Elgin

  Chapter 20

  Endings, Forgettings, Beginings

  Zeph stood at the end of the table, “Well we had an eventful week last week,” she smiled around the table, I’m glad to see we’re all here,” she made a little moue, “Except of course for Mr. Andropov, I’m as disappointed as the rest of you in the sudden decision of Double Eagle to withdraw their support.” She smiled across the table at the new faces, “And doubly glad that Golden Dragon of Hong Kong has decided to provide the backing.”

  Elgin stood in the corner, out of the limelight, today he was wearing an obviously hand tailored suit with ostrich skin cowboy boots, leather suspenders and a bolo tie. The fashionistas of Petters, Petters, Faulken and Christchurch weren’t quite sure what to make of the Elgin who had turned up on the Monday after an extremely weird week.

  This new Elgin Chalmers was just as easy going as the first, just as self effacing, but they found him impossible to ignore now. And now that they were listening they realized that he understood everything that was going on, possibly better than they did.

  He glanced at the representatives of the Chinese investment house on the far side of the table. They worked for Alicia Pi indirectly, as far as the Iffrit could tell the Chinese sorceress had the gang she worked for trying to trace down all of the Russian’s connections and found this one interesting because of its connection to Zeph, who had not been able to keep her name out of the news in connection to prostitution and white slaving.

  “Since Golden Dragon reviewed and accepted the terms that Double Eagle had worked out we have been able to make very quick progress this week.” Zeph smiled around the table, apparently untouched by the strain of the week.

  Rachel and Olga had fallen on Zeph’s neck crying and laughing the instant they saw her. Begging her to help the other girls who had emerged, traumatized but physically whole from the New York sewers. Their report of black clad special forces troops taking down the slaver gang with a single volley and then leading them to safety had set off a whole set of rumors in certain circles. But of course those rumors were small potatoes beside the spectacular ‘outbreak’ in New York,

  The world was still in shock regarding the ‘impossible’ things that had happened in the Big Apple. The horrible loss of life, over a hundred and some people still not accounted for, and the physical damage done by the dragon would have been enough to prove something had happened. The burnt out corpse of a bi-winged flying dragon whose structure and biology proved it was not native to Earth was enough to set the world on its head. Rumor had it that the last piece of information alone had set off something like a blood feud in the halls of science.

  Then there was the weirdly burnt out ruin of the Police Assault Vehicle. Then the several thousand pictures and short videos of the dragon and Iffrit, some of them showing the Iffrit carrying what had now been identified as a Russian Aircraft Gatling cannon.

  The bizarre happening at the Palace were now firmly connected to the Montoray Office Park by the twelve rescued women, six of whom had been from the Palace’s ‘string,’ and had also been trafficked by Viktor’s ring in the first place.

  The Russians were denying having anything to do with anything that had happened. But with the cannon and the white slaving and prostitution rings Russian connection few people believed the Russians, though what the connection was had everyone scratching their head.

  Then of course there were the reports, evidence and some pictures of the vampires and of the werewolves, as well as reports of the were’s reconversion to humans after death. The radically twisted DNA of the few scraps of vampire recovered had shown that, while it was probably derived from Earth life, it was related to nothing on Earth directly.

  The theories varied from the (almost) mundane to the utterly incomprehensible. The mundane ones were generally closer to the mark.

  “So does anyone have any questions about the basic structure of the plan and the contracts?” Zeph was finished with the greetings, the introductions and basic review of the development plan and the contract.

  This was mostly for the representatives from the Wyoming state government and the Bureau of Indian Affairs who were hooked in via video conference. Both had long ago given their basic approvals along with their requirements for any contract, they had reviewed the latest version and approved it though in both cases the bureaucrats had been unable to bring themselves to the point of saying the word ‘yes’ at all or ‘approved’ without a paragraph of caveats that had the lawyers and business people around the table rolling their eyes.

  But this time there were no squawks from over the internet link and Zeph smiled calmly, “Then we should get down to the final budget sheets and the payout schedules and reporting agreements as well as a final review of any major subcontractor contracts your companies will be signing up in the first quarter.”

  Elgin slipped out of the door, it was all over but the numbers, and if anyone had had any problem with them they would have raised them already, none of what was going to be gone over was new to anyone. That was one of the secrets of negotiations, don’t surprise your counterpart. Big or small, always signal your moves, and if it’s big give the other guy some details and time to digest them.

  Zeph was a master at negotiations and enjoyed it, she was obviously settling into her life, the interlude in Beauty had been just that. She’d be back west but this was where her career lay. Allen Curtis was here, currently recuperating from his broken bones and concussion at home under the care of a nurse and one Zephyr Smith-Samson.

  Elgin went to stand at the window in one of the informal conference and waiting areas. The winter sky was crisp blue today and even the triple e glass of the curtain wall couldn’t keep it all out. He held his hand out idly, feeling the flow of cooled air wrapping around his fingers and palm, in a part of his mind that didn’t exist in this universe he ‘saw’ the flows as vectors, colors, numbers and potentials and if he focused a little a curl of the air wrapped his wrist and then dissipated into an imperceptible plume.

  “Bored Mr. Chalmers?” Charles Petters-Smith asked from the entrance to the seating area.

  Elgin turned with a smile, “No, or at least not with what’s going on, but we’re done with what I came for. I am just waiting to say goodbye.”

  “An eventful few weeks to be in New York,” Charles said, watchful.

  *He’s fishing,* Cutter muttered.