Chapter Eleven

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Sue picked at her roll idly as Ráichéal chatted amiably about something-or-other. She couldn't help but feel like there was something she was missing, some piece to this puzzle that would fit if she just knew how to turn it.

She'd learned to trust her instincts these past few years. So when she got a feeling that she needed to go to Amsterdam, she'd gone...but nothing was there. And soon enough, she felt it was time to go back to Heidelberg, and...still nothing.

It didn't make sense. Unless her sixth sense was failing her, with her time in Europe almost at a close. Maybe it's just a fear of going home, she thought. That could be it. She'd carved out a nice niche for herself here in Germany. She was herself. She wasn't defined by her family here.

That wouldn't be true back in America. But she picked at her roll, and knew that all good things must come to an end. Perhaps, when she graduated, she could look for a job in the E.U. Or maybe not; she turned the puzzle around in her head, trying to make the pieces fit.

* * *

Sarah stretched out her mind for him. It was late, and she expected not to see him. But she thought she would try, one last time before bed.

And suddenly, she was staring up at a beautiful woman, slightly voluptuous, staring down at...at Scott, she knew, who was tiny next to her, talking, quietly.

"You have to understand," he said, "I don't think the League is entirely wrong. Women have gotten the short end of it for millennia. Hell, only a brain-dead moron, or a Men's Rights activist, or one of those idiots thinks that women have it better than men. My wife's best friend was raped in high school, my best friend's sister was raped and murdered. And that's not even getting into the thirty-four thousand ways the deck is stacked against women when it comes to everyday life.

"But that's changing. It was already changing before GTS became real, and it's changing much faster since. A guy can't hit his girlfriend now because for all he knows, she'll shrink him down to three feet tall and kick the living hell out of him. Probably she won't, but how does he know? Rapists? You told me you've killed two -- and I won't mourn 'em -- and they're the tip of the iceberg. It's hard to exert control over women when they can't be physically subdued. And they can't be anymore, not reliably."

"So why do you fight the League then?" the giantess asked.

"Because the League isn't happy just getting women to equality. They want women to turn the tables on men completely. They want women to be able to beat men without fear of reprisal, they want women to be able to rape with impunity. They don't want to balance the scales, they want to tip 'em."

"But isn't that fair?" asked Zoraida.

Scott told the buzzing in his head, mentally, I love you Sarah, but please, pull back -- they'll track it. He responded to the giantess, "My friend Jake would say it was, but it wasn't right."

Zoraida leaned back, looking at the tiny man on her nightstand. Her heart was still beating quickly. She knew that she could gain favor from her commanders. If she called them now, she could hold him until Wafia arrived, and Leah.

But she listened to him, and she thought of all the casual cruelty she'd seen in her life.

Not all of it had come from men.

She leaned back, and said, finally, "I can not let you leave yet. I need to think about some things. But -- I will keep you a secret for now. I have to think."

Scott nodded. "I understand. I'll stay. Just give me one promise."

"What is that?"

"If you decide to dispose of me...give me the chance to parry first."

Zoraida smiled. "I will," she said.

Sarah pulled out of Scott's mind, and sighed, relieved. She knew he was in danger. He seemed to be trying to turn a League operative. She smiled, slightly. She knew damn well that her husband was the best field op in the organization. She knew if anyone could pull it off, it would be him. And while she knew that until he was safe in her hands she would be terrified, she also knew that she owed it to the Society, herself, and to him to let him do his job.

* * *

Henry wandered the campus of Universität Heidelberg, looking at the grildrometer as it slowly crept higher. It was at 3.2 kΓρs and rising rapidly. They were around here. He could tell. Just a few more loops, watching the needle climbing slowly, and he would have them.

* * *

Michaelson ran.

He did so every morning; had done so whenever he could for as long as he could remember. A Marine is supposed to be in shape. And he was still a Marine, he told himself, despite the fact that the civilians identified him as one of them.

He struggled as he ran to reconcile everything he'd learned in the past few days. He wasn't stupid -- far from it -- but he was still trying to see how getting the Society out of the way benefited anyone.

Oh, sure, it would get the Society out of the way -- that would be something. But he wasn't sure that his patrons really knew what they were getting into with the League. He had a sinking feeling that the idea that they'd destroy the Society and then everyone would return to their corners to wait for the next round -- well, he didn't think it likely.

But he also knew that the alternative to being a part of this was sitting at a desk in the bowels of the Pentagon, waiting to retire or die. He just hoped he could steer things the right way when it came time. If his friends didn't see that the League needed to be felled at the same time as the Society, well, he would just have to ensure it happened.

* * *

Lloyd reclined against Lil's right breast, looking down at her enormous visage. Of course, it was all relative; Lil was about four centimeters high right now, and he but a few millimeters.

He frowned, looking at her dozing lightly. He was worried. She had been with him so far unconditionally. But he loved her enough that he didn't want to burden her.

He tried to think how he could push her away so that she'd leave, but so that, if the day ever came, she might take her back. Tried to think how even as he knew that if she left, he'd die -- because without her, he knew that he would not have been able to fight on these past weeks. Without her, he would have surrendered. She was what tied him to the world right now. Without her, life meant nothing.

But because of that, he knew that he couldn't let her destroy her life for him. He had to find a way to free her, even if it meant his destruction.

He prayed for the strength to do what he had to do. But not yet, O Lord, not yet.

* * *

Ráichéal almost ran right into the man, who was waiting outside her dorm room, looking at a device.

"Ja?" she asked, wondering what this was about.

"Ja...er...Sprechen Sie Englich? Meine Deutsch ist nicht so gut," the man said.

"I'm actually Irish, so yes, I speak English. What can I do for you?"

"Yes, I'm Hank Bartholomew, we're doing a check for vermin. You know, mice, rats, that sort of thing. May I check your dorm room?"

Ráichéal raised an eyebrow. "What's an American doing checking for vermin at a German University on a Sunday?"

The man laughed. "Thought you might wonder that," he said, flashing a badge that identified him as a member of the National Security Agency. "I'm working for the American government with the assistance of the German government, and I'm afraid I can't discuss the issue any further. National"

Ráichéal backed up a step. "What? Do you have...can I see..."

"Miss, I really need to check this room," he said, replacing his wallet inside his jacket, and retrieving a taser. "We can do this politely, or we can do this the hard way."

At that, the blood drained from Ráichéal's face. "I...uh...okay, yes, okay."

* * *

A few buildings away, Sue's head snapped up.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Closing her book, she started to pack it away, then thinking better of it, she dropped it on the desk, and turned and began to run.

* * *

Lloyd heard the door open, and slid off his fiancée's chest and on to the ground, restoring himself to her size as he observed the door swing open, and a pair of wingtips walk in. "Bloody Hell!" he said as he looked up at the giant.

"Wake up, Lil! Hurry, it's them, they've found us, we have to hide!"

Lil woke quickly, and staggered to her feet, as she stared up at the immense Henry Bigg, who was muttering gleefully to the room in general, "No, no, change sizes again. Please, one more good spike and I should have you."

He spun slowly, looking at the dial. "Fee, fi, foe, fum...I smell the blood of an Englishman and his girlfriend. Come out, come out wherever you are."

Lil grabbed Lloyd's hand and pulled him toward the depths of the bed. "Come on!" she said.

Henry turned, and cocked his head. He thought he heard -- yes, the needle confirmed it. It was swinging wildly at this point, almost 100 kΓρs when he pointed it toward the bed. They were there.

"I've got you now," he said.

"Got who now?" came a voice from behind him.

He wheeled, and saw another woman standing in the door, vaguely familiar. "Official government business," he said. "As an American, I'm sure you understand --"

"He's got a taser, Sue," said Ráichéal. "We'd better let him..."

"What's that?" asked Sue, pointing at the grildrometer.

"This? Oh, it's just a Geiger counter. Nothing..." said Henry, who looked down at the meter, and frowned. 550 kΓρs? Impossible.

"That's not a Geiger counter," said Sue. "Put the grildrometer down, and then empty your pockets, and I won't hurt you."

"Susi, what are you doing?" asked Ráichéal.

"Trust me," said Sue, raising her right hand. "Do it," she said to the man.

Bigg looked at her, nonplussed. Almost by instinct, he raised his right hand in a mirror image of hers.

"Shrink1:24scaleandbind," said Sue, matter-of-factly, as Henry Bigg quickly dropped to three inches tall. "Ráichéal, grab him and put him on the dresser."

Sue hated using her powers. But he'd left her no choice.

"Ráichéal, seriously, please put him on the dresser."

Ráichéal, for her part, was frozen in shock, looking at Sue with a mixture of awe and surprise. "I thought -- you never said you had any powers."

"Yeah, well, it's bad enough being Sarah Kensington's little sister, you think I'd ever get noticed for myself if I followed her into the business? You," she said, pointing at Bigg, who Ráichéal was finally depositing on her dresser. "I know you. You used to work for the Society. You're Henry Bigg. What were you doing here? Were you after me?"

Bigg looked up at Susi Kensington in blind terror. "What? No, no, I wasn't after you. You think I'd cross your sister? Your brother-in-law? They're mad enough at me as it is."

Susi looked down at Bigg. "Then who were you looking for?"

"Nothing!"

"'Nothing?' That's why you threatened my friend with a taser, 'nothing?' Really, I thought you were smarter," she said, raising her right hand up. "Now, I'm going to count to three, and if you don't answer me, I bring my hand down. One...two...."

"All right! I was looking for an adept. I thought...thought he might be hiding here. He's gone over to the League. He had to be stopped!"

Sue shook her head. "Well, I think you might have been looking for someone. Which makes me wonder...Hello?" she called to the room. "I won't hurt you. You haven't threatened anyone. Come on out, I promise I'll be kind."

Lloyd looked at Lil, who squeezed his hand. "It's your decision, love," she said.

Lloyd looked back at the giant woman, who was looking around calmly. "I think," he said, "that at this point, the enemy of my enemy is...well, at least she says she's going to be kind."

Lil nodded. "Just stay on your guard."

The two walked into the room, and Lloyd restored them to their proper sizes. Ráichéal gasped, but Sue just smiled. "Let me guess: you guys were in Amsterdam a couple days ago, right?"

Lloyd was surprised, but Lil returned Sue's smile. "Yes, we were, and thank you for carrying us on to here. I'm sorry for the intrusion by this one," she said, pointing to the tiny figure of Henry, "he and his crew have been after us for weeks."

"Sue Kensington," Sue said, reaching out her hand.

"Lilavati Jurasaya. This is my fiancée, Lloyd Polley."

Lloyd reached out for Sue's hand next. "I'm the one he's been after; Lil has just been an unwitting target."

Sue nodded. "Lil loves you," she said to Lloyd. "Nothing unwitting about that. So, Henry, who's in your 'crew?' I know it isn't the Society. Have you gone over to the League?"

Bigg was quiet.

"He said it was an old organization, that the Society had been formed by traitors to it, but that they wanted men to rule over women. Right, Henry?" said Lloyd.

At that, Sue wheeled. "The Cadre! You're a part of a revitalized Cadre? Are you fucking kidding me?"

She took a few quick strides over to the tiny man, and spat on him.

"You sons of bitches, it's not enough that the League has to start up with some cockamamie plan to elevate the womenfolk, you have to go and give them a counterweight. Well bully for you, you goddamn assholes. So I suppose you wanted this guy to help you, and unfortunately, he actually likes women, thinks they're okay and stuff, right? Right?"

Henry cowered, trying to wipe the saliva from his face, terrified of the very angry woman staring down at him. "You...you don't understand. It's the natural order of things...when you're older, you'll know...."

He shut up as Sue brought a closed fist onto the dresser but an inch from him, knocking him to the ground.

"Look," she said, "I may not want to follow in my sister's footsteps, but I'm damn glad she's able to run the Society without anyone questioning it. I'm glad her vagina doesn't disqualify her from leading, or force her into the kitchen. There is no 'natural order,' you mouth-breather. You think we had computers when we were evolving on the savannah? Spaceships? Cars? Brooms? Humans adapt. Women are men's equals, and humanity will adapt to that, and a hundred years from now, you'll be viewed like the slaveholders. They thought their order was natural too, you know."

"Listen, Sue," said Lloyd, "I don't want to frighten you, but he claimed he had contacts in government."

"Of course he does," Sue said. "Of course he does. Shrink, 1:24 scale, and bind." Henry dwindled into virtual nothingness. "One-eighth inch should keep him out of the way for now. All right," she said, "we'd better get packed and get a move on. Ráichéal, you coming?"

"What?" Ráichéal replied, still trying to get her brain around what was going on.

"If Lloyd here is right, then that NSA badge was real, and there will be more agents showing up -- no doubt there are some Cadre sympathizers in der Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz who will be here within the hour. We've got one chance, and that's to light out for Berlin. Now."

"Look, you don't have to go," said Lloyd. "Maybe Lil could stay here, you could claim that Henry took me..."

Sue shook her head. "They'll take one look at my last name, and they'll know. Ráichéal could stay here, I suppose, with Lil."

"Well I'm not staying here," said Lil. "You won't get rid of me that easily, love. I'm in it for good."

"Lil --"

"Stop," she said, quieting him with a kiss. "My life is entwined with yours, for good or ill. You're not going to rid yourself of me this side of the grave."

Lloyd looked at her, and said, "I'm sorry, and I'm glad."

"Ráichéal? You could tell 'em the truth, that a bunch of folks did some crazy stuff with GTS, and that you stayed behind because it didn't have anything to do with you."

Ráichéal, for her part, looked at Sue, and gave a half-smile. "But it does, Sue. I know you'd go with me. How long will we be in Berlin?"

* * *

Wolfgang von Karajan strode into the room two hours later, and cursed. The grildrometer showed a slowly fading echo of a whole lot of power, but that echo was indeed fading. They'd given them the slip.

As for Henry Bigg, there was no sign. The director of the Cadre in Germany did find the mobile phone Henry had dropped, but there was no sign of Henry himself.

Not that von Karajan cared. Had he known as he left that Bigg was trying to climb down a dresser, and about to start a few years of living off the crumbs of the dorm's residents, it's doubtful that von Karajan would have given a second's thought to helping him. No, he had bigger fish to fry. This room belonged to a girl named Kensington. It couldn't be a coincidence; von Karajan didn't believe in coincidence. No, he'd have to find a lever. He'd call Washington in a few hours. See what bones he could rattle. Because he knew that if target Bravo was lost to the Society, that the Cadre would be lost with him.

* * *

The prop plane landed in St. Mary's as the sun peaked over the horizon. Soon enough, the car carried them up to New Myrina, and there the four women were reunited with the League.

Leah Jackson was so happy that she almost was able to blot out her anger at Scott Chelgren. "Liz! My Goddess, I can't believe you escaped!"

"It wasn't easy, Madame President. I had help," she said, gesturing to Yvette and Tori.

"Ah, yes. Tori, you had assistance from your friends in the Cadre. Sir George is going to be quite happy to have his assassin back, I think. We'll send you on to them soon enough. Someday, we'll be enemies, but you and I will talk -- when that day comes, perhaps we need not hate each other."

Tori looked on quizzically, but Leah didn't stop. Instead, she walked up to Yvette. "So, Yvette, how are you doing?"

"I am well, Beatrice," she said, evenly. "I'm glad to see you survived."

"Ah yes, 'Beatrice.' That was the name I was using for that mission, wasn't it? You know, it's funny, but Mikhaela told me not long after the ring was broken up that you testified about our little organization in order to get a reduction on your sentence. Is that true?"

Yvette went white. "Well...not exactly. I told them some things that I did not think would hurt...things they already knew."

"Right. Vous m'avez trahi, Yvette."

"What? No! Never! I respected you, Beatrice, that is why I came back!"

But Leah was not listening. Instead, she raised her right hand. "Pokalechke," she said.

Yvette turned inside out, literally, as the spell worked its way through her body. She tried to scream from the pain, but it came out only as a weak gurgle, as organs crossed with other organs, and her body collapsed into a puddle of flesh. With one last gurgled scream, she was gone.

"I don't tolerate betrayal," she said to those assembled. "Zoraida, would you be a dear and show The Coed, Angie and Tori to some quarters in 'C' barracks? And Liz, I'll be along in about twenty minutes to chat with you. Meanwhile, someone clean this mess up."

And with that, the President of the League strode away.