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AUTHOR'S NOTES
Shout out to Philip in Australia--my first "official" Fan from Down Under! Another shout-out to Nic (currently residing in Costa Rica) who will be receiving notifications of new Doververse (or other) content. If you wish to join the growing list of those who want to be notified drop me a note at HonableRonable@gmail.com or RonVenable@hotmail.com and I'll see you are notified as soon as new content is published. Likewise, if you have questions, comments, suggestions or constructive criticism don't hesitate to drop me a line. I ALWAYS write back--if you are kind enough to take time out of your busy schedule to write me, it's the least I can do. Lastly, grateful acknowledgement to Tripp Savidge, author of The Lab and Brad A. Townsend author of The Order: their work greatly influenced this section of Dover and Son and is well worth checking out.
CHAPTER NINETEEN: The Raid
Ben Dover, age 49 -- our Hero
Mike Meyer, age 55 -- Security Guard, Barnsdall Pharmaceuticals and werebear
Carl Cipriano, age 57 -- Mike's "best buddy" and wereboar
Kevin McMasters, age ? -- Mad Toymaker
Ethan Gray, age 45 - former CIA Agent and Ben's live-in lover
Cliff Dover, age 39 -- Archdruid and Ben's younger brother
John-Thomas Bilodeau, age 41, - Druid Mind Mage and Cliff's lover
Montresor and Iphigenia, Pookahs in service to the rulers of Arden
Dr. John Cullen Cox AKA Cullen the Interrogator, age 40 -- Chief of Security, Barnsdall Pharmaceuticals
Donte Benedict, age 28 -- captured Werepanther
Mike Meyer pulled the borrowed black Panel Van into the line of late-night arrivals at Barnsdall Pharmaceuticals' Main Gate. After much discussion it was decided to simply drive through, park in the farthest lot and deploy from there. Ben was concerned about this part; Mike Meyer was an unknown quantity. The Texan's awen hadn't warned him of any danger but he barely knew the man and Mike could easily betray them all if he chose.
"Hey Meyer!" the Gate Guard said. "Where's that piece-of-shit Bronco you love so much?" Carl Cipriano quietly snickered at this: his "best buddy" really loved that truck and didn't like to hear it criticized.
"In the shop..." the Werebear lied easily. "I borrowed this from a friend!"
"What are you doing working the night shift?" the chatty guard wanted to know. "I thought you had a solid spot on days!"
"Ask the guys who make the schedule," Mike replied. "They tell me when to come in to work and I come! Check the schedule if you like."
"I'll do that..."
Ben's heart sank; if Mike's name wasn't on the schedule, they were all fucked. "I've got this," Kevin whispered.
"Yep, there you are!" the Gate Guard told him. "Have a nice night."
Mike drove through the gates while the men concealed in the back of the van heaved a collective sigh of relief. "First step of the plan is complete!" the Mad Toymaker told them. "As soon as we're parked, I'll initiate Phase Two when I knock out the power!"
"They've got pretty strong back-up `Jennies'!" Mike told him. "They'll come on right after the power goes down!"
"I've got that covered!" Kevin told him as he reached into his bag and brought out a small device. "This baby will suppress everything but battery power in the entire complex!"
"Cell phones too?" asked Carl.
"Sorry--this doesn't affect internal batteries," Kevin told them. "I brought a Jammer though! NOBODY will be communicating by phone in this complex!"
"I definitely see why the Feds wanted you..." Ethan said as the Toymaker set up his devices. "If they had this kind of spy-tech our Intelligence Operatives would be pretty much invincible!"
"And it would likely start World War Three!" Kevin responded. "I won't be responsible for that so no Toys for the Military Boys!" The CIA Operative thought the Mad Toymaker had the right of it.
"This is as close as I can park to the Secret Wing," Mike told them as he brought the black van to a stop. "Once we pass that gate the `Nasties' are on patrol and then we have to pass through a field of traps--and that's just to get to the building! I don't know what's inside there..."
"I'll take care of the dogs," Cliff said. His Druidic magic would allow him to deal with even genetically engineered horrors. "If I can't make `em my friends I'll just put them to sleep!"
"Put them t' sleep," Ben said. "I s'pect these bastards have some sort o' bomb planted in r on th' poor things just in case someone manages t' turn em! Least ways that's what I'd do..."
"Yup," said Montresor's voice out of the air. "Dey gots bombs on dey collas! Dese is not nice peopoe!"
"Sleep Spell it is, then!" Cliff said with a sigh. "Poor dogs!"
"Figgie an' I wio be wiff you when you goes in dere!" the Pookah told him. "Dey gots da pwace shieoded against ah kind so we can't get in!"
"Good to know!" Ben said.
"Our monomolecular blades can cut through any walls or doors," Kevin told him. "Once the building is breached, we ought to be able to psychically locate the prisoners then I can `Tesseract' them out!"
"And if we can't locate them psychically, we'll just trash the place until we DO!" Ethan said.
"Dude! Is there anything you DON'T have in that `Magic Bag' of yours?" Carl asked.
"Milk and cookies!" Kevin admitted. "That, and my knitting! I forgot to pack it! So--are we ready to do this?"
"Dark it up!" Ben said. Kevin touched a switch and the facility went black. "OK--ever'body out!" the big man said. "Carl, Mike, y'all might wanna change ASAP.!"
"On it!" Mike said. He was the last person out of the van since he had to doff his uniform but soon a massive Kodiak Bear emerged into the moonless night.
"They're freaking out all over the complex!" John-Thomas told them. "Right now, the Senior Staff is debating whether or not to take extreme measures since they are pretty sure the facility is under attack! Oh," he said a second later," they've released the dogs!"
Everyone (even the transformed werebear and boar) had pulled up their hoods and activated the Night Vision goggles. Ben was relieved to see that he wasn't having to deal with green shadows like regular night-vision scopes but was able to see everything in full color. "Let's hit `em!" the Texan announced as he made his way to the gate and used the Monomolecular Blade to slice through the strongest barrier with the ease of tearing toilet paper.
"Behind me!" Cliff ordered. His Druid-heightened senses picked up the arrival a dozen genetically-altered Pit Bulls. Each of them were at least 300 lbs. and all muscle and slavering jaws. The Druid cast his spell and most of the forcibly-mutated canines went down but two survived the spell which the pair of Lycanthropes went after. The two dogs, even amped up as far as they were couldn't stand up to the concerted attacks of the bear and boar. Both went down yowling. "Did you HAVE to do that?" the Druid scolded.
"Yes, they did!" Ben snapped. "I'm sorry those poor beasts had t' die--but I'd rather save ever'one else trapped in this Hell Hole!"
"Two Telepaths have hooked onto us!" John-Thomas warned. "One of them told me the other is sending in the Golems!"
"Golems?" Ben said. "What's that?"
"Closest you can relate to is Frankenstein's Monster!" Cliff told his brother. "With any luck these will just be drugged-up Guards and not reanimated corpses! There's no magic here," he told the group, "just tech gone wrong!"
Through the next gate was a no-man's land of buried mines and laser-guided automatic rifles. Kevin's flying baseball-sized drones (one for each man on the team) detected all the traps allowing the group to carefully maneuver their way through the complex course until they came to another locked door. Ben used his Monomolecular Blade to slice through the door then kicked it in. "Kev--c'n ya restore power t' the facility but block communications?" the big man asked.
"I've already locked them out of their own computer system," the Toymaker replied. "My jammer will keep their phones out of action--thank God Barnsdall doesn't have any emergency Land Lines! You sure you want the power back on though?"
The Texan nodded. "We're gonna hafta start slicin' open doors once we're inside," he told the little man. "If we find prisoners I'd like em t' know we're here t' rescue em!"
"Good thinking that!" Kevin agreed.
"We need t' find a defensible room where ya c'n set up th' Tesseract." Ben said as he stepped into the hall as the lights came back on. "Once we've done that BB, Carl, Mike n' me will see if we c'n find th' prisoners. Cliff n John-Thomas, stay with Kevin--make sure that room stays defended!"
"Got it!" Cliff said as Kevin began setting up the Tesseract Gate. To Ben it looked like the Mad Toymaker was assembling a fantastical Tinker Toy structure but the Texan knew full-well what a skilled Artificer Kevin was; he had no doubt the thing would do what he said it would.
"Fuck!" Ben heard Carl bellow from the hallway. "Boss--we've got incoming and they're worse `n those damn monster dogs!" The Texan barely avoided being flattened by a tossed werebear. Luckily, the impact didn't damage Mike but there didn't seem to be a lot the Lycanthropes could do against the amped-up Black Guard.
"Back off!" BB barked. "Ben and I have this!" He drew his Monomolecular Blade and began whipping it back and forth in front of him. Ben did the same. As the guards stepped up, they found themselves being cut to shreds by things they couldn't see. Still, even losing pieces of their own bodies didn't seem to stop them from coming.
{{There's nothing left inside those shells!}} John-Thomas sent. {{Whatever made them human is gone--they are just murderous automatons now! You'll have to hit them and hit them hard with everything you've got!}} Since there was nothing left inside the animated shells the two men began cutting them to ribbons until there was nothing but bloody shreds cluttering the hallway.
"I must say, those are some very impressive toys you have there..." a smooth baritone voice commented as a well-muscled man in red robe that left most of his sides bare showing pale, hairless skin and tall leather boots and gloves as red as the hooded robe. The face was obscured by a golden skull-mask. "Wherever did you get them?"
"Where's my SON?" Ben growled as he stomped toward the man. "Release him an' th' other prisoners an' we won't hafta hurt you!"
"Why would we want to do that?" the interloper asked. "You and your pretty toys may have taken out my automatons but you can't hope to defeat me when your own bodies betray you!"
Both men froze, suddenly unable to move as the Interrogator took possession of their bodies, fueled by his anger and need to rescue his son Ben broke the Redactive control over his muscles and slammed hard into the red-robed stranger like the Linebacker he'd once been.
"Oof!" the red-robed stranger grunted as he found himself knocked on his ass. "How did you resist my power?" he said. "Nobody can stand against Cullen the Interrogator!"
"Empirical evidence states otherwise," the Wolfe mocked. (He had regained control of his body when Ben hit the Redactor.)
"Please don't make us cut ya up!" Ben said. "You may be a twisted son-of-a-bitch but there's still a person in there--an' I'd rather not hafta kill ya! Help us free th' prisoners an' we'll be on `r way!"
"Why would I do that?" the Interrogator asked as Ben felt a shock of the most intense pain he'd ever felt shoot through his body. "You're nothing but a plaything to me!"
Ben's awen took over, absorbing the psychic attack and holding it until the Redactor gave up. "I have somethin' f'r ya Mr. Interrogator!" Ben growled, releasing the psychic energy and sending it back redoubled to Cullen. The red-robed Interrogator writhed in ecstatic pain as he was helpless against his own energy.
"How--did--you--DO--that...?" the Redactor panted. "NOBODY can do that!"
"T' quote m' friend Lt. Wolfe," Ben said with a wry grin, "empirical evidence states otherwise! NOW--help us r'lease th' prisoners an' we'll be on our way--I really don't wanna hafta hurt ya, but if I need t' cut y'r arms and legs off I'll do it!"
"No!" the red-robed man begged, "please--don't... I'll do what you want!" Ben offered the Interrogator his hand only to be hit with an even bigger dose of pain. Again, his awen absorbed the attack, leaving the Texan to feel little more than a vague tingle until Cullen stopped. Then Ben hit Cullen with everything he'd just been given, leaving the Redactor to cry out as he arched and orgasmed.
"The Wolfe wrinkled his nose. "Jeezus!" he exclaimed. "The dude came in his pants! What kind of freak is this guy?"
"Sadomasochist, I'd guess," Ben replied. "Looks like r Interrogator' gets off on pain an' it don't matter whether he gives `r gets!"
"Yes," Cullen whispered, "it's true! Whatever you did to me was amazing! I want more!"
"Help me get m' Son an' th other Prisoners an' we'll talk..." Ben told him.
"Who's your son?" the man behind the mask wanted to know.
"Jay Dover," the big man told him. He described his son. "You know where he is?"
"I do..." the man replied, "I guess it shouldn't surprise me you're his father! Pity he hasn't learned whatever it is you did to me..."
"Jesus Christ!" Ben exploded. "He's fifteen years old! You BETTER not have hurt him!"
"There was no point..." the Interrogator responded. "I can't hurt your precious son--no matter how hard I try! His blond boyfriend on the other hand... He doesn't have a lot of tolerance for pain and your Son will do ANYTHING I ask to spare his lover from my `tender' mercies!"
"You son-of-a-BITCH!" Ben growled. "Frankly, I'd like t' kick th' livin' shit outa ya, but you'd just get off on it! Maybe I'll just decapitate ya right now!"
"Don't lower yourself to that level!" BB said. "You'll regret it later! Especially when we have THESE!" The man reached for the neural disruptor on his belt and pointed it at the still-prone Interrogator. When he pushed the button the red-robe man writhed briefly then passed out cold. "Damn, I wish we had these as part of our Police-issue armament!" he observed. "They'd solve a lot of problems!" Then; "what do we do now?" he asked the Texan.
"Start slicin' open these locked doors," he said. "Mike, Carl, if ya smell anythin' on t' other side let us know before we open it, OK?"
The bear and boar sat back on their haunches and morphed partially back into human shape. "I still have the `bear' senses in midform," Mike told Ben as he rose to his feet. "I can smell what's behind those doors and I'll alert you if there's anything dangerous!"
"Wow," I didn't know y'all c'd do that!" the Texan allowed.
"It's a matter a experience an' desire," Carl said. "Most Shifters can learn some kinda Midform--if they work hard enough!"
Ben realized he still had quite a lot to learn about the various types of Exotics--and himself for that matter! Where did the Mer fit into the Shifter world? And what unique abilities did he himself have? There were many questions but no time to answer any of them or even start exploring until his current mission was finished.
"I smell `Shifter Cat' behind this door!" Carl announced.
"Check it f'r traps b'fore we bust it down!" Ben said. One of Kevin's detection spheres ran a scan but found nothing. "Open it!" Ben ordered. The two Lycanthropes cut the metal door as though it were Swiss Cheese and then BB kicked it down revealing a familiar form--Donte Benedict, naked but for some sort of high-tech collar.
"Howdy Donte!" Ben said, removing his mask. "Up f'r a rescue?"
"Oh my God--BEN!" the Werepanther exclaimed, coming out of his cell to hug the big man. "How did you find me? What are you even doing here?"
"Long story ol' Son, the Texan drawled. "One best told AFTER `r Artificer figgers out what that Collar does!" He pointed to the door down the hall. "Ya see that?" he said. "Go there--ask Kevin t' check that collar! I s'pect it's inhibiting y'r shape-changin' powers! If it c'n be removed he'll take it off an' we need ya back t' help with th' evacuation!"
"Um--OK..." the cocoa-skinned Werepanther replied then headed off in the direction Ben had indicated. While Donte was getting the collar removed the other four men were busy cutting open doors and sending them along. They found several Exotics, mostly Elves and Fairies--including the missing Fairy Princess they had been charged to find. There were even a few "ordinary" humans that Ben guessed were missing psychics but his Son was not among the freed prisoners. The men sent all these arrivals back through the Tesseract while they continued the search but found nothing but empty cells.
"Where c'd he be?" Ben asked.
"Miss Deveraux was able to read your intent so she had young Jay and Colin removed to a `safe' location that you can't find!" said a smug voice. Ben looked to see a very well-dressed dark-haired man with gray eyes looking at them. "I must say Mr. Dover--for a bucolic clod you've done far better than I thought! You must have some very powerful friends! Too bad you'll all have to die and those wonderful toys of yours reversed-engineered..."
END CHAPTER NINETEN