I do believe I stole this title from Buffy. I issue standard disclaimers for use of the CCS cast, but if anyone's going to sue me one day, it's Joss.
Chapter 16
'it's about power'
"Meilin!"
Hardly had Li's ship disappeared from view when Eric's terrified shout carried through the open door; startled, both girls turned quickly.
"Meilin, quick!"
Her heart thudded with fear and she tore back into the house, not knowing what could have happened to make Eric sound like that. They couldn't possibly have found them – surely not…
He was standing in the middle of the common room when she found him, completely alone and unharmed but eyes round with horror. Wordlessly he pointed at the television screen before she could open her mouth.
"…procedure little used, but not unheard of to those familiar with Congressional politics. Facing the onslaught of the campaign season, it's not unreasonable that Senators want to get an unimportant quorum out of the way."
"That's true, but you have to admit such a rapid schedule change is unusual, particularly considering the untimely death of Senator Masters yesterday evening."
"A tragedy, yes, and Senator Pindexter himself announced that he'd be making a trip to Hollyn to be with the family in their time of grieving. The quorum is, as he said, something to finish quickly so that proper time can be devoted to organizing a state funeral. It's an unprecedented show of interplanetary solidarity -"
"That son of a bitch," Eric breathed, watching the two commentators with glazed eyes. "He did it. I don't know how he did it but he got to them. He convinced every one of 'em to push the session up to today."
Meilin stared in disbelief. "Today? The vote on 314, today?"
"In just a couple of hours, yes, today."
They exchanged equally frozen looks, until a puzzled Tomoyo in the doorway cleared her throat. "Er, today what?"
"The beginning of the end," Eric groaned softly. "That's it, he's won. I can't do anything to stop him now."
Meilin looked from the ashen young senator to the insincerely somber one on screen; they were replaying a speech from the previous evening. Pindexter shook his head at the microphones, bemoaning the misfortune of Eric's death, and still somehow managing to mention his upcoming bill at the same time.
"No."
"What?"
"No, he hasn't won, not yet. If we go now we can make it."
"It's too far -"
"We'll drive fast. We have to try, Eric, you're the only one that can stop him!"
He wanted to shake his head but the determined and fiercely hopeful look in her eyes stopped him. Meilin was counting on him, her hero, and he couldn't let her down.
"You're right. We can make it, let's go!"
They both turned to the doorway and Meilin stopped short when she found herself facing Tomoyo, waiting patiently for an explanation with just a hint of anxiety in her eyes.
"Oh- Tomoyo, I'm sorry. I know what I told Syaoran, but I have to go. This is really important, you don't know how -"
"It's okay," Tomoyo interrupted softly. "If you have to, then you should go."
Meilin exhaled with relief. Syaoran would kill her for running off and leaving the girl alone, but Eric was the only one that could stop Pindexter and she was the only one that could get Eric there to do it. She had no choice.
"I really am sorry. But you'll be safe here, I promise. If I'm lucky I'll get back before Syaoran does."
"Meilin!" Eric shouted from somewhere down the hall. "C'mon, let's go!"
"And if neither of us come back, well, help yourself to the house." Meilin shrugged philosophically and waved, skirting around a rather shocked Tomoyo and running for the side door. Eric was already behind the wheel, starting the engine, and he beckoned impatiently.
"Watch for him on TV!" she called out over her shoulder, before jumping lightly in the passenger seat next to him. He shifted gears, the tires spit up a spray of sand, and then they were moving.
"So much for rest and relaxation," Eric growled. "Why did it have to be today?"
"Because, Eric, wherever you hid he was sure you'd never make it in time."
"Oh yeah? Well I'll show him. Can't wait to see the look on his pompous face when I walk in. So help me god, I am not going to let that bill pass today."
Meilin watched him curl his fingers around the wheel, glaring furiously at the road whisking underneath them. Tense as she was, she couldn't help the small smile.
"Listen to you. You almost sound like you care."
"No more talking."
- - - - - -
It was, Eric decided, the most nerve-wracking hour of his life. The darkness faded to pale gray around them as he drove, pressing the gas pedal desperately into the floor as if by sheer will power he could make the car go faster. In the rearview mirror he could see an orange glimmer of the rising sun.
What moron ever came up with the idea of breakfast sessions? That's what he wanted to know. The mandatory quorum was such an unpleasant task that somewhere along the line they'd started holding them early in the morning. Voting and decision making, those odious chores, had to be dispensed with as quickly as possible so senators could get on with the real job of campaigning for reelection. And now Eric watched the digital clock in the car count the minutes, chipping away at the time that he had to get there.
Sun was getting higher.
He could see the loathsome city now, squatting before them as they crested a low hill. Traffic wouldn't be a problem at this hour, surely they could drive right to the Capitol in no time at all…
"Hey, Meilin?"
"Mm?"
He glanced at the girl in the passenger seat, her head resting back against the seat with her eyes closed. It had been more of an exhausting night for her than him, of that he was sure. She'd replaced his bloodied shirt with more effective medication and bandages at the house, but it must still hurt.
"It won't be a problem, right? That is, when we get there? There'll be people, and cameras and stuff. They can't – do anything, right?"
Meilin opened one eye to meet his worried gaze, then shut it again. "Haven't you learned by now, Eric, that they don't care what you think they can and can't do?"
Eric rolled a groan down his throat.
"I'm really tired, Meilin."
"Yes."
"You are too."
"A little."
"I don't want you to get hurt."
"Well that makes two of us."
"I'm serious," he added sharply, enough so that she opened both her eyes to look at him. "You're a good person, Meilin, you've done more than you should have to help me out. I don't want anything to happen to you because of me. When we get to D.C., maybe you could just… lie low? Stay out of it?"
He was only trying to do the decent thing, but he was surprised at the hurt look that flashed across her face.
"You want that I should leave your side?"
"No! I just don't want anything to happen to you! Not for my sake."
A beam of brilliant rose-orange sunlight fell on her black hair, illuminating her. She looked so beautiful that he could hardly stand it, still couldn't believe that someone like her loved him. She turned her face up, gazing at the lightening sky and looking thoughtful.
"Do you know why I love my family, Eric? Why they're so important to me?"
"Er -"
"Because when the people of my family make a promise to protect something…"
Li could see it now, the barely-visible satellite riding through the darkness of space, waiting for him though no one there knew it but one. Heart beating faster, he guided the Remora in a wide loop until he'd found the entrance dock.
This was it.
"… they never abandon it."
He accelerated.
- - - - - -
The black car came out of nowhere, hurtling across their path and braking with a sharp screech as it tried to cut them off. Eric yelped and threw the wheel to the right, resisting the instinct to brake and instead accelerating. Meilin clutched at the edge of the car door.
"Again: can I please drive?"
"No! I can do this, I know how to drive!"
The capitol building loomed large before them now, shining white in the morning sunlight. Beautifully close, and yet so far. They'd been lying in wait, after all, ready to intercept him if he dared show his face.
Eric ground his teeth and drove right off the street, over the curb and onto the grass. The grounds behind the capitol weren't as picturesque as those in the front, but they were still nice. A few blooming trees, neatly cut lawns, and beds of carefully tended flowers. Eric drove over them without remorse, swerving around a statue of the capitol's architect. He flinched and ducked at the sharp puncturing noise on his car door, bullets shot from silenced guns.
"Are you going to shoot back or what?"
"Damn." Meilin snapped her fingers, looking irritated. "I knew there was something I forgot."
"You didn't bring a gun?" Eric shouted, almost forgetting to watch where he drove. "You couldn't get one stupid gun out of that arsenal back at your house?"
"You were the one shouting to hurry," Meilin retaliated. "It just slipped my mind!"
Eric almost hit a fountain head-on and swerved just in time. "Nice going, supergirl. How are we supposed to make it up the steps with them on our tail?"
He glanced at the approaching car in his mirror and sped up, the terrain smoother now that the car was on the broad sidewalk leading to the capitol's rear steps. They'd be there in a few seconds.
"I don't know," Meilin fretted. "Just give me a minute, I'll think of something."
They didn't have a minute. The broad white marble steps were getting closer and closer, too hard and too steep to even consider driving over… no wheels could handle them…
Eric turned sharply, heading to the right-hand building entrance.
"You know what I never appreciated until right now?"
"What? Where are you going?"
"It's a government building. And they're all wheelchair accessible." Eric jerked the wheel back to the left and brought the car around in a sharp skid, facing the far edge of the vast steps. Every day when his limo brought him here he'd seen it, that stupid federally mandated ramp that no one used. Not slowing down any more than he had to, Eric drove onto it and they were both almost bounced out of their seats. Meilin shrieked and gripped her seat more tightly.
It was a wide ramp, but not designed to accomodate a car, and it was all Eric could do to drive straight and not veer off the edge. But it was working, and it was his idea too. With a triumphant shout he brought the car up over the brink and onto the pillar-lined portico. Their pursuers were coming up behind them so he didn't slow down, but sped down the slick marble walkway. The entrance was getting closer.
"It'll be okay once we get inside, right?"
Meilin shot him a dry look and he gulped, but there was nothing to be done about it now. With a terrific squeal of the tires he braked hard, steering the car into the recessed entranceway at the same time. The marble had none of the friction that he was used to, when driving over pavement, and he realized too late that the car wouldn't stop in time. Both of them flinched and covered their faces just before they slammed through the solid wooden double doors.
- - - - - - -
They had no warning, he knew, before he dove into the entrance bay of the satellite's docking facilities. The radar damper had done its job; unaccosted Li glided past the control room window and the astonished faces inside. At his command the Remora twisted and hurtled between the brackets meant to accommodate supply ships. It was marvelously easy, the sleek ship had been designed for action like this, and with a flourish he brought it to a halt directly on the sealed doors.
Perfect landing, even if he was sideways. Now he only had to get in, and not waste any time about it either. They'd be waiting.
At the press of a button, the Remora's underside hatch adhered leechlike to the doors. The opening was just behind his seat, which didn't leave much room. But it would be all right, if he used the smallest one. Quickly and methodically Li stripped the adhesive backing off one of his explosives and slapped it against the exposed doors, then dove under the ship console. It did not occur to him to worry he'd be caught in the blast. Li Syaoran, expert thief, knew what he was doing. Since the moment he'd seen this satellite on his computer screen he'd been possessed by a peculiar sureness, like he knew exactly what to do in order to get to Sakura. Nothing would stand in his way.
The doors exploded in a cloud of acrid smoke.
- - - - - -
"All right!" Meilin cheered, and jumped over the windshield onto the hood of the car. "Good thinking, Eric, those doors were probably locked."
"Wurg," Eric replied, or something like it, while he tried to remember how to breathe.
"Don't just sit there, get inside! Quick!"
He'd forgotten about their pursuers, but now he could hear them pulling up behind them, a little more slowly and carefully than he'd done. Frantically he threw himself over the door and scrambled inside, just before another bullet bit the wooden door. Meilin yanked on his wrist.
"Keep low! Run!"
He didn't have to be told twice. Both of them sprinted toward the security detectors but stopped short before the wide-eyed capitol guard, gun in hands.
"Stop right there!" he barked. "Get down on the -"
Meilin kicked the gun out of his hands and followed through with the motion, spinning around and nailing him hard in the temple with her heel. The men in black were climbing over their stolen car and Eric threw himself against Meilin, bringing them both to the floor before the security guard was shot twice in the chest. She rolled over and snatched the guard's gun where it had fallen and aimed over the detector's console. One man she shot in the lower chest, the other she just missed before he ducked back behind the car hood for cover.
"If you will bow your heads and join me in prayer…" a disembodied voice directed, and Eric turned his face up to the invisible speakers above them.
"Oh God! They're starting!"
"Now's our chance. Come on!" Again Meilin grabbed his wrist, and they ran.
- - - - - - -
At the muffled explosion they'd all run here, and now every soldier on the lower floor stood tense and ready with their guns pointed at the lift doors. The unthinkable had happened, an unidentified ship had flown right into their top-secret satellite and its occupant had already made it inside. Not one man knew what was happening, but they were the most highly trained military personnel in the system and were confident that the invader would get no further than this.
The lift doors opened. There was no one inside.
The two men closest hesitated and then crept closer, guns still raised. A ragged hole on the opposite side showed where the intruder had blasted his way in, but other than that there was no sign of him.
What the…
They edged still closer, almost crossing the threshold of the open doors, and that's when the attack came. Swifter than vision Li dropped from his braced position above the doors, each boot connecting with a chin and sending them sprawling back into their friends. He was crouched on the floor in the next second, and then he sprang.
They weren't fast enough. Li pounced on the nearest soldier and then rolled away before the belated bullets could track him, diving into the next over a spray of gunfire. Effortlessly he knocked his weapon aside and struck ruthlessly with his open palm at the nose, then twisted around behind his victim to use as a shield. He did not linger but completed the rotation and swung the man right into the next. Only three remaining, and like clockwork Li kicked and struck, disarming them before they had a chance to shoot. A powerful side kick slammed one against the corridor wall, out for the count, and without pausing he swiveled into a reverse back kick into another's chin. He dropped to the floor and Li saw the final soldier dive for an abandoned gun.
Why did they always try? One light skipping motion and he was already there before he even had a chance to pull the trigger, and he struck with a turning kick so hard that the man's head whipped around before he hit the floor.
Seven men lay scattered at his feet in the white hallway, and Li took a moment to breathe. He'd made it in. And now that he was no longer absorbed in combat he could feel her; the air around him was charged with her presence and he soaked it up greedily. He could not see her exact location, not with so many barriers of ceruleum between them both, but she was close. Waiting for him, trusting in him.
"Hang on, Sakura. I'm coming."
- - - - - -
Faces, sculpted from stone and endlessly stern, blurred past as they sprinted through the capitol's halls, weaving desperately in and out of the one hundred different statues for every Solarian district. As if it were years ago she remembered walking through here with a tour group, Eric at her side. It was a briefly wonderful time, holding his hand and pretending that they were together.
His hand was still in hers but only as an afterthought in the panic of flight. She could hear his light and raspy breathing as they ran, interspersed with the occasional plink of a bullet hitting a marble statue. He trusted her, he placed his faith in her to keep him safe and this was the best she could do? Run fast? Children of the Li family did not fight by running!
They burst into the large open chamber featuring her beloved Justice figure, and Meilin snagged Eric's shirt to throw him back against the wall.
"Hey! What -"
"Shh!"
She adhered herself to the wall by his side, just inside the archway, and waited. The pursuing agent was far too expert to come sprinting through when he could no longer see his quarry, and instead he stopped short of the entrance, gun pointed and scanning the room. Without knowing it his arms extended right past Meilin and she attacked, striking upwards just under his elbow and grasping his wrist at the same time. She would have broken the arm if she hadn't been occupied with keeping control over his gun hand, and instead settled on smashing her left backfist into his nose before he could counterattack. A satisfying crunch told her she'd broken it, and he cried out in sudden pain.
She was about to finish him off when Eric yelped and she saw a blur of vision beyond the agent. Another one had arrived and she spun quickly into a last-minute turning kick that knocked his gun hand aside. The first agent's wrist curled under with the motion, and she flinched at the quiet report when he pulled the trigger. The bullet couldn't have missed her body by more than a few inches.
Meilin struck him again on his swelling nose, provoking an agonized cry, and then twisted with a swift hooking kick at the second agent's gun. She was outnumbered and outgunned, and instinctively acted just to point the weapon away from herself. She didn't realize Eric had moved until she glimpsed him in her peripheral vision; maybe he thought she needed some help. When the agent fired, the bullet shot right past his head and chipped Justice's sword.
He jumped and tripped over his own feet, falling back against the floor, and something inside Meilin blazed. Such an attack on the man she loved would not be tolerated.
Before he could bring his weapon back to aim at Meilin she pushed against the first agent until she'd slammed him hard into the wall. Smoothly she shifted all weight from the left to the right foot and snapped her left leg straight at the second one's head. Her foot connected perfectly with his chin and sent him flying back to the floor. In the next motion she bent her knees and yanked, curling the agent's arm and slamming him hard into the floor. Not once had she let go of his hand and now she leveled his weapon at his partner, firing twice at his chest without remorse. She finished by trapping the first agent's head in her other arm and yanking, snapping his neck.
"…for your consideration," the hidden speaker continued, "Proposition XP-310, sponsored by -"
Eric yelped again. "Aah! The tax reform bill, I totally forgot that was up for vote today!"
Panting slightly, Meilin backed away from her two victims. Eric wasn't even looking in her direction, face turned anxiously up to the ceiling. "One thing at a time, Eric. Come on." She took his hand again and ran lightly out of the room.
"You wouldn't believe how much they're hiking up the rate," he griped, "and don't think that's not coming out of your pocket -"
Just in time she retreated behind the corner, pushing him back a little roughly, before two bullets chipped at the wall.
"Tax 'reform', they call it!"
Warily she peeked around the edge and then withdrew quickly. There was nothing between them and the main hall now, except this one long and bare passage and the pair of agents in it.
"We can't go this way, there's no cover."
"What? But this is the way to the session."
"We'll have to find another way. Let's go."
- - - - - - -
With a brief sizzle of lightning the keypad lock was fried beyond repair. Li turned his attack on the door itself and then kicked, so hard that the entire thing fell inward. Without pause he launched into a flying side kick that slammed the nearest soldier back into a console. They hadn't been expecting him to make it to the control office and the bewildered men scrambled to counterattack, too late.
Li snatched the wrist of a man pointing a gun at him and twisted, throwing him into another soldier and toppling them both. He swiveled into a kick that disarmed yet another and drew his own guns at the same time, dispatching all three in as many seconds. His body moved with an effortless grace, automatic and unthinking. She was with him again, just like on Partine, and now it was even stronger. His reflexes had never been so fast, his aim never so sure.
And then some part of him tensed apprehensively. Some motion in the far corner of his eye prompted him to look; a soldier near the front of the office was throwing himself at a red lever on the wall.
What…?
Understanding hit him and he raised his gun too late. "No!"
A high-pitched alarm shrieked in his ears and like a breaking wave Sakura's pain slammed into him. That brief episode with the whistling kettle was nothing compared to this, the abrasive wailing was so loud he thought his head would explode. Helplessly he crumpled to the floor and fought to keep the scream inside. This pain was unbearable, it was as if he'd been stabbed in the chest with hot needles.
Lying on the floor of his prison, drifting away from consciousness, Touya promptly woke up at the blaring noise. He'd heard that alarm before once, when he rescued Sakura from this place, and he stiffened, afraid to hope.
"What the -" Smith muttered, and then flicked a switch. "Control, what's going on down there? Turn off that alarm now, loud noise upsets the subject!" He paused, and without success Touya tried to hear the reply over the din. "Intruder? What- no, turn it off now!"
Somehow, in his agony, Li managed to remember where he was and that this was no place to collapse. Though it took every scrap of his energy he pushed himself away from the wall and rolled across the floor, behind the relative safety of a computer console. The office dimmed and then disappeared, he could see nothing. The hot pain in his chest flared, and then something snapped in his upper left arm. Was this pain Sakura had endured?
Dizzy and nauseous, Li hauled himself up enough to fire a couple times over the desk. He couldn't even see anyone but hopefully it would at least keep them back. The effort of it swamped him and he dropped back to the floor, panting.
In the darkness now he saw something more, something terrifying. An elaborately drawn sun, and a moon, encircled in ancient characters and getting larger with every harsh bleat. Closer and closer, bringing on the end –
The alarm died. In the abrupt silence Li shuddered and uncurled his body, experimentally flexing his left fist. A fading echo of pain was all that remained, slipping away by the second. But the image would not leave his head.
"What is it, Sakura?" he murmured softly.
What was that thing?
A slight scuff on the far side of the computer desk sharpened his senses and brought him back in a heartbeat; he still had a job to do. He shot to a standing position and pushed the soldier's arm up at the same time, just as he'd been ready to lean over the edge and shoot Li. The bullet hit the ceiling and Li punched him squarely in the nose, knocking his head right back. Dazed, he offered no resistance as Li twisted, aimed, and fired with his own gun. The remaining two men in the office dropped, and Li released his victim. But he didn't think the office was quite empty, not yet. Did he hear someone's voice?
"Now," Smith continued, once the alarm had been silenced, "what's going on? What man? He what?"
"I don't know what he wants, he's taken out the whole office already and he -"
The officer's hushed report was cut off as Li flicked the comm switch, bracing the sharp tip of his dagger under the man's chin.
"Up against the wall."
The soldier obeyed, backing up to the wall with his hands raised, but he was no coward. "Whoever you are, you're already trapped. The security barriers are down, you won't be able to get anywhere in the satellite now."
Li ignored him, appraising the computer console thoughtfully. Federal layouts were all the same. After a few seconds' study he flicked the right switches, retracting all the internal security obstacles. He then flipped up a panel with his knife and sliced through the wires inside, ensuring that they would remain that way.
"I've been doing this for a while," he informed the astonished officer with a touch of condescension. "Now do yourself a favor and get out while you still can."
He turned to go and was almost immediately tackled from behind. Without breaking stride he threw the man against the wall and then left the office.
"Well, Kinomoto," Smith said thoughtfully, after a few moments' silence. "A most unusual thing has just happened; someone's got it in his head to invade my satellite."
"Let me guess. About 5'10", brown hair, looks like he's going to take Sakura away from you? I've met him. Guess Tomoyo found him after all." Through his pain Touya smiled in grim vindication. He couldn't imagine how she did it, nor did he know how Li ever managed to find the place, but that didn't matter. He'd come through, Touya was right to protect him after all.
His father would understand. He would have made the same choice.
"You think it matters that I don't know his name?" Smith said acidly, apparently guessing his thoughts. "He's only made it easier by coming here, once we have him I'll learn everything."
"You won't catch him," Touya contradicted. "Believe me, I've heard the guy fight and he's good. You don't have a chance."
For the first time Li drew his sword, gripping it lightly in preparation. They were there, just around the bend in the hallway and hoping to ambush him. After a deep breath of preparation, he charged.
"He might be 'good', but he'll never get to Sakura and rescue you, in the condition you're in."
They were taken completely by surprise and he moved through the squad with ease, whirling and striking and slicing, too fast for them to see let alone fight.
"He's not here for me. He's here for Sakura, and he'll get her away from you. You'll never find her again."
Touya could feel peace stealing into him as he spoke, a sense of inevitability. It was all over for him, he'd known it since he first woke up in this room. But his spirit felt light with victory. His baby sister, who'd already suffered so much, would still have her freedom.
"No one will ever take away my Sakura," Smith said coldly, but Touya was sure that he could hear the faintest trace of worry in his voice.
"She's not yours," Touya corrected wearily. "She's not mine. And we both lose because we didn't get that in time."
Getting closer, Li could feel it. He broke into a light run, gun and sword at the ready. He would be with her soon.
"She loves… him."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Together they raced up the fancy marble stairs and onto the second floor, but hardly had they taken a step before Meilin pushed him to the floor. The bullet chipped the banister behind them. No matter what happened, Eric thought distractedly, conspiracy theorists were bound to go crazy over all these mysterious battle scars.
Gripping his shirt, Meilin rolled them both across the floor and behind the relative safety of a bend in the passage.
"I thought maybe I could get you into the sightseer balcony, so at least everyone could see you."
"Guess they thought so too."
She peeked around the corner and scrambled back, pulling him to his feet. "There's four of them, quick!" She dragged him away from the corner and through the first door she could see, a plain custodial door that led them to the service stair. "Up!"
Eric obeyed, pounding up the cement steps, but was all too aware that this was leading them away from the main hall.
"Proposition XP-312, for your consideration…"
"We can only keep going up so far, Meilin."
"I know, I know, just let me think -"
Below them the door slammed open and Eric couldn't help peeking over the metal railing, to see a handful of his would-be killers spilling through. They looked up, and he quickly retreated back to the wall. They reached the next landing and he yanked the door open, but Meilin nudged him aside.
"Wh -"
"Shh."
She shut the door softly, enough so that the latch would catch on the frame and leave it open. Silently she motioned for him to keep going up and he complied, tip-toeing softly and trying not to panic at the sound of the agent's footsteps thundering up behind them. Just in time they reached the next door and escaped through it, Meilin shutting it quietly behind them.
Eric wasn't pleased to see that this wasn't another floor, but some kind of service closet. A broom and some dusty junk lay braced against the walls, next to a short ladder set into the wall.
"Up," Meilin repeated. Obediently he clambered up the rungs and pushed up on the hatch door. Bright sunlight made him squint and he was astonished to feel a strong breeze against his face; after all their struggles to make it inside the building they were once again outside.
He swore colorfully. "Meilin, this is definitely not where we want to be!" Grouchily he climbed out so she could follow, and realized that he was standing under the Solarian flag. Here looking over the front lawns of the capitol they could see the famous flowering trees of the city, bathed in the morning light. It was a gorgeous, very romantic view, but even Eric couldn't appreciate that right then. They were stranded on the roof of his own workplace, so close and yet so far from the session inside.
Meilin leaned over the railing of the small ledge, looking speculative. "I'm not so sure."
"Not so sure about what?"
She was yanking on the rope of their system's flag, rapidly untying the knots and pulling it free of the pole, rope and all. "That this is a bad place. I think this will work fine." The red, white, and blue hit the ground and she retied a knot between the two ends, looping it around the railing first. "Ever been rock climbing?"
Eric watched her let the flag rope dangle down, not quite reaching another flat ledge below them. "Tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."
"You know we can't go back the way we came."
"But -"
"Eric, please! We don't have much time!"
She was right, the session was moving along back inside the building. Eric whimpered and crawled over the rail, carefully letting himself down the side of the building. He was so very high up.
"And I said, 'but Dad, I don't want to go to D.C. I want to open a bar.' But noooo, have to keep the family well-connected. I don't even like my family."
Miraculously, he reached the ledge without incident and backed away from the rope to give Meilin room. Hardly had her feet touched the surface when she pulled quickly on the rope, sliding the knot down until she could reach.
"Okay, genius, now what? How are we supposed to get to the session from here?"
"Not we. Just you." She untied her own knot and yanked, bringing the long rope to a puddle at her feet. "And the way in is right behind you."
Eric turned around, but he couldn't see anything but a giant and ornate window. The glass was clear but the trim around the panes was a work of art, and Eric tried to remember where he'd seen that before.
It was the window overlooking the main hall, the source of sunlight in that dreary room that he'd mindlessly stared at so often. Hardly had he grasped that when he realized Meilin was draping the flag's rope around him, winding it tightly around his chest and upper arms.
"Uh, Meilin, what are you doing?"
"Did you ever play with a yo-yo, as a child?"
A what? Eric had heard that word before somewhere, some kind of old-fashioned toy that –
"Aah! No! Let me go- get away from me!" Without success he tried to pull away, wary of the immense drop not too far from his feet.
"Eric, trust me. I've done this before, and it really doesn't hurt at all. If you land right, that is."
"You want to send me hurtling down on top of Bayne's head like some kind of stunt diver? Well forget it! I don't care that much, count me out!"
"Eric." She paused with a hand on each shoulder, looking earnestly into his eyes. "I've risked my life to get you this far. I believe in you. Are you going to let me down?"
Eric wilted slightly. "God you're good."
"That's a yes?"
"I'm going to die."
"No, you're not. The room isn't all that high, just remember to fall feet first and you'll be fine." Briskly she finished her task, cinching the rope so tightly around his chest he had trouble breathing. "It's an old building, very old glass, it should break easily. I'll give you a push; just put your shoulder first and it shouldn't be a problem. Are you ready?"
"But what about you?" Eric appealed, watching her tie the rope securely to the window ledge with a sense of dread.
"I can climb back up, I'm sure. Once you're inside they won't care about me anymore. Don't worry, I can take care of myself."
Oh, didn't he know it. She braced her hands against his body, looking determined.
"Are you ready?" Eric gulped and nodded, and she tensed in preparation.
"No- wait, wait!"
"What?"
"You got any gum? They won't let me smoke in there, I have to have gum or I'll go crazy!"
Meilin stared at him in disbelief. "Eric, you're going in there to filibuster a vote! You'll be talking the entire time, you can't have gum."
"Oh… right."
"The last bill on the docket, for your consideration, is Proposition XP-314. Sponsored by Senator Jacob Pindexter of Tyrinthia…"
"Ready?"
"Yes." Again she bent her knees in readiness.
"No, wait!"
"Now what?" she groaned, exasperated.
"Sorry, I just have to do this one thing before I go in there." Throwing caution to the wind, he lowered his face to hers and kissed her. Not for long, couldn't go on too long, but just enough to explore her taste one more time. She stiffened in surprise but didn't fight him, and it was very reluctantly that Eric pulled away. But the kiss wasn't what he'd had to do.
"I love you," he said, and then bolted to the glass. He remembered to turn his head, tuck his chin to his chest, let his shoulder take the brunt of the impact. He didn't have time to catch more than a fleeting glimpse of her face when he did this, but what he saw made him smile.
Meilin was his.
The hard glass shattered on impact and a horribly loud crack split the morning. Resistance fell away, gravity beckoned, and Eric found himself falling. An astonishing view of the familiar hall, strange from this angle, whisked into a blur as the rope around his chest tightened and sent his body into a spin. The room whirled around him rapidly, as if he were drunk, and then the last of the constricting rope unwound itself. He dropped the rest of the way, landing not too gracefully in a heap on the floor.
You liar, Meilin, he thought grouchily. That really hurt.
With a groan he sat up and brushed away a few fragments of glass, inspecting his body for serious injury. A few bleeding scratches here and there, but nothing that would kill him, and a little soreness from the fall. It wasn't until he looked up and met the stares of a hundred shocked and silent politicians that he remembered where he was.
Not to mention the camera crew in the press box.
"Um, hi," he said lamely. Nobody said anything and he stood up, wobbling a little before he regained his balance. He'd landed right in the center of the floor, between Chairman Bayne's podium, the first row of seats, and the sponsor's bench. Pindexter's aghast expression collected his thoughts, and Eric straightened his back. "Looks like I made it just in time. You weren't going to vote without me, were you?"
Pindexter continued to gape, his mouth swinging open. It was finally Bayne that broke the silence.
"This is -"
"An outrageous breach on the sacred Legislative Hall!" Pindexter interrupted, having found his voice at last. "How can you justify this destruction?"
That seemed to break the spell of silence in the hall, and Eric heard a swell of hushed muttering among the watching senators. He eyed the camera and shrugged, biting back a grin with difficulty. If nothing else, he'd just made history; Eric Masters was an invisible senator no more.
"Well, there were these guys outside and they wouldn't let me in. Never knew we took that tie rule so seriously."
Chairman Bayne looked baffled. "But Senator Masters, you were reported -"
"Dead? I know. Little mix-up there but don't worry, it's all sorted out. Now this is a quorum."
He flashed a triumphant look at Pindexter, whose flabby face was turning pink with fury. The older senator slapped his hands on the desk.
"Chairman Bayne, I lodge a protest! I move to delay the session until Senator Masters' actions are properly explained!"
Eric was already closing the distance between them before he finished speaking, and Pindexter drew back apprehensively when Eric leaned in close, covering the microphone with one hand.
"You're gonna take that back, Jacob," he murmured, "and you're gonna do it before I tell everyone here just what you've been up to lately."
Pindexter snarled. "You have no proof."
"You don't think so? Then I have just one word to say to you and that word is Clow."
The effect on Pindexter was dramatic, and to Eric, completely gratifying. His face lost all color in an instant and his lips parted as he sought to counterattack, but it was a futile effort. Both of them were thinking of the information Eric had snatched from his computer, and both of them knew exactly how far Pindexter would fall if it ever came to light.
"I withdraw my objection," the senator finally said, rather hoarsely. Pleased, Eric winked and slid the thin microphone out of its desk stand.
"Can I borrow this? Thanks." Absentmindedly he ran his fingers through his hair and wondered just how awful he really looked. The muttered conversations around him were gaining in volume, his fellow senators didn't look as if they knew whether to be horrified or frightened. Under his feet, shards of glass crunched noisily and he swept a few of the big ones out of his way. "Sorry about the window, Bayne. You can take it out of my pay."
There were a few nervous chuckles, and some of the muttering dropped off.
"So I'm a little late, but unless my ears deceived me you were just about to vote on XP-314. And I was looking forward to that so much." He flashed a quick smirk in his colleague's direction. "Now, I promised my good friend Pindexter earlier this week that I would filibuster this bill, that I would stand here and talk as long as I had to to prevent this vote."
This time a few groans sounded from his audience, which Eric paid no attention to.
"But you know what? I'm not going to."
He could almost hear Meilin's shocked yelp, from wherever she was hiding, and fought down another smile. Everywhere senators were staring in surprise. "Let's take that vote, let's not waste anymore time on this piece of junk than we have to. I just want to say a few things first, get something off my chest. Do you mind?"
He said that because he'd wandered closer to the first row of desks, and was helping himself to a glassful of water from some senator's pitcher. He was thirsty after all that running and climbing, though whiskey still would have been better.
Eric didn't have a clue what he was doing. He couldn't explain why, after everything he'd endured to get to this room and prevent this vote, he was carelessly tossing his chance away. But he'd kissed Meilin and told her he loved her, and now a peculiar giddiness had enveloped him. Nothing bad could happen now. Everything would be all right.
"This latest addition to the Sorcery Acts," he began, "looks like a good idea, doesn't it? Required ceruleum cuffs on every sorcerer's wrists, they'll stop any magic attack before it even starts. And we all know the dangerous stuff sorcerers can do, right? They play with fire and lightning, can move faster than most people can blink, make really sharp weapons appear out of thin air." Eric was speaking from experience on that last one, and almost grinned. Stuffing one hand in a pocket, he paused to look around thoughtfully.
"So, why are we here? Not just this session, but us, Congress, here in this building at all? Why aren't the sorcerers ruling the system instead of letting us do it? I mean, one on one they could kill any of us." He gestured vaguely to his audience and then shrugged.
"Maybe because these sor- people who use magic – aren't interested in hurting anyone. Maybe they just want to live ordinary quiet lives. Who would have imagined it?"
He grunted in wry sort of way. "Not any of you, of course. Politicians don't know anything about ordinary quiet lives. But never mind, let's pretend for argument's sake. Just for kicks, let's say every magical person in this system is out for our blood. Good thing we've got XP-314! It's here to protect us! The Senators- Congress- no, government will protect us, the government will keep us safe."
The insincere smile vanished from his face, and he dropped his hand.
"Who are we kidding? This bill isn't about safety. Government is not about safety. Between sorcerers and government, which one's got the standing army? Which one helps itself to everyone's money every year, at gunpoint, which one can seize everything a person owns in the 'verse with just a mere accusation of a crime, which one has started every war in our civilization's history?"
He paused for breath. In the great hall there wasn't so much as a cough or rustle of papers; every pair of eyes was fixed on him.
"I don't actually have to tell you the answer to that, do I?"
After all, he hadn't spent the past couple of days almost getting killed by sorcerers. The sheer absurdity of it made him shake his head in disgust. "Let's face it guys, when you tally the death count, we're the most dangerous thing these six planets have ever known. Government's killed more people, or destroyed more lives, than the most evil sorcerer could ever manage on his best day. If anyone should be under lock and key, it's us."
Still not a sound. And Eric felt good, felt a confidence that he'd never known before settling itself inside him. Forget the filibuster, this was his chance to change minds. He could it, he knew he could do it.
"So, if this bill isn't about safety, then what is it about?"
He allowed the silence to tick by for a heartbeat, gathering himself.
"It's about power. Always has been. 'We can make you do this, and if you don't comply we'll take your house. We'll take everything you worked for your whole life, and then we'll put you in jail and take away your freedom too.' Make no mistake, guys, that's the kind of power we're throwing around. And for what? The crime of practicing magic? You're not doing this for anyone's safety, you're doing it just because you can."
Angrily he slapped his hand on the wooden desk where Pindexter sat, surprising himself as much as everyone else.
"How do you sleep at night?" he shouted. "Don't you know that every time you throw your weight around with a new law, people's lives are changed? Destroyed? Don't you-" He couldn't believe he was about to say this. "- care?"
Oh, the irony. Not sure whether to laugh or cry, Eric subsided and retreated to the center of the floor. "Of course you care. You care about reelection votes, you care about your image, you care about being the proactive and safety-conscious senator you always wanted to be. But you don't care that you're violating someone's liberty.
"The question," he decided, "is not whether sorcerers are dangerous. It isn't even whether they need their magic to protect themselves. The question is whether you have the right to decide that for them. Do you, the senator, have that… power?"
His question lingered in the air, in the tense silence that followed. Eric's gaze roamed over the tiers of desks, meeting the stare of every senator there, before he noticed the sightseer balcony. Meilin was there, draped almost half over the railing, somehow she'd made it in safely. And maybe it was too far to see properly, but he could swear her eyes glistened with tears.
"Well you know what I think," he finally said, in answer to his own question. "How about you? Did you get into this job because you just love power? Or because… you really wanted to help people? Cuz now's your chance. Don't let the government hurt anymore."
Eric met them all stare for stare one last time, then turned to face Chairman Bayne.
"I'm done," he said quietly.
The senior politician didn't acknowledge him, still staring numbly, and it was in total silence that Eric returned the microphone to Pindexter's desk. No one spoke as he left the floor and started up the steps, and there was no noise other than Eric pulling back his chair and dropping into it. Eerie, how quiet it was. Why wasn't anyone talking, discussing what he'd said with their neighbors? Everyone was so… still.
Maybe they didn't care. Maybe he was an idiot to think he could persuade them to vote no, maybe he should have stuck with the filibuster plan. But it was too late to do anything now.
It was, again, Bayne that finally broke the silence. Tentatively he cleared his throat, then again a little more loudly.
"Thank you, Senator Masters of Hollyn. Are there any more who wish to speak against the proposed bill XP-314?" A few senators shifted in their chairs and someone coughed; sound had returned to the hall. But no one raised their hand. "Very well. Senators, please lock in your votes."
The small raised screen in front of him, already lit up with the precise wording of the bill, displayed two buttons at the bottom. One was Yes, the other No. Simple as that.
Eric extended his hand, surprised to see it was shaking slightly. God he really wanted a cigarette, after all that. Inobtrusively he tried to spy on the other voters around him. Some had already voted; their screens were black. Others were taking a little more time about it. He lifted his eyes then to the sightseer balcony, reassured by Meilin's presence. He wasn't sure, but he thought she smiled, and he smiled in return.
He pressed No.
For what seemed an age the votes trickled in, and one by one the screens in the hall went black. The big screen on the wall flashed with electronic numbers, bright red or green against black. Breathlessly Eric watched them flip upwards once the computer had finished counting.
Yes- 68
No- 32
The numbers meant nothing. Eric stared at them uncomprehendingly, only distantly hearing the gasps and mutters around him.
"The three-quarters requirement has not been met," Bayne announced. "Bill XP-314's passage into law has failed."
They'd won.
And Bayne slammed his gavel down on his desk.
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Disclaimer: I do not own these characters
Except for Eric. How was that speech? Did I change anyone's mind? Well, if I made you at least think then that's good enough. Inspiring political speeches really aren't my thing, I prefer lecturing through metaphor and example.
If you've read this far, then I'm extremely grateful to you for sticking with me and being patient. This plot has not been easy but things are starting to resolve for me, my muse is finally letting me in on what happens. Won't be long now, probably just a couple more chapters. The next post should be all kinds of exciting: you-know-who finally makes an appearance (both of them), and Li meets the real Sakura at last. As she would say, the lines have all come together.