"You haven't given me enough information to work with. What kind of lawyer does she have? Ambulance chaser, shyster, snake oil salesman?" Stryker kept his tone light, almost amused. It didn't do to let them see they had you over a barrel.
The head of Marine StarCare's legal department stirred. "His name is Robert Angevin. Do you remember the Sleep-EZ motel chain?"
"Yes. They went out of business ten years ago, give or take a few."
"Angevin's first case out of law school was 'Diaz vs. Sleep-EZ.' The Diaz family had just been evicted, and they were on welfare when they checked in for the night. Mrs. Diaz requested a crib for their three-month-old baby. The crib she got had been recalled by the manufacturer for safety reasons, and it was visibly worn. She complained, but the manager told her 'Tough'. It collapsed during the night and suffocated their infant.
"The opposing attorneys had more than seventy years experience among them, and Angevin was a lone greenhorn. The first jury awarded the Diaz family seventeen million. Sleep-EZ appealed. The second jury awarded them one hundred and sixty-four million. That is why Sleep-EZ went out of business. The Diaz's now live in a very nice house in Santa Barbara, and they named their next child 'Roberto Angevin Diaz'. As I said before, that was his first case. He's gotten better since then."
"Then he must be counting on an out-of-court settlement—that's the only way there'll be any money in it. Everybody has a price," Stryker said, feeling more confident. "We'll find out what they're willing to settle for. Once they've accepted our offer, the federal court will toss her case right out the door."
"What if she won't settle for money?" The Board president folded his hands.
"Up the ante. Offer money and something else: a free retest at the Marine StarCare facility of her choice. We make sure the test comes up negative. So the original laboratory made a mistake. She's not a mutant after all. I still have friends. I'll see to it her name is erased from the Registration List. We apologize to her publicly, and fire the whole laboratory staff and the doctor, in exchange for her silence about the database." It stuck in his craw, but he was prepared to do it.
"But she'll still be a mutant." objected another board member.
"What of it?" Stryker replied. "If what you say is true, the reason she's dangerous is that she isn't dangerous. We can afford to let this mutant slip through the cracks for the greater good. She'll be scared to go anywhere near another genetic screening, and I'll make sure her name is flagged in the Registry computers."
"There is a complication." The only female board member spoke up. "She's pregnant. If her child is a mutant, especially if it's obviously a mutant, she might prefer to go to court."
"Pregnant?" There was no particular reason for that fact to send an icy hand directly down his spine to shrivel his balls. After all, even mutant women had normal babies. There was no reason to suppose the father of her child was a mutant, let alone that she was the Lilith he so feared—but it was too much of a coincidence for him. "Does she have a family already?"
"No. This is her first pregnancy." the woman replied.
"Forty-seven and pregnant for the first time. Grace Engstrom has something to lose, if it comes to playing hardball. That makes her vulnerable. Nobody is bulletproof."
"I see it differently. Grace Engstrom is forty-seven and pregnant for the first time. That gives her something to fight for." The woman looked at him sideways.
"When you say 'hardball', Mr. Stryker, exactly how hard do you mean? For the record." The president's eyes were as warm and friendly as a moray eel's.
"Only that which is legal and ethical, of course. We have to remember who's in the right here." replied Stryker, while underneath he thought: Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes.
"If we do go to court with this, Mr. Stryker, what then? How are we to defend ourselves against the violation of the Genetic Privacy laws?"
"Should it go to court, we won't have to worry. As long as the Government is involved, the Mutant Registration Act at stake, the burden of proof is on her. After all, she won't just have to win in court, she'll have to conquer popular opinion, too. All right. Maybe she is harmless—but there are so many other mutants out there who aren't. She'll have to convince the entire population of the United States that because the laws are unfair in her case, they're unfair to every mutant. Far better that one innocent mutant should suffer than that hundreds of human beings should, after all. The jury will see that our way—if it comes to it. The American people will see that. She'll never be able to change that. Never.
"First things first, however, lady and gentlemen. We do this properly and offer a cash settlement. Let's see if we can't have an offer in front of her lawyer by Friday. What's a good lowball figure? Five hundred thousand?"
"Too low." disagreed the attorney. "Angevin wouldn't wipe his nose with that. Try five million as an opener."
The board didn't know where she was living, or who her friends and defenders were. They didn't even know that little Hugo Angevin, who was even with his mother for first place in the race for 'People Most Important to Robert Angevin In The Entire World.', was a mutant.
Had they known, they would never have adjourned the meeting with such confidence.
Never.
All the way over on the other side of the country, on the island of Alcatraz, Warren Worthington the Second looked down at the mouse whose extra tails and claws had just disappeared after an injection of serum, and smiled. Soon, he would have his son back as he always should have been. Soon…
A/N: Should have mentioned this last time. Many of my faithful readers (thankyouthankyouthankyou!) have wondered what is up with Jean's insomnia and nightmares. The Phoenix will arise soon--which given how I write, might be a dozen chapters from now, but there will be foreshadowing to lead up to it.
