Allie's War Season Three

by JC Andrijeski

  "Yeah, yeah," he interrupted, sighing. "Enough, okay?" His VR avatar waved off my words in irritation. "I know all of that, Al. I know there will be others looking for her, even though Wreg and his team tried to make it look like she'd died in that attack. I know that it's not safe, that we don't know who else has a copy of the list, or whether we're being watched whenever we leave the hotel...I got it. Loud and clear. It's still not going to make me feel any better about kidnapping a fifteen-year-old kid from her single, working-class mom..."

  I nodded, sending a pulse of apology.

  "Yeah." Pausing a bare beat, I added, "Feel like some distraction?"

  "What kind?" he said warily. "I'm interrogated out, Allie...I don't really want to talk to that Surli guy, if that's okay. Wreg already wanted me to go in there and 'practice' on him, and I'm really not in the mood for –– "

  "Not Surli," I said, letting him see me shake my head through the link. "Me. I'm going on a date tonight...I need some company for the prep. Want to take Cass's usual role and tell me how crappy my taste in clothing is while I go dress shopping downstairs? Revik claims we're going formal for the evening..."

  There was a silence. Then Jon let out a half-snort, half-laugh.

  "You're kidding, right?"

  "No, actually," I said, realizing suddenly that I really wasn't. "I wanted to hang out, and I need to buy a dress. This is me, multi-tasking. Only absolutely no shop talk...or anything depressing. In fact, no serious subjects allowed at all." I paused. "Other than my taste in dresses. You may mock me with impunity in that one area..."

  He sighed, and I saw his avatar shake its head that time. "I don't know, Allie. I have a bunch of stuff I'm supposed to do before tonight, too..."

  "I insist," I said, using my commander voice.

  "You're ordering me to go dress shopping with you?"

  "Who else am I going to ask...Yumi?"

  Jon snorted another half-laugh at that. Then he sighed. "You're sure this isn't some elaborate excuse to keep me distracted? I'm not going on the date with you," he added. "I like Revik and all, but no way am I going to watch you two be cute all night...just the thought of it makes me a little queasy, honestly."

  I rolled my eyes. "I won't make you go on the date. I have a feeling Revik wouldn't be too thrilled if I invited family along anyway..." Feeling him still trying to think of a good excuse not to say yes, I sharpened my voice. "Dress shopping. Downstairs," I said. "Five minutes. I'm serious about this being an order..."

  "You wouldn't be making me do this if I was straight."

  I laughed. "Of course I would...now come on. This isn't a discussion. Be there in five, or I'll assign Wreg to keep you company all night...even while you're sleeping."

  "Jesus...that's low."

  I grinned. "I thought you two were getting along better."

  "Yeah, sure. He's calling me 'worm' less..."

  "Whatever." I checked the time on my headset. "I'm going to order you a drink. If you're not there by the time it's made, I'll seriously have some of the boys go upstairs and use their super-seer powers to find you wherever you're hiding and drag you downstairs. We both know how messy that can get..." Reaching the elevator, I punched the down button with my thumb, raising my other hand to the headset while the doors were opening. "...I'll make it one of those fancy, coffee things you like. That should buy you a few minutes..."

  Without giving him another chance to argue, I clicked the 'off' button on my headset, not only ending the transmission but turning off my link entirely and stuffing it in my pocket, so he couldn't call me back.

  Ten or so minutes later, the bartender had literally just set our two drinks on the counter when Jon walked up, still looking vaguely annoyed.

  I found myself staring at him once I realized it was him...he'd gotten his hair cut at some point since I'd seen him that morning, and the difference shocked me a little. In fact, that was probably the shortest I'd seen his hair since he was about seventeen. He'd worn it on the long side and dyed calico for most of his adult life, even while he was teaching kung fu.

  Now all of the brown and black streaks had been cut off, leaving sandy blond spikes that looked like they'd been gelled. He looked strangely older and younger at the same time, especially in the leather jacket and jeans.

  "You've gone all James Dean," I said, glancing up from where I'd been signing the tab. I scratched out a tip amount without thinking about it too clearly and pushed the tab and the pen back at the bartender. When Jon walked a few paces closer, I handed him his drink, waiting for him to take it before I picked up my own. "What gives? You turning full-blown New Yorker on me? Giving up your anarchist San Franciscan roots?"

  Jon shrugged. "I looked too much like the image they have of me on the feeds...the hair, clothes, everything. I needed a change."

  Hearing more behind his words, I nodded, still looking him over. Seeing his eyes roll, right before he clicked at me, I grinned at him.

  "What, Al?" he said. "Jesus."

  "You just look so...seer."

  "Seer."

  "Yeah. You look like you and Loki should be hanging out."

  "Great." He folded his free arm over his chest, sipping his coffee. "Wreg will be so happy." When I continued to stand there, smiling at him stupidly, he motioned me towards the glass doors, his voice slightly sharp. "Are we really doing this dress thing? Or what? Because if you dragged me down here just to stare at me like that, I'm outta here..."

  "No, no," I laughed, shaking my head. "The dress thing is real."

  "Can I just stay for a little while? I really am busy."

  "Absolutely not," I said.

  I'd already grabbed his arm, the one not attached to the hand holding his mocha coffee redeye thingy, and began dragging him out those same glass doors he'd motioned at a few seconds earlier. I found myself walking fast before he could find some other reason to bail. Maybe for the same reason, I didn't let myself think too carefully about which store I wanted to try first, but hung a left in the corridor separating the two lobbies and walked him straight towards the first women's clothing store we met on the round aisle of shops that circled the inner gardens and fountain.

  Once we pushed through the doors and emerged inside, the seer sales clerk was all smiles and respectful gestures. I did my best to return them as graciously as I could, even though it still felt strange to me, each and every time. Everyone in the hotel was a Myther though, or just about, so I'd gotten used to a somewhat overly polite reaction to my patronage. It was one reason I normally avoided most of the hotel's shops; things got awkward every time it came time for me to pay, as none of them seemed to feel comfortable charging me for so much as a stick of gum. It was easier to go through Balidor usually, or one of the others.

  "I need a dress," I announced to her, after the formalities had been completed.

  "Very, very good, most Esteemed Bridge." Keeping her head and eyes below mine, the woman bowed lower to me again and smiled, glancing at Jon in some curiosity. They had to know who he was too, of course, from the feeds if nothing else...but maybe she hadn't seen the new haircut yet, either.

  "May I ask for what occasion, O Holy One?" she asked politely.

  Wincing only a little that time, I grinned. "I'm going on a date," I said. "I have no idea where we're going, but according to the old man, I need something formal..."

  At that, the woman laughed aloud, in surprise, I think. She immediately covered her mouth with a hand, seemingly in embarrassment, but I could still see her grinning behind it.

  "...Of course," I added, smiling with her. "To him, that probably means turn-of-the-century formal...but I'm sure we can find something modern that won't hurt his eyes."

  The female seer smiled back, obviously delighted by my informality.

  "I am sure we can, Esteemed and beloved sister..."

  Squeezing my hand with his arm, Jon snorted, rolling his eyes. "...You could try for the 40s, Al, remind him of the war. Or maybe get a Twiggy dress, really freak him
out..."

  I laughed, punching his arm, and nearly made him spill his coffee, which he'd been bringing to his lips for a sip. Knocking into me with his shoulder in response, he jabbed me once for good measure with his elbow, too. Then he glanced at the other seer, smiling at her.

  "Do you require formal wear too, beloved cousin?" she asked him politely.

  "Nope. I'm just the brother," he told her. "She thinks she can make me do this girlie crap with her because I'm gay...and probably because I'm human..."

  The saleswoman smiled again, glancing at me when I retorted back.

  "No," I said. "Not because you're gay...or human. Because I'm the Esteemed Bridge and you have to do every single thing I tell you. By the way, cuz," I added brightly. "Did anyone happen to mention that I'm actually older than you...? Don't know if you caught that or not, but I wanted to make sure that was clear. A good solid six months older..."

  "And clearly more mature," Jon said, rolling his eyes again.

  "As in, no longer can you lord the big brother thing over me..." I added. "In case you missed that part, just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page..."

  "Yeah, and would that be a grade school page? Or a high school one?"

  "We're way past the school thing, little brother..."

  "Of course, in seer-adjusted-lifespan years, you do realize you're like, twelve, right? Or is it more like six or seven...?" Snorting, he clicked softly in the back of his throat. "I've been meaning to ask Revik about that, actually...how it feels being such a cradle-robbing pervert..."

  I smacked his arm again, harder that time.

  The female seer laughed again in delight, clearly enjoying our back and forth, probably because of the total and complete lack of protocol both around me and around Revik. Still smiling at me, and now at Jon, too, more conspiratorially that time, she ushered both of us with her towards the back of the store, touching my arm reverently. Since I still had my arm hooked through Jon's, that meant all three of us were linked.

  "I am sure we can find you something suitable, Esteemed Bridge..." she said in a murmur, bringing us through a beaded curtain to a private fitting area ringed with mirrors.

  Once she'd released me and unlocked the largest of the dressing rooms, she spent a moment walking around me, seemingly taking my measurements without using a tape. After a few more seconds of her walking around, looking up and down my legs and focusing for an uncomfortable amount of time on my butt and my chest, she nodded, as if satisfied.

  Her voice was all business again when she next spoke.

  "Would you like me to have our team attempt to acquire information on the preferences of your...err...date?" she asked, smiling that conspiratorial smile again before adding, "It is a normal service we perform, of course. To ensure we find something compatible with his or her tastes...? We will be very discreet..."

  I couldn't help laughing with Jon at that one, too. Feeling his disbelief, I glanced at Jon, who answered the saleswoman for me.

  "Tell them they're welcome to try," he said, squeezing my hand against his side where it wrapped around his arm. "But they might not want to startle him. He has a tendency to overreact..."

  I laughed aloud at that, and the female seer did too, right before she touched her headset, presumably to VR link with whoever was on her staff. I have no idea if she got anyone to ask Revik or not, in the Barrier or otherwise. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to know how he would have answered, truthfully.

  "Don't tell him, though," I added suddenly. "I mean, don't show him the final dress..."

  The woman nodded her understanding, still clearly in the Barrier.

  "...We will of course bring selections from the other shops in the area as well," she informed me, a second later, when she clicked out. "Simply tell us if there is a style, color or particular designer you would like to see..."

  I didn't have the heart to tell her I probably couldn't name more than two dress designers without checking the feeds anyway.

  Seconds later it seemed, they started bringing in clothes. It was a little much, truthfully, but they didn't hover, or pinch and pull at me or critique my body the way the costume designers for the Lao Hu had, so I was okay with it, overall. The primary saleswoman also had seers in shops on Fifth Avenue as well as the other hotel boutiques showing me designs via the Barrier and her VR link, which she had the ability to project into the room and show me how they'd look on me in different colors and sizes.

  Well over an hour later, Jon waited in the main part of the private showroom while I tugged and pulled myself into yet another designer creation in one of the dressing cubicles. The saleswoman had gotten my size right, down to the millimeter, it seemed, but I couldn't always tell until the dress was actually on me...especially since so many of the dresses they brought were more form-fitting than what I usually wore.

  Popping out of the bathroom-sized dressing room, I glanced at where Jon was lounging on a blue-velvet divan near the back of the round space and surrounded by floor-length mirrors. Leaning on his elbows, he was sitting up occasionally to sip at his second or third drink, I'd lost count, some fruit juice and soda concoction the saleswoman brought him, but one I suspected contained more than a little alcohol. When I emerged from the dressing room that time, he tilted his head sideways, frowning slightly.

  "I don't know, Al," he said. "I kind of liked that light aqua-blue one better..."

  "You don't think I should go with warmer colors for a change?"

  He shrugged. "You look really good in greens and blues. I guess it depends on if it's more important to you to go for variety or if you're better off playing to your strengths..." He sighed. "Has he even seen you in many dresses? Besides the hooker wear, I mean?"

  I threw a purse I'd been holding at him, but he managed to deflect it with a shielding arm.

  "So violent..." he muttered, half-smiling.

  "I should never have told you about that," I groused at him. "I was only trying to cheer you up, and look what I get in thanks..."

  It probably had been a mistake to tell him about the seer dresses from the Lao Hu, but it seemed worth it when he laughed aloud at the story.

  Jon smiled, his eyes a little less sharp than usual.

  "Well, it does explain why Wreg and the others were always staring at your ass," he commented. When I scowled at him again, wondering if I should throw a shoe at him that time, he smiled, raising his drink in a mock toast. "...I thought they were just doing the usual, pervy, seer thing. But they did seem to like those white outfits of yours more than the others you wore...especially Garensche. I was beginning to wonder if that was why Revik sent him to San Fran with Illeg and the others..."

  Sighing a little, I looked in the mirror.

  I tried to pull my mind off San Francisco and pervy seers long enough to assess the dress I wore objectively. I knew Jon was probably right...everyone said I looked better in some shade of green. Anyway, the red dress might be a bit much, given how short it was.

  I couldn't help wondering though, if Revik was like 90% of the male human population and drawn to red like a bull to a flapping cape. Then again, did I really need him charging me in the middle of some highbrow restaurant?

  Jon snorted a laugh. I turned in surprise.

  "You heard that?" I said, bewildered.

  "Heard?" Jon said, taking another sip of the drink. He made a derisive sound. "No, Al...not heard. I can't hear anything. Which you'd know if you talked to Wreg for more than five minutes, since he can't seem to shut up about what a retard I am..."

  "So why did you laugh?" I said, skeptical.

  He shrugged. "Every now and then, I get impressions, or a feeling. That time, it was a pretty funny visual..." Leaning back on the couch on his forearms, he added, "By the way, if that was any indication at all of what you guys are into, please, please don't ever think about your sex life around me...seriously. I'll need therapy. More than now, I mean..."

  "Jesus, Jon," I said, barely hearing him. I found I was u
tterly unable to not react. "...'Dori's right about you."

  "'Dori?" he said, lowering the drink to the cushion. "As in Balidor? About what?"

  It hit me that he really was a little buzzed.

  In fact, maybe more than just a little.

  Not like that was difficult, really; Jon practically never drank. It made his being borderline drunk all the more disturbing to me, especially when he seemed to be catching fragments of my thoughts, however abstract. I flat-out wasn't used to seeing him so bleary-eyed, especially when there was clearly a lot of emotion right under that, and given how tired he must be from the day and night he'd had. Hell, he'd nearly been killed that morning, in Times Square. Thinking about what Surli had said about Dorje working for Shadow all of this time, I couldn't help wincing, even as I kept it carefully out of my light in case he picked up on that, too.

  Wreg might have said something to him about that already. Wreg wasn't exactly the most tactful person on the planet, even for a seer.

  "What is 'Dori right about?" Jon said, prompting me again. "Al?"

  I shook my head. "Nothing...just about you. You're practically a seer now."

  "I'm a what?" Jon gave me an incredulous look. "Balidor said that?"

  "Not in exactly those words..."

  "Yeah, I'll bet," Jon said, his expression relaxing as he leaned back on the divan. "He barely gives me the time of day, sis. I doubt you have to worry about –– "

  "He said your abilities were accelerating..." I added, before he could go any further down that mental track. "He said it's happening faster than he's ever seen with a human before. He and the others aren't sure what it means, but..."

  I hesitated, remembering suddenly that Balidor and Wreg had warned me not to talk to Jon about the whole 'crossover' thing.

  "...Anyway," I shrugged. "He's right, Jon. More than I realized."

  "Sure." Jon took another drink. "Whatever."