."
"Scanning now. No significant internal damage shows. The bruising is extensive and severe." Mills examined his Link's screen. "Even with your advanced healing, Timothy, I suggest you do not try to walk for the immediate future."
"Yeah, I'm not enthusiastic about trying out for the Marathon!" Tim groaned. Very little remained of the back of his jacket or pants and, as Jin carefully turned him over, the detached front of his field suit dropped off to the ground.
Without a word, Frank Mills silently launched straight up into the dark sky. Timothy and Jin were taken aback. They had become used to seeing Megan use her gravity shield but for some reason, neither had considered that Mills would have the same equipment.
"Where do you suppose he's gone off to?" asked Tim.
"I neither know nor care," the Gelydra said. "Can you sit up? Timothy, I do not know how many times we have saved each others' lives. But I think I am in your debt."
Starting to feel better, Timothy exhaled more easily than before. "Ahh, who can keep track? The important thing is we know we have each other's back."
"Maybe I am the first of my Race to understand teamwork. We are stubborn and solitary by nature. But then," she added with uncharacteristic wistfulness, "I am the Gelydra who fell in love with a Melgar! There is something wrong with me."
Daring to touch her, Tim reached over and patted her shoulder. "Not as far as I can see, Jin."
Silently, without any flash or roar from his device, Frank Mills descended and landed perfectly on both feet next to them. "I must report that the enemy has escaped. I scanned the surrounding area for a distance greater than he could have run."
"Wait, you don't think... Did he jump in the East River?"
"There is a high degree of probability he did so. My sensors do not penetrate water effectively. It seems likely that the 'Squid Vicious' has been altered more than he first seemed to be. In addition to the extensible tentacles, he was not seriously harmed by his wounds and he has remained under water for at least nineteen minutes."
"More of a Squid than we thought," Timothy added in a low voice.
Demrak Jin took a few determined steps toward the embankment before Tim called, "Hey wait! Don't go after him."
"Why not? If anyone can slay a Human squid, it is a daughter of Ulgor. I will bring you back his head as a trophy."
"He is several miles away by now."
"I can track him by his ammonia scent. He will not escape me, I promise you that."
"Please, Jin," Tim said. "We need you to come back to base. In a few minutes, the NYPD will be arriving in full battalion force. I'm sure there's enough evidence in plain sight to arrest all these Squidlings. An obvious chop shop with a stolen car half taken apart, dozens of firearm violations, probably a lot of illegal drugs and paranaphenalia. But the last thing we need is to get caught up in the investigation because we were waiting here for you to come out of the river with someone's cut off head."
Even Demrak Jin had to see the bizarre humor in that last sentence. "Bah. So be it. There will be another time." As she helped Tim maneuver himself into the rear seat of the KDF's car, Frank Mills got behind the wheel and started it up. As it happened, he was just turning right at the next intersection when flashing blue and red lights could be seen arriving at the Squidlings' shop.
5/19/2023
