....and now, back to PENGUIN$

********************

Fred had just poked a finger into the breakfast muffins when a distant
rumbling rattled the dishes in the kitchen at the Factory.

"What the hell was that? An earthquake?" He asked Will who was sitting
on a nearby stool, nursing a large X-Files mug filled with steaming
coffee.

"Dunno," Will replied, yawning. "Maybe someone should stick his head
out the window and see if the US is still where it was the last time we
checked."

Fred rolled his eyes and started to untie his apron. Footsteps echoed
in the mess hall and then Dwight appeared.

"Get your asses outside. You gotta see this," he said. "George says he
thinks he knows where Anita Blake and Valeria are."

"What would that have to do with... oh no!" Fred rushed out of the
kitchen.

Will, mug in one hand, gingerly dug a hot muffin out of the baking tin
with his free hand and juggled it while following at a more leisurely
pace.

Outside, the entire team had gathered on the front lawn of the factory.
Across the harbor Cathedral tower looked like a giant white birthday
candle in the pale morning light.

An explosion had ravaged much of the upper most part of the structure,
reducing it to a mess of burning rubble and blackened, twisted metal.
Thick smoke trailed into the air and was beginning to settle over the
city.

The sound of sirens from an army of emergency vehicles echoed across
the water. Traffic had stopped on the highway overpass. People stood on
the road beside their cars and stared.

"George?" Mina said anxiously. "You're just guessing right? You don't
know something that we don't, do you, huh?"

"No, Mina. I don't know anything," George replied calmly. "We just have
to have faith and trust in the Lord." He sighed. "In the mean time,
people, we're gonna saddle up and get our sorry asses over there and
see what we can do to help. We've got the tools and the training."

The others nodded. It had been a long night for the team. No one had
slept. Bad news was the last thing they needed, still they had no
choice but to assume the worst. Neither Valeria nor Christi had ever
disappeared without a word before. It was far too out of character, and
the situation far too coincidental, to be ignored.

The sound of tires crunching on gravel caused Morris to turn and look.
"Hey! Who the hell's that?" He asked.

The team turned their attention away from the city. A sleek black
limousine had just turned off Cherry Street and was proceeding up the
factorys driveway. When it stopped, a chauffeur, wearing a kilt,
stepped smartly from the driver's side and opened the rear door.

Two people emerged: a man and a woman. They were dressed casually
compared to the transportation they'd just arrived in, but their
expressions where deadly serious. They walked quickly, crossing the wet
grass with long strides, immediately identifying George as the team's
leader.

"Can I help you?" George asked pointedly when they had reached him. The
rest of the team gathered behind him, hands sliding discreetly in the
vicinity of their weapons.

"Mr. George Edwards?" The woman asked, straining her neck to look at
his face. The top of her head barely met the middle of the mercenary's
chest, but there was an air of quiet authority and competency about her
that made up for it.

"Yeah, that's me," George replied. "Who the hell wants to know?"

"Mr. Edwards," the woman continued. "My name is Chris Ely and my
partner here is Jim Butcher." She reached into her jacket and produced
a large badge ID.

"What are you?" George snorted, squinting at the badge. "The EFFF BEEE
EYEEEEE?"

"Not exactly," Chris replied. "We're with the Resistance Forces. The
Anti-Penguin Resistance Forces. We've just come up from Whitewright,
Texas on a matter of great urgency."

George looked unimpressed.  "So if you're from the Home office what's
the secret password? The emails you people send out all the time always
say that we gotta ask."

"The secret password?" Chris' face went blank.

"Yeah," George crossed muscular arms over his chest. "If you really are
who you say you are, you'd know the secret password."

Jim, who'd been standing by quietly, turned to look at Chris,
disapproval on his face. "Hey! I put a lot of creative energy into
picking those out! Don't you read any of my emails?"

"Oh damn. Right." Chris cringed. "Sorry Jim, I blanked for a moment."

George raised his eyebrows in question. "Well?"

"It's Bob," Chris said rubbing her forehead with one hand. "The
password is Bob. Okay? Can we get down to business here now?"

"Welcome to Canada," George said. "Now get on the damn bus. We could
use a couple of extra hands. Speaking of buses, where the hell is Will?
Okay people. Let's move!"

The team scattered.

"I assume we just got recruited to the volunteer fire department," Jim
said. There was an alert, energetic quality to him that hinted at a
mind that was never at rest. He nodded in the direction of the city.
"Any idea what happened?"

"Nothing," George replied. "But we think a few of our people might be
involved."

"I got a call from Valeria Orbus last night," Jim said. "She told me
about your encounter with the birds. Is she one of the missing people?"

"There wouldn't be an Anita Blake missing as well would there?" Chris
added.

"Yeah," George nodded in disgust. "People have been disappearing around
here like this is the goddam Bermuda triangle. First Valeria and that
Anita Blake woman. Then Christi and skirt boy.  Then there's the two
guys Blake showed up with. Just up and left without telling me. Hell,
they might've not even  been in that explosion, but it's all we have to
go on. It's the kind of thing I'd expect the damn birds to do. I can't
think of any other reason why they'd be at Cathedral Tower."

"Cathedral Tower?" Chris echoed.

"Damn," Jim said, looking sadly at George. "I think you just confirmed
your worst fears. We gotta get over there."

Gravel crunched behind them as Will pulled the bus up to the main
entrance and opened the doors with a loud hissing of hydraulics.

Chris turned to George. "I'll explain on the ride over why we're here.
We don't have time to waste standing around," she said grimly. "Just do
me a favor and tell me that you've got lots of big guns and ammunition
on board. I have a feeling we're gonna need them or a lot of people are
going to die horribly at the hands of the Penguin Army."

"Yep. We got guns all right." George let out a long breath. "So you
really are from the Home Office," he said with a slight smile. "I was
beginning to think that you people didn't really exist."

Jim put a hand on George's large shoulder. "Believe it."

George nodded. "Then maybe you can tell me one thing."

Chris paused on the top step to look back at him. "What?"

"Where the hell's the damn pay?"

***********************************

Seconds after diving into the portal created by Pisces' device, Anita
found herself lying on her back in pitch darkness. She could hear the
sound of distant rumbling and felt dust and other debris raining down
on her face.

The bomb, she thought, feeling the metaphysical string that had tied
her to her zombies snap and the ends flutter away. Horton had found his
rest. She could only hope that Valeria, Christi, Crowley and her
penguins had made it to safety in time.

Sputtering, she shook her head and brought her hands up to her eyes.
She'd been so utterly focused on her pursuit of Pisces that she was
only starting to remember now how reality had shifted sickeningly after
she'd entered the thing that she now knew was some kind of portal.

"This is probably how Alice felt after diving into the rabbit hole,"
she muttered to herself.

Lights flickered to life around her with a loud buzzing snap that made
her start. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself up onto her elbows
and looked around her, blinking in the sudden illumination. She was in
a narrow tunnel, lying between twin steel beams running along tracks
that disappeared into the distance in both directions. Straining her
ears she could hear the rush of wind, the echoing drip of water and the
quiet hum of electricity.

There was no sign of Pisces.

On a tall black column, not far from the tip of her right sneaker,
lights changed from red to green with a loud click that bounced off the
damp cement walls.

Carefully Anita got to her feet and placed her hands on her hips,
squinting down the tunnel in both directions, trying to decide what to
do. The wind had picked up, whipping her black curls into a frenzy
around her head.

Lying not far from where she stood was a twisted piece of metal that
looked vaguely familiar. On one end of it the warped blades of a fan
spun drunkenly in the rush of air. It looked suspiciously like one of
the pieces of damaged machinery that had littered the floor of the
penthouse. Beside it, lying in the gutter that ran between the two
rails, a quarter glinted softly in the low light.

Not just any quarter, she thought. Christi's quarter. Sudden hope
flared through her.

"Norman!" She yelled softly. "Norman! Here boy!" She risked a quick
whistle.

From far down the tunnel there came a squawk, and then the pitter
patter of tiny webbed feet. Norman suddenly appeared from around a bend
in the distance, waddling madly and pumping his tiny useless wings.

"Norman!" She shouted, laughing. "Good boy! C'mere!"

The wind had become stronger now and a beam of light was slowly
creeping along the wall of the tunnel. The rails between which Anita
stood resonated with loud whipping sounds.

The tiny penguin squawked again, louder this time. His features were
twisted in fear.

"Norman?" Anita asked, confused. She began to walk quickly towards him,
but stopped when something on the wall of the tunnel caught her eye.
Two arrows pointed in both directions. On one was printed the words:
'Union Station'.
She froze.

"Subway tunnel," she said tightly, in numb shock. "We're in a subway
tunnel." Then she was running towards the penguin with all her might.

"Norman!"

In the distance a train came into view from around the bend in the
tunnel. The beams of its headlights hit Anita squarely in her face,
nearly blinding her. Her feet struck the tracks hard and her breath
came in short gasps. She had no idea what she'd do once she reached
Norman. Even from this distance she could tell that there was very
little room between the train and the walls of the tunnel.

She reached the tiny penguin with seconds to spare. Grabbing Norman's
wing she pulled the frightened bird into her arms and began running in
the opposite direction with the train barreling towards them.

Adrenaline and a strong instinctive desire to live pushed Anita's legs
forward past the point of fatigue, but her lungs eventually began to
burn in her chest and her arms protested against Norman's weight. The
tunnel loomed on endlessly ahead of them with no visible means of
escape. Desperation and hopelessness settled on her, slowing her down.
Fatigue won the battle and she stumbled to the ground with Norman still
tightly clutched in her arms. A sudden image flashed through her mind.
They were going to die here, far under the earth in a strange city
miles from home.

She dragged herself to her feet but then stopped and turned, her energy
drained and Norman struggling in her arms. Together they watched the
train approach. Her last hope was that the driver would spot her
standing on the tracks and hit the brakes, but whether the train could
stop in time was anyone's guess.

"Don't look, Norman," Anita whispered. She put a hand over the
penguin's eyes.

She took a deep breath and for the first time noticed that a strange
coldness was beginning to settle on her, causing her fear to fade. A
glimmer of blue light shimmered at the edge of her vision. Norman
stopped struggling and looked up at her, his small body bathed in the
eerie light.

"What's happening?" She breathed.

Then, in contrast to the cold, a deep heat exploded inside her starting
at the center of her being and then flowing outwards to invade every
cell, making her feel strong and filled with energy. Distant whispers
echoed inside her mind.

"Anita, run," said a familiar voice. It was not the same one she'd
heard in the penthouse. This one was unmistakable.

"Richard?" She whispered in shock.

"You can do it. Hurry. We'll help you but we can't keep it up for very
long."

"Run, ma petite." Another voice brushed her mind like the softest fur.
"Accept the power while you can and save your life."

Without question she turned and began to run again, her feet barely
touching the ground and her vision suddenly sharp and crystal clear in
the semi-darkness of the tunnel. Sounds and smells reached her that she
hadn't been aware of moments before. She could sense the minds and feel
the heartbeats of every passenger on the train behind her. Then her
feet left the ground and she was no longer running but streaking down
the tunnel carried on the wind. There was no time to think.

Ahead of her she sensed a change in air pressure and suddenly knew that
the entrance to another tunnel was directly ahead of them,
perpendicular to the one they were in. A moment later she and Norman
tumbled to the ground, safe in the other tunnel.

Laying breathless on the damp cement floor, she gave her heart a chance
to calm. She looked up towards the entrance of the tunnel and at the
same moment the train thundered by, its cars a blur. Bright yellow
light spilled from windows that framed the heads of several passengers.

She'd not only managed to outrun the train, but outrun it with moments
to spare, thanks to... what? Suddenly she remembered the sensation of
flying and the voice of her two dead lovers.

"NO!" She yelled. "You're dead. You're both DEAD!"

No one answered in the immediate silence that followed after the train
had passed. The heat and deadly cold were gone; the voices in her mind
silent. Emotions that had been paused earlier rushed into her again
like a flood.

"I can't deal with this! Somebody tell me what's going on!" She sobbed,
and looked over at Norman who was calmly watching her, his head tilted
to one side speculatively. He squawked in a comforting manner.

"I'm sorry, Norman," Anita coughed, rubbing her red eyes. Her face was
a mask of sorrow. "Thank you for offering to help but I'm fine. I
think."

Putting the last few minutes behind her she took a deep breath and then
leaned closer to inspect her penguin. Norman was a mess of cuts and
bruises and his small bow tie was singed and blackened.

"My goodness, Norman," she said. "What happened to you?"

Norman squawked, his thoughts forming words in her mind.

"You were hit by another train?" She said incredulously. "But you
managed to hang onto the front of it?"

Norman nodded briskly and continued to squawk.

"You climbed up to the top of it and then you crawled along until you
reached the end? While it was moving?!" She said, her eyes growing
large.

Norman squawked and fluttered his wings.

"I'll bet it was tough!" Anita agreed. "Then what happened?"

Norman pointed at his blackened tie and made odd strangling noises.

"You got your little foot caught under the black thing with the yellow
stripes beside the rails?"

Norman nodded and spat out an sharp, inquiring squawk.

"Okay," Anita sighed. "Remind me to explain high voltage to you some
day."

Norman sniffed.

"Boy, you little guys can sure take a lot of damage," Anita said
admiringly.

Norman squawked his agreement. Then his eyes drifted over her shoulder
and grew wide with fear.

Byron Pisces had stepped out of the shadows directly behind them.

"They certainly can take a lot of damage, but you seem to have nine
lives of your own, Ms. Blake," he said. "You're a very lucky young
woman." There was amusement in his voice.

Anita scrambled to her feet and pushed Norman behind her.

"Pisces!" She hissed.

"In the flesh. Whatever possessed you to follow me into the portal,
Anita? There's no way you could have known that I hadn't taken my own
life by leaping into it."

"You're not the suicidal type," she sneered.

"And you are?" Pisces laughed.

"No. Just plain stupid," Anita replied.

"Ah. That explains it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to
take care of." He turned and began to walk away.

"I'm not finished with you!" Anita yelled, her anger bubbling up from
deep inside her. A light bulb on the wall behind her exploded inside
its wire cage.

Pisces stopped, spun around and crossed his arms over his chest. He
stood and watched her with an air of expectant boredom.

"Well?" He said.

"Well what?" Anita replied, closing in on the villain until she stood
directly in front of him.

"That's it?" He asked. "Is the show over? After everything we've meant
to each other is that the best tantrum you can come up with? An
exploding light bulb?" He tsked. "Disappointing."

Inwardly, Anita cringed. It had been the most she could raise at the
moment.

"So don't you think," Pisces drawled, "that now would be a good time to
whip out your guns and blow me away? Or just maybe you forgot to pick
up a weapon before following me. Wouldn't that be horrible?"

Without warning Anita's fist shot out and found his solar plexus.
Pisces doubled over in pain, his breath rushing out of him. She grabbed
him by the shoulders and brought her right knee into his face. He flew
backwards into a nearby wall, arms flailing.

Anita fell into a defensive stance, her fists raised before her. She
balanced herself carefully on the balls of her feet ready to move in
any direction.

"I don't need a gun to take you, Pisces," she said through gritted
teeth.

Pisces wiped at the blood that was streaming from his nose with the
sleeve of his black silk shirt.

"That was uncalled for," he said simply, breathing heavily.

"I got lots more where that came from," Anita said. "C'mon you coward.
I'm not letting you get away. Where're your Emperor penguins and your
big fancy machines when you need them?"

"Spare me," Pisces snapped in disgust. He pushed himself to his feet
and straightened his tattered shirt. "You got what you wanted. I know
that's all you care about. We're a lot alike in that regard. Your
penguins are safe. Now run along. I have business with the Empress." He
turned and began to walk away again, his posture defiant.  He never
heard the footsteps that brought her up directly behind him.

"Pisces!" She yelled. Her leg shot out, sweeping his feet out from
under him. As he fell backwards her hand came over the top of his head,
fingers hooking into his nostrils. She slammed his head into the ground
and then brought the heel of her palm hard into his nose.

As he lay stunned Anita walked around to face him, pushing her hair
away from her face. She put a leg on either side of his body and sat
down on his chest, pinning him to the floor. She held a hand so close
to his face that his eyes crossed as he tried to focus on it.

"You see this hand, Pisces?" She asked simply.

Grimacing, he nodded.

"I've just shattered your nose. If you even try to move without my
permission, I'll shove the bone splinters into your brain. Dig?"

He blinked, then he shut his eyes and allowed his head to fall back
onto the cement floor.

Anita fell silent, trying to figure out why she hadn't just killed him
and gotten it over with. "I'm going soft in my old age," she muttered.
"Lucky you, Pisces."

She sat for a moment, trying to figure out what she wanted to do with
him.

Norman waddled quickly towards them.

"Easy boy," Anita said. "Don't get too close."

Norman nodded and waddled backwards a few paces. He trilled softly and
pointed with one wing.

"What?" Anita said and looked up, her jaw dropping. Hovering in the
air, only a few feet from her was a saucer shaped thing with a
multitude of devices protruding from it's body.

"What the hell is that?" She breathed.

"Soundth like the calvalry hath arrived. Meet the Empretheth little
pet," Pisces said beneath her, his broken nose made speaking difficult.

Before she could reply, a beam of red light shot from the object, aimed
in her direction. Instinctively Anita rolled off Pisces just in time to
avoid being shot by it. The beam struck the wall some distance behind
her, sending rock and metal exploding in all directions.

Anita pushed herself to her feet and coughed as dust filled her lungs.
Another burst of red light streaked by her ear and she stumbled away
again. She could hear Norman squawk unhappily.

"Norman run! Get out of here!" She yelled. The rush of air close by
indicated that the thing had changed positions. Pisces had gotten to
his feet and was limping away quickly.

"Hey!" Anita yelled turning to follow him and was struck in the
shoulder by the beam. She flew backwards, driven into a pile of debris,
and lay there motionless.

The Empress's pet hovered in the air quietly, watching her. Opening her
eyes, Anita swallowed hard, trying to gather her thoughts.

Her right hand was touching a long piece of metal in the rubble.
Carefully she gave it a slight pull and felt it come loose. Breathing
shallowly, she tried to ignore the pain that was shooting through her.
Risking a glance at her left shoulder she could see that it was a burnt
bleeding mess. The arm attached to it felt nearly useless. Realizing
that she was slowly going into shock, she willed her body to hold off.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Norman rush towards her.
The tiny penguin skidded to a stop in time to avoid a burst of deadly
light from the sentry. The thing hovered silently again once the
penguin had stopped.

"Norman!" Anita yelled tensely. "I told you to run away! Don't worry,
Mommy'll be right behind you. She's just gotta teach this thing a
lesson." Anita wriggled her body, trying desperately to free herself
from the rubble. In the process she started a small avalanche that sent
debris rolling down into the path of the sentry.

Multiple beams burst from the thing in all directions, targeting the
larger pieces of rubble. Anita drew a sharp intake of breath as a
sudden thought occurred to her.

"It's motion sensitive. It shoots at anything that moves that it
doesn't recognize," she shouted. "Norman! Forget what I said. Don't
run, don't move. Don't even breath."

The tiny penguin obediently held his ground.

Anita could only see one way around the problem, but the risk was
great. She searched her mind for alternatives but found none. She
tightened her hand around the metal object. "Here's the plan Norman,"
she said clearly. "I want you to start running around in any direction.
Just keep it busy and move as fast as you can. I know you can do it.
You and all your little brothers can really move when you want to."

Squinting through the darkness, she could see Norman give the barest of
nods. She had only one chance to get this right.

"GO Norman GO!" She shouted.

Norman shot away from where he'd been standing. His tiny feet became a
blur beneath him. He zigged and zagged, dodging bursts from the sentry
at every turn.

Anita tensed her body and watched the sentry, readying herself to
strike. She had to wait until the moment was just right, but Norman
couldn't go on running forever.  Her attention was momentarily diverted
as the wall close by her exploded in a shower of rock and water. As the
dust settled, she could see the hole left behind. A large black pipe
had been hit and filthy black water was spraying from it.

The sentry had gone silent again. Anita's eyes scanned the area looking
for her penguin, but there was no sight of him. The sentry gracefully
floated down from its position near the ceiling of the tunnel. It
approached the hole, and a different kind of light flared from it. A
grid suddenly appeared over the hole and then flashed off. Apparently
it had been taught to account for the constant movement of things such
as water, and know not to attack.

A tiny black head suddenly poked itself out of the rubble. It took a
second for Anita to realize that it was Norman. She held her breath,
realizing that there was nowhere for her penguin to run. The sentry
hovered, humming quietly. Moments passed, and still it did not strike.
Instead, it floated backwards and the red grid flashed on again,
covering Norman as he desperately pushed at the debris around him. He
was nearly completely coated in the same black oily substance that had
come from the pipe. It made his feathers shine in the dull light.

The red grid disappeared and tiny lights began to flash all over the
sentry. Every one of Anita's instincts shrieked inside her head. With a
roar she launched herself from the rubble and brought the piece of
metal rebar down on the sentry with both hands, forgetting her
injuries. It crashed to the ground, sparks flying from it. She hit it
repeatedly until the array of tiny lights that covered it's surface
blinked out. Then she hit it some more, before rushing to Norman's side.

"Norman, you're a genius!" She laughed out loud scooping him up into
her arms.

Norman swallowed hard and blinked his eyes at her. He squawked once.

"Yes!" Anita said. "By covering yourself in the black goo it thought
you were a penguin army grunt. That's why it didn't fire at you. I'm so
proud of you!"

She placed Norman on the ground, where he stood with a smug expression
on his little face. Anita smiled and hurried back to the demolished
sentry. She picked it up and ran her fingers over its dented surface.
Then she picked up the rebar and struck the thing several more times
until it fell apart in her hands. She was now looking at a mess of
circuitry and the part from which the strange beam had sprung from. The
slender silver tube came apart from the rest of the assembly at the
touch of her hand. She examined it closely, her left shoulder singing
with pain.

Norman waddled towards her and bent his tiny head next to hers over the
thing.

Anita found a small raised bump on the side of it and ran her thumb
over it. Immediately a bright red beam of light burst from it, turning
a pile of nearby rubble into an explosion of fine powder. Anita stared
at the small weapon in wide-eyed amazement, glad that she'd aimed the
part away from them and wondering how her life had suddenly switched
genres from horror to sci-fi in the blink of an eye.

"Some kind of death ray," she murmured. "Nice, no recoil." Then she
looked at her penguin and smiled. "Well lookee here, Norman," she said
with an evil grin. "Mommy's got a gun now."

***********************

...Continued in  Issue 18  of PENGUIN$

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