Frank scratched his head, feeling rather foolish as he waited for Anne’s reaction. He surreptitiously rapped the back of his head with a knuckle before he put his hands back down on the desk.
Frank didn’t like feeling foolish. “We can look for different accommodations,” he offered as a resolution.
Anne shrugged. “That would depend on what space you have here. Do you have something like a meeting room, where we could handle our day-to-day interactions?”
Frank smiled briefly and nodded once sharply. “There are a couple of additional rooms in the back, and either could be turned into a suitable area. But why,” he looked around the room as he asked, “keep something like this if we’re not going to need it?”
Anne chuckled at his question, and Frank felt a shiver of unease go up his spine at her tone.
“Neither Jinx nor I, nor, I expect, Stephanie, want to sit here feeling like delinquents,” Anne explained, then motioned to include herself, Jinx and Frank. “So, we are going to want a less formal workspace. But you,” she raised an eyebrow, a slightly predatory smile crossing her lips, “are undoubtedly going to need this fancy space to suitably impress the people you will be dealing with. At least until I learn how to do that.” Anne giggled. “If my looks mature enough that people will take me seriously.”
Anne was impressed. In the time it would have taken her to find out who to call, Frank had a stream of people showing up with furniture and fixtures.
There was only one complication, and that came from her side of the equation. The first group of people who showed up with furniture was delayed when Ethel Brenner stuck her head into the office area.
“Are you expecting someone, ma’am?” she had asked.
Anne had been working on her tablet and looked up, startled at the touch on her shoulder.
“What?” she asked, trying to shift her focus back from the information she’d been studying.
“Your guard asked you a question,” Frank informed her.
Jinx?
E asked if you were expecting someone.
Anne thought back to the past several seconds and realized while she had heard the question, she hadn’t reacted because it was addressed to “ma’am.”
“Since when did I become ma’am again?” she asked.
Frank caught the tightening of the guard’s eyes and put a hand on Anne’s shoulder. When she looked up at him, he told her, “You’re not going to win this one. Public area.”
At Anne’s mutinous look, Frank knelt beside her. “Get used to it.” He held his left hand above his head. “This is Bethany Anne, okay?” Once Anne nodded, he continued. Holding his right hand about eye level, he said, “This is me.” After Anne’s confirmation, he moved his right hand up a couple of inches. “This is your guards.” He gave a small smile when he saw Anne’s widened eyes. He then moved his right hand up to just below his left hand. “And this is you.” Anne’s expression went from shock to rebellion, and Frank continued before she could cut him off.
“If Bethany Anne had told you to call her Bethany Anne, would you address her as ‘Bethany Anne’ or ‘Empress’ if you had to talk to her in her main reception hall?”
“Empress, if there was anyone else around.” Anne sighed as Frank’s example registered.
Frank nodded. “You work for Bethany Anne, and they work for you. Bosses need to be shown a certain level of respect,” Frank made air quotes with his fingers, “when there are members of the general public around. It’s how the majority of us are trained.”
Anne glanced at the ceiling quickly, then took a deep breath. “Sorry, Marine Brenner. You had a question?”
E shot Frank a look of gratitude for his handling of the protocol issue, then shifted her gaze back to Anne. “Yes, ma’am. I have several people here with cartons, claiming they are filling a delivery order.”
Anne nodded at her and smiled at Frank. “Mr. Kurns here ordered some furnishings. I expect that is them.”
“We have a problem, ma’am,” E said unhappily. “Since this is not part of the unrestricted area of the Meredith Reynolds, and since you were meeting Mr. Kurns, we were operating under our Echo One protocol. The two of us are not enough to ensure your safety if all these unchecked people are given access.”
Frank ran a hand across his face. “Echo One?” An eyebrow rose with his question.
“Yes, sir.” E’s eyes went briefly to Frank’s face, then continued to scan for threats. “Areas of the MR where we don’t expect to have to protect Anne and Jinx from aliens,” she explained, then continued, “Or from large numbers of humans of unknown security status. This many people are going to require escalating to Echo Two. We need to call Arthur and wait for him to arrive before we can allow people access.”
“Well…” Frank started, then stumbled to a halt as he looked at the females in front of him.
“I can plug my ears if it makes you feel better, but I’m certain we’ve all heard worse.” Anne stuck the tip of her tongue out at Frank.
“I expect you are correct, but I was raised in a time where a gentleman did not swear in the presence of ladies, especially young ones,” Frank informed her solemnly. “Without resorting to profanity, E’s situation has made me aware that this office space will more than likely fall under your Echo Two designation once it’s up and running.”
Anne shook her head vehemently. “Not acceptable,” she growled. “There is no way the three of them can follow me here all day and still maintain their schedule when I’m home!”
E shifted her body slightly so she could see Anne and Frank from the corner of her eye, yet still maintain her watch on the entrance of the office. “This isn’t the time or place for this conversation.” Her voice was quiet yet emphatic.
Anne sighed resignedly, figuring she was going to lose this argument. Looking at E, she asked, “If Jinx and I weren’t here while the furniture was moved in, would that alleviate the issue without waking Arthur?”
E nodded sharply. “What do you have in mind?”
“I’ll grab you and Jinx and step us to my apartment,” Anne suggested as she moved closer to Ethel. “After everything is moved in, I’ll step us back.”
“You have the same ability as the Empress?” E asked in wonder.
“I don’t know if it’s exactly the same as BA’s, but the results are the same, and that’s what matters right now,” Anne confirmed, placing a hand on E’s shoulder and reaching with the other hand to bury her fingers in the soft fur on Jinx’ neck.
E quickly shrugged free of Anne’s hand. “Wait,” she said. “I need to let Abby know what’s happening.”
After a quick conversation with her cousin on her comm, E squared her shoulders and nodded at Anne. “Ready now.”
Anne replaced her hand on E’s shoulder and stepped toward her apartment.
“W. T. F?” Anne snarled as she found herself with Jinx and Ethel in the Etheric.
“Get down!” Ethel pushed Anne to her knees as she brandished her Uzi, scanning for threats.
Jinx howled a laugh as she looked at the Marine’s gun. “That’s the problem,” she chuffed as she nosed the metal weapon. “I remember my dad saying his person has a really hard time moving metal in the Etheric.”
Anne removed the scrunchie from her hair, shook it out, and reformed the ponytail, securing it once again. “Unacceptable,” she declared, shifting from her knees to sit cross-legged.
“Ma’…Miss, what are you doing?” E asked, concern evident in her voice.
“We should have been through here so quickly that you wouldn’t have even noticed,” Anne informed Ethel. “I can’t be dragged to a stop every time just because someone has metal on them.”
“That’s fine, Miss, but Abby is expecting a call confirming you got us home safely. Could you possibly put this off to a later date?” E inquired hopefully.
Seshat?
>>Running searches already, and I’ll block off some time on your calendar for research and experimentation,<
< Seshat promptly replied.
You’re awesome, thanks! Her conversation with Seshat complete, Anne climbed to her feet and once again made physical contact with Ethel and Jinx. This time, instead of just stepping home, Anne increased the power required for the move, slowly so she could begin an internal database on how much energy was required for Etheric travel under different circumstances. Anne noted that she had to pull power through Jinx before she reached the level required to move her group to their apartment.
Note to self, Anne mused as she heard E contact Abigail. Don’t pop into the Etheric to experiment without having Jinx along.
E felt sorry for Anne. The girl really cared about others, and that included her guards. “Look, with the new furnishings, you no longer know of a safe space to move us to. We have to return the normal way. It’s either have Abby come back here or wake Arthur. Since we are going to need to have a discussion about that office location, we’re going to need Arthur there anyway.” E did her absolute best to maintain a serious expression as Anne pouted, realizing she had once again lost an argument with her security team.
Anne wondered if Guardian Connors slept in his clothes. Not because they were messy, but because it had only taken thirteen minutes from E waking him to him arriving fully kitted out to escort Anne and Jinx back to their new office space. Anne gently rubbed Jinx’ ears during the tram ride. She knew from previous experience that Guardian Connors would not engage in conversation while he was on duty.
“I can multitask,” he had told her, “but I can’t give multiple tasks one hundred percent. I am not willing to miss a threat to you or Jinx because I was distracted by a conversation.”
Frank was not in the fancy office when they arrived. Abby had informed them that there was still one unverified person in the facility. Anne followed Ethel as she led the way back to the new meeting room. The unverified person was stocking a new vending machine that stood in one corner of the room.
After the woman completed her task and left, Frank held his finger to his lips and walked out of the room. He returned momentarily with what looked like a small suitcase in his hand. Frank removed a device that looked like a miniaturized metal detector and did a slow circuit of the room, moving the device back and forth in a careful pattern.
Jinx sat quietly watching Frank walk around their meeting room, waving some sort of device.
What’s he doing? Jinx asked her person.
My guess is he’s scanning for covert surveillance devices—what your James Bond characters would call bugs.
Jinx pondered Anne’s reply as she watched Frank wave his machine over a chair for a second time. By the time Frank motioned to Guardian Connors to put the chair on the table, Jinx was in motion. She got to the chair and put her front feet on it before Guardian Connors could move it.
Can you signal him in some way to wait a minute? Jinx asked her person as the Were looked at Anne for an explanation.
Sure thing, her person replied, and Jinx watched as Anne held up both hands and then one finger. Jinx was surprised to see Guardian Connors tap his left wrist, hold up one finger, and then give a thumbs-up sign.
What was that? Jinx asked.
He’s giving you your minute, so do what you want to do, and I’ll explain while you’re working. Anne replied.
Although her sire had started as a normal canine, he didn’t like to talk about those days. So, if you didn’t count him, Jinx had never met a non-enhanced canine. She did, however, love to hear stories about how her ancestors could be trained to detect all kinds of substances by odor alone. In fact, she was very proud it was her sense of smell that had alerted the humans when her person had been sick. With those feats in mind, Jinx carefully sniffed the entire chair. There! That corner on the bottom—something smelled different.
Can you get him to turn it over? Jinx inquired hopefully. Jinx was pleased and quite proud of her person when with just a few motions, she had Guardian Connors picking up the chair and turning it over, then holding it so just the back was resting on the floor. There were several things in the bottom of the chair that looked like they were holding the fabric in place, and it only took Jinx three seconds to identify the one that had a different odor than the others.
This one is wrong, Jinx sent, touching the offending item with her nose. Anne didn’t even have time to reply before Guardian Connors gave her a pat on the side, pointed to the tack, and gave her a thumbs-up signal. Jinx watched long enough to see the Were pull a multi-tool from a pocket and access a screwdriver blade, then she followed Frank as he swept the rest of the room.
Anne had done some research after Jinx had discovered the cancer no one else knew was slowly killing her. From the research, she knew how incredible a canine’s sense of smell was, and her lips curved into a small smile of pride when Jinx located the device that Frank’s machine had hinted at.
There’s another one here, Jinx’ familiar mental voice informed her. Anne turned to find her companion on her belly, sniffing the bottom of the new vending machine. Anne touched Frank’s arm as he returned to his starting position and pointed at Jinx.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Frank mouthed to Anne.
Anne shook her head and pointed emphatically at Jinx. She watched as Frank took his device and returned to the vending machine, carefully passing it under the machine. While he was doing that, Anne dug her tablet from the backpack she used to carry items like that and wrote a note, which she showed to Frank.
I’m sorry, but I don’t care what your machine says. I trust Jinx!
Frank sighed as he returned his scanner to its case. Anne motioned for Guardian Connors to tip the vending machine over. Once the machine had been tipped a few degrees from vertical, an alarm started shrieking. Anne plugged her ears with her fingers, wishing she could do the same for Jinx as her friend’s tail fluffed in displeasure at the noise. Jinx quickly sniffed the now exposed bottom of the vending machine.
It’s here, covered by some tape that’s been painted the same color as the machine, Jinx informed her, pawing gently at a spot on the skirting around the bottom. Anne grabbed a marker from her pack and drew an arrow to the spot Jinx was indicating.
Let’s get out of here! Anne followed the message with action, heading for the door. As soon as Jinx and the others had cleared the room, Anne shut the door. Speaking out loud for the first time in several minutes, she pointed down the hallway.
“I think this is a good time to use that fancy office. Hopefully, it will be quieter in there with the door closed.”
Chapter Two
Anne and Jinx remained in the office. Frank had only needed one look at Anne’s eyes to suggest he be the one to take the vending machine rep into their new meeting room.
Sitting beside Anne’s chair, Jinx noticed the aura around her person’s hands and used her nose to nudge her bare arm.
Calm down. Chances are the vending machine person didn’t even know it was there. I didn’t smell any sort of nervousness when we showed up.
Anne pulled in a slow deep breath, then blew it out just as slowly while she released the energy she had gathered in her hands. She hugged Jinx tightly for a second, then straightened, keeping one hand in the fur around her friend’s neck.
You’re probably correct, Anne grumbled. I’m not really blaming her.
What’s got you so tense, then? Jinx wondered.
Anne stood and moved her chair so she could flop down beside Jinx. Her friend was so large, Anne could lean all her weight against Jinx and not budge her.
I’m trying to figure if this was targeted or random.
Go on, Jinx encouraged. I’m not making the connection.
If it’s random, someone’s bugging office furniture, hoping they luck out and hear something useful. If it’s targeted, that means someone somewhere suspects we are doing something that’s worth monitoring. Anne sighed again and continued, I’ve got a bad feeling this is going to mean more guards and more restrictions.
Jinx briefly wis
hed her legs worked more like arms so she could give Anne a hug. Since a human hug wasn’t possible, she carefully laid down and put her head in Anne’s lap.
You might be right, she agreed, but I’m guessing this is just moving the schedule up a few months.
What do you mean? Anne queried.
I imagine the moment you and Stevie create something useful, both of you will become higher-value targets. Jinx winced at the emotional spike that came through her connection to Anne.
Fu…dge!
Anne ran her fingers through the soft fur on her friend’s neck and relaxed.
Do you remember telling Jean Dukes that people with pets were less stressed?
Jinx chortled a laugh. It’s true. In some cases, there are up to thirty-some percentage points of improvement in heart disease for people who have dogs as pets.
“Wow.” Anne was shocked into speaking out loud. “That’s really significant.”
A female voice spoke as the door opened. “What’s significant?”
“Hey, Steph. Jinx was just telling me about studies she knows of that claim people with dogs can be up to thirty percent less likely to suffer from heart disease than people without.” Anne looked up at her friend and co-worker.
Stephanie Kasyanov stood in the doorway with her hands clenched, but the automatic “Call me Stevie” response died on her lips. With a mental sigh, she stepped into the office and knelt in front of her two friends.
“How do you get away with it?” she wondered.
“With what?” Anne queried, her expression was wide-eyed and innocent. She let her face relax as she reached out to touch Stevie’s arm. “Sorry, I think of you as Steph in my head, and whenever I’m talking to Jinx or Seshat, I call you Steph. It just slipped out.”
Etheric Adventures Boxed Set: Books 1-3 Page 25
