Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ Bubblegum Avatar #1 -- "Tin-Sell City" ❯ Chapter 10 - "I have not come to praise Mason, but to bury him...." ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Chapter 10 - "I have not come to praise Mason, but to bury him...."

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Craig adjusted his tie for the fourth time since he and Mackie had entered the elevator. The younger of the two sighed and said, "Will you stop fiddling with that tie?"

"I can't help it," Craig muttered. "This thing is like a noose around my neck!"

"Well, if you keep adjusting it, it's not going to look right."

"I prefer breathing over looks."

Mackie glanced up at the floor indicator. "We've got about five seconds before we reach the restaurant floor, so you'd better stop before then."

Craig took a deep breath and stopped adjusting his tie. "Why the dinner?" he asked surly.

"I let Sis explain it," replied Mackie as the elevator doors opened. They walked out into a lobby the size of a basketball court. The walls were a light peach, soft lit, with masterpiece oil paintings intermixed with classic sculptures. The carpet was rich and full colored in a mix of warm reds and vibrant yellows. Large padded chairs and sofas lined the walls where there was room. Beside the single elevator, the only other visible exit was a large set of double doors set in the far wall.

There were a few people milling around, some either waiting for a table or preparing to leave. From their clothes and general appearance, most of these were people who were well-heeled and rich. Those who weren't were employees, but even they carried an air of superiority.

After several seconds, a thin man with a tuxedo and an air of arrogance strode up to Craig and Mackie. "Do you have a reservation?" he asked, his tone distasteful.

Mackie nodded. "We're part of the Stingray party."

The man's tone shifted to one of more respect. "Ah. Mr. Stingray and Mr. Reed, I presume?"

"Yes," replied Mackie smoothly. Craig just stood there, his eyes roaming around the elegant lobby, his expression a shifting mix of different feelings.

"The rest of your party has already arrived. If you will follow me, please?"

He escorted the pair through a pair of tall wooden doors into the restaurant itself. It was a large room, with two of the walls made up of nothing but windows overlooking the city. Tables and booths were laid out with seeming mathematical precision, showing the same richness that the lobby had in their linen and tableware. Waiters wove to and fro with grace and dignity from table to kitchen and back again with food orders. Diners, mirroring the people in the lobby in their dress and attitude, ate and talked in subdued tones, allowing the soft music playing in the background to waft across the room.

The garçon lead the two men to a corner table, where the others were waiting. All four women were wearing evening dresses -- Sylia's was a rich black in color with a modest neckline, Linna's an aqua, off the shoulder number, while Priss' was a fiery red in color with a plunging neckline that Craig made a point of not to look at too much. Nene's dress was a lot like Sylia's only a deep green in color with more frills.

The leader of the Knight Sabers gave the two latecomers a smile. "I see you finally made it," she said softly. "We've just ordered, so if you hurry, you can eat with us."

Mackie took an empty seat beside his sister, while Craig walked around the table to claim the empty chair between Nene and Linna. "The project too a bit longer then we thought," Craig replied as he seated himself. "The situation also got a bit....messy in a fluid sort of way."

"How much of a mess?" asked Sylia.

"Let us just say that Doctor Raven better not run through that area of the garage anytime soon."

"I'm sure you and Mackie can finish up tomorrow morning."

"We're already planing to be there early," Mackie assured her, picking up a menu.

"Well, Craig's going to be a little late."

Craig looked up from his own menu. "I am?"

"Your next level of training starts tomorrow, remember?"

"Oh, yea." He looked over at Linna. "Punching bag for little miss Bruce Lee here. My bruises can hardly wait."

"I'm not that bad!" Linna mock growled.

"Well, with you around, I spend more time on my back then I do on my feet." Craig looked around the table at the sudden round of giggles. "What?"

"Talk about clueless," Priss said in amused tone.

"What do you mean...." The expression on Craig's face changed as he realized the double meaning of his statement. "Ah...er..un..."

"You're forgiven," said Linna, patting him on the arm. "At least until tomorrow morning."

Craig glanced at Sylia. "Is it too late to call in sick tomorrow?"

"I'm afraid it is," the dark-haired woman replied, pleasure tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Fine." Craig looked at the menu again. "In that case, as a condemned man, I plan to have a very good meal tonight."

***************

The meal was as excellent as the surroundings. The conversation was pleasant, with stories being traded back and forth. As an unspoken agreement, the group had one glass of wine, then switched over to nonalcoholic drinks. There were a few eyebrows raised, when Craig went through his rather large meal quickly.

"Can I ask why we're having this dinner?" Craig inquired in a low voice.

Sylia looked at him over a glass of wine. "To officially welcome you to our organization. I presume you're familiar with the eleven commandments of our group?"

"Not off the top of my head, but I know them well enough to live by them."

"In that case." Sylia raised her wineglass, her slight smile warm despite its slightness. "Ladies, Mackie, A toast to the newest member of our circle. To Craig."

"To Craig!" the others said in soft voices, their wineglasses held aloft, even Priss, who managed not to look too sour.

The object of the toast looked uncomfortable. "Thank you all," he said softly. "I hope I can live up to what you think I should be."

"We shall see," replied Priss, her voice holding a bit of challenge in its tone.

The conversation drifted onto other topics and everyone relaxed. Ten minutes after the toast, Craig leaned back in his chair and smiled. "That was good," her remarked. "What's for desert?"

Nene and Linna looked at their still half filled plates, then at the empty plate in front of Craig, then at Craig himself. "Did you inhale that?" asked Linna, looking amazed.

Craig shrugged. "I was hungry."

"Starving more like it," Mackie remarked.

"I'm a fast eater."

"I think I beginning to understand the Largo photograph," Sylia murmured, which earned her several strange looks.

"Hey," Replied Craig, looking pained. "I can't help it if I like food!"

Priss gave Craig one of her 'I'm going to zing you' smiles. "Keep that up," she purred, "and you'll end up like little miss cyberpunk here." She motioned to Nene.

"I'm not going any weight!" Nene hissed, then looked concerned. "Am I?"

"You look fine to me," Mackie said quickly.

"Priss is just teasing you," said Craig, adjusting his tie again.

"Problems?" asked Sylia.

"Nothing that can't be solved with a looser collar," Craig assured her.

"I'm surprised you showed up in a suit," Priss said.

"I'm surprised you didn't show up in biker's leathers and tell the head waiter to stuff it."

They glared at each other. "Why can't you two be friends?" Nene asked, looking from Craig to Priss and back again.

Craig thought for a moment. "I think it's because Priss and I are of couple of lone wolves who find themselves working together."

Priss raised an eyebrow. "Psychobabble?"

Craig shook his head. "You are I are alike in some ways, though we'll both deny it. We have few friends and we're uncomfortable around people we don't know well. In Fact -" Craig's eyes drifted to the door leading out into the lobby. "Ut-oh, Denebian Slime Devil at twelve o'clock."

"What?" asked Priss.

"Bad news just oozed in the door."

"No one look!" Sylia said in a low, sharp voice. "Who is it?"

"Mason. He's with a pair of either boomers, or overgrown bodybuilders."

Mackie started to turn, but Sylia grabbed him by the arm. "Don't!" she hissed.

"Who's Mason?" asked Linna.

"If you were to take everything that was evil and vile about GENOM, coalesce it into a single person, it would look and talk like Brian J. Mason. He's looking over in this direction." Craig suddenly turned to look at Nene. "Do you thinks the Cubs will win the World Series this year?"

"Huh?" the redhead replied, looking confused.

"Who's Mason?" Linna repeated.

"A special assistant to the Chairman of GENOM," replied Sylia softly. "And Craig is right about him, if somewhat overly descriptive."

"He's walking over here," Craig said out of the corner of his mouth.

"Let me do the talking," said Sylia calmly.

"Fine by me," Craig replied, who continued to stare at Nene, who was beginning to blush. Mackie was looking at them in puzzlement.

"Sylia Stingray," said an oily voice. "I thought it was you."

"Mr. Mason," replied Sylia in a tone slightly warmer then disinterested. "What a pleasant surprise." She glanced up at him then looked around the table.

Mason was smiling at Sylia, but to Craig, there was something wrong with the expression. The paired bodyguards standing behind Mason looked more friendly, despite their impersonal expression.

"It's been several years," Mason continued, resting a hand on the back of Sylia's chair. "I was hoping to see you before this."

"I have been busy."

"Ah, yes, the Silky Doll. How is business these days?"

"Very well." Sylia's eyes grew hard. "I expect an increase in profits over last year."

"That's good." The voice was waxy, putting Craig's teeth on edge.

"Excuse me sir," Craig said in a drawl. "I don't believe we've been introduced."

Mason looked at him, the expression unfriendly. "I wasn't talking to you."

"I don't believe you are part of this party, sir. You have exchanged pleasantries with our hostess, now I am asking you to leave."

"And you are?"

Craig smiled at him. "Name's Bert Van Vliet." He saw Sylia flinch at the name "And you are?"

"Brian J. Mason."

"A pleasure sir. Now, will you please leave?"

"Do you know who I am?"

"Besides being rude and a bore? Not a clue."

Mason's face took on a dark cast "I work for GENOM."

"So do half the people int the city. Am I suppose to be impressed?"

The knuckles on Mason's hand that was holding the back of Sylia's chair went white in anger. "I'm a special assistant to the Chairman of the Board."

Craig felt his own anger rising, but controlled it. "Aren't you a bit old to be a messenger boy?" he asked in the mildest tone he could muster.

The tension around the table went up considerably, fueled not only by Mason, but by Sylia as well. "I think it's time we called it an evening," she said, pushing her chair back and standing. She gave Craig a cold look. "Some of us have to get up early tomorrow."

Craig gave her a cold nod. "You are right, of course." He looked at Nene and Linna. "Would you ladies care if I escorted you home?"

The others stood. Mason couldn't keep the anger off his face. "I think you and I will meet again," he said bruskly to Craig.

"Not if you have Tweedledee and Tweedledum along," Craig replied, motioning to the two boomers. "I think they would be a dampening effect on any conversation we would have."

Sylia gave Nene and Linna a look, and the two women grabbed Craig by the arms. "I suggest that we should leave now," the leader of the Knight Sabers said cooly. "It was a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Mason. I wish we could stay and talk, but -"

"I think I understand," replied Mason in the same oily voice he had started with. "But I suggest you chose your dinner guests more carefully in the future."

"Have you ever thought of becoming a comedian?" asked Craig as Linna and Nene guided him away from the growing confrontation. The others followed them, leaving Mason and his bodyguard standing there by the empty table. Linna and Nene lead Craig out into the lobby, while Sylia took care of the bill. Once out in the lobby, the two women released Craig, but stood closed by as he started to pace. Mackie and Priss joined them.

"What's eating him?" Priss asked, watching Craig stalked up and down the lobby, a look of attempted relaxation on his face.

"I don't know," replied Nene. "But whatever it is, that Mason person had something to do with it."

"I'll talk to him," Mackie said. "I know what's eating him." He walked over and stood in front of Craig.

The look on Craig's face didn't alter. "Yes?"

Mackie grabbed him by the arm and guided him to a corner of the lobby. "Are you stupid or something?" he hissed.

"What?" Craig asked in a low voice. "The sleezebucket got under my skin, all right?"

"Sis could have handle him."

"Did you see the way Mason was drooling over her?"

"That's not important!"

"It isn't?"

"No, it isn't. Don't think for a moment that Sylia want his attention. I sure as hell don't want that bastard any closer than a kilometer. But you have to trust Sis. She knows what's she's doing."

"With that fungus?"

"She's been doing it longer then you've been here."

Craig took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Maybe it's because I know what he is, or maybe it's because I've now met the son of a bitch in person and he's even slimier then I expected. It's just something inside me said, 'get his attention.'"

"You got his attention all right. He's going to be looking for you."

"He can look away. I'm not scared of the bastard."

"You should be. He's got more power then most CEOs, and Quincy gives him free reign. If he finds you, you can expect to have a rouge boomer or two show up on your doorstep."

"Yes, but -" Craig's eyes drifted to the others. "I think it's time to leave."

Mackie turned to look. Sylia had joined the others and the look she was going the two males could have punch through armor plate. She had to do nothing to tell them to rejoin the group - the stare was enough.

Mackie walked over to the others, Craig trailing after him. Sylia gave Craig a look of cold fury. "We will discuss this later," she said in a flat tone.

"Fine by me," replied Craig in the same flat tone. "Let's get out of here before Mason oozes out after us."

**************

The ride back to the penthouse was made in an uncomfortable silence. The other three female members of the Knight Sabers said their good-bye and left in Linna's van. The silence continued until the Stingray siblings and their guest reached the penthouse. Once in the living room, Sylia spun and faced Craig. "Would you like to explain your actions?" she said in a cold, calm voice.

Craig loosed and removed the his tie. "I can't."

"I said I would handle it." Sylia's voice was cold fury, not an emotion she displayed much.

"Well, excuse me if I thought that the slug wasn't going away."

"I've had run ins with Mason before, and he's always left after a few words."

"It didn't strike me that he was leaving anytime soon. In fact, from when I was sitting, he was on the verge of joining us."

"So?"

"So?" Craig voice began to rise in volume. "So, I don't have a high tolerance for scummy bastards like him. The look he gave you was about a friendly as a tiger looking over his next meal."

Sylia's expression was one of disbelief. "You mean that you antagonized one of the most powerful men on the planet because you didn't like the way he looked at me?"

"No!" Craig replied sharply. "Well, maybe."

"Maybe?" Sylia's voice rose in volume. "Are you crazy, or do you have a death wish?"

"Neither," Craig snapped back.

"Don't you ever do something like that again!" Sylia took a step forward until she was nose to nose with Craig. "I fight my own battles."

"Since was Mason yours alone?" Craig asked, not backing down. "He's part of the reason why I'm here!"

"No, Largo is the reason why you're here, not Mason. Leave Mason to me." Her voice was like ice crystals.

"I'm sorry!" Craig snarled back. "I like to think that you're a friend, and I protect my friends, all right?"

"While I appreciate the thought, I don't need your help."

"Fine! The next time that bastard drools all over you, I won't say a word! Satisfied?" He turned and stalked away. "I'm going to bed. I'm going to need my rest for tomorrow."

Mackie, who had watched the entire argument in silence, waited until Craig had disappeared into the guest room before he asked Sylia, "Weren't you a bit hard on him?"

"Don't you start!"

Mackie shook his head. "He's right about the way Mason was looking at you."

"I am fully aware of Mason's intentions towards me," Sylia said stiffly. "But that's my problem, not yours and not Craig's."

"Craig didn't say anything I wouldn't have said."

Sylia gave her brother a wounded look. "Not you too!"

"Sylia, you are my sister, and I love you." Mackie walked over to her. "To tell you the truth, I didn't like the way Mason was looking at you any more then Craig did, but I wasn't going to say anything because I know you could handle him. Craig didn't know, and frankly, probably wouldn't have cared even if he did."

Sylia turned away. "He should have known and cared. I am not a helpless damsel who needs a knight to ride to her aid."

"Why? You already know he can be stubborn, not to mention undiplomatic, at times."

"At times?" Sylia snorted. "In some ways, he can be annoying as Priss."

"True," Mackie replied. "But I don't think it was just the need to protect your honor that caused him to interfere. As far as he knows, this Mason will become Largo and come after you. He just let Mason know it wasn't going to be simple or easy."

"What about the other Largo, the one he's been sent to fight?"

"We don't know anything about this, beyond what Ishmael said. Maybe there will be two Largos, or that Mason and this other Largo will merge into one, or maybe something else will happen. But Craig was ready to go after Mason tonight, despite the presence of the boomers. And Priss was ready to follow Craig's lead."

"Priss?"

Mackie nodded. "Both of them were ready and willing to try and take Mason apart right there. I saw Priss' face while Mason and Craig were trading verbal shots - she was prepared to move at the first sign of trouble. I think if you hadn't gotten us out of there, and Mason had stayed to continue the conversation, it would have gotten messy."

Sylia sat down slowly. "I don't think I'm ready for two hotheads on the team."

"It's not as bad as that." Her brother grinned at her. "I think Craig was right - him and Priss are like a couple of lone wolves working together. They'll snarl at each other, but if an outsider threatens the pack, they'll work together until the threat is gone, then go back to snarling at each other."

"What does that make me then?" asked Sylia.

"The pack leader of course."

"Of course." Sylia took a deep breath.

"Look at the bright side."

"What bright side?"

"You could have been the Sylia stuck with Bert Van Vliet."

"I'm beginning to think that Sylia got the easier of the two." Sylia frowned. "Wait a minute. How did Craig introduce himself to Mason?"

"He called himself 'Bert Van Vliet'."

Sylia sank into a chair. "What was he thinking of?"

"Why don't you ask me directly?"

Sylia and Mackie turned towards Craig. He had emerged from the guest room, dressed for bed. "You want to know why I told the Denebian Slime Devil I was Bert Van Vliet, right?"

"Yes."

"In part, because I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of my real name. Let's see how it takes for him to figure out that's not my real name."

"It won't take long," Mackie said. "GENOM's computer network has its fingers into every database in the world."

"I know."

Sylia gave him a slightly frosty stare. "You said that was 'part' of the reason. What's the rest of it?"

"I wanted to see if he recognized the name. Largo might have said something."

"There's nothing in the Bubblegum Zone stories that suggest that Largo ever knew Bert was SkyKnight."

"True." Craig leaned against the wall. "But Largo wasn't an idiot. He know who you were -- it would stand to reason that he would know who the other members of the Sabers were, including Bert. If Mason passes on that titbit about the name to Largo, they might expect another SkyKnight in shining armor to come charging out of the sky and challenge them to a duel." He shrugged. "Only, I'm not SkyKnight, and I don't play by the same rules. 'All warfare is based on deception,' and I intend to keep the bad guys in the dark as much as I can. I'm also not one to pass up a back shot."

"That doesn't sound...." Mackie searched for the right word. "Knightly."

Craig gave him a long look. "Mackie, the average medieval knight was an idiot, a drunk and about as chivalrous as Quincy with a toothache. Ask the French Knights at Agincourt or the Crusaders at Hattin about being knightly -- both got their heads handed to them when they shouldn't have because they didn't have any common sense. Being a knightly person may look good on paper, but didn't do the real knights any good on the field."

Mackie looked surprised, while Sylia looked on. Craig continued. "The legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table was distilled from centuries of folklore into Le Morte D'arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, a man who spent a lot of time in jail for non-political crimes. The real King Arthur was possibly a six century Celtic war leader who probably wouldn't have known what a round table was, let alone create one. While being a knight in shining armor may work for SkyKnight, I'm not SkyKnight. I'm too short, the wrong hair color, and I don't find slamming around boomers or threading my way through construction areas at two hundred kilometers fun things to do."

Sylia raised an eyebrow. "I see. However, your actions tonight was still stupid. Mason is not a man to take an insult quietly."

"I know. But on the way back, I got to thinking. I think I can turn this incident to our advantage."

"How?" asked Mackie.

Craig smiled cruelly. "I'm betting that I've annoyed him, and every minute he thinking about me is one less minute he can be plotting something."

"I think you have a high opinion of yourself," Sylia said.

Craig smiled. "I have yet begun to be annoying, and I can be very annoying when I put my mind to it."

"I know," muttered the leader of the Knight Sabers. "What do you have in mind?"

"It struck me that Mason doesn't like aggravations. He wanted so bad to sic his boomers on me tonight. I could see it in his face - he saw me as nothing but a bug that had to be crushed. I'm going to use that against him."

"I can't allow you to do this."

"You can't stop me."

Sylia stared at him. "Why are you so intent on antagonizing Mason?"

"In part because I want that smug bastard to squirm. He's been in the position of power without challenge, and it's gone to his head. I want to remind him that he doesn't have enough power to escape the consequences."

"You're not planning to kill him, are you?"

Craig shook his head. "I plan to embarrass him, annoy him, make him look like an bungler. I want people to laugh at him, not fear and respect him. I want him looking over his shoulder for the next thing that goes wrong. I want him more worried about what I'm going to do to him then what he's going to do. I'm taking a page out of Sun Tzu's book and I'm going to use psychological warfare against the enemy."

There was silence in the room for a moment. Finally, Sylia said, "I won't have you using Saber's equipment in this plan."

"No hardsuits, motoslaves, or any other piece of equipment that can be directly linked to the Knight Sabers -- promise. In fact, most of the stuff I want to start with doesn't involve more then some computer manipulation and Mr. Mason's Email address. If I want to do something that could be dangerous or involves anyone else, I'll run it past you first, fair enough?"

"I guess so." Sylia looked unconvinced.

Craig's smile widen. "Mackie," He said. "Do the magazines these days still come with the little cards inside, the ones for subscribing to the magazine?"

"Most do." Mackie looked blank. "Why do you ask?"

Craig ignored him for the moment. "Sylia. I suppose you havelingerie catalogs that you subscribe to?"

"Yes." She looked at him puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

Craig rubbed his hands together. "Let us just say that Mr. Mason is about to receive a lot of unsolicited mail."

Sylia looked at Craig as if he had just walked into the room stark naked and declared himself to be the next Emperor of Japan. Mackie started chuckling. "That should annoy him," he said.

"I know. I want Nene's input on this as well, as I want to do some computer related things. Mackie, could you talk to Nene tomorrow about that? I suppose she can think of some things we can do that won't be risky to us."

"What about Linna and Priss?" suggested Mackie. "They might think of something we don't."

"Great. I'll talk to Linna tomorrow morning and -"

"Wait a minute!" said Sylia sharply. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Craig looked at her. "Do you want in on this too?"

"Isn't this all just a bit childish?" the leader of the Knight Sabers asked, sounded exasperated.

"Of course it is," replied Craig lightly. "But what's the point of being grown up if you can't be childish once in a while?" Then, in a more series tone, he said, "Mason won't expect this type of an attack and the fact that it is childish is what makes it so annoying. I promised you that I wouldn't go after Largo in a hardsuit, I never promised not to go after Mason, and after I seen of him so far, the sooner he's off-balanced, the better."

Sylia leaned back and closed her eyes. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Because you're our leader, Boss."

She glared at Craig through half-closed eyes. "I suppose you'll go ahead, wether or not I say so, right?"

"Yep."

"I think it's a good idea, Sis," chimed in Mackie

Sylia sighed. "All right, you two, but you will keep me appraised of any plans you make. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," replied Craig. "Anything beyond the simple stuff, I will outline the plan and let you decide."

"No problem here," replied Mackie.

"Fine." Sylia stood up. "Anything else?"

"Just one." Craig motioned to Sylia's brother. "I want Mackie's help in finding a place for me, ASAP."

Sylia frowned. "What for?"

"Because Mason is probably going to start watching this place a bit more once he finds out I'm not Bert. The sooner I'm not seen hanging around the place, the better."

Mackie nodded. "I can set up a search program on the computer and let it run while I'm doing something else."

"Do you have an idea of what you're looking for?" asked Sylia

Craig nodded. "I'll give Mackie the details and give me a list of properties for sale. I need something special for what I want to work with."

"I don't think it'll hurt if you go looking."

"Thanks. Now, I am definitely going to bed. I've got places to go, people to get beat up by, and so on. Good night."

Sylia shook her head as Craig walked out of the room. Mackie flopped into a chair, smiling. "What do you think?" he asked his sister.

"Like I've being taken for a spin," was her tart reply.

"You don't like the idea?"

"Not at first glance. A lot will depend on what he plans to do."

"Why not let him have a chance? If it works, fine. If not, I don't think we've lost anything."

"I hope you're right."

**************

Three weeks passed in relative calm. But despite the lack of real work for the Knight Sabers, the members were far from idle. A few missions came and went with no serious problems, as did several rampaging boomer incidents that the Sabers took care of.

Despite not yet being a field member of the team, Craig was the busiest. Beside the rigorous training regime he was now under, he was helping to built his hardsuit. Bit by bit, his understanding of the smallest parts of his armor was sharpened and refined. Sylia questioned him relentlessly on different subsystems and what to do if something went wrong, and how to identify and repair a problem, if possible, in the field. His understanding of the suits' weapons systems was expanded, as well as his tactics and strategy knowledge. He began reviewing selection mission tapes to see different ways boomers could be destroyed. Six days a week, from morning until after dark, he learned as much theoretical and practical knowledge as he could handle.

He still found time to put his plan of psychological warfare against Mason into operation. Reply cards were removed for all sorts of magazines, filled out and sent in. Nene managed to snatch Mason's private telephone number line and Email address from the GENOM computer system. She also found a way to hack into the environmental and maintenance subsystems. The other Knight Sabers offered suggestions that made Sylia winced as she heard them. She could have felt sorry for Mason, but she couldn't herself to feel any pity. Since she could kill him yet, she wanted to see if this hair-brained scheme of Craig's could pay Mason back for some of his crimes.

Sundays was Craig's only day off. During these days, he went out early and came home late, a inventory of real estate listings tucked under one arm.

The Sunday of the third week, he walked into the penthouse in the early afternoon, grinning from ear to ear. From her chair, Sylia gave him a level stare. "What is it?" she asked.

"I found the place I'm looking for."

"Oh. Where?"

"A dozen blocks north of here. A building on the corner of Koukai and Twenty-Third Street."

Sylia frowned as she pictured the area in her mind. "Isn't that a small warehouse?"

"Yep."

"What are you going to need all that space for?"

"For my business."

"What business?"

Craig shrugged. "Simple. I need a cover job, one that will allow me the freedom that I'm going to need as a Knight Saber. I can't sing, I look lousy in leotards, and I'm not ADP material. So, I'm planning to renovate the warehouse into a combination bookstore-music store-coffeehouse and live above the store."

"I see. How you contacted anyone yet about the property?"

Craig shook his head. "I'm not going to do anything until I get some advice from you."

"Me?" Sylia sounded surprised.

"You're a business person. You know what I'm going to have to go through in order to get both the warehouse renovated and the store built. I've never owned a business before, and I don't know where to start."

"I can put in contact with a few people who can handle most of the legal and financial parts of your bid."

"That's fine. Could you contact them tomorrow?"

"I can do that."

"Great. Could I ask for one other thing?"

"What?"

Could you keep this a secret from the other Sabers? At least until I'm ready?"

"I think I can do that much."

"Thanks. I would really appreciate it." Craig wandered out of the room, trying to whistle a happy tune and failing.