Baka tried a smile that didn’t quite work. “Good to see you, Old Man.”
Sol barked out a laugh. “You’re calling me old? Now that is funny.” When his smile died he said, “What are you going to do? You’re welcome to join my hunters at J.U. Storm always said you missed your calling, that you would have been a great vampire slayer.”
“No irony there.” Baka drew in a big breath. “Thank you for the offer. I guess I need to have a sit down with my wife. And, of course, we need to decide how this affects the, um, do you call them Animal House, too?”
Sol smirked. “Everybody calls them that but you.”
Baka nodded. “Well, we need to decide what part, if any, they’re going to play now that we’ve changed direction. Can I get back to you?”
“Anytime.”
Baka gave a lift of his chin as he started walking away, but stopped and turned. “The hardest thing is that there are some out there who could still be cured, but knights in the field have no way of recognizing which strain the infected are carrying, new or old.”
“No. They don’t,” Sol said slowly.
“So they all have to be treated as incurable hostiles.”
“I’m afraid so. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. It’s a shame. Huh?”
Sol had hung back and lingered in Simon’s outer office hoping to talk to him privately before he left.
“So, where were you when we called?”
Sol smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “On holiday with my girl. First one I’d ever taken. Wouldn’t you know?”
Simon sat behind his desk and cocked his head while he considered that. “First girl or first vacation?”
“Funny. First vacation.”
“Did you take her home or leave her stranded?”
“Neither. I left her at her vacation house at Cape May. Told her I’d come back if I could.”
“Hmmm. Well, I don’t see how taking another couple of days would make such a difference. We’ll be stipulating that your transferred knights and former staff have twenty days to report for duty. Why don’t you go finish your holiday on a good note? It may be a while before you get another.”
Sol nodded again. “Suspect truer words were never spoken. Thanks. I believe I will. She works for The Order, at my unit. So same goes for her.”
“Oh? Do I know her?”
“No idea. Her name is Farnsworth.”
Simon leaned back and laughed. “You and Farnsworth? Well, yes, I know her by phone. I’ve talked to her many times over the years, a marvel of efficiency.” He looked at Sol like he was studying him through a new filter. “Yes. I can see the two of you together. Is she a handsome woman?”
Sol smiled at Simon’s very British expression. “None can compare.”
“Well, then.”
“Well, then.” Simon stood, shook hands with Sol and walked him as far as the door of the outer office.
When Sol learned that he had to wait six hours to get a company jet back to New York, he decided to use the time productively. Baka told him about a jeweler a couple of blocks away. So he set out on foot to, as Farnsworth would say, “see what there was to see”.
Between waiting on the jet at The Order’s private hangar to refuel and get a maintenance check, the flight to New York, the charter to Ocean City, and the cab ride, he was traveling for eighteen hours. He tried to give some thought to the monumental tasks awaiting when he returned to J.U., but all he could think about was getting back to Farnsworth. He cursed himself for acting like a fifteen-year-old who had just found out that sex is even better than it sounds.
He texted her from the hangar at Edinburgh. It will be tomorrow, but I’m on the way back.
She responded almost immediately. I’ll be here.