“Let them do their job,” smiled Tatiana, “and we do ours.”
Gillian smiled back, “Fair enough, I guess.” She rearranged her hair and fur as she tried to change the mood, “So, what is planned for the day? Nothing is on the books as is.”
“Well,” began Tatiana, “as soon as Zoë gets out of the shower, we were talking about picking up her little brother and going to the aquarium down town.”
“Zoë is here? I didn’t see anyone in the guest bedroom this morning,” asked Gillian more than a little confused.
Edward and Tatiana looked at each other sheepishly but were saved from explanations when the front doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” ventured Tatiana as she escaped from Gillian.
Kadu quickly checked her comlink and then nodded as Tatiana opened the door.
It was Moira. She was dressed as nicely as she’d been yesterday, but today she looked as giddy as a school girl and was clutching two books. She looked around nervously, “Can I come in?” More than a little confused, Tatiana nodded and Moira scurried into the living room and beamed at Tatiana as the door closed.
“Had to make sure Victor didn’t see me here. Dad doesn’t approve of your music and that old lint ball Victor is the world’s biggest spy,” Moira was bumbling and giddy as she held out two books. “Would you please sign these?”
Tatiana started to understand and brighten, “So you do like my music.”
“Oh, yes,” bubbled Moira. “It’s great fun. Everyone at school plays the heck out of it, yet it never seems to go old. I was kinda glad your concert got moved a week; Mother will be back by then and she might let me go. Dad won’t.”
“Your dad’s no fun?” laughed Tatiana as she graciously signed the books.
“Bor-ring. Not only that, but I think he is tone deaf too.”
“So, Victor—he was that older tall guy in the elevator yesterday?”
“You left off ‘creepy,’” laughed Moira. “Yep, that’s him. He’s the chauffeur and spy.” She blew a raspberry.
“Out of curiosity, what do you honestly think of Zoë’s piano work?” asked Tatiana.
Edward gritted his teeth; he was pretty sure Zoë could hear the conversation in the other room.
Moira rolled her eyes, “I’ve been taking piano lessons since I was four. Hated it all. Boring, boring, boring. Then there was that recital at the university. Zoë won a scholarship playing that, you know. Anyway, that was the first time I ever heard someone play piano that seemed to be enjoying what they were doing. And it really translated! It was the first time I ever enjoyed a recital. If only I had teachers who were like her growing up, I probably would have enjoyed piano a whole lot more. I probably would have practiced a bit harder, too,” she giggled.
Tatiana smiled, “When the concert tour is over, I do believe she will be teaching. If you are interested.”
Moira smiled, “That would be wonderful.” She laughed lightly, “That is one of the few things I think my father and I could agree on.” Moira waved to Edward, “Hi, Mr. Silverglade! If you could drop by when my mom gets back, that would go a long way towards convincing her it is going to be safe at the concert.”
Edward smiled, “I’d be happy to speak on behalf of the entire team. Speaking of which, this is my partner, Kadu.”
Moira smiled and bobbed politely to Kadu, “Delighted to meet you, ma’am.”
“And you, Lady Grauer.”
Moira spun and bobbed to Tatiana again, “Thank you again. I need to get back before I’m missed.”
Tatiana gave Moira a quick hug before seeing her out the door.
Zoë poked her head out of the bedroom, “’Mr. Silverglade.’ Does someone feel old yet?”
They all had a good laugh at that.
Gillian caught Edward by himself as Tatiana snuck off to the kitchen, “Your brother, the one married to Ivy, how big is his family?”
Edward looked a little surprised at the renewed curiosity. “Llewellyn. Ivy is the First Mother, Maria the Second Mother, and the twins April and May are the Third Mothers. They adopted our niece, Dawn, and they already have a three-year-old girl named, Heather, and are expecting another child at any time.”
Gillian cocked her eye, “Third Mothers, plural, that is normal for twins?”
Edward nodded, “Pretty much. Twins are considered lucky in families and tend to marry in as a pair. Occasionally you end up with two First Mothers!”
Gillian smiled, “That does sound like it offers a lot of opportunities for some interesting family dynamics. I guess things would come across differently if that is how everyone was raised. Do you know why I’m bringing this up?”
Edward’s mind went blank. “Um, no ma’am,” he replied formally.
Gillian snickered a bit at the ‘ma’am’, “You are seeing both Tatiana and Zoë. I think you would make an excellent couple with either of them. What I’m curious about, and concerned about, is the fact that you are seeing both of them at the same time.”
Edward was confused, “Um, it’s not like it’s a secret or anything. I mean Tatiana kinda got into it when…”
Gillian hissed as she folded her ears back and closed her eyes, “I don’t want to know about it!” She took a deep breath and relaxed and her ears perked back up, “You are a Highlander: dating two girls at once may not be that big of a deal where you are from, but we aren’t where you are from. These girls aren’t Highlanders; they haven’t grown up with this being the status quo. Please do try to keep that in mind in your dealings with them. They aren’t used to it; in fact, there is a common phrase that ‘three is a crowd.’ Just please be careful. I like all three of you way too much to want any of this to end poorly.”
Edward nodded slowly as it all started to sink in, “I guess I never really thought about that aspect of it. I also guess calling you ‘Mom’ isn’t so far-fetched after all. I’ll try and be careful, but I never thought… well, I guess that is the problem. I wasn’t thinking.”
Gillian smiled warmly, “You mean well. I know that, but relationships are complicated at the best of times and these are hardly the best of times. Added to that is another party and things are just extra complicated.”
“I’ll do my best not to hurt anyone.”
“That is all I can ask. And I didn’t expect you to do any less. I just want to make sure you are thinking about what is going on. Now scoot! Go get something to eat!”
“Yes, Mom!”
19
Two hours later, Tatiana, Zoë, and Edward, with Kadu sitting up front, found themselves once again in the armored car cruising to the far side of town. Gillian had elected to give the aquarium a miss, but the others were determined to have a good time.
“This isn’t exactly the best side of town,” observed Tatiana as she peeked out the window.
“Unfortunately, no,” agreed Zoë. “But this is where my aunt lives and she takes care of my little brother. I help pay his bills since my aunt is mostly retired, and we keep talking about moving them to a better part of town. But she keeps insisting on taking any and all spare cash and saving it for Ethan’s college fund. Not like he needs it; he’s a sharp cookie.”
“So Ethan is the name of your brother?” asked Kadu.
Zoë laughed, “Yeah, sorry I wasn’t so clear.”
“May I ask why he isn’t living with his parents?” asked Kadu.
“Because they are worthless people that…” Zoë fought for control and just gave up and just sat there in silence for a while. “At fourteen I became an emancipated minor. That same year we were able to get my aunt to take over legal guardianship of my little brother. I had a scholarship to a private school; that took care of me. My older brother helped where he could until he left planet. He helped my aunt with the bills for Ethan there for two years. I wish he had stuck around longer, but I don’t blame him for leaving.”
“Hey,” began Tatiana, “if you don’t want to talk about this, we understand.”
Zoë smiled back
at her, “I’m sorry for blubbering. Let’s just get Ethan and have a good day.”
Tatiana smiled back, “Sounds like an excellent plan.”
They soon made it to the row house where Ethan lived, and Zoë sprang out of the car to get him. A few moments later, the pair of them returned. Ethan was a wide-eyed boy of about fifteen years with a fur coat that was a spitting image of his sister’s: just like a clouded leopard’s. He was tickled to meet Tatiana, but just as tickled to be riding in a real armored car. He found the Shukurae fascinating!
In less than half an hour they were standing outside a massive aquarium. Edward had never seen one so large; it was easily ten stories tall and looked like it went forever off into the distance. Edward thought he had done a lot of walking at the reception the other night, that was nothing compared to walking the aquarium. There was no way they were going to see it all in one day, but that was probably the charm of it. Ethan seemed to be in second heaven and could name just about every variation of fish and creepy crawly they came across.
“How many planets does this aquarium cover?” asked Edward.
“Just this one,” beamed Ethan before he launched down another viewing tube.
“Wow! He really is into this isn’t he?” asked Edward.
Zoë beamed, “He has ‘marine biologist’ written all over him, doesn’t he?”
“Who needs a guide when you have your brother,” joked Tatiana. “I think he’d move in here given the chance.”
“Don’t give him any ideas!” joked Zoë. “They have a summer internship that he’ll be old enough to apply for next summer. He’s pretty much got it, unless he finds something better.”
Tatiana laughed as she watched Ethan in the distance, “What could be better than this for him?”
“The aquarium down in the Katwara Prefecture. It is five times the size of this one. Covers sea life from seven systems.”
“Wow! They have internships too? I bet they are competitive.”
“Yep, but you can’t win if you don’t try.”
“Good attitude,” smiled Tatiana.
They spent four more hours walking the varied halls and tubes of the aquarium before finally, finally Ethan was tired enough to admit defeat. The only problem they had the entire day had been a single run-in with a camera crew and Tatiana. She had quickly turned it into a plug for the aquarium and all went well, save for some very tired feet.
“They need to pad the floors in here,” groused Tatiana. “These tunnels are how many thousand kilometers long?”
Zoë snickered then asked, “Is there anything planned after dropping off Ethan? We have a long day of rehearsal tomorrow.”
Tatiana blew a raspberry, “We still have time to eat over at Grausberry’s.”
Zoë whistled, “That’s a pricy place.”
“Eh, we go back, change, drag Gillian along, and get her to pay for it.”
“Drag her along?” joked Zoë.
“Kicking and screaming. It’s her second favorite place!”
“It is a long way back to Lord Ethan’s residence and then back to the hotel and then Grausberry’s. Might I suggest that I take him home so as to free up your time,” offered Kadu.
“That would be cool!” interjected Ethan.
Zoë smiled, “Well, I guess that is that.” Zoë hugged Ethan goodbye as he and Kadu hailed a cab.
“He does seem to like the Shukurae,” mused Tatiana.
“Well he’s not met many other races save for humans. I’m just happy to see him doing well around others,” beamed Zoë proudly.
“Eh, he’ll probably use it for bragging rights at school,” mused Tatiana.
“Whatever works.”
“Shall we ladies?” interrupted Edward as he opened the door of their armored car.
With a quick nod they all piled in the car and made their way back across town. It had been a long day, but a fun enough diversion from their normal routine and the sun was making its soft descent on the horizon when they made it back to the hotel. They were, to some relief, greeted by Alex and Meeka when they arrived.
Tatiana hugged Alex as they got out of the car, “Oh, so good to see you back out of the hospital!”
“Glad to be out. Kinda stiff still, but nothing like hospital food to motivate you to leave!” joked Alex.
They all threaded their way to the hotel elevator and had just started up the elevator when Edward’s, Alex’s and Meeka’s comlinks all chirped in unison.
“Not good,” mumbled Edward as he swatted his comlink. “Edward at the nest. What is the problem?”
Takru’s voice instantly came on over the air. That wasn’t a good sign at all, “Is the client secure?”
“Ninety seconds from lock-down. What’s up?”
“Contact back when client is secure.”
“Welcome back, Alex,” offered Meeka.
Alex laughed, “Thank you, Meeka, that was a good one.”
Tatiana looked at Edward nervously, “What is going on?”
“No clue, we’ll find out as soon as we have you safely upstairs.”
Tatiana nodded and cozied up next to Edward as did Zoë. It was the longest elevator ride any of them could remember, but there was little point in speculating and less point in rushing Takru. When they finally hit the elevator landing they rushed into the room and bolted the door behind them. Meeka contacted Jake and Paul outside to let them know they were inside and locked down.
“What is going on?” asked Gillian as the mob rushed in. “I got a cryptic message from Takru that said to stay in the room.”
“It was Takru not Trevor; that was a bad sign,” noted Tatiana.
Edward nodded to the crowd as he activated his comlink, “Edward at the nest. Locked down.”
“Seven minutes ago, Kadu and her charge were intercepted on the street by elements of the River of Tears motorcycle gang.”
Zoë’s fur immediately stood on end.
“After a short gun battle, Kadu went down and her charge was kidnapped.”
Edward’s fur bristled and churned black and gray as he continued to listen.
“Kadu is in route to the hospital. Massive blood loss, but trauma to the torso was minimal. Six of the gang members were pronounced dead on scene and four more are under guard in route to the hospital.”
“Did Kadu get a tag on Ethan?” asked Edward evenly through clenched eyes.
“Affirmative. We are showing an active trace on his location. En route to the edge of the industrial district where there is new construction. This is consistent with what the locals know of the gang.”
“What do they want?” asked Gillian incredulously.
“That gang, probably a ransom demand,” glared Zoë. “And they are the type to get messy if they aren’t paid.”
“Why Ethan?” asked Tatiana.
“Current estimation is due to news exposure with him at the aquarium this afternoon.”
“So they see someone that lives on the crap side of town that is chummy with a rich person and they grab him,” offered Edward.
“That fits our current profile.”
“I hate this town! I hate this planet! Why did we have to get stuck in this backwater pit!” screamed Zoë.
Edward nodded to Gillian and she quickly moved to Zoë, “Come on dear, let’s take a break from all this and let the professionals deal with it.”
“Do we have clearance to act from the locals?” asked Alex.
“Not yet,” replied Takru.
“I’m not sure I care,” retorted Edward.
“I’m not sure I do either,” replied Takru with a cracking snarl.
Edward turned to Zoë, “Pick out a dress. We’ll be back in time for supper.”
“Assault gunship will take fifteen minutes to get online and eight more to load up.”
“Faster Takru. We need something faster,” growled Edward.
“I can have a news repulsar craft on your roof in three minutes.”
“So long as they d
on’t squawk.”
“They get exclusive footage. But if they broadcast a live feed, I promised to shoot them out of the air.”
Edward laughed, “You are such a charmer Takru.”
“You thinking an armor slam?” asked Alex.
“You up for it?” asked Edward.
“One day out of the hospital… so sure… I’m game. Meeka, you going to wait on the gunship?”
“Meeka,” began Takru, “if you could get to the hospital, they are unsure about blood supply for Kadu and you are the correct type.”
“Then I am going to the hospital. Good luck Highlanders,” Meeka nodded and left the room.
“What about oxygen and wing suits?” asked Edward.
“Kadu’s room,” came Takru’s voice, “should have everything you two need.”
Alex and Edward turned and headed for the door.
“Be careful,” called Tatiana tearfully.
“I wasn’t kidding about supper. You go pick out a dress too!” called Edward with an evil grin as he and Alex left the room.
A short walk down the hall and the pair opened the lock to Kadu’s room. They couldn’t help but gawk as they walked in. There was a bed, a simple box of clothes, and then there was a complete arsenal filling the room. Weapons for Shukurae, Taiks and humans. A quick laugh at the display and the pair quickly found what they were looking for: high altitude oxygen masks, winged jump suits and geo-projection tracked night vision helmets. They soon added on various bits of rappelling equipment and a few stun grenades just for sport.
20
By the time they had suited up and made it to the roof, a news repuslar craft was on final descent. The pilots looked more than a little nervous as the Shukrae covered them with weapons as they landed.
Edward rapped on the cockpit glass and barked at the pilot, “Are you rigged to open the back at 10 to 15km up?”
“No, we only have emergency oxygen and the cabins don’t depressurize separately.”
“Then we’ll ride on your landing gear.”
Edward and Alex parked themselves on the landing gear and clipped safety harness around the supports. “Move it!” Edward barked over the intercom.
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