by H. M. Clarke
“The Walkerville Prize! You won the Walkerville Prize? With a picture and a half-page article. You didn’t tell us anything about this. I would have gone and had a look at the viewings at the Art Gallery.”
By this time Mark had come back to stare over Chris’s shoulder and John Summerby, who sat at the desk across the aisle, had stepped up for a look at George’s paper as well.
“At least they took a decent photo of you,” was John’s comment as he scratched at the day old ginger stubble on his chin. John Summerby was only slightly shorter than both Chris and George and had an unruly shock of faded ginger hair that framed a ruggedly handsome face. Wire-framed glasses framed his face and highlighted the blue of his eyes that now held a twinkle. He was enjoying this.
Kaitlyn wrenched her eyes from Chris and stared at all the faces now standing around her. George’s paper had gathered quite a crowd.
“I didn’t tell anyone because I…Oh, I don’t… I just didn’t want the attention. I didn’t realize that it would be in the paper.” Kaitlyn found herself getting hot in the face. She looked up to see George looking closely at her with worried eyes.
“They haven’t got a photo of the winning piece in here,” John said as George held the paper to allow Kaitlyn to have a better look at the article.
“I asked that no images be made of the painting unless they are promoting the Walkerville. I’m glad to see that the paper actually went with that.”
“Why no photo?” Chris asked, his eyes glaring across the paper at her. Kaitlyn felt the familiar stomach clenching start again. This was the real reason she did not want to tell everyone. She did not want to be the focus of Chris’s attention and become all gooey mouthed. To hide her reaction, Kaitlyn spoke directly to George.
“Once an image is out there, especially once it hits the Internet, it starts to get reworked and tinkered with. I just wanted to try to keep my image pure for a small while before it gets distorted by others.” Kaitlyn looked again at the photo of her accepting the award from the Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia.
“It’s not a bad photo is it,” she said with some relief. Kaitlyn thought that she always looked bad in photos. The black dress she had worn made her look elegant and refined against the background of the Gallery’s Victorian architecture.
“Did I miss the memo for the staff meeting?”
Everyone turned to the back of the pack and Kaitlyn looked up to see David’s head towering above the others.
“Nah, we were just admiring Kaitlyn’s picture in the paper,” Mark piped up.
“Kaitlyn’s in the paper?”
“Don’t tell me that she did not tell you about it either,” John nodded in the direction of the newspaper.
David smiled sheepishly as he read the article headline. “She told me about it, but that is not why I have come around.” David immediately had everyone’s attention. Everyone knew that he had been to visit the Old Man on the weekend. “It’s good that you are all together, at least I don’t have to chase you over the floor.”
“What’s up?” Chris asked.
“The Old Man has decided to reconstitute new teams after the loses The Order and the RPU have taken, and I as one of the newly chosen team leaders was given permission to choose my new team members. And per chance, you all happen to be here herding around Kaitlyn’s desk.”
“Why are you the new team leader?” George asked as he carefully folded his newspaper and tucked it back under his arm.
“Because the Old Man has chosen me to be. After Jack’s death, He has decided to re-organize the teams to make them more balanced.” David passed his steady glance over the faces around him. “The Old Man has also given us our new assignment.”
“So much for our promised respite,” John murmured.
“Yes, well, I thought the same until The Old Man told me what was coming our way. Let’s move into the conference room.”
All the men automatically started to move around the corner towards the conference room; Kaitlyn watched them go before turning back to her screen with a sigh.
“What are you sitting around for?”
Kaitlyn jumped in her chair before throwing an annoyed look at David over her shoulder.
“I’m not an active agent am I.” Kaitlyn couldn’t keep the irritation from her voice. David always had to rub it in—and she is just as experienced as he was when he first went on active assignment.
“You are now.”
“What do you mean by ‘You are now’?” Kaitlyn turned in her chair, eyes narrowed as she looked in David’s direction.
“It means that the Old Man wants you as part of my new team. So the more you argue with me, the longer you keep the rest of your team waiting.”
Kaitlyn closed her mouth on the quip she was about to give and instead jumped from her chair and gave David an excited hug. “Thank you, thank you. You finally got Him to cave in.”
David smiled, and he returned a brief hug. “I didn’t have anything to do with it. The Old Man thinks you are ready.”
“About time too.”
“Sorry to interrupt the love in, but are we going to have this meeting?”
Kaitlyn and David turned to see John Summerby peering over the wall of the cubicle.
“We’re coming around now.” David quickly stepped away from Kaitlyn and walked passed John towards the conference room.
“We?”
Kaitlyn moved around and took John by the arm and steered him in the same direction as David. “Yes. We. You can be the first to welcome me to the team, John.”
“Welcome.” John bent down and gave Kaitlyn a quick kiss on the cheek. “God, I wish Mark was here to see that.”
“You shouldn’t razz him so much, John.”
“But it’s fun.”
Kaitlyn shook her head as they both turned into the conference room, so she did not see John as he bent down and planted the sloppiest kiss he could manage on her cheek.
“John!” Kaitlyn glared at him as she wiped the wetness from her face with the back of her hand and sat down at the table.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” John said with a smile as he looked down the table to a stormy faced Mark Rimmer.
“Okay everyone, stop the clowning. We have work to do.” David stood from his position at the head of the table. “First news is that the Old Man has finally promoted Kaitlyn to active field assignment.”
Kaitlyn accepted the quick congratulations from the men around her, though George’s seemed a little restrained.
“Kaitlyn…” David swept a finger around the rest of the table. “And the rest of you as well. Even though you know everyone in this room, since we are a new team, we are going to quickly introduce ourselves and our Talents. Just as a reminder.”
Everyone around the table groaned.
“I’ll start. I’m David Wheeler and I’m a natural Lycanthrope. A werewolf, to be precise.”
“I hate this shit….” Kaitlyn heard John mutter under his breath as George spoke.
“George Lucien, a Canto Mage My precise, spoken spell castings become reality, though I need an object to cast from.”
“Christopher Lucien, a Reticeo Mage. Basically the same as George, except that I do not need an object to focus my spells. And I do not need to voice my spell.”
“Mark Rimmer, a Technomancer. I woo technology into doing my bidding.”
“John Summerby, a natural Shapeshifter. I can be whatever creature I want to be, though preferably not Mark.”
Then it was Kaitlyn’s turn. And she was dreading this as much as John. She took a deep breath.
“Kaitlyn Winter. I’m good with a gun. I’m a decent investigator. I have no Talent.”
“There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” David grinned at them all.
Kaitlyn glared at him. The bastard did this on purpose!
“Now, the second piece of news is not so good.” David tapped a long finger at the desk controls and the room lights dimmed.
> “Interpol has passed intelligence to the Australian Federal Police that a listed Restricted Practitioner has moved illegally through international boundaries and is now thought to be residing in Adelaide. The AFP has passed the case on to us to investigate.”
David pressed the touch pad again and the far wall lit up with a still shot from a black and white surveillance video of what looked to be a busy counter area. The man standing closest to the camera was highlighted. Another tap on the touch pad and the image zoomed in and resolved on the man’s face. “This is William LeBruye, though he entered Australia under the name of Edward Bunter-”.
“LeBruye? Here? Impossible.” Chris sat straight in his chair, his face pale in the artificial light of the screen.
“You know him?” Mark asked from across the table.
“I know of him.” Chris glanced at his brother. “He would be known to George and Ishmael as well. He was a member of The Order in the European Union but was declared ‘Missing in Action’ around ten years ago after an engagement in Oslo, Norway.”
“It seems that he is missing no longer,” David said, focusing everyone’s attention back on himself. “This video was taken at Heathrow Airport six days ago as he was passing through customs. It is unknown how he arrived in the United Kingdom or what his movements were before this moment. It seems he has been clever enough to avoid being noticed. Until now.”
“Where has he been all these years?” Mark asked.
“The Old Man is having the European Order and their RPU’s reopen its files on LeBruye. But the Old Man told me that the trail went cold after the Oslo incident.”
“What happened in Oslo?” Kaitlyn asked. Chris, George and David might know the history, but it was plain on Mark and John’s faces that they were just as much in the dark about this as she was.
“It was supposed to be a standard raid on an illegal psych enhancer export operation, LeBruye was the first to enter and found the place booby trapped. He was assumed to have been killed in the resulting explosion, but as no body was recovered he was listed as ‘Missing in Action’.”
“This man’s been missing for ten years… Even if he is now considered an illegal practitioner, he was a member of The Order. How dangerous can he be?” Mark frowned as he adjusted his glasses.
“Mark, LeBruye has hidden himself away for ten years and one has to ask the question why? He was a highly trained and very experienced operative and it doesn’t help that he is an Ignis Mage.” David tapped the control again and let the video play.
Kaitlyn felt a chill shoot down her spine as David pronounced the man’s Talent. The very same Talent as the Old Man’s. Kaitlyn’s eyes drifted to the picture of Ishmael Rothe that hung on the wall, showing Directors past and present. Fire Practitioners are so rare and potentially so dangerous. They can have an object burst into flames or could boil water—or bodily fluids - with just a single thought. Rothe, who is recognized as the most powerful Ignis Mage alive, became legendary among Practitioners when he demonstrated his Talent to a group of United Nations Observers by incinerating thousands of hectares of narcotic poppy fields in the Balkans in the time it took the UN observers to blink.
“As far as the Order is aware,” David continued. “LeBruye has not been detected using his Talent, but the Old man would like us to find and ‘observe him’ to determine whether he is a public threat or not. In particular he would like to know who he is associating with and if possible to find out exactly why he has chosen now to make himself known.” David tapped at the desk controls again, bringing the lights back up.
“We will start by sifting through the information that the AFP has given us, and I want our street sources put to work trying to locate this man. Report back to me with any findings.”
David moved to stand right in front of the monitor as he spoke, and Kaitlyn could have sworn that she saw William LeBruye smile at the screen as he stepped away from the customs counter and move out of range of the camera.
There was a brief rap at the door, and then Julie the receptionist ducked her head through.
“Mr. Wheeler, someone from the Australian Federal Police is here to see you.”
“Thank you, Julie.” He leveled his gaze around everyone in the room. “I think we’ll leave it here. I’ll forward a copy of the AFP dockets to each of you and see what you can glean from any of your street contacts.”
Kaitlyn watched David march off to his new office, and she quickly followed him out and waited for Mark to come out of the conference room by Julie’s front counter. She still could not help thinking as she walked behind Daf - He gets elevated to Team Leader and still he wears that old rumpled tweed suit.
“Julie, do you know what the AFP is here for?” she asked while grabbing Mark by the arm as he walked by and waving him to wait for her.
“No. Sorry,” Julie replied. “They don’t usually clear their business through us lowly Receptionists, but there has been a lot of too-ing and fro-ing between our offices.”
“Thanks Julie.” Kaitlyn smiled back at her, then grabbed Mark by the arm and walked him back to their cubicles.
“Does this mean that you want to go out with me now?” Mark said as Kaitlyn steered him to her chair.
“If you can show me where the mistake in my code is, I’ll reward you with a peck on the cheek.”
“Deal!” Mark said as he put his hand out for her to shake on it. And as Kaitlyn’s hand clasped his Mark quickly added. “As long as I can kiss you when Summerby is watching.”
“Deal!”
CHAPTER
FIVE
◆◆◆
David Wheeler opened the door to his office, a little miffed that his visitor had closed the blinds over the glass wall. As if anyone on this floor would want to see everything that happened in this meeting—well, except Kaitlyn. And maybe Mark.
The dark suit stood with his back to the door; staring at the photos that David had just finished setting up on the shelves.
“Hello Phil. What brings you out this early in the morning?”
Philip Summerby turned as David closed the door. Tall and sandy-haired with a mouth that looked prone to smiling, his flashing blue eyes felt as if they could pierce into David’s soul.
“Business. I’m not here to see my brother.”
That’s obvious; otherwise you wouldn’t be in my office.
“Have a seat.”
David sat behind his desk and Phil sat opposite him. Trust Phil to be the one to christen his new visitors' chair. John’s brother always rubbed David the wrong way, though he had no idea why. He just did—maybe it was just his officiousness, or maybe it was because he was the complete opposite to his fun loving brother. David just did not like him.
“Does you business have anything to do with a Restricted Practitioner by any chance?”
“Stop playing around David,” Phil said as he slipped a hand into the breast pocket of his jacket and drew out a sealed envelope. “Mr. Rothe suggested I give this to you.” He then tossed the envelope onto David’s freshly minted table.
David stared at the envelope lying on the empty desk. “What’s this?”
“It is something that my superiors did not want passed between the agencies - especially with an agency that is not exclusively controlled by the Australian or South Australia Government.”
“So why are you passing it on?” David asked, trying not to let his dislike of Phil to show.
“There are more important things going on here than inter-agency jealousy, David. Once you view the contents of that envelope you will understand.”
David glanced at the envelope again. “Why are you sticking your neck out like this? What’s in it for you?”
Phil shook his head, a look of exasperation on his face. “I don’t believe this,” he said under his breath, but David heard. “I told Rothe you’d be like this.” Phil abruptly stood up and smoothed imaginary creases from his jacket front. “Fine. Open it or not, David, I’ve done my part.”
“Why would you take this to Rothe first?” David stood as he spoke. He had not meant to antagonize Phil, but that’s just the way things always seem to go when they are together.
Phil turned back as he opened the door.
“Everything goes through Rothe first.” Phil closed his eyes a moment and then gestured towards the envelope with his free hand.
“David, just look at it. I’m going to visit John before I go back to the office.” And with that, he closed the door behind him as he left.
David looked down at the envelope still sitting on the desk.
◆◆◆
“All you needed was a colon in line ninety two Kaitlyn.” Mark swung around in the office chair, a large smile on his face.
Kaitlyn leaned over Mark’s shoulder to look at the offending line.
“And you could see that I missed that from your desk?”
“Yep.”
“You’ll be surprised at what Mark can see when you’re concerned,” John said from his workspace across from them.
“Come on John,” Mark said with a look of wounded dignity. “You make me sound like some kind of stalker dude.”
“Who’s a stalker?”
Kaitlyn, Mark and John all turned at the new voice.
“Hello Phil,” John said as he pushed a spare office chair in his brother’s direction with a nudge of his foot.
Phil neatly grabbed the chair and dropped smoothly into it. “Mark, I see you’re still the butt of John’s Jokes. You have to stand up for yourself more.”
“Stop giving him ideas Phil,” John said slouching back in his chair. “How else am I to amuse myself on long dreary days?”
“Now I’m offended,” Kaitlyn said. “Aren’t I entertaining enough for you?”
“As easy on the eyes that you are, nothing beats getting a rise out of Mark.”
“Please, do I have to listen to John’s dreary conversation as well as having to move desk?” This was followed by a loud bang as George Lucien dropped a heavy box onto the empty desk that butted against Kaitlyn’s.