Melissa Barker-Simpson

EPISODE 3 

INFILTRATION 

Previously on Labno & Carter: Dan and Kate follow the leads to their witness’s property, a gargoyle who did some investigating of her own and found more than she bargained for; six bodies to be exact. Now, with their witness missing, they are working against the clock for more reasons than one; Kate has been called up to participate in a tournament. The price she had to pay for making a deal with a god. The episode is told from Kate’s point of view.  

I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a hidden room full of bugs. And of course, they weren’t ordinary little fuckers. No these were like caterpillars crossed with spikey centipedes which had sprouted fleshy tufts of skin instead of transitioning into wings. They were like an experiment gone wrong, and they made my skin crawl. 

There were hundreds of them, all stored in glass cylinders containing a clear substance I didn’t even want to contemplate. 

Scanning the shelves, I somehow managed to contain the shudder. Christ, but they were creepy. 

“What the fuck are those?” Dan asked from beside me, and he failed to hide his reaction; his big body practically shook with it. It made me feel a whole lot better that I’d nearly given in to my freak-out.  

I turned at the sound of a sharp whistle, catching Rahim in the act of taking a subtle step backwards. It seemed even warrior angels weren’t immune to the eek factor. 

“Those are eredytes. They’re found in Erebus and are used on low-level soldiers to control and manipulate,” he said, in a tone which hinted at the horror to come. 

“Define used on,” I said, feeling my stomach do a slow roll. I had a pretty good idea where this was going, and it wasn’t anywhere good. 

“They implant themselves in the brain and basically suck thoughts and memories, which are transmitted as they feed.” 

I did not want to know how they made it to the brain, so although my imagination wanted to run with the image of the little fuckers burrowing into my ear canal, I shut that down fast. 

“So we can assume they’ve been implanted into the victims.” 

Rahim nodded. “That would be my guess, though why they bound their prisoners, I can’t say. The erebytes form a connection to whoever handles them during the implantation. They basically secrete a kind of hormone which forges a psychic connection. 

I took another swig of coffee, wishing I wasn’t in a room full of weird bugs from hell, and that shit was literal. 

“You didn’t mention that, to some species, these fascinating creatures are a delicacy.” 

Flicking a glance over Rahim’s shoulder I looked into the grinning face of Matthew, senior member of the RDU. 

“Nope, not happening,” I said, fighting another shudder. 

Matthew was a goblin and since many of his brethren dealt in rare commodities, he would know what sick shit the Fractured collected. 

“I’m glad you’ve taken the lead on the investigation because you get to deal with these ugly fuckers.” I started to move past Rahim, determined to get out of the room, but Matthew stepped into my path. 

“Don’t be like that, Kate, you know this is a joint operation. I can play nice.” 

That almost made me smile. He was a hard ass and had perfected his reputation. He’d had no other choice since goblins had a bad rep. They were experts at glamour, so tended to blend in. Their features were plain, and unassuming, at least on the surface. Matthew chose not to hide, and he didn’t apologise for the way he looked. No, he used it. Mainly to get laid. 

I’m not going to lie, I’ve been tempted a time or two, but for me it’s not the pretty violet eyes or flowing golden locks he usually pulls into a knot at the back of his head.  It’s the mouth. Not because of his full lips or the neat row of pearly whites. No, it’s more about the acerbic tongue which, when I’m in the mood to go a round, clashes with my own. 

Shaking off the thoughts I took another step forward. “I don’t have time to play nice, Matt. I need to figure out why these bastards took Sahara, and yet left a whole host of evidence behind for us to find.” 

“The evidence isn’t worth much,” Dan growled from behind me. “We have a room full of bugs, six dead bodies and no clue as to the connection.” 

Spinning in his direction I spotted the comm device on his wrist. The damn thing was lit up like a projector illuminating bad tidings. 

“We just lost the prisoners,” he said, meeting my eyes. “So, basically we’ve got diddly squat.” 

If ever I’d envied my partner’s ability to go full-on beast it was in that moment. I wanted to break something, but since the only thing around me were jars full of nasty, I had to suck it up. 

“Where are they keeping the bodies, I want to see them.” 

“You’re not cleared to enter HQ,” Matthew said, shrugging when I turned to glare at him. 

“What happened to this being a joint operation?” 

“Let me put it another way, HQ is in Nearyon, and no human has ever passed through a portal and made it to the other side. But if you want to-” 

A low growl filled the room, a warning from my partner. “Watch yourself, Matt.” 

It was a tossup about who I wanted to punch first, Dan for being overly protective, or Matthew for being an ass. 

Dan grinned when I swung his way, unfazed by the spark of anger.  

“Why don’t you accompany glamour-puss over there” I snapped. “You can contact me remotely. I’ll head to the station.” 

Matthew’s laughter had my own lips twitching. 

“Can you handle the scene here?” I asked Rahim. 

“Of course.” His gaze dropped the tattoo on my wrist. “You’re on a clock, after all.” 

“Yeah, yeah, tick-tock,” I muttered, resisting the urge to scratch at the feather. 

When I moved forward this time, Matthew got out of my way, which was a shame because I still wanted to hit something, and he was a prime target. 

 Since I wasn’t sure how long I had before Dan’s call, when I arrived at the station I went straight to my office and barricaded the door. And by that, I mean I dragged my small couch from beneath the window, positioned it so no one could enter and stretched out on the faded, but still comfortable cushions. 

Sighing, I closed my eyes and pictured myself far, far away in a place that was warm, comfortable and had caffeine on tap. I was asleep in seconds. 

Seven minutes later I was roused from sleep by a moron with a death wish and a heavy hand. The banging was enough the wake the dead and shake the sofa I was reclining in. 

“Go away, if you want to live,” I snapped. 

“Open the goddamn door, Labno.” 

 I hopped off the couch like it had burst into flames around me and kicked it aside so I could get to the door. 

“Commander,” I said, scrubbing a hand over my face as I took in his disgruntled expression. 

“Didn’t I tell you to go home already?” 

He had, what felt like days ago, when I’d started to burn the candle at both ends and his concern had pushed him to extreme measures. Commander Hunsley was all about the mental well-being of his officers, which was nice and all, but if I had a break every time I felt a little stressed I’d never get any work done. 

“You can yell at Danny-boy next time you see him. I’d just opened a good bottle of red and was all about the rest and relaxation, but he rained all over my parade.” 

“I heard about Mrs Miller, so I can’t say I’m surprised. What I didn’t expect was to be given an ID report on victims I knew nothing about.” 

I snorted at that. “Give me a break you know everything that goes on in the city and I’m not the only one on the case.” At his narrowed gaze, I added a “With respect, sir,” for good measure. 

He held up a file. “This just came in and since you’ve labelled yourself as lead officer, I want a full report by tomorrow morning.” 

“Commander, it is tomorrow morning,” I grumbled, knowing it had to be closing in on 1am. 

“Then you’d better get writing.” Thrusting the report into my hand, he turned and walked away. 

It took me to the count of twenty to get my blood pressure back into normal range, and then I flipped open the file and stared at the results. 

All six of the bodies had been identified, their name, address and basic info were displayed, providing a link; a thread we could tug at. 

The victims were part of a community belonging to the Cooperation. Each location had started out as a safe zone and continued to thrive after the war ended. Locally there were five such communities. 

Taking one of the stills, I flipped the folder shut, then walked to my desk to grab my car keys and the industrial-sized coffee mug. Grangefield was only a five-minute drive. It was also one of the largest, and safest communities within the Cooperation, so I intended to pay them a visit and find out why they hadn’t reported one of their own missing. 

As I was crossing the room, headed for the stairs, Commander Hunsley stepped into my path. 

“Make sure you eat this,” he said, holding out a sandwich that looked big enough to feed the entire squad. “And that’s an order.” 

“Yes, Commander.” I snatched up my prize as my stomach grumbled its appreciation and, because he looked like a pissed-off father, I took a huge bite. 

Flavours burst on my tongue, a mixture of cheese, meat, and a spicy pickle that fired up my energy levels like nothing else could. 

Shaking his head, Hunsley turned and walked away. “Don’t forget my report, Labno, and be nice to Jake. We served together.” 

Since I had no idea who Jake was, I could only surmise he was Hunsley’s counterpart at Grangefield. Shrugging, I took another bite of heaven. Our commander was watching my back in the only way he could, which included pushing for a report he didn’t need. He knew everything anyway, hell, he knew what I was going to do before I did it. The guy had seriously mad skills. I totally wanted to be him when I grew up, minus the caregiving shit because nobody would take me seriously if I actually started to give a crap. 

Jogging down the stairs, I was relieved to discover the lower level was all but deserted. The station was a new build and gifted to the force by the Dunsford’s; a family with more money than sense so they could afford it. The last building had been hit during the war and was now a distant memory. 

The new station was only three storeys high but stretched across a massive acreage so in terms of square feet we had it going on. The specialist unit took up the entirety of the second floor, but the ground level was an open plan space which was usually buzzing with activity, given that we had our own medical service attached. 

By the time I reached my car, my belly was full, seriously, I had a little pouch to prove it, and my mood was on the up. 

I had to wipe some of the sticky goodness from my hands onto my jeans before I could touch the console, but I managed to put a call through to Dan. 

“Don’t nag,” he said as his grinning face appeared on screen. “Do you know how much red tape I have to cut through to get into the RDU morgue?” 

“Sure, while you’re sitting on your ass waiting for permission, I’m here chasing down leads.” 

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I got the report. Where are you hitting first? Grangefield?” 

“It would be rude not to when they’re practically neighbours.” Starting up the engine, my finger hovered over the disconnect button. “Tag me as soon as you get in to examine the bodies, okay?” 

“You know it. Go do your thing, and be nice to-” 

I cut him off before he could finish that sentence. Anybody would think I didn’t have people skills.