Tales of the Hidden World Read Online Free PDF Page B

with only Jack and Natasha to stand against them. The Moscow field agent, Erin Drood, was down below, defusing the bomb. Jack ducked a flailing fist and punched the masked man savagely in the side. He felt ribs break under his fist. He knocked the man down, and then braced himself as he turned and found another masked man pointing a gun at his head. Natasha stepped in and kicked the man’s legs out from under him, with one broad sweep of her leg. She waited till he hit the roof, hard, and then stamped on his hand till he let go of the gun. And then she stamped on his head. Jack and Natasha exchanged a grin and moved on to new targets. Slipping and sliding across the steep uneven roof, far above the Moscow streets.
    The masked men called themselves the Children of Vodyanoi. A small but very determined group that wanted to make mankind over into something better. The Russian authorities thought they were just another suppressed religious sect, but Drood intelligence knew better. Which was why Jack had been sent to help the resident field agent, Erin Drood, stop the Children of Vodyanoi, before they did something that couldn’t be undone. Natasha was their local contact, but she insisted on getting involved. And seeing her fight overwhelming odds with just spiked brass knuckles and a cheerful smile, Jack was glad she was there. He couldn’t armor up for fear of setting off the bomb, so he was having to rely on old Drood fighting techniques. He thought he was doing okay. The Children of Vodyanoi all had the strength of fanatics, but they hadn’t a clue how to fight on a professional level.
    Jack and Natasha fought their way from one side of the roof to the other, and when they finally stopped and looked back, there was no one else left standing. Jack and Natasha leaned on each other, companionably, breathing hard.
    “Explain to me again, please,” Natasha said finally. “Just what the hell these idiots thought they were doing?”
    “They wanted to transform Humanity,” said Jack. “Make us all superhuman. Using alien DNA stripped from the dead crew of a crashed starship. Unfortunately, they didn’t know the DNA acted like a virus. It infected them and changed their thinking, so they would want to infect others. With alien DNA programmed to override any other DNA, so we would end up like them. Invasion and colonization, by proxy.”
    Natasha looked around the roof, counting quietly. “This is it. This is all of them. A very small group.”
    “Then all that’s left is to burn the bodies,” said Jack. “With these very special incendiaries provided by the family Armourer. Burns right down to the genetic level, or so I’m told.”
    “What about the bomb?” said Natasha.
    “I defused that ages ago,” said a cheerful voice behind them. “I just enjoyed watching you fight.”
    “Piss off, Erin,” said Jack. “Just for that, you can carry the bomb out of here.”
    Erin laughed and disappeared. Jack and Natasha looked at each other.
    “Is there any chance that you or I could be infected with alien DNA?” said Natasha. “After all, we did come into close contact with those idiots. Briefly.”
    “The injections we took earlier will protect us,” said Jack. “My family has antidotes for everything.”
    “I’d still feel safer if you were to look me over,” said Natasha. “Personally.”
    Jack grinned. “I can do that.”
    They weren’t supposed to fall in love, but they did anyway. Jack brought Natasha back to Drood Hall and married her. Natasha became pregnant within a year and gave birth to a fine baby boy. And they were so happy together . . . for a while.
    Natasha died some two years after Timothy was born. Nothing special, or out of the ordinary, her kidneys just stopped working, and she died while the Drood doctors were still trying to figure out why. Things like that happen, even to Droods. By the time Jack got back from his latest mission, it was all over. He stood looking down at her grave,