Read Coalition of the Damned - 03 for Free Online

stupid enough to come at us in the daylight. We have to bait him out in the open and toast him with the satellite.”
    “What’s to prevent this guy from just sending his army? He could stay wherever he is and watch from afar?”
    “He fancies himself a leader. Leaders lead, they don’t sit back and watch from a distance,” Matt responded. “No, sir. He’ll be at the head of the pack.”
    Dr. Coburn nodded and stood up. “I’ll do whatever I can, Colonel. Again, I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll spur the Oversight Committee to twist whatever arms at the Pentagon to make it happen.”
    “You have no idea how much I appreciate it, Senator.” Matt said standing and shaking his hand.
    “I believe I have an idea, son.”
     
    *****
     
    First Squad touched down on the north end of Quebec near the Newfoundland border and dispersed into the woods su rrounding Mount Caubvick. As the team worked their way into the foothills of the mountain, they looked for signs of the Elven People. The signs were hard to spot, and even to experienced hunters are often mistaken for animal markings. When Ing Jacobs reported a clearing near a brook, Jack ordered the team to make camp and prepare to wait until dark.
    Tufo set up a perimeter with infrared cameras and motion detectors and Lamb broke out the black light gear. The Elven People would often mark their areas with a special dye made of lichen that would glow under black light and was invisible to humans. Somehow, it was always visible to the elves. The squad had reports that the Greater Elven People had taken up residence at the base of this mountain and he hoped to find them and r ecruit them to their cause. If he couldn’t find the Greater Elves, then maybe he could find a lesser elf that could point him in the right direction.
    As night slowly crept upon them the team began to notice sounds that didn’t normally occur in the woods. Gunnery Se rgeant Tufo fired up the infrared monitors and checked for movement. Other than a few small animals, the perimeter was clear. He glanced up at Chief Thompson and slowly shook his head. Jack stepped to the outer edge of the campsite where the glow of the campfire was lowest and stood on an outcropping of rock. He allowed his vision to grow accustom to the low level of light and peered out into the edge of the woods. He thought he saw eyes staring back at him.
    Chief Thompson fished in his shirt pocket and withdrew a small wooden whistle that resembled a reed flute. Most humans couldn’t hear the high pitch that the whistle resonated at when blown, but the augmentation that the Monster Squad underwent allowed them to hear the high shrill as it cut through the thin, cold mountain air. Jack noted many more eyes appeared along the edge of the tree line at differing heights within the unde rbrush. He stood a moment longer on the top of the rock and stared out along the perimeter.
    “They won’t come to you, human,” a rough, gravelly voice said from below the rock.
    Jack was startled as he hadn’t heard the visitor approach. He looked down in the decreasing light and saw a rock gnome sitting below him packing a small carved pipe. His clothes appeared tattered but intact and his heavy boots were covered in many layers of dried dirt and mud. Although it appeared as though the gnome had just dug his way from underground, his hair and skin appeared to be clean. His beard was trimmed short and almost white with grey whiskers.
    “Do they fear us?” Jack asked calmly.
    “They fear the scent of your wolf,” the gnome replied. “Lesser Elves be these and the moon is nigh. They fear being munched as a late night snack.” He grinned up at Jack, his blue eyes twinkling in the twilight. He pulled a wooden match across the seat of his pants and puffed at his long-stemmed pipe.
    Jack stepped off of the rock and landed deftly next to the small gnome. He knew that gnomes weren’t known for being forthcoming by nature and wondered why this one