Page 38 of Tooth and Nail

“Oh, my God!” Ari started chuckling which quickly morphed into a guffaw of laughter. “I’m sorry,” he finally said, wiping his eyes. “Let me make sure I have this. A bunch of alien bats led by a guy named Ralphie are in WITSEC, protected by the I.S.R. command. Right?” He looked over, and Eoghan nodded, struck by how sweetly his eyes danced when he laughed. When Ari finally got control of himself, he cleared his throat. “Sorry, man…it’s just…that shit’s funny.”

“I’m glad you’re so amused.” Eoghan tried not to smile. “Meanwhile, we have an entire population to protect. Let’s find out why they’re swarming during the day. Ralphie specifically agreed in exchange for our protection, his people would stay hidden in the caves until dark.”

“I apologize,” Ari said again. “Anyway, how many of them are there?”

“It’s okay. These are all new concepts. I had much the same reaction when I first started this job. Let’s just say Gladys was very patient.” He grinned. “So, as to numbers, we can’t be sure how many albats are here because we’ve never studied their reproductive habits. If we compare them to Chiroptera, then there should be about five hundred living in Bronson Canyon.” They’d only been driving for about five minutes, down the road, around the mountain, and out to the canyon. He pointed to a Bronson Caves road sign they’d just come to. “That’s where we’re headed.”

Ari nodded. “So, about five hundred? That seems like a lot, no?”

Eoghan turned to look at him as he took the road into the canyon. “Not really. Like I said, we can only compare them to Chiroptera populations. On Earth, they are the second most populous species of mammal—making up about twenty percent of all mammals on the planet. Only rodents are more populous. It would only make sense that albat numbers would be about the same.”

“Holy shit,” Ari said.

“Exactly. That’s why I’m glad it’s me on this call today. Ralphie knows me and we’ve had honest dealings in the past. I think he’ll be straight with me about whether his colony is being threatened in some way. It’s completely abnormal for them to be out during the day and trust me on this, we keep a close watch on them since we’re neighbors on this mountain.”

Ari bent and lifted the backpack from the floor, setting it on his lap. “What did Wordy put in here this time?”

Eoghan glanced over as Ari slid the zipper open, not waiting for him to answer. It was interesting to him how easily Ari had adapted to the discovery of new weapons and how little use the one on his belt was in I.S.R. situations.

“If I had to guess, Wordy would have put in goggles, a drape, and a can of albat deterrent.” He glanced back out the windshield as he pulled into a parking space before glancing over at him. Sure enough, he was pulling a fine black netting out of the bag as well as a large can of what looked like bear spray. “By the way, I see you brought your own gun today. It won’t be of any use to you on this job.”

Ari looked over at him, frowning a bit as his hand subconsciously went to his Glock. “It’s a habit that’s gonna be hard to break but that’s good to know. So, these weapons?” he asked, holding them up. “How are they used?”

“The drape is to be put over your head which covers your eyes, face, and shoulders in case they’re frenzied. Like I said, they eat fruit and are harmless to humans as far as we know but if they’re disoriented or worked up enough to decide to attack as a group, five hundred of them is going to be difficult to fight off. You could suffocate if one crawled into your mouth and blocked your airway.”

“That’s kind of a horrifying thought,” Ari said, looking closely at the netting. “They must be pretty small.”

“About the size of a golf ball when curled up. Cute little things,” Eoghan replied.

“Cute,” he said flatly, examining the can. “Okay…that’s so not comforting to know, but it’s good that we have these.” He hefted the spray, looking up. “What about this?”

“That’s albat deterrent. It’s harmless to them and to us. It’s basically a fine mist of saline gel that fucks with their echolocation so they can’t tell which direction they’re flying in. They can’t attack if they can’t see where they’re going. We use goggles but if it gets in our eyes, it might sting for a second. It won’t do any permanent damage and it’ll give us time to get away if we can’t make Ralphie see reason.”

“Okay,” Ari said, going silent as he looked at their weapons. When he looked up, he appeared puzzled. “What will kill an albat?”

“We try not to—”

“But, if our hand is forced.”

“Albat bodies are frail, like Chiroptera. Use your sidearm. That will kill an attacking albat, but you’d better be a damned good shot. Like I said, your target is small.”

Ari pointed to his chest. “My daddy taught me to hunt squirrels and birds in the woods. I got damned proficient at it. I was a sniper for Uncle Sam.”

“I remember.”

“Okay then,” he replied, sounding smug.

While he appreciated his new partner’s confidence, this job would entail more than simply being a crack shot. When Ari finally glanced over at him, Eoghan sighed. “Listen, while I don’t think there’s going to be any trouble out there today, anything can happen. So far, we’ve been dealing with a friendly shifter and an understanding vampire. But as John Townsend explained, and Chief Deputy Priest told you when she hired you, there’s some ugly and dangerous fuckers out there.”

Ari was nodding. “I believe you.”

“And I appreciate that you do, but please listen to me. I can’t emphasize enough how important it’s going to be for you to react instantly if I give you an order. I only give orders as any good training officer would. If you do what I say, we’ll both come through this alive. We have a rule at the I.S.R. which is to never take a situation at face value because it probably has many more layers to it than even we can anticipate.”

Ari reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “Thanks, Eoghan. I was serious when I told you that you’re a good partner and I trust you.”

Eoghan smiled. Ari had the ability to make him smile most of the time and for some reason, he wasn’t ready to examine that too closely.

Chapter Ten

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