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feredarStory: Gambit
Year: 989 FY
Characters: Amassa, Riluke, Lonura, Andrell, Nolani, Nellid, Isshiri, Kirana, Sorell, Nida, Rema, Kellom, Fera, Tana, Sorell Younger, Mel, Taz, Kes, Dallu
Warnings: References to kidnapping and character/familial/parental death, brief depiction of child abuse/neglect, violence, Rema, Tana, possible background implication of sexual assault
Notes: This takes place in the In SPACE AU.
5. Stilts
A bulletin, carrying the watermark of Deilan News, scrolls across every screen in the Republic of United Earth and its colonies, at 6AM Standard Time. It scrolls across the minds of cyborgs and non-Fused implantees alike, across televisions, computers, phones.
"At 3:00 AM Standard Time this morning, Speaker of the House Kesshare Heidari was abducted from her private residence. We have confirmed at least two fatalities on the scene, though whether they are household staff or members of Speaker Heidari's family has not been released. We will be providing updates as they become available. This announcement will be repeated as audio in sixty minutes, unless you click the link below to opt any of your personal devices out."
The release ends, and the chaos begins.
1. King cake
Amassa heard the news before the release went out, but only by about twenty minutes, when a reporter called to ask if he had any comment.
He hung up on them, and tried calling his niece's house. If this wasn't a hoax, the family would need to band together. Particularly for Ineku and the children, though he and Riluke were hardly unaffected. The first four times, he got a busy signal, then Ineku's private secretary answered.
"What happened?" Amassa asked. "What can I do to help?"
"You should get here, sir," the secretary said, after a moment. "It's...I haven't been able to reach the children and...it's bad."
"The reporter said there had been deaths...?"
"Yes, sir. Four of the guards and--"
"I was told two deaths."
"Yes, sir. We're trying to control the flow of information until we've reached everyone's families."
"Of course. I understand. Four of the guards and...?"
The secretary took an audible breath. "Ineku, sir."
Amassa stared at the phone for a long moment, then somehow ended the conversation and slowly hung up. He was under no illusions as to his niece's nature, and he was fairly sure Ineku kept her human.
So to speak.
He closed his eyes and prayed quietly, prayed that everyone else came out of this alive and all right.
Then he went and got his things together to head to his niece's home.
15. Lent
Riluke had sources everywhere, including in her aunt's home, so she was prepared for the official announcement. She set up a reminder for when it started--she wanted to know the official wording when it came, and she couldn't touch base with her cousins until she found out from an official source--and settled in trying to clean up this mess.
Which was why her aunt had approached her about cultivating sources. Riluke had intelligence background--not in legwork, but in analysis and coordination. Aunt Kesshare was skilled at many things, but she couldn't be everywhere at once. And if something went wrong...
Well, of all the people in Aunt Kesshare's inner circle, Riluke was the one best able to respond.
She sent a few inquiries down her usual pathways, to try and determine who was responsible. No one was claiming responsibility yet--depending on who they were, they might not for days. Riluke's money was on the Council of Freedom, though a few more strictly Purist groups weren't far behind in terms of likelihood.
While waiting for those to came back, she made a very special email.
Speaker taken. Council involvement likely. Stand by for instructions.
She waited a few minutes before receiving single-word affirmative response, then disconnected and slumped a little.
She'd done all she could, until she got official word. And, while she had no more than a professional respect for her aunt...
Riluke closed her eyes and silently wept for Ineku.
4. Ball
Lonura was on the phone with Andrell when the release went out.
"I think that's a little much," she was saying. "I mean, twenty-four isn't a milestone year. If we go that big for a party, we'll have to upstage it next year. As much as 'Lani likes spectacle..."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Andrell agreed. "I'm just glad I'll have leave when--"
His voice cut out and a bright-red text scroll wound across her phone screen. As it went by, Lonura felt more and more horrified.
"...oh, God," Andrell said, after a stunned thirty-second silence when it was over.
"I'll call you later," Lonura said hastily, and didn't wait for him to reply before hanging up, grabbing her purse, and running for the door.
8. Ash Wednesday
Nolani's phone rang at four in the morning.
She tried to ignore it at first--probably Lonura or Andrell, forgetting she was on Ganymede and two hours behind Standard Time, not four hours ahead like at home.
But then her phone yelled 'URGENT' at her in that irritating mechanical voice, so she rolled over and picked it up.
...okay, Great-Uncle Amassa never called her, and he was better about time differences than either Lony or Andy.
"What is it?" she asked.
"You need to come home."
"What?"
Before he could answer, a text message scrolled across her phone.
The world around her faded to white noise, and it wasn't until she heard her uncle calling her name, bordering on frantic, that she checked back in. "I'll send someone to get you. You're on Ganymede, right?"
"Y-yes."
"Stay where you are. Don't talk to any reporters."
I'm not an idiot, she wanted to snap, but she couldn't find the words. "Yes," she whispered again, then hung up.
She pulled the blanket up over her head and tried to hide, wishing desperately that it was still yesterday.
13. Bourbon Street
Nellid found Isshiri two hours after the audio announcement went through, in a hole-in-the-wall, filthy-looking bar that he knew his friend came to when he didn't want to deal with people.
Isshiri wasn't hard to miss, hunched over at the bar with a bottle of some kind of unidentifiable glow-in-the-dark liquor in front of him.
Nellid slid onto the stool next to him and got a soda for himself--he couldn't drink liquor, not with the alternative to a mechanical heart that he'd finally found. "Want to talk?"
He didn't answer for a long moment, then said, "I was doing a stunt."
"Yeah?"
"Diving off a ship in low orbit. Setting off colored sparks. The usual kind of stuff."
Nellid nodded.
"My phone was off."
He winced. "Oh."
"I should have been home."
Nellid reached for his friend's hand, and Isshiri didn't pull away.
"I can't go there. Not now. I just..."
"We'll go when you're ready," Nellid assured him,
Isshiri nodded, and poured himself another shot.
14. Flashing
Kirana, like Riluke, had spent most of her adult life watching the world and determining patterns. But while Riluke was concerned with the people behind events, Kirana just focused on the numbers. Especially now, all the world ran on numbers. If you understood them, you could predict anything.
Or so she'd thought.
She wondered, now, if that was really true. Since she hadn't been able to predict this. And it was such a huge thing, it should have been telegraphed a hundred times over. It had to be planned people had to be paid coded orders had to be transmitted.
She should have seen it coming.
Kirana stood for a long moment at the main entrance to her parents' slightly-charred home, then she took a deep breath and let herself in.
6. Costumes
President Nathanson shut himself in the small office on Space Corps One to draft a statement--this was not something he could leave to someone in the press office--and get control of his personal reaction.
He didn't particularly like Congresswoman Heidari, and he disagreed with her on essentially every issue of consequence, but he certainly respected her tenacity and her commitment to her ideals and goals. And her husband was--had been--a good man. President Nathanson would even go so far as to say he liked him.
And now Ineku was dead and Heidari kidnapped, and he had no idea whatsoever what to say, how to address it. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't capitalize on the political implications. And...what could he promise her family, her constituents, her political allies? Obviously, rescue would be attempted, but...
He couldn't bow to any demands. The Republic did not negotiate with terrorists.
As sickening as it was to contemplate, the President found himself hoping that someone had kidnapped the Speaker for entirely personal reasons. As much as he respected--and borderline admired--her, he knew her well enough to know that was plausible. Then it would be up to her uncle and children to negotiate, and they weren't bound in quite the same way he was.
Political abduction was less disturbing, but the President was almost positive that a personal one gave Congresswoman Heidari a much better chance of survival.
He let out a long slow breath, releasing all the distress over the issue, and sat down to draft his statement.
2. Beads
Nida left the TV on, watching for further updates as they came in. She wasn't...to say she wasn't surprised would be awful--what kind of person isn't shocked when a woman is abducted and at least two people murdered with no apparent motive?
And yet...
Nida knew full well how complex and brutal politics can be, which was why she chose to stay in the shadows, rather than pursue a career of her own--which was always an option. She was certainly smart enough and could deploy the necessary charm to win elections and had plenty of contacts to springboard her.
And, despite how charismatic Kesshare Heidari was, some of her positions were controversial enough--and she was certainly visible enough, as Speaker--to spark retribution.
Not that whoever had done this was justified. Even if Nida privately admitted her lack of surprise, she would never admit that. But...
Nida took a deep breath and prayed that Heidari would be recovered safely. Her children had already lost one parent under terrible circumstances. They deserved that much.
3. Parade
It's done.
Rema smiles at the text. Complications?
An unexpected death.
Will it be handled?
Yes.
Good. Keep me posted.
Her nephew didn't respond again, and Rema set her phone aside, satisfied. While some of Kesshare's politics were good--Rema supported several of her initiatives--the woman was a clear obstacle to lasting peace and prosperity in the Republic, just as much as the kind of radical Purism Kellom espoused without her to temper him.
So, Heidari would have to be removed. And doing so in this way threw up an elegant smokescreen. Everyone would be suspecting garden-variety radical Purists, never dreaming that someone from her own end of the political spectrum was involved. It would give Rema the time and space she needed to cripple her brother-in-law's presidency and pave the way for a brighter future.
Kellom only knew part of this, of course, but he hated Heidari and everything she stood for enough to not question Rema's motives or tactics. And, if she could just train him out of his too-radical approach, he did have the best interests of the Republic at heart, in his way.
Still. Everything had gone well--the unspecified-but-problematic death (probably the husband or one of the children) aside.
A good beginning to her work.
9. Masquerade
Kellom groaned internally when he received his orders.
Of course I'm heading up the official search.
"Kellom? Is something wrong?"
He shook his head, and smiled slightly at his wife. "No. Just...today."
Fera winced and nodded. "Are you going to be involved in the search?"
"Yes. I just got my orders."
She looked slightly disappointed. Probably because these orders meant she wouldn't see much of him for the forseeable future. "All right."
"I'll keep in touch," he promised her, though he wasn't at all sure he'd be able to keep that promise in any meaningful way.
But she brightened a little, and that made it worth it, sort of. He pitied his wife, often, and sometimes thought that--
Well, nevermind. He'd married her, and he was a decent husband, even if he couldn't spend much time at her.
Having satisfied her and sent her away, he turned his thoughts back to how the hell he was going to successfully pretend to run a search-and-rescue mission for his own prisoner.
10. Carnival
"Mommy?"
"Shush!"
Tana waved her son away and watched the news, barely supressing her glee. The Heidari bitch had been kidnapped. It was as good as Christmas come early. She couldn't wait to get in touch with Kellom and find out how happy this was making him.
Hell, it might even cut through that weird distance that had been between them since her son was born.
(Why he wouldn't speak to her was still a mystery, and little Sorell deserved better from his father.)
"Mommy, I don't feel good."
Tana sighed impatiently and turned to look at her son. He didn't look very good--all flushed and glassy. She sighed again. "Go back to bed, I'll be there in a minute. Mommy's busy right now."
"'Kay," he said, and trudged back to his bedroom.
Tana turned back to the news and spent another few minutes wallowing in the sheer glee of it all, before reluctantly shutting it off and heading to see what was wrong with her boy. After that, she'd call Kellom.
He'd have to take her call this time.
11. Confetti
It was like the sky had exploded above Mel's head.
He quickly clicked to save the announcement, and replayed the text over and over again until the audio came, and it finally sank in.
At first, he wasn't sure why it was hitting so hard--he'd only met Ri's aunt and uncle once or twice, and the Speaker was pretty damn terrifying. And it wasn't that he was upset for Ri, or for her cousins, or her grandfather. He couldn't even call and offer his condolences, when he really should, as a close friend outside the family. Because he wasn't upset for them. No, he was upset for himself and it was awful and selfish and there was no reason why it should--
Oh.
He knew why.
Everything good that had come to him in his life--his shop, his home, his closest friends--every bit of joy, had come, one way or another, from the Heidari family. Or at least everything good that wasn't tainted by Kit.
And now the most powerful, most prominent, most...most member of the family had been threatened, had been stolen from the sanctity of her own home.
Tiny fragments of safety and peace and joy rained down on Mel's head.
He still couldn't bring himself to call.
7. French Quarter
It was all over the news.
Deshell and Fesha read the first announcement together, then just looked at each other for a long minute.
He kissed her softly, then went to look in on each of the boys, then headed in to work.
So what if this was supposed to be his day off? The Speaker of the House had just been abducted.
For anyone working in law enforcement, there was no such thing as a free day today.
Fesha watched him as he left, kissing him one more time at the door, and they both knew that, even though the world had suddenly changed, they at least still had each other.
12. Floats
"Remember, everyone," Taz said to her strike crew, "incapacitate the guards. Don't kill no one if you don't have to. Kes?"
"Yes?"
"How long's it gonna take you to override the lockdown?"
"Ten seconds," her sister responded promptly. "I just need to get to a terminal."
"Hear that?" she called, and there was a ragged mutter of agreement. "Now, we got sixty seconds before lockdown initiates. So I want Kes at a terminal by second forty-five. That clear?"
Another ragged agreement.
"You all got your assignments? Good." She touched her comlink. "Dallu?"
He didn't answer right away, and she sighed internally. "I want to say again, Captain, that I think this is a bad idea. The collateral damage risk--"
"I know, darlin'. But think of what happens if we don't."
Another brief silence, and he sighed. "We're locked on target, Captain. Ready to jump on your order."
She smiled. "Execute."
The Morning Glory lurched, then there was a hellish sound of screaming, tearing metal. The lock hull beneath her feet heated up, and then they were through, to blaring alarms and shouting guards and flashing lights.
"Kes!" she shouted, but there wasn't any answer. She picked off a nearby guard's kneecap, sending him screaming to the ground, and then the lights and noise stopped.
Good job, little sister, she thought, and made a mental note to increase Kes's take.
She and her crew charged through the ship, taking out guards with little blips, until she finally found the door she was looking for.
She blasted through, and grinned at the short, mousy man who rose when she came in.
"Afternoon, Mr. President. We're goin' for a ride."
Year: 989 FY
Characters: Amassa, Riluke, Lonura, Andrell, Nolani, Nellid, Isshiri, Kirana, Sorell, Nida, Rema, Kellom, Fera, Tana, Sorell Younger, Mel, Taz, Kes, Dallu
Warnings: References to kidnapping and character/familial/parental death, brief depiction of child abuse/neglect, violence, Rema, Tana, possible background implication of sexual assault
Notes: This takes place in the In SPACE AU.
5. Stilts
A bulletin, carrying the watermark of Deilan News, scrolls across every screen in the Republic of United Earth and its colonies, at 6AM Standard Time. It scrolls across the minds of cyborgs and non-Fused implantees alike, across televisions, computers, phones.
"At 3:00 AM Standard Time this morning, Speaker of the House Kesshare Heidari was abducted from her private residence. We have confirmed at least two fatalities on the scene, though whether they are household staff or members of Speaker Heidari's family has not been released. We will be providing updates as they become available. This announcement will be repeated as audio in sixty minutes, unless you click the link below to opt any of your personal devices out."
The release ends, and the chaos begins.
1. King cake
Amassa heard the news before the release went out, but only by about twenty minutes, when a reporter called to ask if he had any comment.
He hung up on them, and tried calling his niece's house. If this wasn't a hoax, the family would need to band together. Particularly for Ineku and the children, though he and Riluke were hardly unaffected. The first four times, he got a busy signal, then Ineku's private secretary answered.
"What happened?" Amassa asked. "What can I do to help?"
"You should get here, sir," the secretary said, after a moment. "It's...I haven't been able to reach the children and...it's bad."
"The reporter said there had been deaths...?"
"Yes, sir. Four of the guards and--"
"I was told two deaths."
"Yes, sir. We're trying to control the flow of information until we've reached everyone's families."
"Of course. I understand. Four of the guards and...?"
The secretary took an audible breath. "Ineku, sir."
Amassa stared at the phone for a long moment, then somehow ended the conversation and slowly hung up. He was under no illusions as to his niece's nature, and he was fairly sure Ineku kept her human.
So to speak.
He closed his eyes and prayed quietly, prayed that everyone else came out of this alive and all right.
Then he went and got his things together to head to his niece's home.
15. Lent
Riluke had sources everywhere, including in her aunt's home, so she was prepared for the official announcement. She set up a reminder for when it started--she wanted to know the official wording when it came, and she couldn't touch base with her cousins until she found out from an official source--and settled in trying to clean up this mess.
Which was why her aunt had approached her about cultivating sources. Riluke had intelligence background--not in legwork, but in analysis and coordination. Aunt Kesshare was skilled at many things, but she couldn't be everywhere at once. And if something went wrong...
Well, of all the people in Aunt Kesshare's inner circle, Riluke was the one best able to respond.
She sent a few inquiries down her usual pathways, to try and determine who was responsible. No one was claiming responsibility yet--depending on who they were, they might not for days. Riluke's money was on the Council of Freedom, though a few more strictly Purist groups weren't far behind in terms of likelihood.
While waiting for those to came back, she made a very special email.
Speaker taken. Council involvement likely. Stand by for instructions.
She waited a few minutes before receiving single-word affirmative response, then disconnected and slumped a little.
She'd done all she could, until she got official word. And, while she had no more than a professional respect for her aunt...
Riluke closed her eyes and silently wept for Ineku.
4. Ball
Lonura was on the phone with Andrell when the release went out.
"I think that's a little much," she was saying. "I mean, twenty-four isn't a milestone year. If we go that big for a party, we'll have to upstage it next year. As much as 'Lani likes spectacle..."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Andrell agreed. "I'm just glad I'll have leave when--"
His voice cut out and a bright-red text scroll wound across her phone screen. As it went by, Lonura felt more and more horrified.
"...oh, God," Andrell said, after a stunned thirty-second silence when it was over.
"I'll call you later," Lonura said hastily, and didn't wait for him to reply before hanging up, grabbing her purse, and running for the door.
8. Ash Wednesday
Nolani's phone rang at four in the morning.
She tried to ignore it at first--probably Lonura or Andrell, forgetting she was on Ganymede and two hours behind Standard Time, not four hours ahead like at home.
But then her phone yelled 'URGENT' at her in that irritating mechanical voice, so she rolled over and picked it up.
...okay, Great-Uncle Amassa never called her, and he was better about time differences than either Lony or Andy.
"What is it?" she asked.
"You need to come home."
"What?"
Before he could answer, a text message scrolled across her phone.
The world around her faded to white noise, and it wasn't until she heard her uncle calling her name, bordering on frantic, that she checked back in. "I'll send someone to get you. You're on Ganymede, right?"
"Y-yes."
"Stay where you are. Don't talk to any reporters."
I'm not an idiot, she wanted to snap, but she couldn't find the words. "Yes," she whispered again, then hung up.
She pulled the blanket up over her head and tried to hide, wishing desperately that it was still yesterday.
13. Bourbon Street
Nellid found Isshiri two hours after the audio announcement went through, in a hole-in-the-wall, filthy-looking bar that he knew his friend came to when he didn't want to deal with people.
Isshiri wasn't hard to miss, hunched over at the bar with a bottle of some kind of unidentifiable glow-in-the-dark liquor in front of him.
Nellid slid onto the stool next to him and got a soda for himself--he couldn't drink liquor, not with the alternative to a mechanical heart that he'd finally found. "Want to talk?"
He didn't answer for a long moment, then said, "I was doing a stunt."
"Yeah?"
"Diving off a ship in low orbit. Setting off colored sparks. The usual kind of stuff."
Nellid nodded.
"My phone was off."
He winced. "Oh."
"I should have been home."
Nellid reached for his friend's hand, and Isshiri didn't pull away.
"I can't go there. Not now. I just..."
"We'll go when you're ready," Nellid assured him,
Isshiri nodded, and poured himself another shot.
14. Flashing
Kirana, like Riluke, had spent most of her adult life watching the world and determining patterns. But while Riluke was concerned with the people behind events, Kirana just focused on the numbers. Especially now, all the world ran on numbers. If you understood them, you could predict anything.
Or so she'd thought.
She wondered, now, if that was really true. Since she hadn't been able to predict this. And it was such a huge thing, it should have been telegraphed a hundred times over. It had to be planned people had to be paid coded orders had to be transmitted.
She should have seen it coming.
Kirana stood for a long moment at the main entrance to her parents' slightly-charred home, then she took a deep breath and let herself in.
6. Costumes
President Nathanson shut himself in the small office on Space Corps One to draft a statement--this was not something he could leave to someone in the press office--and get control of his personal reaction.
He didn't particularly like Congresswoman Heidari, and he disagreed with her on essentially every issue of consequence, but he certainly respected her tenacity and her commitment to her ideals and goals. And her husband was--had been--a good man. President Nathanson would even go so far as to say he liked him.
And now Ineku was dead and Heidari kidnapped, and he had no idea whatsoever what to say, how to address it. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't capitalize on the political implications. And...what could he promise her family, her constituents, her political allies? Obviously, rescue would be attempted, but...
He couldn't bow to any demands. The Republic did not negotiate with terrorists.
As sickening as it was to contemplate, the President found himself hoping that someone had kidnapped the Speaker for entirely personal reasons. As much as he respected--and borderline admired--her, he knew her well enough to know that was plausible. Then it would be up to her uncle and children to negotiate, and they weren't bound in quite the same way he was.
Political abduction was less disturbing, but the President was almost positive that a personal one gave Congresswoman Heidari a much better chance of survival.
He let out a long slow breath, releasing all the distress over the issue, and sat down to draft his statement.
2. Beads
Nida left the TV on, watching for further updates as they came in. She wasn't...to say she wasn't surprised would be awful--what kind of person isn't shocked when a woman is abducted and at least two people murdered with no apparent motive?
And yet...
Nida knew full well how complex and brutal politics can be, which was why she chose to stay in the shadows, rather than pursue a career of her own--which was always an option. She was certainly smart enough and could deploy the necessary charm to win elections and had plenty of contacts to springboard her.
And, despite how charismatic Kesshare Heidari was, some of her positions were controversial enough--and she was certainly visible enough, as Speaker--to spark retribution.
Not that whoever had done this was justified. Even if Nida privately admitted her lack of surprise, she would never admit that. But...
Nida took a deep breath and prayed that Heidari would be recovered safely. Her children had already lost one parent under terrible circumstances. They deserved that much.
3. Parade
It's done.
Rema smiles at the text. Complications?
An unexpected death.
Will it be handled?
Yes.
Good. Keep me posted.
Her nephew didn't respond again, and Rema set her phone aside, satisfied. While some of Kesshare's politics were good--Rema supported several of her initiatives--the woman was a clear obstacle to lasting peace and prosperity in the Republic, just as much as the kind of radical Purism Kellom espoused without her to temper him.
So, Heidari would have to be removed. And doing so in this way threw up an elegant smokescreen. Everyone would be suspecting garden-variety radical Purists, never dreaming that someone from her own end of the political spectrum was involved. It would give Rema the time and space she needed to cripple her brother-in-law's presidency and pave the way for a brighter future.
Kellom only knew part of this, of course, but he hated Heidari and everything she stood for enough to not question Rema's motives or tactics. And, if she could just train him out of his too-radical approach, he did have the best interests of the Republic at heart, in his way.
Still. Everything had gone well--the unspecified-but-problematic death (probably the husband or one of the children) aside.
A good beginning to her work.
9. Masquerade
Kellom groaned internally when he received his orders.
Of course I'm heading up the official search.
"Kellom? Is something wrong?"
He shook his head, and smiled slightly at his wife. "No. Just...today."
Fera winced and nodded. "Are you going to be involved in the search?"
"Yes. I just got my orders."
She looked slightly disappointed. Probably because these orders meant she wouldn't see much of him for the forseeable future. "All right."
"I'll keep in touch," he promised her, though he wasn't at all sure he'd be able to keep that promise in any meaningful way.
But she brightened a little, and that made it worth it, sort of. He pitied his wife, often, and sometimes thought that--
Well, nevermind. He'd married her, and he was a decent husband, even if he couldn't spend much time at her.
Having satisfied her and sent her away, he turned his thoughts back to how the hell he was going to successfully pretend to run a search-and-rescue mission for his own prisoner.
10. Carnival
"Mommy?"
"Shush!"
Tana waved her son away and watched the news, barely supressing her glee. The Heidari bitch had been kidnapped. It was as good as Christmas come early. She couldn't wait to get in touch with Kellom and find out how happy this was making him.
Hell, it might even cut through that weird distance that had been between them since her son was born.
(Why he wouldn't speak to her was still a mystery, and little Sorell deserved better from his father.)
"Mommy, I don't feel good."
Tana sighed impatiently and turned to look at her son. He didn't look very good--all flushed and glassy. She sighed again. "Go back to bed, I'll be there in a minute. Mommy's busy right now."
"'Kay," he said, and trudged back to his bedroom.
Tana turned back to the news and spent another few minutes wallowing in the sheer glee of it all, before reluctantly shutting it off and heading to see what was wrong with her boy. After that, she'd call Kellom.
He'd have to take her call this time.
11. Confetti
It was like the sky had exploded above Mel's head.
He quickly clicked to save the announcement, and replayed the text over and over again until the audio came, and it finally sank in.
At first, he wasn't sure why it was hitting so hard--he'd only met Ri's aunt and uncle once or twice, and the Speaker was pretty damn terrifying. And it wasn't that he was upset for Ri, or for her cousins, or her grandfather. He couldn't even call and offer his condolences, when he really should, as a close friend outside the family. Because he wasn't upset for them. No, he was upset for himself and it was awful and selfish and there was no reason why it should--
Oh.
He knew why.
Everything good that had come to him in his life--his shop, his home, his closest friends--every bit of joy, had come, one way or another, from the Heidari family. Or at least everything good that wasn't tainted by Kit.
And now the most powerful, most prominent, most...most member of the family had been threatened, had been stolen from the sanctity of her own home.
Tiny fragments of safety and peace and joy rained down on Mel's head.
He still couldn't bring himself to call.
7. French Quarter
It was all over the news.
Deshell and Fesha read the first announcement together, then just looked at each other for a long minute.
He kissed her softly, then went to look in on each of the boys, then headed in to work.
So what if this was supposed to be his day off? The Speaker of the House had just been abducted.
For anyone working in law enforcement, there was no such thing as a free day today.
Fesha watched him as he left, kissing him one more time at the door, and they both knew that, even though the world had suddenly changed, they at least still had each other.
12. Floats
"Remember, everyone," Taz said to her strike crew, "incapacitate the guards. Don't kill no one if you don't have to. Kes?"
"Yes?"
"How long's it gonna take you to override the lockdown?"
"Ten seconds," her sister responded promptly. "I just need to get to a terminal."
"Hear that?" she called, and there was a ragged mutter of agreement. "Now, we got sixty seconds before lockdown initiates. So I want Kes at a terminal by second forty-five. That clear?"
Another ragged agreement.
"You all got your assignments? Good." She touched her comlink. "Dallu?"
He didn't answer right away, and she sighed internally. "I want to say again, Captain, that I think this is a bad idea. The collateral damage risk--"
"I know, darlin'. But think of what happens if we don't."
Another brief silence, and he sighed. "We're locked on target, Captain. Ready to jump on your order."
She smiled. "Execute."
The Morning Glory lurched, then there was a hellish sound of screaming, tearing metal. The lock hull beneath her feet heated up, and then they were through, to blaring alarms and shouting guards and flashing lights.
"Kes!" she shouted, but there wasn't any answer. She picked off a nearby guard's kneecap, sending him screaming to the ground, and then the lights and noise stopped.
Good job, little sister, she thought, and made a mental note to increase Kes's take.
She and her crew charged through the ship, taking out guards with little blips, until she finally found the door she was looking for.
She blasted through, and grinned at the short, mousy man who rose when she came in.
"Afternoon, Mr. President. We're goin' for a ride."