Mac waited until Paul vacated before climbing forward and out of the limo. The milling people paid the two little attention as two identical men in white suits stepped forward and gestured for he and Paul to follow them inside.

          He had little time to admire the hotel casino's lobby as they were led into the Baccarat lounge. Mac noted a sign prominently displayed outside telling of a private party within.

          The lounge was as opulent as the hotel's lobby. A carpet of burnt gold supported three empty Baccarat tables. A buffet served in silver spread out along the right wall, and a bar complete with bartender stood on the left. Red, plush sofas adorned the room's corners, and the walls of polished wood were decorated with paintings of castles and countrysides.

          Now I know where the rich go to gamble.

          He was surprised to see Arden Vervain lounging on one of the chairs, her dark eyes watching him as a smirk pulled at her red lips. Beside her sat Mark, a drink in his left hand. He smiled and nodded to Mac, and toasted him with that drink. Skip McQueen had said they were missing. Well, I guess this is as good as any place to be missing at.

          Kyle stood beside the food table. He waved at Mac.

          Paul moved past Mac toward the bar and ordered water. Mac decided to get something to eat. The Hollow One pointed to a plate of lightly toasted bread with a center silver bowl of caviar. "That's not worth it."

          Mac had to agree, but only because he'd never liked fish eggs. "Do you know why we're here?"

          Kyle pursed his lips. "Did a man in white bring you here?"

          "Someone calling himself Number Seven. The limo brought Paul and I in."

          "I had Number Nine." He cocked his head to his right shoulder. "You weren't captured by them, were you?"

          "No," Mac took up a plate, and then shifted his laptop case on his shoulder. "I was told you, Arden, Paul and that Engineer were all missing."

          "We were. But apparently whomever these white guys are, they freed each of us and brought us here."

          The doors opened again and Oz and Zydeco strolled in, still dressed in the black suites they'd worn at the book signing. Oz looked around, saw the food and came to the bar. He waved at Mac then moved past him to grab a plate.

          Zydeco stood in the center of the room, hands on her hips. "So what's this all about?"

          It was Paul that stepped forward, a bottle of spring water in his hand. "Have any of you met Malcolm Henry yet?"

          Kyle and Mac shook their head.

          Arden sat up. "He's an evil Hermetic."

          Mark shrugged. "He's Hermetic. I know the name."

          Paul gave Arden a scathing glance. "He's not evil."

          "Oh it was just a turn of phrase." She smiled sweetly, batted her eyes.

          Mac looked at Kyle, then turned to fill his plate as Paul spoke. "I met him last night at the Luxor, which is where I spent the night," he looked around as Mac paused and looked at him. "Which is why I probably wasn't captured as the rest of you were." He smiled and nodded in the direction of the food tables. "With the exception of our Computer minded friend."

          Mac sighed and turned back to look at a particularly nice stalk of celery.

          "He is the leader of the Black Chantry. And I discovered the source of that light that comes out of the top of the Luxor Pyramid. It's a node."

          Arden and Mark nodded. Mac looked to Kyle who shrugged. Oz moved to stand beside Mac and leaned toward him. "They guard that thing pretty tight. And he's right. That's probably why the Techno boys didn't try to nab him."

          "A node?" Mac couldn't believe it. "In the Luxor?"

          Oz nodded. "Yeah...not so odd. There's one in the torch of the Statue of Liberty." He smiled. "Betcha didn't know that."

          No. Mac gulped. I didn't.

          Paul continued. "He apparently has some relevant information that he wants to share with us as a group, once all this business here is over. I'm sure we can adjourn to the Luxor, provided that this isn't tied in."

          Arden cleared her throat. "Mr. Ortega...what brought you here, if you weren't captured? Myself, Mr. Davins and the Hollow One were all brought here and given information by our men in white."

          "Mr. Mcgyver and I were given letters," Paul said, keeping his dark gaze even with the Verbena.

          "What did they say?"

          "My letter basically talked about the relevancy of my tradition in parallel to the technocratic union in its formation. Some of it I knew - some I didn't. Then it went on further to talk about the current situation in Vegas and about a new faction of the Technocracy that are control freaks. They are trying to squeeze out the more liberal technocrats."

          Arden nodded. "I pretty much got the same, once one of theirs called Number Three helped me escape their training facilities. What I found interesting was the carrot that was dangled in front of me of my daughter. When I mentioned her, all of a sudden they had a meeting to go to, and the men in white come in and now there's a child here, in the hotel. I haven't scanned her yet to see if her biological pattern matches mine, but..."

          "You were missing a child...?" Paul's expression softened.

          Mac put down his plate on the table and stepped closer to the couch. A daughter? Someone had taken her daughter?

          "NWO and Iteration X stole her from me when she was three hours old." The Verbena's expression remained calm, but Mac was sure there had been a tremble to her voice. And there should be - they took her daughter!

          "Monsters..." Paul said.

          "And these men told me that the Progenitors and the Verbena worked together in the past and this Avalon Group is for the betterment of humanity. When the Traditions were weakened, the only threat they had were the Nephandi and the Marauders, they realized how much the Traditions helped in defeating these evils."

          Arden nodded. "If this is all true, then okay. But if they're using us to get rid of their only threat, then who's going to get rid of Control?"

          "Well, if Control is a part of this, then why go out of their way to capture you?" Mark asked. "That's what leads me to believe the captures were nothing more than camouflage - a way to get us together, and yet eliminate us from their eyes. Make it look like technocratic work."

          "Maybe...but now all we have are Traditions here. And if Traditions are the ones breaking things, then the Traditions are to blame and they still have their truce."

          Paul nodded. "Traditions are expendable."

          Mac set his half-filled plate on the table's edge. He crossed his hands over his chest as he listened. Much of what they hashed he knew, from reading his own letter. I believe the theory that by subverting the Traditions the Technocratic Union has weakened its main defense against the Marauders and Nephandi. I also believe they would never admit this.

          So why are we here? Why are they offering prizes?

          Paul continued. "The Traditions are the shock troops, Miss Vervain. Their mindset as it is, will destroy humanity because those enemies that we all face, such as the Nephandi, will grow and feed on the control and stringent bonds placed on humanity. They will turn to darker forces for escapism. And these things will pray upon them. "

          Arden waved her hand at Paul. "There is an ebb and flow; a balance. If the Technocratic Union is order and we're chaos in the sense of freethinking, and now order has tipped the scales. It is time to reestablish the chaos factor. Us."

          Paul nodded. "None of this is completely new."

          Mark spoke up. "David Arrington was told by the sphinx to circumvent my being captured. And he did."

          Mac rubbed his chin. Much of what they're saying is what I read in my own letter. Much of it rings as true...and yet, why am I worried?

          Kyle munched on a carrot.

          "Did anyone else have something offered to them? A carrot?"

          Paul nodded. "Yes...but it isn't something I couldn't achieve on my own."

          Mac found himself thinking over the list in his pocket and spoke. "I was offered a Virtual Adept's ultimate dream."

          He didn't see Arden's gaze round on him until it was too late. "What? Real life?"

          The comment dug deep. Mac looked back into the Verbena's eyes. He'd gone through too much in the past two years; lost too much of his heart, his soul, to put up with this woman's haughty abuse. For the first time since meeting this group, Mac straightened his shoulders and lowered his arms, putting aside the facade of a meek librarian. He thought of his comment to Winnie Walberg and he met the witch's stare with a cold, electric one of his own. "You asked the question; I simply answered it. If the answers do not suit you, do not ask the question."

          Arden's lips moved, and her smirk faded...a small bit. She looked away.

          Mac looked to Mark. "Were you offered anything?"

          Mark shook his head. "They couldn't offer me anything." He shrugged. "What can you offer to a man whose spirit rests with his creator?"

          "Real life?" Arden said.

          The Chorister's head snapped to his right and he glared down at Arden. "Okay, get over yourself, girl. That is enough."

          "What's wrong, Arden? Can you not come up with something better to say?" Mac kept his tone flat, his face expressionless.

          "You really can't bring me any closer to the one I serve..."

          "I can..." Arden said in a low voice.

          Paul gave a soft sigh. Mac put his hands to his head. This woman is impossible.

          Mark stood and looked down at Arden. "Well thank you miss big-haired-violence from New Orleans."

          The argument between the two of them continued. Mac moved back to the food table, though his appetite had long vanished. He picked the plate up and took it to one of the covered tables. Setting it down, he removed his laptop case and set it on the seat beside him. With a glance to the others, who had ceased their conversation, Mac's gaze went to Zydeco, who had moved to one of the farthest chairs and sat and was reading a letter. He assumed it was her letter from the men in white.

          As he got a scotch and water from the bar, Zydeco folded up her letter and stood. She moved to the group near the food tables. Curious, Mac followed them.

          Zydeco asked each one of them again what it was they were offered. After each had spoken, Mac asked, "Miss Jones...did they offer you something?"

          She nodded.

          He leaned in toward her. "Was it something personal? Your expression..."

          She sniffed and nodded again. "Information."

          "Important?"

          "Important enough that I want to act on this right now, and find out what the fuck is going on."

          Arden said, "When I was detained, they kept asking me about a Nicholas Calen. Was that our Technocrat at the ranch?"

          Mac nodded. "What about him?"

          Zydeco sighed. "Apparently he was slated to be killed last night."

          "We told him they would do that!" Mark said. "We told him they would kill him."

          "They already did." Arden said with full confidence, her arms crossed over her chest.

          "No," Mac said firmly.

          Everyone looked at him. Zydeco spoke. "Why do you say that?"

          The information he'd seen on Syd's screen refocused in his mind. He ran over each of the reports again silently. "Because - from what I read last night - the information Syd was able to help me gleam from the VE database..." Mac smiled. "Our Mr. Calen is a unique Technocrat. I'm positive he has survived." I keep seeing all those disciplinary actions again and again, and somehow, I know if there's a way out, Calen will find it.

          "What do you mean by unique?" Paul asked.

          Mac clasped his hands behind his back. "Nicholas Calen has a long history with the Void Engineers as being a rule breaker. He has several reported instances of what they term as aberrant behavior. And he's paid the price."

          "What are you saying?" Zydeco said.

          "You're saying you believe he has is a Deviant Eidolon?" Arden asked. "They say my daughter has the same flaw."

          "I don't know what that means." Paul said.

          "It means he has an avatar," Zydeco said in a chuckle. "The techno boy is a mage and doesn't know it. "

          The doors to the lounge opened and two more men in white stepped in. Behind them stepped in Nicholas Calen.

          "Well, speak of the devil," Arden said in a soft voice.

          "I'm going to go pray..." Mark winked at Mac.

          The Void Engineer stopped just inside the door and looked at each of them. Mac noted the man's expression revealed none of the stoic soldier they met the night before. Though his fatigues looked to be just pressed, dark circles hung beneath his eyes, markedly prevalent against his pale skin. The VE had been through a rather dangerous experience.

          Calen took in the lounge, spotted the group near the food table and strode over. Mac noticed a new pair of shades stuck inside his breast pocket and a laptop under one arm. Wonder where he got those.

          "Are you okay?" Zydeco asked, her expression betraying her amusement at seeing the Void Engineer in such a state of disarray.

          In a tone nearing what Mac could only define as contained irritation, Calen answered. "I've been involved in a raid, gotten blood spattered on me, vomited, been drugged, interrogated by NWO, pulled out by the men in white of all people, dumped off at the hotel without so much as a shower...I think I'm doing juuuust fine."

          Mac smiled inwardly. Now there's the guy I read about in the reports.

          Mark gave a clap. "Welcome to the pity-party."

          "As I was saying..." Arden said in a loud voice, to make sure everyone focused on her. "He has a deviant eidolon."

          Calen gave a snort and moved past Zydeco who said, "Glad to see you're still alive."

          Arden moved from her perch and walked to the back of the couch closest to Calen. She leaned forward, her breasts exposed.

          The Void Engineer sneered. "Put your Go-Go Gadget mamaries away. I'm not interested."

          Mac and Mark laughed aloud. Kyle snickered and moved away from the food table to stand beside Mac. Paul's expression was unreadable..

          Calen then moved to the food bar where Oz stood. "Sir, if I have caused you any offense earlier, I apologize."

          Kyle leaned into Mac. "He's sucking up to the big guy."

          Mac nodded. "Obviously."

          "Oh no man, it's all right." Oz responded then popped a potato wedge in his mouth.

          The doors opened again. A man in white, looking exactly as the others had, stepped in. He strode over to the waiting party at an even gait. "Sirs and madams, I am to tell you that we are waiting on one more of your party to begin the meeting."

          "Does this mean I have time to take a shower?" Calen asked.

          The man in white nodded.

          The Void Engineer left the lounge.

          "One more member?" Paul prompted.

          The man in white nodded slowly. "It seems we are having a bit of a problem locating him. As soon as we do, we will get underway." With a slight nod, the man left.

          "One more member?" Mark asked to no one in particular. "Who else?"

          But Mac had already figured it out. What other mage was there last night, and was known to be hard to find?

          Johnny Meyer.

Back to Journal