Edward (26 page)

The
weeks quickly passed and the concert was soon upon them.  Tatiana’s father
was out of the hospital and had resigned almost immediately.  Jen was
still at large, but her criminal web was being dismantled at lightning
speed.  Part of that was catapulted by now full-governor Staton as he
offered limited amnesty for a two day spread in turn for full disclosure. 
It was only good enough to bring out the worker bees as it were, but they had
power in numbers and raw information.  Information that
soon led to a great number of further resignations and indictments.

It
was two nights until the opening concert and all parties were becoming
giddy!  One last dress rehearsal and then they’d be performing to a packed
house.  The day’s practice was over early, as was tradition,
and everyone was already starting to leave as Gillian called Zoë and Tatiana
over to the side of the stage.  Next to them was a striking young lady in
her early twenties, with bright blue eyes and a bright and cheerful
smile.  She seemed both eager and shy, at the same time.  Her fur had
a wonderful luster, too, and she seemed to be drinking in the whole world.

“Rebecca?”
asked Tatiana eagerly.

The
young lady nodded, “Yes, and I’m so delighted to meet you!”

Tatiana
skipped words and just rushed the lady and hugged her as the tears started to
flow, “Are you all right?  Last time I saw you, you looked like death
warmed over!  We’re sisters! You know that right?  Well,
half-sisters.  I’ve never had a sister before.”

“You’re
rambling, dear,” corrected Gillian with a smile.

Rebecca
hugged Tatiana warmly back, “I’m doing quite well.  The doctors say I
still need to put on a little more weight, but otherwise I’m doing
exceptionally well!  I’m glad to meet you, too!  I never knew that I
had a sister either!  There is so much to talk about!”

Tatiana
suddenly looked horribly embarrassed as her ear folded gingerly, “Oh, my
word!  We’re doing a concert.  You’re not upset about that are
you?  I mean I didn’t steal your concert from you or anything…”

Rebecca
just laughed, “I could never do crowds and every time more than three people
were in the room I got incredibly nervous and my singing just became so
lifeless and sterile and bleah!  You are doing wonderful things up
there.  Things that I have dreamed about, I admit.  But I’m in no
condition to even
think
about getting up there instead of you!”

“We’ll
see about that!” chimed Gillian.  “Tatiana is talking about stepping down
out of the limelight and just doing studio work.  I need someone to front
on stage.”

“We
tried it before, and it didn’t end so well,” mused
Rebecca.

“Then
we will try again and try a little harder.  I passed you off too
soon.  I should have found a better way to help you.”

“Maybe
time is what I needed, we’ll see indeed!” laughed Rebecca as she nodded over
her shoulder to Gillian, “She’s awful pushy, isn’t she?”

“Yes,
but she does magical things,” replied Tatiana with a smile.

“There
is a reason we call her ‘mom,’” offered Zoë.

Rebecca
brightened further, “Zoë Sylva! 
Mea culpa!
  Zoë Rose!” she
laughed.  “I’m delighted to meet you.  It does seem that I have been
following your work whether I knew it or not.  They played many of your
concert piano pieces at the clinic.”

“So
are you out?” asked Tatiana sheepishly.

Rebecca
replied with a firm nod, “I’m out on my own, but ‘mom’ here said she’d take
care of me.”

“You
are coming to the flat?  That would be delightful!” beamed Tatiana.

“We
do seem to have several spare rooms nowadays,” observed Gillian slyly as she
nodded to Edward.

“Not
my fault!  They just moved in!” protested Edward.

“And
I notice how much of a fight you put up, too,” grinned Gillian.  “I have
arranged another room if need be, but if you three don’t mind her around, then
yes, I had hoped she could come back with us to the flat.”

Zoë
and Tatiana just smiled at each other, “Please!/Of
course!”

Rebecca
just beamed, “I won’t be causing any problems then?  I mean an older
sister hanging around with you three lovebirds in the nest…”

Edwards’
ears were on fire, not the description he was hoping for, but it was accurate.

“Wow! 
His fur changes colors when he is embarrassed!” laughed Rebecca.

“Yeah,”
joked Zoë.  “We don’t know what color his fur is
supposed to be, we tend to embarrass him so often.”

“That
just makes me feel all warm and welcomed,” replied Edward flatly.

“Oh,
we keep him warm all right,” mused Zoë.

“Okay,
that is enough at poor Edward’s expense, dears,” mothered Gillian.  “I’d
advocate hitting the shopping district and then having a nice dinner out.”

“No
Trevor tonight?”  teased Zoë.

“Well,
not that I’m going to tell you kids about,” smiled back Gillian.

Suddenly
Gillian’s and Edward’s comlink chirped in unison.

“Oh,
just make those evil things go away!” snarled Tatiana.

“I do
so wish,” mused Gillian as she cued the migraine-inducing device.

“Edward? 
Gillian?  Good to have both of you there,” came
Trevor’s cheerful voice.  “We have someone walking in from the cold, on
conditions of course.”

Gillian
looked to Edward more than a little confused while Edward just replied with a
shrug, “You lost us there.  What can we do for you?”

“You still serious about signing Rebecca Ravesnwell for at
least a year?”

“Have signed, two years.  Her doctors and legal council request that she waits
at least a month before she signs, but it is on file with the trade
union.  What is this about?”

“Is
that a matter of public record?”

“It
is open records.  One must appear in person to pull the records. 
Okay, dear, answer the question: what is this about?”

“Jennifer
Edgefield has agreed to come in, providing her daughter is given a second chance
in the career she’d chosen before Nathan sabotaged it.”

That
took them all for a loop.

“You
mean she is just going to turn herself in after all that has gone on?” asked
Tatiana incredulously.

“With that caveat, yes.  And it appears that, if her story holds out, she may
not be the source of all of this.  There is a lot of conflicting
information being bantered about, but hers seems to be holding the most water.”

Edward
finally caught the reference, “Walking in from the cold, as in a spy?”

 “I
said things were complicated,” beamed Trevor.  “Take care, all of
you.  See you tonight, Gillian!”

“Don’t
make me wait up too late!” she beamed.

“That
is all very weird,” mused Rebecca.

“Don’t
worry,” offered Tatiana as she hugged Rebecca.  “Trevor can sort it out!”

“So
now what?” asked Rebecca with a school girl grin.

“Now!”
smirked Tatiana, “we go shopping!”

The
three younger ladies had no problem making themselves feel at home in the
shopping district.  Rebecca found Tazo both creepy and comforting at the
same time, much to Tazo’s chagrin, but she quickly adapted.  Dinner soon
followed; back to their restaurants of choice.

“Last
time we were here, Edward stood down some people with an anti-tank gun,” beamed
Tatiana.

“I
just had to block five rounds, it was Ottra that went
toe-to-toe with it.  Besides it was light anti-armor gun not actual
anti-tank,” corrected Edward.

“Does
he have a brother?” asked Rebecca.

“Two,
both older and both married,” replied Gillian.

“Yeah,
but they are Highlanders.  They have big families!” chimed Zoë.

“His
oldest brother Llewellyn has quite large family.  Along with Ivy there is
Maria, April and May,” interjected Tatiana.  “And that is before the
kids!”

“And
I think that a year from now Gwen will be joining the pride,” added Zoë.

“Really?  She
seemed a little strange to me,” replied Tatiana sheepishly.

“Yes,
but she is really devoted to the kids!” beamed Zoë.

“Wow! 
Old world Highlanders from Afon.  You are really
a Highlander, right Edward?  Do you miss the Highlands?” asked Rebecca.

Edward
nodded and smiled, “Yes, I do miss the Highlands.  But the Highlands can
wait a year or fifty.  I’m here waiting on Tatiana and Zoë, and they are
worth the wait.”

“Okay
Tatiana, I wasn’t jealous before.  But now I am,” beamed Rebecca.

“There
are other Highlanders and other Silvers as well in the unit.  Would you
like to meet them?” offered Edward.

Rebecca
laughed, “I think I’ll give that a miss until I get my legs under me a bit
better, but thank you.  Thank you very much.  It is so nice to have
people I can
talk
to.”

“Things
were rough for you.  I’m so sorry, Rebecca,” apologized Tatiana.

“Hey! 
It’s okay.  It’s behind me.  And honestly, I didn’t know how bad
things really were until these last two weeks.  I was just on autopilot
for so long.”

“Yuck,
that still pissed me off what they did to you,” snapped Zoë.

Rebecca
just smiled, “I came here to deal with the present and look forward to the
future.  Don’t worry about the past.”

Gillian
smiled, “Well said.  No more sad talk, let’s just look forward.”

“Yes,
Mom
,” came the chorus in response, Tazo included!

It
was a dark rainy day.  Not so bad really, but it did seem like such a
downer after the previous days.  Here they were on the threshold of
opening night, and there was a good chance the customers were going to be
pelted on the way in.  Not a pleasant way to start.  Still it was fun
just to be able to watch the show, a show where people were starting to have
fun at their jobs! Suddenly Edward’s comlink sounded off and his fur
immediately stood on end.  The last dress rehearsal was almost over and
everything had been going so well… What now? Edward stared at the ceiling
briefly hoping the evil device would just go away.  He reluctantly cued the
device, “Edward here, go ahead.”

“We
have a situation,” began Takru.  Edward’s fur immediately started churning
colors; it was never good when Takru was on the other end of the comlink. 
“The 1212
^th
has moved half their assets to airborne insertion at our
discretion.”

“I’m
twice as nervous and none the wiser,” replied Edward. 

“Nathan
Cogsington is
alive
, I repeat Nathan Cogsington
is alive.  It is believed he is bringing serious assets to bear against
the concert hall presently.  We have at most ten minutes to evacuate the
hall.”

“Do
we have transportation?” asked Gillian as she listened in.

“Yes,
Lady Gillian.  They should be there in less than five.  We need
maximum movement with minimum fuss.  By the numbers.”

Gillian
waved off the performance and her voice soon filled the hall, “Full stop. 
Everyone drop everything; we need to leave the building now.  Queue up
orderly and stay together!  Are we clear!”

The
mob would have been scared, but they didn’t have time to be scared.  What
they did have was a remarkable amount of discipline that was suddenly paying
dividends.

“I’ll
take point,” volunteered Alex and at Edward’s nod was soon at the front of the
hall, Live Steel armor flashing as he moved.

“Lucas,
you want to take the middle while I pull up the rear?” asked Edward.

“I’m
on it.”

They
entire cast and crew were soon migrating down the hall while the Highland Taiks
and their partners directed the way.  As they hit the exit doors, a light
assault gunship touched down and the rear ramp opened up.

“Last
check, Jake, anything out there?” asked Alex over the link.

There
was no response. 

Edward
slapped comlink, “Jake, are you out there?  Paul?”

“Paul here.  I
can’t make out Jake from where I am.  The south corner is covered, unclear
about the west.”

Alex
sounded off with a few words that Edward was going to need a dictionary to
de-convolve.  “I’ll cover the arc.  Lucas, push!” 
Alex rushed out the door into west alley to try and draw fire while the mob
quickly rushed to the rear ramp.  Alex was met with a precise sniper shot
that floored him, but his armor held fast and he was quickly back
on his feet.  A shot from behind them rang out as Paul silenced his
opposite partner in the dance.

“We
can only take about two-thirds!” called the Shukurae load master.

“Then
we’ll take the next!  Go, go, go!” screamed Lucas.  “Everyone else, back inside.  At least ten meters from
the door!”

The
assault gunships engines redlined as they lurched into the air in a burst of
blowing rain and fresh steam.  They were going to need to overhaul the
engines in the morning, but speed was the order of the day.  Edward was
surprised that they weren’t using JATO bottles, probably didn’t have time to
install them.  Just as the craft started to accelerate clear of the
buildings there was the streak of a rocket homing in on the already strained
engines.  The ship’s automatic point defense rounds fired off a giant
shotgun-like round shredding the missile in flight, leaving only tattered slivers of metal to harmlessly pelt the side of the
craft.  The front façade of the concert hall,
however was devastated by the blast and steel and cement pieces plunged to the
ground below.

“Send
the bill to Nathan,” murmured Lucas.  “Everyone’s toes okay?”  He
looked up and down the remaining charges.  Nervous but in order, they
waited his next command.

Alex
came bounding back into the building.

“You
okay?” called Edward.

“I’m
walking, they aren’t.  Score one for Paul.  It was more of a whack
than a pop, if you know what I mean,” Alex called out reassuringly.

Edward
knew what he meant; it was the difference between being pushed over versus
being hit and knocked over.  May not have been graceful, but Alex was no
worse for wear.  “What of Jake?”

Alex
shook his head, “No clue.  Meeka!  Ready to ride!”

Meeka
nodded, “I assume we are rushing the far building.”

“That
indeed!”  Alex hopped onto Meeka’s back and in a flash the pair was
off.   Meeka ran a random pattern and his dexterity amazed all for
his size.  That wasn’t fair—he was dexterous even for a weasel!  The
pair danced through the light rain, never slipping once and finally hit the far
side with only a single shot sounding off, hitting well clear of the
pair.  A returning shot from Paul’s direction made for a sarcastic reply.

“Where’s
the next gunship?” asked Edward over the comlink.

“Inbound. 
Less than 30 seconds out.”

Edward
sighed with relief as he saw the second gunship slide into position. 
Suddenly the front of the building across the street exploded sending large
fragments smashing into the side of the gunship.  Its engines flared and
strained, but it was no use, it was off balance.  It slammed to the ground
and all its weapons soon opened fire on the offending building.

“I
don’t see Alex or Meeka,” observed Lucas solemnly.

Edward
cued his comlink, “Alex!  Are you still with us?”

“We
are pinned next to the building, cuts and bruises and bruised ego, but
intact.  We may need help extricating ourselves,
but we are fine so long as no one drops too much more on our heads.”

Edward
and Lucas both visibly sighed in relief.

“It
does appear that you Highlanders come in two varieties: tough and tougher,”
mused Tazo.

“And
I thought we were all just warm and fuzzy,” replied Lucas in mock despair.

“Head
count,” called out Edward.

“Fourteen
of us, including myself,” replied Gillian.  “I have no idea about the
security detail.”

“We
can walk home, ma’am,” countered Lucas, “We just have to get you out safely.”

 
A flurry of activity from the gunship caught their attention.  The engines where whining again at full speed as they strobed the
repulsar fields clearing the debris off the craft.  The outer
turrets sprang to life and offered up a volley of fire in any direction that
even looked mean.  There wasn’t going to be a pigeon problem in the
morning…

“Send
them out in fours and fives,” came the voice of the
Shukurae load master.  “We’ve covering fire and are ready to roll.”

Lucas
nodded to Edward and the group inched back to the door.  Lucas parted off
the first group of four.  “Stick close to me.  Run when I do!” 

A
quick quartet of nods came back and the small group rushed the gunship. 
As expected, they came under fire as soon as they were visible, but between
Lucas’s Live Steel armor and the relentless pounding from the turrets, the
group made it onboard unscathed.  Two heartbeats later, Lucas ran the
gauntlet back to the door.  Halfway across, he spun as he took a high
power rifle shot.  Edward watched in awe as Lucas came out of the spin,
and a blue streak erupted from Lucas’s off hand returning back toward the far
windows. 

“He
just threw the bullet back at them,” said Edward to Tazo.  “I’ve never
seen anyone but my brothers do that.”

“Trevor
and Takru chose the team well.  If not a little scary,” replied Tazo.

Lucas
stood in the gap, daring people to fire on him again.  Two more people
obliged him and he responded in kind, bullets sent return to sender. 
Lucas Growled.  Not a simple guttural growl that other Taik might sound
off with when mad, rather it was a guttural, primeval sound that assaulted
Edward’s brain more than his ears.  Encoded in that growl was an entire
conversation, feelings and emotions perfectly passed such that Edward could
feel
Lucas’s hair standing on end and knew what he was smelling and tasting in the
air.  Only other Silvers and Aurorans could understand such a growl, and
Edward briefly wished he couldn’t as he felt Lucas’s internal rage and
anger.  Some things are better not shared, but Edward could not deny the
utility.  Buried in that rage and anger was the rest of Lucas’s streaming
consciousness.  Suddenly Edward knew what he knew, saw what he saw, felt
what he felt: the locations of the other people on the street, down to their
very faces, what they were wearing and what weapons they were carrying.

“We
are cut off; they are waiting for us to try and get those last passengers on
before they unload the rest of their arsenal onto the gunship,” stated Edward
blankly.

“How
do you know all that?” asked Gillian.

“Lucas
showed me,” Edward tapped his comlink again.  “They are waiting for us to drop
an anvil on the gunship.  Kick the magnetics, fire off the canister rounds
and get out!  Save yourselves, we’ll find another
way out.”

“Punching out! 
Third gunship is still ten plus minutes out; watch your tail!”  With that,
the gunship sprang into the air, spewing fire from every turret, dispenser and
firing port available.

Lucas
rejoined them in the room and Growled a few more short
bursts much to the pain of Edward’s brain.  Lucas was on the edge of
Swifting and he knew it.  All his faculties and reserves were into
maintaining control; normal language skills were the first victim of his own
rage.

Edward
coped and nodded as he continued over the comlink, “Too much hardware to risk
rooftop, don’t even try.  How far from station is the 1212
^th
?”

“Twelve minutes from station and then ninety seconds from
insertion.”

Lucas
snarled and Edward’s brain churned.

“I
hate those tunnels.  I’d really rather not.”  Suddenly Edward had a
thought that bubbled up from the back of his brain, “Gate stone!  But I
have no idea how long it will take for Dawn to be able to help.  She has
to physically make it to the Citadel.”

“Use
it; start that clock rolling,” Lucas gasped as he finally started to regain
control.

Edward
pulled out the small red stone that he had carefully stored away.  It was
glowing as he held it out in his hand and fired off a Growl of his own. 
His mind raced as he fought to reach out to his niece Dawn over the vastness of
space.  Suddenly the stoned flared and started to swell.  As it did,
Edward started to panic.  “The gate is going to open
here
!  I
thought I could move it up until she opened the wormhole but the stone is
tidally locked to the planet!”  As he lowered his hand, the small stone
hung there in space, slowly churning.

“Well,
it’s not like your brother left a user’s manual,” offered Lucas as a feeble
joke.  Suddenly he spun as his Live Steel armor exploded in blue sparks
around him.  A blinding flash later and the incoming grenade round had
been redirected, but it exploded a split second later collapsing the entrance
way.

“Well,
we didn’t want to go out that way anyway,” offered Edward as his own feeble
attempt at mirth.  “Okay I think you were right: too many friendlies, not
enough shielding. We split up.”

Lucas
nodded and the other half of the group parted off with him and he hurried them
to the far end of the room towards the lower access tunnels.

Edward
quickly surveyed his charges: Gillian, Rebecca, Tatiana and Zoë.  Well, at
least it was family.  With a short burst of pain, Edward folded a submachine
gun out of his Live Steel and tossed it to Zoë.  Without missing a beat,
she extended the butt stock and cocked the action.

“Where
to?” asked Gillian as calmly as she could.

“Nathan
brought a small army, and they are ridiculously well equipped.  My guess
they are next going to try and drop the building…”

“The
far arches in the mezzanine are cut from live stone.  They should offer
protection if the roof comes down,” interjected Rebecca.

Edward
was a little surprised at Rebecca’s observation but took it to heart,
“Excellent observation.  Everyone to the mezzanine. 
I’m front, Tazo bring up the rear.”

“Rebecca
is not fast on her feet, I’ll carry her,” stated Tazo plainly.  He didn’t
wait for any further discussion on the matter but rather just scooped up
Rebecca in his arms.

Edward
nodded as the motley group ran up the long isles of the concert hall toward the
mezzanine in the back.  His fears were soon realized as mortar rounds
started falling on the roof.  At least they were blowing up on the surface
of the roof rather than penetrating and then detonating.  Edwards’ senses
were strained as they ran; random bits of the ceiling started falling on them
and he lashed out at the debris with his Live Steel armor deflecting them away
from the group.

As
they entered the mezzanine, the roof finally gave way and after a small pause,
more powerful thermobaric rounds started falling through the gaping
holes.  Edward spotted the polished granite arches that framed both sides
and he quickly hurried them to their makeshift cover.

They
reached it not a moment too soon, as the structure of the building started
collapsing around them.  The stonework held its own and offered a great
deal of protection.  It was the flying debris blown sideways that Edward
kept having to deflect.  The massive bursts of overpressure from the
rounds became ever oppressive, but his armor held fast.  Edward tried to
be patient, bide his time, the debris was well within his capability to
handle.  Given time, the 1212
^th
would be falling in on the area
like angry hornets.  Well… three meter tall, 180kg, gun toting
hornets.  But how much time had actually passed?