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Subject: {ASSM} Variations on A Theme 3/5 (zoo themed, 'spy kids') TBD
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Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:10:07 -0400
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Variations on A Theme: Part Three of Five
----

I vaguely remember her getting in after she loaded Nibby and the other
stuff in the back, then, once we were on the road, I went back to
sleep.

At one point I woke up when she stopped and she said she was making a
quick stop and would be right back, so I relaxed again.

I was in and out during the trip, mostly out of it, and the nap
refreshed me enough so that when Jo opened the door and hugged me, I
woke up relatively clear headed, and hugged her back.

The three of us grabbed essentials and then Jo half carried me up to
our room while Sam followed us with Nibby.

Once the door was closed, Jo and I settled on the bed to comfort each
other while Sam opened the connecting door, turned Nibby loose to
explore, then settled at the table to wait us out before she tried to
find out more.

I noticed her patience and pointed it out to Jo.  "Don't let the
casual pose fool you.  If I hadn't been out of it, she would have been
all over me for details."

"Oh?"

Before I could say more, Samantha giggled.  "It's ok.  If I'm going to
be living with you, she'll find out soon enough."

Jo studied her.  "Find out what, young lady?"

"Oh, lots of things, really.  I wear a hearing aid and keep it turned
up all the time, for one."

Jo smiled.  "I can see why you'd hide that.  Many people know?"

"Not that I know of.  Rachel and Billy, of course.  Nibby gave me away
by trying to pull it out one night.  I told Tom this afternoon.   Now
you.  Few of my close friends, ones that I trust a lot.  And my
parents, of course."

Jo nodded.  "I see.  Since you had to get Nibby, you also know more
about what's going on, than you were supposed to?"

She blushed.  "Yeah.  I didn't overhear that, though.  His parents
were standing in the street and yelling at the cops when our bus
stopped.  We all heard because they made us stay on it until things
calmed down, then they came on again and took me off so I could help
move his stuff out before I went out back and dug Nibby out of her
favorite hiding spot."

Jo sighed and leaned against me.  "So all of you know Billy's a zoo?"

"Yeah.  We took a vote and decided we'd all support him, cause... He's
still Billy, ya know?"

Then she looked at me and blushed before she lowered her head and
whispered.  "Uhhh...  Hi, Dogsbody.  I'm Laika.  I watched the first
time Billy fucked Nibby.  It was sorta an accident, sorta planned.  I
already had a crush on him anyway, but mostly it was because I was
doing some astrophotography and also had my big ear set up to record
night sounds for one of my projects, kinda."

She looked up suddenly.  "That reminds me.  I reset the access code
like we talked about.  Hope that's ok."

I smiled.  "Thanks."  Then I shrugged slightly.  "I was in no shape to
remember to do it, and it had to be done."

Jo started laughing softly and Sam looked at her a little fearfully.
She noticed and smiled.  "Relax.  A lot of stuff is starting to make
sense, finally, including Rachel refusing to use the porch, and
offering her virginity to Billy.  We thought it was otherwise, of
course.

"So.  Have you ever told either of them you know?"

"No.  I'm pretty sure Rachel knows I'm in love with Billy, 'cause some
of what she's done since she found out about Billy doesn't make sense
unless she was doing it because she knew.  Unless they've talked
somewhere else, Billy's been certain only she knew about him.  So am
I, really.  Nobody on the bus was faking their surprise."

Jo nodded.  "That you could tell."

"Yeah, I got real good hearing and I know how to read what people
aren't saying.  Part of being a loner and shy."

Nibby had come over so Sam was idly petting her when she looked up.
"It's all stuff you know from the forums, except about the hearing aid
and who the zoo is that I care about."

"True."

Jo lost herself in her thoughts for awhile, then she spoke gently.
"Wake us up if you have to take Nibby to the dog area.  Security and
the front desk know we're here, and that we have reasons to be
concerned for her.  Not the real reasons, just the fact we are.
They'll be letting us know if anyone asks about any of us."

Then she laughed.  "You can leave the door between the rooms open if
you wish, and we're not worried about being overheard, especially
since something was said about the possibility of you living with us
for awhile.

"Billy will be out of it tomorrow, and Rachel will be in surgery, so
we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other better.  I'll
assume that once he found out you're Laika, Tom told you about the
offer Dr. Simmons made, so be thinking about that if you can't sleep.
We want to do it, but we also have to consider the consequences before
we decide."

She nodded.  "I was planning on going online tonight.  Can we talk
about it?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Then she stood up before she sighed.  "Sounds like I'd better keep my
hearing aid turned up, so that means the door wouldn't help any.
Besides, I've seen all of your videos so I know what you sound like."

She looked down.  "Come on, Nibby."

She went to her room and when I turned my head to study Jo, I started
laughing.

Jo was blushing, something I hadn't seen her do in years.  "Caught you
by surprise?"

"Yes."

She scooted down on the bed and tugged gently.  "C'mere.  I need you."

I sighed and scooted down to join her.  A little later, after we
stripped and wrapped ourselves around each other as best we could, the
two of us shivered until we drifted into sleep.

* * *

It seemed like I'd just fallen asleep when the phone rang.  Since I
was closest, I answered it.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Metzler?  This is the front desk."

"Ok.  I assume that you have some news for me, and I'm probably not
going to like it?"

"I'm not allowed to say anything.  The police are here, and they asked
me to call you so  you can have time to make yourselves and your guest
presentable.  I can say it's not urgent.  Should I have an early
breakfast sent to your room?"

It was the offer of breakfast that got my attention and brought me the
rest of the way awake.  "It sounds like they have a lot to tell us."

"Yes, sir, they do."

"Ok.  Give us fifteen minutes to get up.  Send up the food as soon as
it's available.  Coffee and orange juice for my wife and I for now,
and offer the police something.  We'll pay, if it's allowed.  We'll
let you know what our guest wants if she wants something else."

"Thank you, sir.  They'll be there, and they say thank you, but it's
already covered by your attorney."

"You're welcome.  Oh.  What time is it?"

"About four AM."

"Thanks."

I hung up and turned to Jo, who was awake but lying quietly by the
time the conversation was over.  "We have fifteen minutes to get ready
for an early breakfast and a visit from the police."

Then I raised my voice slightly.  "Samantha!  Company coming!"

"Right!  I'll shut down my computer and be waiting!  Never got to
bed."

Jo laughed.  "Night owl, apparently."

Sam's response was immediate. "Yes!  I am!"

I chuckled briefly, then sobered.  "We'd better get dressed.  If
they're sending breakfast, they figure on being here awhile, and they
want us alert."

She sighed and rolled to sit on the edge of the bed before she yawned.
"If they're giving us time to get dressed and going through the front
desk, it must not be too urgent."

"Yeah.  The hospital and Warren know where we are, so I think we can
assume it doesn't directly involve the kids."

I rolled to my side and sat up, stretched, then reached to the floor
to gather up my clothing and get dressed.

By the time we were presentable, Samantha had Nibby on her leash, and
was settled at the table again.

I looked at them, smiled and then yawned again.  "Be glad when the
coffee gets here.  Everyone ready?"

I got nods, so I opened the door and wasn't really surprised to see
several people waiting.  "I won't say we're ready, but we're waking up
and mostly awake enough.  Come on in."

They introduced themselves, then came in and waited while Jo and I
settled on the bed for lack of a better place to sit.

The older of the two plainclothes officers, a Detective Anderson,
sighed.  "It's been a busy night.  First, you should know that a favor
was called in, and we've had you folks under surveillance since you
left William's home.  We had an undercover unit watching your house
since before you left."

He sighed.  "It paid off, but not the way we wanted it to."

"Oh?"

He nodded and turned to Samantha.  "First, Miss Carson, your room was
firebombed tonight.  The person was caught, and the sprinklers handled
the small fire that started.  Mostly smoke damage, and your parents
are ok, if a bit disheveled the last time I saw them.  Also angry,
since the unit we had watching the Ralston's, and your home, caught
the suspect on video as she threw the firebomb, and arrested her
before she could escape."

Samantha had gasped, then she nodded.  "Can you tell me who it was?"

His regret sounded genuine when he spoke gently.  "Lillian Prescott."

Sam shivered, then hugged herself and nodded a little.  "I know her.
Not very bright, so someone had to put her up to it, I think."

His eyebrows went up and she smiled a bit sadly.  "I'm shy, and I'm a
nerd.  Doesn't mean I don't watch and understand the people around
me."

He shook his head and smiled so slightly I wondered if I'd seen it. "I
understand.  That's why I'm a plain clothes detective, and not wearing
the uniform any more."

He shook himself and turned to Jo and I.  "Apparently, this was a well
planned operation, in spite of it being a series of hate crimes. There
were two other 'incidents' that happened at the same time as the
firebombing."

I studied him carefully.  "Oh?"

"Yes.  The next incident is the most serious of the three, and it's
fortunate that you folks had changed your plans and come here.  That
probably saved Miss Nibble's and your own, lives."

"That sounds...  Like something serious happened at our home."

"It did.  Mr. Ralston drove through your main gate.  Before our
undercover unit could stop him, he drove through the fence behind your
porch and used a handgun to put five bullets in each of the dog houses
he found there."

I shivered.  "Is there more?"

"Yes.   He confessed that his next act would have been to break in and
use his second magazine to kill anyone he found in the house."

I shivered.  "That's too close.

"Indeed."

Jo hugged me and looked at him with a focus that reminded me of Sam or
Jupiter when they had been put on guard.  "That leaves the kids, and
Mrs. Ralston."

He smiled a little, again.  "True.  Potentially the worst of the three
incidents, but it wound up being decidedly 'minor' after it was over"

It was Jo's turn to smile slightly.  "Who do we thank?"

"Dr. Simmons.  He'd already left orders that the Ralstons were not to
be allowed back in the hospital, and definitely not past the ICU
monitoring station.  She managed to gain admission to the hospital,
but she was recognized and subdued when she tried to force her way
past the nurses on duty in ICU.  William was still in surgery, and
Rachel was being prepared for her upcoming surgery and in another part
of the hospital.  Lots of yelling and excitement, but no damage done."

I shivered.  "Damn them.  I'll see them..."

Jo hugged me.  "Company, Love."

I got myself under some control.  "Yeah.  Sorry."

He studied us while we got ourselves calmed down.  After we decided we
were ready for more, he nodded.  "Your attorney is on his way, later.
Once he gets here, we'll all decide what to do next."

He sighed and sat in the chair by the dresser.  "Somebody bring in
some more chairs, and bring their breakfast in."

Things got busy, and eventually the room was empty again except for
him and the three of us, plus Nibby.

He watched us eat for awhile, and when we slowed down he smiled.  "You
folks have good appetites, considering."

Jo laughed.  "Rachel was always a little hyper.  We learned to get our
relaxation where and when we could.  Besides, we *do* have a pretty
decent attorney on retainer to handle this sort of thing for us."

He nodded.  "And what about you, Samantha?  You seem pretty calm about
it."

"It's weird.  Rachel has described the toast ritual, and it has always
sounded a little silly.  Now that I've seen it..."  She sighed.  "I
don't think it's silly any more."

Then she turned to answer Detective Anderson.  "My parents are alive,
and that's what's important."  She bent down and offered her plate to
Nibby.  After it was cleaned she straightened and studied him.  "We on
the record?"

His eyebrows went up.  "Maybe.  Depends on what you tell me."

"Not much of an answer."

"I'm on duty 24/7.  Part of the job, unfortunately.  Got a little
leeway, but not much in a case like this."

"Yeah.  I can see that.  Think they'll manage to get off with a light
sentence?"

"Three attempts to kill kids?  A conspiracy that involves a sexually
triggered hate crime, too?  Not very likely.  I *want* people like
this, and this time I *have* them.  Lillian *might* get a reduced
sentence, but I'm pretty confident she'll be tried as an adult.  If
that happens..."

Nibby growled softly at him, and Sam had to calm her before she could
say anything more.  She studied him intently.  "How come you sound so
'hungry'?  I mean it's not like Billy's het or gay."

He sighed.  "Hungry.  That's a damn good word for it.  A hate crime is
a hate crime, Samantha.  It has no place in this world.  Period. Billy
could be an alien for all I care.  Stopping this crap isn't just a job
to me, it's a passion.  If you knew what I've seen done to people over
the years, just because they aren't 'normal' in some way..."

He sighed and slumped.  "I hope you never get to learn of some of it,
but the odds are that someday you'll learn about worse.  Treasure what
innocence you have."

She sighed, and I knew what she was thinking.  "I think you should,
Sam.  We're probably going to tell Dr. Simmons yes, and we'll need all
the support we can get, on or off the record.  Might be you wind up
creating a marker you can call in someday.  Handy to have them."

He stiffened and sat upright.  "Creating a marker?!  What the hell is
going on?"

Samantha smiled, and the bitterness in it didn't surprise me.  "Yeah.
Tom.  I was pretty sure I was going to tell Detective Anderson, but
thanks for giving me a better reason."

She settled herself and watched as he got himself under control again.
"It's really simple.  I bet I know more about hate crimes against zoo
kids than you do.  Tom and Jo have a discussion forum for zoos, and
I've moderated the supporters of young adults section for almost three
years.  I've talked to kids who were beaten, burned, castrated, had
their animals killed or beaten in front of them and even knew a couple
who wound up getting killed.  We were lucky, but it wasn't all luck.
All of us know it can happen.  Ask Tom, if you don't know about why he
became a zoo against his will.  Or Jolene.  She didn't have a lot of
alternatives, either.  Maybe when it gets going, you can convince Dr.
Simmons to give you access to his files.  He's kind of a successor to
someone else when it comes to zoos and supporting them.  If he had to,
he could call her in, since he studied under her."

I jerked around.  "Her?"

"Uh huh.  If you know how to dig, you can find out a lot on the net.
I've had lots of practice, and he's never hidden it, anyway."

I laughed.  "Damn!  And we were wondering if we could trust him.
Thanks, Samantha.  The hard decision just became a no brainer in my
mind.  Jo?"

"Of course I'll say yes.  We'll worry about setting up the security on
it later."

Detective Anderson groaned and we all turned to watch him.

He chuckled a little sourly.  "Creating a marker.  Gods...  If Gene
hadn't co-opted you folks I probably would have.  You can't know how
many times I've wished I had some real zoos to help me try and sort
things out when bestiality is involved.  It happens just often enough
that the viciousness of the hate doesn't surprise me any more.  Most
of the time it's just the animals that pay for it, if anyone does. CPS
mixes in if the kids are young enough, and sometimes with teens and
young adults.  Not as often as they used to, but any of the cases I
see usually involve removing the kids for other reasons, too.
Generally, once the case is over, I never hear anything more unless we
run into each other for other, more normal reasons."

He looked down at Nibby.  "If you need to take her out while you have
the chance, you'll be escorted.  We're not certain if we have everyone
involved, or even if there were more people involved."

Samantha spoke softly.  "You could have just asked me to leave for
awhile.  Maybe I can help a little.  All of us on the bus heard his
parents when we got there.  The cops made us stay on the bus until it
was safe.  The ten of us left made a vow of support.  It was the
driver's idea, and she joined us.  Most of us have known each other
for years and I can't think of a time any of us has gone back on our
word when we swore the way we did.  Lillian rides a different bus, so
I don't think any of us told her.  Weird she'd do that.  We can't
stand each other and she runs with a different crowd...  Shit!  Let me
grab my phone.  I gotta make a phone call."

He glanced at the clock.  "At five AM?"

"Yeah.  Explain after. Be right back."

She went and got her phone, then sat down and made her call.  An alert
voice answered.  "What's up?"

She frowned.  "I got company where I'm at.  Some of it's uniformed,
some isn't.  One that isn't is watching me make this call, and can
hear us."

"Gotcha.  This have anything to do with what you and I talked about?"

"Lots.  Call out the nerd patrol.  Lil's Lays might be going on the
rampage.  She firebombed my room last night but everybody's ok.  Might
be a conspiracy, so watch yourselves."

"Right.  I'll pass the word.  911 in a heartbeat if we see or hear
anything of interest.  Later.  Got a bus to catch."

He hung up and she was smiling when she lowered her phone to look at
the detective.  "Well?  You got any questions?"

"More than I had before.  Didn't know any school buses ran this
early."

"They don't.  He's got a van, and drives around to pick up his
friends."

"Ok.  'Bus to catch' is a code phrase of some sort?"

"Right.  I got one for you.  You didn't say if Lillian had any company
when she was arrested.  She lives several miles from me, and she
doesn't have a driver's license yet.  Doesn't need it.  I don't think
she's walked more than a couple hundred feet at one time, from where
she was, to an open car door.  A bunch of jocks take turns escorting
her wherever she needs to go."

He nodded.  "Lil's Lays?"

"Yeah.  Most guys lose it when she smiles and wiggles.  The nerds
don't, and it pisses her off.  I run with them sometimes, so I'm a
member.  So's Rachel."

He sighed.  "Know the type, unfortunately.  And you just made my life
even more interesting.  We have her address, of course, since we had
to notify her parents.  She said she walked, and while it was a long
distance for that late at night, she was...  Intense enough that she
was believable.  Not saying we didn't have doubts, but when everything
settled, we were still sorting it out with missing pieces, when I left
to come here.  That was one of them, but it wasn't very high on my
list.  I think that's going to change."

He actually looked like he wanted to grin.  "Give me some good news.
How good are your friends?"

She blushed.  "There was a kinda turf war a couple years ago.  Buncha
jocks decided they were going to have some fun and fuck with us.  They
lost, bigtime.  Gotta be something serious going on if Lillian's
involved.  She only plays high stakes, and to be honest, me and Billy
aren't and she knows it."

He got thoughtful.  "All this is definitely off the record, for now.
I'll ask permission later, if I need to change that decision.  Tell me
something.  I used to be one, and the nerds I remember were pretty low
key and mostly loners who isolated themselves.  You folks sound a lot
more...  'Socialized' than I remember us being."

She giggled.  "We got an edge now, and we use it. Two, really, and
ain't no jock gonna match our skills unless they're one of us anyway.
Computers, and the net, same as it is for zoos.  We got worldwide
communities that link together, and we aren't any of us, hackers.  We
fight them.  Lil and her bunch are something we can deal with en
passant, usually, but she's stepped over the line, so we're going to
help you folks out if you'll let us."

I knew he was speaking carefully when he answered her.  "If I'm
understanding you, there's a war going on, you and your friends are
some of the people fighting it, and it's one the world doesn't know
about unless it flares up?"

"More or less.  Lillian and her crew aren't part of it that we know
of.  This is probably something local and mostly spur of the moment.
Uhh..."  She glanced at us, then sighed.  "Rachel's kinda been on a
vacation ever since she found out about Billy.  She used to use her
memory to sort though what we know, and spot trends and stuff we
needed to look at more closely."

He nodded.  "I never heard a thing.  If I get mysterious tips from
Miss Nibbles, for example, I'll give them some extra attention, ok?"

"Too obvious.  Cliche'd, but for now, calls will be open unless we
stumble on something serious."

Then she looked at me and Jo.  "Serious reminds me of something. Best
I can find out, Mrs. Yarborough doesn't have a past before about
eighteen years ago, then she shows up as a bus driver in another
state.  Can't seem to hold a job for more than a few years, and after
summer vacation she pops up in a different area and sometimes a
different state.  She's getting close to retirement age though, so I
think she may finally settle, but she could also vanish completely now
that she'll have a good excuse to."

She turned back.  "If you got access to a federal witness list, might
be a good idea to check it and find a good excuse to talk to her. Take
Warren with you, if possible."

He was watching her closely while she talked to us, then, after she
turned back, he nodded.  "I don't, but I know people who do.  In the
meantime, I have a perfect excuse, since I assume she just happens to
be *your* driver?"

"Yeah.  Good point."

He chuckled.  "Hey, nobody can think of everything.  That's why we
work as teams."

He held out his hand.  "You've just earned yourself a silent friend if
you need one."

She shook hands with him.  "Thanks.  Tell your folks to watch the
shadows.  Something doesn't feel right about this situation.  Not
saying it's extreme, because it isn't, as far as I can see.  It's
Lillian's involvement.  I know her too well to believe she's any sort
of super mastermind.  Somebody wanted her to take a big fall, I think.
I'm wondering why and who, and hopefully we'll know soon."

He sighed.  "Yeah.  I have to agree.  She's someone's patsy, but
whose, if it isn't the Ralstons?"

He shook his head.  "Never mind.  We have our own ways of checking
things.  I think I'll whisper in the ear of the head of our gang
division."

"Jason?  Yeah.  Tell him the message is from 'Glasses'.  Should help
him focus, unless he knows something he hasn't passed on yet, which is
likely, since we usually feed him and not the other way around."

She finally noticed his surprise and she laughed.  "Hey. Come on.
We're a gang, ya know?  Maybe not the kind you're used to, but it's
true, so we play ball with him when he drops in on us during his
regular visits to the school.  Everybody thinks it's silly that the
police treat us like a 'real' gang, but the law's the law, so we go
along with it."

He sighed.  "Protective coloration.  So obvious I wonder why we never
thought of it."

She touched his hand.  "It's a lot like being a zoo.  When you're
found, if it's by the right people, you become family and get welcomed
home."

He sighed.  "Yeah.  Better late than never, right?"

"Usually."

"Your point.  Go take Miss Nibbles for a walk, ok?  Then go play with
your computer and see what you can find out about my past.  See what
you can do before Warren gets here, since he wanted to get his sleep
and decided to go back to bed until normal working hours.  Probably be
after he stops in at his office.  He said something about wanting to
have a long chat with his secretary."

She stood.  "Ok.  How much time should I kill?"

"Until I send for you."

"Got it."

Then she surprised him by bending down to kiss him.  "You're needed
worse than you think.  You've got the kind of knowledge that comes
with time and experience, ya know?"

He was smiling.  "I do know.  Thanks."

She left, and he watched the door for a few minutes before he sighed
and turned to us.  "She just gave me a gift I'd never thought I'd have
again.  'Hope'.  With kids like her, maybe the future isn't going to
be as bleak as I thought it was."

Jo was smiling.  "We do the best we can, and hope.  Sometimes it pays
off."

Then she sighed.  "We freely admit we're average, at best, but
experience makes up for not being so fast in school.  Give us the bad
news, if there is such a thing after hearing someone wanted ALL of us
dead.  That firebomb sounds more like a warning, though."

He leaned back and sighed.  "Maybe, maybe not.  I'm inclined to
believe it was missed communications, or someone wanted us to be
distracted enough to miss the link to you folks..."

He clawed for his microphone.   "Get them back here, now!  Then cordon
this place.  Nobody in or out until we clear them."

"On our way."

Then he sighed and went to the door to bring one of the officers in.
When the door was closed he studied her.  "You have to know I'm not in
a mood to trust ANYONE right now."

"Yes, Sir."

"Suggestions on ways to prove yourself?"

"None.  Can't prove a negative."

"Good point.  What do you think about the accident that started this?"

"Odd.  Someone driving around in a car they have to know is so
recognizable, doesn't make mistakes like that unless they're nervous
about something."

"We think alike. Anything else?"

She frowned.  "It's all too pat.  No real harm was done to anyone. Why
shoot the doghouses?  No dog would have slept through all the
commotion."

Suddenly he had a pistol in his hand.  "I suggest you don't move."

She froze.

"Very good  Now, carefully, remove all of your gear and gently place
it on the floor between us, then stand up again."

She complied and now I could see a look of fear in her eyes.  "Are you
crazy?"

"No, but you are."

He slowly reached for his microphone again.  "Ok, Jason.  Come on in.
She's disarmed unless she tries for a holdout, and if she does that,
she'll be dead, because I know everyone is out of my line of fire,
just like we're out of yours."

It all seemed to happen in slow motion.  Her hand flashed  to her left
leg as she started to drop, but she never made it.

There was a crash as a body came through the window to hit her in the
back and knock her flat.  Hands flashed and suddenly she went limp.

Detective Anderson sighed and put his pistol away, then held out his
hand to help the man in body armor off the floor.  "Jason.  Good to
see you."

The man stood and chuckled before he nudged the fallen officer with a
toe.  "Sorry I'm late.  Thanks for holding your fire."

Then he turned to us.  "You folks know anything about a phone call I
got just before we set up the cordon?    Woman called me and said
Dogsbody's mascara was running, then she mentioned a name, this
officer's, and hung up before we could get a trace."

Jo and I waited until we both stopped shaking, then we looked at each
other before she spoke slowly.  "I'm Dogsbody.  That's an open secret
on some parts of the net."

"Got it.  We knew that."

She sighed.  "No idea who it was.  'Running mascara' is a recognition
phrase, as I'm certain you know.  Never heard it used quite the way
she did, but it makes sense, sorta."

"Ok.  Sorry about the mess.  This whole thing has gone strange.  It
was supposed to be just a couple of kids in a car wreck.  By the way,
both of them are under 24 hour guard, now, so you can relax, a little.
I have a forlorn hope that eventually, someone will tell me why the
feds are involved and nervous as hell."

By then people were removing the 'body' and others in suits had come
in to gather our belongings in preparation for leaving.

One of them came over and held out his hand.  "Agent Michaels. Believe
it or not, everyone's involvement in this is accidental.  Bomb squad
is checking out your vehicles.  If you'd come with us, you can
reassure yourselves that Samantha and Miss Nibbles are fine, then
we'll relocate and sort all this out.  The cause of all this has been
captured, and we're fairly certain it's over as far as you folks are
concerned."

We sighed, then I spoke mildly.  "Mind if Detective Anderson joins
us?"

I got a smile.  "Not a problem.  He can join us as soon as we can get
him away from his normal duties."

Then he gestured.  "Please?"

We got up and were quietly escorted to, no surprise, a long black
limo.  I chuckled.  "You folks ever use something else?"

He smiled.  "Yes, we do.  The armored limo is for Samantha and Miss
Nibbles.  You folks get to ride in the humvees as soon as they get
here."

He must have noticed my frown because he never lost his smile.
"They'll be escorting the limo, just in case, so we'll all wind up at
the same location."

"What about Rachel and Billy?"

"They've been moved to the nearest military hospital, for now.  That's
where we're going."

I looked around and watched while a group of camo'd humvees rumbled
into the parking lot.  "Our rides?"

"Yes."

I sighed.  "I'm beginning to understand Samantha's comment about
giving a spook lessons in paranoia.  You folks aren't fucking around,
are you?"

"Under the circumstances, no.  We got called late to this particular
war, and now that it's contained, we want to make sure we have all the
players rounded up before we decide if you folks are going to get to
go back to your lives."

"That serious?"

"Again, yes."

He held out his hand to Samantha.  "Thanks to this young woman and her
team, this unexpected battle is over and in the win column."

She smiled demurely.  "Thanks, Nineteen.  You helped, a lot."

He smiled a little broader.  "I've chided you before about your
inappropriate use of code names.  It's Agent Michaels, for now."

She giggled. "Sorry.  Been busy, must have missed the memo.  Besides,
you're blown here, anyway, right?"

He sighed.  "Too true."

He reached and opened the back door.  "If you and your assistant would
step into your office?"

Jo moved and I had time to notice her eyebrows went up before I turned
back to watch Nibby bounce in the limo to settle proudly, as if she
rode in one all the time.  "Assistant?"

Samantha settled and looked up to grin at Jo.  "Of course.  But she
wears the hearing aid on her collar, and only I can hear it."

I sighed.  "Jo?  We've been had, yet again."

She decided to laugh.  "True.  Let's not keep this parade waiting.
Front or back?"

"Back.  I'm a follower by nature."

She giggled.  "Uh huh.  You wish."  She hugged me and we kissed, then
we separated and climbed into our rides.

* * *

After we pulled out, all the security had its effect on me and I
managed to fall asleep for most of the trip.  I woke up when we
stopped for the security check, but it turned out to be a formality,
and we were waved through.

Shortly after that we arrived at the hospital and were escorted to a
conference room.

Nibby woofed happily and bounced into the room to start greeting the
kids who were waiting.  Some were at a long buffet, and others were
settled at the table, cheerfully talking and eating while they
enthusiastically gestured when they got excited.

Agent Michaels looked around and chuckled.  "Ok, kids.  Commander on
the bridge."

The activity lasted a few more seconds, then a young man I thought
looked familiar looked up from the plate of food he was filling.
"Taped. Looped.  Outbound.  This place is as secure as it will ever
get, as far as we know.  Your folks missed some newer stuff, but we
neutralized it.  Left a few holes for later, but they're all time
delay feeds and we'll massage things before we let them transmit."

"Got it.  My people been taken care of?"

"Yeah.  They have all the upgrades, and everything we have on where
the tech might be headed for the next few years."

"Thanks, Glasses."

The kid blushed, and I looked at him a little closer, since he
apparently had it bad for Rachel.  He noticed my study, and he
stiffened slightly.

I approved, based on what I could see, so I nodded and walked over to
hold out my hand.  "You two need to face to face more often.  Now I
know the reason for the sappy poetry..."

Then I grinned.  "And while we're just 'dumb parents', we do,
sometimes notice things we don't mention.  Good parents help their
kids learn how to keep secrets *before* they really need to keep them.
Now I know what happened to her 'broken' vr headset a few years back.
Nice to know she had the sense to recycle it, 'Glasses'."

He lost his embarrassment when those closest to us laughed at him. One
of them spoke up derisively.  "Told you one of them would spot it.
Living with Rachel upped their IQ scores quite a bit."

Then he turned slightly, towards Samantha.  "Hey, Boss.  Hell of a
risk you took, even with the text to speech synthesizer."

She shrugged a little and started loading a plate.  "Had to move fast.
It was a suicide mission.  Still don't know why.  Any clues?"

"Yeah.  We know why.  Pissed because we missed it all this time."

"Oh?"

"Uh huh.  The Ralstons founded 'Cell Seventeen'.  The guy in the
Isetta was the latest CO, and was trying to clear the area after he'd
picked up the updates they had.  When he recognized Rachel's car, he
panicked.  Stupid.  If he'd made his turn, she wouldn't have paid
attention, because she had something else on her mind.  The wreck and
memory loss made her focus, though, and you know what happens when she
does that."

He looked at us.  "She's got most of her memory back, now.  Billy
doesn't have a clue about any of this.  Neither did Rachel, really.
She's been on a vacation the last year and we've made do without her,
mostly.  Sorry she got hurt so bad, ya know?  She's good people.  So
are you folks."

Most of the group smiled grimly when he went on.  "You folks can relax
about buying Nibby, and all that crap they threw up as a smokescreen.
Your lawyer's secretary got an interesting email last night.  I
imagine some sort of deal is being cut to reduce the Fed Time they're
gonna get for things other than conspiring to murder their own son,
and Rachel."

Samantha nodded thoughtfully without looking up from what she was
doing.  "Good work, all of you."

Jo giggled, and I was probably the only one who really had a clue
about what caused it.  Everyone in the room, including Agent Michaels
and his people, had stiffened with pride at her simple words. If she'd
noticed, she gave no sign that we could detect.

"Samantha, Honey?  With all this, You chose Billy?"

At that Samantha stopped eating to look up.  "Same reason you and Tom
got together.  Billy knows how to love, and he lets people be
themselves, then accepts them, no matter what."

Then she ducked her head.  "Hey, guys?  Confession time.  Who does the
monitoring of Dogsbody's forum?"

One of the girls present spoke up.  "I do."

"K.  Anything going on we need to check out?"

"Got some folks in your area that are sniffing in the public areas, a
few are waiting for membership authorization.  Same as always, really.
Her main site is seeing a lot of activity though.  Pretty close to DoS
levels, but all genuine, so far.  With Cell Seventeen out of the
picture, we don't think there are going to be problems we'll need to
look at.  Keeping an eye on it though and so far, no thresholds
reached."

"What about the mods?  They ok?"

"All normal.  Laika is going to have to retire in the next year.  We
figure she'll move up to the adult forums after she picks her
replacement.  Good policy, and we think that's what keeps the zealots
from making it a target of the seek and destroy missions.  The forum
itself is so anti-pedo and anti-abuse, they squeak.  Tom and Jo are
two of the best at making long term plans that work.  We took a vote
and we want to give them honorary membership in the patrol, if they'll
accept it."

Samantha smiled slightly.  "Anyone contact Laika and get her opinion?"

"Pending.  Whoever she is, she's good.  No, she's better than we are,
for now.  If we can track her down, she should get the no strings
invite."

"Risky, without a background check."

"Wrong viewpoint.  We're pretty sure she could find us, if we screw up
and leave traces.  Might have left them anyway without knowing.  She's
that good."

"Uh huh.  Could she have a team already?"

"Ummm...  Been some discussion.  New team, maybe?  No way to tell
until they pop up on our filters."

"Ok.  Potential threat evaluation?"

"Effectively zero. If she was going to do anything, she's had years to
do it, and we haven't seen anything."

"Right."

Then she looked at us, and Jo and I both nodded.  Jo spoke for both of
us. "We trust Laika, or she wouldn't be doing what she does.  Hate to
lose her, but we'll trust her judgement on her replacement.  We've
never had to replace a mod's choice in twenty years.  Don't think
Laika will break that string."

"Glad to hear it."

Then she looked around the room slowly, as if she wanted to remember
it exactly, later.  "Listen up, Patrol.  This is official.  Some
serious shit is going down soon with Tomsdog and Dogsbody in the
middle of it.  Dr. Simmons wants them to mod an open zoo forum
dedicated to studying well adjusted zoos to find out what makes them
tick, so others can be helped.  Same as what they do now, but official
and in the open.  I think we should help them a little by providing an
extra layer of security, one only we in this room, and Rachel, will
know about.

"No secret Billy's zoo, now, so I have a personal interest beyond
Rachel's interests."

She suddenly held up a hand.  "One more thing.  I'm Laika.  You take
it from there."

"Shit!  You?!"

"Yep."

"Damn...  You gonna share some secrets?"

"Of course.  Oh, that reminds me.  What's the word on Lillian and her
crew?"

"One word:  'Terrified'.  Update:  Local problem."

"Good."

"We got a question of our own, for Tom.  How'd you spot the vr
headset?"

I smiled.  "You kids are good.  Need to train some habits out before
much longer so you don't get caught while you're open conferencing.
May not be possible.   I'm reminded of the kitten hiding behind the
bush who doesn't realize her tail is showing, and signalling her
intent."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence and a few blushes before I
went on gently.   "I used that headset, and spent hours watching
Rachel use it.  Like any parent should, I know her body language and
what the little signals mean.  'Parental Telepathy'.

"But, there was something else, something I learned to watch for to
make sure I had her full attention.  There's a distinctive flicker
caused by 60 Hertz interaction, I think.  In a room full of
fluorescents, it's far worse than it was at home.  It used to give her
headaches, we think, when she used it too long.  It was a major reason
we weren't upset when she had to replace them."

I chuckled...  "The new ones aren't cheap, but with the money we
expect from the forum, I'll spring for a pair of them for someone's
Game Box, or something.  A thank you for supporting Rachel and Billy,
and us."

Sam broke the silence by laughing.  Loudly.  "Give a spook lessons.  I
think we just got us an almost unbeatable edge, by accident."

'Glasses'  took them off and smiled ruefully.  "Yeah.  You're right
about the headaches.  I got two pairs.  These, and a dummy so people
don't notice me changing them a lot in school.  What's the edge, Sam?"

"Parents.  Ones who know ALL about us, and accept us and support us,
just like they do Rachel--and Billy, when his parents dumped him on
them without any warning."

She looked at us.  "You folks want an extended family?"

Jo and I looked at each other, I nodded, and then she smiled gently
when she looked around the room to take a silent vote.  When the vote
was over she smiled and faced Samantha.  "We know most of you already,
and I think all of you have visited us at some point.  You know our
house policy, all of you.  All of you are already 'family'.  Thanks
for deciding to trust us, completely, at last."

Then she frowned slightly and everyone stiffened.  "I get the
impression our background check took at least three years.  Seems
slow, considering."

The silence was profound, then it lasted, and lasted, and...

One of the girls giggled.  "Uh...  Jo?  We never did one until just
now.  You see..."

She blushed.  "It's embarrassing, really.  We've never thought about
trusting our parents, before.  Automatic defense to hide from them."

Jo nodded solemnly.  "We're not upset.  After all, we've made it a
point to let Rachel keep secrets, and never asked if she was keeping
anything from us.  Maybe you should think about the implications when
it comes to trusting people outside your usual peer group.  You're
going to have to join the real world, someday.  Better have a plan for
when that happens, beyond keeping your own community intact somehow."

She got a lot of thoughtful nods in return.

I broke the awkwardness by heading to the food and filling a plate. Jo
joined me, then we settled at the table to eat.

Something was nagging at me, and I couldn't figure out what it was,
until someone mentioned checking on the kids who had been on the bus,
when they got back to school.

The thought gelled and I spoke up to the room at large.  "I know Jo
and I might not be on a need to know list, but has anyone figured out
what's going on with the bus driver?  Mrs. Yarborough and her use of
The Industry recognition phrase?"

Everyone looked at Glasses and he sighed.  "I'll check."  He put his
headset back on.

I think most of us were watching him when he winced, sighed, and then
took the headset off and set it on the table before he rubbed his
temples wearily.  "Someone left a message in one of my online drops.
Federal.  None of us have a need to know at this point other than the
situation is known and someone will contact one of us later."

He looked at Jo thoughtfully.  "Something really, really strange. When
I combined 'Dogsbody and Yarborough' for a search, I got a solid hit,
of sorts."

"Oh?"

"Yes.  One sentence on a site that was only up long enough to register
in the search engines before it was gone."

Jo nodded slowly.  "It was?"

"Trixie Lovejoy was saddened to hear of the serious injuries to a
friend's daughter, and is glad she is as well as can be expected."

Jo jerked her head up and then turned to stare at me with shock.
"Trixie?"

She spoke slowly, and carefully.  "You sure about that hit?"

"I am."

She nodded.  "It had to be written after the accident."

I shivered.  "Tread lightly, kids.  Trixie Lovejoy was a rising star
just before Jo retired.  She made some sort of mistake a couple years
after the retirement, and we heard that she'd been marked and
deliberately killed during the filming of a snuff flick.  Accidental,
supposedly, and nobody could prove differently at the time.  Check
with Warren for details.  He knew her, since he handled the legal
stuff for most of the stars back then."

They nodded and Glasses spoke thoughtfully.  "It may be a plant, then.
Hang on."

He put the headset on, sat silently for a few minutes, then took it
off.  "Ok.  I passed that on, and got a reply, of sorts.  'Glad to see
you kids are on the ball.  About time you adopted those two.  Now,
drop it.' "

Samantha spoke firmly.  "It's dropped, team."

Then she sighed.  "Anybody think to check on Rachel and Billy?  How
long before we can see them?  Michaels?"

"They both went under the knife as soon as they could after arriving.
Probably be sometime this evening.before they might be alert enough to
have company.  Relaxed company.  No business discussions, yet."

Sam giggled.  "What about bad poetry recitation?"

He laughed.  "I've seen some of it.  Not too bad, really. Publishable,
if you send it to the right markets.  Some people suck up that sort of
stuff.  Collaborations are popular."

"We're also getting some requests for interviews of a zoo and his
non-zoo secret lover, too.  Legit, and they want to pay.

She groaned.  "What is this?  Is everybody playing matchmaker?  I
haven't even told him, yet."

He laughed.  "We know.  Somebody with a telephoto got a clean pic of
your telescope and big ear, then put it together because they were
still pointed down, at his yard."

Then he sobered.  "Lucky your parents were on the ground floor on the
other side of the house, and their door was closed with the AC off."

"Doesn't sound good."

"Isn't.  Two firemen are lucky to be alive.  There was enough smoke
they were wearing respirators when they checked your room.  There were
toxins in that firebomb.  Lethal ones."

Samantha nodded.  "Anyone know about that?"

"Not that we know of, yet.  Was our crew that did the tests, because
of the context.  Haven't decided if we should go for attempted murder.
Lots of media flash if we do, probably.  Could do it without that
report, anyway, and it would tie well with the other things."

She sighed and looked at us.  "Your call, I guess.  I don't care
either way.  Don't want to build a new life if I don't have to."

I sighed.  "I've got some experience with hate, up close and personal.
Let's wait it out a few days, and see what shakes out.  If it really
is Trixie on the sidelines somewhere, we're missing some critical
data.  I think when we get it, we'll have a better handle on things.
You're in one war, we're in another, and Trixie, if it is her, is in
the one that might tie all this together so it makes some sense.  If
the Ralstons founded this cell you mentioned, it's out of character
for them to do what they did.  They have a lifetime of lying low and
being low key.  Something, or someone, pressured them into being
stupid and I want to know what it was.  They had every reason to be
grateful to Rachel for her helping Billy, yet seemingly on the spur of
the moment, they decided to kill all of us."

Sam nodded slowly.  "I want to know, too."

She looked up and around suddenly.  "Hey... We got patrols and stuff
like that and we check in with the Feds and other people when we can.
I just realized something.  A lot of the other side is using 'cells',
lately.  You don't do that without a serious command structure,
right?"

Several of the kids frowned, then nodded.  One of them spoke
hesitantly.  "You think they might be doing more than loose
coordination?"

I held up a hand and she noticed.  "Hold it.  Papa must have thought
of something."

I blushed and she grinned.  "Spur of the moment.  You needed code
names.  All part of the game."

I smiled.  "Point to you.  What happens when some people take the game
too seriously?  Winners and losers, and some people don't handle
losing too well, so they decide to do something about it.  'Cheaters
never prosper', but they can sure screw things up until they lose,
right?  I've been wondering why they'd go after a bunch of animal
fuckers and their friends, when I realized something else, when you
play to win, you plan ahead.  What if we aren't the targets because of
what we've already done?"

She shuddered.  "Everybody knows that answer.  A preemptive strike,
because they fear what the other side *could* do.  Right?"

I nodded.

She sighed.  "We need Rachel for this, but..."

She took a deep breath.  "Official mission.  Let's find out what the
link is.  What do we already know, or could find out, that would send
the other side into a collective panic and trigger one of their
unknown 'overall command strategists' to target us, collectively?

"Sub mission:  Cover our butts.  Time to secure our homes and
families.  Assume the hostiles have located all of them and have
other, possibly suicidal missions planned against them, and our
friends."

Agent Michaels blanched.  "Shit's gonna hit the fan when the people I
report to hear about this."

She nodded.  "Tell them this might be the big one for our generation.
I think several generations, on the other side, at least, have linked
up and managed to hide it from us.  Got some clues we need to look at
though, with that in mind.  They wouldn't have been this desperate
unless they figured we knew or would learn something that can really
fuck up a major plan of some sort."

She laughed a little desperately before she watched us.  "Remember my
comment about Lillian only playing in high stakes games, and we were
little?  I think we got promoted to the big league and those suicide
strikes were the notice of our promotions, delivered by the other
side."

Jo nodded and answered this time.  "What is it we all know, that if we
combined it, would panic them into suicide attacks?  Answer:  It's not
what *we* know, it's what *they* know."

Her voice turned cold and I shuddered but kept quiet.  "Go for it. You
have my permission to dig through ALL of the public and private areas
on my web site and the forums we run.  Somebody has been *using* our
forum for their own purposes.  I want them, and I want them taken out
fast and dirty, if you have to."

Everyone was staring at her with a tinge of fear, but then their
expressions shifted as they understood the sense of her words. Glasses
lifted his headset and put it on.  "One DoS attack, served hot, coming
up.  Then somebody official should pay a visit to the ISP and gently
investigate the situation before the system is allowed to go back in
service.  Pull the net connection completely and do nothing else.  Not
even a keystroke or power off or reboot.  Let us handle it. We'll want
access to everything, preferably in person without any of their people
around."

Michaels was already headed for the door.  "On it.  We'll secure the
ISP and be ready for your pen team.  I'll arrange an escort for them,
just in case."

Samantha nodded.  "Pen team, go.  Make your contacts and assemble what
you need before you leave."

Two girls and several guys stood and headed for the door.  "Already
have what we need.  Let us grab our laptops and we can hit with the
first strike team."

"Good.  The rest of us can *carefully* start digging through Rachel's
and Billy's computers for anything we can find."

One of them spoke up.  "We'll need Rachel's password for her desktop."

Samantha looked at us.  "Right.  She said Tom and Jo could figure out
her pass phrase in an emergency."

I blinked.  "We can?"

"She thought so, and gave me a way for you two to try."

We looked at each other, then nodded.  I turned back.  "Go."

"The phrase that triggered THE ritual."

I lost it and started laughing.  So did Jo, and we hugged each other.
After we recovered enough to speak, I was still chuckling.  "Trust her
to figure out a no brainer.  The phrase is 'Share and share alike'."

Samantha groaned.  "And she's told us that story so many times we're
*sick* of it!"

Another girl  giggled.  "Somebody send out for some computers.  We
have some usb sticks to copy files from so we can recover her critical
files, now that we know how to decrypt them."

* * *

Six hours later we were staring at a computer screen and all of us
were hushed and shivering.

Michaels broke the silence.  "Freeze it, folks. Take a break for
dinner, and I'll call in the BIG, big dogs.  I imagine they'll do
something a bit more tangible than a whispered and nervous 'Thanks',
which is all I'm capable of right now."

* * *

Detective Anderson arrived first, studied the room and all the
controlled chaos, then opted to help himself to the permanent buffet.

He settled next to us and sighed.  "Never seen anything like it, and
I've seen a LOT, over the years.  First I have to make detailed
reports nobody will ever read, then, once I do that and get a nap in,
I'm very carefully escorted home so I can get a change of clothes and
let my family know I'm going to be busy on a case for at least the
next few days.  'Undercover work only I can do' is the game plan I was
told to follow.  Old one, and the wife and kids are used to it, so all
it got was a resigned sigh, kisses and hugs from all of them, and then
it was back to the unmarked car and off to...  Here."

He ate in silence for a few minutes, then looked up and around at all
the people in the room, again.  "I've seen lots of crisis command
centers over the years, but never one with the cold, calculating
tension and expectancy this one has.  Do I get to know what's going
on?"

By then Nibby had checked him out and begged some of his food, then
settled to wait for more, just in case.

Samantha drifted over while he had been talking, and once he stopped,
she smiled.  "You're good, Detective.  Also clean.  Squeaky clean as
in no detectable bugs, and a proven history that says you can be
trusted with 'Don't admit to yourself you know this' stuff.  You also
*had* an older cousin when you were a kid, and she was killed by a
vigilante crew who caught her sucking off her prize stallion.
Coroner's report said she fell and hit wrong, snapping her neck.
Somehow all the bruises that were in the ME's official on site report
got lost."

She touched him gently.  "People knew, though, and somehow the perps
died young over the years, until they were all dead of various natural
causes or carelessness."

Then she sighed.  "Charles?  You should have considered things like
cell phone records and vacation logs.  We've done a little tweaking of
the records, not enough to set off alarms, just skewing a few dates
and locations where we felt it was safe to do so."

She tilted her head to study him.  "We miss anything?"

He sighed and looked around.  "Damn.  You kids are good.  I *did*
think about all that, and did what I could by varying the points in my
breaks, and doing a couple weekend quickies.  Any repercussions, now?
Oh, and you did miss something, apparently."

She nodded.  "No repercussions.  All clean anyway, and nobody is
around that we know of who..."

She changed midstream.  "Some folks are going to be after your ass for
blood, but it will be related to this case, not your past.  Do we get
to know what we missed?"

He looked around and studied the room again before he nodded
thoughtfully.  "I saw the limo treatment.  Who are you?"

"Titular CO of this branch of the Nerd Patrol.  Everyone in the room
works for me, directly or indirectly, as far as the records are
concerned. In reality, we're a team of specialists who do what we have
to do without worrying about a chain of command."

"Sounds like I've been coopted."

"Room's got a door, Charles.  Opens both ways."

He made no effort to move except to hold out his hand.  "I'm in,
Commander.  Locked and loaded.  Point, take a deep breath, and pull
the trigger."

She shook his hand and smiled.  "We don't do wet work ourselves.  If a
mission needs that, there are specialists on call.  We don't want you
for that.  In this league, amateurs get killed more often than not."

He nodded.  "Scouts and analysts?""

"Not really.  Or rather much, much more.  The triggers we pull are
virtual ones, and far more dangerous than bullets."

He smiled.  "Pens vs. swords?"

"Exactly."

"Good.  Still in.  What you missed was never mentioned or put down
anywhere.  She and I knew about each other, and five minutes earlier,
I'd fucked my mare and then left.  She left, too, but I guess she
decided to stop for a final quickie before going the rest of the way
home.  Guys must have been drunk and nearby.  Best I ever figured was
that her stallion squealed, they heard, and went to check it out.  The
rest, you can figure out."

She nodded.  "Little convenient, how a certain group of cronies found
her so quickly, when the search was called the next day."

He smiled grimly.  "You don't have to live in the city, or have net
access, to be a nerd.  That was the day I decided to become a cop, and
eventually a detective."

She smiled.  "Welcome aboard, Detective Anderson."

She raised her voice.  "Ok, crew.  Someone show the man what we know,
while we wait.  Maybe he can see something in it we haven't."

He looked at me and Jo.  "What about you folks?  How'd you wind up
here?"

I laughed.  "Accidentally."

He snorted.  "Kids and their games, eh?"

"Yeah.  Better be sitting down when you read that stuff."

"Advice noted."  He stood up and stretched.  "Point me."

Samantha did just that, he sat down, glanced at the screen, visibly
froze, came out of his trance to stare at us, then he whispered 'Oh.
Shit!' and gingerly reached for the mouse to start scrolling.

He was still scanning information when the door opened to reveal a
woman surrounded by what had to be a full security screen.  The screen
peeled off to settle in various locations around the room, and she
waited patiently until they were immobile again.

Jo had watched the process and when it was over she barely smiled at
the woman.  "Should Tom and I know you?"

She sighed.  "Might as well, Dogsbody.  I'll be 'retiring'  from bus
driving as soon as your daughter graduates.  Be nice to settle on a
porch and chat about the good-old-days."

Jo sighed.  "And there's the missing piece.  Hello, Trixie.  Glad to
see you survived the hit, after all."

Trixie slumped.  "It was close.  Nearly didn't.  Our team missed a cue
and were one minute late.  It was enough time error for me to get
every shot but the final one."

Jo and I both winced before Jo went on carefully.  "So who are you
now, other than 'That old prude', who drives a school bus?"

She laughed.  "Nice touch, isn't it?"

Then she sobered, and carefully studied each of us before she focused
on Samantha.  "Hello, young Lady.  I'm the BIG, big dog you've been
waiting for.  I was told to deliver a message, from my ultimate boss.
I quote:  'Somebody has to be the best in the world.  Well done, Team
One.'  End quote."

Silence.  Then, kids being kids, there was a collective cheer and
someone grabbed the punch bowl and dumped it on Samantha, *after* they
made sure  they had her well away from all the electronics on the
conference table.

After all, these kids were nerds, too, and they had their priorities
straight.

Samantha blushed, giggled when she looked at Trixie, then gestured
grandly after she gathered up what little dignity she could after
being drenched with punch.  "We'll send him our thanks, later.  If
you'd join Detective Anderson, we'd appreciate it a whole HELL of a
lot, if you'd decide how this one should be handled.   Thanks for the
promotion, but we know a job we have no business being mixed up in
when we stumble on it."

Trixie nodded, and went over and held out her hand.  "Mr. Anderson.
Your reputation precedes you, of course.  A summary, please."

He sighed and leaned back.  "Not sure I can do their work justice in a
summary.  That's what *this* is.  Instead, I'm going to go back to
almost the beginning, and show you a flow chart they made.  One more
thing.  Active links of people communicating with each other are in
red and updated in real time.  You can see real time translations of
their conversations in another window. Simply put, what they
discovered is the communications network for someone's upper level
strategy and tactics team, and those people don't know they've been
penetrated.  I'll say no more because quite honestly, I don't know
what I should think, other a deep, deep sense of fear and relief."

Trixie raised her eyebrows quite a bit, then nodded.  "Show me."

He did, and the only sign she knew what she was seeing was the sudden
stiffening of her body before she leaned forward and took over the
mouse.

Eventually she straightened and stretched.  Then she looked around the
room and it was clear she wasn't seeing us.  Everyone there knew how
she must be feeling, so we waited her out.

Finally she nodded slightly, then she went to each of her bodyguards
and whispered something to each of them.  Nibby must have been feeling
bored, or perhaps it was the sudden movement that triggered her into
alertness, because she looked up suddenly, then looked at Samantha
before she wandered over to the door to settle again and watch what
was going on.

Then I remembered something.  Nibby had a hearing aid on her collar,
one that only Samantha could hear.  When I studied Sam she noticed my
focus and reached up as if she was vainly trying to get her hair
sorted out.  I nodded, and eventually she let her hand fall back to
her side and she calmly watched Trixie until she finished whatever
briefing she was giving her people.

After she was done she knelt casually and petted Nibby before she
stood and smiled at Samantha.  "Mine's implanted and self powered.  I
had access to better funding."

Samantha blushed.  "So how long will they be out of it?"

"Until you tell me it's safe for them to live, or if they need to
die."

Samantha sighed.  "Understood.  Team?  New mission.  Background checks
after you strip and secure her bodyguards."

One of them chuckled.  "Two questionable right now, the rest are
provisionally cleared.  We've been cross checking each other until we
know we're all clean.  Trixie's locator has been noted, and jammed,
just in case.  We left her hearing aid alone, for now.  Nibby's is
clean, as is yours."

Trixie's eyebrows had been rising as the girl made her report, then
settled into thoughtfulness by the time it was finished.  "I begin to
see why you kids are 'Team One'.  How soon before you know about the
questionables?"

"A few more minutes.  They triggered one of our special filters, so
we're being more careful about how we do our searches on them.  Couple
of agencies we run into occasionally, and they know about us, so we
have to go through a special channel to make sure we don't screw up
any deep cover operations."

"And you're telling me this?"

"With permission, Ma'am.  Entry into this room put you on a need to
know list somewhere.  That's all I can tell you.  You can get more,
but you'll have to do it in person, at the top of the chain."

Her eyes widened slightly, then she nodded.  "Be certain that I'll
check as soon as I can."

"Tomorrow, Ma'am, at the latest.  You're to carry a verbal report and
verbal key for some encrypted files we've already sent to an
electronic drop."

"Quick."

The girl smiled a little.  "You've already called in sick.  Mild food
poisoning, you think.  Enough to make you feel you won't be able to
drive the bus safely."

Trixie nodded again.  "I have the feeling you kids have higher
clearances than I do."

Samantha explained.  "Yes, and no.  We don't have clearances, as such.
What we have are whatever access we can get, and rules of engagement,
plus ethics."

Trixie nodded.  "So...."

Glasses held up a hand and frowned, stopping everything.  "Hang
on...."

He noded slowly, then relaxed.  "Ok.  Provisionally clean,
headquarters says strip them all anyway, until the final checks are
done on all of us.  Then he blushed.  "Uhh...  They said all of us
should strip and be kept away from our clothing.  Somebody got
official and insisted.  Sorry."

Trixie laughed.  "No problem.  Got a few videos of my own out there,
in a slightly different body."

Jo and I shrugged and I spoke mildly.  "We're nudists at home, and
encourage guests to do as they please."  We started stripping.

Glasses nodded and gestured to some of his friends.  "Deal with her
bodyguards, first."  Then he went over and whispered something to
detective Anderson before he took off his headset and started
stripping.

Once the bodyguards were immobilized, Charles went over to Trixie's
clothing and dug through it.  Everyone was watching him by then but he
didn't pay any attention to us.

He found what he was looking for and held it up.  "Cute.  Been a few
times I could have used something like this."

He walked over to look down at one of the men who had been guarding
the door. The man's eyes snapped open and he started struggling.

Charles smiled.  "We know you don't have a suicide pill or anything
like that, but you could have been a problem in other ways.  Non
lethal.  You lose."

Then he shot the man and waited patiently, until his struggles ended.

Trixie had gone white.  "He's been with me for years.  Almost from the
beginning."

Samantha spoke up.  "Deep cover mole.  Real deep cover.  But like I
said, we have access.  We're also international.  There are no borders
on the net, only firewalls and ethics."

Then Trixie seemed to realize there had been things going on she
hadn't known about.  "Wait a minute.  You kids haven't gone near any
of the computers, I would have noticed.  It's like all of you are in
constant communication and have access to the net at the same time. Am
I allowed to know how it's done?"

Samantha looked at me.  "You spotted it with a one word clue to go
on."

I smiled.  "Didn't need it.  Spent years using body language to talk
to Jupiter, and then raised a child.  You kids are good at hiding, but
we're both used to reading Rachel, and she's in a class by herself,
because she figured out what we were doing, and managed to modify her
natural body language.

"Unfortunately for her, it was too late.  We spotted her making the
changes, and figured out her new codes almost as fast as she invented
them.  After that, it became an open game amongst us.  Surprised she
apparently never told you that."

Samantha actually blushed.  "She did, then after we all tried it out
on our own parents and friends, we decided you two were some sort of
special case, so we just avoided doing anything around you folks,
until now."

I smiled a bit whimsically.  "Aren't your parents *supposed* to always
be able to read your minds?"

She laughed.  "Yes, but apparently some are better at it than others.
'Busted', huh, Papa?"

"Yes, and forgiven.  Not my problem to fix anyway, so I'll forget that
part."

I turned to grin at a slack jawed Trixie.  "I suspect they use some
sort of sensitive biofeedback mechanism that detects the nerve
impulses, for their input.  I can think of several ways to get output
they can 'read', so I'm not going to guess, because I really don't
have a need to know and probably couldn't use the system without a lot
of effort put in to learn it.  Frankly, I'm not interested in learning
it.  I'll settle for becoming a spider in a web, or better yet, a well
tended mushroom."

She studied me, then nodded.  "I see what you're saying."

She refocused on Samantha.  "I withdraw my question, just note you
have my thanks and appreciation that your skills are being used the
way they are."

Then she sighed.  "So.  What is this key I'll be telling someone?"

Samantha shrugged.  "Save a draft email in your private personal
account, then wait at least a few minutes, and reopen it."

"That's it?"

"Yes.  And we can all get dressed, and you can wake up your bodyguards
and apologize to them.  We'll keep updating the files we send to...
The people who need to see them.  Oh, your flight is ready, and you
can stop at the main desk to get directions and arrange a ride to the
airfield."

She sighed.  "Then we all wait until someone decides what should be
done next."

Trixie sighed.  "There is that.  Considering some of those names, I'm
glad I don't have to make the decisions.  I will be making a
suggestion, though."

"Oh?"

"Yes.  We can pretty it up later, but I'm thinking the best way to
deal with this *after* any serious work is over, is to go public with
the fact a group of animal fuckers and their friends risked
everything.  Then we point out that if zoos were better understood,
and accepted, most of these folks couldn't have been blackmailed.

"That is the common thread here, and you may never, as a group, get a
better chance to show you really are normal people.  In fact, it was
because of your concern about your image being tainted even more, that
you are cooperating fully, with no reservations."

I shivered.  "It's been a dream, of course.  We'll have to think about
that before we make any decisions. Other people are going to have
something to say.  We also have to give our people who don't know
about all this, a chance to quietly disengage before we go public, if
we go public."

She nodded, then woke up her people and explained the situation before
she sent for a gurney and had her mole hauled to someplace secure, for
interrogation.

Then she shook hands all around, and left without looking back.

* * *

It was Charles who broke the silence by speaking quietly, musingly.
"Couple of questions.  First:  What made these folks pick Tom and Jo's
forums as their primary hub?  To me it looked like the people they
blackmailed were steered there.  That's based on the dates all these
folks joined.

"Second might be more important in the long run.  Folks this good
usually have lots of different channels they use, and rotate them on a
semi-random basis to reduce the risk of detection.  We're not dealing
with amateurs, and that's a lapse that doesn't make sense."

Samantha looked around and her eyes settled on one of the older girls.
"Soliel?  You're our specialist in thinking like the opposition."

The girl nodded.  "I agree with the steering.  Only connection I can
think of at the moment is they stumbled on it and someone saw a chance
to infiltrate because of the relatively low risk of problems if they
were detected early on.  What could these folks do to them, other than
shut down and relocate?  Since they were members already, they'd be
able to follow along and set up again.  They could get everything they
needed in the way of security and it would be done for them.  Outside
channels, by specialists, so to speak, and it would be a significant
reduction in risk to themselves while it happened."

He nodded.  "Makes a lot of sense.  The rest of it?"

She grew thoughtful.  "We need to check something.  There's too many
possible connections here.  Did 'Trixie' make a mistake to get on that
hit list, or was she a federal plant, for other reasons?  Or was it a
mix and possibly something else we haven't thought of?  She's damn
highly placed NOW, even if we assume she was recruited around the time
of the hit.  I wish we could check that more, but we gave our word for
now, so it can wait, mostly.  Let's put her on our passive filters
anyway, that would be routine at our level, so it will be noticed
eventually, but expected."

Glasses smiled and headed for one of the free computers.  "I'll deal
with that.  Got some ideas about how to set up those filters.  Got a
cascade in mind so we won't trigger any reactions unless someone looks
at the sequence in the right order."

I smiled.  "Glasses?  You have a name I can use socially?"

He laughed.  "Johnathon.  John or Johnny, usually.  'Kid Geek' when
I'm being teased."

I chuckled.  "Ok.  Have a preference?"

"Yeah.  Johnny, unless I'm in some sort of trouble.  Then it's the
usual parent stuff that tells me how bad it is by how formal they are.
If I hear my middle name at the same time, it's Allen, by the way, I
know I've really screwed up."  Then he sighed without looking up.
"Yeah, I've heard all the variations that involve 'alien'."

I smiled.  "Subtext understood.  I'll leave that sort of thing to your
peer group and point out the obvious, that to the average person, you
*are* an alien.  Everyone in this room is, and so are 'normal' people,
to us.  It's a label without meaning since it depends on context for
proper interpretation.  It's like 'pigs' was to the cops of my
parent's generation.  They turned it back on the original users by
reinterpreting it and adopting that interpretation as their own.  The
lesson?  Words only hurt if you give them the power to."

He nodded to himself.  "It doesn't really hurt, it's boring.  I'd like
the insults to be subtle, ya know?"

I chortled.  "Good luck.  The average person thinks they're being
brilliant when they think of it, and nobody else could have possibly
thought of it except them."

"Point.  K.  I'm gonna be busy for awhile."

Soliel jumped in again.  "That's a good intro to what I have to say on
what might have made these folks pick your forums, and why they don't
bother rotating nets.  Some folks call it the 'White Collar Syndrome'.
Same thing.  They've been told they're smart and special and they are
successful at what they do, so they get to thinking they're brilliant.
They aren't, but the average person usually doesn't get the chance to
go up against people like us.  They're top of the chain or near it in
their own world, and they have no internalization of the simple fact
to people like us, they'd be the 'kitten with the exposed tail', if we
could be bothered to look in their direction.  Generally, we're too
busy to worry about the small stuff until it passes a threshold or
they do something to get our attention.  That's what happened here.
Until they panicked, we figured we were dealing with an isolated cell,
doing the sort of stuff we usually focus on."

She smiled slightly.  "There's been a lot of finger pointing as people
try to avoid or pin blame for the decision process that picked the
latest CO for that cell.  When we hear back, we have some thoughts on
ways to panic other cell leaders, based on what we're seeing as they
reevaluate choices."

Charles nodded.  "All good points.  You sound just like I expect a
senior analyst to sound, and I know it's because in this world, all of
you probably have eight to ten years of experience behind you.  That's
long time to survive in this sort of combat."

He chortled softly.  "On the net, it's minutes like hours, hours like
days.  That was an old joke when I was young.  Don't imagine it's
changed any, might even be a low estimate because of the horsepower
available.  To the world at large, you're young, still wet behind the
ears, kids.  To those who know, you're all grizzled veterans who
probably should have retired a long time ago, in your terms.  Sorta
like getting virtual prolong treatments so you have more time to do
your jobs before you have to retire, and before then, pass on your
knowledge.  Thanks for sticking around to keep an eye on things."

There was one of those long silences that could have been
uncomfortable, but it wasn't, because these kids were who they were.

Sam finally walked over and hugged him.  "Thanks, Charles.  Means a
lot, coming as it does from a Gen-Two Vet."

He smiled.  "What are you?  Gen-Three?"

She shook her head slightly.  "Gen-Four.  Michaels and his people are
from Gen-Three.  Mostly, we define it by style of approach and focus,
but age does play an important part.  In about ten years, we might be
considered Gen-Three or even Gen-Two.  It's a flexible definition, and
deliberately so.  The newest teams define the breaks, based on their
current knowledge.  It's only a label of convenience, so we don't care
if we get 'redefined' into a lower supporting role.  'Evolution'.  We
found a niche that wasn't full.  As the technology changes, and
attitudes and thinking change, there will be new holes, and new teams
to fill them."

He looked like he wanted to laugh, but he kept it to a smile.

Eventually he shrugged a little and went over to get something to
nibble on.  "Been a long day for some of us.  Got a place I can relax
and bed down?"

Michaels spoke up.  "We've had a an area in BOQ cordoned.  VIP
housing, so it's already set up for this sort of thing.  Your personal
stuff is already in place, and you even get rotating housekeepers.
People from my crew you haven't met yet, so feel free to brainstorm
with them.  Sam's pen team has been checking electronic security and
so far it looks good."

Charles nodded.  "Thanks.  I'll assume I have a ride on call, so it's
been nice meeting all of you, and I'll see most of you in the morning,
probably."

He left with one of Michael's people at his side.

After he left, the focus of the room changed to us and became
expectant.  Jo smiled.  "Out with it.  How are Rachel and Billy?"

"They're fine.  Came through ok, and still groggy, but alert enough to
have realized they aren't where they were when they went under.  Been
briefed on the reasons for the move and security screen.

"Rachel's pissed because we missed the fact that Isetta has been in
the area quite a bit recently.  In the background, but it was there
when she went looking for it.  She's also wondering if Billy's been
under some sort of loose surveillance by the other side, when he's
away from home.  Something else, too.  Again, we should have been
checking for it, it's time we looked for passive repeaters on Nibby's
frequency."

Someone else spoke up.  "Repeaters?  Nibby's got mil spec hopping and
scrambling, plus our own stuff on top of that."

"True, Rachel's not worried about that.  She pointed out that there's
been some pretty sophisticated tracking going on.  She thinks any
stuff linked to Nibby is a distraction.  She's got another, scarier
point, that she made when she was sure things were private.

"First, if you're thinking her memory is completely back, you'd be
right.  She hasn't spotted any holes in it as of the time she made her
pronouncement about Nibby."

He sighed.  "On to the point she wanted to make.  Probability over 90%
that someone recently discovered our portable links and is at the
least, passively tracking us via those.  If it is mil grade tracking,
there's not much we can do about it for now."

He smiled grimly.  "Folks, I think we just found out our tails have
been hanging out and we didn't know it.  Or, rather, we knew, but
discounted the other side's interest in us too much.  Actually, it's a
good thing we routinely use the system.  An analysis of the activity
logs doesn't show any significant changes in usage patterns.  On the
other hand, if someone looks at our locations and does a pattern
analysis, we're screwed.  It's pretty obvious that we're top level ops
now, at least, instead of the low level interdiction team we routinely
operate as."

I spoke up.  "You were already screwed, by proximity.  It's routine to
secure your boundaries, and Sam was a neighbor.  Add the rest of it,
mostly the zoo stuff, and the fact of the use of our forums, and I
imagine you people were detected years ago.  Still don't know what
triggered the sudden panic, unless it's a knee jerk response to their
fuck up and a quick and dirty preemptive response."

He looked at me oddly.  "As far as we know, you don't have any
interest in mil type stuff."

I snorted.  "Oh, come on.  Of course I do.  I'm a *zoo*, and have been
for almost twenty five years.  Stuff you kids still have to think
about in the real world is a habit for Jo and I.  Want proof?  Use
Google Earth and look at the layout of our house and property.  Then
tell me how much you could find out with everything except the most
sophisticated surveillance techniques."

"Right.  Hang on..."  He stalked over to his laptop and started using
it.

I laughed at his stunned look a few minutes later.  "Sure, it's low
tech, but that doesn't mean it isn't effective for the job it needs to
do, now does it?"

He winced.  "No.  I hate to think of what you've done inside.  More of
the unobtrusive, passive stuff?"

"Yes.  Since you've all been there, you can probably pool your
memories and figure it all out.  I don't know how much of it Rachel
has put together.  We've never done anything we know of to indicate
there are security aspects to a lot of the remodeling we've done as
part of making the place more efficient and comfortable over the
years.  Things like the window shutters are obvious ones, done more as
a response to the requirements forced by shifts in society in general
and what we had to do to live a reasonably safe life."

"As a side note, You should notice that the 'smash and kill' approach
had to go through the back yard, not the front of the house, and none
of the bedrooms are immediately accessible from the back yard.  I
think we'll have to rethink our plans to remodel the den, if we decide
we can still live there.  I hate to say it, but that's pretty iffy,
once Rachel graduates, and we may decide we've had our warning notice,
and it's time to quietly leave the table."

I stood and stretched, then held my hand out to Jo to help her up
before I scanned the room one last time.  "And that folks, is a hard
decision ALL of you had better face right now, for you, your friends,
and your families.  I'll admit we're short enough data to make a
decision like that, but since we're on hold, there's time for some
contingency planning BEFORE the rest of the shit hits the fan."

He nodded sadly.  "Understood, and really, we've had plans like that
in place for years.  Problem is, none of them envisioned a scenario
like this one."

He sighed.  "Yeah.  I think it's time we took out some of those
'wildly improbable' solutions and looked at them again.  For
ourselves, I'm wondering if we might wind up settled in one of the
closed down housing areas on a base somewhere.  Most of what we do is
location independent, anyway.  It's our family and friends we're
worried about, and we can't evaluate those situations until we know
how professional the other side is."

Soliel spoke up again.  "New opponents, and we aren't into their heads
enough, yet.  Need time, and we may not get it, if the wrong decisions
are made at a level we can't affect."

I nodded.  "I have two impressions, and I imagine they match your own
thinking.  As you define them, I have the impression the decision
makers on the other side are 'Gen-One'.  That means they are more
likely to push physical solutions."

She nodded.  "Yeah.  And?"

I sighed.  "Fanatics, at all levels.  Stay flexible in your thinking."

She sighed.  "That's our initial read, too.  Wish you didn't get there
on your own."

I nodded.  "Hate to say it, but Jo and I need down time.  We'll check
on Rachel and Billy, then go for some time by ourselves, for awhile."

I had a thought and went over to pet Nibby.   She sucked up the
attention, then I stood up and studied Samantha.  "You're all
experienced enough to know your limits by now, but have any of you
thought about Miss Nibbles?  I think it's time you gave her an
ordinary collar and let her be a dog, and Billy's lover, only.  Keep
the new collar something simple, so anyone seeing it should realize
it's been changed, and it's not filled with tricks.  Make it a special
gift to let Billy know how much you care, or something like that.
Let's get her out of the current game, if you really do care for him,
you know?"

I sighed and nodded again.  "I'm afraid I'm speaking as Billy's father
in this one.  He needs her more than you do."

Samantha sighed and nodded.  "Understood.  We'll miss her, and the
records will show she retired with honor and all that silly stuff. Can
we keep her around until things settle?  She's still going to need all
the security, no matter what happens."

I smiled a little.  "No problem.  I don't think we'd trust her safety
to anyone else, at this point, until she's back under Billy's direct
care.  Then we'll discuss it again, ok?"

"Yes. Thanks, Papa."

"Welcome.  One more thing.  If you want it, you can settle in a room
with us.  I know you folks are a blooded team, but we're no longer in
field conditions, and some command separation and personal down time
might be wise.  Plus, there's still that job opening."

I shrugged.   "The offer is not only for your benefit.  Jo and I could
use some down time with someone who operates at our level, Laika."

She actually blinked with her surprise.  "Never thought about it that
way.  We're used to thinking of ourselves more like a commando team of
equals who have different specialties.  My being 'CO' has always been
something we do to fit ourselves into the usual perceptions."

Jo spoke gently.  "Are you saying you've missed it all this time?"

She gestured at the room in general.  "A quiet but sincere 'Well done'
from you means more to these people than all the awards and praise the
rest of the world could heap on them."

She blushed.  "Really?"

She took a silent vote and blushed again.  "Oh.  Sorry guys.  I *have*
missed it."

Johnny walked over and hugged her.  "Hey, if we're Team One, it's
right that someone has to be 'The One', and best of the best, Laika.
You're it.  We all took it for granted you knew you were, you know?"

Her voice was subdued.  "Oh."

He laughed.  "And now, speaking as your XO, it's time you took a short
vacation, while you can.  We'll keep things under control until you're
back."

She straightened and then kissed him.  "Thanks.  You make it a point
for some R and R of your own, and go see Rachel so you two can recite
poetry at each other."

He blushed, she giggled, then she let go and grabbed Nibby's leash off
the table.  "Come on, Nibby.  I'm gonna exercise some of that command
prerogative and take you to go see Billy, after you go for a walk."
---------

End: Part Three of Five

-- 
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