The meeting went on for a few more minutes, and seemed to end far more amicably than Lori expected. But within fifteen minutes of the sign off, while Lori and her father were talking to her mother and grandmother on the phone, the media calls began arriving. Someone must have made a call–or several. Alan agreed to a news conference at noon. This they discussed in more detail, Lori wanting to be sure she was left out of it, so far as possible.
At high noon, she accompanied Alan to the same conference room. Only two reporters were there, live, but a half a dozen cambots, emblazoned with news media insignia, floated in the room. Alan described very briefly the actions they’d taken that morning, suspending six people in his company, and contracts with eight suppliers.
Question, “What sort of proof do you have that the people were involved in any of the attempts on your family?”
“In one case, phone logs, supposedly erased, but found by my investigators, and in another, substantial donations, off world, to the group and...”
“Aren’t you afraid of being sued?”
“No, I’d welcome it, that would give me a chance to put some witnesses on the stand, under oath, and ask a few questions.”
“Does this have anything to do with the destruction of the Earth Only station? Wouldn’t you say that was an eye for an eye?”
“Actually, that is and has been and continues to be, a rich source of information about the otherwise pretty clandestine organization. And as I understand it, whatever happened in orbit, was not an ambush, a sneak attack, as happened to...us. Regardless, we will not, nor will we ever trade with this enemy. And that’s what we’ll do.”
“Aren’t you afraid that you’ll hurt your business, and affect your stock, your bottom line?”
“We have alternative suppliers for every component we need, and they are already being contacted. In some case, we may see some cost savings. Yes, we’ll probably lose some production, in the short term. But if it affects the value of our stock, Saxon Enterprises is prepared to purchase, at the price of our stock as of 9 a.m. this morning, that is 229 a share, for any shares offered in the next 30 days. So no one will lose a cent on Saxon stock.”
More questions, but not many, not so much of a story here, after all. But the media underestimated the impacts of even a small decision in the universe of business.
Father and daughter ordered lunch brought in, while they talked some more. The stock decision worried Lori the most, and she checked the market while they ate. Their own stock showed an uptick in sales, but it steadied, at the 9 a.m. price, SaxEnt trading something under a million shares offered.
“But look at this, Dad, lots of other things are dropping, some going down fast.” She pointed to one of the suppliers. “They’re off half from this morning. And still going lower.”
They watched the market. Mr. Sloane said, “It’s been over extended anyway, had quite a runup when you returned, you know, visions of a new world to trade with, but by now the time and distance involved is moderating that. Still, this is not good.”
Indeed. The market went into a free for all, falling over six percent by one p.m., computer driven profit takers in a frenzy, and continued on downward enough that trading was halted, for the first time in 22 years, at a little after 2 p.m. Foreign markets followed with big drops, and the markets the whole world over began shutting down. By five p.m. they all would be.
Before that, Lori started getting the calls from the reporters. She and her dad. Together and separately, they let a few interview them from time to time over the long afternoon. Lori generally stood in the bright lights before the greenery at the entrance to the suite, or at a window overlooking downtown, or for one, a woman who’d treated her fairly, sitting at her desk, with her jacket off, looking a bit more informal.
Knowing her words would most likely be chopped up into tiny sound bites of a few seconds each, she often answered questions with a question of her own. “Why, does that surprise you?” was especially effective, requiring some sort of response from the reporter, sometimes delaying further probing for a moment. But she answered them eventually, saying she was quite proud of her father, and knew the company would weather the event very well, given the high known quality of their product.
“Isn’t it a bit extreme, though, ending a relationship with long term suppliers, likely throwing lots of people out of work?”
“I’ll tell you what’s extreme,” she said, pointing a finger at the camera. “It’s shooting my air car down, and hunting me and the aliens in the dark on a god forsaken island. And it’s a sneak attack with missiles, at night, on Florez, killing my assistant and thirteen innocent civilians. How much more extreme can you get?”
“But those people, in the companies, didn’t have anything to do with that.”
“Yes, they did. They enabled those extreme actions. And they should have known it would come to that, given the endless rhetoric.”
A couple of times she met with her father, enjoying his steadfast, pro-active stance, sticking to and defending his decision. She felt very proud to be his daughter, and told him so when the last reporter finally left.
“No twenty four hour a day trading,” Grandpa Ricky said, smiling broadly, when he called late that afternoon. “First time in years. Nice work, Princess. How’s it going there, anyway?”
“Well, the Earth Only freaks are flooding the phone lines with hate mail, and enough threats to keep the cops busy for a month. Even had a half a dozen bomb threats.”
“You have to leave the building?”
“No, it’s been secure since last night, nothing could have gotten in. The cops didn’t want a bunch of us milling about on the street in the open anyway. And they’ve got the phones tapped and traced the calls, started rounding up a few people. All of them are Earth Only members. Except one. He had a lot of long sales on the market, and is losing his shirt.”
“Serves him right.”
“You have any trouble up there?”
“No, all’s quiet. Morales sent over a few of his men, we got a military lighter overhead. Though it looks like a media car. Maybe it’s keeping the vultures away. Listen, what about that new Kobi? She gonna be OK tonight?”
“Tari? Yeah, I’m real worried about her. She’s pretty shook up, not used to this sort of trouble...”
“Are you?”
Lori shook her head, shrugged. “It seems to follow me, comes with the territory. Maybe I’m used to it. Stupid, huh?” She shrugged again. Her grandfather smiled at her. “What?” she said.
“You look so much like your grandmother when you do that, I can’t believe it. And just as beautiful. And you sure looked good on TV today.”
“Oh, Pop,” she said, reverting to her childhood name for him.
“Well, you do. So, look, watch over Tari. Better get some protection for her, too, until this all blows over.”
“Yeah, I will. Thanks for the reminder.” They signed off soon after.
By six, they were ready to leave for the night, a police and military escort waiting.
“Dad, we can’t let Tari go back to her place alone,” Lori told him when he arrived, her voice full of concern.
“Where’s she live?”
“Over on Avenue C, east side.”
“She should be OK.”
“No, it’s not the best area.”
“Other aliens there?”
“A few. Well, yeah, some. But not all are trustworthy. Look...”
“OK, we’ll send over a body guard or two.”
Lori shook her head. “No, that’s not good enough. I want to bring her home with us tonight.”
“To Huntington?”
“Yeah”
He looked at her, doubt on his face. “For how long?”
“I don’t know. For as long as we have to.”
“This may go on for a while.”
“Well, I’m not letting her sit alone in an apartment in the city night after night. And scared to death. I’m not letting something
happen to her. No matter how long it takes.”
“Is there, um, any indication that she’s a target?”
“Afraid there is. Some of the mail, the calls. I think Nedri’s been busy, spread the word. Why, or how she knew, I don’t know. Maybe she doesn’t, just hates all aliens. But the sister of Leta? Yeah... Bitch. Anyway, we have to protect her, and not just with a bodyguard or two.”
Alan nodded. “OK. I’ll call your mother and alert her.”
“Phone lines cleared?”
“Yeah, everything’s swept.”
“Find anything?”
“You don’t want to know.”
Tari sat at her workstation, and Lori saw her hands shaking before she put them on her lap. “You ready to go?” Lori asked her.
“No, I think I shall stay a while, and watch the mail...”
“Tari, I’d like you to come home with us tonight. It’ll be safer. You’ll be welcome with us. Let this all blow over a little. OK?”
“I do not wish to...trouble you...further.”
“It’s no trouble. Hunter is coming over for dinner, and he’ll want to see you, talk to you, too. OK?”
“I will be fine.”
Lori looked at her. “It’s OK with Mom and Dad.”
“That is so? Very well, I will accept. For this one day only. But may we go to my place first? I will need...things.”
“Of course. Shut that down, we’ll look at it again in the morning.”
Tari joined them on the landing deck, Eagle One surrounded by police, and a few of Morales' people, everyone looking very serious. The guards conferred for a moment, and motioned for Lori to follow the lead police cruiser, a big one, she saw. Two more would accompany them, and Morales, by special permit, would fly high cover.
As they flew off, Lori asked Eagle One, “Have you been monitoring the news?”
“Yes. There is trouble?”
“Afraid so. The Earth Only ones are in full cry, angry with some business decisions we had to make, and may create trouble.”
The display shifted, a tactical box appeared in the lower corner of the left screen. Eagle One said, “I will watch.”
They flew in clear lanes up to C Street, and as they drifted toward the sidewalk, Eagle One slowed, said, “Weapons ahead, in the building.” Lori passed the word to Morales, and the large police car zipped forward, and met a sheet of laser fire, coming from a window blowing out on Tari’s floor. The police car returned fire, and blasted the room with tear gas and a flash-bang. Immediately, another landed, and four cops in heavy armor rushed the building, over riding the security lock code on the door, and ran inside.
Lori sat, watching the display, but knew the police would find nothing, the shooters long gone, down and out, leaving an auto set behind, more as a warning, than any expectation of success, set to fire on the first air car to appear. The neighborhood soon swarmed with police and media air cars, and to her surprise, they succeeded in rounding up a few suspects.
After ten minutes, they let Lori and Tari enter the building, the tear gas vented, shattered glass on the floor in the hallway, both shadowed by police, who checked her door and rooms for bobbie traps. Tari gathered a few things into a bag, took her PC, and a reader, and nodded to Lori. Only back in the air car, did she say, “They were waiting for me, weren’t they? They wanted to kill me, too.”
Lori shrugged. She exhaled, looking at Tari. Her father pulled the phone from his ear, said, “Low level street punks, said they were recruited to ‘scare an alien’, that’s all. Lying bastards.”
“How’s things at home?”
“Security all over the town. It’s a mess. Man.”
“This is like the old days,” Eagle One said. “Stephanie would not be surprised.”
In Huntington, a swarm of cambots hung low and air cars hovered high over the house. Out above the sound, more air cars with tall antennas sat watching. Lori flew Eagle One into the landing dock, and closed the door behind them. But almost immediately, another air car arrived, and she recognized it, and let Hunter in. He rushed to her, taking her in his arms, and kissing her.
“I heard about more trouble in town. You OK?”
“Fine, the cops handled it.”
“Tari? You here? You OK?” he said, releasing Lori and crouching in front of her.
She slowly nodded. “I have created much trouble this day.”
“No, the trouble is there, was there, just took us a while to stir it up.”
“Anyone like a drink?” Mr. Sloane said. “Come on inside, I sure would.”
Inside, Mrs. Sloane stood in front of the wall screen, several channels on, one flipping from station to station. The parents embraced, then she hugged Lori and Hunter. Finally, she did the same for Tari. “I’m glad you came out here, I was quite worried about you.”
“I was worried about me, too. The day is dangerous for we Kobi.”
Lori looked outside, toward the pool and the garden, both looking clean and tranquil in the warm summer evening. “Want to sit outside?” Hunter asked her.
“Yeah. Want to chance it?”
“No problem, we’ll be OK. But I can lower the sunshade, if you want.”
“Yeah do that.”
They sat on the deck beneath the striped canvas awing, talking over the day. Hunter cooked up some wings for them, and grilled eggplant for Tari. Alan brought a tray of drinks out, everyone took one, even Tari. From time to time, the wall screen propped on a table showed their location, live from overhead. They tried to ignore it, and after a while, shut it off.
By the time they finished a BBQ dinner dusk settled and the bugs arrived, chasing everyone inside. More phone calls awaited them, Mr. Sloane took a number from business associates, Lori and her mother handled a few from family, and passed over the many from reporters and other unknowns. She hoped their number had not been accessed by the hackers again, and plastered on the net for all the kooks to have at.
Tari remained quiet through the evening, and inside sat with her PC, saying she would have to write to her parents, assure them she was OK, and try to explain what was going on. She wanted to get a letter off to them on the next ship out, leaving tomorrow.
Lori lured Hunter into the upstairs shower with her, soaking in the warm water, encouraging his soapy hands on her body, as she washed him down, too. He played with her still bare vulva for a long time, washed it with the shower jet, too, causing her to shudder. She pushed his hand away, finally, liking it too much, and began washing him. His penis, sticking out and up already, rose further as she washed his hanging balls, feeling them. With his erection at full, she slathered soap on it, and stroked it up and down, cleaning beneath the foreskin, and rinsing him all over. Hunter felt her breasts while she did that. Assured of his freshness, she lowered her mouth, and began sucking his penis, her head bobbing up and down while her fingers cupped and cuddled his balls. He felt big and hard in her mouth, and she did not keep it up for long.
They dried quickly, and darted across the hallway, and into Lori’s room. She pulled the sheets down, tapped on some music, and Hunter grabbed her, and they tumbled onto the bed with a giggle. He began kissing her, her lips, her face, then down to her breasts, and all over, while his hand pushed between her legs.
“Ah, you feel so good. So soft and lovely and good. And tasty,” he said as his mouth ran all over her. He gently bit her buttocks, and eased her over onto her back, and ran his hands up and down the length of her. “You are so beautiful, you take my breath away.”
Lori smiled at him in the dim illumination. He looked long and lean and strong. Her eyes stopped on his penis, looming very large at the base of his trunk, bobbing slightly, sticking up at an acute angle. “You look good, too. Real good.” She felt ravenous for him, after the stress and excitement of the day just past.
“Bet you taste good, too,” he said, and pulled a pillow down, and began stuffing it behind her ass. She pushed up on her legs, and lowered herself onto the pillow, as Hunter rotated her
legs up and out, slid his hands down her thighs, and found and parted her labia. He leaned closer. “I love to see your pussy. It is so beautiful.” He stared at it a moment, as his thumbs and fingers pressed and eased her apart. “Breathtaking.” He leaned and kissed her, and she exhaled a long held breath with a sigh.
She closed her eyes as he began to kiss and gently bite and tug and pull and suck on her.
Man, did he know what she liked. She tried to keep quiet, but moaned softly in the night. The music played on. She shuddered as he pulled her wide apart, and his mouth covered her all. She knew she wouldn’t last long, and didn’t, soon crying softly, trying not to be loud, shuddering for the pleasure, the joy he brought forth from between her legs.
With shaking hands, she held his head, eased it up and off her throbbing clit.
“Oh, too soon, you came too soon, I was enjoying that so much,” Hunter said, kneeling between her legs.
“No, it was just right, wonderful, so wonderful,” she said, smiling up at him.
He moved up, began poking at her vulva with his hot erection. With one hand, he pointed it downward, she felt it there, between her labia, and she sucked in her breath as he slid it into her. He leaned forward, and covered her, his head next to her, as he entered all the way. He wiggled a little, she felt him snuggled inside her, and she squeezed him there. “Lori, I love you so much. So much. More than anything. I love you and I always will.”
“Hunter...my lover. My man. My brave guy. I love you too.”
“And I love being inside you, being a part of you.”
“I love having you there. You’re always welcome inside me...you feel so good.”
He began slowly, moving up and down on her ass on the pillow, driving deep, then out, a hot pressure inside her, a warmth on her vulva, a pressure on her mons.
“I love having you inside me,” she whispered again in his ear.
T-47 Book II (Saxon Saga 6) Page 20
