Chapter 13

“What’s happening?” he asked as we arrived at the comms tent. Stuart and Jen were there along with our remaining guards.

“We’re er, waiting for Laurel,” Stuart said. “She and Nick are on their way. I’m not sure she would have been able to do anything by herself, any more than these, er, people can.”

“This has to do with what you were saying when I left the tent, isn’t it?” I asked one of my former captors. “That heuristic defence thing you were talking about. Care to tell us about it?”

He nodded. “Most anti-virus systems have a database of existing viruses and look for patterns that match their code. All modern systems have some degree of heuristic protection – which is to say they look for virus like behaviour – because there are a lot of viruses that alter their own code so they won’t be so easily recognised. Military grade virus protection is almost entirely heuristic because the kinds of viruses we’re up against are being written from scratch on a daily basis by potential enemies.

“It wouldn’t really have mattered what your friend uploaded, it would have been recognised as a threat almost immediately, resulting in a fairly catastrophic response.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning your friend’s computer would have been located and spiked, and the authorities sent round to arrest her. Plus, our enemy would have been made aware that someone was trying to disable him, and who knows what he would have done about that.”

“So, what do we do?”

“We’ve known something like this could happen for some time – one of our enemies coming up with a virus that can overcome our protection – so we built in a back door with a high level of encryption leading to a kill switch. If we can get through the encryption, we can isolate the affected systems and cut them off from the rest of the military network.

“And you know this how, corporal?” Finn asked.

“I applied for cybertech a while back, sir. They’re still considering my application, but you know, you hear things.”

“How are these decryption codes meant to be used?”

“There’s a list of high up officers who have them on their person at all times. You’re supposed to contact one of them and request shut down of a certain facility.”

“What’s the likelihood they’ll consider a request from a lowly sergeant?” I asked glancing at Finn.

“Well, they’re supposed to consider inquiries from anyone who contacts them, because the only people who should know about it other than the officers involved are the members of higher command who agreed to it being put together in the first place and members of cybertech who’d know when something was hinky, so whoever gets in touch either knows enough about cyber warfare to recognise when something is wrong or they know someone who does.”

“Which is all very well,” Finn said, “but you’re not in cybertech and you know about it, so it’s not exactly a best kept secret, so if this thing has infiltrated our system, what are the chances it’s found out about this contingency. and if it knows about it, what are the chances it’s been in touch with the officers in question and compromised them in the same way it got to the lieutenant, and even me sort of?”

“Sir?” the corporal asked.

“It has the ability to influence us simply by talking to us – or even by writing to us if the lieutenant’s response is anything to go by. If I were that thing and I found out that there were people with the means to shut me down, I’d be looking to contact them and stop them by whatever means.”

“That would explain what happened when I tried to reach out, sir. They all refused to listen to my evidence and told me that if I should stop trying if I didn’t want a reprimand on my record, which would keep me out of cybertech. I thought they were just being arseholes because I’m just a corporal and not in a technical capacity, so I called the mate who told me about the backup and persuaded him to put in a call. He just contacted me to tell me he was given the run-around. He was told they were looking into it and not pursue tings further, which isn’t protocol.”

“So what can we do?” Finn was the guy in charge here so it seemed right to let him speak. At least u til he started acting like a dick again.

“IWrll,” the corporal said, “I’ve been studying cryptoanalysis in the hope it’ll help me get me into cybertech, but I’m not convinced I know enough to do it on my own, so I’m hoping this Laurel person of yours might improve our odds.

“How does this back door work?” Finn again.

“An isolated computer on site hardwired into the phone system by a DTMF tone decoder. An incoming call fires up the computer and listens for the shutdown code. If it’s successfully given, it links into the main system and shuts everything down.”

“What’s DTMF?”

“Dual tone multi frequency. You know when you hear a phone make a call it makes a sequence of kind of off key tones?”

“Sounds kind of old fashioned.”

“Tried and tested technology, sir, and not complicated. It fits on a computer the size of a credit card which can be hidden inside the main server where pretty much no-one would know to look and in a way that means it can’t be removed without shutting down the compromised computer.”

“What happens if gets a wrong code?” I asked.

“That’s the thing that I’m worried about. The codes are twenty-digit numbers, randomly generated, so you can send them from a standard phone keypad, but if you get the code wrong it blocks the phone number you used and cycles to a different code in the list of possibles. Almost impossible to brute force even if you have a means of spoofing the outgoing number.”

“Which I presume we don’t have.”

“No sir, but I suspect if Laurel knows much about hacking, she’ll know where to get one at least. Even then, that’s only part of the solution.”

“This thing doesn’t restrict to military numbers?” Finn asked.

“No guarantee the person aware of the infiltration would have access to a military phone, sir.”

“And what’s with this changing codes thing? I mean if someone makes enough of an effort, potentially they could get through and shut the computers down. Why no three strike shutdown?”

“Imagine you’re the infiltrator sir. If you wanted to stop someone shutting you down this way, all you’d need to do would be to dial into the device a d deliberately given it the wrong code three times. By rotating the codes it pretty much reduces the chances of hacking to zero.”

“So how do you know which code to use?” I asked.

“The device sends a DTMF code at the beginning. There are DTMF decoder apps you can download, so you know which of the many codes it’s looking for each time you try. Presumably you’ll be in touch with one of the code carriers. They’ll put the code you give them into a device and read out the twenty digits you need to use. The whole things pretty robust sir... ma’am.”

ess likely to be noticed or interrupted. The thing is, if the enemy is aware of the countermeasures, they may have someone keeping an eye on the PC. The way they’re set up, nobody’s likely to be able to stop the process, but since we’re most likely going to have to brute force the encryption, chances are the AI will be able to upload itself to a new site. If it masks its tracks, we may not even be able to figure out where it went.”

“How do you know which number to call?”

“Every base has a range of phone numbers to get through to the switchboard. My friend told me that the number of the device as two hundred and seven higher than the highest number in the range. I’ve already tried calling. It asked for code fifty-two thousand, four hundred and eighty-five.”

“What does that prove?”

“That my friend wasn’t pissing me about sir.”

“I take it we have a physical location of this IP address?”

“We do. I requested a list of all military bases and their IPs, then I did a search of the downloaded file. It’s up in Scottish Highlands, sir.”

“Did you check for edits on that particular file?” Laurel asked from the tent entrance.

“What?”

“That file you downloaded. When was it last edited?”

The corporal tapped away at his keyboard. “Shit. Yesterday.”

“Can you access an earlier version from the system backup? Actually, can you download a collection of backup files, including that one, from a week ago?”

“Er, sure.” He tapped away for a moment. Lines of data streamed across his screen. When it was done he opened a file and searched for the IP. “Okay, that’s… It’s a base maybe twenty miles from here, Sarge. I could have sworn…”

“He swapped a few addresses about,” Laurel said, sitting at the computer. “He’s not stupid, you know.”

“Can you give us the actual address of the base?”

“Better.” Laurel had pushed the corporal out of the chair and taken over. A page appeared in the printer’s out tray. It showed a map and directions.

“Fancy a road trip?” I asked Finn.

“I’m not sure what we’ll be able to do if the base is on lockdown.”

“Do we have a base schematic? Effectively, do we have information on how the base connects to the computer network?”

“Er,” Laurel was hunting through the list of backup files. The corporal pointed at one which she opened and sent to the printer.

“Except that won’t do you any good either,” the corporal said. “This is a high-security base, which means any ducts big enough for a person to get through will have some level of protection, possibly lethal.”

“Also, you can’t let him know you’re trying to break in,” Laurel said. “The same applies. If he thinks you’re coming after him, his first reaction is going to be to run away. He has a lot more bandwidth available to him now, so it’ll probably take him no more than ten minutes to upload to a new location if he feels threatened.”

“So why hasn’t he copied himself already? I mean multiple copies of the same program have to be better than one.”

“I don’t know. Maybe he thinks he’s an actual person and doesn’t like the idea of there being more than one of himself. Maybe he’s worried that eventually one of his copies will try to erase him. I’m, er, guessing.”

“It’s as good a guess as any. Okay, you get yourself setup to crack the encryption. Finn and I will see if we can restrict him to his current location until you manage it.”

It felt better having something to do. I wouldn’t have been able to sit around while Laurel did her clever stuff, hoping against hope that she would be successful. Our target base was twenty minutes’ drive away – fifteen the way Finn was driving – and I was doing my best to look over the base schematic while we swerved around corners at scary speed.

I had my phone back and kept a conversation going with Nick, whose phone had been cleared to work through the base jamming. He was able to tell me about Laurel’s slow progress all the way. We eventually pulled in behind a copse of trees a mile from the base and covered the remaining distance on foot.

Finn handed me a pair of binoculars and gave me a brief set of instruction how to use them before settling in behind his own.

“The base is on lockdown, that’s for sure,” he said.

The binoculars had a low light setting that was pretty effective even at full magnification. I could see doubled guards patrolling the perimeter and standing at the entrance. Yeah, we weren’t going to talk our way through them in a hurry.

I scanned the rooftops for…

“I’m guessing that’s not for Sky?”

He glanced at me then pointed his own bins in the same direction. “No. That would be upload and download to the military satellite network. Not as fast as fibre, but more reliable.”

“They have both, right? So, we’re going to have to take them both out at the pretty much the same time.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“What are your chances of taking out the delicate part of that satellite dish from out here?”

“Shoot out the LNB? I could do that. Maybe not the first shot. You’re not…”

“Someone has to. I’m the littlest, so I should be able to get down into the ducting, and I wouldn’t have to go far before finding my target. And of course, I’m the one with the axe.”

“I don’t like this.”

“No, neither do I.” I dialled through to Nick. “Can I talk to Laurel?”

“Er, yeah.”

“Sarah?”

“Hi Laurel. How’s it coming?” I put the phone on speaker.

“Getting there. I have a CLI spoofer installed, but the way this is set up, it’ll take several seconds to connect and send a twenty-digit code. Brute forcing it could take years unless I can think up of a work around. I don’t want to try connecting until you guys are in place. The corporal here says there’s no way he’ll know we’re trying to get in because the system is entirely separate from anything else on the base, but if our bad guy has figured out a way, he’s likely to know what we’re trying to do and take countermeasures.

“The corporal’s cybertech friend has given us access to a database that might have schematics of the device, and that might give us a few clues how we can beat it, so we’re looking through that right now.”

“If I cut through the fibre at this end, I’m going to sever your link to the device, aren’t I?”

“A-actually no. The device is on its own copper wire routed separately. I guess the designers thought of that. It worries me they might have thought about a whole lot of other things too.”

“See if the corporal’s friend can put you in touch with someone on the design team. They might be able to tell you this doohickey’s weaknesses quicker than you can find them.”

“That sounds like an idea, as long as we can convince him we’re legit. How are you doing?”

“Well were here and we have a plan, but we need you to be able to shut him down before we try anything. We can cut him off from the outside world, but it’ll be a one-shot deal, then it’ll be down to how long it takes them to repair our sabotage against how long it takes you to shut him down.”

“How long will we have?”

“However long it takes them to fix either the fibre plus ten minutes for him to upload, or the satellite plus twenty. Better than that I can’t say because I have no idea how quick they are at fixing stuff.”

“That’s not long. Er… hang on, Gary’s waving at me.” The phone went quiet for a few moments. “He’s suggesting we could use digital masking to pass ourselves off as a higher-ranking officer and use that to get one of the key holders to respond.”

“That doesn’t sound right.”

“The weakest part of any security system is the people. He’s been looking through a list of high ranking officers and he reckons he’s found enough details on one guy that we pass ourselves off as him convincingly.”

“That’s a lot of trouble if you get caught,” Finn said, “and the code holders wouldn’t give up to you or the cybertech guy. What’s to say any of them will listen to your higher ranked officer.”

“Military training. You guys are trained to respond to orders from above. There’s a good chance these guys will respond to that conditioning over whatever big bad has done to them.”

I looked at Finn who shook his head. “I don’t like it,” he said. “The code holders have been compromised, so as soon as you contact one, they’ll let the enemy know someone’s trying to shut him down. He’ll get away and we won’t be able to stop him.”

“It’s the only plan we have. The corporal says his friend in cybertech doesn’t know anyone who designed this system, so we’ve no way asking for weaknesses.”

“Okay, I guess this is the plan. It’ll take about ten minutes for Finn and me to get into position. Call us when you’re ready.”

“Er, I don’t have Sergeant Finn’s number.”

“I’m guessing someone at the base will.” I hung up and gave Mark a kiss on the cheek. “For luck,” I said.

He kissed me back on the lips. “We’re going to need a lot of it,” he replied.

I disappeared into the night with my lips tingling.

#

It took me seven minutes to get down to the utilities access point. The cables ran along the road on the same side of the base, but the manhole happened to be in an blind spot. Very much a piece of British workmen’s forethought in planning. I slipped down into the ducting and partially closed the lid over me. It was a tight squeeze, but I’d make do, and I was still getting a couple of bars on my phone.

I took a couple more minutes to reconnoitre my surroundings. I located the fibre optic cable and even went far enough into the tunnel to find the first of the defensive measures – what looked like an automated machine gun. It swivelled my way but stopped when I ducked out of its sight.

I made it back to the manhole just as my phone rang.

“okay, we’re ready,” Laurel said. “Do you have a watch?”

“Er, my phone tells the time.”

“Okay, yeah. Sorry. Well, we want to coordinate this as well as we can, so you two cut the link at the same time we call these guys. That way he won’t be able to get through to big bad and we’ll have a better chance of convincing him.”

“Guys?”

“Yeah, my idea. If we have several people pretending to be our big brass, we have a better chance of convincing someone, and if we get more than one we can compare their responses. So synchronise watches, or phones, or whatever,” we did, “then go in three minutes from... now.”

Three nervous minutes later I heard Mark’s rifle shot, followed by another. I didn’t have as much manoeuvring room as I’d have liked, but I did have the strength. The axe went through the fibre optic cable on the third strike.

On my way back to the manhole, I picked out a couple of additional points and axed them too.

Back in the realm of phone bars, I put a call through to Nick.

“It seems like it’s working,” he said. “The site’s showing as dark, meaning no connection to it, and we have an agreed code from two of the code carriers. Laurel’s phone is making those horrible beeping noises, so I expect we’ll find out any minute.”

I could hear footsteps in the ducting back the way I’d come. I doubted they’d be having any fun at all in the confined space, and I’d left them enough of a mess to sort out. I climbed out the manhole, directly into the barrels of about a dozen rifles.

I carefully put my axe down and raised my hands.

Fifteen minutes later, Mark and I were sharing a cell. Another thirty minutes beyond that I tried breaking the stony silence.

“You did say they’d be pretty quick responding,” I said.

“Yup.”

“I wonder if we won.”

“I wonder.”

“Are you pissed off with me?”

“Just wondering if I’ve thrown my career down the crapper,”

“Oh, come on.”

“Oh, come on what? I disobeyed orders, I fired on a friendly base, I collaborated with a civilian…”

“You disobeyed orders that you had good reason to believe had been compromised, you fired on a base that was under the control of an enemy AI, and you collaborated with a civilian who knew a lot more about this situation than you guys. If your superiors don’t recognise your actions as meriting commendation, then maybe you’re working for the wrong people.”

“Ahem.” The cough came from a shadowy figure who stepped into view. His epaulets displayed a crossed sword and scabbard and a crown. Finn leapt to attention. The man laughed. “It’s all right sergeant, stand easy. Your young lady friend is quite right. There will be a debrief in a short while for you both, separately because this is the way things are done, but it seems that you may well have saved us quite a lot of bother.” He looked behind him at a lesser soldier and indicated that we should be let out of our cell.

“Lieutenant general, I…”

“Shouldn’t say anything at this stage. You’ll have your opportunity. Tell me, have you considered becoming a commissioned officer?”

“Er, I, I, er…”

“I’ll take that as a no. You should, you know. There’s a second lieutenant’s post opening up soon – supernatural liaison – not something I would ever have imagined in my wildest dreams becoming a part of the British Army. I think you’d be well suited to the post.”

I fought down a smile.

“Yes, and you, young lady. I think we’re going to have to offer you and your friends consultancy positions. I don’t particularly like the idea of consultants you understand? They’re generally inordinately expensive, but when we find people with the sort of specific expertise you have shown, we don’t have much alternative.”

“Sir, what can you tell us about…”

“Nothing at present. You must understand, the debrief has to be untarnished by any knowledge outside your own. Generally speaking, it’s a lot easier to see when people are trying to be honest.”

“Yes sir, but I’m concerned for those who were affected by…”

“They have all been identified and are being debriefed in the same way as yourselves will soon be. Please wait until after this is over before asking any further questions.”

“The computer system here?”

He sighed. “Shut down with no sign that the AI in it managed to upload itself. Now, please curb your curiosity a little.”

“Yes sir.”

We were separated and I, at least, was put in a bare room on my own. I let my feet out of my shoes. I’d become comfortable enough in them for the most part, but there was still a degree of relief that came from removing them.

Eventually a panel of officers walked into the room and sat opposite me. One was the lieutenant general, but he sat to one side and let his subordinates take the lead.

None of them seemed to have much of a sense of humour, so I supressed my own tendency towards sarcasm. I did answer all their questions honestly though, even when they stared at me in disbelief.

Then again, when your story starts off with, ‘A few weeks ago I was a teenage boy named Mitchel,’ you’re bound to gain a few sceptics early on.

They wanted demonstrations of my dance fighting, which I happily gave them, first with the heel sheaths on then with the weapons out. They placed my axe on the table and I explained where it had come from. The haft from a Fyarl demon and the rest from Jen’s weapons manufacturer.

It took hours, but then to be fair there was quite a lot of new information to present and convince them had its foundation in truth. It’s not often when, as a down to earth soldier, you have to take on board the existence of portals to alternate worlds, the existence of vampiric creatures and other monsters, and so on.

We took a break part way through so I could eat. The meal was brought to me and the rest of them filed out, still giving me disbelieving looks.

I was starving and ate voraciously, then I took my shoes off again and curled up on the floor for a short nap.

Which turned out to be a long one when I woke up several hours later with a blanket over me. The floor was hard and cold, and I felt stiff as a result, but the rest had been necessary.

I didn’t bother asking what the time was. Best just to get this over with as soon as possible.

More hours, another meal and more hours still until they were finally satisfied that they had all I was capable of telling them. They’d doubled back with their questions on occasions, but that’s where telling the truth makes it easy. You just tell it again.

Once more they filed out and left me on my own. Not for long though. Stuart, Jen, Laurel and Nick all came in and we did a kind of group hug thing. Stuart was kind of awkward over it, but it was good to see them all alright.

“We wondered what had happened to you,” he said. “It, it took so much longer for your debrief, we er…” He had his glasses off and was polishing them furiously.

Whatever else he might have said was interrupted by the arrival of the lieutenant general accompanied by Mark, his sergeant’s stripes replaced by officer’s epaulets, these each sporting a single square.

“Good morning, everyone,” the general said brightly. “You’ll be glad to know that the ordeal of questioning you is over and all that remains is to decide what to do with you all.

“Lieutenant Finn has already gone a long way towards corroborating your stories by demonstrating various, er, aspects of your recent circumstances, and it pleases me to discover that, despite the utterly fantastical nature of your stories, you all appear to have responded honestly and openly to our interrogation.

“In addition, Mr Giles and Miss Ephemeris have helped considerably with those under my command who still feel compelled to follow misguided orders. The, er, indoctrination they received seems to be a little different to anything we’ve encountered before and their methods have proven effective where our own have not.

“Despite the danger being considerably lessened, Miss Pinkstone has been singularly helpful in demonstrating weaknesses in our security systems, although I have to admit this leaves me with a considerable amount to think on. On the one hand, I don’t particularly like the idea of having our systems so easily compromised, yet on the other, if she hadn’t managed to do so, we might still be fighting a tough battle.

“Mr Harris here,” that’s Nick if I haven’t already mentioned, “has also proven useful in his own way, and has expressed an interest in joining the army.

“As for you, I can’t say I’m overly keen on your lack of respect for the chain of command, but at the same time, I can’t ignore your actions were most definitely crucial in turning this engagement to our advantage, so I think we can find a way to work through it.

“In short, I would like to offer you all positions in the paranormal operations company I’m setting up.”

“Would I be correct in assuming we won’t have access to the portal if we don’t accept?” I asked.

“That would be a fair assumption, yes. We can’t allow non-military personnel messing with something like that.”

“I’m not sure we can afford to let military personnel do so either.”

“We have been entrusted with the defence of the realm.”

“Yes, but you have no experience with this sort of thing. You said yourself this only turned out well because we did what we knew in spite of your soldiers doing their best to stop us.”

“Agreed, which means we’ll all be better off if you agree to work with us within the chain of command, though with enough autonomy that you won’t be hamstrung in bringing your unique experience to bear.

“From your perspective, it would mean you would have the resources and authority of the British Army behind your efforts. So it might make things easier for both of us, don’t you think?

“At least listen to my proposal. Second Lieutenant Finn here to be placed in charge of the portal facility. Mr Harris to enlist in accordance with his interests. After basic training, he’ll be assigned as Lieutenant Finn’s aide, or possibly the base captain’s. The rest of you to be offered consultancy positions, details to be discussed, but with Miss Geller here given the rank of acting captain with equivalent authority as the base commander. That’s as close to autonomy within your field of expertise as I can offer you. You will still need to act within the command structure of the army as a whole.”

“And if our enemy starts influencing higher ranks?”

“Miss Pinkstone here is helping us to ensure that doesn’t happen again. We may be open to discussing ways of giving you limited options to exercise extraordinary authority to act independently, but there would have to be checks and balances.”

I looked at Stuart and Jen.

“It, it sounds fair,” Stuart said. “More, more than, er, fair actually.”

“It was my idea to invite military involvement, Sarah,” Jen added. “This is too big a thing for us to fight on our own, and this gives us more involvement than I was anticipating, so I’d say yes.”

“What about David?” I asked the general.

“As I understand it, we’ve been unable to locate him. From the lieutenant’s report, his reaction was understandable as much as it was regrettable. If you can locate him and persuade him to work with us, we would value his expertise.”

I nodded.

“Good. I understand you and Miss Pinkstone are seventeen years old?”

“I turn eighteen next month,” I said.

“A couple of months more for me,” Laurel added.

“That fits in nicely with the army reserves. Mr Harris, you’re already eighteen?”

“Er, six weeks ago, sir.”

“Right. We should involve your parents in this, Sarah, Laurel.”

“They expect me to be away with the army all this week,” I said.

“I’m aware, but circumstances have changed. The portal still represents a threat to national security, and I’d like a robust defence in place as soon as possible.”

Laurel whispered something urgent in Jen’s ear, who smiled.

“We may have a way of helping with that,” she said. “Laurel, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, has quite an exceptional mind, for magic as much as for technology. She thinks she can make use of the power in Sarah’s axe to awaken potential slayers elsewhere. She sees no reason why there should only be one.”

“Fantastic,” the general said. “Sarah, how would you feel about commanding a squad of slayers?”

“Er, well I was hoping to have a crack at our digital demon first. I encountered the real one twice and the computerised version once and fared better than anyone. I think I may have a natural resistance.”

“Let’s put a hold on that for now. If it turns out you’re not as resistant as you thought, you’d be a formidable weapon in the hands of the enemy. Let’s at least wait until we have a few others like you, so we have a chance to restrain you.”

“That makes a lot of sense actually.”

“And so you begin to see the benefit of older and wiser heads holding higher command positions, perhaps.”

“Begin maybe, but older doesn’t necessarily mean wiser, and the commanders of our army haven’t always had such a great track record in the good decisions department.”

“Ah yes, you’re a student of history. I’m hopeful the modern British Army shows a significant improvement in its command structure to the way we did things in the past but make your own mind up.

“I think we’ve achieved enough for now. If I could ask you to accept being restricted to this site until tomorrow morning, I’m hopeful we’ll be able to bring in Miss Geller’s and Miss Pinkstone’s parents and arrange for the necessary documentation to be reviewed and signed, then you will have as much liberty as you might expect being bound by your new position, the official secrets etcetera.”

#

It turned out to be no hardship. Laurel needed me and my axe to work her mojo. It took her a while to explain it to Jen and Stuart, but once they understood her ideas – which I most assuredly did not – they got all sorts of excited, with each contributing from their own knowledge to improve Laurel’s casting. They spent most of the day refining the spell which gave Nick and me a chance to resolve a few things.

“Did you fancy me when I was Mitchel?” I asked him.

“Well, if you’re going to beat about the bush,” he replied, then smiled laconically , “yes. Yes, I did.”

“How long have you known you were gay?”

“I think since the first time I set eyes on you. You weren’t though, so I couldn’t tell you.”

“Kind of sucks.”

“Yeah. How about you? Being a girl seems to suit you.”

“It was pretty weird at first, especially since the change didn’t happen all at once.”

“Say what?”

“Yeah, when I went home Saturday morning, I looked like this, maybe boobs a bit smaller, but I still had my bits.”

“I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“I seem to remember you tried to get me to dress as a girl more than once.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. Kind of a personal fantasy that I could go out with my boyfriend and nobody would know but us, but I mean with you looking so much like a girl...”

“Doesn’t do it for you, huh?”

“Sorry, not built that way.”

“Good job the army is pro gay.”

“Pro all of it. You’re kind of trans in a way, so their inclusion policy supports you too.

“But, I mean, when did you, like, know you were better as a girl?”

“Know for sure? Probably when I got over the shock of the initial change. I suppose I’ve always had a sense of things being a bit off though. You remember how I always wanted to play with the girls?”

“Yeah, it’s probably what set off my gaydar in the first place. Kind of shame it was a false ping. But seriously dude, you have no regrets about losing your dick?”

“I can’t tell you how right it felt when I realised it wasn’t there anymore.”

He shuddered and dipped a protective hand in front of his own equipment.

“And you don’t mind, you know, time of the month kind of thing.”

“Still waiting for my first,” I said. “I mean can you believe it’s only been three weeks since this all started? I guess I’m due any time. In fact, I’m feeling a bit bloated right now.”

“TMI dude. Don’t want to know.”

“Whatever. It still feels right. Like it’s a part of me, you know?”

“Like I said. Don’t want to. How about this slayer crap? You really okay with that?”

“Might be more than up for it over the next week,” I said. “You know, PMT and all that?”

“Fuck man, will you stop steering us back to that. Like point made, dude.”

“Maybe you could try and steer away from masculine forms of address? The more you recognise me as a girl, the less I’ll feel the need to ram it down your throat.”

“Oh, right. I’m guessing you’re still not okay with dudette?”

“No.”

“It may take me a while.”

“No worries. As to the slayage, yeah not so keen. I mean I know it’s needed, but it’s gross – all the more so when they don’t explode into dust at the end – and it feels... I don’t know, it feels like I’m becoming more hardened to it the more I do it. I’d rather not kill stuff if I didn’t need to.

“How about you? Never pegged you for an army guy.”

“I think the discipline’s something I’ve been missing in my life, you know. Plus, lots of hot guys.”

“Most of whom probably won’t be gay.”

“Don’t have to be if all I’m doing is looking. Besides, eventually there will be one.”

“And if they order you to kill?”

“Since I’ll be in the paranormal company, that’ll most likely mean monsters, and I’m okay with that.”

We chatted on about our hopes for the future, and it felt more and more like we were heading different directions. We’d been friends for a long time and this parting of the ways felt sad.

“Hey, it’s cool, girl. We’ll see each other almost daily, and we’ve got a lot of great memories to look back on.”

“Yeah, and every girl needs a gay friend. At least I don’t have to go looking for mine.

“I think I just saw Laurel wave. Fancy going over to see what she wants?”

So we did, and what she wanted mainly was me. The sun had dipped below the horizon and they were ready to do their magic.

“Hi guys, first of all this is Seth,” Laurel said introducing one of our four guards from earlier – the corporal. “His friends call him Oz because he’s kind of a wizard with computers and electronics. I’ve asked him to help us because we need five to complete the pentagram. Sarah will be in the middle, of course.”

She sat us at various points around the ornately drawn five-pointed star. I, as she’d said, had pride of place in the centre along with my axe. Jen and Stuart took the base, Nick and Oz took the arms and Laurel sat at the head.

“Any danger to this, Laurel?” I asked.

“No, none. Well maybe some, but not a lot. I’m eighty-five to ninety percent sure this’ll work.”

“Which?”

“Eighty-seven?”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“The worst is you get to be an ordinary girl and we have to get by without a slayer until the next one comes along,” Jen said. “If it works though, we’ll have a world full of slayers. Low risk, high reward. We should do this.”

“Only i-if you want to though,” Stuart added.

The thought of being an ordinary girl appealed. I mean, it would take the other side of the rift time to regroup, and even if they did while I was still alive, we had other defences.

“Okay, Laurel, do your worst.”

Maybe I meant that. Maybe I really wanted that ordinary life.

As usual, Laurel’s worst was still A-plus. I could feel the power of the demon horn streaming into me from the axe and out again, spreading in all directions. The spell seemed to go on for hours, and in it I felt the same awakening in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of young girls.

Not just girls either. At least not on the outside.

“Did it work? I don’t think it worked,” Laurel said dejectedly.

I held up my axe, the entire haft of which was crumbling into dust.

“It worked,” I said.

“Oh, your axe!”

“I’m just going to have to find myself another Fyarl demon if I want to fix it properly. For now, slayers are waking up all over the world. We just have to let them know to come here.”

“I could post something onto social media, Laurel said.”

“Yeah, but let’s show willing with our new partnership and send it up the chain of command.”

So, I asked Oz to take me to the lieutenant general.

“She’s amazing, don’t you think?” he said as soon as we were out of earshot from the tent.

“Laurel? Yeah, I guess she is.”

“I’m thinking of asking her out, but I’m kind of nervous about how she’ll respond.”

“I remember what that felt like,” I said, probably confusing the poor guy. “My advice, be open and honest. Girls like that.” This one did anyway.

“I’ll take it, thanks.”

The general was a little miffed that we’d gone ahead with Laurel’s idea without further consultation but gratified that it had worked.

“Corporal Green,” he said to Oz. “Why don’t you head up the social media campaign along with Miss Pinkstone?”

“Yes sir. Thank you, sir.”

“And thank you for bringing this to me. It’ll be easier once we have chain of command established.”

“How likely is it that my superiors will be as open minded as you, general?”

“Fair. Plus, you should have enough evidence to chisel open the most closed of minds. You still have those captive creatures of yours, after all. So I expect you’ll make it work.

“It’s approaching dinner time, and I prefer to eat early. Would you care to join me? Corporal, I believe you have something to do?”

“Yes sir!”

And he was gone, leaving me with a ruggedly handsome if older guy taking me to dinner.

“You can flatter an old man by keeping him company over a meal,” he smiled at me. “Don’t worry, I’m not expecting anything more.”

“I can’t think of anything I’d enjoy more than a little stimulating conversation over a meal,” I smiled back. He was wise enough to know what he’d have coming if he tried anything more, so I didn’t have to be blunt about it.

He proved to be just as erudite as I’d hoped, and knew a lot more about military history than my studies had taught me. I learned a lot and enjoyed his company immensely – in an interesting uncle come to tea sort of way.

#

Dad had been a little confused about being brought in so soon after I’d started my week’s work experience, and Mum had arrived wearing her best worried look. Laurel’s parents were just confused about being brought in at all.

To make it less confusing, the meeting took place in the nearby army barracks where we’d been debriefed the previous day. Everyone in town knew something was going on at the old college site, but there was no sense in making matters more confusing by doing this there.

The lieutenant general was at his disarming best and welcomed Laurel’s and my parents into a large conference room laid out with refreshments. He did the honours pouring out teas and coffees then we all sat down around the table. Laurel and I sat with our parents on opposite sides and the general took the end.

He started with my mum and dad, explaining how I’d impressed them even in such a short time and they wanted to offer me a more permanent position. He handed Dad a pile of paperwork then turned to the Pinkstone’s to explain how I’d asked for Laurel’s help with some cyber security matters and she’d so blown everyone away with her knowledge that they wanted to offer her a position too. Again, a pile of papers and the meeting fell into something approaching silence as my father and one of Laurel’s mums read through the paperwork looking for loopholes and potential catches, and the remaining mothers murmured their concerns to their daughters who responded with reassurances that all was well.

Laurel and I refreshed the drinks for everyone before enjoying a cuddle with our mums while our dads finished reading.

“I don’t see any catch here,” Dad said. “In fact, it looks downright astonishingly good.”

The Mrs Pinkstone who’d read Laurel’s contract nodded her agreement.

“Why should there be a catch?” the general asked. “You have two quite exceptional daughters and we’re good at spotting talent. When we do, we have learnt that the best way to win it to our cause is to make an offer that shows our full appreciation of what we see. The nearest thing to a catch is that we would like to sign them up to a contract as soon as we may. Today if possible. I quite understand if either of you would like to ask a lawyer to look over this paperwork and explain to you in layman’s terms all the pros and cons, but I’m hoping you will be able to do that today. You can choose the solicitors, and the army will pay the bill for their services, including any reasonable premium for having it done immediately.”

“I have a contract lawyer I use on occasions,” said Mrs Pinkstone pulling out her phone. “I could ask him to look at both if you like.”

“Who’s your lawyer?” Dad asked then nodded at the response. “I’ve used him myself. Sure, let’s see what he can do for us.”

Mrs P made the call then passed it across to the general who approved the expense and noted down an email address. He then led our dads through to the next room where they witnessed the documents being sent before returning with fresh drinks and a plate full of cakes.

Mum had left most of her second cup of tea untouched, then again it had stewed somewhat. She was glad of a fresh brew, as much as Dad was happy with a fresh coffee and some cake. Afterwards the general took us on a tour – via the loos for us girls. Most important for me as my first period had hit its full flow and I was working my way through tampons at quite a rate.

The general wanted to demonstrate something of what they had noticed in us to our parents with the first demonstration apparently going to be me.

We stepped into a room full of recruits, all in PE gear. There was about a dozen of them and all half as tall again as me. Menstruation wasn’t doing much for my mood though, so I may have been a little overzealous in my response. It took me two minutes to put them all on the ground, hopefully none of them with major injuries.

Second demonstration had us in the computer centre where the most enthusiastic person there was Laurel. I’m sure what she was speaking was English but she lost me in the first half paragraph. One of her mother’s – the one who’d done most of the talking so far – seemed to follow well enough, though by the end she looked as haggard as the rest of us.

“Hopefully a demonstration of why we value your daughters so much,” the general said leading us all into a cafeteria for an early lunch.

Dad kept giving me odd looks through the meal. In fairness, he hadn’t seen me fight before now, so this must have come as a shock. Neither had Mum, but at least she knew I did fight. For her the demonstration had been a sort of confirmation of what I’d told her.

A lower ranked soldier whispered in the general’s ear as we were waiting for the ladies with the slower approach to eating to finish their meals. Dad had loaded up with twice as much as any of us, but then he’d proceeded to eat it at three times the rate.

“Your lawyer has replied,” he said simply. “Let’s finish off here and see what he has to say.”

Which turned out to be just as both my dad and Laurel’s mum had thought. Great contracts, great offers, some restrictions like the official secrets act – almost a given with military service – no real reason to say no.

Laurel and I both signed on the dotted line with our parents’ approval. We had a lot more freedom and flexibility than most people working with or for the military, including me having a pass on the rest of the week if I wished. With what had transpired in the short time I’d been on the old college site, there didn’t appear to be much to do right now, though what might come was another thing.

I took advantage of the pass and headed home with my parents. Their heads were swimming. Mine too, though probably to a lesser extent. After all, I had a wider context to the whole thing and I’d had longer to get my head around it all.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” Dad asked.

“It’s a kind of by-product of the dancing, Dad. You probably didn’t notice, but a lot of the moves I used were modifications of dance moves. I’m also a lot stronger and more supple as a result of the training I’ve been doing.”

It wasn’t that convincing an answer, but it was the best I could manage at short notice. Mum didn’t offer anything, which might have helped the conversation peter out. Dad doesn’t contribute much to talking while he’s driving.

Back home, Dad headed for his office, and I joined Mum for yet more tea.

“You’re sure this is what you want?” she asked.

I shrugged. “The military’s involved now. The only way we can keep a hand in the game is if we play be their rules.”

“It’s hardly a game, dear.”

“I know. Figure of speech, Mum. The army’s being really fair over it though. I think they realise how out of their depth they are here, so they’re offering us a deal that makes best use of our experience and special skills and their resources.

“It’s not really what I want, but it’s what everyone needs right now, and things are changing, improving I hope. I can live with the violence for now, because there are a lot of fringe benefits to being this version of me, and there’s a good possibility that sometime in the future I’ll be able to walk away from this without feeling I’m turning my back on my responsibilities.

“Your responsibilities to kill vampires and other monster?”

“When you put it like that, maybe you should be fitting me up for a huggy jacket and a room with padded wallpaper.”

“Huggy jacket?”

“Straight jacket, Mum. The thing is, not many people know these things are real. What people saw at the college is being passed off as the effects of a hallucinogenic gas being released. The army have gone to some lengths to alter everything that went up on social media so it doesn’t show anything that would scare people. The only reason you know there’s something out there is because some of the things I fight don’t disintegrate into dust when they die, by which I mean that night I came home covered in gore.

“What I’m doing isn’t just fighting monsters, it’s keeping the world safe from even knowing they’re out there for real. I’m going to keep doing it for as long as I need, but I’m doing all I can to make sure that’s not going to be forever, or even for long.

“I do want to be a normal woman, Mum, and live a normal life, and I will have it, eventually.”

“I hope you do dear. How are you getting on with the tampons?”

“Flows a bit more than I was expecting, so I’m getting through them quicker than I thought, but overall, I’m doing okay.”

“Might want to try a larger size.”

“Maybe. I’ll get some when I go out later.”

“You’re going out?”

“Just for a walk. I don’t think there’s anything about looking to go bump in the night right now.”

“Probably just as well for them. You weren’t very restrained in that fighting demonstration, where you?”

“You noticed that? Of course you did. I’m pretty good with my moods most of the time, but...”

“But it’s your first time and it’s full on. I don’t know how well I’d cope with that. You’ll get the hang of it.”

“Thanks Mum.” There was a hug involved and that helped a lot of my mood ease.

Later, with battle boots and a short skirt just in case, I headed out for a walk. I bought a box of tampons the next size up. They’d make sleeping a bit safer if nothing else.

My legs took me to a certain graveyard where I paused and settled onto a gravestone to rest a while.

“Are you expecting anything to come through,” David asked from the shadows.

“Not really. The portal only skips if it’s kept closed and I believe they’re letting it open in the evenings so they can get a little target practice in.”

“Not a problem as long as it’s only vampires.”

“Yeah, you left before things got interesting.”

“Do you blame me?”

“No, but you still missed all the fun.

“So, what did I miss?”

I told him about the digital demon, the thermobaric missiles, all the hassle about preventing their launch and eventually sending them through to detonate over where the main body of the demon army waited.

“Yeah, well that explains it then.”

“Explains what?”

“You were right, if those missiles had gone off near the portal it would have torn a rift a mile wide between the worlds, but by exploding them in the other realm at all you created a whole bunch of new portals.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“Most of them are too small, at least at the moment, but one is big enough for some things to get through.”

“Probably where we aimed more than one missile in an effort to make sure the big guy got toasted.”

“It wouldn’t have needed more than one.”

“Well, that sucks.”

“Not your fault. You didn’t know it would make more portals so you didn’t know doubling up would make a bigger one.”

“Where is it?”

“Shifting for now. I had a sense it might grab onto one of the minor convergences like it did last night...”

“Like it did...”

“...last night, yes. There were a couple of stray vamps came through, nothing more.”

“I should have been there.”

“It’s alright. I was, and you were doing something just as important, so let’s leave it at that.”

“But...”

“You can’t be everywhere at once, Sarah. You certainly can’t cover the main portal and wherever this secondary one’s heading.”

“Where’s it going?”

“East. It’s heading east. Not sure how far yet, but it’s not stopping. At a guess I’d say London somewhere.”

“But London’s miles away.”

“Yes, which is why you’re going to stay here where the real nasties are, and I’ll follow this one.”

“But...”

“Look, I’ve been around longer than you. I’ve lived in London before, so it makes sense I should go.”

“But London’s miles away.”

“You said that already.”

“I was hoping we could spend some time together, you know, getting to know each other.”

“Yeah, me too. I guess that’s part of my penance for all the evil I’ve done. I’m never supposed to enjoy a moment’s happiness.”

“That’s not fair though. I mean you had no control.”

“It’s okay. Listen, maybe you can come visit me in The Big Smoke, or I can come visit you. In the meantime, you know, don’t wait for me. I mean that Sergeant Finn seems nice.”

“Lieutenant Finn.”

“What?”

“He’s a second lieutenant now. I told you, you missed a lot.”

“Whatever. Look, if you’re into him or whatever, just, you know, forget about me. I mean at least he’ll be human.”

“David...”

“I’ll be leaving tonight, Sarah. You need to forget about me. You need to live your own life.”

“David...”

“Goodbye Sarah.”

He was gone.

I sat and let the tears flow. Tears of regret, of anger, of loss, of misery. There were a lot of them and they were all different. It took a long time for them all to spill out, long enough to take me well beyond my curfew, but I was beyond caring about that.

I walked home listlessly, taking the same route David and I had shared on our first time together, including the dark alley through to my street.

I was ready for the dark figure this time; I’d been hoping for something to punch. As before, he launched past me and tried to grab my handbag. This time I didn’t let him get that far. I shot out with my right hand and grabbed his face. The rest of him kept going which meant his feet left the floor and he swung under my arm. I pushed him down onto the ground and only just managed to hold back from cracking his skull against the pavement.

This was no fun. I really wanted to hurt something and, annoying as this guy was, I knew I couldn’t use all my strength on him.

I reached down with my left hand and undid his belt, whipping it out through the loops in his trousers.

“What the fuck you doing, bitch?” he yelled at me. Sure, fair enough, my hand wasn’t really big enough to obscure much of his face. I shifted my grip to his throat, still a bit of a stretch with my dainty digits, and hauled him to his feet.

“Not the right time of the month to piss me off asshat,” I growled at him, pushing him back against a cast iron fence.

“Oh shit, not you again,” he whined.

“Afraid so.” I made a loop with one end of his belt and tightened it around one of his wrists. “You’re kind of lucky, ‘cos you didn’t break anything of mine this time. I don’t think those trainers would cover the expense.” He was wearing some cheap knock-offs which were already beginning to fall apart. “On the flip side, this is the second time you’ve tried to rob me and I distinctly remember giving you a little friendly advice last time.” I pulled the belt through the rails and tied it tight to his other wrist. “This is only second strike though, so what say I give you a choice?”

He looked at me like I was mad.

“I could call the police and let them know I’ve left the guy who tried to steal my bag tied up here, or you could take your chances and see if you can escape your bonds before someone comes along and wonders what the fuck you’re doing tied to these railings.

“What’s it to be? Option one or option two?”

“You’re a fucking psycho, you know that?”

“Sounds a lot like option one to me, but you’re all tied up so it’s hardly an emergency. What’s the non-emergency police number? Do you know?”

“Fuck lady! Option two, I’ll take option two.”

“You sure? That looks like a pretty tough belt.”

“Fuck yeah! Just leave me be.”

“Don’t let there be a strike three,” I snarled into his face. “You don’t get a choice what happens to you then.”

I left him with a healthy punch to the solar plexus because I didn’t quite have full control over my anger. It knocked the wind out of his lungs, but he was still breathing when I left him.

“And what time do you call this, young lady?” Dad asked as I walked through the door.

“Richard, no!” Mum said using her no-nonsense voice. She must have seen something in my face because she just held out her arms. I ran into them and the waterworks started leaking all over again.

“I’m going to bed,” Dad said. He wasn’t happy about being denied his rant, but he’d been happily married long enough to know what fights to back down from.

Mum let me cry myself out then set about making a couple of mugs of hot chocolate. She set mine on the table beside me where I was inclined to ignore it.

“Don’t you dare let me indulge in all these extra calories on my own, young lady!” Mum did a passable impression of Dad’s self-righteous rant voice which was enough to break through my mood. I gave her a weak smile and sipped at my drink.

Hot chocolate had never been so good when I was a guy.

“I’m guessing this is none of my business, so I’m not going to pry. My shoulder is still available though and I do have an emergency supply of hugs on me.”

“You’re handling me.”

“In a way only a mother knows how to do with her daughter,” she replied. “I never really knew how to do this with my son, but daughters are easy.

“So, might this have anything to do with a certain tall, dark and mysterious stranger I’ve seen walking you home recently?”

“Whatever happened to ‘none of my business?’”

“I can’t help it if I’m nosy, can I?”

That tweaked a second brief smile and broke down the last of my defences.

“He told me he was moving to London tonight.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Was he someone special?”

“I kind of hoped he would be. We never really had a chance to find out.”

“Did he say why he was moving?”

“Something to do with, you know.”

“Oh, I see.”

“What? What do you see, or think you see?” My tone came out harsher than intended.

Mum held up her hands defensively. “For one, you had a shared secret with him – something you couldn’t share with just anyone – that’s bound to bring you close. For another, I’m guessing he helped you out with you know, and that’s going to do the same.”

“What do I do, Mum?”

“I don’t have an easy answer, dear. For now, cry into your pillow and try not to let it get too damp. For the future, remember men like that tend to roll on out of your lives as quickly as they roll in. Not worth investing too much of yourself in them unless you’re prepared to roll with them. For tomorrow, or whenever you need to go back, remember you have a whole barracks full of very attractive soldiers to fraternise with.”

And there came the laughter again, although this time there were tears mixed in with it, which wasn’t a good look.

“Also, don’t cry at them like that if you want them to fraternise back.”

“Mum, stop it. I don’t feel like laughing.”

“Alright, stopping, but I don’t feel like moping, so I’m heading up. I suggest you do the same. Do you have a car coming for you tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t arrange anything.”

“Then maybe that’s the first thing you need to do when you wake up. You’re welcome to stay, but only if you agree not to mope about the place all day.”

I gave her a hug.

“Thanks Mum, you’re the best.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what I did, dear.”

“I’m sure you do. At least I have a chance at sleeping now.”