by John Conroe
We stood at the same time, each grabbing a carseat and a baby bag.
“You don’t get to end this, Miss Demidova. We do. We’ll find you in Contempt of Congress,” Lawson said.
“Go for it, Congressman Lawson. Bring it to the floor of the House. Find us in contempt. Then come find us in Europe. When I said we were done here, I meant this country. Demidova Incorporated is hereby shifting operations out of the United States. Oh, and good luck trying to seize the Omega technology. You’ve lost that before you’ve even started,” she said.
“We’ll block your corporate transfer,” he said, voice rising.
“Again, too late. Didn’t you listen? I grew up with stories about this. My business model has always been built on an international blueprint. The plans have always been in place. We activated the process when we got the subpoena. All it needed was a final decision. We made that just now. Most of what we need to do is already done. The rest will take care of itself before you can get your stormtroopers together. Congratulations, Congressman, you’ve managed to rid the United States of our presence. And our help,” Tanya said, turning and heading up the aisle. Darion was leading the way, pushing open the doors and staring down the cop at the exit. The rest of the heavily armed Capitol police took one look at my face and promptly stepped out of the way.
Chapter 40
It was too much drama for my taste. I said those exact words on the way to the car. Tanya agreed. “I felt like I was being a petulant teenager,” she said.
“No, it was perfect,” Stephen said. “You and they were both playing to the same audience, and you two did a better job. Lawson and Ratcliffe were ready to chew you out and show the world how tough their leadership was. You spun that around with your very first appearance. Babies! How do you make someone look like a monster when they’re rocking newborns? You can’t. Then the whole fascism, nationalize the private property thing makes them look like thugs,” he said, almost gleeful. He was studying an iPad while Mr. Deckert helped us lock the carseats in place. We all piled into the car.
“You aren’t finding anything on the web already, are you?” I asked.
“Are you kidding? It’s exploded all over the place. Social media is going nuts. At least three fact checker groups have already shown that you understated what your company has done,” Stephen said.
“And what’s the flavor of the commentary?” Tanya asked him, yawning as she fussed with Cora’s blanket.
“Well, like everything else, there’s a divide. Some want you to go, but most are clamoring for you to stay. One of the facts that was checked was the number of demons you’ve faced down, and it’s really rather alarming,” he said, looking serious. “I actually had no idea. And if I didn’t, then neither did most of the country.”
“There is a police roadblock ahead around the next corner. President Polner has requested your presence at the White House. I detect no threats,” Omega said over the car’s stereo system.
Mr. Deckert turned to glance back for my nod, no other expression on his face. Stephen looked shocked and looked to his law partner for an explanation. Darion just shrugged and said, “Omega,” leaving the smaller man to wonder.
Sure enough, a Washington PD cruiser and four motorcycle cops were waiting as Stevens, our driver, brought the big car around the turn. We slowed and Darion, who was sitting behind the driver’s seat, lowered his window.
The man who approached wore a black suit that screamed Secret Service. He looked nervous. I helped him out before he could speak. “Do we need to follow you?” I asked.
“Yes sir. The president requests your presence,” he said, eyes widening as he saw Tanya leaning over our babies and watching him. Did he realize how much danger there was at that moment? Perhaps he did because he kept his hands in plain sight and moved very slowly.
“Let’s do it,” I said. He got into the cop car and we took off. Two motorcycles and the cruiser ahead of us and two motorcycles behind us. We made it in five minutes. I’m not going to lie… it’s actually pretty cool to just blow through red lights and congested traffic. I mean it’s gotta be a pain in the ass for the other drivers but hey, I wasn’t the one who ordered it.
There was no clandestine, back of the Treasury Building arrival this time. We pulled right onto the main drive by the South Lawn and right to the front damned door. A Marine in full dress uniform moved forward to open our door, but there was no way he was beating Mr. Deckert to that honor. Stephen Meers got out first, then myself with both carseats, then Tanya, followed by Darion. There was what seemed like an uncommon amount of media around the entrance, and they started snapping pictures immediately. We were just getting our act together when President Polner and his wife came down the front entrance steps, smiling at us like lost friends.
“Thank you for coming. I am so glad you accepted my request,” he said, his voice loud enough to ensure good audio quality on the multiple cameras recording us. “My wife, Georgia,” he said, introducing the first lady.
He was black, but Georgia was white, a fact that had been played up in the news for the entire time Polner was vice president and again, now that they were the first mixed couple to occupy the White House. I introduced Tanya and our two attorneys. The president gave both attorneys an appraising look as his wife gushed over the twins.
“Please, follow me. If it’s okay, we would like to offer you lunch right after our little meeting?” the president asked.
I didn’t need to look at Tanya to feel her agreement. “We would love that, Sir,” I said.
“Mostly he would, Mr. President,” Tanya said. “He’s a bit of a glutton.”
“Oh? I had forgotten about your, ah, dietary restrictions,” the president said to my vampire. His wife looked instantly uncomfortable.
“I ate before our hearing. I will be fine till later tonight, but I do need to feed the twins,” Tanya said.
“Of course,” Georgia Polner said, looking uncertain.
“She normally feeds from me once a day. But the demands of breastfeeding the babies has doubled her appetite, ma’am,” I explained.
“So it’s true? You, ah, er, feed from your husband?” the president asked, awkward but fascinated.
“I only feed from Christian. Otherwise it’s the blood bank all the way,” Tanya said without a trace of discomfort.
“I see,” Polner said, leading us into an elevator. “I’ll see you all at lunch,” his wife said, smoothly disengaging from our group as an aide came up to her.
Upstairs, the president led us into the famous Oval Office, where a familiar cluster of men were already waiting.
“Gentlemen, I would normally ask you to leave us, but I believe you are already privy to much of your clients’ business,” Polner said pointedly to our lawyers. “In fact, I believe that you, Mr. Meers, must have had a hand in this morning’s activities.”
“Washington is my area of expertise, Mr. President,” Stephen said, eyes bright as he noted who was in the room. It was the same group we had met in the Treasury Building: Knowles, Tyson, Stewart, Creek, and Arnold.
“Well, if you ever get tired of private practice, give me a call,” Polner said. “Now, seeing as you have spent your morning upsetting the entire country, how much of what you said did you mean? Are you leaving the United States?”
We shared a glance and I nodded at her. This was more her area. “Yes, we are leaving…” Tanya started, turning to notice how tense the room got, “— but it’s a short-term thing.”
“We’re going to Rome. Tanya’s grandmother wants to meet the babies. We’ve been a bit estranged from her of late, but this is partly a chance to mend fences,” I said.
“Elder Senka?” Nathan Stewart asked.
“Yes, Nathan. My mother, Galina, mediated a cease fire, so to speak. Grandmother has been difficult of late but she’s so excited to meet the babies that she agreed to behave,” Tanya said.
“So vampire families aren’t too different from regular families?” Knowles as
ked.
“It’s all just human behavior, even if the humans are centuries old,” Tanya said.
“So, the corporate relocation?” Polner asked.
“That depends on Lawson and company. Nothing I said was a lie, Mr. President. Our company is entirely mobile and plans have always been in place for that kind of scenario,” Tanya said.
“I see,” the president said, glancing at the other men. Creek, Tyson, and Arnold looked uncommonly tense. Knowles was hard to read, and Stewart seemed very calm.
Enlightenment dawned on me. “Oh, you all got worried that if we left and if Declan was off-world, Omega might do something?’ I asked. “Something drastic.”
“You must admit we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t consider it,” Knowles said.
“Intelligence jobs require professional paranoia,” Nathan said. Behind him, General Creek snorted, glowering at me.
“You think Omega would do what? Launch a nuclear strike?” I asked. Most of them flinched. “He’s not Skynet, you know. He seized this world’s nuclear arms to keep any idiots from launching them, not launch them himself.”
“How are we to know what it will do?” Arnold, the CIA guy, asked.
“Let’s ask him,” I said. “Omega, do you have a secret desire to blow up the country?”
“Of course not, Chris. If that were the case, I would have just let the Yellowstone volcano explode,” Omega said from hidden speakers in the president’s office.
They sat stunned. Knowles was the first to speak. “That was it? That was Omega?” he asked.
“Yes, Director Knowles. We agreed, Chris, Tanya, Father, and myself, that at the next meeting I would just speak with you directly. As you say, Director Arnold, how can you know what my intentions are without speaking to me?” Omega said.
“Father?” President Polner asked.
“I refer to Declan O’Carroll as my father. It is not an arbitrary title. The events of my origination in many ways meet the full definition of a miracle. My father’s role was entirely essential and his imprint upon me and impact as my only parent is just as great as Chris and Tanya’s are with the twins, who are also somewhat miraculous,” the quantum AI said.
“I’m stunned,” Stewart said. “Hearing you speak, Omega, is a surreal moment for me.”
“May I take that in a complimentary way, Director?” Omega asked.
“Absolutely,” Stewart said with a big grin.
“The Yellowstone thing was a real threat, then?” General Creek asked in his crusty voice. Leave it to him to ignore the singularity that was Omega’s existence.
“Yes, General. If Father and Chris hadn’t met with the Yellowstone elemental, most of the country would be dead or dying by now,” Omega said.
“Your translation skills were extremely timely, Omega,” I said.
“Thank you, Chris. You are correct,” Omega said.
“It’s not modest,” Arnold said.
“Simply agreeing with the facts, Director. The elemental is for all intents and purposes an alien intelligence. While Father has the most experience of any living person with elementals, he was never going to be able to translate the message he and Chris were attempting to convey. I was able to do so. Now it seems to have retreated deep into the earth below the park and returned to doing whatever it is that ancient fire elementals do,” Omega said.
“Does anyone else feel like it’s just one of their people speaking to us over the White House intercom?” Tyson asked, eyes suspicious.
A painting on the wall suddenly lowered itself to reveal a massive flatscreen behind it. The television came to life, opening to a news channel before flickering to show closed circuit camera coverage that must have come from the White House’s own security system. There were about fifteen split screens but they all clicked off except for one, which expanded to show a dining table being set for a meal, the camera panning and zooming in on a platter of food on the table.
“That entire platter is Crab Rangoon, Chris. There are nine other items being prepared as well. Is there any particular place on the planet you would like to see, Director Tyson, that would help your acceptance of my reality? Say, the Kremlin?” Omega asked, the scene switching back to ten mini windows, each of a foreign building or office, one of which showed the famous president of Russia working at his desk.
“That could be a recording,” Tyson said.
The phone on the president’s desk rang. On the television, the Russian president was looking at his own phone. He reached for it. No one in the Oval Office moved, so I did, crossing the entire room in a flash. “Da?” came through the ceiling speakers.
“Standby for President Polner,” I said into the handpiece, then handed it to Polner.
“Hello? Vladimir? Yes, well, I ah, was wondering if your people had made any headway on the nuclear deal?” Polner asked, clearly improvising, his eyes darting around wildly.
On screen, the Russian’s face showed annoyance. Omega played his response on the speakers. “When we have something ready, you will know, Lyndall,” he said. “Now, I know you are new to this, but I have an appointment,” and he hung up. The Russian leader went back to writing.
The silence stretched for almost a full minute. “He’s kind of rude,” Stephen Meers finally said.
Polner sighed, turning to Tucker Tyson. “That evidence enough for you?”
Tyson just nodded, still shocked by the casual demonstration.
“Why would you let him go?” Knowles, suddenly asked.
“I beg your pardon?” President Polner asked.
“I’m sorry, Sir, that was unclear. I meant, Omega, why would you let your father go off-planet?” Knowles asked. “He will be out of your range and out of contact.”
Omega didn’t answer right away and I busied myself with Beowulf’s carseat. The others looked at each other and then at us.
“He won’t be out of contact?” Knowles asked slowly, putting it together.
“No, Director Knowles. I am in constant contact with Father. No matter where he is,” Omega said.
“You have interdimensional technology?” Stewart asked.
“It builds on entanglement,” the powerful AI said.
“It’s still a risk… sending him to another world. Fairie is a violent place,” Knowles said.
“Yes, but he is extremely well-equipped to handle violence, as is his protective mate,” Tanya said. “Additionally, they are there ostensibly to be comrades to Ashley Moore, who is the Dragon’s Voice. She is well-protected.”
“Ostensibly?” Pollen asked.
“Yes. He and his comrades have a secondary mission. The same mission that is our true reason for traveling outside the United States,” Tanya said.
They leaned forward and my vampire looked my way.
“Not all gates lead to Hell,” I said.
Chapter 41
There was a whole lot of sudden talking. I’d have thought people in their positions would be used to dramatic information dumps, but nope. They were just as fast to all start talking as a third-grade class.
“Enough,” President Polner said, not yelling but lifting his voice enough to cut through the others. Then he turned to us. “Explain, please.”
“Well, most of the gates that have already opened have linked to Hell. But the gate to Fairie at the Moore farm in New York is an exception, as were the gates in their mass incursion a few years ago. We think there are others… many others,” I said. “Omega has researched the known history and folklore of our planet, and there are stories.”
“Much of the data is consistent with Hell gates, but a significant amount of anecdotal tales are dramatically different in many key ways. Portals, gateways, and openings to other dimensions are part and parcel of many cultures. There are references in stories and oral histories from the Aztecs, many African tribes, Native Americans, many parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe,” Omega said.
“And in this case, ancient Rome. The Vatican has requested us. They’d l
ike our take on several sites in Rome where dormant portals may be waking up. Their own records don’t support those particular sites as being from Hell. So we will check it out and visit the in-laws at the same time,” I said.
“Omega is concerned about protecting our world from other civilizations,” Tanya said.
“You want to protect us?” Knowles asked.
“Is that so difficult a concept, Director?” the computer asked.
“It’s just that most concepts of sentient AI are concerned with hostile intent,” he said.