“Sounds good,” Magnum said. “Let’s touch base on her again next week. How is Jerry Beringger shaping up?”
”He’s doing very well,” DeAlvarez said. “In the last two months, he has matured almost one year emotionally, which makes him fourteen, in a ninteen-year-old body.”
”He’s got full control of his powers,” Carfield said. “The only thing he lacks is good judgment. I’m glad he and Scott have hit it off so well. Scott’s a good role-model for him.”
Magnum said, “Okay. We’ll review them both next week.
”Another thing, Shal-ir will be returning tomorrow. I’ve mentioned it to you earlier, but it is official now. Isan-ira made it quite plain that she wanted a stable home for her younger daughter. She didn’t want Bonner Institute, nor did she want the governmental housing offered them by the President. So, Shal-ir will be arriving to prepare things here. Isan-ira and her daughters will arrive in a week or two.”
Carfield raised an eyebrow. “They’re letting her go? The exiled Clan Mother of the deposed Valani royal line and her consort?”
Magnum chuckled. “She refused to talk to anyone until her wishes were met. So, neither Shal-ir nor Larin-a would talk to them either. We must have made a good impression when we helped rescue them last year.”
”Guess we did,” Carfield agreed.
”Is the head of the clan always female?” Doctor DeAlvaraz asked.
”Apparently, yes,” Magnum replied. “Theirs is a pure matriarchy. She sets policy and controls the government; her mate becomes Commander-in-Chief of the military. Head of Clan and Clan Mother are synonymous with them. ‘-ira’ is the honorific for the Clan Mother, ‘-ir’ is for her consort and C-in-C, and ‘-a’ is for the heir presumptive. It’s a bit too complex to go into now. However, they’ll have a diplomatic circuit on their comm unit, as well as all the regular comm circuits. They’ll likely spend much of their time in diplomatic negotiations, but they insisted that they be able to go on missions. New Washington hit the roof, but she was adamant. She said, ‘The Valani are warriors, not vhar-sith fa,’ which means something similar to lap dogs, ‘and will be treated as such’.”
”Sounds like a formidable female,” Carfield said. “Hope we won’t have trouble with her.”
”I don’t think we will,” Magnum replied. “I told her that she and her consort were welcome to go on missions with us, but under our command. She replied, ‘Of course. The fights are yours. I simply require our right to participate in them to be recognized.’”
He looked at them. “That’s all I have. Anyone else have anything?” They both shook their heads. He stood. “Then lets go get supper.”
#
After dinner, as Tracker and Red walked beside her, Antoinette stretched. “I would like to go for a swim, and then go to bed early. I thought yesterday was bad, but today they examined the tiger, too, and she didn’t like it.”
Dim lighting came from lamp posts placed throughout the evening-darkened Plaza. She stripped, then removed the clip from her hair and shook her long, flowing ponytail free. She arched her back and stretched. Red sat down, openly admiring her naked form. She smiled, savoring his enjoyment. Outgoing and extroverted, she was proud of her body and loved to be admired. That was one of the main reasons she was a dancer. She stretched again, then turned and dove into the water. Tracker’s tail moved almost imperceptibly as he lay on his side in a chaise lounge and watched her.
Walter came over wearing a jogging suit embroidered loudly with the name of a sporting goods company and sat down as well, watching as she sported in the water. She broke surface and rolled over, floating easily as she sucked in air. “You swim well,” he said to her, “and you’re quite lovely, too.”
She smiled. “I am glad you like watching me,” she said. She drew in another lungful of air, twisted and dove under the water, her form taking on the aspect of a mermaid in the subdued light.
#
Tracker and Red both arrived to take her to breakfast the next morning. She wore a loose, dark grey blouse and a charcoal grey skirt. While the clothing she’d worn previously showed some wrinkling from their storage in the duffle bag, these were pressed and smooth, giving her an almost professional appearance. Red whistled as he studied her. “I just can’t believe how good you look! Every time I see you, I’m dazzled all over again!”
She laughed and blushed with pleasure, then took his hand. She took Tracker’s in her other hand and started for the dining area.
They are so different from the ones at Blacksnake’s base, she thought as she glanced up at them fondly. The fear and the pain flooded back for an instant and she shivered. Tracker glanced at her sharply. “What’s wrong, Antoinette?”
She smiled at the concern in his voice. “Nothing. Just a memory that I have not yet laid to rest.”
At the Mentalists, they waited while she went in. After a moment, she returned. “Every day now, I am to work with them from seven-thirty until eleven o’clock. Then I may go to lunch. After lunch, I go back to the Mentalists from one until three, then to the Training Room to work out until five. After that, I am free until the next day.”
#
