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Chapter 43
“...so I'd say that Thor is not a significant danger after all, Mr. President. Loki, on the other hand...” The wolf waved a hand. “As bad as the stories portrayed him after all. What he needs is a psychoanalyst, but I have no idea how we'd get him to sit still for it.”
“And what about the Wolf-Immortal? Fenris, right?”
“As good a name as any. He doesn't really have a name of his own, he's just the Alpha of all the packs. I don't know why he was backing Loki, but as long as we protect the wild wolves and expand their territory, he'll be happy enough. I'm more concerned about this Morrigan character. She seems to like fighting as much as Thor does, and was trying to manipulate him. Granted, he's easy to manipulate for an Immortal, but it's what they were trying to manipulate him to do that bothers me.Was she just helping Loki get his revenge, or were they trying something to mess with -us- in particular?”
The President shrugged. “That's your job to figure out, Director. And I'll happily leave you to it. You -will- let me know when you find them, won't you?”
Lowe flicked her ears. “Of course, sir. But we're dealing with shapeshifters in both cases. This makes it very hard to locate them, let alone apprehend them. And I'm not sure there's anything we can actually charge them with in any event. I'm afraid the -best- we can do is track where they are, and I'm not sure we can even do that reliably.”
“I'm sure you'll do the best that anyone can, Director. For someone who wasn't sure they could handle the job... you're a natural at this.”
The wolf shrugged. “I picked up certain advantages in the Change, Mr. President. Makes it easier to get to the core of the issues.”
“Whatever you have, it works, Director. You've been my single most effective appointment since I got dumped into this job. Keep up the good work.”
“Thank you, sir. I'll try.”
* * * *
“Eldest, I have two questions for you, if you have the time.” The wolf nodded respectfully to the image in her fireplace.
The unicorn whickered laughter. “Time is something we have in abundance, Diviner. More to the point, you are not interrupting anything at the moment.”
Lowe nodded in acknowledgement of the distinction. “True. I am not used to that yet. Perhaps, as you said, in a century or two. First... has Coyote reported on our meeting with the Thunderer?”
Cerrunos tossed his head. “Briefly, and not in any kind of depth. I think he'd been drinking at the time. But the gist was that you'd gotten Thor to calm down, and even open up a bit.”
“I got him to agree to tell me his side of the business with Nalfi and the death of the Aesir, at least. The summary version is that Nalfi committed suicide when the magic began to fail at the end of their cycle, rather than die slowly as a mortal, and Loki blamed the rest for not stopping her. And since Thor is the only one left...” She shrugged. “Thor doesn't shield himself well. I'm pretty sure I can trust his version. Loki shields well, but even so, he felt to me like he was twisting things. Not lying, not with the Alpha there, but omitting things.”
The unicorn twitched his ears forward. “You can read Loki at -all-? I named you truly, daughter.”
The wolf shrugged, palms up. “Probably the shared wolf lineage. Hard to lie in wolf-speech. But that brings me to my first question. How can I contact the Alpha myself? He doesn't even have a name to trigger the fire-link.”
“Not as such, no. And I've never seen him build a fire on his own. If you're willing to wait for a while, he sometimes responds to requests for scrying pool talks, but that can take weeks. Your best bet is to join a wolf-howl and ask him for his presence. He pays more attention to his true descendants.”
“How...?”
“You'll know. You spoke with him, did you not? Every wolf-blood I've ever known has been able to do it once they started.”
Lowe nodded. “I'll give that a try, then. I need a break away from this city anyway. Second question. Thor's tale of the end of the Aesir. You implied I am an Immortal. But how immortal are we, really?”
The unicorn looked away from her eyes. “Most of you only live through one cycle, daughter. In some ways it is even worse... the mayfly mortals come and go. One doesn't expect anything more. But you... I will have time to get to know you, and your contemporaries, and hope for the best... and still, most of you will be gone.”
Lowe nodded. “Then that will be my true project, Eldest, in between keeping the normals from destroying themselves. For it works for some, and Haroun knows something important. He saved not only himself and Sekhmet, but an entire city of normals. And I have learned something already.”
Cerrunos looked up at her, hope warring with the fear of continuing disappointment in his eyes. “So soon?”
The wolf nodded again. “The survivors fall into three categories. Shapeshifters, those near volcanoes – and Haroun's Ba-Yabel.”
“What about Kostchei and Grandmother Witch?”
“The legends tell that Baba Yaga is a shapeshifter, no?”
“Kostchei isn't. Although one has to question whether Kostchei is truly alive...”
Lowe shuddered. “Undead? Possibly a useful data point, though not one that I wish to explore too deeply. But the rest? From everything I have learned so far, Ba-Yabel survived intact by hiding deep underground. Volcanoes bring magma -from- underground to the surface. Perhaps mana survives in the deep underground? The mantle and beneath?” She paused, considering it. “Something to check. But to continue...You said we were the first machine culture, Eldest. Are we also the first scientists?”
The unicorn considered that. “Not, I think, the first to do science. But you are the first to share your knowledge widely as a matter of course. And that has had some profound effects, these last two centuries.”
Lowe nodded. “Then between Stardancer and myself, perhaps we can persuade Haroun to share what he knows, and crack the problem once and for all. Thank you, Eldest.”
“Thank -you-, Diviner. If you truly think you can save an entire generation of Immortals... I will gladly help in any way I can. And I will be forever in your debt.”
Lowe gave him a lopsided grin. “If I succeed, that'll be a heck of a long time. Better not make blanket statements like that.”
The unicorn snorted. “Hmmmf. You know what I meant. Anything else?”
“Not just now, Eldest. I'll be in touch.”
* * * *
“Captain Jeffries. Commander Sterling. Please, be seated.” The man waved a hand vaguely in the bat's direction. “Or whatever you prefer.” There was a brief pause while everyone got comfortable. “If you've guessed who sent me, you probably know why I'm here.”
“One of the spy agencies, would be my guess.” Jeffries raised an eyebrow at the civilian. “Otherwise I don't see how you'd even have found out about my reports.”
“Something like that. Let's just say that an acquaintance of the Commander's has requested that she be assigned other duties. While we may request that she fly with Air Force One on occasion in the future, there are more immediate needs that we feel she might be able to assist with. Specifically, Commander – how did you get from in front of that formation to behind them during the last Top Gun exercise? We know you can -hide- from radars and other detectors, but there shouldn't have been enough -time- for you to get from where you dropped off to where you ended up. We've had people run models, and there is simply no way the aircraft could have gone between those points that quickly.”
Sterling looked uncomfortable as the two humans stared up at her. “I'm not sure how I do it, myself. But that time, when all those locks were setting up, I just.... wanted to be somewhere else, and I was. Eventually. But... it wasn't instantly, either. I'm not teleporting, if that's what you're thinking.”
“So what -are- you doing?”
“I... met with one of the Immortals once. He calls me Shadow. And I think I -am-. Only at night, but...at night, I can merge with the shadows, move through them if I wish. I'm not quite sure how I'm doing it, or how far I can go, but...”
Her about-to-be former CO nodded. “But this is something magic-oriented, isn't it?”
She nodded. “I'm thinking so, yes. And it worries me. Ever since the Change happened, I'm more and more comfortable after dark. Sunlight is not something I enjoy any more.” Her laugh was forced and more than a little bit brittle. “At least I'm not hungry for blood, but I'm not sure how long that will last.”
“And that's what -my- boss suspected. Captain Jeffries?” He reached into his jacket and pulled out several sheets of paper, shuffled through them, and then selected one. “I'm going to have to request that the Commander be forwarded to Los Alamos. There's training going on there that I think she would benefit from. And that would make better use of her talents than as a night-fighter pilot.” He handed each of them a copy. “There we are. One for you to file, Captain, and one for the Commander herself. Can you be ready to move in two days, Commander?”
“For temporary duty, of course. Not for a PCS.”
“That'll be fine, Commander. I'll see you there on Thursday.”
* * * *
The lioness smiled as she was ushered into the alternate offices of the NSA. “Director. Thank you for meeting with me again.”
Lowe half-bowed in acknowledgement. “It is not a problem, Ambassador. Well, aside from State complaining that I'm stepping all over their turf. I don't think any of them are quite used to the idea of back-channels based on Immortal status. What may I do for you today?”
“I have had an interesting conversation. With Thor.”
“Oh? I wasn't aware he knew the message-magics. Of course, I left Coyote with him when I visited...”
“The Aesir generally used water-magics rather than fire-magics. So that could explain it, though Coyote was nowhere to be seen. Still. The Thunderer asked me to visit him, and added that we were both 'bound to maintain the peace as guests in the Diviner's Kingdom.'” She quirked an eyebrow at the wolf.
Lowe rubbed her forehead. “I will assume he meant that as a kingdom I advise, not one that I rule. I told him that personally. But if he says something like that to a reporter... half of them still can't handle the fact that the succession laws switched their favorites out of power when Quetzalcoatl hit the White House. Implying that I'm the mastermind behind it all...”
“That would put the fox in with the chickens, as you say.”
“So far, he hasn't been chatting with reporters, but I suppose it's only a matter of time until they find someone who can speak Icelandic. Thank you for the warning.”
“The least we can do to repay your assistance, Diviner.” Bast smirked as the wolf flattened her ears. “All right, your President's assistance. At any rate, when I asked your State Department to set up a meeting, they hemmed and hawed and eventually said you would have to authorize it.”
Lowe's ears re-flattened. “Seriously? You are both free agents. Thor counts as a private citizen, though currently a guest of the US government, and you are the ambassador of a friendly power. Neither of you needs permission to travel. I shall have to have a talk with someone. I doubt the Secretary did that.”
“I believe this was from the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs.”
“Ah. That one. We're working on getting rid of her, but... she's civil service, and pretty much can't be fired except for actual malfeasance. Simple incompetence isn't enough.”
“Are you -sure- your government makes sense?”
“This arrangement was set up to keep the politicians from firing everyone in the bureaucracy whenever the Presidency switched parties. It has advantages... and drawbacks. With an Immortal as head of government, you wouldn't need the advantages, since you don't have the chance of a new faction grabbing the steering wheel every four years.”
“An... interesting metaphor. So I take it I have your permission?”
“Not that you need it, but yes. Sorry about the nuisance.”
“Actually...” Bast looked at the wolf. “I did want to ask some questions before I visited him. Rumor has it that you have spoken to both Thor and Loki recently.”
“Ah. And you are curious as to what I may have learned.”
“You could say that, yes.”
Lowe nodded. “Even Coyote hadn't known this before. But he played me up as the current equivalent to the Norns, and got Thor to unbend enough to give me his side of the story. Loki... blames the Aesir for the death of Nalfi. But according to Thor, she committed suicide rather than die of old age at the end of her first Convergence. Loki will not accept this, and though he conceals it well... he is deluding himself. The Alpha doesn't know that he's lying, because he honestly believes what he says. But deep inside, he knows the truth just enough for -me- to pick up on it.”
“Any idea why Thor wants to see me?”
“My guess? He is lonely, milady. You are one of three or four of his contemporaries still alive; and of those few, one is insane and hates him, and one is only interested in war – and has tried to goad him into attacking us, after seeing how we dealt with Quetzalcoatl and Creya. I suspect he simply wants to talk to you about the old times.” The wolf grinned. “Well, maybe he wants to wrestle. Sekhmet was a warrior goddess, wasn't she?”
The lioness purred laughter. “I have not done that in ages. I would be terribly out of practice.”
“At any rate, you may visit him whenever you wish. I'll make sure the gatekeepers know you're on the 'No Questions' list.”
* * * *
The F/A-18 settled onto the runway at Kirtland Air Force Base at precisely 0108 hours Mountain Daylight Time. The pilot switched to the ground control frequency as the jet slowed down. “Welcome to New Mexico, Nighthawk. Your party is waiting at your hangar; please take the next turnout and follow the guide cart.”
“Turnout 4-1 and follow the guide cart, aye.” Sterling guided her jet to the hangar, then waited for the ground crew to open the canopy and unbuckle her from the cockpit harness before spreading her own wings and gliding to the ground instead of using the ladder. Another member of the ground crew was already collecting her gear from the 'boot' and loading it into the waiting car. She smiled as she saw who was waiting to collect her. “Stardancer? You came down here personally?”
The redhead grinned. “You thought I would send a flunky to fetch you? You're an old friend ever since the Pentagon. And I wanted to start figuring you out as soon as possible, anyway. It's about two hours to Los Alamos from here. There's snacks and coffee in the car, but if you need to freshen up before we head out...?”
“I'll be back in five minutes.”
* * * *
The bat settled into the rear of the limousine four minutes later, and the car started moving almost immediately. The driver and a guard sat in the front, separated from them by bulletproof glass. “So what have you been doing?”
“This, that, and the other. The Eldest has been very helpful about things on occasion, and we've been making some very interesting progress on the generator front. Though it feels very strange to be working with an actual engineer on projects. You've met him, I think. Kenneth McKenzie. Wasn't he in the Norfolk group back when the Event happened?”
“McKenzie... wait. Kenneth? The dragon? The -dragon- is your engineer?”
“Yep. Built the prototype for the bomb the Navy used on the Kraken, and now he's working on Project Mirror. We found someone who can actually measure the strength of magical fields, and they're figuring out the basic principles. Kenneth says he expects to have proper instrumentation by the end of the year. In the meantime, we've got a workable converter using the hint that Wei Lung gave us about using jade. We have no idea how efficient it is, or even why it works at this point, but it does convert heat energy into magical energy.”
“So how do I come into this?”
Stardancer settled back in her seat. “You are one of about a dozen new Immortals we know of in the United States. We suspect there are others, but we won't know for sure for another fifty years or so. And half of us were in on that meeting with the Eldest.You remember what he called us? Stardancer, Storm, Guardian, Diviner and...”
“And I was Shadow. I've been thinking about that -very- much the past few months. I am becoming a creature of the night. I am uncomfortable in daylight, but in the darkness? I -am- a shadow. I can move unseen, pass through barriers if I wish, blind eyes and sensors to my presence. And even during the day, I can do most of that if I am shielded from the sun. But an Immortal? How do you know?”
“We know because you were at the meeting. We've been experimenting with those invitations. McKenzie can read it, and we already know the Dragons are Immortals. Most people simply can't. Director Lowe had it confirmed when she talked to Thor and Coyote. We've found a few others, people who were elderly at the time of the Event and have since gotten younger, but it takes a while to find out for most people. But you are one of them. One of us, I should say... So we need to know what you can do, what the limits are. We need to do that for all of us, really, but you are less in control of what is happening at the moment, so you get priority, oh Princess of the Night.”
Sterling snorted. 'What, not Queen of Air and Dar -- ?”
Stardancer interrupted her before she could finish. “That was a title reputed to belong to one of the Fae. Until we know more about things, I would prefer not to invoke such names. Let's just stick with 'The Magic Flute' for inspiration right now.”
* * * *
Dr. Ryan stared at the results of the latest set of gene scans, pondering the anomalies. She finally opened the confidential folder on her laptop and began typing up her observations. “Fifty test samples fall into three groups with an extremely high probability correlation. Samples 2, 8, 22, 24, and 47 have unusually long telomere strands, on the order of two to three times longer than those of newborns. In addition, samples 10, 17, 29, 33, and 36 show telomere lengths typical of newborns, although all test samples are from adults. The remaining samples do not show any unusual characteristics and fall roughly on a standard distribution curve for adults aged 25 through 50, which is the reported age of the sample donors. As telomere length is already suspected of being an important factor in longevity, these discrepancies provide, in my opinion, sufficient cause to open the seals on the double-blind identification data.” She copied the note into an email message and a few minutes later it was on its way to Atlanta.
The reply was waiting for her the next morning.
Identification data decryption key: 4jos8TzMlhl Actual data file: E.
It was the work of only a few moments for the computer to decode the files once it had the key. She nodded to herself at the results. “All right. The super-longs belong to Kenneth McKenzie, Sean Carroll, Coyote... Coyote?” She shook her head and continued reading. “Irene Makosky, and Karen Sterling. Three dragons, a known shapeshifter, and... a bat Changeling with stealth powers. The undepleted telomeres are... oh, my. Stardancer, John Whitford, Janet Lowe. Serious powers here, too. Nancy Smith... ah, the Stormchild. And Valerie Ryan...” She blinked hard at the last name. “ME?”
“...so I'd say that Thor is not a significant danger after all, Mr. President. Loki, on the other hand...” The wolf waved a hand. “As bad as the stories portrayed him after all. What he needs is a psychoanalyst, but I have no idea how we'd get him to sit still for it.”
“And what about the Wolf-Immortal? Fenris, right?”
“As good a name as any. He doesn't really have a name of his own, he's just the Alpha of all the packs. I don't know why he was backing Loki, but as long as we protect the wild wolves and expand their territory, he'll be happy enough. I'm more concerned about this Morrigan character. She seems to like fighting as much as Thor does, and was trying to manipulate him. Granted, he's easy to manipulate for an Immortal, but it's what they were trying to manipulate him to do that bothers me.Was she just helping Loki get his revenge, or were they trying something to mess with -us- in particular?”
The President shrugged. “That's your job to figure out, Director. And I'll happily leave you to it. You -will- let me know when you find them, won't you?”
Lowe flicked her ears. “Of course, sir. But we're dealing with shapeshifters in both cases. This makes it very hard to locate them, let alone apprehend them. And I'm not sure there's anything we can actually charge them with in any event. I'm afraid the -best- we can do is track where they are, and I'm not sure we can even do that reliably.”
“I'm sure you'll do the best that anyone can, Director. For someone who wasn't sure they could handle the job... you're a natural at this.”
The wolf shrugged. “I picked up certain advantages in the Change, Mr. President. Makes it easier to get to the core of the issues.”
“Whatever you have, it works, Director. You've been my single most effective appointment since I got dumped into this job. Keep up the good work.”
“Thank you, sir. I'll try.”
* * * *
“Eldest, I have two questions for you, if you have the time.” The wolf nodded respectfully to the image in her fireplace.
The unicorn whickered laughter. “Time is something we have in abundance, Diviner. More to the point, you are not interrupting anything at the moment.”
Lowe nodded in acknowledgement of the distinction. “True. I am not used to that yet. Perhaps, as you said, in a century or two. First... has Coyote reported on our meeting with the Thunderer?”
Cerrunos tossed his head. “Briefly, and not in any kind of depth. I think he'd been drinking at the time. But the gist was that you'd gotten Thor to calm down, and even open up a bit.”
“I got him to agree to tell me his side of the business with Nalfi and the death of the Aesir, at least. The summary version is that Nalfi committed suicide when the magic began to fail at the end of their cycle, rather than die slowly as a mortal, and Loki blamed the rest for not stopping her. And since Thor is the only one left...” She shrugged. “Thor doesn't shield himself well. I'm pretty sure I can trust his version. Loki shields well, but even so, he felt to me like he was twisting things. Not lying, not with the Alpha there, but omitting things.”
The unicorn twitched his ears forward. “You can read Loki at -all-? I named you truly, daughter.”
The wolf shrugged, palms up. “Probably the shared wolf lineage. Hard to lie in wolf-speech. But that brings me to my first question. How can I contact the Alpha myself? He doesn't even have a name to trigger the fire-link.”
“Not as such, no. And I've never seen him build a fire on his own. If you're willing to wait for a while, he sometimes responds to requests for scrying pool talks, but that can take weeks. Your best bet is to join a wolf-howl and ask him for his presence. He pays more attention to his true descendants.”
“How...?”
“You'll know. You spoke with him, did you not? Every wolf-blood I've ever known has been able to do it once they started.”
Lowe nodded. “I'll give that a try, then. I need a break away from this city anyway. Second question. Thor's tale of the end of the Aesir. You implied I am an Immortal. But how immortal are we, really?”
The unicorn looked away from her eyes. “Most of you only live through one cycle, daughter. In some ways it is even worse... the mayfly mortals come and go. One doesn't expect anything more. But you... I will have time to get to know you, and your contemporaries, and hope for the best... and still, most of you will be gone.”
Lowe nodded. “Then that will be my true project, Eldest, in between keeping the normals from destroying themselves. For it works for some, and Haroun knows something important. He saved not only himself and Sekhmet, but an entire city of normals. And I have learned something already.”
Cerrunos looked up at her, hope warring with the fear of continuing disappointment in his eyes. “So soon?”
The wolf nodded again. “The survivors fall into three categories. Shapeshifters, those near volcanoes – and Haroun's Ba-Yabel.”
“What about Kostchei and Grandmother Witch?”
“The legends tell that Baba Yaga is a shapeshifter, no?”
“Kostchei isn't. Although one has to question whether Kostchei is truly alive...”
Lowe shuddered. “Undead? Possibly a useful data point, though not one that I wish to explore too deeply. But the rest? From everything I have learned so far, Ba-Yabel survived intact by hiding deep underground. Volcanoes bring magma -from- underground to the surface. Perhaps mana survives in the deep underground? The mantle and beneath?” She paused, considering it. “Something to check. But to continue...You said we were the first machine culture, Eldest. Are we also the first scientists?”
The unicorn considered that. “Not, I think, the first to do science. But you are the first to share your knowledge widely as a matter of course. And that has had some profound effects, these last two centuries.”
Lowe nodded. “Then between Stardancer and myself, perhaps we can persuade Haroun to share what he knows, and crack the problem once and for all. Thank you, Eldest.”
“Thank -you-, Diviner. If you truly think you can save an entire generation of Immortals... I will gladly help in any way I can. And I will be forever in your debt.”
Lowe gave him a lopsided grin. “If I succeed, that'll be a heck of a long time. Better not make blanket statements like that.”
The unicorn snorted. “Hmmmf. You know what I meant. Anything else?”
“Not just now, Eldest. I'll be in touch.”
* * * *
“Captain Jeffries. Commander Sterling. Please, be seated.” The man waved a hand vaguely in the bat's direction. “Or whatever you prefer.” There was a brief pause while everyone got comfortable. “If you've guessed who sent me, you probably know why I'm here.”
“One of the spy agencies, would be my guess.” Jeffries raised an eyebrow at the civilian. “Otherwise I don't see how you'd even have found out about my reports.”
“Something like that. Let's just say that an acquaintance of the Commander's has requested that she be assigned other duties. While we may request that she fly with Air Force One on occasion in the future, there are more immediate needs that we feel she might be able to assist with. Specifically, Commander – how did you get from in front of that formation to behind them during the last Top Gun exercise? We know you can -hide- from radars and other detectors, but there shouldn't have been enough -time- for you to get from where you dropped off to where you ended up. We've had people run models, and there is simply no way the aircraft could have gone between those points that quickly.”
Sterling looked uncomfortable as the two humans stared up at her. “I'm not sure how I do it, myself. But that time, when all those locks were setting up, I just.... wanted to be somewhere else, and I was. Eventually. But... it wasn't instantly, either. I'm not teleporting, if that's what you're thinking.”
“So what -are- you doing?”
“I... met with one of the Immortals once. He calls me Shadow. And I think I -am-. Only at night, but...at night, I can merge with the shadows, move through them if I wish. I'm not quite sure how I'm doing it, or how far I can go, but...”
Her about-to-be former CO nodded. “But this is something magic-oriented, isn't it?”
She nodded. “I'm thinking so, yes. And it worries me. Ever since the Change happened, I'm more and more comfortable after dark. Sunlight is not something I enjoy any more.” Her laugh was forced and more than a little bit brittle. “At least I'm not hungry for blood, but I'm not sure how long that will last.”
“And that's what -my- boss suspected. Captain Jeffries?” He reached into his jacket and pulled out several sheets of paper, shuffled through them, and then selected one. “I'm going to have to request that the Commander be forwarded to Los Alamos. There's training going on there that I think she would benefit from. And that would make better use of her talents than as a night-fighter pilot.” He handed each of them a copy. “There we are. One for you to file, Captain, and one for the Commander herself. Can you be ready to move in two days, Commander?”
“For temporary duty, of course. Not for a PCS.”
“That'll be fine, Commander. I'll see you there on Thursday.”
* * * *
The lioness smiled as she was ushered into the alternate offices of the NSA. “Director. Thank you for meeting with me again.”
Lowe half-bowed in acknowledgement. “It is not a problem, Ambassador. Well, aside from State complaining that I'm stepping all over their turf. I don't think any of them are quite used to the idea of back-channels based on Immortal status. What may I do for you today?”
“I have had an interesting conversation. With Thor.”
“Oh? I wasn't aware he knew the message-magics. Of course, I left Coyote with him when I visited...”
“The Aesir generally used water-magics rather than fire-magics. So that could explain it, though Coyote was nowhere to be seen. Still. The Thunderer asked me to visit him, and added that we were both 'bound to maintain the peace as guests in the Diviner's Kingdom.'” She quirked an eyebrow at the wolf.
Lowe rubbed her forehead. “I will assume he meant that as a kingdom I advise, not one that I rule. I told him that personally. But if he says something like that to a reporter... half of them still can't handle the fact that the succession laws switched their favorites out of power when Quetzalcoatl hit the White House. Implying that I'm the mastermind behind it all...”
“That would put the fox in with the chickens, as you say.”
“So far, he hasn't been chatting with reporters, but I suppose it's only a matter of time until they find someone who can speak Icelandic. Thank you for the warning.”
“The least we can do to repay your assistance, Diviner.” Bast smirked as the wolf flattened her ears. “All right, your President's assistance. At any rate, when I asked your State Department to set up a meeting, they hemmed and hawed and eventually said you would have to authorize it.”
Lowe's ears re-flattened. “Seriously? You are both free agents. Thor counts as a private citizen, though currently a guest of the US government, and you are the ambassador of a friendly power. Neither of you needs permission to travel. I shall have to have a talk with someone. I doubt the Secretary did that.”
“I believe this was from the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs.”
“Ah. That one. We're working on getting rid of her, but... she's civil service, and pretty much can't be fired except for actual malfeasance. Simple incompetence isn't enough.”
“Are you -sure- your government makes sense?”
“This arrangement was set up to keep the politicians from firing everyone in the bureaucracy whenever the Presidency switched parties. It has advantages... and drawbacks. With an Immortal as head of government, you wouldn't need the advantages, since you don't have the chance of a new faction grabbing the steering wheel every four years.”
“An... interesting metaphor. So I take it I have your permission?”
“Not that you need it, but yes. Sorry about the nuisance.”
“Actually...” Bast looked at the wolf. “I did want to ask some questions before I visited him. Rumor has it that you have spoken to both Thor and Loki recently.”
“Ah. And you are curious as to what I may have learned.”
“You could say that, yes.”
Lowe nodded. “Even Coyote hadn't known this before. But he played me up as the current equivalent to the Norns, and got Thor to unbend enough to give me his side of the story. Loki... blames the Aesir for the death of Nalfi. But according to Thor, she committed suicide rather than die of old age at the end of her first Convergence. Loki will not accept this, and though he conceals it well... he is deluding himself. The Alpha doesn't know that he's lying, because he honestly believes what he says. But deep inside, he knows the truth just enough for -me- to pick up on it.”
“Any idea why Thor wants to see me?”
“My guess? He is lonely, milady. You are one of three or four of his contemporaries still alive; and of those few, one is insane and hates him, and one is only interested in war – and has tried to goad him into attacking us, after seeing how we dealt with Quetzalcoatl and Creya. I suspect he simply wants to talk to you about the old times.” The wolf grinned. “Well, maybe he wants to wrestle. Sekhmet was a warrior goddess, wasn't she?”
The lioness purred laughter. “I have not done that in ages. I would be terribly out of practice.”
“At any rate, you may visit him whenever you wish. I'll make sure the gatekeepers know you're on the 'No Questions' list.”
* * * *
The F/A-18 settled onto the runway at Kirtland Air Force Base at precisely 0108 hours Mountain Daylight Time. The pilot switched to the ground control frequency as the jet slowed down. “Welcome to New Mexico, Nighthawk. Your party is waiting at your hangar; please take the next turnout and follow the guide cart.”
“Turnout 4-1 and follow the guide cart, aye.” Sterling guided her jet to the hangar, then waited for the ground crew to open the canopy and unbuckle her from the cockpit harness before spreading her own wings and gliding to the ground instead of using the ladder. Another member of the ground crew was already collecting her gear from the 'boot' and loading it into the waiting car. She smiled as she saw who was waiting to collect her. “Stardancer? You came down here personally?”
The redhead grinned. “You thought I would send a flunky to fetch you? You're an old friend ever since the Pentagon. And I wanted to start figuring you out as soon as possible, anyway. It's about two hours to Los Alamos from here. There's snacks and coffee in the car, but if you need to freshen up before we head out...?”
“I'll be back in five minutes.”
* * * *
The bat settled into the rear of the limousine four minutes later, and the car started moving almost immediately. The driver and a guard sat in the front, separated from them by bulletproof glass. “So what have you been doing?”
“This, that, and the other. The Eldest has been very helpful about things on occasion, and we've been making some very interesting progress on the generator front. Though it feels very strange to be working with an actual engineer on projects. You've met him, I think. Kenneth McKenzie. Wasn't he in the Norfolk group back when the Event happened?”
“McKenzie... wait. Kenneth? The dragon? The -dragon- is your engineer?”
“Yep. Built the prototype for the bomb the Navy used on the Kraken, and now he's working on Project Mirror. We found someone who can actually measure the strength of magical fields, and they're figuring out the basic principles. Kenneth says he expects to have proper instrumentation by the end of the year. In the meantime, we've got a workable converter using the hint that Wei Lung gave us about using jade. We have no idea how efficient it is, or even why it works at this point, but it does convert heat energy into magical energy.”
“So how do I come into this?”
Stardancer settled back in her seat. “You are one of about a dozen new Immortals we know of in the United States. We suspect there are others, but we won't know for sure for another fifty years or so. And half of us were in on that meeting with the Eldest.You remember what he called us? Stardancer, Storm, Guardian, Diviner and...”
“And I was Shadow. I've been thinking about that -very- much the past few months. I am becoming a creature of the night. I am uncomfortable in daylight, but in the darkness? I -am- a shadow. I can move unseen, pass through barriers if I wish, blind eyes and sensors to my presence. And even during the day, I can do most of that if I am shielded from the sun. But an Immortal? How do you know?”
“We know because you were at the meeting. We've been experimenting with those invitations. McKenzie can read it, and we already know the Dragons are Immortals. Most people simply can't. Director Lowe had it confirmed when she talked to Thor and Coyote. We've found a few others, people who were elderly at the time of the Event and have since gotten younger, but it takes a while to find out for most people. But you are one of them. One of us, I should say... So we need to know what you can do, what the limits are. We need to do that for all of us, really, but you are less in control of what is happening at the moment, so you get priority, oh Princess of the Night.”
Sterling snorted. 'What, not Queen of Air and Dar -- ?”
Stardancer interrupted her before she could finish. “That was a title reputed to belong to one of the Fae. Until we know more about things, I would prefer not to invoke such names. Let's just stick with 'The Magic Flute' for inspiration right now.”
* * * *
Dr. Ryan stared at the results of the latest set of gene scans, pondering the anomalies. She finally opened the confidential folder on her laptop and began typing up her observations. “Fifty test samples fall into three groups with an extremely high probability correlation. Samples 2, 8, 22, 24, and 47 have unusually long telomere strands, on the order of two to three times longer than those of newborns. In addition, samples 10, 17, 29, 33, and 36 show telomere lengths typical of newborns, although all test samples are from adults. The remaining samples do not show any unusual characteristics and fall roughly on a standard distribution curve for adults aged 25 through 50, which is the reported age of the sample donors. As telomere length is already suspected of being an important factor in longevity, these discrepancies provide, in my opinion, sufficient cause to open the seals on the double-blind identification data.” She copied the note into an email message and a few minutes later it was on its way to Atlanta.
The reply was waiting for her the next morning.
Identification data decryption key: 4jos8TzMlhl Actual data file: E.
It was the work of only a few moments for the computer to decode the files once it had the key. She nodded to herself at the results. “All right. The super-longs belong to Kenneth McKenzie, Sean Carroll, Coyote... Coyote?” She shook her head and continued reading. “Irene Makosky, and Karen Sterling. Three dragons, a known shapeshifter, and... a bat Changeling with stealth powers. The undepleted telomeres are... oh, my. Stardancer, John Whitford, Janet Lowe. Serious powers here, too. Nancy Smith... ah, the Stormchild. And Valerie Ryan...” She blinked hard at the last name. “ME?”
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Hmm, seems like dragons, shapeshifters, and vampires(?) have extremely long lives while "humanoid" immortals use magic to constantly rejuvenate themselves. Amiright?
And yeah Sterling, even if you're Immortal ticking off one of the Fair Folk is probably a bad idea.
And yeah Sterling, even if you're Immortal ticking off one of the Fair Folk is probably a bad idea.
Undead are something separate. Dragons and shapeshifters have the long lives - but dragons are shapeshifters anyway so that's no surprise. The Sorcerer Prince, Bast, Ba-Yabel, Thor, and a few others aren't shapeshifters but have survived anyway. They're going to try to figure out how.
Ah, but Sterling doesn't know she's an Immortal yet. She's a fairly devout Christian, so that news will freak her out a little bit.
As for the Fae? They don't seem to be around; but Stardancer isn't sure if that means they're hiding, dead, or were never real. And if it's one of the first two, even having a couple survive means you don't want to trigger their attention...
At any rate, one more chapter. And then a little hiatus to build up some extra buffer and I start posting Book 2.
Ah, but Sterling doesn't know she's an Immortal yet. She's a fairly devout Christian, so that news will freak her out a little bit.
As for the Fae? They don't seem to be around; but Stardancer isn't sure if that means they're hiding, dead, or were never real. And if it's one of the first two, even having a couple survive means you don't want to trigger their attention...
At any rate, one more chapter. And then a little hiatus to build up some extra buffer and I start posting Book 2.
Didn't Stardancer outright tell Sterling she was an Immortal in this chapter?
And are you planning on collecting Changelings into e-book form? I think I could remember all the characters more easily if I could read it all in one document, preferably on e-paper to avoid eyestrain.
And are you planning on collecting Changelings into e-book form? I think I could remember all the characters more easily if I could read it all in one document, preferably on e-paper to avoid eyestrain.
PDF would probably reach the widest audience, but mobi would work best on the kindle I usually use to read e-books, I found a free converter for that: http://ebook.online-convert.com/convert-to-mobi
Just wondering, how much do covers usually cost? I bought an "off-the-shelf" cover for $30 from these guys ( http://graphiczxdesigns.zenfolio.com/ ) when I last tried self-publishing. But I'm thinking I should spring for a new custom-made one.
Just wondering, how much do covers usually cost? I bought an "off-the-shelf" cover for $30 from these guys ( http://graphiczxdesigns.zenfolio.com/ ) when I last tried self-publishing. But I'm thinking I should spring for a new custom-made one.
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