by wade coleman
Pam turns her hands into a fist and puts them on her hips.
“I’m sorry, but my mom is religious and frowns on breaking one of the Ten Commandments. The relationship with my mother stands on a firm foundation of lies. Otherwise, she freaks out and worries.”
Pam gets a text and looks at her phone. “You best be going, my father’s coming back.”
“Did he ask you to make sure I was gone before he got back?”
Pam smiles. “Daddy does like anyone I like. That’s the foundation of our relationship.”
“What his first name?”
“Richard, or Rich. Why?”
“Captain Richard, Rich, no Captain Dick.”
“Captain Richey,” Pam says, “That’s a pet name from his college days.”
Pam walks to the front door. “Your next gift should fit around my neck.” She rubs her fingers through my hair. “The Baron’s party is fourteen August. That’s a Saturday. Be here by four PM sharp, and dress nice. Bring the car and a driver.”
“You really want to go through with this?”
“Yes, I do. With money, I have more choices. I’m bored with the options I have now.”
“You’ll get no argument from me,” I say and then walk down the street. I turn around and ask. “Where is the Visitor Center?”
“Front Gate.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The next week is busy with preparations for the Baron’s party, Punishment of the Dogs. I plan on breaking into his private office and use his terminal to steal his money. I already have his passwords and a backdoor installed in his law firm.
Captain Richey Fields came through and I got a copy of Jason’s Baron’s retina scans. He’s connected with U.S. Navy Intelligence. Richey hates his new nickname and this pleases me.
I get a Portuguese language software installed for Natasha. Basically, Natasha is fluent in Portuguese, not me. She can translate and display the transliterated Portuguese that I can speak. Natasha and I have been practicing our language skills six hours a day, but it’s not enough training to fool a native speaker.
I hate holes in my backstory. It’s bad planning and bad acting. At least my makeup will be near perfect. With my new face augment, I gave Maggie my makeup kit. Kim gave me a funny look, so I sat that bitch down and showed her how to do her hair and makeup. Maggie was impressed. Kim said, “What I’m I supposed to do with all this shit on my face?” That’s when Maggie took Kim upstairs.
Daniel “finds” a vintage Humvee. Dad and I go to work upgrading the armor and suspension in the car. Daniel insists on a nitrous oxide boost for the eight-cylinder engine. We argue over the paint and compromise on a green jungle camouflage.
I upgrade my Pureblood identity by having Natasha upload my John Norwich alias with iris and retinal scans. John is the legal owner of my twin engine Cessna Eagle.
On the day of the party, Kim drives up in the olive green Humvee with black tiger stripes. Kim is posing as John Norwich’s driver for the party. She’s wearing an armored chauffeur uniform, a black wig and makeup to cover her stripes.
I get in the back and sit on the new fake leather seat. Kim and I keep up a steady chatter as we drive out of Ceres and into Highway 80. We take the bypass that cuts across the northern peninsula. From Ceres to the navy base is fifty miles, but it’s a winding road with a big car, so we take our time.
The other side of the peninsula is San Pablo Bay. Soon, we pass the road that leads to the Boneyards and the old town of Napa. Soon, the bay highway heads north to the navy base. After ninety minutes, we drive up to the front gate of the navy base. The man in uniform stops us and Kim rolls down the window.
The gate guard is a young mutant with long fingers. “Are you John Norwich?”
“Yes, I am.”
“You mind if I ask what kind of gas mileage you get?”
“It a turbo V-8 diesel engine with twin forty gallon tanks. “On fuel save mode, it gets ten miles to the gallon. On performance mode and nitrous oxide boost, it gets two gallons to the mile.”
“That’s a sweet ride,” he says and pushes a button. The arm raises and Kim drives through.
I help Kim navigate, and kids get out of our way as we get into temporary base housing. Behind us, a carven of kids on bikes follow us. We stop in front of a long row of identical cinderblock housing.
Kim gets out, opens my door and stands by the Humvee. I caravan of kids stop.
“Who are you?” a voice says from behind me.
I turn around and smile for my audience. “I’m in disguise.”
“Natasha,” I whisper, “Change my eyes to red.”
In a few seconds, the kids gasp and back up.
“That’s pretty frecking spooky,” a kid with an elongated skull says.
“My real name is Skeletor.”
“You dating the redhead in three G?”
I smile and walk to the door. Before I can knock, it opens. Carol inspects me, pulls a piece of lint off my shoulder and then lets me through.
But I’m too wound up to sit, so I pace in the kitchen, waiting for Pam. She walks out of a room wearing a green velvet dress with a V-neck. Her smart garment is tailored to make her waist narrow and her heart-shaped butt. Her red hair in ringlets stops at her waist.
“What wrong with your eyes?”
“Oh, I was playing with the neighborhood kids.” I turn and look at Carol. “Why did you tell me?”
“I wanted you to make an ass out of yourself in front of my daughter,” Carol says.
I throw my head back and laugh.
Carol lines us up for a picture, and I say, “Wait just a minute, I haven’t presented my gift.”
I did some research on the Pureblood mating rituals. Since our first date is a scheduled society event, the appropriate gift is a necklace. It is presented in front of her parents. If the father approves of the date and the gift, then he puts the necklace on his daughter. Setting the velvet box on the kitchen table, I open it. Inside is a heart-shaped ruby.
Inside is the right eye of the Kukan Dragon, recut into a heart shape, and set on a gold chain. I pick up the box and hand it to Pam.
“What the hell is that?” Captain Fields says with obvious disapproval.
“That is an eight and a half karat flawless pigeon blood red ruby, set on a twenty-two-karat gold necklace. This was the right eye of the Kukan, it was recut to hide its origin. The ruby is probably priceless.” Taking a step back, I cross my arms and watch how the rest of their ritual plays out.
“Darling, you know you're a little bit of a dick.”
I nod.
Pam turns around and gives the necklace to her father. Mr. Fields gives me an icy look while puts the necklace around his daughter’s neck. After Carol takes a picture of Pam and me, we head out the door.
“Every time my father sees you,” Pam says, “you find a way to make him despise you even more.”
“Yeah…It’s gonna be hard to top that one, but I’ll think of something.”
Kim adjusts the rear-view mirror to get a look at Pam. “I got a gold chain, and she gets a dragon’s eye? It’s her tits, isn’t it? I always knew you were a tit man.”
“Well, that and you have yellow eyes and tiger stripes,” I say. “Your complexion is more suited to yellow and green, not red.”
Kim gives me a sneer.
“Pam, this is Kim. Kim is my friend and business partner. Kim, this Pam. Please be nice to each other, keep focused on business.”
We clear the base housing and exit the main gate. We head south to the old city of Santa Rosa. It was buried in the sand during the drought. When the rains returned, the Santa Rosa Valley was planted with redwood trees.
Once we get on the main road, Pam says, “Arriving in this Humvee says we’re military. You used a military channel when you communicated the license plates of the plague cars. The saving of Frisco from the virus is being spun as a joint US Navy - Army operation. The Baron is none too pleased with his defeat. He’ll see m
y presence here, a naval officer, at his society event as an insult.” She touches the ruby around her neck. “The men will be envious of you and will make polite but biting remarks.”
I shrug. “They can say what they want. I have my eye on the prize.”
We drive for an hour and enter the foothills. Pam, uncomfortable with the silence, fills the cab with small talk.
I push a button, and a quarter-inch steel plate rises separating the two cabs.
“Natasha, change my appearance to the John Norwich identity,” I take Pam’s hand. “Being nervous is good… It keeps you sharp.”
We sit holding hands and looking out the window at the redwood trees. After the decades of drought, the only thing left of the redwood trees was their seeds. The genetic engineers gave the trees deeper roots and the ability to go dormant during dry spells.
A few miles from the main house is a bridge with a gate. I lower the barrier between the front and back seats. Security personnel occupies the checkpoint. They stick a box mounted on a pole under each car, waving it back and forth. If the device detects explosives, an alarm goes off. Soon they get to us, and a man taps on the glass.
Kim rolls down her window but keeps looking straight ahead. Security looks at us and talks into a mike. He turns to Kim: “Pop the trunk, ma’am.”
Kim pushes the button, and the man heads to the back, looking in. He shuts the trunk, raps twice with his knuckles, and Kim puts her foot on the gas.
A few miles away is the Baron’s estate, a medieval castle he carted over piece by piece from England. It is now standing on a hill, overlooking the redwood forest. “It’s show time. Stay close to the car and don’t use the radio unless it’s an emergency.”
“Roger that, prissy boy,” Kim says.
Pam looks at both of us with a puzzled look. She doesn’t understand our relationship.
Kim nods and stops in the circular drive in front of the castle. She gets out and opens the door. After exiting the car, Kim closes the door and drives to the east lawn with all the other vehicles.
Pam holds my arm, and we walk up the marble steps. A man dressed as an admiral opens the door for us.
“Why is the doorman dressed like that?”
“Contempt. The military is rivals to corporate power.”
“How did you get an invite to this party with your military background?”
“My genetic pedigree is impeccable, and then there’s the fact that I look like this.” She slides her hands down her hourglass figure. She moves over her body in a way that makes my mouth go dry. Looking at her waist, I have to agree, and it takes all my effort to pull my eyes away.
I recognize the atrium from Mark’s immersion helmet, a circular floor of blue lapis lazuli, the dome roof and the walls carved with Roman busts.
To the right is the party. We go up to the round carpet and stand in the center.
“The Lady Pam Fields and escort!” a voice announces.
Pam works the room, introducing me to various people. Per Pam’s instructions, I’m wearing a black suit and green tie to accent her dress.
After a half hour, she leaves to mingle, and I find a spot by a column to take in the view. The great hall was once a medieval church, stained glass high in the ceiling depicting images of Hellhounds hunting a stag from the beginning to a very gruesome end. I grimace in disgust.
Two ice sculptures replace the altar, a dog and goose. Banners of crucified dogs on one side of the hall, the other side are geese surrounded by flowers.
I find a column to lean against and people watch. I have never seen such a gathering of pretentious Purebloods.
A man in a white suit walks up to me. “Showing up at this party with a navy officer sends quite a statement, lover boy. You know her father was responsible for the recovery of the Kukan Dragon and foiling the Baron’s pet project, ‘Kill All Mutants.’”
I look over at Pam, quite the Queen Bee, all the people buzzing around her.
“Look at those perfect genetic tits and ass,” the man in the white suit says. “I am so jealous I could pull out all her perfect, perfect, hair.”
“I know, that’s why I getting an egg,” I say, “But you just walk up to women and say, how much for your egg. You have wine and dine her first.”
The man in white politely chuckles and a waiter walks up and shows us a plate of mushrooms. Instead of taking one, I take the plate and send the waiter on his way. I’m enjoying playing the role of John Norwich.
“And here comes Poppa Bear,” the man in white says.
A well-muscled man enters dressed in a red shirt with black epaulets on the shoulders. His pants are black with a red streak down the seam, with my acute vision, I can make out the belt buckle is the head of a Griffon.
“Look at him…he turns eighty-four this year,” the man in a white suit says to me. “You know the Baron’s going to hate you for showing up at the party with the navy officer. She’s protected by her social connections, but you, little man, is fair game.”
Pam takes up position to be seen. The Jason Baron’s eyes finally find her and Pam walks toward him, putting her arm through his. They talk for a few minutes and then she looks my way.
I turn to the man in white and bow. “My queen awaits.” On the way over to the Baron, I can feel eyes following me, their gaze penetrating. Natasha whispers in my ear, “The man in the red tie said the hounds have arrived.”
Pam lets go of the Baron’s arm. “Baron, this is John Norwich.”
I stand next to Pam. “A pleasure to meet you, Baron.”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“Darling, Jason is six foot four and around two hundred and thirty pounds. I telling you this because that’s not a smile, it’s a grimace. That man hates you.”
The Baron doesn’t even try to conceal his contempt for me, and he speaks in Portuguese, “Tell me, John, how did you survive all those years in the slums of Brazil?”
“Recognizing friends from enemies,” I reply in Portuguese.
The Baron continues in the same language, “Mr. Norwich, why are you here?”
“Why I’m here with a naval officer whose father is responsible for your… setbacks?” I ask in English.
“To be blunt, yes,” his voice on the edge of a growl.
I turn to Pam, “Look at her.” The Baron gazes at Pam. Pam, reading the situation, radiates a sweet smile. “How could I say no to her?” Pam walks over and takes my arm.
The Baron’s scowl lets up just a little, then he forces a smile and eventually a laugh. It might even be genuine laughter. “Excellent. A fool in love.” He puts his hand on my shoulder. “Just to show you there are no hard feelings, you’re welcome to attend tonight’s fox hunt, Mr. Norwich.”
“Yes, thank you. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Pam and I walk back to the atrium and into the next wing. One room is dedicated to Renaissance paintings. In the center are mannequins dressed in armor. The first is ancient Greece, the plates made of brass, the second Roman, made of steel. The last armor piece looks like a beetle shell, its surface a black mirror.
Natasha appears and stands in front of a door marked ‘Private’ in brass letters. “This is his office.”
Pam stands next to the door and casts a shadow. I slip through the floor crack and reform on the other side. The walls are lined with dead animal heads. There’s a terminal embedded in the wall.
“Natasha, change my eyes, so I match the Baron’s.”
After waiting a few minutes, I hear, “All done, darling.”
With my eyes morphed to match the Baron’s, I walk over to the computer terminal. It comes on automatically. My new eyes pass the retinal scan and I enter his attorney’s password. I quickly gain access to his financial accounts. The baron has twenty million in cash. With the next purchase of Blue Algae stock, he is the majority shareholder.
With the Hong Kong Stock Exchange still open, Natasha routes the twenty million through hundreds of bank accounts and erases the trail be
hind her. Next, she enters a program that will sell all his stock just one second before the closing bell. I’d love to see his reaction when this happens.
Tapping into the security system, Natasha programs cameras to go into a self-diagnostic mode at 10:15 PM. This will shut down the sensors for thirty minutes.
Slipping back under the door, Pam is still waiting for me. We head back to the party and engage in small talk until around 10 PM when the guests begin to leave.
I escort Pam to the car, and we get in.
“Did you find his computer terminal?” Kim asks.
“It’s done. Let’s suit up.”
“Then why are we staying?” Pam asks. “You know it is a trap.”
“I have an advantage. The Baron doesn’t know that I know it’s a trap.”
Kim assembles a rifle. “A trap is a casting call for heroes.”
I check my vest for my equipment: goggles, penlight and spider-silk gloves. I’ll need all my tricks tonight. “Yeah, the Moon is up and I’m buzzing and you’re smelling like cookie dough. I wonder if they severing after party espresso.”
“You two are crazy. What have I gotten myself into?”
Kim tapes a blade to my back. “I sensed their minds tonight. These are dark men with dark needs, Hermes.” Her tone is very serious, and I heed what she says.
Out of a compartment hidden behind the backseat, I pull my bug-out bag. In it are my armor resistant clothes and running shoes. Many has been the time when my escape depended on outdistancing my pursuers, so proper footwear is always a priority.
Last, I turn on my phone. Kim does the same. My upgraded ears come with a wireless upgrade, which I hate because it makes my ear hot. But this is an emergency, so I’ll put up with it.
“At 10:15 PM, the sensors will be disabled for thirty minutes. Find a place to hide by the river. Wait for me there.” I don’t wait for a reply and step out of the car.
Kim throws me some plastic knuckles, and I put them in my back pocket. Returning to the mansion, I find a dressing room on the second floor. Clothes are laid out for me on the bed, an outfit like the Jason Baron but with subdued reds and no epaulets.
I prefer my clothes; they have a better armor rating than a Baron Enterprise standard corporate executive uniform. When I leave the room, I’m directed to the backyard, the moon is half full and waning. The shadows are weak, but it’s enough.