Edward Read online

  “Crazy fans, that's what worries me,” interjected Kestrel. Edward hadn't seen Kestrel poke his head up in a while. He was a Taik like Edward, but a Lowlander from the Altshea Confederation. His primary work was in explosives: setting them up, or rendering other people’s work safe. Man, did he have steel nerves.

  “You nervous?” asked Edward.

  “For myself, no. Most of these devices have been rank amateur. I'm far more concerned for the population. The more effective we become, the more aggressively they may lash out. This needs to be a counter insurgency operation as much as a guard detail or we will always be two steps behind.”

  “Excellent point. We should treat it like a normal CI operation,” concurred Jake. “The question here is, can we make our deployment contingent on them giving us investigative power as well?”

  “What? You two being more conservative than me?” joked Edward. “That's new.”

  Kestrel shook his head, “This is a different beast. Normally there are darn few neutrals and it is all about pointing us at the bad guys. In this case, 99.99% of the population is neutral and we have to make sure they don't get dragged along into the mix.”

  Edward nodded his agreement, he was being cavalier and Kestrel was being practical. “Okay, I'm with Kestrel on this then; not unless they broaden our authority.”

  “Given the exceptionally delicate nature of the situation, that seems perfectly reasonable,” began Kadu. “I'll forward our concerns and conditional acceptance.”

  “Good, so we done here?” asked Jake.

  “Yes indeed,” replied Kadu.

  “Eh, you never had to worry about Edward accepting this one Kadu,” said Jake with a grin.

  “And how is that?”

  “Have you seen how little Tatiana wears on stage?” joked Jake.

  Edward, more than ever, wished he was a High Silver. Just so he could fade from view.

  Kadu quickly caught up with Edward in the hall. Being nearly twice as tall made that easy enough. “So is it true,” began Kadu, “that your acceptance was tempered by the exceptional physical attributes of the lady in question?”

  “Ah, jealous already are you? Don't worry Kadu, I only have eyes for you,” joked Edward.

  “Advancing that agenda would be socially and physically awkward, but you don't seem to be constrained by social norms. That only leaves concerns of physicality.”

  Edward stopped dead in his tracks as his ears twitched and his fur rippled in color uncontrollably. It took him a few moments to calm down, “Kadu, that was a joke. I mean... really...”

  Kadu flashed a broad toothy grin, “I was well aware it was a joke. It was, in fact, the desire to elicit a strong emotional response from you that encouraged me to offer my response as I did.”

  Edward laughed. He hadn't expected her to crack a joke back, and he fell right into it. “Yes, ma'am, you got me. Probably couldn't have gotten a stronger reaction unless you had closed a door on my tail. But to answer you first question more honestly. Maybe. Maybe I did. She is quite a looker.”

  “That would go far to address several outstanding bets amongst those in the unit as to your orientation,” replied Kadu. She stood there staring at him for a long moment, “That too, was a joke.”

  “Promise me, Kadu. Promise me only one joke at my expense a day.”

  “That seems a perfectly acceptable arrangement.”

  5

  Three days. Three dreadfully long and boring days. Nothing but policy and procedures. How to interact with the local law enforcement, where they did and did not have the authority to work. Edward had a hard time sleeping at night, he was doing far too much of it in the day. But it all was for their benefit. They had asked for, and the governor had granted them, limited authority to investigate the actions against his daughter, Tatiana. At first they had expected a lot of push back from the local police, but it was soon apparent that they were glad to dump the responsibility off on someone else. Between the news coverage and the governor breathing down their necks, they were happy to have off worlders take over. Okay, 'happy' was a strong word, but definitely relieved. They were at half strength, only twenty five of the team were available. They still kept the moniker of the 517th, but Edward actually missed the other half of the team. Fifteen Shukurae, five humans and five Taik. Not much of a team for a normal operation, but it was just a guard detail after all. Tomorrow they were taking over. Finally! As the day's meetings finally dragged to a close, the realization of going live finally started to take hold. Giddy, school boy anticipation started to kick in as they left the conference that final day.

  Trevor, one of the Lowland Taik, and the one who was going to be the direct liaison with the local police, caught up with Edward as the meeting broke up, “Are you sure you are okay being the point body guard for her? I know you have awesome reflexes, but you are definitely going to be a sitting duck.”

  “My look and accent are way too far off base for me to work as the undercover type. No one would believe I was a local. Besides, like I said back on the ship, it does sound like the fun part of the job.”

  “Okay, but if you change your mind, just yell and we can cycle people through your spot.”

  “I got you on the local's cameras, Jake and Paul on the rooftops, Kestrel ready to roll in as bomb tech on a moment's notice, Kadu as my own personal crowd plow and all the rest of the team less than thirty seconds out. I'm good, seriously.”

  "I do wish we could keep more of the Shukurae out front and center. They do a good job of keeping people in line."

  "Yeah, but Tatiana runs rock shows not freak shows, so Shukurae wouldn't play well with the spectators. I do understand that for the actual big concerts that they are going to be far easier to embed."

  "I really hope so; ever worked a crowd of thirty thousand? It's a mess even if people are on their best behavior."

  "I'll take your word for it," laughed Edward. "That is one reason for being a point guard for her, I don't have to worry about organizing all that. I let you handle that and I just make sure no one hands her a set of roses that ticks!"

  "Yeah, but you have to deal with the diva."

  "How bad can she be?"

  Trevor laughed, "Very!"

  The next morning, Edward found himself on the way to meet Tatiana for the first time. She was going to be heading out to a simple interview downtown. Their first big event wasn't for several weeks, but Edward's first job was to figure out how to be her shadow without getting in her way. He smiled as he waved his pass in front of the security door at the front of the massive hotel. He knew that Jake was already across the street and twelve stories up watching the whole place with a high power rifle beside him. Across the street were four armed and armored Shukurae ready to shadow them when they left the building. It was day one, but it felt like old times. The joy of working with people you had known for a year.

  Edward passed through the hotel security screening portal without setting off even a simple "beep." He approached the elevator and pressed the call button as a service attendant came out to meet him.

  "That is a private elevator, sir."

  "I should hope so," Edward flashed his ID, "Edward Silverglade of Tatiana's new security detail."

  "Shouldn't you have a sidearm to declare?"

  Edward flashed an evil grin as the doors started to close, "No, I'm fine. Thank you."

  The attendant did not actually check his face to the photo. Bad form. That was going to have to change. The private elevator could not be seen by the second sniper across the street. They were going to need a covert camera to help fill the gap. Sloppy.

  Edward stepped out to the atrium of the penthouse to only mild bedlam. No furniture or plants were being thrown. No signs of the level of insanity that Trevor had teased him about. It was all quite calm. Well calm for a war zone. There were three attendants screaming at each other while the local hotel security stood by the door and ignored them the best he could. Edward flashed his ID to the rent-a-cop. Hey! H
e actually checked the picture. That was a start. Edward quickly surveyed the three and their high octane conversation. He could place all three as employees based on his earlier briefing. Gillian was who he was looking for, Tatiana's 'handler' as it were. She kept the appointment books and was the administrative brains behind the operation. She wasn't among these three so he pressed on to the door to the penthouse proper.

  "You can't go in there," one of them suddenly barked in his direction.

  He flashed another toothy grin, "False." He swept his pass across the door lock and it opened with a click. He quickly stepped into the apartment and closed the door briskly behind him. It was a lovely place. Large and elegant without being gaudy. At least someone had taste. The main room was occupied by Tatiana pacing back and forth while Gillian ran down the day's schedule. Edward slipped into the shadows of a corner of the room and let his fur shift in hue to match the walls. He hadn't been observed at all. Perfect. Not that he was to be a spy, but his goal was to interfere as little as possible and not being noticed fit the bill quite well.

  Edward stood there and watched the two. Gillian was probably in her mid to late thirties, sharply dressed and very professional in her manner and organization, that was obvious. Tatiana was eighteen according to the files and had been in the music business since she was fifteen. She looked dazed and frazzled, much like someone that had just awakened. She showed none of the tell-tale signs of substance abuse, that was good. Just too little sleep. She was a striking girl. Very! She had a beautiful orange coat with black rosettes and a white stripe down her chin. She looked like a sleek, if not sleepy, jaguar standing there with long white hair. He wasn't sure if that was her hair’s natural color, but it did look good on her. Heck, a rock would look good standing next to her. She was easily as pretty as the others in the unit had heckled him about. Suddenly the conversation shifted.

  "Where is the new person they were going to send for security? He was supposed to be here ten minutes ago," snapped Gillian as she checked the time. "We need to be heading out soon."

  "Present, ma'am," replied Edward as his fur coat shifted to its normal sandy tones with black highlights.

  Tatiana screamed and almost fell out of her nightgown. Yep, quite attractive.

  Gillian stifled a laugh, "That was most impressive, but we don't need your theatrics."

  "I was told to blend in and just be her shadow."

  "How did you get past those three outside," asked Tatiana as she started to regain her composure.

  "I walked past them. They seemed preoccupied with yelling at each other."

  "Isn't this where you guard types try to snuggle up close to my client, flex your muscles and show off whatever hand canon you are carrying?" asked Gillian more than a little impressed.

  "I'm not sure what that would serve, and I don't carry a sidearm."

  Tatiana looked at him more than a little annoyed, "You don't carry a gun? How do you expect to protect me? Glare menacingly?"

  With a bit of a showy flourish Edward winked a longsword into his hand, and with blue sparks still springing from the blade, neatly cut down a bouquet of roses, leaving a single rose intact. With a similarly showy spin he winked the blade out of existence in a second shower of blue sparks. "I do get by, ma'am." He plucked the unmolested rose from the vase and handed it to Tatiana.

  Her eyes glowed brightly as she took the rose from Edward and grinned at him with a becoming school girl grin. "Um, thank you. That was actually quite impressive. You are a Highlander from Afon aren't you?"

  "You are welcome. Yes ma'am, I am an old world Highlander. Edward Silverglade. At your service."

  Tatiana's fur fluffed as she giggled lightly. "I like him better than those police guys already."

  "I bet you do," replied Gillian with a terse smile. Suddenly her face melted, "You said Edward Silverglade. Were you related to David Silverglade?"

  "Yes, ma'am. He was one of my older brothers."

  "My condolences on your loss. My younger sister owes her life to him and his unit. He will be missed." Gillian's voice was professional and sincere, Edward appreciated that.

  "Thank you, ma'am. We all miss him."

  "I'm Gillian, Tatiana's personal secretary, agent and whatever else is needed." She politely shook hands with Edward. "Please, do just call me Gillian. ‘Ma'am’ makes me feel old."

  "As you request," replied Edward with a polite nod.

  "I'm Tatiana, but I guess you already knew that," she grinned as she shook his hand.

  "Delighted to meet you, too. What is your preferred form of address?"

  "What? Oh! Just call me Tatiana. Everyone does anyway!" she hadn't taken her eyes off of Edward once.

  "Okay, girl. Go get dressed,” lectured Gillian. “Security is here and we have a tight schedule this morning. The afternoon is open for pleasantries."

  Tatiana nodded as she turned and headed across the living room. With her back to Edward, she let her nightgown fall to the floor as she walked into the bedroom.

  Edward did his best to maintain his composure. This job was either going to be fantastic or a horrible nightmare.

  6

  The trio of attendants descended into the room from the elevator landing and set upon Tatiana, dressing her, grooming her, tending to her hair, claws, teeth even painting up her eyelashes. Edward didn't know people ever painted their eyelashes, but he was just a Highlander and she was a big city rock star. Whatever they all did, quickly defied Edward's expectations: it was, in fact, possible for Tatiana to be even more attractive. Wow! They knew what they were doing. The attendants were also snarky, snippy, and bad tempered drama queens. Edward was suddenly curious if the bombings and other attacks might actually be just the attendants trying to kill each other. They seemed vicious enough but they struck him as not mentally tough enough to engage in that level of violence. Maybe it was time to review their background more. That and their significant others. Edward was tickled, however, to find that they seemed to be more than a little skittish around him. They would take long protracted paths to avoid coming too near him.

  As the petty drama started to escalate, Edward could tell Tatiana was becoming worse for wear. Fortunately Gillian stepped in and kept them under control, quickly subduing the trio until only simple snarky and evil glares were left. “Finish up, people. You are behind schedule.” Much to Edward's relief, they were soon done and heading out the door, just Gillian, Tatiana and Edward, leaving the three vipers to themselves.

  The hotel guard nodded to the trio as they entered the elevator landing. Edward was the first on and first off the elevator. As they walked across the hotel lobby towards the outside, Edward could already make out a small mob of fans waiting. Nope, fans and protestors. Several in the back were carrying large signs with witty, and often misspelled quips, berating her father, the governor. Edward glared at the protestors, it seemed petty to be using Tatiana's media exposure to try and trumpet their causes. If they had any decency, they'd be picketing in front of the governor's office rather than feeding off of the local circus. Well, it would make his job easier at least. Tatiana was timid in the hall, following just behind Gillian, but as they hit the doors and stepped outside, suddenly Tatiana sprang to life and was glowing. She was in the spotlight and she knew how to shine and was happy to let everyone know it. Edward was curious if it was an act, or if the calm little girl hiding behind Gillian was an act. Or was it just multiple sides to a very complex personality? It was day one. There was a lot to learn.

  The crowd pressed in close to her, but didn't actually hinder her progress. Edward stayed close and alert. It wasn't the fans that bothered him, it was the protestors. Something didn't feel right. Ah! There was Kadu in the back of the crowd. Perfect. She was wearing only light armor, far more subtle than her normal assault rig, but she still had the carrying straps on the back for Edward, if he needed a lift. Kadu calmly and smoothly, nay! elegantly moved along the back of the crowd. He had never seen her so calm, non-threatening. She was
doing an excellent job. She always did.

  Suddenly something caught Kadu's attention in the back of the crowd, Edward reflexively drew himself closer to Tatiana. Suddenly someone from the back of the crowd threw something. What was it, was it going to hit the client? Edward's mind raced in practiced form and he suddenly scooped Tatiana around the waist and spun her, much like they were dancing. He tucked her head in the middle of the spin and then set the surprised, but not shocked, girl square on her feet while a large glass bottle smashed harmlessly against the wall. Edward quickly scanned the crowd again just in time to see Kadu spinning the assailant around and driving him to the ground, with his arms already bound behind him.

  The crowd skittered a bit at the brief excitement and then quickly pressed in against Tatiana as if nothing had happened. To her credit, Tatiana was completely unfazed, just another day in the limelight. Edward, however, was relieved when they finally made it to the door of the waiting car. Edward held the door for the pair and then quickly joined them, closing the door behind him.

  “Staff rides up front,” barked the chauffeur.

  “I'm not staff, I'm security,” he replied showing his teeth.

  The chauffeur looked to Gillian. She nodded her approval and they were soon gliding down the street in the most elegant vehicle Edward had ever been in.

  “You were very quick on your toes and elegant in how you handled the little problem. Just about any other bodyguard would have slammed my client to the ground,” remarked Gillian.

  “You went through all that effort to clean and prep her hair and clothes, I would have hated to have gotten them dirty,” replied Edward with a smile.