TWENTY-THREE

Carlisle

In a glass-sided cubicle off the lobby of Cullen Tower, Carlisle awaits the arrival of a delegation from the government's Security Service. Three hours previously, a summons had arrived via his comms device, ordering him to be there at 4 pm. He has already waited two hours but is not in the least surprised that they haven't shown. He gets this is an obvious ploy to build up anxiety. Carlisle is anxious, but not for the reasons they are anticipating.

Carlisle has had only a short time to consider his options on what line to take if the delegation produced indefensible proof of Edward's transgressions. He has no doubts that excuses or apologies will fall on deaf ears. A line would have been crossed. The thousand-year agreement to extract sick Lympians without leaving evidence of their presence, and play ball with the New West's government, would be in tatters. However, Carlisle has already decided the terms of the original agreement had recently become a burden rather than an advantage. Also, his attitude towards this current cohort of 'governors' has hardened over the past weeks, despite maintaining the pretense of being the same compliant Carlisle Cullen they were used to dealing with.

Alice's revelations have played on his mind all day, especially during these past three hours. This morning she had fully apprised him of how far the Edward and Bella situation had gone and had voiced her concerns about how this would negatively affect the family.

Also, and because Edward had ignored her text to inform Carlisle about the possible Werewolf situation in Forks, when Carlisle received the summons Alice felt she had to put him in the picture about Jacob Black. She admitted to Carlisle that she had visited the farm where Edward had introduced her to Bella and had picked up Werewolf scent for the first time since the catastrophe. Jacob Black was a curve ball Carlisle hadn't been expecting. A Werewolf in Lympi? He only had these three hours to consider this turn of events but needed to make an urgent decision. Should he warn Security at this meeting, or hold fire and use the information to his advantage later? If so, how?

Alice finished by stating that in her opinion Edward was lost to them. Carlisle reluctantly agreed that she was probably right. Alice had been jumping from supporting Edward's wish to be with Bella, to understandably not wanting to risk losing her brother and the family's freedoms. Apart from Esme who kept her counsel about Edward, the rest of the family anticipated that Edward being confined for years, or even banished from the New West, could be one of the possible sanctions on the table, given the Security Service's hostile attitude toward them lately.

Alice's strong opinions inevitably had led Carlisle to conclude that whatever happens at the forthcoming meeting, his family would not survive intact if sanctions were imposed on them. Jasper's ten-year seclusion after his transition was nearly up. Had Alice foreseen this being extended as an additional punishment? Carlisle has no doubts that if this is the case, Alice and Jasper would leave the tower anyway. This would devastate the family but Esme in particular. Emmett and Rosalie are seething because of what they may lose because of Edward's association with Bella. Jasper is still away with the fairies and therefore incapable of adding anything to the situation. Esme, as always, has remained calm, saying whatever will be will be.

The worst possible sanction Carlisle envisages is that the Security Service could insist that the family return to being virtual prisoners in the Tower, only being allowed out to extract sick residents from the Olympic Peninsula. If Security was also in the mood to be particularly vindictive, recommendations could be made to other governments that Vampire groups serving similar closed communities could also lose their privileges. This would be a personal blow for Carlisle due to his high standing in the Vampire community but a factor that has helped him decide how to conduct himself at the forthcoming meeting.

Esme had left Carlisle alone to ponder on the family's defense, but only after she had given him her view of the situation. As always, Esme suggested avenues in which there would be an opportunity to compromise. In the past, Carlisle would utilize her words when dealing with these autocrats, but following hours of deep thought, he had come to his own decision. Enough was enough. Kowtowing to these people had gone on long enough. It was time to go on the offensive. The days of being obliged to beg for deals and compromises were over.

After what he and his kind had gone through to ensure the survival of the human race, and if this delegation was determined to impose sanctions, Carlisle's planned response to any accusations of wrongdoing would be, 'How dare you even consider punishing this family after everything we did in the past to save the human race,' and then also state they were not the only ones doing wrong. If this didn't work and sanctions were imposed, even Esme agreed last night they should leave the Tower immediately and disappear. Effectively this would mean the family would be forced to go into hiding forever because their faces were well known everywhere in the world now.

Carlisle had been calling Edward all day to warn him this may happen. As usual, Edward had not picked up. This should not surprise Edward though because the family had considered running before. This was when Alice had begged the family to support her if the government refused her plea to change Jasper and she changed him anyway. Running would be their last resort but after enjoying such a level of freedom for the last five hundred years, returning to being virtual prisoners would be untenable.

The clock on Carlisle's comms device flicks over to 6 pm. No sunset tonight, just a thick layer of cloud hanging over the city like a filthy blanket. At least he hadn't missed anything by being down in the lobby.

At five past the hour, the door opens. Two men and one woman enter. The man in the lead is Joe Carver, Head of Security. Carlisle despises this man because he vehemently opposed Alice's request to change Jasper. He knows from experience that men like him do not like losing an argument.

Attired in a silver-gray silk suit that oozes corruption, Carver acknowledges Carlisle with a nod. His more conservatively dressed colleagues are new faces. Carlisle doesn't bother to read their name badges. They both look nervous and have good reason to be. They would already have been briefed that a furious Vampire could kill all three before they made it to the door.

Carlisle stands but doesn't offer a hand. This is the usual protocol. Humans do not touch Vampires unless necessary. "Sorry to keep you waiting," Carver says as a throwaway remark.

Carlisle laughs. "I was born in 1481, Joe, just before Henry Tudor came to the throne of England. That's ten years before Henry the Eighth was born wouldn't you know? Two hours of wasted life means nothing to me."

Carver smirks as he places his briefcase on the table and takes the seat opposite Carlisle. His colleagues sit on either side. Carlisle immediately understands that the meeting will be conducted like a trial. The woman's hands are shaking. The other much younger man is doing his best to look unperturbed. Carlisle wishes he could read their minds even though their expressions tell him most of what he needs to know. Trouble is coming and they are terrified of pissing off this formidable Vampire. Carlisle leans forward with a smile on his face.

"Relax, everyone. We're all friends here, remember?"

Carver scoffs. "Maybe we won't be by the end of the meeting, Carlisle."

"Oh, I'm sure we will, Joe. Of all the ... now how many Heads of Security have I worked with over the past six hundred years ... a few less than ninety as I recall, and you're the only one who thinks he's a tiger when, in fact, ... you're just a pussycat."

Carver slams his hands on the table. "Carlisle Cullen, you're in no position to …"

"To what?" Carlisle interrupts and stands up. Carver's colleagues leap to their feet and back away. "Sit down," Carlisle orders. "I'm not going to touch you, but you will listen to what I have to say."

"Go on then," Carver replies mockingly, then adds, "It won't change anything." He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms as a gesture of contempt.

Carlisle turns to the window where the mountains could be viewed but for the low cloud. On the west side of the range, his son has taken up residence in the Meadow House, and if Alice is to be believed Isabella Swan has spent time there with him, contrary to every rule laid down and agreed to between the government and Vampires. Rules … ha! He's had enough of their rules. Waiting for Carver to show had given him even more time for contemplation. Now he wonders why he'd waited so long to say what should have been said many years ago.

"Joe Carver ... my guess is you have evidence, or at least a notion, that a member of my family has broken some rule or another. Let this sink in, Joe, I … don't … give … a … shit … anymore."

Carver's eyes widen. Carlisle doesn't even register the expressions on the faces of the other two. He continues.

"Five hundred years ago when these experimental communities were proposed to prove that religion was not necessary or even desirable in a modern society, strict rules were laid down about what should be taken in there by the first settlers, or discussed or taught to future generations. Books on science, technology, astronomy, and literature through the ages. Music, art, and, more importantly, the history of the origin of Man and animal species – all banned by those headcases on the committee. References to religion, legends, folklore, magic, and the supernatural, were wiped from the language to keep the Experiment fair. And Vampires went along with it. Alas, the government and the Elders haven't."

"What are you talking about, Carlisle," Carver scoffs. "The teachers in the schools have strict …"

"No, Joe. The children are being taught how Man evolved from ape-like creatures thousands of years ago. More recently, kids are receiving science and astronomy lessons including the Big Bang Theory. Why the hell do you think Isabella Swan's dog is called Jupiter? Do you think that's a word she made up?"

"Well, that could be …"

"A coincidence? Don't take me for a fool, Joe. You know as well as I do that the Experiment is over. The whole reason the communities were set up in the first place is now flawed. If you don't believe me, just get off your ass and visit the folk in the Olympic Village and ask them what they were taught in school. I can assure you they know damn well who Charles Darwin and Galileo are."

Carver opens his briefcase. "This has no bearing on the fact that your son, Edward …"

Carlisle leans over and slams the lid down, just missing Carver's fingers.

"My son has done his job diligently, as have I, and the other members of my family. We've delivered our part of the agreement. It's you who have reneged on your part. The whole Experiment was tainted from the start due to the lack of independent and unbiased monitoring. Don't forget, Joe, I was in the room five hundred years ago, not you. The government needed my family to agree to extract the sick to get the Experiment passed and then approved by the religious lobby. At least some of the committee had the welfare of future Lympians in mind when the agreement was signed. And you have the nerve to accuse my son of breaking the rules when the most fundamental rule of all is a joke now. Sorry, Joe Carver, but there's no case to answer as far as my family are concerned."

Carver sits back in his chair and contemplates what Carlisle has said. He cannot dispute Carlisle's accusations. He'd known for years that the Experiment had been rigged in the atheists' favor. He'd never considered though that this fact would escape from Lympi. The Elders had done a grand job so far of suppressing any dissent, with only a handful of rebels needing to be extracted or 'silenced' since the original settlers had passed away. He still held two trump cards though, and this was the moment they needed to be played. Approval had come from his boss who guessed Carlisle would defend his family when it came to it. Carver leans over the table again and points at Carlisle.

"If what you're saying is true, and you maintain that the Experiment is over, this would mean your usefulness to Lympi and the New West's government is also over. We won't need you or your family anymore, Carlisle. If it were down to me, you and your kind would sent back to the wilderness where you came from, and be hunted like the beasts you truly are. Sick people in Lympi can rot from now on for all I care, and their deaths will be on you. Now what have you to say about that."

"Until we're needed again of course?" Carlisle retorts.

"We won't ever need you again. You solved our nuclear waste problem, thank you."

"You sure of that?"

"Radiation isn't a danger anymore … well not to me, I'll be dead in fifty years. Your time is over, Carlisle."

"Radiation isn't a danger at the moment you mean, and yes, we made your reactors safe and encased your problem in concrete and steel which should last for a thousand years or more. But have you forgotten about fault lines, earthquakes, or perhaps another meteor strike? Just one of those sites needs to break down again and human life could be over forever. You've got kids, haven't you, Joe?"

"You're exaggerating," Carver spits.

"Perhaps, but do I need to remind you that the earth is still in turmoil after the catastrophe? For four and a half billion years this rock has circled the sun. Humans are only a tiny blip in its history. At any time the planet could chew us up and spit us out and probably be the better for it because all humans have done since the Industrial Revolution is wreck it. Now when the population out there gets to know that Vampires have been banished for something trivial after we saved the world from becoming a real wasteland and not a manufactured one, then I predict they will be seriously pissed with you and the current government. Yes, some folks may still be frightened of us, but I can assure you that every one of them is fucking grateful that we're still around in case something else unforeseen happens. You ask the people working in the other parts of this building. They're not frightened of us like your colleagues seem to be."

"So this is your final word?"

"No, my final words are go fuck yourself, Joe Carver, and stop interfering in our lives. I've had enough of playing your games. If you are still determined to make a big deal out of my son going walkabout in Forks, I'll ensure every person in this city finds out how you've undermined the Experiment. Now if you really believe it's the right thing to do to banish Edward and that means all of us, then do your worst. But I can assure you if you do, the repercussions will bite you and your bosses in the ass and this government won't survive at the next election, which means you'll be out of a job."

"Anything else?"

"Oh yes, but I'm keeping that particular gem under my hat for now. You have no idea what's happening on the other side of those mountains, Joe, and it has nothing to do with a girl refusing to follow your marriage rules, or asking pertinent questions about why they have to live like they were born when the Tudors were on the throne of England. All I will tell you is that you will crap your pants when you find out, and you will find out very soon, and you'll certainly need us again then. In fact, Joe Carver, you'll be begging for our help. Now get out and don't bother me anymore."

Carver stands indicating to his colleagues the meeting is over. He waits for them to leave the room before delivering his last observation.

"So you are ready to throw all this away, Carlisle?" Carver waves his hand at the ceiling indicating he means Cullen Tower.

"What, this dump?" Carlisle laughs heartily. "This is a shithole compared to places where we've lived before. You don't know anything about me and my kind at all, do you? Remember, if we exclude Jasper, the youngest of my family is over a thousand years old. Esme and I have lived in castles and palaces in some of the most beautiful places in the world. We existed exceedingly well long before we made ourselves known to humankind, and we can do so again, even when every human alive today is dead and gone."

Carver opens his mouth to respond but it finally hits home that the compliant, obedient, Carlisle Cullen he'd dealt with since his promotion five years previously, had morphed into a completely different animal. His boss's ultimatum that Edward and Alice be imprisoned until the end of the Experiment which he had been ordered to deliver, was still in his briefcase. Reporting that he'd failed in his mission would not be the meeting he anticipated. He guessed the Vampire issue would most likely be taken out of his hands, and even he couldn't foresee how this would end.

After Carver exits the building, Carlisle remains in the meeting room to collect his thoughts. Esme will be disappointed, he knows that. But when he repeats to her Carver's threat to hunt them like beasts, and his own belief that after another five hundred years of extracting sick Lympians, the government then would be highly likely to cast Vampires out when their usefulness had come to an end, he hopes she'll accept he's done the right thing. Emmett and Rosalie may not be as forgiving.

What a fool he had been to sign the Lympi agreement in the first place he muses. His lifelong desire for Vampires to live alongside humans, which had been achieved with only minimal restrictions, had clouded his judgment for far too long. In the last few hours he accepted he'd been an even bigger fool and a worse father when, without consulting his family, he had promised that Jasper's transition would be the only time this would happen. Edward had lost trust in him to do the right thing. Now it was up to him to regain that trust. Family ... that should always have been his overriding consideration. He would humbly apologize to Edward for accusing him of being a lovesick adolescent when Edward had been the most dutiful and patient of sons for over a thousand years.

"Free will," he proclaims to the deserted lobby. "Humans have the right to determine whether or not to worship, just as Edward has the right to determine the direction his life takes. If this shower of a government think they can send us back into the shadows, then more fool them."

Carlisle steps into the glass and aluminum box that will elevate him closer to his beloved stars, presses the button, then mutters quietly, "Holy shit … what have I done?"

Edward

Charlie warily takes the comms device from my hand. With widening eyes, he stares at his mother's face for the first time in eleven years. His face crumbles. I genuinely feel for him.

"Your daughter is why I cared for Charlotte all this time, Charlie. Bella is the reason I'm here now. If you want my help you need to listen to what I've got to say. Time is very short."

Charlie sinks into his chair and shows the picture to Renee who has to squint at the screen. Waving at Bella's chair, he indicates that I should sit. Jupiter nuzzles his head on my lap before returning to his spot by the range. He seems lost without Bella.

How do I start this conversation? As Bella had, I'm sure they have many questions, but now is not the time for a condensed explanation of why they have ended up with a Catcher in their kitchen. For a start, they look exhausted. Anything I say to them about the government and the Elders won't be absorbed adequately for them not to question their memory in the morning. No, I will have to focus on what I imagine may happen tomorrow, or what I hope may happen would be a better way of putting it.

Charlie wipes his eyes and looks straight into mine.

"Where's our Isabella, Edward, and why have they taken her?"

"I would guess she's at the Compound, Charlie, probably in the same place they took Jack Stanley. If you want me to, I can break in to rescue her and bring her home tonight, but I doubt whether she would want me to do that."

"Why not?" Renee asks, then adds, "You seem to know more about what is in our daughter's mind than us."

I shake my head. Bella's mind is still a mystery to me.

"I guess Bella will want her absence from the meeting tomorrow to be seen as evidence she's being silenced by the Elders. She'll hope everyone in Forks will wonder why she's been taken. A plan for a memorial garden is not something they would expect to be treated as a crime, so that may make them question whether there is something else going on."

"Or scare them off," Charlie growls.

"But how will they know Bella's been taken, Edward?" Renee asks.

"Leave that to me. I'll make sure word gets around. One thing is important though, you two must be at the meeting tomorrow. Will you do your best to be there?"

"Unless the Elders stop us, we'll be there," Charlie says and stands up. "I don't know who or what you are, Edward, but I'm a good judge of character, apart from picking a husband for Bella where I let my head rule my heart. Whatever happens tomorrow, I would rather have you on our side than a hundred Elders. Now, if you'll excuse us, Renee and I need to sleep, even though there is so much I want to ask you. You're welcome to stay overnight. Just make yourself at home."

'Jeepers,' as Bella would say.

"That's kind of you, Charlie, but too much to do. I'll see you in the morning or at the Gathering Hall in about fifteen hours."

While Charlie and Renee are getting ready for bed, I find the pencil I gave Bella, locate every piece of paper in her room and the rest of the house, and head out to the barn where there is a pile of pre-printed sheets that Bella uses to list the produce she takes to the Distribution Center. By one-thirty in the morning I've written well over two hundred short messages saying Isabella Swan has been arrested, but to come to tomorrow's meeting anyway. By three in the morning, the messages have been delivered to random houses in every street in Forks, and many farms and businesses. Alas, Forks is still to invent mailboxes so under the doors they have to go.

I'm safely inside the forest heading for the Meadow House feeling confident I've done as much as possible while hoping Bella isn't under too much duress in the Compound. When the spot where I jump over the fence is in sight, I go to speed up before leaping, but a cacophony of thoughts alerts me to slow down instead. A welcoming party is waiting for me on the other side. Just in time I veer off and dive deep into the forest again. Damn damn damn. How long have they known about the Meadow House? It guts me that my favorite place of refuge has finally been discovered.

Where to go now?

There's only one place I can go. Chances are that will be guarded too.

Damn damn damn again, but I'll just have to take that risk.

I'm sure you can guess where he's going.

So, Carlisle's worry all this time was if the whole family were sanctioned because of Edward's misdemeanors, they would choose to leave and be forced to go into hiding if they decided not to comply. Carlisle has taken a chance standing up to Joe Carver, but he knows that if Jake does start tearing up Forks, Vampires will become very popular with the government again. Way to go, Jake.

Next time we find out where Bella's been taken and whether the meeting gets to go ahead. (Of course it does)!

Joan x