Chapter 30

Back in the courtyard, we goofed off for a while and, around 10:00, decided to tidy up and go inside. The girls scattered throughout the whole building, showering, sorting laundry, making the McLeans comfortable and gossiping up a storm.

The McGees, wearing half-sheer Airwear panties, opened and sorted the snail mail. Ellie prepared the deposits and Amy wrote checks for the accounts payables. The sight of cute naked tits doing everyday office work was the return to normal I needed.

I sequestered myself in the office to check up on the few business obligations remaining after selling ZCS to Andy. Spy and maintenance bots released, I read the accumulated emails: six requests for bids and a note of thanks. The requests were from new customers and all but one would be forwarded to Andy with recommendations.

Five of the potential clients passed the first background checks, something I always did to weed out future problems. Remember the natural foods coop? The one that failed did so spectacularly. I sent that one to my spooks along with information on the newest Mobsterette recruits and draftees.

A certain warehousing and storage company in Pennsylvania had way too many customers on my list of companies owned by associates of a discredited senator, not to mention being owned by the McCoy family. I guess they noticed the missing funds and wanted to protect their asset. Apparently, Wagner had not shared his insights into RIA, Zephyr Computer Systems and yours truly.

Billings would smile as he readied the entry teams. Everybody likes a third tier freebie. He returned an immediate update on our current staffing issues. Interesting.

The thank you message was from Dr. Williamson at Bingham-Hampton. Elizabeth was thrilled by the enhanced security and expected delivery of the new school uniforms next week. “Hamilton, Union, Bay Shore, Madison S&M, Carver and Narragansett have also placed orders. All students will have their choice of fabrics, but I can tell you now, the edgy Airwear styles are in the lead. Thank you for all you’ve done for our girls and the Academy’s reputation as a safe haven for students to find their way.”

Eve, naked with a S/S nipple ring, and the Baxter twins, wearing only pastel green tap pants wandered in, looking stunned in a good way. Jane led off. “We ran totals on sales and pending orders from the website. Every number is so far above expectations, it’s stupid. Based on Eve’s newest projections, we need to resupply the transgossamer inventory this weekend just to keep up or we will have to delay shipping.”

“Rose reports they can keep up production and even stay ahead if they have enough raw materials. The women are holding their own in the standard fabrics department, the designer one-of-a kinds are booming and the Evans sisters are sending special orders daily.” Eve was holding a print-out. “Miranda says she needs Luz, Linh and June on Tuesday for meetings with the dance and drama departments of several private schools to go over uniforms and costumes for the fall season.”

Jean reported more news. “Yolanda has hired a group of Union Academy girls to do the packing and shipping on the first floor. One and a half times minimum wage plus clothes at a 50% discount with Abigail supervising. She has a waiting list of girls on call.”

Amy called from the outer office. “Bright Star wants to revisit the school logo pendant policy. Rose will call Monday with ideas when she and June can talk.”

“I have a message here from the Colonel, clearing Tamera and Nancy to know about Airwear and its handling. He has invited Mavis and Ella to become Ten Pennys, but keep their NYPD positions instead of being part of the personal security team. Consider them in.” I added. “No news from Mike and Norm other than they are at Riverhead talking to a group of vets concerning a neighborhood watch.”

“Someone needs to get them involved in the basement construction projects. Retired or not, they made promises.” Amy reminded the group. “Sir doesn’t have the time to investigate more people with no need to know what we have hidden.”

Nell and Emma came running in, dressed in half-sheer silver panties and cellophane crop-tops. Emma was waving more paper over her head. “Wait until you hear what Belle sent. We have a Blackhawk, combat pilot and gunner and a place to park it!”

Nell shouted, “They gave us a refurbished 50’ Coast Guard patrol boat, with a helmswoman and a SeaBee. Leigh is joining us here, same status as Cat and I.”

“Where will Laura put all this hardware?” That was my first question.

“We have a whole pier on the Hudson near the ‘USS Intrepid’ with a rather plush barracks and a helipad.” Cat read. “She doesn’t know who they are yet, but the cover story is that they are part of Ten Penny Personal Security, Transport Division. We keep the loaner bus and get the old one too.”

Phoebe came stomping in with her daughters. I noticed she had chosen silver half-sheer ‘Daisy Dukes’ and a cellophane smoke middie. The girls had solid pink panties and seemed quite unconcerned about how anyone dressed. I think they were just happy to be up past bedtime.

Before she could speak, I grabbed my working laptop and herded everyone to the larger conference room. “It’s getting crowded. That room is too small for a house meeting. “Now, Phoebe, you were saying?”

“This email tells me I’ve been given a field commission as an Army Captain, code name ‘Nightingale’. The clinic is designated as a Class One Emergency Field Surgical Unit, ‘Doc Shop’, under the aegis of the Research Intelligence Agency. I’m getting an MRI, full surgical suite, diagnostic tools, plus all the dream equipment I wanted for my oncology and trauma center for the stars practice, all paid out of the RIA’s federal budget.” She sputtered. “Will someone kindly tell me what just happened.”

“Have they asked for names and photos yet?” Amy asked. “You and Sir’s daughters?”

“Yes. That’s exactly how it was worded, ‘Dr. McLean and Major Allyn’s daughters’. How did you know?” Phoebe shivered. “Why did this sound like an offer I can’t refuse? Are they trying to buy me?”

“You will have federal Special Agent status by Monday and the girls will be under the protection of the RIA. That would be us. I’m pleased to introduce you to Major Mark Allyn, Special Agent and first Director.” Amy pointed to me. “You can say ‘no’, but you’re smarter than that. No, you didn’t ask for this, but we didn’t ask for Barrett Wagner and his terrorist accomplices. They picked the fight when they attacked us and the Bill of Rights.”

“If Maggie came in with cancer or Caralyn came in with a bullet wound, would you not want the best tools at hand to save them?” Nell put it in stark terms. “Neither the CIA nor the CDC will ever put you on hold. Why would you refuse? More resources, more official muscle, to do what you would do anyway if one of us got hurt. More tools to help your regular patients. Most of the money comes from crooks’ bank accounts and seized property used in criminal activity. You’re putting it to good use.”

“Your email used the word ‘aegis’. In our language, that means more than shield. It is a word with special nuance.” Emma looked Phoebe in the eyes. “Don’t be offended because Marcy and Carly are officially categorized as the Major’s daughters. It’s a valid definition. Look at it from the other side. There is an unwritten law very few operators on either side violate. Families are off limits. Daughters and sisters are family. Retribution is swift and final.”

“Mark is important to us and has been for years. Tens of thousands of lives depend on his ability to ferret out secrets and more on his ability keep ours protected.” She took a breath. “Let some fool even think about touching those two little girls and no power on earth will stop the entire weight of the military from crushing them, and everyone to whom they might be related, to dust in the most painful manner possible, Geneva Convention be damned. You will get the same level of protection, for your skills and as the mother of his children, be assured. But there is a genuine passion to protect defenseless children.”

Eve piped up, “We were to be an example of their power to intimidate others who might resist their oppression. We didn’t back down but humiliated them instead. The sprouts were in danger the instant Wagner saw Mark’s face. Now, it’s all about revenge.”

Leigh came in, having been admitted by the Tanners. “I’ve overheard most of this discussion, Dr. McLean. They are absolutely right. We would have vetted you because of your husband and reacted accordingly. We would never have harmed the twins. You already know what Wagner had in mind.”

I interrupted, “I’m sure this is pretty overwhelming. Why don’t we talk about it when we have more specific information. For now, we have to get everyone settled into the new living arrangements. Welcome to the madhouse, Sgt. Blackfeather. How did you come by the name ‘Sioux’?”

“Perversity. My team in Bogotá thought ‘Cherokee’ took too long to say. Too many syllables for radio and we already had a ‘Sherry’.”

“How did you get here?” Cat asked, “Did your team break up or get reassigned?”

“Both, in a bad way.” She shrugged sadly. “We were on a DEA covert mission with a team out of Benning, burning coca fields and such. Some clown finked us to the drug lords and our exfil transport was shot out of the sky minutes after wheels up. Tina and I were the only survivors. We traveled at night, fighting when we had to, and made it to the coast. Tina hotwired a motorboat and we headed north until a Coast Guard patrol spotted us.”

“Wow. Did you get a medal?” Carly was amazed. “You’re real heroes.”

“No, missy. It was a secret. In fact were treated like poison when we told the story. The DEA was embarrassed because the leak started in DC. Tina went back to Fort Benning and I returned to Fort Bragg, but since all our partners got killed, the other special operations people thought we were bad luck. No one wanted us on their team. Friends stopped talking. We weren’t trained to just sit around. Take classes and sharpen our skills, but no matter how high we scored, we got no more missions,”

“So they disappeared you both here?” Marcy quizzed.

“Eventually. One day our commanders get calls, we get sealed travel orders and here we are.”

“You speak Spanish?” Beth asked in Castilian.

“Poco. Enough to answer no. I speak Cherokee and Arabic. Not that useful in South America.” Leigh laughed. “Tina did the little talking we had to. I acted mute.”

“That’s two we don’t have. German, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, Italian and passing Hindi.” Amy said. “Not bad.”

“Add Hebrew to the list.” Frieda said. “It is in my genes.”

“Danish.” Cynthia.

“Russian.” Elaine and Emma.

“Spanish.” Nell said.

“Latin, for anatomy and old texts.” Phoebe admitted.

Linh spoke Vietnamese, June spoke Korean, and Luz spoke Spanish.

“Leigh, do you know anything about the cutter and air crews?” I wondered, “They bring the Pennys back up to quota. Actually, Eleven Pennys, probably because Ella and Mavis won’t always be available at the drop of a hat, or in our case, shell casing. I hope they fit in.”

“No names yet, but the history on the air crew is two woman Marines flying Force Recon medivac air support, getting involved in too much actual combat in Iraq, and transferred directly to us.” Sioux said, “I don’t know much about the ship’s crew, except one is a Coastie harbor pilot and the other is a SeaBee structural engineer, both young women. Word is the Colonel is working with DoD and NSA to handpick shadow teams nationwide.”

“I’m seeing a trend here, ladies. My spook friends with functioning brains see through the military macho bull and find smart capable women, underused, sidelined, or unappreciated and deadended for threadbare reasons being wasted. Combat pilots penalized for doing a good job. Jungle infiltration and survival experts ostracized for surviving after completing the mission. Junior officers passed over for promotion. Talent and dedication overlooked.”

Amy spoke, ticking off the points on her fingers, “The Colonel is not a sexist. He hesitated to send a bunch of fourteen to eighteen year old girls into combat, but let us make the decision. Then backed us up as soon as possible. He recognized Laura’s squad for the skills and accomplishments and gives them his full support. He hates waste in all forms and does not suffer stupid. He’s all about the mission and getting able personnel in place to get it done.”

“By assembling basically an all-girl crew Billings is proving a point. A Marine is a Marine, a soldier is a soldier and a sailor is a sailor, gender notwithstanding. He saw Nell and Emma fight like inspired devils in a pitched battle then repair our comm system and work with Amy to defend our fortress, giving and taking orders as full members of an established team. He saw Tina and Leigh hit the ground running, going from covert insertion specialists to full out urban warfare, acquitting themselves with valor and excellence in fierce close-up fighting. He saw Laura deploy and lead fighters and civilians to success even when pinned down and outnumbered.” I said. “Your former commanding officers are going to be very embarrassed when you show them what you can do and could have done for them.”

“How do you think Nat and Smitty fit into the plan?” Patty asked, and then smacked her forehead. “I see. It’s not that they are gay, it’s that they don’t have a paternalistic attitude. They see equal partners with equal skill levels. Gender and gender preference do not affect a sniper’s accuracy. You can shoot, drive and fight or not. Simple as that.”

“Anne showed Smitty that size doesn’t matter!” Nell laughed. “But I think it shocked Freddie Gardner and Marty Apthorpe even more. That was hilarious.”

“What did she do? Those two guys are not exactly pushovers if I believe the stories. Smitty Zelazny ain’t easy either. I’ve seen him in action.” Leigh wanted the scoop.

“Freddie and Marty talked Smitty into ambush testing the Baker triplets one day. Three tiny 4’11” women destroyed the giant warriors in less than three seconds.” Emma hooted. “If Mark had not seen the danger and called them off, we would have been Seven Pennys.”

My laptop beeped. “Sorry, folks. Business calls. Seems I have a little customer service to deal with.” I looked at the screen and laughed out loud. “Some starts right here. Our Airwear site has been under constant attack from hackers, photo thieves and identity cloners. You will be pleased to know that my bots and green boxes have dealt harshly with them all. We are secure and our customers are safe. Yea us!”

“Good. That makes the resupply issue more urgent.” Eve reminded me. “Saturday or Sunday, before we meet with Rose on Monday, would be OK to take a daytrip.”

“Get up with Bright Star and make a wish list first thing. We’ll take a ride tomorrow morning. Nell and Leigh will stay here with anyone lacking clearance. The newbies have to get settled in anyway.” I answered, “Please, text Belle and reserve one of the buses for 9:00 AM.”

“We need clearance for this trip?” Kelli quipped.

“Yes, for now. Nothing personal but it’s one of the restricted info details I told you about. It will be cool later, but for now we have to follow the letter of the Secrets Act. You all will understand when the badges and ratings come through.” I told them. “Nell needs to do an assessment of the exterior of the clinic and site surveillance cameras on all three roofs. Phoebe and the girls have to get settled in and everyone else should list what they need from home. Maggie needs company also.”

“Someone has to be here to receive the deliveries, too.” Amy put in, “I can stay if I have to.”

“You go.” Toon insisted, “I’ll stick around to help here. We can finish assembling the new furniture and plan the gym. There’s plenty to do here before the new Pennys arrive, too. If it gets weird, we always have earpieces.”

“I need the Bakers, Tanners, Baxters, Amy, Karen, Jenny and Irina at least. If Nell, Toon, my sisters and The Bright Stars are here to defend, I want to take Sioux along with Emma. The rest of you sweeties can lounge around, train, workout in the dance studio, whatever.”

“Ellie, one thing that needs to happen is a kitchen inventory. We have a whole bunch more folks to fuel. If Patty and Leah will walk people through the usual chores, Diane can get a list of everyone’s favorite foods and snacks.” Amy began to give marching orders. “Sam, you and Max can get folks squared away with the laundry detail, school supplies and weapons storage.”

“Phoebe, if you have time would you get any vitamins, prescriptions and pharmaceutical needs for the girls, Bright Stars and Pennys included, and make sure everything is appropriate and everyone is up-to-date. We get special moisturizing and depilatory crèmes from Tribeca also and probably shampoo and conditioners, too.” I asked. “Can you be our Drug Czar?”

She laughed, “Czarina Nightingale at your service, Piper.”

“Great. Tonight, coordinate with Amy on the orders and insurance coverage. Anything we need that isn’t covered comes out of the house accounts.”

I went back to my office, leaving them in the conference room. The Roadies and Bingham-Hampton were cruising along fine, one of my oldest clients seemed slower than normal and a server was beginning to fail at an investment house.

One account, a medium-sized investment bank, was a raging dumpster fire. It was not a failure of information technology fanning the flames. The board of directors got greedy. I can’t do anything about poor stocks, loans to shady corporations, siphoned funds, and extremely risky choices when the client is committing suicide. I would not help them hide the malfeasance from the SEC.

The association with Mr. Wagner’s firm did not influence me in the least. More folks for Billings to reach out and touch.

The Carver, Hamilton and Bay Shore girls were still sending naked selfies and topless pictures out. The fine collection of titties and bare twats was mostly diverted to the Airwear photo posting blog instead. Those academy girls clearly ached to show their teeny boobs to someone. I approved them all for public view on my protected sites. They did not know I was intercepting every shot, auto-cropping to the faces before the pictures went anywhere else.

I advised Andy to back up and replace the server. While I was there, a quick snoop revealed a ‘green box’ toasted laptop. I sent a stern note letting him know that one of his geeks tried to copy pictures from my Airwear site and I didn’t appreciate the attempted copyright infringement. He was not to blame, but his guy could use a little lesson in professional courtesy.

The slowpoke system I fixed with a recycle bin dump and a defrag. I captured the trash and emailed the CEO. If they needed the trash, I would give it back, no charge. You don’t need to save every copy of everything.

All my other legacy accounts were rolling along fine. But I did it right the first time and they did not try to bypass what worked. Mom taught me the first and I taught them the second. Listen to your Mom.

I spent a little more time checking my offshore accounts, shut down the office and returned to the conference room. All was quiet. Bummer. Time slipped away while I was taking care of business; it was after 1:00 AM. The entire household was asleep or trying. We did have a trip to Hill House in the morning and the bus was to be here at 9:00.

My inner Viking, awakened earlier during the planning session and suppressed by the seven-year-olds, would be unsatisfied for now. Perhaps, in the future, Phoebe would be a good Mom and have the kids in bed at a reasonable hour, like 8:00 for instance, and my sword would not have to remain dry. Impaling Polly on the St. Andrew’s Cross would be difficult to explain to a curious seven-year-old.

My inner responsible adult put the Viking to sleep and I followed my yawns up to the fourth floor. Sweet Amy had laid out tomorrow’s clothes and my bed was full of Frieda, Polly and Holly. Too bad it was so late. I set the alarm for seven.

The girls were up and at it before the alarm sounded. Rats. Probably for the best, I needed to get moving anyway. I had a solo tour through the shower, dressed and met the girls down in the common area well before 7:00. My garb of the day consisted of khaki cargo pants, sneakers, white tank top and a pale blue long-sleeved over shirt covering the shoulder holster and Desert Eagle. Don’t leave home without it.

The dining area resembled a disturbed anthill. Various girls brought bowls of food from the kitchen, cycling back and forth for refills and new dishes, until we were fed and happy.

There were things to discuss before the supply run. Mostly, I wanted Phoebe to consider equipping a clinic in the basement dedicated to my girls. A complete medical workup, head-to-toe MRI, full spectrum tests, the whole deal for every single person living here would be a good start on short circuiting surprises in the future. Maggie’s attack scared the hell out of me.

“Some maladies can’t be prevented, but the effects and treatments can be moderated or reduced to something less than catastrophic. A specialty women’s clinic would be a boon.” Phoebe instantly agreed. “A little warning is a good thing.”

We needed a larger, more streamlined kitchen. Fortunately, we had lots of room for expansion. Do we establish a KP rotation or do we hire an in-house catering service? Seriously, feeding nearly forty people at once is a huge job. Using three to four dozen eggs, fifty pancakes, six or seven loaves of bread, ten pounds of bacon, sausage or ham, two or three gallons of milk or juice, a few gallons of coffee, and pints and pounds of butter and jam, per breakfast, was the usual. Were any of the academies offering classes in Home Economics or Culinary Arts? Restaurant Management? Whatever Amy was doing seemed to be working perfectly, but for how long before we reached burnout critical mass?

On the upside, we had no food allergies, no vegetarians or picky eaters. What we had was a houseful of girls who were eager to do their share. Amy claimed the task was not such a problem with all of the girls around to shoulder the burden, but when school started up in September, the story might change. Study was mandatory. Those not in highschool had real jobs. AIR/BRA, Ten Penny, Bright Star/Airwear and M3DI, ArtFinder could not be ignored or delayed.

Amy and Karen, with professional advice from the Romero women, would make necessary adjustments to avoid chaos in the kitchen. Mass quantities of pasta sauces, chili, soups and stews, though the simplest and easiest hardy meals, have limited appeal as a constant diet. Even burgers required dozens of buns and twelve pounds of ground meat, grilled, broiled or cooked in a skillet. Forget about fries for forty hungry teenagers. Food processors are our friend.

One thing we had to decide immediately was the school logo pendant policy. Eve connected with Rose and YoBeau on speakerphone and the Stars told us they had speculative orders in house from Bingham-Hampton, Narragansett, Union, Bay Shore, Carver, Madison, Prospect Park Fine Arts, Riverside Prep, Bainbridge, St. Mark’s Episcopal and three women’s fitness centers. We settled on a variation of the two-toned diamond pendant: raised border in one school color, school initials (BH, U, etc.) in the center in the second color, all on a cellophane or silver base. Zephyr Fashions would appear in tiny lettering at the bottom, imprinted on the edge of the diamond border.

If we did it at all, I wanted it considered a special custom item, delayed delivery and to cost $10.00 each, no discounts. Rose agreed and added the caveat ‘minimum order of 100 units, split evenly between the clip-on and necklace loop varieties.’ A larger version, 2” on a side, would be available at 15.00 each, same minimums. A prepaid exclusive. Jean suggested we add a pierced earring option for the necklace pendant. “They weigh nothing, so why not? We can get nice posts from a quality supply house then resell them on the same page as the necklaces and spring rings.”

The idea got unanimous approval. One-stop shopping.

The Bright Stars promised to confirm as many orders as possible by 1:00 PM today, with colors in Pantone® standards. Gold would be as close as we could get. Beth and Suki assured her we would be able to copy the font from each school’s website.

The clock was our friend this bright sunny morning. The twelve Z-Girls and two Pennys traveling to Staten Island met the generic yet heavily armored bus on time, Belinda returned to Bright Star with Tina in the Humvee and we were off to the ferry exactly at 9:00 AM.

They were dressed for a typical Saturday outing in the city, pre-Airwear era, but had plenty of ‘normal’ clothing in a small overnight bag for working at the transgossamer factory. Amy and Sioux were in constant earpiece contact with the girls at Zephyr House. Emma had Laura on comms. We had a full complement of Glocks, M-16, IDs and badges. My trusty Barrett M82A1.50 caliber semi-automatic sniper rifle snuggled safely in a special compartment under the dashboard.

Smitty and Nat were picking up freight at Teterboro for the helicopter girls who were arriving from Fort Meade this evening. The patrol boat was on schedule for Sunday afternoon docking. They were traveling up from Wilmington, NC, via the Intracoastal Waterway.

Everyone seemed to have a laptop. I set up Mika and Anne as the drone monitors simply to see who was watching whom. I needed to upgrade and tie the Hill House security cams to our Amsterdam net. Motion detection was good for the outside, but I wanted the same indoors instead of the time-lapse routine in place. Active alerts whenever a camera triggered would complete the suite.

I still intended to be wary of the Yakuza whenever we planned to go into Tanaka/Sakura territory. The outlaws may have done a thorough job hiding this asset, but sensible paranoia is healthy, no matter who covered the tracks. Pia Sunstrom at the guardhouse reported no suspicious traffic since our last announced visits. Successful enemies never look suspicious, it interferes with success.

The trip downtown was pleasantly boring as the girls burned up the sat phones. Rose called in her wish list plus confirmations on the special pendants. All ten schools and the fitness centers ordered the minimum amount in both sizes! Prospect Park and Bainbridge were using the 2” clip-ons as paper clips for board meetings and converting some into keychains. Narragansett and Bingham-Hampton ordered 400 more of the smaller size to mail with the August alumnae newsletters.

They cost pennies to make. We had over $40,000 in profit from the pendants before the first one was produced. I had no problem enabling elitism.

Beth and Suki logged onto the school sites, downloading the fonts and colors and then began to convert the Photoshopped drawings into CAD formats for the extruders.

Amy and Jenny found a reputable supplier for the earring accessories before we drove onto the ferry. Basically, the traditional small necklace fastener with a post attached. You know the kind: a ring with the ‘impossible to put on without help’ slide ring. Two thousand pairs would be shipped Monday. Our retail would be $4.00/pair.

Irina and Karen settled on the transgossamer production run and added the 10X half-solid silver and solid white fabrics for the chokers and collars. I did not want to know if they planned to continue the pheromone warfare in colors other than the black, white, silver and smoke. I suspected the pendants to be as before.

I wanted to manufacture transparent 2’X3’ sheets of armor plate in eighth, quarter and half inch thicknesses. A little target practice at poolside would tell me volumes about heat dissipation and kinetic energy absorption. I would love to see a sheet of MMTG under a military vehicle take the blast of an IED and shield the crew. Better the wheels get blown off than arms and legs. I would not like to see the occupants melted.

That would be bad. If we could engineer a sheet similar to corrugated cardboard, then fill it with a coolant that would evaporate and bleed off the heat ... Or vent frigid air through the veins before going into harm’s way. There has to be a solution of some sort, which was portable and inexpensive.

Looking back, the armor run was not small. Two each, in 2”, 1”, half, quarter and eighth inch thicknesses in the original translucent material. Repeated again in a transparent version and it added up to twenty armor plates. Yikes!

Once away from the pier, we could feel the psychic pressure drop after a few minutes on the water with a rare opportunity to act like silly tourists on the ride over to Staten Island. It was fun. The girls swarmed over the boat like a bunch of carefree kids, Pennys included. The good spirit was contagious. The Tanners and Bakers had charmed their way onto the bridge and were entertaining the captain and pilot with their antics. I had no idea where the Baxters disappeared, but from the sounds coming over the earwigs, I suspected they wanted to see the engine room.