Edward (25 page)

Tazo
joined the trio as they flew out on the gunship.  The hospital
administration was starting to get used to the idea of gunships landing on
their roof.  Either that or they realized the futility of arguing.

 Trevor
was waiting on the roof as they disembarked.  “You father is lucid, but under
some pain killers.  As soon as you are done talking with him, they are
going to drop him into a drug induced coma for about two days and see if they
can get his kidneys to start cooperating.”

Tatiana
nodded worried, “I thought the doctor said his problems weren’t so
severe.  A few days off his medication shouldn’t have been this
catastrophic!”

“Quite
often doctors don’t tell children the long facts.  It also doesn’t help
that he was on a starvation diet these last few days.”

“He’s
going to make it, isn’t he?” asked Tatiana suddenly much more worried.

“The
question is whether he gets an artificially grown kidney or whether his own
pull through.  Beyond that question, there are no serious worries,” Trevor
tried to reassure Tatiana.

“This from the person that just told me that people sugar
coat things for their children.”

Trevor
smiled with a brief laugh, “
Touché!
  You are a young lady now, not
a child.  You deserve to know the truth and I will not hide things from
you.”

She
smiled and nodded, “Thank you.  Thank you for everything.”

Trevor
smiled appreciatively, “You’re welcome.  His room is right around this
corner.”

Tatiana
stopped at the door before turning to the group, “Here we go.  All of you,
if you please.”

Tazo
nodded, “Lady Tatiana, my frame is excessive for such a small room with all of
its delicate instruments.  It would be best for me to remain out
here.” 

Tatiana
giggled, “You
are
awfully tall.”  She hugged Tazo briefly before
returning to the door.  “Here we go…”

Tatiana
bit her lip as she entered.  Her father was lying on a bed with a high
power air curtain isolating him from the visitors.  His nose and ears were
pale and she could tell he was having a hard time breathing evenly.  Even
his fur looked tired.  She was glad the others were there with her. 
“Dad, you look like hell.”

That
earned a feeble laugh, “And you look radiant as always.  Who are these
people?  They your friends I’ve heard so much about?”

Tatiana
smiled, “Yes indeed.  This is my fiancé Edward.  Our co-fiancée, as
it were, Zoë.  And I’m sure you’ve meet Trevor.”

“Trevor
I’ve met, but never in person.  You are a bold and arrogant man, but you
have done such an amazing job arranging to protect my daughter.  I do
thank you for that.”  His tired form turned to Edward and Zoë, “I
understand the two of you went in to find the warheads.  You have done us
all proud for I fear that ultimately, when I faced death, I was a coward. 
It was only a matter of time before they used those things.  Edward, right?”

“Yes
sir.  Edward.”

“Take
care of Tatiana.  She is foolish and headstrong, but she is the most
wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.”

“I
will do my best, sir.”

“Foolish?”
demanded Tatiana.  “Compared to whom?”

Her
father laughed softly, “I notice you didn’t argue ‘headstrong.’  You get
that from your mother.   If only I had paid more attention to you
both when I had the chance.”

“Well,
you need to get off your moody butt and think positive.  Especially if you ever want to play with your grandkids.”

Edward’s
fur stood on end and cycled in color.

“Don’t
worry Edward,” teased Tatiana.  “Not just yet.”

“Well,
this would have been the perfect place for a heart attack,” mused
Zoë.

There
was a knock at the door as a doctor poke his head in, “Excuse me, but we are
going to need to go ahead and get him prepped.”

Tatiana
pouted at Trevor, “I thought you said we had fifteen minutes.”

“Sorry,
but I’m not going to argue with the doctor at this point.”

“Can
I hug him or should I stay on this side of the air curtain?” Tatiana asked the
doctor.

He
smiled, “Just you.  And be quick.”

Tatiana
beamed as she carefully hugged, “Get better, Dad.  And don’t argue with
the doctors!”

They
carefully ushered the group back into the hall and were cheerfully met by Tazo,
“I assume it went well?”

“Well,
we scared Edward, but yes, it went well.”

“Dare
I ask?”

“Please
don’t,” murmured Edward.

Tazo
flashed a toothy grin, “This was a kitten joke then, wasn’t it?”

“I
hate you, Tazo.”

“There
is a conference room down here,” interrupted Trevor, “Is everyone up for a
serious discussion before you head back?”

They
all nodded, so Trevor directed them to a small waiting room where Gillian and
Ethan were waiting in one of the many comfortable chairs and locked the door
behind them.  “Find a chair, get comfy.” They all beamed at Gillian and
Ethan who cheerfully waved back.

“Okay,
going back a few days, before we were rudely interrupted…” began Trevor.

“Blood
test on Rebecca?” asked Tatiana.

Trevor
grinned, “Excellent guess.  Yes, we were able to continue the tests with
the samples you got from your father’s house.  The fact that you got
multiple sources proved to be especially useful.”

“Well,
spill it!” demanded Tatiana.

“She
is your half sister.”

Tatiana
smiled, “I’m glad, in an odd sort of way.”

“Well,
things are always interesting in this case,” Trevor offered cryptically.  “Now to clean up some loose ends.”  He held up the
image of a stately but attractive lady.  “Tatiana, you recognize her?”

Tatiana’s
eyes lit up as Trevor showed her the picture, “Yes!  Heck, we almost ran
into her the other day.  She is my dad’s personal ‘secretary.’”

Trevor
smiled, “That is Rebecca’s mother.  The other evidence you collected has
confirmed that much.  We now suspect that she is the one that has
orchestrated the original attacks. ”

 Edward
nodded, “She was in a place to exert influence into a great many circles:
politicians, military, police, judges.  She had access to an insane amount
of information.  She’d be in a perfect position to bring her own daughter
back into the limelight.”

“Did
she have her own daughter committed?   That doesn’t make sense,”
interjected Zoë.

“No,
it doesn’t.  We’d love to talk to her about that.  Well, that and a
great number of other things.  But…”

“But
you can’t find her,” finished Tatiana.

“Exactly.  But
now we have a good face and name to go with.  And it’s not like she was
invisible.  A lot of people know her.”

“So
now you have to try and find her.”

“Well,
yes, but not now.  I’ll start in the morning.”

“Why wait?”
demanded Tatiana.

“The
locals are already chasing her and I have more important things tonight.”

“Such as?”

“A date with Gillian!”

“Finally!”
laughed Tatiana and Zoë in unison.

Amid
tight security, rehearsals started again at the concert halls.  The exact
details of the previous day’s raid were not public knowledge, but leaked images
from security cameras at the dockyards of Edward on the back of Zoë’s motorbike
caused a firestorm of questions as the group entered.  Zoë paid them no
mind as she quite comfortably reclaimed her seat in front of the large piano
and just smiled.  Gillian herded the curious mob back to their stations,
and soon practice was on again.

Edward
watched and listened far more than he should have; he was still security after
all.  But he just couldn’t help himself; the music was wonderful and he
needed it.  He could
feel
it more than ever before; he was starting
to understand why his oldest brother had married into a group of musicians.

Lunch
time was soon upon them, and they had a visitor: Kadu.

Edward
beamed and rushed to embrace Kadu as she entered the hall.  No probes, IVs
or other things sticking to or out of her; she looked wonderful.

“I’m
glad to see you too, little brother,” laughed Kadu.  “I am here for about
an hour and then I must go.”

“Go
where?  You just got here!” demanded Edward.

“I’ve
been discharged; I’m going home to my daughter.”

Edward
felt like someone had just tied his tail in a knot he was so perplexed. 
On one hand, he was delighted that Kadu was going back to her own family. On
the other hand, Edward was horribly jealous of his time with her; he wanted her
to stay.  “Any chance you can stay until this job is over?” asked Edward
as he did his best not to tear up.

“Or
at least until the first concert,” interjected Zoë.

“Bring
your daughter here for a little bit.  We’d love to meet her!” beamed
Tatiana.

Kadu
laughed, “A well coordinated attack!  But if it means that much to all of
you, I may just see if that can be arranged.”

“Drop
it on Trevor.  He can arrange anything,” joked Tatiana.

“He
is quite proficient in coordinating the impossible.  Independent of that,
I have something for you Edward.”  Kadu held out a small pouch to
Edward.  “Just promise me, if and when you return
to the Highlands of Afon, you give it to your niece Dawn.”

Edward’s
eyebrows knitted in confusion, “Sure.  No problem.  What is it?”

“Opening
the container yourself would go a long way to address
your current confusion,” grinned Kadu.

Edward
rolled his eyes and laughed.  But his laughter fell silent as he opened
the pouch and a single red stone rolled out into his hand.  “That is a
gate stone.”

“Correct. 
One of two known.  Based on Llewellyn and Dawn’s
experiments, and its current autoluminance, it should be fully charged later
today.  Keep it with you.  Use it as needed, but give it to Dawn when
you are done.  Is that reasonable?”

Edward
laughed, “I don’t think it is reasonable that I have it in the first place.”

“It
was Toch the Red’s, and this is what he wished.  Do you wish to argue the
point with him?”

Edward
grinned and shook his head, “No!  No thank you!  But how does it
work?”

“The
Growl that you Silvers do? It responds to it.  If you Growl a gate name to
it, it can carry one person back to that gate.  Alternatively, if you can
reach inside yourself and can Growl past that gate, Dawn can hear you and she
can open a full wormhole like they used the other night.  The disadvantage
of the latter case, of course, is Dawn will need time to get to the Gatehouse
at the Citadel in order to open the full sized gate.  Thus I advise: use
with caution.”

Edward
just shook his head softly as he marveled at the small stone, “There is just so
much Shukurae history tied up in these little stones.”

“Sion
Blackwind gave them embedded in a knife to Garwel the Red some two hundred
years ago.  It is only appropriate that they make their way back home.”

 Tazo
seemed taken aback, “
The
Garwel the Red?”

Kadu grinned her typical toothy grin, “There have been others
since then”

“He
started the whole war against the Gelkin,” Tazo seemed lost as the full history
of the little rock caught up with him.

 “Garwel
passed it to Tarako.  When they executed Garwel, those stones guided Sion
and the Kulpgurie and Altshea fleets to Tarako and the Gelkin fleet, and the
war was begun.”

Tazo
shook his head, “I’ve heard of them in stories.  I did not appreciate them
for being real.”

“They
are real just as Sion, Garwel and Tarako were all real.  And now they pass
back to the Highlands.”

“I
think I’m missing a serious chunk of Shukurae history,” admitted Tatiana.

“It
is a bitter tale we will save for another day,” interjected Kadu.  “Today
things are too bright to be dimmed by such stories.”

“I will
keep it well,” promised Edward. “And it will make its way back to Dawn
Stratford.”

Kadu
smiled, “Good.  Enough of this, it is your lunch time.  Go eat.”

“Yes,
big sis!” replied Edward with a grin.

A long
day’s rehearsal came to an end; the cast and crew had all done quite well
considering the two day hiatus.  As everyone was packing up, they noticed
Trevor and a stranger had arrived and were waiting
patiently.  Smartly dressed with an air of professionalism, the woman
approached Zoë.

“Zoë
Sylva?” she asked.

“Uh, yes?” Zoë
responded, more than a little taken aback by the stranger in their midst.

“Justina Xavier, from legal records.  Gillian Rose said you would want this,” she handed
Zoë an official envelope.

Zoë
turned the envelope over suspiciously while Trevor laughed as he approached,
“Open it up, girl.  Sign it if you want.”

“What
is it?” she asked, still fearful of its contents.

“A
petition for name change,” replied Justina.  “I was under the impression
that you had requested this.”  Now she was getting a little confused.

Zoë’s
eyes went wide as it all finally made sense and she opened the letter and read
through it, “Zoë Anne Rose.  Yes, I do like the sound of that. Um…”

“Need
a pen?” offered Trevor.

“Yes,”
Zoë laughed.  Zoë cocked her head and called over to Gillian, “This isn’t
stepping on your toes or anything is it?  I mean, I’m not…”

Gillian
laughed, “Sign it already!  Please!”

Zoë
beamed and signed as directed.  Justina signed below and Trevor signed as
a witness.

“There,
that was painless,” smiled Justina.  “It will take a week for this to
percolate through the entire network.  Hopefully that won’t cause any
problems.  Your bank will get one of the first copies.  That should
be resolved in the morning.”

Zoë
just smiled, “Hey, if it takes a week, it takes a week.  I think I can get
by in the meantime.”

Justina
nodded politely and smiled as she turned and left the room.

“Uh, oh. 
Trevor is still here,” smiled Tatiana.  “What evil plan do you have now?”

“Evil?  I’m
being called evil now?  Well the
plan
was to abscond with Gillian
at eight o’clock again.  I mean, if you kids are all right with that.”

“Nothing
else then?” eyed Zoë suspiciously.

“Well,
now that you mention it…”

“Crap,”
murmured Tatiana.

Trevor
cocked an eye at her, “Does my reputation preceed me that much?”

“Yes,”
replied Zoë, Tatiana and Edward in unison.

“Jennifer Edgefield aka Jenifer Cogsington
née
Ravenswell.  How’s that for a nice
chain?”

“Um,
Jen Edgefield is my dad’s
secretary
, and the Ravenswell connection makes
sense.  So what is this about her as a ‘Cogsington’?  That is a new
name to me,” replied Tatiana.

“Well,
it turns out that Cogsington is her former husband, Nathan Cogsington, lawyer
by profession.  Who became more than a little put out at the step-daughter.  Not that Rebecca ever did anything wrong,
per
se
.  Just he has no children of his own, which was a bit of a bother
for some inheritance issues.”

“Not
like Jennifer’s plumbing was at fault,” scorned Gillian.  “It’s not right
to blame Jen or Rebecca if… well… you know…”

“Well,
blame he did.  He had no blood heir by a certain date, so his sister
cleaned house.  Shortly after that, Jen and Nathan divorced.  Not
long after that, we can start to make out where Nathan started to sabotage  Rebecca.”

“Oh,
the shallow jerk,” glared Tatiana.  “It wasn’t Rebecca’s fault.”

“I
never claimed he was being rational, just emotional.  Well, all that is
academic on certain levels.  He’s the late Nathan Cogsinton as of about 2
days ago.”

“Eww,
what happened?”

“From
what we can tell, Jen was able to get a hold of some of the ongoing
investigation, and when she found out that it was Nathan who had Rebecca put in
a mental institution, well… he wasn’t long for the world.”

“She
had him killed then.  I can’t bring myself to blame her honestly,” growled
Gillian.  “Rebecca was in a terrible way!”

“We
aren’t sure if she had him killed, or if it was just someone in her food chain
that cleaned up things, as it were,” Trevor laughed.  “We have some of the
answers, not all of them.”

“Okay,
I’m confused.  Who arranged for that ‘illegal order’ or whatever it
was.  Jen or Nathan?” asked Zoë.

Trevor
shook his head, “Hey!  I just got done saying we didn’t have all the
answers.  But it may very well have been Jen.  And it may have been
her way of discreetly drawing attention to her daughter.”

“Okay,
that is just a hairy spider web.  I don’t want to think about trying to
trace it backwards,” mused Zoë.

“I’m
with you,” grinned Trevor, “That is why I’m taking the night off and spending
it with Gillian!”

Zoë
and Tatiana both laughed at that. 

“Trevor,
before you go,” began Tatiana meekly.  “What is the news with my
father?  I mean, I know the medical stuff, but with all the investigations
going on, how much trouble is Dad in?”

Trevor
smiled and nodded reassuringly, “It doesn’t appear that your father did
anything criminally wrong.  So far, all the wrong doings seem to fit
squarely with Jen, and boy did she have some things in the works!  But
politically, you father’s career is probably over.  His relationship with
Jen is going to be too hard to deal with politically.”

Tatiana
smiled, “That’s good to hear.  He’s been governor long enough; maybe it
was time for a change anyway.”

“I’m just
not looking forward to when they do catch Jen.  No doubt she has some high
priced lawyer that will get her off on everything on the account of ‘emotional
trauma’ or some such farce,” snarled Zoë.

“That
seems ridiculous,” said Edward.  “The lawyer is just there to make sure
the client isn’t abused by the system.”

“What
planet are you from?” asked Tatiana as she rolled her eyes.

“Afon,”
replied Edward evenly, if not a little confused.

“You
are serious then,” replied Tatiana surprised on her own. 
“That is how things work back home?”

“Yes…
I thought that was the same everywhere.  The lawyer is there to make sure
the client isn’t abused or confused by the system.  If the lawyer
knowingly lets a guy get away, she can be held as an accessory.”

“You
have so got to be kidding me,” replied Zoë with sincere shock.

“The
lawyer’s job is to protect society and offer a level base to make a case from.”

“So
what if the guy is guilty as sin and the lawyer knows it?”

“The plea
is entered by the client after being advised by their lawyer.  The
lawyer’s job then is to make sure no one abuses him or tries to entice him into
unfair terms.  If a guy says ‘not guilty’ and it is plain to everyone
otherwise, the jury can increase the sentence for wasting the courts’ and
jury’s time.”

“That
is so bizarre,” offered Zoë, shock still holding fast.  “When do we move?”

“As
soon as you finish college,” smirked Tatiana. “Wasn’t
that the deal?”