by Siegel, Alex
"So," she said, "all of us will be much more cautious in our communication going forward. We will protect our own teams at all times. Weakness in one cell will not spread like a cancer again. Am I clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," the entire audience echoed.
Aaron hoped the speech was done, but Ethel didn't dismiss the room. She just went back to her pacing.
"Smythe and Odelia!" she called. "Come here."
Smythe and Odelia approached cautiously. They avoided the growing puddle of blood on the floor and stood in front of Ethel.
"I witnessed a miracle today," she said. "That's not a big deal for us, of course. We perform miracles as if they were just simple parlor tricks, but this one was exceptional. Our two amazing healers did something I thought was impossible. They combined their gifts and raised the dead."
She glanced at Yule. For a man who had looked like blackened meat a short time ago, he was remarkably healthy.
"They did it with love," Ethel said. "It was such a profound moment it even moved my crusty, ancient heart. I shed a tear, and that hasn't happened for a long time."
I helped too, Aaron thought.
She faced the healers. "But even here, there is weakness. Tomorrow morning these two will go back to their separate cities and their separate lives. They'll try to maintain a long distance relationship, but it will seem like thin gruel after this weekend. There will be sleepless nights and endless, pathetic phone calls. Eventually, hopefully, their love will fade and the pain will finally end. It's a problem that will solve itself." She lowered her eyes. "You can go."
Smythe and Odelia walked off with sad expressions.
Ethel took a deep breath. "Aaron and Marina. You're next." Her tone was grim.
Aaron was so startled at hearing his name he froze. Marina tugged his hand to get him moving, and he walked slowly to the center of the room. Ethel still held her bloody machetes.
"This problem, on the other hand, will not solve itself," she stated loudly.
Aaron's heart sank. He was certain a very bad thing was about to happen.
"Aaron and Marina fell in love almost the first day they met," Ethel said. "When they were both just legionnaires, the situation was uncomfortable but tolerable. Young people need to have their fun. However, he's a commander now. It's exactly the same situation Xavier was in when he went mad."
She stared at Aaron. He had never seen her eyes so completely black. Only slivers of white were still visible in the corners. Shadows surrounded her like an aura.
"If one of them dies," she said, "the other will be devastated by grief. The Chicago cell will be left without an effective commander. What if a suicide mission becomes necessary? Could Aaron send Marina to her death? Could she let him go instead? Love makes difficult decisions into impossible ones, and it can turn a costly mission into a disaster. I can't allow such a dangerous relationship to continue, but I can't take away their love. What else can I do?"
Ethel placed the razor sharp edge of her machete against Aaron's neck. He kept very still.
"I could kill Aaron now, of course," she said. "That would fix the problem. But he's one of my better commanders and a very valuable asset. And God clearly favors him. So, he gets to live."
Ethel stepped over to Marina and placed the point of a machete against her throat. Marina was shivering.
"Maybe I should sacrifice Marina instead," Ethel said. "It's for the good of the Society. Killing one legionnaire to save an entire cell seems like a fair trade. However, Marina is also a great asset. She has an extraordinary amount of experience and skill for a woman who is still fairly young. Even greater accomplishments lie ahead for her. I'd be a fool to throw that potential away."
Ethel walked a few paces away. Aaron felt nauseous, and Marina let out a shaky sigh.
"Fortunately, I now have a third way to separate these troublesome love birds." Ethel abruptly faced Marina. "San Francisco needs a new commander. It will be you. Congratulations. Give her a round of applause, everybody."
Aaron was so stunned he couldn't even think. He looked at Marina, and she stared back with wide unblinking eyes.
The audience clapped with genuine enthusiasm.
"Enough," Ethel said. "Back to business. I want all the seconds to come forward. Form a line in front of me, now!"
Nineteen men and women scrambled to get into position. Some of them almost tripped over chairs in their haste.
Ethel used her machete to point at a group at the left end of the line. "I'm flying to Houston tonight, and you four will accompany me as my assistants. That cell needs my immediate attention. Xavier's influence must be rooted out. If the situation down there gets messy, you'll help me mop it up. Do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," they said.
Aaron was very glad he didn't have any friends in Houston.
"The rest of you will search for Xavier," Ethel told the other fifteen people in line. "Find him. Kill him. But don't forget he has more experience and skill than any of you. Work in teams and never confront him alone. He can throw shadows of himself, which makes him very deceptive in combat. Don't trust your eyes. I don't want to add more names to the list of Xavier's victims."
"Yes, ma'am," they replied.
"Marina will coordinate the search as her first official duty as a commander." Ethel faced Marina. "San Francisco must wait for her until Xavier is dead."
"Yes, ma'am," Marina said.
"I'm done."
Ethel walked out of the hall.
"Wait, ma'am!" Aaron called.
He grabbed Marina's hand and chased after Ethel. He caught up to her near the front door while she was putting on her coat. Guthrum was with her again.
"Ma'am!" Aaron said. "You can't do this to me."
Ethel turned to him and raised her eyebrows. "I can't?"
"Marina isn't just the woman I love passionately. She's also my most effective legionnaire by far, my second in command, and my only female operative. My cell will be crippled without her!"
"You just confirmed my decision was the correct one. She's ready for a promotion."
"But, ma'am..." He grimaced.
She patted his arm. "I have a solution to your crisis. It's a trick that commanders have used for centuries to deal with a depleted staff. I used it myself several times."
"What?"
"Recruitment. You have room for two more legionnaires in Chicago. At least one and possibly both should be female. Start looking for new talent. The Lord will provide for you if you keep your eyes open." She smiled.
Aaron's shoulders sagged.
Ethel gave Marina a serious look. "I want the search for Xavier started immediately. Go back into the dining hall and get everybody organized. You have a big team to manage."
"Yes, ma'am." Marina nodded and ran off.
Aaron sighed as he watched her go.
"She'll be fine," Ethel said.
"She'll be great," he replied firmly. "We have another problem though."
"What now?" She frowned.
He faced her. "Marina probably won't catch Xavier, or at least it will take a long time. He knows all the best ways to avoid us. While that tedious search is dragging on, the entire division will suffer. You just stripped every cell of its best legionnaire. Those people need to go home and resume their normal duties. The Society can't afford to have them wandering around the world for months."
"That's true," she said. "I assume you're already thinking about a solution."
"Xavier is insane. He won't just go into hiding. He'll be compelled to keep fighting us no matter how desperate his situation becomes. That's his deadly weakness. If we offer him a sufficiently tempting target, he'll attack it. We can bring him to us and end this chase quickly."
"What target did you have in mind?"
"I need to work out the details, ma'am," he said. "I'll let you know when I have a solid plan in mind."
"I can't wait to hear it. I have to start packing for my trip to Houston now. I'm always flying somewhere to
do something unpleasant. I'll see you later."
She hurried out the door, and Guthrum followed her.
Aaron wandered back into the dining hall. Marina was already walking around and issuing orders as if she had been a commander for years. She was dividing her large, unwieldy search team into manageable squads. It sounded like she was trying to get the mix of skills just right in each group. He nodded with approval. It was exactly what he would've done first.
It was painful for Aaron to admit, but Ethel had made the right choice. Marina was more than ready to step out of his shadow. The San Francisco territory needed her much more than he did.
The rest of the convention was still in the room. The many commanders looked a little lost as they sat on their chairs.
Aaron raised his hands to get attention. "There will be food," he announced. "It may come out a little later than expected, but there's a lot of it. Everybody will get fed. You can stay until tomorrow morning as planned, but if you want to take off tonight, I'll have somebody drive you to O'Hare. The convention is effectively over anyway. I hope you had a good time."
He looked down at Sampson's corpse. Dark blood had made a huge puddle on the tile floor. His head was about five feet from his body. We have to clean that up before we eat, Aaron thought. It's unappetizing.
Smythe and Odelia walked over, holding hands. They didn't have much time left to enjoy each other's company.
"Sir," Smythe said, "do I get a congratulations?"
"For what?" Aaron said.
"Maybe I'm being presumptuous, but I assume I'm your second now. I'm next in line."
Aaron raised his eyebrows. "I hadn't thought about it, but you're right. You're the most senior legionnaire now. Congratulations."
Odelia pulled Smythe's head down and kissed him on the lips. "Congratulations from me, too."
He smiled at her. "Can I talk to Aaron alone for a few minutes, please?"
"Sure." She walked off, her long white hair swaying with each step.
Smythe looked at Aaron with a serious expression.
"What's wrong?" Aaron said in a guarded tone.
"It seems we have the same difficulty, sir," Smythe said. "We're both hopelessly in love with women who live in California."
"That's true. So?"
"I assume you're planning to visit Marina in San Francisco, and she'll visit you. Not frequently, of course, but often enough to keep the fire burning. Even the greatest commanders need a few days off once in a while. You're not made of stone."
"I'm uncomfortable with where this conversation is headed," Aaron said.
"I imagine the legate would disapprove if she heard about these personal visits. She might see them as signs of weakness."
"She would indeed."
"However," Smythe said, "these indiscretions would be much easier to hide if your second in command were complicit. He could cover for you while you're out."
Aaron crossed his arms. "Also true."
"Your co-conspirator would expect similar... accommodations. I'm not made of stone either."
Smythe looked across the room at Odelia. She smiled back.
"You've successfully put me in a difficult spot," Aaron said, "and you did it in a very appropriate manner. It seems you're not a muscle bound idiot."
"Thank you, sir." Smythe bowed slightly. "Desperate times can bring out the best in us."
"It's a very dangerous proposal. I'll have to think about it. Odelia's commander, Yule, will also need to be involved. This is quite a conspiracy you're constructing."
"All for the sake of love, sir. If you talk to Yule, you might remind him we brought him back from the grave. Technically, he owes us his life. That could soften his position."
Aaron raised his eyebrows. "Yet another truth. I'm being ambushed by them."
"I see it as evidence the Lord favors us. He wants Odelia and me to be together."
"It's not the Lord that concerns me. I'm worried about a woman who carries a pair of very sharp, silver plated machetes." Aaron looked down at Sampson's corpse. "And didn't we just go through a huge production because a man loved a woman too much?"
"Love is inherently risky." Smythe shrugged. "The decision is yours, sir. If you're happy with never seeing Marina again for the rest of your life, I'll do the same with Odelia. That would be the safe and easy choice."
Aaron snarled. "They need your help in the kitchen."
"At once, sir." Smythe jogged off.
Chapter Seventeen
Hanley opened his front door and walked into his suburban home in Clinton, Maryland. He put his suitcase down.
Peggy came running out of the kitchen. She threw her arms around him and kissed him on the lips. He squeezed her warm, soft body for a long moment. It felt good to be with her again.
He stepped back to look at her. Her red hair was in curls now, the result of a perm. She had a wide nose that suited her round, cheerful face. It seemed like she was always smiling. She wore a shirt with a green floral pattern printed on it. Her blue jeans fit snugly across her wide hips.
"You're home on time for once," she said. "I was just getting dinner out of the oven."
He grinned. "Great. I'm starving and exhausted. It was a tough trip."
"Tell me about it while I put the food on the table."
He followed her into the kitchen. The aroma of beef made his mouth water.
It was a small kitchen, but they didn't need a big one. Peggy ate most of her meals alone. Hanley often didn't get home in time for dinner if he got home at all. White frilly curtains decorated the windows. The counters were covered in white tile.
"You know I can't get into the details," Hanley said. "We lost some good men though. A lot of good men, actually." He frowned.
Her eyes widened. "That's awful! I hope it wasn't anybody I knew."
"All the casualties were military so you probably never met them."
"Did you catch the bad guys?"
"Not really." He looked away.
"At least you're safe." She smiled at him.
If only that were true, he thought.
She filled two plates with steaks, baked potatoes, and broccoli. It was his favorite meal. As soon as the food hit the table, he sat down and started eating. His only other meal today had been a hasty breakfast on the way out of Milwaukee.
Being in his familiar kitchen with his familiar wife felt very strange to Hanley. This place had stayed the same, but he had changed radically.
"I have to talk to you," he said in a quiet voice.
She appeared concerned. "What?"
"I've been very unfair to you. You wanted kids since the day we were married, but I made you wait and wait. Now you're in your thirties and still alone."
"Why are you bringing this up now? Are you finally ready for a family?" Her expression brightened.
"No, unfortunately." He sighed. "Listen, I..."
"What is it, Race?"
"I want you to be happy. You deserve a much better marriage than the one we have."
"I've never complained about our marriage," she said.
"You never complain about anything. I'm doing it for you this time. You need things I can't give you, like a husband who always comes home for dinner. Something happened last night. It made me think hard about us. About you."
She drew back. "You met another woman?"
"No! I've always been faithful, even during the long tours overseas. There were temptations, trust me, but I was always strong for you. Last night I was caught in a situation that showed me how fragile our lives are. They can end at any moment." He remembered Ethel's eyes and took a deep shaky breath. "You have to start living your own life. I can't hold you back anymore."
"You're leaving me?"
"I want what's best for you," he said, "and I'm not it. Don't worry about money. I'll make sure you get taken care of. You can have the house and everything."
"But I can't afford the mortgage," she said.
"You won't have to make a single payment."
They ate without speaking for a few minutes. Tears dripped down her cheeks.
She abruptly put her fork down and stared at her plate. "I have a confession."
"What?" he said.
"I met somebody. I... cheated."
He leaned forward. "When?"
"Last night. I went out with some friends. We were at a bar, and there was a guy..." She sniffed. "I was so lonely, Race. I didn't know when you were getting home, or if you were getting home at all."
"And this was last night?"
"Yes." She put her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry."
"When, exactly?"
"Does it matter?"
"I'm just curious," he said.
She frowned. "I'm not quite sure. I guess we met around 7:30."
That was the time he had entered Camp Zonta. Death waits beyond this point.
"I'm happy for you," he said, "really. I'm not mad at all."
She looked up timidly. "It's OK?"
"It's the best thing that could've happened. Somebody upstairs must be looking out for you. I hope you get married right away and finally have some kids. You deserve it."
"Oh, Race! Thank you." She ran around the table and gave him a hug.
"I'll sleep on the couch tonight. After I get home from work tomorrow, I'll start moving out."
* * *
Xavier parked in front of a motel. He had travelled 250 miles and had switched vehicles three times along the way. He had earned a little sleep for himself.
The light in the manager's office was still on. He hurried through the cold night air to get inside.
The old man behind the counter had a pale, wrinkled face. His eyes looked a little glassy.
"Hello, sir," he said in a tired voice. "What can I do for you?"
"I need a room," Xavier said. Why else would I come in here? "Just one night."
The clerk pushed a clipboard across the counter. "Fill this out, please. I'll need to see a driver's license and a credit card. You have to pay fifty dollars tonight and fifty when you check out tomorrow."
"That's fair."
Xavier started to scribble randomly on the form. He didn't even bother with real words. The clerk grabbed a room key from a line of small hooks and placed it on the counter. A plastic tag on the key showed "8."
