After a few beats Storm crossed his arms and jerked his chin toward the paper sitting on Sol’s desk. “Who are you thinking?”
“First is Ghost, naturally.” Ram huffed and rolled his eyes. Sol pinned him with a look and continued. “Finnemore. Sanction. Blytheson.”
The only sound in the room was a big sigh from Kay. Storm continued to study the carpet. Ram looked at Sol like he wanted to kill him. Like Lan’s death was Sol’s fault. He knew it was immature, but, once Lan was replaced, he would really have to face the truth that Lan was gone and not coming back.
Finally Storm looked up. “Let us have a day to mull it over. Sleep on it maybe.”
“Sure,” Sol said, maybe even more relieved than the rest of them to end the meeting. “Same time tomorrow.”
The rejuvenating effects of three months off duty had been swept away in a fifteen minute meeting and the loss had slammed home again in full force. The remnants of B Team emerged from the Sovereign’s office looking despondent and battle weary.
Ram started toward the elevator. Storm said, “Where you going Ram? We’ve got to talk about this.”
Ram pushed the button for up and turned back. “I’m thinkin’ we can talk just as easily with two tablespoonfuls of fine Irish Whiskey poured over ice.”
They made their way to the lounge in silence. It was early in the day to be drinking, but it was a drinking sort of occasion. They had no trouble finding empty chairs in a corner where they could talk without being overheard. It was cool enough for the gas fire to be lit. They commandeered big, plump chairs then, one by one, looked out at the gloomy day thinking, perhaps subconsciously, that overcast was the correct backlighting for the mood.
After several minutes Storm said, “Okay. Let’s come up with ground rules. I say that, if all three of us say no to somebody on the list, we draw a line through his name.” Kay and Ram both nodded and murmured sounds of agreement. “Finnemore. Yes or no.”
“Finnemore is a wanker.” Ram was nothing if not colorful and succinct. If asked, he would affirm it was a gift.
Storm leveled a warning look at Ram and said evenly, like he was marshalling patience with an adolescent. “Yes or no.”
Ram raised his eyebrows at Storm as if to say, “That’s as far as I would go with the attitude.” He articulated every syllable of his reply with deliberate punctuation. “That. Would. Be. A. No.”
Kay glanced at Ram and nodded, “I agree. It’s a no. But, look. Sol’s right. This is no fun for any of us. Also, it’s time somebody said it out loud. Lan’s death was nobody’s fault. Not his. Not ours. We all wish there was somebody to blame so that we could..., but there isn’t. Let’s put a lid on the tempers and move on.”
Storm looked at Kay for a moment and then said, “Unanimous. Finnemore is out. That leaves three.”
They spent the next two hours wrangling pros and cons on three other names. In the end the only possibility left was Ghost who also was considered, theoretically, to be next in line for the job.
Gauthier Nibelung, a.k.a. Ghost, was thirty, old for a field active Black Swan knight. He was a hard core warrior with a reputation for getting it done. He also happened to be albino. Hence the nickname, Ghost. He had served Black Swan with passion and had excelled at every task.
Ram didn’t like him, but couldn’t, in good conscience, let that be a reason to blackball him if that was the only issue. Of the four on the list, he was the least objectionable. Not a rousing endorsement, but there was only one Lan. And he wasn’t coming back.
Storm suggested they take the night to think it over individually and meet at Storm’s place the next morning to be sure they were in agreement before the meeting with Sol.
Ram said something about wanting a workout before dinner and the other two thought that sounded like a plan. So they officially adjourned to the gym.
While changing into workout clothes, Storm decided to ring up Elora. She had the phone sitting next to her laptop and answered on the first ring.
“Hey, it’s me. I’m going for a workout. The athletic center wasn’t on yesterday’s tour route, but you might want to see it. We call it The Dungeon because it’s on the lowest sublevel and because it frequently feels like torture. Want to go along?”
“Sure. I just need to change into something I can work out in.”
“Whoa. Hold on. I wasn’t suggesting you actually work out. You’re not really ready for that yet, are you?”
She snorted and immediately regretted it. Okay. So now you know. I snort. “I’ll meet you at the hub in five minutes.” She hung up before he could protest further.
She threw together something suitable for work out. Danskins can be flexible in more ways than one. She was fairly dissatisfied with this dimension’s old fashioned sports bras, but whatever. It actually took ten minutes to get to the hub, but Elora thought it couldn’t be all that terrible to keep a gentleman waiting five minutes. He was wearing sweats and a tank top, holding a black and purple gym bag. This was the first time she had seen his bare arms and shoulders and thought he seemed even bigger with more skin exposed. His sculpted body clearly enjoyed the benefits of rigorous, repetitive resistance training. She gave him a wave and held the elevator open.
Storm got on saying: “I still don’t think you’re giving yourself enough time to recover.”
Her answer was a bright smile and an, “SL3. Going down,” as she pushed the button.
The fitness center was huge, taking up most of sublevel three. In addition to treadmills and bikes, there was every sort of exercise machine ever conceived in multiple quantities, an Olympic size swimming pool, basketball court, a large room with a suspended floor for sparring, and a locker room with showers because it would not be gentlemanly to give offense to fellow passengers on the elevators.
As large as the facilities were, they still posted three categories of hours for usage. One set of hours was for active operatives, – which, in the case of Jefferson Unit, meant knights - one for trainees, and one for all other personnel. That being the case, a woman present during knights’ workout times was unheard of. Storm gave her a tour of the facilities and then asked if she would like to maybe start slow on a bike while he went through his regular routine.