Project Maigo(35)

“What’s going on?” Collins asks, when I lower the phone without saying goodbye.

“Gordon,” I say. “We know where he is.”





18



By the time Collins and I reach the helicopter, its rotor spins madly. Gravity struggles to hold it down. It took us only a minute-thirty to get back, but we then took the time to prepare for an encounter with hulk-Gordon. We’re both wearing black tactical gear. While the armor we’re wearing isn’t designed to stop bullets, it helps absorbs impacts and is designed specifically to stop knife attacks, or in this case claw attacks, which in our line of work, is the more common danger. But that doesn’t stop us from arming up like Schwarzenegger in Commando. Beyond our usual high caliber side arms, Collins and I are packing M4 assault rifles with M320 grenade-launcher attachments and laser sights. That’s more Mission Impossible than Commando, but I prefer muscles and cigars over missile-launching wrist watches. Mostly because the latter isn’t real. If I could have a missile-launching wrist watch too, I would. The point is, we’re carrying enough firepower and ammo to make a Mexican drug cartel jealous.

Which is why I’m surprised to find Endo and Alessi, sitting in the chopper’s rear cabin, still dressed in their black business attire. Their only new accessories are the headphones covering their ears. I just shake my head and let it go. Maybe Gordon will take care of Endo for me.

Collins gets in the back with Endo while I take my seat up front.

“Already got the coordinates plugged in,” Woodstock says, after I’ve donned my headphones. “Just waitin’ on you.”

I plug in my phone and swipe a finger across it to open up Devine’s menu. I’m going to treat Gordon like a Kaiju and bring in everything I have. A hand on my arm keeps me from activating the transmit feature. I turn to find Endo’s fingers on my arm. I nearly punch him in the nose, but he’d probably dodge it and make me look like an idiot, so I refrain. “What?”

“We need to go alone,” he says.

“You need to see a psychiatrist.” I turn back to my phone.

“If we show up in force, he’ll be gone before we get there. He’s still on land, but if he enters the ocean...”

Not wanting to waste any more time, I nod to Woodstock and point to the sky. We’re airborne a moment later, heading northeast toward Halibut Point State Park, in Rockport. The old, fresh-water filled quarry, which is separated from the ocean by a 50-foot-thick band of solid rock, should be devoid of civilians. Most towns to the north and south of Beverly should have evacuated their coastal areas, too, which is probably how Gordon made it there without being spotted, unless he’s driving a really big truck with tinted windows.

“...we’ll never find him again,” Endo finishes.

My thumb hovers over the transmit button. “What’s your plan?”

“If we can control Gordon, we might be able to diffuse the situation with the children.”

I simulate the sound of a tire screeching. “Back up. Children?”

Endo looks annoyed, like this is something I should already know or have figured out, which pisses me off, because it means that maybe I haven’t been doing a good job this past year. “The Nemesis-Prime carcass, which, before you ask, is in a secure location, was discovered beneath a mountain in Alaska. Removal of the body completed around the same time that Maigo-Nemesis emerged in Maine. Those in charge of the excavation decided to close up shop before they were noticed.”

“You mean Zoomb,” I say.

Endo shrugs. “But the excavation was incomplete. On the final day of digging, a clutch of five large eggs was discovered. Lacking the time and resources to safely and securely remove the eggs, they were left behind with the intention of removing them at a later date, when the fallout from the incident in Boston subsided. But when they returned—”

“The eggs were gone,” I say.

“The eggs had hatched,” Endo says. “The bones of several people, as well as moose, deer, elk and bears were all that remained. Analysis of the footprints revealed all five of the young were alive and well. But they weren’t alone.”

“Gordon was with them,” Collins says.

“Gordon raised them,” Endo says. “Do you know why Gordon is the way he is? A heart transplant. From the Maigo clone before she grew into Nemesis. He has the girl’s heart—the monster’s DNA—in his chest. It is likely Prime’s young bonded to him at birth. Before the events in Boston, Gordon developed a strong bond with Nemesis, feeling her desires and acting to help fulfill them. I suspect that bond was broken when you fulfilled Nemesis’s goal, but I believe that same bond might exist now between Gordon and the children.”