Monday, December 26, 2005, 12:06 UTC
1200 miles above the Atlantic ocean, Tallah
"Rocky and Natasha are away. Let's head for Edinburgh," Mike Bulstrode said to Ruth at the helm. Since they were picking up more than the Hogwarts contingent, it meant landing at either the castle or Hogsmeade was a no go.
Todd had been assigned to the Natasha's trip to Gotham. Arthur was going down with the Rocky to Rickenbacker with Crystal and Kara, as Supergirl, would be running security for the Tallah. Mattie, back in Port Oldridge, had Arthur's ring and Clark as a backup.
Rocky, 08:05 EST (13:05 UTC)
Arthur paced the passenger cabin of the Rocket J. Squirrel and waited for touchdown. There would be family he hadn't seen in years, including his grandfather, who seldom left Arizona. But the e-mails he'd received made it clear that everyone who was supposed to be there was in fact waiting in the boarding lounge at Rickenbacker International Airport. (Technically not a starport or even an interplanetary port as, to date, only shuttles had landed there and none that had come direct from farther away than Eunomia.)
As they were not unloading anything, there would be no Customs inspection. Assuming everyone had told the truth, the incoming guests, not passengers as they weren't paying for the ride, hadn't suffered an infectious disease in the previous 21 days which meant spot checks, not a full medical quarantine.
Mom and Dad. Hank and a very pregnant Misty. Mike Myers was talking with them. Elena and Teela were with Aunt Kathy and cousin Vicky. Uncle Rich with cousin Jack and Aunt Mickie. Andy and his husband were semi-avoiding Andy's parents Uncle Dorin and Aunt Anita while Arthur's other Dunka cousins were discussing the season's prospects for the Ohio Bobcats basketball team. Uncle Nick and Aunt Kristina brought up the rear with...
"Grandpa Mike!"
Natasha, 08:15 EDT (13:15 UTC)
Oswald Cobblepot didn't match Todd's expectations. Yes, he was wearing a tuxedo with a top hat and monocle. Yes, he carried an umbrella. But the man was thinner than he'd expected, The dark hair was an obvious dye job and his 'plus one' was a nurse. He'd expected any nurse working for Penguin to be young and beautiful, but she was a grey-haired, sour faced, matron who looked like she could handle herself.
As he boarded, Two Face inquired if Elena Morton was there. She was not, but would be on the Tallah when they rendezvoused later. Disappointed, he went to where the bar was set up and was served a Bloody Mary by Lucy. It was too early in the day for his preferred double malt scotch.
Roxy Rocket was 'out of costume' in a tight, screaming red, skirted outfit. She looked good and she knew it. Her plus one, a bearded man roughly her age that Todd understood was a Hollywood special effects rigger, never left her side.
Waylon 'Killer Croc' Jones had been scrubbed to within an inch of his life. His scales nearly gleamed. Sensing that Todd, in civilian clothes with a laser pistol in a holster on his hip, was clearly security, he approached and growled, "I ain't scared of you."
Croc was slightly larger and possessed a small amount of superhuman strength. Todd was a Green Lantern. "I ain't scared of you either," came the reply. "Have a beer."
Croc nodded and one beer later, asked, "I heard you got a food machine, like on Star Trek."
"The one on the Tallah is better. The only thing I recommend from this one is the scrambled eggs."
"Show me."
Two kilos of 'scrambled eggs' and an introduction to the sandur hot sauce Arthur preferred later... "Not bad. I also heard you got those medical tank things. You think it could fix me?"
"Not a clue, man. I know genetic problems aren't something they're good at. You might ask Louie, she's the closest thing Arthur has to a doctor."
"Who's that?"
"She's on the Tallah. I'll introduce you after we dock."
"Figures," Croc stated before going for another beer, this one with a chaser.
Rocky, 13:48 UTC
Maggie Morton sat with her back to the viewscreen. While not as bad as she'd once been, naked space was still disturbing to her. Most of the others, at least the ones who had never been up before, watched the viewscreens to see the Earth getting smaller and the Moon getting larger. The lights of Port Oldridge and Starport Luna showed in darkness, but Grimaldi Crater was still in sunlight and would be for a few more days. Her second son was speaking with her father-in-law.
"So what is your official position?" Grandpa Mike asked.
Arthur frowned slightly. "Officially, I'm the Imperial Consort of the Terran Empire and next in line to the throne. Which is why I'm packing heat and why Crystal over there, who's a werewolf, is here as my bodyguard. In practice, I'm whatever is most convenient at the time."
"That sounds... odd."
"I know. But what I am not is a member of the Imperial Armed Forces or even the Solar Guard. I am completely outside of their chain of command. Problem is: In public, I'm theoretically second in command after Mattie. In private, they listen to me only as a courtesy, if at all."
"Sounds like you got all the responsibility and none of the authority."
"Not 'sounds like', 'have' Grandpa."
Grandpa Mike nodded in agreement. "Sounds like I guy I knew in World War II." Grampa Mike looked to be in his early sixties. It surprised most people when they learned he'd been born in 1920. "Virgil Day was a little guy, 'bout as tall as your mother. Took apart unexploded ordnance for a living because he'd had some experience with dynamite as a civilian. The Army, in its infinite wisdom, assigned him to a sergeant whose knowledge of explosives was more theoretical than practical. The third time Virge disobeyed a direct order that would have gotten him and his buddies killed, they court-martialed him."
"Rank being more important than being right?"
"Not that time. After the court-martial, they transferred the other guy and gave Virgil a stripe. Even armies get things right every so often. But his lack of authority didn't make him any less responsible. Without him, some pretty good men would have died."
"Including you?"
"Heck no, I was just in the brig at the same time he was," Grandpa Mike replied, grinning.
"What for?"
"Maybe when you're older Artie," he said, reaching up to ruffle his grandson's hair.
Tallah, 13:50 GMT (13:50 UTC)
"Dépêche-toi! Ils tiennent le navire pour nous!" Lisette cried out to her sister Lilane. She had a garment bag in one hand and carried her violin case in the other. Her sister carried her viola and own garment bag. Albert and Navarre, cello and bass respectively, had taken an earlier flight with the rest of their luggage.
"Use your English!" Lilane admonished.
"Fine! Hurry!"
They scrambled up the ramp into the Tallah's main cargo bay, which had been kitted out as a lounge for the journey to Luna. In some ways the two were like the older Morton children. They knew about magic, they'd seen magic, but they weren't magical. Thus seeing Ruebus Hagrid and Olympe Maxime at over three meters tall each threw them a bit. Seeing Supergirl threw them harder and she wasn't even magical.
There were people in uniforms, people in robes and people in nice casual clothing. There were aliens. There were family groups, pairs and singles. While the two giants were the tallest people there, there was also a smiling older man in a suit who couldn't have been much more than a meter tall.
Overall, a very eclectic bunch.
A man in a blue uniform, carrying a sidearm, approached them. "Welcome aboard. I'm Mike Bulstrode and I'm in charge at the moment. Let me show you to your cabins and then you can take off your jackets and get comfortable while we prepare to launch."
"That sounds lovely," Lilane said. "Our apologies for being late."
"Don't worry about it, stuff happens. If you'll follow me please?"
"Oui."
Natasha, 14:00 UTC
The Tallah had been delayed, so the Natasha arrived at the rendezvous point first. Despite being strongly tempted, Lynn did not turn off the grav grid to let the passengers experience zero-gee. Most people's first experience with zero-gee tended to be messy and she was under orders to 'be nice'. Instead, Lynn contacted the Rocky and Tallah to get their ETAs.
Tallah, 14:50 UTC
The Rocky docked first, with Freya neatly sliding the shuttle into the landing bay. Computer feedback controls made it simple enough, but after her visit to New Karna, Freya had dedicated herself to her new career and was rapidly gaining skill. Some of Arthur's family went straight to their cabins, while others joined the party on the cargo deck. Others had other tasks in mind.
"Felicia Hansen?" Crystal asked of the young woman talking with Professor Sprout.
"Yes?"
"I'm Crystal Evans. I am one of Her Majesty's bodyguards and I'm also a werewolf. This is your first trip up?"
"Oh, yes. I must admit to some surprise when it turned out we were out of the atmosphere before I knew we'd even left the ground. Very smooth ride."
Crystal shrugged. She was used to it. "Well, let me tell you what you can expect as a werewolf on your first trip to the Moon. We're about 1,200 miles above the Atlantic and you probably feel normal."
"I'm a bit excited actually."
"I mean you feel the wolf in you and it should feel pretty much the way it usually does." Her own certainly did.
Felicia nodded, and Pomona added, "That checks with what Remus told me of his own experience."
"Well, that's pretty much how you'll feel for the first part of the trip, up until we get to geosynchronous orbit at 22,000 or so miles up. After that, you feel it less and less until you're about 10,000 miles from the moon. At that point you'll feel it calling to you. Most werewolves get rather irritable the first time and I'd suggest you lock yourself in your cabin before then. The feeling gets worse until you're about 1,000 miles up. At that point, the calling continues, but there's a sense of... fulfillment... that begins. Once you're down, the calling stops, but the sense of fulfillment remains. You'll find transforming easier, even after you return to Earth. On the Moon, when you transform, you'll keep your mind at all times, but you'll be no tougher than an ordinary wolf your size."
"Mum mentioned that to me. Has anyone died because they thought they were invulnerable and then turned out not to be?"
"Not to my knowledge. But I want to make it clear: you will still have to be bound on nights of the full moon once you return to Earth. While you may be less prone to violence during forced transformations..."
""I'll still be a danger to others," Felicia finished.
Crystal nodded and said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get to the shuttle bay."
Tallah, 14:59 UTC
The Natasha docked with Crystal and Supergirl waiting for the hatch to open. It did with Roxy Rocket and her date being the first ones out. Spotting Supergirl, any plans she had for mischief were dropped. Burglary was fun. Playing with the police or Batwoman or Nightwing was fun. Superhumanly strong, fast and invulnerable people who could fly under their own power were to be avoided. She'd tried working in Metropolis once, early in her career. Superman had embarrassed her badly and she'd avoided the place ever since.
Two Face preceded Penguin and his nurse and Todd came out with Killer Croc with Lucy closing the hatch from inside the shuttle as soon as they left.
"Any trouble?" Crystal asked as Kara loomed in the background.
"Not a bit," Todd replied. "I was just about to take Mr. Jones to see Louie. He wants a medical consult."
"Go ahead, we've got this."
Tallah, 15:03 UTC
The alien medical technician, not doctor, looked the proposed patient over. He was slightly larger than Todd and the green-gray scaled skin made her wonder if he was even the same species as the human next to him.
Waylon Jones hadn't met too many alien looking aliens in his life. He'd seen several on television but didn't run in the same circles as Starfire or the Martian Manhunter or some of the alien Green Lanterns that had been on Earth over the years. This one had grayish purple skin, she stood on the toes of her funny looking feet and she had an extra segment in each arm. But if she could help, it didn't matter what she looked like.
"I can run diagnostics, but cannot guarantee a good prognosis. The med tanks on board are standard units and not suitable to make genetic modifications."
"How do we find out?"
"I can do a dry diagnostic or a wet diagnostic. You would need to enter the tank for the wet diagnostic, but it gives more detailed results."
"Do what you can without me having to climb in there. Ozzie says he doesn't trust those things and he's a lot smarter than me."
"He ever actually use one?" Todd asked.
"How would I know?" Croc replied irritably.
Tallah, 15:03 UTC
"Eddie! There you are. It's been far too long," Two Face said enthusiastically. "You look good. Married life suits you."
Marriage had been good for him. If anything, he was more fit than he'd been in years. After introducing his wife and daughter, the former Riddler returned his attention to the chess game between Hagrid and someone he didn't know, presumably one of Arthur's relatives.
As they observed, Two Face quietly asked, "We've only met Arthur Morton twice. We think he was 11 at the time. Is he really the one for our Mattie?"
"He'll not betray her if that's what you're asking." Hagrid looked to be setting up a fork that would trade his knight and a pawn for either a rook or the queen, but a bishop pair might remove the knight before the trap could be sprung.
"That's part of it. Will he be good for her?"
"He is good for her. She'd lose herself in her role of Martha the First without him. They also love each other very much. Neither of you need worry."
"Only time will tell, but we are glad to hear it. Word is Selina is of two minds over it. Ah, there's Elena Morton. We want to talk to her. Rumor says she's the one who shot ol' Lexie."
"That's not a rumor," Eddie informed his friend. "But don't spread it around."
Two Face nodded, impressed. "Then we definitely want to talk to her."
Tallah, 15:08 UTC
Tomas Wayne leaned against a bulkhead and took mental notes about the Rogues present. Apparently they were on their best behavior as Mattie had said they'd be. They were, in fact, the reason he'd come up on the same ship as Julie and Will Morton. Although Julie had settled down from the overt hostility she'd directed toward him when they'd encountered each other before the school year, no one would mistake her as being friendly toward him.
Which, he admitted, was his own fault. But he also knew the difference between being tolerated and being welcomed. He planned to take a Greywolf shuttle back to Earth after the wedding, not fly down with a close to hostile Clan Morton.
Tallah, 15:11 UTC
Mike escorted the almost eight months pregnant Misty Morton to the cabin she'd be sharing with her husband.
"So, what do you guys do when your not flying wedding guests?" Misty asked while settling herself on the bed.
"One of the things your brother-in-law has us do to stay busy and train people is ferry up hydrogen, nitrogen and phosphorus from Earth to Luna."
"The hydrogen is for water vapor, right?"
"Yep. Plenty of oxygen in lunar rocks. You crush 'em, heat 'em and give 'em some hydrogen and that gets you water, which everyone needs."
"That's actually cost effective?"
"Depends on what price we're getting. Our pressure modules mass a couple of tons, are made from galtech hull metal so they don't leak, and can hold a ton of hydrogen under some ridiculous pressure. Up to ten modules per shuttle load and ten tons of hydrogen makes about 90 tons of water. It'd take three trips to bring 90 tons of straight water."
"Wouldn't ammonia be easier to ship? Denser and it'll liquify itself at about 125 psi (862 kPa). Sure, electrolysis of ammonia is a tougher trick than electrolyzing water, but it's not that tough." The nitrogen being useful as part of the atmosphere to boot.
"You must be a chemist," Mike said.
"Working on my Master's in bio-chem," Misty admitted.
Mike grunted an acknowledgement then said bitterly, "Due to a little protectionism for the meteor miners, we're not permitted to import ammonia or liquid nitrogen from Earth. We bring our nitrogen in the form of urea, which at least has the advantage of being a solid."
"That's stu- So governmental."
"The Imperials watch those shipments carefully because it's relatively easy to make urea nitrate out of it and urea nitrate goes 'Boom!' real good."
"I know. Can you blame them?"
"Not really. But let's see how good you are. How do we bring up phosphorus?"
Misty pondered the question for a couple of seconds before she answered, "Mono-calcium phosphate most likely. Phosphoric acid can get messy because it's corrosive and elemental phosphorus is just plain nasty."
Mike gave Misty a pleased smile. "You are a chemist. Yes, even though Luna is lousy with calcium, mono-calcium phosphate is readily available and makes a good fertilizer right out of the bag. So when we bring up phosphorus, that's how we do it."
Tallah, 15:53 UTC
"Mattie definitely made the right call by putting you in charge of the liquid refreshments."
"-kwak- We're not opening the Pappy until after the second ceremony. -kwak-" While double malt whiskey was Harvey's drink of choice, that didn't mean he wouldn't enjoy the occasional ultra premium beverage, especially if someone else was buying.
"You can't blame us for trying Ozzie," Two Face said good-naturedly as he set down a plate of hors d'oeurves on the table while Ozzie surveyed the cargo deck and those upon it. Croc was finishing off his seventh 'pork loin'. Roxy had stuck with diet soda and her companion, being uncharacteristically stand-offish. Eddie, after demolishing all comers at chess, was now talking with their host, Arthur Morton, with Eddie's adopted daughter listening intently. Selina's adopted son, Tomas, was watching them almost as closely as Supergirl was.
"As my doctor says I'm not allowed alcohol anymore -kwak kwak- and I have to watch my figure, I am instead engaging in bit of girl watching."
"Not a bad place for it. Most of crew are quite attractive." The synthetic Swedish meatballs were surprisingly good and the various, real, cheeses were also good, even if he couldn't identify all of them.
"There's one I might be able to hire away for the Iceberg."
"Which one?"
"The red-head with the horse tail. -kwak-"
There were at least eight red-heads present, but only one with a horse tail. "The one who played stewardess on the shuttle? As long as Raven, Lark and Jay don't get jealous, she'd probably fit right in," Two Face replied. 'At least since Joker's dead.'
December 26, 2005, 19:37 UTC
Luna, Port Oldridge, Mattie's quarters
Mattie had warmly greeted her aunts (Aurora counted) and uncles at dinner, which consisted of things grown or raised on the Moon. She made sure Arthur got to spend a bit of time with each of them while making sure she got the same.
"Aunt Roxy... a little bird tells me you were in Boston earlier this month. While I can't approve, I will say this: don't get caught."
Roxy smiled. For someone so 'rule of law' that she'd not pardoned her own mother, it was pretty much a permission slip for a rematch after the wedding. "I have no idea what you're talking about, wink-wink nudge-nudge say no more," she said with all the fake sincerity she could muster.
Meanwhile, Arthur was speaking to her date, Greg Haynes, an effects rigger and occasional stunt performer.
"Released this year? I did some rigging work on the live action version of Aeon Flux and some stunts on Silent Scream, a low budget slasher flick. Next year, I've got some small indie films and Running Scared."
"They're doing a remake of a Billy Crystal movie?" Arthur asked. It wasn't a bad film, but Arthur saw no need to make it again.
"No, no. This is something different. Bad guy versus bad guys thriller."
'In Gotham, that's a documentary,' Arthur thought. "I'll keep an eye out, but I'll admit, I'm more of an animation guy."
Greg was somewhat chagrined. "Computers are getting so much better these says that by the time you're my age, there won't be much call for practical effects."
"Might be sooner than you think. Galtech computers are really good. I can't to do Hollywood level stuff on my wristcomp, but I could probably make a Bugs Bunny cartoon with it, including something you'd swear was Mel Blanc's voice. If I networked all the computers on my ships and shuttles, I might have enough processing power to make a Pixar film. Mattie has an AI that can probably do what you're talking about and it's a low level AI by galactic standards."
"So I should start looking for another line of work?"
"That's up to you, sir. But I'd keep my options open."
.oOo.
"That went better than I was expecting," Arthur told Mattie as he prepared to swing by the duplex to check on things there before Todd flew him back to Grimaldi Crater. As long as Mattie had her 'relatives' under her 'roof', he was adamant that she wear the ring. Mattie swore she wouldn't need it.
"I told you, I'll be fine. They'll be fine. I have Crystal and Supergirl to make sure it stays fine. Stop worrying."
"If I stopped worrying, would I be me?" Arthur said playfully.
"No," Mattie admitted. "But it wouldn't hurt you to worry a little less."
"As soon as we're married."
"Oh, now you give me a good reason to elope. Too late, bucko."
December 26, 2005, 23:00 UTC
Luna, Farside Disciplinary Barracks.
Albus Dumbledore silently appeared in Selina's cell. "Good evening, Ms. Wayne. As you've decided to stay in your cell tonight, we'll have more time to talk."
"You said you could help me in exchange for money."
"I assure you I can."
"You can help me stop my daughter's wedding."
"Simple enough, but effectively pointless. Unless one of them dies first, those two will marry and you are, fortunately, not a killer."
"She deserves better."
"Does she? I've seldom seen a pairing more fated than those two. If only his magical education hadn't been ended by his near murder. While not an all-rounder, he has gifts in spell design, a rarity."
"He's an arrogant lit-"
"Arrogant? Compared to whom? You? Tom Riddle? Lucius Malfoy? Lex Luthor? He's quite intelligent, but he doesn't suffer from the delusion that he's always the smartest person in the room. He also stands up to your daughter. Would you prefer her to marry someone who won't?"
The answer was 'yes', but Selina didn't want to admit it. "You've given me much to think about. But I still want to disrupt this wedding."
"We haven't discussed payment."
After a brief haggle, a deal was struck. As Albus Dumbledore had no intention of living up to his end, the details were unimportant. But then, neither did Selina.
Friday, December 27, 2005, 11:58 UTC
Luna, Starport Luna, Boris Badenov
"Now dear, while I'm sure you have some sort of bacchanalia planned with strippers, booze and merry hi-jinks for all, I suggest you tone things down. If you leave Arthur drunk and naked in a Kansas cornfield, I will tear your throat out. This wedding is going to run on rails, or else," Sprink informed her husband as he kissed his daughter goodbye.
"Arthur shot down the bacchanalia idea. We're just going to an amusement park," Charlie said as he handed Bluebelle back to her mother.
"Your throat, Charles, your throat," Sprink stage whispered with well faked seriousness.
Charlie laughed and pecked his wife on the cheek before boarding the shuttle.
Friday, December 27, 2005, 09:30 PST
Earth, Valencia, California, Six Flags Magic Mountain
Taking advantage of Arthur's celebrity, Charlie had arranged for early access to the park. Not everything was open yet, but in exchange for some publicity photos featuring Arthur and St'wan Kosta, they'd hit six coasters before the main gates opened and the crowds arrived. Being a relatively cool day didn't hurt, making it more comfortable for the furred co'.
An alien walking around a theme park is sufficiently odd to draw attention, even in California. There were those who were curious.. "Are those claws real?"
Those who thought he was a man in costume... "Isn't it hot in that thing?"
And... the occasional asshole. "Get off my planet, freak!"
Fortunately, Todd was bigger and scarier than those people. Between the Park's security and the Imperial security detail present, those who attempted to accost the park's very special guests were unceremoniously booted.
UC Irvine, home of Anteaters, was only about 120 kilometers (75 miles) away from the park, so when Arthur spotted a 'Peter the Anteater' t-shirt, he bought two, changed into one and gave the other to St'wan.
St'wan, who could read English better than he spoke it without a translator, asked "What is 'Zot!'?"
"Allegedly, it's the sound an anteater makes when it attacks," Arthur explained.
Arthur knew that a twitching snout was how a co' showed amusement. He was quite surprised when St'wan reared his head back and 'hooted' for a good five seconds before subsiding to a very quickly twitching snout. "Arthur, my friend, there are co', such as my father, who would not appreciate this type of humor. I think it hilarious. Prince Mala is known for his sense of humor, but he could never wear something like this. Protocol would forbid it."
"What about Taxa or her children?"
Hero of the People Taxa Tran S'weiss Br'kat was considered a bit eccentric by co' standards. She owned no slaves, considering the practice beneath her. Her second husband had divorced her after her third child, with that or sterilization not an uncommon thing at that point. Her other children had been born out of contract, without even an education bond, which was very unusual. "I have not been formally introduced to S'weiss, although I have taken D'rin and his sister Eila around Port Oldridge a bit. That said, I am not willing to guess how they might react. I do not know them well enough."
"Pity."
Tuesday, December 27, 2005: 14:00 PST
Earth, Valencia, California, Six Flags Magic Mountain
Being 7 hours ahead of the Coordinated Universal Time used on Luna, it was well after dinner time by their personal clocks when they left the amusement park at 2 o'clock local time after Hank beat everyone else on the go kart track. Arthur was happy not to have come in last, but then he'd never been taught how to drive. St'wan had been a surprising, to Arthur, third.
As they piled into the limo, Arthur asked, "What do you guys want to eat?"
"Actually, I made a reservation for us at a steakhouse the other side of I-5," Todd said.
"Steak sounds good," Charlie agreed with others also indicating approval.
"Works for me," Arthur said.
.oOo.
After being seated in a private room, placing their orders and getting drinks, beers for those who could legally drink in the US, Arthur and his party impatiently waited for the appetizers to arrive. They were hungry.
"Mike, have you seen Todd?" Arthur asked. Charlie had excused himself to the restroom. But Todd took full advantage of his ring's life support capacity and didn't need that.
"Said there was something he needed to get and that he'd be back before the steaks got here."
"This is a pretty big mall. God only knows what it could be."
The appetizers arrived and Arthur grabbed one of the chorizo potato skins. Before he finished the second, Todd returned with Freya and Lee. Freya wore a leopard print mini-dress and it took at least two looks to see where the dress ended and her fur began. Lee's short skirt and blouse matched her own golden skin tone.
"We have reached the point in the day where pretty girls are required," Todd stately sagely.
Arthur considered Freya to be the most exotic of his crew while Lee was the prettiest of the six series 69 girls in his employ. Taking a quick survey Arthur thought, 'Married man, married man, asexual, gay married man, gay married man, divorced, married man, married man and St'wan. Cousin Greg wins.'
His cousins, for the most part, fell over themselves being polite to the two, not that Todd, Hank and Charlie weren't also enjoying the view. Arthur and Mike were accustomed to them and looked on in amusement.
The food was very good. Arthur tried the porterhouse stroganoff as was quite pleased with it. Most of the table had steaks cooked to order and no complaints were heard. Freya enjoyed the salmon, but didn't like the rice pilaf or vegetables that came with it. St'wan, not knowing if cow was compatible with his digestive system, asked for and got a sampler of fresh, raw, fruits and vegetables with various sauces and dressings. Iceberg lettuce was 'meh' with butter lettuce being a little better. Arugula a bit better than that. Asparagus was a 'no' as was cucumber. Green onion was better than red, although both were good. Avocado was delicious, especially after being dipped in wasabi. But it was the cherry tomatoes that really hit the spot.
The service was good, except that their waiter was in obvious lust with Freya. He hovered. But eventually, the meal was finished and it was time for desert.
To Arthur, restaurant cheesecake was a commodity. Pass. He wasn't a crème broulee guy and of the remaining options, the triple chocolate brownie looked the best.
What arrived was a very large 'cake' wrapped in gold foil.
"Charlie, you didn't."
"Who? Me?" Charlie asked with exaggerated innocence.
"I hope whoever is in there is being paid a lot of money."
"Actually, she's doing it for free."
With that clue, Arthur thought it might be C'ari. He was wrong.
"Sta- umphh!" Arthur was cut off by a firm kiss from the Realm of Abo Ambassador.
'Entire freaking galaxy and Charlie picks the one woman I have Mattie's permission to sleep with that isn't her.' Not that he needed Mattie's permission and not that he would actually do so.
"I was informed that I would be getting kissed back this time," Star pouted. Abo style tended toward 'if you've got it, flaunt it.' The one piece outfit, of some black stretchy material went from just above her bust down to her thighs and consisted more of diamond shaped cut outs than cloth. It still covered everything humans insisted be covered, but left no doubts about the shape and health of the woman wearing it.
"One brief, shining, moment, please," Arthur said as he got to his feet, reached over to his best friend and best man and thwapped Charlie on the back of his head. He then turned to Star, bent down slightly and kissed her quite thoroughly. Perhaps it wasn't as good as either of the kisses he'd received from her, but the looks of raw envy from his brother and cousins were their own reward.
It was approaching 23:00 moon time, so they got to-go boxes for the deserts and a quart of so of cherry tomatoes for St'wan to bring back to his embassy before piling in the limo and making the 20 minute drive to Valencia Airport. Once on board, Freya and Lee changed back into uniform and quickly got the ship ready for departure. After revealing the life support unit had over 200 different varieties of alcohol available, the party continued.
Behind her lightly sauced facade, Star fretted. Not about the new embassy's progress, that was proceeding well. Mattie, as Mattie and not Martha the First, had invited her to her hen-do, a pre-mating ceremony for the bride and her closest female friends, a rare honor. It was then, again as Star and not Lady St'laya, that Mattie had asked if she was willing to prank Arthur by popping out of a cake. After learning some of the cultural background of the custom, Star said she needed to think about it.
While First of Spies Ma'bet would doubtless approve of any attempt to seduce the Terran Consort, Star knew there was 'no there there'. Not that Arthur didn't find her attractive. She knew he did. Not that she didn't find him at least somewhat attractive, which he likely wouldn't believe, even if she'd told him directly. She liked him enough that she didn't want a false relationship with him, even if that would benefit the Realm. But he wouldn't engage in any romantic relationship with her while also being in such a relationship with Mattie. That loyalty was part of the reason she liked him in the first place.
Star could also admit to herself that she liked Mattie enough not to do that to her. Somehow, she'd developed an honest friendship with both of them. While her duty to her Empress would, not might, someday impact that friendship, that day hadn't arrived yet and with good fortune, would not anytime soon.
"Star, you okay?"
"I'm fine, Arthur. Just thinking," Star replied. "I understand that a proper stag party would require I sit on your lap and wiggle while you get severely intoxicated."
"Fortunately, I know what alcohol tastes like and have been able to avoid it. From what Mattie says, pareek't juice tastes like cranberries and as I don't like cranberries, I've been able to avoid that too. But I meant to ask you if you wanted a shawl or something. That outfit can't possibly be warm."
"And deny your friends and relatives the chance to look at me? They have certainly been enjoying the view."
"You're my friend too. Plus, as a guest on one of my ships, it falls to me to make certain you are comfortable."
"That would be appreciated." Moments later, Arthur had the LSU supply a fractal printed shawl that he folded diagonally and draped around Star's shoulders. Most of the rest of the trip back up was spent teaching Star how to play euchre.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005, 20:30 UTC
Luna, Grimaldi Crater, Arthur's apartment
"Sophie, are you good with my mother taking care of you for a few days after I get married?" Arthur asked his ward.
"I guess. She seemed nice enough when you introduced me to her."
"It would be until Wilma comes back from helping Sprink and Charlie take care of Bluebelle." The Adams' would be returning to London after the wedding and between their families felt certain they could handle things from there.
"I miss Wilma but... I am going to miss you too. After you marry Mattie, will I even see you anymore?"
"Of course you will. It might not be as often because I'll be spending more time in Port Oldridge with Mattie, but I'm harder to get rid of than you think."
"I do not want to get rid of you."
"Well, that makes it mutual. Now go finish packing for the trip to Port Oldridge. We'll leave after breakfast tomorrow morning."
Thursday, December 29, 2005, 19:59 UTC
Luna, Port Oldridge, Crystal's apartment
There were more people in Crystal's living room than she could remember ever having. Herself, Mattie, Sprink, Felicia Hansen, the Cortez twins, Miranda Davis, Roxanne Sutton and Lady St'laya. Amanda Leeds hadn't been able to make it. Her ship was still in route from wherever and hopefully would arrive in time for the wedding. Mattie's football carrier was hiding in the kitchen under threat of two werewolves demonstrating their displeasure if he came out for any reason short of war. Lt. Bennett would have been decorative enough to possibly let out of the kitchen, but Lt. Moreno had the shift. Ami Bones and Julie Morton were perhaps a bit too young for the party and Mattie wasn't close enough to the other Morton girls to invite them.
Crystal and Sprink passed around champagne flutes, with Sprink's containing sparkling white grape juice because she was nursing. They didn't know enough about pareek't juice to risk it.
"Everyone ready?" Sprink asked the room. "To Mattie!"
"To Mattie!" everyone but Mattie chorused. Glasses clinked, Crystal fired up the stereo and the opening bars of 'Old Time Rock & Roll' played.
.oOo.
"Baby oil?" Mattie asked Roshawn.
"I know Arthur gives top notch neck rubs. I assume he works a little farther down on your body."
"He does," Mattie replied smugly without going into detail.
"So, along with everything else, Arthur is a masseur?" Star asked. 'If only I had known.'
"A very talented amateur," Mattie replied as she set down the bottle. "Let's see. I think I should open Shaundra's now."
Two cans of whipped cream and a small jar of cherries later, Mattie was blushing, most of the room was laughing and Star was wondering what she was missing but was too afraid to ask.
.oOo.
Star was the surprise winner of 'pin the expletive deleted on the donkey'. Her dancer's kinesthetic sense beat Mattie's martial arts balance though pareek't juice had somewhat impaired both. For a prize, she got a sampler of the Swiss chocolate truffles that Arthur and Mattie were providing as wedding favors, each one labeled 'Her Imperial Majesty, Martha the First and Crown Consort Arthur Morton, January 1st, 2006.' The ones meant for the first ceremony simply said 'Arthur and Mattie'.
During '20 Questions', the one Arthur question that stumped everyone was, 'Why is Arthur's middle name Donald?' Either Mattie didn't know, or had forgotten, that Donald I, the third king of Scotland, was the second son of Kenneth I and Arthur was the second son of William Morton.
.oOo.
There was a knock on the door, which momentarily set off Mattie's alarms before realizing it was probably just more pizza. Security would have stopped anything else.
Sprink, the only sober person in the room, opened the door to reveal a large Port Oldridge constable in his black and tan uniform. "Excuse me miss. There's been a noise complaint."
"Sorry, let me turn it down. She quickly pressed a couple of buttons and the music, and AC/DC's 'Sink the Pink' was muted.
"Actually, the complaint was you weren't making enough noise." With that, the constable grabbed his shirt front and pulled, removing both shirt and pants while revealing a truly impressive physique. Shaundra beat Roshawn for the first scream and Crystal wolf-whistled as Sprink pressed one more button to start Van Halen's 'Panama'.
.oOo.
Mattie woke up in a strange bed and she wasn't alone. Her panic was momentary until she found it to be Roshawn. Blearily, she rolled out of bed and took a few deep breaths.
"Finally up?" Crystal asked rhetorically followed by a peremptory, "Drink this." Crystal was annoyingly awake and fully alert as she handed over a small glass of fizzing blue liquid.
Throwing caution to the wind or possibly to wherever the skirt and blouse she'd been wearing the previous night had gone, she did.
It hurt. A lot. But fifteen seconds later, she took another deep breath and cleared her head. "OK, I deserved that."
"How much do you remember from last night?" Crystal asked.
"Let's see, the stripper finished his set and after that Star critiqued his technique, which he was definitely not expecting. That's when he left. I think Sprink bailed just after that and then things get hazy."
"Charlie called Sprink home. Something to do with Bluebelle. Miranda tapped out next and Roxy and Star left together around midnight. That left five witches and Felicia was showing off some transformation tricks she'd learned from Headmistress McGonagal. That's when Roshawn decided to show off some too and my favorite coffee table, which had been transformed from wood to granite to glass topped chrome, got banished to Merlin knows where. That turned into a drinking game where every time you botched a spell, you had to take a drink. Nobody won."
"For a game nobody won, you seem to be in good shape."
"I cheated. Did you know a Green Lantern ring can painlessly sober you up?"
"Then why did you give me that potion?"
"Because suffering is good for the soul. Now help me wake Roshawn."
Friday, December 30, 2005, 11:26 UTC
Luna, Farside disciplinary barracks
"How are you dear?" Maggie asked her daughter.
"I've been better," Connie replied. "But I've been in here for seven months now and I've already earned a month off my sentence for good behavior." One day off for every week of good behavior was the Imperial standard. It gave some prisoners a reason not to be troublemakers. Not all of them were smart enough to take advantage.
"Take your wins where you can get them."
"Not too many of those available," Connie said sadly. "Most of the other prisoners here are short term people being punished for military regs violations. For the most part, they're assholes. Most criminals on the Moon are either deported or do their sentences on Earth so there just aren't too many people like me and Selina here. Some that are, are waiting for Mattie to sign their death warrants."
"I'm not in favor of the death penalty, nor some of the other laws of the Empire, but there are times, and people, where it's appropriate. But I don't want to spend our time on something so depressing. Do you have any good news?
"Sort of. On the third of next month, I start my first college course, 'Art in the Western World'. Then starting in February, I've got 15 credit hours of core requirements lined up to keep me busy until I pick a major."
"Any ideas on that yet?"
"Not really. Mattie wants me to pick something that'll help with being her Chief of Staff. But that could be almost anything. Finance or Psychology or Business Administration. Probably not underwater basket weaving. So many options and I've got no idea which is the right one."
"There is no right one. Learn what you can, preferably something you like, and you'll find ways to use it."
"What if I'm wrong?" Connie had a strong fear of failure. Knowing that Mattie wanted her back after her sentence ended made her determined not to disappoint her again.
"Then you're like every one else in the world. Even Anne Bundy isn't right all the time and even though she's the smartest person I've ever met, I'd rather ask you 'Does this make me look fat?' than her."
Friday, December 30, 2005, 11:45 UTC
Luna, Farside disciplinary barracks
Her third visitor of the day, after her adopted son Tomas and 'big brother' Harvey Dent, Edward Nigma said, "Selina, you look as lovely as ever."
"Flatterer." Not that he didn't look somewhat fitter than the last time she'd seen him. His stomach was flat enough that he could have worn spandex again, were he so inclined. "How are Aurora and Emma?"
"Emma has begun to notice boys and given her genetics, I expect the puberty beast to walk up and smack her hard sometime before Spring has sprung. Hopefully she won't turn into a typical sullen teenage sack of hormones."
Selina smiled, politely, at her former associate's distress. "What about Aurora?"
"Oh, just a brief pregnancy scare is all. You should have seen me, Selina. On the outside I was all the dutiful and supportive husband. On the inside, I don't think the dearly departed Dr. Crane could have made me more frightened."
"Have a little faith in yourself Edward. You, and Aurora, have been doing a good job with Emma."
"True. However, I did not have to go through a pregnancy, childbirth, diapers, teething, 'the terrible twos' or potty training with Emma," Eddie listed. "As such, the concept of adopting an older child worries me far less than starting from scratch."
Selina laughed sweetly and noted, "That's a rather precise list Edward."
"I was paying attention when you had Mattie."
Properly chagrinned, Selina replied, "A fair point. But I wanted to ask you. Harvey was here earlier and he was... odder than usual."
"Mattie informed him that if he wanted to attend the wedding, he'd have to leave his coin at home. One toss and a 'good side up' later, he agreed. Both of him wish Mattie to be happy and have realized that she wants both Arthur and this marriage." Harvey had spent most of the previous two days with Matt Hagen and apparently enjoying himselves.
"I don't care if she has Arthur. She's simply too young to get married."
"You're going to have to unpack that a bit." Not everyone could get out of the game by marrying a billionaire like Selina had.
"I've never objected to them sharing a bed. When he sleeps with her, she sleeps better, is more rested, more alert and functions at a higher level than when he doesn't. I also know they aren't having sex. In two days, that's going to change."
"Are you that terrified of becoming a grandmother?"
"No! Yes... No. It's complicated."
"He's just not good enough to marry your daughter?" Eddie asked rhetorically.
"She could do so much better. If she'd just made herself available, she'd have men lined up around the Moon courting her. She picked Arthur when she was barely 13! She's never even considered anyone else."
"And the fact that she did choose him means nothing?"
"She's too young," Selina said flatly.
"And exactly how old were you when you pulled your first million dollar heist?"
"Not. That. Young." She'd become a thief long before she turned 17, but her first major scores didn't take place until after that.
Eddie was strongly tempted to ask Selina for the answer to riddle he'd never quite dared to ask. She married Bruce Wayne moments before Mattie was born. Then they never had another child, which likely was a specific choice for both of them. Why not?
Instead, he said, "Like it or not, your daughter's wedding is in two days. The final practice begins in a few hours and I must be off so that I may attend."
Selina took a sharp breath, but said nothing.
Rising to his feet, Eddie quietly stated, "Selina, I know you could escape this place any time you choose. But if you interfere with this, Mattie will hate you forever. Choose wisely."
Friday, December 30, 2005, 17:51 UTC
Luna, Port Oldridge, Imperial Ballroom
Sprink called out from where she'd stand as Matron of Honor, "And step... and step... and step... Mr. Kent, this is where you hand off Mattie to Arthur and then go stand with your wife and Miss Hawking. We're not doing the 'who gives this woman to this man' bit."
"I'm perfectly happy just walking her down the aisle," Clark replied with an irrepressible grin plastered on his face.
"Judge Greenbriar, you've got your notes straight?"
"Yes, Mrs. Adams. The only major difference is that it's 'Helena Martha Wayne and Arthur Donald Morton' for the first ceremony and 'Empress Martha the First and Imperial Consort Arthur Morton' for the second. You two sure you don't want 'obey' in there?"
"Yes," Mattie and Arthur replied simultaneously.
"Just asking."
Sprink retook charge. "All right. After the vows, Arthur gives her the ring. Charlie, you've got the ring, right?"
"Uh..." Charlie said as he patted pockets.
"Right?"
"I know I have it here somewhere."
"Charles..."
Arthur gave his best man an x-ray glance and murmured "Inside jacket pocket." Not being able to see through gold made it easy to spot.
Charlie held up the third part of the Dunka heirloom ring set. "Here it is. All good."
Sprink gave her husband a 'look'. "Then we get the 'you may now kiss the bride'. No tongue you two, nobody wants to see that. Judge Greenbriar introduces the happy couple and the string quartet breaks into... whatever that song is."
"The Wedding March by Mendelssohn," Mattie said. The string quartet played a few bars until signaled by Sprink to stop.
"Thank you. Where was I? Oh, Arthur and Mattie head to the entry to the anteroom, then Charlie and I, Hank and Anne then Todd and Crystal fall in in pairs behind them. Let's see if we can get this part right the first time. For the first wedding, the receiving line will be between the anteroom door and the buffet table. For the show wedding it'll be a longer walk to the reception tent over by the first tee of the golf course. That's when the photographers go to work. We should be able to get through the first batch pretty quickly, but the second will take quite a bit longer because more guests will be involved.
"Now Mattie and Arthur want some private time together between the ceremonies, but we'll still have a bouquet toss, a garter toss and a cake cutting. After that, they're gone and the rest of us can start prepping for the show wedding. Show wedding only has the cake cutting. As soon as we get the recession right, we'll all head to the Shepherd complex to run through the show wedding. Then have dinner. So if you're hungry, let's get it right. Starting with the left foot... Step... and step... and step... Charlie turn towards me and step..."
Friday, December 30, 2005, 21:45 UTC
Luna, Farside disciplinary barracks
Stepping from the shadows, Albus Dumbledore said, "Ms. Wayne, it is time to go."
"Mr. Dumbledore, I've decided against stopping the wedding." She didn't approve, but realized there were better ways of dealing with the problem.
"Imperio!" he cast before Selina could get into hand-to-hand range. "Be still." 'Silly woman, thinking I'd ever give you a choice in the matter,' he thought to himself. 'Your daughter had me decapitated and paybacks are a bitch.'
Withdrawing a small doll like figure from his robe, he cast Engorgio upon it, which turned it into a very convincing simulcrum of Selina Wayne. He ordered the real Selina to arrange it on the bunk before draping a thin blanket over it. Satisfied that the ruse would work until 'morning', he apparated both of them away.
Saturday, December 31,2005, 00:35 UTC
Luna, Starport Luna, arrival docks.
Amanda Leeds carried a garment bag over her shoulder and dragged a suitcase on wheels behind her. After a bad drop from jumpspace and a ridiculous queue for Traffic Control, her ship TTV John Warwick had docked at Starport Luna. Relieved that she'd made it in time for Mattie and Arthur's wedding after all, after getting through Passport Control she relaxed with a nice cup of take away tea and waited to be met.
It wasn't long before Roshawn and Shaundra Cortez appeared.
"Amanda, you're looking fit," Roshawn said. It wasn't until fifth year that Amanda could reliably tell them apart. Then again, they weren't in school uniforms anymore unlike the last time she'd seen them just before they had taken their NEWTs.
"Greywolf does have physical fitness standards," Amanda replied, "I'm just lucky I'm on one of the ships with the newer grav drives. Makes it easier to keep in shape."
"Too bad you missed the bachelorette party. Sprink hired a stripper and he was a hunk of beef."
"Did you get his number?"
"Not from lack of trying," Roshawn admitted.
"What about you, Shaundra?"
"Didn't try. Ewan and I are doing the long distance thing and even though it's been hard, I'll stick to looking at other men, not chasing them."
"So how's your love life?" Shaundra asked. Greywolf ships carried mixed crews and there were usually more men than woman.
"My sex life is fine. My love life could be better. I don't think there's anyone on the Warwick who'll be more than a 'friend with benefits'." Not that she hadn't also been busy learning how to do her new job.
"I got friends in low places," Shaundra sang off key.
Roshawn and Amanda cracked up and the trio headed for the Greywolf transient barracks where Amanda would be staying until the her ship headed back out.
Saturday, December 31st, 2005, 08:15 UTC
Luna, Port Oldridge, Mattie's quarters
There were no official events on the Imperial Schedule, merely dozens of last minute meetings, greetings and fortunately, no beatings. Her various 'Uncles' had remained on their best behavior and had, in fact, been reasonably charming. Even Uncle Croc, who was happy that Arthur referred to him as 'Mr. Jones' and not 'Croc'. Although he had gone through enough chicken and waffles to feed five normal people at breakfast.
Uncle Eddie was out shopping with Aurora and Emma. Uncle Harvey hadn't come back at all after the rehearsal dinner. Security had informed her that he'd spent the night with Flora, Arthur's Chief Engineer, finding her two toned skin fascinating and her apparently happy to get laid for a change. Uncle Ozzie had a meeting planned with Lucy, another of Arthur's crew, with an eye to hiring her away to The Iceberg Lounge. His nurse had just finished administering his blood thinners and statins and they were merely waiting for a security detail to escort them to the Tallah, which was docked at Starport Luna.
When informed of this, Arthur wished him luck. He might have freed Lucy from her collar, but that had been about it. She just didn't have the... drive... that the other former slaves either had or developed. It would save him the trouble of firing her as a way of forcing her to evolve as a free person.
Five minutes after Arthur left with Todd, Crystal received a ping on her earwig.
"Evans, go ahead... Mattie!"
"What?" Mattie asked as she set down her second cup of coffee.
"Your mother's escaped!"
"Left her cell again escaped or escape escaped?" Mattie knew that the Farside Disciplinary Barracks wouldn't have held her and Selina had decades more experience. Which is why they used other, magical, methods to keep track of her. They were thoroughly aware that Selina occasionally went roaming.
"Escape escaped. She's not in the facility and 'point me' didn't work."
Mattie used several uncharacteristic words and phrases. "Either she's out of range or warded. Get Arthur and Todd back here now and find my mother. We are not cancelling the wedding over this." While it was something to say, it wasn't something she necessarily believed. Selina on the loose, given that she'd inherited Batman's Protocols, was a definite danger.
Saturday, December 31st, 2005, 08:27 UTC
Luna, Farside Disciplinary Barracks
Crystal shifted to wolf form and sniffed around Selina's cell. Two scents: Selina's, which was similar to Mattie's and one other. It was definitely male and somewhat sour, most likely an older man and therefore not one of the guards. Returning to human form, she cast Appare Vestigum looking for magical traces and footprints. She found them. There had been at least two apparation spells cast here in the previous 24 hours, some form of dark magic and whatever spells had been used on the body that had been left in Selina Wayne's place.
Using her Green Lantern ring, she called Mattie. "Mattie, somebody helped your mother escape. An older wizard, powerful enough to bypass the anti-apparition wards and skilled enough to not get caught doing it."
"Not a good sign," Mattie replied. "Ministry of Magic Hit Wizard?"
"Merlin, I hope not. You might call Rufus Scrimgeour or Kingsley Shacklebolt and ask if anyone with the required skills is missing, but that leaves every other Ministry on the planet and not all of them are what I'd call cooperative."
"Do we know if anyone else is missing?"
"Not from here, but you're in a better place to look into that than I am right now."
"I'll put Laurie on it. I want you to tear that cell apart and see if my mother rigged any hiding places and also grab any correspondence you can find."
Saturday, December 31st, 2005, 08:27 UTC
Luna, Port Oldridge, Constable's Office
"Actually, we do have one. Greywolf put in a missing persons report a few days ago. One of their cargo specialists, Roger Davies, didn't come back from a two day leave. In fact, they can't find a record of him ever leaving his ship. As of 06:00, there's been no activity on his debit, credit or transit cards."
"Thank you officer, that might be very helpful," Laurie stated before calling Mattie to relay what he'd learned.
Saturday, December 31st, 2005, 09:47 GMT
Terra, London, East Finchley
"There's no answer and we can't enter without a search warrant," the bobby informed the Imperial officer with him.
Frank McDonald snorted. "One of the nice things about being an Imperial Hand is that in cases involving Imperial interests, I issue search warrants."
"Yes, yes, we know. Must be lovely not to need probable cause," the detective replied as Frank filled out the required paperwork.
"We have probable cause. Roger Davies has been reported missing." Signing with a flourish, Frank said, "Here we are, all nice and legal."
"Is it?" the very unhappy to be there landlord asked.
The detective nodded and the landlord used his key to open the door to the flat.
Not two steps into the flat, they found Roger Davies in crew socks and a pair of blue Y fronts sprawled on the floor.
"Is he... dead?" the landlord asked from the doorway, even more unhappy to be there.
The bobby knelt down to check. "He's still warm. But I'm not sure if he's breathing."
Frank drew his wand. "Rennervate!"
The man inhaled deeply before he cried, "Stitch! Stitch! Damn that hurts!" He then swore while using the parts of his body that worked to relieve the pain in the parts that didn't.
"Roger Davies, I presume?"
"Yes! Who the hell are you and where the hell are my clothes? I've got to get to work."
"My name is Frank McDonald and I work for Her Imperial Majesty, Martha the First. I have no idea where your clothes are and someone pretending to be you went to work in your place. By my best guess, you've been unconscious for almost two weeks. It's New Year's Eve."
"Bullocks!" Roger said as the bobby helped him to his feet.
"Mate, he's got the date right," the detective stated. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"I was leaving for work and there was a red flash. Next thing I know, I've got the worst case of cramps ever and you lot were here," Roger explained.
"Red flash? Probably a stunning spell."
"Magic? Figures." Roger worked for Greywolf Transport. He'd seen werewolves transform on a few occasions although he didn't work directly with any. "Can I get dressed now? It's frigging Baltic in here."
"Go right ahead Mr. Davies. I need to make a phone call."
.oOo.
"I strongly suspect that Roger Davies was hit with stupefy and then impersonated with polyjuice potion," Frank said into his end of the sisal unit.
"I agree," Mattie replied. "But the fake Roger Davies was last seen somewhere between L5 Station and Luna on the 22nd, three days later. I don't think even Hermione Granger or Professor Snape could brew a version that would last that long. Twelve hours is about the limit."
"A Chrysalis potion is permanent."
"That's even harder to brew. Only a Potion Master should even attempt that one. Multiple doses of polyjuice potion would be far easier."
"There are inspections, but given what this wizard is apparently capable of, sneaking the stuff onboard wouldn't be that unlikely."
"Whoever it is, they're good. Check the better apothecaries and potion shops for recent purchases of those two potions or the ingredients to make them."
"I'll head to Diagon Alley now."
Saturday, December 31st, 2005, 12:13 UTC
Luna, Port Oldridge Mall, Big Belly Burger
"Ms. Wayne, is there anything you'd like?" Albus Dumbledore, currently wearing the external form of 'Dmitri Stepanov' asked his imperioed captive.
"I'd like to tear your throat out," Selina replied quietly. She was currently blonde and her features had been changed just enough to hinder casual identification. She was also under Dumbledore's orders not to do anything that might give them away.
"To eat, Ms. Wayne."
"Here? No." Big Belly Burger was owned by LexCorp and as a matter of principle, Selina avoided doing business with LexCorp whenever possible.
"It will look strange if we, who appear to be couple, aren't both eating. I'll get you the chef's salad. Even if it isn't my money, I'm not paying that price for a cheeseburger."
As he stood in line to order, Dumbledore worried. His substitution of the simulacrum for the real Ms. Wayne had to have been discovered by now, but there had been no mention of her escape on the news. Why wouldn't they announce it? Did Mattie want her mother to escape? She was more than capable of letting others do things she felt she couldn't be directly associated with.
Not that it mattered. He'd already launched his attack and a backup with time-delayed conditional spells. All he needed to do was wait and be prepared if they somehow failed.
Saturday, December 31st, 2005, 12:14 UTC
Luna, Port Oldridge, Mattie's quarters.
Over his sisal link, Frank McDonald reported, "The rarest polyjuice potion ingredients are bicorn horn and boomslang skin. Pippin's does na carry them, nor The Apothecary. At Zabini Apothecary and Bobbin's, they're special order only an' both of them get their supply from Slughorn's Apothecary so that's where I'm heading now."
Mattie frowned. "Thanks for the update. I know Slughorn's sells polyjuice potion."
"You should have checked there first," Snape said.
"Frank went to Diagon Alley first because it's only six or seven miles from East Finchley. He was already there before we thought of calling you."
"Very well, Miss Wayne. Right now, between Harry, Filius, Pomona and myself, you have a veritable Tree of Knowledge as far as magic is concerned. Do not hesitate to use it."
"I won't," Mattie said solemnly.
Arthur was no where near solemn when he said, "Dammit, given how competent this guy has been so far, we should be able to figure out who it is. There can't be that many wizards capable of pulling this off."
Snape responded, "The three best candidates are no longer with us. Riddle had the power, but not the subtlety. Albus Dumbledore and Grindelwald had both. Aberforth Dumbledore might have the power and even a motive, but not the skill. Harry has the power to bypass the wards, but not yet the experience to do so tracelessly."
"He's also not old. Lucille Malfoy?" Arthur guessed.
"Who can say?" Snape replied.
Mattie sighed. "From what I understand, Malfoy can't act directly against me. But she's not a he and Crystal says it was an older male who was in my mother's cell."
"Can a demon disguise her scent?" Arthur asked. "My guess is yes."
Mattie sighed again. She could contact Lucifer and ask using the deck of golden cards she'd given to Charlie years ago for safe-keeping. But she didn't want to use that ability unless she absolutely had to.
If she had, she would have been very surprised with the results.
Snape listed possibilities. "Merlin, yes. Mad-Eye Moody, no. He is as subtle as a charging ogre. Kingsley Shacklebolt? As clever as they come and more powerful than you think."
"All of whom fail the motive test, unless someone else has imperioed them," Mattie observed.
Arthur offered, "Felix Faust? Wotan?"
Mattie shook her head negatively. "Wotan doesn't need to be subtle. He's Doctor Fate level. Felix Faust was trapped in the Tower of Fate last I'd heard, but if he's loose, he might be capable. I just can't think of a motive for him."
Grimacing, Arthur said, "The best candidate I've heard mentioned is Albus Dumbledore. Is he still dead?"
"Arthur!?"
"Superman came back after being killed by Doomsday. Arisia Rrab's whole species is known for coming back after they die if the damage isn't too great. Earth's second Green Lantern," he avoided using Hal Jordan's name, "is back from the dead and he's definitely human. We have to consider it."
Mattie pondered the possibility and didn't like her own thoughts. "Crystal, take Snape to the White Tomb and see if he's in there. I pray he is but Arthur has a point."
Crystal replied, "On it. Professor?"
"If Narcissa can survive the 'Green Lantern Express', so I can. Let us be off."
As a green aura surrounded her and Snape, Crystal said, "Mattie, while we're gone, get something to eat. With what's going on you don't know when your next opportunity will come up."
"Cindy to make sandwiches," the house elf said. "Mistress have preference?"
Saturday, December 31, 2005, 12:22 GMT
Terra, Hogwarts, The White Tomb
"Oh shit. He's not here," Crystal said quietly after finding the tomb empty.
Saturday, December 31, 2005, 12:27 UTC
Luna. Port Oldridge, Imperial Media Center
Matt Hagen was impersonating Mattie as he stood at the lectern where Mattie normally held the monthly press conferences. "… interruption. We believe my mother, Selina Wayne, has escaped the Farside Disciplinary Barracks with the aid of Albus Dumbledore, who has somehow cheated death after his trial and execution for attempted regicide. Both are to be considered armed and extremely dangerous. If you encounter them, do not attempt to engage, instead contact the Lunar Constabulary or Imperial Security Service at the numbers on the screen. Until further notice, all flights leaving the Moon are grounded and the intercity rail system will shut down as trains reach their next stops. Be prepared for a vacuum emergency and be safe."
The 'On Air' light blinked off and Mattie, from a bunker deep under Port Oldridge, said, "Good job, Matt. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were me."
Matt expanded into his Clayface form briefly before compressing himself back into the Matt Hagen form he normally wore in public. "I forgot how hard it is to get all of me into someone your size. You need anything else right now?"
"Not this second, but I may need you to play decoy some more later." While Matt might be able to fool her mother, short term, his lack of a magical aura would make it easy for Dumbledore to spot the substitution. After finishing with Matt, she turned to Crystal. "Status?"
"Barbara Grayson is on Earth and the transporter tube from her flat to Blüdhaven is now missing several key components. Nobody is going to use it as an escape route. Fleur Delacour is somewhere on Farside. I don't know where and what I don't know can't be legimened out of me."
"I don't think Dumbledore or my mother would be after either one, but I want to protect the line of succession just in case. Anything from Superman or Supergirl?"
"Nothing yet. But the Moon is a big place, assuming they're still on it."
Arthur shook his head. "Kryptonians are magic vulnerable. A 'notice me not' spell or something similar would fool them."
Mattie replied, "I wanted them out of here and doing something potentially useful. I don't want them in the range of an imperio."
A lot of people shuddered at the thought, not just Arthur. Even though Arthur had obtained a piece of Kryptonite while on Green Lantern duty, it was locked up in House Morton, not anywhere handy. He had't mentioned it to Mattie either but was fairly certain she had her own supply if she needed it.
Mattie continued, "What I'm worried about is them taking hostages of some sort. The people we care about most are pretty much all in Port Oldridge right now. I don't want them used as a lever against us." Simply being near the ruler of the Terran Empire could be dangerous. Mattie didn't want it to become fatal again. The regicide attempt against her showed that Dumbledore wasn't worried about collateral damage.
"I could put them on the Tallah and get them far enough away from Luna that magic won't work."
"Which would stop Dumbledore, but not my mother."
"Flora could stop your mother, but she'd have to be alone on board to pull it off."
Mattie almost asked why, but figured it out on her own. While Flora could walk around easily in 3 gravities, her mother could not. Enough acceleration would leave Selina pinned to the deck while Flora did anything she felt necessary. But others guests couldn't be safely exposed to that sort of treatment, particularly the children or the elderly.
"Maybe we can fake that. Send people to Star- oh!" Mattie's statement was cut off with clutch of her stomach.
"You alright?"
"Stomach cramp. I don't think that sandwich I had on the way here is agr- Ah!"
Crystal shouted for Dr. Black even as Arthur used his x-ray vision. Something was going on in Mattie's stomach and he wasn't about to wait to figure out what. "Mattie, bend over, this is gonna hurt." To the shock of pretty much everyone, she did and he kicked her in the stomach as hard as he could.
Crystal swarmed him and Arthur learned she was a lot better than he thought. He was face down on the floor in under two seconds.
Mattie gave a couple of dry heaves and projectile vomited before falling on her side in a heap.
Crystal, applying perhaps a little more force than necessary, shouted, "Arthur! What do you think..." before trailing off. The vomit was moving of its own accord, drawing itself up into a tiny clawed and fanged homunculus. It hissed and turned toward Mattie, leaping to attack. It didn't make it. At least three spells and a ring generated hammer struck it mid leap and reduced it to a green smear.
"Sorry," Crystal apologized as she released Arthur.
"Get her into a med tank, now," Arthur said firmly. "She's got some internal bleeding." Then he stood up. A green aura sprang up around Mattie and Crystal snatched Dr. Black in passing on their way out the door.
Saturday, December 31, 2005, 13:01 UTC
Luna, Port Oldridge, Arthur's office.
Arthur had already explained to his mother and younger sister Julie about the attack on Mattie. That she was in a med tank and his GL ring was protecting her. That Dumbledore would certainly take another shot at her if he got the chance. That he wanted to use Julie as bait for a trap to capture (or kill, he wasn't particular) Albus Dumbledore.
"Our trap needs a witch. They have to be female with the right aura," Arthur explained.
"And I'm the first person you thought of?" Julie asked.
"First person I thought of." Ginny Potter had volunteered, but her husband, invoking Sirius, Molly and baby Richard, talked her down.
"I'm guessing I'm here because she's not 17 yet," Maggie stated resignedly. In response to her son's nod, she continued, "Arthur, I started letting you make 'adult' decisions for yourself when you were 11 and you have seldom disappointed me. Julia, a couple of years ago, I would have turned this down flat, but you've really grown up in the last two years. Enough that I think you should make this choice yourself."
"Thanks Mom," Julie replied. To her brother she said, "Since I know you have one, what's the plan?"
After a brief explanation, Julie declared herself in. Arthur left to put things in motion, leaving mother and daughter alone to talk.
"Mom, could you do me a favor? I'm not allowed to carry in the palace, but my wand and holder are in my luggage in my room on the Tallah. Could you get it for me? I want an ace up my sleeve."
"Of course."
"Don't tell Arthur."
Maggie opened her mouth to say something, then merely nodded instead.
Saturday, December 31, 2005, 16:03
Luna, Port Oldridge, palace medical
The new year had reached all of Australia as Arthur and Crystal kept watch. The med tank, surrounded by a green aura, was quietly humming. Other than an occasional status report over their earwigs, it was the only sound in the room.
'The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true,' Arthur said to no one in particular.
"What?" Crystal asked.
"It's a line from an old movie, The Court Jester."
"And you said it because..."
"Sometimes I feel court jester is my real job around here. I speak truth to power and because of 'jester's privilege', I get away with it." With Mattie in the tank, he was technically in charge of the Terran Empire. But the fact that Mattie was in the tank hadn't been publicly released. As far as the Empire at large was concerned, everything was normal and Fleur Delacour would be in charge starting at midnight. "I'm supposed to get married in 21 hours, assuming we're both sill alive by then."
"Arthur, don't worry, she'll be fine. Dr. Black said the damage was minor because you got the … whatever it was... out so fast. Mattie'll be out of the tank by midnight."
"Dumbledore will just try again. He's got nothing to lose."
"Not that I'm doubting that it's him, but evidence is worth more than your intuition."
"Not really in this case. Mattie signed a death warrant for Dumbledore and legally speaking, he's a now considered a fugitive. He can be shot on sight. Just don't miss."
"What about Mrs. Wayne?"
"Accessory to assault isn't a capital crime, so she needs to be captured alive unless she's committing murder, rape or holing, just like everyone else." That level of 'rough justice' was fairly common in sealed environment habitats, although in the greater galaxy, sex with a slave without the owner's permission was considered rape, whether the slave in question was willing or not.
Silence returned to the treatment room until Crystal wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "Arthur, do you smell anything?" she said before changing to wolf form and sniffing around.
"Call it in," Arthur said, triggering his mechanics and arming himself with his wand and three stun bombs. That was standard procedure. Stay in communication unless you have a damn good reason not to.
Crystal popped back into human form. Shaking her head again, she muttered, "Something's wro-" before collapsing.
"Spira... Spira... Oh shit," Arthur managed before he too collapsed.
Three minutes later, once the gaseous potion he'd slipped into the room had dissipated sufficiently, Albus Dumbledore silently appeared, the imperioed Selina Wayne behind him. "Ah, Mr. Morton, Miss Evans. Far worse for you two if you have to live with your failure to protect Miss Wayne than dying at my hand."
Dumbledore turned to the medtank and realized he had no idea how to open it. Casting avada kedavra against an inanimate object was risky. He'd summoned a stone column to block an AK once and the spell had basically been grounded. He'd also seen explosive results capable of wrecking a room. Not something to hazard when you're in the room in question. Fortunately, there were ways around that.
"Ms. Wayne, kill your daughter." Dumbledore ordered. At one point he might have been willing to spare her, but that time ended when she'd signed his death warrant. But perhaps he should imperio Mr. Morton. He was next in line to the throne and under his control there were opportunities.
No matter how her mind fought, Selina's body obeyed orders. She crossed the room to the green glowing medical tank and after one failed attempt to breech the tank's aura, informed Dumbledore that she'd need yellow gloves.
Dumbledore conjured a pair directly onto his pawn's unwilling hands. Thus protected, she slowly forced her hands through the barrier and started the sequence that would open the medtank. Killing her defenseless daughter once it did would be a trivial task.
"Finite Incantatem" came from behind both of them. Selina gasped as she retook control of her body while Dumbledore turned to obliviate the interloper. Then he saw who had cast the spell.
"By Merlin's beard! What madness is this? You're no witch!"
Maggie Morton wished she'd had time for speeches. There were so many things she could have said. Three of her children were mages. That ability had come from both her and her husband. On the Moon, her potential was high enough to actually cast spells instead of simply tossing sparks. She'd certainly seen that particular spell cast often enough. So when push came to shove, she simply used her daughter's wand and did it. There was only one other spell she was willing to attempt. Another spell she'd seen many, many times.
"Arcus," Maggie cast at one of the most powerful wizards on Earth.
Dumbledore didn't even bother to parry the magical rainbow, he simply cast "Imperio!" and turned just in time to cast it again at Selina Wayne, whose flying leap came within inches of putting both hands around his throat.
"Ms. Wayne, stand up then don't move. Ms. Morton, come here," Dumbledore ordered.
'No one here by that name,' MRS. Maggie Morton thought to herself, before moving toward the flustered wizard, under her own will and not magical compulsion. So when she arrived and kicked him square in the testicles, it came as quite the surprise. She kept doing it long after Dumbledore passed out from the pain.
Ten seconds after the final kick, a tactical team called in by Julie Morton from inside the med tank breeched the room and put iron blocking bands on the unconscious Albus Dumbledore.
Sunday, January 1, 2006, 11:41 UTC
Luna, Port Oldridge, Imperial Ballroom
"You may kiss the bride," Judge Greenbriar said officially.
The kiss was long, hard and barely cognizant of the assembled witnesses. When the newlyweds reluctantly came up for air, they turned, hand in hand, to their families. Not family by blood in Mattie's case, but family nonetheless.
"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present the happy couple, Arthur and Mattie."
There was a burst of applause before Arthur and Mattie, smiling blissfully, stepped off the raised platform to the opening bars of the Wedding March. The dignified march to the anteroom for the reception didn't happen. Mattie waved the small crowd in and Clark made sure he got there first. He didn't have to cheat too much.
"I wish your father could have seen this," Clark said with tears of joy forming in his eyes.
"Me too," Mattie replied as Arthur stayed silent. How different would both their lives be if Bruce Wayne hadn't died? Definitely different and not necessarily better.
"Take care of her," Clark said to Arthur.
"Whether she likes it or not, sir."
.oOo.
The reception line had finished and the photographers were hard at work getting the formal portraits done. The couple by themselves, with the best man and matron of honor, with the entire wedding party, with the parents and godparents in various combinations. There were also informal pictures being taken of the venue and guests.
Olivia Ames and Ami Bones, the only two 'strays' on the Morton side of the aisle, found themselves talking as their husband and boyfriend were having pictures taken.
"Considering how small this wedding is, I'm surprised we made the cut," Olivia said.
"Well, Mrs. Morton already considers me her daughter-in-law, just like Misty and Mattie."
"You two aren't even engaged yet."
"Will is only fifteen and unlike Mattie and Arthur, we're not in a hurry. We're going to wait until we're both done with Hogwarts before we get engaged. We want to make sure we can support ourselves before we even consider getting married." Just because Arthur was rich didn't mean they expected to live off an income that wasn't their own.
"That puts you ahead of a lot of young couples."
"One useful thing I've learned from Arthur is to always have a plan."
"Plans are nice, but they don't always work out." Her first marriage was proof enough of that despite the fact that she'd got three wonderful daughters out of it.
"Another useful thing is 'improvise, adapt, overcome'."
"You know that's from a movie, right?"
"It works for us."
.oOo.
"So what's going to happen with Selina?" Sheila Hawking asked Crystal.
"No additional charges are being filed. From the information we got from Maggie and Julie Morton, it was determined that Mrs. Wayne's presence was involuntary. But we are looking to improve the facility's security. "
"And Albus Dumbledore?"
"They're not charging him with anything new, but his prior death warrant still stands. He'll be executed before Mattie and Arthur get back from the honeymoon." As a Green Lantern, she should be against the death penalty, but as a bodyguard and big sister, she wasn't.
.oOo.
"Time for the bouquet toss!" Sprink informed the crowd. People set down the plates of food they'd built from the buffet along with whatever drinks they might have chosen. Since the formal wedding would start in under six hours, most of the guests were avoiding alcohol and there were sobering potions (inflicting various levels of pain) for those who weren't.
Roxy Rocket, The Morton girls, Crystal, Anne and Ami Bones stood ready. Roxy was front and center and appeared to be taking it far too seriously. Mattie sighted the grouping, turned her back and lobbed the bouquet made of white anemones, blue iris and forget-me-nots over her shoulder.
It would have been an easy grab for Roxy if Crystal hadn't hip checked her and snatched the bouquet herself. In other circumstances, a fight might have broken out, but after a brief sour look, Roxy put on a properly bemused expression and nodded to the victor.
Arthur did not use his teeth to remove the lacy blue garter. He wanted his wedding to be a more dignified occasion than that.
His younger brother Will was the only representative from the Morton side of the aisle, all the other men there were married. Ranged with him were Oswald Cobblepot, Waylon Jones, Harvey Dent/Two Face, and Roxy Rocket's date, Greg Haynes and Matt Hagen. Edward Nigma watched amusedly from the sidelines.
Twang!
Being Clayface, Matt Hagen could have stretched his arms far enough to easily grab the garter, but he was 'playing fair' and Greg Haynes reflexive caught the garter instead of allowing it to hit him in the face. Pictures of the two and their prizes were taken.
'That was surprisingly normal,' Sprink thought to herself.
.oOo.
Mattie and Arthur cut two small slices of a three tiered raspberry wedding cake and held them up to feed each other.
"Smoosh her! Smoosh her!" Harvey Dent called with others echoing the sentiment.
"No, I want to live!" Arthur called back.
Fair enough. "Smoosh him! Smoosh him!" Two Face called with others taking up the cry.
"Absolutely not!" Mattie replied. They'd discussed this and it was something Arthur had absolutely no sense of humor about. Starting any marriage with what he felt was an act of disrespect to one's partner was a sure sign that marriage was doomed in the long run.
Cake successfully nibbled without making a mess, the two quickly started slicing cake for their guests before slipping away with Todd and Crystal while the party continued without them.
Sunday. January 1, 2006, 13:30
Luna, Port Oldridge, Mattie and Arthur's quarters.
"There's no escape for you this time, Morton."
"You say that as if I want to escape, Wayne. I know you've wanted to do this for a while."
Mattie nodded in agreement. "Thank you for patiently waiting for me. Not all men would have been so willing."
"Bubble bath with a beautiful woman who is now my beautiful wife? I'd be a fool to turn that down."
"Then help me get out of this dress."
"I'm so tempted to rip and tear, but I know that dress is going to be a museum piece someday, so let's see if I can figure this out."
He did.
Sunday, January 1, 2006, 16:00
Luna, Shepard Sports Complex
"All right, fire it up," Imperial Army Corp of Engineers Captain Brian Samuels told his crew. Her Majesty was due to arrive to start her preparations for the State Wedding any minute now. They'd finally worked out the bugs with the holoprojector. Power consumption went up with the square of the coverage area and to cover the entire dome required far more than the 125 kilowatts a galtech portable generator could provide. They'd dismounted the power plant from one of Arthur's shuttles to provide the juice and with an adequate power supply, the lunar night was turned into day under the dome.
.oOo.
Mattie, with Kara, was the last to arrive at the bride's preparation tent. Her bridesmaids were already there, with Crystal and Sprink in bathrobes while Anne stood having her royal purple bridesmaid's dress given a final fitting. The seamstress gave her a hard look, had her change back to a three inch heel from a two inch heel and gave another hard look. "Do you have that shoe in a 2 ½ inch heel?"
Crystal pulled her wand and transformed the shoes in question. "That should be about right."
It was. With the ankle length dresses from the first ceremony, it wouldn't have mattered, but floor length dresses required more precision, especially with the long walk from the preparation tent to the altar. A tripping bridesmaid would be scandalous.
.oOo.
Arthur and Todd were the first to arrive at the groom's prep tent, with Hank and Charlie arriving right on schedule at 17:00. The orchestra trickled in after them. Snatches of various songs played as the men changed into their white tie tuxedos.
"I don't see why we have to wear make up," Hank groused.
"Because this is being broadcast to the Empire at large using enough power to light up the entire planet for the next couple of years and we're to look as royal as possible." Arthur didn't even want to think about the cost, he was just happy it wasn't coming out of his pocket.
"Yeah, but it's you. They can only do so much."
"Very funny."
.oOo.
Clark Kent sauntered into the groom's tent, his happy smile from the first wedding still in place. "The ladies were wondering how you were doing."
"We're all fine. We can hear the crowd arriving."
"Those gates opened at 18:00. You're invited guests started arriving before that. Only two groups of attempted wedding crashers have managed to get themselves arrested so far. Didn't even had to sic Supergirl on them. Although..."
"What?" Arthur and Todd asked.
"That Abo heavy cruiser that's been... probing... Terran space for the last month or so is now headed toward Sol at roughly 20 light years an hour."
"That's Fleur's problem, not ours," Arthur stated.
"Mattie said the same and Fleur is having Port Admiral Hutton arrange a welcoming committee. We should be in their comm range by now, but standard FTL communication is so expensive that they'll wait until they're much closer before opening contact."
By dint of great effort, Arthur kept his mouth shut. It was Fleur's problem.
"Anything you want to tell the ladies?" Clark asked.
"No. We're good. When they start playing Egmont, the groomsmen march out, pair up with the bridesmaids and head to the altar. After the gongs in the opening of Fanfare for the Common Man, I march out alone. When Here Comes the Bride starts, you and Mattie come out. After that, it's pretty straightforward."
"Ring," Charlie said suddenly. "We need to get the ring back so Arthur can give it to her again."
"On it," Clark replied as he ducked out.
Sunday, January 1, 2006, 19:00
Luna, Shepard Sports Complex
Precisely on time, the orchestra began Here Comes the Bride (or the Bridal Chorus by Richard Wagner as it was listed in the wedding program) and Mattie with her godfather, Clark Kent, left the bride's preparation tent and made the slow journey to the altar. As they approached, they crowd strained to see Mattie's white silk jewel neckline dress, lace veil attached to her crown and bouquet featuring purple anemone, scabiosa and ranunculus. Looking surprisingly not out of place were her katana and gladius.
Through that veil Mattie observed the assembled crowd. There were a few civilians mixed in with the government officials. Madame Tsien wore a lovely blue floral print dress, standing with her husband. Over there was Associate Supreme Court Justice Felix Pendezec. In the press pool, Larry Ullage stood next to Brenda al-Jaffar with Lana Lang nearby. Lana being visibly frustrated with being in the press pool instead of in the front row where Lois Lane stood waiting for her husband to finish walking the bride down the aisle. They proceeded to where the various planetary reps, including Edward McDermott were arrayed.
Finally, they reached the invited guests. Hagrid and Madame Maxime were the tallest guests by far, but the seat next to them reserved for Amber of the Red Sparks Forest was empty. Mattie hoped she was all right but knew how busy she might be, especially with the GL Corp still reeling from the edict that prevented two Green Lanterns from being in a romantic relationship. But their old study group and the Hogwarts Heads of House were there, along Arthur's extended family and the one person from his hometown whom he'd invited as well as the people who'd attended the first wedding.
As before, Clark turned Mattie over to Arthur at the altar and moved between his wife and Shiela Hawking on the bride's side of the aisle.
"Please be seated," Chief Justice Michael Greenbriar began and the crowd sat down as one save for the occasional quadruped or hexaped who didn't need to.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in matrimony. Marriage is a joyous covenant, which should be entered into reverently. Husband and wife should give to each other compassion, comfort and support in good times and bad. Marriage has been esteemed through the ages for the stability and happiness it brings to the individual, the family and the community. Therefore, the uniting of two individuals to establish a new family is an important and solemn event. For us, attached as we are to Her Majesty Empress Martha the First and Imperial Consort Arthur Morton by special bonds and affections, the uniting of these two people is an occasion of great significance, which we can all celebrate..."
Something between a speech and a sermon on the nature of love followed, but Judge Greenbriar eventually got to the vows.
"… Repeat after me."
"Before these witnesses, I, Imperial Consort Arthur Morton, take you, Empress Martha the First, to be my wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor and cherish until death do we part."
Mattie and Arthur both got through their vows without stumbling.
Judge Greenbriar continued. "If any being can show just cause why this couple should not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."
In an adjacent plane of reality, invisible to mortal eyes, Lucifer said to Death and Ganthet, "I'd like to see them try."
"I do so prefer this timeline to the one Destiny showed me where Arthur is already dead," Death replied.
"The timeline can still go bad from here, but we are already far better off than some of the variants I've seen in my lifetime," Ganthet stated.
"A spring chicken like you?" Lucifer mocked. "You're barely a billion, if that."
"Quiet, both of you," Death said, returning her attention to the ceremony.
After no objections were noted, the judge added, "A ring, a circle unbroken, without beginning or end, is a symbol of unity and of the vows you have just made to one another. Have you such a symbol?"
Charlie pulled the ring from his inside jacket pocket and handed it to Arthur. Arthur in turn held it up so that the ring could be seen by Mattie, the judge, the audience and the television cameras broadcasting the event.
"Bless this ring, he who gives it and she who receives it. May they ever bide in peace, unity, love and happiness for the rest of their lives."
Arthur solemnly said, "I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows. With all that I am and all that I have, I honor you. With this ring, I thee wed."
Just as solemn, Mattie replied, "I receive this ring as a symbol of our vows. With all that I am and all that I have, I honor you. With this ring, I thee wed."
"Imperial Consort Morton, Empress Martha, you have pledged to each other your lifelong commitment. By the power vested in me by the Terran Empire, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Those whom have thus joined together, let no one put asunder. You may kiss the bride!"
After the kiss, not quite as long as the one from the first ceremony, the judge finished with, "It gives me great pleasure to introduce the Empress and her Consort."
~30~
Author's note: Why yes, I do have more ideas, but I'm not particularly tempted to write/post them. This was Karanne's story and was intended to end with Arthur and Mattie's marriage. So the part that was important to her is done.
Therefore I'm not worried about the reception, the honeymoon, decamping to Epsilon Eridani III for the rest of the honeymoon once their identities get blown, returning Car'i and Clarissa to Windfall, or the Abo heavy cruiser approaching Sol. Nor do I need to worry about the adoption of Agnes, Edith and Margo after Mattie turns 18, Arthur's birthday coming up in the draft, Tomas' plans for revenge, Arthur and Mattie's children or any of a myriad possibilities.
It was March 2002 when I first the left the first review on 'The Bat and the Cat, redux'. Twenty-two years later, it's time I move on and start concentrating on my own work again.
It's been surreal.
Ghost in the Machine