“Whoa, so you are a baron? That sounds cool!” beamed Tatiana.
“Eh, not until Midwinter. Baron is more of a military role than a political one. But even then, it is bad form to put too much power in one family.”
“That seems very practical,” remarked Zoë. “Other planets could learn from the Highlanders.”
“Okay, I think we have all had enough politics for the day,” interrupted Gillian.
They all laughed at that and agreed.
“So what did you two plan to do for the evening?” asked Gillian.
“Well, we were hoping you could help us. We were thinking about going out to a dance club,” replied Ivy.
Tatiana smiled broadly, “That sounds awesome!”
Zoë beamed, “Which style? We have so many!”
Edward looked confused, “Um, dance club? Are you serious? Trevor will shoot us!” He thought about that for a bit, “Okay, with you along, Trevor will simply be nervous. But seriously, Llewellyn, a dance club?”
“We should eat here, to save time!” interjected Tatiana.
“Water. Make sure everyone drinks lots of water!” chimed Zoë. “No alcohol. You’ll just dehydrate too quickly.”
Edward just stood there dumbstruck. It was going to be an active, if not very different, evening.
Ivy poked Edward in the ribs and laughed, “Come on, it’ll be fun. Didn’t you know your brother likes raves?”
Heavy beats, flashing lights, and people everywhere bouncing like they were insane. “Um, no. I had no idea,” Edward replied quite honestly.
“Don’t worry,” coaxed Tatiana. “It’ll be fun.”
30
Two hours later Edward found himself staring at the armored car as it disappeared in the distance while he stood on the curb with Zoë, Tatiana, Ivy and Llewellyn. They had decided to hit an area of town where there were several clubs, so if one was not to their liking, they could easily walk to the next. They disembarked some distance away so as to not cause a scene. The low lights and pressing crowds would enable them to operate incognito. That was the plan at least.
Edward looked nervously up at the glitzy glass building. He could already make out the faint driving bass beat, and the flashing lights would probably be obvious to weather satellites. The five of them quickly made it up to the entrance and Ivy paid the cover for them all. The bouncers looked at both Llewellyn and Edward suspiciously but not a word was spoken.
As they threaded their way into the club, Edward finally caught sight of the dance floor and started to understand why his brother would like it: his brother was insane! There were hundreds of people all moving in time to the music without a hint of personal space. The music was powerful and made his fur dance from pressure waves alone. The lights danced across the floor, walls, and ceiling in eerie patterns. Some in time with the music, some just appeared to be random. The room was heavy with the smell of sweat, perfume, and the stench from artificial smoke. Even the air had a taste to it. That was it. Every single one of his senses was being assaulted by this place.
Edward was shocked as he looked over and saw Llewellyn’s coat pulsing in time to the beat. He was a High Silver; his fur didn’t simply change color like Edward’s did. Llewellyn was actually turning transparent in time with the music.
His brother noticed him staring at him and grinned, “Penn and I used to have sparring matches in places like this. It’s a nightmare to try and track people in here. Lots of fun!”
“Okay, that is nice to know. Both of my brothers are insane,” replied Edward.
“Just relax and try to enjoy the company of the girls if nothing else.”
“I’ll try.”
“At the very least, you can sit back and leer as things jiggle.”
“You know, I never expected to hear my brother say something like that.”
“Always glad to help!” Llewellyn waved as he and Ivy headed straight for the middle of the dance floor.
Edward was doomed and he knew it, but it was only for the evening. He could survive. He tried to smile as he rejoined Zoë and Tatiana, “Shall we dance?”
Three hours later Edward, Zoë and Tatiana sat at a table with their fourth round of iced drinks. Meanwhile Ivy and Llewellyn were still out on the dance floor.
“Your brother is some bizarre, exotic, feral creature,” observed Tatiana. “I like to dance and all, but they have been out there forever!”
“He’ll probably come back in another two hours and make excuses for stopping early on the account of being out of shape,” offered Edward blankly.
“You got some rift going on with your brother?” asked Zoë.
Edward laughed, “No. He has always just been so fantastic. The ultimate big brother. I’ve tried to follow in his footsteps and always seem to be reminded that I’m just not as good as he. He’s a High Silver. All my brothers were High Silvers. I’m just a Silver. Most people say I should just be happy with that.”
“Um, how many High Silvers are there?” asked Tatiana.
“Among all the known planets and colonies: nineteen. Penn and Llewellyn are two of those nineteen. The stupid part is, I know I should be happy with who I am. I’m a Silver, rare enough. I’m darn good at what I do. It’s just all my brothers have been High Silvers, why not me?”
“I don’t know; I like you as you are. At least I can see you all the time,” laughed Zoë. “Changing color is cool, but your brother is kinda weird to look at.”
“Weird, my furry tail. He’s pushing creepy,” added Tatiana.
Edward laughed a bit at that. He had never thought of his brother as weird. “Thank you both. I needed that.”
“Oh we can do better than that, just wait until we get you home,” fired Tatiana back with a grin.
“Oh, finally. Here come those two,” beamed Zoë.
Ivy bound up the short stairs to the table where the three were waiting, with Llewellyn following close behind, batting at her tail playfully. “Stop that!” she grinned to her husband. “Okay you three, did you want to hit a different club, or did we keep you up past your bed time?”
“I think we are all done for the night,” replied Edward. The girls nodded in agreement.
“Okay, well then page the car and let’s go catch some night time air to cool off,” suggested Ivy.
“Sounds like a plan. It’ll take them a bit; they aren’t parked too close,” replied Edward.
“That’s fine. More time to cool off!” beamed Ivy.
The five of them threaded their way out of the club and out into the night air. It was cool and crisp, a welcome contrast to the club. While the urban smells weren’t exactly pleasant, they weren’t as stale as the air inside! As they started walking along the street Llewellyn casually asked, “Problems with motorcycle gangs?”
Edward looked at him nervously, “Yes, why do you ask?”
“We are being followed.”
Suddenly Edward’s fur cycled nervously and Tatiana and Zoë pressed close. So much for a casual night out!
Ivy looked at the girls, “Hey, it’s okay. No one is going to spoil tonight.”
“Um, someone needs to tell them that,” suggested Zoë as the headlights of seven motorcycles suddenly winked on aimed straight at them.
“Let them go, take them alive, or take them out?” Llewellyn asked evenly to Edward. He could have been ordering a pizza with that tone of voice, it was so calm and unconcerned.
“Um, Trevor would like it if you could take them alive. Just don’t risk the civilians in order to do that.”
“Perfectly reasonable.” Llewellyn reached over and kissed Ivy on the cheek lightly, “I’ll be right back!” He walked out into the middle of the street and just stood there smiling at the gang members.
One motorcycle pulled forward and its driver got off. “We haven’t come for you. Stand clear and no harm will come to you.”
“They are part of my family. You have to go through me first, thank you.”
The gang member sniffed and grinned. With a
flourish he produced a Live Steel blade in a shower of blue sparks. Not common in the outlands, but not unheard of either. “I’m called the Reaper. I’ve an open warrant in five prefectures. I suggest you reconsider.”
Llewellyn responded in kind and with a simple flourish produced a Live Steel long sword of his own. “On Bervik III, IV, and VI, I was called the Hand of Kali. Well, at least I was called that before I was banned from those planets as part of the terms of the cease fire. I hated the title, but you seem to like them, so there you go.”
Tatiana poked Edward, “Is he serious? He was banned from three planets.”
“More than three actually… just those three had a stupid nickname associated with it. He hated that name. I mean really hated it. It does not bode well for him to tease my brother.”
“You have a Live Steel blade and a boastful attitude, but how long do you really think you can stand against us? Do you know who we are?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. I’m bored. Time for you to lie down,” Llewellyn snarled in a voice that would have shattered ice. Llewellyn charged the group, springing down the street. As he ran, grass sprang up where his feet touched the ground. But the display of flora was not what caught everyone’s attention, it was the display of live steel: he threw his sword at “the Reaper” but as the sword left his hands it exploded in furious display of sparks until it had been replaced by a full sized Kedar Mk III grav tank. The gang member hit the pavement just in time to have the tank flatten his motorcycle with a horrible ball of flames.
There was a squeal of tires as the other six motorcycles accelerated directly towards Llewellyn. Without even a blink, three more grav tanks and an even larger wheeled assault gun platform appeared in a shower of blue sparks and came crashing down on the attacking mob. The drivers had to ditch their bikes in order to avoid being crushed and soon there the entire street was on fire with vehicles on fire.
Llewellyn snarled as the bikers went for their side arms, and he slammed his fist down to the ground and growled a vicious primeval scream. Everyone along the streets that hadn’t already covered their ears did so now. There was a flash as the streetlights exploded and went dark, but it was the wall of trees that suddenly catapulted the bikers high in the air that left everyone speechless. There in the middle of the street was now a wall of trees well over thirty meters tall with the would-be assailants trapped high in the canopies.
Llewellyn smiled as he rejoined the group, “There we go. They all lived, and I didn’t blow out the electronics at the night clubs.”
“That,” murmured Edward, “is why Trevor wasn’t worried about us going out tonight.”
“I think it is a good thing there are only nineteen of them,” murmured Tatiana. “Edward, let me be perfectly clear. I like you just fine as a Silver.”
“Me too!” concurred Zoë still a little confused.
“I can live with that,” smiled Edward. “Let’s get back before he sets up another garden.”
31
Morning practice started as usual, nothing out of the ordinary. Llewellyn and Ivy did not join them; they planned on showing up at lunch. The morning briefing made for a humorous re-telling of the previous night’s activities. The locals were perplexed with what to do with the line of trees, but the local stores and clubs were eager to keep them. It was hard to get trees to grow well in the deep city and these were very mature trees. What caught everyone off guard, however, was the call for an informal assembly at lunchtime at the concert hall. All those off duty were invited out. No one was required to show, but such activities were rare enough that people would show for curiosity’s sake if nothing else. In parallel, Gillian had a comparable announcement; better than normal food was to be catered and everyone had the afternoon off.
Thus, there was no small amount of curiosity as lunchtime rolled around. Members of the 517th off duty slowly started to pile in, as did several staff members of the local and federal police. It was turning into quite a showing.
A pair of local police types carefully made their way over to Edward, “Mr. Silverglade, I presume?”
“One of two,” he offered with a smile. “I’m Edward. My brother Llewellyn will be here shortly as well.”
The officer smiled evenly, “We were looking for you, sir. Could you explain how your brother came to be having a series of Kedar grav tanks on him? I know there is that whole Live Steel thing, but grav tanks?”
Edward rolled his eyes and laughed, “Yes, well, first of all, my brother loves his theatrics. To him, it was the perfect game of one-upmanship. They brought knives and guns, he brought a tank. As far as how did he do it? Um, ultimately the same principal as a normal Live Steel blade is used. Mass and momentum are kinda fast and loose. They have to be. Matching the momentum of a simple blade from two different planets is extreme, but it all comes out in the wash. He’s just darn good. No. He’s the best.”
“We understand the theoretical concepts of the exploited pocket dimension and the coordinate dragging associated with it. We are just questioning the sheer mass of it all. He produced 4 tanks of 54 tons each and one armored gun carriage of 65 tons. That is an insane amount of mass.”
“Would it help your feelings if I told you he can catch the humans’ ‘Thor’s hammer’ system.”
“Those 120kg tungsten rods dropped from orbit? Those reenter at mach fifteen to mach twenty!”
“Yeah, those.”
The second police officer finally spoke, “No, I think we were happier not knowing that. He’s not staying around long is he?”
Edward grinned. He’d heard that enough before about his brother, “No, they are leaving tonight.”
They nodded, looking quite relieved at the answer, and went back to mingling in the crowd.
A few minutes later, Edward saw Llewellyn, Ivy, Moria and Fiona Grauer-Westford. They all seemed chipper and excited with the crowd. Well, all except Llewellyn. He looked dazed and borderline annoyed. Edward has seen that before; Llewellyn didn’t like social events. He didn’t do well with crowds—that was what had thrown Edward for such a loop about Llewellyn’s desire to go to the dance club.
Soon practice was over and the cast and crew dove for their drinks while the caterers brought out a lavish display. There was eager anticipation as Gillian handed a microphone to Trevor and he took the stage along with Takru. Tatiana and Zoë came running over to Edward.
“Do you have any idea what is going on?” asked Tatiana.
“None at all,” confessed Edward. “Trevor likes his little surprises.”
“Ladies, gentlemen, and you too Toch,” joked Trevor. Wow! Edward suddenly realized that Toch the Red was in the crowd. “While I would like to announce to the 517th that our job is over and we can all go home, that is not the case. We all have to go back to work this afternoon. What I did come here to announce is, effective today at noon, I have resigned from the 517th and Takru has accepted said resignation.” That caused quite a stir, but Trevor kept rolling, “Effective 12:01 I’m being hired back as independent contractor to the 517th.” That got even more of a buzz going. “Ah ha! There is the confusion I do so love!”
“Spit it out, or we’ll rush the stage!” called someone in the back. That got a quite a few laughs.
“Gillian and I are proud to announce that we are engaged and plan on being married at the end of the first concert tour.”
“Wow!” beamed Zoë with bright eyes glowing.
Tatiana just jumped up and down all giddy and rushed the stage and hugged Gillian, “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“We just did,” replied Gillian. “We weren’t sure if we should wait until the series was over and announce it, but we finally decided to move things up.’
“Does that mean I have to call you ‘dad’?” joked Edward. The whole theater exploded with laughter at that one.
“All right, everyone,” grinned Gillian, “enough about us. Dig in! Enjoy!”
The crowd started to ebb and flow around the food and around the pr
oud couple. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. It was the first time Edward had seen the local police and the 517th together and they seemed to be doing well. He wouldn’t be surprised if the police offered Trevor a job when this was all over; he was darn well good enough for anything they could throw at him.
Zoë poked Edward cautiously, “Is something wrong with your brother?”
“Is he looking a little strung out? He doesn’t do social events well. Where is he?” Zoë pointed him out and suddenly Edward was worried. Llewellyn looked like he was about ready to rip someone’s head off. “Um, let’s find Ivy right quick!”
Zoë nodded in agreement and the pair quickly threaded their way over to Ivy who was talking with Fiona well off to the side.
“Ivy, I think there is something wrong with Llewellyn,” said Edward as evenly as he could.
Ivy looked around and finally made eye contact with Llewellyn. She quickly motioned him to the far side. “Yep, he’s about ready to lose it. He can’t stand these things.”
“Yet he could deal with a night club?” asked Zoë.
Ivy nodded, “In a dance club, the music is so loud and prevalent it drowns out everything else. All the rest of the senses are overwhelmed as well and it forms a nice comforting shell.” She stopped as she tried to choose her words carefully, “In a room like this, he hears everyone nearby. He can make out probably twenty or thirty different conversations all at once and can’t focus. He has to listen to all of them and that is very stressful.”
“He can’t just focus on one?” asked Zoë.
“Nope. They all seem to swirl in his head at once.”
Zoë nodded, “I can see how that could be very uncomfortable. So what should we do?”
Ivy smiled, “You do nothing. I’ll take him for a walk away from here for a bit, and he’ll be better when we get back.”
“Is this a High Silver thing?” asked Zoë.
Ivy shook her head, “No, Penn isn’t like this at all. It is just a Llewellyn thing. We’ll be right back. Please excuse us.” She smiled and politely bobbed as she quickly made her way over to Llewellyn and led him out of the room.
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