Verda Bagley looked across a forest clearing at the tungsten-carbide cage that had been erected deep in the woods, which had bars six inches thick. Inside, there was a sheet of steel with a perfect, seven-layered demon-binding circle on it. Ulmoch was at the center, where he sat, cross-legged and waiting. To one side, a soldier sat on top of a crate of supplies beside a small folding table, on which rested a laptop and USB camera, which was recording everything the demon said and did, mostly for archival purposes, since they didn’t risk capturing demons very often.
“He actually came willingly?” Verda spoke with surprise.
She wore a black leather jacket, a red shirt and her hair was tied back with a red scarf in a manner that hadn’t been in style for decades. She had dark hair and brown eyes, which displayed a world-weariness beyond what most ever experienced.
Beside her was Artemis Watson, in her camouflage dress, who nodded her agreement.
One of the soldiers standing guard turned away from Ulmoch and explained, “Masher offered him the drugs you set aside for him, including the LSD, cocaine and a shot of heroine.” The guard winked.
“Ah, I see.” Verda went along with the lie, her conscience bothering her slightly.
Most would have considered it ironic, considering the clandestine nature of her work, but she hated lying, because it was against her religion. She didn’t normally find it necessary, instead insisting to the victims of demon attacks that they hadn’t seen any aliens and should stay quiet about the subject. That got them thinking in entirely the wrong direction and pointedly wasn’t a lie. The rest of the time, demons didn’t come up in conversation, but even if they did, she just went silent and gave people incredulous looks, which usually came naturally, since it was always surprising when someone jumped right to the point. Nonetheless, the ‘it isn’t aliens’ line normally did the job and if it didn’t, there were other options.
Masher, on the other hand, lied whenever he liked, at least with demons. Unfortunately, that was going to make the interrogation more difficult for Verda, at least if she wanted to avoid lying.
She stepped away from the detention camp and took a short stroll to the gate camp, where she emerged from the woods near a gated chain-link fence that blocked a dirt road. The area beyond the gate was a narrow road along the side of the mountain, with a steep drop-off on one side. Inside, the rusty fence had obviously been placed for the sake of safety, along the edge of the cliff that the small forest occupied.
In the background, a dirt road followed a set of switchbacks up to a crack in a sheer cliff wall, which had been plugged with lava that had long-since cooled. The mountain top had a curiously cut-off appearance, just as one would expect for a volcanic caldera.
From the outside, an old, wooden sign read as, ‘Welcome to Camp Sapphire Friendship’, which had once been covered in blue paint, though it was now faded and had mostly peeled off. The first two words were on their own line, as were the second two and the last, but the sign looked like it had originally been just the first two lines, which would have been centered properly for that, with ‘Friendship’ possibly as a later addition.
Hanging from that was a much newer sheet metal sign painted white, with big, black letters at the top, which read as, ‘U.S. ARMY’. Below that, at the same size, but in red, ‘RESTRICTED AREA’. The next line was also in red, though the letters were smaller, ‘USE OF DEADLY FORCE IS AUTHORIZED’. Finally back in black and a slightly larger font was, ‘WARNING’, followed by the smallest text, which was a more detailed explanation, including references to relevant laws.
Just inside the fence, a small guard tower had been erected from concrete and local stone, along with a log-cabin barracks for the men that guarded the place, which was large enough for at least two-hundred men. Two soldiers with assault rifles stood near the gate, while two more were up in the tower, scanning the road with binoculars.
Verda entered the barracks for a few minutes, emerging with a small jar of clear liquid, a snack-sized bag of white powder, an even smaller bag of white powder, of the size one might get spare buttons for a shirt in, an unused syringe still in its wrapper, a spoon and a lighter. She felt dirty just carrying the drug paraphernalia and it bothered her to go so far to intentionally mislead someone, but on the other hand, it wouldn’t actually be lying and it might result in some decent intel.
Ulmoch had been an occasional source of information in the past year, though no one was quite sure why, and everything he said was taken with a grain of salt, considering what he was, though most everything had turned out to be true, at least when Verda spoke with the demonic prisoner they’d been interrogating for months.
The trouble was, Verda suspected Ulmoch was acting on orders from his boss, who had a tendency to intentionally leak information, that he might use humans to kill his rivals, or at least significantly weaken them. Cooperating with Pride was always a mistake, even unknowingly.
On the other hand, it was just as likely that Ulmoch really was what he appeared to be: a junkie looking for a fix and selling out his own kind for the adrenaline-induced thrill of it may have been his entire motivation. Regardless, he couldn’t be trusted, though his intel could be verified.
Verda returned to the detention camp and approached the cell, still holding the distasteful items.
“Oh, is all of that what I think it is?” The squirrel-demon asked, his eyes wide with crazed desire.
Verda pointedly ignored the question, then said, “I’ll give these to you, but only after you answer my questions.”
“Ask away.” Ulmoch licked his lips.
“Who are you currently working for?” Verda asked.
“Dead or Deader. It’s a bounty-hunting business, in Hell.”
“And who’s the bounty-head?”
“I can’t tell you that!” Ulmoch grumbled, “I mean, there’s a professional code of ethics and-” he suddenly burst into laughter, then explained, “Just joking, but I couldn’t keep my face straight!”
“Yes, very amusing.” Verda sighed, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “Now, answer the question.”
“Some human named ‘Yasu’ that’s supposed to be among your new recruits. I don’t even have a face to work with, though the name sounds Japanese. Not that I’m an expert, since all of you humans look so much alike.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Verda’s eyes narrowed, “Why?”
“Well, you’re all so similar, you know? Demons come in a much greater variety-”
“Why does someone want this ‘Yasu’ person dead?” Verda clarified, with much irritation.
“Bounty-hunting jobs don’t come with whys, for obvious reasons.”
“Fine. Who posted the job?”
“Someone that goes by ‘Silver Dollar’. We all use aliases in Hell, but that’s an odd one, even to me. Sounds like something they came up with on Earth.”
The name might have had a double meaning, referring to both U.S. dollar coins and the silver tokens demons used for money, each of which represented a human soul. It also sounded vaguely familiar, possibly from something she’d read in the archive room back at headquarters, but she’d read so many case files, it would be a real pain to track down.
“Can you at least tell me how badly Silver Dollar wants this ‘Yasu’ dead? How high is the price and how likely are we to see more bounty hunters?”
“Two-hundred souls.” Ulmoch shrugged, “That should be the equivalent of about-”
“One-hundred-million dollars.” Verda interrupted, “I already know the exchange rate.”
Ulmoch explained, “It’s a juicy bounty. I just happen to have the advantage over the others, because I’ve got connections. Some of my co-workers are real good at magical information gathering.”
“Can you tell me anything else about Silver Dollar?” Verda asked.
“Well…” Ulmoch hesitated, looking mildly uncomfortable.
Verda threatened, “Spit it out, Ulmoch, or I’ll throw this crap away!”
For just an instant, Ulmoch looked genuinely terrified, which was something new. He normally enjoyed danger, getting a thrill out of just about any sort of it, including betraying his own kind. Worse, since he was a masochist, on top of all the other vile things he was, he enjoyed torture, so seeing him afraid was disturbing.
The demon grinned, quite obviously savoring the rush of the moment, before he finally leaned forward and quietly answered, “You didn’t hear this from me, but Silver Dollar ate somebody pretty old, one of the few demons that was still around from the days before we became demons. Her common name was Istrozan and she had a really unique power. You may not know it, but when we eat our own kind, we gain their powers.”
“What kind of power?” Verda prompted.
“Istrozan could see the future. That made it dang-near impossible for Silver Dollar to win, something she spent the better part of a century working on, all tactics and strategy, all the time, forcing the old biddy into a corner, born from her own ability to see the future. Silver Dollar gave her no option but to choose one death over another. Istrozan put off the day of her death as long as she could stand to, but that’s all she could do. By reputation, Silver Dollar gets whatever she wants and she’ll burn all her resources to make a goal come true.”
Verda narrowed her eyes, because while Ulmoch seemed to be telling the truth, she could tell he was still holding something back.
She ordered, “Tell me what you’re hiding, or you don’t get this junk.”
Ulmoch got another look of pleasure on his face as he savored the moment of mixed terror and the adrenaline high that came with it, then offered up his opinion, “I’m not sure about this part, since it’s just a rumor, but Silver Dollar used to be one of Lust’s lieutenants, about a century back, though she got demoted after a certain someone went through her operations on Earth like a hot knife through butter.” Ulmoch turned and looked straight at Artemis, grinning at her.
Verda finally remembered what she’d read about Silver Dollar, based on the reference to Artemis. That was one of her first semi-official cases working with the Order, back when her handler had been Reggie Stewart. That man was still the stuff of legends, because only two others had ever topped his demon kill count, one of which was Artemis. Unfortunately, his wild and crazy approach to demon hunting had eventually gotten him killed.
The case they’d worked together had involved Reggie tangling with a mobster known on the streets as Silver Dollar. After they’d finished the job, the records indicated Artemis had gone on to systematically dismantle Silver Dollar’s entire operation on Earth, with Reggie backing her up.
“However, since Lust went missing, thanks to that same brat,” Ulmoch winked at Artemis, who flipped him the bird, “politics in the vice district of Castigation City have gotten pretty deadly. It’s all the same at street level, but rumor says the walls of the corporate suites have been painted with demon blood on a daily basis.
“Since we’re talking about Lust’s people, I’ve no idea how they might fight, because they’re famed for being pretty, rather than strong. On the other hand, the city’s alchemists have seen record sales, so maybe they’re poisoning each other.” Ulmoch shrugged.
“Get to the point,” Verda grumbled and warned, “because you’re trying my patience.”
“Right, right.” Ulmoch sighed, “Now that Silver Dollar has seized the power to see the future, rumor claims she killed every one of Lust’s other lieutenants that stood between her and the top spot. All that’s left is killing and eating Lust, which is pretty hard to do, since she’s on Earth.”
“Is she?” Verda asked, even though she knew exactly where Lust’s cage was housed.
Ulmoch laughed, “Fine, maybe you put her on the Moon, but we both know she isn’t in Hell, which leaves Silver Dollar in a unique position, and right after she gets all that political power, her first move is to put a price on the head of some human. Seems pretty suspicious to me.”
“What do you think it means?” Verda carefully kept her face expressionless.
Ulmoch shrugged, “Don’t fault me for guessing, but with the way she knows the future, she may see exactly how big a player this ‘Yasu’ person might someday become. She may be trying to cut a weed before it grows big and tall. On the other hand, it might just be a huge distraction, to get you folks chasing your own tail, while she pulls off something big. For all I know, she’s already plotted out every single option you might take and set you on the course to doom via every one of them, just like Istrozan.”
“I’m smelling a lot of ‘maybe’, ‘if’ and guesswork in all of that.” Verda pointed out.
Ulmoch shrugged, “Hey, you’re the one that pressed me for opinions. Can I have my drugs, now?” He stared with naked desire at the things Verda held.
She knew better than to dismiss Ulmoch’s opinion out of hand, because he was rather well-connected. Nonetheless, everything the vicious squirrel said could have been a carefully-curated collection of lies.
Verda tossed the smaller bag of white powder through the bars, then the larger one, both of which Ulmoch caught. Next was the little jar of liquid, followed by the syringe and spoon.
Ulmoch looked with excitement at his new possessions and ripped open the big bag of powder, shoving his nose right into it!
He inhaled a bunch of it, then coughed and cried with rage, “Sugar? You gave me powdered sugar? I was promised cocaine, LSD and heroine!”
“Not by me.” Verda finally grinned.
Ulmoch opened the little bag and licked the contents, growling, “Salt!” Next, he opened the jar and dumped the liquid in his mouth, tasting it with a sour expression on his face, before complaining, “Water? It was supposed to be LSD!”
Verda shrugged, “In the future, make your deals with me. I don’t lie.”
“You got nothing I want, unless you want to get me the autograph of your leader or some drugs!”
“I won’t give you drugs,” Verda vowed, “but maybe we can make another arrangement.” Verda gave the demon an evil grin, “We could always offer you freedom.”
“I don’t follow.” Ulmoch glared back.
“I’m sick of this back and forth with you, because I don’t trust you at all and making deals with you makes me feel dirty. Next time, it will be catch and release: you’ll stay in a cell until you give us sufficient information, then we’ll kill you, to release you back to Hell.”
Ulmoch frowned, then asked, “What about this time, now that you got what you want?”
“Oh, I already had other plans for any demon we caught among the recruits. You get to be a training exercise.” Verda laughed.
Ulmoch shrugged, yawned and laid on the floor of his cage, muttering, “Well, until then, I’m taking a nap.”
Before Verda left the area, she ordered, “Boys, retrieve the spoon and the syringe, because I don’t want any nasty surprises. Tase him as much as it takes.”
Ulmoch laughed and rolled on his other side, to look at everyone as he grinned, “Oh, that’ll feel real nice!”
As Verda walked away, the soldiers saluted, while the one seated at the table got up and opened the crate he’d been sitting on, producing the sort of tasers that fired little prongs into their target, to produce a conductive path.
Just before one of them opened the cell, four others fired on Ulmoch, who screamed out, “Hurts! So! Good!”
Verda shuddered and hurried away, once more feeling dirty, simply from dealing with the wretched creature.
She Goes to War. He also appeared in Demon for President! and She Seeks Peace.
