15
The younger members of the Great Treecat Conspiracy, plus one, met at Stephanie’s for one of the Harringtons’ over-the-top cookouts. The plus one was Anders Whittaker, who had arrived unannounced with Jessica. This was clearly not going to be an issue as far as food went. The Harringtons always cooked as if prepared to entertain at least three times as many guests as they had invited.
Which wasn’t to say it wouldn’t be an issue at all.
After general greetings, Anders joined Karl and Richard over at the grill, where they were cooking a variety of interesting meat items under the watchful supervision of three—four now that Jessica and Valiant had arrived—treecats.
Stephanie hissed at Jessica, “Why did you bring Anders? You know we’ve got sensitive things to discuss.”
When Stephanie was upset, she reminded Cordelia of a treecat in battle mode; she half-expected to see her short, curly hair bristle with fury. Jessica, however, was completely unfazed. She crooked a finger to draw Stephanie closer, winking to make sure Cordelia knew she was welcome to remain.
Just girl chat, Cordelia thought, amused, and what more natural since The Boyfriend has arrived?
“It’s because we have sensitive matters to discuss that I invited Anders along,” Jessica said. “We’re looking at the club scene for possible baka bakari distribution points, right?”
“Right,” Stephanie echoed, bristling somewhat less.
“And all of them are in nightclubs or similar places, right?”
“Right.”
“Trust me,” Jessica said. “Okay? Anders may have jilted you, and be in the process of being jilted by me, but that doesn’t change that he’s the same basically decent guy who kept his father’s crew alive in the middle of a massive forest fire. The same guy who helped us out not long ago, when we began to suspect the treecats were killing each other. He’s never let anything he learned or suspected then slip, not even when it would have put him in good with his crazy dad. So, trust me on this. I think he can help us now.”
“Okay…” Stephanie agreed, a bit reluctantly. “Trust your judgment, and his. You got it. Let’s go join the party before they eat all the bratwurst. It’s a new type Mom got in trade from someone. It’s going to go great with ice-potato salad.”
The party was pleasant, the food plentiful, and when Stephanie offered to handle the cleanup, the elder Harringtons left the younger people to their own devices after dessert, both claiming the demands of work.
But really, Cordelia thought, Marjorie and Richard are just over the moon to see their daughter happy to hang out with people her own age. I wonder what they’d think if they knew we’re planning to discuss how best to get evidence to stop a group who just might have something to do with the recreational drug trade? Who knows? Being Stephanie’s parents, they just might take it in stride.
Once Stephanie had gotten over her initial surprise at seeing Anders, she had gone out of her way to be friendly, asking about what he’d been doing (mostly helping his dad’s crew) and bringing up a graphic novel series of which they were both obviously big fans.
Cordelia caught Karl watching the pair a couple of times, his gray eyes slightly hooded and basically unreadable, but she didn’t think it was because Karl didn’t like Anders. The two of them talked easily, bouncing jokes off of each other and getting into a friendly argument over their differing interpretations of a new study they’d both read.
So, Karl’s fine with Anders. Is that watchfulness Big Brother watching to make sure Little Sis doesn’t get in over her head, again, or something else?
Cordelia wished she knew. The rapport she had felt might be building between her and Karl had taken a serious hit after Dia’s accident. Dia was still grounded for not telling the truth about where she had said she’d be, and for leaving the two younger girls unsupervised while she went chasing off with Loon. That had removed the easy excuse of picking up the kids as a reason for meeting up, and Karl’s busy schedule left him very little free time. Even days like today he was on the clock. Officially, this gathering was in part to plan the launch of the SFS Explorers. However, Chief Ranger Shelton knew they’d also be working on the baka bakari issue as well.
Stephanie called the meeting to order by saying, “So, everyone here knows that Nosey gave me a short list of places where baka bakari may be being given unofficial human testing, right?”
Everyone, including Anders, nodded. Stephanie absently cut herself another thick slab of a triple decker chocolate fudge cake, and, licking a bit of frosting off one finger, went on.
“First, Karl and Cordy had a long talk with Herman. He wasn’t at all happy to see Karl turn up in uniform, but he was also just as worried as Cordy and Jess thought he was. And Karl and Cordy agree he’s genuinely devastated about Stan. He doesn’t want anyone else getting hurt, either, but we’ve convinced him he can’t just pull the plug by refusing to cook up any more baka bakari for Frank and Orgeson. Not before we find out what’s really going on and how many people are really involved. He’s given us a kilo of it to ship off to Dr. Flouret, and we’ve promised not to tell a soul—yet, at least—where we got it. Well, he knows Chief Shelton’s in the picture, even if he hasn’t made any official statements, but he doesn’t want us telling anyone else, and I don’t see any reason we have to.”
She looked around the table and saw a chorus of nods.
“Okay,” she said. “Karl went ahead and contacted Dr. Flouret, and he’s agreed to help us. And to keep everything under wraps until we tell him differently. He’s not any happier about the idea of a drug that gets people hurt or killed than we are.
“In addition, Chief Ranger Shelton’s agreed to let us run with Herman as a ‘confidential informant.’ The rules about what Karl has to report about him are a lot looser that way, and what happened to Stan—and Trudy’s statement about it—confirms our suspicions that drug use is contributing to the rise in accidents, as far as the Chief’s concerned. Unfortunately, he still doesn’t think he can assign an all-up SFS team. Part of that’s because he’s still short-staffed, part of it is that he still doesn’t have probable cause to assume anyone’s committed any criminal actions, and part of it is because of jurisdiction, since all the clubs Nosey flagged are in Yawata Crossing. It does constitute a possible public safety issue, though, and that opens the window just a crack. He’s not investigating anyone for criminal activity; he’s just trying to determine the cause of a fatal air car crash that did happen in his jurisdiction. It doesn’t change his investigative options a lot, but it gives him a hook for anything we might turn up, if and when he’s able to go to the magistrates.”
She paused to let them digest that—and to shove a largish bite of cake into her mouth—and heads nodded around the picnic table.
“He’s brought Chief Chuchkova into the picture, too,” she continued then, “so the Yawata PD knows what we’re thinking, and Chief Chuchkova’s asked her people to keep an eye out for any evidence that might support our theories. But most of her officers are uniform. She doesn’t have much in the way of plainclothes staffing—she’s as shorthanded as the SFS, really—and most of the plainclothes officers she has are currently assigned to what are honestly more pressing cases. So she’s agreed Karl”—she flashed Karl a smile—“can take his one-man investigation into Yawata if we see a thread to pull. I think she and Chief Shelton both figure Orgeson—assuming that’s who’s behind it, of course”—she rolled her eyes—“is less likely to be worried about a bunch of ‘kids’ than she’d be if she saw uniform officers suddenly poking their noses her way.”
“What exactly do you need next?” Anders asked. He was also working his way through a slab of cake with the enthusiasm only a teenage boy about due for a growth spurt could show. Cordelia envied him. “Just so I’m clear on that.”
Karl replied, “Basically, we want something, anything, that would indicate that if baka bakari is being distributed, it’s not just in ‘good fun,’ but in the way of a test. Especially in the way of an unauthorized test on people who don’t know they’re being used as test subjects and most of whom are still legally minors. That whole informed consent thing can bite Orgeson hard if we can prove she knew it had possible dangerous consequences and never told anyone. Hold that thought—we really should resolve first who’s going in, because who is on point will definitely influence our tactics.
“I’m out, because I’m officially SFS. Even if I just said I was on a date”—his gaze drifted, apparently without noticing, to Cordelia, and she felt her heart leap—“the people we think are behind this know I’m a ranger. A lot of them—maybe all of them, for that matter—have seen me in uniform, even if they don’t know me personally, like Frank. They’d be really careful about giving themselves away if I was there.”
Stephanie leaned forward, but Jessica cut in before she could speak.
“Anders?”
Anders took the cue. “Look, the reason Jessica briefed me is because she thinks I’m just what you need. Dad is based out of Yawata Crossing now, so I’m local to the town. I’m not part of your treecat club. I haven’t even been hanging out with you much, and I’m going home to Urako soon. That means I’d be a great test subject, because I’m not going to be around to talk about what happened to me when I tried an interesting euphoric. And, if I develop a sudden interest in nightclubs, what of it? I’m having girl problems”—he gave an appealingly crooked smile—“as everyone knows.”
Jessica patted his hand. “Those problems won’t last long, Anders. You really are a great guy.” She turned her attention to the rest of the group. “Most of us have seen firsthand that Anders knows how to keep a cool head in a crisis.”
“But Anders is going home soon,” Stephanie broke in. “So, if we need him to testify firsthand about his experiences, that could be a problem.”
“Recorded statement under oath before he leaves,” Karl countered. “And it’s not like he’s leaving the day after tomorrow or something. If we can break this open, give Shelton and Chuchkova what they need to go all-in on an investigation, then Anders will be available for questions.”
“Point,” Stephanie reluctantly agreed.
Jessica grinned at her. “It’s obvious you were about to make a case for you going in, Steph. That’s why I was rude and cut you off—I wanted to suggest Anders before it would be a case of him being a better choice than you. Now it’s just an alternate option. Go ahead. How can the Girl Wonder of Sphinx, discoverer of treecats, the young woman for whom the SFS created a new position, co-founder of the new SFS Explorers, and someone known to have about as much of an interest in the joys of the nightlife as she does in catching neo-ticks justify going to a shady nightclub?”
Cordelia was impressed. Just about anyone else saying all of that would have sounded as if she was mocking Stephanie, but Jessica’s honest admiration for what Stephanie had done and was still doing was clear—even as she noted that those very achievements were going to cause problems.
Stephanie grinned back at her friend and took the challenge.
“Undercover. I can even pose as someone from off-planet, if we want. After all, I lived the first eleven years of my life on Meyerdahl. As for me not being experienced with nightclubbing, well, so what if I look awkward? Wouldn’t that make me an even better target for someone pushing baka bakari? Herman reports that it eases anxiety, right? So if I disguise myself as someone my age, but trying to look older, trying to act sophisticated, failing entirely, then wouldn’t I be a great target? We’ll get me an ID that shows my real age, so I can’t even buy a drink to ease my nerves. Again, that makes me a target.”
Anders chuckled. “How about we both go? Me as me. Steph undercover as Awkward Angela. That way we can look out for each other. Double the chances of being contacted or recruited or something.”
“Just one minute,” Karl said a bit sharply. Indeed, his tone was sharp enough Cordelia’s eyes widened slightly, and she realized he was looking very sternly at Stephanie. He waited until Stephanie looked back, then pointed an index finger at her.
“No unauthorized hang-glider expeditions,” he said flatly. “I already told you that, Steph. Either your parents know about this—and approve—or you don’t go anywhere near any nightclubs.”
Stephanie started to say something sharp of her own, then visibly stopped and drew a deep breath instead.
“Contrary to what you may think, Karl, I have learned a few things since Lionheart and I met,” she said then, her own tone just a bit edged. “One of which is that sneaking around behind Mom and Dad isn’t exactly the smartest thing I ever did. I don’t intend to go to any nightclubs without their knowledge.”
“So you’ve discussed this with them?” Karl pressed.
“Of course I have…sort of.” Karl’s eyes narrowed, and Stephanie shrugged. “I’ve told them everything Nosey has turned up, what we’ve found out from Herman, that Chief Shelton has you looking into it, that I’ve been helping, and that it looks like this stuff is being handed out in nightclubs in Yawata Crossing. And I’ve told them we need to put someone young—like me—in to see if the bad guys approach her. Or if she can just see something hinky herself. And they know this is really a strategy session. I haven’t told them I want to be one of the ‘kids’ we send in, but come on, Karl! You think my mom and dad can’t figure out who I’m talking about?”
“And they were okay with that?” Karl asked skeptically.
“Well, there was that Mom-to-Dad-and-Back look,” Stephanie admitted. “I won’t say they seemed thrilled by the idea. But they didn’t say no. I think both of them know how dangerous something like baka bakari could really be, especially on Sphinx. Mom knows all about how dangerous plant products can be, even when they seem harmless, and Dad’s a doctor. His patients mostly have four feet—or six—and not two, but he’s still a doc. They’ll make me make all kinds of promises about how careful I’ll be—and I really will be careful, Karl, and you know it!—but they’ll sign off on it.”
Karl still looked less than happy, Cordelia thought. Not surprisingly, given how protective of Stephanie he was. But she could see his resistance crumbling.
No, not crumbling, she corrected herself. It’s just that he knows Steph. And he also knows that if she promises her parents to be careful, she will. And now, thanks to Jessica, he doesn’t need to send her in alone. He’s not giving up on protecting her—he’s just choosing his fights. Her lips twitched on the edge of a smile. I’d pick ’em pretty carefully, too, where Steph is concerned! Hold out for the best support team we can get her, since she probably would head out on her own, whatever she may have “learned” since she and Lionheart met, if Karl tried to freeze her out. I wonder if he’d have asked me to go in as her backup if Anders hadn’t come along? Well, now he doesn’t need to.
“All right,” he said finally. “If your parents sign off on it, Steph!”
He gave her that stern glower again, and she looked back so innocently Cordelia had to suppress a giggle. Karl gazed at her a moment longer, then sighed and turned his attention back to the rest of the group.
“If the Harringtons do sign off on this, then I think we have the basis of a pretty good plan. But if we don’t hit pay dirt the first couple of times we can’t keep trolling Steph through the clubs on the list without somebody wondering why she’s spending so much time there.”
“In that case, we put me in next,” Cordelia offered.
“That’s definitely a thought!” Stephanie said. “And we could talk to Chet and Christine, if we needed to, too.”
“Both excellent thoughts,” Karl said approvingly. “But there’s no need to refine future plans yet when we may score the first time out. Besides”—he flashed a smile at Cordelia—“it’s not as if the rest of us won’t be playing a part. We’re going to need to have someone hanging around as backup, just in case something goes wrong.”
Cordelia suddenly felt a whole lot better.
Discussion turned to which of the clubs on Nosey’s list would be best for their first try. There were several, but they decided to begin by narrowing down to two that used Câmara Comestibles to provide food service.
Cordelia tried to think like someone unethical enough to test an unregulated drug on a minor, then said, “I vote for this one—Enigmatic Riddle. It has advantages that the other one—Lighter Than Here—doesn’t have. It’s attached to a hotel, which means the clientele will have a lot fewer regulars who might notice something hinky going on. Also, because it’s attached to the hotel, the dance floor and social area are open to hotel patrons and their guests, which means no getting stopped at the door for being a minor. For our purposes, it’s better, too. A lot more coming and going at all hours, which means we can set up surveillance without worrying about being noticed hanging around a nightclub before it opens.”
“My thoughts, exactly,” Karl agreed. “Again, as with teams, this doesn’t mean we’re ruling the others out, just that this will be our starting point. I have enough budget to get a room at the hotel for Stephanie’s identity, which will have the added advantage of giving us a base.”
They refined their plans a while longer, then Cordelia and Jessica started getting ready to go home.
“Anders,” Stephanie asked, “are you going all the way back to Yawata Crossing tonight?”
“That or getting a room in Twin Forks,” Anders replied. “Jessica’s family is sort of packed in at their place.”
And besides, Cordelia thought, staying with your not-really girlfriend at her family’s house would be super awkward. That would go for staying here, too.
She cut in before Stephanie could make the polite offer she clearly intended.
“Come back to my place? We have a spare room and the house sort of rattles now that Mack and Zack are spending some nights at their place. We’re south of Twin Forks, but I could take you wherever you left your car in the morning.”
Anders looked surprised, then pleased. “Actually, I took public transport to Twin Forks, and Jessica picked me up. If I can get back to Twin Forks tomorrow, I’m good. But don’t worry about it. We’re not too late for me to catch a lift.”
“Really, I’m serious,” Cordelia said. “Besides, if we’re going to be up to our necks in skullduggery together, I need to get to know you better. I’m the only one who hasn’t had a chance.”
“Okay,” Anders said, then added with a solemnity that did not hide the twinkle in his eyes, “but I just want to warn you. I’m not planning to fall in love with you, too, no matter how much it seems that I have a thing for girls with treecats.”
Stephanie tried not to show that she was watching to see how Karl reacted when Cordelia offered to give Anders a place to spend the night. To be honest, she couldn’t quite tell.
After the others left, she and Karl gathered up the dessert plates and drifted toward the kitchen. She could hear music playing from her mom’s art studio, but otherwise the house was quiet. Lionheart had appeared briefly with Athos and Valiant when the others were leaving, then he and Survivor had vanished back to somewhere up in the trees. She knew he was well and content, and felt very happy that he, too, had had a party with friends today.
“That was good of you, checking to be sure Anders had a place to stay,” Karl said. “I was going to ask him if he wanted to spend the night in my room, here, but I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it.”
“It’s good,” Stephanie said. “Jessica was right to recruit him; righter to just drop the situation on me like that. I would have fussed. I deal better with problems than with anticipation. Jess is smart about people.”
“She is. I’m glad she’s on deck with us on this baka bakari thing. We talked a bit, and she’s going to make sure she’s available.” Karl stretched and smothered a yawn. “I think we should get a suite at the hotel and all plan to crash there.”
“Um. I sorta thought that myself, but then I remembered something else: the ’cats. You know Lionheart’s not going to be any more willing to stay home than Survivor would be if you tried to leave him behind. Not as far away as Yawata Crossing. But if I’m undercover, I can’t very well have a ’cat in my room with me! So I think we may need to get two rooms. Or one suite to use as HQ and another for ‘tourist me’ to use. Of course, that still leaves the problem of how we smuggle them into the hotel in the first place. I know it’s got a ‘pets welcome’ policy, but still—”
She shrugged.
“Hadn’t thought about that,” Karl admitted wryly. “I love the ’cats, but they do make undercover harder.” He rubbed his chin for a moment, thinking hard. Then he raised his uni-link and punched up a map of Yawata Crossing. He scrolled around it for a few seconds, then nodded to himself.
“Thought I remembered that,” he said, and looked at Stephanie. “There’s a Yawata PD precinct office one block over from the Enigmatic Riddle. It’s in a city-owned building that’s supposed to house an EMT center, as well, but they haven’t had the budget to set it up yet.” He grimaced at the familiar refrain. “That means half the building’s standing empty, but it’s got power and running water. Bet if we ask Chief Chuchkova—or get Chief Shelton to ask her—we could use that as our HQ. Not as close as right in the hotel, but almost as good. We borrow one of the SFS vans, opaque the windows, fly all of us and the ’cats in to the precinct house, and set up camp there. Then we rent a suite at the hotel as planned for ‘tourist you.’ It’d be big enough we could sneak Cordy and Jess in without anybody noticing, and Anders could rent a room of his own on the same floor. Think our furry little shadows would go for that?”
“I think it’s about the best idea we’re likely to come up with, anyway,” Stephanie said with an enthusiastic smile. “We were separated by a lot more than a block when you and I were attending class on Manticore, so Lionheart should be okay with it. Of course,” her smile turned into a grin, “getting him to stay there might be a little iffy if he decides I’m up to something that could get me into trouble!”
“Yeah, I know.” Karl rubbed the back of his neck, then shrugged. “Truth is, that might not be a bad thing, Steph.” He looked at her very seriously. “We don’t want him dashing to your rescue and blowing the whole operation if you’re not in trouble, but I’ll be honest and admit I’d rather have him around to help keep an eye on you. I’m not kidding. I don’t want anything happening to you. Not on this operation. Not ever.”
“Sounds good to me,” Stephanie said as lightly as she could, a bit taken aback by the intensity in his voice. “As long as he doesn’t get squashed in city traffic, anyway!” she added perkily.
“Not much chance of that,” Karl assured her. “Lots of green belts in Yawata Crossing, remember? A ’cat could get all the way across town without ever touching the ground once!”
“Then I think—” Stephanie began, only to stop and look up as the kitchen door opened and Marjorie Harrington walked in.
“Did you have fun, Steph?” she asked.
“Yep.”
“I had the impression Anders showing up was a surprise,” Marjorie said, glancing back and forth between Karl and her daughter.
“It was, but it turned out not to be a bad one,” Stephanie said.
“And that other little project we discussed?” her mother said.
“That’s one reason it wasn’t a bad surprise,” Stephanie said with a grin. “He’s willing to help us out.”
“Oh, so you won’t be doing any clubbing of your own?” To Karl’s ear, there was a touch of relief in Marjorie’s voice, but Stephanie shook her head.
“No. If you and Dad agree, we still want me to go, too.” She met her mother’s eyes levelly. “I know I’m young. That’s a big part of why I’d be a good pick. But I promised Karl I’d only go if you and Dad do sign off on it, and we’ll be really careful, I promise. I’ll leave my uni-link open so Karl can hear every word. And a couple of Chief Chuchkova’s uniformed officers will ‘just happen’ to be close enough Karl can call them in a hurry if we need them.”
Marjorie’s hazel eyes were dark, but she nodded slowly.
“Maybe it’s silly of me, but I can’t help worrying, Steph. You’re my daughter, and part of me still thinks of you as my little girl. But if you’ve taught me and your dad one thing, it’s that kids grow up fast on Sphinx. If I’m willing to let you traipse around the bush visiting treecats with that hand cannon of yours strapped to your hip, I don’t suppose there’s any reason I shouldn’t let you traipse around Yawata Crossing. And I already let you go off to Manticore without me, didn’t I?” She smiled with a tiny edge of sadness. “You really are growing up, whether I’m ready for that or not. And Karl did a pretty good job of looking after you when those thugs tried to kidnap Lionheart, too. I guess he can do that again. And you will, won’t you?” she asked, looking directly at Karl.
“I won’t let anything happen to her,” Karl said, putting an arm around Stephanie as he faced her mother.
“No,” Marjorie said with another, broader smile. “No, you won’t.” She reached out and touched Karl’s cheek, then inhaled.
“All right, Stephanie. You have our permission. When are you planning on launching this operation of yours?”
“Pretty soon,” Stephanie replied. “Anders is going to help keep an eye on me”—she flashed a smile at her mother’s nod of approval—“so we have to fit it into his schedule, as well. Probably in the next couple of days?”
She made the last sentence a question and looked up at Karl, who nodded.
“All right,” Marjorie said with a serenity Karl suspected was just a little forced.
“It should be pretty simple,” he said. “For that matter, we may not turn up anything at all. In which case, we’ll just have turned it into a sendoff night out for Anders!”
“I hope neither of you will be too disappointed in me if I say I’d almost prefer that,” Marjorie said with a headshake. “I know that’s not what you two want, but once you get to be my age, you get a little tired of adventures and the way they make you late for dinner.”
“Yes, Master Baggins,” Stephanie said demurely. Karl looked puzzled, but Marjorie laughed out loud and reached out to give her a hug.
“I knew reading you those stories would prove useful one day!” she said. Then she stood back a bit, her hands still on her daughter’s shoulders. “And speaking of Bilbo, he knew how to throw a party, too, didn’t he? So if we’re going to be thinking about sendoffs for Anders, we’d be happy to throw him a going-away party, too, here at the house.”
Stephanie grinned, knowing she was about to startle her mother.
“Maybe we could follow through on the Baggins model and combine it with my birthday party?” she suggested. “He’s leaving not long after.”
Last birthday, Richard and Marjorie had needed to all but threaten Stephanie to get her to agree to invite anyone over to celebrate it. Stephanie knew her parents had been being very tactful about this year. Now she had the pleasure of watching her mother’s face light up, but Marjorie replied carefully, as if afraid that showing too much enthusiasm would make Stephanie scamper like a frightened range bunny into the brush.
“That would be nice, dear, and very generous of you to share. I’ll talk with your father.”
“Okay, Mom. I’m off to do some studying.”
“Don’t stay up too late. You know you’ll be up early to see Karl off.”
“Promise.”