Hellgate London - Exodus Part 20

"It's because of the office. It's what people expect of him." Derek shrugged. "He's not the only one who acts that way."

They sat at a small corner table in the galley. Simon picked at his food even though it was the first home-cooked meal he'd had in months. The steak came from the ag floors and the potatoes and green beans came from the hydroponics farms. Everything tasted better than he would have expected.

"I don't fault Booth." Simon sipped his tea. "The truth is, I've never liked him and he's never liked me. Before, when he didn't hold office, it really wasn't a problem."

"But it is now," Derek said.

Simon shrugged. "I can work around it. I don't expect to be holed up here for long." He waved his fork.

"I want to be out there."

"Out there," Derek told him, "isn't a very good place to be." He sipped his tea. "Out there can only get you killed."

"Maybe."

"Trust me, it would." Derek shook his head, his face heavy with emotion. "Our numbers are drastically cut. That's what High Lord Sumerisle planned. But we're short of warriors. Everyone we lose out on the battlefield-" His voice came to a stop."Everyone counts, Simon. We can't afford to keep losing trained warriors."

Simon forced himself to work through his food like a machine, stoking the fires in his belly. He sipped water. "I can't stay here," he said finally. "Even if Booth wasn't in charge of this area, we still wouldn't get along."

Derek grinned slightly. "I know. He hates you for breaking his nose and embarra.s.sing him all those years ago."

Once the meal was over, Derek took the lead, twisting through the Underground complex. The Templar Underground occupied several levels, each built so it could be closed off in case of emergency. Most of the tunnels were dim, more twilight than bright of day.

Simon knew the Elephant and Castle station enough to get through it, but not all of the personal levels and quarters. Each section of the Templar Underground was maintained by different houses. House Rorke was located near the Baker Street tube station.

If things had been normal, they would have dressed in street clothes and taken the fifteen-minute trip to the tube station. Instead, they walked.

Armed with a sword and a Spike Bolter, Simon trailed Derek through the dark tunnel. This time, though, Simon wore a compact pair of night-vision goggles that rendered the tube tunnel in various shades of green.

Similarly equipped, Leah trailed after him.

Bodies lay along the tracks. It hurt Simon to look at them. The smell of death was thick. "Why have you left them here?" Simon asked.

Clad in his armor, Derek glanced around. "We can't do anything with them." "Why not?"

Derek's faceplate was expressionless, but his irritation at the question showed in his body language. "Think about it. If we start taking the bodies away, what's going to happen?"

The question was enough to point Simon in the right direction. He was embarra.s.sed he hadn't already thought of the answer on his own.

"The demons will know someone is down here," Simon said. "Yeah."

"So you're just going to leave them here?" Leah sounded like she couldn't believe it. "We are," Derek said.

"That's...that'sinhuman."

"That's survival. We're here to fight a war, Miss Creasey." Derek stepped over the body of a woman who'd died protecting a small child that lay within her arms. "It's hard. Every time we pa.s.s this way, we're aware that we're stepping away from the softer part of us that keeps us human." He sighed so heavily the audio pickups inside the mask broadcast it. "We do worry about that."

"Do the demons come through the tubes?" Simon asked.

"Yes. Several of them have started using the Underground as a base of operations. And there are humans who have taken up residence in the Underground as well."

"The tubes would be a good ambush site," Simon mused. "Narrow confines. They could only come at you a few at a time."

"We've considered that. But-again-we have to be concerned if they learn we've got dwellings built down here." Derek was silent for a moment as he moved through the darkness. "They're going to figure that out soon enough. Everyone who died at St. Paul's Cathedral bought us some time. We don't know how much. But if the demons think that we're not a threat, maybe we can learn enough about them to be even more of a threat than we are right now. That's what we all hope for."

At the Baker Street station, distinctive because of the Sherlock Holmes wall tiles, Derek continued to the hidden doorway and put his palm against a wall section that only he could see. Simon knew the video circuitry in the helmet allowed Derek to spot the pulse communicator.

He laid his hand across it.

A few seconds later, a deep voice said, "Stand back, Knight Chipplewhite." Derek stepped back. Simon and Leah followed suit.

Simon felt a little heartened. He'd grown up in the Baker Street tube area, within the hidden walls of the secret Templar base. The fact that it still existed gave him hope, but it also sharpened the pain he had over his father's loss.

The door flared open. Templar knights flared out and brought them into the hidden area. The door closed behind them.

A ma.s.sive knight squared off in front of Derek. "State your business." "I'm reporting with Knight Simon Cross," Derek replied.

The Templar inside the security room turned to Simon. The lead warrior opened his face s.h.i.+eld. "Simon?"

"Bryan," Simon said, recognizing the younger man. Bryan Hedges hadn't yet been brought into the ranks as a full knight two years ago when Simon had left. Looking at him now, Simon didn't think the young man had even started shaving. He was still smooth-cheeked.

But Bryan was no longer innocent. Simon saw that from the hurt inside the young man's blue eyes. The last few days of the demon infestation had taken their toll.

Bryan hesitated a moment, then held out his mailed hand. "It's good to see you, Simon." Simon took his hand and shook. "It's good to see you too, Bryan."

Frowning, Bryan asked, "You've heard about your father then?" Simon nodded. "I have. That's part of why I'm here."

"It's too little and too late," one of the other Templar muttered.

Ignoring the comment, Simon released the younger Templar's hand. "I've come for my armor." Bryan nodded. "It's with your father's things."

"Where..." Simon's voice locked up and he had to try to speak again. "Where's my father?"

Taking a deep breath, Bryan shook his head. "I don't know. Things at St. Paul's Cathedral became extremely complicated. You have heard about the battle there?"

"Yes."

Bryan looked at Derek. "Of course you have," the young man said. "It was confusing...afterward. We didn't get a chance to recover the bodies. There were...just...toomany of them." Tears glinted in his eyes. "My own father died there as well. We couldn't return for him, either." "Can you track his armor?" Simon asked.

"Yes. My father's armor is still at St. Paul's." "Is my father's?"

"No." Bryan looked sympathetic. "The military and police force recovered some of the bodies. They have them in various holding facilities, from what I understand."

"Why?"

"We don't know. Probably to study them." Simon didn't say anything.

"During the invasion, just as the demons were about to attack and we recognized them for what they were, we took the police and military by surprise," Bryan said. "They've been trying to open up a line of dialogue with us. High Lord Sumerisle has decided not to follow that course of action."

"Why?"

"Because the police and the military haven't been trained to combat the demons as we have. They'll only be cannon fodder in the coming war. Furthermore, they may compromise our own efforts." Bryan frowned. "The sacrifice our fathers made was to dissuade the demons from seeing us as the threat we could be."

"If we'd been more of a threat," Simon said, "we would have beaten the demons."

"We will." Bryan's chin lifted defiantly. "As long as one of us lives, we will strive to find the demons'

weakness and use it against them." He studied Simon. "What about you? What are you going to do?"

Simon thought about that and almost said he didn't know, then Derek spoke up. "He'll be with my unit. I've spoken for him."

Bryan nodded and offered a wan smile. "That might be best." He cut his eyes to Derek. "He'll be in your care while you're here?"

"Yes."

Simon tried to hide the hurt and anger that writhed within him. Even though he was certain Bryan hadn't intended the question to be an insult-and had, probably, intended it as a friendly warning-Simon felt as though he'd been slapped.

You're no longer welcome here,he told himself harshly.You knew that. Don't fight it. You can't win. "Take as long as you need," Bryan said. "But remember: the sooner, the better."

Derek nodded.

After a moment, they were waved through.

Derek asked direction as they went. He wasn't overly familiar with the House of Rorke's Underground branch. Simon answered quietly and succinctly. He didn't want to own the hurt and confusion that filled him as he strode through the tunnels he'd grown up in.

They'd been home once, but he knew they never would be again. He knew he'd miss the feeling of belonging somewhere, of having a home.

In South Africa, the loss had seemed far away and negligible.

The attrition of warriors, so evident by the pedestrian traffic in the hallways, brought that loss even more sharply into focus. He had no way of knowing how many had died at St. Paul's Cathedral. Only the High Lord and his inner circle had known the exact number of losses.

And they weren't telling.

Now that he thought about it, Simon also knew he'd never heard how many Templar there had been in the Underground. His whole life had been filled with secrets. He thought he'd known them all. The truth was they'd been living under siege.

And the monsters were real.

"You lived down here?" Leah asked as they walked. "Yes." Simon didn't elaborate. He'd been trained from childhood not to talk about his life in the Underground.

"It must have been hard."

"I didn't live down here all the time," Simon said defensively.

"Where else?"

"We took trips through London. Occasionally family trips to France." "But the rest of the time, you lived here?"

Simon nodded. He'd never talked about his life in the Underground with anyone. Not even with Saundra. He felt uncomfortable talking about it now with Leah. But as out of place as he felt, he knew she had to be feeling even worse.

"It wasn't bad," Simon added.

"Your parents lived down here, too?"

"My father did. My mother died giving birth to me." That had been the beginning of all the guilt he'd felt, knowing he'd taken away so much from his father and never lived up to Thomas Cross's expectations.

"I'm sorry." "Me too."

Guards stood in front of the armory. The storage s.p.a.ce was well away from the Underground living quarters. With all the munitions packed into the armory, no one had wanted to take a chance in case there was an accident.

"Simon Cross," one of the Templar said. Simon couldn't recognize the growling voice.

The helmet opened a moment later and revealed the craggy features of Miles Graydon. The Templar's hair had turned the color of frost since the last time Simon had seen him. His armor was dark red and black, patterned to disappear in an urban nightscape in case the stealthskin programming failed.

Graydon wore a fierce beard and mustache. His dark eyes regarded Simon for a moment, then crinkled with their customary warmth.

The old Templar stepped forward and embraced Simon. "It's good to see you, lad."

Simon hugged the older man back even though he knew Graydon would never feel it. "It's good to see you, too."

Graydon released Simon and stepped back. "Here for your armor, are you?" "Yes."

"Well good for you, lad. Your father knew you would be. He left you a letter. You'll find it in your vault."

That surprised Simon and he didn't know what to say.

"Your father knew two things the night that he left for St. Paul's, lad." Graydon ticked them off on his armored fingers. "He knew that he wasn't coming back, and he knew that you'd be here for your armor to do what he'd trained you to do."

Simon swallowed the lump at the back of his throat. "Then he knew more than I did."

Graydon gave Simon a small, sad smile. "He always did. Don't ever forget that, because he knew enough to believe in you." The old Templar nodded at the door. "Open it up and let this young man through."

"I'll wait out here," Derek said.

Leah started to follow Simon inside the weapons storehouse but Graydon stepped in front of her. "Sorry, missy. The only ones who are allowed in here are warriors of the House of Rorke."

"All right."

Simon entered the storage chamber, listening as the power kicked on automatically. Light filled the cavernous s.p.a.ce, kicking on in loud waves as it ran the length of the s.p.a.ce.

Twenty-Three.

Vaults filled the sides of the weapons facility. No one else was inside the room, but it made sense that no one else would be. Everyone in the Templar Underground that had stored their armor there while they were off security detail and training would have it with them, either wearing it or keeping it at their personal quarters.