by P. S. Power
Kate looked at her and sighed, “You look... perfect. You look like a real Secretary of State at least. I look a bit like the call girl brought in to service the drunk politicians. Oh well... If they get confused maybe I can get a little on the side?”
Claire insisted that they all wait in the large meeting room with only Keane and Blake to greet people at the door and escort them in. Both of the Vampires dressed in fine black suits, with gray gloves and vests, which made them look a little like butlers. Which, Claire assured Kate, was the point. They didn't want the politicians feeling like they were walking in to an armed camp after all.
Kate didn't recognize anyone that came except Eloise and George, but Jelly walked over to one and gave him a hug, surprising everyone. Except Zack who moved directly over to shake the man's hand as well, ushering both Mages off to the side where they could talk quietly without interrupting the meeting.
Eloise introduced a dapper looking older man who then introduced all of the Mages that had come, including a polite head nod toward the man talking to Jelly, who turned out to be the noted criminal, Willet Stone. The man smiled when he introduced the other Mage that way.
Kate wondered if they were supposed to go to him for all their Mage related criminal needs? The idea made her want to laugh, at first. Then she decided it could be a good service to have on hand. She didn't know what a Mage criminal could do after all... But crime was crime and sometimes needed. He'd need a good job description though. Calling him the head criminal wouldn't work very well, she didn't think. For one thing it would kind of give everything away too easily.
Most of the titles went right past her, though she caught the first names easily enough. Early Alede training having stressed how important remembering names could be. So she found herself instantly using old memory techniques to build associations between the names and faces. Then repeating them every time she looked at anyone.
Claire did the introductions for their side of things, introducing Britney first, since she had an actual title, Domestics Coordinator. Merri was introduced next as her counterpart. Both women stepped forward slightly and curtsied together. Merri looked cuter when she did it, being so small and dainty. Britney just looked hot and as if she wanted to continue the bend of knee and take on all comers while she did so. Kate knew that the girl probably did want to do that, so let it go. She'd do it herself if this party didn't pick up soon. Maybe even if it did. All the best parties had an orgy room, right?
Lisa was introduced as the Finance Minister, which made Eloise stand straighter, a proud look on her face for a bit. Betty was up next, being Secretary of State, which caused Eloise to finally move forward and shake hands with one of them. It tickled Kate that this powerful world leader understood instantly that little Vampire Betty actually held importance here and acted accordingly. It was probably the suit though. She really looked the part and that was important.
Zack, everyone already knew. The next up was Don, who'd decided to wear a simple business jacket that Troy had lent him. Zack's things being far too small to even consider. That meant the jacket, a pair of black jeans with a black sweater. He looked cute, but about as much like a world leader as she did, Kate realized. Eloise bowed to him though, like she had to Zack.
“And, I believe you also know the other Line-Walker? Kaitlyn Swanson, of the Alede.” Claire said this all very carefully, and clearly. It was nearly insulting that she did it that way, but Kate got the idea. Super sluts didn't get to be Line-Walkers too. Except that they did.
Eloise moved forward and gave her a hug, and a brief kiss on the cheek, which she returned. This made sense, being that she was an Alede. Zack had gotten a hand shake like Betty had. It took Kate a second but she realized that no one had told them who or what Don was. He looked Human, but so did she and everyone else in the room. Charli, Zack and Don were the only actual Humans in the room. Unless they were still counting Troy as Human too. Which was a fun joke, because of the way he'd pushed the Mage Council around by himself, but not the truth. Not knowing, Eloise had opted for the safe option of a bow. Everyone accepted that as a greeting it seemed, even if not their own society's custom.
No one else got a personal introduction, since they didn't have titles yet, even though some of them were obviously going to be very important in the organization. They sat to dinner first, a fairly simple array of chicken and beef, with sides of seasoned rice and potatoes and plenty of vegetables. The only thing that separated it from what you could get at a restaurant being the quality, which turned out to be so high that everyone noticed it.
Kate looked at her plate and then Merri, mouthing, “no magic?” to the tiny woman who pretended she didn't see her do it. The little smile gave it away though.
After dessert, they retired to the meeting room, where she managed to cage a seat between Jelly and Willet. This caused everyone to end up sitting in fairly mixed groups, instead of power blocks. Claire looked at it all and gave her a single half scowl, as if wondering if the girl had planned this for some reason. Kate hadn't, but she decided to play it up anyway.
“Notice how were all sitting together, as friends, instead of across the vast expanse of a table like adversaries? Even George and Nikki are sitting together and, while they may not exactly be holding hands, no one's stabbed anyone with a butter knife stolen from the table yet either.” A polite laugh came from around the table. Better than nothing, she figured.
Then she, gracefully, handed the meeting over to other people, who had a fairly simple agreement worked out already, that basically said they'd try to work together and be friends within reason. The language didn't have any flowery lawyer talk, she noticed. Eloise told them that George had drawn the paper up, looking embarrassed.
Zack and Don both smiled and signed it, then passed it down to Kate who also signed it, with a flourish. The Mages all signed it, except for Willet, who kept being glared at by the Penbrokes, including Lisa, as if they expected him to steal the artwork from the walls or lift Zack's wallet.
That would be stupid, since he could get a lot more than that, if he played his cards right.
Under the table Kate slipped a hand onto Willet's leg making him jump at first, then look at her, wary and amazed. She leaned into him and whispered for him to meet her in the back hall in ten minutes, then excused herself and walked out of the room without giving a reason why. Willet followed about ten minutes later, in a pattern that anyone watching and knowing she was an Alede would assume meant he went to meet her. Most of them would be assuming for sex of course, which didn't fit her plans at all.
When he reached her, she pulled him into the back room she stood outside and shut the door, talking to him in a hushed voice. For five minutes she grilled him on what kind of crimes he'd committed and gotten away with and if he'd be willing to leave his career as a criminal, if he had enough money and what not.
“Sure. It's always been about providing a good life for my family... That and the fact that I'm a greedy S.O.B. But mainly the family stuff. If I could do that working a normal job half as well, I would. Less trouble that way. Wouldn't most people?” He asked, perplexed.
She nodded, then offered him a job.
He laughed at this.
“What, you want me to be your head thief?”
She shook her head.
“No, our head spy. It means the same thing, but sounds better. We'll call it something good though. Head of intelligence services?”
He laughed, then realized that she wasn't laughing too. He considered it, for about ten seconds, then told her he didn't think he was really qualified, but really, being qualified for anything or not had never stopped him before. Then he asked what it paid.
She told him twenty thousand gold per year, realizing that she'd made that much herself that day inside ten minutes, so she included that there would be the potential for bonuses if he did good work. She said this last innocently, but he smiled wickedly and asked if she thought he was worth a signing bonus?
&nb
sp; Shrugging she smiled at him and sank down to her knees. He looked ready to pass out when she started working his fly.
“Why not? After all, this is what everyone thinks were doing back here anyway. That has to make it a good cover, don't you think?”
When she finished she kissed him on the mouth, and told him to meet her at Frozen YoGurt at Underwood the next day at one in the afternoon, and to try not to be seen if possible.
He told her that he'd meet her there, as he refastened his clothes.
Chapter eight
The next ten days were exhausting for all of them.
Kate and Don were put to work taking most of the line traffic for that whole time, so that Zack could have a vacation with Claire and Libby. They all deserved it, but the amount of work that Zack did each day pushed the two newbies to almost breaking. Kate began to realize one of the reasons that Zack remained so thin all the time. This Line travel stuff took work and a lot more energy than it felt like at any one time. Don looked like he lost about ten pounds in that time, even though he'd been eating normal meals. Much more and she'd have to start making sure he ate better. Blaine worked away steadily, but didn't say anything to anyone about his sister getting a title and a job in the new government and him not being even noticed.
Seeing this as a good sign she pulled him in with Willet and Hilda, along with Don and Zack before he left for his vacation. No one would tell them where Zack and all were going for that, saying it would be healthy for them all to work without a safety net.
They went on a picnic of sorts. No food but a big soft blanket got spread on the ground in the meadow that Zack picked. Hilda looked around and then brightened.
“This is home!” She said, bouncing up and almost running off to see her mother before Kate could stop her.
“First things first, Hilda. We've all met, but I wanted you three to meet in particular and to explain what I've been working on behind everyone's backs for the last two days. I've arranged for Willet here to head our Espionage division and Hilda to lead our Military. As it is. All five people we have so far. I want to pull Blaine here as head of the training division. That will overlap with both your areas, and you'll need to get with him for trainers and facilities to do that training in.” She turned to Blaine.
“I know this probably sounds like a crap job, but it's important. You'll basically have to vet all the people coming through and make sure they get used in the best position possible and are given the best training they can take. I really don't know where to begin on it, to tell the truth...”
She looked at the others.
She expected someone to have a problem with this appointment, but no one did. Willet just nodded at the boy sagely, and made some suggestions as to what to look for in Mages and who to ask about fighters for the military from his people and oddly, the Weres.
Hilda held her breath, and gave the boy a hug. It was kind of obvious that she wasn't breathing, but she didn't wince or anything about it. That showed real effort on her part. She knew he was an Alede, so reassured him with physical contact, even though it had to be really hard for her at the moment.
Zack looked at him appraisingly, and then at the others.
“Hilda, you've already been in the void so can tell others what that's like. I think Willet and Blaine should give it a try too. We can go now if you want. Willet will need to know what it's like and try to hang out there as long as possible, because, no offense, you need the self-discipline. Blaine needs to try it to see if he can be a potential Line-Walker. I don't know if he can do it, but something there seems right, or at least like he'd benefit from trying.” A half of a shrug started and stopped as he regarded the boy.
Willet went first and came back a few seconds later. Zack pulling him from the line laughing. The Mage shook but Zack clapped him on the back and congratulated him on surviving that long. Zack told them it had been about a year's time for them.
Then he took Blaine and stepped into the line. They didn't come back.
After half an hour they started to grow concerned. An hour after that everyone, including Willet wondered if something had happened to them. Four hours after that, when Don was about to step into the void to search for them, they came back out.
Blaine looked different. Still. Like age had worn him down or something. He didn't move either. Zack clapped him on the back, and watched the boy for a few minutes. After a while, his voice flat, Blaine explained that he'd never be able to walk the lines. It just wasn't something he could do. But he did feel mentally more focused after his time there.
Over the next day's something strange happened. In that Blaine didn't stop by to have Don feed him. He came to visit, but he didn't do anything that harvested energy as far as Kate could see. Concerned, a few days later she cornered him in the back of Beautiful Plus and asked him about it.
He just shook his head.
“I don't... really know, honestly. I just don't need to eat right now. I haven't even had to have regular food yet. I've been checking my weight and it's stayed the same. I've changed form a half dozen times, but it doesn't make me hungry.” He shrugged, looking a lot like Zack to Kate.
She had him have sex with Charli, who seemed grateful for the attention, to tell the truth. Only after shifting his gender back and forth a dozen times. He didn't absorb any of the energy that came off her at all though. He didn't leak any energy at all, either, but he could still push it out when he wanted to. It just seemed to instantly replenish somehow.
Interesting, but nothing that Kate had to worry about, as long as her friend felt fine. She hoped that would be the case at least. He didn't seem that much different, just more focused and a little quieter. He did keep running off to use the phone every night when they were at home, that could just be him keeping touch with friends though, or even his mom.
Britney seemed stressed, and snapped at everyone for about three days, since she'd put herself directly in charge of putting the big party together. Like all Alede, when she got stressed, she got clingy and this it turned out drove Merri to distraction.
“She's a wonderful girl, Kaitlyn. Things might go a little smoother if she'd stop groping me at every turn, I think. I tried throwing Xan at her, but she exhausted him and came back within a few hours, still hanging on me all the time.” Merri seemed truly troubled about the whole situation as well as being more than a little stressed about the whole thing herself. This didn't have an easy solution, as far as Kate could tell. The party would be happening in a few days and everything the two women were doing had to get done. She didn't even have the skill set to begin to help them.
Finally when Merri, who seemed about ready to pull her beautiful red hair clean out of her own scalp, asked him, Don suggested that they get some help from Claire or Patty. Maybe Betty, who, as the new Secretary of State had to sign off on everything they were doing anyway.
It felt funny to Kate, but out of all of this, innocent seeming Betty seemed to be the one person that everyone went to for real information or to make contact with their new government. Everyone except her own people, who went directly to Claire instead, since in their power structure, Betty was still just her minor child.
Together, doing the work well away from Kate or Don, they managed to get the whole party set up in good time, with nearly twenty-four hours to go before Zack got back. Kate held her breath a lot, waiting for some emergency to come up, war to be declared, or for someone to have a major meltdown and try to kill either her or one of the people working on the whole thing. Nothing bad happened though.
Until the night before.
It wasn't exactly a major catastrophe really, but it annoyed the hell out of Kate that it had to happen right at that time. Any other day, she probably would have handled the situation better herself, and maybe could have helped the others do the same. As it was, she had to recall Hilda, who'd put together a hit team and sent them out for an assassination.
Luckily she managed to catch the new war chief on the phone be
fore anything happened.
“Hilda! For one thing, I'm almost one hundred percent certain that Willet is in charge of assassinations, which, as a rule, we shouldn't be doing anyway. So, get them back now please! Second, who are we trying to have killed?”
The target turned out to be one Mr. Roger Karver, Don's father.
Tracking things down took a while, since the people that knew what had happened were all busy at the moment, planning a party for heads of state and using that to keep her out of the loop. This worried Kate to no end. What could Mr. Karver had done that would cause her friends not to tell her about it?
She couldn't find Don at all. He'd vanished and not come back earlier in the day, leaving her to handle Lesser Shia alone. Kate had thought that she'd respected the work Zack did before, but what he did in a normal day boggled her mind now. He moved about a thousand people and tons of goods each day without even seeming to notice it. She did half of that, and nearly felt like collapsing. Hathe came and patted her on the back, metaphorically speaking, sending her home at Zack's regular time, even though she hadn't cleared a big part of the work that waited.
The whole time she worked she'd worried about Don, Hilda and what Mr. Karver could have done. Not having a lot of imagination to work with, she assumed it would be something pretty normal, a fight maybe. Perhaps he'd slept around on Don's mom? Don would go and visit her if she had some kind of problem like that, or at least Kate thought he would. He didn't like his dad much, but he seemed to love his mom.
She got home, which took her longer than she liked, because she couldn't see the rift in the back of Something Wonderful at all and had to go into a deep trance state and reenact going through with Zack. The rifts were always there, you just had to hit them exactly right, which she guessed was a lot easier if you could see them.
After five tries it actually worked, to her utter amazement. Then she started looking for answers about what had happened, but couldn't find any. In desperation she went through Don's room until she found his cell phone. It was a plain black phone, kind of cheap, but the layout seemed pretty standard, so she brought up his lists of personal numbers and not knowing what else to do, she tried calling his mother, who didn't pick up. She looked at the numbers on the phone and mentally crossed off the ones that she already knew. Britney, Blaine, her... to her amusement Libby's number was there as well. Under all of those a single name remained. Chris. Having nothing else to go on at all, short of going to the Djinn or Demons, she called it.
