Cloak & Ghost: Lost Gate

By Jonathan Moeller

Most of the world knows Caina Amalas as the director of private security contractor Ghost Securities. In truth, she's a shadow agent of the High Queen of the Elves.

But while the Elves rule the Earth, there are still many wealthy and powerful humans...and Andromache Kardamnos is one of the richest and most cunning. When she needs a favor, it's hard to say no.

But Andromache's favor involves stopping a nightmare creature from the Shadowlands.

And to stop the creature, Caina will need the help of one of the most dangerous and unpredictable wizards she's ever met - her fellow shadow agent Nadia Moran...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jonathan Moeller
• Release date: Sep 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463717059

Jonathan Moeller

Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair of a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.He has written the "Demonsouled" trilogy of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write the "Ghosts" sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the "$0.99 Beginner's Guide" series of computer books, and numerous other works.Visit his website at:http://www.jonathanmoeller.comVisit his technology blog at:http://www.jonathanmoeller.com/screed

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CLOAK & GHOST: LOST GATE

Jonathan Moeller

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Description

Most of the world knows Caina Amalas as the director of private security contractor Ghost Securities. In truth, she's a shadow agent of the High Queen of the Elves.

But while the Elves rule the Earth, there are still many wealthy and powerful humans...and Andromache Kardamnos is one of the richest and most cunning. When she needs a favor, it's hard to say no.

But Andromache's favor involves stopping a nightmare creature from the Shadowlands.

And to stop the creature, Caina will need the help of one of the most dangerous and unpredictable wizards she's ever met - her fellow shadow agent Nadia Moran...

***

Cloak & Ghost: Lost Gate

Copyright 2018 by Jonathan Moeller.

Smashwords Edition.

Cover images copyright © Brett Critchley | Dreamstime.com & RF License : STANDARD | Print & Web | Unlimited Digital Impressions, up to 250,000 Prints neostock-s010-liepa-medieval-assassin-57 - Original file (2174x4972 pixels) & RF License : STANDARD | Print & Web | Unlimited Digital Impressions, up to 250,000 Prints neostock-s002-catarina-tactical-assassin-014 - Original file (2376x5459 pixels).

Ebook edition published October 2018.

All Rights Reserved.

This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author or publisher, except where permitted by law.

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Author’s Note

Over the last few years, people have asked me to write a crossover where Nadia Moran meets Caina Amalas.

I’ve always resisted doing it because I’ve never really cared for crossovers. Also, I couldn’t figure out a way to write a crossover book that would make sense. Like, does Caina fall through a magic portal or a wormhole or something and land in Nadia’s world? A setup like that always seems contrived and forced.

Then I thought about Sherlock Holmes.

The original Holmes stories were set in the 1880s and the 1890s of London (with occasional jaunts into the British countryside), but other writers since have set Holmes stories at different times and places. The Basil Rathbone movies about Holmes, for instance, were set in the 1940s. Recently the BBC made a series about a tech-savvy Sherlock Holmes who lived in 21st century London and dealt with modern crimes like cyber heists and terrorism. There’s a version of Sherlock Holmes who solves mysteries in the 22nd century, and another who has battled the cosmic monsters of HP Lovecraft’s mythos.

Thinking along those lines, what if Caina was born and grew up and lived in Nadia’s world? What if Nadia met a version of Caina who lived on Earth?

What would happen when the two of them met?

We found out in CLOAK & GHOST: BLOOD RING, so it's time for the sequel - CLOAK & GHOST: LOST GATE.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 1: An Expensive Party

Caina had to go to New Robotics Corporation’s executive party, but she made sure to bring two outfits.

The first outfit was for the party itself. It was hard to go wrong with a classic black dress, and Caina chose a sleeveless one with a tight skirt and an appropriate neckline. She accessorized it with stiletto heels, a silver necklace, and earrings…and also with colored contact lenses, a blond wig, and just enough makeup to alter the lines of her face.

There was no point in letting anyone at New Robotics Corporation know who she really was, after all.

Her second outfit she hid within the corporation’s facility. Caina would need it for the real reason she had come to the party.

For the mission the High Queen of the Elves had given her.

She arrived at NRC’s facility at 8:00 PM on the night of September 17th, Conquest Year 316 (or 2329 AD according to the old pre-Conquest calendar). NRC had a prestigious office in midtown Manhattan, but the company’s manufacturing facilities needed far more space than could be found in New York City, and so they had built their main factory in northern New Jersey. Caina’s cab drove through the gate in the chain-link fence surrounding the facility, across acres of parking lot, and to the front doors of the sprawling factory. Already hundreds of cars were parked in the lot, and the front doors to the factory’s seven-story office building were illuminated. Uniformed valets stood ready to take their guests’ cars to their assigned spots, and a crowd of men and women in evening wear milled in front of the doors, chatting as they moved into the building.

They seemed in a good mood. Of course, the guests had reason to celebrate. Things were changing in Conquest Year 316. After the total defeat of the Archons in the Mage Fall and the celebration of the Day of Return, a rumor had begun that the High Queen was going to relax some of the centuries-old restrictions on robotics technology and research. New Robotics Corporation’s stock had soared on the news, and the shareholders of the company had made a tidy amount of money. As it happened, Caina knew that the rumor was accurate, and NRC was about to get a huge order for automated tractors to help with the rebuilding of the Elven homeworld of Kalvarion.

But the High Queen never really trusted anyone.

Which, of course, was why Caina was here.

She paid the driver the rather exorbitant fare for driving her from Manhattan to northern New Jersey, and then got out of the cab. The air felt hot and damp against the skin of her calves and arms. September was over halfway gone, yet summer still held on. Caina didn’t mind. She much preferred the heat to the cold, though she had spent most of her life in places that had harsh winters. Maybe one day she could move to Arizona or New Mexico or perhaps Texas. The dry heat would please her.

Caina put the thought from her mind and joined the crowd heading for the doors. Two men in dark suits stood watch there, scanning the official invitations with their phones and waving guests inside. An event like this would have many wealthy men and women and a few of the local Elven nobles, so security was tight. The private security had not been hired from Ghost Securities, which was just as well.

Given that Caina needed to rob the place, she didn’t want to cast any doubts on the competence of her company.

Ma’am? said one of the guards at the door, a solid-looking middle-aged man in a suit. I’ll need to see your ID and invitation.

Of course, said Caina, making no effort to disguise her native English accent. Which worked, because her ID identified her as Clara Tyler of London. Caina had donned brown contact lenses and a blond wig to match the picture on the ID card, though the wig made her scalp itch damnably. As it happened, there really was a Clara Tyler who lived in London and worked as a researcher for a robotics company there, though she was twice Caina’s age. NRC had invited some of its competitors to the party, and so it was perfectly logical that Clara Tyler would arrive to size up a business rival.

At least, Caina hoped so.

She reached into her purse and drew out both her invitation and her forged ID. Invitations to high-end events like this were often authenticated, with a holographic seal containing a unique identifier number. The guard scanned the seal on her invitation with his phone. Caina waited, her expression calm as she kept the trepidation from her face. Nerina Strake had forged the document for her and inserted its record into NRC’s database. If Nerina had made a mistake…

The guard checked her ID, nodded, and passed both the invitation and the ID card back to her.

Welcome to NRC, Miss Tyler, said the guard. You can go right inside.

Nerina was very good at her job.

Thank you, said Caina, and she joined the crowd heading into the NRC building.

The lobby was large and starkly industrial, though the corporation had done its best to make it look like a venue for a sleek party, with subdued lighting, quiet classical music in the background, and servers carrying trays of food and drink. People in formal clothes stood in groups, talking and laughing. The biggest clump of people stood around some Elven nobles who had come to attend. Caina spotted Baron Thronaris of Queens and Baron Valdymir of Princeton among them. She had actually met them both Elven lords several times and kept away from the cluster of people around them and their entourages. Getting recognized right now would be disastrous.

She circled through the crowd, her eyes picking out details. Two flights of stairs led to the higher levels of the building, one on the left and one on the right, with a pair of elevators on the left. At the far end of the lobby was a receptionists’ desk, currently serving as a station for the waiters, and beyond that a pair of double glass doors that led into the factory proper. Through the glass doors, Caina glimpsed a cavernous space illuminated with arc lights, rows of machines standing like a miniature city.

Attention everyone! called a man in a suit standing near the glass doors. Everyone, if I could have your attention, please! The first tour of our new production line will begin in five minutes. If you could gather here, the tour will begin in five minutes.

Caina took a step towards the crowd gathering near the glass door, and then stopped, feigning confusion.

Pardon, she said to one of the passing servers, a young woman in a black catering uniform. I’m dreadfully sorry, but could you direct me to the lavatory before the tour begins?

Of course, said the young woman, pointing at one of the wooden doors next to the elevator. It’s right over there.

Thanks ever so much, said Caina, and she hurried towards the bathroom.

The women’s restroom was large, with twelve stalls facing a counter and a row of sinks. Both NRC’s office personnel and the factory workers used this restroom, and Caina’s preliminary research for this job had discovered that the office personnel and the factory workers frequently butted heads over who got to use which restroom during breaks, a problem that management so far had been unable to resolve. Well, if the High Queen really was going to relax the ban on robotics research, that would be just one of many challenges NRC was going to face in the coming years.

Assuming the High Queen did not shut down the company, of course. But Caina supposed that depended on how her job here turned out.

She walked to a far wall, where an opaque window of safety glass looked towards the factory complex. Caina undid the latch and then slipped into the stall closest to the wall. She climbed onto the toilet tank, taking care to keep her balance, reached up, and pushed aside one of the ceiling tiles.

The duffel bag rested where she had hidden it this morning, and Caina pulled the heavy black cylinder into the stall with her.

Everything she needed was in the bag, and she changed in haste. She stripped out of her dress and shoes, and instead donned black cargo pants, a long-sleeved black shirt, and a tactical harness and a utility belt that held the tools she needed. An earpiece went into her ear, linked to the radio unit on her belt. A balaclava went over her face, and over it, she donned a set of electronic low-light goggles, currently deactivated. Gloves and black running shoes completed her outfit, and Caina stuffed her high-heeled shoes and dress into the duffel bag, slinging it over her shoulders like a backpack and adjusting the straps until they were snug.

She felt a little bad about