Life as a New Hire Ch. 41

"So who you think the House Head will be?" I changed the subject slightly.

"Madi wants to insure it will be a 'reliable', meaning conservative member," she sighed. "We might have to pick two. I doubt we will elect a Runner to be our leader."

"What about Buffy? She is a former Runner and now Ishara's Apprentice," I suggested. Rhada studied me.

"I don't think we have considered that. You are honored now and Buffy is honored because of your efforts in the war. She might be acceptable," Rhada smiled up at me. "I love you," she murmured softly.

"I love you too," I replied in the same tone. Did I love her? I didn't know. I really wasn't sure what love was. A romantic soul would have confessed that and their loneliness to the world. Me? Nope. Truth didn't belong in passionate, thus irrational, relationships. Being caught in the lie destroyed relationships, not necessarily the lying itself.

Telling Rhada 'I love you' made her happy and she deserved to be happy with the torturous means she had chosen for herself. I thought she was freaky, but I was okay with that because it made her shine inside and out. If Rhada wanted to believe we had a special bond, so be it. I'd had special bonds with plenty of women before her, and with this one, she was a further part of all the other weirdness that I called a normal day. Our seriousness had returned to sensual play.

She stretched her left leg over my left, hissing slightly. I'd tore up her Heine but good and it hurt when her gluts flexed. Even with the unguents, she was going to know pain for the next few days. I was sure she'd enjoy the perverse thrill.

"Did my captive enjoy her spanking?"

"No," she fibbed piteously. I almost expected 'thank you, may I have another'.

"Lying will just make me impress upon you my domination more firmly next time," I grumbled. She shivered.

"Next time I'll fight harder," she swore. I wasn't convinced.

"You'll still end up tied to my bed with my rod driving in deep," I promised. That earned me another shiver of lust.

"Promise," she whispered. I tilted her head up so that we were eye to eye and nose to nose. Rhada pushed her body up and forward until we kissed. "I like this."

"I like this too. You feel good beneath my hands," I told her. She smiled warmly, affectionately. Muscle fatigue took hold and she collapsed on my chest. I stroked her hair for several seconds until her gentle snoring reached my ears.

{7:10 am, Thursday, August 28th ~ 11 Days to go}

When I arrived at weapons practice in the morning, I was dog tired and sure I had to take care of one more thing before showing up at the office. I relayed a message to St. Marie I needed five minutes of her time right after Katrina's morning review in Katrina's office. I sent word to Katrina, warning her as well as Buffy and Helena. Pamela showed up right before seven and I couldn't figure a good way to shush her away. That meant I had enough pain in my life for the moment.

Once there, after my final intern work review (I had facilitated a project that created a flying fish/piranha hybrid), after the other new hires left, I told those four how I had killed Ajax: I had fed him to an angry goddess. SzélAnya had done all the heavy lifting and she deserved the accolades. I couldn't in good conscience continue living under that cloud and accepting the glory that was truly hers.

The Golden Mare stepped up and we clasped arms.

"I'm about to hug you," St. Marie cautioned me. "Don't do anything stupid." Then she hugged me and I kept my hands above the waist despite my innate temptation to do something erotic.

"I suppose you will let everyone know," I said when she pulled back. Our arms were still clasped.

"I plan to tell the Council," she snorted with amusement, "mainly because it stands to help SzélAnya become an Amazon House. As for the rest of the Host ~ I have no problem letting you be the heroine - hero - who slew one of our greatest enemies. After all, if you could kill Ajax with your wits and will, how can they do any less?"

"We are in a desperate war against stiff odds, Cáel," Katrina explained. "That you killed Ajax - and I do believe Ajax wouldn't be dead without you - helps us believe destiny is on our side. There is nothing we can't do. What I want to know is how did you get SzélAnya to aid you?"

"Oh that," I released the Golden Mare's arm. "Ummm ... I believe that when Ishara enacted that curse through me, I was able, in a limited fashion, to peek through the Weave. When something supernatural is looking at me, I can sense it. That is how I saw the ghost at summer camp. When I interacted with Alkonyka, I drew SzélAnya's attention."

"I could see her just on the other side of the Weave, trying to interact in some way to help her few surviving descendants. I hypothesized that I could contact her if I was rendered violently unconscious and since I was bound to the Unconquered in the same way I am linked to Temujin, Saku and Alal, I could bring him over into what I call my 'Ishara-space' and deliver us both to SzélAnya."

"What if she had killed you?" St. Marie studied me.

"I was actually hoping Ajax would last long enough for me to regain consciousness," I shrugged. "Barring that, I was going to try talking my way out of it."

"Which was it?" Katrina mused.

"She decided she had uses for me, so I got to live," I grinned. "It was a close thing and an experience I hope never to repeat. Unfortunately she also saved my life over the Pacific so that's two I owe her ... and Ishara isn't happy about that."

"Your female deity is disappointed in you," St. Marie snorted. "I'm happy I am not alone."

"Not so much disappointed as ..."

"Territorial," Katrina finished for me. "I know the feeling."

"What? Me?" I looked her way.

"I'm about to lose you to JIKIT," she pointed out, "and I barely got you back. Now I'm not even getting my last eleven days ... all because the larger world needs you. Cáel, I want you to know that you have made my job far more fulfilling because of the attitude you take toward our work."

"I thought I was giving you headaches."

"No. That would be me," St. Marie interjected. "Katrina is your third greatest fan."

"Buffy and Helena?" I looked to Buffy and Helena.

"Of course," Katrina nodded. "They will be forever trying to repay you for the gift you gave them ~ to make them a full-fledged Amazon. Buffy is even prouder that you have entrusted her and Helena with expanding your House."

"We earned the right, Cáel, but so had many other deserving Runners who never got the chance," Buffy stated. "You gave all Runners real hope that any of us could one day be in a House, with children of our own. That our souls would go on for eternity."

"I especially like your idea to induct Runners whose time had passed so that your history would run both forward and backwards at the same time," Helena added.

"Speaking of telling people something they deserve to know ..." Katrina's hawk-like gaze regarded St. Marie. "Being the sponsor of House SzélAnya, he needs to know something about House Illuyankamunus."

"I am not the High Priestess, Katrina," St. Marie bristled.

"You have her authority invested in you," Katrina persisted. "How is he to know how much trouble he is causing unless you enlighten him?"

St. Marie growled, torn between two difficult choices.

"Everyone else, leave the room," St. Marie grumbled. Buffy shot me worried look before scooting out with Helena.

That left Pamela.

"I'm not staying because I think you will lie to him," Pamela stood. "I'm staying here because Cáel needs a filter ... and he'll tell me anyway when I ask."

"I'm glad I never had to work with you," St. Marie glared. "You and I would not have gotten along."

"I think we would have gotten along fine," Pamela gave a lopsided grin. "We would have hated one another then let each of us do what we are good at. You are a good strategist, Golden Mare. You are the right War Leader at the right time. I despise you, but I acknowledge the Host could do a whole lot worse."

"I am not even going to respond to that backhanded compliment in any other way than say ... may death welcome you soon."

"Hey now," I intervened. "Pamela is the Pat Garret to my 'Billy the Kid'."

"Cáel, Garret murdered Billy," Katrina grinned.

"No I didn't," Pamela struck a pose. "I helped him fake his death so he could live a normal life."

"What she said," I agreed.

"Fine! Fine," St. Marie threw up her hands. "Ishara ..."

"Call me Wakko," I interrupted. "We are friends."

"We are not friends," she growled. "Besides, I thought your code name was Yakko."

"That didn't work out for me. People think I'm the crazy one."

"Crazier one," Pamela corrected me.

"What she said," I pointed to Pamela.

"To think I am letting you be more famous than me," the Golden Mare muttered. "Why have the ancestors done this to me?"

"In private you get to hit him as much as you like," Katrina pointed out. St. Marie punched me in the upper arm - HARD.

"Ow!" I squawked. "Shouldn't you be doing something about this?" I looked to Pamela.

"I don't like her, but she's justified," Pamela shrugged.

"Bitch ...ow!" I yelped when St. Marie punched me again - in the same spot.

"I was saying that about Pamela," I told her. St. Marie looked to Pamela.

"Oh no," she smirked. "I'll get him later ... when he's not expecting it."

"Where were we?" St. Marie shook her head.

"House Illuyankamunus ..." Katrina steered us back on course.

"At the end of the Second Betrayal, the entirety of House Illuyankamunus protested the Council's decision, yet refused to oppose the decision. They swore to be a daily reminder of our shame until the last one died ... which they thought would be soon. They were not alone in feeling shame over what we did ... which you have proven to be wrong. Others felt the same way ... and instead of 'taking themselves to the cliff' when the Host was in such dire circumstances, they joined the House of the Thunder Dragon."

"Since that time, when individual Amazons feel they have been heinously shamed by their fellows without redress, the High Priestess has given them the option of joining Illuyankamunus instead," the Golden Mare explained.

"But ... oh, by the time SzélAnya recovered, all the original Illuyankamunus must have been dead," I reasoned. "Her heart remained with the children of Bolu, so she never returned to the Amazons who fought in her name."

"This 'out' has only been known to the highest ranking Amazons," St. Marie cautioned me. "Only the Council heads involved in such decisions have been told of the true nature of Illuyankamunus ... and not all have agreed that the House should have been allowed to continue. Only the High Priestess, the Keeper of Records and the House Head knew the goddess had turned her back on her followers ... and until you intervened, we didn't know the 'why' of the matter."

"Had you not jumped the gun, we might have been able to integrate the two Houses ... but you had to speak up and now we have the option of retaining House Illuyankamunus as an alternative to a wasted death and adding a new House that will re-forge a bond with men."

"Even in a small way," I nodded.

"It is never enough for you," St. Marie glowered.

"He does not push from behind," Katrina rallied to my defense. "He leads from the front like the charming lemming he is."

"Squeak!"

"The fox is an animal I identify with," St. Marie kept glaring. "Foxes eat lemmings."

"Is that an invitation to - Ow!" she punched me. "At least hit me somewhere else next time ..." which I realized a second to late meant, "OW!" she punched my other arm.

"Bodyguard! Body-guard," I staggered toward Pamela.

"You are in no real danger. That's just Amazon foreplay," she beamed happily my way.

"No - it is NOT," St. Marie seethed. "I find him abhorrent."

"Come on fisherman," Pamela shrugged.

"I'm coming. I'm coming. Katrina, I'll have something to report to you by the end of the day. I'm out of here while I still have use of my arms."

"Cáel, remember to not tell anyone," St. Marie warned me.

"About the Amazons having another weird way of being obstinate survivalists? Sure, no problem," I shrugged.

"That's breaking down a sacred tradition into another one of your delusional qualifications," St. Marie accused me.

"That's his way of saying he understands and has sympathy for our answer to the dilemma of unanswerable personality conflicts," Katrina translated.

"That's not what he said."

"Fine ... the Host is doing something that keeps some people alive so I heartily approve and understand the need for secrecy because rapid and complete solutions are all too often the solution our people reach," I elucidated.

"You could have told me that," St. Marie said. I put some distance between us.

"What fun would that be - come Kato!" I hurried out the door.

"You got that one right," Pamela laughed as she followed me out. "Now that the fun is over, it is time to get ourselves to the office."

{3:45 pm, Thursday, August 28th ~ 11 Days to go}

In a simple life you can always go 'well let me ask [somebody]'. On the surface, my relationship with JIKIT and the Khanate was that way. When JIKIT wanted something from the Khanate, they formally asked me and I asked Iskender, or if the matter was crucial enough, OT (Beg Oyuun Tömörbaatar, the Earth and Sky's representative in North America). The opposite was also true. Or, that was the way it should have been.

Since I was no longer twelve and asking the teacher for a bathroom pass, or giving the Vice Principle a note excusing me from school, I had to be careful what I asked for and had to filter requests through my own insights. Lady Yum-Yum (Fathom Worthington-Burke of the UK's MI-6) and Addison Stuart (CIA's National Clandestine Service) taught me to divine the 'yes, I'm on it', 'we'll work on it' and 'not in this lifetime' replies.

I couldn't make those decisions on whether or not the asking individual was a douche. Lives were hanging in the balance, even if the terms used were 'frozen assets' or informal requests to locate missing persons lost in the chaos of Western China. I had taken those lessons into my meeting with Ferit Hoxha, Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations.

I was supposed to smooth things over with him concerning my kidnapping. I did my normal in depth internet research (I swear, I keep meaning to donate money to Wikipedia) before our meeting so we could have something to talk about. We kept it simple, he expresses his country's deepest regrets over my kidnapping (because telling the truth that the Chinese had done it was too plain for me) then began talking about family.

Around dessert time the words 'what would you do if the Khanate asked you to join?' came spilling out of my mouth. Why? Maybe I was possessed. Did I know about the political background of the Balkans? No. I knew that Albanian and Greek girls looked different and that Albanians were Muslims whereas Greeks were Christian.

Thanks to the JIKIT team, I knew Greece had economic problems poor Albania could barely aspire to. They were the wimpy kid on the playground that never had a real shot at coming into their own. I felt bad about that, I guess, so I offered to bring them into Temujin's Big Tent. He would feel honored, I'd feel good about it and ... he leaned across the table and said 'really?'

So I made shit up. Of course Temujin valued Albania's geopolitical location on the European continent. How could he not? With the home of pizza and nun-porn just across the ... Adriatic and bunches of hot Slavic chicks to the north, what wasn't to love? My blood-brother, the Great Khan, was worried about his growing position via-a-vis Europe and who better to be his point men than the Albanians?

I am so full of shit. Sometimes I even stun myself.

Of course he would have to check with his government ... but he and other factors within the Albanian government had been hoping for such a thing ... huh?

Of course he was pleased that of all the languages in the world I was able to speak, I had chosen Albanian. It showed my dedication to his country's cause. Blame Alal.

Of course Albania would maintain its palatinate status within the Khanate ... because I said so, that's why.

Of course my buddy Temujin wouldn't leave me (and the Albanians) hanging around with our dicks in our hands looking like idiots ... because I was doing him a great favor I was totally unaware of.

Of course Greece was viewing Turkey with growing alarm due to its powerful position within the expanding Khanate ... because they have over five hundred years of bad blood and blood feuds I was ignorant of. Come on now, it doesn't take me a week to forgive people who have tried to kill me.

Of course Greece was in 'secret' talks with Russia about the Turkish Question since it looked like the rest of NATO wasn't going to do anything ...

And Temujin was aware of this threat to his European flank but had been unable to address it ...

And now he could use Albania to flank Greece the same way Russia was using Greece to flank Turkey.

I'm a freaking Realpolitik genius. Just ask Fathom, Addison and OT. I had to look 'realpolitik' up to realize it was spelled with a 'k'. I had called Iskender, he had called OT and OT had immediately called the Khan. Twenty-seven minutes later, OT called me back and had me set up a meeting with Ferit. Oh, and Iskender was coming over to talk about something the Great Khan wanted JIKIT to work on.

I said okay. I saw Iskender at least once a week, so I didn't know this was a bad sign. My superiors were wary to meet Iskender because intelligence types like their routines. When assets start acting strange, strange things happen. I knew this to be true. When your normally suspicious girlfriend suddenly acts all lovey-dovey, ... she knows ~ she knows.

Iskender's face showed that he didn't much like this change to our meeting schedule either. Introductions went around. Odette was the only one to say 'Glad to finally meet you' and mean it.

"Cáel Nyilas," he finally turned to me, "I bear a request from the Great Khan himself." No beating around the bush with this crowd.

"What do you need?" I replied. Irrationally, I found myself hoping 'please say you need a second for 'beer-pong''.

"Here is a flash drive with the particulars, but the basics are that we need the United States and the United Kingdom to lend diplomatic support to our efforts to obtain war material and other equipment from other aligned nations," he said.

"Things like?" Addison asked.

"Ships from the United States, tanks from Germany, helicopters from France and computer components for Japan and South Korea," he replied. "This is a list of roughly five thousand items we are attempting to procure."

"Sure, we'll help," I volunteered.

"Cáel, before someone has an aneurism, why don't you find out what your team can do," Pamela burst my bubble.

"Sir, what exactly does your faction think we at JIKIT can do? We are a covert interim unit with limited authority and oversight," Addison stated.

"Wouldn't this be something you could accomplish through your own extra-ordinary resources?" Yum-Yum asked.

"We can only get so much through back channels and shell companies," he replied. "With the quantities the Khanate needs ..." he trailed off.

"You can't make that many purchases," I nodded. Even I knew an eighteen year old could buy a six-pack with little effort and a so-so fake ID. Buying five kegs was a totally different matter.

There was a silence.

"Iskender, give the team 48 hours to go over this data. We will either return it as if we never received it, or act upon the information on your behalf," Yum-Yum spoke with finality.

"I understand," he bowed his head. "I will await your response."