Cende

As a quick note, because it's something we had to find out for our Star Patrol night, leagues do not share exp or drops or anything else but DO stay formed while the various teams are on their own missions, which means they're remarkably good for being able to use league chat as an IC format for RPing "radio" or "telepathy" or whatever.

That way, OOC chat channels remain OOC.

There's a few of us who're slightly subverting the idea - getting 50,000 words, any 50,000 words down, in an effort to actually finish stuff (in my case, preferably before lore goes sideways).

For some people I'm encouraging, it's an even simpler goal: Finish Something (sounds so easy, feels so hard).

And then I'm spending December editing for folks.

Chapter 52 was supposed to be posted at about 1 this morning; thanks to the no-login issue, it got delayed. Sorry.

I am now out of fully written chapters while Michelle and I discuss current events (and also work out the timeline of the books relative to the timeline of the game, 'cause we keep confusing ourselves and everyone who asks). If anyone who reads both books would like to help with the timeline project, please let me know.

Also, if there's someone with a nasty sense of politics who'd like to help me with a plot point that's coming up quickly, please drop me a note.

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.

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Chapter 52.

Nepal, Saturday dawn

The first thing Helena noticed when she next peeked out of the pack was that the room they were in was dimly lit. There were two candles burning, one in a sconce next to the door and the other on a small table under the window, but they offered very little in the way of real light, and the light that came through the window was weak and pale. The second thing that she noticed was that there was a very good-looking man holding Cende in a tight hug - and that she was hugging him just as tightly right back.

"I wish I could say it's good to see you." The man's light tenor voice was as accented as Cende's, but at least he was speaking English. Helena was relieved, because it meant she could watch and listen at the same time. She looked curiously at the man who now held Cende at arm's length. Like the people at the airport, his hair was black, but it flowed past his shoulders and was lightly streaked with silver. He stood slightly taller than Cende, and was just as slender as the woman who faced him, but he was obviously somewhat older. In the candlelight, his eyes glinted gold and seemed to have an element of their own light as he continued to speak, "But you shouldn't have come back. You could have sought out asylum."

Cende shook her head. "You know I can't do that, Davos, and you know why. We're not ready yet to fight him, and if I had requested asylum, too much would have come out about this place. He holds the people here as hostages whether he knows it or not and too many of them will die if we start now. We're just not ready yet."

Davos sighed and threw up his hands. "And if you die in this attempt to win your freedom, we'll never be ready to fight him."

"That's... not entirely true." Cende sank onto the bed as Davos turned to look at her. "Davos, if I die, go to Marcus. In person, I mean. Endaruta will come after you next, you know that. Go to Marcus and tell him... tell him everything. He'll be angry, but he'll find a way to do what I couldn't."

"Do you believe that it's time to for you to come forward, then?" Davos' voice was gentle as he asked.

Helena was shocked to see tears gleaming on Cende's cheek in the candlelight. "I promised him I that I would tell him everything when I returned. I may lose it all, Davos. I will lose my home now; when I return, I may lose my love and all I've gained. I just don't know-" Cende stopped as a knock came on her door. Rising, the priestess dried her cheeks and crossed the room. Speaking softly for a moment, she then looked back over her shoulder. "As expected, I'm not to be given time to rest. Council has been called now, I'm to report immediately."

Davos nodded. "I'll give you a head start, and then slip in just after. I can't see Endaruta not making you wait after summoning you in a hurry."

Cende gave a slight shrug of agreement, then left. Once the door closed behind her, Davos crossed to the room's armoire and pulled out a set of grey robes, then reached over to the pack Helena hid in and flipped back the top. "All right," he said, "Lady Ratri told me to put these acolyte robes here and the translation amulet in the pack for Dina's - Cende's - friend, but she didn't explain any further. However, we have little time, so you need to come out now."

Helena, startled, rose out of the pack. Davos blinked and peered at her, "You don't really need robes -" then took a step back as she transformed into a small, compact woman of barely five feet, with pale skin and dark hair. "Ah. But you will that way," the man finished, almost calmly, and held out the robes.

As Helena struggled with the unfamiliar clothing, Davos reached in to the pack and pulled out the metallic item she had been sitting on in wisp form. "This is a talisman of translation and protection. It will translate our native Hurrian into English for you, as well as offer some protection from the prying minds that wander our halls." He placed it over her neck and helped her adjust the robes properly. "Hurry, we must get to the control room. I will explain more after this, but there is no time now."

Davos lead Helena through a maze of twisting passages and tunnels that reminded her uncomfortably of Orenbega. Finally, he stopped at an intersection and tugged the hood of the robe up over her head. Speaking softly he gave her a few instructions, "Keep that up. You're a stranger and will most certainly be noticed otherwise. Stay at my side and be quiet, no matter what you hear or see. And remember, things are not necessarily all as they seem here." Turning, Davos walked calmly into a control room as up-to-date as anything in a Longbow base, and Helena's palms itched as she wondered how hard it would be to hack into these computers and get all the information she needed on this place out of them.

The Voice deep in her mind softly whispered to her: Watch. Listen. Wait, and she brought her mind back to her current task. She could get back in here any time and get the info she wanted; right now, she needed to find out what was going on. Peering out from under her hood as she took the chair behind Davos', Helena looked around what appeared to be a council table. Cende was at one end, looking serene and composed. That was relatively normal, at least - Cende always looked serene and composed when she wasn't fighting something. The big guy Cende was engaged to had come into the room and evicted the person from the chair next to hers; he now sat next to her and pointedly ignored her. Helena decided that if she ever got the chance, he was the first person in the room she'd set her Singularity on. All of the chairs at the table except for the one directly across from Cende were now occupied while almost everyone talked quietly, and Helena wondered what they were waiting for.

Suddenly, the room fell quiet as it filled with an intensely brooding malevolence. Helena looked to the end of the room and realized that the man in gold and crimson robes who now moved to sit at the head of the table radiated age and presence. She thought he would be only a little taller than herself, but his lack of height did not detract from the force of his personality. Although his eyes were a pale blue and his hair and beard were pure silver, his skin was darker than that of anyone else in the room. As she considered him, Helena realized that the sense of evil permeating the room came from this man, and that everyone near him was showing him an extreme amount of deference. Another piece of the puzzle about why Cende stressed how dangerous her home was dropped into place, and Helena started to intensely study everything around her. Something here was seriously wrong, and Helena intended to give not just a full report but also a complete analysis of the situation when she returned.

The table waited in silence for several moments. Finally the man at the end spoke, his voice strong despite his apparent age. "Papahai Dina, you have not yet succeeded in your assignment. It has been two years; why does the Statesman still live?"

Helena's started in shock, turning her head to look at Cende and beginning to rise in her seat. Davos' hand came from the chair in front of her and clamped down on her knee; the man beside him also reached back without looking and put his hand down on her other knee. Helena remembered Davos' warnings, and settled back, seething, only to receive another shock as Cende started to speak.

"My Lord Endaruta, it is - as I have mentioned before - very difficult to get close to the Statesman. Even when I have managed to do so, there are the problems of his closest associates. Sister Psyche is a phenomenal psychic who makes a habit of regularly deep-scanning all who come close to their inner circle, while the security arrangements presided over by Manticore would find your approval in other circumstances. The times I have managed to come close to Statesman, I have been unable to do so in a manner which was conducive to carrying out my mission." Cende's voice was even, her delivery smooth, and her face betrayed not a hint of emotion.

Helena couldn't believe what she was hearing. That's all complete bunk! By her own admission they've become close friends, if not more - she can go right up to Statesman! And what was that about Psyche scanning everyone, or Manticore's security arrangements? She's making them sound like the Praetorians and it's total fiction! But if she's supposed to be reporting to this guy, why is she lying to him about it? Something really stinks here!

"Lies," Endaruta hissed. "It is lies, and you have been plotting to betray the Maryanni. I have evidence from Paragon City itself!" He threw a pile of papers on the table, and Helena could clearly see the lurid headlines from earlier in the week proclaiming the relationship between Statesman and Cende. "If the Statesman is so difficult to get close to, girl, how do you explain those?" His question came out in a roar, and many of the people at the table shrank back.

"With the same word you just used," responded Cende, calmly. "Lies. Many of those papers sell through sensational headlines and fake pictures, sprinkling in just enough truth to be believable. Yes, it is true that I was asked to accompany Statesman to a few events over the last few months. We met because a teammate of mine is involved with an associate of his. I simply used the events to become closer to him."

Endaruta snorted in disgust. "I see. Well, it ends here. You are obviously incapable of bringing this affair to an appropriately swift conclusion. Once you are married, your husband will journey with you to Paragon City and use your connections to remove Statesman, his associates, and any of their involvements that may prove annoying to us. And then your husband can finish your training as he sees fit!" Endaruta began to stand, but Cende's voice, now finally raised, interrupted him.

"There will be no marriage."

Most of the people who had sat back in their chairs at Endaruta's previous outburst now scooted their chairs away from the table entirely. Others simply went very still, in the apparent hope that they would not be noticed. Cende's erstwhile fiancé stood and loomed over her, but Endaruta himself merely lowered himself back into his chair and stared at her before beginning to coldly, mockingly laugh.

"I had wondered why you'd come back," he finally said. "So, the Woman's Trial, is it? You're a fool. Married or dead, as long as you're controlled, you're no threat to the Maryanni and you have no chance of winning the trial."

"Others have, most of whom have been in my line."

"None of whom have been as grave a threat to Indra's Will as you!" Endaruta stood abruptly. "Papahai Dina will have one day of rest and meditation. The Woman's Trial will begin at daybreak tomorrow." Turning, he swept out of the room, taking with him the oppressive aura of malice that had come with him. Helena turned to look for Cende, but the other woman had vanished.

"Come on." That was Davos, speaking quietly beside her. "You'll want food, explanations, and sleep, and I'm hoping that once you get all of those, you'll be able to help me come up with a plan to keep Dina alive, because Ratri help me, I'll all out of ideas."

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.


Special thanks going forward to ScooterTwo for the use of Helena Collins.

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Chapter 51.

London, Friday noon (morning in Paragon)

Waiting for her flight to Kathmandu, Cende browsed through one of the many shops lining the Heathrow International concourse, picking up a few small items and a single card. Helena, peeking around the displays in the store's entryway, could see Cende taking the items up to the counter. Concentrating, the smaller woman heard her teammate asking the store clerk to package the items and send them to Paragon City, and then asking for directions to a restaurant on the concourse. Hanging back, Helena waited until Cende had sat down with her tea and a little bit of food, then slid into the chair across from the tall redhead.

"Hi!" Helena chirped brightly as Cende looked up, startled. "Surprise!"

"Helena, what on earth are you doing here?" Cende did not sound at all pleased.

"You're going into a dangerous situation. Even you admit it's bad, and you hardly ever admit anything. You've actually said goodbye to everyone, and you left a will. What makes you think any of us wanted you to come without backup?" Helena sat up straight. "You told all of us that tried to offer that we couldn't come with you and that strangers aren't allowed into your home. But I can sneak in, nobody will ever notice, and you'll have someone there watching your back and helping you."

"I heard from Hav that you'd arranged for a leave of absence, but she didn't know where you were going. This is what you'd had planned? Does anyone else know you're here? "

"Nope. I told the bosses that it was a personal thing, and that I'd be back as soon as I could. Andrea gave me a weird look, but don't think she actually knows anything for certain."

Cende rubbed her temples. "So you're going into a dangerous situation without anyone knowing about it, without any way of getting out of it, without any support, and without any knowledge of what you'll be facing, despite being told that you were not permitted to go in to that situation in the first place. Does that about sum it up?"

Helena looked indignant, "You'll be there. And I left a time-delay email on the Freedom Corps system addressed to Sharpe. He'll get it in about three days."

Cende sighed and packaged up her food. "By which time, you'll be back there and able to explain yourself to him in person."

"What?!"

"You're not coming on with me. I am, however, taking you to the ticketing counter where we're getting you a flight back to Paragon."

Helena bit her lip. "Um. I can't do it that way."

"Why not?"

"I don't have a passport with me."

"How did you get to London, then?"

Helena rolled her eyes. "I told you, I can sneak into places. I just got on the plane."

"Well, then you can just sneak onto the plane going back. Come on then, let's find out when the next one leaves." Standing, Cende headed out on the concourse, looking for a reader-board. "Oh, you're in luck, see? The next one is about to start boarding. Let's go."

Helena made a face, but followed Cende to the terminal. When they reached the boarding area, Cende turned to the dark-haired agent and grasped her shoulder. "Helena, I'm serious. Get onto the plane and go home. It's not safe for you to come with me, and I don't want to risk you. This isn't your fight."

"You're Star Patrol, Cende. That makes it all of our fight." Helena took the taller woman's hand in her own and squeezed it gently. "And any risk I take is mine." She tilted her head to listen to the voice coming over the speakers then added, "But they're calling your flight, so if you're going to make it, you'd better go now, right?" Dropping Cende's hand, she stepped back and saluted gravely.

Cende's brief smile appeared and vanished, and she returned the other woman's salute. "Thank you for trying, Helena. Stay safe." Turning, she headed back down to catch her own flight, not looking back.

Helena waited a few moments then stepped into a nearby alcove. Whispering softly, she transformed into a small ball of blue light, and floated to a point above the heads of everyone around her. Unnoticed by anyone below, she sped in the direction her teammate had taken and sought an appropriate ride to hitch onto the plane to Kathmandu. One way or the other, she was going to back up Cende.

*****

Nepal, Saturday early morning (11 hours ahead of Paragon City)

When the plane finally landed in Kathmandu, everyone on board was cranky. There had been an unscheduled and unexpected stop in Lahore as the plane had sudden engine troubles. Helena, more used to seeing her friend and teammate in the middle of combat and thinking of her as a violent woman, watched as an entirely different side of Cende emerged during the several hour wait for their plane to be repaired. Speaking softly, Cende did her best to comfort upset travelers, defuse arguments before they became serious, and several times act as translator between travelers and officials who had no languages in common. As different as it was, only one incident seemed very strange to Helena - one man prevented a couple from going to Cende when the officials first came out. The couple had appeared to protest at first, but then the man had motioned to Cende and said the word Maryanni. After that, the couple had avoided the red-haired priestess, occasionally casting fearful looks in her direction. Helena decided to ask Cende what it meant after this was all over.

Although the layover had been difficult, it had reassured Helena about one thing. She was certain she could get anywhere she needed to go; the possible problem might have been doing so unseen. However, with the cover of darkness and the annoyance of late flights and missed connections, nobody noticed a dark blue wisp, and she could follow Cende safely. Hovering above the heads of everyone in the small airport, Helena suddenly realized she had to go through a shutting door before it fully closed. Barely squeaking through, she was grateful she had made herself smaller to get through the door, because she was suddenly in a tiny waiting area with Cende, two slender, dangerous looking women, and an enormous man. The man was giving Cende a look that Helena thought was more than a little predatory, but one of the women handed the priestess a pack and indicated a door to the side.

Taking the pack, Cende stepped through the side door. Helena, hovering near the top of the waiting room in a deep shadow, centered herself and sought out the inner sense that she had come to think of as The Voice. Patience, the Voice counseled her. Patience. You will see your chance. Wait for it. Watch and wait. Waiting, Helena looked more closely at the other three people in the room. The two women had black hair and dusky skin, but they bore a subtle resemblance to Cende that Helena couldn't quite place. They stood near the door Cende had gone through and spoke quietly; they didn't ignore the man with them, but they excluded him from their conversation. Helena turned her attention to the man with some interest. He was easily half again Cende's size and out-massed her by about twice as much. His dark hair had a slight curl to it and his dark eyes had a determined set to them. The black coat he had on strained over his wide, muscular shoulders, and Helena decided that she wouldn't hold the fact that he was old enough to be her father against him.

A few moments later, Cende stepped back out, now dressed in robes of deep midnight and black, with touches of silver as accents. She placed the pack on one of the chairs and Helena noticed that it slid to one side, allowing the top to gape open. Now, the Voice whispered. Go there. Helena made sure no one was looking in her direction, and sped down to insert herself into the pack.

From the room beyond, the large man spoke, his voice deep and rumbling and his tone unpleasant. Helena mentally began to kick herself as she heard him - she had totally forgotten that she wouldn't be able to understand a thing. She had been counting on Cende to translate for her, but without Cende's help, she was going to be completely lost! Dejected, she settled down to the bottom of the pack, landing on something hard and metallic.

"... clothing is disgraceful." The man's voice words suddenly became intelligible. "When you are my wife, you will not wear such things."

Startled, Helena shot up to the edge of the bag to peer over and stare at the man again. That was the man Cende was supposed to marry? Taking a closer look at him as he spoke, Helena noticed that there was a stubborn set to his chin and a cruel light in his eye that she didn't like. He began to speak again and she discovered she had stopped understanding him. She went back down to the bottom of the bag and tried settling on the metallic thing once more.

"... will be respectful of me, as I deserve, woman!" He was roaring now.

Cende's voice was cutting, "I am not your wife yet, and no matter what Endaruta has told you, you do not lay claim to me until Ratri has blessed our union. Now either we leave, or you will explain to the High Priest why I am late in reporting."

Helena felt the pack she was in shift, and then a woman's voice directly above her. "What did you put in this thing? It weighs a ton!" As she abruptly remembered to float on her own, the entire pack flew upwards, and she heard the woman say something in a very confused tone. Mentally cursing her inability to understand, Helena hoped that whatever was helping her would be available once they got to where they were going, and that Cende wasn't going to kill her once they got there.

Hovering near the top of the bag and peeking out, Helena watched as the entire group got into a helicopter. Black with a lightning bolt on the side, it reminded her forcibly of the military 'copters that Vanguard and Longbow used, and she wondered what a spiritual sanctuary was doing with this sort of hardware. As her carrier pack was tossed into the back and she got a view of the ordinance stored in the bay, she began to suspect there was rather more to this group than a simple religious temple.

When they landed at the staging area and transferred to ox-drawn wagons for the rest of the journey, she was certain of it. Taking the opportunity to escape the pack and snoop around, she flitted in and out of the storage huts that had been constructed in this small, armed depot at the top of an apparently storm-filled ravine. While there certainly weren't enough supplies stored to support more than the few troops that were stationed here, what was kept was definitely top of the line - and much of the hardware was illegal in the United States. As Helena streaked back to her hiding place, she saw more than a few boxes with Crey and Arachnos labels being loaded into the wagons, and she began to get a sick feeling about the reasons Cende had always been so reticent about her childhood home.

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.

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Chapter 50.

Paragon City, Thursday late afternoon

Marcus sighed internally as he stood on the deck, half-listening to the Longbow officer droning on. Due to the persistence of the press, the Phalanx had been temporarily forced to move operations to the underground Longbow base of Fort Trident. However, due to the security there, half of his reports were now being delivered to him here on the command ship in Independence Port. While he appreciated the reprieve from having reporters camped in City Hall and the Freedom Corps headquarters, he regretted the necessity of the move, and he wondered how much longer the current state of affairs would continue before things could return to normal. He felt like he was spending more than half his time moving between the ship and the underground base.

The afternoon had begun with the joint Freedom Phalanx and Star Patrol meeting. As was true with so much that involved combined ventures with the Patrol, the information provided had been entirely too disturbing. With a slight pang of guilt, he realized he'd been slightly hoping that Positron and Dr. Tavarisch's debriefing would include warnings of an impending doomsday event he could relay to the press as a distraction from his personal life, but unfortunately, the details were not safe for release to the public.

Marcus blinked, his attention caught by a flash of red on one of the stone columns that overlooked the harbor. Sharpening his sight, he peered closely, trying to see through the leaves of the tree that obscured the pillar, telling himself even as he did that Cende was hardly the only hero in the city that habitually perched up there. A gust of wind came off the water and stirred the leaves enough to let him see that it was her looking down at the ship, then he turned to listen to the officer once again.


*

Cende watched Marcus move on the deck of the ship below, angling to see through the branches of the tree in front of the pillar she sat on. She wanted to speak with him before she left, but she had been busy; what little time she hadn't spent in tidying up loose ends had been spent in careful preparation she was sure she wouldn't have time for when she arrived in Mitanni Valley. She thought he'd seen her shortly after she'd landed, but she wasn't certain of it.

A breeze redolent of fish, oil, and salt water blew in from the harbor, stirring the tree in front of her, and she saw Marcus' face turn toward her. This time she believed he had deliberately looked for her - she knew he was capable of it, if he'd chosen to extend his physical senses. She continued to wait as the officer on deck caught his attention and he turned to deal with yet another of his many responsibilities.

The past two days had been full of tasks for her, both major and minor. She had worked with the Star Patrol's lawyer to implement a carefully worded will in case she did not return, and then had made sure COUNTERMEASURES had copies of both the will and all of her other important documents. She'd also sought out her friends, allies, and associates in the city to say goodbye to each of them, asking forgiveness for appointments she did not expect to be able to keep, and passing off open investigations to other members of Star Patrol. The nights were given to Ratri, following the rites and rituals she hoped would permit her to survive the coming trial.

Marcus was the only one she had not yet said her farewells to, and this was the only time she had left. There was only a short time before darkness fell and she left for the airport. She hoped he would be able to get away from his tasks soon; glancing at the lowering sun, she waited.

*

The side of his mind still listening to the officer noted that the report was finally winding down, and Marcus pulled his attention back to the present, wishing for a pair of aspirin to help combat the headache that had been threatening since he had left the earlier meeting. Frowning, he stared at the tablet computer that the officer handed to him, and thought of simpler times. He nodded, signed off on the reports, and turned to go, only to stop as the officer called "Sir, wait. This just came in."

Sighing to himself, Marcus turned and reached for the tablet one more time, and listened to the new reports. He was going to have to hear them sooner or later, and sooner would get them done faster.

Another officer approached from the control room. "Sir, one more thing before you go? There's a 'copter coming in with the Crusaders; they're just returning from rescuing stolen mediporter tech from the Malta and Sky Raiders and deserve a word. They'll be landing in two minutes."

Marcus glanced back over his shoulder at the pillar and hoped Cende would wait for him a little longer.

*

Cende pulled herself out of the quiet meditative trance she had sunk into and watched as Marcus greeted the group of heroes stepping out of a helicopter. She wished she could go down to the deck of the command ship herself, but that was out of the question; the previous two days had brought home to her the wisdom of avoiding him for the time being. Each time she had ventured near City Hall or the Freedom Corps headquarters, she had been besieged by reporters asking impertinent and intrusive questions about her, about Marcus, and about their relationship. The lawyer she had hired to handle her will and oversee her new trust fund had advised her to say only 'no comment' to all questions asked of her, and to continue avoiding Marcus in public. She wished now she'd made more of an effort to find private time to call him, but it seemed that the only time she'd had that was private had been during the ritual the night before.

The new trust fund had been Khadka's idea; a means to move funds away from Endaruta's control and into the hands of those on her side. She wasn't sure she was completely comfortable yet with the concept of having a side, but she supposed it was inevitable. She only hoped that the fund would work the way it was supposed to - between Khadka and the lawyer it should, but the final details had taken her last few hours of the day. Now she had very little time to spend with Marcus - and what little time she'd had, she'd wasted waiting for him to be finished with work that was never completed. Taking a breath, she gathered herself to head down to the command ship, when she heard voices on the steps below her.

"No, Mikey, use the telephoto lens. Make sure to get a good angle on him. We heard she was spotted in the area, so she's sure to turn up somewhere; press isn't allowed on the boat, so that's a good bet."

"C'mon, Jim, I don't tell you how to do your job, don't tell me how to do mine. I've got the cameras set up; you just get the para-mic fixed."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm getting it. If we can catch these two, it could really make our careers. I can see the headlines, Statesman and Cende, Love Caught, Proof at Last!"

"You're a real romantic there, Jim. A real romantic."

Cende sighed and gathered the shadows around herself, hiding from the men below. Standing, she watched Marcus for as long as she could, until the sun met the horizon and her time had run out. She closed her eyes briefly, then headed toward home.

*

Marcus shielded his eyes against the setting sun and held up a hand in annoyance as yet another officer approached. "Enough! Is it an emergency?"

"Err... no, sir?" The officer was fairly young and obviously taken by surprise.

"Then it will wait until tomorrow. I have other responsibilities and I have spent enough time here."

"Yes sir!" To Marcus' dismay, all of the Longbow in his immediate vicinity came to attention and saluted.

"All of you, stand down, and don't do that again, I'm not your CO. That's a standing order, make sure everyone knows it." Shaking his head, he finally lifted off the deck and flew up to the pillar where he had seen Cende earlier. After briefly searching the area and finding the encamped reporters, he realized with disappointment that he had missed her. Considering for a moment, he began to head toward her apartment. He was most of the way there before he once more stopped in frustration as his phone began to buzz.

"Statesman."

"Hello, this is Jennivive Jansen of the New York Daily Life, and I was wondering if I could get an interview with you and your lady, the heroine Cende? We'd love to do a piece on how immortals face blended family life in this new age."

"What? NO. Cende and I are... We're not giving interviews. "

"Are you sure? It looks like you're heading across Steel Canyon and towards her place now. It really wouldn't take much time and it would be a wonderful chance to tell your story."

"I said no, thank you, and good night, Ms. Jansen." Marcus hung up in annoyance and set the phone to emergency-calls only, then altered course to head into Fort Trident. He would not bring more reporters to Cende's doorstep without having spoken to her first.

*****

Paragon City, Thursday evening

Cende glanced at her watch, waiting at the gate for her flight to be called. The plane had pulled up, and the previous flight had just disembarked - she had only a few minutes left. She stepped into a corner near the window and pulled out her phone, turning her back to the room.

"Cende?" Marcus voice came strongly across the line, and she closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. She'd been afraid she would miss him again. "I'm sorry I missed you earlier, I tried to get away, but if you want to meet now..."

"No, Marcus," she interrupted him, "Please listen, I don't have much time. They're about to call my flight."

"Your flight? Where are you going?"

"I have to go back to Nepal. If I don't, I'll be married to someone against my will. I have a way to stop it, but to do so, I have to go back now."

"What do you mean, married against your will? I thought you said you would have a choice!"

"It's complicated. Please, Marcus, please listen. I wanted to see you before I left, but every time I turned around there were the reporters, and there was so much that needed to be done... and I was afraid to see you, afraid that it would be harder to go if I did. But I don't know if I'll be able to come back, and I couldn't leave without telling you that... that I love you. If I make it back, I promise you, I'll tell you... I'll tell you everything. I'm sorry, Marcus, they're calling my flight, I have to go. I love you. Goodbye." Hanging up the phone, Cende held down the disconnect button to turn the thing off, and then slipped it into her pocket. Gathering her composure, she turned and boarded the plane to London, and the first stage of her journey back to Mitanni Valley.

*

"I love you. Goodbye." Before he could answer, she was gone.

Slamming the phone closed, Marcus smashed his hand down on the conference table in front of him. His jaw worked as the other late-working members of the Phalanx ran in at the sound of his fist ringing on the metal, only to stop short when they saw him alone in the room and the dent in the table. Opening his hand, he let the crushed and broken pieces of his phone fall from his palm and gritted out, "It's late, and I'm going home. I suggest you do the same. Tomorrow morning we are going to meet with the Star Patrol leadership and we are going to fix this mess before it gets any worse."

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.

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Chapter 49.

Paragon City: Wednesday evening

Cende stepped through the base portal and stopped in surprise at the expressions on Helena and Talek's faces. "What's wrong?"

"You're going HOME? Now?" Helena's voice was incredulous. Her uniform goggles were pushed up on her head, and the expression of disbelief on her face perfectly matched her tone as she stared at Cende.

Talek's arms were crossed and he leaned against the conference room door, his coat, hat, and bags on the floor behind him, "I don't think running away is the best solution to the problem. I know you're uncomfortable, but you'd do better to just come forward and handle it. Besides, if you remain a liaison for your country, you may wind up in a steadily more administrative position anyway, so being removed from the field for things like this won't be as much of a problem as it could be."

Shaking her head, Cende stepped down off the portal platform, "I'm not running away. It's just bad timing, but something's come up that requires my attention, and I have to go back. I don't have a choice."

"What's so important that you have to go running back there?" Helena pushed her uniform goggles up further onto her head, and waved a printout in Cende's direction. "And why don't you have a return ticket?"

"I can't tell you why I have to go, Helena, only that it's required. There's no return ticket because I don't know if I'm going to be able to come back." Cende's voice was quiet as she said the last. "Talek... In case I don't get to see you again before you leave, I want to say it’s been a pleasure to work with you. Thank you. Take care of yourself in the Isles, and stay safe."

Talek looked hard at Cende, then grimaced briefly and pushed off the door. "The pleasure has been mutual. Can you take back-up with you?"

Cende shook her head.

"Then watch your back. I expect you to return in one piece - you still owe me a picture of a yeti." The older man looked over his shoulder for a moment, then returned his attention to Cende and Helena. Tossing off a quick, casual salute, he bent and grabbed his gear, "My ride and my partner are waiting and ready to be gone. Remember this, though Cende - you're Star Patrol. It doesn't matter where you go, you don't have to face anything alone." With a quick nod, he strode off and was gone.

Helena frowned. "Why can't you take someone with you?"

Cende headed toward the administrative offices, "For one thing, it's too dangerous. For another, they would never be permitted up to the temple. I'm not sure they'd actually make it past customs at the airport; there's a good chance that they'd just be deported back."

"We're different," she said, making a vague gesture. "It's not like they can keep us out if we really try to get in."

"No, but they can keep you tangled up with red tape for long enough to be unable to find me once you were out of the airport, and that's good enough." Coming to a halt outside the small commander's meeting room, Cende knocked lightly then opened the door at the muffled command, adding to Helena as she did, "Besides, like I said... it's too dangerous for anyone else to go." She gave a quick, gentle smile to the other woman and then stepped in to the room, closing the door after herself and missing the stubborn expression on Helena's face entirely.

The Star Patrol commanders exchanged glances as they heard Cende's words to Helena, but waited for the door to shut before commenting. "I'm going to assume the 'too dangerous' comment is about your upcoming trip to Nepal," remarked Bowman, "and ties into why you've put yourself on indefinite leave of absence with the Patrol. Now, I'm sorry, I know you have to keep a lot of your temple business private, but we really have to insist on an explanation of this."

Cende nodded, "It's all right. For this, I was going to give one. You deserve it, really. You need to understand that if things go wrong, I might not be coming back."

"Why not?"

"Because I'll be dead."

The words were greeted with silence for a moment, and then several voices overlapped at once.

"What!" Eli Bowman and Joelle Wright's voices practically merged in their response, and their faces wore nearly identical expressions of shock.

"Hy bot?" Tavarisch's lapse into Russian was unsurprising, but her tone made it clear that the question was the same, and if her face held less shock, it contained somewhat more anger.

"The hell you say..." Sharpe's response was calmer, but there was clear concern on his features.

Andrea Blake was quiet until the initial reactions had passed, then simply asked, "Why?" She waved Cende to a seat as all the commanders sat back to listen in concern.

Sitting, Cende studied her hands and considered how to proceed. "Please understand that I am still limited in how much I can say. For now, I can tell you this - I have been informed that I am to be married soon, against my will. If I do not return home, this happens by proxy, and my husband will come here to... to claim me." Cende paused for a brief moment, then held up a hand before anyone could begin to ask a question, "However, if I return home, there is a way to stop it. There is a trial. If I win, I will be free to make most of my own decisions. It will... complicate... some matters, and simplify others."

"And if you lose?" Sharpe's tone was flat.

Cende's smile flashed past, "I believe you all would find a great many parts of my home barbaric, to be honest. This is one of those parts. Win, or die. Those are my options in the trial."

"You can't really expect us to let you go without help?" Bowman demanded.

"Commander Bowman, surely you realize by now that it's considerably more complicated than just getting help. I said it's too dangerous for someone else to come - that's not just for me, or the one who comes with me. Please, don't ask me again."

Bowman nodded, but added as he did, "Take your communicator anyway. If it can bounce a signal off a communication satellite, COUNTERMEASURES will get it and we'll be able to get help to you. You're Star Patrol - we're not going to leave you unprotected, no matter how much you protest."

"Yes, sir." Cende stood and saluted the commanders, then let herself out of the meeting room. She still had several things to finish before she could leave, and time was rapidly running out.

*****

Rogue Islands, Wednesday evening

Toby allowed his extra legs to curl inward in relaxation as he let himself into the townhouse, contemplating a pleasant evening alone, only to be greeted with the sound of the television turned on and Spyder's triumphant laughter rising through the air. Sighing to himself, he went forward to see what his partner was quite so delighted about.

"I thought you were supposed to be with Shaarde tonight." His greeting to her was less than gracious, but he really had been looking forward to the quiet.

She grinned at him and hit the rewind button for the DVR. "Something came up, so he's running late. Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair in an hour or so."

He eyed her suspiciously as he crossed to his workbench, "You're far too cheerful for having been put on hold. What's happened?"

In response, she held up a newspaper - the Paragon newspapers arrived a day late to the Isles, but they did arrive. He never quite understood why Spyder enjoyed the Caper quite so much, but as he felt his eyebrows rise at the picture and headline, he began to see how this particular issue could particularly entertain her. "I see."

"The Times, the Tattler, the Weekly Magazine, and all the rest have articles. Plus, Eye on Paragon has a great segment - I was just watching, look at this -" Spyder pressed play, and the recorded show began again, with a perky blonde hostess doing her best to imply a heavily intimate, long-term relationship between Cende and Statesman while not actually saying such. As the segment ended, Spyder paused the show again, and began to giggle. It was so out of character for her that Toby reached down to check her temperature, which only made her giggle harder. "What makes this even better is the email I got a little while ago. It's still on the screen, I thought you'd like to see. Go look."

Toby gave her a stern glare, but went to check the computer screen. As he read, he slowly sat in the chair and began to understand what had so thoroughly pleased Spyder, and the final pieces of a plan started to slide into place. "So, Endaruta found her a husband, and now she's going back to Nepal. She'll be firmly gone when?"

Spyder knelt on the couch and bounced a little "Friday she's gone. Saturday she'll be completely out of touch with Paragon, and everyone in it."

"This," he waved in the general direction of the television and all the papers strewn in front of it, "has got to be causing havoc for her, the Star Patrol, and the Freedom Phalanx. Am I correct in thinking you'd like to make that a little deeper?"

Spyder's answering smile was brilliant, "Banestar said that, unless he gave us specific overriding instructions, we could do it when it seemed the most appropriate time. I don't think it gets any more appropriate."

Toby nodded, "I'll take care of it."

Spyder's response once again surprised him - swinging over the back of the sofa, she threw herself into his lap and tucked herself in tight against him, hugging him close. "Love you," she whispered to him, "you're the best brother I could have, ever. You take really good care of me." Before he could respond, she slid back off his lap and headed for her room, "I gotta change - I want to get into something better. Shaarde will never appreciate this outfit on me."

Toby looked after Spyder and shook his head. The girl was nuts, but at least she made life interesting.