She looked down at Faith, wondering if he'd been trying to call the dog over. But Faith was better trained than that and knew not to go to a stranger. She turned, continuing her walk along the edge of the forest, only half-aware of the khaki-colored truck squeezing in alongside the black SUVs already there, and the long black, and longer white, limousines.
She was talking things over with her friend. 'I should be ready to join Godsson inside his room, Faith, if he needs me. I know it's not him doing it. It's Her. And I know I hurt Her before, twice. So I know I can help him, if I can just get into his cell. He's even told me how to help: all I need to do is just hold Her long enough for him to blow Her up! And I think this time he really will need me.
'But what if She gets inside me? Like she did to those two friends of Keepie's when he was young? What if she turns me into a monster? I wish Godsson could've taught me how to block Her out, too, not just hold her.'
She bent down to Faith, who agreed it was a worry, but nuzzled her nose forward against Leeth to reassure her it would be okay. Leeth burrowed her face into the thick fur, smelling Faith's unique mix of dog, leaves, earth, ozone and machine oil.
She sat back on her heels. 'I don't mind fighting something real, something dangerous, that might hurt me or kill me. After all, Keepie could probably heal me up afterward.' She shrugged. 'Unless it was real bad.
'But Keepie can't fix me if I turn into a monster. And I… I don't think I could bear not being me. Let alone some disgusting thing with pulsing tentacles!'
She shuddered.
'I like the way I look. I really, truly, like my body. Except maybe it'd be nice to have bigger breasts and a slimmer waist. Well, just a bit.'
Faith was looking at her like she was crazy, clearly pointing out 'Your breasts are way bigger than mine.' She whuffed, quietly, which obviously meant 'What you need is fur. You're practically bald.'
'I am not. Humans aren't s'posed to have fur!' She laughed, and Faith grinned back, letting her tongue loll out goofily, trying to cheer her up even more.
But the humor quickly faded, and Leeth stood, the two continuing their circuit.
She waved her hands. 'I mean, it's part of who I am. It's important, to me. Real important. And I like the look on people's faces when they see me. It's nice. I feel good. Even if Godsson says I dress like a, well, I looked it up. Like someone who has sex for money. But I don't!'
Faith looked up at her sideways.
'I don't look like them! I looked at pictures. They're all showing their breasts, and they have these sheer stockings and-
'Anyway, I don't. But Godsson thinks I do, and Keepie says that's a problem, ’cause Godsson thinks I'm bad. But he doesn't really think that. We're friends! He just gets cross. And it's because he's mad.'
She looked down at Faith, who tilted her head sideways to catch her eye. 'Oh, don't worry, I wouldn't say that to Godsson. That'd be mean. But he is. Just not as mad as everyone says.
'Anyway, I've dressed in something like Godsson says I should, you know, that covers everything up. So this should be fine, right?'
She gestured down at her clothing, the black cat-suit clinging to her body and covering everything completely from her shoulder-blades down. The black made it a little hard to see all her muscles and everything, unless the angle was just right, but still. She was kind of glad she hadn't ordered the one with the tail, though, in the end. That would have looked kind of silly.
'It even has built-in support up here so I don't need a bra!'
They continued on in companionable silence, crossing the road and continuing around the tree line. Behind them, yet another car drove up the road, but seconds later they both spun around at a strange sound, to see the car fishtailing across the grassy lawn before gaining traction and bumping back onto the road.
'That was weird: he drove right off the road!' She giggled. 'I guess everyone's a little nervous about tonight.' She checked her watch. 'I better get inside. We're all getting a special “briefing” this time. Do you think that cute shaman will be there again this year? The one I had to rescue, three years ago? I think he sometimes comes in the bad years.'
She looked down at Faith, pretending she wasn't still thinking about turning into a monster. She didn't want to worry her. Finally she bent down to give Faith a last hug, and some more advice. 'Anyway, you patrol out here tonight. And be careful. Especially if new-Robo is around. If you feel funny, just dodge away and run, like I taught you, okay?
'Come on, let's practice! Ready?'
She smooshed her hands in a mean-Robo kind of way down over Faith's head, flattening her ears, then they zigged and zagged, twisting and somersaulting, dodging across the lawn, till Leeth had to go inside. Bending down, she gave Faith one more, final hug just to encourage her and keep her spirits up, then put her shoulders back and went up the front steps four at a time.
Her uncle was striding toward the front doors as she pushed through, and he stopped and stared. 'What are you wearing!'
She looked down at herself. Was that some kind of trick question? It was perfectly clear what she was wearing.
'No bra? And are you even wearing underwear?' He frowned. 'Is that cloth, or have you just painted yourself black? I told you to… cover up… for…'
He ran down to a stop. 'So you covered up.'
'I did. I'm covered up, just like you said, Keepie. Specially for Godsson. What's wrong?'
'Leeth, your nipples are clearly outlined. As is your…'
'What's wrong with my nipples? Or my… what?' She followed his eyes downward. 'My vagina?' she asked, spreading her legs as best she could, to check for herself.
Her uncle took a breath, but then just stood there. She straightened up and waited, hands on hips, beginning to get cross.
'Nothing is wrong with either, but you need to not just cover them, but to conceal them.'
'Why? That's just stupid. He'll still know they're there.'
'Because they send sexual signals. Men find them distracting.'
She was sure he must be exaggerating, then suddenly remembered something.
'How distracting? Like it might make someone drive off the road?'
'It's possible. Yes.'
'So I have to hide them.'
'Yes.'
'What about my face? Do I need to put a bag over that, too?'
'Leeth.'
'Fine.'
'And hurry. The briefing starts in five minutes.'
'I know. I'm not a child. That's why I came in.'
'So go and put on some underwear. Including a bra.'
At the look on her face, he felt it necessary to add: 'And then put your… suit back on. Unless you want to appear unprofessional in front of all these men?'
And women, she mentally added for him, as she turned and stalked off.
Why hadn't he added “and women?” And why hadn't he ever told her about nipples and stuff being distracting, till today? Why was it only now, when there were all these other men around? Though there were a lot more women amongst the influx of strangers this year. Probably she wasn't the only one who thought that maybe the thing affected men more strongly than women.
But Keepie had only mentioned the men. Was he jealous?
She danced up the stairs. He was! Keepie was jealous!
Surprisingly cheered by the thought, she ran to her room.
-
'Sara.'
It was going to be awful, waiting so long. Two hours! Why did they have to go in so early? She never attacked Godsson till sunset. Usually.
'Sara!'
She looked up, to find pretty much everyone in the briefing room looking at her.
'Huh? What?'
All her life she'd known “Sara” wasn't her real name. Why couldn't she tell anyone her real name, now that they'd found it? Why did Leeth have to be a secret name?
She saw some of the agents near her exchange looks, and focused on her uncle.
'Sorry, Dr Harmon,' she said, very professionally. It fel
t so weird to call her uncle “Dr Harmon” that she almost lost her train of thought. 'Could you repeat what you just said, please? I was mentally preparing myself.'
She heard someone behind her snicker, and felt her hands clench. She sat up straighter, and that made several of the men seated in the chairs alongside her turn slightly more toward her. She felt her cheeks flush.
This was horrid. They were making her feel like a child.
'I wanted you to confirm that you had heard Commander Stone's order. She said, should anyone feel the need to take action, call out “Target acquired” very clearly before engaging. So that it will be clear that you are taking conscious action, of your own volition.'
Oh. She thought about that. She would probably take a while to learn all the secrets inside a person and discover they were supposed to call out the code phrase, first. 'That might work,' she finally agreed.
Commander Stone, who was only a little bit taller than Leeth but still somehow looked like she could take down anyone in the room, pursed her lips as several people around Leeth sniggered like she'd just said something funny.
But Commander Stone only said, 'I'm pleased that you agree.'
More people sniggered, and Leeth felt her blush grow stronger.
Several of the female agents looked across at her, one or two even shaking their heads. Like they disapproved of her. No doubt because she wasn't a trained agent.
Leeth just stared, hard, at Commander Stone. Kind of thankful for the anger that was beginning to build. At least it was a distraction from what lay ahead. She had a bad feeling there wouldn't be much more laughter tonight.
Commander Stone's eyes narrowed in turn, staring right back at her for long seconds, before she spoke again. 'No, seriously, I am pleased. You are on the spot, and although every indication is that all this planning is merely an exercise in paranoia, the reason for all these support operations is the possibility that something we don't understand is happening. You have been included to help cover such possibilities. In that unlikely event, your intuitions could be valid.'
Leeth blinked, astonished as she worked out that the Commander was actually taking her seriously. Sort of.
'All the same, having a non-magical, untrained civilian on the scene makes me extremely uncomfortable.'
Leeth wanted to snap back that she had Unfolded, that Keepie had made her magical, but even from the corner of her eye his stare practically scorched her with its intensity, and she bit down on the words.
'Especially a seventeen-year-old girl,' the Commander continued. 'This is not a game.' Her intense green eyes flicked down and up Leeth's body as if making some kind of point about her choice of clothes, or maybe her bare feet. Which just showed how Commander Stone didn't know everything. This was practically identical to what Ninja Swift wore in Dark Hunters.
'If in my opinion you begin behaving erratically or disruptively, I will have you removed, Sara. Is that understood?'
That would be bad.
'Yes, Commander. Understood.'
Wow. That had actually sounded very grown up! She sat up straighter, pleased with herself.
'Very well. Let's move, people.'
By “eighteen thirty,” a full two hours and five minutes before sunset, everyone was in place, waiting.
They'd only been there ten minutes before Leeth started fidgeting. The waiting was going to drive her nuts, if she didn't do something.
No one else seemed to be twitchy; from Mr Smith scowling to one side, his hair starting to gray, now; to the male and female FBI agents; to her uncle – who was the only one smart enough to bring a chair to sit on; to the three shamans. I wonder why they always send three, she wondered? Was three a magic number, or something? No tall, cute shaman this year, though. This time, all three were women.
Why did that make her think one of them should have long, white hair down to her waist, and milky eyes? She chased the memory, but it vanished.
This waiting was already making her nuts!
'Commander, permission to pace?'
'No.' Finally, though, when Leeth didn't argue, she seemed to unbend slightly. 'I don't want you moving around, complicating the tactical situation.'
'But I need to be able to check everyone, and there are lots more people this year. And it's not like they can shoot Her.' From the way the agents' expressions shifted, most of them seemed to think they had two mad people to worry about: one contained in his cell and the other one outside it, with them. 'So that must mean you're really here in case Godsson somehow gets free, right?' she continued, first checking that the light on the intercom showed it was just monitoring, not in two-way mode.
The Commander looked at her as if she'd managed to surprise her.
'But I look at all these people and kinda wonder, what if it just gives Her more targets to choose from? She's real sneaky.'
'Come here.'
She went, expecting the Commander was about to really let loose on her, but instead the woman just inclined her head, indicating she should take up a position alongside her. And there the two of them just stood, side by side at the place where the “T” junction used to be, watching the room full of tense men and women.
It was kinda nice.
After a while, the Commander spoke, so quietly that only the very closest agents would have been able to hear. Well, and Leeth, of course, even if she'd been upstairs. Not that the Commander could know that.
'All the magician types say they can't see anything when “she's” around. Even with that “Imaginal sight” of theirs. So how do you see it, Sara?'
'I… it's hard to explain. It's a pattern. She looks like a pattern, I mean. It's almost like imagining. You see things line up and make edges that show some of Her outlines. Curvy outlines. It's a little bit like when you see shapes in clouds. Have you ever done that?'
At the Commander's nod, she continued. 'But it's not the same. I've looked, but I've never seen Her in clouds. Or anywhere except in the J-, uh, in the woods, outside.
'The way the branches bend, or the ferns, or the flower stems. And always moving, and flowing, and always kind of… female curves. Sexy.'
'It sounds very like just your own imagination, Sara.'
Leeth looked sideways at the Commander. But the way she'd said it, she wasn't being mean. Just asking a serious question. Like she was still willing to consider the possibility that it wasn't just “Sara's” imagination. And it was a good question, actually. She'd wondered the same thing, herself. She tried her best to answer.
'It is, actually,' she admitted. 'Quite like that. But when the shape moves – the pattern – slipping from one branch to the next, or swooping down to sort of undulate – you know, like a snake – in the grass, or dance in the ferns…'
'That still sounds like imagination.'
'Except it goes on too long. For everything to move just right, for so long, so you could imagine it… That doesn't happen except when She's around.'
She looked up: the Commander still looked unconvinced.
Reluctantly, she continued, and her own voice dropped lower, a bit embarrassed now by what she was going to have to share. 'Yeah, but she also makes the spirits do mean stuff, sometimes. If they don't run away in time.'
'The spirits. What spirits?' The Commander's voice had gone flat. Clipped.
'Well, I don't know, exactly. I can't See them, like magic people can. It's more like how I can see Her.' She almost added, 'or not-Robo,' but thought that might be one step too far. She thought maybe the Commander was already beginning to doubt her.
'By how they move. Sometimes, the wind does funny things. It'll twirl among the flowers, then swoop across a puddle and spin back, then swirl around some fronds, playing with them, you know, just kind of dancing around. Not like wind just blowing. Actually playing. You can tell, by the way it hangs around, swirling and diving and circling and swooping. Just having fun.
'Sometimes I'd dance with them.' She smiled, remembering. 'At first it surprised them, then they k
ind of seemed to like it.' She didn't add that since she'd Unfolded she could even feel them, when she touched them. But she had to be careful to be gentle, or else she hurt them.
The Commander was looking at her strangely. Commander Amanda. Her name had almost made Leeth giggle until she'd looked into her eyes the first time. Leeth figured no one laughed at Commander Amanda Stone's name twice.
'But sometimes,' Leeth said, 'She would be there, and sometimes a spirit didn't realise and run away fast enough. Then, She'd make them do bad stuff.' Noting the Commander's expression, she added, 'like puffing leaves right into the middle of a huge web that'd taken a spider a whole evening to do. Or just gusting, or blowing sticks right through it, to tear it. I saw her make two spirits fight, once. That was awful.'
Commander Stone just looked at her, for a long time.
'How about if you moved, slowly, through my people? You think you could see “her” if she gets out of that cell?'
For several seconds Leeth just blinked at her, shocked at not being ignored by a grown up. And an important one. Then nodded, definitely. 'Yeah!'
She didn't think, though, she should point out that She didn't really come out of the cell.
'All right. But keep out of my people's sight lines to the cell. Understand? And try to do it lightly, if you know what I mean? Don't be putting them off.'
Leeth thought she did. She nodded.
'Okay, people,' the Commander said, turning and raising her voice, 'listen up. Just in case Sara can sense this thing, she's going to be moving around. Looking at everything. Don't shoot her, okay?'
Leeth grinned, and nodded her thanks for the trust. She decided she liked the Commander. She hoped the older woman would be all right.
Chapter 51
For the first time ever, Leeth thought she sensed it before Godsson did.
It was still an hour till sunset, and she realized everyone had sort of hunched-in on themselves. Slowly, the room outside Godsson's cell had become somehow creepy. Like they were all actors in some scary movie, waiting for the monster to appear and kill the guy who least expected it.
In the new, open area, the narrow oblong window of Godsson's cell peered out at them like a gateway they were all expecting monsters to pour through. Looking around carefully, though, eyes unfocused, between the fifteen men and women spaced out, she could see no trace of Her.
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