No Regrets

by Jan Stryvant

  Sean just shrugged. "What about the ALS folks?"

  "That guy in jail rolled over completely. They used what he gave them to haul in the leaders and got enough out of their records to RICO act the whole organization. A bunch fled the country; no one's figured out yet where they went."

  Sean shook his head. "Get their files, give them to Tisha. We'll hunt 'em down."

  "We will?" Tisha asked.

  Sean growled. "We will."

  Tisha laughed. "Taking lessons from Dad, I see."

  "Dad's on vacation, I'm running things until he gets back."

  "Really?" Steve asked.

  Sean nodded, and noticed the sudden mischievous gleam in Steve's eye. Thankfully they pulled into the hotel before Steve could share any evil plans.

  As they got out of the car and were escorted inside, Sean called up his defensive framework just in case. He wasn't comfortable here in Washington, he still thought of it as 'enemy territory' with all the stuff that had gone on here.

  "Relax, Sean," Steve said.

  "Just don't go jinxing it by saying 'Security here will stop everything'."

  "Nah, I don't like tempting fate either," Steve said with a frown. "But at least try to look like you don't have any cares. You're the top dog here."

  "Top lion, you mean," Tisha teased.

  "Yeah, that too."

  Sean just shrugged and followed their escort in through the hotel to the meeting room. With all the leaders here, security was pretty heavy. When they came inside, Steve strode directly to the podium.

  "Your attention please. Sean Valens, the lion in charge of the war against the djevels, has agreed to stop in here today to speak to all of you and tell you what the plans are for those portions of Europe that are now contested."

  Steve turned and beckoned to him Squaring his shoulders, Sean sighed and walked to the podium, taking Steve's place behind the microphone.

  "Thank you all for granting me the time to speak here today. I know a lot of you have questions about what's going to happen in Germany. We've agreed upon a plan with the United States government, or should I say, they've agreed to our plan," Sean said with a smile. "The same plan we're going to use here, we're going to use in Germany. We of course have copies for all of you." Sean nodded to Steve, who started to distribute them.

  "Excuse me." A man from one of the groups raised his hand. Sean didn't recognize the flag he was sitting by, and to be honest, he really didn't care.

  "Yes?"

  "I see a young man, I do not see the 'First' we've all been told about."

  "If your intelligence service hasn't already provided you with a picture of my human form, I would suggest you replace them with someone much more competent." Sean grumbled. "Look, I'm not here to win friends or influence people. I'm here to win a war, which so far I've got a pretty damn good track record on."

  "Do you have any idea who I am, young man?"

  "No, I don't. Apparently somebody decided to do away with nameplates or that kind of thing. Then I might know who you are. In either case, it doesn't matter all that much. I'm not here to be polite or to smile and shake hands. I'm here to tell you what's happening, and what we're doing about it."

  "And we don't get any say in the matter?" another one asked. Sean was pretty sure he recognized the French flag.

  "Would you be the French prime minister? You'll have to excuse me, I didn't have time to review who was who before I set foot in here. Lazy of me, I know."

  The man nodded. "I would have that distinction."

  Sean smiled. "You get a say. Nice shooting, by the way. I can tell you it impressed the hell out of everyone. And by everyone, I'm talking all the nuclear powers, and all the wannabes, too."

  "Oh? You know this how?"

  "We have our sources," Sean said, smiling back. "Now I know why the First was so confident in your ability to contain the problem."

  "Thank you," the French prime minister said and sat back down, smiling. Sean noticed the first man was frowning, and the rest were all looking very thoughtful.

  "Now, as to what's in the document," Sean began, and he went over the high points just as he had with the president earlier. The only difference here was there was no 'governing body' to approve the document, and the process for picking the 'governor' who would, for all intents and purposes, be the government of Germany was different.

  "Now, I'm sure you've had a chance to glance at it, but Steve will come back up here and go over it with you line by line."

  Four hours later they were finally finishing up. Sean was surprised when, after the first time someone brought up a change, Steve simply said, 'Well the United States agreed to it,' and the US representative nodded in assent. After that, the questions were more along the line of 'they agreed to this?' and after Steve explained the reasoning from the morning's meeting, they surprisingly acquiesced. Tisha and Steve had been right; getting the president and the rest of the government onboard here in the US helped tremendously.

  "Gentlemen," the French prime minister said an hour after Steve had finished, interrupting the current conversation about the process for updating the quarantine zone borders. "There is nothing in this document to disagree with. Besides which, who among us can deal with the djevels single handedly? Or the lions for that matter? They're doing us a service here, and you must admit, they have rather adroitly kept politics out of it. I have no doubt Mr. Valens is going to tell us this is what they are going to do, regardless of our agreement.

  "So let's just agree, make it official, and we can all take credit for it when the time for reelection comes around!"

  Sean had to put his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing at that one. Several of the other leaders did laugh. Sean had to admit he was rather taken with the candidness of the French prime minister. Obviously the First and his wives had known what they were doing when they decided to get him on the lions' side in this.

  "Are there any opposed, then?" Steve asked. When no one raised a hand, Steve nodded. "Then it will be noted it was passed by unanimous consent."

  "Sean," the United Kingdom's prime minister called out, "do you really think it will take a hundred years to clean up Europe?"

  Sean got up and walked back to the podium. "Raban, the lion in charge and who's currently in Munich, is hopeful that he can beat that deadline, but to be totally honest, that's just a guess based on past history. It could be less, it could be more. First we have to contain the problem, then look for those who have escaped containment. Once we know that's under control, then we can start to retake everything that was lost."

  "What about South America?"

  "South America's problems are significantly different. They weren't facing the same level of invasion as the rest of us were. Also the gateways were deep in the jungles of Brazil. There are a lot of elves in the rain forests of Brazil, and I can tell you they really have an issue with the djevels. Also there are a lot of lions down there, more than anywhere else. So at this time we're not overly concerned with the situation, and I've left it in the hands of the two lions down there running things. They've both engaged the local heads of state down there as well, just as I am doing here.

  "Any other questions?"

  There were a few minor ones, which Sean either answered or deflected, and then with a wave and a smile, he left.

  "Now what?" Steve asked.

  "We pick up Chad, drop you and Tisha off, and we fly back to Nevada."

  "I noticed you didn't say 'home'."

  Sean sighed. "Reno's gone, Steve. Even if we rebuild it, it'll never be home again."

  Steve nodded. "I haven't looked at any of the reconnaissance pictures they offered us. Not sure I want to see my home like that. How's Chad taking it?"

  "He moved his store to Carson City, but I'm not sure his heart's in it anymore."

  Steve chuckled. "Well, yeah. He found a better game to play."

  "Play and win."

  "Hey, at least he hooked up with Maxine. He was never going to b
e happy with Kathy."

  "Did you know?" Sean asked.

  "Suspected."

  Sean nodded. "Oh, Alex told me Zack's in the Navy now."

  "Really?"

  Sean spent the rest of the trip back to their DC office filling Steve in on Zack. Then after a short goodbye to Terri, Chad and he left to make the trip home.

  "You know what?" Chad said to Sean as they took off.

  "No, what?"

  "That was one hell of a boring trip."

  Sean smiled and leaned back in his seat. "Yeah, you're right. I could get used to this."

  Other Things

  "So, I heard the gates are gone for good?" Karl asked Raban, stepping into his office.

  "Close the door please, Karl."

  "Why?" Karl asked as he turned to close the door to the office.

  "Because you're going to yell at me, and if I let everyone hear you doing it, they'll have to hear me punishing you for it." Raban sighed.

  "Really?" Karl laughed. "Since when?"

  "Since you became a werewolf?" Raban shook his head. "You know lions have powers over lycans, Karl. You've heard everyone say it dozens of times, I'm sure. You're a werewolf now, and yes, that makes me a god to you. So if you go mouthing off in public, I gotta punish you."

  Karl thought about that a moment, then responded, "But not in private?"

  "In private, it'll depend on how much grief you're giving me. By the way, congratulations on settling down with Chloe and joining the Kitesh Korps. I think you made the right decision."

  "Thanks, I guess. But you're my god now?" Karl snorted. "I've never been much of the religious sort, Raban."

  "Sit!" Raban ordered and pointed to a chair.

  Karl sat, then looked up at Raban in surprise. "What the hell?"

  "Spend a lot of time in your wolf form; the more you work at it, the quicker you'll get your hybrid form. Listen to Chloe and Otto, they'll help you. Now, you can ponder your take on religion later. Yes, the gateways are gone, and they're never coming back."

  "Never?"

  "Yup. My dad and my adopted brother took care of it."

  "And how long ago did this happen?"

  "What day is today?" Raban asked.

  "Seriously?"

  "Karl, do you even know? Cause I sure as hell forget."

  "It's Wednesday the ninth."

  Raban blinked. "The ninth? Damn, my grandson is due back today!"

  "Due back? From where?" Karl asked confused.

  "He was killed in some fighting…don't worry about it. Now, the gateways were closed on the sixth."

  "They were closed three days ago?"

  Raban nodded.

  "And when were you going to tell me?"

  Karl noticed Raban looked a little embarrassed.

  "I wanted to be sure. I mean, if I told that to my father, he'd probably smack me one, but you have to understand, this has been going on a long time, and our gateway was a wandering one."

  "And?"

  Raban sighed. "And I knew the moment it was announced as closed you'd be up here asking when you could go back home."

  "You got that right!" Karl grumbled. "When can we go back home?"

  Karl looked at Raban, who was staring at him. He wasn't moving, he was just staring. Just as Karl was starting to feel self-conscience about it, Raban began to smile, slowly, widely, and damned if he didn't start purring.

  "You know what, Karl? I think I've found the perfect person for the job Sean just created!"

  "What are you talking about?" Karl said in a worried voice.

  "Sean Valens—the adopted son of my father, and the one leading this fight—came up with a plan for how all of this is going to go forward." Picking up a large document, Raban smiled painfully wide and handed it to Karl.

  "Congratulations! You're now the civilian governor of Germany. I suggest you read that, seeing as it says what your job is, and what my job is, along with a plan that will let you go home. Eventually."

  "Wait, what? What do you mean I'm the governor? We have a prime minister!"

  "Who was murdered by the djevels when they possessed her, who were then killed when the French nuked the capitol. That's the road map for putting it all back together."

  Raban grinned and then laughed.

  "Good luck, Karl! You're going need it. I hear your military counterpart is quite an ass!"

  "He's you, isn't he?" Karl said as he looked down at the large document.

  "Yup! Have fun!"

  Getting up from the chair, Karl opened the door and left the office, Raban snickering loudly behind his desk.

  "What 'appened in there?" Bilkie asked as Karl passed him in the hallway.

  "I think I just got what I wished for…" Karl said, looking down at the document in his hand.

  "Ach, dinnae they say to be careful 'bout that?"

  "That's what's worrying me," Karl admitted. "On the other hand, at least I've got a job now."

  Bilkie laughed. "Tha's why we all like ye', Karl. Lookin' on dat bright side o' tings!"

  §

  "Ah, good, you're here," Kalif said as Sean got to his feet in his lion form and stretched.

  "We having a meeting?" Sean asked, looking around.

  "Seeing as Dad, Mom, and my aunts are all planning on a long vacation, I wanted to go over what went on back in the Onderwereld before we left it," Kalif said with a shrug.

  "You mean before we destroyed it," Sean said, grinning.

  "Well, technically, Roxy destroyed it," Kalif said with a wink. "She did get to him first."

  Sean laughed. "I'll be sure to tell her that. 'Roxy Valens! Destroyer of Worlds!'"

  "Come on, let's go join the others," Kalif said and padded off with Sean following.

  "Should I go back and get Rox, Peg, and Cali?" Sean asked.

  "No, this is more of an 'F1' only party."

  "I can't believe I'm an F1 now. What was I before, an F3?"

  "More of an F2, though we're not exactly sure how that happened. But you ate Mahk, so you're an F1 now. So's Esti, by the way," Kalif said, motioning towards Estrella, who was with the others up ahead.

  " I hope she's happy about that! What about Rox, Peg, and Cali?"

  "Maybe, the First isn't sure. Roxy and Peg both have enough lion in them that, in time, they might be able to come here and tap into our power pool. Cali? Cali's a wild card. She's got no lion in her at all, but she does have some demon."

  "Oh, she gets a fair bit of lion in her on a regular basis," Sean teased.

  Kalif whacked him in the face with his tail as they padded over to where the others were. "You've been hanging around Adam too much, you know that?" Kalif grumbled.

  Sean just snickered as they joined the others and sat down.

  "So," Sean asked, looking around, "what's up? I thought we'd gone over the Inangar issues when we left there?"

  "Kalif had a few things he wanted to discuss," the First said.

  "There's been some debate whether our mountain here would go away if we were all to leave here or if we all died," Kalif started.

  "It is an interesting question," Peym said.

  " I've been thinking a lot about what I was able to read before we left. Sean and Roxy read a lot of that Omush guy's research, and I've talked to Roxy about it a fair bit already.

  "The Inangar's mistake was that they destroyed their world. They didn't just kill everything on it; they actually completely annihilated the entire planet. They were already immortal when they did it. Once they constructed the Onderwereld and linked their souls to it, they achieved the immortality they so badly wanted.

  "But we didn't really construct this place," the First pointed out.

  Kalif sighed. "Yes, and no. When we ate Omush, because of the preparatory work he'd done, this place came into being. This place is linked to us, to lions, just like the Onderwereld was linked to the Inangar. But this is just a waystation, a trap for our souls so we can be reborn. This isn't our home."

  The First nodded. "Of
course not, the Earth is our home."

  "And as long as it exists, we're immortal."

  Sean blinked and thought about that a moment.

  "So you're saying," Sean said, looking at the others, who seemed to be having the same realization, "that they lost their immortality when they blew up their planet?"

  Kalif nodded.

  "But I didn't see anything about that in his notes!"

  "No, you didn't. But you and Roxy weren't reading the same ones, remember. She found something that alluded to it several times."

  "Does that mean if everyone leaves the mountainside, it won't collapse like the Onderwereld did?" Keairra asked.

  "Yes. As long as someone linked to this place is still alive, this place will exist. It exists because of us. We exist because of the Earth. We are tied to it, just as the old earthen spirits are tied to it. If the Inangar had just committed mass suicide and made sure no Inangar were left alive on their planet so no one could be reborn, they would have been truly immortal, and the demons might not have been able to absorb their essence. But I'm not positive about that, and honestly, I've no desire to find out."

  "Why didn't they just open a gate to the Onderwereld and all migrate there?" Sasha asked. "Why did they go through that whole rigmarole of killing themselves? You already told us they'd been going there after they built the place."

  "Because if you showed up there after dying, you were in perfect health and perfect physical condition. If you showed up there as you were on their planet, that's how you stayed. At least, that's what they thought. No one ever bothered to study it long enough to discover if that was true or not."

  "So why'd they build such a dreary and oppressive place?" Dienna asked. "Is that what their home world was like?"

  "Actually, their home world wasn't all that different from ours. What we saw in the Onderwereld was what the demons' homeworld was like. Once they became the majority population, once their life force was predominant, it affected the laws of that pocket reality, and over time it changed to what we saw."