THE VROL TRILOGY (132 page)

"It appears that my Lord does enjoy the
cuisine of my land. For how long have you known of our
foodstuffs?"

Krynos made a polite attempt at clearing his
palate before responding.

"Why, just recently. Young Max here
introduced us to the sushi a few weeks back, in an attempt at
keeping me from implementing the Doubling Hand Held Instant Service
Food Bar," said Krynos, as he gave the shocked lycan/mage a knowing
wink.

"I have no knowledge of any sort of doubling,
but I ordered some tempura shrimp. It shall arrive shortly,"
responded the samurai clan leader, as he desperately struggled to
keep from looking at Jennie. This only exacerbated the situation,
causing Jennie to push the envelope just a tad more. She was
married to Max, but saw no problem in getting men riled up. Making
a cute yawn, she stretched her arms up above her head, exposing
ample amounts of bottom cleavage.

Isamu dropped his chopsticks, while a passing
clan subordinate tripped, going over onto his face and spilling a
cast iron teakettle onto the floor. However, Max saw this as a bit
too much of a distraction and needed to put things right over a
private comm channel, so they would at least be able to finalize
their trade and troops deal.

"
Love, I think
we've done well. A bit of modesty is called for
now.
"

"
Oooh baby,
are you jealous? Please tell me you're
jealous
."

"
No, I mean…
yes. Yes! Damn, just stop flashing the guy. Those are
mine!
"

"
They are! Oh.
My. God. This food gets me going. Don't plan on sleeping much
tonight, baby.
"

Max smiled and felt a rush of exhilaration
tear through his body. He needed to get the proceedings underway
before he felt compelled to drag his wife to an empty broom
closet.

"Ah, the tempura has arrived. King Krynos,
please try some. They have been deep fried with a light coating of
wheat flour. I am sure you will find them to be… oh… my."

The food was so delicious that Krynos had
already stuffed three large servings into his mouth before Isamu
finished his sentence

"Isamu, this is absolutely amazing. I would
like to add one more item to our negotiations," said Krynos.

"Of course, and what would that be?"

"I believe it in the best interests of both
our kingdoms that we have frequent chef exchanges."

This came as a welcome surprise to Isamu, as
he had a great love for beef and elk, both being difficult to
obtain on his small island nation.

"I believe we could provide the raw
ingredients for these chefs also, am I not correct?" asked Krynos,
as he looked at Max.

"Yes, Sire. I can easily slip an entire
kitchen over, as well as take one to the Rhönen."

Isamu's eyes grew large as he licked his
lips.

Jennie was practically purring by the time
they had finished with the intricacies of their agreement. And as
public displays of affection were not common in Japan, it was all
Max could do to keep her hands out of his pockets. To make things
more difficult, he needed to get her home before his cantus to
contain her scent failed.

Standing up and bowing, the four then made
their way out to the courtyard, it already being nighttime in
Tokyo.

"So we shall begin training on the fortnight,
agreed?" asked Krynos.

"Yes, good sir. I shall have my finest
warriors selected and ready to go at the prearranged time and
coordinates," said Isamu.

"And I'll make sure we get the chef exchange
rolling quickly also. I have a feeling it's going to get more
interesting at home with this great food being available," stated
Max, as his wife nonchalantly slid her hand down the back of his
trousers with a giggle.

Gotta remember to only eat sushi in private
from now on.

###

Krynos, Max and Jennie slipped directly into
the main dining hall, where the lunch hour was just beginning. But
much to the young couple's dismay, their daughter went bounding
over to them.

"Mami! Papi! I have such wonderful news to
tell you!"

"Young Liliana, it is so nice to see you, my
dear," exclaimed Krynos, as he attempted to run interference for
Max and Jennie, comically aware of their urgent need for
privacy.

"Oh hello, my king. And how was your day?"
asked the bright-eyed child, being polite as ever.

"It was magnificent. However, what interests
me is your idea for the Youth Brigade coat of arms. Have you any
sketches?"

Liliana's eyes lit up and she curtseyed to
the king, saying, "Oh of course! I shall fetch them right away."
She then turned to leave, but quickly looked at her parents and
said, "Mami, Papi, I am so sorry. May I tell you of my lessons at
dinner tonight?"

Max nodded his head clumsily as his daughter
jetted off out of the room, while it looked like Jennie was going
to have a meltdown in the middle of the commissary.

As soon as Liliana was out of sight, Krynos
turned to tell the Gunnarssons to leave, but there was no need -
they were already gone.

Chapter 9 - Setup

Max and Jennie managed to avoid Liliana for
the next few hours, mostly due to Clarisa's intervention. The woman
had been spending as much of her free time as she could with her
granddaughter, wanting to prepare the child for life in a more
civilized society - if Azul military, the Rhönen Dominion, the
Saxman Haidas and warriors from the Tokyo Mūnkuran succeed in
defeating the approaching Vrol.

The couple took advantage of their babysitter
and enjoyed the cool breeze flowing in through the open window in
their quarters, the moon hanging low in the early evening sky. As
Jennie lay half across Max, she gently rubbed her cheek against his
chest while she playfully walked her fingers across his well-formed
stomach.

"Mr. Mage showed me some new moves today.
Where did you learn that stuff, baby?" she comically asked, not
really wanting to get an answer.

"Aw love, you know we immortals have secret
informational sources. Besides, if you knew I could learn even more
you'd become damned near insatiable."

Jennie lifted her head and gave her husband a
devious grin." You mean it's just gonna get better?"

Max pulled his gorgeous dega up and kissed
her, drinking in her breath, as she pressed herself up against him.
"Love, this is how it happens. We both learn. Together. And I'd
never have it any other way."

"Yeah," she responded breathlessly, as she
slid up on top of him, "I like it that way too. Here, I have an
idea…"

Round four. Thank god for
salubots
.

###

"Abuelita, I do so like your ring. From where
did you acquire it? Is it a family heirloom?" inquired Liliana,
full-well knowing Michael had made it for the lovely dega
grandmother.

The two were seated at a small desk in the
alcove in Clarisa's private quarters. The woman had been helping
Liliana with some mathematics homework, even though it wasn't
necessary - the child excelled in the math and sciences with little
effort. Still, she liked spending as much time as possible with the
young girl, except for when the child asked awkward questions.

"Um, sweetie, I got it… from," she stammered,
but was cut off by Liliana.

"Abuelito gave it to you, did he not? I do
spend time with him, Abuelita. And, by the way, I do approve and
believe that you both make a lovely couple."

Clarisa gave her adopted granddaughter an
adoring gaze and took one of the girl's small hands into her own.
"Lili, yes, he gave me this ring. But I honestly don't know where
this is going from here. Life is an adventure. Before I came here
to the Rhönen I was a senior citizen, retired, and looking forward
to relaxing until I… died. But now, I've been transformed and I
honestly have no idea where I am going from here."

"Abuelita, why not just let it happen? You
are so pretty. I know Abuelito is smitten with you, and I love my
new family. I only wish for everyone to be happy - as happy as I
am."

The young lycan/mage looked at the much older
woman from the future-past with a face of pure innocence and
affection, nearly causing Clarisa to melt. What she didn't notice,
however, was the near-imperceptible blue glow emanating from the
girl's hands. Liliana had an agenda, and it was moving along quite
well.

After having completed all of her homework,
Liliana walked to the commissary with her grandmother. It was time
for the evening meal, and the growing child was hungry - plus she
wanted to watch her father's parents' reactions while around each
other. She had earlier invited Michael to have dinner with her, but
neglected to mention she would be bringing Clarisa along. As the
two entered the main dining hall they saw Michael seated at the
family table, along with the rest of the usual crowd. In fact,
everyone was there, with the exception of Max and Jennie, who were
getting cleaned up before descending from their quarters two floors
above.

There was lively conversation between all of
the diners, and Clarisa quickly noticed that Ohiro was also seated
with the family, next to Janice, of course. He was a very proper
soldier, but was now more at ease with everyone, not only because
he was spending an ample amount of time with Janice, but also
because he had assisted in the initial negotiations with the
Rhönen's new allies in Tokyo.

Liliana bounded up and gave everyone a kiss
on the cheek, while her grandmother followed suit. When girl got up
to Ohiro she gave him a whimsical half-smile. The lycan
quartermaster looked a bit on the uncomfortable side, but after
being nudged in the ribs by Janice he extended his cheek out a bit,
which the child promptly gave a light peck.

"Good evening, Clarisa. We have waited
for all to arrive before requesting our food," said Gabriel, who
had recently begun to look even more comfortable around humans.
Jessica was seated closely by his side as she smiled and waved to
the mother of the
Hybrid
.
Pandy was seated next to her cousin and motioned for Liliana to
take the empty seat by her side.

Draagh was seated at the end of the table,
recounting tales from his adventures on a world long-before extinct
to Bagatelle and Alicia, the latter having been slipped over for
some well-deserved relaxation with her fiancé. But sitting in the
middle of the table was Michael - he was expressionless, until
Clarisa entered the room. Liliana watched the two while she took a
seat next to her older friend, quite pleased with the reaction she
was seeing between the archangel and the lycan female.

"Lili, tell me - how's it going with Kyle.
Your lessons and all?" whispered Pandy.

"Oh Pandy, I believe I have grown beyond him.
Although he is an excellent teacher, I have no interest in any boy
right now. Besides, I am much too busy assisting with the king's
Youth Brigade."

"Great! And I love your designs! Sharks and
pirates! Oh, and thanks for the pirate books. I never knew what
they were before."

Liliana smiled at her friend and looked
around the table, realizing (again) just how lucky she was. Just
under two years before, she was an orphan with no hope for the
future. But thanks to her personality and bravery she was now part
of the most powerful family on the planet, and possibly in the
universe.

And she had no idea just how powerful they
were.

But before she had an opportunity to further
reflect on her good fortunes, Jennie and Max sauntered in, looking
completely relaxed and happy.

"Evening all," chimed Jennie.

"Ah, our stragglers have finally deemed it
worth their time to bless us with their presence," joked
Draagh.

"Um, those negotiations took a bit out of us,
getting up so early and all," said Max, inventing a lame excuse for
their absence during the entirety of the day. Realizing no one had
yet eaten, he raised his hand to the hall servants, who immediately
brought out plates of food for everyone on the table.

"So now that we have an accord with Isamu I
believe we have enough combined manpower to recapture Azul and
reform the government," said Max, near-finished with his meal.

"I'm personally looking forward to
meeting this fellow. What a concept - lycan samurais in the
43
^rd
century," exclaimed
Bagatelle, adding a humorous tone.

"In space!" added Jessica.

"Lycans. In. Space. That really sounds cool,"
mused Jennie, as she leaned up against her husband.

As usual, the two archangel brothers were
quiet, but seemed to have fit in quite well. Both were sitting next
to their apparent consorts while enjoying their meals and light
conversation. However, they all knew that the most difficult part
of their mission was yet to start. Identifying friends and enemies,
transporting humans out of the refurbished barges - those were the
easy parts. Now they were required to conquer Azul military. They
had the Navy, to a certain extent. There were a few officers not
willing to join, but rather wanted to remain neutral and see the
outcome. Bagatelle would relieve them of duty once he had assumed
control. He needed no dictatorship sympathizers, nor leadership
without a backbone. The Vrol were to be Mankind's greatest test,
and the admiral had no option but to win.

"So when do we start training with everyone?
We can't just assume that these groups will get along. I mean, what
if the Haidas and the Samurais fight like cats in a box?" asked
Jennie, bringing up a very real concern.