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Subject: {ASSM} Variations on A Theme 5/5 (zoo themed, 'spy kids') TBD
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Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:10:01 -0400
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Variations on A Theme: Part Five of Five
----

When we got to the kitchen she paused in the doorway to study it
again, then started exploring in detail while asking the staff
questions about their duties and then making decisions on how she
wanted to handle things.

I opted to explore the pantry and walk in refrigerator to see what we
had to work with.

Eventually I was able to go confer with Jo.  "I can sum up our
resources as 'anything we might need'."

She smiled.  "Good, for later.  They've already sent them several
trays of finger food, so we can forget about feeding them, for now."

"Ok."

"So let's worry about our dinner, and Warren.  I'll make a marinade
for enough chops for all of us.  We can BBQ some when he shows up."

I smiled.  "That leaves me with the veggies.  I'll put together a
salad of some kind, and throw a bunch of fresh stuff together that I
can stir fry over the grill."

She smiled and made pushing motions with her hands.  "Go!  Just stay
out of my way."

I looked around the huge kitchen and laughed.  "Easy.  This place is
big enough I could get lost going from one end to the other."

Then I raised my voice.  "I need someone to fetch and carry, a
chopping knife and a party salad bowl."

Two men and a woman moved from where they were waiting, to stand in
front of me, and I smiled at them.  "Thanks.  I'll be doing all the
preparation myself, this time, so you folks can relax and take notes
if you like."

The woman's eyebrows went up.  "Take notes?"

I chuckled.  "Take notes.  Since we have the time, I'm going to make
one of our special party salads before I prep the vegetables for the
stir fry."

She smiled.  "Our briefing mentioned the two of you know your way
around a kitchen, Sir."

"Tom and Jo.  We don't like formality unless there's a real need for
it in front of company."

"Understood.  I'm Linette, the redhead is Roy and the tanned blonde
guy, who really is a competition class surfer when he can sneak away,
is Malcom."

I shook hands all around.  "We'll try to not disturb your routines,
normally, but tonight, we need the time to think, and we want to be
able to tell our friend that the food comes from our own hands.  He's
going to need that.  We're not worried about you folks poisoning him,
it's going to be an emotional stability thing for him, because we have
to tell him something that's going to really fuck up his head for
awhile."

She started out smiling and by the time I'd finished her eyes were
sad.  She nodded.  "You really don't have to give reasons.  Naturally,
we're always curious, as part of our jobs, but we're also taught to
let the people we work for do whatever they want to, when they want
to, without any explanations.  That's also part of the job, to step
aside when asked, unless there are overriding security concerns."

I nodded.  "Are there any?"

"No."

Then she smiled.  "We've had time to read your dossiers, of course. It
will be a pleasure to watch, and learn from, two people who had their
own catering business for twelve years, before they sold it and
retired."

I laughed.  "Jo discovered she enjoyed cooking, and she was getting
bored after she retired the first time.  So, we took a chance because
it let us spend more time with Rachel, than regular jobs would have."

I gestured at the kitchen in general.  "Working here, with people
interested in food as a total experience, will be a pleasure I look
forward to."

All three of them nodded.

"Ok.  I need the party bowl and a medium head each of three different
types of leafy lettuce, to begin with."

I was building the bed for the salad after I separated the leaves of
lettuce and rinsed them in ice water, then shook them dry, when Malcom
surprised me.  "Is it ok if we ask questions that are personal and not
related to food?"

I paused and studied him until he blushed, then I grinned.  "Never had
kids, have you?"

"No."

"Ask away.  It's something we had to get used to once Rachel was old
enough to talk."

He dared a smile, and I nodded encouragingly before I went back to
building the salad.

"Like Nettie said, we had to read your dossiers.  A few of the
original team were uncomfortable with the idea of having to work for
you folks, because you're zoos, so they left for the duration.  The
rest of us either don't care, or are varying degrees of zoo tolerant
or zoo accepting.  Ok?"

I paused, sighed without looking up, and then nodded.  "Ok.  We
wouldn't want anyone to go against their beliefs for us.  Doesn't make
me happy, and Jo will tell you the same thing.

"I need some bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts and sliced bamboo shoots if
we have any.  And a colander so I can rinse everything in some fresh
ice water, then we'll get back to your questions."

They vanished on their errands, and I looked at Jo, who was on the
other side of the counter and working on her marinade.

She noticed my attention, then smiled.  "I heard.  Bigger kitchen,
more room for the curious.  Reminds me of the first party after they
found out about me and Sam."

Her head tipped to indicate her attendants.  "Sibyl and Takisha have
been just as curious."

I laughed, started rinsing the newly arrived food, and returned some
of my attention to my audience.  "Ok, Malcom.  I'm going to be on
automatic for a few minutes.  Ask away."

"I guess the big question we have is: 'Are there any big mistakes we
can avoid making when we deal with William and Miss Nibbles?' "

I smiled at his seriousness.  "Remember what it was like to be in love
for your first time?"

"Yes!  I can't believe how crazy I was back then."

That got him some giggles and laughter.

"Good!  I don't think you'll be making any serious mistakes, but
William probably will be.  You can help him by seeing that his
behavior doesn't go past what would be normal for a teenaged couple.
Give him and Nibby some slack on the minor stuff, though,  He needs to
make the mistakes so he can learn from them.  He's going to be
euphoric about being able to be open, and nobody knows how that will
affect him, or for how long."

"Umm.  Ok.  That makes sense.  What about the usual stuff like
teasing?  Not the malicious kind, just the stuff good friends do
sometimes.  And what about Samantha?  Do we treat her like a teenager,
or like our commanding officer?"

I winced.  "Ask William.  My gut feeling is that he'll need that sort
of stuff, because things are going to be pretty serious most of the
time.  How much of it, and how intense...  I think you'll have to work
that out with him, too.  He'll have his friends, and they won't be on
duty all the time, but he's got to know that intellectually, he's
going to be outclassed by everyone around him, and that's going to
depress him at times."

Roy spoke up suddenly.  "We're not ALL intellectual giants.  A lot of
us are average.  Love doesn't always select for brains, does it
Nettie?"

I looked up and she was blushing.  "I was getting desperate, so I
tried to distract you into losing at tetris more often."

He laughed and moved to hug her.  "Worked, too.  But I won the game I
was really playing, didn't I?"

She giggled.  "It was a tie, idiot, and you know it.  I was just too
shy to tell you the real reason I was always inviting you over to play
tetris."

He laughed and let go after they kissed.  "I know.  But I'm a
compulsive game player, and once I was playing, all you were was
someone I had to beat.  Being subtle wasn't something I ever thought
about."

All three of them were smiling when he turned back.  "Anyway, my point
is that William is going to have lots of normal people around him, and
some of us are in our early twenties.  He'll be able to find people
who share the more usual interests in life."

I went back to carefully laying out the sprouts, with the bamboo
slices fanned out on top of them.  "Good.  As far as relaxing when
Samantha is around, I don't know.  There's a command structure to
worry about, but I don't know enough to give you any hints about when
you're off duty together, or when she, William and Miss Nibbles are
together."

All three of them sighed before Nettie spoke.  "Most of us were hoping
*someone* would be able to give us a clue.  On paper, our team is
independent, and because she's the head of Team One, she can call on
us at need.  We're young enough to be a crossover team, but we usually
focus on routine observation and reporting, when we're working as the
team.  Since we're local, and were already gathered for a different
project, she contacted us and asked us to handle your inside security.

"We agreed, since we were already training for this kind of work."

I nodded, stepped back, and studied my creation while I thought about
things.  "So.  Sounds like it will be close to peer group
interactions, once things settle."

She smiled.  "Probably.  Once things settle, it will be up to you
folks if we stay on, or you get a more experienced house staff."

I chuckled.  "Too soon to make a long term decision, but I suspect it
will be you folks deciding if you want to stay with us.  Jo and I both
like stability in our lives, and once we have the rough edges of the
relationship worn smooth, I can't see disrupting that for no reason."

I got silence as a response, so I looked up to see three sets of
slightly widened eyes.  I chortled.  "Surprised?"

Malcom nodded.  "Yes, we are.  As far as we knew, our assignment to
you folks was most likely going to be temporary, or last until things
settled, then the arrangements would be reexamined before changes were
made.  Nobody said anything about us having any say in things."

I nodded.  "Well, while you're thinking about the changes, someone get
me a couple pounds of carrots and a way to shred them, by hand."

Roy looked at what I had so far, frowned, then spoke up.  "Two
pounds?"

I smiled.  "Yes.  I won't be using them all, just enough to add some
color.  The rest will get added to the stir fry."

"Oh!"

"While I'm dealing with the carrots, I'll need two red and two yellow
bell peppers for the next part."

I looked up and smiled.  "Depending on the occasion and time of year,
I'd include green ones and then cut the tops off of one color to make
them bowls I stuff with an assortment of chopped vegetables."

Roy nodded.  "Makes sense.  Anything we should know about the
stuffing?"

"If you want to make it special on an individual basis, stuff each one
with an ethnic mix tailored to the person who will be eating it.  You
could use large baked potatoes for the bowl, or bread bowls, if you
have the time.  Main thing, if you're doing anything special, is to
make sure you don't violate any dietary restrictions people might
have, and keep the seasonings to a minimum, or don't use them at all
when you're doing it for a large group.  I can cheat a little on this
one since I'm assuming it will be only me. Jo, Warren and the kids who
eat it, at least at first.  Once Warren has eaten, it will be first
come, first served.  That includes staff.  We don't believe in
isolating ourselves."

Roy nodded again.  "Thank you.  I'm glad I won't be the first one to
have to eat from that.  It already looks too good to eat.  A work of
art I'd hate to destroy."

Jo laughed.  "Good!  That's the effect we want, plus the anticipation
of wondering if since it looks so good, does it taste good, too?"

She and I grinned at each other while I picked up the conversation.
"Warren's used to our tricks, Love, but he enjoys the adventure of
going along for the ride."

She sobered.  "True, and he's already going to know whatever it is we
want him for, it's got to be real serious.  This should relax him a
little and help get rid of some of the pressure he'll be feeling."

"Yep."

I finished shredding the carrots, then carefully sprinkled just enough
of them to add some contrasting color.  "Put the rest of these in a
sealed container for later. We'll prepare everything for the stir fry,
but I don't want to mix it until I start cooking it on the BBQ."

I started removing the stems from the bell peppers.  "Has anyone set
up a stock pot, yet?"

Nettie answered this time.  "No.  What size?"

I thought about it.  "How many on the house staff?"

Nettie, again.  "Twenty three, total.  Ten to fifteen here at any
given time unless there's an emergency."

I nodded.  "And this counts as one, I'm certain.  Anyone else that can
be considered part of the household?"

She smiled.  "Some of the husbands and wives aren't official working
members of the team, so they aren't here most of the time.  That's
another eight people."

I smiled.  "Ok.  We can figure on a minimum of close to fifty people
sometimes.  Start with a five gallon kettle for the vegetables, and a
smaller one, make it an eight quart for now, that we can put the meat
stock in to simmer.  We can adjust later, if we have to."

She smiled.  "You think big, don't you?"

I chuckled.  "Not really.  I'll leave that to you and the rest of the
kitchen crew.  These two will be for family, and Jo and I will decide
what goes in them.  You can start a set for the rest of you to work
with."

She laughed.  "Thanks for reminding us.  We've never created one, so
it's probably good that we keep ours separate."

I chuckled.  "Only one suggestion.  Don't add any seasonings.  Let the
mix of food do it all until you serve from it, then people can add
their own, to taste.  We made the seasoning mistake with our first
stock pot and after a week, we had to throw it out and start over."

She fought back a case of giggles, then nodded again.  "We'll
experiment cautiously.  I'll get some pots ready.  Be right back."

I finished removing stems, them started thin slicing the peppers
lengthwise.  "Rings would be good, too, but tonight we'll be
discussing some serious stuff and I don't want the distraction of
cutting things before we eat them."

By the time I'd finished cutting, Nettie was back.  "Pots are in place
on the back of the stove and everyone has been told the two on the
left side are yours, and to leave them alone except to stir them once
in awhile, while they simmer."

"Thanks."

I chopped what I could from the removed stems and put it in a bowl,
then handed it to her.  "Official starter."

She smiled slightly, then we watched while she made a small production
of carefully pouring the contents in and giving the pot a slow stir
while she grinned at us.

When she came back she handed me the bowl, then saluted crisply.
"Stock pot simmer officially begun, Sir!"

I laughed.  "Thank you, Linette.  I'll see that you get some sort of
recognition for your devotion to duty."

She giggled after she dropped her hand.  "I'll settle for a taste,
when it's ready."

I shook my head with my amusement.  "You and anyone else who has to go
through the kitchen, I imagine."

I placed the pepper slices in between the bamboo shoots, alternating
the colors until I had a circle completed.  The leftover slices, I put
in a bowl for later.

I was contemplating what I had so far, and thinking about what I knew
Warren liked both visually and taste wise when a fleeting thought
about his sexuality surfaced.  I looked at it carefully, then sighed
and looked at Jo again.

"Jo?  Are you at a point you can pause?"

"Pressing spices into the meat before they soak in the marinade.  Let
me finish doing that, then I'll be done.  Will that be ok, or is this
something we should discuss immediately?"

"Not immediately, but well before he gets here.  I really don't want
to lose my train of thought on it."

She was silent while she thought things over, then she turned sideways
a little.  "You've been keeping track of how much of the seasoning mix
I made, that I've been working into each chop?"

Both of the women nodded.

Jo smiled.  "Good.  I want you to finish up while Tom and I talk, then
put the ones you do in a clearly marked separate container to marinate
along with the others.  I want to be certain the ones we cook for
Warren are ones I did myself.  It's going to be important, on an
emotional level, that the main items he's served tonight have been
prepared by us, from scratch.  Normally, it wouldn't matter, but this
time, it does."

They took over what she was doing, she watched them briefly to make
sure they were doing a reasonably similar job, then she looked up
expectantly.

I sighed.  "Hang on."

I turned to my crew.  "Get me a Red Delicious apple, a Granny Smith,
half a medium papaya, three small mangos, a peach and a nectarine, for
now.  Wash them and I'll do the rest once I'm done talking to Jo.  I'm
not trying to get rid of you, so when you get back, feel free to
listen in."

When I turned back to face Jo she was smiling slightly.  "So.  What is
it?"

I sighed.  "A very nasty suspicion.  What do you remember about the
circumstances that forced Warren to out himself?  Was Beverly working
for him, and did she know about him being a gay bottom, or not?  Plus,
how did he get involved with working with people from the porno
industry?  And finally, related to all that, how much of an influence
was Beverly, if any, when you made the decision to fuck dogs?  Could
she have manipulated things so you had to do it?"

Jo slumped.  "Tom, Love, you're amazing.  I've been wondering the same
stuff, along with a few other items.  She dimed Trixie, as far as we
know.  Was she also the one who gave the kill order?  Did she have
enough influence to know enough to interfere with the timing of the
rescue team, or was that a fluke?  What really bothers me, though, is
what did Trixie learn?  Was it there before or after I retired?"

I sighed.  "Are we going to have to worry about her plans haunting us
for the rest of our lives, after she's put away?  What still bugs me,
is something that makes no sense, no matter how much I want to see
some sort of pattern.  Why her focus on zoos?  She has to know that
we're always being scrutinized and suffer from random attacks of
various types when we're discovered.  She's shown a lot of insight to
the way we think, collectively, and she apparently had that ability
almost from the beginning."

Jo smiled slightly.  "Like Warren persecuting gays?  She could be
one?"

She sobered after I froze and stared at her in shock.  "Sorry. Whimsey
in poor taste.  She's never owned any animals that I or anyone I know
of, ever knew."

I smiled a little.  "Too bad we can't sic Nibby and her collar on
her."

Jo smiled back.  "She's het, and utterly devoted to her husband, who I
imagine is going to be quite surprised, very soon."  

I laughed.  "Ok.  A bit of my own whimsey.  Nibby isn't going to leave
Billy's side unless she's with one of the team, if I have anything to
say about it, anyway."

I sobered quickly and sighed.  "I think we should tell Warren
everything we know or suspect."

She bent her head and sighed.  "I agree.  Let's have Elliot and
Tabitha there, to represent the team, at first, since they know what's
going on."

"On the record?"

She nodded.  "All of it.  Only way to do it.  You know that as much as
I do."

"True.  That's all I had.  Unless you have something more, I guess I'd
better finish the salad and the other stuff I need to do."

She lifted her head and I could see tears as she reached across the
counter.  "I should get back to my own preparations.  Shall we...
Table all this for now?"

We touched palms and I smiled.  "Yeah.  Let's do that.  If we have
time before Warren gets here, and we can shake her loose, we should
let Samantha know what we're doing."

Jo pointed at the doorway to the kitchen and smiled.  "Miss Patient
and Hopeful has been observing everything we've done, and collecting
any tidbits tossed in her direction."

I laughed, let go of her hand and turned back to my salad and my
patient assistants.  "Family tradition, to solve problems while we're
preparing our meal.  Difficult to be angry when you're surrounded by
the smells of good food, and even the spontaneous food fights have
helped reduce the stress, when they happened.  Jo looks pretty good
when she's wearing a spaghetti hairpiece.  Tastes good, too."

They stared at us, then Nettie giggled a little before she got herself
under control.

Jo grinned.  "Whipped cream tits and cherry nipples add some much
needed humor to your personality, Thomas."

I grinned back, then reached for the first apple and started preparing
it while Jo went back to preparing the chops.

I sliced the apples into wedges that were about 1/4 inch thick, then
did the same thing for the peach and nectarine.  The papaya got
sectioned into thicker wedges, and the mangos got chopped into cubes
that were about 1/2 inch on a side.  As I laid four of the papaya
wedges in a cross at the center of the bowl, I started talking again.
"How much background as cooks do you kids have?"

Linette chose to answer for all of them.  "Mostly the basics of food
preparation for larger groups of people.  We haven't really decided if
any of us want to specialize, yet, but we do have preferences when
we're cooking, so we go with that for now."

I smiled.  "Ok.  Bear with me if I tell you something you already
know.  This salad is more presentation than anything exotic.  Mainly,
I'm being so careful because of the situation.  The main thing to
worry about is tailoring the appearance to the situation, which is
usually a combination of serving location, and theme or atmosphere you
have to work with.

"If it were a buffet, with the serving table against a wall, I'd use a
progressive layout that put the larger items towards the back, and use
the bed of leaf lettuce to raise them slightly, so people can reach
the back items without worrying about getting food on their clothing.

"Symmetry is important, usually, but sometimes it's better to place
things in what appears to be a random pattern that uses the colors and
textures of the foods to set them off.  A Mexican style salad would be
a good example of using bright colors and contrasting textures mixed
together.

They all nodded.  Roy was watching me and he spoke thoughtfully.
"We've studied symmetry and colors, but nobody mentioned textures
before."

I chuckled.  "Textures get complicated, because there are three of
them you have to worry about.  Visual, or how the surface of the food
looks to people.  Contact, which is how it feels when they pick it up
in the fingers, if it's finger type food.  And of course, the eating
texture, which is how it feels when they chew it.

When I looked up from placing the last of the apple slices, they all
looked a little bemused, so I tried a different approach.  "Think of
it as 'sweet and sour' for the other senses.  You can use the
different textures to change the overall atmosphere of the eating
experience.  When you combine it with how the food tastes, you can do
quite a bit that people won't realize is being done to them.

"Young kids will probably enjoy stuff that goes 'crunch', or is juicy,
while older folks tend to want stuff that is softer, and less messy.
Things like lettuce and cabbage should be crisp and crunchy unless
you're deliberately providing a cooked salad, then you can blanch them
and soften them a little.

"Be sure you don't over cook things in a salad.  People associate
bright colors and freshness, unless the food is naturally pastel
looking in color."

I gestured at the salad in front of us.  "I'll create a circle around
the apple and papaya slices with the peach and nectarine, then
distribute the mango cubes, and that will be it.  The rest of the
salad items will go in their own bowls that will be used to frame the
bowl in the serving cart.  It can all be put in the walk in until we
need it, at which point we'll fill a cart with some crushed ice,
arrange things, and roll it out."

They nodded.  Roy smiled.  "You make it sound so complicated, then it
looks easy while you're preparing it.  Practice?  What about
dressings."

I chuckled.  "Lots of practice, and lots of mistakes when we were
learning things, because we didn't take any classes, just read a few
books and started hosting small parties until we felt confident enough
to do the on site catering or cooking."

"The dressings can be off the shelf stuff in bottles, this time.  This
is supposed to be a low key BBQ, so the bottles will be more
convenient and do a little to get rid of some of the in-your-face
aspects of doing this as a special effort for Warren.  He'll
appreciate it, but he's also family, so we have to balance it a little
with off the shelf items."

Mentioning cooking reminded me of a quirk Jo, Rachel, and I shared.
"That reminds me. The three of us have a quirk when it comes to
cooking.  We only use stainless steel, cast iron, or enameled cookware
that isn't Teflon coated.  We'd appreciate it if any food we're served
from now on is cooked that way."

Linette frowned.  "No aluminum stuff at all?"

I sighed.  "None.  We never make an issue of it when we eat out,
because that would be silly.  If you're wondering about our reasons,
we decided that there're enough reports of a link between aluminum and
Alzheimers, that we don't want to take the risk."

She nodded.  "We'll have to replace a few things, and that might take
us a few days."

I nodded back.  "Don't worry about it, yet.  Instead of buying or
requisitioning new stuff, contact the people moving our house, and
have them ship all our cookware here.  No point in putting it all in
storage if we don't have to."

"Ok.  That would probably be quicker anyway, because we've never
thought about what's involved in creating a kitchen that doesn't use
aluminum, and avoids the use of Teflon."

She looked up and smiled a little wryly.  "I don't think we could get
stuff without Teflon unless we special ordered it."

I laughed.  "For all but some specialty stuff, it's fairly easy to
get, you just pay more for it."

"We'll keep that in mind.  Is there a specific reason for not using
Teflon coated stuff?"

I sighed.  "Under normal conditions, not really.  It does wear off
eventually, but the main reason is that if it is heated to a high
enough temperature, some types of coatings give off toxins.  Only time
it happens, usually, is with an unattended empty pan.  We just feel
there's no point in placing ourselves and the people we cook for at
risk, if we can avoid it."

She smiled again.  "I hope you don't mind if we do some research on
what you've told us."

"Not a problem.  If you have problems finding anything, let us know
and we'll give you the links we have that are still good."

"Thanks."

They watched while I finished the arrangement, then they hauled the
bowl to the walk in for storage.

While I waited for them to return I looked over at Jo, who was smiling
at me.  "Thanks for remembering about the cookware.  I had Sibyl
change our stock pots over to stainless.  They also wanted to know if
they could spoil Nibby, so I told them to go easy for now, until they
check with Billy.  No chocolate was the only restriction I made."

I chuckled.  "Samantha told me she loves Chinese and would be round if
it weren't for all the running she and Billy did together."

Jo giggled.  "Ah!  That explains the quivering expectancy that has her
watching every move I make.  Well, she'll get all the snacks she can
beg, if Billy says it's ok."

I smiled.  "Sam told me she was the neighborhood's favorite bitch, so
I imagine she has her moves down pat by now.  What do you think we
should do for salad garnishes?  The traditional stuff plus a few types
of cheese that have been shredded and chunked?"

"That should do it.  Keep it limited to a half dozen items for us, and
the staff can make another salad for the kids' dinner and go all out
with it."

I nodded.  "Chopped olives, sliced mushrooms and chopped vidalia
onions.  Then  jack, longhorn cheddar and provolone for the cheeses?"

She thought about it, then nodded.  "Put the other items in the stir
fry, except for the eggs.  You can cook his eggs to order if he wants
any."

"Right.  Any word yet on when he'll get here?"

She turned to her helpers.  "Would one of you please check with the
kids for news?"

Takisha nodded.  "I'll do it.  I'll take the time to make sure
Samantha knows about your plans, and what you suspect, if that's ok?"

Jo smiled.  "Of course."

Takisha smiled, then looked over at Nibby.  "Word was already out,
about her being retired soon.  Her collar has been a sort of open
secret as far as its listening capabilities.  Sam's going to be
frustrated without her handy.  Maybe we can get her another dog."

I chuckled.  "Might be simpler to put collars on any of the dogs that
become part of the permanent staff, then figure out how to manage all
the information.  Ask Samantha.  She may not want the responsibility
of owning a dog, until after Billy is back on his feet.  She's also
used to Nibby in her life, and may not want to add anything more for
the three of them to deal with."

Jo spoke suddenly.  "Elliot and Tabitha."

"What?"

"They're considering getting dogs.  Coordinate it with them, not
Samantha."

"Ah!"

Jo turned her attention to Takisha.  "They haven't decided when, yet,
but there's a good chance they'll be getting a pair of dogs for pets
soon, and additional security.  See what they have to say."

She left, and I returned to preparing the food.

"Ok.  The stir fry.  I'll use peanut oil this time.  You three can
help with this, so..."

I started thinking out loud.  "Everything in its own bowl.  I'll mix
while cooking portions to order.  One each, green, red, yellow bell
peppers, cut into about quarter inch pieces..  One half cup of crushed
California chilies.  Two large red onions, chopped.  Bean sprouts.
Whole kernel corn.  Sweet peas.  A small bowl of string beans, french
cut into half inch pieces.  Several Romaine  tomatoes, thin sliced
lengthwise,  a medium bowl of celery cut into half inch sections.  A
large yam, cut into half inch cubes, unpeeled.  A dozen brussels
sprouts cut into quarter inch slices..."

 I looked up.  "Jo?  Are we going to theme this?"

She frowned.  "We probably don't have time."

"Ok."

I went back to my thinking out loud.  "Several medium potatoes, cut
into home fries, along with one large baking potato that's been wedge
cut.  That should do it."

They left to gather food and I leaned on the counter to watch Jo, who
was working on a sauce for the vegetables and humming to herself while
she worked.

I chuckled.  "You sound content, for a woman who expected to lose her
kitchen privleges."

Jo giggled.  "I wasn't expecting the chance to teach.  Never realized
how much I missed it after we sold out.  You sounded pretty cheerful,
yourself."

"I am...  That's it!"

She froze and studied me.  "That's what?"

"Maybe, a way for the kids to be able to be protected, yet still be
able to see their family and friends.  Most of us have years of
experience with our BBQs and themed parties we put on for friends and
family, right?"

"True.  Where are you headed?"

"What if you and I came out of retirement, and put together a new
catering business that deals with special occasion catering for events
that require the staff have high level security clearances?"

I gestured at our helpers.  "We have here, an already trained
beginning kitchen staff.  The team could cross train as waiters and
waitresses, or additional kitchen staff.  If we sell it as *our*
project, and say we're used to working with the kids and would like to
use experienced help for the new business, without mentioning the
security aspects, that could make it easier to get them out of sight,
and it might be enough of a diversion the pressure gets taken off with
regards to protecting their friends and family, while leaving them
with enough freedom they can go home and visit in between jobs."

Jo finally giggled.  "You are aware, of course, that we and the staff
would almost always have higher clearances than anyone we cater?"

I grinned.  "The thought had occurred to me, yes.  That detail doesn't
have to be mentioned, right?  On the other hand..."  I turned
slightly.  "Have you folks ever had an all out bash where you could be
yourselves, too?"

Malcom turned towards the walk in.  "You'd work our butts off,
wouldn't you?"

I chuckled.  "Of course.  Catering is a lot of boring preparation,
followed by absolute madness for a few hours while you try to keep it
all from falling apart, then you spend hours cleaning up the mess and
getting ready for the next time.  On the other hand, when it's time
for a break, we could kick you folks out, bring in the kids, who
really are used to helping us, and your team could relax and enjoy
themselves for awhile, without worrying about violating security if
you started talking shop over the salad bar."

It was Sibyl who giggled.  "Sounds a lot like sex, Mal.  I'm in."

He grinned.  "Yeah.  So'm I.  Besides, someday I want to make
preparing food look as easy as Tom makes it.  Right now..."  He
shrugged and looked at me.  "They still tease me about the burned
water and the boiling milk incident."

Just then Takisha returned.  "What are the giggles for?"

Linette got herself under control.  "Tom and Jo are thinking about
starting up a new high security catering business.  We've been offered
the chance to be the starting kitchen staff, and Mal-adroit just
finished admitting he can burn water and boil milk."

"I'm in.  Has anyone mentioned pay, yet?  I'll take out my overtime in
food, as long as they cook it for us.  Oh,  some news from the
hospital.  Samantha says Rachel and Billy are fine.  Rachel is already
bored, when she and Billy aren't trying to plan their futures."

Her enthusiasm and comments about Rachel and Billy triggered more
giggles, but eventually everyone sobered.

Jo was smiling.  "I have the impression all of you are willing to try
it?  If so, Takisha, if you'd pass the word to Samantha, along with
our request..."

Nibby woofed suddenly and spun to face away from the kitchen.

The rest of us turned to see who she was greeting, and it turned out
to be Samantha, who came over and hugged me fiercely.  "You and Jo are
willing to do that for us?"

I hugged back and tilted her head up.  "Of course we are, if it will
help."

She turned in my arms and leaned back.  "Jolene?  You, too?"

"Me, too."

"Oh.  Wow.  Thanks...  We hadn't told anyone else yet, but the only
solution that anyone figured would have a chance of working, involved
all of us, including you folks, dying in some sort of accident that
was real messy.  They were considering letting people think we were
the victims of some sort of terrorist vendetta."

She started crying.  "This way..."  She managed to catch her breath.
"We have hope, ya know?"

She tilted her head back and watched my face.  "Thanks, Papa."

"Welcome.  I hate to interrupt, but when will Warren be here?"

"Couple hours.  He's going to be in a state of shock, looks like.
Things got pretty spectacular, because they couldn't risk Beverly
cutting and running.  News media is going nuts about it all.  Homeland
Security got involved in her arrest.  He can tell you the rest of it."

I sighed.  "Happen at his office?"

"Yeah.  Judge Harvey served her the warrant for her arrest.  He was...
Pretty ticked off, but in control, barely."  She laughed suddenly.
"They did a live interview after the arrest and while all Warren's
computers were being seized.  It was a good distraction, because they
moved on everyone else at the same time."

She sobered.  "Been some assassinations, as a warning to the other
side.  All the blackmailed people have been contacted and reassured
they're now safe.  Nobody knows what's going to happen next.  Mostly,
we're all waiting to see what the media and the other side does over
the next few days, before decisions are made."

She sighed and shivered.  "A lot depends on what Beverly does, even
now.  She says the right things, they think the public is going to
pretty much demand you folks enter the protection program, or call you
heroes and demand you start giving interviews.  If she doesn't, we're
all still screwed, but we'd still be able to do the catering thing, in
the open."

Then she surprised us by giggling.  "Better get in a store of video
games and munchies.  Young kid type munchies.  The Anime Animals will
be here for a few days, to help us take apart Beverly's computer, and
see what they can do with that link.  Oldest one is fourteen, the rest
range from ten to fourteen.  Don't let the ages fool you, though.  Few
more years, we'll probably have to turn over the number one ranking to
them, or a similar team."

I chuckled and looked at Jo.  "Sounds like Rachel, multiplied."

She smiled and nodded.  "How many, Samantha?"

Samantha giggled.  "Thirteen.  They liked the number, so they closed
off membership when they hit it."

My eyebrows went up.  "Closed off?  I didn't know you could find that
many people like you kids, in one place."

"City kids.  Most of them are already in a special kids program. These
are the best of about fifty, if we can believe the numbers they've
given us so far.  The rest have formed auxiliary teams as sort of an
unofficial program project.  We're trying to find a way to get a
couple of earlier generation folks assigned as special project
teachers.  Some of that generational coordination I was talking about
starting."

She suddenly sniffed the air suspiciously.  "Hey!  We heard, of
course, but Jo made her special marinade, didn't she?  We going to get
any of it?"

Jo laughed.  "We want some privacy when Warren gets here, but whenever
you kids are available after the chops marinate, I made enough
marinade to feed you and the rest of the staff, if you want some."

"We want!"

She shoved her way out of my arms.  "Thanks, Mr. Metzler.  What you
want to do...  I'll pass it along and get things started, then we can
leave a couple of us to monitor things, and the rest will have a BBQ
with Jo's marinade, if that's ok?"

I smiled at her sudden enthusiasm.  "It's fine with us.  Don't forget
to monitor and record us while we talk with Warren.  Oh, and let us
have Elliot and Tabitha before he gets here."

She waved on her way out.  "Done!  Come on, Nibby.  I need to stop and
take care of business, then you and I can go for a short run..."

The two of them left and once the sound of Nibby's toenails faded into
silence, I laughed a little before I sobered and faced Jo.  "That
sound you heard, was the sound of a young woman who just had a hell of
a lot of stress removed from her life."

Jo shook her head a bit sadly.  "True.  Wish there was something we
could do so she doesn't have to live with it, but...  We can't, so
let's find ways to help her deal with it."

"Right."

I turned my head until I could watch my helpers.  "You know what to
do, so I'll let you handle the rest of the preparations while you
start planning a good, short notice bash for the kids.  Sounds like
they've earned one.  Jo?"

"Sibyl wrote down the recipe if they need to make more.  Let's go
collect James, Agatha and our escorts, then go looking for a place to
settle with Warren when he gets here."

She stopped, then turned to her own help.  "You shouldn't need
anything more from us.  We'll let you know where to send everything.

"Takisha?  At some point, after things settle a little, see me so I
can give you a copy of our personal recipe collection."

"Yes, Ma'am!  And thank you!"

"You're welcome.  We used to train new cooks as part of the business,
so feel free to do a little experimenting on us for our lunches and
dinners.  No dietary restrictions, but use the hotter seasonings with
moderation.  Perhaps there are staff members who think food isn't hot
enough unless it blisters the inside of their cheeks."

Sibyl and Takisha faced each other and grinned when both of them spoke
the same names at the same time.  "Arthur and Carrie!"

I started laughing, tipped my head towards the door after I washed my
hands and wiped them off, then waited for Jo before the two of us left
the five to their conspiracy.

* * *

A new team of bodyguards picked us up as we left the kitchen, and Jo
smiled.  "You two are?"

They smiled back without looking at us while she spoke with some
amusement in her voice.  "Arthur and Carrie.  We heard, and thank you.
We're always complaining the food is too bland."

Jo and I both laughed.  I spoke after I'd collected my thoughts.  "So
what type of theme do you prefer?"

They didn't have to look at each other to time their duet.  "Cajun!"

Jo giggled.  "I don't mind it in moderation, as a side dish, but the
entire meal?  No."

Then she went on thoughtfully.  "Did you overhear Sam telling us about
the company we can expect?"

Both of them sighed.  "We did.  Young kids.  Lots of complications,
but we'll find a way."

Jo smiled and I shivered.  They'd obviously just fallen into one of
her traps without realizing it.  "I'm sure you will.  We needed a
theme for our next BBQ, so that's it.  'Cajun'.  When you have time,
consult with the kitchen staff to give them pointers and suggestions.
Tone the seasoning down, of course, but have them leave our guests,
and you, the option of sampling the real stuff."

I interrupted.  "Kid biscuits.  Odds are a lot of those kids haven't
been around dogs, so they'll need something to ease the introduction
to Nibby when she starts working on them.  Let Billy and Samantha
figure out how to handle that part.  If there's room somewhere, some
relay races with her, if Billy's willing to trust her with them, and
she'll cooperate."

Jo was watching me.  "Anything else?"

I laughed.  "Not yet."

"Good.  Let's collect our chiefs of staff and start looking for that
perfect place to have a conversation with Warren."

"Right."

We found them in the first place we checked, their office.  The door
was open, so Jo knocked lightly to get their attention.  They
dismissed the two men they were talking to, then turned their
attention to us.

James asked for both of them.  "What can we do for you?"

Jo smiled.  "We need both of you for company while we look for the
right place to put Warren at his ease while we help him come to terms
with what's happened."

He sighed.   "Samantha warned us, of course, so most of the staff that
wasn't on duty got to see what happened.  It's being played as a long
term thing that was already in progress, and you folks are unwitting
victims who got sucked in because of the accident.  True stuff,
they're just leaving out most of the rest of it.  Ironic, but they're
spinning a variation on the rival gangs theme to explain the toxic
firebomb.  Samantha, her parents and their neighbors are the innocent
victims of jealousy."

I chuckled.  "Glad I'm not going to have to try and spin that with a
straight face.  What about William and the zoo stuff?"

He sighed.  "Tear jerker stuff.  Shy teenager jock, who is the love
interest of two of the school's best female students, almost kills
one, and himself, while avoiding killing a motorist who turns in front
of him.  The girls settle their differences because of it, he gets the
one he really wanted, and everything is right with the world, now.

"Dr. Simmons is on the record as saying he doesn't think there's a
problem to be fixed, since it looks like Billy will be able to have a
normal sex life, when he wants one, with someone who doesn't have a
problem with his past.

"You and Jolene are the biggest problems, because of her past, and the
way Warren helped destroy your life.  There's also the fact of your
long term association with Warren as a close friend of the family.  On
that front, everyone is waiting to see how the media decides to spin
it, then decisions about how to handle your involvement will be made.

He frowned.  "Damn near all of it is volatile, though, and the right
words in the wrong place could send all our plans right out the
window.  For now, you folks are here because you were offered the
medical facilities to make sure your new son was properly taken care
of.  The kids are all close friends, of course, so they decided they
could afford to take time off from their schooling to keep him company
while he recovers, and as a fringe benefit of that, act as his
teachers by proxy."

Jo and I were watching each other by the time he stopped, and she
nodded.  "Pretty fragile house of cards, if you were to ask me."

Agatha sighed this time.  "We know.  I guess the *real* problem, the
one that has made all that a necessity, is what to do about the people
who haven't been mentioned.  They're all zoos, and they're all in
positions of power.  This is not the time to make that big a dent in
our political structure.  Things are fragile enough, already."

I nodded.  "So that means Trixie's suggestion that we play up the zoo
aspects has been axed?  Can't say I'm sorry to hear that."

"Tentatively so, we think.  It's a serious case of too much going on,
too quickly.  Lots of people are losing sleep while they game one
scenario, only to have new information ruin all their plans, so they
have to start over."

I nodded and turned back to Jo.  "You have anything?"

She winced.  "Yes, I do.  I'm worried about whoever Beverly was
grooming as her replacement, and who is at the other end of that link.
Are they the same person, or not, and has anyone made any sort of
inroads on what her contingency plans were?"

"Too soon to have any news on her replacement.  The rest of it?  That
will have to wait until the other team gets here in a couple days."

She sighed.  "How is that being handled?  Do we know, yet?"

James smiled.  "Yes, we do know.  Kids with their parents on a school
field trip to get an escorted tour of one of the nation's leading
Bionics research labs.  They will be housed in the compound next to
this one, with their own security screen so they can get a look at
what it's like to live behind a screen, like famous figures do.  All
very open and normal for special students and their families.  You and
the team are just a group of older kids with their chaperones,
experiencing the same treat."

I smiled.  "We're already working on arrangements with the kitchen
staff to put together a themed party when they show up.  'Cajun
style', but with milder seasoning, and the 'real' Cajun seasoned food
as an option for those who want to try it."

They both smiled with obvious relief.  "Thanks!  We've never had to do
anything on that scale, so having you handle it will let us relax, a
little."

I laughed.  "Used to be routine, for us.  Now, are we ready for that
extended walk?"

They looked at each other and Agatha nodded.  "Can't think of anything
else right now."

James nodded back.  "I can't either."

He turned back to us.  "We're at your service, of course."

Jo laughed softly.  "Of course!  It says so in the contract you
probably didn't see or sign, right?  Let's go.  We can talk about it
while we look, if that won't violate security."

"It won't, as long as we keep to the centrally located areas."

Jo found the place while we were admiring the single practice hole for
golfers.  "Tom, look over to the left, at the water hazard.  Perfect.
Water, shade, easy access and yet enough privacy back in the trees,
right?"

"Looks like it will work.  Going to be getting dark by the time he
gets here, so shade won't be something we need.  Fine with me,
otherwise."

"Ok.  James?  Agatha?  We'll need a table, chairs and some sort of
subdued lighting.  Tiki torches or something similar, to help keep the
bugs away.  Set things up under the edge of the trees, but give us a
good, open view of the water and fairway.  Talk to Sam and her people
about setting up some sort of monitoring, if there isn't any.  Audio
only will be fine with us, but do what you have to do, and if there
has to be video, we can live with it.  Just let us know if there's
going to be video, so we can decide if we want to tell Warren."

James sighed.  "The entire compound is already wired for audio and
video.  Has to be to meet the security requirements.  Plus, it's
always live.  If there's a place that isn't covered by at least one
camera, and usually two or more, nobody, not even Team One, has found
it yet."

Then he looked around and moved towards a yellow post with a box on
it.  He opened it to reveal a speaker, some jacks and a tone pad.
"These are all over, and tied into the intercom and phone systems.
Power points are similar looking, but painted a bright green."

He closed it up, stood, and smiled.  "I don't think you'll want to use
the security floodlights, so we'll have something softer appearing
brought out.  There is also a network of paths for the service and
security people, tucked away behind all the foliage, so we'll be able
to provide all the unobtrusive service you could possibly need."

Jo smiled.  "Thank you, James.  We'll head back and get cleaned up a
little before Warren gets here.  It's probably going to be pretty late
before we all head back for our beds."

He nodded.  "I'll see if we have one of those propane tower heaters
around somewhere and have it put in place.  Will you need a portable
grill?"

"Yes, and whatever will be needed for the food.  Check in with the
kitchen staff.  They know what we want for food, so let's see how well
they do at putting together the rest of it."

I spoke up finally.  "I'll need a portable blender.  I plan on making
blended fruit drinks as we need them.  Tell them to provide a tropical
medley of precut wedges and slices.  No alcoholic stuff for us, but
Warren may want some at some point, so if you have a wine snob on the
crew, have them see what's stocked, so they can make suggestions."

We headed back, accompanied by our bodyguards, while James and Agatha
started looking over the site in detail and planning our dinner
layout.

After we got a ways down the fairway, Carrie flanked Jo and spoke
while scanning the area.  "You folks are pretty quick about doing
things for your staff."

Jo smiled.  "We're not going to change the way we treat people, just
because they're supposed to keep us alive.  We've had a house policy
ever since we got married, that if you're our guest, unless you do
something to betray our trust, you're expected to act like family.
Samantha and the kids know that already, so they won't hesitate to
raid the kitchen or otherwise make themselves comfortable while
they're around us.  When the weather is good, we've almost always held
weekend BBQs.  So, we know what they like and don't like.  It's going
to take awhile, but we expect to get to know all of you as well as we
do them, and probably almost as well as we know Rachel."

Carrie walked a few steps while she thought about it, then nodded
slightly.  "That's going to take some thought, before we decide how
close we want to let ourselves get to you folks.  Thanks, though, and
we'll pass on your desires to everyone else."

Jo spoke gently.  "We already told the kitchen staff they will most
likely be the ones who decide if they stay long term, or leave. That's
true for all of you.  Personally, we don't want to have to spend time
always isolating ourselves from the people who are going to be a
constant presence in our lives.  We not the type of people who feel
good doing that, so we won't, unless someone convinces us
circumstances require us to."

Arthur glanced over his shoulder before he faced away again.  "Jolene,
Just so it's in the open, we're your bodyguards, not personal
servants.  We can't fetch and carry for either of you, so you'll have
to do that yourselves, unless you make arrangements with James to get
some people to help you when you need it.  That means delays that
might feel unreasonable at first, because we're right next to you.
Opening doors and gates, we do anyway, but that's about the limit of
what we can do."

He sighed.  "I know it's going to sound unreasonable, but the reality
of the situation is that we've taken oaths to die to keep you two
alive, if that's what the situation requires--and you have to stand
clear and let us do it."

I winced.  "That's...  Going to be hard to internalize."

He sighed in turn.  "We know.  To help the process after the other
kids are gone, the staff will be holding unannounced drills using off
duty team members as pick up attackers who will attempt to infiltrate
and go after individuals or all of you.  We won't be using live ammo,
but everything else will be as realistic as possible."

I sighed.  "I'm ok with that, and I suppose Jo will be too, since we
have no choice.  However, I can see a complication.  Miss Nibbles is
guard dog trained.  I don't know if that included attack training, but
I have to assume it did.  That means full protection gear for the
attackers, because she's NOT going to hold back and I don't want to
teach her she should."

He visibly shuddered.  "That's a complication we didn't know about.
Someone made a mistake in putting together the dossiers on everyone."

"Our kids know about it and take it for granted.  Samantha never said
if any maintenance work has been done with Nibby.  She's the
neighborhood's favorite bitch, to quote Samantha.  On the other hand,
she did alert to the police when they checked on her and the yard.
Whether she does that to anyone who shows an interest, I don't know."

He sighed.  "One of us will pass that on as soon as we get the chance.
It sounds like at the least, someone is going to have to do an
evaluation of her abilities before we plan any drills, and then plan
on working with her and whoever winds up being her designated
handlers."

Jo spoke thoughtfully.  "For now, that will be William and Samantha as
her primary handlers, plus the rest of Team One and us as backup
handlers.  Make it a point to include Elliot and Tabitha from the
beginning. They're planning on getting dogs of their own, and they are
seriously considering taking the time to get them protection trained."

He moaned.  "Oh.  Great!  Well, at least we've been warned before it
happens.  Glad James and Aggie get to sort it out."

I laughed.  "It may not be that bad.  As soon as the situation allows
it, it looks like Nibby will be allowed to stay with William full
time.   On the other hand, what Jo and I do someday, could complicate
things.  Since this is for the rest of our lives, when things settle,
I might as well get another dog.  I'd like to get one that's already
protection trained, but I'll make a final decision after I've had a
chance to look at a bunch of them.  I was originally planning on
getting a young one I could take through all the training, but that's
not going to be practical if I want to depend on him for personal
protection."

Jo giggled.  "We might as well make that two dogs who get along with
each other.  I hope we can get two who get along with each other as
good as Jupiter and Sam did."

She raised her voice slightly.  "You two can make sure everyone knows
that Tom is an experienced protection dog handler because Jupiter was
fully trained.  Sam was obedience trained, and was protective, but he
wasn't protection trained by a professional trainer.  Tom ran me
through a lot of the exercises over the years, with Jupiter and Sam,
so I already know how to handle a protection dog, too."

She focused on me suddenly.  "Do we still have the training suits for
attack work?"

I thought about it.  "Probably, I don't remember getting rid of them,
so they must be buried in the garage.  I imagine the people packing
our stuff have come across them by now.  Been ten years since we
bought them, though, so it might be better to get new outfits that use
the latest protection technology."

She nodded.  "We could donate the old stuff to the staff, if it's
still usable."

"Kay.  We've been doing that a lot.  Since we'll be here at least a
year, let's make arrangements to have everything brought here after
they get it packed for shipping."

"That will work, assuming they'll let us do it that way."

Carrie spoke up.  "No reason they shouldn't, and we would have
suggested it, if we'd been asked.  If it's here, we won't have to
worry about securing a second location."

I winced and sighed.  "Ok.  We'll make it an official request the next
time we see James or Agatha."

Then I wrapped an arm around Jo's waist.  "I think I'm already getting
spoiled.  I'm tired of thinking and planning, so I'm willing to let
Arthur and Carrie get us back to the house."

She laughed tiredly as she matched my action.  "Sounds good to me.  I
could use a cuddle and a nap while we wait, if you're up to it."

I stopped us and bent my head slightly to kiss her lightly and pull
back.  "Always, Love."

She pulled me into a hug and kissed me more seriously and then pulled
away so she could turn and start us walking.  "After we get Warren off
to bed, let's have a tent and sleeping bags brought to us.  We haven't
been camping in awhile, and I think something like that will be the
best we can do for now."

I sighed.  "Yeah.  So much we've taken for granted, isn't there?"

Carrie interrupted us.  "Have you forgotten the security situation?
Being outside in a tent..."

Jo raised her eyebrows.  "And how, may I ask, is us sleeping in a
tent, going to be more of a security risk than our planned dinner and
conversation with Warren, Elliot and Tabitha?  There will only be the
two of us, and perhaps Elliot and Tabitha in a tent of their own, and
not five of us with staff going back and forth, to be kept track of."

Carrie winced at the astringent tone in Jo's voice.  "Policy is that
usually, the people we guard sleep inside, behind a tighter screen. It
has to do with your reaction times because of being asleep."

Jo gazed at her thoughtfully, then nodded.  "I see your point."

"Thank..."

Jo interrupted her.  "No.  We're sleeping in a tent tonight.  If
anyone has a problem with that, they can leave.  Period.  We've
compromised and given up enough in our lives already.  Find a way to
live with this, or get us someone who can.  Understood?"

Carrie winced, then sighed.  "Understood.  I hope you don't mind if we
find you a tent capable of being used in hazmat conditions and ask
that you keep it sealed once you decide to go to bed."

My eyebrows rose.  "Apparently, someone hasn't been honest with us, if
you're that worried.  Explain the reasons for your excessive concern."

She sighed.  "It's the attack on Samantha.  When a crew made the raid
on the supply location, it was obvious there was more missing than had
been used in the firebomb.  Until that missing toxin is found,
*everyone* is on a heightened alert status."

I nodded.  "I can understand the concern.  However, I agree with Jo.
We'll take the risk, tonight.  After that, we'll see.  The way I
understood Samantha's instructions, the compound has been locked down,
and nothing was said about movement within the compound.  James *did*
make the point about keeping to the central areas, so I assumed we are
near the center of the compound.  He agreed with our choice of
location for our dinner and conversation.  Which is more difficult?
Protecting four or five people who will be staying in one location
overnight without having announced that decision, or protecting the
same number of people who will be relaxing in various locations near
the house, which,after all,  will probably be the primary target for
any attacks?"

She stiffened and looked at Arthur, who laughed softly.  "He has a
point, as much as I hate to admit it.  If it wasn't for the way the
house is designed, dispersal would be a good way to reduce the
potential casualties.  And we aren't *that* worried.  If we were, we'd
all be carrying breathing masks with their own air supply."

Carrie sighed and refocused on us.  "I don't like it, but it's my job
to protect you folks from outsiders, not from yourselves.  I have a
duty to speak up when I think you're taking too many risks."

Jo sighed and nodded.  "We understand.  However, there *is* a chance
we're better at evaluating the risk factor than you are.  When we're
safely back at the house and you can turn us over to a different set
of bodyguards, take the time to talk to the team, and ask them to show
you our old home so you can assess how secure it is against attacks.
In the meantime, you can lead us back."

Carrie's eyebrows had gone up, then she nodded stiffly and went back
to scanning our surroundings while Arthur took the lead.

* * *

When we got back to the house, Samantha, James, and Agatha were
waiting for us.

Samantha looked serious, and James and Agatha looked like they didn't
want to be there.  We stopped, and waited for someone to speak.

Eventually Samantha glared at Carrie and Arthur.  "Inside duty.
Conference room until I say otherwise.  The Metzlers have enough
stress to deal with, without you adding to it.  Get out of my sight."

Carrie jerked and looked at James.  "But..."

He glared, then sighed.  "She has the authority, and we all know it.
Plus, she's right.  We're all carrying the antidotes for what we think
could be used.  You should have mentioned that, instead of trying to
get them to change their plans.   *That* is part of *my* job
description, not yours.  I'll talk to you some more, later."

Carrie and Arthur both flinched, then nodded and left.

James sighed, then faced us.  "Sorry.  Personality clash.  It happens.
I'll find someone else to be your bodyguards.  Those two are good
people, really.  We're still fairly new at this, and settling into our
roles.  We haven't got everyone slotted properly yet, so mistakes will
happen.

"They were right about one thing, though.  They will, willingly, die
to keep you alive.  Any of my team would, especially after the roles
you played in digging Beverly out of her hole.  I called you Morale
Officers, but I'm learning...  We're all learning, that you two are
something more than that.  You're damn good analysts, too.  Don't be
surprised if you get some discreet job offers from some of the
alphabet soup agencies."

Jo smiled a little.  "Are we going to have to discuss our plans with
you, now?"

He smiled back and shook his head.  "Jolene, there's a bigger picture
than just this compound.  The base is on full alert right now, and
there are two layers around the VIP area, and a third layer in place
to keep an eye on this compound and the one next to us.  All three of
those layers have the capability of taking out most airborne styles of
attack, plus some pretty serious ground defense capabilities.  If
anyone gets this far, realistically, we don't have a chance of
stopping them even though we'd do our best to try.

"In short, You could sleep naked under the stars, and be as safe as
you will be in a tent.  You'd have a better chance in the house,
that's true.  Since this is a full blown base with a hospital that
specializes in taking care of covert agents, nobody is going to get
close enough to take any of you folks out, even if they were on a
suicide mission.  Too many things they'd have to get past, first."

Samantha was nodding when he finished.  "Our supplies are being
dropped at the entrance to the VIP area, and our own people are
bringing them in the rest of the way.  That was something Ambrose
suggested, and I approved it before we sent it up the chain."

I nodded.  "About what I figured, and I think there are other, related
targets, that will be easier to get to, and more likely to be hit, if
anyone decides they want to get to any of us in some way."

Samantha sighed.  "Those possibilities are what scares us, Papa. We're
doing what we can, but..."

She shook her head sadly.  "There are just too many people for us to
cover them all."

James looked at her, and his concern and compassion was obvious.  "Go
back to that vacation, Sam.  You've done enough for now, and we're in
a holding pattern for the next few days, no matter what we want to do.
The rest of your team will be fine."

She sighed again, then looked at us.  "Yeah.  I'm exhausted.  Be ok if
I join you and Warren for that dinner and conversation?   I know more
than Elliot and Tabby, anyway, now.  I did the checking, too, so that
might help."

I shrugged and looked at Jo.  She nodded.  "Of course you can join us,
Commander.  We'll try to tone down the 'concerned parents in a panic'
stuff."

Sam giggled and I could hear her fatigue.  "Good!  I'd kinda like to
try being a teenage girl with boy problems, for awhile, just to see
what it's like.  Wish I could grab Nibby and go see Billy.  Maybe
tomorrow sometime, I hope."

Jo reached and hugged her.  "We'll hope along with you, dear.  I know
we promised to stop being in a panic, but I think you should at least
get a nap before Warren gets here, and maybe even take some time to
make yourself look like a freshly scrubbed young girl about to go on a
date."

Samantha giggled again.  "Was it like this for you?  All scared and
nervous and tingly-happy?"

Jo giggled along with her.  "Still is, sometimes.  Like right now,
when I think about tonight, and that's because I know that for a
little while, I can be a little girl on an adventure and Tom will make
me forget about the past and the future and all my other problems."

I laughed.  "And she'll be doing the same thing for me, of course.
After all, she's stronger than I am."

"Oh.  Wow.  That's..."

Her head tilted and she looked scared.  "You think that's what Nibby
and Billy do for each other?  I gotta compete against that?"

Jo touched Sam's cheek with her hand.  "Not compete, Honey.  Share.
Trust me.  If you can't do that, ask Rachel how it's been for her,
already."

"Ok.  I think I can do that, Mama."

I raised my eyebrows when she called Jo 'Mama' during a time of
stress, but said nothing.  I did make a mental note that Jo and I
needed to do some talking about Samantha, without being monitored.
That discussion might become a little more far ranging, too, if what I
suspected was true for Samantha was also true for many of the other
kids.

Jo hugged her again and then pushed her away gently.  "Go, young lady.
At the least, get a nap.  It will help."

"Ok.  You'll call me when Warren gets here?"

"Yes.  And we still want Elliot and Tabitha there, too."

She went back in the house, and after she was out of sight I sighed.
"To be honest, I don't understand how she's held together this long."

James spoke gently. "She's reacting more to the stress because this
time, it's been personal.  She's been making decisions that affect
millions of people, all over the world, for years, and that's not as
bad because the consequences are abstract.  If any of us were the type
to seek command, we wouldn't be doing what we're doing.  It's
something that just happens over time, for most of us.  We go along
blindly, thinking we're working as a team of equals, then we discover
we're leaders, or someone points it out..."

He sighed and hugged his wife.  "By then, there's no turning back, so
we keep going.  It helps that we've been 'elected' to the position by
our peers.  Samantha is still growing into it in many ways  She'll be
fine after she unwinds and gets some sleep."

He sighed.  "Honey?  I think you should be the one to deal with Carrie
and Arthur.  I think it would be best to spilt them for awhile, if I
can talk Samantha into allowing it.  I'd like to leave Arthur with the
Metzlers, because he's pretty mellow and level headed.  Carrie needs
some seasoning, it looks like, but I don't know where we should assign
her, to get it."

Agatha sighed, then nodded.  "I'll explain it to them, somehow.
Samantha could have handled it better, too."

He shook his head.  "No.  She did exactly what she had to do, and I
won't tell her otherwise.  Carrie needs a firm hand in control and
I've been lax about that.  The Metzler's did the right thing, to bring
her up short, too."

Agatha finally nodded.  "I'm not sure I agree with all of that, but I
do understand about Carrie's take charge attitude.  Some of that is my
fault, for not making it clear that when there's a conflict between
our instructions and Team One's, people should pass things up instead
of trying to solve things on their own, for the sake of the bigger
picture."

James decided to chuckle wearily.  "Well, of all the teams I know
about, I think Sam's has the best chance of making us all cooperate
with each other, so go and do what you can.  I'll escort the Metzlers
until they settle, and then find someone to take over as their
bodyguards."

She left, then the three of us looked at each other to see who'd speak
first.

Jo did, thoughtfully.  "James?  None of you have children of your own,
do you?"

He chuckled.  "No.  Not yet, anyway.  Probably in a few years for some
of us.  We're too dedicated to our work, and in many cases, we're
scared of the responsibilities, as crazy as that sounds."

Jo shook her head slightly.  "I don't think it's that.  Most you have
managed to sublimate it into your work without realizing it.
Collectively, the teams are protecting and nurturing quite a bit of
the world's population, even though the rest of the world doesn't know
it.  I think that's part of Carrie's problem.  She needs recognition
from the people she's been taking care of, for how much she cares, and
what she's been doing for most of her life."

"Ah?  Are you going somewhere with this?"

"I am."

She smiled a little.  "I'm reminded of how we handled Rachel's 'share
and share alike' when she admonished us."

James sighed.  "We've found out how the toast ritual got started, now.
I don't see how that's related."

My eyebrows went up and I touched Jo lightly to stop any of her
comments.  "I'm not sure how it relates, either, but it does have a
lot to do with raising exceptional children, so I'm not surprised Jo
mentioned it."

Jo looked at me with surprise, and I shrugged.

She finally nodded and turned back to James.  "We rewarded her for
being willing to contradict us. and thus encouraged her to keep being
willing to speak to us, instead of feeling like we didn't want to hear
her opinions."

She took a deep breath.  "I appreciate Carrie's concern and
willingness to express herself.  She made a judgment call on how to
deal with the situation.  We had it handled at our level, and thought
it was over with.  I'm not telling you your and Samantha's actions
were wrong, but I do think they were ill timed, and should have been
done in private, not in front of us.

"That's not my point, though, and that's between us.  My suggestion is
this: To get that seasoning she needs, put her in charge of handling
the security for the other team while they are visiting our compound."

He nodded slowly.  "I'll discuss it with Agatha, then Carrie, before I
make any decisions."

"Thank you."

"Tom?  Our room?"

"I don't have anything else.  Fine with me."

"Ok."  Then she sighed and looked at James.  "I hate to do it, but
we'd better remind Samantha that Laika needs to check in  and take
care of business like usual, if she hasn't done it already."

He nodded.  "What about you folks?  When are you going to check in
again?"

"We'll wait for a few more days so we have some answers to the
inevitable questions people will ask us.  Right now, all I want to do
is go lie down until Warren gets here."

She headed inside, and I joined her after James gestured for me to
precede him.   I raised my eyebrows and he shrugged.  "Safe enough, at
this point.  Plenty of inside people already, so I'd rather watch your
backs, this time."

* * *

When we got to our room, I thanked James, then let him know we'd stay
there until Warren arrived.

After I closed the door, I leaned against it and sighed before I
raised my voice slightly.  "Whoever is monitoring, talk to us."

"Hi, Mr. Metzler.  Tabitha again.  I'll be on until we join you for
dinner.  Need something?"

"Yes.  Information.  Who is going to be handling the monitoring of Jo
and I from now on?  Will it always be people from Team One?"

"Yes.  Me, Elliot and Ambrose will be rotating."

"What about the other team and other security forces?"

"They have access, but can't talk to anyone here unless there's an
emergency or one of us passes them through."

I sighed.  "Ok.  Is there anyone other than team members where you are
right now?  We need to talk privately."

"Not in person.  I'll have to cut the outbound feeds to get real
privacy, and right now, I really don't want to do that."

"I never thought 'share and share alike' would be something I thought
was a problem, but I do now."

Silence.

I groaned.  "Oh, Hell.  Looks like they never set up for an in between
situation.  Laika."

Tabitha came back.  "Sorry.  I just put out a call for Johnny.  Until
he tweaks the filters so we can talk back and forth, I've cut the
outbound audio.  Will that do?"

"It will have to.  I had the impression James and Agatha don't know we
can disable and re enable the monitoring with special phrases. Right?"

"Right.  We set that up for Team One only, and only for you folks. The
rest of us don't need it since we have our private system, already.
Nobody except us knows about it."

I groaned.  "Ok.  Talk it over with Johnny when he shows up, and then
if he thinks it's something we should do, check with Samantha about
setting up something similar any one of us can use with James and
Agatha.  There are command level discussions that should be kept away
from general access.  The incident with Carrie and Arthur proved that
to my satisfaction, but it's her responsibility, so Sam should make
the final decision."

"Got it.  Anything else?"

I looked at Jo and she nodded.  "How are Rachel and William doing?
Then give us a general idea of what's going on in the outside world,
if you know."

"Both of them are ok.  I'm watching the feed from their room.  Billy's
asleep, I think Rachel is just lying there thinking, because every
once in awhile she opens her eyes and looks around, then sighs and
closes them again."

"Warren is still in a state of shock, from what his escort is passing
along.  He's also extremely worried about what could be going on with
you folks.  He'll be here in about an hour, now.

"By the way, we've been running ongoing checks on all of us, and so
far, nothing has changed anywhere.  Activity is up on your forum, but
it's all due to people checking in to see what's going on and to find
out if you folks are ok.

"People are asking questions about the humvees and the limo.  Someone
took some pictures while you were on your way here.  Nothing good
enough to id any of the passengers, so right now, the only answer
being given out is National Security and nobody wants to endanger an
ongoing investigation.

"Judge Harvey is stonewalling for now, on most of what he knows, which
isn't that much, really.   He did go public with admitting Warren is
being looked at as a judge candidate and that as far as he knows, this
isn't going to have any adverse effects on those plans, if Warren
accepts.  He's had to say that he's been reassured at the federal
level, on that.

"Oh, the word right now is that you folks and your kids have been put
into protective custody because of the personal attacks.  People
hadn't noticed when the rest of us disappeared, so our story is that
all of us decided to take time off to keep Rachel and Billy company
while they recover.

"Couldn't hide the fact Sam's neighbor has been evacuated, so they've
admitted there were toxins used in the attack on Sam.  Related to
that, the rest of Lil's Lays have been arrested and will be kept in
custody until that situation gets sorted out.

"Sam's parents have checked out ok.  Nobody's figured out what to do
with them yet, so they've been put in base housing for now, with their
own security.  Nothing to do with us, so we're monitoring that
casually, through a courier that leaves messages along with our
supplies.

"They've been told Sam's ok, but they want to see her as soon as they
can.  That news came in after you sent Sam off to relax, so we decided
to wait to tell her what's going on, for now...  Hang on..."

Jo sighed.  "Too much going on at one time."

Tabitha started talking again.  "Johnny says he'll tell her most of it
after that dinner and talk, but if you could tell her that her parents
are ok, we'd appreciate it."

She sighed.  "Ell and I are really, really looking forward to that
dinner.  We haven't been able to relax since you sent us off to take
care of Warren.  I'm sure there's stuff I'm forgetting, but that's the
important stuff I had in my notes."

It was my turn to sigh.  "We'll enjoy having you there.  Maybe, after
we send Warren and Sam off to bed, we can resume that conversation we
started.  You do know Jo and I are planning on staying there and
spending the night in a tent?"

"Uh huh.  We already found two tents and an area heater.  We'd rather
have a campfire, but security said it wouldn't be wise this time.  Oh,
that reminds me. The movers checked in.  They should have everything
packed sometime tomorrow.  Right now they expect to deliver it all
late tomorrow evening.  Jo's vids arrived via courier, and the feds
are analyzing them now."

Then she hesitated.  "Jo?  They found your letter when they had Warren
open his safe.  Most of the contents have gone to a holding location
for now.  Nothing we could do about that.  I think they are going to
want to take a look at it."

Jo sighed.  "I wish they wouldn't have to, but I understand.  Ask them
to check and see if it has been tampered with, that's all I need to
know."

She took a deep breath.  "I was going to have the movies picked up
anyway, so they have my permission to access the safe deposit box I
mention in the letter, and remove the originals of my movies."

"Yes, Ma'am.  One of us will pass that on.  Do you mind if we suggest
they take special care when opening it?"

Jo and I both flinched, then she recovered first.  "Under the
circumstances, it would probably be a smart thing to do, wouldn't it?
Do what you think is best, Tabitha."

"Thank you.  Anything else before I go back to monitoring?"

Jo looked at me and I shook my head, so she responded wearily.  "No,
Tabitha.  Just see that we're called after Warren gets here.  As soon
as he does, please join us and we'll go have that dinner."

"Ok.  See you later."

She looked at me, then sighed again.  "I'm too tired to take a shower
and expect to be alert enough to deal with Warren."

She kicked her shoes off and started to strip.  "Let's cuddle, ok?"

I started taking my clothes off as I sighed.  "Yeah.  Let's."

Guys are supposed to be able to strip faster than women, but this time
Jo beat me, and was on the bed waiting by the time I was ready to join
her.

We spooned with me in back, I wrapped her in a hug...

And we fell asleep.

* * *

It seemed like seconds later that a knock on our door woke us up. Both
of us groaned, rolled to our backs and stretched, then Jo got up and
put her robe on before she answered the door.

Sam, Tabitha and Elliot were standing there.  Sam acted as the
spokesman for the group.  "Warren's been here for about 30 minutes.
James convinced him to take a shower while his clothes were being
washed, and loaned him a robe until they're dry.  That will be about
another thirty minutes, so you folks have time to get ready.

"The staff is already hauling stuff out for dinner.  It will be ready
when we are."

Jo nodded.  "Thank you.  Wait for us on the porch.  We'll be there as
soon as we can."

"Ok.  Arthur is still one of your bodyguards.  They decided to leave
Carrie where I put her, until the other team gets here, then they'll
probably team her with someone else and do what you suggested.  We'll
be keeping an eye on things, too."

I was up and in my robe by then, so I butted in.  "Who'd we get as a
replacement?"

"Rita.  I talked to her, and I think she'll work out."

"Ok.  Thanks.  We'll see you in a bit."

Jo closed the door and sighed.  "I still think a lot of this is too
much, but we're not qualified to make the judgement, are we?"

"Nope.  Quick shower?"

She hugged me.  "Yes."

So we showered, got dressed, made sure we looked reasonably
presentable, then smiled at each other.

I decided to leer at her, and she giggled and hugged me before both of
us sobered, then I gestured at the door.  "Let's get it over with."

When we walked out, Arthur nodded at us and then led the way while
Rita settled behind us.

Jo glanced over her shoulder.  "Hello, Rita.  We'll get to know you
better, later.  Right now we have other things on our minds."

She smiled a little.  "Understood, Mrs. Metzler.  We're not supposed
to get too friendly while we're on duty.  Don't worry about it."

Jo sighed and looked at me.

I shrugged.  "We're Tom and Jo.  We're used to it, and we'll react a
lot faster if you call us by those names."

"Thank you, Tom.  We appreciate the help."

My eyebrows went up, I glanced at Jo and she nodded slightly, then
shrugged to tell me there was no point in pursuing things.

I went back to my main worry, which was Warren, then decided I
couldn't do anything until we got there.  "Jo, you'd better deal with
Warren first.  You know him better than I do."

"Ok."

When we got to the patio, everything looked normal, unless you knew
Warren as well as we did.  

He saw us and started to get up so Jo waved him back into his chair
and then stood behind him and hugged him.  "It's good to know you're
ok.  We were worried about you."

He sighed and reached to touch her hands.  "I have a lot of questions,
but the most important one for now, since these people have been
stonewalling me when I ask about what's going on, is:  Was that one of
Tom's special salads that went by a few minutes ago?  I think that's
the first time I ever saw a portable salad bar with a security
escort."

I sighed and settled in one of the chairs.  "Yes, it was, and you'll
have first crack at destroying it while I do a stir fry for us, and
these three."  I gestured at the kids who were seated around the same
table.

He nodded.  "So you plan on feeding me?  After what happened at my
office, I knew things were bad.  Not sure I want...  Never mind.
Harvey reassured me that *his* plans were still on track, but I
couldn't be certain.  I don't want to know what's going on, but it
sounds like I need to."

I sighed.  "As soon as you get some clothes back, we'll have that
dinner and conversation.  Samantha, you know already.  If they haven't
introduced themselves yet, the other two are Elliot and Tabitha."

"They introduced themselves already."

Then he sighed and looked at the drink he held.  "Thomas?  Jolene?
What's going on?  All I've been told is that there was a routine
investigation involved with those plans you know about, and Bev was
linked to another investigation.  I've been involved in enough
'investigations' to know what happened wasn't anything I'm familiar
with."

I sighed.  "Sam?  Your call."

Warren's eyebrows shot up, then came down as his eyes narrowed while
he studied her.

She gave him some time, then spoke gently.  "We don't know all her
reasons or purpose, yet, but Beverly is the person who gave the kill
orders that almost got all of us killed.  I'm not passing on that
information for someone else.  I'm the one who discovered her notes in
an encrypted partition on the computer she uses in your office.  The
rest of it, I think we should wait until we're settled for dinner."

He looked at me, then tipped his head so he could study Jo.

She nodded slightly, then sighed.  "Sam's in charge."

"In charge?  A teenaged girl?  That's..."

He refocused on Samantha.  "All these adults, and you're in charge?"

Sam frowned a little before she spoke carefully.  "Yes.  To save time,
I can tell you that a routine id check on any of us in this compound,
except you, will get back a cold plate response and the fact we belong
to Interpol."

He frowned.  "Including Tom and Jo?"

"Yes, now.  Call them involuntary recruits.  Circumstances forced it
on them, but don't let that get you thinking they aren't actively
assisting things.  It was some speculation of Tom's, that led to the
discovery of Beverly."

She glanced sideways, then brought her attention back.  "It looks like
someone is coming to collect you.  Once you're dressed, we'll go
eat--and talk."

He leaned back and sighed, then looked at me.

I smiled back.  "Relax.  Just in case nobody remembered to tell you,
Rachel and William are fine, and the surgery has been done with no
complications.  For now, you're here so you can be protected until
things settle.  As soon as the lockdown is relaxed, you'll be able to
go see them."

He stood and smiled slightly.  "Relax?  My secretary who has been with
me from the day I opened my practice, turns out to be some sort of
mysterious mastermind who tried to kill my friends and you tell me
that?  I'm wondering how you folks are managing to deal with this so
well."

Jo settled on my lap.  "We've been reacting, not really thinking. This
was supposed to the first day of a few spent getting away from some of
the stress, but events changed that.  We have hopes the next couple of
days will let us slow down and decide how we feel, other than numb and
angry."

"Interesting mix.  More of that stuff people are refusing to tell me?"

"A little.  Go get dressed so we can all go let Tom cook for us, and
pretend, for a little while, that this is just another day in our
lives."

He left with his escort after he sighed without making any other
comments.

I looked around when I realized someone had been missing.  "Where's
Nibby?"

Sam sighed.  "Last I saw her, she was with Johnny, and dragging him
towards the kitchen.  We've decided to keep her in the house as much
as possible, until we can take her to live with Billy in a few days."

I nodded.  "And her collar?"

"Billy wants us to leave it alone.  He likes the idea of knowing he
can talk to me any time he wants to, when she's with him."

I sighed.  "Ok.  His decision.  Subject dropped."

Jo took over.  "Subject NOT dropped.  I just realized what's been
bothering me about that collar.  How is it that only you and Rachel
knew he was zoo?  I thought everyone who felt the need, had access to
the audio records from it."

Elliot jerked, but it was Tabitha who spoke first.  "We do.  Have to
in order to search for things."

Samantha blushed.  "I've been screening things before I passed them
on.  Always have, of course.  I do have complete records archived.  I
haven't had time to make them available now that there's no point in
hiding things.  And I forgot about them."

All of us froze at that candid admission, then we laughed, causing her
to blush.

Jo recovered first.  "Ok.  You're human, after all."

Elliot grinned.  "She's had a lot of distractions.  I think she
doesn't know what to do with Billy, now that she's landed him."

"I know what to *do*, but I gotta wait!"

Jo giggled.  "Maybe not that long, Dear.  As soon as it's possible,
they will be letting Billy have sex with Nibby.  Seems to me, that you
can take advantage of that."

She grew thoughtful.  "I knew, but I didn't realize it could apply to
me..."

We left her alone and relaxed a little while we waited for Warren to
return.

When he did, he was in his usual business suit and Jo smiled.  "We'll
have to see about getting you some other clothes while you're here."

He decided to laugh.  "Thanks.  These are good for work but...  They
are a little extreme for casual dinner wear.  When they stripped me
and put me on that stretcher, I was wondering if I'd have *anything*
once I got wherever they were taking me."

Jo stiffened.  "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine.  It was how they got both of us past the media."

She turned to Sam.  "Did you have a hand in that?"

"No.  Mainly, they wanted to make sure Beverly didn't suicide or
babble on the way out.  Warren got sucked in because they wanted a
good way to get him here without having to answer a lot of questions.
Officially, he's at the base hospital for  monitoring, just in case
the shock triggered physical problems."

Warren sighed.  "I wish you folks would quit dancing.  Can we go eat
so I can get some answers?"

Jo got off my lap and wrapped an arm around his waist.  "Up to a short
walk?  Or should we get a golf cart for you?"

"I've been sitting down most of the day.  I'll walk."

Jo smiled, then turned to our bodyguards.  "We're ready to go."

Arthur led again, Rita fell in behind our group, and the others took
up flanking positions.

Warren looked at what was going on and shook his head.  "Going to take
some time to get used to the idea of you folks needing all this
protection."

I laughed.  "Same for us.  We're told we'll get to live with it for
the rest of our lives.  Got some plans that involve you and Gene, too,
since we decided to give up the property.  Those haven't changed
because of what happened today."

"Are you holding back, or just being mysterious?"

"Neither.  We decided to find us some property that's more easily
secured, and then have the house and landscaping transplanted.  After
that, the old property is going to be cleaned up and we'll make
arrangements with Eugene so he can have a place to build the clinic he
doesn't know he wants, yet.  That's where you come in.  We've got too
much to keep track of, so you and he can deal with that.  We'll run
his forums remotely, if he still wants us to.  In person consulting is
probably not going to happen, at this point.  Mostly, because it's
going to involve anyone we talk to winding up going through security
checks before we can meet them."

He paused and looked around.  "What the Hell is going on, that you
folks would wind up needing this kind of security?"

I sighed.  "Sam's the one who can tell you that."

He resumed walking.  "Samantha?"

She caught up with him.  "To be honest, I don't know all of it.  Our
normal job is hunting down and neutralizing hackers, and we're pretty
sure the man Billy swerved to avoid was the head of a local cell of
them, and when he recognized Rachel's car, he panicked for some
reason.  That caused the accident, and something about the situation
caused Beverly to overreact and use her contacts to organize those
suicide attacks.  If it hadn't been for that, we wouldn't have noticed
anything."

He nodded.  "But you did notice."

She sighed.  "Yes, we did, because we wanted to know what the link was
that would cause someone to order us killed.  Originally we thought
the firebomb attack on my room, and the other attacks, were unrelated,
but the timing was too close, really.  There was some other stuff that
turned up, and we turned it over to the feds, because we knew we
couldn't handle it.  At this point, we're consultants, and things are
being handled by other people."

We walked in silence for a few minutes, then Warren sighed.  "Even for
a summary, that was pretty vague.  You mentioned that you didn't know
all of Bev's purposes.  Can you tell me what you do know?"

Sam looked at us and Jo and I both nodded slightly.  She nodded back.
"Only one thing I know for certain right now, based on the glimpse I
had of the file she was working on when I cracked her system."

"That is?"

"Her goal, and she nearly succeeded, was to become the silent power
behind the bench, Your Honor."

He froze.  "You're kidding!"  Then his brain caught up with things and
he turned to me with a look of betrayal on his face.  "Tom?"

I sighed.  "I tried to get you protected while still keeping it a
secret.  I had to convince Elliot and Tabitha that I wasn't using my
new powers for personal reasons, before they'd act on my request.  To
be honest about it, I suspected Harvey.  Beverly never entered my
thinking.  The way you reacted, I guess you weren't told that Harvey
admitted to the press that you're being considered for a judgeship,
and all this wasn't going to stop that from happening.

"Technically, all I did was point them at your cell phone records and
advised them to be extremely careful.  I also told Samantha that she'd
know who I was talking about when she started checking the numbers you
called."

"I didn't say anything about the content of that phone call until
after we found out the mastermind was Beverly.  We were discussing her
possible motives with Elliot and Tabitha when I had the insight, tried
to get them to get you into some sort of protective custody, and they
needed to hear my real reasons for the request before they'd do
anything."

He sighed.  "I can see the problem, and all it does is remind me of
how I felt when I was forced out.."

I sighed.  "I wasn't there for that, but I can relate, you know.  My
being an anal erotic and persecuted for it is a matter of public
record.  I don't like to admit it, but as far as I'm concerned, a
little routine power brokering, if it becomes known, is something I
consider a damn minor problem right now, even though you are our
friend."

Jo gestured.  "You get first shot at the salad, Warren, then the rest
of us.  Then you can pick your chair and place to settle while Tom
starts the grill."

He sighed and looked at me.  "Am I going to learn what you consider a
major problem right now?"

I turned it over to Sam.  "That's up to Samantha, Elliot, and Tabitha,
my friend.  I could tell you, but I know when I don't know enough to
decide if I *should*.  It's that serious."

He nodded.  "I'm still having problems accepting some teens are in a
position to make those sorts of decisions, because it sounds like
National Security is involved."

I sighed.  "It is, but...  This is definitely Interpol's problem, not
only ours.  I wish you weren't in the position you are, but..."

I turned away and started setting up for cooking, while keeping an ear
turned to what else was going on.

Warren took his time putting his salad together, then settled in a
chair after he faced it toward the water hazard.

After a few bites, he looked up.  "Samantha?  I'm damn curious, of
course, but I'm willing to be told I don't have a need to know, and
I'll let it go."

She sighed and settled on the grass so she could look up and watch
him.  "Mr. Finley, it isn't that simple.  I have to balance a lot of
things if I decide to tell you more.  In a way, none of us wanted
this, but after Elliot and Tabitha told me why Tom wanted you
protected, the decision to do it was mine, and easy to do."

His eyebrows went up.  "Easy?"

"Yes, Sir.  Very easy.  Something you have to understand is that for
years, I and my team have been independently making decisions that
affect the lives of millions of people, all over the world.

"The world needs more people in positions of power, who are open about
their lifestyle choices, and comfortable with the scrutiny involved.
When you become a judge, you will be a positive example for millions,
and that's something we'll make sure to do everything we can do, to
make sure it happens.  How you perform in the job is immaterial.  What
you will be, your image, that of a highly successful gay man, who has
overcome all those odds against him, will, in the long term, mean more
than the decisions you make."

He looked at me and I nodded while stirring some vegetables.  "She's
not just a teenager, Warren.  She's the highly respected and trusted
commander of a covert ops team with years of experience.   I've seen
enough, and like to think I know her well enough, that she can't fake
that sort of competence.  When she speaks as that commander, I listen.
You should, too."

He sighed.  "Her words are almost exactly the same ones they used the
first time they tried to get me to accept the job.  They aren't
anything new to me, but hearing them spoken like this, under these
conditions, whatever they are...  Is a shock."

Tabitha spoke up.  "I think we should tell him the rest.  All of it.
Legal counsel of his calibre is hard to find, especially one who is
supportive of alternative sexualities.  I don't think we should waste
this chance, even if it costs him the judgeship.  It's all those other
people, and they could use his support, too, even if it's behind the
scenes.  And yes, I have a personal interest in tapping his knowledge
and support."

Samantha sighed.  "Tom?"

I stirred a few more times and sighed.  "I'm too close to the problem,
since I'm the one who started all this by betraying his trust.  I
think he should have enough knowledge to make his decision an informed
choice, instead of being manipulated into what any of us think it
should be, 'for the greater good'."

She thought about it and then nodded.  "Jolene?"

"Until things settle, his life is going to be Hell, no matter what he
decides.  He needs to know some of it, so he can avoid the traps."

Sam sighed again and ducked her head.  "Ell?"

"I want him out there as a judge, in the public view, not tucked away
somewhere.  I don't want to tell him anything more, unless it won't
put that visibility at risk."

Sam nodded, then we waited while she thought things over.

Suddenly all three of the kids jerked and Sam's head came up and she
stared at Warren intently enough that he stopped eating and stiffened.
"What's wrong?"

Sam didn't answer directly.

"Beverly has been manipulating your case load in order to eventually
put you in the position of becoming a judge.  She's been doing that
since shortly after she became your secretary.  She's the one who
dimed Trixie Lovejoy, who's only crime was to figure out that Beverly
was manipulating people for her own purposes.  She also issued the
kill order that had Trixie snuffed.  That's not speculation, those are
known facts, confirmed via interrogation and truth drugs.

"She *also* kept setting up the situations that would eventually force
a rising porn star to start fucking dogs, or other animals, in order
to survive.  Her guidance during their interviews with you was subtle,
but it was there."

She ignored his sick look and went on remorselessly.  "And finally,
Beverly is definitely the person who set up the events that forced you
to out yourself.

"Knowing all that, you can learn more, not everything, and accept your
position as a judge.  Or, learn a little more than that, and then
retire.  Lastly, if you want to know *everything*, you can call Harvey
and decline the appointment, then retire and later 'die' in an
accident, or almost immediately due to a stress triggered heart
attack, to become a private legal consultant to some members of the US
government who really do need someone with your understanding, proven
knowledge--and courtroom skills."

Jo started to say something, closed her mouth, then smiled sadly.  "My
questions can wait.  We're here for Warren."

Warren was silent long enough that I had time to finish cooking his
first serving of vegetables, and the chops, then prepare a plate of
food and hand it to him.  "Eat.  You don't have any decisions to make
immediately.  You've got at least a few days before you have to start
doing some serious thinking about your immediate future.  Right, Sam?"

"Two for certain and most likely a third one."

Warren nodded his appreciation for the time, and then thanked me for
the food before he took a few bites while he watched Sam..  "You
avoided mentioning the marker that was called in to make me a judge.
Did Bev have anything to do with that?"

"No."

"You're sure?"

"Yes.  You were the right person, in the right place.  She's good, but
not that good at planning."

She smiled.  "If it helps, it pissed Beverly off quite a bit, because
she lost a lot of the control she had over you.  Took her years to get
something in place to compensate for it.  Rachel's accident was also
unplanned, but she was in a position to take advantage of it, so she
did and hoped you'd call the marker in for some reason.

"We really were supposed to die.  All of us.  Billy's zoosexuality,
and the consequences of that--are the only things that saved us."

He looked at each of us, then sighed.  "Now I understand the special
effort for dinner.  You folks know me too well."

Jo smiled.  "True.  We also prepared the salad and chops ourselves,
and I gave the kitchen staff my special marinade recipe, so if they
run out, they can make more."

"Umm.  That's good to know.  Also going to make it hard to leave."

Jo laughed.  "Thank you.  Maybe you should look into marketing it, if
you want something else to do."

He chuckled.  "You're attempting to divert my thinking, and it's
working."

"Good."

"No, it's not.  I have too many questions I would like answers to. How
are Rachel and William really doing?  Where are they?  Will I be
allowed to see them?"

Jo sobered.  "They're both doing well.  They've been through surgery
already.  Billy has agreed to test an experimental prosthesis and join
the hospital's exhibition track team with Nibby as his partner.

"Rachel had her knee replaced and is also doing fine.

"We're taking a couple days off to start coming to terms with what's
been going on, and all the changes that are going to happen in our
lives.  As far as seeing them...  Something could probably be arranged
at the same time Samantha and Johnny go see them, in the next day or
so."

"I'd appreciate that.  Samantha?  How much of this may I talk over
with them?"

"With Rachel, any of it.  With Billy, almost none, right now.  He
knows something serious is going on, and that we're more than a gang
of kids involved in online gaming, but not many of the details, yet.
He'll have his own security problems though, because of the research
he agreed to help with, and his zoosexuality."

She blushed.  "Eventually, he's going to know all of it, because I'll
be telling him before we get married."

He smiled.  "Congratulations.  He seemed to be a pretty level headed
young man, even though he was doped to the eyebrows when I met him."

Then he looked down at his empty plate.  "I seem to have eaten
everything, and I'm too tired for more.  What now?  Nobody mentioned
where I'd be spending the night, only where I was going to be."

Samantha sighed.  "I suggest you stay somewhere in the Metzler's
compound, at least for tonight.  If you want to leave, and sleep
somewhere else, or even in your own bed, at home, you can do that,
too.  I'll have to field override the lockdown orders, just like I did
to get you in, but if you insist on leaving, I will authorize an
escort to wherever you want to go.  If you want to know more about
what's going on, you'll have to stay here, because I'm not going to
try and send the info to you, not even by courier.  It's too sensitive
for that risk."

He nodded.  "But you'd tell me, then I could leave?"

"Some of it, yes.  Past a certain point, you'll have to disappear and
live with a security screen for the rest of your life."

"Harsh sentence.  Any chance of getting it commuted?"

She frowned, then sighed.  "Not that I can think of."

His eyebrows went up.  "I could take it up with the Nine Old Men and
Women, eventually."

"We'd certainly listen to any suggestions they make, but that's all
they can do.  They don't have jurisdiction, so any decision they reach
wouldn't be binding."

"You sound pretty sure of yourself."

Sam suddenly smiled.  "Ask Rachel what your options are.  She's been
acting as our legal expert ever since you let her spend time in your
office."

He sighed.  "I'll do that.  Tom?  Jolene?  Have room for me until I
decide what I want to do?"

Jo smiled.  "Of course we do.  You ready to go back to the house?"

"Thanks, and yes.  I'd appreciate that ride you offered, now."

She looked away.  "Arthur?"

He smiled slightly.  "It's called 'movement management' and it's
something I can take care of.  About fifty feet away are several golf
carts and an armored limo, in addition to a couple of strategically
placed humvees.  If Mr Finley is ready to leave, his bodyguard can
escort him to the vehicle of his choice."

Warren stood and stretched carefully.  "Are you folks going to head
back?"

Jo shook her head.  "Not yet.  We haven't eaten."

He blushed, then laughed.  "I'd like to say I'm sorry for keeping you
from eating, but I can't.  I appreciate what you've tried to do for
me, tonight.  Thank you, and I'll try and be patient while I wait for
a chance to see the kids."

He turned to the woman who had moved to stand next to him.  "I'm ready
to leave."

We watched them disappear into the shrubbery, then heard the crunch of
tires on gravel.

After it was silent again, Jo turned to face Samantha.  "What
happened?  I had the impression you were going to waffle around quite
a bit before you told him anything."

Samantha sighed.  "Rachel checked in.  She's been monitoring things,
of course, and she was the one who told me what to tell him, and how."

Jo studied her, then nodded.  "That was pretty harsh.  He didn't
deserve that sort of treatment."

Sam looked up.  "Yes, he did.  He's a damn good attorney, and
attorneys are always looking for compromises.  Rachel knows him better
than any of us, and she said I needed to stop that sort of thinking
right away, because in this case, there *can't* be any compromises
about our security."

She ducked her head.  "Have you thought about what he's going to go
through while he searches for a new secretary, for example?  We'll
help with that as much as we can, but ultimately, it will have to be
his decision.  Rachel said to hit him with the worst of it, then give
him time to assimilate it.  I didn't have any better ideas, so I went
with it."

Sam stood and went over to start building her salad plate.  "Jolene,
he's only one man, who got caught up in an international conspiracy
that almost cost a lot of our people--and us--their lives.  It *did*
cost a bunch of people theirs, on the other side, so far.  Nobody
knows what's going to happen now, so all we can do is wait and hope
they are professional enough to take the loss and move on, like we
are."

I sighed and started another batch of vegetables and chops after she
and the others got their first servings.  "A bigger picture?"

She nodded.  "Very big, and it scares me.  Scares all of us, really,
even Rachel.  We're fighting to keep Warren's options open for him.
What *they* want, is to disappear him and use his talents for those
people who were being blackmailed."

I winced.  "I see.  You said Rachel has been acting as your legal
advisor.  She doesn't have the courtroom experience, but I know she
would have picked his brains pretty thoroughly, so I assume she has
most of his knowledge available, somewhere.  Could she act as the
legal advisor for them?"

Sam settled in a chair.  "She could, I suppose.  But all she has are
facts, really.  Warren has the feel for how people would react, or are
reacting, and he adjusts his approach and what he says to maximize his
chances of success.  That's what those people need more than the
facts."

I nodded.  "Experience versus theory.  Good point."

Jo seized the discussion again.  "Aren't there other lawyers and
judges who are as qualified as Warren?  How come this focus on him?"

Sam took the time to eat before she sighed and spoke wearily.  "All of
us wish we knew the answer to that one.  We'll know more, we hope,
when the other team shows up and goes to work."

She set her plate down and leaned back to stare off in silence long
enough for the rest of them to eat, then she came out of her trance
and sighed again.

Jolene must have seen something, because she spoke softly.  "Get
anything out of that conference?"

"Maybe.  I'm going to have to go back to work tomorrow, that much is
certain."

"Oh?"

"Things have changed, again.  Some of the other teams checked in
finally.  Whatever it is, it's huge.  They're starting to find hints
that most of the fringe sexualities have at least one 'cell' similar
to the one we stumbled on.  Warren might be the only judge candidate
linked to zoos, but that's more wishful thinking than it is a solid
fact, right now."

I winced. and she saw it.  "The Animals are going to have be very,
very cautious when they start digging.  This just keeps getting
bigger, and the people looking over our shoulders keep getting more
and more important--and nervous."

I put it together first.  "Since you command 'Team One', it's all on
your shoulders, because none of the normal people are capable of
dealing with this, are they?"

"Yes."

"How long before the Anime Animals get here?"

"Two days.  That can't be changed."

"You've done everything you can for now, right?  The number two team
is keeping an eye on things?"

"Yes."

"I know I can't enforce what I'm about to ask of you, but I hope you
will give it serious consideration, and allow it to happen."

"After what you've done so far?  Serious consideration of anything you
and Jolene suggest is guaranteed, Papa."

"Good.  I'm speaking as a parent, a father, and I think your real
parents would agree with me...  Which reminds me that we're supposed
to let you know your parents are fine.  Tabitha and Elliot have more
on that.

"Back to what I want to say:  All of you are too stressed, and you're
pushing yourselves into mental collapse."

"We know."

"Never said you didn't."

I closed my eyes, held out my cupped hands, and sighed.  "Samantha.
Team One is grounded until the Anime Animals get here.  I want ALL of
you to turn in your gear to me and Jo.  No hold outs.  Pass the word
to Rachel, and tell her to turn everything off, or 'The Ritual' stops.
No arguments.  If you don't do this, for the sake of the people you've
sworn to protect...

"Jo and I will pack it in, and be gone within hours."

Sam must has done something to tell Jo she wanted to know if I spoke
for both of us, because Jo spoke very softly.  "Where Tom goes, I go."

"What about our laptops and stuff?"

"All of it.  Give it to James so he can secure it somewhere, and give
us an inventory within...  Will an hour be long enough?"

"James will be here in fifteen minutes, to collect our gear, and hand
you a complete list."

I felt small stuff hit my hands, so I opened my eyes to study what I
held, and sighed with relief.  "I see a hearing aid.  Thank you,
Samantha.  I'm...  Sorry, but *someone* had to make the decision."

"You're welcome.  Don't be sorry.  We're glad you were here to stop us
from doing something stupid.  We're self policing, remember?  If we
hadn't agreed, we would have been locked out anyway, since we're in a
holding pattern, then James would have consulted with other teams from
all over the world, to find out what to do with us."

She slumped.  "Without the discipline... We'd be hackers.  Thanks for
saving us from ourselves...

"Papa."
---------

End: Part Five of Five

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