Russell had offered to let Xavier stay in one of the lots at the Glen; it was an offer that he politely declined. He meant no offense to his host, but somehow the idea of camping out in the middle of the woods in an aluminium trailer had no appeal to him at all. He didn't say as much, and apparently he didn't have to. It was pretty clear the Rocker got it, and interestingly enough was not offended in the least. Given how close the sun was to rising after their poolside palaver, Xavier did ask if there were any optional accommodations.
"No problem" he said in that casual way he had about him. "Tell you what; go on back into that little town you passed. You'll find an inn called All Hours. Tell the innkeeper you're my guest, and he'll set you right up."
It seemed to Xavier that this Norton fellow might have more pull than he initially thought; certainly all very small time stuff, but then that might be a means of staying below the Camarilla radar. Considering how high profile he and his band seemed to like to play it for the Kine, Russell Norton was getting to be an increasingly more fascinating individual. It was starting to seem like his little Republic project might just work out. He thanked his tattooed host, and made haste to get the All Hours Inn, where the Innkeeper did indeed set him up in a small but cozy in a rustic sense room with very sturdy shutters to block all sunlight from coming into the north facing windows. The innkeeper wasn't quite as friendly or cheerful as the gate keeper at the Glen; but was perfectly adequate. Despite the buzz he picked up from the E-Tard Extreme cocktail, Xavier Vega slept better than he had in months.
Waking up was a little rougher.
The jarring noise of a phone ringing startled him into a conscious state; since he knew he shut off his mobile, it had to be a landline inside the room. He hadn't even noticed there was a landline. Reluctantly he picked up the receiver; if only to make it stop ringing.
"Yes" he greeted; more of a question than anything else.
"Hey, Xavier" Russ greeted back, almost impossibly cheerful. "Sorry if I woke you. I didn't peg you for a late riser."
Xavier looked at his watch. It informed him the sun had set about 90 minutes ago. Not exactly late, but he wasn't up as early as usual. He said so into the phone.
"Well, maybe it's a good thing I called, then," Russ continued. "I just got a message from your buddy Tyler. He says he wanted to come out for a chat, too, but some total tightwad named Cammie on your council put a total cock block on that. All the same Tye says he sent a couple of his guys out this way. The names he gave me were Archie and Betty. Do you know them? Are they cool?"
Xavier gave his head a shake. "Yeah, they're cool." He said finally. "Archie doesn't much like anybody at first, but he'll warm up to you. Betty is..." Xavier had to think of the right way to describe Betty Ronson. The truth of the matter was that Xavier thought the only reason she wasn't a Ventrue was because Archie got to in Oakland first, just to piss some Blueblood over there off. "Betty likes things to be stable, and has a tendency to get testy when things aren't. But yeah, she's cool."
"That's good to know." Russ replied. "Anyway, they should be coming your way tonight, so you might want to stick around. I'll be dropping by to give a rundown with them; and I promise to be mellow for the lady."
"That'll be great."
"Fan-freaking-tastic" Russ exuded more good cheer. "Tell you what; I'll meet you in the lounge over there shortly. See you then."
The line went dead.
Xavier stared at the handset of the phone blankly for a moment before setting it back onto the cradle. It was apparent that Tyler was definitely interested in learning more about what Russ Norton had to offer, but was trying to make sure he didn't jump in headlong into foul water; he wanted to make sure this was the right play to make, to use the Brujah's parlance. That was probably wise. He could see why he'd send Archie; that was probably to show him that options besides the Camarilla were being looked at. Tye probably hoped that ease tensions within his Clan. Sending Betty made a kind of sense too. It would show his supporters he wasn't throwing the baby out with the bathwater, either.
He swung his feet out of the bed and onto the floor. Once he was sure his seams were straight, he headed out to the lounge. The lounge had quaint feel to it; a sort of log- cabin ski lodge type of decor with a bar on one end and a large fireplace on the other. The bar was flanked by an old jukebox, the fireplace by a pinball machine. When he got there, it was evident that the dinner crowd from a reasonably busy night was just about cleared out, and the place was taking on a sleepy feel. Xavier approached the bar.
"What'll it be, pal?" The bartender asked.
"What've you got?" Xavier asked, not really caring what was put in front of him. He had no intention of actually drinking it; only so that there was a drink in front of him while he waited.
"Since you're a friend of Russ, I recommend either one of his signature brews; we got E-Tard Extreme, or Mojave Mild."
The Extreme was actually a little too extreme for Xavier's taste; or at least a steady diet of it would be. He asked for the Mojave Mild.
"You got it, pal." The bartender nodded yes and went into the back. He returned with a green bottle, produced a frosted glass from under the bar, and poured the contents of the bottle. From the smell his heightened senses picked up, this blend had a small amount of THC in it. It was quite apparent that Norton liked his pharmaceuticals. That was hardly a surprise; most rock-star types seemed to. Xavier thanked the bartender and took a seat.
It wasn't long before an emerald green Dodge Viper pulled into the lot, right beside Xavier's car. An athletic looking blond guy with long hair and a stoned expression on his face with decisively Dutch features stepped out of the driver's seat as Russ Norton stepped out of the passenger seat. Russ was dressed in a casual- hipster fashion. The pair got to the front door of the lounge and playfully argued over who should enter first; apparently Russ won the argument since the bond entered first at Russ's insistence. On entering, the blond – presumably a ghoul – breezed right past Xavier and straight towards the pinball machine; it had some kind of professional wrestling theme, Xavier noticed. Russell plopped himself right beside Xavier.
"I said, hey tarbender!" He shouted at the bartender.
"Yes, tapron" the bartender called back. They both laughed; clearly this was a private joke between them. It seemed unlikely it was any sort of conditioned response from the bartender. These two had a more casual relationship than that.
Russell pointed to his escort at the pinball machine. "A wiser for my bud," he cocked his thumb at Xavier. "And I'll have what he's having."
The bartender mimed shooting a handgun at Russ. "Coming right up; it's good to see you, Russ." He said, taking off to put the order together.
Russ turned slightly towards Xavier. "So what do you think? Do we take care of our friends or what?"
Xavier looked around, appraising his surroundings. "I'll say that it certainly has its charming qualities, and covers the bases adequately." He agreed. He was about to add that he's personally accustomed to more urban settings, but thought better of it; that would be an impolite comment towards a host. He could almost see Russ roll his eyes from behind the shades he wore.
"Oh, go ahead and say it" he urged, not ill temperedly. "You're more comfortable in a big shiny city setting. I get it. Me too, actually; this place and where I actually live are more like vacation spots for me so I can get away from it all."
Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Get away from what?"
"The bullshit politics and lame-ass power games you find in all the Camarilla Domains." He replied slightly more seriously. "See, in the Marble Hall, if a Kindred has something to say, he –or she – says it; there's no asking permission to speak your mind or waiting for your turn to speak based on seniority or rank."
Xavier nodded appreciatively. That was one of the big points that came up. He glimpsed out the window and saw a beat up white Econoline van he knew well pull into the parking lot. He pointed out the window.
"That would be Archie's ride." Xavier told him. "Betty's probably with him." He paused a moment, then thought to add; "remember, their Brujah and short tempered. Unless you want a scene, keep the Jughead and Veronica jokes to a minimum." Then Xavier stood up to greet his fellow Kindred from Los Angeles, and to do appropriate introductions. Russ suggested they move to a booth, and they did.
"You'll have to make your pitch quick, Mr. Norton," Archie Doyle admonished. "You see, Betty and I are actually just stopping real quickly on our way to Seattle. So tell us what you're selling and we'll see if we're interested in buying."
Russ gave his pitch; it was a slicker, quicker version than the intimately detailed one he gave him last night, but essentially the same thing. Each State runs its own affairs completely automously and as they see fitting their needs, and each State helps the other States in matters that effect them all as a whole. The focus, Russ said, was to let Kindred live as they will provided they neither endanger another or infringe upon another's rights. He followed up with a rough example, using his home State as a model.
"So we can be as organized as we want, and nobody can tell us we're wrong?" Betty asked.
"That's what I mean."
"There's no Inner Circle overseeing all the States or anything like that?" Archie asked. "We won't be expected to bend the knee to some higher authority sometime down the road?" He seemed suspicious of this notion.
Russ shook his head no.
"So what's all this nonsense with calling your little piece of the Movement 'The Marble Hall' then?"
Russ laughed a good natured laugh. "Oh that; that's just a label that came up in a forum once and kind of stuck. I think mostly because it flies in the face of the Camarilla and their Ivory Tower."
It appeared to Xavier that Betty was all but sold. She was certainly quite taken by Russell Norton, anyway. Archie actually cracked a smile.
"I like that," he admitted in response to Russ's answer. "But I warn you now, if that turns out to be shit, there will be hell to pay."
That's fair." Russ replied. He produced a toothpick and began working it through his teeth as leaned back in his chair. "So, what is it that's taking you to Seattle, if I may ask?"
"We've got a bunch of new feds moving into LA." Betty spoke. "Rumor has it they're popping up all over the country, and it looks more and more like they might be setting up to hunt us. I mean, Kindred."
"So for all we got on them is they're probably funded by the NSA, and the most likely central HQ is in Seattle." Archie added. "We think they're keeping it quiet even to most of the government in order to keep their activities on a low profile."
This caught Russ's interest; he sat up straight quickly. "Is it guys in suits; maybe a few of them wearing what looks like SWAT gear? Are they equipped with top of the line gear?"
"Yeah..." Betty Ronson confirmed, speaking slowly.
"By any chance did you notice any sort of crest or logo – maybe a six pointed star inside a diamond?"
Archie squinted slightly and cocked his head. "Actually, yeah, I remember seeing that once when I think of it."
Russ slapped his palm on the table, cursing under his breath. "That's gotta be Brightstone!" He cursed again. "I thought we beat them! I should've known better. All we did was kept them from crossing the border; shit!"
"Slow down, there, laddie," Archie said. "Who is this Brightstone?"
"Awhile back we had a group of hunters try to move into a rural community up north." Russ explained. They tried to sell themselves as some new Anti Terrorist Intelligence group thought the media, but we soon figured out that they were actually a private organization funded by a conglomerate of at least six different things; private armies, Russian mobsters, and apparently a silent branch of the US government if your sources are correct. We caught on to the Russian mobster lead and connected it to a private army. Then we managed to push them out by convincing the public they were in fact an attempt by the government to quietly invoke Martial Law."
Xavier remembered that, actually. It caused quite the stir in Canada; a Vote of no-confidence was called and won, thus forcing an election. He didn't recall the name Brightstar, but there was a Martial Law controversy; that was about 18 months ago.
"To be honest," Russ added. "As much of a pain in the ass that was, it also helped the Libertarians set up the Valley Republic, because we were the ones who put a stop to them; not the Camarilla."
Archie and Betty looked at each other.
"Thank you for the information and your insight, Mr. Norton." Archie said, standing. But we have to get going. You have been a big help in dealing with this Fed issue."
"That's how it works," Russ said back as they began to leave.
Xavier looked at his watch, and realized if he was going to make any time getting home, he'd have get moving, too. Especially if he wanted to make sure that nobody in LA decide to pull any triggers when it might not be necessary. He said his goodbyes and promised to keep in touch.
