Shep thought and then nodded. 'I think I can. Got someone new on the team and I'm pretty sure you can trust him. Is that it, Captain? You just stopped by lookin' to find a ride?'
She returned his kind smile and answered, 'I also picked up some help. Oliver and Carl are going to go with us to Pennsylvania.' He asked her about the other member of the Dark Wolves: 'And Vince?' Nina shook her head. 'I didn't ask him. He wasn't around, anyhow.' 'Hey, whoa, you can trust Vince Caesar. He'd pretty much jump off a bridge for you.'
'I know. I didn't want to put him in a bad spot. I'm just saying, Vince is really by the book. What we're doing, it's not exactly authorized.'
Shepherd pointed out, 'You were always Miss By-the-book yourself. Now look at you.'
A burst of giggles from the beach goers drifted to their bench on a cool wind carrying the smell of salt water. The six year old raced across the sand chasing a seagull.
'I suppose so, yeah,' she admitted. 'This is…I dunno…'
'Personal?'
She cocked her head and considered.
'You know, it is. She asked me to do it. Me. I didn't think she knew I existed. Still, it's like I feel a personal debt to Trevor. Strange, huh? But anyway, I didn't ask Vince to come along because I didn't want to put him in a bad spot. He'd come but he wouldn't feel right about it.'
Shep said, 'Lots of folks feeling that way these days.'
'Oh? What do you mean?'
'I mean other officers and such. They don't like our new President and they sure think this whole peace deal is a fool's bargain. But they also know that if the military does anything it will tear all of this apart. I think most of us are just biding our time, hoping either our 'President' comes to his senses or we make it long enough to vote in someone new. If anyone is hoping the army is going to throw Evan out on his butt, they're wrong. Unless, of course, you find something to motivate us. Otherwise everyone is feelin' it's really important to play by the new rules, even if we think those rules are for shit.'
'What about General Brewer? I haven't seen anything about him in the newspapers.'
'Brewer…' Shepherd's mouth bent as if he bit into sour candy. 'Brewer is back at the old estate doing paper work. Truth is, Jon is pretty much out of the game for now. I think losing Trev was hardest on him. Then he goes and hands over the keys to the kingdom real fast and I'm guessin' he's come to realize how big a whoops that was. I think he's kind of locked himself away and Evan is doing everything he can to keep that door closed. No, for the time being Jon Brewer is dead in the water. Although I'm sure his wife is givin' him an earful.'
'That's too bad. I always sort of liked him.'
'Yeah,' Shep's voice drifted off. 'Me too, I guess. But look, you got to finish up what you're doing. Sounds as if you've got your teeth into it now. I'll help you best I can, but that ain't much. Like I said, they're watching us real close.' 'You can do one thing for me, can't you, Shep?' He raised a suspicious eyebrow. She asked, 'Give Denise a hug. Tell her I love her.'
'And tell her you'll be home soon?'
Nina shook her head. 'No, don't tell her that. No reason to lie.'
OUR BELOVED ANN SOMMERS, January 15 th, 1922- August 9, 1964
IN MEMORY OF JOSEPH STEINHARDT, November 1875- February 4, 1950
HERE LIES A LOVING FATHER AND A GENTLE MAN, ARTHUR TURTLEDOVE,
LAID TO REST ON OCTOBER 21, 1975.
The markers stood in lines on the two square miles of green hills comprising St. Mary's cemetery on the southern outskirts of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Most were humble stones baring fading names, a few more grand with stone crosses and weeping angels.
A group of thieves stalked the grounds under the cover of night, stepping lightly between markers and moving from the open hillside into a stretch of trees. Nina led them with Odin the Norwegian Elkhound at her side. Gordon came next, prodding along Dr. Maple who stumbled every few steps. Oliver Maddock and Carl Bly-members of Nina's Dark Wolves unit-flanked the group to either side.
They approached a tumulus mausoleum built into the side of a shaded ridge. Rows of pillars gave the crypt classic, Greek architecture but the small tomb was nearly hidden by drooping tree branches, making it a surprisingly quiet and sedate resting place for an Emperor. Etched above the door was the family name STONE surrounded by carved arrows.
Nina approached the entrance while the others waited. The sword strapped to her leg and the rifle slung on her back jingled. A wind shuffled leaves and the sound of a night bird whizzed overhead, the lone witness to their trespass.
She stopped and produced a spray can. Gordon held a heavy but small tank in one hand and a flashlight in the other. He pointed that flashlight toward Nina and the tomb's entrance.
The spray can Nina used released a fine mist that, in turn, revealed the red beam of a security sensor spanning the door about chest-high. While the sentries at the guard station near the main entrance had already been incapacitated, the alarm might broadcast a wider alert.
She motioned Knox forward. He, in turn, gave Maple a polite shove. The doctor's glasses nearly fell off but he did as instructed.
As they approached, Nina sprayed the beam again. Gordon bent under the electronic trip wire, rested his parcels on the ground, and produced a tiny packet from a pocket in the black assault vest he wore. He ruptured that package and spread its contents against the mausoleum door locks. A pasty acid burned into the bolts. A moment later, a gentle push swung the portal open. Cool, musty air drifted out from the crypt.
Gordon gathered his items and entered. Nina used the spray can to highlight the security beam once more, then pushed Dr. Maple's head lower, so he and his medical bag slipped underneath without tripping the alarm.
The Captain turned to the remainder of the party. Maddock gave a thumb up and crouched alongside a tombstone. Bly did the same with his eyes focused in another direction. Odin hovered between the two, his canine nose searching the air for threats.
She slipped inside the crypt avoiding the man-made alarm beam keeping watch over the final resting place of Trevor Stone. But just inside the door, high up in a black corner, a patch of what could be mistaken for moss glowed a soft light of alert.
As the trio of intruders approached the metal sarcophagus at the rear of the room, a wakeup call transmitted to the tomb's other guardians…
…In the thin forest along the perimeter of St. Mary's cemetery, on a branch of a birch tree, drooped two large green bulbs easily mistaken for discolored bees nests or the rotting remains of Gypsy Moth cocoons. The bulbs shimmied and curled open with a soft crackle. Vile liquid dripped in long, stringy strands as two greenish spheres birthed from the sickly wombs…
…Flashlights found the Emperor's coffin. Its shiny reflection in the artificial light contrasted starkly with the dreary, aged stone of the small room.
A sophisticated electronic lock affixed to a bar controlled a series of seals along the frame. Cracking the lock's code would take time, which was why Gordon Knox brought along a more direct method of penetrating the final ring of security protecting the Emperor's last vessel.
He slipped on a pair of welder's goggles and ignited a blowtorch. The furious fountain of sparks from burning acetylene lit the chamber like a holiday fireworks display. The metal glowed as it melted and broke under the assault.
Captain Forest and Dr. Maple stood off with their hands protecting their eyes. The heat from Gordon's work chased away the coolness of the room.
Nina felt uneasy inside the burial site. She felt even more uneasy as she spied Dr. Maple examining her as if she might be a bug under a microscope. 'What? Is there a problem?' He pushed his spectacles higher on his nose and answered, 'You really don't remember, um, a thing. Do you?' 'Huh? What do you mean?'
Gordon finished cutting through one section of the locking mechanism, slid the torch tank to the other end of the coffin, and continued his work.
'Well, um, I was there, you know,' the Doctor explained. 'Me and Reverend Johnny, you see, found the, um,
