by M. Lorrox
Schermer reaches into the back seat and grabs a red sling bag like the one she gave Charlie. She opens it and takes out a nondescript bottle. “Here, and take the bag, there’s other stuff in there you might need. Good job Eddy, we almost lost him.”
“Thanks.” Eddy takes a sip.
“And tell the tail good job as well.”
Eddy nods. “If anyone asks, if you have to say anything, just say it was me. Alright?”
“You got it. If you need to get back to the hotel, Rosslyn metro station is nearby, or I could tell your Dad to come and get you.”
Eddy extends his hand and Schermer takes it in a handshake. “I’ll be fine. See you later.”
Eddy waits while Schermer drives off, then checks his phone. He has a text from June:
How about I just meet you, I see you, dumdum.
Eddy looks around and he sees a hand waving in the distance. He waves back and sends her a text:
Pizza? There’s a joint right here. Is that perfect or what?
DONEZO!
Sadie raises her hand and waits patiently to be addressed. General Riley looks at her and reads her nametag. “Yes, Mrs. Costanza?”
“Forgive me, but I still don’t understand why I’m here this afternoon. I understand your plan, and I think it’ll work. But everyone else in this room seems to have been selected for their expertise or due to their current position, except for me—”
“Well, you see—”
“I must assume that I’m here because you want my husband to take part in this mission.” She glares at him. “Is that correct?”
General Riley glares back. “Ma’am, I don’t give a damn who your husband is, and I didn’t request your presence. You’ll have to speak with your leadership after our meeting.”
Sadie’s eyes flash to Mary who glances away, dodging her. “Oh... Thank you, General.”
“Now where were we...” The general turns to Dr. Penelope Petters, a woman with long brown hair, who is expecting him. “Dr. Peeters, regarding the difficulty in extracting the control chips. How long would it take an expert to do the task?”
Penelope shrugs her thin shoulders. “One cannot tell, in a lab, it would take me twenty minutes. But inside a military facility with limited tools and under adverse conditions, it could take much, much longer. For example, in the lab, just rotating the outer housings to access the security latches is done by specially programmed hydraulic arms—in the field, it would require three men just to lift one of these things.”
“Imagine you had a manually-controlled hydraulic arm and a clean working area. Then how long?”
“Me, probably forty minutes, someone else...at least an hour. For each one.”
General Riley nods and looks to the table of other military personnel. “Alright, we’ll plan accordingly. That should take care of targets Alpha and Bravo. After these missions are successful, we’ll move on to targets Charlie and Delta.”
Sadie lifts her head. Oh… She glances in Mary’s direction. This time Mary holds her gaze and mouths the words FLIP IT OVER while holding up her own, identical notepad.
Sadie flips her pad over. On the back, Sadie sees a note in Mary’s handwriting:
We need to talk.
June takes a bite of a hot slice of veggie pizza. She closes her eyes. “Wow, this tastes amazing.”
Eddy smiles and takes a bite of his pepperoni and sausage pie. “Mmm-hmm, so good.”
She leans over and speaks with a fake, low voice. “Lets you and me take this outside.”
He smiles and motions for her to wait. He swallows. “Only if we can sit in the shade. Right? Remember that little detail?”
She glances out the window. There’s a big tree on the side of the parking lot. “I forget how sensitive you are, you little flower.”
Eddy rolls his eyes and tilts his head. “I ain’t no flower, I’m a thorn, bay-bay!”
Outside in the shade, they sit on the grass and eat their pizza. June checks the time. “When’s your dad getting here anyway?”
“Should be pretty soon.”
“Did he say why he didn’t want us taking the metro? I think that’d be fun.”
Eddy swallows another bite. “No, but he insisted. I don’t think he’s furious or anything, but expect to get lectured some.”
Ugh! I knew this would happen.
Just then, Charlie pulls the Jeep into the lot and parks in front of Eddy and June. He kills the engine and gets out. “Hey guys, I’m starving. What’s good?”
“Hey dad. The meat-za is good.”
“Alright, maybe I’ll grab a slice of that. Need anything?”
They shake their heads.
“Be back in a minute. Watch the Jeep; I left Rusty inside.”
When Skip read the text that June was safe and Charlie was going to get her, he decided to take a shower. He had changed out of his mango-smoothie covered clothes, but he still felt gross. He’s getting dressed and is slipping his pants on when he hears a knock at the door to the suite.
Although he thought he had calmed down and regained a clear head, he sprints to the door and rips it open.
Katlyn Bergström and Minnie stand outside with their hands full. Katlyn smiles. “Oh, I hope this isn’t a bad time.”
Skip blushes. “Oh, no, sorry, I, uh, just got out of the shower.”
She looks at the water still clinging to his chest. “I see that.”
Minnie points. “Mr. Skip, you’re strong!”
He can’t help but chuckle. Only a six-year-old would think that. He looks at Katlyn, who is still smiling. “Uh, come in, come in. Let me grab a shirt.”
Katlyn leads Minnie into the suite while Skip dashes to his bedroom. Katlyn speaks loudly so that he can hear her. “We finished the clay-making activity, and we wanted to drop off some things. Eddy wasn’t very specific about how long Minnie would need someone to look after her, just that it was an emergency.”
Skip is back with a shirt over his shoulders, and he begins to button it, starting at the collar. “Yes, there was. Thank you for looking after her.”
Minnie bounds over to the couch and sets Valentine on the cushion.
Katlyn dips her head in a bow and allows herself to watch Skip secure the button just above his pants before she stands back upright. “I can still watch her if you need. I have some cleanup and preparation to do though, so it might not be as exciting for her.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I can watch her now, and it won’t be long until her dad comes back.”
“Okay, well, I’m happy I could help.” She takes a step to Skip’s side, toward Minnie. “I had a lot of fun playing with you, Minnie, thank you for hanging out with me.”
“You’re welcome.”
Katlyn turns to Skip, who is very close to her now. “It was a pleasure seeing you too, Mr. Skip.”
He blushes again, then glances into her sparkling eyes, and he briefly loses himself in them. He clears his throat. “Katlyn, right?”
She nods.
He lays on as much charm as he can muster. “The pleasure is mine.”
She smiles then steps back. “I have to clean the room, but I do hope to see you later. Will you be at the reception this evening?”
Skip remembers the bomb plot, the possibility that the hotel will be evacuated, the operation out front earlier, and June ditching him to get on the bus with a hopeful murderer. His smile crashes, and so does his charm. “I’m not sure it’s, uh… I’m not sure I’ll be attending. But thanks again for watching Minnie.”
Was I too forward? Shows me for trying. “Okay. Well, umm, I’ll see you later. Bye, Minnie.”
“Bye, Ms. Katlyn.”
She turns and lets herself out while Skip realizes he blew it. Whatever that was… He watches as the door closes behind her, the long skirt that hugs her hips and flows
beside her ankles just sneaks into the hall and avoids getting caught between the door and the frame.
Charlie drives Eddy and June back to the hotel. Rusty sits next to June in the back, and Eddy rides up front. Charlie finishes the last bit of his pizza and takes a sip from a bottle. “That pizza was good, might have to go back there.”
June sticks her head into the front of the Jeep. “Listen, Mr. Costanza, I—”
“Charlie.”
“Uh—”
“Call me Charlie, June.”
She swallows. “I know what you’re going to say, but I’m not going to apologize.”
Eddy raises both palms. “I didn’t say anything.”
Charlie continues driving. “I didn’t say anything either.”
June slaps her hands on her thighs. “COME ON, I know what you’re thinking, that I shouldn’t have done what I did because it was dangerous and irresponsible, but—”
“So why did you do it?”
She looks at him in the rearview mirror. “No—” she sighs, “—I was saying that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Oh. Well, why did you get on the bus? It does seem like it was a dangerous thing to do.”
“Because I had to, Charlie. Nobody else was there and he was going to get away.”
“Probably, yeah.”
“Umm, so I got on the bus. To help stop him.”
“I know. From what I heard and from what Schermer says—” He smiles over his shoulder to Eddy and June. “—you two were a great team.”
“So, you’re glad I got on the bus then?”
Charlie laughs. “No, definitely not happy about that, and especially not happy that you got off the bus with the target. I told Eddy to tell you to stay on the bus.” He looks at Eddy. “Who of course told you to stay put... RIGHT?”
Eddy nods.
June sits back into her seat and sighs.
Charlie looks at her in the mirror again. “June, your dad is probably going to kill you. I texted him updates that you were safe, but still, he’s probably going to kill you. The vampires on the other hand are probably going to want to throw you a parade, and if I were Eddy, I’d be a little upset that you didn’t stay on the bus when he asked you to.”
June takes a fast breath. “And what about you?”
He bounces his head a little, side to side as he drives. “Well, you know I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, but what concerns me the most is that you have no idea what you’re doing. You’ve been a vampire with our abilities for what, two days? You don’t know what your limits are. You could have gotten in way over your head today, June. If he knew you were following him, who knows, maybe he had a gun on him. Maybe a knife.”
June closes her eyes. “I just had to do something.”
Charlie sighs. “I understand how you feel, but you put yourself in a lot of danger, when you didn’t need to. And you ditched your dad.”
She remembers the way he crashed and fell when he took off after her. “He’s really mad?”
Charlie nods. “Yeah.”
After the meeting at the Pentagon, the vampires are brought back to the hotel. Hamid holds a brief, closed session with the High Council, and Sadie waits outside for it to finish. When Mary steps out, Sadie walks with her. “So... What are you up to, Mary?”
“Oh Sadie, I didn’t have a chance to talk to you; there have been so many extra meetings and closed sessions. Will you let me explain over tea perhaps?”
“At the restaurant?”
She shakes her head. “My room. We need to speak privately.”
“Lead the way.”
Mary turns on an electric teakettle and sets out two cups. “Finally, a little privacy.”
Sadie clears her throat. “So, what’s going on?”
Mary sits in a chair across from her old friend. “I think you should join us on the High Council.”
Sadie jolts and furrows her brow. “The Council is full, there’s no room on it.”
“For now, you’re right.” She shakes her head. “I’ve spoken to Hamid about this, but to no one else. I think there’s someone that is working against us, from within the Council.”
Sadie frowns. “Working against you? How?”
“I can’t explain; it’s a feeling. There have been too many coincidences, too many accidents. I want you around for your support and to prepare you for a nomination.”
Sadie nods. “I’ll do what I can. Can I tell Charlie?”
Mary glances to her side for a moment. “Not yet. Some of the guards may be in on it as well, and they may try and seek his help—they may try to convince him to join them.”
Sadie chuckles. “And we know exactly how that’ll go.”
Mary laughs. “Yes, yes we do.”
After a moment, Sadie swallows and asks the question she’s had on her mind all morning. “Mary—for this mission—are they sending Charlie?”
She takes a full breath in and out before responding. “That’s not exactly the correct question. The question is, are they sending the Commander of the Council Guard—and the answer is yes.”
“If it’s political, why not use a high-ranking vampire who is also in the military? There’s dozens of knights that out-rank Charlie.”
“Because it’s not that simple. Think about it. The U.S. government wants our help, and they want us to go public—”
“And they suggest they’ll help us do that, but—”
“Sadie, this military operation that they’ve thought up; it’s a PR goldmine. Think about it. They use cutting edge research and tech to go back out into the wilds of the zombie filled area to protect American interests.” She waves her hand. “I’m sure they’ll spin it in a way that suggests they’re collecting important samples and research or something, but the point is that it’ll be a joint operation.”
The tea kettle buzzes. Sadie gets up to fetch it. She brings it back to where they’re sitting and pours the hot water into two cups.
Mary looks through some tea bags and selects an herbal. “Us and them, working together. Like a team.”
Sadie takes an Earl Gray. “That’s fine, but why Charlie? It’s most likely the last thing he’d want to do.”
Mary bobs her teabag up and down in the water. “It’s plain as day. Charlie has it all; he’s the perfect choice. That’s what the military and the High Council will think; they’re both very predictable.”
Sadie raises an eyebrow. “Indulge me on why he’s the perfect choice.”
“Well, he looks rather ordinary. He’s a little overweight, he’s not a model, he’s got scars, and hair, and scruff. He looks like any ol’, middle-aged, ex-college athlete.”
Sadie laughs. “He’ll love that.”
Mary nods and rolls her eyes behind her thin, silver-rimmed glasses. “I can imagine. But there’s more. He also holds the highest official command-station, Commander of the Council Guard. In addition, he’s a high-ranking officer in the Order of Knights, colonel now, correct?”
Sadie nods and sips her tea.
“And, he’s tough. She tilts her head toward Sadie. “You told me what really happened during Catherine’s ascension. I can’t think of any other vampire alive that could have endured what he did.”
Sadie sets her tea down. “Mary, no one knows about that. How does it have any impact on the situation?”
Mary looks at Sadie over the lip of her cup. Steam swirls in front of her glasses. How naive. “Sadie, my dear, what no one knows is why the story that’s been told of Catherine’s ascension is incomplete. I’ll tell you straight to your face: there’s no vampire knight alive that has the respect and admiration that Charlie does.”
Sadie opens her mouth to argue, but shakes her head and looks away.
“And dear, one thing everyone also knows is what happened to him during the American C
ivil War—and how he fought back. You and him. You both exposed the old bureaucracy and cynicism that was the open sewer running through our society, and it’s partly because of you both that we as a people have grown as much as we have since then. We are a respected community now. Feared, of course, but respected by other governments. Envied even.” She picks up her cup and takes a large sip.
“Flattery won’t work on Charlie. You know that. And he doesn’t want any limelight. I mean, are you kidding? That alone would make him refuse the mission.”
Mary sets the cup down, reaches out, and takes Sadie’s hand. She rubs it. “My dear, you should know that if he doesn’t volunteer, the Council might put forward and vote on a Council Directive.”
Sadie rips her hand away. “How dare you?”
Mary draws back in surprise and holds up her palms to Sadie. “Not my idea! I swear I’ll vote against it, and I can convince a few others to vote with me, but—” She lowers her hands to her lap and shrinks in her seat. “—but if the Council votes and I cannot block it, he will have to go.”
Sadie shakes her head back and forth quickly, back and forth and back and forth, not stopping. “No, he won’t go. He’ll resign, he’ll chop his arms off and take disability leave, he’ll do anything except follow another Council Directive into battle.” She stops shaking her head and looks at Mary. “I cannot believe what I’m hearing. I cannot believe that you would even entertain this. This is completely unbelievable.”
Mary slides off her glasses and wipes her eyes. “Sadie, I’m sorry, dear. I want to help... When I suggested that Charlie take the Commander position instead of going back to active service, I had no idea any of this would happen. I really just wanted to help, and...I guess I’m apologizing.” She sits back in the chair and sighs as a tear breaks from her eye. “I know; this is awful. It’s just plain awful, but it is the situation we find ourselves in.”
Sadie looks at her teacup. “I don’t blame you, Mary; I don’t. But what are we going to do? Is there a way to just put an end to this nightmare?”