Focus Beth Hargrove frowned at Gail, puzzled, a cinnamon roll stuck halfway in her mouth. Beth was an attractive young woman with bright red curls and freckles across her cheeks, with the athletic good health of a Focus and an altogether winning attitude about life. Gail loved Beth for the help she had given Gail over the years, and for Beth’s forbearance regarding Gail’s many flaws and foibles.
“What article?” Beth asked, around the cinnamon roll.
“This, right here,” Gail said, pushing the section of the Free Press around a small Norfolk Island pine and across the small table. Beth’s office was a warm and humid plant heaven, from the grape ivy dangling down beside Gail’s head to the fiddleleaf fig almost too large for its pot by the doorway.
“‘Monster Pack Assaults Fort Collins Diner, 5 Killed’,” Beth read. “It sounds like a Hunter and his harem. What’s the big deal? This sort of thing happens all the time.”
“Yeah, that’s my point. Hunter massacres happen all the time these days. Consider what’s going on politically, with the Crows, Arms, and Focuses.”
Beth frowned. “What do you see?”
“Trouble. Back when I transformed Monsters never came in packs. Now we’ve got Monster packs popping up all the time.”
“Well, that’s because of the Hunters. Hunters run Monster packs.”
“Yeah, and that’s the problem. We’ve got these Hunter-led Monster packs all over the place, at least west of the Mississippi, killing people whenever they damned well please, and no one can stop them. All the while the rest of us Major Transforms spend our time stabbing each other in the back, or preventing other Major Transforms, or the government, from stabbing us in the back. Shouldn’t we be doing something about the Hunters? Well, we’re not. Let’s face it – the cops can hardly stop individual Monsters, and they can’t do a damned thing about Monster packs or Hunters. And let’s not mention the current Administration, which considers all Transform issues politicized, because of Senator McGovern’s stance on the issue, which somehow gives them an excuse to sneer at Monster depredations the same way they sneer at the UFO fanatics and the end-of-world placard guys.”
Beth finished off her cinnamon roll and licked her fingers. “You’re in one of your Doomsday moods again,” she said. “Monsters. Phew! That’s what the Arms are for.”
“Aren’t you forgetting the Arms are pissed at us Focuses? I’ve heard Arm Hancock’s complaints on the subject, and unless the Focus community finds a way to make up for the way we behaved in the big Hunter fight last year, all we’re going to get from the Arms is a big ‘I told you so’ if we start screaming for help.”
Beth frowned and straightened the dieffenbachia on the low table by her knees. It had wandered too close to the edge of the table. “Are you serious? You think there’s a problem here?”
Gail got up and paced restlessly over to the window, her long hair flowing behind her like a river. She moved aside a curtain of philodendron vines and glanced outside at the blue sky, dotted with puffy white clouds.
“Uh huh. The Transform community is falling apart, and because we are, nobody’s putting any effort into stopping the Hunters. The East Region Cause Focuses are getting exposed by some west coast Crow faction who think the Eskimo Spear is some sorta hoax. The rest of the Crows have gone to ground in fear – I can’t even get Gilgamesh to meet with me personally any more, and he’s a Crow Guru now.” He had met with Van, Sylvie and Kurt several times, and dropped off a copy of an Inferno-produced book called ‘household tag tuning’. Gail had read the book twice and still didn’t understand the details, save that the process smelled of danger. “The Arms are stuck in an organization-wide dominance contest, only you can’t even describe it that way to them without getting a huffy Arm in your face warning you to stay out of their personal business.” Gail liked Arm Sibrian, well, socially. When doing business, though, she was far too touchy to be enjoyable, and she was, objectively, more brutal than Teacher. “And the Nobles? Given how good they are at staying in the background I’d say they were just a rumor, save for the number of times I’ve met their representatives.”
“Oh, and let’s not forget our own Bitch Patrol,” Beth said. “Nobody controls them and their nasty games, most especially not all our ignorant ordinary Focuses who think they’re participating in a democracy.”
“I’m not forgetting about them at all,” Gail said. At least the local member of the Bitch Patrol, Focus Adkins, behaved. Ever since Teacher claimed Detroit.
“Okay, I agree. Everything is falling apart save for our little island of sanity in Detroit. What can we do? And if you tell me you’re going to pick fights with the Council, I’m going to call a psychiatrist.”
Gail leaned up against the wall and stared at the opposite wall, where Escher’s endless staircases ran round in infinite circles, framed in English ivy that needed watering.
“I’m not challenging the Council,” Gail said. “I beefed up my household defenses because I’m doing all this forbidden juice pattern training, and you would not believe what this crazy Arm-led training is doing to my ability to physically protect myself. But even if the crazy insane secret project succeeds, it’s only a tiny step forward in the greater scheme of things. I need, we need, to find a way to do more, a lot more. Only I don’t know what else to do.”
“You really think the shit’s hitting the fan?”
“Yeah, I do.”
Beth shook her head. “You are being way too depressing. Let’s think about something positive for a while. Did I tell you that John got promoted over at the GM Plant? With that, I think we finally have enough coming in to get away from pro-burger completely. No more ‘soy filler product’. Only 100% real meat.”
Gail pulled her mind away from the bleak thoughts, grateful for Beth’s eternal good cheer.
“That’s wonderful news! Congratulations.” Gail sighed. “You should be glad you don’t have an Arm around to feed, though. You wouldn’t believe what Arms eat these days. I’ll give you a hint, though – the rawer, the better. It’s almost as if…”
Gilgamesh appeared from nowhere, standing beside Beth. “Gail. Your household’s under attack.” Gail, wide-eyed, found knives in her hand and her heart racing madly. This time her flinch reaction had worked properly. Even though she could see Gilgamesh, she couldn’t metasense him, making him a potential enemy. “Beth, get a team together,” the Gilgamesh appearing entity said. “We’ve got some people to calm down, and we could use your help.”
Beth moved without thinking, out the door and down the hall, barking orders and getting a bodyguard team together. Gail walked slowly over to Gilgamesh, continuing to think paranoid self-defense thoughts. “Is this really you? What’s with the barking orders like someone with Arm charisma, anyway?”
Gilgamesh blinked for a moment, glanced at her knives and flashed his metapresence at her. Yup, it was him. Gail made her knives vanish. “Guru benefits,” he said. He reached out and took her hands in his. “Sorry about being so distant. The household tuning project is logically the next step in your advancement, but it’s crazy dangerous and I didn’t want to press. However…”
“If I don’t get back to my household now there isn’t going to be one left to tune. Gotcha,” Gail said. They ran to her car, trailing scattered bodyguards behind them.
---
“I’m here,” Gail said. The outer ring of bodyguards crouched in the preset defensive positions around the apartment complex, wary, exactly as they should be. Gilgamesh had filled her in while they made the short trip back from Beth’s household. “For the moment, I want all the Transforms inside. I don’t believe we’re under the threat of a physical attack.” She nodded to Gilgamesh and led her Transform bodyguards and household guards inside. As they had agreed beforehand, Gilgamesh went off to her office to call Teacher. He also promised to alert her if hostiles approached her home.
“Gail!” Sylvie said, running up to her from a side hallway as soon as Gail stepped inside the small entry
foyer. “We’re being outed! Today! Our people are being fired for being Transforms, or because they’re living in a Transform household! How could this happen to us! How…”
“Calm, calm,” Gail said, projecting her charisma along with the word she spoke. “Gilgamesh told me what’s going on.” She entered the apartment complex office, the place enlarged enough to almost serve as the household’s gathering room if everyone inhaled deeply. “Calm,” she said to the inhabitants of the mobbed room. “I know you think Focus Adkins is behind this, but I think we’ve got a different enemy at work here.” For one thing, Adkins would never do this without first giving Gail the chance to sell her soul.
“Focus, ma’am,” Bart Wheelhouse said. “My job’s gone. We’re all in big trouble.” His was one of the better paying jobs in her household.
Gail nodded. “Show of hands. Who’s been hit?”
Bart raised his hand, as did Anita Bartusch, Vera Bracken, Vic Crawford, and John Guynes. “I was told to go home, and that I’m under review,” Ed Zarzemski said. “I don’t expect I’ll have a job tomorrow.” As he spoke Buddy Attendale stalked in behind Gail, his face red and his fists clenched.
“What the hell is going on?” he said. “I just got fired for living in a Transform household! Whadda they afraid of, that I’ll infect their goddamned cars? I’m not even a Transform!” He worked, or had worked, at a Red Wrench auto parts store.
The room exploded again, people talking over each other, and Gail sensed that they needed to get this out of their systems, able to let loose now that their Focus was back among them. Gail signaled to Sylvie to let them talk.
Gilgamesh appeared at her shoulder. “Carol’s on her way,” Gilgamesh said. “Arm Whetstone’s already here, on the roof of the First National Bank building.” About 1200 feet to the east. “Focus Adkins just showed up in my range. She’s coming here with a captive Crow.”
Gail shivered the juice and whistled. The room quieted. “We’ve got trouble, or potential trouble. Focus Adkins is on her way here, and she’s got a Crow captive with her. If I had to guess, the Crow’s the one behind the outing. However, we’re not going to take any chances, either way. I want the emergency visiting Focus team setting up this room, starting now. I also want the number three defensive danger guard team in position ASAP. We’re going to treat Focus Adkins as an honored guest, someone we may need to protect, unless proven otherwise. Sylvie, Van – where is Van?”
“Back here. Sorry, I was taking a shower,” Van said, voice echoing from much farther back in the complex. She often lost track of her non-Transforms just after they showered.
“Van, suit up. You and Sylvie are going to take point on the diplomatic front and greet Focus Adkins when she rolls up.”
“Holy shit,” Van said, his quiet voice low enough that only Gail and Gilgamesh heard him. “On it.”
“Gilgamesh and I will stay here, along with Kurt, Vic and John.” Bodyguards. Too many were off doing other things, it being daytime and time for jobs and, in Daisy’s case, lab work over at U of M. “Everyone else clear out; time to follow our threat posture procedures. Also, Arm Whetstone is in the area, and Arm Hancock is on her way.” Gilgamesh tugged on her arm and pointed with his nose. “Correction. Arm Whetstone is about to walk in the front door. Diplomacy time, people!”
Her people moved. Bart Wheelhouse and Buddy Attendale, in charge of carrying out the threat posture procedures, herded the non-combatants into the kitchen area and began to set up a defensive perimeter.
Gail entered the entry foyer at the same time Arm Whetstone did, and saw her coming through the front door only out of the corner of her eye. The young Arm used a movement trick Teacher termed ‘only move when they’re not looking’, and despite her youth, Gail could only metasense her when she moved. Betsy was an average height woman with pale skin and the build of a male weightlifter, the heaviest Arm Gail knew of. “Arm Whetstone,” Gail said, using formality and her charisma to emphasize the seriousness of the situation. “What can I do for you?”
“Focus,” Arm Whetstone said. “Guru Gilgamesh.” She bowed slightly to Gilgamesh. “You’re under attack. You should take cover.”
Gail quickly glanced at Gilgamesh, who held up six fingers. She turned back to the Arm. “Focus Adkins is coming with a defensive entourage of six and a captive Crow. Until she proves otherwise, I’m treating her visit as diplomatic. Just in case, though, if possible I’d like you to stay here with the two of us. Three Major Transforms, four when the Commander arrives, should be enough to ensure our safety.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Betsy said. She glanced around nervously at Gail’s Transform bodyguards. Shit! Sudden butterflies did the dipsy doodle in Gail’s stomach when she realized the young Arm wasn’t sure of her own self-control around tagged Transforms in a hot situation.
“Arm Whetstone, with your permission, I can help,” Gail said. She attracted Betsy’s eyes with her charisma. The young Arm nodded. A bit nervous herself, Gail put her hands on the young Arm’s shoulders. “We’re all allies here.” Gail hesitated as she searched for the right words. Juice sucking bait? Free food? Ah. “My armed Transforms are your comrades in arms, as are the rest of my guards. My other Transforms are who we’re pledged to protect.” Arm Whetstone had the most interesting hair, almost bristle-like in nature. Gail wanted to rub her hands in it, but didn’t. Not in this situation.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Betsy said, her nerves settled. “Do you want me with your guards, or by your side?”
“By my side.”
Gail hoped she was doing the Arm etiquette right. Well, if not, Teacher would make her pay. Right now, this was what she was doing.
Beth drove into the apartment’s small parking lot and, not finding a space, parked in the lot entrance, almost blocking the street. Damn! She had forgotten to mention Beth!
Gail wiggled Sylvie’s juice, signaling her to come back for a quick confab. “Focus Beth Hargrove and her guards are here,” Gail said. “Sorry, I knew they were coming, but I forgot to say anything. They’re here to help. Send Beth in here, divide her guards half and half, and send Beth’s favored guards in with her.”
Sylvie shook her head at Gail. “Focus Mann you’re not,” she said. She ran off to greet Beth. Gail turned to Gilgamesh and Betsy, waving Van out front to join Sylvie as she did. Van trotted by, dressed in his best suit, all nicely showered and ready to meet and greet. “Sorry, folks. I may look like the new and improved Focus Rickenbach-Schuber, but I’m still Gail inside. Chaos is still my middle name.”
Gilgamesh smiled and Betsy bit her lip to keep from breaking out in laughter.
“Adkins is one mile out,” Gilgamesh said. “Nothing on Tiamat.” Tiamat? Gilgamesh felt the stress, too.
“Places, everyone!”
---
Gail had to focus her charisma on herself to force the knee quivering panic away. Focus Adkins not only brought six heavily armed bodyguards with her and a captive Crow, but she also carried with her a substantial portion of her household’s bad juice, tightly wrapped around herself and the hapless Crow. She chatted a few words with Van and Sylvie, who led the first Focus and her entourage to Gail from their cars, a Chrysler for Focus Adkins, the Crow, and Adkins’ favorite guards, and a beat up Ford for the rest.
Adkins was as angry as Gail had ever metasensed the older Focus, but the anger wasn’t directed at her. Instead, she aimed her ire at the captive Crow whose neck she held with her right hand. As Adkins and her entourage approached, Adkins pointed out the manned guard positions and expressed her approval.
“Gail! Very good, very good.” Adkins studied Gail and the other Major Transforms facing her in the apartment office. “Beth. Crow Guru Gilgamesh.” Pause. Nobody sat.
Gail’s cue. “Focus Winifred Adkins, Arm Elisabeth Whetstone. Ma’am, Arm Whetstone is here in case there’s a follow-up attack to the coordinated outing of my people.”
“Excellent,” Focus Adkins said. She smiled her false smile, one Gail had seen
many times. Gail had always interpreted it as ‘I don’t disapprove, you are starting to learn, but don’t get cocky’. “This is Crow Surfer. He’s the one who outed your people.”
Gail’s fists clenched and she almost rushed over to Focus Adkins to attempt to beat the Crow bloody. He wasn’t much of a Crow, a short emaciated fellow, as youthful as all Crows, and about Gail’s height. He wore an off the shelf suit that almost matched Van’s.
“Why?” Gail said.
“Just doing my job, ma’am,” the Crow said. “My boss thinks it’s time you crazies learned your lesson and stopped sticking your noses where they don’t belong.” Despite his calm words, Gail metasensed panic raging inside the Crow. “Let me go and I’ll leave town. You don’t want to anger my boss, do you?”
“The calm’s a trick, something Chevalier stuck on him,” Gilgamesh said.
Focus Adkins frowned. “Guru Gilgamesh. You hold to the old agreements, as do I. Is this Crow under your protection, even in the most distant manner?”
“Don’t answer that.”
Gail’s eyes turned to the stern voice, as did everyone else in the room who wasn’t frozen in shock or pulling a weapon. Teacher. Or, to be more precise right this instant, the Arm Carol Hancock, the Commander. She carried more weapons than Gail had ever seen her carry before, as well as two briefcases. She stood to the side of the room, lounging against the wall to the boiler room, calm and nonchalant in appearance…and utterly metasense invisible. Her voice, though… Her voice carried death.
Love and Darkness (The Cause Book 2) Page 14
