The Carnacki Institute had turned out in force to mop up the mess left behind by its latest mission. Dozens of people were running this way and that, up and down the street before Chimera House, all kinds of people, representing all kinds of specialities, all of them moving like they had a plan. Or at the very least, all trying hard to look busy so they wouldn’t get shouted at. Some were inside the lobby, taking readings with an impressive array of instruments. Others were already deeper in and further up, cleaning the place thoroughly, before the local authorities were allowed in. Removing all traces of the weird and uncanny, and any and all evidence that might give lesser mortals nightmares. Scientific equipment was being removed, computers wiped clean, and certain objects were being bagged up and taken away for examination, autopsy, or a quick trip to the incinerator.
Everyone was moving quickly, hard at work, because the area had already been sealed off and isolated for far too long. People might start asking questions. Though the Carnacki Institute would have already seen to it that they wouldn’t get any answers. For their own good. The best way to keep a secret is to make sure no-one knows enough to understand which questions to ask.
JC, Happy, and Melody waited patiently outside Chimera House, being looked over by the Carnacki Institute’s very own medical team. Which on such short notice, and at such an ungodly hour of the morning, consisted of one paramedic ambulance, with driver, and one bleary-eyed uniformed nurse. JC had already been checked out, and declared fine. He bestowed his most gracious smile on the nurse as he pulled his ice-cream white jacket back on.
“Of course I’m fine,” he said grandly. “I could have told you that. I am always fine.”
“Actually, you look like something big and determined kicked the crap out of you,” said Melody.
“Yes,” JC said patiently. “But apart from that, I’m fine.”
“Oh good,” murmured Kim. “I was getting a little worried, back there.”
No-one could see or hear her, for the moment. She had made herself invisible so as not to spook the late- comers-and because she was still quite shy around strangers. JC could feel her presence near him, like the smell of a wild rose or the warmth of an unfelt breath on his cheek.
Happy sat in the back of the ambulance, sipping hot chicken soup from a plastic mug bearing the legend He’s dead, Jim. “I’m feeling better, too, if anybody cares. This is good soup. Good starter. Does anyone else feel like sending out for pizza? If we all club together and order the big size, we can get a stuffed crust…”
The nurse shut him up by thrusting a thermometer into his mouth. She’d already taken a blood sample and was shaking her head sadly. Happy raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t believe everything you see on a chromatograph readout,” he said carefully, around the thermometer. “It was an emergency situation. I don’t do the pills thing any more. Well, not as much, anyway.”
“It’s a wonder to me you have any blood left in your chemical system,” snapped the nurse. “I’ve seen your file. We pass it around back at base when we want to freak out the new girls. When you die, we’re going to put your organs on display, as a Horrible Warning to Others. Some people don’t even want to wait till you die. If I were to take your blood pressure, would I regret it?”
“I don’t know,” said Happy. “How good are your nerves?”
“Oh, get the hell out of my ambulance,” said the nurse, whipping the thermometer out of his mouth. She studied it for a moment, winced, and threw it away. “I haven’t got the patience to deal with self-harmers.” She manhandled Happy out of the back of the ambulance and gestured impatiently to Melody. “Come on, science girl, get your geeky arse in here. Happy, JC, don’t either of you go rushing off anywhere. I want to check you out with the Geiger counter before I sign off on you.”
“Amateur,” said Melody. “If I had my equipment here, I could test us for a dozen different kinds of radiation you’ve never even heard of.”
“Speaking of which,” said JC. “Look what’s just turned up.”
Melody looked where JC was pointing, and immediately pushed the nurse aside to sprint off down the street to where two large men were straining to push her equipment along on a trolley.
“Babies!”
The two men pushing the trolley took one look at what was heading their way, abandoned the trolley, and ran for their lives. Melody had a reputation for dealing very harshly with anyone who damaged her scientific instruments in transit. She threw herself across the piled-up equipment and hugged it all fiercely.
“It’s all right, babies-mommy’s here! Did any of the nasty men touch you, sweeties?”
JC looked at Happy. “There’s something entirely not natural about how that woman relates to her precious toys. If she shows half that much passion in the bedroom…”
“Don’t go there,” said Happy. “Trust me-you don’t want to know.”
JC grinned. Then the smile faded from his face. “Look who’s here,” he said, quietly.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked around as the revered and very-much-feared Boss of the Carnacki Institute, Catherine Latimer, her very own bad self, came striding out of Chimera House. She hit the crowd at full speed and kept going, expecting everyone who mattered to keep up with her. And, of course, they all did, if they knew what was good for them. She talked in half a dozen different directions at once, giving orders, making observations, motivating people with harsh language and sharp looks. She gave new instructions to a dozen departments and sent them off on urgent errands with her voice still ringing loudly in their ears. Catherine Latimer got things done because everyone under her was too scared not to do them on her behalf. She stopped briefly, to glare back at Chimera House as though it had done all this to personally annoy her, then gave her full attention to the second field team she’d called in, standing patiently to one side.
JC had spotted them the moment they arrived and had been careful to maintain a more-than-respectful distance. It was no secret that the new team were here to search the whole building from top to bottom, in case JC and his team had missed anything. Trust, but verify, while carrying a really big stick. The Carnacki Institute got through mottos like a dog gets through fleas, but this one suited better than most. JC looked the new team over thoughtfully. He knew them. Everybody did.
Latimer wasn’t taking any chances-she’d brought in the Institute’s longest-established and most successful A team. Really big hitters, with a nasty reputation, led by the living legend Jeremy Diego, along with his exotic telepath, Monica Odini, and the tech wizard, Ivar ap Owen. They’d solved more cases, put down more Bad Things, and kicked more supernatural arse than all the other field teams put together. Diego himself was efficient, glamorous, and almost unbearably arrogant. In other words, everything JC aspired to be.
Diego looked across at JC, and his gaze was only spared from being openly contemptuous by its basic lack of interest. JC made a point of smiling meaninglessly at Diego, as though he sort of recognised the face but couldn’t quite put a name to it.
Diego wandered casually over to confront JC, who made a point of adopting an especially casual and unimpressed pose. The two team leaders nodded and smiled politely to each other, because other people were looking, but neither of them offered to shake hands. There were limits. Diego stuck his hands in the pockets of his long duster coat and made a point of looking JC square in the sunglasses.
“Anything in there we need to look out for?” he said casually. “Anything that was a little bit too much for you or might need another slap round the head to keep it quiet?”
“No,” said JC, smiling easily. “Nothing worth the mentioning. My team always takes care of business. Though if you could bring yourselves to clean up some of the mess… since you’re there.. .”
“We’ll run all the usual checks anyway,” said Diego. “In case you missed something. Better safe than sorry, eh?”
“Of course,” said JC. “It’s always best to keep busy when there’s nothing important left to do.”
By then, both men were being so laid-back it was a wonder they hadn’t toppled over. Diego and JC exchanged quietly venomous smiles before Diego turned his back on JC and wandered unhurriedly back to his own team. Happy moved in close beside JC.
“You wouldn’t believe what their team telepath Monica just thought at me! Some people have far too much imagination and not nearly enough inhibitions. You haven’t got a notepad, have you, JC? I need to jot something down, while the details are still fresh…”
“Tempted?” said JC.
“With her?” said Happy. “I’d rather stick it in a blender. I’ve heard stories about her. Most of them end up with emotionally distressed young men being dropped off at hospital emergency rooms. Besides, Melody would tear me limb from limb. Or even worse, ask Monica to join us for a threesome. I don’t know which option scares me more.”
