Shadow Ops: Breach Zone - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

As a security contractor, government civilian, and military officer, Myke Cole’s career has run the gamut from counterterrorism to cyber warfare to federal law enforcement. He’s done three tours in Iraq and was recalled to serve during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He recently joined the cast of the TV show Hunted on CBS as part of an elite team of fugitive hunters. All that conflict can wear a guy out. Thank goodness for fantasy novels, comic books, late-night games of Dungeons & Dragons, and lots of angst-fueled writing. Myke is the author of Javelin Rain and Gemini Cell, prequels to his Shadow Ops novels, which include Breach Zone, Fortress Frontier, and Control Point.

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It’s Good to Be Home

My predecessor’s involvement in the Shadow Coven and FOB Frontier scandals has shaken the public’s faith in honest government, and rightly so. But this is no time to point fingers. Former President Walsh will have his day in court, and like all of you, I am looking forward to seeing the truth come out. Today is a day for looking forward, for starting down the road to restoring the people’s faith in their government, in matters of arcane security in particular. Today, I recommit myself to enforcing the provisions of the McGauer-Linden Act with total certainty, severity, and transparency.

—Vice President Howard Porter

On his inauguration as president

following the impeachment of President Walsh

Swift eased up the hood of his sweatshirt and kept his head down. The crowds in the financial district were thick at lunchtime, hundreds of people with eyes on the pavement, on their way to grab cigarettes, or food, or to run errands in the few precious minutes they had before heading back to their desks, the richest slaves in the world.

Swift sighed internally. He’d never been comfortable among the corporate wage serfs who made up most of the city, but a big crowd was best. It was easy to get lost in the throng, one more data point in a stream, nothing to draw the eye.

He felt his magical current thrumming, the scar of his ruined tattoo itched on his chest, an old reminder of older fights. He’d won them all and somehow still lost. His girlfriend, his baby were still gone, the man who’d killed them still alive.

He’d had Harlequin dead to rights, had looked down the barrel of a gun straight into his old enemy’s eyes.

The moment had hovered, time frozen as Swift faced a pair of choices, each resulting in very different people. He’d let Harlequin go, watched him walk away, still breathing, and hoped the person he’d chosen to be was the better one. Even all this time later, he still wasn’t sure.

He moved through the crowd, keeping his elbows in, not wanting to draw attention to himself by shoving anyone out of the way. At last, South Ferry Terminal hove into view, the water of the bay sparkling beyond.

Oscar Britton had wanted him to stay in the Source, to build a new life in the goblin village. Swift had insisted Britton send him back. The Supernatural Operations Corps had taken everything from him—his life, his love. They wouldn’t take his home.

He’d found the broken remnants of the Houston Street Gang, the band of magic-using revolutionaries deemed criminals for their refusal to submit to government control. Criminals or no, they’d bloodied the government’s nose for years until the SOC had replaced their beloved leader, Big Bear, with a monster. The deception caught them completely unawares, and the SOC had broken their spine, scattered them to the winds.

The survivors spent the intervening months hiding in the homes of sympathizers, trying to rebuild what they’d lost when Big Bear had turned out to be . . . someone else. Months of jumping at shadows, of desperately hoping the SOC had bigger fish to fry.

But Swift found time to come down to the water every day, to give himself a few minutes to look out over the glassy surface, to feel the breeze slide over his ears, whispering in his hair. Sometimes, he imagined it was his girlfriend Shai, speaking to him from beyond the grave.

Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games. Swift allowed himself a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching, then headed back toward the posts that ringed the entrance to the South Ferry subway station.

He saw the can beside the third post, only got close enough to confirm it. Beer. Britton would be coming tomorrow. No can meant no visit. A soda can meant they’d been found out and had better run.

Swift made a mental note to tell the others. Britton promised that the moment would be coming when they could finally step out of the shadows, live free and open, but each time he visited, the answer was always the same: Be patient, wait. Things were taking time.

Most of the gang worshipped Britton, they would have waited until Judgment Day if he asked. But Swift was one of a growing number who were getting tired of waiting, and he still wasn’t sure that Britton could be trusted. If Britton didn’t . . .

Screaming reached him from uptown. It sounded like a lot of people. The crowd raised their heads, began moving north, bunching together, trying to see what the trouble was.

Swift cursed and went with them. He wasn’t going to risk being the only person on the waterfront for the cops around the ferry terminal to grow suspicious of. Besides, curiosity was getting the better of him. He’d allow himself to go as far as Bowling Green, then disappear into the station once he’d gotten a look at what was going on. The tall buildings rose around him as he moved north, gray-white facades ornate with decorative stonework evoking Gothic cathedrals and European palaces. He glanced at the suit of the man in front of him, the fabric so fine that it nearly glowed. Such unimaginable wealth. So far beyond his reach. Not because he was lazy, not because he was stupid. Because he was Latent. Because he wouldn’t knuckle his forehead and kill at the government’s bidding. I never had a chance, Shai. Just like you. I’m sorry.

The crowd moved up past the entrance to the subway, and Swift went with them, driven more by curiosity than anything else, walking up Broadway until the crowd slowed to a stop as they turned onto Wall Street.

A shout echoed through the corridor formed by the buildings, followed by a sound like overripe fruit being smashed against stone.

The crowd stopped and began to surge backward, the people around him shouting. Swift fought to hold himself upright as they jostled against him, carrying him backward. He stumbled once, almost went down, was held up by the tight packing of the bodies around him.

It would be so easy to use his Aeromancy, to Bind his magic and rise above the panicked mob. But he couldn’t risk it. To be discovered now would be to undo everything he’d fought for since he’d escaped the Suitability Assessment Section. He Drew his magic anyway, kept it ready, just in case. It rushed to him, rising in his own gut, buoyed by the panicked crowd. He could feel his heart racing and struggled to calm it. Limbic Dampener would have made the process easier, but only the SOC had access to the expensive drug. He’d fought against the SOC during his long tenure in the SASS, but he had learned this much from them: Skill beat will. Panic helped no one in a crisis. He centered himself, kept his cool, felt his magical tide recede to a low throb, still present and ready.

The crowd broke, parting to either side, streaming into the alleys, leaving the street clear before him.

The street ahead was dominated by a shimmering curtain of air, large as a cathedral door, bending and wriggling like a heat mirage. Another crowd of people stood frozen around it, staring in disbelief as the shimmering patch blackened at the edges. The black faded to green, and the curtain peeled wider, smoking as if a hole were rotting through the very air.

The stink reached Swift even where he stood, making him gag as the curtain rotted wider, and the first creatures stepped through and out onto the street. They were small, brown humanoids, no bigger than large children. Their ears were pointed, their noses long and hooked. They mostly clutched swords and spears, but a few brandished guns. The crowd finally broke, running as the goblins came on and on, an endless flood of them, many riding wolves the size of small ponies. One of them hefted a spear and...