CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY
“Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law.
Give them all an even chance to live and grow.”Chief Joseph
9:00 PM
June 15th
Red Basin Compressor Station Alpha
“Why are we here again?” whispered Raven.
They were on top of a small hill overlooking the fenced perimeter around Red Basin Compressor Station Alpha.
More than a dozen heavily armed security personnel stood there, each wearing khaki pants and a dark polo emblazoned with the Praetorian Risk Management logo.
They also wore plate carriers and carried automatic weapons.
“This is the closest facility to the trading post,” explained Kade. “And I’ll bet money two of those assholes down there planted that bomb.”
“Safe bet,” muttered Tashunka Kills Twice, the pack enforcer.
“We don’t know that,” said Raven. “Hitting them will only provoke another attack.”
“How many in a facility like this?” Kade asked, ignoring Raven’s comment.
“Looks like about a dozen security,” said Tashunka. “Eight to ten inside. Site supervisor, a couple of control techs, a couple of mechanics, an electrician, an instrument technician, and maybe as many as three contractors, but usually just one.”
“How do you know all that?” asked Raven.
“I worked for an oil company for a while,” replied Tashunka. “Before I met Kade.”
“Did you hear that?” asked Kade.
“Sounds like a drone,” said Raven. “Not far away.”
“Do you think it’s spotted us?” whispered Kade.
“No one’s reacting, if it has,” Raven replied. “I don’t think it’s looking for us.”
“Then what’s it looking for?” Kade said, thinking out loud.
The ground beneath them rumbled softly.
“Did you feel that?” whispered Raven. “Felt like a tremor.”
“Probably just a truck going by,” Kade said, shrugging.
“The highway is half a mile from here,” Raven replied.
“Okay, just out of curiosity, what exactly does a compressor station do?” asked Kade.
“Maintains natural gas pressure in the lines,” answered Tashunka. “For all the gas lines in about a fifty-mile radius. Maybe more depending on how many pipelines run through this facility.”
“So, if it goes up…,” Kade said.
“Ka-boom,” finished Tashunka. “A natural gas pipeline would be bad. Way worse than an oil rig fire. It might take them days to get it under control. Maybe weeks.”
“So, I say again,” whispered Raven, “why are we here?”
“I’m guessing that whatever has been hitting the other facilities,” Kade said, “probably won’t take too kindly to the attack on the Rez. And, if my theory’s correct and the perpetrators came from here, then my guess is, whatever attacked the other places will hit here next.”
“That, uh…,” said Raven, “actually makes sense.”
“Not just a hat rack, my dear,” Kade said, tapping himself on the forehead.
The ground rumbled again. Only this time, it was more pronounced.
“Well, that wasn’t a truck,” said Raven. “There’s no traffic on the highway. I was watching.”
Alarms began sounding from inside the facility.
“Oh shit!” said Raven.
“Everyone, shift, now!” snapped Kade. “We’re moving in!”
Automatic weapons began to bark and chatter as the security team engaged something that they couldn’t see from their vantage point.
“Move!” roared Kade as he was shifting.
The others quickly turned into wolves, but not Kade.
His other form was bigger, and far more primitive, something older than wolves and closer to the first nightmares men had whispered about around ancient campfires.
His clothing ripped apart as muscle surged beneath his skin, seams bursting and fabric tearing away in strips.
Flesh stretched past its limits and split open as his frame expanded, only to knit itself back together moments later as new tissue formed beneath it.
The sound of cracking bones echoed across the clearing as his skeleton thickened and lengthened, rebuilding itself into something vastly larger than a human body had any right to become.
The transformation raged through him like living fire.
Every nerve ending felt exposed and alive, each one burning with exquisite agony.
The cool night air against his skin became a tangible force, flowing across every inch of his body.
Individual grains of dirt beneath his feet felt as distinct as pebbles.
The scent of the world exploded around him with overwhelming intensity, slamming into his senses all at once.
He smelled sagebrush, dust, sweat, leather, gun oil, blood, and fear.
His rapidly changing teeth split his gums and tore the insides of his cheeks, filling his mouth with the coppery taste of his own blood.
The pain should have driven him screaming to the ground.
Instead, Kade grinned. He welcomed it.
Every tearing ligament, every snapping tendon, every violent surge of growth fed something primal deep within him.
The beast reveled in the transformation every bit as much as the man did.
His chest expanded until it seemed ready to burst. Ribs spread outward with audible pops as his lungs grew large enough to draw in impossible volumes of air.
His legs thickened and lengthened, becoming digitigrade as enormous paws formed beneath him.
His spine rippled beneath his skin, vertebrae grinding and shifting as they settled into a new configuration.
The world sharpened with every heartbeat.
He could hear the pulse racing in the throats of the others.
He could smell which pack members were nervous. Even their sweat carried meaning.
Beneath all of it was another scent, one that cut through every other smell in the night and seized his attention with startling clarity.
His mate was nearby. Warm. Familiar. Irresistible.
For a dangerous moment, the urge to abandon everything and go to her nearly overwhelmed him.
The beast wanted her. The man wanted her.
Only the certainty that battle awaited kept him focused.
Afterward, he promised himself. Afterward, he would find her.
His face changed next. The transformation rolled through his skull like an earthquake.
His jaw thrust outward with a thunderous crack and broadened into something far thicker and heavier than any wolf’s muzzle.
Massive canine teeth forced their way through bleeding gums, descending like ivory daggers nearly six inches long.
As his skull widened, it became obvious that whatever Kade was becoming was no wolf.
The proportions were wrong. The head was too large, the neck too thick, the chest too broad.
This was something from a harsher age, a predator born when the world itself was younger.
The beast within him was an Epicyon Haydeni, the largest of the ancient bone-crushing dogs of the Miocene Era.
By the time the others had completed their transformations, Kade was still growing.
Thick, dark fur erupted from his flesh while vast slabs of muscle rolled beneath his hide.
His claws extended and thickened, gouging deep furrows into the hard-packed earth as he fought to contain the immense power surging through his body.
The strength was intoxicating. Every heartbeat felt like a hammer strike.
Every breath flooded his lungs with thousands of scents.
He could smell the fear radiating from the others.
He could taste it mingling with the copper tang of blood at the back of his tongue.
The world no longer felt merely alive. It felt fragile.
When the transformation finally ended, the creature that remained dwarfed every member of the pack.
On all fours, it stood nearly as tall at the shoulder as a draft horse, massively built through the chest and neck, with a head dominated by crushing jaws and teeth thick enough to splinter bone.
Dense muscle shifted beneath coarse black fur as it moved with an unsettling blend of power and speed.
Then the beast rose onto its hind legs and unfolded to its full height.
Well over fourteen feet tall and weighing nearly a ton, it towered over the others like a force of nature given form.
When Kade threw back his head and unleashed a thunderous roar, the sound rolled across the land like distant artillery.
Raven was the first to lower her head. Then the others followed.
Instinct overwhelmed pride. Every one of them recognized the same terrible truth.
They were looking at the apex predator of their world, and somewhere deep inside, the animal buried within each of them knew that challenging Kade would only end one way.
“Let’s go!” rumbled Kade, then launched into a sprint.
They raced down the hill and leaped over the tall chain-link fence topped with concertina wire with no effort whatsoever.
Kade landed and immediately began looking for targets, hitting the ground like a superhero with one knee bent and one fist planted in the dirt.
He could see that the security team was engaging something in the darkness.
Explosions ripped across the back of the facility, illuminating the area. The fireball revealed several massive creatures, and Kade got his first look at the Ma’êstse-hóhkeso, although he didn’t know their name. They were slightly taller than he was but built entirely of rock.
“Keep them away from the pipeline!” roared one of the security team. “If they breach it, we’re all dead!”
Another explosion ripped through the night as whatever heavy projectiles the team was using struck one of the creatures in the chest. Kade guessed it was some sort of rocket launcher.
A rumbling roar sounded, like rocks groaning together, as the creature took two steps back.
Chunks of rock and one arm fell off the creature before it focused its attention on the source of the rocket.
The creature staggered but didn’t fall. Instead, stone crackled as it regrew immediately, and the damage vanished.
“Go!” roared Kade. “Don’t let them detonate the pipeline!”