“That may have been the worst excuse for parenting I have ever seen,” Special Agent in Charge Dr. Loyal Comina said as she appeared next to him at the edge of the tree lined slope. She took off her gloves and kneeled in the snow, pretending to re-tie a boot as she looked around to make sure no one was listening. The bottom of the bunny hill wasn’t overly busy and she assumed the seven year old savant shooshing past them with perfect form wasn’t a threat.
“Taking a nonexistent phone call is one of my patented managerial tools,” VB said as he waved when his scowling son looked back, “It works on kids, wives…and especially well on annoying special agents.”
“VB, are we ok?” Comina said as she stood up and put her gloves back on.
“You have two options, Loyal,” VB said, “I can tell you about the problem we have, and by doing so I am violating a direct order by my superior and about seven charters, and maybe a few codes of conduct. Thusly putting your career, and mine, in significant jeopardy. Or, I can not tell you our problem. Our case will dry up and we’ll move on to the next case, and life goes on.”
Comina nodded and said, “Just so I’m clear, I assume the risk of you not telling me is that the very fabric of our mission to protect good from evil will come crashing down and anarchy will ensue, dogs and cats will live together and the forces of Mordor will rise to swallow middle earth, and it will get buried so no one will ever know?”
“Yes, that’s about it,” VB said as a tiny tike executed a perfect power stop in front of them and flicked off the straps of her snowboard in one fluid motion. She flip-kicked the board into her hand and trotted off towards the lodge.
Answering Comina’s unasked question he said, “It’s possible they will get harmed. No, it’s probable. Oh, and if I do disclose our problem you will probably be in more danger. No, let’s say you certainly will be in more danger.”
A gust of wind blew through the trees, knocking snow from the branches and swaying the skiers on the lift as the hanging chairs crawled up the mountain. Comina zipped up her jacket and said, “I like them VB. They’re good people and we can’t see them harmed. It’s what we do, right?”
“Yes it is, and I like them too, Loyal,” VB said, “And they have an important role to play. I took a gamble leaving them out in the open as I thought it would be the best way to keep them safe.”
“Has that changed?” Comina asked.
“I think maybe it has,” VB said.
“Tell me,” Comina said.
“Okay, here goes,” VB said, “We’re pretty sure Daddy Mogevich and psychotic mini-Mogevich are already in Pembury. They have at least one of their people there, or maybe a local ally, or both.”
Comina nodded.
VB continued, “And someone high up in Executive accessed my accelerator formula incident report through a back door leak, and did it more than once. I am not sure exactly when but somehow they pulled an unknown amount of info before I got wind and buried my report, and all of the related ones.”
“You lied. That’s two problems.” Comina said.
“Actually there’s three problems,” VB said, “My orders to let it go and to look the other way on this whole thing came from somewhere above my boss, maybe even outside of our org. I’ve been told to let the case die, and reassign you.”
They sat in silence for a while, watching the brightly colored ants zig-zagging down the slopes.
VB hated putting her in this position. He’d known Loyal Comina for almost fifteen years, since before she was a cadet, and a doctor. She appeared like a heavily armed angel out of the dark one night and pulled him from a burning helicopter that wasn’t supposed to be where it was. As hell rained down she disobeyed orders to leave him and kept him from bleeding out while single handedly holding off a rabble with only a pistol and canteens filled with jet helo fuel. She was the toughest, smartest person he knew and he had convinced her to join the bureau while she was still finishing her first doctorate. He pulled strings to get her assigned to his Boston team and over the last decade had watched her deftly morph into a hundred different people, from house wife to hooker to heart surgeon without a slip. She was as good as they came. He was convinced he’d be working for her by now if she didn’t have an irrepressible need to tell the truth. She also had no family and no significant attachments, which was great for a field agent but also often kept them from being promoted. As fucked up as his organization could be they understood to effectively lead you had to understand compromise and loss, and you really only got those skills from having a family. Regardless, he was a huge fan and figured he was probably a little bit in love with her to boot. He had never seen her crack, but when she spoke now he could hear the genuine concern in her voice.
“Fuck VB. You weren’t kidding,” she said. She turned to study his face for a second and then said, “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
VB cursed her ability to read him. He was never sure if it was their years together or her double degrees in medicine and psychology that allowed her to so easily uncover his tells, but it was damn annoying.
He turned away from Comina and watched his wife walking backward down the flat white hill, pulling a train of pink and blue and orange gnomes. As if feeling his eyes on her his wife turned and waved from far up the slope. She cupped a mitten over her eyes, recognized Comina, and waved again.
They both waved back and VB said, “I finally have someone inside Orthus. Another barrel of accelerator formula is missing, and this time it wasn’t the Tiandihui thugs who took it. It has also been wiped off the company’s books from the inside.”
Comina said, “You have someone inside Orthus’ headquarters? As in New York City? As in far outside your jurisdiction? As in the NYC field office is not aware?”
“As in the New York office had already been given orders to pull anyone they had even close to Orthus,” he said.
“As in we’re fucked,” Comina said.
Chapter 11
Ben hid behind a large tree, and he was panting.
He’d scrambled up the hill as fast as he could in the deep snow and sweat soaked his thermal underwear. He tried to catch his breath, slow his breathing and not make a sound. As he scanned the forest he cupped his gloves over his mouth so the steam of his exhale wouldn’t be visible in the shafts of afternoon light filtering through the trees.
Thinking through his options he slid down the trunk of the tree into a crouch and cringed as his snow suit scraped loudly against the bark. He cursed himself, Gotta be smarter than that to get out of this one.
If he continued up the ridge he’d have to trudge through more snow and with less cover. If he went down towards the river bank he risked running right into his attackers. Cutting along the slope would be tough as it was steep and slick with snow. Climbing was an option. He could disappear into the thick pine canopy of the trees, but then what? It would be dark in a few hours. He tried to remember everything the pups had taught him about evading hunters, and wished they were here to help.
He heard a rustle to the left and tried to press further back into the bark of the tree, thinking Please don’t see me.
He risked a look around the tree and his shoulders slunk in relief. It was just a squirrel picking loudly through the frozen leaves.
Shut it! he thought, but then he remembered something Spot had said and he watched the squirrel for a while. He knew it wouldn’t hang around if a threat was near, unless the threat was very stealthy.
Ben decided to head uphill.
He turned, and then he screamed and covered his face with his arms.
A silent coyote pup leapt from a fallen log above him.
The pup was ten months old and almost full height, but not as thick through the neck and chest as his adult pack mates. He was careful to knock Ben over without hurting him. As Ben giggled and pushed the young hunter away the pup feigned a lunge for the neck and then clamped down on Ben’s boot. The little dog paused, wagging, and before Ben could protest the wild
dog yanked him down the hill. Ben grabbed the dog’s tail and they began to tumble. As the snow and leaves flew around them another pup slammed into them from the side and wiggled her way into Ben’s arms. At the bottom of the ravine the three of them rolled onto the snow covered stream bed in one big ball.
Ben was getting licked from all angles. “Okay, you bawheeds,” he squealed, “You win.”
Spot and Smudge watched with One Ear from the top of the opposite ridge. They’re getting better One Ear, Smudge said, You’ve done a fine job with them.
One Ear proudly head butted Smudge and shot off down the slope to join her new hunters. Other coyotes, some yearlings and a few larger adults, slipped silently out of the woods and joined them.
The pups watched the pack leaping around Ben. They were all playing tag and One Ear had let him catch her.
Spot turned to Smudge and said, Follow me, I have something to show you.
They left Ben and the coyotes and he led his sister along the ridge. They trotted around the wrestling match below them before turning east towards Cape Cod Bay.
Gonna miss these guys, Spot said, and she’ll probably be pregnant when we get back.
You sound a little jealous, Smudge said as she nudged her brother, Sure you don’t want to be a dad? Of course your pups would probably come out looking like The Thing, or Mr. Peabody.
You should talk, Miss Bruce Banner, Spot said.
All kidding aside brother, you wanna have kids? Smudge asked, I mean, I gotta admit I do think about it sometimes.
What is it with you women and your damn clocks? Spot said, drawing a smack from his sister. He said, I don’t know sis, I wouldn’t want to be a helicopter alpha with my pups.
I’ve been wondering something about that, Smudge said as she walked next to her brother down the snowy trail, Why does an alpha have to be a male? Why can’t a female lead the pack? And if you roll your eyes I’m tossing you down this hill.
I suppose that cold bitch Mother Nature has her own answer for the equality of the sexes issue, Spot said, And she’s not too PC about it, but we sure can’t argue with One Ear’s bang up job as leader so far. She’s got my vote.
I think we need to change the traditional pack order, Smudge said, I mean, you and I are kinda turning that cold bitch on her head already, why stop now?
They walked together in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the salt smell and the sound of the rolling waves coming through the trees from the shore ahead.
Smudge said, Kels asked me if I ever wanted to be a mom.
Yeah, Spot said, turning to look at his sister as they neared the beach, She asked me about it too. She wanted to know if we ever thought about getting fixed. It’s funny, she immediately felt bad for saying it. She said the family would love to see us with puppies of our own and all that, and quickly assured me they thought we’d be good parents. I think she was stumbling around the larger question of should we have offspring. Aside from the obvious unknowns, and potential risk to the mother and babies. Who knows what our kids would be like?
All true, my overly analytical brother, but you didn’t answer the question, Smudge said.
I know, Spot said as he head butted his sister.
They exited the underbrush, came out onto the beach, and turned north to hug the tree line. Spot led her into a small clearing hidden from view by thick tree trunks and beach heather.
Smudge noticed her brother sampling the air. He was making sure they were alone.
So, Smudge said, You dragged me out here, what’s up?
Spot raised a paw to silence her, and then closed his eyes.
He raised his head and pointed his snout into the distance as if he had picked up a scent. Smudge checked but there was nothing.
Spot wiggled his paws into the snow like he was getting ready to jump, but then he just froze in place.
A few moments later he opened his eyes.
Smudge’s mouth hung open. She blinked, and blinked again, and then she flashed their sign for Holy Shit.
Smudge walked around her brother slowly. She sniffed here, and poked there. She lifted up his tail and ran her paw up his back, combing the fur up as she went.
That’s the second strangest thing I’ve ever seen, Smudge said, The first being that thing One Ear does when she regurgitates birds.
Pretty cool, eh? Spot said.
How’d you do it? his sister asked.
I think you can do it too, sis, Spot said, Come here, let me show you.
Spot had Smudge assume the same position and told her to close her eyes. He moved close to her and whispered in her ear so low she could barely hear him. What followed from her brother was an unbroken stream-of-consciousness narrative. It guided Smudge to seek out and control specific autonomous processes, similar to the process they use to heal themselves quickly…and how she turns into Cu Sith.
Spot whispered, Feel the white of the snow no color white and find your xanthophores and white move them into your guanine nanocrystals white flood your organelles with biochromes and white…
Spot continued to whisper into his sister’s ear for several minutes, and then he backed away and said softly, Open your eyes.
Smudge opened one eye and looked at her brother. Spot nodded to the ground and Smudge looked down at her feet.
Her paws were white. Stark white. As white as the snow, and so were her legs, and chest. She turned and saw the rest of her was white too, down to the tip of her tail. Just like Spot.
Chapter 12
Katia sipped her tumbler of kvass and leaned on the glass wall of her office. A helicopter flew past and turned in a long slow arc over the Hudson, dropping down to eventually land at the Thirtieth Street helipad far below. In this weather, and from this high up, the red and white lights from the cars creeping along the wet West Side Highway were just blurry strings. Her normally sweeping views of Ellis Island and the Jersey skyline were lost in the night’s fog and freezing drizzle.
There were two quick raps on her office door, a pause, and a well-dressed young man in horn rim glasses stepped halfway through the threshold.
In a soft voice flavored with both the Queen’s English and Baltic accents the man said, “She’s downstairs. Two minutes, ma’am.”
Katia waved approval and tapped at the tablet on her desk. The bar on her wall split in two and slid open to expose a very large monitor. The Orthus company logo appeared followed by a small padlock icon and a green status bar that crept across the bottom.
A second later her father came on the screen. He was dressed in a running suit and had a towel around his neck. Katia noticed he was in his office in Orenburg with the morning sun lighting the tops of the Ural Mountains in the panoramic windows behind him.
“Katia my angel, how are you?” Semion asked.
“I’m fine Batya, are you well?” Katia asked as she watched her guests through the elevator’s security camera on her tablet. She added, “She’ll be here in a moment.”
She looked up at her father and in the bright morning light his age showed more than usual. Katia thought he looked tired.
“I need a drink but this will have to do for now,” Semion said, smiling as he held up a water bottle. He said, “We need her and her crew for a while longer Katia, so play nice.”
Katia’s assistant opened the door and held it for a small Chinese women and a very large black man. The woman nodded to Katia as she stopped just inside the doorway so her big bodyguard could remove her coat. She eyed the office quickly, handed her gloves to the man, and dismissed him with a nod.
Katia had looked down subtly as they entered, watching as her tablet displayed the results from the weapons detector built into her office door frame. She nodded slightly to her assistant. Both of her guests had been carrying weapons when they entered but both weapons left with the black man and the coat.
The woman crossed the room and Katia’s assistant closed the door behind him as he left.
“Jia,” Katia said, “We very much apprec
iate you coming to the city on such a night.” She shook the woman’s hand gently and held it for a moment.
“I had business in town anyway,” Jia said, letting Katia’s hand go after a brief but firm pump, “So it wasn’t a wasted trip.”
Jia was a full head shorter than Katia and easily twice her age, and she spoke with the slightest hint of an accent. Every time Katia had met with her she was dressed in all black and tonight was no exception. Where Katia had always thought Jia’s late sister Mina had been very fashionable Jia herself wore utilitarian clothes and no makeup. That alone was enough for Katia to not trust her.
Semion spoke up from the wall, “Hello Jia, as my daughter said it’s a pity to have you come so late. Completely my fault, I have an opportunity for you that couldn’t wait.”
Katia motioned to the comfortable couch and chairs in the center of her office. “Can I get you something?” she asked, retrieving her tablet and tumbler from her desk.
“What do you have there?” Jia asked, attempting a cordial smile that didn’t seem to fit her face.
Katia held up her glass and said, “Kvass? It’s similar to beer, but made from bread and—”
“I know what it is,” Jia said, reminding herself to remain courteous. She sat down and said, “We have it in China too. A Russian import, our kids pollute themselves with it. Just water please. What is it you have for me, Semion?”
“A gift,” Semion said, smiling, “Jean Walker has a brother-in-law living in Canada. You can do whatever you want with him, as long as you help me out with a bit of business up there, quietly.”
Jia stared at him for a long moment and then asked, “Is that why I’m here tonight?”
Semion came around his desk and sat on the edge and the automatic video conference system adjusted to keep him in frame.
“Jia, I thought you’d be pleased,” he said, “I know how you feel about Pembury. I completely understand your desire to go there with some of your Tiandihui boys and a flamethrower, and I would probably do the same in your shoes. I also appreciate your agreeing to not do that very thing based on my request that you wait.”
The Glasgow Gray: Spot and Smudge - Book 2 Page 7