In addition to the demons, several strange beasts had come through the Hellgate as well. They had flourished in the wild and rendered most of the local wildlife extinct through constant hunting. All of those creatures, like the demons, were carnivorous and lived to hunt.
“Can we backtrack and take another route?” Simon asked.
The HUD indicator showed less than a half a mile to the encounter point. The red numerals flickering onscreen quickly dwindled.
“We could try,” Nathan said, “but they could overtake us. If we’ve sensedthem, you can bet they sensed us. We’ll only be putting off the inevitable.”
“Leah,” Simon said, “can you talk to your people from here?”
She answered instantly. “No.”
“Are they out of range or can you not hail them?” If the people holdingMacomber were already dead, chances were good that Macomber was already dead too. Pursuing the matter would have been foolish.
“Even if they were there,” Leah said, demonstrating that she knew exactlywhat Simon was thinking, “they wouldn’t answer. I’m not supposed to be along onthis little jaunt.”
It’s not exactly a little jaunt when we’re racing headlong into a demonambush, Simon thought unkindly. He took a deep breath and released it.
The distance remaining was less than a quarter-mile. They were fast approaching the point of no return.
“Well,” Nathan asked calmly, as if they were out for a lark and not about to get bloody, “what’s your druthers, mate?”
“We meet them on their chosen territory and kick their bloody arses,”Danielle said softly.
Despite their predicament, Simon couldn’t help smiling. The attitude was pureDanielle.
“We meet them there,” Simon said.
“Do we stick around to introduce ourselves properly?” Nathan asked. “Or do wejust barrel on through without so much as a by-your-leave?”
“We came for Macomber,” Simon said. “We take as many of them out as we cannow, and maybe hope they’re still hanging around when we come back this way.”
Only the muted rumbling of the tires across the broken terrain cracked the strained silence inside the ATV’s command center. The nanofluid suspension keptthe interior practically floating motionless. For all intents and purposes, the personnel carrier was a separate unit from the drive and the base vehicle. Electrical connections carried through the nanofluid.
Simon sat forward in his seat. His elbows rested on his knees as he watched the activity on his HUD. The land outside the ATV was thick with brush and covered in loose soil and rock. The large ATV tires churned through it.
The blips on the screen that identified the demons separated into dozens of targets as they neared. As Simon watched, the suit’s AI sorted the informationgathered by the sensor drones and translated it into real data he could use.
The demons appeared to be a group of Gremlins accompanied by Blade Minions and Ravagers. The Gremlins tended to be blunt, squat creatures with flat faces, multiple eyes, and horns crowning their heads and trailing down from their jaws. Blue-white scales provided a thick defense againsttraditional weapons. They were incredibly dangerous and knew how to work in groups.
Blade Minions stood between seven and nine feet tall. Built like flesh-and-blood tanks, with massive heads on short necks and auxiliary flesh around their features that made a protective hood, they were terrifying opponents. Blades along their forearms allowed them to slash through most armor. Black and gray scaly hide covered them.
Ravagers ran on all fours and possessed the native intelligence of pack animals. However, they could be controlled by handlers and guided psychically. They were built like armored lions, six to ten feet in length, and possessed huge, gaping maws filled with serrated teeth.
As Simon watched, seven flying demons flew in behind the ATV caravan.
“Warning,” the suit AI broke in. “Seven bogeys have been detected by sensordrones.”
“I see them. Center screen and magnify to identify.” Simon watched as thesuit AI used the sensor drones to lock on the unidentified flying objects. A glowing orange rectangle bracketed the seven figures. Then the rectangle broke into seven individual rectangles, each marked with its own GPS coordinates.
One of the orange rectangles suddenly exploded and filled the HUD screen. The figure was vaguely and horribly female humanoid, but the addition of two huge bat wings identified it immediately as a demon. Runes marked the demon’s fleshand glowed bright crimson in the darkness.
“There are seven Blood Angels within the potential combat zone,” the suit AIannounced.
“Nathan,” Simon called.
“Seven bogeys that are Blood Angels,” Nathan said. “I got them, mate.”
“Weapons,” Simon said softly.
“Weapons ready and standing by.”
“I want a full array of Greek Fire missiles deployed from the forward launchtubes when I call for them.”
The gunner’s mate spun in his seat and loaded the selected missiles intotwenty-cylinder firing tubes. When he was finished, he gave a thumbs-up.
The motion was redundant, of course. Simon’s HUD displayed the informationthat the missiles were confirmed and the loading had been completed.
The distance separating the ATVs from the demon army closed to within a few yards. Simon couldn’t believe they hadn’t been attacked yet. Then he rememberedthe demon’s face that had materialized back in London.
For a moment, Simon’s mind was filled up with the possibilities surroundingthe nature of the demons. Not enough knowledge and too much curiosity often caused problems.
Nathan’s voice brought Simon back to the present.
“The Blood Angels are attacking,” Nathan said.
Simon changed the HUD view into the full 360. The seven Blood Angels dropped from the night sky on a direct attack flight path on the Templar ATVs. Simon shifted from the overhead panorama of the scene to the vid relay from the top of the ATV.
At his vocal commands, the view sharpened and locked on the lead Blood Angel. The demon was a monstrosity. The large, angular head seemed aerodynamically designed for swift flying. As the demon swept closer, wings beating savagely at the air, the red numerals in the lower right corner of the
