(Evie - The View From On High)
Despite still being tired, you find yourself in one of those moments where a question or concern is tugging at the edge of your thoughts and makes going back to sleep - for the moment - near impossible.
You look out the window onto a balcony that is dusted with nearly a foot of snow, and shudder at the thought of stepping outside. And then you see the antique (or, at least, of similar design) brass telescope sitting on its tripod, as well as a pair of 7x35 binoculars lying on a low table.
You train the binoculars on the castle first, seeing nothing but classic architecture. There are faint glimmers of bluish light, fire or some kind of illumination. And there must be heat, right? Do Einjehar feel cold?
It's the telescope that shows you the kind of detail you were seeking. You can make out patrolling figures, the disparate armor indicating more Einjehar. There are several taller - perhaps eight to ten feet in height - figures with pale skin and primitive armor. White hair and blue eyes. Frost giants?
Damn. Too bad you can't hear anything.
You are about to stop your investigation when you notice one last detail, a shaft of cerulean light piercing the sky, Asgard's sky. It pulses in regular measure, but not something that can be identified as a signal or code. A beacon or link, then?
"Hrmmmm," Evie chews on her lip thoughtfully. She's not sure what to make of the beacon, but if it is coming from the castle, it can't be good. She peers at it more closely, trying to determine if the pulses are moving from the castle to Asgard or from Asgard to the castle.
After she has done that, she sits back and watches the Einjehar and giants carefully. Evie is looking for a patrol pattern, the timing of guard changes...that sort of thing. Well, that is assuming that they have to bother with such things. Do Einjehar or giants need rest or food or whatever? She doesn't know. But, she won't find out unless she watches!
Evie also keeps an eye on the castle doors, watching for anyone other than Einjehar or giants coming and going. Who else might have access to the castle?
There are regular patrol patterns upon the castle walls - no shorter than ten, no greater than eighteen minutes apart. None seem to be the taller forms of the 'frost giants.'
The drawbridge to the castle is raised. Certainly, it must have occurred to the National Guard to attempt crossing the ravine and scaling the walls, but it hasn't happened. The old Hollywood standby of coshing a few bad guys over their heads and stealing their uniforms is out, because the Einjenhar have a universally gaunt appearance.
Of course, walking up to the front door with Alex would probably work.
It is into your second cup of coffee - and hopefully, this is neither an omen or a requirement - that you feel that sensation of being everywhere at once. You don't feel yourself at risk of teleporting - perhaps that's something you haven't learned yet.
But you find yourself with a set of coordinates. You know exactly wherethe beacon is sourced, like a monitoring anklet on a high-risk parolee.
And it isn't until you rouse from your not-quite sleep - you don't feel any of the fuzziness or sense of misplaced time that come with nodding off - that you realize what the beacon is.
It's just like the key fob Odin gave you.
It's an anchor.
"Huh. Well, now..." Evie mumbles. "That's quite interesting. I wonder what would happen if we cut that anchor? Nothing good for Lyman, I'm sure."
She giggles into her coffee, just a little bit loopy from the combined lack of sleep and caffeine overload.
Evie pulls out her phone and texts Lya: Just noticed something important. Have an idea. Will talk to you about it when I see you. Just remind me.
The detective figures that she'll need a reminder. Or, a swift punch in the shoulder to wake her up. Sleep is tugging at the edges of her consciousness with an insistence that is nearly impossible to stave off, any longer.
There's the faint sound of "Ride of the Valkyries" coming from outside the Penthouse door before it shuts off with a fumbling curse of "I'm right here dangit..."
There's a knock on the door to the beat of "Shave and a Haircut" before Lya declares "Yo...there better be some coffee left for me, Evie...we've got a lot to talk about!"
Evie glances guiltily at the empty coffee carafe. Then, she gives Lya a big, goofy grin and says, "Sorry. I've pretty much been on a drip of the stuff since I woke up."
She stands and moves over to the coffee machine. Evie fumbles with a clean filter, her hands not quite in the mood to listen to her brain, at this point. She furrows her brows as she tries to separate one out, but it seems to refuse to come loose.
"Come on...you...stupid...," Evie grumbles. She shakes her head as she keeps doggedly trying. "Anyway, I've been watching the castle. It has an anchor! A kind of...mystical...magical...anchor, of sorts. I'm guessing that it's holding the castle here. Or it's pulling Asgard to us. Or, it's...something. Anyway. I think it's what's allowing Lyman to call the storms and giants."
Lya chuckles and takes over the coffee duties as Evie fumbles with the filter. "Tell me you actually got some sleep at least, Evie."
She presses the button on the coffee machine and leans against the table as she takes out her flask for a quick sip. "Well I guess that would explain how it appeared so quickly. The dwarf said that they built the foundation and then the rest just kind of 'showed up,' right? It's gotta be a Norse thing I guess... when I look out there all I see is snow... so if you say there's an inter-dimensional anchor out there, then I believe you, Evie."
"I had an interesting experience downstairs," Lya continues. "You probably felt it too... but our good Doctor Lee is definitely more than she appears. My guess is Kwan Yin." She flops down to sit on the corner of the bed. "Really nice lady... I followed her as she checked out patients downstairs and she taught me stuff about the flow of chi and how to diagnose patients...but thereally interesting thing is when I met Barbara Griffin."
"Get this, Evie..." she leans forward with an excited look on her face. "She's pregnant with a scion! She was pretty shaken up and has a history with what I would guess to be an abusive boyfriend... so the last thing she wanted to tell him was that she got knocked up by a god. I mean who can blame her, right? I wanted to ask her what she remembers about the guy... but I think she's got enough on her mind right now. She's got a room here and I gave her numbers for you and me though, just in case she needs help."
She gestures with her thumb over her shoulder at the sleeping Colonel. "Anything new from Kissy-face or the rest of those guys who were in the hotel room?"
"Nope!" Evie grins and chuckles, answering Lya's question about sleep. "But, I'm going to have to, soon. My body isn't going to take 'no' for an answer much longer."
She listens to Lya's story and nods, "Yeah, I felt that she was divine but I had no idea which goddess she was. I'm not all that familiar with the Asian pantheons." Evie frowns and blinks, "I should be, though. I need to start reading up on all the gods. Just so I know stuff like this."
Evie blinks blearily, "It sounds like we both had eventful evenings, then. When I first fell asleep, I went on a little trip to the Bifrost. Talked to Odin. I guess I've got some latent powers that have to do with travel? He said that I shouldn't have been able to get there, yet, but because I was so tired, my mind wasn't anchored."
"He sent me back here and, when I woke up, I found that I just know where I am. And where other stuff is, if I can see it. Like...exactly...coordinate type precision."
After Lya tells her about Barbara, she nods, "I'm glad you gave her my number. I'll visit her and try to give her some reassurance that we've got her back. Knowing that she's got a female officer watching in case the abusive boyfriend shows up should help her feel a little more at ease. And, if you want to come along, maybe she'll feel a little more like talking and we can suss out who the dad is."
"Nah. Nothing else, as far as I know. I've been alternately watching the surveillance camera and the castle, so it's possible someone could've slipped out of the room without me noticing," she says. "But, I doubt they will. I mean, they know the gig's up, at this point. And Kissy-face, there, hasn't moved."
"Remind me to take you along next time we go on tour," Lya chuckles. "You'd probably be more reliable than my Tom Tom and a lot better company."
"I'd gladly give up shotgun if it meant I got to stop reading those flipping maps," Toxic replies with a yawn as she walks through the connecting door and makes a bee-line towards the coffee.
"What was that I heard about a doctor?" Klepto asks as she runs her hand through her hair and stretches. "Are we getting one to come with us next tour?"
"Sort of," Lya laughs. "I'm no doctor, but I should be able to figure out what hurts and hopefully fix it... to a point. Right now though, I'm more worried about our Sleeping Beauty. I'd certainly like to know more about his gig, wouldn't you?" Lya replies as she stands up and takes a look at the sleeping Colonel. "You've got us a great lead on how they're here, Evie... but we still need to figure out why... other than the usual 'trying to take over the world' crap."
She slaps her hands together and rubs them vigorously to get the blood flowing before concentrating and running her hands just above the surface of the Colonel's body to try and detect the source of the problem.
The Colonel is suffering from high cholesterol and the precursors of arthritis in his hands. Otherwise, the drug that rendered him unconscious seems to be metabolizing normally. He'll wake, somewhat disoriented and with attendant memory loss. However, you can attempt to rouse him and moderate the more deleterious effects.
"Hey Toxic, how about bringing a cup of coffee over here for our Colonel," Lya asks. "The drugs seem to be working their way out of his system, but with the way things have been progressing lately I don't think we have the luxury to wait any more. When Orithia gets done in the bathroom, tell her to bring a robe for him too. Wouldn't want him to get any ideas after the situation he was frozen in," she laughs.
Lya then moves near the head of the bed and places one hand on his forehead and another on his chest as she begins to concentrate once again...
Your touch unravels the more deleterious effects of the intoxicant. The Colonel lapses into a natural sleep, stirring slightly as he does - a marked improvement from the head-lolling-and-drooling state he was in.
The smell of fresh coffee does the rest. His eyes blink, and he rouses.
"What the -?" he asks, realizing he's not where he'd thought, and not recognizing any of the people in the room. He snatches the robe off the bed - it's a plush, Turkish towel style robe with the Westview Grand logo embroidered upon it - and dons it, no real embarrassment at his nudity.
"Who are you?" he asks.
Evie stays quiet and lets Lya talk. Considering that she's getting loopier by the minute due to sleep dep, she doesn't trust herself to give any kind of coherent explanation. As it is, she's not even certain that she fully explained what happened to herself, earlier. Ah, well...sleep will fix it. Later.
"Afternoon, Colonel, my name is Lya Bach, and these are my band mates Toxic, Klepto, Phoebe and Orithia."
"You are safe in the hotel and among friends," Phoebe reassures him gently as the others nod in greeting.
"You'll have to forgive my friend Officer Cartwright over there," Lya continues as she gestures to the yawning Evie cradling her cup of coffee, "as she's been up all day keeping watch over you while you recover from the overdose of drugs that we found in your system due to your previous encounter."
Lya pulls out her flask and takes a sip before offering it to the Colonel. "It's not a bad whiskey at all if you'd like some... might help cushion things before I get to the fun part of the story."
"Drugs? I remember a woman ..." his voice trails off. "Where's Congressman Malcolm? Hell, where's my uniform?"
He gets up and strides to the phone, punches in a phone number. "Ellison, Alpha Six Six Two Mike Zero Eight."
He pauses, then frowns. "What do you mean, deactivated? What? What's your name, airman?"
Ellison slams the phone down.
"Someone had better start explaining," he says, gruffly.
"OK... where do I start?" Lya says as she takes another sip from her flask and pours a healthy portion into the Colonel's coffee cup.
"I'm not sure what you were aware of before the shit hit the fan, so I'll try to sum this up: The Norse Gods...Loki, Thor, Heimdall, Odin, you know... like from the Marvel movie, are real. Not the comic book versions though... the mystical Viking warrior versions. These gods in their downtime like to come to Earth and get laid so they can have kids called Scions to help them take care of shit when they need it. Officer Evie here, she's a daughter of Heimdall." Lya gestures over to Evie who smiles and casually salutes the Colonel.
"The scion of Loki, though, calls himself Jason Lyman and he's holed himself up inside a castle that magically appeared in the middle of Las Vegas and now it looks like he's doing his best to bring about Ragnarok, the Norse version of the End of Days. Our friend Alex North is an attorney here in Las Vegas who went with the military encampments set up outside around the castle because it turns out he's also the son of Tyr, the Norse god of war and justice, and apparently a key component in Lyman's plans."
She takes another drink and begins to pace. "Meanwhile, my friend Hitoshi Ryder, who happens to own this hotel, is the son of Japanese gods... and with the help of his connections, he was able to place everyone in this hotel in stasis to keep them safe when everything went haywire. When we finally all got back to the hotel he woke everyone up... but not before Officer Evie and I found you and the Congressman in your hotel room. While he was apparently still enjoying himself, you were frozen in the middle of a drug overdose while we found one of the women helping a man who looked exactly like you take your clothes so he could try and open your safe."
Lya then flips through her phone to show the photos she took of everyone in the hotel room and shows them to the colonel. "I don't know what's in that safe... but I figured it wouldn't be good if they opened it so I changed the combination that they had copied down to use while you were out. Evie and I then made our way through that mess out there to find a doctor to save your life... because we figured you've got to be important, right? We moved you to this room so you could recover... and we assume the others are still back in their room trying to figure out why their plans just went out the window."
The Colonel takes it all in for a moment before his brows furrow. "And just who are you in all this?"
"Me? I'm with the Greeks... Daughter of Dionysus at your service," Lya grins before pouring some more whiskey into the Colonel's cup.
"And, if you're still having doubts even after seeing the pictures..." Evie stands and walks to the window. She grabs the curtains and pulls them open to reveal the now snow covered cityscape of Vegas.
"Bob Malcolm was hosting a poker game - he does that when he's in town," Ellison says. "Called herself Hattie, or something like that. I'm a faithful husband, but she gave me this come-here gesture, and the next thing, I'm following her into the bedroom."
He gestures at his robe.
"All right. You said this other fellow was planning to ... pretending to be me?" Ellison asks. "Meaning he has my uniform, my ID, my phone, my house keys? Good luck, they've deactivated my command code."
He smiles at Lya.
"Good move on the safe combination," he says. "Quick thinking."
He downs the rest of his coffee.
"I could use some more coffee, but not more of that whiskey," Ellison says. "Clothes. And then I need to find whatever disaster control center the city has up and running."
Phoebe walks up with what's left of the coffee and tops of the Colonel's mug as Lya smiles and takes another swig. "Thanks, Colonel. You sure? Good whiskey might be a commodity these days. We can call downstairs to see if they've got any clothes you can have... otherwise there's always seeing if your friends are still in there and getting your uniform back."
"Unless he's Hitoshi's size," Orithia offers as she opens up one of the closets.
"Once you get yourself situated we can escort you in the right direction, sir... but before we do that... why would these people want to impersonate you and break into your safe? It must have something to do with their plans... so if you could tell us anything that might give us a chance to get a few steps ahead of them."
"My safe has any number of important documents," Ellison says, though he's clearly not about to discuss national security issues with you. "I don't see that the fake me has any option but to go all in. Good luck getting back to Nellis in this shit, though."
"Still, I suppose we could check to see if they called it off and left my clothes."
"Kay, I get it... not like a musician like me has clearance or anything," Lya mutters. "Let's just say though... if you happen to be involved in anything that could...say... help start WWIII if it fell into the wrong hands... I suggest you increase your security."
"From the description, it sounds like one of the women in the room might have some rather persuasive abilities," Klepto warns. "If she is also a Scion, then we don't want to go in there unprepared. I suggest that the Colonel remains here under guard while some of us go check it out."
"What do you say, Evie... are you awake enough to join us, or do you want to remain here with the Colonel?"
Evie chuckles and throws back the last of the bitter coffee she had been nursing, "I'll go along. If I stay still, I'm going to fall asleep and be absolutely no use, at all. If I'm standing up, I can keep going. Maybe."
She stumbles as she runs into the corner of the bed, "Or, I might just faceplant. Pffft! It's all fun and games until somebody gets a concussion."
Evie moves over to stand near Lya, "I'm ready when you are."
Evie turns to the Furies with a raised eyebrow. "Well?"
"You know the drill girls," Klepto says as she holds out her fist and the others all gather around to do the same. "One...two...three... GO!" There's a flurry of hand movements as the four women rush to pick a number and hold out their fingers.
"Damn it!" Klepto curses as she realizes she's the only one who picked an odd number. "Guess it's you and me, Colonel. I'll make some more coffee."
"Hitoshi's got access to the security cameras so you can at least keep an eye on the hallway, Klepto," Evie offers.
"You guys be careful, all right?" Klepto says to the other Amazons before turning to Lya. "And you... don't do anything stupid."
Lya looks at Klepto innocently. "Hey... it's me! You guys stay here then, and we'll see what's up." She pulls her gun from the back of her pants and quickly checks it before returning it. "The plan is to go in there and incapacitate everyone but the Senator, making sure that the women don't get a chance to talk until they are placed under strictly controlled conditions."
"There's always the old fashioned way too," Orithia suggests as she tears up pieces of tissue and wads them into her ears. "I mean it worked for Ulysses, right?"
Toxic snorts and gestures for the box of tissues.
The executive suite is somewhat more chaotic. Congressman Malcolm is dressed, though he hasn't bothered with his tie. His assistant is speaking on both her smartphone and a landline, and reviewing e-mails on her laptop.
"Do the words House Majority Whip mean anything to you?" Malcolm was berating someone over the phone. "I understand there's weird shit happening all over the country. Get a chopper out here so I can get out of this ski resort and back to DC. What? I'm sorry, I thought I heard you say no..."
"Who the hell are you?" he asks.
"Afternoon Congressman... my name is Lya and this is Officer Cartwright, and we're the ones who found you in flagrante delicto with your assistant earlier," Lya answers with a snarky grin.
"Thankfully I don't care as much as some people I know as to what you do in your free time... though I've got to say I'm quite impressed with some of the positions you achieved. My question to you is where's the other woman who was here with Colonel Ellision? You see, he doesn't take kindly to being drugged and having people try and impersonate him so they can break into his safe, and I'm sure he'd love to know that you had absolutely nothing to do with it."
Evie remains quiet, opting to try and look vaguely intimidating instead of talking. Considering that she hasn't bathed in two days, probably still has a good amount of soot from the fire on her clothes and in her hair, and she probably has some serious red-eye going on...it might not be that hard to pull off the tough gal look.
If only I had a five o' clock shadow! she thinks to herself with some amusement. May as well go for 'thug' since there's no way I'm pulling of 'professional,' at this point.
Evie watches the congressman and his assistant carefully, as well as keeping an eye on the other doors to the room. It could be that the others are still here, somewhere. Probably not, but it's best to assume that someone is going to jump out and try to punch them in the face.
"Roger? Drugged? What the hell?" Malcolm says. "I know everyone who was at the table! If there's some kind of espionage crap going on, someone I know is involved in it."
He glances at his assistant.
"Director Clancy at Langley?" she mouths.
Malcolm nods. He finally gets around to adjusting his tie.
"Don't run off. I may be able to use you," he says. "You're already here and you're already aware of some of the particulars. So if you were willing to look into this matter further, it saves me trying to round up my own people."
"Oh we're definitely willing to look into the matter, Congressman," Lya replies. "Considering there are people out there trying to bring out the Norse version of the End of Days by drugging and impersonating Colonel Ellison, I think it might be very important to find out just what they're after."
Lya brings out her phone to flip to the picture of the woman helping the Colonel's doppelganger. "You said that you knew everyone at the table... do you recognize this woman? Was she still here when you woke up?"
Orithia nudges Lya in the hip to remind her of their other goal. "Oh yeah... you haven't seen the Colonel's clothes around here have you?"
"Her? Her name is ... Hattie, something like that. Or maybe they were calling her Hottie. I'm pretty sure she came in with Doug Mason. He's on the board of directors here at the Westview," Malcolm says. "We didn't even know we'd been frozen, or whatever you say happened. No one else was here. I figured Roger had gotten a bit of nookie and gone back to Nellis."
He points across the main room. "If the girl drugged him, it'd probably have been in the bedroom. If they didn't take his clothes, they'd be there."
"Colonel Ellison is likely to be nominated to the JCS, so having some kind of dirt on him, or replacing him would be useful, but that's Hollywood, not the real world."
"I think you'll find 'the real world' has changed quite a bit while you were frozen," Evie says. She leaves Lya to continue talking to the politician and goes back to the door of the bedroom where they found the colonel. She cautiously opens it, just in case there are any surprises waiting inside.
"Hitoshi should know of this," Phoebe says.
"Agreed... if someone at the Westview is involved he'll want to know," Lya replies. "Phoebe, why don't you see if you can reach him on his cell since he hasn't come back yet."
Lya sits on the corner of the bed and gestures for the Congressman to sit down. "I hate to tell you Congressman, but your concept of the 'real world' might need a few adjustments by the time I'm finished telling you what happened. The Norse Gods...Loki, Thor, Heimdall, Odin, you know... like from the Marvel movie, are real..."
Phoebe takes out her cell phone and begins to dial Hitoshi's number...
Malcolm doesn't scoff. "Young lady, all religions are real enough to their believers. And, despite what many of my colleagues think, politics doesn't mix well with religion. I try to keep my religious beliefs in church where they belong."
"That means I'm the wrong man to take that kind of message back to Washington, even as House Majority Whip, there are too many Christians on the floor to do anything but argue. It's kind of why I like my poker games. They're an opportunity to hash out issues without having to pose for the cameras."
"But someone drugging a senior staff officer, perhaps to steal access or information? That's a real threat I can do something about."
"I wish it was just a matter of belief, Congressman. By the time this is all over I think everyone is going to be forced to re-evaluate what they believe in...whether they want to or not," Lya sighs.
"In the meantime though, I'm with you on taking care of the things I know I can handle. You are more than welcome to stay here at the Westview, or if you don't mind bundling up there are military encampments along the Strip that will be willing to help you." Lya pulls out her card and hands it to his aide. "Please give me a call if you find out anything new, and Officer Evie and I will continue our investigation."
"I expect I'll hear that a chopper is, in fact, available and will be dispatched," Malcolm smiles. "If Colonel Ellison is able to travel, he can join me."
"Bingo," Orithia says. "One uniform, tossed aside as if our friends were in a hurry to get out of here."
"Excellent. When Officer Evie is done, we'll head back to the room and give the Colonel his uniform, as well as your offer of transportation, Congressman."
"Chopper is fifteen minutes out," Malcolm's assistant tells him. "They won't be able to hold for very long."
"All right," Malcolm said. "Young lady, if you'd be so kind as to get the Colonel's clothes to him?"
The Congressman seems to be in full campaign mode. You're surprised he isn't handing out left-over 'Re-Elect Malcolm!' buttons.
He pours himself two fingers of scotch and bolts it down.
"Colonel?" Orithia asks, holding up the uniform she slapped onto a hangar from the hall closet upstairs.
"My uniform! Thank you," he says. He walks briskly into the walk-in closet and master bath. In remarkably short time, he is dressed and squared away, even availing himself of Hitoshi's shaving kit to make himself more presentable.
"Wallet, cell phone, keys ..." he mumbles to himself. "Good to go. Detective Cartwright, Miss Bach, if you find out anything more, please give me a call." He hands both of you a business card. "I'm going to catch up with Bob Malcolm."
"If I could just have a moment of your time, Colonel... I promise I will be brief," Lya pleads as she places a hand on the Colonel's arm. "In my process to find a doctor to save your life I came across a community of needy people out there who could really use our help... but many of them are destitute or street kids and they don't want to get tied up the potentially drawn-out military process going on out there. Is there any way you could give me a letter providing them free passage through the checkpoint so we can bring them into the hotel for shelter? You have my word that I will account for their actions and help you with your investigation in any way that I can."
"Street kids," Ellison says. And, for a moment, he is somewhere else, his eyes distant. He returns to the present moment and looks out the window, where there is nothing but storm-grey skies and whirling snow.
He moves to Hitoshi's desk and writes a quick note, stapling another business card to it. On my authority, please allow safe passage of Las Vegas residents to the Westview Grand, is all the note says.
"Thank you, Colonel... this will mean so much to the people stuck out there," Lya replies with a sniff and a quick wipe of an eye before taking the note and handing the Colonel a business card of her own. "When all is said and done, I owe you a drink."
Ellison coughs. "All the same, Miss Bach, I think it will be some time before I accept another drink from a pretty girl."
Evie smiles happily, glad that they have what they needed - safety for all the people at Sanctuary, if they wish it.
She sits down on the edge of the bed and flops back onto the mattress. She manages to make it about two deep breaths before her eyes close and she is snoring soundly, her legs still draped off the bed's edge.
"No offense taken, sir. Good luck out there, and we'll let you know if we find anything," Lya replies with a laugh.
After the Colonel leaves Lya turns to see Evie passed out on the bed and smiles as Orithia gently lifts Evie's legs and positions her fully onto the bed so she can get some sleep.
"She's quite a trooper," Orithia whispers, "but we all need our rest sometime."
Phoebe walks back into the room with a glance at Evie while Lya gives her a questioning look. "Hitoshi is well and will be returning soon," Phoebe replies quietly.
"Perfect," says Lya as she pulls out her phone to call Arky and tell him the good news. "When Hitoshi gets back we should be able to coordinate with Arky to get some of his refugees relocated then."
"And after you talk to Arky it's your turn to get some sleep," Klepto insists with crossed arms.
"Isn't that what coffee is for?" Lya jokes.
"The bags under your eyes are going to be darker than your hair if you don't get some sleep," Klepto growls.
"Oh you bitch," Lya chuckles. "Okay...okay... let me just make this phone call and then I'll take a nap... I swear."
The phone rings, and someone picks up, but you can only hear background noise for a moment. It sounds like someone offering grace before a meal - Fr. Daniel, perhaps?
"Hey, Lya," Arky says after the prayer is concluded. "Didn't want to interrupt, but I didn't want to miss your call."
You relate the news about Colonel Ellison's safe passage.
"That's great!" he says. "Evening meal, a quick assembly to explain, give everyone some time to rest and prepare ... I think we can have everyone packed up and ready to go by mid-morning. The ... winter ... has forced people to re-evaluate what's important, so there aren't a lot of things that need to be packed. We'll strip the shelves for what we can, of course."
Lya stifles a yawn before answering. "Arky, my man... I've got some great news! Turns out Colonel Ellison was quite grateful for everyone saving his life and he was kind enough to give me a signed writ of passage for everyone there who wants to relocate here at the Westview. I wouldn't be surprised if the good Colonel had some experience on the street when he was a kid, honestly."
She stops and rubs her eyes for a moment. "So yeah... Hitoshi's on his way back and Klepto's going to kill me if I don't get some sleep... but we should coordinate a caravan once everyone's ready, dude."
"Sounds like a plan," he says. There's that upbeat note - cheerfulness, self-confidence, whatever - in his voice that radiates a sense of well-being. "Get some rest, cousin."
"I don't think I'm going to have a choice in the matter. I am looking forward to seeing you guys soon," Lya chuckles.
With that Lya hangs up the phone and stretches with an audible POP. "All right guys... I'm going to catch a few Zzzs, but wake me up if anything important happens."
"Wouldn't save the world without you, hon... get some rest," Klepto replies as she gets comfortable in a chair and whips out her drumsticks to practice while she watches over the sleeping Scions.