by Power, P. S.
In order to move all the food, and it turned out to be a sizable amount, since some of the leaders belonged to races that ate many times more per day than a Human would, he needed some help. He borrowed a food cart, making sure he didn't get the one from earlier, which he dubbed 'Old Listy' and made the rounds as quickly as he could safely manage.
When the delegates or whatever they called them took a break, he reminded Eloise to get some sleep if possible. She nodded at him, though her Shadow self informed him that this situation remained too fragile to leave and might for days.
“Bull Eloise. If the situation may go on for days, then all you need is a cot and a place holder that knows what your position is, so that they don't call for war when you want peace. I'll arrange a bed for you with Clyde and you find someone that can sit in your chair for a few hours and not start the next world war. I'll go get them, if they can get to a secured Node.” She picked up her phone then and dialed deliberately. He went off to find Clyde.
Between the two of them they arranged for those present that needed sleep to have proxies brought in, and also for the Translators to be taken home and a new group brought over. The morning had come at Underwood when he got back. Nothing in particular had been resolved on the summit side of things when he left though.
Troy had kept the tables filled with food all night long and Beth called saying they'd be in a little late, having baked extra after how fast everything went the day before. She promised that both of them had gotten some sleep then taken drugs in order to keep themselves peppy. He asked her to bring some of those with her when they came, if they were safe. He didn't need them, but a few others around might if this thing continued to drag on.
When Beth and Barbara got there, he helped them unload their big sunny truck with Troy. Grabbing a small tray loaded with donuts he went to see if Claire and her people were all right. Everyone had gone except Claire, who told him that while the calls had died down, she couldn't answer them all fast enough.
Troy held up a single finger, just above shoulder height on the right.
"Yo, I can do that for you. If you can get someone to cover my shift at The Tarantula tonight? I mean, if I don't just get some sleep first. I don't want to leave them hanging though."
Claire blinked for a moment, and then beamed at Troy, I do believe we can manage that. If worse comes to worse, I'll simply have them close for the night, or until you're no longer needed here. Or have Keane call and suggest they find a temporary replacement for you. Since you're busy doing other work, in house. This is far more important than a dance club. Plus, it's a week night. I welcome your aid in this." Claire jumped up and kissed Zack, then hugged Troy, feeling thankful for his offer.
Taking the tray of donuts to his store he found Kaitlyn scrambling on the phones herself. He ate one quickly and then picked up the phone, copying what he had heard Lisa saying earlier.
The voice on the phone demanded to talk to Lisa Penbroke immediately, on urgent business. When he informed them that she couldn't come to the phone, they started yelling. He needed Hartley to take him to the summit immediately and by Eloise's command and he'd brook no insolence from some functionary on the phone.
“All right, sir, what did you say your name was again?” Zack asked reasonably. Getting the name, he asked the man to hold for a second, jogged through the line and found Eloise asleep, and her second on the floor. He had a note slipped to the man, who quickly jotted down something and had it sent back to him. Then he returned as quickly as he could.
The man sounded livid that he had been made to wait like that.
“Sorry sir, I had to check out your story. It appears according to the Mage rep on the floor right now, that you are, and I'm reading his note here, 'full of shit' and that if you don't stop trying to insert yourself into this right now, some form of sanctions will be applied, possibly from Hartley himself."
Instead of ending the conversation, this caused even more yelling. He finally asked the man to call back later, when Eloise had woken up and they could try again.
The next call had a similar theme, only this time from a woman. She insisted that she be taken to the conference immediately, though she didn't have a good reason as to why.
The third call he took turned out to be a person wondering if there would be transfers to Lesser Shia that day. This at least he could answer with certainty.
“No, I'm sorry, the whole system is in lock down except for official business. But rest assured, as soon as this crisis is over, you'll be taken to your destination at your best convenience. We're sorry about the disruption to traffic, but it's out of our control.” He said. The woman on the phone sounded disappointed but seemed to understand.
The calls seemed to go back and forth like this for hours, no one even bothering to ask his name. As far as he could tell, Kaitlyn experienced the same thing on her side of the room.
At ten he got a call from Libby, asking if he'd pick them all up, which he ran to do, having everyone back at the mall within minutes. Lisa looked a little better, though her hair seemed a little messy, tousled by sleep, he figured. Libby and Maryl both had hair short enough that they looked normal.
Beth came to find him, looking harried and worn already, to ask if she minded if they farmed out some of the catering. He agreed instantly, but left her and Barbara in charge of it. He figured it would get done or not. Lisa pulled money from the safe and Zack asked for two thousand to replace what he had grabbed from Merri's jar.
They all hit the phones again. The number of calls picking up as the day went on. Zack noticed that the calls also became more and more inane at the same time. People wanting the news mostly, or, in one case, an older woman that seemed lonely and just wanted to talk to someone. He asked her to hold for a moment.
“Lisa, do you know an Agnes Miller?” He asked.
She nodded, her Shadow telling him that Agnes had called her at least once a week for years, usually just to chat. She lived only a short distance away and had even come in a few times to bring her cookies.
Zack went back to the phone.
“Agnes, are you busy today? Because we have a crisis on our hands and could use help answering phones. A lot of people are confused and upset, some of them are bossy and mean about it, but if you think that you can handle it, we'd love your help.” She hung up so quickly Zack wondered if he'd offended her, but twenty minutes later there came a polite knock on the back door, Kaitlyn let the older Mage in.
They made introductions all around and Agnes got right to work. Her tone remained sweet and grandmotherly until about a half hour in, when she suddenly growled into the phone.
“Don't try pulling that on me! There's a damned good reason why you can't go to the summit Baron, and it's because you're a moron that would probably start a war all by yourself. So shuffle off and stop trying to play the big man!” She hung the phone up hard, then looked around, her eyes smiling.
“My ex-husband. Fancies himself a politician. Well, he has the 'blow-hard' portion of it down at least.”
For the first time that morning, everyone laughed.
Chapter ten
Merri came around with a cart filled with food for them, and a plate for Troy at about three, when the next meal showed up. He gave her a hug and told her she was the best wife ever, which made her blush. She told them she'd deliver the plate to Troy next, and headed out.
He remembered to get some food to the Demons, who'd missed a few meals. He apologized to them for it, even though they didn't complain. Beatrice, the second in command simply thanked him in what sounded a genuine manner and closed the door, looking around outside furtively first, as if attack could come at any second.
Now that Beth had arranged for food to keep coming in regularly for the near future all Zack had to do involved answering phones for now, he thought.
Agnes finally answered an important call, one from Eloise, she asked to speak to Zack, if he could be found. Agnes looked surprised and handed the phone off to hi
m, in the background he heard her say something to Kaitlyn.
“Eloise as in The Eloise Penbroke?” She asked, looking a little shocked. The Alede girl nodded solemnly and picked up her phone as it rang.
“Hello? Eloise?” He decided to check, just in case it had been someone just pretending to be her in order to try and get them to do something. It hadn't happened yet, but what he had heard all day tended to make him doubt people's good will and honesty a bit right now. Her Shadow self confirmed it was indeed her though.
"Zachary? We have a tiny problem here. One of the delegates had taken ill. We've all been assured that it's a simple illness and nothing major. Not poison or attack, but the poor fellow could really use a trip home. Then his replacement will need to be brought in. I believe he's arranged for his son to do that? I don't know if it's possible, but would you be willing to..." Her shadow blushed, because in all of this no one had spoken about how he was going to be paid. It was a lot to risk on her part, since she'd probably have to pick up the tab for this and her relief being brought in, but the man was turning green at the gills. He should have been a nice healthy pink color, so it was a big deal.
"I can do that. Get people to make up a list of anything they need, and we'll try to fill it too. If that's allowable there, I mean?"
"Oh? That's very kind of you. You've been very kind to all of us during this trying time, Mr. Hartley. Thank you for that."
"See Eloise, now you went and made me blush. I'll be right there." Not that he'd really blushed, but he told what should let her feel good about herself and the situation with him.
Then she hung up, since she was actually busy doing something useful.
He headed to the back and checked his destination first, finding the room standing empty. Satisfied that he'd be safe, he went through and then asked the guards outside the door if they'd help him locate the ill delegate. A few minutes later he had delivered the man safely home and taken another man to the summit to take his place. Neither spoke English, though he understood what they meant, listening to their Shadow selves. The first man felt highly embarrassed, the second, his son, worried about some kind of attack, and felt nervous, having never done anything this important before. The difference in color between them was indeed dramatic. The first man looked like the creature from the black lagoon, though he moved better and was a lighter shade of green. The healthy one was all a bright pink that probably glowed under a black light. Hopefully it was just their version of a cold, and not something more serious.
He came out of the Node and sat down, letting Lisa know what happened quickly between calls. After he informed her of the situation and resolution, Agnes got a funny look on her face and her Shadow self told him that she hadn't realized that Zack and the 'Line Walker' were the same person. Age giving her wisdom he saw, she didn't mention this and instead went back to work, figuring that Zack seemed like a nice and polite person, even if he did have some unusual talents.
The phone kept ringing and eventually, he asked Agnes to go home and get some rest, then asked if she'd be willing to come in the next day too.
“You've really saved us here today. I don't think we would have managed without you and unless some miracle happens over night, this will probably be the same in the morning.” After he said this, her face lit up and she told them she wouldn't miss it.
He got out of the shop to see the younger vampires, including many he didn't recognize, showing up, flowing through the back into the front of the store, being led in by Keane. After about fifteen minutes, Troy came out, followed by Nikki and then Claire, all of them heading across the hall to Candles and More.
Troy told him that he planned to take off and go get some sleep. He had his car outside, so that wouldn't be a problem, he just wanted to go out that side of the building. He told Zack he'd see him at home, and if not, he'd be back in the morning to work with Claire answering phones.
“Hey... Do you guys over here keep getting calls from people insisting that they need to have the services of the 'Line-Walker' too? I mean, seriously Zack, if I didn't know you so well, I'd think people thought you were important or something...” He held a straight face for a bit, finally smiling tiredly. “That sounded funnier in my head. I'm going now, while I'm still safe to drive.”
Zack just waved a hand at his friend. Troy looked tired, his tan skin barely hiding the rings under his eyes. His hair was a little messy too, which was nearly unheard of for him.
“No worries. I have that same exact thought myself all the time...”
Claire came over and hugged him while he spoke, just suddenly appearing at his side, using her incredible speed.
“Lisa, may I borrow Zack for a moment? I offer the services of Nikki in his place while we're gone.” She presented Nikki by pulling her around and holding in front of herself bodily, as if offering a present.
“Welcome aboard, Nikki. Grab a phone and make yourself at home. We have no news from the conference, there's no travel today, or probably tomorrow, not even to Lesser Shia and there are no new delegates scheduled to go to the conference right now. Anyone claiming otherwise can be, politely, since many people trying to get there are fairly high ranking, be told to forget it.” That being all the training they had time for since they all had to answer phones almost instantly.
Claire for her part simply took Zack to the back corner of the Candle shop and started kissing him. She held him for a few minutes longer and whispered that she loved him. He didn't whisper back, he said the words in conversational tones, not really caring who heard. All of their friends knew it already, after all. Her Vampires knew of the bond and what that meant as well.
She hugged him tightly for a while, then said she needed to get back. Some of the younger Vamps would need watching. She offered to send over someone else though, if everyone settled in well enough. He thanked her with a heartfelt kiss.
A few minutes later, a rather plain looking male Vampire a little taller than Zack, came in. From his Shadow self, Zack knew he'd talked to him the night that Libby had been attacked. He was the one that asked if they were being paid overtime. That reminded him, so he wrote a note to Lisa who got out four bags with gold and some marker slips for the remainder, and filled them out.
David, the Vampire's name, handled the phones well, though he started to get restless after about half an hour. Zack spoke to him on the Shadow level, and got his beast to focus on the task at hand. Nikki noticed, but didn't say anything, just looking mildly pleased about it instead.
David, her inner beast shared, had all the makings of a good Vampire... except for patience. If Zack could help him there, she offered, it would be a priceless gift. Even given her recent experience, Nikki didn't object to the Vampire being compelled into it, if that could be made to work long term. Not if it was done to help him. Otherwise he'd probably die in the next few years.
When they all got a break, Zack handed him one of the small bags holding fifty ounces of gold. It was small, though that still made a full handful, even for David, who had good sized hands, Zack noticed. Handing the bag over, he reminded the man of what he'd said speaking to his beast, who perked up a little.
“So here you go, overtime.” He nodded and answered the phone as it rang.
David opened the bag quickly to count it and stopped short when he saw the small piece of paper in with it for the remainder. He stared at it like his eyes wouldn't focus and showed it to Nikki. Her mouth formed an "oh" silently and then she smiled up at Zack hugely. Even though she didn't get any of the money, she could be happy for her friends.
When the phones finally started dying down for a while, Zack asked if the others from that night were here as well, and David nodded.
“You know, we all thought you were kidding. We don't normally get anything for jobs like that...” Zack shook his head to this though.
“If you did it for Claire, then of course you wouldn't get paid for it, that would be silly. But since you were working for me, your labor's covered.
This is what Claire negotiated for you.” He grabbed up the other bags and took them over to the shop with all the Vampires and handed out the bags, he recognized Rebeca, being the only female there that night, though he hadn't seen her face. It had scars on the left hand side, near her mouth, and her face otherwise looked a little long and unremarkable. She seemed uncomfortable with herself though. Like everything was a bit embarrassing to her.
She took her bag and went straight back to work, not looking inside.
The other two men did the same, though the one that looked like a huge biker really wanted to count it. He held back though, waiting for Zack to leave first.
Zack grabbed a cup of yogurt on the way out, just helping himself. He hoped Claire wouldn't mind, but he'd grown hungry again.
At nine he started taking everyone to his house by ones and twos. Libby and Maryl got to stay and they took Charli with them this time. Everyone else wanted to shower and change into some clean clothes. He sent Lisa home and had Kaitlyn stay while he got everyone else cycled through. He passed by The Chasm on the way to get some food, and went in to find a rumpled and frumpy looking Nessa sitting in the back at her desk. There was a pile of blankets and a pillow on the floor, showing where she'd been sleeping. It was a good sized place, but everything in it was hard. A real metal desk, brick tile like the mall walkways had and a metal coat rack. Her chair was decently nice, being on rollers and padded, but nothing in the place said it would be a comfy place to sleep. Cat's slept a lot, he'd heard.
She looked up at him. Her face, which was normally pretty and well made up, was still attractive, but held a scowl, and seemed grumpy.
"What?" It was snappish, but not really mean.
"I was wondering if I could buy some clothes off of you for Kaitlyn? She doesn't get to go home, but could use some. She can shower at Beautiful Plus, so I figured it might be nice for her to have something she hasn't been in for a day and a half. Not that she'd complained."