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From: El Sol <munster@eden.rutgers.edu>
Subject: {ASSM} A Master's Ring by ElSol (33/?)
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Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 23:10:01 -0400
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        This email address is NOT read. If you wish to contact me please
do so ONLY at munster(at)remus(dot)rutgers(dot)edu.

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	ElSol

<1st attachment, "Ring33.txt" begin>

Chapter 33

	It took three days for anyone to brave the fortress as Melisa
jokingly called it whenever she dropped off food for me. I was surprised
it was Janet who braved the walls first. She sat to my right and stared at
me.
	"How long are you going to stay out here?" she asked seriously.
	I shrugged.
	"You're too good for them to find you," she said confidently.
	I turned to look at her.
	"Okay!" she said looking away. "Next Sibling to bat."
	She stood up and patted my hand.
	"You know where I live when you decide that they're not coming for
you. Okay, babez?" she said leaning down to kiss my temple.
	Doris Alex must have been elected as the next one to try to breach
my defenses.
	"I see why you like Rachel," she said which was a major non
sequitur considering what I was waiting for.
	"She's a passionate lover; once you get past the entitled
attitude," she continued.
	I nodded.
	"You're not even going to ask what we were doing on your bed," she
said with a smile.
	"I thought it was fairly obvious what you spent most of the night
doing on my bed," I replied.
	"Okay; but you're not going to ask why were doing it?" she asked.
	"You want Melisa," I said. "Rachel wants things to stay the
same... always. Melisa wants everything."
	She studied me for a minute and looked away grumbling.
	"I hate when you do that," she said annoyed.
	"Do what?"
	"Take the fun out of you being male," she said with a smirk.
"Women are not supposed to be that easy to read."
	"You're not just a woman," I pointed out.
	"Huh?"
	"You're a Sibling; I'm a Brother," I said by way of explanation.
"You wouldn't be a Sibling if it were any other way."
	"Yeah, but it's still disconcerting to hear a Brother blurt out
what I want; most are a little more discreet," she said.
	"I'm not in the mood for discretion right now," I told her.
	She looked around the backyard and then at the box under my hand.
	"Janet's right, you know. You're too good for them to have
anything," she said.
	"We'll see," I said simply.
	She nodded and let the subject drop. I turned my head as I heard
the cars pull into the driveway. Car doors slammed shut and I watched
their approach. Roderigo led the pack as if this was the moment of his
ascension. Anna with Leonard pushing her wheelchair, Robert and two male
Siblings followed Roderigo to my table.
	Roderigo had the innate politeness to wait for everyone to settle
down; although, it might have been that Anna did not take kindly to
impoliteness. Robert sighed after he took his seat and waved the two male
Siblings aside. They stood post a few feet from the table: one behind
Robert and the other behind Roderigo.
	"You should go inside, dear," Anna told Leonard. "This is going to
get fairly ugly, and I don't like bruises on your pretty body."
	Leonard raised an eyebrow. It was obvious he wanted to stay to see
what Anna would consider ugly; he obeyed her nonetheless. Doris Alex stood
up to follow him inside.
	"Sit down, dear," Anna ordered.
	Doris Alex automatically did as the Brother commanded.
	"If you must do this, Roderigo," Robert said with a lazy gesture.
"Now is probably the best time."
	Roderigo was almost vibrating with a desire to come at me. I was
about to discover that for a Brother, Roderigo was something of a hothead.
	"How dare you endanger us with this!!!" he said angrily to me.
	"So kill me or try," I replied.
	It halted his charge.
	"It's what the Brotherhood does to a Brother who endanger the rest
of us, isn't it?" I asked. "So obviously, it's not the murders that you
have a problem with."
	"You told no one what you were going to do," he said between
gritted teeth.
	"I told them," I said nodding to Anna and Robert. "Samantha and
Jeremy also knew."
	I could hear his teeth grinding together.
	"You didn't tell anyone that you planned to do it out in the
open," he stated. "You could have at least done it Samantha's way."
	"Samantha's way unnecessarily risked not getting both of them," I
said with a shrug.
	"Anybody could have walked out of the bar right after you killed
these two animals," he said.
	"They would have died."
	"The cops could have gotten lucky with an eyewitness and found you
in the funeral home," he insisted.
	"They wouldn't have called it lucky at the memorial service for
their fallen brethren."
	"Is that your answer for everything?" he asked in annoyance.
"Kill. Kill. Kill."
	"I don't consider that word an answer," I said. "On the other
hand, it is a conclusive solution."
	"There is no talking to you is there, David?" he asked sitting
back as if he had made a decision.
	I waited.
	"You are not to do this again," he ordered.
	I smiled and broke out laughing.
	"This is not funny, David," he insisted.
	"Am I not to do this again, or am I not to do this again... until
you tell me to?" I asked in Jason's voice.
	Anna backed her wheelchair up.
	"The Brotherhood tells you what to do," he pronounced.
	Robert sucked in a harsh breath.
	"You don't tell me anything," I said and that time Jason was
speaking through me.
	"I didn't say I was telling you not to do this again, the
Brotherhood is telling," he said to clarify.
	"I don't remember being told that you speak for the Brotherhood,"
I said. "I think that you are trying to put me under your thumb."
	"You serve the Brotherhood."
	"No, I do not."
	"You serve the Council."
	"No, I do not."
	"Brothers do not do as they please!"
	"You're right, they don't," I said looking at him.
	"What I am doing is different," he said in a hard voice after a
few seconds.
	I laughed again.
	"Why are you laughing?"
	"This is the closest you've ever been to death, isn't it?" I asked
him.
	"What do you mean?" he asked warily.
	"I'm not going to do what you want, Roderigo," I said. "Not now,
not ever. It was a good try but you don't walk out of here without
understanding that your thumb isn't big enough."
	"Are you threatening me?"
	"Are you telling me what I can and can't do?" I asked.
	Roderigo had no love for a stalemate, which is where we ended up
after my question. He was a hothead but one with a greater degree of
control than most. Roderigo studied me and decided that the beginning was
the best place to try again.
	"You endangered the Brotherhood with this foolishness," he said.
	"Are you going to tell me, in front of a Sibling, that those two
assholes did not deserve to die?" I asked him seriously.
	He looked at Doris Alex and hesitated.
	"You didn't do it for the Sibling," he said with a snort.
	"No, Roderigo. I didn't but do you think any of them will care why
I did it?" I asked him.
	He was quiet for thirty seconds. He took a deep breath and tried
again.
	"David, Brothers do not willfully risk exposing the Brotherhood in
the way that you did."
	Roderigo was also a tad bullheaded. I turned my head to the street
as I heard the police sirens. They came closer and closer but at my corner
turned left instead of right. My hand had opened the box and my fingertips
touched the forty-fives. Anna sighed as the sirens faded away.
	"Damn!" she said disappointingly.
	I watched her put a pair of small pistols away. She shrugged
delicately when I raised an eyebrow at her.
	"The Brotherhood should never have let you in," Roderigo stated.
	"I'm glad it wasn't your decision," I told him.
	"Any mistake can be corrected," he said threateningly.
	Anna hissed out a breath but bit her tongue.
	"You're not going to let this go, are you?" I asked Roderigo.
	"No, David," he said shaking his head. "You're a throwback; we no
longer needs Brothers like you."
	"In that case," I said. "Let's end this farce my way."
	I yanked one of the grenades that I had taped to the bottom of the
table free. I pulled the pin and dropped it on the table. I set the
grenade down in the middle of the table. The two Siblings stepped forward
pulling automatics from inside their jackets. Robert stepped away from the
table and looked at the Sibling who had stood behind him a second ago. The
Siblings pointed their guns at my head; the forty-fives were waiting for
them. We stared at each other across the barrels of four guns; two pointed
at me, and the two I aimed at their heads.
	"That's impossible!" Doris Alex declared in a sick voice.
	"HOW DARE YOU!" Roderigo yelled at the same time looking at the
Sibling who had bumped him out of the way to get to me.
	Lucky for us, Anna had calmly stretched out and re-pinned the
grenade. The Siblings stared at me with rabid hatred in their eyes. Jason
and I smiled at them. Robert and Roderigo reached into their jackets and
pulled out revolvers. I smiled wider; everyone brought a dance partner.
The Brothers placed the barrels of their guns against the Siblings'
temples.
	"Put the gun down, Sibling," Robert ordered.
	The Siblings hesitated.
	"That's impossible!" Doris Alex whispered.
	Both Brothers pressed their gun against the Siblings' heads even
harder.
	"I've never hurt a Sibling in my life," Roderigo said in a deadly
voice. "But I will not allow any of you to stand between Brothers."
	The Siblings un-cocked their weapons and set them on the table
slowly. They took a step back from the table. Both refused to look at any
Brother. Roderigo turned towards me.
	"You're brave with grenades and guns," he said challengingly.
	I had to give Roderigo credit; the grandson of a bitch did not let
shit go for any reason. I smiled and put the forty-fives away. I gestured
to the open area to the left of the table. He put his revolver on the
table. He took off his jacket and did a little stretching before walking
to where I had pointed.
	"You might as well join him," I told the two Siblings.
	They smiled menacingly as they turned to stand behind Roderigo.
	"That's impossible," Doris Alex whispered again.
	They seemed to be the only words left in her vocabulary.
	I stepped around the table at walked towards the three waiting
men. Roderigo charged as soon as was I was in the clear. It was as
effective as an SUV ramming a tank when both were raced towards each
other. I turned my head in a snapping motion to blunt his punch. It was
not necessary but it helped deflect his attention from the counterblow, a
short right hook to his jaw. I did not have the blinding speed of Jason,
but the punch was crisp. Roderigo never saw it. I stepped over his body
moving towards the Sibling to my left.
	The Siblings were mentally built to give a Brother the lead. It
was a mistake in this case because Roderigo was the best fighter among the
three of them. The Siblings should have attacked first creating a hole for
Roderigo to strike through.
	The Sibling set and threw a punch that I ducked. I grabbed his
wrist as he pulled it back. I extended his arm to slam my shoulder into
his armpit. I felt the pop as his shoulder dislocated. I stepped under his
arm and dragged him into the legs of the other Sibling. As that Sibling
tripped over his compatriot, my knee struck the side of his head knocking
him out. I waited for the still conscious Sibling to drag himself from
under the pile before I kick him unconscious too. I walked to the table
and sat back down.
	"That's impossible. That's impossible," Doris Alex said raising
her voice until she was yelling. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"
	"Go get me a couple pitchers of water, dear," Anna told her.
	Doris Alex stomped inside the house. We sat quietly enjoying the
fresh air until she returned. She slammed the tray of pitchers and glasses
on the table. The way she powered her ass into the chair made me wince.
Doris Alex was a very unhappy Sibling for some reason.
	Anna wheeled over to Roderigo with one of the pitchers in her lap.
She dumped the contents of the pitcher on his face. He sat up slowly after
regaining consciousness. His eyes focused on her after shaking his head a
couple of times. They whispered to each other for a minute. Roderigo used
her chair to get up unsteadily. He waited for his legs to solidify
underneath him before he walked into the house. Anna returned to us with a
wicked little smile on her face.
	"You're such a fine boy," she said proudly while patting my hand.
"The grenade thing surprised me though. Lucky for all of you, I still have
a strong ticker."
	Robert seemed to find that extremely amusing. Roderigo came out of
the house a few minutes later. He had dried himself off. His hand tested
his jaw tentatively as he looked at the fallen Siblings. He turned towards
me and we stared at each other after he sat down.
	"Jesus Fucking Christ!" he exclaimed finally. "How the fuck did
you get so strong?"
	Anna snickered.
	"Don't shit me, Anna, I'm good," he told her. "Maybe not as good
as any of the Enforcers, but at least as good as one of the Foot. I hit
him with everything I had and he walked through it like it was nothing.
I've NEVER been hit the hard; it felt like I got punched by a fucking
semi."
	"He's got very clean technique; incredibly precise aim," Anna said
critically looking at me. "He's probably stronger than anyone you'll ever
meet that isn't a power-lifter, but unlike most of those he can apply his
strength which makes him far more dangerous. I don't doubt he could have
taken your punch full-bore either, but that's irrelevant since you pulled
it."
	"What?" Roderigo asked amazed.
	"You heard me," Anna chided.
	"No, I did not," he said looking at me.
	I nodded in response.
	"Shit!" he said angrily.
	"You're a dojo fighter," Anna explained. "You spar lower belts too
often; you need to control yourself too much with them. Most people at
your level are not your equal either so you intimidate them into
passivity. You're good, Roderigo, but you've never faced someone whose
life depended on their skills."
	"Hmmm," Roderigo said thoughtfully. "How do I avoid the sparring
problem in the future in the future?"
	He was not humbled; he saw a problem and it was his nature to fix.
	"I can arrange for you to practice with the Foot," Anna told him.
"Also except for the Foot's exercises, Leon will be in isolation for the
next two years. I'm much too old to keep his edge sharp, but you'll do
nicely."
	Roderigo nodded firmly. He grabbed his jaw to check it one last
time and sat back to stare at me.
	"Not pulling your punch wouldn't have made a difference," I told
him. "Even Jason would never go toe to toe with me. If you wanted to
trade, it was the most efficient way to put you down."
	He nodded again and sighed.
	"I've read the fucking file but I still don't understand," he
said. "There's people who are naturally strong but not THAT much
stronger."
	"The Bloodlines were not bred, Roderigo," Anna said looking at me.
"But every scion of the First Ten Siblings that swore oath to the
Brotherhood have been presented with the best possible mates to choose
from."
	Roderigo looked at me, at Doris Alex, at Anna, then at Robert.
Robert nodded to affirm whatever was going through Roderigo's head.
	"That's im..." he started but stopped to look at Doris Alex again.
	She was still staring at the unconscious Siblings with a confused
expression.
	"I have made a personal study of the First Ten and their
Bloodlines," Roderigo said after taking a deep breath and sitting back.
"Only five Bloodlines survived even our best efforts to preserve all we
have of the First Ten. None of those Five have any cadet branches, we've
been too careful."
	"The Ekaterina was never a robust Bloodline," Anna said not really
answering Roderigo's statement of challenge. "None of its cadet branches
ever lasted long. If it had not been for our care that line would have
died long ago."
	Roderigo's face looked as stunned as Doris Alex's had when the
Siblings pulled their guns on me. He turned to stare at me. His eyes were
almost vulnerable in amazement at whatever I represented to him.
	"There's only been two Bloodline Brothers," he whispered.
	"David makes three," Robert whispered back.
	He shook his head suddenly and gave Anna a calculating look.
	"The Ekaterina line died in the Nazi death camps," he said
regaining enough solid ground to question her.
	"We were wrong," Robert stated.
	"How can we be sure of something like this?" Roderigo asked but in
a voice that wanted to be convinced.
	"We lost some Brothers and a greater number of Siblings to the
insanity of that war," Robert said sadly.
	"I always thought a Brother would have taken the hard way out. I
wouldn't have gone to the camps," Roderigo said thoughtfully.
	"It's been a mystery why they went to the camps quietly," Anna
said. "But what would you do, Roderigo, if the continuation of a Bloodline
was at stake."
	"Anything!" Roderigo said with an almost religious fervor.
	"You've read David's file, Roderigo," Robert said. "The difference
between you and I is that I never disbelieved any of the eyewitness
accounts of his military missions. You took it to be exaggeration or
combat making more of a normal man than he could be anywhere else."
	"Jesus," Roderigo exclaimed leaning his head back.
	"Can you doubt it now?" Robert asked. "Three trained fighters cut
down like wheat; even given the vast difference in life and death
experience, you should have presented more of a challenge."
	"David is as physically capable as Doris {i}Alexander{/i} is
brilliant, probably more so," Anna said with her eyes blazing.
	"Mierda!" Roderigo said sitting up. "You should have told me,
Robert. I'm not stupid enough to face that many generations of careful
breeding."
	"Except for the last few generations," Robert corrected. "I really
wish we knew who David's father was. The Ekaterina was always the weakest
of the surviving Bloodlines. Nothing like David should have been
possible."
	"We don't breed the Bloodlines," Anna said with a wave of her
hand.
	"Call it what you want Anna," Roderigo said seriously. "But this
certainly explains why I lost Doris Alex to David."
	"It's not all biology, Roderigo," Anna chided.
	Roderigo snorted a laugh. He looked at me, and suddenly his eyes
widened.
	"That means his..." he said but was interrupted by Robert's hand
slamming into the table.
	"Enough, Roderigo," Robert said. "You are absolutely correct about
what this means, but it is not time for that yet. We have something much
more important to deal with."
	The three Brothers turned on Doris Alex like sight hounds picking
up movement in the bushes.
	"Brother," Doris Alex said desperately to Robert. "What I just
saw, it's impossible. Indoctrination does not allow it."
	"Two Siblings stood between Brothers. Two Siblings disobeyed
Brothers. Two Siblings threatened a Brother," Robert said pronouncing
judgment.
	"It's not possible," Doris Alex insisted. "The indoctrination is
complete. Even a crested Sibling won't stand between their crested and
another Brother. We obey. First comes the protection of the Brothers and
the Society!"
	"The council has suspected a gap in the indoctrination for a
while," Robert told her.
	"The Enforcers kill Brothers," Anna said. "When necessary, they
kill Siblings also. They are our executioners."
	"Enforcers are a danger to every Brother," Roderigo told Doris
Alex. "Look at David, he is different from the rest of us. Too different
in my opinion."
	"A danger to every Brother when Siblings are indoctrinated to
protect the Brotherhood, combined with a Brother unlike the rest of us,"
Robert said. "It is not a large gap, but one big enough to break a Sibling
free of indoctrination."
	"No!" Doris Alex yelled.
	She was barely holding on to her mental control. Robert pushed his
revolver to her.
	"Pick it up, Sibling," he ordered.
	Doris Alex did so automatically.
	"Point it at Roderigo," Robert said.
	Her hand shook but she managed it.
	"Pull the trigger," Robert continued.
	Her hand trembled so much that I was surprised she held on to the
gun.
	"Point it at David now," Robert commanded.
	"Relax, David," Anna said. "It is necessary to make her understand
how bad this really is."
	The first noticeable sign was that her hand did not shake as much
when she pointed the gun at me.
	"Pull the trigger," Robert said.
	Tears formed in Doris Alex's eyes. She looked at her hand like she
wanted to cut it off. I took the gun out of her hand when her finger
tightened on the trigger.
	"No...no...no," she whispered.
	She turned to Robert for comfort; the suffering of her soul
ravaged her face.
	"David's predecessor died with a knife through his heart," Robert
said coldly. "There was no one in his house but Siblings. David has more
potential than any Enforcer that the Brotherhood has recruited since
Anna."
	"He is born of the Sibling Bloodlines," Anna said. "This is only
the third time that has ever happened. His potential is greater than
mine."
	"Regardless of that, no Enforcer or even a member of the Foot
could be killed in his own house the way that Renard was," Roderigo
pronounced.
	"You told us the Foot executed him," Doris Alex said standing up
and tipping over her chair.
	"Renard was murdered by a Sibling," Robert told her.
	Doris Alex's tears burned a path down her face. She shook her head
madly until it seemed like she made herself from it. She collapsed to her
knees and vomited through her sobs. Roderigo stood up to help her but was
stopped by Anna's hand.
	"Get Leonard," she said softly.
	He looked at Doris Alex and back to Anna. He walked around the
table to head into the house. Minutes later, Leonard came out carrying
another tray of pitchers and a towel. Roderigo sat down as the Sibling
knelt by Doris Alex. He helped her clean up and whispered comfortingly
into her ear. She knelt there for fifteen minutes not paying attention to
his ministrations. She rocked back and forth slowly as she fought for her
sanity. She stood up finally and righted the chair. Leonard walked back
into the house after Anna nodded towards it. Sitting down heavily, Doris
Alex looked at all of us individually.
	"Melisa?" she asked.
	"You didn't really believe that the Brotherhood would allow
sentimentality threaten our security?" I asked her.
	"You told Melisa she was not indoctrinated because it made being
inside different for you than being out there," she accused.
	"It's true," I told her, "but if I were making the decision that
would never be enough. There had to be some other reason that the
Brotherhood would risk an un-indoctrinated Sibling. Sentimentality cannot
become weakness, Doris Alex."
	"The first person Melisa would tell if a Brother tried to turn her
against David is David," Anna told Doris Alex. "Indoctrination is Sibling
business; most Brothers would just assume Melisa has been through it."
	"You'll have to tell her the real reason," Doris Alex insisted.
	"I told her the real reason," I said.
	"You lied to her!"
	"Melisa conceives of the world in terms of the two of us, and
that's it. Nothing else matters to her," I explained. "I've been through
that before, what I told Melisa is her version of the truth."
	"But she has to know," Doris Alex insisted. "She can't protect you
if she doesn't know that all Siblings are a danger to you."
	"Don't let the china doll looks fool you; that little bitch will
cut your heart out over David any hour of any day," Anna told her. "If you
tell her that every Sibling is a danger to David, no Sibling will be safe
from her desire to protect him. Melisa does not bear the Sibling
indoctrination but her dad did something more subtle at my guidance."
	"What?" Doris Alex exclaimed.
	"Melisa has been pointed at David since she was ten years old,"
Anna said. "Sibling indoctrination is about finding the need or maybe the
weakness that a Brother fills in a person and using it to tie that Sibling
to us. Melisa's dad built on her strength; the love she feels for him. He
built it up and up, then handed her to David."
	"You knew all of this," Doris Alex said to me.
	"It's not that hard to figure out, Doris Alex," I said patiently.
"Like I said the reasons for keeping Melisa un-indoctrinated are good but
not enough to endanger two thousand lives. Her dad's manipulation was too
obvious when seen from the outside."
	"It took hundreds of years for Siblings to develop
indoctrination," Anna defended to me. "We only had a few years and one
girl to work with."
	"You're all monsters," Doris Alex declared.
	"Yes," I admitted. "We are."
	"How could you do this to Melisa?" Doris Alex asked me.
	"I did nothing to her," I said calmly. "It was all done before I
ever met her."
	"But," Doris Alex said still trying to get through to me.
	"What was done to Melisa is nothing compared to indoctrination,"
Anna said harshly. "The Brotherhood risks her choosing to leave here
everyday."
	"That's impossible and you know it, Brother," Doris Alex said
angrily.
	"I also know those two Siblings shouldn't be lying unconscious
because they assaulted a Brother. They meant to hurt David," Anna said.
"Do you deny their intentions?"
	Doris Alex gritted her teeth and looked at the two Siblings at the
doorstep of fury.
	"It's worse than you think, Doris Alex," I said with a sigh.
	"How can it be worse?" she said.
	"This Enforcer you're talking about," I said. "Their identity is a
secret, isn't it?"
	Robert nodded.
	"Only the small branches have an Enforcer?" I asked.
	"Yes," Anna said.
	"It means no Brother in a small branch is safe from a Sibling," I
concluded.
	"No!" Doris Alex shouted standing up.
	"Yes, Doris Alex," I said. "A Sibling can kill an Enforcer, but
most Siblings and Brothers don't know who the Enforcer is. The only thing
they know is that each small branch has one. If you can convince a Sibling
that a small branch Brother is the Enforcer, you can walk them through the
gap in the indoctrination. After that, you have a dead Brother if that's
your goal."
	Doris Alex collapsed into the chair and put her hands on her face.
	"The Foot is also in the gap," Anna said.
	Doris Alex barely had the strength to shake her head.
	"I'm sorry, Doris," Anna said. "I sacrificed a member of the Foot
to prove it. His own crested Sibling killed him."
	Doris Alex showed her strength by not puking again. She took deep
breath after deep breath to keep some modicum of control.
	"The Foot do not kill Brothers or Siblings," she said defensively
trying to hold on to something.
	"The Foot are a single cell of Brothers who assist an Enforcer in
their work," Anna said patiently knowing they had won. "They are his
soldiers. I've trained this branch's Foot for the last thirty years. They
are an extension of the Enforcer's purpose. It's not the hard to put them
in the gap."
	Doris Alex put her head on the table and cried brokenheartedly.
The Brothers let her for five minutes.
	"That's enough, Doris {i}Alexander{/i}," Robert commanded.
	Doris Alex raised her head proudly.
	"The Bloodlines have served the Brotherhood since the First Ten
swore oath," he said in a ritualistic tone. "The Siblings brought
indoctrination to us in an effort to gain our trust. It is a trust we gave
you, and it has been betrayed by the incompleteness of your efforts."
	I thought that was a bit strong but I could almost hear Doris
Alex's spine cracking as her back straightened at his words.
	"We had high hopes for you, Doris {i}Alexander{/i}," Robert said.
"You could have changed the world with your intelligence but our
Brotherhood is selfish. The failure of indoctrination has left us with two
choices. The first is to disassociate the small branches from Siblings."
	Doris Alex shook her head frantically.
	"Eventually we will do the same with the larger branches and there
will be no more Siblings in the Brotherhood," he said.
	"Or?" she asked.
	"Or you can fix the indoctrination," he said.
	"It can't be done," Doris Alex cried. "It took centuries to
develop it; building knowledge upon knowledge, experiment upon experiment,
failure upon failure. Money in quantities people can't imagine was spent
to fund the research outside the Society to perfect it."
	"It is not perfect," Anna corrected.
	"Brother," Doris Alex pleaded with Robert. "I can't do it in my
lifetime."
	"We do not expect you to," Robert told her. "But you can find the
right path for those who come after you."
	"It's a waste you know," Roderigo said looking at Doris Alex. "You
could give everyone out there so much more."
	"You sound like want me to choose disassociation," Doris Alex
accused angrily.
	"You will serve us or you will serve them," Roderigo said. "It
makes no difference, Sibling. As much as we treasure the First Ten and
their Bloodlines, the Siblings were never..."
	Doris Alex raised a hand to stop him.
	"Both the Bloodline Brothers before David were Alexanders," Doris
Alex said proudly. "You will NOT question my loyalty, Brother."
	Roderigo sat back and nodded.
	"There is no choice," Doris Alex said looking at Robert.
	She stood up and walked imperiously towards the two downed
Siblings. I would have thought using the extra water pitchers Leonard
brought was the best way to wake them; Doris Alex seemed convinced kicking
them was significantly better. It probably made her feel better. I watched
as the Siblings got up groggily; the one with the dislocated shoulder had
a very hard time trying to get up. Doris Alex gestured for them to follow.
She walked out of the other Brothers' hearing range. She looked at me and
deliberately pitched her voice so I would not be able to hear her. She
spoke and the two Siblings knelt in front of her with their hands pressed
together. The palms were up in offering to Doris Alex; their foreheads
rested against their wrists.
	"I'm glad she chose to serve," Robert said.
	"Was there ever a doubt?" I asked rhetorically. "You planned all
of this, but it would have been easier just to tell her."
	"I certainly did not plan for the Siblings to become involved in
this little tiff between Roderigo and you," Robert said. "I am a bit
opportunistic though and her reaction leant itself towards getting this
ugly business with indoctrination out of our hands and into her much more
capable ones."
	"She has also seen Siblings attack you now," Anna said. "It will
make her more vigilant around you."
	"Melisa," I said with a grunt.
	"Yes," Anna said. "Doris Alex understands I spoke the truth. No
Sibling will be safe around Melisa if she ever finds out about the gap in
indoctrination. There is much resting on your shoulders, David; not the
least of which is the continuation of a Bloodline thought lost. We've
piled a lot of reasons for Doris Alex to notice when a Sibling has been
turned against you."
	"They can't sneak up on me like they did this Renard," I pointed
out.
	"Most Brothers find the thought of violence against a Sibling
extremely distasteful," Roderigo said grumpily.
	He nodded to the two male Siblings still kneeling in front of
Doris Alex.
	"You are not bound by that antipathy," Roderigo said. "Possibly it
is the greatest reason I would wish you were not one of us."
	Anna snorted disbelievingly.
	"Probably not though," Roderigo admitted. "I still do not
understand why David's lineage was kept from me."
	"Do you know how many council members have been killed by their
own constituency?" Robert asked.
	Roderigo shook his head slowly.
	"Many," Robert said clearly. "Do you know how many small branch
council members have been killed by the very Brothers they represent?"
	Roderigo shook his head slowly again.
	"None," Robert said. "They have a constant reminder that a Brother
will kill rather than bow their heads to anyone."
	Roderigo's eyebrows went up slightly.
	"You are right; David is almost too perfect a killer for the
Brotherhood," Robert said enunciating each word. "Just like you are too
ambitious to sit on the council or even be a Brother, Roderigo.
Unfortunately, the Brotherhood needs you. The world is changing, becoming
significantly smaller. Our secrets will be much more difficult to protect
soon. We believe you are the key to the Brotherhood's future."
	"But how to control that grand ambition of yours," Anna whispered.
	Roderigo stared at me and I smiled at him.
	"Today, you found out," Robert said. "Let your ambition talk you
into crossing the line and David will be there."
	"You're going to go back home now, Roderigo," Anna said. "You're
going to read David's file. You will notice what you should have the first
time. Those soldiers were as afraid of him as they were in awe. They did
not exaggerate if anything their fear made them understate his
capabilities."
	"He dropped the three of you in five motions," Robert said
clinically. "Had he been trying to kill you, it would have been three
motions and three bodies left in his wake."
	"To feed your ambition," Anna said, "you must kill David first. A
task not as easy as David killing you."
	"I would not be an easy death," Roderigo said coldly.
	"You have an elegant touch, Roderigo," Anna said. "If you try for
David, you will do it precisely, stylishly even. You will not endanger
yourself."
	"David will get to you, Roderigo," Robert said. "Regardless of the
cost. You know that now and even if your ambition convinces you that he
has to die; you might hesitate because you have to be sure your attempt
does not miss."
	"I would not kill a Sibling of the Bloodlines," Roderigo declared.
"Never mind, a Brother of a Bloodline that was thought dead for decades."
	"That is the other side of the Brotherhood's coin, my beloved
grandson," Anna said.
	That surprised me; it also put Roderigo's reaction to my killing
the two rapists into perspective. He would have wanted to do it himself if
he was related to Stephanie.
	It was his right.
	"There are some things you value greatly, and the Bloodlines is
first among them," Robert said with a smile.
	"You lost Doris {i}Alexander{/i} Smith to David," Anna said. "But
it puts two Bloodlines in our branch's care and there is always..."
	"You know what is out there now, don't you, Roderigo?" Robert
asked interrupting Anna.
	"Your heart's desire within reach like Doris Alex never was," Anna
said. "Your blood made a part of the Brotherhood's foundation."
	"I will not be manipulated, grandmother," Roderigo said facing his
relative.
	"Should I pull the pin out of the grenade then?" she asked. "She
will lose both of you in the same moment."
	Roderigo's jaw tightened as he looked away. I think it was a close
thing but he nodded almost to himself finally.
	"Excuse me," Roderigo said to us. "I have reading to do."
	Robert and Anna nodded.
	"Brother," Roderigo said to me.
	"Brother," I replied and watched him walk away.
	"You might have pushed him too hard," I said.
	"I know my grandson," Anna replied. "I almost broke my hand on his
ass before I realized it was better to pit what he wanted against
something he wanted more."
	"We need him," Robert said. "The council is to set in the old
ways. The dangers to the Brotherhood are too many and varied now. Our
little fishy proves that. We need someone like Roderigo to guide us down a
new road."
	"The little fishy you speak of is why you told Roderigo that I am
of this Ekaterina Bloodline today, isn't it?" I asked.
	"It is not a lie," Anna said in a hard voice. "You are of the
Ekaterina."
	"I did not accuse you of lying," I told her. "I simply postulated
that there is another reason you told Roderigo today."
	"Yes," Robert admitted. "He will not be able to contain his pride.
He will be our unofficial announcement of the Ekaterina's restoration."
	"And no one will think that I am to be the Enforcer," I finished.
	"You know, David," Robert said. "You're actually a little too
observant for my preference."
	"It's Jason actually," I replied.
	Robert nodded as if it made sense to him.
	"Endangering the Bloodline by making you the bait for our little
fishy made me nervous," Robert said. "This Leon you recruited is a much
better idea."
	"I recruited?" I asked surprised.
	"Siblings can bounce happily around whoever they think has
Brother-potential but one of us must approve it," he said.
	"I didn't know I approved his membership," I said.
	"You didn't kill him," Anna pointed out. "For an Enforcer, that's
approval."
	I nodded.
	"Leon will serve as our bait," Robert said. "He's the right type,
recruited only months after you and happened to be in town with two
Siblings known for their association with the Foot when the two asshole
rapists of a Sibling were killed. I could not wrap the bait any prettier
for our little fishy."
	"Is the fish the one who found the gap in indoctrination?" I
asked.
	"Not the first, I'm sure," Anna said. "I suspected it for a long
time, but never used it to my advantage. We wouldn't have noticed except
killing Renard was a bit of clumsiness on our fish's part. This Brother
took his chances since an Enforcer is not an easy death to buy. He/she
tipped their hand to us at the same time that he disarmed us. Three new
Enforcers, it was worth the risk they took to kill Renard."
	"What about the Sibling?" I asked.
	"She was murdered a couple of hours before Renard's body was
discovered," Anna said quietly.
	I nodded.
	"So you've decided, I am to become an Enforcer," I said.
	"There is no other option," Robert said standing up. "Roderigo's
ambition. Your Bloodline. Our little fishy. The Brotherhood has no choice
no matter how much I agree with Roderigo that you are not the kind of
Brother I would wish for us."
	He turned around and walked away. I almost laughed at his
agreement with Roderigo's sentiment.
	"Remember what I told you, they will never understand you," Anna
said. "They created you out of the Bloodlines and still they fear you."
	"I thought you said the Bloodlines weren't bred," I said.
	"Don't be stupid, David," Anna chided harshly. "They cared for the
Bloodlines; put only the best possible mates from the Brotherhood or the
outside world in front of any of those children. Doris is here because
they have almost made the desire to acquire the best father for her
children an instinct. Roderigo hated that he lost Doris Alex to you, but
saying you were Bloodline made no other choice for her possible in his
mind."
	"You do not seem to be caught up in the Bloodline mystique," I
said curiously.
	Her eyes cut into me.
	"A part of me hated those two assholes that raped Stephanie
because they might have ruined my plans to bring her here," she said. "I
had hopes for great-grandchildren from you. If they jeopardized my hope to
mix my blood with that of the First Ten, I will dig them up to piss on
their corpses."
	"Why is this so important to you?" I asked.
	She reached over and popped my forehead with her palm.
	"Robert said you're almost too perfect a killer for the
Brotherhood," she said. "He's not a fighter either though, he's never had
blood warming his hand like I have. If I were in my prime, male, and
triplets, I would not have tried what Roderigo did today. Whether they
want to admit it or not, you and Doris Alex are exactly what they wanted
out of the Bloodlines. I would like my great-grandchildren to have the
advantages the two of you could give them."
	"Roderigo will keep an eye out for one of my daughters, won't he?"
I asked. "For himself or a son of his."
	"Something like that," Anna said sitting back. "Something very
much like that."
	I nodded.
	"You're the most uncurious boy, I've ever met," she said after a
while.
	"Huh?" I said turning to her.
	"There was a lot talked about and hinted here," she said. "Yet
you're not asking enough questions."
	"I know what I need to know, Anna," I said. "For now anyway."
	"Hmm!" she grunted. "So what do you think the odds are that they
will come into this backyard looking for you today."
	"Very, very slim," I said.
	She sighed sadly.
	"Do you mind if I wait with you just in case?" she asked.
	I shrugged.
	"It's a sad thing to die in bed," she said to no one in
particular.
	Throughout the afternoon and into the night, I hoped they would
come so that she would not have to face that indignity.
	
						-----

	I took my time driving home from the restaurant on Friday night.
The Siblings had done their best to dissuade me from keeping the job as
long as I did; working there was a still a refuge of silence. Keeping the
forty-fives handy was difficult but not impossible; it proved to be the
last straw for maintaining my status as gainfully employed though. My life
was too complicated to allow people outside the Brotherhood access to it
anymore. I gave my boss notice that night.
	I parked my car and walked into the backyard to take my chair. The
pool house glowed giving more than enough light to move around on a
moonless night. I did not need it but if someone came for me the unearthly
lighting would make a beautiful backdrop to the combat.
	I had not been sitting long before Melisa came out with a tray.
She turned the backdoor light on. She walked to the table, set the tray on
the table, and sat. With the light at her back, a normal person would not
have been able to make out her face. She served me a glass of water and
leaned back in her chair.
	"Are you hungry?" she asked.
	I shook my head as I took a sip. I would not say that Melisa
avoided me the last few days; it was more like she 'too actively' tried to
stay out of my way. Most people would have thought Melisa and I had a
relationship that ran hot/cold as the mood struck her, and even for the
Brotherhood I would say our relationship was a little peculiar at the
time. She waited ten years so she was more comfortable with me as a
presence in her life than as an entity in it. The bonds were unbreakable
but by necessity we each had inner lives the other would never touch.
	"You killed them, didn't you?" she asked suddenly.
	"Did you expect anything else?"
	"No," she admitted. "But I did not expect to see you out here
waiting with that."
	She pointed to the oak box.
	"I didn't think that someone coming after you was a reality," she
said softly. "You treat it like it is though."
	"I have to."
	She nodded and was quiet for a minute.
	"If they come, you're not going to stop are you?" she asked.
	"I'll run," I said, "as long as there's no one left to chase me."
	"I'll go with you."
	"Yes."
	"What happens if you don't make it out of here though?" she asked.
	"You go to your dad, and you live as one of three," I told her.
	"If I were out there, I would say you don't have the right to
die," she said. "Not after, how long I waited for you."
	"Outside the Brotherhood, you and I wouldn't be together," I told
her.
	"Do you really believe that David?" she asked
	"I'm not safe, Melisa," I said, "and I would want you to be safe;
happy too."
	"I've read your file more times than any Brother," she said. "I
know more about you than any Brother. I don't think anyone is going to
come for you."
	"For your sake, I hope so."
	"For my sake?"
	"I don't think you can be happy any other way now," I said with a
sigh.
	"I couldn't have as much fun any other way either," she said
mischievously.
	"Yeah," I replied with an even bigger sigh.
	"So you liked your first sight of Rachel naked," she said almost
humming happily.
	"I think we should change the subject," I said.
	"Coward!"
	"I thought we gave up on her," I said moving away from her
challenge.
	"I don't let things like that go," she replied insouciantly.
	"Yeah, I figured that out on my own."
	Her laughter trilled around the backyard adding to its faeness.
She changed the subject to our classes and we enjoyed a nice chat for a
half-hour. I got the feeling I had been setup when as soon as Melisa went
inside, Rachel came out to sit with me.
	"No one will tell me where you went last weekend," she said trying
to buy time.
	"I had business out of town," I told her.
	"I didn't think about Doris Alex and the Taus," she said after a
long silence. "I was so angry at Melisa, but more at myself."
	"Yourself?"
	"I'm not stupid, David," she said angrily. "It's fucking obvious
that Melisa is all about you." "You have a place in her life, Rachel."
	"But not yours," she said. "And I don't have her place in your
life either."
	There was nothing I could say to that.
	"Girls were supposed to be fun," she confessed. "I didn't want to
deal with any male bullshit. You were safe and Melisa was even safer
because of you."
	"Living in this house wasn't a safe choice, Rachel," I said
carefully.
	"No shit!" she exclaimed.
	"So why did you decide to?" I asked.
	"Why did I have a not-quite-drunk threesome all over your bed with
Doris Alex and Melisa?" she asked in retort.
	She was not asking me though.
	"If we're asking questions," I said. "Why are you playing
kissy-face with Janet?"
	"Or skinny-dipping with Malia and Michael."
	"I missed that," I said.
	"Would you like to be there next time?" she asked with something
in her voice that made checking the firing lanes necessary for a few
seconds.
	"I made the right decision about you and next semester," I said
quietly.
	"The right decision for you or me?" she asked.
	"The right decision, Rachel."
	She nodded and looked away.
	"Living here wasn't the safe choice because of you," she said
finally. "You've made me consider things in a different light. I thought I
knew my life; I thought my mother had convinced me what my life should
be."
	"I didn't have a mother so I lack the proper respect for her
influence on someone's life," I told her.
	"I only have until the end of the semester here," she said looking
towards the house. "There's something about this place; the real world
stops at your door."
	"The real world and I don't agree with each other much," I said.
"We've come to a truce of sorts."
	"They don't fuck with you; you don't fuck with them," she stated.
	"Something like that."
	"I think I'll take advantage," she said.
	"Of what?"
	"Being free," she said. "I have a lot of things to think about; a
lot of things I want to do."
	"There are rules, Rachel," I warned.
	"No Taus," she said.
	"That's the smallest of them," I said.
	"Do I have to open my legs whenever you want me like every other
woman allowed inside Casa David?" she asked.
	I did not respond to that.
	"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean it the way it sounded."
	"Is that what you think they do?"
	"No," she replied softly. "I have absolutely no doubt that when
someone is doing something sexual with you, they wouldn't want to be doing
anything else during that time."
	I shrugged.
	"Don't be modest, I've heard the noises," she teased. "I've been
wondering what you do that makes them so... vocal."
	"You're not vocal?"
	"I was the center of Melisa and Doris Alex's attention for most of
a night, and I didn't sound anything like that."
	 I shrugged again.
	"Did you like it?" she asked just the tiniest bit nervous.
	"Did I like what?" I asked.
	"Seeing me naked," she said more solidly.
	"Rachel, you are the sunrise."
	We sat quietly for a couple of minutes.
	"The no Tau thing is not going to be easy," she said. "That was a
mistake in more ways than one."
	"Excuse me," I said softly.
	"They are a little more aggressive than I like," she said not
looking at me. "Joseph takes the hint but the guys he hangs out with
aren't so easy to scrape off."
	My hand pressed down on the oak box.
	"Stop associating with them," I said. "If any of them give you a
problem, just say that I don't want you to have anything to do with them
anymore."
	"That's a coward's way out," she pointed out half-seriously.
	I tilted my head and studied her.
	"If you're wearing a gown and have a flat-tire, would you say no
if I offered to change it for you?" I asked.
	"A Tau isn't a flat-tire," she pointed out.
	"A Tau is an insect, Rachel," I said. "Personally, I think being
tongued down by Janet would more pleasurable than sucking face with a
cockroach."
	"I think you might be biased," she said with a small laugh.
	I bowed my head to cede the point to her.
	"So you don't mind if I put my problems on your broad shoulders?"
she asked.
	"You don't have problems, Rachel," I said. "You have things you
want to do but don't."
	"It's not that easy, David," she insisted.
	"You have until the end of the semester here. Let it be that
easy."
	"Even with you?" she asked.
	"No."
	"Is that one of your rules?"
	"You don't want me."
	She stood up.
	"Don't ever tell a woman what she does or does not want, David,"
she said. "Believe me, it's a mistake."
	"You...don't...want...me."
	She spun around and walked angrily into the house. Samantha
stepped out of the shadows to sit down in the chair that Rachel emptied.
	"You could've handled that better," she said looking after Rachel.
	I had heard her car and felt her approach. She was discreet enough
to stay out of the conversation so there had been no reason to tell Rachel
we had an audience.
	"Am I wrong?" I asked.
	"About her wanting you?"
	I nodded.
	"In our world, she doesn't want you," Samantha said. "In her
world, she doesn't know what she wants; she doesn't want you enough; she
doesn't know the real you; it's not the right time; and all the rest of
the bullshit that means she doesn't really want you."
	We sat silently for a few minutes staring at each other.
	"Jesus, you must drive Roderigo crazy," she said. "Even for a
Brother your fucking morbidly lacking curiosity."
	"Anna said something like that."
	"You have to be able to defend yourself against Roderigo, David,"
she warned. "We've pitted you against a hungry lion."
	"I don't have to watch Roderigo, Samantha," I said. "All of you
do."
	"Why?"
	"Your survival depends on it."
	"How?"
	"Anna's right Roderigo is not good enough," I told her. "She also
pinched his ego with her crack about being too elegant and stylish. He'll
try to kill me that way to prove her wrong. The most likely outcome will
be the death of someone near me, like Melisa."
	"Jesus!"
	"It'll give me two thousand people I want to kill," I said. "I'll
start with the council, then work my way through the Brothers. Roderigo
will have to offer me his life to save his precious Brotherhood."
	"Jesus! Both of you are fucking crazy!"
	"I think the rest of the world would say you are too."
	"I am not crazy!"
	"Then why aren't you running away from Roderigo and me, Samantha."
	She laughed loudly for a few seconds.
	"Watching Roderigo for the next few years is going to be almost as
entertaining as sex," she admitted.
	I shook my head; and she called me morbid.
	"Did anybody ever think that maybe Roderigo and I might work
together?" I asked.
	"It is our sincerest hope, David," she said fervently. "The
Brotherhood needs Roderigo and if he can work within the limitation that
you represent he will live up to all of our expectations."
	"And that is my role," I said. "To be his limitation."
	"I went over the alley you killed the rapists in myself, David,"
she said. "I had an in-depth report from Leeann and Krista. I had a team
much better than the local cops. I knew what every step you took had to
be, and I found absolutely nothing."
	I shrugged.
	"You're our line in the sand, David," Samantha said. "When
Roderigo gets close to it, he'll have to consider the threat you
represent. He'll have to make the decision to try to kill you. He's not
afraid to die but he has to know what you've just told me. He'll have to
risk carving the destruction of the Brotherhood as the legacy on his
tombstone."
	"You're all playing Russian Roulette with the Brotherhood," I told
her.
	"The first female Brother was an Alexander. She caused a purge in
the Brotherhood," she said. "Some Brothers did not agree with her being
raised as their equals so they tried to assassinate her. Half of the
Brothers were killed in that stupidity. There is no quarter in our wars,
and even less when the Brotherhood's future stands in the balance."
	I put my hand inside the lid of the box.
	"You can relax, David," she said looking at the box. "The cops
have declared it a dead case."
	"In a week?"
	"If I didn't know you did it, I couldn't have found you," she
said.
	I took my hand out of the box.
	"I'll keep an eye on them but unless they find Stephanie, they'll
never come to your door," she said. "Their last hope will not be an issue
for much longer either."
	I tilted my head questioningly.
	"Stephanie is being moved so there will be no connection left to
be made in that her hometown."
	I nodded slowly. She stood up and looked at the pool house.
	"If you ever have to come for me," she said. "Give me the respect
of doing it that cleanly."
	"I will."



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