August 2027: An Unwelcome Blast from the Past Part I.
Thad made himself a cheese and ham sandwich on the fresh bread and had just finished it when his phone began to ring. He glanced at the screen and smiled on seeing that it was his friend, colleague and former Broadway star on the line. Then he wondered why Sebastian was calling him…
He only wondered for a moment, and then smiled before he answered the call. He knew that the actor had been up late the previous night, as he was once more treading the boards in a summer production at the theater in Columbus. He did not act during the school semesters, the running of the Warblers and teaching drama classes keeping him occupied, but during the long vacation he loved nothing more than to keep his acting skills up to date. This year he had been cast in a production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, with Sebastian cast in the role of Brick. Thad had of course been to see it and had been as impressed as ever by his friend's ability to immerse himself completely in the character and make it believable. "Hey Seb, did you see much of the Coronation? They even managed to get an interview with Jeff!"
"Yeah, I saw that, but well…"
Sebastian's pause and tone made Thad's blood run cold for some reason.
"Thad, something has happened here and well, it isn't good…"
Those words confirmed Thad's fears and he felt his heart stop as he wondered what had occurred; his first thought was that something had happened to one of Sebastian's family or the Carmichaels…
"Nobody has died, or been in an accident, or diagnosed with a terrible illness," Sebastian continued, "but that might well have been preferable to what has happened. Last night, when I was leaving the theater, the stage door manager handed me a parcel; he said that it had been delivered by the postal service just as the performance had started, and could I pass it on to the director… They had already left for the night, but I took it anyway; I thought nothing was untoward about it. This morning I decided once the Coronation was over to pop into Dalton just to see if the new sheet music that I ordered for the boys had been delivered. It had been, and I was making my way through all of the parcels, opening them up and checking the contents when I inadvertently opened one that was not addressed to me, but to 'Head of the Warbler Council, Dalton Academy'."
Thad waited a moment for Sebastian to speak again, but he couldn't help but think that it was odd for someone to send a parcel addressed in that way. "Now that parcel and the way it was addressed struck me as odd from the moment I saw it. I hadn't removed the contents, but I decided that I should check it out privately first, so I put it in my bag and after opening and putting away the last of the new music, I headed for home. It was only when I got there that I noticed that it was exactly the same size as the one that I had to pass on to the director at the theater; not only that, but both address labels were typed, and there was the same flaw on the capital C on each. So, I decided I would open them both, and well, I'm glad the alarm bells rang. They both contained a DVD; two copies of a DVD that I thought had been destroyed and wiped a long time ago. They were both of the film that Trent and Rory found on our first foray to London…
For a moment, Thad was confused, but then it all came flooding back to him. How Trent and Rory had dared each other to enter a sex shop in Soho, and as they walked around, their faces bright red, they had come across a DVD in which doppelgangers of Sebastian, Nick and Jeff, in an almost identical uniform to Dalton Academy's, had engaged in a threesome that was so explicit that even the worldly Sebastian had blushed. It had been much too realistic for anyone's liking at the time, and action had been taken to get rid of the movie, made as an act of spite by the former Principal of Dalton, Hunter's uncle, forever. That had been deemed a success, and the whole incident had been forgotten by them all…
"My big worry Thad is that these are not the only two copies, and they have been despatched to people who will look at the cover and assume that the people involved are the people they see at first glance. What if there is a copy on its way to Buckingham Palace right now? To the office of the UN Secretary General? To the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art? To the offices of Playbill?"
"I get it, it would destroy all three of you, because people would see what they see, and take any denial issued with a pinch of salt… I though that you had been assured by the relevant authorities that all copies had been destroyed, that the master copies had been deleted and the man behind it all arrested and put behind bars for a long time?"
Sebastian sighed. "That is what we were all told at the time; we assumed that with Jeff's step-uncle, the former Principal of Dalton being under arrest and then imprisoned, that this kind of nightmare scenario had been averted. All that I can assume is that he has been given parole and released from prison, and that he had stashed a master copy somewhere that nobody thought to search. I am assuming that at some point in the next few days I will receive a demand for money to prevent it spreading even further. He would have known that I could have spoken to the director, told him the full story, and he would have believed me; he would have known that there was a good chance that the one to the Head of Council would be intercepted by either me or you. It's not actually myself that I am most worried for; actors have done worse; it's Nick and Jeff. Something like this, even if denied, could still cost Nick his job and Jeff his reputation if the wrong sections of the media find out…"
Thad sighed inwardly, knowing that Sebastian was right. The tabloid press in the UK would certainly have a field day at the very idea that one of the official artists for the Coronation, and a favourite of the late Queen, could possibly have a history as a porn actor; they would publish first before even asking him for his side of the story, and even with a retraction, the damage would be done. He would be sidelined, out of favour with the Palace, and his glowing career would be left in tatters on both sides of the Atlantic even with the truth known, because he would be tainted by association. The same was true for Nick; the UN might not sack him, but he would be sidelined…
What made it worse for Thad was the fact that there could potentially be harmful consequences for the most innocent of all people, a little boy that Thad had promised to protect from the very moment he was first placed into his arms on the very couch on which he was currently sitting. That was the biggest spur to Thad to get it dealt with as swiftly as possible, but with the utmost secrecy and discretion; little Wes had to be shielded at all costs. "Okay, so we need to discover exactly what is happening here, and if your suspicions as to who is behind all of this are correct. He could have given the master copy to someone else, and they could be the perpetrator of all of this now. To do that, we need to have access to certain records; I'm afraid that we need to get a certain someone involved, much as I wish we didn't…"
"I knew as much before I even called you to be honest. I even initially thought about just calling him direct, but then I decided to call you, to see if you could think of another way that I couldn't, but there just isn't one that will be as swift, decisive and most of all, private enough. I guess that if we get Trent involved though, then we will need to break the news to Nick and Jeff as well…"
"Yes and no. Let's get hold of Trent now, ideally speaking to him in a three-way video call. Once we have done that, then we do the horrible one. I hate the fact that we are going to taint Coronation Day for them, but it simply cannot be put off until tomorrow…"
In Dublin, Trent and Rory had watched the Coronation service on the BBC just as intently as those across the sea in Great Britain, but for the majority of the population of the city, normal life went on without much interest as to what was happening in London. Sister Mary Agnes had arrived on schedule at 10.30am and had taken a seat next to Rory's grandmother on the sofa. The two children were quite content to play quietly in their bedroom for a while, so the adults had peace to watch. The good Sister had smiled as the ceremony had commenced, the religious element of the service obviously appealing to her greatly. Agnes had made comment on how good the Queen Consort looked, which had led Rory to remark that they knew who had done her flawless make-up. Other than that, they all sat in silence to watch, Trent saying nothing when he was certain he had just seen a brief glimpse of Nick as the procession moved up the aisle.
The rituals of the Coronation itself had fascinated them all, and then at the moment of crowning there had been smiles all round. The smile on the face of Sister Mary Agnes grew even wider when she did indeed see the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster amongst those clergy that were offering prayers for the newly crowned King. "Now that is a sight that we definitely would not have seen in 1953; to be sure, I don't even know if the man in that role at the time was even invited to be in the congregation. Even if he was, I don't know if he would have been allowed to accept by the standards of society then. In fact, I recall that in the interview that the Cardinal gave to The Tablet just this week, he said that as a schoolboy in 1953 he would not even have been able to set foot in a church that wasn't a Roman catholic one without people talking…"
She paused, then went on, "It has been almost five centuries since there was last a Roman Catholic Archbishop presiding at a Coronation in London, ironically that of Elizabeth I in 1559. Add to that the fact that there are also two representatives of the Holy See, there for the Pope himself, which is again unprecedented in all that time, plus numerous other Catholic bishops representing other parts of the United Kingdom, and it is all quite remarkable…"
"No doubt there will be some of the old guard who recall the days that a Catholic could not attend a non-Catholic church service for any reason who will be condemning their presence," Agnes replied sagely.
"Oh yes, when the news filtered out there was a sharp intake of breath from some in the convent, of that you can be sure. The fact is that times have changed; we both have the same God. I have been to a few Anglican services on my visits to London, not that Reverend Mother knows that, because she'd have a fit, and some of those were in what they term 'High Church' buildings. At those, the only real difference that I could find between our services and theirs was that the clergyman was a vicar, with a wedding ring and a wife…"
The rain in Dublin stopped whilst the Coronation was in progress, and by the time the balcony appearance was over the sun was out, so they all headed out together in the direction of the nearest park, taking a route which meant they could walk part of the way towards the cathedral with the Sister. They spent the afternoon in the park and then exploring the toy shops, where the two children behaved impeccably, not asking for anything, but suggesting that Santa might bring certain things later in the year instead. By 5pm they were back in the apartment; Agnes insisted on making the evening meal, and Trent was content to sit back on the sofa and watch as his husband read a story to their children…
Then his phone rang, but given that it was his personal one, Rory did not frown quite so much. Trent got up and headed out of the living room and into the bedroom to answer it, seeing Thad's name on the screen; he had to admit that he was curious as to what he wanted him for. He barely had time to say hello before Thad cut him off…
"Trent, I am sorry to call you up like this when you are on a well-earned vacation, but we have a situation developing here, and you are the person best placed to help us deal with it. I know that this is a lot to ask, but do you think you could actually video call me back? Moreover, can you do so from somewhere completely private, as what I need to discuss with you is private and, in all honesty, an exceptionally delicate matter…"
"Of course I can – it must be urgent for you to have called me at all. I will go and fetch my laptop, get it set up and also let Rory know what is happening; give me five minutes tops…"
He ended the call, then headed back into the living room to explain as best as he could what was happening to his husband, who although he wasn't best pleased, knew that Thad would only have summoned Trent if it was vitally important. Returning to the bedroom, Trent made the video call to Thad, and was a little surprised when it was accepted to see that Sebastian was also present in the call almost immediately. He shrugged, and then greeted him with a cheery "Hi Seb!" Then he noticed the expression on Sebastian's face, and he realised that he had to be involved in whatever crisis was taking place…
"Well, I can see your cogs turning, and yes, you are right, this call is mainly concerned with me," Sebastian replied. "I went to Thad first, but in the end, he said what I already knew; you are the best and possibly only person we know that can help us in this crisis. It is a very sensitive issue, and worst of all, it will probably draw in the other two musketeers as well…"
"Nick and Jeff are involved in this too? What on earth is going on?" Sebastian did not speak; he just held up something to the screen at his end. Trent looked, then did a double take. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he saw something that he had seen once before but had been assured he would never see again… After a moment, Trent managed to find his tongue. "Where on earth did that come from? They were all supposed to be destroyed years ago!"
"It seems not, as I have two copies here that were sent through the mail just this week. One of them was addressed to my director at the theater in Columbus, and the other was sent to the Head of the Warbler Council at Dalton. I can only assume that someone is trying to blacken my name…"
Trent shook his head at the idea of someone sending pornography to a teenage boy in the form of the Head of Council, then said, "Have you received any other communication; a demand for money to stop more copies being sent out?"
"No, not yet, and I have a funny feeling that the person that is doing this isn't actually after cash; after all, it is a bit late for blackmail once the damage has started on my reputation; let us bear in mind that they do not know that I have them both. My fear now is that they might try that approach with Niff, or worse still, there are already further copies of this DVD in the mail addressed to such places as the UN, the Met and Buckingham Palace. That would certainly be the case if all the person wanted was revenge."
Thad spoke then, and said, "I should add something at this point. I checked with the school records whilst we were getting this set up, and the man that was responsible for all of this the first time, the former Principal, was released from prison a few weeks ago; Dalton was sent a notification by the authorities."
"Right," said Sebastian angrily. "We need to know where he is so we can find out of he is behind this second release as well. If he isn't, then we need to find out who he gave the other master copy to; I can only assume it must be someone he knows, and trusted enough to let them hide it away until now…"
"Sebastian, I hate to say this but that is a little too obvious," answered Trent. "Yes, there will be a connection to him, but he may not know that they even had the other copy. I think our first line of enquiry has to be to discover where the packages were mailed from. Do you still have the outside wrappings?"
"I do, and I will send you a picture of the labels from the Post Office," said Sebastian.
"Excellent, that is exactly what I need. Finding out where they were sent from is crucial; if they were posted near to where the ex-Principal is now living then we have a strong connection to him; if they weren't, then we are in more complicated territory. I will send those images off to a contact that I have in the USPS who will be able to identify what Post Office they were either dispatched from or passed through in the sorting process. If he asks, I will tell him they arrived on my office desk. The next thing we need to do is alert Nick, but only him. If we can avoid telling Jeff what is happening at all then that would be a good thing; if we can't, then keeping him out of the loop for as long as possible is probably for the best…"
In London, Nick was relaxing in his hotel room alone, the busy day he had had starting to weigh upon him. They had not stayed at Buckingham Palace for long after the balcony appearance was over; Jeff had all the sketches he needed to complete the portfolio of drawings that would be his part in the official art of the Coronation, so after an hour or so of conversation and some lunch from a very generous buffet, they had made their excuses and left.
What had been fascinating for Nick had been the opportunity to meet and talk to the Queen's cousins, striking up a long conversation with the Duke of Kent, the man that had been so often at the side of the late Queen after her husband had retired from public life. He was a man that had his age-related issues, but still carried out those engagements that interested him, and fully intended carry on doing so as long as he was able. As he listened to the Duke talk, it occurred to Nick that the dedication and devotion to duty that the Queen had famously had might well have come in part at least from the paternal line, as on chatting to her two other cousins, Nick found that they agreed with the Duke on how long they would carry on.
He had then found himself being approached by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster at his side. He discovered the reason for their joint approach pretty quickly; they had been informed by the Princess of Wales that he was one of the human rights lawyers working for the UN in New York, and they wanted to talk to him on some of the issues of the day in that area. Nick had been happy to talk to them, spending a very illuminating 15 minutes in discussion with the leader of the Anglican Church and a senior figure in Roman Catholic faith…
He had left Buckingham Palace with the cards of both of the Archbishops and had promised them that on his return to New York he would speak to Miss Worthington to see if he could arrange a video conference between the clerics and the experts at the UN to discuss what they could do to help promote a better understanding of the fundamental issues in human rights within their congregations. He had a feeling that she would be more than happy to arrange something, as it would be quite a feather in all of their caps, particularly as the Cardinal had promised that he would report his findings to others in the church hierarchy…
As for the others, Carole had left the Palace having accepted an invitation from the Princess Royal to have afternoon tea the following week, with Pam also invited naturally, and discuss over it whether a joint charitable mission backed by themselves and possibly even the First Lady would be a possibility. For Carole, even being asked to participate in such a drive was a great honour, and she felt sure she could convince Mrs Kennedy to take part.
Miss Frobisher left with something that she felt was more valuable than anything else; a photograph on her cellphone of herself standing with the King and Queen Consort in their Coronation robes; that there would be an official photograph of the same thing to come made her heart rejoice…
Arriving back at the hotel, Burt had headed straight to his room as the President wanted a video conference so that he could be briefed by the Congressional Speaker on both the Coronation and his semi-official meetings with both the officials of the United Kingdom's two parliamentary houses; he had also had a few meetings with other foreign dignitaries. Whilst he was doing that, Carole took a brief nap, her plan for later to go and see Pam as soon as she returned to the hotel. The main event was now over, and had been a success, but she still had one more day of official duties, when she did the make-up for the Queen Consort for the big concert at Windsor Castle the following afternoon. Carole wanted to make sure that she was doing okay and inform her too of their afternoon tea date…
As Nick sat in the hotel room, his husband and son were downstairs in the lobby; they had come up to change into less formal clothes and had then gone down to spend time with Lady Alice. She had fortunately forgotten about Jeff snubbing her that morning, but Nick had hinted at how upset she had been, and naturally the blond wished to make amends. He had sent Wes with his husband as he wanted a few minutes to compose the e-mail to Miss Worthington about the approach from the two Archbishops, and he would be better able to concentrate if he was alone…
He had just finished his e-mail and sent it when his cellphone had started to buzz; like Trent, he immediately wondered why Thad was sending him a message which requested that he join him at once on a video chat. Then suddenly he recalled the events at Christmas, and his blood ran cold. It had been bad enough when Cooper had called to say that Caleb was in need of emergency veterinary treatment then; if Thad was calling to say that the cat was unwell when they were on the other side of the Atlantic, then Jeff would literally fall apart and probably want to hire a private jet…
He made the call, and as soon as he was online, Thad began to chuckle. "Okay, I can tell by your face what you are dreading me saying… So, relax, Caleb is fine; he is fast asleep in his bed after an early second, or is it third, lunch. Okay, first things first, is Jeff there?"
"No, he and Wes are downstairs at the moment, talking to the hotel cat, which is a long story for later. I can message him and ask him to come up if you want…"
"No, that is the last thing I want you to do; I am glad that Jeff isn't there, and had he been, I would have had to try and figure out how we got him out of the room. The truth is that I have a bit of difficult news to give you, and I think you will react better alone than if you had your sweet blond husband at your side…"
Five minutes later and Thad watched as Nick clutched his work phone like it was a lifesaver, having dialled the number of the mailroom at the UN building in New York; his question when they answered would be simple, namely had there been any packages delivered to the building that matched the description of those that were in Sebastian's possession in the last 24 hours. He had an added advantage now, thanks to the detective work that Trent's contact at the USPS had undertaken on his behalf; he knew that the packages had all been mailed from the same small post office in the tiny community of Arivaca, Arizona. The community in question was not far from the border with Mexico. The one important fact was that there was an ID code on all the labels, a number which was identical, and which could be easily read.
It turned out that as part of the security protocol at the UN, a record was kept not only of all the packages sent to the UN building by the mailroom, but also where they had originated, down to the post office designation for those coming from the USA. That meant that when Nick got through and gave that number, he would not have to wait long for the staff member on duty to get back to him. Sebastian and Trent had joined the call once more as Nick waited, and the latter gave them more information about the place that the packages had originated…
"It is a very remote location, but that does create a few issues, namely that there is little in the way of CCTV outwith the post office itself, and then there is the fact that it is pretty close to the border with Mexico. Secondly, the fact that they are coming from Arizona seems to rule out the man that created the original; he is currently resident in Utah and still under surveillance given how recently he was released. He did not leave his home in the last few days other than to buy groceries, and he certainly did not drive down to the Mexican border…"
"That doesn't rule out his involvement entirely, of course," said Thad reasonably. "He might not have posted them himself, but someone working for him could have done so instead, although proving that will be hard, as any record of contact between them, for example an e-mail, will doubtless have been deleted."
"I guess that the same will be true if he used that much older system of a physical letter in an envelope," added Sebastian, which earned him a glare from Trent at his sarcastic tone.
He said no more, as Nick was now talking into his phone. The other three watched the face of the brunet and knew by the expression upon it what he was hearing. He ended the call, then spoke calmly and softly. "There are three packages there, all identical to Sebastian's two. One is for Miss Worthington, one for her immediate boss, the Secretary for Human Rights, and finally, one for the Secretary General himself. Fortunately, they are still in the mailroom, earmarked to be delivered to them on Monday. I told the mailroom supervisor that there was an issue, and he had to quarantine them…"
"What sort of issue?" queried Thad, curious as to how Nick could manage to get the packages held in the mailroom just by his word.
"I told them a partial truth mixed with a little white lie; I said that I had received an anonymous tip off that the packages were being sent, and that they contained DVDs of pornographic imagery, disguised as much more innocent subject matter. I went so far as to say that I had received a package of that description at my home address in the West Village that had been opened by my house-sitter. I then added that I had spoken to a contact in the 'corridors of power' in Washington DC, and they had stated that there had been a series of such incidents in recent days, not that any information would be forthcoming from there. They had given me the post office code to look out for and I felt compelled to check that the UN had not been a target."
Thad chuckled at just how Nick had made the situation sound much less about him and his close friends than it actually was, and that by naming no-one, he made it a lot less likely that anyone would dig into the story to fact check…
"I have the assurance of the mailroom supervisor that the packages will be placed to one side in the quarantine locker, and that I would personally come and check them when I return from London on Monday. He was reluctant at first, as normally such a hold could only be placed by security themselves, but I pointed out the distress that could be caused to the recipients, and that having been warned by me, he would be held accountable for their forwarding to the addressees; the fact that it is only a 24-hour delay helped. So, I have a favour to ask of you now Thad; can you come and meet our flight when it arrives back into JFK on Monday, and then ride back with Jeff and Wes to the West Village? That would allow me to go straight to the UN via the Airtrain to Jamacia and the LIRR to Grand Central. That way I can check the packages out much more quickly; they may be innocent after all. If they aren't, then I can arrange to dispose of the contents…"
"Yeah, I can do that," replied Thad. "Would you like me to send you a convincing looking text message or e-mail asking you to stop by the office as soon as you return that you can show your husband when he queries why you are heading there?"
"That's kind of you to suggest it, but I don't think that would work, because it wouldn't explain why you are at the airport to meet us. No, we do it the old-fashioned way. If you go into my study and open the third drawer down in the filing cabinet you will find a blue folder, which contains some UN official post-paid envelopes and memo paper. Scribble a note on the latter to say I am required urgently at the office, and then hand write our address on one of the envelopes and seal it. Say it was delivered on Monday morning and that you were asked if you could meet the plane by the person that delivered it by hand, and you agreed to help out…"
"That would definitely work," said Trent. "Jeff trusts Thad implicitly and he also knows that Nick can be summoned to the office at a moment's notice in a crisis…"
"That only leaves the trickiest part of all; we have to try and work out where someone would send packages to attack Jeff," said Sebastian. "I am thinking the Met, and the art school at Columbus for a start…"
"I'm pretty certain that Buckingham Palace will be on the list too," said Nick sadly. "If it gets to them, then it will destroy everything that he has built up here, and not just his reputation. I doubt that his friendship with the Princess of Wales could survive a scandal like this." Although nobody said anything out loud, the others shared Nick's grim assessment…
