And now for the showdown that we've all been waiting for... me especially. Want to thank everyone who has given me lots of encouragement, feedback and support. It means a lot! And to Kydasam - you will be happy to know that you beat me to the punch. Up until now, we've been seeing the Order through Van Helsing's eyes which does make it look like the place is a snake pit.Now we get to see it from a bit less... bitter perspective :)
Jinette had carefully calculated the amount of time it would take to start making the two men sweat and Van Helsing to lose his cool. Therefore he was very displeased to sweep into the conference room to discover that a high stake game of Pitch was being played and that the men didn't even look up when he entered.
"Trump is spades. How many do you want?" questioned Carl who had folded his own cards and was holding the deck.
Jinette almost exploded. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"
Carl merely dropped the deck of cards on the table. "Cleaning house at Pitch." He swept the cards together and turned to Jinette. "Now that you are here, we can finalize the working arrangements between us and the Order."
Jinette was practically purple "Finalize? Don't you think you are getting ahead of yourself?"
Carl looked at him blandly and said "No. Frankly, the only reason I bothered to make the trip was that I wanted to get a chance to look at your archives and see what I want to have copied and sent to me. Oh and look at your lab though I'm quite certain there is nothing there I'll be interested." He looked vaguely bored at the prospect.
Jinette started to open his mouth to speak but Carl kept going smoothly. "Now, there is no point in discussing compensation. Whatever money you offer me will be a joke so we won't waste time. Now as far as our home base, since we are covering the continental United States, we need to have a base there that will have a lab and suitable testing and training facilities. And since I have seen what you woefully provided for Van Helsing in the past, I will be seeing to this in the future. Instead you will transfer those funds to our expenses budget. Not that it will cover much but at least you will be making a token gesture…"
Jinette leaped up from his chair and shouted, "Just who the hell do you think you are? You think you can dictate terms to US?"
Carl looked at him calmly and said, "No, I know I can dictate the terms." He didn't get up but he shifted so that he was sitting straight and his hard eyes never wavered from Jinette's "Now let me make this abundantly clear. You have no leg to stand on. Should I chose so, I could make you the front-page news of every major media outlet on the face of the planet. Moreover, should anything happen to myself or Van Helsing, you will also be exposed." His eyes as frosty as his tone, he continued on. "From now on, your part in our work will be limited to assigning the case and sending us the files on it. That's it. We have complete autonomy on all our cases and will use our own discretion as to methods. Should we make a request for support, you will assign us the best people you have and they will answer directly to us. This is not open for debate."
Carl stood up and looking around the table said "Gentlemen. You have heard the terms of the arrangements. Now if you will excuse us, it was a long flight and we were deprived the chance to wash away the dirt of our travels." Without a backwards glance – not even to see if Van Helsing was following – he swept out of the room.
Van Helsing had sat back and stayed the hell out of the way as Carl calmly yet thoroughly demolished Jinette. He had never seen Carl use his power in this way before and was more then a little weird. This was not the nice, geeky Carl who he rescued from the alleyway. Still, there was an enormous satisfaction to be had from seeing Jinette so completely put down. Especially since Carl had done it without so much as raising his voice. Oh yeah, this was one he'd be remembering for a very long time.
When they were out of hearing of the conference room, Van Helsing caught Carl's arm and said "That was absolutely brilliant! I can't believe how totally you shut Jinette down! You are amazing you know that? Absolutely amazing!" He was grinning ear to ear and practically bouncing with excitement.
Carl returned the grin and said "Well, I had a lot of inspiration. I was sick to death of the way that guy treated you and I wanted him to know just how it feels. And I think you will find that in the future, we'll probably be getting our assignments from one of the other people. Jinette won't want to have to acknowledge that he lost. Which is fine with me frankly. Guy is a prick!" He was about to continue on when a man came walking up the hall toward them.
"Ah Van Helsing. I was told you would be coming in. I'm guessing that you are done with Jinette?" The man stood before the two of them cutting off their retreat.
Van Helsing smirked and said "Yeah Doc, you could say that." He lounged against the wall, looking quite pleased with himself.
The doctor just shook his head. "His blood pressure is going to be through the roof again, isn't it? You know, I really don't need you drumming up business for me. Especially since you, yourself should be providing me with endless amusement by finally coming down to MedLab and having your physical. Your VERY overdue physical…"
Van Helsing just rolled his eyes. "Come on, surely it hasn't been that long."
The doctor merely crossed his arms over his chest and said "Two years. Now are you going to come along quietly or do I have to get ugly."
Carl became uneasy with that last statement and moved forward to stand beside Van Helsing. "Surely there is no need to resort to anything nasty. After all, we've only just arrived. I would think you could wait at least until we've had a chance to settle in."
The doctor gave Carl a withering look and said "I let him get away now, and he climbs out a window and makes his escape." Carl started to open his mouth to protest and the doctor cut him off "I wasn't speaking metaphorically. Last time he literally snuck out a third story window and made a break for it. There's no way I'm letting him out of my sight this time."
Carl turned to look at Van Helsing who had the good grace to look embarrassed. Turning back to the doctor he said, "Well, I guess then you'd best keep him where you can see him. I'll just head back to my room, wherever that is, and you can send him to me when you are done with him."
The doctor's face never shifted but Carl could see his eyes twinkling with amusement. "You'll be in the guest building. Go down to the first floor and take the door out the back. Follow the path until you see a two story building with a lot of rose bushes out front. Someone there can tell you what room you've been assigned." With that he grabbed Van Helsing's arm again and began dragging him away saying "Now you will come with me and be a good little boy and there will be a lollipop for you at the end."
Carl laughed and got a nasty look from Van Helsing but he noticed that for all the disgruntled looks, Van Helsing wasn't putting up a fuss. Apparently he and the doctor had an OK relationship for all that he avoided his routine physicals.
Still laughing, Carl made his way out down to the first floor and out the door. The grounds of Order Headquarters were meticulously taken care off and he debated about wandering them for a while. In the end, he decided against it since he didn't know how long Van Helsing might be Especially if he climbs out the window again… Carl started laughing again – the image really was too funny. Van Helsing, the big, bad Hunter running away from a doctor.
So instead of exploring, he continued on his way to the guest building. As he came around a large hedge, he was surprised to see a beautiful stone building flanked by rose bushes of the most decadent colors. He smiled as he made his way up the front steps and let himself in. The interior was as beautiful as the outside and he looked around at paintings and statuary – surprised that so much attention had been put into this space. He jumped slightly when an accented voice came from behind him. He spun around and found himself looking at a short man of indeterminate years.
"You must be Van Helsing's guest. I was told you would be arriving today. Because he is a man of great privacy, I have actually arranged for the two of you to use the old caretaker's cottage. It is not very large but it is very secluded. It has been stocked with some basic supplies but you can always use the onsite cafeteria if you do not wish to cook for yourself. I have already seen to your bags so if you just follow me, I will show you to your quarters."
Carl smiled and followed the man. So they were to be given their own space, were they? While the intent may have been to keep them away from the rest of the Order, Carl wasn't going to complain. Privacy worked very well for his future plans and having their own kitchen only made things better. Yes, he rather liked this latest development.
The cottage proved to be very charming. It had a small porch and a very pretty garden and Carl was absolutely delighted. The inside proved just as delightful. The common room had a fireplace, a comfy couch and chair and bookshelves full of books. The kitchen was small but well stocked, including a bottle of wine, which Carl was sure, had not been approved by Jinette. But best of all was the main bedroom with its huge four-poster bed. Carl immediately had all sorts of very naughty thoughts when he saw it!
His guide had clearly seen his eyes light up but misinterpreted the reason. "You must be very tired so I shall leave you to get some rest." He gave a slight bow of the head and made his way out of the room. Carl followed him out and with a big smile said "Thank you so much for arranging this. I'm sure Van Helsing will be most pleased."
The man merely nodded his head and said "He is a good man whom destiny has not been kind to. I do what I can, little though it is." He gave another small nod of the head and left.
Carl looked around and smiled. Oh yes, this was just perfect for his plans. He was even tempted to offer to cook something just to keep them here for the evening. Could light a fire and sit in front of it with the wine… He drifted over to the couch and settled on it, his mind playing out scene after scene of just what they could do here in their little cottage…
A knock on the door almost caused Carl to launch himself across the room. Gathering his flustered thoughts, he made his way over to the door and opened it. Outside was a tall, thin man with a glasses and a receding hairline who was looking a bit nervous. Carl cleared his throat and said "Excuse me, can I help you?"
The man fidgeted a bit and finally said in a rush, "I hate to be a bother but I just heard that Van Helsing has a new partner and well… he's never had one before… being a bit of a lone wolf and all… not that there's anything wrong with that or anything. Guy's one of the best and all. Can't really fault his methods or anything…" The torrent of words stopped as the man finally ran out of breath.
Carl looked slightly bemused and said "Not to be rude but who are you and what do you want?" He remained blocking the doorway. While the guy certainly seemed harmless enough, he wasn't going to take any chances.
The guy looked completely apologetic. "My god, where are my manners. I'm Talbot. Gerald Talbot. My friends generally call me Ger." He stuck out his hand nervously and then blushed and said "Not that I'm presuming or anything. You can call me whatever you like. Van Helsing calls me Talbot when he calls me anything at all." He ducked his head again, looking like an apologetic stork.
Carl stifled a chuckle as he knew what it was like to be in Gerald's shoes. He had more then a few of his own awkward social moments to pick on a fellow geek in pain. "Gerald is fine. So what exactly do you do around here? I'll be honest, I don't know much about the day to day operations." He stepped away from the door and gestured for Gerald to enter.
Gerald entered gratefully, like a puppy who has been allowed to come up on the couch. " I work in the weapons lab. That's actually why I'm here. Van Helsing's weapons just arrived and he's pretty particular about how we handle them. I came here to see if he had time to come and tell us what's going on with them." Gerald looked around the room surreptitiously as if Van Helsing might be lurking in a corner somewhere.
Carl watched Gerald look for Van Helsing and had to tamp down the annoyance that bubbled up. Why was everyone so afraid of Van Helsing? The guy wasn't that bad. While he tried to keep his face neutral, a small amount of his annoyance crept into his voice. "Van Helsing is having his regular physical. I'm not expecting him back for a while."
Gerald looked disappointed for a moment and then said quietly. "Do you think I should wait for him to come down to the lab or could you maybe tell us what might need fixing? Normally we do a full inspection when weapons come in but Van Helsing usually doesn't stay around that long." Again there was a fleeting look of disappointment.
Carl's eyebrow rose as he listened to Gerald. The guy was disappointed that Van Helsing wasn't available, not glad. In fact, he'd be willing to bet that the technician had a bit of a hero worship thing going on towards Van Helsing. Suddenly feeling much more charitable towards the guy, he said "Actually, there probably isn't a lot that needs fixing. I've been working on his main weapons and will be maintaining them all going forward. That's really why I'm on the team – to supply technical support. " Trying to be tactful he said "I realize you guys are probably severely underfunded and staffed so it will just make the whole thing run much more smoothly." He gave Gerald a sympathetic smile and hoped he hadn't hurt the guy's feelings. He rather liked him.
Gerald smiled ruefully and said "Yeah. The Order isn't really all the big on R&D. If it worked in the Middle Ages, there's no reason it can't work now." He shook his head and said "We do what we can but none of us are really research designers."
Carl smiled and said "Well, I am and since I'm not restricted to what the Order will approve and pay for, I think we can finally start dragging them into the modern age." He winked and gave the man a conspiring grin.
Gerald returned the grin and said "Hey, since Van Helsing is going to be tied up for a while, how about you come down to the lab and see what we've been doing. I'd love any feedback or suggestions you can give us. And you can run interference with Van Helsing when he finds out we unpacked his weapons already. " Gerald gave a mock shudder and said "Man is touchy when it comes to his stuff. I mean… ok, his life does depend on them but really, we're only trying to help." He got up as he spoke and made his way to the door.
Carl gave him a sympathetic look, following him to the door said "Yeah, he can be a bit grouchy. But I'm sure he doesn't really mean it. Its just that this place sets him on edge and who can blame him? " Carl closed the door behind them and then walked along side Gerald as he led him back towards the building. "Though I think should change a bit now that we've set some new ground rules." He smiled rather wolfishly as he remembered the recent meeting with Jinette.
Gerald just looked at Carl questioningly and said "New ground rules? I don't think I've ever seen anyone come out of a meeting with Jinette who wasn't looking battered and counting all their fingers and toes. If you managed to negotiate anything positive with him then you've done better then anyone else who's come up against him." His look was now more then a bit admiring.
Carl tried to appear modest as he said "Well, I had a bit more leverage then most people. But it works to their advantage too as they'll get the advantages of any new designs or improvements I make which will let them be even more efficient and secretive." Gerald nodded "Yeah, heaven forbid we aren't completely secretive!"
They had reached the main building but instead of heading in, they skirted around the side of the building. Gerald led him to a side door that immediately led down into the basement. He shrugged apologetically and said "They stuffed us in the basement because we're considered at the bottom of the pecking order. Which is pretty stupid since the Hunters wouldn't have anything to hunt with if it weren't for us." His face has a sort of resigned bitterness to it.
Carl nodded "Yeah, that's usually the way. They find us hard to talk to so they stuff us in the darkest corner then can find and hope we don't bother them." They reached the lab and Carl saw three or four other technicians scattered about the room working on various projects. They all looked up when Gerald came in.
"Hey everyone, this is Carl. He's Van Helsing's new partner and a techie like us. He's going to be maintaining Van's equipment from now on."
An older gentleman who looked of Eastern European decent, hurried over with one of the tojos exclaiming "Are you the one responsible for the modifications on this? Its absolutely amazing. You've increased the rotation ratio by a magnitude of 5. This could easily handle monsters up to Class Two and maybe even some Class Twos. And you did it without adding any weight whatsoever. Its incredible. Gerald, look at this," he said as he triggered the tojo. The blade spun into motion with a deadly whine and Gerarld looked absolutely blown away.
"Damn, that's incredible! You are right, I'd bet it would easily handle a Class Three or Four monster. I'd love to see it up against a charga demon. I bet it would cut through it like a hot knife through butter." He turned to Carl with an eager expression and said "I don't suppose you've made any other modifications to any of his other weapons?" He looked like a puppy begging for a treat.
Carl smiled and said "Well, I did do some work on the firing mechanism of the crossbow." He spied it out on a counter and said "Come on, let me show you." By this point all the other technicians had left what they were doing and gathered around Carl and the crossbow.
As Carl walked through the modifications, the men made comments and asked questions which lead to other ideas. It wasn't long at all before they were grouped around the large chalk board and were happily dreaming up new ways to wreck havoc on monsters.
Carl was having the time of his life and completely forgot that he had intended to head back before Van Helsing got done with the doctor…