“Yes. Seems like a good business, low labor costs, but not really worth her time.”
“No, but it is. She gets a lot of money, not from selling the companies she acquires, but by running them, then stowing the profits offshore. Billions each year. That’s the brilliance of her plan. It’s the multiplier effect.”
Darii said, “Classic economic theory of banking. Smart principle as applied to free money. Like compounding.”
“Who is this girl?”
“Not just a pretty face, you know. Hot bod, witty, conversational and adorable.”
“Don’t tell me, let me guess. Misti?”
“She’s one of my middle names now. Fountain of incredible knowledge.”
“Yes, I’ll be sure to have a chat with her.”
“Was she wrong? Misleading me?”
“Unfortunately, no. She is correct.”
“So, you think I am beautiful?”
“You and your Mom both. Stunning. But stunning doesn’t help me one bit. Your mind does. If you aren’t going to help, go join the other children on the playground.”
“That was mean.”
“And you're narcissistic. If your gorgeous and know it, you don’t need to say it. People will notice. But they will notice kindness and intelligence much more and love you for that. Beauty counts only for the first impression unless your mate is as narcissistic as you. Now, help or leave.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Seriously, I don’t think you are. I think you’ll run right to Misti to find out how to fix this. Leave now please and send your mentor to me right away.”
Darii left.
Saldana said, “Spank me now and let’s have hot nasty sex.”
“When we’re done, we’ll find a cozy spot to get naked.”
“That was amazing. Show me more. I’ve never been able to control her.”
“You have to ‘begin with the end in mind.’ Stephen Covey. How do you want her to turn out, not what’s going on right then?”
“Anything for adults who misbehave?”
“I have a book of transgressions with color-coded punishments. Plain vanilla to Habanero times ten.”
“Show me now.”
“Afterwards. Work comes first.”
Just then, Misti walked in.
“You are to go home immediately to Island One. And you are banned from even speaking one syllable to Darii. Understood?”
“No. Not fair. I like her, and she likes me.”
“Octavio, please come in.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Take Misti back to Island One immediately. If she gives you any problems, pack her up and take her to the nearest international airport with a one-way ticket to Seattle. Make sure she has her passport.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, where we.”
“About to get naked.”
“Not right now, but as promised, when we do, there will be corporal.”
Darii burst in. “What are you doing? Misti just said she’s being punished just for telling me things I want to know.”
“Not appropriate; incredible lack of discretion with a thirteen-year-old.”
“I’m going with her.”
“No, you’re not. You’ll do as you are told. Now help us here and now or go to your room.”
“No. You’re not the boss of me.”
“Yes, I am.”
“I refuse. I’ll do as I please and you can’t tell me what to do.”
“Broke your promise to me already — the new record, less than an hour. Besides, you start martial training next week and for the next six months. You and Misti won’t have any time to talk a bunch of BS.”
“I won’t. I don’t have to if I don’t want to.”
“All right. You’re now enrolled in a Private School in Switzerland. You can self-indulge with your kind all day and all night. I hope you’ll be happy. Pack your stuff. You leave tomorrow.”
“Fine!” She stormed out.
“Now, where were we?”
“Work. The faster we finish, the faster we get to the playground.”
“What don’t I know?”
“A bunch of things.”
“Examples?”
“It turns out Misti is related to distant Spanish royal, who married into royal lines but that ancestor came to the new world to make a fortune and avoid debt – with Hernan Cortes. He became viceroy of the Yucatan and lived in Merida, Mexico, not Spain. She will inherit a fortune of family wealth recently uncovered because the last viscount is old and has no heirs except for Misti. Liara did not want you two hooking up. Wanted to marry her off to a controllable dupe, then kill her. Her lineage was direct through Carlos, her father.
“You and your Dad are related to Louis X, last of the French Bourbon Kings supposedly penniless, but far from it. Money and valuables stashed away in Switzerland. Proof of heirship well established. Ditto Misti. Liara wants you ‘heirless,’ Adam, and all three of you dead. By accident of course after your lineage is replaced.”
“More”
“Liara wants you to meet Torii and Hanta. Hanta and Torri have already abandoned me and joined forces with her. Their histories were not much fun, nor were mine. They were abused very young and passed around. Liara saved them and returned them to what might be construed as a better life. They were grateful; to Liara, not me.”
Saldana paused, “And you?”
“I still have a few things in my toolbox, like mind entrance, the mind trick, formidable strength and intelligence, and hunky good looks.”
“Sounds formidable and dangerous. How does the good looks thing work?”
“Not that well. And it does not protect the ones I love. For that I use tech.”
“The shield.”
“Among others.”
“Such as?”
“I am still the Red Gens Manti.”
“Show me later? As a former Gens myself, you always get me red hot and dripping wet when I see you like that.”
“I wasn’t so sure about it before, but I’m delighted now.”
There was a gentle tap on the door.
“An unhappy Darii I suspect. Saldana, you decide. But she stays here. I don’t want her anywhere but here with us. Be tough.”
“I’m not anymore, you know. Especially with her. I can’t lose her or her affections.”
Adam smiled, and asked, “Habanero erotica? You like?”
“I see your point.” She yelled at the door, “Get in here this instant young lady. Explain yourself!”
Chapter 25
Adam sat at his desk in his Study thinking through the implications of everything he had learned in the past twenty-four hours. None of the bits and pieces formed a coherent whole, but looking at the collection in puzzle pieces led to certain inevitable conclusions. His Lord was correct that he had a spy or spies within his ranks; not the true Immortals, but among the Cyclical Immortals for sure. Most were still in his realm, only a few were on Earth and not likely among Adam’s, but he would soon find out for sure himself. All bets were off for his employees and those he trusted the most. His recent experience meant that nobody could be trusted, and so he would vet them all and thoroughly.
Even Kalindra Wilson and her new husband Ezekiel Carter were suspects.
“Niona, appear.” Adam’s voice wasn’t his normal friendly tone, and he was losing patience rapidly with his Immortal whom he had known since his first lifetime. But since her reassignment to him by their Lord, things were amiss. She was angry with him, or so he thought, reticent to appear, did shoddy work at best and was less than thorough.
“I need you for an assignment, and you must leave immediately.”
“I cannot. I am unwell and don’t feel capable of carrying out your orders. I am sorry Master, but I will not be leaving this Island.”
“You can and you will. This is not a request; this is a command.”
“Send m
e home to our Lord. He will dispose of me as is a fitting punishment for my transgressions. I have done great wrongs, and he has sent me here yet again to see if I can reform. But, I cannot.”
Adam was puzzled. Aside from Hana, there were no other Immortals kinder than Niona, though a great warrior too.
“I shall leave the Sari in your care. I am not needed for the purposes for which I have been sent. I am sorry to disappoint you, but this is my fate. I shall return to our Lord and be put to death. It is his command and punishment if I failed here in my task with you again.”
“I am confused. What transgressions and why is the Lord angry with you.”
“I am with child. I have had sexual congress with more than one Cyclical Immortal since we parted. With many in fact. I have said to our Lord that I do not know which Cyclical Immortal has fathered the child; I will not tell our Lord who I guess it is.”
“Do you know?”
“Of course. From the moment of conception. I was elated; he was not. He said he would deny paternity and nothing could be proven except by my word alone. I was to help you with the slaying of Liara and Saldana’s daughters with the Sari; then, afterward, my fate is already decided.”
Adam said, “We leave now. We go to see our Lord. Be quick about it. Say nothing and for once, be obedient and try to act penitent.”
“But …”
“Shut up woman, or I shall surely punish you more harshly than you have ever experienced.”
“Yes, Master.”
They were in the Great Hall in seconds and appearing before the Lord.
He said, “You are both here, so I assume your task is accomplished.”
“No Lord. Not yet. I have come before you humbly to beseech you to forgive my arrogance and disobedience.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, sire, I have broken your rule and met in secret with Niona the Huntress, and in that disobedience, I have had mortal union with her against your express prohibition. I am solely to blame as I deceived Niona into believing this union was blessed. She has since sought only to protect our child and me.”
Niona, now on her hands and knees, refusing to look up, was asked, “Is this so child? Has my favorite deceived you for carnal desire?”
Niona began to speak, then Adam said, “Silence wench. You are indentured to me, and you will speak when I permit you. Is this not your command, oh Lord?”
“It is. And you refuse to permit your servant to speak?”
“She has spoken quite enough for one day. I ask you to punish me, not her. Her only transgression was in believing a deceitful mortal without self-control.”
“Then go home and bear and raise your child. Your punishment is that your child shall be named something that will remind you of this transgression. It shall be a reminder that the cause of your transgression and the punishment thereof shall be eternal Cyclical Immortality. I wish not to see you again, Adam, until you have something significant to report.”
They prepared to leave.
“Niona, I shall never see you in this realm again except when your husband is in great need. Two more blades have been crafted with rare gems in the hilt: the large blade for Adam, the smaller for you. They are not Sarii but are powerful when used together or apart; they came as a gift from a distant realm for something Adam, and you helped with in another lifetime. I know not what they are, nor the power that dwells within them. Take them.
“And Niona, do his bidding as he loves you more than you know. Begone.”
At home, in Greece, Niona asked, “Why? I deserved punishment. My transgressions were great, but now I am saved as is my child.”
“Our child, and never forget that, nor shall you ever repeat that other phrase. This child you bear is ours, not yours. I am the father, and no one else.”
“But why? I left you. I was horrid to you. And I was unfaithful to you.”
“I love you. And we were not mated, although our Lord seems to have changed our status back to wedded bliss. Your choices were your own. With whom you sought congress was your own to decide, not mine. We shall speak of this no more. We return to our life as it was in our first life. Our Lord has commanded it.”
“When I loved you with all my heart and could not live without you.”
“We shall see how long this new plan lasts. I am not angry; this child is a blessing and, though he carries only my name, he is nonetheless my child, our child henceforth. And you shall agree to fulfill your duties to me, to our child and our Lord. Tell me truthfully. Can you do all of these things?”
“I can and will. I give you my oath.”
“The last one was short-lived.”
“We will be as we once were in the beginning, so I will never break your heart again.”
Niona paused.
“I have an idea.”
Adam looked at Niona, suspicious. His trust in women, never good in this lifetime, was at an all-time low.
“What?”
“What’s your name? I think that since we just met, I should know who you are. You might be a highwayman. Ready to advantage a poor defenseless woman all alone and just barely making my way in this cold world.”
“Well, bad luck for you. I am a merciless highwayman, I am kidnapping you, and will have you for my own. I live on an Island from which you shall never be rescued. Come, woman; you are beautiful and defenseless. I much desire carnal relations with you. I hope to produce a child.”
“Not the tender script I had in mind, but the carnal relations part sounds good.”
They landed on Island One, in the Master bedroom, the door sealed shut.
“You’re not without skills woman, but you must learn to have more than a few paltry orgasms. Pay closer attention and apply yourself.”
“I shall, Master.”
“Let’s keep the ‘Master’ thing just between us. Otherwise ‘Adam’ or ‘husband’ will do.”
***
“I told you so,” said Hecate to her Lord. “Now pay up, oh Omnipotent One.”
“Marie is raised to Cyclical Immortality and is charged to you and Adam.”
Hecate said, “She must reside in the Community for now. Adam must believe I am dead, and if he sees Marie, he will know we’re deceiving him.”
“It is done. You may reside in a cottage and do whatever makes you happy, which in your case is a ceaseless sexual diversion with those of your own gender. Did not Adam ever object?”
“Nope. Not in his nature. No men, but as many women as pleased any of us wives. We all loved him very much. Still do. You will still give him his surprise when he fulfills his task?”
“I am your Lord! Yes, I shall do as you’ve asked. Why I am not certain.”
“You love me.”
“I love no being. I am your Lord and above all emotions.”
“Except for me. I shall argue no more. The matter is settled.”
“Women!”
***
When Adam returned, he asked to talk to her about how she was feeling with the pregnancy and what he could do to make her more comfortable. He was concerned because Immortal pregnancies were short and comfortable; mortal pregnancies, not so much. He assumed Niona was lying about paternity, protecting either a Cyclical or a full Immortal. He would find out soon enough.
He called Kalindra and caught her in her office with his Head of Security, Finn MacCauley.
“I want you to implement Protocol 22 in two days. I’m sending someone to the Mindwerks tomorrow, then we begin. I will give the numerical order of transfer; anyone who doesn’t want to leave is released per their contract. Anyone who fusses over the order is likewise released. No dissention and no complaining. Understood?”
“But there’s going to be pushback.”
“Then I’ll have a leaner staff. There is a spy or spies in the facility, and I will weed them out. Anyone refusing to cooperate is likewise dismissed.”
Adam paused.
“I hav
e two Airbus A380-800 fueled and ready to go. They have a capacity of over eight hundred passengers, so we’ll be fine. Stick to the order I give you; it is essential.”
“Where to?”
“They will fly to a destination I give en route, then transfer to a cruise ship for a week of fun, then be transported to their new homes. Tell them I understand this is a burden, but it is absolutely essential. Team players will be rewarded. I hope this is over soon but tell the people – no check that - I will tell them that they may be gone for up to a year. If that’s not acceptable, they should go elsewhere. Find out today and have template termination packages ready for first thing in the morning. Pay to date, plus a month for every year of service. That’s it.”
“You sure about this boss?”
“Positive. Why?”
“I won’t be coming.”
“Never expected you would. I’ll miss you. Your job will be over in forty-eight hours. Good luck.”
“Roger that. You want Zeke and I out today?”
“No. You’ll both be examined, then you can do as you please.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“Of course, I trust you; I don’t trust Zeke. I had him checked out — hinky stuff. I think he’s a Cyclical Immortal. Did he tell you that?”
“No. Why would he need to?”
“Really?”
“If you don’t trust him then you don’t trust me.”
“No matter. You’re going to be hostile, and I understand that. But you will be examined.”
***
Niona felt better after talking to Adam and getting settled in on Island One. She would be with Adam in his bedroom; Misti and Patsy would be next door on one side and Saldana on the other. Cia and Eene would be in bed with Adam and Niona. The arrangement was decided by the ladies, with Darii having her own bedroom just across the hall.
The next morning Niona went to the Warehouse and scanned the minds of everyone there. Zeke was absent, but she found him packing in his old apartment, a residence Kalindra knew nothing about.
Kalindra showed up.
“Leaving?”
“Business out of town.”
“Thought you gave this place up when we got married?”
“I did. Just letting the lease run out.”
Patsy Murray Page 22
