Chapter 44
ABBADON STOOD, SURROUNDED by his minions, in a charred meadow a hundred yards east of the white stockade fence surrounding the FBI agent’s horse farm.
“Foolish boy,” he whispered to the wind. “Did you not see what I did to New York, London, Beijing, Moscow, and the rest? Did you really think your idiotic dome would remain impenetrable? To me?”
He shook his head.
He wondered if this Daniel would ever prove himself the worthy adversary he had been promised.
“Whatever you create, child, I can just as easily destroy!”
He fluttered open his massive set of wings.
“Fly!” he shouted to the pack of warriors he had brought with him to Kentucky. On his command, the aliens clustered in the flattened field once again morphed into inky black bats. Squealing, the swarm took flight and blotted out the starlit sky. They zoomed to the west and shot through the gaping hole Abbadon had so easily punched in Daniel’s protective shield.
Abbadon watched as his minions, using their innate radar systems, swooped under and around the latticework of unseen laser-beam triggers crisscrossing the airspace around the Judges’ farm. Once clear of the alarm grid, the bats skimmed across the open fields, flying inches above the ground, remaining undetected by the humans’ mechanical and, therefore, less-effective radar systems. The flock split in two. One squad rocketed toward the main house while the other zoomed off to the barn.
To deal with that one, thought Abbadon. The interloper.
When the twin sorties reached their targets, the bats zoomed straight up the sides of the buildings. The house squad dive-bombed down the chimneys. The barn squadron simply slipped through the crack between the sliding front doors.
“We’re in,” both leaders reported back.
“Excellent,” said Abbadon. “Complete your missions.”
“Yes, Master,” the leaders grunted.
“And remember, do not hurt the girl. Ferry her down below.”
“What about Xanthos?” asked the leader in the barn.
“Eliminate him,” Abbadon replied easily. “He has been giving Daniel an unfair advantage.”