Edward (19 page)

“The
cool part is,” began Zoë, “he has helped other people on other colonies start
to set up systems just like his.  Even if they would end
up competing with him.  Nope.  The man is cool enough to have
his fancy hotel!”

“Well
then!  I think I’ve had my education for the day,” replied Edward with a
laugh.

“And
people were curious why I was happy to be blocked from the post as mayor,”
laughed Ivy.  “Small town politics are bad enough, much less trying to coordinate
a colony stretched across an entire planet.”

“You
are blocked from being mayor?” asked Tatiana. “Um, that seems kind of rude.”

Ivy
smiled and shook her head, “They asked Llewellyn to be the next baron. 
They never want a baron and mayor to be in the same family, thus, as a
condition of accepting the job, I had to agree to never run for mayor.”

“Whoa,
so you are a baron?  That sounds cool!” beamed Tatiana.

“Eh, not until Midwinter.  Baron is more of a military role than a political
one.  But even then, it is bad form to put too much power in one family.”

“That
seems very practical,” remarked Zoë.  “Other planets could learn from the
Highlanders.”

“Okay,
I think we have all had enough politics for the day,” interrupted Gillian.

They
all laughed at that and agreed.

“So
what did you two plan to do for the evening?” asked Gillian.

“Well,
we were hoping you could help us.  We were thinking about going out to a
dance club,” replied Ivy.

Tatiana
smiled broadly, “That sounds awesome!”

Zoë
beamed, “Which style?  We have so many!”

Edward
looked confused, “Um, dance club?  Are you serious?  Trevor will
shoot us!”  He thought about that for a bit, “Okay, with you along, Trevor
will simply be nervous.  But seriously, Llewellyn, a
dance club?”

“We
should eat here, to save time!” interjected Tatiana.

“Water.  Make
sure everyone drinks lots of water!” chimed Zoë.  “No alcohol. 
You’ll just dehydrate too quickly.”

Edward
just stood there dumbstruck.  It was going to be an active, if not very
different, evening.

Ivy poked
Edward in the ribs and laughed, “Come on, it’ll be fun.  Didn’t you know
your brother likes raves?”

Heavy beats, flashing lights, and people everywhere
bouncing like they were insane. “Um, no.  I had no idea,” Edward replied quite
honestly.

“Don’t
worry,” coaxed Tatiana.  “It’ll be fun.”

Two
hours later Edward found himself staring at the armored car as it disappeared
in the distance while he stood on the curb with Zoë, Tatiana, Ivy and
Llewellyn.  They had decided to hit an area of town where there were
several clubs, so if one was not to their liking, they could easily walk to the
next.  They disembarked some distance away so as to not cause a
scene.  The low lights and pressing crowds would enable them to operate
incognito.  That was the plan at least.

Edward
looked nervously up at the glitzy glass building.  He could already make
out the faint driving bass beat, and the flashing lights would probably be
obvious to weather satellites.  The five of them quickly made it up to the
entrance and Ivy paid the cover for them all.  The bouncers looked at both
Llewellyn and Edward suspiciously but not a word was spoken. 

As
they threaded their way into the club, Edward finally caught sight of the dance
floor and started to understand why his brother would like it: his brother was
insane!  There were hundreds of people all moving in time to the music
without a hint of personal space. The music was powerful and made his fur dance
from pressure waves alone.  The lights danced across the
floor, walls, and ceiling in eerie patterns.  Some in time with the
music, some just appeared to be random.  The room was heavy with the smell
of sweat, perfume, and the stench from artificial smoke.  Even the air had
a taste to it.  That was it.  Every single one of his senses was
being assaulted by this place.

Edward
was shocked as he looked over and saw Llewellyn’s coat pulsing in time to the
beat.  He was a High Silver; his fur didn’t simply change color like
Edward’s did.  Llewellyn was actually turning transparent in time with the
music.

His
brother noticed him staring at him and grinned, “Penn and I used to have
sparring matches in places like this.  It’s a nightmare to try and track
people in here.  Lots of fun!”

“Okay,
that is nice to know.  Both of my brothers are insane,” replied Edward.

“Just
relax and try to enjoy the company of the girls if nothing else.”

“I’ll
try.”

“At
the very least, you can sit back and leer as things jiggle.”

“You
know, I never expected to hear my brother say something like that.”

“Always
glad to help!”  Llewellyn waved as he and Ivy headed straight for the
middle of the dance floor.

Edward
was doomed and he knew it, but it was only for the evening.  He could
survive.  He tried to smile as he rejoined Zoë and Tatiana, “Shall we
dance?”

Three
hours later Edward, Zoë and Tatiana sat at a table with their fourth round of
iced drinks.  Meanwhile Ivy and Llewellyn were still out on the dance
floor.

“Your
brother is some bizarre, exotic, feral creature,” observed Tatiana.  “I
like to dance and all, but they have been out there
forever
!”

“He’ll
probably come back in another two hours and make excuses for stopping early on
the account of being out of shape,” offered Edward blankly.

“You
got some rift going on with your brother?” asked Zoë.

Edward
laughed, “No.  He has always just been so fantastic.  The ultimate big brother.  I’ve tried to follow in his
footsteps and always seem to be reminded that I’m just not as good as he. 
He’s a High Silver.  All my brothers were High Silvers.  I’m just a Silver.  Most people say I should just be happy with
that.”

“Um,
how many High Silvers are there?” asked Tatiana.

“Among
all the known planets and colonies: nineteen.  Penn and Llewellyn are two
of those nineteen.  The stupid part is, I know I should be happy with who
I am.  I’m a Silver, rare enough.  I’m darn
good at what I do.  It’s just all my brothers have been High Silvers, why
not me?”

“I
don’t know; I like you as you are.  At least I can
see
you all the
time,” laughed Zoë.  “Changing color is cool, but your brother is kinda
weird to look at.”

“Weird, my furry tail.  He’s pushing creepy,” added Tatiana.

Edward
laughed a bit at that.  He had never thought of his brother as
weird.  “Thank you both.  I needed that.”

“Oh
we can do better than that, just wait until we get you home,” fired Tatiana
back with a grin.

“Oh,
finally
.
Here come those two,” beamed Zoë.

Ivy
bound up the short stairs to the table where the three were waiting, with
Llewellyn following close behind, batting at her tail playfully.  “Stop
that!” she grinned to her husband.  “Okay you three, did you want to hit a
different club, or did we keep you up past your bed time?”

“I
think we are all done for the night,” replied Edward.  The girls nodded in
agreement.

“Okay,
well then page the car and let’s go catch some night time air to cool off,”
suggested Ivy.

“Sounds
like a plan. It’ll take them a bit; they aren’t parked too close,” replied
Edward.

“That’s
fine.  More time to cool off!” beamed Ivy.

The
five of them threaded their way out of the club and out into the night
air.  It was cool and crisp, a welcome contrast to the club.  While
the urban smells weren’t exactly pleasant, they weren’t as stale as the air
inside!  As they started walking along the street Llewellyn casually
asked, “Problems with motorcycle gangs?”

Edward
looked at him nervously, “Yes, why do you ask?”

“We
are being followed.”

Suddenly
Edward’s fur cycled nervously and Tatiana and Zoë pressed close.  So much
for a casual night out!

Ivy
looked at the girls, “Hey, it’s okay.  No one is
going to spoil tonight.”

“Um,
someone needs to tell them that,” suggested Zoë as the headlights of seven
motorcycles suddenly winked on aimed straight at them.

“Let
them go, take them alive, or take them out?” Llewellyn asked evenly to
Edward.  He could have been ordering a pizza with that tone of voice, it was so calm and unconcerned.

“Um,
Trevor would like it if you could take them alive.  Just don’t risk the
civilians in order to do that.”

“Perfectly reasonable.”  Llewellyn reached over and kissed Ivy on the cheek
lightly, “I’ll be right back!”  He walked out into the middle of the
street and just stood there smiling at the gang members.

One
motorcycle pulled forward and its driver got off.  “We haven’t come for
you.  Stand clear and no harm will come to you.”

“They
are part of my family.  You have to go through me first, thank you.”

The
gang member sniffed and grinned. With a flourish he produced a Live Steel blade
in a shower of blue sparks.  Not common in the outlands, but not unheard
of either.  “I’m called the Reaper.  I’ve an open warrant in five
prefectures. I suggest you reconsider.”

Llewellyn
responded in kind and with a simple flourish produced a Live Steel long sword
of his own.  “On Bervik III, IV, and VI, I was called the Hand of
Kali.  Well, at least I was called that before I was banned from those
planets as part of the terms of the cease fire.  I hated the title, but
you seem to like them, so there you go.”

Tatiana
poked Edward, “Is he serious?  He was banned from three planets.”

“More
than three actually… just those three had a stupid nickname associated with
it.  He hated that name.  I mean
really
hated it.  It
does not bode well for him to tease my brother.”

“You
have a Live Steel blade and a boastful attitude, but how long do you really
think you can stand against us?  Do you know who we are?”

“Don’t
know, don’t care. I’m bored.  Time for you to lie down,” Llewellyn snarled
in a voice that would have shattered ice.  Llewellyn charged the group,
springing down the street.  As he ran, grass sprang up where his feet
touched the ground.  But the display of flora was not what caught
everyone’s attention, it was the display of live
steel: he threw his sword at “the Reaper” but as the sword left his hands it
exploded in furious display of sparks until it had been replaced by a full
sized Kedar Mk III grav tank.  The gang member hit the pavement just in
time to have the tank flatten his motorcycle with a horrible ball of flames.

There
was a squeal of tires as the other six motorcycles accelerated directly towards
Llewellyn.  Without even a blink, three more grav tanks and an even larger
wheeled assault gun platform appeared in a shower of blue sparks and came
crashing down on the attacking mob.  The drivers had to ditch their bikes
in order to avoid being crushed and soon there the entire street was on fire
with vehicles on fire.

Llewellyn
snarled as the bikers went for their side arms, and he slammed his fist down to
the ground and growled a vicious primeval scream.  Everyone along the
streets that hadn’t already covered their ears did so now.  There was a
flash as the streetlights exploded and went dark, but it was the wall of trees
that suddenly catapulted the bikers high in the air that left everyone
speechless.  There in the middle of the street was now a wall of trees
well over thirty meters tall with the would-be assailants trapped high in the
canopies.

Llewellyn
smiled as he rejoined the group, “There we go.  They all lived, and I didn’t
blow out the electronics at the night clubs.”

“That,”
murmured Edward, “is why Trevor wasn’t worried about us going out tonight.”

“I
think it is a good thing there are only nineteen of them,” murmured
Tatiana.  “Edward, let me be perfectly clear.  I like you just fine
as a Silver.”

“Me too!” concurred Zoë still a little confused.

“I
can live with that,” smiled Edward.  “Let’s get back before he sets up
another garden.”

Morning
practice started as usual, nothing out of the ordinary.  Llewellyn and Ivy
did not join them; they planned on showing up at lunch.  The morning
briefing made for a humorous re-telling of the previous night’s
activities.  The locals were perplexed with what to do with the line of
trees, but the local stores and clubs were eager to keep them.  It was
hard to get trees to grow well in the deep city and these were very mature
trees.  What caught everyone off guard, however, was the call for an
informal assembly at lunchtime at the concert hall.  All those off duty were
invited out.  No one was required to show, but such activities were rare
enough that people would show for curiosity’s sake if nothing else.  In
parallel, Gillian had a comparable announcement; better than normal food was to
be catered and everyone had the afternoon off.

Thus,
there was no small amount of curiosity as lunchtime rolled around. 
Members of the 517
^th
off duty slowly started to pile in, as did
several staff members of the local and federal police.  It was turning
into quite a showing.

A
pair of local police types carefully made their way over to Edward, “Mr.
Silverglade, I presume?”

“One
of two,” he offered with a smile.  “I’m Edward.  My brother Llewellyn
will be here shortly as well.”

The
officer smiled evenly, “We were looking for you, sir.  Could you explain
how your brother came to be having a series of Kedar grav tanks on him?  I
know there is that whole Live Steel thing, but grav tanks?”

Edward
rolled his eyes and laughed, “Yes, well, first of all, my brother loves his
theatrics.  To him, it was the perfect game of one-upmanship.  They
brought knives and guns, he brought a tank.  As far as how did he do
it?  Um, ultimately the same principal as a normal Live Steel blade is
used.  Mass and momentum are kinda fast and loose.  They have to be. 
Matching the momentum of a simple blade from two different planets is extreme,
but it all comes out in the wash.  He’s just darn good.  No. 
He’s the best.”

“We
understand the theoretical concepts of the exploited pocket dimension and the
coordinate dragging associated with it.  We are just questioning the sheer
mass of it all.  He produced 4 tanks of 54 tons each and one armored gun
carriage of 65 tons.  That is an insane amount of mass.”

“Would
it help your feelings if I told you he can catch the humans’ ‘Thor’s hammer’ system.”

“Those
120kg tungsten rods dropped from orbit?  Those reenter at mach fifteen to
mach twenty!”

“Yeah, those.”

The
second police officer finally spoke, “No, I think we were happier
not
knowing that.  He’s not staying around long is he?”

Edward
grinned.  He’d heard that enough before about his brother, “No, they are
leaving tonight.”

They nodded, looking quite relieved at the answer, and went back
to mingling in the crowd.

A few
minutes later, Edward saw Llewellyn, Ivy, Moria and Fiona
Grauer-Westford.  They all seemed chipper and excited with the
crowd.  Well, all except Llewellyn.  He looked dazed and borderline
annoyed.  Edward has seen that before; Llewellyn didn’t like social
events.  He didn’t do well with crowds—that was what had thrown Edward for
such a loop about Llewellyn’s desire to go to the dance club.

Soon
practice was over and the cast and crew dove for their drinks while the
caterers brought out a lavish display.  There was eager anticipation as
Gillian handed a microphone to Trevor and he took the stage along with
Takru.  Tatiana and Zoë came running over to Edward.

“Do
you have any idea what is going on?” asked Tatiana.

“None
at all,” confessed Edward.  “Trevor likes his little surprises.”

“Ladies,
gentlemen, and you too Toch,” joked Trevor.  Wow!  Edward suddenly
realized that Toch the Red was in the crowd.  “While I would like to
announce to the 517
^th
that our job is over and we can all go home,
that is not the case.  We all have to go back to work this
afternoon.  What I
did
come here to announce is, effective today at
noon, I have resigned from the 517
^th
and Takru has accepted said
resignation.”  That caused quite a stir, but Trevor kept rolling,
“Effective 12:01 I’m being hired back as independent contractor to the 517
^th
.” 
That got even more of a buzz going.  “Ah ha! 
There is the confusion I do so love!”

“Spit
it out, or we’ll rush the stage!” called someone in the back.  That got a
quite a few laughs.

“Gillian
and I are proud to announce that we are engaged and plan on being married at
the end of the first concert tour.”

“Wow!”
beamed Zoë with bright eyes glowing.

Tatiana
just jumped up and down all giddy and rushed the stage and hugged Gillian, “Why
didn’t you tell us?”

“We
just did,” replied Gillian.  “We weren’t sure if we should wait until the
series was over and announce it, but we finally decided to move things up.’

“Does
that mean I have to call you ‘dad’?” joked
Edward.  The whole theater exploded with laughter at that one.

“All
right, everyone,” grinned Gillian, “enough about
us.  Dig in!  Enjoy!”

 The
crowd started to ebb and flow around the food and around the proud
couple.  Everyone seemed to be having a great time.  It was the first
time Edward had seen the local police and the 517
^th
together and
they seemed to be doing well.  He wouldn’t be surprised if the police
offered Trevor a job when this was all over; he was darn well good enough for
anything they could throw at him.

Zoë
poked Edward cautiously, “Is something wrong with your brother?”

“Is
he looking a little strung out?  He doesn’t do social events well. 
Where is he?”  Zoë pointed him out and suddenly Edward was worried. 
Llewellyn looked like he was about ready to rip someone’s head off.  “Um,
let’s find Ivy right quick!”

Zoë
nodded in agreement and the pair quickly threaded their way over to Ivy who was
talking with Fiona well off to the side. 

“Ivy,
I think there is something wrong with Llewellyn,” said Edward as evenly as he
could.

 Ivy
looked around and finally made eye contact with Llewellyn.  She quickly
motioned him to the far side.  “Yep, he’s about ready to lose it.  He
can’t stand these things.”

“Yet
he could deal with a night club?” asked Zoë.

Ivy
nodded, “In a dance club, the music is so loud and prevalent it drowns out
everything else.  All the rest of the senses are overwhelmed as well and
it forms a nice comforting shell.”  She stopped as she tried to choose her
words carefully, “In a room like this, he hears everyone nearby.  He can
make out probably twenty or thirty different conversations all at once and
can’t focus.  He
has
to listen to all of them and that is very
stressful.”

“He
can’t just focus on one?” asked Zoë.

“Nope.  They
all seem to swirl in his head at once.”

Zoë
nodded, “I can see how that could be very uncomfortable.  So what should
we do?”

Ivy
smiled, “You do nothing.  I’ll take him for a walk away from here for a
bit, and he’ll be better when we get back.”

“Is
this a High Silver thing?” asked Zoë.

Ivy
shook her head, “No, Penn isn’t like this at all.  It is just a Llewellyn
thing.  We’ll be right back.  Please excuse us.”  She smiled and
politely bobbed as she quickly made her way over to Llewellyn and led him out
of the room.

“Okay,
there is one aspect of my brother I never knew about,” remarked Edward.

Tatiana
poked her head over their shoulders, “What was that all about?”

Zoë
grinned, “Edward just found out his ‘perfect’ brother has his own issues.”

Tatiana
shrugged, “We all comb our fur, why should he be any different?”

Edward
laughed, “Because I’ve been too busy trying to be just like him, I never
considered that he could have any faults.”

“Maybe
you should just talk to your brother more.  I mean just talk, nothing in particular,
no agenda.  He’s how much older than you?  How well do you really
know him?  I bet you really know
of
him more than know what’s under
the fur that makes up the man,” suggested Tatiana.

Edward
laughed, “Yeah, that is pretty close to what Penn told
me too at one point.  Llewellyn is thirteen years my senior.  I was
five when he left Afon.  I know he was running away from a bad situation,
but I never really talked to him about it.”

“Maybe
now is the time,” suggested Zoë.  “I know after I lost Rachel, I’ve
treasured every moment with my siblings even if we didn’t see eye to eye. 
I wish I had spent more time with Rachel so I’m sure as heck not going to lose
my time with Ethan.”

“I’ll
try and talk with him this afternoon.  There should be some downtime
before dinner tonight.”

Zoë
and Tatiana both beamed.

“Oh,
that is right,” began Tatiana, “we get to meet his entire family!  This
should be fun!”

Edward
nodded, “Ivy has quite a pride.”

Zoë
giggled, “A pride.  Like a pride of lions.  I never thought of that,
but it’s a good description.”