Xavier was making better time than he thought he would; it turned out he was probably right pass right through Portland on the I-5 without even stopping at all. He was deep into Oregon already, and cruising at a decent clip. At this rate, he'd very nearly make it into California before sunrise; at the moment his target was Roseburg or Rosetown or whatever that little town was called.
His phone rang.
He activated his Bluetooth and answered the call. "Yes?" he greeted.
"It's me." Kaila replied on the other end. "How far out are you?"
"I should be back early tomorrow." He said. "What's up?"
"There might be an emergency session of the Primogen Council. Not tonight, but possibly by the time you get in. At the very least, you should know what it's about."
"Okay; tell me."
"Max had to step down as Harpy." Kaila told him. "I didn't catch why. I guess it doesn't really matter. The point is a new Harpy has to be appointed quickly for the sake of a stable economy. So far the proposed candidate is Bertram Tung."
Xavier balked. He understood the purpose of this call; it was partly so he knew what was going on, and it was also to see if the Clan would endorse the Nosferatu to the office of Harpy. What he was having a hard time grasping was that this was really happening.
"Where did you hear this from?" He asked. "Who told you about it?"
"Cameron told me," Kaila replied, "right after talking for several minutes with Tabetha. If anyone would know about Tremere matters, it would be her, wouldn't it?"
Well of course she would. Xavier thought. The problem was it didn't make much sense. Why would Strauss step down? Was this some new scam of the Warlocks? That didn't make sense, either. He didn't object to the idea of Bert being Harpy; he and his Clan probably knew most of everyone's dirty laundry anyway, so it didn't make much difference –except maybe it would make life easier for Ajax. The hard part would be to sell the idea to Therese.
What does Cameron gain from Bertram being Harpy? He asked himself. For one thing, he had a lot of hooks in the Nosferatu, so he might be able to play Bertram in such a way to secure his place as Seneschal, or even advance it. The obvious way to get Therese to accept her old rival as Harpy was to gain enough endorsement through the Primogen to make it bad politics for her to refuse.
"You're calling to see if I will endorse Bertram Tung." He said to Kaila. With the outline of the Republic he now had, the idea of abstaining was very appealing. Without a Harpy, Kindred economics would quickly fall into disarray and for all intents and purposes the record would be smashed, thus corroding the entire infrastructure; especially in such a Nascent Domain. This could be a great opportunity to set things up so an entirely new system is looked upon with favor. It was an option to consider, especially if he could get Tyler and the Brujah Clan on board.
No; that would be a bad idea, actually. It could cause even more alienation from his own Clan if he went forward in such a fashion unilaterally. The better thing to do would be to bring the Clan together in Salon to ensure he was truly representing the toreador of LA on this. Until then, the right path was to stay the course and toe the line as it was.
"I'll tell you what, Kaila." Xavier said finally. "If I'm not back in town by the time this meeting takes place, you have my full permission to say that the Toreador endorse Bertram Tung of Clan Nosferatu to the office of Harpy if he so chooses to fill the honorable position." He was about to kill the connection in order to get Tyler on the line when he paused, and added: "One more thing; get word to the Clan that I am calling a Salon. Make sure they are ready to respond when the call is made."
He killed the connection before Kaila could say anything more. Before he made a case to the Rose, he wanted to see if he had backing from the Brujah. As a pair, they did well together last time; they got what they thought they wanted. It was time to make that union work for the right things now.
He scrolled his contacts and found Tyler. Hitting call, he waited for the Brujah to answer in his usual manner. The phone on the other rang twice, three times, four, then five... Tyler always answered by the fifth ring. Something was wrong. He disconnected the call and was about to hit the accelerator when he saw the all too familiar flashing of the cherries and heard the unmistakable wailing of Police sirens. The last thing he needed right now was to be stopped for speeding; or worse caught up in something that he could otherwise avoid altogether, so he pulled off to the shoulder of the road, cursing mildly. His hope was that the cops would blast by him to wherever they were going and then he could proceed as planned.
He was not so lucky.
There four cars; two went past him and turned sharply to block his path from gunning forward, and two slowed down to a stop, positioning themselves to block any chance of backing out. He was boxed in. The cops in the front two vehicles stepped out, drawing their weapons. In his rear-view mirror Xavier could see much the same happening; save the driver in one. Two of the cops behind had shotguns; apparently he had caught the exact wrong kind of attention somehow, thought he had no idea what he had done. As the one driver approached, instructing him to step out of the vehicle with his hands raised, Xavier activated his Presence in the hope of smoothing the situation over.
"What seems to be the problem officer?" Xavier asked as he stepped out his car, arms in the air.
"SHUT UP!" the lead officer shouted. "Interlock your fingers behind your head! Get down on the ground, face down! DO IT NOW!"
Well this is just fantastic! Xavier thought as he complied. I have a highway patrolman who thinks he's Jack Bauer or something.
"Don't you move!" the lead officer ordered. "You, keep him covered." He commanded shotgun. "You two; check him."
Two of the officers from in front rushed in; one of them braced him down as the other one frisked him. It was more of a quick pat-down; not much of a search at all, really. "He's clear, sir."
"Alright, get him up off the ground."
The cops pick him up onto his feet roughly. He could have easily fought them off, but there was the others to think of; especially the one with the shotgun. They posed a problem; even with celerity. Also, these cops were clearly humans; the use of celerity would create quite the mess when it came to the Masquerade.
The lead cop stepped forward, trying to look tougher than he was. "You're under arrest for trespassing where you weren't invited." He growled, grabbing him to drag him back to his patrol car.
Xavier was sat down in the back seat. The lead cop raced around to the driver seat as Shotgun got into the passenger seat. The car sped off, continuing south. The other three cars followed; though one of the cops apparently commandeered his car, likely to impound it. It did not take long to see they were headed for the small town of Roseburg, Oregon.
Much to Xavier's surprise their vehicle went right past what served as the City Hall; even as the four cars in drogue turned in, leaving them to go on alone.
"I beg your pardon," Xavier said. "Where are we going?"
"Shut your mouth." Shotgun muttered. "If you know what's good for you, you'll shut your damned mouth."
They continued the rest of the trip in silence. Finally, the car came to a stop in front of a farmhouse on the south end of town. Under the direction of the cops, Xavier got out of the car. The lead cop told Shotgun to stay put, and then escorted Xavier around back of the house to the kitchen entrance. Xavier didn't know what this was about, but he didn't much like it.
