Chapter 20

Kelly turned in her seat slightly as Ben ushered in the new arrivals. Rhiannon entered first in her full panoply of silvery linen and black velvet diamond-studded mantle including scepter and crown. This was not the friendly and kind Jess that they saw every day. Or the lusty one who nearly jumped Ben’s bones in public yesterday. This was regal Queen Rhiannon who had bravely and wisely led her people out of near extinction and into partnership with Ben and the Nexus. Following her closely was Siofra, resplendent in the long pale green and gold robes of her ambassadorship.

Next in was a contingent of three Valkyries in glossy black dress armor led by the formidable Brunheil all carrying short, ceremonial, but undoubtedly lethal silver-bladed spears. Without a word, they formed a loose crescent just to the side of Rhiannon and Siofra.

Kelly hazarded a glance toward the Sergeant Major who sat across from her. She would wager that there was very little in this world that would astound this battle-hardened old Marine, but this looked like it. Even a fool could tell that these weren’t actors or some sort of illusion and the Sergeant Major was no fool.

“Ahem, I see further introductions are in order,” said Ben standing.

Kelly thought Ben might actually be enjoying seeing his salty old comrade confounded for once.

“Queen Rhiannon, I present to you the honorable Sergeant Major David Winters late of the United States Marine Corps, now serving at the pleasure of the President Of the United States,”

Queen Rhiannon gave the Sergeant Major a stately nod of the head as he stood to attention.

“It is a genuine pleasure, Sergeant Major. We have heard much about you and your adventures with our friend and ally, Major Clarkson.

Kelly could see that ‘Dave’ didn’t know quite what to make of being addressed by a queen, much less a Fae queen.

“Sergeant Major, may I present Her Highness Queen Rhiannon, lifetime ruler elected, of the Unified Fae Clans and honorary daughter of the Goddess Danae,” intoned Ben formally.

“It is an honor, Your Highness, I look forward to working with you and your people,” replied the Sergeant Major.

Kelly could see that Ben was struggling to decide the protocol. Did a Sergeant Major outrank a contingent of Valkyries? She could nearly read his mind as he gave a slight shrug and went for it.

“Sergeant Major, I would also like to introduce to you Bruneheil Odinsdottir leader of our attached Valkyrie contingent and her lieutenants.” said Ben with a gesture to where the warrior women were standing implacably.

Kelly nearly had a minor accident in her unmentionable as the Valkyries in perfect synch snapped to attention, slammed the butt of their spears into the floor, and smacked their forearms into their breastplates with the loud crash of a warrior-to-warrior salute.

“Well met Sergeant Major Winters, no further introductions are necessary- we remember you well and with the highest honor,” said Brunheil sternly.

Kelly could see doubt flit across the old Marine’s eyes.

“Pardon me Valkyrie Brunheil, but I don’t believe that I could forget a previous meeting with you or your sisterhood,”

“Our kin were with you on the hills surrounding a place called Khe Sahn for many days and our collective memory preserved the noteworthy events that occurred that day. We watched you fight in the knee-deep mud and blood until you and your brethren ran out of ammunition, then fighting hand to hand with bayonets and entrenching tools until you seized the enemy’s own weapons and turned them back on them. None of us could understand how you lasted so long, none of us thought you could hold out. But somehow you did- saving the men in the fortress below. We took many of your comrades to Valhalla in those days and we thought you were sure to join them. Be certain- you have a place in our hallowed halls should you wish it when your time comes.

The Sergeant Major was visibly shaken. Kelly knew that the scars of those days were still with him just as Ben had his own scars from a similar hill in a different part of the world.

“I see, yes thank you Brunheil. I am honored to be so considered, but I know much better men than I left with you during those days.”

Kelly could see Brunheil’s beautiful visage smile slightly at that. Kelly would venture that Brunheill probably knew more about fighting men than any ordinary woman ever could and she could see that Brunheil knew every one of them would feel the same as the Sergeant Major.

Ben allowed a brief pause for everyone to gather themselves and then cleared his throat.

“I apologize for rushing things. I know we would all like to get more familiar with each other but I’m certain the Sergeant Major wouldn’t have ridden in on a helo if time wasn’t a consideration. Please everyone take a seat,” said Ben

Kelly had to hide her smile. Rhiannon and Siofra managed to find a seat at the large walnut table as far from Ben as possible. She was quite certain that they didn’t want a repeat of yesterday while discussing such serious matters and they probably had a difficult time controlling themselves. It seemed to her that Fae biology could be a cast iron bitch.

“Sergeant Major, I believe you were about to say something,” said Ben.

The Sergeant Major drew a deep breath and composed himself.

“This isn’t easy to say. The hard intel from what you discovered at the warehouse coupled with previous investigations have led my organization and others to conclude that within the next 72 hours, the United States will be facing the greatest terror attack in U.S. History.”

There was stunned silence at the table.

“Allow me to briefly frame the situation ... First, we got back the analyses on the radioactive traces that your team found in the warehouse, and our doctors were able to determine what had been causing the rash that you found. Your Doctor Hensley was correct. All of these men were suffering from acute radiation poisoning.

In fact, they would have been dead within days anyway. They had been exposed to a particularly potent dose of gamma radiation only found in certain weapons-grade isotopes. These isotopes are supposed to be out of the reach of any civilians, even in tiny amounts. From what your ‘witness’ describes we were able to calculate that there were several hundred pounds of this isotope in the barrels that were found at the scene.”

There was a collective gasp and a murmur of surprise. Even the Fae had a good idea of what the smallest dose of radiation could do. The Sergeant Major continued.

“It looks likely that the workers encased the radioactive material in a thin layer of lead as they applied it to the trailer shell, but that wouldn’t have protected them in the least since they had been working with it. I would guess whoever was running the show wanted to prevent our wide-area radiation scanners from being triggered prematurely.”

This made sense, Lizzy had briefed them on the efforts going on to find the shipment and it surprised Kelly to know that certain government agencies had helicopter portable sensors to detect even small amounts of radiation over a large area. These were commonly used whenever a port was suspected of containing nuclear materials.