Chapter 3

Welcome to New Mexico

“Hank. Where am I?” Karen asked quietly.

“Albuquerque, New Mexico. Actually, we are northeast of the city, between the Rio Grande and the Sandia Mountains. On a piece of land that was farmland a couple of years ago. You are dressed for warmer weather but at night, it’s a little chilly. So, we can go back and we can pick up your stuff any time. But first let me show you around.”

“We just tripped two thousand miles across country. By walking into a wall?” Karen asked with a shocked tone in her voice.

“So, is that ten or eleven impossible things so far today? I can’t keep count.” Hank said with a smile.

Someday, Karen thought to herself, I am going to slap that silly smile off his face. Somehow.

“Well, since we are here, let’s see what Paula and Jeffery have for brunch. I bet some great food. They stole my chef you know. Of course he wasn’t mine really. But kind of sort of. We’ll explain later.” Hank said to the surprised woman.

“Don’t remind me.” Hank said to his dragon friend.

Looking around, Karen saw a lot of people walking around the courtyard. It was a clearly a great distance from Georgia, because she could see the mountains behind the walls to the East. The sun was shining very brightly, and the air was cool and crisp. The house at one end of the courtyard was very large and very expansive. And the stone for the driveway for automobiles was clean looked like cobblestones laid one against the other. This was a southwest palace. Only the people weren’t really people. Not human normal people.

A large green man wearing a vest and slacks approached and said “Welcome Hank. Who’s the new guest? Is she a mage or Wizard?”

“Ogernaut, it’s wonderful to see you. This is Karen, and she’s an emergent in transition. Poor woman does not know what she’s going to be yet.” Hank replied.

“Pleased to meet you, Karen. We have tea and other drinks. I advise you to take in some, the dryness can cause you to lose moisture very fast.” The Oger said in a friendly tone.

“Hank. It’s good to see you again. Taking Karen for a tour?” Jeffey said as he approached.

“Yea. And since you and Paula shifted most production to here, I thought she would benefit from exposure to the only other woman who sees all colors in the Clan.”

“Yea. Paula’s in the house riding herd on the kids. We should break for brunch soon.”

“I hear you. How are the kids?”

“Eating and running around sixteen hours a day. And sleeping for eight. They have not yet expressed yet, but we are paying attention. Only time will tell.” Jeffery said with a wry smile.

“Is Wendy around? I think we need to get the three women together to talk about what Karen is going through.”

“I saw you put a bracelet on her.”

“Actually, that’s Natalie’s old bracelet. She put that on her instead of a guest armlet, and it’s did some mutation. I wanted to bring her here to see if you had any ideas.”

“You know that Daggara the Dwarf did a lot of rune engraving on that second bracelet for Natalie. And that Lech had a lot of input into it. We made it here, but they did a lot of the patterning.” Jeffery said.

“Well, you guys can look at it, but it’s mine now. You can’t have it back” Karen said with a stern look.

“Karen, we couldn’t if we wanted to. The jewelry catches are gone, it’s shifted its shape, and it’s evidently attuned to you.” Hank said.

“SHIT. What did Brynstan do this time? This sounds like what was done to the breastplate for Aine.” Jeffery remarked.

“Now you know why I wanted to come here.” Hank said. “To get proper help from my older and wiser advisors.”

“Karen, if you are around this guy for any length of time, dump all his false modesty in the nearest garbage can. Ok, Let’s go over to the. House and see what is going on.”

This place is hot, and in more ways than one. I can really learn to love this southwestern architecture. Karen thought to herself.

“So, Jeffery, you were impressed with the color discussion yesterday. Why is that?” Karen asked. Might as well collect whatever pieces of information she could.

“Karen, so far, only a few people can see and sense color in a fumeral eruption. The fact that you saw what you did without the normal “imprinting” is amazing.” Jeffery replied.

“What is the “normal imprinting”? Karen asked.

Blushing furiously, Jeffery looked at Karen and said “I think you should talk that over with my wife. She is better at explaining the biology. Hank, did you intend to put this on her left arm?”

“Natalie did it. Shortly after she put it on her wrist, she began to glow.”

“You guys are scaring me. What did this thing do to me?” Karen asked.

“We’re going to find out.” Hank said. “Believe me, we’re going to find out.”

The next three hours of discussion were a combination of funny, serious, scary, enlightening, and answered a lot of Karen’s questions. What it didn’t do was cause any reduction in her worry that somehow, something had changed. She had always been healthy, but this was almost like being on a drug. And according to the other women in this little “henhouse meeting” she was due to have this as the normal for the rest of her life.

The men, in the meantime, had another discussion going on. “What I want to know is why Natalie decided to put her older bracelet on Karen instead of a visitor armband”

“Hank, almost all the arm bands are here in New Mexico. We have them here for visitors and for the new students. I remember that Lech was granted control over the stones that were embedded in the bracelet, to make sure that he could defend Natalie in case of a issue. Remember we did that when we were worried about the Europeans trying to do another snatch and grab.” Jeffery said.

“Remind me again why we got her a new bracelet and why this was her “old” one?”

“She wanted that new one to go with her Engagement and Wedding ring that Jerry gave her. Since she got a four-carat ring, she didn’t need the embedded stones in the bracelet. We did leave most of the Runes and Spells in place.” Peter said.

“And we never told Natalie details of all the spells and implants that were in the old one. Paula and Cindy refined a lot of this for the new bracelet, but the old one still has the ones we placed there for Natalie. But we never thought we would put it on an Emergent.”

“So what do we have here?”

“Sixteen one quarter carat diamonds, with linking runes to bring them to power against the flesh. Autonomic defense runes for layered defenses, like we made for Natalie in the beginning. A route to empower the wearers core organs and mind. And we also put in place the Master Spell for reading and absorption of all elements that the wearer comes in contact with.”

“WHAT? You put the translator in place?” Hank asked.

“We did that because Natalie spends so much time reading and researching documents. We wanted her to understand the intricacies of what she was reading. And that spell does it better then any of the Read and Remember ones we have in the library.” Jeffery said.

“Let me see if I understand all of this. We have a bracelet now on the left arm of a newcomer who is here to investigate us, who was sent to uncover anything and everything about us by a man who is the only former head of the FBI and the CIA, and who currently works for one of the largest corporate head shops in the country. And, oh by the way, that bracelet has power capture, storage, automatic defense and our most secret runic spell in the teaching arsenal. And that bracelet has transfigured itself personally to her as well.” Hank said with some energy. And upset.

“Boss, that’s not all. It’s got the Lambert Crest engraved in it as well. So, we are owned to her so long as she wears it.” Jeffery said.

“Yes. We are. And she hasn’t even read much less signed the compact.” Hank said quietly.

“Maybe we should give it to her to read now.” Jeffery said. “Let her know what we feel about each other.”

Which was exactly what was happening in the women’s discussion some thirty feet away.

Pledge of Allegiance

“So let me see if I understand this. Paula, you were a slave. Heavily imprinted since birth. And Hank encouraged you to go out and build relationships and friendships and be independent.”

“Yes. Hank’s an unusual person. He sees and treats everyone as an equal, while still maintaining his position as head of Clan Lambert.”

“Ok, what is Clan Lambert?”

“Jeffery describes it as the ultimate conflict. If you are in it, it needs no explanation. If you are not in it, then it can’t be explained. Kind of like the Marines.”

“What’s this “Charter” I keep hearing about? Everyone seems to think that it’s the ultimate bible here.” Karen asked.

“Have you read it?” Paula asked.

“No one has shown it to me.” Karen said.

“Here. Take a look at it. Here’s a new copy.” Paula said.

The document head said “Clan Lambert, Charter and Code of Conduct.” The first page was a relatively simple document with four paragraphs, laying out simple rules of conduct and ethics. The sort of thing that any simple fraternity would say. None of the high-minded language or arcane meanderings that Karen had read in other contracts.

“This is it?”

“Pretty much. Paragraph four is the one that most people have challenges with. Making every exchange beneficial to both parties is hard. There are a lot of things we walk away from to stick to that rule. But it seems to generate a lot of great respect and readiness to work with us everywhere. Especially with the Fae. They don’t even lie to us by omission if you are wearing the Clan signature. In any form.” Paula said.

“Which is kind of the thing we have to talk about now, Karen.” Wendy said. “That bracelet makes you a member of Clan Lambert. An unsigned member. We have never had one of those before. And frankly, I am a little scared of you wearing our uniform and not having consciously joined us. Natalie put every one of us in a real challenging position when she put that on you. And it’s something I want brought up at the next meeting, Paula.”

“I have to agree with you, Wendy. Karen, this is a serious situation for us because we only have two layers of information here. Internal to the Clan, and External to the world. Normally you would be the world. This bracelet makes you Clan. And Natalie has a lot to answer for.”

Karen’s face reflected the shock of that last statement. In forty-eight hours, she had gone from one of the walled outsiders to newest insider. In addition to that, as a recruiting bonus, her nephew’s cancer had gone into remission. “I guess I have a lot to think about” Karen said. “What can you tell me about this Clan?”

“Whatever you want to know.” Paula said. “No Limits. No Filters. No Editing.”

“Let’s get Helen up here. She’s our best teacher here.” Wendy said. “And this means more to her on an elemental level then to any one of us. She has the greatest loss and the most dangerous experience.”

“How so?” Karen asked.

“Rule four.” Paula answered. “And no jokes about Tomato Paste, Wendy or I will put ants in your bed.”

“I guess there is a lot of history here.” Karen said. “Guess I need my notebooks.”

“We have one for you. That was one of the things that Natalie saw. You take notes.”

Helen was a middle-aged woman with laugh lines on her face, some grey in her hair, freckles on her skin, and a strong sense of humor. After hearing Karen’s history in coming to Lambert, she snickered and looked at the others and said “So what do you want me to do?”

“Teach her this afternoon what Clan Lambert is all about.” Paula said. “You are the best one at verbalizing what we all feel.”

“And we all know you won’t screw it up.” Wendy said with a laugh.

“And besides, this will give you something else to give Natalie as a “Progress Report” on Sunday when she’s totally embarrassed.” Paula said.

“Oh No. You guys ain’t using me as a switch on that woman. Karen lets go into my office. Bring your drink. If you ain’t got one, we can sure get you one.”

Several hours, a full snack plate, a full notebook and six drinks later, Karen’s head was finally recovering. Not from the drinks (they mostly were nonalcoholic, but delicious) but from the simple acceptance of her change in status. She could decide now or very soon. Is She to be a Member of the Clan?

Three Days

William H. Webster was not a happy man. It was Friday, he had not heard from his investigative agent in three days, and so far, the missing person request filed in Georgia had yielded nothing. She had checked out of the hotel on Tuesday, climbed into a cab, which took her to 1030 Broad Street and she had disappeared. The building had a doorman who responded to questioning in a civil but respectful and totally professional way stated that she was unavailable, was pending return, but was tied up in business meetings. And that a request to have her call home would be presented to her when she was available again.

Since this was not an actionable request, with no sign of foul play, it was a reasonable response to present on behalf of a single woman over eighteen.

“Damn it, where is she? Has she fallen into the same black hole that everything else about Lambert falls into?” Webster fumed. “This is America, by God. Order protects Liberty and Liberty protects order. This shit is going to stop.”

The sprite sitting in the corner of the room listened carefully as Mr. Webster made this comment. And decided that he was going home on a Friday night to tell everyone what the issues were that he had heard. And he took a close look at Webster’s appointment calendar for Monday. Because he felt that this was just the sort of thing that Hank would want.

“Ok. So, I call William Webster tonight and tell him that I want to speak to him directly in his office on Monday. What do I say?” Karen asked.

“Simple. Tell him you know he has a opening for ten o’clock on Monday, and you will be there to give him a status report. And that you are coming back here. To continue your education and to act as a communication channel to him for any research he needs done.” Hank said.

“And how do I get there?” Karen asked.

“Simple. You hold the sprite’s hand and she takes you into his office at ten o’clock if there isn’t any else there. Sparkles can see the office first and make sure that no one else is there.”

“Ok. I see him at ten, I finish up at eleven, and then what?”

“Come on back here. I have an appointment with Arno to help transfer some other Fae creatures and it will give you an introduction into the Fae world that is a little deeper then you have already.”

Karen was strangely not shocked by this statement. After all, the last two days had been an amazing trip through the looking glass. She had met and worked side by side with Gargoyles (who taught her how to throw freezing spells on people that were a danger) and a dragonet who taught her how to throw a energetic burst that would boil a human from the inside out. And how to place shields of all kinds. Both around herself and around others.

The rune on her bracelet made much of that almost instinctive, and her ability to project power was interesting. If she projected from her left hand, it was strong. But if she projected her Layline magic from her right, she had greater accuracy, finer control and greater range. It had confused some of the others until Wendy came up with an explanation.

“It’s the bracelet. It constantly draws magic into her, regardless of use and using the same channel to take in and send out causes’ contention. Like an alternator. Pushing it through allows better and more finite control”

“Well, it’s not coming off.” Karen said emphatically. “No Givebacks.”

“Hank, you got to get me one of these” Wendy said.

“As soon as you can see colors in the Fumeral, we’ll look into it. Until then you have to make do with simple two hundred joule stone.” Was Hank’s reply.

Paula was the most interesting teacher. When Jeffery had the twins, she was a total teacher mode. The spells, runes and useful teaching of force and magic kept Karen in a state of wonder for the first two days. On Friday afternoon, Karen got a real surprise.

“Knock, Knock.” The sound seemed to reverberate from inside of Karen’s skull.

“Knock, Knock.” It sounded again.

“Who the hell is that?” Karen wondered.

“It’s me. Hank. Listen, I know you are tied up and busy as heck, but can you talk to Paula and ask her to drop her shields for a moment, I have to talk with her about Monday night”

“Sure Hank. As soon as this imaginary conversation is finished, I will talk to her.” Karen replied.

“Just please do what I asked. Honest, this conversation is for real. Didn’t Helen cover that with you yet?”

Karen had a strange sense of detachment when she went to talk with Paula. Who was playing with the twins and trying to get them to eat breakfast.

“Paula, I just got the strangest mental feeling.”

“What, Karen.”

“I thought I heard Hank telling me to tell you to drop your shields.”

“Oh sugar. Just a second.” Paula said as she got a distant look on her face. That lasted for a few moments, before she nodded her head and refocused. “Thanks Karen. I had my shields up while playing with the kids to keep interruptions out and Hank needed me quick to talk about housing a couple of dragons. Thanks for getting the message to me.”

“Mental telepathy?” Karen asked with her jaw dropping open.

“Yea, we share thoughts and ideas mentally. Saves on the phone bill. Hasn’t Helen covered that with you yet?”

“She said that was something we were going to go over this weekend. Teleportation, communication, and shields.”

“Wow. You have a busy weekend ahead of you. And Hank wants to introduce you to Arno Monday. How is your report coming so far?”

“Fine. If I take out all of the stuff about you guys that no one will believe, I can fit everything on a postcard. I have no idea what I am going to tell William on Monday.”

“Tell him you have a wild and fanciful tale and that he won’t believe it. But you found all of his missing mail. He just can’t have it back permanently.”

“I agree. Stephenson was a bigot and a asshole. But he did have a few things about you guys that were pretty scary in the context of how and what you really can do. We don’t really do bad things, do we?” Karen asked.

“Karen, you have read the charter. You have talked with everyone about it. What have you learned?”

“That you guys are beyond the boundaries. And that Hank’s power development for Mages and Wizards places us even farther outside of the boundaries. The same as with the Fae. You are all off the charts. And that the Charter and Code of Conduct are the only thing that the Mage, Fae and Wizard world must keep them behaving. And that the Councils are well advised to use this charter as a guidepost for behavior. And that all of this came out of the head of a eighteen year old kid.” Karen said, shaking her head in wonder.

“Yea. Hank got off to a late start. Alexander the Great got his start at sixteen.” Paula said.

“So did Hank. It just took him two years to write it all in a rule book.” Karen said.

“Which you have not yet signed, have you?” Paula asked.

“Paula, you and Helen have done a wonderful job of education for me. You have opened my eyes to what membership here means. But I want to ask you a favor.”

“What favor?”

“The Charter says that membership is based on association or sponsorship. And that the Sponsor is directly responsible for the known character and presentation of the person to be adopted. Would that be you, or could I make Natalie my sponsor. She did all the digging into my background and placed the armband on me. I think she knew inside that I was a good person.”

“Karen, you know that telepathy trick we have?”

“Yes.”

“Karen, Natalie reached out to all of us before she put that wrist band on you. I was the one that reminded her to put it on your left. None of us thought it would be as dramatic as it was. But we all felt you would do well in Clan Lambert. We were digging into you from the moment you tried to crash into the waiting room on Monday. But you are right. Natalie should be the one to witness your signature. Want to go back to Augusta tomorrow?”

“Thank you. I think I need to touch base there. And call William and tell him I’m Okay.”

“Yea, that might be a good idea. The police have been there twice. And you may want to do some shopping while you are there. Especially if you want to go with Hank to Arno’s formal court in the afternoon. I know I do whenever I go along. I am almost jealous. Court is a real fancy affair.” Paula said.

“How often does this happen?”

“Hank usually goes there once a quarter. Mainly to make sure there are no disputes cooking. While we do most of the mineral mining outside of the Fae community, Hank makes sure that there are no court complaints. Riska and Setno spend a lot of time doing the fae information exchange stuff. There have been almost no conflicts since the treaty was signed. Part of that was due to Hank’s keeping the treaty open and in governance of the trade agreements. So long as we keep powering them, and keeping positive trade balance going, there have been no conflicts. And Hank is doing a lot of focus on that.”

“So how many different fae are there?” Karen asked.

“Well, you have met the Elves, the Dwarves, the Gnomes, the Ogers, and the Gargoyles and the two Dragonets. The Goblins almost never come out of Brazil, because they are so busy managing inventory and accounting for everyone. Those guys are the world’s best logistic and cost accounting guys ever. And there really isn’t easy to bring Trolls over to the rest of the world, because the Geas would need massive power constantly. Those guys are unreal.”

“Wow. Anyone else?”

“Yea, we have a Dragon. He’s in the Arch Park in Georgia. Wonderful guy. Probably the greatest immigrant we have ever brought over. He is in love with the land in Georgia. You will meet him soon, I’m sure. We also have Sprites, sort of Tinkerbell Faries with wings. Really cute guys.”

“So, no unicorns?” Karen asked.

“We haven’t found any yet. But we have only been in business for six years. The gate is always open.” Paula said with a smile. “Let’s reach out to Yana and set you up with an appointment for some glad rags for next week.”

Sunday Morning Conference

“Well, things have progressed a lot better than I would have thought. Natalie, if you don’t mind, I would like to chair this week’s meeting. Our first item on the agenda is Helen’s training of our latest emergent. Helen, you have the floor.”

“Hank, I can only say that Karen is a delight. Inciteful, intelligent, articulate and she keeps good notes. And she has caught me a few times with “Stated and answered” from her notebooks. The woman is scary sharp. Almost as sharp as Natalie is.”

“How has she accepted us, and herself in this transition period?” Hank asked.

“I think scary good. She’s a trained interrogator, but not at all adversarial. Which is good because she’s had to accept a lot of junk from her past. She dived into all of the Stephenson documentation and has come to agree that this guy was a fanatic, and a true threat to anything out of the ordinary. She seems to think that Webster has a much better grasp of the human vs. non-human effect on society, and that his focus is more on security within a free society, and not about Security over a captive society. Now, how we dwelt with Stephenson is probably going to be a small sticking point, but I don’t think she feels a need to present that to anyone. It’s in the past and you can’t go back and undo it.”

“So, no punishment against us individually or collectively?” Hank asked.

“Not at all. And she sees that we would all be scooped up and shipped off to laboratories somewhere as quick as possible if our natures were ever to be generally known. And she has no desire to contribute to that. I think she recognizes more then anyone here besides Jeffery how we would be treated.” Helen said.

“Okay. So, the next step is acceptance as a member of Clan Lambert. I propose that Natalie’s research has yielded to us a very positive candidate, and I am willing to provide overall support of the candidacy of Ms. Karen Pullman. Does Ms. Pullman have a sponsor here to present her to this group?” Hank asked.

“I sponsor Ms. Karen Pullman as a full member of Clan Lambert, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails. I also ask that she be a adjunct member of the research team that Helen Albris currently heads, to assist in the discovery of impacts globally that affect Clan Lambert. I also feel that she should continue her education at Albuquerque education center to enable her full development in whatever direction she is going. And that her strengths be developed, and her weaknesses overcome in this pursuit of personal and Clan progress.” Natalie said with great formality.

“Any further comments?” Hank asked.

“How about we ask that Natalie talk it over with all of us before she gives away her next bracelet.” Paula said with a smile and a laugh.

“So, noted. And the same goes for you too, Paula.” Hank said.

“Any other comments? Any votes opposed? The motion is carried pending signature of the applicant on the charter document.” Hank said. “Next issue?”

The meeting carried on for another half hour, proposing, discussing and closing items of minimal activity to the clan, with the closing being the meeting with Arno the following day to discuss the rehoming of the fae creatures that his team had found in northern Alaska. Deep inside of mountains on the northern range of Alaska, barely alive, were apparently dozens of Gargoyles and some Dragonets. Possibly related to Aine. All in a state of suspended animation. To be discovered.

Sunday Afternoon shopping

“Are you looking forward to tomorrow?” Paula asked Karen.

“Some yes, some no. I am worried about my impression on Arno.”

“Why?”

“This is a tag along with the most significant person in Clan Lambert, going to meet a Prince of a realm, in his own court. And I have no idea of what the proper mannerisms are. That’s why.”

“Yana will outfit you in amazing clothes for an outrageous price, on retainer. She did mine and it only set me back three years salary.” Paula said.

“What?”

“Teasing you. Yana is a woman Mage who runs her own shop in Augusta, and she’s coming in to fit you out for tomorrow’s meeting with William and the afternoon with Arno. And Hank is picking up the tab.”

“So what do I do in the meantime?”

“How about we go to Natalie’s office. She has a document for you to review and sign.”

“The charter.”

“That’s right. Any last-minute misgivings?”

“Not at all. It does not conflict with any oath or acceptance I have signed before in my life, and it promises to be a lot more valuable to me and my relatives. This is almost a marriage.”

“Yes. It is. It’s the third most important pledge you will ever make. The first is to yourself. To be the person you are most proud of. The second is to whomever you pledge yourself to as a partner. Or partners. The real marriage. And this third is to the clan Lambert, and your family here. Hank likes to say you have two families. One you are born into. The second is the one that you cultivate to have help you through life and to help those others as well.”

“Are we sure this kid is only twenty-three?” Karen asked.

“Yep. And he’s been this way since I met him seven years ago. Someday, when we are both drunk, I will tell you about how I met him the second time, stark naked, on my hands and knees, and expected either abuse or sexual activity. And didn’t get either. Here was this seventeen-year-old male telling me that I could wear whatever I wanted in private, but in public I should attire myself in professional clothing that best fitted the role I had as his business manager.” Paula said.

“That’s some story. You don’t do that now.”

“Not by a long shot. But that nudge and the continuous nudging I keep getting from Him has moved me along this path I have now. Did I ever tell you the “Mistakes are for learning” speech?” Paula asked.

“You don’t have to. Helen has pounded that into my head for three days. “IT’s only an error. What was your reasoning before. And what would you do different now. And now you file it away for future reference.” Sometimes I feel like a kindergartener.” Karen said disgustingly.