Chapter 2

By Carycomic

221-B BLEECKER STREET,

GREENWICH VILLAGE,

NEW YORK CITY, NY

(JUNE 9, 1955)

Jethro Dumont hugged his guest before politely guiding her to a comfortable chair facing the desk in his study.

"So!" exclaimed Cassandra. "What can you tell me about this Fenris Greybeard?"

"Well," began the Green Lama as he opened a little black book. "...from what I was able to glean (by astrally perusing the Akashic Record)? He was born a Fenrir Kinsman, of ahroun auspice, near Vargoy, Finnmark County, Norway, circa the late 1600's. He served as a ronin, on the Swedish side, during the Great Northern War. And he was inadvertently left for dead, after getting wounded, at the Battle of Poltava."

"Unfortunately, he was still somewhat alive when he was found by Black Spiral Dancers working for a Tremere antitribu of the Telyavelic bloodline! So, they brought him to their boss who, in turn, brought him to the Setite sorcerers at Jormungandr's Hall. There, in collaboration with a Silver Spiral theurge, who had defected from the Blood Red Crest sept, they put him on the receiving end of a body swap. Yulan-jin style! And, as a result, that traitorous theurge, in the ahroun's body, managed to infiltrate House Bjornaer... and learn everything they had to teach about animagic. By the time they learned the truth, it was too late! He had already fled their chantry, in the Harz Mountains, for the Gaian caern in the Forbidden Forest near Hogsmeade, Scotland."

"Was that before or after he was fully vampirized by the Setites?" Cassandra semi-rhetorically asked.

"Definitely afterward. As for the Fenrir in the Silver Spiral's body? He was sent to the Nagaraja stronghold in India... as an exotic snack."

"Goddess have mercy!" Cassandra whispered, eyes closed in fervent prayer.

"You haven't even heard the worst part, yet," replied her host. "Greybeard is acting as Kantos' guide... in the hunt for more yulan-jin vitae."

"Yulan-jin vitae?" echoed the Immortal wizardess. "You mean, that's how those Setites forced the original body swap?!"

"I think so," nodded the Green Lama. "Why Kantos might need it, though, I have no idea. I mean, being an Immortal, doesn't his Quickening automatically get absorbed by whoever finally gets to decapitate him?"

"That's always been the tendency. But, as he's spent the last few centuries trying to avoid the way he's _prophesied_ to lose his head, he might now be trying to find a way to channel his essence into another corporeal host while he's still alive and kicking!"

Such was the reason why Tsarong, Jethro Dumont's faithful manservant, now had a fire going in the spacious fireplace of the brownstone's living room. So that, once he had turned the flames green with magic floo powder, Cassandra could teleport to her next destination. Although, she naturally had to take off her clothing, first, and then put the clothes in a knapsnack, before reverting to her Crinos form!

Following which, she entered the flames and growled out her destination. "Klaital Puk Monastery, Tibet."

NEW YORK HOUSE

(MAY 30, 1967)

For a moment more, John Summers was thunderstruck. Then, he shook his head as something occurred to him.

"What, precisely, did Chao Chang say to Sir Waldo to make him- -and you- -think Pentex is in cahoots with East Berlinhaus?"

"Chao Chang told him that a certain company in Japan has been sending large monthly shipments, of Swiss watch knock-offs, to a West German department store chain called 'Krelmar Und Seltzman', conveniently owned by Pentex, for the past year. But, aside from one warehouse and a post box office, both in West Berlin, no such chain exists! There are, however, a couple of scientists who were recently spotted by special investigators of the British Floo Network Authority entering an unlicensed floo depot in London's Nocturne Alley. Hans Krelmar; a brilliant biophysicist and cyberneticist with the Virtual Adepts. And Dieter Seltzer; a self-proclaimed 'neurochemical engineer' with the Children of Knowledge. When the FNA busted the owners of that depot, they managed to break one of them under interrogation. And he revealed what he heard those two 'clients' state as their destination."

"Ostberlinhaus."

John crisscrossed his arms, indicating that he was still somewhat skeptical.

"If he were a muggle criminal, the authorities would be required to find a secondary source of the same information before accepting it as credible."

"I know, and we did. An East German scientist who defected to the UK, last year. Jakob Seltzman! Dieter's older brother... and Krelmar's ex-research partner."

That succeeded in astounding John.

"But, that makes no sense! Why would a glorified alchemist and a souped-up numerologist be working together for the Soviets? Of all people!"

"I don't know. But, I hope to find out, very soon, when my courier gets here with Martin's photos."

" 'Ask and thou shalt receive,' " quoted a new voice in an equally low whisper.

Both older men turned around to see a young Chinese-American male, approximately nineteen years of age, holding a brown Manila envelope under his left arm.

"Wong!" exclaimed Usher. "How did you get in here?"

"I was being followed too closely, in Washington, to risk returning to the local Legacy House. So, I used my grandfather's old portkey and rematerialized in the lavatory of his old bedroom!"

Usher stopped smiling as he suddenly remembered his manners.

"Oh, dear! Forgive me. John Summers? Meet Clyde Wong: grandson of my predecessor's personal assistant."

"It's an honor, sir," replied the former.

"The honor is mine, Huise Yinying," countered the latter using the Mandarin Chinese term for "gray shadow".

"Quickly!" urged Usher. "Let's adjourn to the study before the other guests become overly curious."

Twenty minutes later, John Summers dropped the magnifying glass he had been using back down on the desktop with half-shocked realization.

"Swiss watch knock-offs? My maiden Aunt Fanny!"

"What is it?" demanded Usher. "What's wrong?"

"It's Japanese computer circuits that are being sold and shipped to West Berlin! Not watches."

"Computer circuits?!" echoed the elderly Precept.

John nodded. "Yeah! And anything computerized, being built for an East German project named for Chinese body-hopping vampires..."

". . .is most definitely _not_ a good thing," agreed Wong.

tbc

Glossary:

Fenrir: Scandinavian Garou tribe (a.k.a. "The Get of Fenris").

Telyavelic bloodline: a Lithuanian-based subsect of Clan Tremere.

Jormungandr's Hall: headquarters for a Scandinavian bloodline of the vampiric Setite Clan.

Silver Spiral: Garou term of contempt for any members of the Silver Fang tribe who become Wyrm-worshiping renegades (a la the Black Spiral Dancers).

Blood Red Crest: Southeast Asian sept of the Silver Fang Garou.

Nagaraja (Hindu for "king cobra"): a subsect of the Setite Clan who were magically mutated into eaters of human (or, at least, non-vampiric) flesh by Indian necromancers called the Chakravanti through experiments allegedly inspired by the origins of Clan Tremere!

Clyde Wong: in -joke reference to veteran actor Clyde Kusatsu, who played Wong in the 1978 CBS TV-movie "Dr. Strange" (starring Peter Hooten in the title role and Sir John Mills as Thomas "the Ancient One" Lindmer).