Chapter 20

“What is the status?” Typheryian asks turning in his chair to face Oriatis.

Magnus takes a seat in one of the two chairs in front of the desk before answering. “The cargo ship has already left and is on its way to the crater. However, our facility there has taken substantial damage and will take several months to get repairs made.”

“No matter. The ancients have been waiting for a long time, what’s another few months,” Typheryian says smiling. “What of the woman?”

“Samantha Roberts?” Oriatis asks. Typheryian nods, confirming his question. “It seems Rythern let the other human pass as he deemed it necessary to fight her himself.”

“And you let him?” Typheryian asks fuming. He stands and slams his fists onto the desk. “You know how egotistical he is. He could have ruined it all for us.” Oriatis remains silent not daring to anger the other Goji anymore. Of the Ternion, Typheryian is the strongest and if his plans come to fruition he will become stronger than any ancient. Oriatis wants to stay on the stronger Goji’s good side as long as he can. “I can understand that little shit not succeeding in killing the human, but how were you defeated?” he finally asks after his anger subsides and he sits back down.

“The humans do prove to be more resourceful than we expect them to be,” Oriatis explains. “He used some sort of grenade that not only exploited our weakness, but managed to destroy the equipment.”

“Yes, they have been getting more and more resourceful throughout the centuries haven’t they? When we finish with the portal, it won’t be a problem any longer. Soon, my dear Oriatis, we’ll have everything we have spent millennia working toward. We will erase the mistakes of our ancestors and their foolishness. Have we heard anything about Natalya?” he asks almost as an afterthought.

“Nothing as of yet, but I suspect she’ll turn up.”

“With the winning side no doubt. Watch her Oriatis. She may be weak compared to us, but she is conniving and slithery and we need not drop our guard with her.”

Samantha and Spencer take the first plane back to the United States having to resort to using false passports and aliases to do so. The police reacted quickly with the attack on True Energy and mobilizing their force to find the suspects. The two agents though, were in time leaving the country before pictures were distributed. They now sit in Director Mike Grines’ office giving him the details of the entire mission.

“Well at least now we know the Goji run the True Group. The question is the players themselves. From the sound of things you two put their plans on hold for a little while buying us time to form some kind of plan against them.”

“Have we any leads on Avyanna?” Spencer asks.

“That’s the interesting thing,” Grines’ says with a chuckle. “Up until I received a call from Major Duncan Graves, we had no idea where she was.”

“Graves huh?” Samantha smirks. “That slimy bastard only helps when he wants something in return.”

“Well at least he asked for something we can help him with.”

“Let me guess. He fucked up somewhere and now needs our help,” Spencer speculates.

“You could say that. It seems he sent a team in, the same one you two worked with in Madagascar and they were supposed to have taken the base the demons set up in Antarctica and report in.”

“Not the one on White Island?” Samantha asks in shock.

“The very same one.”

“But I destroyed it after the scientist and I escaped.”

“From the looks of the satellite imaging it was destroyed. We didn’t have the resources at the time to send a confirmation team. So we used thermal satellite imaging and it didn’t show any activity. Unfortunately we assumed wrong.”

“Out of curiosity,” Spencer says. “Do any current pictures show anything?”

“Up until twenty-four hours ago? No. Since then there has been a lot of activity. It won’t be long before another agency sees the same thing we have been seeing. I have contacts in the FBI and CIA clamping down on things, but even they aren’t sure they can contain it.”

“So basically we have to hold our breath and hope for the best,” Sam states.

“So far, but that doesn’t mean I’m not sending you in. Consider this your first mission of your new task force. I will be sending you two in to find Avyanna and destroy her and gather information about the gate. The other team—the two members I told you about—will go in and rescue the stranded DEeP Six team.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Spencer says.

“Always does in the planning stages,” Samantha remarks.

“Nothing is ever easy,” Grines confirms.

“How soon do we leave?” Spencer asks.

“You’re flight leaves in thirty minutes.”

Spencer and Samantha take a flight to Punta Arenas, Chile where they then get a flight provided by the Chile Coast Guard and dropped off sixty miles off the coast. Their wait doesn’t take long. The USS Seawolf breaks the surface within five minutes of them treading water. The trip takes only a few hours and they are dropped off as close to the shore as the submarine would allow. Clothed in heavy winter gear and restocked equipment they begin their trek. The other two members of the newly formed division are coming in a different way, much like the way DEeP Six were dropped in.

The trip through the ice fields isn’t too bad. They are able to match much of the surface features with the aerial map and the trek is just over five miles. They choose a path that will bring them to the east gate, which upon reaching it they can see evidence of a battle.

“Think this is where the team’s mission went wrong?” Samantha asks.

“Could be,” Spencer speculates. “Whatever the hell hit them though was big.”

“I’d say. Hey, the door!”

The two agents duck behind a snow bank as a group of Russian soldiers run out and turn north. “Well this makes it easy for us,” Spencer says grabbing his partner’s arm.

The two agents run across the field keeping alert for any surprises that might jump out at them. They don’t encounter any resistance and both make it through the door just before it closes. They stand in the doorway for a moment around seeing they have a choice to make.

“So which tunnel do we take?” she asks.

“I have a feeling it won’t matter. I honestly can’t there being too many places to go.”

Soldiers appear from around the tunnel to the right opening fire onto the two agents. They return fire as they head up the opposite tunnel.

“So much for secrecy!” Samantha yells over the gunfire.

“You didn’t expect it to last forever did you?”

“Not really.”

There run through the tunnels taking out soldiers as they come. After spending nearly an hour in the tunnels they come to a small circular room. Samantha points out traces of blood on the floor and they guess at least a couple of the DEeP Six team made it in that far. Beyond the door in the back of the room is another tunnel. It doesn’t look different than the other ones they trekked through. This tunnel though, seems to go down at a slope leading deeper into the ice. Eager, the two agents proceed. The tunnel curves to the right and brings them to a large area with openings at opposite ends. One leads to a large tunnel slopping back to the surface—the agents can see the night sky vaguely at the end—the other leads still sloping down.

“At least our options are getting better,” Samantha remarks.

The tunnel takes another ten minutes to traverse and brings the two to a large excavation site. Scaffolding sits circling the area. Shovels, picks and wheel burrows are scattered throughout and the only thing missing is the thing being excavated—the gate.

“Looks like we’re too late,” Spencer says dryly.

“Of course you are foolish humans. You don’t expect to stop my plans do you?” Avyanna floats down from the ceiling, landing softly on the ground below her. Her wings fold behind her back as she lands. Spencer and Samantha lift their guns. Avyanna raises a hand pulling the weapons from their hands and tosses them across the room into the wall. They break into pieces, falling to the floor. “You won’t be in need of those.” Samantha pulls Kotetsu free. “Ah, Kotetsu. Now where did you acquire such a remarkable piece of weaponry?”

“That’s no concern for you,” Samantha answers. “The only thing you should be concerned with is me kicking your ass.”

“I think not.” The woman’s weapon is ripped from her hand and held midair in front of Avyanna. “Yes, such a finely crafted weapon—one with origins stretching across time itself. In the hands of a Goji it holds considerable power; in the hands of a human, detrimental to one of us. Too bad you aren’t going to be in need of it.” She throws her hand to the right; the sword follows flying at immense speed and slams deep—almost to the hilt deep—into the wall. “Now. Shall we?” She steps into a fighting stance with her right hand held out motioning for them to come forward.