Chapter 24

Friday night I had called for a catered meal, and Lucy was helping me set everything up as everybody started to arrive. And both Gloria and Alicia were glad to finally meet her. “Yes, now I see what Mister Fang meant, you are like Miss Dianna, but also not like her.”

I looked at Alicia as she said that, then at Fang. And his tongue was out one side of his mouth, and I swear he was laughing. Lucy asked what that meant, and Alicia giggled. “Your eyes. They are a bit like the real Dianne, but not the same. He thinks of you as a different pack than she is, but one closely related. Say, she is a wolf as he thinks of her as one, and you from a different pack far away.”

We all laughed, and Bo and Gloria were both glad to finally meet her as well. We had set up a Mexican buffet in the kitchen, and soon we were all gathered at the table and eating. Conversation was general topics, and after I saw Dr. Tran pull a tablet out of his briefcase and walk around the room. I looked, and Ms. Smith explained he was sweeping for bugs. “This is going to be a high security briefing, so we have to be extra careful.” I nodded, and soon he nodded and with drinks we were assembled in the living room area.

“OK, this is something that I realized when I told Di about our sessions for the kids starting next month. Alicia, you know that Bohica can’t be your mentor, right?”

She looked at me, and I saw abject defiance in her face. “Why not? I want him to be my teacher!”

“Well, think about it for a minute. We all know that Chris is a secret, so can never be associated in any way with Bohica. Now, this is something you have to decide, but do you want Gabor to be the same kind of secret? Because if Bohica is seen with Gabor, it will not be hard to link you and Gabor as being the same person.”

I saw Bo sit upright, and slowly nod his head. And Dr. Tran and Ms. Smith turn and nod to each other. “You know, that is something we had not considered. Ms. Smith, we need to be more careful with Greater Chameleons, especially the younger ones. Clint, do you have any ideas?”

“Yes, a few. First, assign Alicia to Dire Wolf as a mentor. That would minimize contact with her and Bohica to larger operations or emergencies. In fact, rotate her through all of us, including Bohica. But pair them together the most.”

The all nodded, and Alicia looked very thoughtful. “That means I have to go to the training as Gabor, and not as me, right?”

“I’m afraid so, unless you want others to know your secret. And I would encourage you to keep it that way. Me, I can never hide who I am so I never try. Di and Bo only tell their secrets to a few people.”

Doug laughed, and said they had dated for months before he found out his girlfriend was really Dire Wolf. And Gloria said the same thing, only learning when Bohica had been shot in the head and changed to Chris in front of her eyes.

“Now some are open about who they are, like Sarge, Night Wing, and Firebolt. But they all went public early on, and saw no reason to hide. But most Paladins do hide who they are, if not to protect themselves than to protect others.”

Bo asked what Dr. Tran thought, and he slowly nodded. “In this, I agree with Clint. Alicia, like Bohica here you are completely vulnerable in this form. And only less vulnerable as Gabor. For the foreseeable future, I would agree with Clint. But don’t worry, we can work around this. And I think I know how we can do that. Dire, can you arrange to pick her up three times a week for a month after school?”

She nodded, and said that would not be a problem. “OK, I will put in the paperwork and next week we will start Gabor taking driving lessons. Alicia, in case you did not know your Mutant ID is valid as a drivers license, but I assume you don’t know how to drive.”

She shook her head, but looked excited. “That will solve part of the problem. There will still be some logistics to work out, but Di will take you for lessons, and you get a car for Gabor. That way you can drive to where you need to go. Bo grinned, and asked her what kind of car she wanted.

“Can I get a Toyota? My parents had an old Toyota pickup, and I always wanted one.” Bo laughed, and reached out and ran his fingers through her hair and nodded.

“Now we can’t give it a full kit, but we can put in the basic package, like Di has” Doug laughed. “Link it to your phone, light armor, but no camouflage until you become a full Paladin. Will you need to get financing?”

Bo laughed, and shook his head. “Naw, she has enough in the bank right now to go to a dealer and buy a new one. Like I said before, we are making her save most of her money. And that will be a good investment for her. But baby, you are going to be responsible for it yourself. Maintenance, insurance, all of that. We are just going to have to figure out where to keep it and how to get you to it.”

“Oh, I think we can work that out. Alicia, my new house is going to be about three miles from where you live. We keep it there on the compound, and assign one of the guest houses for you to use. Gabor can keep his things there, and you can ride your bike to the dojo. When it is completed, there will be tunnels running between all of the buildings. Go into the dojo, and a few minutes later you will be in the basement of the house. You might even want to spend a night or two there, just to give the illusion that Gabor lives there.”

She looked excited at that, and Bo asked me how much that would cost. “Well, nothing. There are going to be two guesthouses there, and neither is used at the present. Gabor might have to share it on occasion if we need a guest there, be I doubt that will happen much. In fact, figure on his staying there every Friday night when it is finished. That way he is already there on Saturday, and can just run to training.”

She grinned like the kid she was, and said she could ride her bike there most nights she was not seeing Elijah. I looked at Bo, and he and Gloria both laughed. “Elijah is Alicia’s boyfriend. And no, he does not know and he only knows Bo here. Alicia, what will you tell him?”

“Oh Gloria, that’s simple. On that night I will say I’ll be at Sister Clarissa’s helping the kids. I already do that a couple of times a month, he will understand. After training I can find a way to sneak back with Bo, we just put my bike in the trunk of his car.”

We all nodded, as that would probably work out. And at times they could do that to drive Alicia to the guest house. Then Miss Smith spoke up. “You know, in this state Alicia can ride a moped without a license. It still needs to be registered and she needs a helmet, but it is perfectly legal.”

Alicia grinned at that, and I saw Bo give Gloria a look. But she nodded hesitantly, and then Bo sighed. “OK, but a few conditions. You keep your grades up, and if you get one ticket it’s being taken away. But even I admit, that would likely make things a lot easier.”

“Sure,” I said. “Alicia can drive it here, and park it behind the dojo. I will make sure she has a key and alarm code, and she can take the tunnel to the house I am letting her use. She can park her car or truck there, then just leave as required.”

Then Bo spoke up again, and looked into her eyes as he took her hand. “But remember, baby. At least sometimes we will have to do something else, or people will start to connect you with Gabor.”

Gloria nodded, and said it was that way for her Bo. Alicia looked at Bo, and he laughed. “Baby, for the first five years, I went everywhere on foot. Ask Clint or Di here, I would literally take a taxi, or the subway if I was needed somewhere. It was not until I talked to Di and she told me what all Control could do that I finally got a car, and started to have a real life of my own. Think about that, I spent five years on foot. It made me more effective in Darktown, but made it harder to respond to other areas if they needed help.”

Di chuckled. “At least once, he took a taxi and arrived after Clint and I ended the situation. But to be honest, none of us knew he did not have a car, we thought he was just eccentric.”

Doug laughed, and agreed with his wife. “Then a series of other things happened. He talked to my wife, and then I helped him get the place you all live in now. Clint, how much do you want to charge Alicia for rent?”

“Doug, nothing. Remember, I am having two houses built just for guests, or in case one is needed. It will be just sitting there, if she needs it or not.”

“Well, let me tell you this. As a Paladin in this area, she is authorized a housing allowance.”

“But I’m not a Paladin yet” Alicia softly said.

“Sweetie, you are close enough” Dr. Tran said. “True, you are limited in what you can do, but think of it like this. If we have a Code Four, we can call you. You are limited in what you can do, and that is mostly crowd control unless it is a natural disaster. But Doug is right, you can apply for and get a housing allowance. Clint, make up a lease agreement for $850, I can sign off on that in our area without a problem. Then you can live there openly as Gabor, and start to live more openly as that identity.”