Chapter 12

"Madam Elizabeth, a moment if I may?"

The object of the woman's plea stopped just shy of the exterior glass doors, turned and glanced back. "Absolutely, Councilor. What can I help you with?"

The dark-haired beauty, dressed sharply in a figure-hugging pantsuit, waved off the title. "Chelsea, please," she invited warmly. "I just wanted to thank you personally for your many years of incredible service to the D.O.C., and to apologize if I came on a bit strong earlier."

"Oh, no, not at all..." Elizabeth tried to protest. In truth, she had been quite unsettled and rather offended by the subcommittee chair's vehement and vocal opposition but to admit so would not have been polite. Besides, in victory she could afford to be gracious.

Chelsea, however, stopped her short. ""Yes, yes I did," she interrupted with a laugh, "and you know it!" Rolling her eyes, she shook her head as if in disbelief. "I'm sorry. In my enthusiasm, I can go too far and say things that I'll later regret—like now."

"Don't we all," Elizabeth replied, starting to thaw towards the younger woman, even offering her a slight smile. "Act in haste, repent in leisure—if you live that long, my Gerald used to say."

"He was a wise man," the councilor nodded in response. She then reached gently for the longtime caretaker's shoulder. "Please know that, as harsh and unfeeling as I sounded earlier, I meant none of it personally. I truly feel for young Daphne's situation and I admire your charges' desire to help her. It's quite courageous and in different times I could have supported it, but not now."

"What do you mean?"

Surreptitiously glancing around, Chelsea looked back and then motioned toward the glass doors. "May I walk with you?"

In moments, they were out in the open air. The beautiful grounds around them were filled with various council staff and visitors coming and going. Walking slowly, the two of them talked about inconsequential matters until they were clear of the crowds. They stopped not far from the Sandra Building, at an elaborate fountain dedicated to the first of the modern heroes, Laurits Tamm.

Elizabeth sat down on a nearby bench and gazed up at the center statue, its dashing features embodying the courage and bravery of the man. A cavalry officer and scientist from the imperial court of Catherine the Great in Earth's eighteenth century and personally responsible for recruiting heroes from Europe to Japan, his story was required reading for all caretakers. Nearly a third of all Cassandrans could trace their lineage from at least one of his twenty-three damsels, whose smaller statues surrounded his own, gazing up at his with obvious desire and love.

"I have two," Chelsea said quietly, pointing to each of them in turn, "Eunice and Hannah."

Elizabeth smiled. "We have something in common. I have Hannah, like you, but then also two others—Mehitable, and on the far side, my namesake Elizabeth."

The pretty brunette smiled back but then grew serious. "Now, about what I was talking about earlier," she began. "Unfortunately, the Slaver War exposed a lot of our security vulnerabilities. Just when we close one down, it seems two more pop up. Chaos is a dangerous place for adults, let alone children—and it seems to be getting more dangerous all the time."

Turning toward the other woman seated next to her, Elizabeth's expression changed from curiosity to alarm. "If you have concerns about the safety of these children beyond the normal situation on Chaos, you should have brought it up at the council!"

Chelsea shook her head. "Your presentation took place in an open forum. There was no way I could share this kind of information with all those visitors and reporters present—it would cause a panic. Besides, the executive council and staff already know about the problems. They just choose not to take them as seriously as me and my people do."

"What kind of problems?"

"There are far too many to talk about now and most are above your clearance level. Not that that's saying much," Chelsea added with a self-deprecating laugh. "I'm cleared for all of it and I don't understand half of them." She shrugged her shoulders. "Fortunately, I've got good people working for me day and night who do."

"That said," she continued, "the changes passed by the council should shield your charges from most of the ones my office is struggling with—showing that maybe my pleas aren't falling on deaf ears after all."

"I don't understand. How is letting the children only use Crossroads for gateway and medical needs and then making them commute from Cassandra, rather than Earth, a good thing?"

"It's no secret the new mandate was motivated primarily from economic concerns," the councilwoman revealed. "Spirits, the operational power costs alone are staggering, let alone the personnel—which, of course, is why they want you to hand over this caretaker task to someone else and get back to being the prime hero greeter," she added, nodding her head toward the graceful older woman. "Still, the upside is that it does the children a tremendous benefit by keeping them off Crossroads as much as possible."

"What do you mean? Are you saying that Crossroads isn't safe?" Elizabeth asked, suddenly very troubled.

"Oh, it's safe, just not secure," Chelsea replied quickly. "The truth is we don't have access to the whole facility. Fallen Hero Carl's infiltration of unknown systems and dormant gateways there three years ago showed us that. Sad to say, even now, we don't know how he did most of what he did and our systems—especially the databases—are still heavily compromised." She shook her head. "No, the Jones Society has done your charges a great favor by agreeing to finance and staff their rescue missions from here on Cassandra."

Confused, Elizabeth stared at the woman with a puzzled expression on her face. "If that's the case, why are you still opposed to it?"

"Because their danger is primarily on Chaos, not Crossroads, and it's only getting worse!" Chelsea exclaimed. "Prior to Carl's Vendetta and our Heroes' Intervention—the nature, identity and purpose of damsels and heroes was a closely guarded secret on that world. That is no longer the case."

"Hector and Miranda did talk about people waiting around the banks for heroes to come out," their temporary caretaker admitted.

"Exactly, and that kind of thing is only going to get worse." Leaning over, Chelsea's voice dropped dramatically. "This is not for publication but our computer simulations are already projecting that hero and damsel deaths will jump from 22% to 49% per mission by year's end."

Elizabeth was horrified. "Cassandra can't sustain those kinds of losses! At that rate..."

"At that rate we're looking at the complete suspension of the damsel project on Chaos for at least a decade, probably more—a lot more," the security chair revealed quietly, her face showing deep concern. "I know it sounded awful of me to suggest Daphne's siblings be left to their fate, but I truly fear your three will not return from their next mission."

"Okay, what do I do now?" Tory asked, looking down at the cards in his hand.

"Marisa led with the Queen of Hearts," Daphne explained, "which means you need to follow with trump, preferably a low one."

"What's trump again?" Miri asked from across the table.

"Queens, Jacks and diamonds."

"But not Kings?"

"Only the King of Diamonds. The rest are fail."

"What if I don't have any trump?" Tory asked, more than a little confused. "Do I have to play a heart because she played the Queen?"

"No, play whatever suit you have but not... ," she exclaimed as he laid down a ten of clubs, "that one."

Picking it up as quickly as he could, the fifteen year old shot Daphne a frustrated look. "What's wrong with this one?"

"Nothing, if you were Marisa's partner," she replied, chuckling. "Then that would be a schmear. But this is four-handed cutthroat so there are no partners and you almost gave her ten points." Leaning over to look at his hand, she pointed to a particular card. "Here, play either of these low fail."

The outer door to the Cassandra portal opened just as Tory went to play the new card, however. He turned in time to see their caretaker, Elizabeth, step through.

"Elizabeth!" Miri dropped her cards and launched herself like a rocket into the woman's arms, nearly knocking her own chair over in the process.

Tory shook his head at his sister's antics. He was glad to see their caretaker, though. She'd been gone quite a while. Still, there was something off about her demeanor. It worried him.

"So what's all this?" Elizabeth asked the giggling child in her arms.

"Daphne's teaching us to play... ," Miri started but then glanced over at the older girl, "what's this game called again?"

"Schafkopf," she replied with a smile.

"It's rather complicated," Marisa tried to explain, "but actually quite fun once you get the hang of it."

"Do you want to play?" Miri asked, clearly excited at the prospect. "We can use one more. Daphne said it's supposed to be played with five people."

"Perhaps later," she replied, setting the girl down. "Actually, I have someone I'd like you to meet."

Tory's eyes widened in surprise, as he watched another woman step through the doorway. She was no stranger to him, though. He knew the smile that lifted slightly more on the left than the right, and the clear blue eyes that twinkled even as they filled with tears. He knew those graceful hands ... and the rich dark brown hair that they tucked behind her right ear. He knew. He knew her.

As if on autopilot, Tory stood and moved towards her but slowed to a stop as he drew near. He felt a small hand slip into his.

"Abuela?" he whispered, staring up into those familiar eyes.

The woman nodded, tears streaming down her face, and opened her arms in welcome.

To say Regina's emotions were all over the place would be an understatement. It seemed that if she wasn't crying, she was laughing. Or was that the other way around? Needless to say, meeting her grandchildren was everything she thought it would be and more. Tory was such a wonderful boy and if Miri were any sweeter she'd be a pastry. They both made her ache for Danielle in a way she thought she'd left behind years ago. And the thought that they were still going back to Chaos, despite the dangers, made her ache even more.

A small hand reached up from her lap and stroked her cheek. "Grandma?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you think we should do?"

She was so glad Elizabeth was there to brief the children about all the council's decisions, as well as the dire warnings from the Security Councilor. If it had been left to her, Regina was sure she would have made a mess of it, as topsy turvy as she was feeling. Thankfully this way, she could offer her totally honest, selfish and biased opinion without having to apologize for it.

"I would have thought that was obvious," she replied with a sad chuckle to little Miri who had turned around in her lap to look up at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she said, squeezing the little girl tight against her breast, "I want you all to stay with me as long as I can keep you. And if there was any way I could convince your brother not to go back to that horrible planet, I would."

"But what about Papí and Tía Marisa ... or Whit? We'd never get to see them again!"

"I know, dear heart, I know," she replied with a kiss to the top of the child's head. "One problem at a time."

Glancing across the room, the grandmother observed another problem and it was one she should have anticipated. She should have remembered what it was like to be that age and be around a boy as virile as her grandson. Regina had only been a few years older than Daphne when she was rescued by Gerald. She shivered. Just the thought of those days—even now, almost forty years later—sent a wave of pleasure throughout her body.

As for Daphne, it was obvious Tory had become the center of the girl's world. She was forever gazing at him with such wistful adoration and love. It was, of course, something Regina thought was incredibly sweet and romantic except for one problem—Tory often looked at her the same way.

Elizabeth had said the healing chamber scans of each had shown them to be both healthy and fertile, which wasn't a surprise given their parentage. Letting two such children in their mid-teens be in perpetual contact like this, however, was never allowed on Cassandra and for good reason. They were simply too young to become parents.

Normally on Cassandra, a fertile male who had a more feminine libido—like her grandson obviously had—would be placed into the care of one or more older infertile women. They would train him in the ways of intimacy and sex so that, by the time he reached maturity, he would be able to handle being with multiple women and becoming a father many times over. Tory, however, was too far along and too attached now to Daphne for Regina to even propose such an arrangement.

Contraceptives, on the other hand—which the former damsel knew were so prevalent on Earth and had experience with on Chaos—were also out since they were non-existent on Cassandra, forbidden by law. The healing chamber was of no help either, replying to every inquiry with the message that "any attempt to sterilize a patient, even temporarily, was contrary to its function."