Read Online Ascendance by John Birmingham - Free Book Online
Authors: John Birmingham
Tags: Fantasy
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out to shake and Dave took care not to crush his fingers by gripping too hard. Karen bobbed him a quick nod.
‘First,’ said Trenoweth, ‘thanks for this.’ A half-turn and a hand gesture took in the crime scene. They’d actually run up crime scene tape. Dave couldn’t help but shake his head at that. ‘Officer Chadderton said you guys really helped out here.’
‘They cleaned house, Lieutenant,’ the patrolman said with great enthusiasm.
‘Yeah, anyways. I’m supposed to tell you, Mr Hooper, your bosses need you to get in contact right the fuck now.’
Dave shrugged.
‘Which bosses?’
‘Good question,’ said Trenoweth, looking like he wanted to spit somewhere. ‘My captain’s taking heat from the commissioner and the mayor who are getting it in the ass from the Pentagon, the navy, all sorts-a fucking spooks. Whoever your fucking boss is, Hooper. Call him. Or her,’ he added, with a nod to Karen. ‘And you,’ he said. ‘If you’re the Russian, I’m supposed to escort you to your consulate. Or arrest you and hold you until some FBI jerk gets here. Neither of which I’m gonna do,’ he said. A slow pan around the carnage at the taped-off intersection was explanation enough for why he wouldn’t be doing that.
‘The jerk’s not FBI,’ said Karen over the background roar. ‘And Hooper has better things to do than check in at the office.’
At that moment Hooper was eating another cheesesteak, the last one, from the plastic take-out container, but he nodded his agreement.
‘Any heavy weapons teams you can put on the streets, you’ll need them,’ said Karen. ‘NYPD Swat. Feebs. National Guard. Army. The 10th Mountain out of Fort Drum if you can get them down here. The 2-25th Marines up at Garden City. You need them all, Lieutenant.’
Dave enjoyed the expression of utter confusion on Trenoweth’s face as he tried to process the advice from the attractive blonde art dealer in the bloodied motorcycle leathers who he’d been told to assist as a Russian diplomat, or to arrest as a Russian spy.
‘Do you have a map of the city, Lieutenant?’ she asked, cutting across the police officer’s uncertainty. ‘With the incidents flagged? The attacks?’
‘Not a map, no,’ said Trenoweth, putting aside whatever thoughts he had about Colonel Karin Varatchevsky. ‘Everything’s moving too fast. These fucking things are all over the place. Got them surfacing in New Jersey now too.’
‘Give us the worst one nearby,’ said Karen. ‘We can take that for you at least.’
‘If we split up, we could do twice as many,’ said Dave, who had finished his take-out. He was about to throw the container away but thought better of it with so many cops around. Weird to be worried about a fine for littering, with burning cars, screaming idiots and tons of butchered monster meat lying around, but he couldn’t help it. Cops always made him feel guilty about something, because he usually had something to feel guilty about. Karen shot down the suggestion anyway.
‘I told you, Hooper, that Threshrend was messing with us. You can’t count on being the Flash. And I can’t guarantee the next one won’t be able to paralyse you just by thinking about it.’
‘So, what?’ said Dave. ‘I need you riding psychic shotgun on me from now on?’
‘I hope not,’ she said. ‘But for now, we need each other.’
06
‘W e’re gonna need some more Threshrendum. Or a Sith Lord. Dude, that’d be awesome rocking a Sith Lord in our thrall. But even some thresh’d be cool.’
‘To what end, Superiorae Compt’n?’
Guyuk and Threshy had returned to the lord commander’s crib. The snacks and finger food had all been cleared away by Guyuk’s attendants, which was a bummer, but Threshy was confident there’d be a whole heap of fresh, hot man-meat coming down from the Above long before he starved to death. Besides, having escaped the mortal danger of close proximity to the Dave – anywhere within 100 miles of
‘First,’ said Trenoweth, ‘thanks for this.’ A half-turn and a hand gesture took in the crime scene. They’d actually run up crime scene tape. Dave couldn’t help but shake his head at that. ‘Officer Chadderton said you guys really helped out here.’
‘They cleaned house, Lieutenant,’ the patrolman said with great enthusiasm.
‘Yeah, anyways. I’m supposed to tell you, Mr Hooper, your bosses need you to get in contact right the fuck now.’
Dave shrugged.
‘Which bosses?’
‘Good question,’ said Trenoweth, looking like he wanted to spit somewhere. ‘My captain’s taking heat from the commissioner and the mayor who are getting it in the ass from the Pentagon, the navy, all sorts-a fucking spooks. Whoever your fucking boss is, Hooper. Call him. Or her,’ he added, with a nod to Karen. ‘And you,’ he said. ‘If you’re the Russian, I’m supposed to escort you to your consulate. Or arrest you and hold you until some FBI jerk gets here. Neither of which I’m gonna do,’ he said. A slow pan around the carnage at the taped-off intersection was explanation enough for why he wouldn’t be doing that.
‘The jerk’s not FBI,’ said Karen over the background roar. ‘And Hooper has better things to do than check in at the office.’
At that moment Hooper was eating another cheesesteak, the last one, from the plastic take-out container, but he nodded his agreement.
‘Any heavy weapons teams you can put on the streets, you’ll need them,’ said Karen. ‘NYPD Swat. Feebs. National Guard. Army. The 10th Mountain out of Fort Drum if you can get them down here. The 2-25th Marines up at Garden City. You need them all, Lieutenant.’
Dave enjoyed the expression of utter confusion on Trenoweth’s face as he tried to process the advice from the attractive blonde art dealer in the bloodied motorcycle leathers who he’d been told to assist as a Russian diplomat, or to arrest as a Russian spy.
‘Do you have a map of the city, Lieutenant?’ she asked, cutting across the police officer’s uncertainty. ‘With the incidents flagged? The attacks?’
‘Not a map, no,’ said Trenoweth, putting aside whatever thoughts he had about Colonel Karin Varatchevsky. ‘Everything’s moving too fast. These fucking things are all over the place. Got them surfacing in New Jersey now too.’
‘Give us the worst one nearby,’ said Karen. ‘We can take that for you at least.’
‘If we split up, we could do twice as many,’ said Dave, who had finished his take-out. He was about to throw the container away but thought better of it with so many cops around. Weird to be worried about a fine for littering, with burning cars, screaming idiots and tons of butchered monster meat lying around, but he couldn’t help it. Cops always made him feel guilty about something, because he usually had something to feel guilty about. Karen shot down the suggestion anyway.
‘I told you, Hooper, that Threshrend was messing with us. You can’t count on being the Flash. And I can’t guarantee the next one won’t be able to paralyse you just by thinking about it.’
‘So, what?’ said Dave. ‘I need you riding psychic shotgun on me from now on?’
‘I hope not,’ she said. ‘But for now, we need each other.’
06
‘W e’re gonna need some more Threshrendum. Or a Sith Lord. Dude, that’d be awesome rocking a Sith Lord in our thrall. But even some thresh’d be cool.’
‘To what end, Superiorae Compt’n?’
Guyuk and Threshy had returned to the lord commander’s crib. The snacks and finger food had all been cleared away by Guyuk’s attendants, which was a bummer, but Threshy was confident there’d be a whole heap of fresh, hot man-meat coming down from the Above long before he starved to death. Besides, having escaped the mortal danger of close proximity to the Dave – anywhere within 100 miles of
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