"…And our operations in the Amazon were a complete success." Signas concluded his monthly report to the Council. He stood at ease, his hands folded behind his back. Much of the Council had listened attentively to his report. The rest hadn't, either because they knew the limits of their understanding or just because they were idiots. In politics, the cream did not always rise to the top.

Signas didn't dwell deeply on that thought. As the Commander of the Maverick Hunters, he was largely a political appointee. Directly selected by the Council from a panel of candidates, he answered to no one but them. But he did answer to them, which could be… difficult.

When he had been selected for the post, Signas had been largely unaware of political realities. Not completely unaware… no officer of his rank could be that… but he had been unwilling to become involved in politics. As much as possible, he had concentrated on actually leading the men and women who depended on him.

His former rank had been Captain. Signas sometimes wondered, a little, why the Council had picked him to head the Maverick Hunters. He had been quite startled at the time to receive what amounted to a massive promotion. But he thought he had an idea… he had never been noted for brilliance or innovation, in his former role, but his track record of quiet successes had spoken eloquently of his competence. Not brilliant, no, but very reliable. And after the whole mess with Repliforce, reliability had been a quality the Council had been looking for.

"A concise and informative report, Commander." Vivian Erickson, the Council chairwoman, said with a smile that was wide, supple, and professional. She was a statuesque blond, with the faint tightness to her face that hinted at numerous wrinkle treatments. Signas privately disliked her, and suspected that if he knew her better, he would despise her. There was always something extremely fake about the way she talked to him. "There are a few situations we would appreciate your attention on, however."

"I will be glad to consider any requests from the Council." Signas said politely. And he certainly would consider them. The requests the Council made were always political in nature. If it wasn't too inconvenient or made tactical sense, he would look after them. Life was a lot easier at budget time if he kept their civilian superiors slightly happy.

"It's about the situation in Egypt." Vivian said smoothly. "Things are getting more than a bit out of hand. The Council is hoping you could spare perhaps a unit to help take care of the Mavericks in the area." Signas was silent for a moment. He had been warned about this, and had prepared for it, but hadn't quite believed it would happen.

"Forgive me, Madam chairwoman, but I was not under the impression that there were any Mavericks in that area." There was a faint stir, as some of the delegates looked surprised.

"Come now, Commander! Surely you're heard about the death and destruction that's been going on!" A portly man spoke up. Signas nodded.

"Of course. However, my information tells me that humans are participating actively in the terrorist activities. Perhaps the Council should address some of the social issues that led to violence, rather than simply attempt to crush the problem?" Signas met Vivian's gaze. Her smile was looking a little fixed.

"Indeed, we should." One Council member agreed with a toothy smile. "I believe part of the reason for the violence is allegations of rigged voting in the last election." All the Councilors were too civilized and well-trained to glare, but it was obvious that comment had been some kind of slap at some of them.

"What proof do you have of human involvement, Commander?" One older woman asked, sounding almost disinterested, but her eyes were keen with intelligence. Signas inclined his head respectfully towards her.

"Many intelligence files, Mrs. Geraldine. If you wish, I can forward copies of those files to your own staff." Signas was looking at the other Councilor, and missed the way Vivian's lips tightened.

"Yes, well," The chairwoman broke in with another professional smile. "We do thank you for your report, Signas. I don't believe we will need anything more." Signas saluted them, then turned to walk out…

Tambertail was not a happy Reploid. And the reason for her annoyance was, to most people, rather peculiar. She glared balefully at an inoffensive crystal vase, filled with glorious roses. The petals were butter yellow, trimmed with pink, and made a beautiful display of color that complemented the cut crystal of the vase. Beside the vase sat a box of chocolates, half open and partially masticated.

Tambertail found the presence of the items baffling. She had never thought of herself as being attractive. She had been built in an attempt to create the Reploid equivalent of an intelligent tracking dog. The experiment had been a success, and Reploids descended from her prototype design could be found in almost every police department in the country, sniffing down criminals or checking for contraband. Most conformed to her general appearance… humanoid, but with upright dog-ears, similar to those of a wolf or Husky, and a tail that could convey dozens of emotions. They tended to be thin, rangy and slightly predatory in appearance.

Tambertail was the archetype of her kind. Dark brown hair, cut short into a curly mop, framed a lean, intense face. Her eyes were dark grey, matching the color of her furry ears, as they twitched to catch any sound. She was tall but wiry, and as flat at the thirteen-year-old girl she resembled. Athletic was the most flattering word that could be used to describe her build. No one had ever accused her of being beautiful, which made the fact that someone would pursue her even more puzzling.

She had to admit that the gift of roses was inspired, though. Tambertail lived in a land of scents, and the stronger the better. Sometimes she pitied humans, and most Reploids as well, with their dead noses. To her, the roses exuded a heavy perfume that endlessly pleased her. Of course, a rotting pile of trash would also have pleased her. Before she had learned social decorum, she had dismayed her creators by acting more like a dog than a person.

Taking a deep breath of the fragrance, Tambertail smiled, revealing teeth that were decidedly canine in appearance. The predatory cast of her face was partly due to a realignment and intensification of certain parts of her jaw. Most Reploids could not bite through armor, but she could and had, in the past. Her teeth made such bites painful in the extreme.

Turning away from the vase, she went back to work, typing at her computer. When they had made her, her creators had made a slight error with her personality. Thinking that someone very well organized would be best for police work, they had tried to give her the kind of personality that sorts paperclips according to size. They had mostly succeeded… Tambertail was an extremely orderly person, and particularly liked to create order out of chaos.

Unfortunately, that mindset had not meshed well with the realities of police work. Hunting down criminals was messy, full of unexpected surprises that she could not effectively organize. After the first dozen complaints about her attitude, the engineers and scientists realized what they had done wrong with her. Later models had widely varied personalities… and none as anal as her own. Tambertail had been taken off active duty, and had found her niche in the secretarial field. In her time, she had served a Chief of Police, a very prominent politician, and finally Signas. She had been with him since before his appointment to the Hunters, and he'd managed to take her along to his new post, where she continued to create order out of chaos.

Tambertail glanced up as Signas entered the room, and her ears pricked up. He was looking tired.

"You were right." He said.

"Naturally. I'm always right," Tambertail said, making Signas smile faintly. "But what exactly was I right about this time, Skipper?" That made him smile even more. Only Tambertail called him by that rather silly honorific, and she justified it by saying that he was the 'captain' of the ship otherwise known as Hunter HQ.

"They tried to get us to intervene in that Nile delta business." Signas said, and Tambertail snorted, laying her ears back.

"Typical. I hope you told them to take a long walk off a short pier. The last thing X needs is to get involved in that!" X was currently suffering through a mild depression. The last thing he needed was a messy, morally ambiguous situation.

"How did you know, Tambertail?" Signas asked, curious and concerned. She snorted again.

"You want to know how the wizard does his work, Skipper?" He fixed her with a hard stare, and Tambertail realized she would have to give him more than that. "It was just logical. The whole situation in Egypt is going to hell in a handbasket, but the Council doesn't dare touch it. That leaves us."

"Why wouldn't they dare?" He had his own theories, but they were new. Tambertail was obviously more on the ball with this, so he wanted to hear hers. She shrugged.

"Well, there are a lot of reasons. First off, it's an internal matter and they don't technically have any right to stick their fingers in the pie. Second, the whole thing is happening because of the election. They don't want to fiddle with it and maybe draw attention to their own election procedures."

"Their own procedures? All the Council representatives were duly elected." Signas protested. Tambertail grimaced, disgusted but not surprised at his naïveté.

"Sure they were, Skipper. And I got to be your secretary because of my good looks and charm." Signas snorted at that thought, and she grinned. "In case you hadn't noticed, Signas, one hoary chunk of the population can't vote at all." Reploids had many rights, but so far, the right to vote had eluded them. "Another hoary chunk can't vote either."

"You mean the people in the refugee camps?" Signas said with a frown. "They still have the right to vote."

"In all their copious free time, at the polling station just down the corner? Riiiiight. Then you've got all the people who can't be bothered to sign up to vote, and then the people who are registered but think the whole things a sad farce, so they don't bother to vote. We're down to twenty percent of the population, Skipper. Don't tell me that's democratic." Tambertail looked at her roses, and shook her head. "And maybe the worst part is that the people who think it's a farce are right. We've only got one viable party, Skipper. The New Moderate Democrats are fractured into a dozen splinter groups, the Socialist Society is a joke, and the Republican Alliance hasn't been able to find a good leader since Rockenzik died in that Maverick attack on his shuttle. Right before the election," she added sourly. "Which was pretty damn convenient."

"You're not seriously suggesting that it was arranged." Signas said, his tone slightly frosty. But she met his look with an even stare.

"You bet I am. He might've won, Skipper, and he was in favor of giving Reploids the vote. And I worked for the police for a while, remember. There wasn't much left of the shuttle, and the only reason they knew it was Mavericks was 'cause they found pieces of one that looked to've been blown up by the shuttle's weapons. But Skipper, it's darn hard to put Humpty Dumpty together again, and how hard is it to kill some poor Maverick shmuck and use the body as window dressing? I sure as hell wouldn't put it past some of these people." Signas hesitated, then shook his head.

"You must be the most paranoid person I've met, Tambertail. Is there anything that needs my immediate attention?" Tambertail accepted the change of subject. She could tell he didn't buy anything she had said, so it was probably just as well.

"Not really. Just a vacation request from Zero. He's about due some time off."

"Mmm… I suppose we can spare him. Process it for next week, would you?"

"No problem, Skipper." Tambertail watched him enter his office, then glanced at the roses again. Signas hadn't asked about them, or the chocolates, but then, he wouldn't. She idly picked up the card that had come with them, reading it again. It was simple and to the point.

To a very lovely lady, for brightening everyone's day.

-Zero

Tambertail tapped the card, thinking. She was shocked Zero had decided to court her, but then, she was about as different from his old heartthrob as it was possible to be and still be female. And courting might be the wrong term to use. She wasn't sure how long his interest would last after he got in her pants.

Zero wasn't really her type, though. Despite her position as a secretary, Tambertail had always thought of herself as an alpha bitch. If she had a choice, she preferred her partners young and muncheable. Her current fantasies were focused on Axl, who was cute as a button and perfect for nibbling. Unfortunately, she figured he wouldn't be interested in her. Not quite her type or not, Zero was interested and available. He was just as much an alpha male as she was an alpha bitch, but that might be interesting. At least he wouldn't be intimidated by the fact that she could probably tear out his throat with her teeth, if she really put her mind to it. And she had some vacation time coming up, herself. If he was willing, that had possibilities…

Another thought occurred to her, and Tambertail's eyes narrowed. Was Zero sucking up to her because she was Signas secretary, not courting her at all? A lot of the Hunters believed she had control over their vacation time, which was somewhat true of the lesser ranks. But she would have thought Zero had more sense… she needed Signas direct approval to put any of the unit commanders on vacation. Maybe he was just covering all his bases.

Tambertail grinned wickedly to herself, and began making arrangements for her temporary replacement. Whatever Zero's motivations were, she could quite neatly trap him into a trip, which promised to be very interesting…

At the same time, far away, a quiet meeting was taking place.

The room they were in was beautifully furnished. Done in the Victorian style, the furniture and decorations were the very essence of understated elegance. A plush Persian rug was pleasing to the eye and gentle on bare feet. On a sideboard, dozens of stoppered crystal decanters gleamed. The host of the meeting, Vivian Erickson, walked over to pour herself a glass of wine.

"He's becoming more and more tedious." Amanda Nguyen commented. Vivian turned to look at her, sipping her wine.

There were only five of them at this select meeting, including herself. Each a member of good standing on the Council, together they held a majority of the voting power. That gave them the whip of political clout, and they used it mercilessly.

"That is part of his job, Amanda." Marcus Lewis politely disagreed with her. Vivian hid a sigh with another small sip of her wine. If Amanda said white, Marcus would say black. It made them difficult to deal with, but they were both essential to her control of the Council. The other two members of their small group were a short, intense man named Gregor Pavlovich, and an older man by the name of Christian Smith.

"I'd have to agree with Amanda, Marcus. Signas is becoming increasingly difficult. Wasn't he supposed to be nothing but a puppet?" Christian complained.

"Now, Christian, you know he wasn't our first pick." Vivian allowed herself a small, put upon sigh. "If Lagimire hadn't gotten himself killed… well, we just had to make do. Signas had a record of following orders to the letter."

"Also of taking his duty seriously." Gregor pointed out, and no one disagreed. "I think we underestimated how much that would affect things."

"True. But is it irritating enough for us to remove him?" That was really the only thing they could do. There was a short pause, and then Amanda spoke.

"I think it is, but more because of the grasp he's showing of the political situation than anything else. All that information he had about the Nile… that must have been assembled well ahead of time." That was troubling to all of them.

"Indeed. Gregor, what are our options for removing him?" Vivian asked. Gregor frowned slightly.

"There are really only two options. The least risky would be to arrange some kind of situation that discredits him, and gives us a reasonable pretext to remove him legally. However, Signas seems to be trusted by the Hunters, so it might cause difficulties."

"Mmm. And the second?" Amanda murmured, a rather nasty light in her eyes. Gregor smiled coldly.

"Direct action. I know several professionals who might be willing to take the contract. The best is, of course, Lady Death… but she might refuse this particular contract." The others nodded. They had all heard of Lady Death, and knew about the contracts she had refused on X and Zero. Depending on why she refused such contracts, she might not agree to Signas either. "After her, though, there are some good prospects."

"Let's not starts with that." Vivian decided. "Hm… when is Zero's next vacation?" There were small frowns around the room. Zero's vacations were notorious.

"My sources say it will likely be next week… why?" Gregor frowned. "You're not seriously thinking of making that an issue we could get rid of Signas over."

"You don't think it could work?" Vivian smiled, almost whimsically. "Zero can cause SO much chaos. Surely Signas should be able to reign him in better."

"That… would be difficult… I think Signas has a much better track record at getting him under control than the last commander." Amanda said cautiously. "It would have to be something truly spectacular."

"Perhaps we could start something?" Christian murmured. "A brawl where actual life is lost, that sort of thing?" Vivian shrugged.

"Perhaps. But the good thing about it is, we can always decide not to make an issue of things if it doesn't work out according to plan. And I'm sure we can get one of the lesser Council members to broach the issue, concealing our involvement. This little gambit might not work, but it risks nothing."

"Excellent point." Gregor said approvingly. "I'll see what I can arrange." He was in charge of their more delicate operations, so this would be a task for him.

After a bit more conversation, the meeting broke up, and Vivian plucked a book from a shelf, ensconcing herself in a very comfortable chair, and began to read…

"Cry me a river, Z." X frowned, struggling with his GameBoy. "Arrrgh, die!" He hissed at the little figures on the screen. "Why did you get me this thing, Axl? It's stupid but I can't put it down." Axl grinned, and Zero ran a hand through his hair. He and Axl were sitting at a table in the break room, playing cards.

"Dammit, X! I wasn't expecting this to happen!" Zero complained again, and X rolled his eyes.

"Zero, you send flowers to all the girls your courting. She took you seriously. What else were you expecting?"

"What's wrong with Tambertail?" Axl asked, a little confused with how upset Zero was. "She's nice… she gives me cookies." Zero snorted.

"I'm sure she'd rather feed you something else." Fortunately, that innuendo went over Axl's head. Zero drummed his fingers against the table, then sighed. "I guess I don't really have a choice."

"Not unless you want her to make your life miserable." X agreed, staring intently at the GameBoy. "Axl, do you know how to get past the pumpkin monster?"

"Oh sure!" Axl said enthusiastically. "I'm surprised you couldn't guess. You don't fight him." X looked up with a blink.

"Say what?"

"You just don't fight him. Walk on by and he won't attack you."

"Well that's… unexpected." X said, bemused. Zero snickered, then looked at his cards.

"Got a three?"

"Go fish." Zero grumbled, and took a card as Axl looked intently at his hand. "Got a three?"

"Go fish."

"Can only ONE of you cheat? I can't stand listening to you!" X complained, then growled at his GameBoy. "What sick pervert made this marshmallow monster?"

"Pervert?" Axl blinked at X. "What are you talking about?"

"It's the penis monster," X answered succinctly, too distracted by the game to sugar coat his response. Zero choked on laughter. "And I'm a pretty girl in a schoolgirl costume right now! Sick! Oh god, its firing marshmallows at me, and they SPLASH! I'm coated in gooey white stuff!"

"Axl? Where did you get that thing?" Zero asked a seriously confused kid. "I want one now." It sounded like his kind of game.