Discussions of Change
"What do we do, Hayden?" Galina asked as she finished pulling on the clothes that had come for her. These fit far better than the others had, but then again, Hayden and Lynn knew Galina's sizes. She tied her shoes carefully and looked up to see Hayden studying her. "What?"
"We are going to be talking to some people, Galina." Hayden said calmly. "High ranked people both in the military and the government. No matter what happens, I need you to stay calm. Can you do that?"
"Will they try to take me for experimentation again?" Galina asked, worried.
"Over my dead body." Hayden said calmly. Elizabeth nodded from where she stood by the door.
"Our dead bodies." Elizabeth promised. "I put in the forms, Hayden. I am a civilian." Galina stared at her, realizing that what the woman wore now was not a uniform. The shirt and blouse were military in cut, but had no rank insignia!
"I asked it before, but I will ask it again. Are you sure, Elizabeth?" Hayden asked gently. "You will lose your pension."
"If I stay, that doc or someone like him will try to duplicate this, Hayden. And I will be ordered to comply." Elizabeth said softly. "The brass are not happy, but..." She shrugged. "I think they are a bit relieved I am not going to be around. Even Captain Philips was a bit...leery about me." Galina slumped but Elizabeth shook a finger at her. "Now, now. None of that. It was not your fault. If it was anyone's, it was mine. I took off my gloves. But you needed the comfort of an uncovered touch."
"You gave up everything...for me..." Galina said, swallowing hard. "I don't...feel worthy of that."
"Sort of." Elizabeth said with a sigh. "I was thinking about not re-upping. I was a good Marine, but... I was tired. Tired of fighting, killing. My enlistment would have been up in a month and a half anyway. This just sped it up a little." Hayden looked at her and she shook her head. "You were right."
"What did they offer?" Hayden asked, groaning. Galina looked at him and he shrugged. "The CIA wasn't going to just let her slip away without at least trying to recruit her to spy on us." Galina's eyes went wide and then she looked at Elizabeth speculatively. Elizabeth, for her part, blushed.
"They offered me a million dollars to let them take tissue samples. I told them what they could do with their sampling machines." Elizabeth said sourly. "Then they offered me two million to spy on you. As you said, they appealed to my patriotism. I don't like lying, Hayden." She said with a glower.
"Two million dollars?" Galina said, feeling faint enough that she sat quickly. "And you said 'no'?" She asked, incredulous.
"Heck no." Hayden said with a grin. "I told her to say 'Yes' but to haggle a bit." Galina stared at him and then at Elizabeth who looked chagrined. "How high did you get them to go?"
"They probably would have given me three." Elizabeth said sourly. "But I got them up to two and a half."
"So... you will spy for them?" Galina said slowly, confused.
"Technically no." Elizabeth said with a shrug. "Hayden says it's a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. I don't like it."
"She is not spying for them. She is spying on them for us. Basically, the CIA will not stop trying to spy on us. It's what they do. They will not stop trying to duplicate their wonder weapon." Hayden said with a sigh as Galina stared from him to Elizabeth and back. "This will give us some breathing room. I fully expect SVR , MI-6, Mossad and others to show up to try and 'recruit' Elizabeth to spy for them too. I told her to accept their offers too." Hayden smiled at Galina's incredulous look. "Look..." He sighed."We need to keep them all off balance or they will get stupid like the Chinese were." Galina winced in memory.
"I am going to go crazy trying to keep it all straight, Hayden." Elizabeth complained. "Am I a double, triple, quadruple...quintuple agent?" She asked plaintively.
"None of the above. You work for us." Hayden said with a shake of his head. "And...from a pragmatic point of view...having the ears of most the major intelligence services on the planet cannot be a bad thing."
"Except for my sanity." Elizabeth said, not bothering to try to muffle her uneasiness.
"I will help." Galina said as she rose and walked to Elizabeth. "Yargo... He was GRU under the Soviets, before he retired. He taught me a bit about intelligence work. I owe you."
"Galina..." Elizabeth said with a sigh. "You don't owe me anything. It was not your fault. You cannot control a virus. The people responsible for the release of the virus in Lasria are dead. The people that did horrors to you and Lynn will be held accountable for them." Hayden glanced at her and she flushed. "I have to believe that, Hayden. I have to."
"The convenient 'loss' of an obsolete American submarine during the Cold War near the coast of Lasria was a clandestine bio-weapon test." Hayden said softly. "The ones responsible may have had the good of the United States at heart, they may not have. We may never know. But we have to deal with the now. The Technocyte Virus cannot be allowed out in any way, shape or form. It is simply too dangerous. Mezner was just going to release it. The CIA and others think they can control it. They are wrong."
"Give me a straight fight any day." Elizabeth said with a shiver. "Weapons of mass destruction are wrong."
"No argument there." Hayden said with a nod. "You set, Galina?"
"I...think so." Galina said with a sigh. "Are you sure I am not infectious now?"
"The only reason you infected me was because I touched your blood unprotected." Elizabeth said, tapping Galina on the nose. "Can that attitude, girl. You are a strong and tough member of Clan Tenno. Act it." She commanded. Galina stiffened, but then nodded. Elizabeth smiled and continued. "Good. Lynn and the medics here have run me through a wringer. We all have the virus in us still, but it's dormant now. I hope the treatment hey came up with keeps it that way."
"You and me both." Hayden said softly. "But that is another reason to sequester ourselves."
"Any ideas where?" Elizabeth asked sourly. "Not a lot of places on Earth are truly remote. I know. I have been a bunch of 'inaccessible' places in the line of duty."
"Me too." Hayden agreed. "Siberia didn't work. But Lynn has a couple of ideas."
"Where is Lynn?" Galina asked slowly, looking around.
"Talking to her family." Elizabeth said softly. Galina stiffened and Elizabeth nodded. "If we are going to be...separate... This is the last chance she will get. I...um...made her do it."
"She never listened when I told her to." Hayden said sadly but then he smiled. "It took calling in the Marines." Elizabeth groaned and shook her head. "What?" Hayden asked, mock plaintively. "It's the truth. We ready?"
"I am not sure 'ready' is going to be the right word." Elizabeth said as Galina moved to stand beside her. "As ready as we are going to be."
Hayden nodded, patted Galina's shoulder and started for the door. Galina followed, hyperaware of Elizabeth following. Actually... Galina paused and then jerked as she felt something very odd.
Don't push it. Elizabeth's voice came into Galina's mind. You were not a soldier, Galina. Don't push it too far.
But...I can feel... Galina cast out with her mind and was suddenly overwhelmed with a lot of different things, voices! She suddenly realized. She could hear many voices, people who were not present! All around her, people were talking. Some hostile, some calm, some... She blushed as one voice whispered something she prayed no one else could hear. She gasped, Hayden and Elizabeth were immediately at her side.
Galina! Hayden's mental voice was sharp. Close your mind! No one is there but you! Do it now! Galina shook herself and then relaxed as the myriad of muttering voices that she had been hearing vanished. "Good girl." Hayden said aloud. "It's overwhelming, I know."
"We can read minds?" Galina said in a low tone. "Oh my god..."
"No." Hayden said with a sigh. "We can hear far, far better than normal humans, but loud noises will affect us worse as well. We don't just use our ears to listen, but we cannot read minds. Or..." He paused with a grimace. "I can't and Lynn can't... I don't know how your abilities will evolve. Mine kind of..um..." He shrugged. "I was fighting for my life just after I was infected, so my own changes took a martial turn. Offense and defense." He patted Galina's shoulder. "Better?"
"That was...rather distressing." Galina said with a gulp. "I hope I can't read minds. There are many things I really don't want to know."
"Smart girl." Elizabeth said with a sigh. "Come on." She said, stepping off. "They are waiting." The door opened as they approached it and two Marines in dress uniforms stood waiting. Both nodded to Hayden who nodded back.
"We are late." Hayden said softly. "Is Lynn meeting us?" As he finished speaking, another Marine strode up, Lynn following. The doctor wore a nice dress but her face was red and streaked with tears. Galina moved to embrace her and Lynn returned it but remained silent. "We are all here." He said to the Marine who nodded. "Did the suits ever calm down?" He asked as the Marine started off and the odd cavalcade followed.
"I don't think they ever calm down, Sir." The Marine said diffidently. "It's their job to be paranoid. And you are armed."
"And it's not something I can take off or deactivate." Hayden said with a sigh. "If I could, I would. I can't."
"Hayden?" Galina asked as she walked beside Lynn, her hand on the doctor's arm. "Problem?"
"The Glaive is part of me, Galina. I can't take it off." Hayden shrugged. "The Secret Service are not amused by things they don't understand. Especially dangerous things."
"Secret Service?" Galina wracked her mind, but did not remember who they were. "Who are they?"
"Bodyguards for bigwigs." Elizabeth said with a sigh of her own. "Good at what they do, but paranoia is their job. You gotta admit Hayden is scary." Hayden nodded as Galina did.
"True." Galina agreed. "Who are we meeting? I feel... underdressed." She said, looking at the Marines' dress uniforms.
"We are meeting the President, Galina." Hayden said quietly. Galina froze in mid-step and Hayden nudged her. "Come on, the man doesn't have a lot of time."
"The...President...of the United..States..." Galina asked weakly. "Hayden... I am not an American... I am here illegally..."
"Galina." Elizabeth said sourly. "Hush. It's all right. The government has far bigger problems right now that one lone Russian in country without a visa." Lynn smiled a bit at that, but didn't speak. Galina hugged her again.
"I am sorry, Lynn..." Galina said sadly. "I wish..." Lynn shook her head.
"Now they know." Lynn said, her voice a mass of sadness. "They aren't plagued by doubt. They are not wondering what happened. They... They wanted to see me in person, but I can't handle that. They are sad but...I think they understand. I hope so. I really do."
"If I can do anything, Lynn, ask." Galina said, her face and voice abject.
"Thank you." Lynn said, giving the girl a squeeze. "Come on, we shouldn't keep a head of state waiting."
The three Marine led the group through the corridors of the facility and Galina was quickly lost. But they never slowed. Hayden and Elizabeth looked from side to side, obviously cataloguing, marking, scrutinizing as they had been trained. Lynn just stared straight ahead and Galina stayed beside her. The Marines led them to a door that was guarded by two Marines in full battle dress and two men in suits. All four of the guards held automatic rifles. Galina shivered a bit, but Hayden smiled.
"Good precautions." He said mildly. "I assume we have been scanned already? We would set every metal detector in the building abuzz if you do it here."
"You set a finger out of line, Mr. Tenno..." One of the suited forms said evenly. "And you will hit the ground in pieces." Far from cowed, Hayden just nodded.
"I haven't been an assassin since Lasria, Agent." Hayden said with a shrug. "I have no reason to start again. There are only two reasons I will fight now. To protect my family..." Elizabeth, Lynn and Galina closed with him, forming a wedge of solidarity. "...and to keep stupid people from playing with things that they do not understand. Things that do not appreciate being played with." He said, a hint of ice in his tone now. "I couldn't care less about politics, money or power. They can't turn back time or bring back my humanity. Your boss wants to talk to us. I have no quarrel with him. He is perfectly safe from me. But if you do not point those weapons somewhere else -right now- you are not."
"Hayden..." Elizabeth said softly. "Is getting in a fight with the Secret Service part of your plan?"
"Their job is to keep the President safe." Hayden said with a shrug. "My job is to keep my family safe. I haven't been doing a good job of that recently. That changes now. You want to aim at me, Agent, feel free. You aim at any of my other kin and you will be dead before you hit the ground." His tone was matter of fact, calm and precise.
"You are covered by multiple automatic weapons." The agent said, his tone a bit shaken. "And we have Inferno rounds."
"Do you really think I care? I went into Lasria alone and I walked out alone. The Lasrian Military had Enferon." Hayden asked, still calm. "I am a threat, yes. Lynn, Galina and Elizabeth are not." He said, biting the last word.
"Hayden." Galina said, stepping forward. "Calm down. They are doing their job. You say they are bodyguards, yes?" Hayden did not move and Galina shook her head. "Hayden. Calm down." She repeated, a bite entering her words.
"Galina." Hayden said sharply, but she was having none of it.
"Hayden, hush." Galina snapped, a rush of affection and exasperation warring within her. "They are doing their job." She turned to the agents and shook her head. "Those rifles won't do you any good against him. He can and will reflect the bullets back at you." Both agents stared at her and then at the rifles they held.
"Galina..." Hayden groaned.
"Hayden, hush." Galina repeated with a snarl that matched any of his. "We are not here to start a fight. We are not here to slaughter people who are trying to do their jobs if said jobs do not involve the virus, yes?" Hayden nodded, manifestly against his will. "Then this is what I am going to do. Agent..." She nodded to the Secret Serviceman. "I will hold the hand he manifests the Glaive from. He will not be able to summon it without cutting me. And since he is determined to protect me no matter the cost..." Muffled laughs came from Lynn and Elizabeth as Hayden groaned again. She took Hayden's right hand in her left and it gave hers a squeeze. "Well?" She asked.
"If you let go..." The agent started and Galina snarled at him!
"If I let go, I will have a good reason. A better reason than delaying us..." She paused and then she smiled. "You are holding us out here for a reason. May we know why?" Hayden stared at her and she shrugged, not letting go of his hand. "They are not stupid, Hayden. They know that the two of them cannot win against you. So..." She shook her head. "Was this a test or simply a delay?"
"Both." The agent said, finally lowering his rifle as the other agent did the same. "They are setting up a conference call. And we needed to know."
"You are insanely dedicated or just insane." Galina commented. "Do I have to hold his hand the whole time?" She asked calmly.
"No. You made your points." The agent replied, stepping aside. He keyed his com and then nodded. "They are ready for you. We are watching."
"I would expect nothing less." Hayden said as Galina started for the door. "How did you know it was a test?"
"Yargo was fond of poker." Galina said with a sad sigh. "Word of advice, never play poker with a man who has only one eye. It is...unpleasant to try to bluff such a man."
"They were not bluffing, Galina." Hayden protested mildly, keeping his hand in hers.
"Neither were you." Galina said dryly. "And we will need to talk about this over protectiveness sometime. I was hurt before. Now I am not. I can fight my own battles, Hayden." He smiled and she looked at him. "You planned this, didn't you?" He didn't comment, but his eyes were twinkling. "You did." She said, incredulous.
"Got you out of your shell." Hayden said. That...might not have been the best time for the door ahead to open, just as she swatted him with her free hand.
"Ah..." Galina dropped her hands to her side and Hayden nodded to the man who sat at the head of the table. For his part, the man in the suit grinned.
"Oh, don't stop on my account." The large African American man said with a smile. "Ever since I first spoke to Mr. Tenno, I have wanted to swat him a few times myself. And I thought Congress could be cocky and arrogant."
"It's only arrogance if you can't deliver, Mr. President." Hayden said with a nod. Elizabeth and Lynn moved to flank the other two. "We are all here."
"Good." Barack Obama said with a nod. "We are about to go live."
"With who?" Galina asked, staring around with wide eyes., No guards were in evidence except another pair of suits who stood between the four Tenno and the President. But an odd shimmering also was between them. Some kind of barrier? That made sense actually. The President nodded at her.
"President Putin of Russia and Prime Minister David Cameron of England." The President of the United States said as Galina gulped. "The three countries with citizens involved in this...mess. Time?" He asked as Galina paled a bit.
A Marine technician Galina hadn't seen rose from a chair to salute.
"We are live, Mr. President."