by Pam Uphoff
"They've got dark tan skins; they certainly aren't northern Europeans. I figured south, but there's been so much mixing since the twentieth century that you can't hardly find a real blonde in Europe anymore." Martha sighed and poured wine into the wine glass. "Dirk had his fingers all over it. It's history as far as evidence is concerned. And since he left his bottle, we might as well." She took a sip, raised her eyebrows and took another before she passed it over to him.
It was a good vintage, and Jim checked the label as he sipped. "Good stuff Nevada's putting out these days."
He read further into the notes, taking a guess from barely remembered Arabic and context. Martha wandered around the room, fiddling with things.
"I was very nearly under the impression that this young fellow—his name is Aji, or maybe Haji? Close-something—was trying to get Rior to give up his life of crime—except he kept calling Rior 'Princess', and Rior didn't call him on it once."
"They must have an interesting history together." Jim looked up as she bent over the report. I would love to have an interesting history with you. She looked over at him and she was so close he just naturally leaned in and kissed her. Her hands went to his shoulders, not to push him away, but rather to pull him in closer. The notes hit the ground, followed by clothing. Jim vaguely hoped she'd locked the door while fidgeting, but wasn't worried enough to check.
***
Ajha followed Rior out of his rooms, prepared to keep arguing. He hesitated, though, at the sight of one of the Fallen witches.
She raised an inquiring eyebrow, and Rior shook his head.
"If I need to get rid of him, I can do it myself."
Ajha scowled. "The One would not approve."
The witch chuckled. "Oh, Sweetie, Rior doesn't care anymore. I don't know much about your culture, but surely there would be problems about our, umm, little crime spree."
She'd managed to back him up against a wall, and a half panicked glance showed that Rior had slipped away.
"Actually, for the ability to make gates like the Fallen, I think the One will overlook or forgive anything."
She chuckled. "But we wouldn't exactly be free, would we? I'm Jade. I think we should get to know each other better while you tell me all about this One World."
Ajha started trying to beef up his shields but she was getting through enough to influence his emotions and libido. He tried to turn away, but his muscles seemed to lock up.
"How about some wine? I think you need to relax." she snickered as he dragged his leaden feet enough to avoid overbalancing.
Over the next several hours he got very relaxed, and babbled like an idiot all about his society, his relationship to the One and what was going on in Comet Fall, and everything he'd ever heard about the Embassy World. He'd babbled just as freely with every Princess who'd ever questioned him. This was the first time he'd gotten laid while doing it.
Later, as he staggered down the hall, he decided that all things considered, he'd as soon keep the two activities separate.
Baik was still chatting, laughing and playing games with one of the wizards, and he left them alone while he ordered a sandwich for lunch, and stared out the windows at the near white-out conditions.
Fean joined him, looking amazingly smug. "What a mess. Maybe we'll be snowed in for a month."
"One forbid. Have you seen Hob?"
"Yes. He contrived to meet those Witches with all the babies. Last seen he was playing Go Fish with a batch of five-year-olds." She tapped her fingernails. "Some of them are Rior's. I think he's found a way around the infertility problems Princesses have."
"Turn male, you mean? Or seduce a very powerful Fallen Wizard like Xen Wolfson?"
"I think she did it both ways, if I understood Eldon right." She snickered. "If we Princesses weren't indoctrinated to not want children, and given implants to get rid of our cycles, I think there'd be a steady stream of women going to Comet Fall to find a wizard." She looked thoughtful, then shrugged.
"You've got an implant, don't you?" Opening up a bit, he could see that her power had taken a huge leap upward. Not a virgin anymore. The Second Step of Power already taken, and solidly. No slow growth here. "You'll need some advanced training when we get home."
"Yes. We have two more local pages to collect statistics and impressions on. Then six months of compiling and analyzing and writing the report. I'll put in for the training cycle starting in about a year and a half."
Ajha nodded. "That should be about right."
Fean looked over at Baik. "I'd say something about a cat playing with her food before she ate it, but Baik's too nice. I hope she doesn't do anything silly, like fall in love. It sounds so romantic, but would get awfully messy in real life."
"The Directorate would get, umm, difficult about security clearances and so forth. It'll be interesting to see how they react to our tripping across these Fallen, as it is."
"Interesting? How so, and how do you know?"
Ajha hesitated, then jumped in. "My first real field assignment was as the junior member of an Information Team sent to the World we now call Comet Fall. I spent several years undercover in Karista. ///Forty years later, they still drag me in to conferences as an expert. I'm usually the only one there that's been to Ash or actually laid eyes on Rustle Neverdaut. Mind you, she was twelve years old at the time. I've spoken to their God of Travelers. Whoop-de-do. My main thought at the time was 'what a nice old man, gee, look at all the pretty girls, I ought to come back in about five years when they've grown up a bit.' Now they're in the damn history books." He jerked his chin at the redhead and blonde witches as they strolled in. "One knows how long the authorities'll be asking us about our interactions with an actual interdimensional criminal gang composed of Withiones, and Fallen witches and wizards."
"Oh. Umm, I suppose I oughtn't have, umm."
"Probably not. I'd suggest you elide over that in your reports, but they're going to ask specifically. Might as well be frank from the start."
"I'll distract them with the part about the spell to morph into a horse. Pony actually, no change of mass that I could see."
"You actually . . . "
"It was so fun galloping around in the snow." Her eyes brightened.
"Fean, you do realize that your nickname is Fiend because you are such a pain in the ass to be around? Hearing you carry on like a giddy school girl is frightening me. Stop it at once."
"Yes, sir."
There were other late lunchers entering the restaurant. Two of the witches. A man in a business suit. With an escort of bodyguards.
"Politician or vid star?" Fean asked.
"Mince meat." The man had stopped at the witches table, and looked to be inviting himself to join them. They didn't look impressed. He reached over and grabbed the redhead's chin. She erupted out of her chair.
"We are not interested in you. Do not try forcing yourself on us. Go away. This is the only warning you are going to get."
"No one uses that tone of voice on me, Bitch." The suit had a low growl of a voice.
"I'm pleased to have given you a new experience." The redhead sat down and picked up her menu. The suit turned away and stalked over to a distant table where he could sit with his back to a wall and see the pair of witches. He stared at them the entire time he was eating.
Ajha snorted. "They should have brought all the kids. That would have chased him off immediately."
Fean frowned. "Do you suppose they left Hob in charge of the kids?"
***
"Touch down! Yes!" Eldon pumped his fist into the air, and grabbed three more beers.
A maid edged nervously into the room, with plates of nachos and hot wings.
Heso pointed at the 'coffee table' and handed her a hundred dollar bill. Everything was cold, but Heso just waved his hand over them to melt the cheese and sizzle the wings.
"One! You lot really know how to harness your powers for the betterment of mankind." Hob belched and popped his beer.
Eldon listen
ed to the rapidly retreating footsteps and shook his head. "Dude, you need to let the delivery people get out of sight before you do things like that. You keep scaring them."
"Ha! It was that pretty little one seeing you change that started it."
"Ah, who cares, we're out of here as soon as Falchion finds a good place to gate to." Eldon wandered down and looked through all the connecting doors. No kids in sight. In theory that meant they were all still napping.
"True, true. INCOMPLETE! What are you talking about! He had a hand under that ball!"
***
Jim kept sneaking glances at Martha all through an early dinner.
Char snickered, and said something under her breath about "High time."
Everyone else either didn't notice or were damn good actors.
There was a cheap radio playing half static and half top ten, fortunately turned down low, presumably to provide background music. But when the song ended, and a weather report started, all conversation died for a moment.
" . . . severe storm warnings for the eastern parts of . . . sen , Plumas, Nevada, Sierra and Placer Count . . . with accumulations of up to four feet of snow expected over night as the . . . er front stalls against the mountains. Interstate Eighty, after open . . . iefly this morning is closed again from Dutch Flats to the Summit. The Depart . . . of Transportation is working through the night and . . . one lane open each direction by noon."
"I hope to hell Harwin didn't try to get back in this mess." Andy squinted at the windows. There was nothing to see but the reflections of the candles and diners.
"I told him to use his judgment. The important thing is that this lot get arrested, not that we know how it's going to play out." Jim looked around as the four yuppie couples entered.
The waitress and the busboy quickly pushed three tables together and they sat in a rather brittle silence until one of the men opened his menu. "Well, I wonder how much of this they can cook tonight."
The other table's waitress fluttered around shifting silverware. "The gas grill is working, and we have plenty of prime steaks. No baked potatoes or french fries, but we do have mashed potatoes. Green beans and salad. Death by chocolate or caramel volcano for dessert."
Their own waitress came up then.
"Rib eye, medium rare, whatever sides." Jim turned back to watch Bellemiso walk in with his thin girlfriend. After looking around with a frown, he sat down as usual, with his back to a wall. The yuppie wives had frozen when he walked in, then relaxed and gone back to trying to order what the kitchen couldn't manage tonight.
All four of the female Animals walked in together, with the Wolf. They grabbed two close tables and chatted happily with the waitress. Bellemiso scowled across the room at them. They didn't seem to notice.
The yuppie wives had again tensed and relaxed.
"I don't think they want to meet the Deer again." Martha murmured. "I wonder what was in that wine. Did you try it, Dirk?"
Dirk got a deer-in-the-headlights expression and swallowed. "Well, yes. Damn good wine. I suppose you finished it off?"
"Yes. Excellent for the price. In fact excellent, period. Now, anything we need to talk about, keeping in mind that we're in the same room with them?" Jim looked around but received shaken heads. "Good. We'll figure the troops will arrive shortly after noon tomorrow. We'll start some serious surveillance as soon as we can see tomorrow."
Halfway through their excellent steaks, a buzzing whine had the waitress perking up. "That'll be one of the deputies on a snojet. They always come around and check on everyone. I'm surprised they're out with the snow coming down so hard and fast."
The bundled up figure entered the restaurant a few minutes later. Jim recognized the man who'd eaten and argued with the Park Ranger.
The man saw that he already had everyone's attention. "Well, as you know all the roads are closed. They're going to try to have the interstate open by noon, and if the conditions are such that the snow plows and sand trucks can get out, we should have the local roads open by nightfall. All that depends on the snow stopping a bit after midnight, as forecast. So just settle down, and if your rooms are too cold, come down and sit around the fire. I'll be here all night, and can relay any emergency messages any of you need to send. That's it. Hey, Jenny, how about a steak?"
Everyone turned back to their own meals, and group by group headed for their rooms for the night.
Jim sighed. "I'll speak to the deputy, and perhaps we should see if we can see the Animals." Which, damn it to hell, meant people coming and going from his room again.
Chapter Seven
Sunday 13 November 2015
Dice Creek
Jim woke sometime late in the night, or possibly early in the morning with a very great wish that it was Martha silhouetted against the dim ambient lighting outside and a bad case of heartburn. He rolled out of bed with a muttered growl and shuffled into the bathroom. All his muscles had stiffened, and he had trouble repressing a smirk, thinking about all the unaccustomed activity that had led to this situation. He popped aspirins and anti-acids, peed and headed back to bed. "They doing anything?"
"One of the little girls woke up an hour ago, and the redhead put her back in bed. Other than that? Nada."
There was a light tap on the door, and Jim walked over to open it. Rather than one of his team, he found himself facing the deputy. "Ah. C'mon in. I meant to get with you earlier."
"Oh? And why's that?" The deputy slanted a suspicious look at Dirk by the open curtain.
Jim blinked. "Hmm, that's not good." He shuffled over to the desk and found his badge. "We're FBI, with some MI as well. We were here to check out a lead to the Animals bank robbery gang." He waved at the window. "All those pretty people across the way. And down stairs, our bonus prize, Arnold Bellamiso. That fellow in the suit in the dining room."
"Bella . . . the Brazilian fellow? All the drugs, arms, and revolution you can pay for?"
"Yep. Him. Finding them both in the same spot is giving me the heebee geebees. Probably laundering the bank money."
"And those are the people in masks that have been robbing banks back east? Why here? How sure are you?"
"They like the climate? The only stolen bill we've traced came from here. One. Once. And here's a group that looks just like our robbers, sans masks. Close the curtains, Dirk. I'll show the deputy our security cam pictures. I'm Jim Kelso, that's Dirk Pelham."
"Jack Devlin." The deputy whistled tunelessly through his teeth, and jigged the vids back and forth. "Yeah, that's plenty for a search warrant. And if there's the faintest other indication, arresting them. Can't count on the courts, anymore, but it might be enough."
"Hopefully we'll find the masks and the money. Bellamiso's already got a federal warrant outstanding."
"And you can't contact anyone." Devlin was looking alarmed.
"One of the MI types was an expert at snow travel and survival. We sent him out, before the snow started. We were hoping you'd have a message for us."
He shook his head. "I came down from Soda Springs. Your man probably headed down toward Emigrant Gap , if he had any sense. Let's go check in on my snojet's radio."
Jim dressed quickly, and Dirk ducked out to grab his jacket.
The snow was still falling, wet and heavy now, coating everything. The snojet was under a tarp and even up against the lee of the building at the kitchen entrance it had gathered a couple of inches. Devlin peeled it off and they all studied the radio.
Jim sighed. "I'm willing to bet it doesn't work real well with a screwdriver pounded through it." He fished out his comm and listened to it searching for a connection for a few moments then shut it off.
They walked back inside, all thinking hard.
"I'll drive out tomorrow." Devlin started.
Jim shook his head. "After Bellamiso's people have done at least one thing to your snojet? I don't think that's a good idea."
Dirk whistled. "Didn't think of that. I dunno why he's here, damn stupid risk, I'd think,
but he sure isn't going to want police coming and going."
"I think we should just play dumb for another day or two. The reports we sent with Harwin will trigger an all out assault as soon as the weather clears." Jim studied the deputy. "I'd recommend you look happier than all get out to be stuck in the lodge for a few days. Pick your favorite girl and let everyone see just why you're so happy."
Devlin's face was red from the cold, but managed to blush even deeper. "Peggy will kill me. She already thinks I'm a major nuisance."
"That park ranger you seemed to always be arguing with?"
"Yep." He hitched up his jeans. "Guess I'll just have to make the ultimate sacrifice and throw myself at her."
Jim looked at his watch. "Three in the morning. Dirk, hit the sack. I'll keep watch." It was not coincidental that they happened to be outside Martha's door when he said it. Five minutes later she slipped into his room and into his arms. "I'm on duty, so to speak."
"And no doubt in need of someone to talk to, to keep you awake." She pulled another chair up beside his and they settled down to watch the darkness.
***
Eldon took a long hot soak—water from snow, magically transported and heated—to get the kinks out from sleeping in front of the TV. He kept it steaming hot for awhile, then hauled himself out and down to the restaurant.
Falchion and Epee were ahead of him, and being accosted by the guy in the suit. The suit wasn't wrinkled, so it probably wasn't the same one. It just looked like it. The guy was just as single minded in his tail chasing. Stupid sod didn't know who he was pissing off.
Eldon took a seat and when the waitress edged nervously up he smiled. "Whatever you can cook, a plateful, and if you've got orange juice, a huge one. Thanks, kid."
She bolted. Honestly, he wasn't, like, a rapist. Just a bit of magical influence and wine here and there, for extra encouragement. And he certainly didn't go for kids.
" . . . won't have to hide, under my protection."