Chapter 17

Agent Spencer Reeds and Agent Julie Branon hitch a ride aboard the USS Flaxfire. Grines calls in a couple of favors to get the two aboard the submarine and into the Arctic Ocean undetected. The submarine is equipped with the latest in stealth technology enabling it to get within a half mile of the oil platform. Spencer and Branon go out in a prototype wetsuit, designed to withstand extreme cold temperatures and a compact rebreather each. The swim to the oil platform goes smoothly. Other than the ice cold water biting at their faces, they stay relatively warm. Upon closer inspection the agents learn the platform was a semi-submersible platform. Typheryian obviously doesn’t plan to remain there forever.

The climb up one of the platform’s legs proves to be a bit of a challenge compared to the swim over. The climb or the cold isn’t the determining factor in slowly them down considerably, it is the wind. The fierceness of it threatens to knock the agents loose with every gust that comes in. And so after an hour, they reach the top without incident. The platform is still and empty. The moon has just peered out fifteen minutes before they reach the top and casts an eerie glow across the platform’s surface. The two agents slide over under the cover of the shadows and check their weapons in silence.

Julie, of course, has Kogarasu Maru strapped to her back. Strapped to her waist and legs are no longer the dual Smith & Wesson forty millimeter pistols, but rather a specially made holster belt strap that holds dual Heckler & Koch MP7A1 submachine guns with suppressors. Each carries a forty round magazine. Julie has a belt full across her back of extra magazines. Spencer on the other hand carries a Glock 22 with suppressor which uses Smith & Wesson forty millimeter rounds and a Remington 870 Marine Magnum.

“You ready?” Spencer whispers to Julie.

“The question is: are you?” Julie fires back. “I just hope you are prepared to take out your girlfriend the moment you see she isn’t on our side.”

Spencer throws her a look of hatred mixed with sympathy. He dislikes the woman because of her total disregard for almost everything and he feels sorry for her because of how she is. It doesn’t matter what she thinks she knows or if she is even right about Samantha, he is going to bring her back or die trying. “Don’t worry about me,” he says after a brief moment of silence. “I’ll do what I need to and I will complete the mission.”

“Good,” she says. “The whole world is at stake tonight.”

Together they maneuver across the platform meeting little resistance. Their progress is stopped when an eerie glow lights the sky as an intense beam falls to the center of the platform, disappearing inside.

“That’s where we need to be,” Julie remarks once the beam of light fades.

The platform closes in on itself hiding the chamber that sits just beneath the deck. For all intents and purposes the oil platform looks like any other, but both the agents know better and now they have a direction to go.

Totally oblivious to the two agents stalking around, Typheryian stands in front of the ancient, Electra who is clad in Mythril chains. “You fool; you are going to pay for this,” she spats venomously at him.

Samantha sniggers as she stands motionless behind the elder Goji. Typheryian attributes the snigger to Electra’s threat not knowing that Samantha is only in agreement with her. “And what makes you so sure?” Typheryian questions. Electra just glares up at him, wordless. “You must refer to your sister, Maia.”

“Sir,” a technician interrupts with a shaky voice. “We have movement in Sector Four.”

“Well maybe you are right,” he says with his gaze still boring into the ancient. “Here comes your sister now, but I regret to inform you that she is too late.” Typheryian smiles and steps back allowing Samantha to brush past him. She flexes her fist a couple times before letting it fall open revealing long clawed nails.

“Go ahead you inferior bitch!” Electra spats. “My sister will enjoy tearing you apart slowly into little pieces.”

Samantha stands silent over the ancient, flexing her hand.

“Target is two hundred meters,” the technician reports an update.

Samantha still towers over Electra, flexing her hand and staring down upon her.

“What are you waiting for?” Electra yells.

Samantha waits, feeding of the ancient’s despair. In reality, the Goji are not much different than humans or any other race. Strip away everything they can cling to or desire and there isn’t much that is left.

A crash comes from the window. Glass flies in every direction. The technicians throw up arms to block the glass from hitting their faces. Samantha and Typheryian stand motionless, except for Samantha flexing her hand, as the glass streams by them. In the now windowless viewport stands the figure of Maia, the greatest of the seven sisters. She has shoulder length red hair and a much toned body. Her wrists are wrapped in a leather-looking material. She wears a bikini-like top of similar material attached in the center by a single ring. Around her waist is a matching cloth tied to one side over her hip barely covering a leather-looking thong. She is beautiful in the human form she has chosen and Samantha thinks it a shame she has to kill her along with her sister. Without another second going to waste, Samantha steps in and slashes Electra’s throat, ripping through the skin with ease.

Blood and bits of her throat fall away with Samantha’s hand, splattering as it passes through the air. Electra’s head slumps a second later. A blood curdling scream fills the chamber and Maia suddenly has large curving dagger in each hand. The blades easily stretch as long as each of her forearms. She then snarls, dropping into a low stance, ready to pounce. Samantha copies the stance, throwing her arms out to her sides with her clawed hands ready. They face each other; eyes locked waiting for the other to make the first move.

The assault begins as Maia grows tired of the little game being played between them. She launches herself forward striking out with the blades. Samantha dodges and ducks between strikes throwing out little strikes herself at the ancient’s sides, stomach and legs. Samantha doesn’t know how powerful the ancients are after every summoning. Typheryian assured her he doesn’t know either, just that when the summoning was over, Samantha had stolen eighty percent of their life force.