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  PRAISE FOR

  SHADOW OPS: CONTROL POINT

  “Shadow Ops: Control Point is Black Hawk Down meets The X-Men. Fast-paced and thrilling from start to finish, Control Point is military fantasy like you’ve never seen it before. Cole’s wartime experience really shows in the gritty reality of army life and in the exploration of patriotism as the protagonist wrestles with the line between the law and what he sees as right.”

  —Peter V. Brett, international bestselling author of The Desert Spear

  “Cross The Forever War with Witch World, add in the real-world modern military of Black Hawk Down, and you get Shadow Ops: Control Point, the mile-a-minute story of someone trying to find purpose in a war he never asked for.”

  —Jack Campbell, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Fleet series

  “Myke Cole takes you downrange where the bullets fly and the magic burns with precision-guided ferocity that’ll put you on the edge of your seat before blowing you right out of it.”

  —Chris Evans, author of the Iron Elves series

  SHADOW OPS:

  CONTROL POINT

  MYKE COLE

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  SHADOW OPS: CONTROL POINT

  An Ace Book / published by arrangement with the author

  PUBLISHING HISTORY

  Ace mass-market edition / February 2012

  Copyright © 2012 by Myke Cole.

  Cover art by Michael Komarck.

  Cover design by Annette Fiore DeFex.

  Interior text design by Laura K. Corless.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  EISBN: 9781101554395

  ACE

  Ace Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  ACE and the “A” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  Dedicated to the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guards of the United States armed services. If I have ever been even a little bit brave under fire, it is only because I didn’t want to let you down.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  A novel is a group effort for which one person gets all the credit. Let me try to amend that. I’d like to extend special thanks to my family, and in particular my brother Peter, who taught me that art is a thing worth striving for. Also thanks to my beta readers Tamela Viglione and Joel Beaven, and my agent and dear friend, Joshua Bilmes. Thanks to my editor, Anne Sowards, who believed in this project from the start, and also to John Hemry, Chris Evans, and Ann Aguirre. Thanks to my ad hoc readers Jay Franco, James Kehler, and Kikki Short (who is also my sister-in-law, so I suppose I should thank her for marrying my brother, too). Oh, and Mom, even though she admits to having no clue as to what I’m going on about.

  Thanks to Stephanie, Mike, Killian, and the rest of the crew at the Potomac Yard Barnes & Noble, in whose café the vast majority of this book was written. Thanks to House Bloodguard, who taught me that discipline is the better part of valor, and to the Everyday Is Wednesday Hash House Harriers (DC), who kept me in wine, women, and song during the rocky postdeployment adjustment periods.

  Special thanks to Chief Warrant Officer Andre Sinou, United States Marine Corps, who didn’t break faith when I went to ground, and to Major General Edwin Spain, United States Army (ret.). You were right, sir. The last quarter second made all the difference in the world. Thanks also to Lieutenant Colonel James Wanovich, United States Army, who stilled the jitters when in-direct fire came danger close. Small round, big base, sir.

  Very special thanks to the men and women of United States Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads and the graduating ROCI class of 02-08 (especially Alpha Company, First Platoon). When you have such people to lean on, it’s impossible to fail.

  And last, but certainly not least, to Peter V. Brett, my Professor X. How could I have ever done it without you?

  Table of Contents

  Flight

  Chapter I : Assault

  Chapter II : Loss

  Chapter III : The Other Side

  Chapter IV : Homecoming

  Chapter V : Flight

  Chapter VI : You Ran

  Chapter VII : Gone To Ground

  Chapter VIII : Trespasser

  Contractor

  Chapter IX : You’re Hired

  Chapter X : Pack Out

  Chapter XI : Hot Lz

  Chapter XII : Shadow Coven

  Chapter XIII : Fitzy

  Chapter XIV : Suitability Assessment

  Chapter XV : Practice

  Chapter XVI : Scylla

  Chapter XVII : Research

  Chapter XVIII : Worm

  Chapter XIX : In the Hole

  Chapter XX : Small Victory

  Chapter XXI : No Way Out

  Chapter XXII : Do Some Good

  Chapter XXIII : Unconvinced

  Chapter XXIV : The Body

  Chapter XXV : Raid

  Chapter XXVI : Decisions

  Chapter XXVII : MESCALERO

  Chapter XXVIII : Oplan

  Chapter XXIX : Release

  Little Bighorn

  Chapter XXX : Escape

  Chapter XXXI : Last Stop

  Chapter XXXII : A Safe Place

  Chapter XXXIII : Betrayed

  Chapter XXXIV : Last Stand

  FLIGHT

  “Latent” has become part of the magical jargon. It used to mean folks who were channeling magic but hadn’t yet realized it. Now every
one from the Unmanifested to the professional military Sorcerer is considered “Latent.” It’s the catchall for anyone touched by the Great Reawakening and a sign of how quickly we’ve adapted to this new reality.

  —John Brunk

  Staff Research Associate, Oxford English Dictionary

  CHAPTER I

  ASSAULT

  …coming to you live from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, where we have just been informed that a Selfer incident has collapsed the memorial with an unknown number of tourists trapped inside. A SOC intervention team is inbound, and we will continue with regular updates as the situation unfolds…

  —Alex Brinn, SPY7 News, Washington, DC

  Reporting on the Bloch Incident

  They want me to kill a child, Lieutenant Oscar Britton thought.

  The monitor showed a silent video feed from a high-school security camera. On it, a young boy stood in a school auditorium. A long-sleeved black T-shirt covered his skinny chest. Silver chains connected rings in his ears, nose, and lips. His hair was a spray of mousse and color.

  He was wreathed in a bright ball of fire.

  Billowing smoke clouded the camera feed, but Britton could see the boy stretch out a hand, flames jetting past the camera’s range, engulfing fleeing students, who rolled away, beating at their hair and clothing. People were running, screaming.

  Beside the boy stood a chubby girl, her dyed black hair matching her lipstick and eye makeup. She spread her arms.

  The flames around the boy pulsed in time with her motions, forming two man-sized and -shaped peaks of flame. The fire elementals danced among the students, burning as they went. Britton watched as the elementals multiplied—four, then six. Wires sparked as the fire reached the stage. The girl’s magic touched them as well, the electricity forming dancing human shapes, elementals of sizzling energy. They lit among the students, fingertips crackling arcs of dazzling blue lightning.

  Britton swallowed as his team shuffled uneasily behind him. He heard them make room for Lieutenant Morgan and his assaulters, who entered the briefing room and clustered around the monitor, still tightening straps on gun slings and slamming rounds into their magazines. They loaded armor-piercing, hollow-point, and incendiary ammunition. Not the standard ball or half charges normally used on a capture mission. Britton swallowed again. These were bullets for taking on a dug-in, professional enemy.

  The video went to static, then looped for the fifth time as they waited for the briefing to start. The boy burst into flame yet again, the girl beside him conjuring the man-shaped fire elementals to scatter through the auditorium.

  Fear formed a cold knot in Britton’s stomach. He pushed it away, conscious of the stares of his men. A leader who voiced fear instilled it in his subordinates.

  The mission briefer finally took up his position beside the monitor. His blue eyes were gray flint under the fluorescent lights. “It’s South Burlington High School, about seven klicks from our position. We sent a Sorcerer to check out a tip on an unreported Latency, and these kids decided to tear the place up once they knew they were caught. The local police are already on the scene, and they’re going to refer to me as Captain Thorsson. I’ll need you to stick to call signs. Call me Harlequin at all times.

  “The helos are undergoing final checks outside, and you should be on deck to assault the target in fifteen minutes from jump. South Burlington PD and a company out of the Eighty-sixth have evacuated the civilians. We should have it totally clear now, so the order’s come down to go in and bring order to the chaos.”

  “Looks like Pyromancers, sir?” Britton asked.

  Harlequin snorted and gave voice to Britton’s fears. “You honestly think a fifteen-year-old girl would have the control it takes to move even one elemental around like that, let alone half a dozen? Those flame-men are self-willed.”

  “Just great!” Private First Class Dawes whispered loudly enough to be heard by the whole room. “A Probe! A fucking Elementalist! Jesus fucking Christ!”

  Warrant Officer Cheatham turned to his man. “So, she’s a Probe! Prohibited school’s no more dangerous than a legal one to a real soldier!”

  “It’s okay, Dan,” Britton said, gesturing to Cheatham. Dawes was the youngest member of their team and prone to the histrionics of youth.

  Britton could feel the terror in the room. Morgan shifted uneasily, drawing glances from his team.

  “I don’t like it any more than you do,” Harlequin said, “but the law is clear. All Supernatural Operations Corps runs inside the United States must be integrated with regular army support. That’s not my call. That’s by presidential decree.

  “But you are on perimeter, cordon, and fire-suppression duty. This is a SOC op, and you will let us handle the actual target.”

  Target, Britton thought. So that’s what you call a fifteen-year-old girl and her boyfriend.

  “What are you going to do, sir?” Britton asked.

  “You gonna put a tornado down on ’em, sir?” Dawes asked.

  The corner of Harlequin’s mouth lifted slightly. “Something like that.”

  If anyone else had said it, the men would have laughed. But Harlequin was a commissioned Sorcerer in the Supernatural Operations Corps.

  He meant every word.

  “Sir,” Britton said, trying not to let his uncertainty show. “With my bird in the air and my boys on the ground, that’s not an acceptable risk. Copters and tornadoes don’t exactly mix.”

  “Your concern for your team is noted,” Harlequin said, “but if you stick to your positions and do as you’re told, you won’t get hit by any stray magic.”

  Supporting the SOC and taking on a Probe. Lieutenant Morgan’s voice finally broke, along with his nerve. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  Britton felt the fear leap from the lieutenant to his troops. His own team was fracturing before his eyes, the terror eating into their professionalism. He knew he should be holding them together, but he had just seen kids burning to death in the halls of the very high school he used to attend. In a few minutes, he would be landing his team on the roof where he first kissed a girl, supporting a SOC unit turning its magical might against two teenagers.

  The boy, they might take alive. Selfers were sometimes pardoned for past crimes if they took the oath and joined the SOC.

  But the girl had no chance. She was a Probe, and only one thing happened to those who Manifested in Prohibited magical schools. They were gunned down or carted off, hooded and cuffed, never to be seen again.

  “Sir, I just want to confirm that this is a capture mission, right?” Britton asked.

  Harlequin shrugged. “Of course. Rules of engagement are clear: If they engage you, escalate to deadly force. Err on the side of protecting your people.”

  “They’re scared kids, sir,” Britton continued. “Maybe they’d surrender? Have we gotten in touch with their parents to see if they can talk them down? I know it sounds silly, but…”

  “It does sound silly, Lieutenant!” Harlequin cut him off. “And we don’t have time for hand-wringing right now. Those kids had a choice. They could have turned themselves in. They didn’t. They chose to go it on their own. Remember, you’re only a Selfer if you run.

  “Now, any other questions?” Harlequin asked, glaring at the assembled teams.

  There weren’t any.

  “Good,” Harlequin said. “Get geared up and get your asses in the air. I’m jumping now. Morgan! You’re on the ground manning relief. Britton! You jump with me. Co-ords are already in the bird. I’ll meet you on target.”

  He leaned in to Britton as he left. “Look, Lieutenant. The law may require me to take you along, but you keep your men out of my way and out of the fight. You’re not trained for this. And if I ever again catch you putting doubt in the minds of an assault force about to go hot, I will personally fry your ass.”

  Harlequin threw open the door and leapt skyward, flying quickly out of view.

  “Sir.” Dawes tugged Britton’s
sleeve. “Can’t they get another team? I don’t wanna work with no Sorcerers.”

  “They’re on our side, remember?” Britton forced a smile. Terror curdled in his gut. “SOC’s still army.”

  Sergeant Goodman, carrying the support weapon for Britton’s team, snorted and nervously tapped the safety on her light machine gun.

  “Sir, it’s a high school,” said Dawes, sounding high-school aged himself through his thick Arkansas accent.

  “Selfers or not, they’re just kids,” Goodman added.

  They’re reading my mind, Britton thought, but he asked “Why do we call them Selfers, Goodman?”

  She hesitated. Britton took a step forward, glaring at her. She might have a point, but she had to believe in this mission if she was going to carry it out. They all had to. “Why?”

  “Because they don’t think about how their magic puts others in danger,” she gave the textbook response. “Because they only think about themselves.”

  “Absolutely right,” Britton said. “There are thirty-four American corpses buried in the rubble of the Lincoln Memorial because of kids like this! Who knows how many kids, hell, or even some of my former teachers, are down there right now? If you can’t do this, say so now. Once we go dynamic and hit that roof, I need everyone in the game. I give you my word; I won’t hold it against you. If you want out, now’s the time.”

  He gave them a moment to respond. No one said a word.

  Britton had to get his team moving. The more they stood around, the more the fear would take hold. “Okay, you heard the man, and you know the plan!” he called out. “Let’s show the SOC how the Green Mountain Boys get the job done! We’re going to be up to our assholes in elementals up there, so gear for it. Fire suppression for the pyro. There might be lightning elementals, too, so I want everyone to suit up in as much rubber insulation as the armorer will dispense. Move with a purpose, people!”

  As his team hurried to comply, Britton looked back at the looping video and suppressed a shudder.

  The world’s gone mad, Britton thought. Magic has changed everything.