Authors: Kurt Bartling
“Ah, yeah, sure.”
She
answers,
confounded with the developments.
“Great.
” Rena
asserts
merrily,
“
Listen
,
I have
an appointment in the infirmary.
W
hy don’t you
two
get
some
combat
training
in
?
Meg, y
ou’re in great hands,
Michael
is an excellent teacher;
h
e taught me everything I know.”
“Here let me take you to the infirm…”
Michael
begins
to offer
.
“No … No, I’m okay. Besides
, Mr. Black will take me, i
f you don’t mind?”
Rena turn
s
to
address
the approaching
Seer
.
“Oh
my dear
,
I would be honored to
escort
you. But do me a favor, can we avoid any altercations, it’s been a while since I’ve had to lay
the wood
down on someone.”
“You?
I’d have thought you’d be looking for an opportunity
to
tussle.”
She teases
.
“Tussle maybe.
W
hat you and Michael do, that’s
an entirely different thing.” Mr. Black
clarifies
.
“No altercations then, I promise
.
”
Mr. Black pushes Rena out of the
dining hall, both in animated conversation.
Michael
, distant,
watches
her
leave.
“You know, you really did do a great job teaching her. She was amazing. I’m sorry she got hur
t.” Meg
comments looking
down
and poking
her breakfast
.
H
is mind returning to the moment
,
Michael
turns to
Meg.
P
olitely
smiling to make her
more
comfortable, he expounds,
“She give
s
me too much credit. She was pretty good when we first met. Besides, she wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for you.”
He states, acknowledging
her
involvement in Rena’s wellbeing
, hoping to build
Meg’s
confidence
.
“I didn’t do much
.”
“But Meg, you did … just by doing.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It was something Rena told me.
Deciding to,
d
o
or
not do
…
makes all the difference. Does that make sense?”
“Oddly, it did. I see why she loves you so much.”
“Then you probably see why I love her too.
She makes me a better person.
”
“I do. You
’
r
e
both very lucky.”
“I don’t know how much luck has to do with it. We exist in dichotomy,
trained
kill
ers
trying to
exist
on moral ground
.
It d
oesn’t seem very lucky to me. But I’ll take whatever I can get.
”
“I would never have taken you for a philosopher.” Meg looking
intrigued
with Michael
’
s unexpected depth.
“Another
part of me that Rena seems to bring out. Well, grasshopper, should I teach you how to break bones. I’ll leave the breaking hearts to Rena and
Ms. Smith
.”
“Sensei, lead on.”
…
T
aking their time getting to the infirmary
,
Rena and Mr. Bl
ack have a rousing conversation
.
“So
,
how did you become a Seer?”
She
asks
.
“I survived.”
“Excuse me?”
“I used to be CIA, counter intelligence. When the
U
.
S
.
governm
ent collapsed, a lot of us
hired on as contractors and
consultants for many of the largest firms. As you can
tell,
intelligence is the name of the game now. Well, Alexander found me and asked if I
’
d come on board. That was some
twenty
years ago.
I’ve been here since. Seen a lot,
and survived a lot.”
“So, you were ‘invited’?”
“Back then, it wasn’t quite so acrimonious. It was an invitation, but I did have a choice. In fact, the invitation was actually the result of my efforts to join the firm.” He hesitates, recalling his past. “At that time, positioning was extremely important.
The g
overnment was so weak
by that point
; it was just a matter of time. You had to d
o what you could to survive.”
“No interest in getting out?
” She
asks, her tone
respectful.
“Getting out
?” Black muses.
Tipping her head to the side,
her curiosity rising
as she considers him.
“T
o what?
You’ve been out there,
it’s
destitute. I’d never survive. I had to give up a lot to get here.
” He
ripostes,
his focus distant,
“
Besides, this place has a way of keeping its own.”
Rena says nothing more about the subject, knowing what the comment implied.
“So
,
what are you working on now? Whitemire?”
“Are you probing me
,
my
dear?
” He
chuckles.
“No, I guess
,
not really. I keep hearing abo
ut Whitemire, but because of this blasted
concussion,
I’m completely out of the loop …
not allowed to work
on a computer or read any files.
I’m just trying to stay
caught
up on the goings on.”
“
I u
nderst
an
d.
” He
states, knowingly, “
Incidentally, I’m working two operation profile
s
,
one is Whitemire. That one is
‘
watch and wait
’.
Not sure if anything is going to come of it. I’m also researching a professor from MIT, a Leonidas Drakos.”
“Really, what
’
s
that all about? “
She
inquires.
“That one, I’m not too sure about, seems kind of fringe-worthy to me. He’s not really connected to anyone of interest, corporate-wise. He used to do predictive analysis for the CIA.
I’d heard of him back in the day.
It could be a rabbit hole. … Well
,
my dear, here we are. Would you like me to wait?”
“No
,
that’s okay. I expect to walk out of here
under my own power
. If not,
I’
ll call Waters. I need to talk to Takada anyway.
Thank you very much.”
Rena
,
gesturing for him to bend down
,
kisses him on the cheek.
“So doc
, can I walk out of here on my own
?”
“You know young lady
,” The physician intimates coarsely, “
I have a mind to keep you in the chair, just so I don’t have to deal with your wreckage.
However
, as I’ve become all too familiar, pissing you off might be detrimental to my
own
health. I see no lingering hematoma and you’re not exhib
iting post-concussive symptoms. S
o yes
,
you
may
resume active duty.
My
only
restriction
…
lay off the fighting. Not so much for you
r health …
for everyone else
’s
.”
“Thanks doc. Hey
,
by the way, what happened to the two guys
I sent your way?”
Rena asks.
“I patched them up as best I could. I think they got sent to a different installation. You messed them up pretty good, so it’s hard to say.”
“I was
just wondering.” Rena
jumps
off the examination
table
,
hap
py to be walking out on her own
.
Exiting
the infirmary
,
she
head
s
to Takada’s office.
Entering
the
private lobby,
Takada’s
personal assistant
recognizes
Rena
,
gesturing
for her
to take a seat
and immediately ca
lls to alert him of her arrival.
After a few minutes,
Takada
steps
out
, “Good morning Rena,
great
to see you up and about on your own.
”
“Thank you.”
“So, for w
hat reason should I thank for this
meeting
?”
Michael
describe
d this behavior
as ‘
saccharin
’; fake sweetness
,
Rena
smiles
,
s
ickened by the false pretense,
well aware of the game of
chess
currently
playing
out between her and Takada
.
“Could I have a word with you regarding Meg
…
Privately
?
”
The question is, does Takada, and
how much
credence
is he giving her
.
“Of course.
P
lease come in.” Takada
step
s
aside
,
inviting
Rena into his office
. Their
conversation
drawing
far too much attention
from his assistant,
he
instruct
s
her
they are not to be disturbed.
The doors closed, he o
ffer
s
Rena
a seat in
a
less formal sitting area,
then
inquires
if he can get her anything
.
She declines, walking a small circle
around the office, taking
it all in. There’
s a glass top, contemporary
looking desk and leather chair
centered in front of the far wall
.
To the left of the entrance, i
n
a separate
section
of the large office,
the
lounge
area with
its
four leather chairs
, table and small bar
decorated
in Asian motif.
Hanging on the
walls
around
the office
, t
hirteen
Asian-
style
paintings
depict scenes
or strategies
of battle.
“Sun Tsu?”