CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR ACES AND EIGHTS
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
ACES AND EIGHTS
“How to get over the river was the bother.
At last, after thinking a heap about it,
I came to the conclusion that I always did:
that the boldest plan is the best and safest.”
Wild Bill Hickok
6:00 AM
June 20th
Red Basin Oil Rig #19 – Stone Creek
The sun was peeking above the eastern horizon when Jay and Rose arrived in Greyeagle’s Charger.
Sarah winced when she saw the twins were in the backseat, but she wasn’t really surprised.
Not only would the boys not want to miss out on the fight, but there also wasn’t anyone left back at camp to watch them.
So, like it or not, the Greyeagle Twins had found their way into the thick of things.
“Wak?á? T?á?ka, keep them safe,” she whispered, “but now I understand where they get it.”
Then she thought of Greyeagle and Kade at that age and shook her head. She knew that they had to have been absolute terrors with an uncanny knack for getting into trouble.
“Where do you need us?” asked Jay.
“First thing,” Sarah said, “I want these two to go over to the staging area and stay with Doc.”
“But Mom,” they whined in unison.
“No!” Sarah said, putting her foot down. “I know why you had to come with them, but that doesn’t mean I want you in harm’s way.”
“Dad would let us,” said Wambleeska.
“Yeah, we helped fight the big vampire thing,” added Mato Watakpe.
“No, he most certainly did not let you fight that thing,” Sarah said. “You just showed up. There’s a difference.”
“Sarah,” said Jay. “We will keep the boys safe. All of us. Now, tell me what is going on.”
Rose turned to the boys and glared at them.
“Do as your mother says,” Rose said. “Now is not the time to argue.”
“Yes, Grandmother,” they said dejectedly, but in unison.
Sarah looked surprised that the boys agreed so easily but didn’t want to press the issue. She waited until the boys had walked away, then brought Jay and Rose up to speed on the situation. Once she finished, Jay turned to Rose.
“He invoked Wak?á? T?á?ka, and they stopped,” Jay said. “Does that mean that the Ma’êstse-hóhkeso are evil?”
“No,” Rose said, shaking her head. “It only means they respect the invocation. Nothing more.”
“Can we reinforce that invocation?” asked Jay.
“Perhaps,” Rose said, “but that still does not solve the problem. It only postpones the inevitable. Eventually, they will destroy everything in their path.”
“Even our people?” Jay asked.
“I do not know, White Bear,” Rose replied. “This is outside of my experience, just as it is yours. But this is a great opportunity to study creatures we only thought to be legends just a few days ago.”
“If invoking Wak?á? T?á?ka only slows them down,” Jay said, thinking out loud. “Then perhaps Wak?á? T?á?ka can call them back.”
“The Ma’êstse-hóhkeso are a force of nature,” Rose said. “They will only return to their slumber when their objective is completed and not a moment before.”
“Then we have to figure out how to convince them that it is finished,” Jay said. “We know they can communicate. Perhaps we can just tell them that they can go now.”
“They said two words,” Rose countered. “Not much of a conversation. I do not expect them to understand complex concepts.”
“You are correct,” Jay said, frowning. “What does this leave us with?”
Across the facility, the big one standing before Kade turned its head.
“Ah, shit,” Kade said. “They’re moving again!”
Then, the creature stepped forward. When Kade tried to get in its way, it gently but firmly pushed him aside. All around the complex, the other Ma’êstse-hóhkeso began moving and gently sweeping the pack out of their way.
“They’re not fighting us,” called Greyeagle over the radio, “but they’re moving in. How do we stop them?”
Kade moved back into the big creature’s path and held his ground. The creature looked down at him and cocked its head to the side quizzically, then casually lifted him off the ground like a small child and set him aside.
Across the way, three Chinook helicopters were landing, and Team Two – Odin, began disembarking and taking up fighting positions.
“This is getting out of hand!” called Mika. “If Team Odin starts blasting these things, a lot of people are gonna die.”
“Declan,” Greyeagle said into the mic, “try and call off Team Odin. Do whatever you have to. If they open fire, this will escalate beyond our control.”
“Aye, I’ll give it me best, boyo,” Declan replied, “but it ain’t lookin’ like we’re in control t’ me, anyway.”
Greyeagle backed toward the creatures, and they continued to place themselves in their path. The Ma’êstse-hóhkeso were doing their best not to harm them, but they were nonetheless still advancing.
“Shift!” roared Greyeagle. “We have to push them back!”
All around the area, both Hotamétaneo’o and Makhótaneo’o transformed and started pushing back against the creatures. The more they pushed, the harder the Ma’êstse-hóhkeso pushed them out of the way. They were still advancing, but their progress had been slowed extensively.
“We can’t keep this up!” snarled Greyeagle.
“No shit!” retorted Tala. “They’re too strong. We can’t match them hand to hand.”
Greyeagle shook his head and doubled down, trying to force the big creature back. It only leaned forward and began slowly pushing him back, digging furrows in the dirt where his claws were trying to find a grip to anchor him in place.
“This isn’t working,” Greyeagle thought. “They have to have a weakness. What is it?”
Greyeagle grabbed the creature’s arm and twisted it, snapping it off at the shoulder. The creature stopped and cocked its head as the arm began to regrow. Then, it calmly backhanded Greyeagle across the field and through the chain-link fence.
“Don’t attack them!” called Sarah. “They’ll fight back!”
Mika snarled and put his full weight against one of the creatures.
He felt it hunker down slightly and shift its center of gravity.
Mika felt like he’d have better luck pushing a freight train up a hill on a sheet of ice.
Before he could try something else, it grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and threw him fifty feet through the air, slamming him into a parked truck.
“Shit!” hissed Mika. “That fucking hurt, you dick!”
All around the area, the Ma’êstse-hóhkeso began forcing them back, growing more aggressive with each contact.
“They’re not stopping anymore!” shouted Kade.
“Let me try,” Kodiak said, locking up with another of the creatures.
This time, it didn’t try to outmuscle Kodiak.
It broke loose from his grip and locked its arms around him, not crushing him or harming him, just immobilizing him.
As Kodiak struggled to break free, the creature began summoning more and more rock from the ground, effectively covering Kodiak from feet to shoulders, leaving only his head uncovered.
“Shit!” Kade snapped. “Don’t let these bastards get ahold of you!”
The Mohawk Twins grabbed two large sections of steel pipe and slammed blow after blow into the creature that was holding Kodiak.
At first, they didn’t seem to be having any effect.
Then cracks began to form, and the rock shattered.
Kodiak roared and stepped free of the creature before it could reform.
Across the field, Declan was trying to wave down the Wild Hunt, but it was too late. They were already advancing. One man at the front of the group shouldered a large rocket launcher and aimed. People behind him scattered as he sighted in on one of the creatures.
“Hey asshole!” shouted Margolin. “This is my boomstick, you primitive screw-heads!”
Before Declan could stop him, Margolin fired, and the rocket punched through one of the creatures and exploded among four more.
The massive anti-tank rocket was designed to pierce tank armor and had no problem blasting through rock.
It shattered all of the creatures into dust and sent it flying into the four winds.
“Shop smart,” Margolin said, pumping his fist. “Shop S-Mart.”
Then more than a dozen more of the creatures began climbing out of the ground.
“Fuck me!” Margolin shouted. “I think we’re gonna need a bigger boat!”
“We’re not in a boat, dumbass,” called Gideon. “Focus up. If they want to play this game, get the Mark Nineteen online.”
“The good old Yeetus-Deletus,” Margolin said, grinning. “Fucking HOOAH, Sar-Major! Let’s remove a grid square.”
“No!” shouted Declan. “Ye cannae do that! They’ll just keep a comin’. Force won’t put these beasties down. At least, not for long.”
“We just haven’t used enough force,” Margolin said, placing heavy emphasis on enough. “My old Ranger-Daddy back at Benning used to say there is no problem that can’t be solved with a large enough charge of high explosives.”
“I’m tellin’ ye, idjits,” Declan snapped. “It ain’t gonna work.”
“If at first you don’t succeed,” Margolin said, grinning, “use more explosives.”
As the Ma’êstse-hóhkeso reformed, they turned toward team Odin and started advancing.
“This is bad,” Margolin said. “Where’s that Mark Nineteen?!”
“Grandfather, listen t’ me,” Declan said to Gideon, “can’t keep attackin’ ‘em. Yer only gonna get yer team killed.”
Gideon looked at Declan for a moment before nodding.
“Fall back!” Gideon ordered. “Now!”
When Team Odin began falling back, the Ma’êstse-hóhkeso turned back toward the oil rig and started forcing their way back into the perimeter.
“How the fuck do we stop those things?” asked Margolin.
“I think it’s a problem beyond our ken,” Declan replied. “It’s old world magic. Only old world magic ‘ll do the trick.”
“Then I hope Greyeagle and his people can pull this off,” Gideon said. “Or we’re all in a lot of trouble.”