“Yes sir. Edward.”
“Take care of Tatiana. She is foolish and headstrong, but she is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.”
“I will do my best, sir.”
“Foolish?” demanded Tatiana. “Compared to whom?”
Her father laughed softly, “I notice you didn’t argue ‘headstrong.’ You get that from your mother. If only I had paid more attention to you both when I had the chance.”
“Well, you need to get off your moody butt and think positive. Especially if you ever want to play with your grandkids.”
Edward’s fur stood on end and cycled in color.
“Don’t worry Edward,” teased Tatiana. “Not just yet.”
“Well, this would have been the perfect place for a heart attack,” mused Zoë.
There was a knock at the door as a doctor poke his head in, “Excuse me, but we are going to need to go ahead and get him prepped.”
Tatiana pouted at Trevor, “I thought you said we had fifteen minutes.”
“Sorry, but I’m not going to argue with the doctor at this point.”
“Can I hug him or should I stay on this side of the air curtain?” Tatiana asked the doctor.
He smiled, “Just you. And be quick.”
Tatiana beamed as she carefully hugged, “Get better, Dad. And don’t argue with the doctors!”
They carefully ushered the group back into the hall and were cheerfully met by Tazo, “I assume it went well?”
“Well, we scared Edward, but yes, it went well.”
“Dare I ask?”
“Please don’t,” murmured Edward.
Tazo flashed a toothy grin, “This was a kitten joke then, wasn’t it?”
“I hate you, Tazo.”
“There is a conference room down here,” interrupted Trevor, “Is everyone up for a serious discussion before you head back?”
They all nodded, so Trevor directed them to a small waiting room where Gillian and Ethan were waiting in one of the many comfortable chairs and locked the door behind them. “Find a chair, get comfy.” They all beamed at Gillian and Ethan who cheerfully waved back.
“Okay, going back a few days, before we were rudely interrupted…” began Trevor.
“Blood test on Rebecca?” asked Tatiana.
Trevor grinned, “Excellent guess. Yes, we were able to continue the tests with the samples you got from your father’s house. The fact that you got multiple sources proved to be especially useful.”
“Well, spill it!” demanded Tatiana.
“She is your half sister.”
Tatiana smiled, “I’m glad, in an odd sort of way.”
“Well, things are always interesting in this case,” Trevor offered cryptically. “Now to clean up some loose ends.” He held up the image of a stately but attractive lady. “Tatiana, you recognize her?”
Tatiana’s eyes lit up as Trevor showed her the picture, “Yes! Heck, we almost ran into her the other day. She is my dad’s personal ‘secretary.’”
Trevor smiled, “That is Rebecca’s mother. The other evidence you collected has confirmed that much. We now suspect that she is the one that has orchestrated the original attacks. ”
Edward nodded, “She was in a place to exert influence into a great many circles: politicians, military, police, judges. She had access to an insane amount of information. She’d be in a perfect position to bring her own daughter back into the limelight.”
“Did she have her own daughter committed? That doesn’t make sense,” interjected Zoë.
“No, it doesn’t. We’d love to talk to her about that. Well, that and a great number of other things. But…”
“But you can’t find her,” finished Tatiana.
“Exactly. But now we have a good face and name to go with. And it’s not like she was invisible. A lot of people know her.”
“So now you have to try and find her.”
“Well, yes, but not now. I’ll start in the morning.”
“Why wait?” demanded Tatiana.
“The locals are already chasing her and I have more important things tonight.”
“Such as?”
“A date with Gillian!”
“Finally!” laughed Tatiana and Zoë in unison.
42
Amid tight security, rehearsals started again at the concert halls. The exact details of the previous day’s raid were not public knowledge, but leaked images from security cameras at the dockyards of Edward on the back of Zoë’s motorbike caused a firestorm of questions as the group entered. Zoë paid them no mind as she quite comfortably reclaimed her seat in front of the large piano and just smiled. Gillian herded the curious mob back to their stations, and soon practice was on again.
Edward watched and listened far more than he should have; he was still security after all. But he just couldn’t help himself; the music was wonderful and he needed it. He could feel it more than ever before; he was starting to understand why his oldest brother had married into a group of musicians.
Lunch time was soon upon them, and they had a visitor: Kadu.
Edward beamed and rushed to embrace Kadu as she entered the hall. No probes, IVs or other things sticking to or out of her; she looked wonderful.
“I’m glad to see you too, little brother,” laughed Kadu. “I am here for about an hour and then I must go.”
“Go where? You just got here!” demanded Edward.
“I’ve been discharged; I’m going home to my daughter.”
Edward felt like someone had just tied his tail in a knot he was so perplexed. On one hand, he was delighted that Kadu was going back to her own family. On the other hand, Edward was horribly jealous of his time with her; he wanted her to stay. “Any chance you can stay until this job is over?” asked Edward as he did his best not to tear up.
“Or at least until the first concert,” interjected Zoë.
“Bring your daughter here for a little bit. We’d love to meet her!” beamed Tatiana.
Kadu laughed, “A well coordinated attack! But if it means that much to all of you, I may just see if that can be arranged.”
“Drop it on Trevor. He can arrange anything,” joked Tatiana.
“He is quite proficient in coordinating the impossible. Independent of that, I have something for you Edward.” Kadu held out a small pouch to Edward. “Just promise me, if and when you return to the Highlands of Afon, you give it to your niece Dawn.”
Edward’s eyebrows knitted in confusion, “Sure. No problem. What is it?”
“Opening the container yourself would go a long way to address your current confusion,” grinned Kadu.
Edward rolled his eyes and laughed. But his laughter fell silent as he opened the pouch and a single red stone rolled out into his hand. “That is a gate stone.”
“Correct. One of two known. Based on Llewellyn and Dawn’s experiments, and its current autoluminance, it should be fully charged later today. Keep it with you. Use it as needed, but give it to Dawn when you are done. Is that reasonable?”
Edward laughed, “I don’t think it is reasonable that I have it in the first place.”
“It was Toch the Red’s, and this is what he wished. Do you wish to argue the point with him?”
Edward grinned and shook his head, “No! No thank you! But how does it work?”
“The Growl that you Silvers do? It responds to it. If you Growl a gate name to it, it can carry one person back to that gate. Alternatively, if you can reach inside yourself and can Growl past that gate, Dawn can hear you and she can open a full wormhole like they used the other night. The disadvantage of the latter case, of course, is Dawn will need time to get to the Gatehouse at the Citadel in order to open the full sized gate. Thus I advise: use with caution.”
Edward just shook his head softly as he marveled at the small stone, “There is just so much Shukurae history tied up in these little stones.”
“Sion Blackwind gave them embedded in a knife to Garwel the Red some two hundr
ed years ago. It is only appropriate that they make their way back home.”
Tazo seemed taken aback, “The Garwel the Red?”
Kadu grinned her typical toothy grin, “There have been others since then”
“He started the whole war against the Gelkin,” Tazo seemed lost as the full history of the little rock caught up with him.
“Garwel passed it to Tarako. When they executed Garwel, those stones guided Sion and the Kulpgurie and Altshea fleets to Tarako and the Gelkin fleet, and the war was begun.”
Tazo shook his head, “I’ve heard of them in stories. I did not appreciate them for being real.”
“They are real just as Sion, Garwel and Tarako were all real. And now they pass back to the Highlands.”
“I think I’m missing a serious chunk of Shukurae history,” admitted Tatiana.
“It is a bitter tale we will save for another day,” interjected Kadu. “Today things are too bright to be dimmed by such stories.”
“I will keep it well,” promised Edward. “And it will make its way back to Dawn Stratford.”
Kadu smiled, “Good. Enough of this, it is your lunch time. Go eat.”
“Yes, big sis!” replied Edward with a grin.
A long day’s rehearsal came to an end; the cast and crew had all done quite well considering the two day hiatus. As everyone was packing up, they noticed Trevor and a stranger had arrived and were waiting patiently. Smartly dressed with an air of professionalism, the woman approached Zoë.
“Zoë Sylva?” she asked.
“Uh, yes?” Zoë responded, more than a little taken aback by the stranger in their midst.
“Justina Xavier, from legal records. Gillian Rose said you would want this,” she handed Zoë an official envelope.
Zoë turned the envelope over suspiciously while Trevor laughed as he approached, “Open it up, girl. Sign it if you want.”
“What is it?” she asked, still fearful of its contents.
“A petition for name change,” replied Justina. “I was under the impression that you had requested this.” Now she was getting a little confused.
Zoë’s eyes went wide as it all finally made sense and she opened the letter and read through it, “Zoë Anne Rose. Yes, I do like the sound of that. Um…”
“Need a pen?” offered Trevor.
“Yes,” Zoë laughed. Zoë cocked her head and called over to Gillian, “This isn’t stepping on your toes or anything is it? I mean, I’m not…”
Gillian laughed, “Sign it already! Please!”
Zoë beamed and signed as directed. Justina signed below and Trevor signed as a witness.
“There, that was painless,” smiled Justina. “It will take a week for this to percolate through the entire network. Hopefully that won’t cause any problems. Your bank will get one of the first copies. That should be resolved in the morning.”
Zoë just smiled, “Hey, if it takes a week, it takes a week. I think I can get by in the meantime.”
Justina nodded politely and smiled as she turned and left the room.
“Uh, oh. Trevor is still here,” smiled Tatiana. “What evil plan do you have now?”
“Evil? I’m being called evil now? Well the plan was to abscond with Gillian at eight o’clock again. I mean, if you kids are all right with that.”
“Nothing else then?” eyed Zoë suspiciously.
“Well, now that you mention it…”
“Crap,” murmured Tatiana.
Trevor cocked an eye at her, “Does my reputation preceed me that much?”
“Yes,” replied Zoë, Tatiana and Edward in unison.
“Jennifer Edgefield aka Jenifer Cogsington née Ravenswell. How’s that for a nice chain?”
“Um, Jen Edgefield is my dad’s secretary, and the Ravenswell connection makes sense. So what is this about her as a ‘Cogsington’? That is a new name to me,” replied Tatiana.
“Well, it turns out that Cogsington is her former husband, Nathan Cogsington, lawyer by profession. Who became more than a little put out at the step-daughter. Not that Rebecca ever did anything wrong, per se. Just he has no children of his own, which was a bit of a bother for some inheritance issues.”
“Not like Jennifer’s plumbing was at fault,” scorned Gillian. “It’s not right to blame Jen or Rebecca if… well… you know…”
“Well, blame he did. He had no blood heir by a certain date, so his sister cleaned house. Shortly after that, Jen and Nathan divorced. Not long after that, we can start to make out where Nathan started to sabotage Rebecca.”
“Oh, the shallow jerk,” glared Tatiana. “It wasn’t Rebecca’s fault.”
“I never claimed he was being rational, just emotional. Well, all that is academic on certain levels. He’s the late Nathan Cogsinton as of about 2 days ago.”
“Eww, what happened?”
“From what we can tell, Jen was able to get a hold of some of the ongoing investigation, and when she found out that it was Nathan who had Rebecca put in a mental institution, well… he wasn’t long for the world.”
“She had him killed then. I can’t bring myself to blame her honestly,” growled Gillian. “Rebecca was in a terrible way!”
“We aren’t sure if she had him killed, or if it was just someone in her food chain that cleaned up things, as it were,” Trevor laughed. “We have some of the answers, not all of them.”
“Okay, I’m confused. Who arranged for that ‘illegal order’ or whatever it was. Jen or Nathan?” asked Zoë.
Trevor shook his head, “Hey! I just got done saying we didn’t have all the answers. But it may very well have been Jen. And it may have been her way of discreetly drawing attention to her daughter.”
“Okay, that is just a hairy spider web. I don’t want to think about trying to trace it backwards,” mused Zoë.
“I’m with you,” grinned Trevor, “That is why I’m taking the night off and spending it with Gillian!”
Zoë and Tatiana both laughed at that.
“Trevor, before you go,” began Tatiana meekly. “What is the news with my father? I mean, I know the medical stuff, but with all the investigations going on, how much trouble is Dad in?”
Trevor smiled and nodded reassuringly, “It doesn’t appear that your father did anything criminally wrong. So far, all the wrong doings seem to fit squarely with Jen, and boy did she have some things in the works! But politically, you father’s career is probably over. His relationship with Jen is going to be too hard to deal with politically.”
Tatiana smiled, “That’s good to hear. He’s been governor long enough; maybe it was time for a change anyway.”
“I’m just not looking forward to when they do catch Jen. No doubt she has some high priced lawyer that will get her off on everything on the account of ‘emotional trauma’ or some such farce,” snarled Zoë.
“That seems ridiculous,” said Edward. “The lawyer is just there to make sure the client isn’t abused by the system.”
“What planet are you from?” asked Tatiana as she rolled her eyes.
“Afon,” replied Edward evenly, if not a little confused.
“You are serious then,” replied Tatiana surprised on her own. “That is how things work back home?”
“Yes… I thought that was the same everywhere. The lawyer is there to make sure the client isn’t abused or confused by the system. If the lawyer knowingly lets a guy get away, she can be held as an accessory.”
“You have so got to be kidding me,” replied Zoë with sincere shock.
“The lawyer’s job is to protect society and offer a level base to make a case from.”
“So what if the guy is guilty as sin and the lawyer knows it?”
“The plea is entered by the client after being advised by their lawyer. The lawyer’s job then is to make sure no one abuses him or tries to entice him into unfair terms. If a guy says ‘not guilty’ and it is plain to everyone otherwise, the jury can increase the sentence for wasting the courts’ and jury’s time.�
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“That is so bizarre,” offered Zoë, shock still holding fast. “When do we move?”
“As soon as you finish college,” smirked Tatiana. “Wasn’t that the deal?”
43
The weeks quickly passed and the concert was soon upon them. Tatiana’s father was out of the hospital and had resigned almost immediately. Jen was still at large, but her criminal web was being dismantled at lightning speed. Part of that was catapulted by now full-governor Staton as he offered limited amnesty for a two day spread in turn for full disclosure. It was only good enough to bring out the worker bees as it were, but they had power in numbers and raw information. Information that soon led to a great number of further resignations and indictments.
It was two nights until the opening concert and all parties were becoming giddy! One last dress rehearsal and then they’d be performing to a packed house. The day’s practice was over early, as was tradition, and everyone was already starting to leave as Gillian called Zoë and Tatiana over to the side of the stage. Next to them was a striking young lady in her early twenties, with bright blue eyes and a bright and cheerful smile. She seemed both eager and shy, at the same time. Her fur had a wonderful luster, too, and she seemed to be drinking in the whole world.
“Rebecca?” asked Tatiana eagerly.
The young lady nodded, “Yes, and I’m so delighted to meet you!”
Tatiana skipped words and just rushed the lady and hugged her as the tears started to flow, “Are you all right? Last time I saw you, you looked like death warmed over! We’re sisters! You know that right? Well, half-sisters. I’ve never had a sister before.”
“You’re rambling, dear,” corrected Gillian with a smile.
Rebecca hugged Tatiana warmly back, “I’m doing quite well. The doctors say I still need to put on a little more weight, but otherwise I’m doing exceptionally well! I’m glad to meet you, too! I never knew that I had a sister either! There is so much to talk about!”
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