New York – New York, USA

“Sir, Nathan and Ecaterina are here to see you.” Gerry’s secretary informed him. He punched the speaker button, “Thank you, Ashley. Please send them in.”

Gerry finished the email he was working on and stood up as the door to his office opened and Nathan stepped in, followed by his mate Ecaterina. Both smiled at him, and they met in the middle of his large office. He shook Nathan’s hand and hugged Ecaterina briefly. “Couch or desk?” He asked.

“I am thinking the couch,” She replied pulling on Nathan’s arm and changing his direction. “These shoes are beautiful, but they are not comfortable.” She rubbed Nathan’s back in passing and Gerry tried to keep the smirk off of his face.

Whipped.

He sighed inwardly, he was happy for Nathan. He was getting up in age, he shouldn’t be jealous of Nathan’s happiness. Now that the politics had been reduced substantially by Bethany Anne he might have the time to look around one last time for a significant other. Probably a human woman as a Were lady would outlive him.

The couple sat down on his small couch and Gerry asked if they wanted anything. Nathan replied that he would like a Scotch this time but Ecaterina demurred. Gerry raised an eyebrow to Nathan, who shook his head and slightly shrugged his shoulders.

That was interesting, Gerry thought. “Perhaps a water with lemon?” She agreed and Gerry made their drinks and handed them out. He made a gin and tonic for himself and sat down.

“So,” Gerry started, “how did the recruiting run go?”

“Too well, perhaps,” Nathan replied.

Gerry was surprised, “What? That’s kind of shocking. I figured with the fall-out from the last council meeting there would be a lot of bullshit cock-blocking of recruiting effort.”

“Oh, they tried that in the beginning.” Ecaterina agreed, “But it didn’t work very well.”

Gerry looked back over to Nathan for an answer.

“You really didn’t hear any news?” Nathan asked and then was surprised when Gerry grinned. “Who would have thought you would take so well to not being the top guy?” Nathan mused.

Gerry shrugged, “I was mostly doing it to keep the lid on anything Michael would do again. That massacre made an impression on me. Since Bethany Anne is heading things, I feel comfortable relaxing on this. Plus, you are my contact. If they have a problem with you, well shit – they can just complain to you!”

“You sneaky bastard, you turned off your phone!” Nathan accused.

“Not true.” He replied quickly, “I shunted anything but a couple of people off to voice mail.” He took a sip of his drink. “So, back to how you got them to get in line.”

Ecaterina cut in, “He grew furry and picked both of the alphas up and growled right in their faces. It was an exciting moment for many, I assure you.” She grinned, “The younger crowd got so excited about seeing a Procilici that anything the Alphas said went right out their ears.” She made a gesture with her hand, “Poof!”

Gerry chuckled, “Discussion through Intimidation? I thought Bethany Anne was a kinder, gentler influence on you?”

Nathan smiled, “That was Ecaterina, who told me to ‘get this dick-beating over with, it bores me.’”

Ecaterina blushed when both men leaned towards each other and high-fived as they laughed loudly. She interrupted their howling with, “I just asked myself what Bethany Anne would say…” That didn’t help any at all, now they were practically rolling out of their chairs. Finally, she stood up, “I think I will go talk to Ashley for a moment while you two boys get this out of your system.”

Nathan reached under to push her up more quickly and she popped his hand when she was standing then winked at him, “Promises, promises!” She stepped out of the room, and the two men turned back to each other.

“So,” Gerry asked, “turn into a Procilici and everything is good?”

Nathan grimaced, “Not quite that easy. Having to fight the rage that occurs when in that form is a challenge. It isn’t something that you want to provide to just any idiot with the raw ability. I’m a little surprised that Peter handles it so well.”

“Peter?” Gerry asked.

“Yes, John started calling him Peter and said that Pete was his old, younger name. It kind of caught on. Occasionally we will call him Pete within the group, especially if we are trying to tease him. But outside, and now more often inside the group, he is Peter.”

“He’s grown up, huh?” Gerry asked before taking another sip.

Nathan looked around the office for a minute, Gerry could almost see his mind replaying the incident with Peter’s dad and Nathan in this very office that decided Peter’s fate. “You know Gerry, for Wechselbalg, he is basically our chosen child. You know that?” Nathan mentioned, somberly, “He was the child sacrificed to the vampires and has risen up to become the leader of our next generation.”

Now, Gerry felt taken back to that moment. A moment which at the time had felt a lot less momentous and much more spur-of-the-moment decision-making. “Who would have thought?” He concurred with Nathan, “Now, we have three that can turn into Procilici and we are tied at the hip with one of the most powerful vampires ever to have existed.”

“The…” Nathan said.

“What?” Gerry asked, “Do you mean that she is stronger than Michael?”

“Oh, maybe not in sheer physical violence. I imagine he can still take her on in a one-on-one display. He has a thousand years of practice she doesn’t yet. No, I’m talking about her organization and what she heads up. Bethany Anne has built our group, and we are on the Moon, Gerry.” He took a sip of his own drink, “The damned Moon!”

Nathan turned to look around the room before coming back to Gerry, “We have over two hundred Wechselbalg volunteers right now, and that is the first wave. I expect by the time we finish with the U.S. and Canada, we will have close to a battalion of Wechselbalg eager to sign up.” He exhaled, “I don’t know if they are signing up because of me, because they need change or because they understand who Bethany Anne is.”

“Well,” Gerry answered, “My experience suggests no matter the original reason, Bethany Anne will focus their attention where it needs to be.”

Nathan saluted Gerry and downed his drink.

TQB Base, Colorado – USA

The lawyers from Mill, Sethy, and Brimer followed Cheryl Lynn down the hall.  All of them passed a sharp dressed man lounging in the hallway.  Their guide nodded her head, “Michael.”  He nodded his head to her as the men stepped around him. Mr. Mill and Sethy nodded their head politely to him while Brimer ignored him altogether.

They were a couple of minutes behind the team from Thuresson and Guaran, and they had noticed Jakob Yadav pulling up in his older silver Mercedes Benz E350 behind them.

Like them, Yadav had come himself.  Thuresson and Guaran were rumored to have sent a pinch hit team.

Apparently, Thuresson and Guaran hadn’t done their homework.

This account could easily add tens of millions to the coffers of their practice and between the three of them, they had over one hundred and twenty years of legal experience.  The felt pretty assured that there wasn’t anything this group could throw at them that they wouldn’t be able to handle.

This was it, the final round that had started quickly in the last two weeks.

The three men were shown into the large meeting room, and all of them were surprised at the display of sophistication.  The room was more of a small amphitheater with four levels of desks and screens and a large conference table at the bottom.

Thuresson and Guaran had five members already seated down at the first level of desks and to the left.  Mill, Sethy, and Brimer were shown the chairs to the right on the first level.

Brimer smiled, that meant Yadav would probably get a second-row seat.

When she got back up front, Cheryl Lynn found Jakob Yadav waiting for her.  He was dressed in a simple three-piece suit and had a fashionable gold pocket watch and chain.  Cheryl Lynn found it cute.  The man had already taken his hat off inside the office, and he was bald and had a somewhat large nose. He reminded her of the legendary NY Yankee manager Yogi Berra.

“Hello,” He reached out to shake her hand. “Pleased to meet you.  I’m Jakob Yadav.  I was asked to attend, but I have to be honest.  I wasn’t planning on taking any customers.”  He shrugged, pointed to his bare head and smiled, “Brain is good, but some cold mornings it takes more than one cup of coffee to get going!”

“Well,” Cheryl Lynn said, “as far as I know, they want you for your mind, not your body.”  The twinkle in his eye assured Cheryl Lynn that Mr. Yadav had not lost any of his sense of humor.

“If you would follow me?”  He nodded his agreement and grabbed his yellow pad and a pen and started to follow her down the hall.  She nodded to Michael again but was caught by surprise when Mr. Yadav called out from behind her.

“You are Mr. Michael, are you not?”

Cheryl Lynn turned to see the two men shaking hands and Michael replying, “I am.”

“Good to meet you, my name is Jakob Yadav. Those hooligans getting snapshots of you and Ms. Bethany Anne when you have been on your dates have to be a right pain to deal with.  If I were younger, I think I might risk getting thrown in the pokey after throwing a swing at those bastards.”  Mr. Yadav released Michael’s hand and then leaned forward to gently poked him in the chest and leaned back again. “If you happen to punch one, call me.  I’ll consider it a public service and I’ll represent you for free.”

Michael smiled at the much younger man whose body was rapidly getting away from him.

“I’ll tell you what,” Michael answered, “Next chance I get I will deck one of them.  But it isn’t the police I’ll need you to intercede with for me.  But rather my girlfriend.”  He winked to Jacob, “She tends to frown at unnecessary violence.”

“Hmph.” He replied, “Rudeness taking pictures when you are having a private dinner is certainly a cause for violence.  At least in my day it was.”

Michael smiled and turned towards Cheryl Lynn, a gleam in his eye. “My day as well Jakob, why don’t we go sit down together and hear what the group is going to say?”

Jakob and turned to walk with Michael.  The two of them walking around the stupefied Cheryl Lynn in the hallway.

She turned her head and watched as the two men disappeared into the doors leading into the conference room.  Looking back towards where her work waited for her she shrugged her shoulders and turned to follow the two men.

Michael wasn’t expected to be a part of the meeting.  That he invited himself along was an indication that exciting times might lay ahead, and Cheryl Lynn would need to know the details for when Giannini grilled her later!

New York City, NY – USA

“I’m telling you; they have to have technology that they absolutely need to provide to the world!” Johann Pecora spoke to the assembled men and women in a sub-assembly for the Advancement of the Human Race. While it was a very auspicious sounding name, it held a group of individuals who focused on the advancement of a select group of companies. Their members.

“This group, this TQB Enterprises must have even more technologies if they can move shipping containers to the moon!” Johann continued.

The room held sixteen people. This room was in the basement of the Waldorf-Astoria. They used it whenever they needed to step away from the United Nations and meet off site. It wouldn’t be odd for any of them to have a meeting here.

Sixteen nations were represented in the group. These representatives were connected to some of the most powerful, or most influential nations in the world. None of these people personally had power, but the interests of their countries which they did represent were behind the scenes movers and shakers.

“And how,” Ms. Stephanie Lee asked, “Do you intend to encourage them to supply what technologies they have?”

Johann considered the question, “What leverage do we hold?” Johann asked. “It isn’t like this is the first time we have come up against an entity which wasn’t already a member.”

“That,” Eugene Guarran said, “Might be true. However, we have never tried to go against this group.”

Johann waved that away, “So what? We represent the combined might of twenty-two percent of the gross national product of the sixteen top countries in the world and those others we represent.” He took a breath but Eugene cut him off.

“Did you do the research on TQB?” He asked, “Just curious.”

Johann shrugged, “I’ll admit I did not. I’ve had issues settling down three congressmen and one highly upset senator this weekend. I know that part of our ability to stay relevant in the short term for two of our requested projects is going to be dependent on our ability to, um, acquire access to this technology.” He finished lamely.

Anna Elisabeth Hauser interjected, “I will provide some information, and only this much.” All heads turned to the representative of the most secretive member of the group. “Because it will be on pain of death if I am ever found out to have spoken this truth. Is this understood?”

The light skinned lady with the long blond hair looked into each eye to make sure she got a head nod. She didn’t expect any of them to listen to her, but she had to try. In her country, there were whispers about a shadowy group in the highest areas of power. She had a glimpse of the elusive leader of TQB Enterprises and hadn’t been able to shake the feeling she had seen the lady before.

At three o’clock in the morning, she had bolted up in bed and hurried to put on a housecoat. She made a special, secure request to confirm the facts of an incident which had happened years before in her country.

Anna Elisabeth had sought information on a bank heist. Not one that was successful, but one where the criminals had been captured but nobody knew how that had happened. The bank videotapes had mysteriously been erased. Yet, no one had ever been brought up on charges for failing to supply the police with the evidence.

She had seen a picture of a woman leaving with a hat over her face. It was the jawline that she remembered. Poised, it was confident, it was determined.

Her name had been on the list of those interviewed.

There could only be one answer to this question, and it scared Anna Elisabeth beyond reason. She had discounted these rumors ever since she had heard them back in her country. She had risen to this level of responsibility because she didn’t scare easily. Oh, she knew the power and strength of respect for those more influential than her, and those more desperate. But that was all aspects of the great game.

Now, this caused her blood to feel like it was turning to ice. It had taken her eighteen years to get into this position, and she was about to throw it away in a futile gesture to warn fifteen others who she had worked with secretly. This conversation was going to be debated about for either weeks and months or years. If the former, then these idiots were going to ignore her. If the latter, then they will have learned enough to use caution.

Because with some entities, a bigger stick isn’t the answer.

With all eyes on her, she started what she considered her farewell speech.

“There is a group known in our country for over a thousand years, a group that never addressed. It has been stated that those in power will kill those underneath them if necessary to keep this secret.”
Now she had all of their attention. When you are known for your secrets, it doesn’t take much to keep attention when you admit you are spilling one.

“While I have never heard of such a killing myself, I would not be surprised if it had happened in centuries past. This group has much influence and holds much wealth across many countries and in many lands throughout the world. Individually, they each hold controlling interests in many of the economies in both our nation and many of yours.”

“Surely you spin a great tale.” Johann interrupted, “If there were still such a secret society we would know about it!”

Anna Elisabeth just stared at Johann. Not only because he was an arrogant prick, but he was rude besides. Johann felt the power of those he represented spoke to his own authority, and he never understood he was a figurehead. Anna Elisabeth always recognized that and sought to be the best she could be.

Until now.

She had been able to piece together what had happened at that bank this morning and knew that the rumors, the stories, the whispers were true.

“Sorry,” he finally mumbled.

“I cannot tell you much, but I can inform you that if you choose to do something drastic, then expect severe in response. This group makes the Israelis’ eye-for-an-eye attitude seem plebian.” She looked around the table, “I share this because if TQB Enterprises is in an alliance with these people, then your directors are not safe. Your people are not safe, and I dare say your countries are not safe.”

At this Johann and two others around the table chuckled.

Well, that was the best she could do and still keep her head. “As is my right, rarely employed by my country, I ask for a table vote on whether you intend to acquire TQB Enterprise technology through whatever means necessary?”

“Whatever means,” Stephanie said, “Doesn’t always mean force, Anna.”

Anna turned to Stephanie Lee and smiled, “You will not receive the technology any other way from this group. I require a vote right now whether the group will approve using force to acquire this technology.”

In her country, Ms. Lee would be open to being more circumspect to the question. But she had learned in this group, her countries long history was little understood and even less appreciated. She raised her hand while staring at Anna, “All the way to force.”

Fourteen other hands rose up around her. Anna Elisabeth shrugged and moved her chair back. “Then I wish you the best of luck on your peaceful negotiations.” She picked up her notebook and tablet and pushed her chair back under the table.

“Can you give us any other hints?” Johann asked. She looked over to his face holding a smirk as if she was the little girl at school running from a scary story.

Fuck them all, she thought. She turned her head towards the group as she started for the door, “Yes. Don’t screw with the Arch-Angel.”

She opened the door and stepped through. They could hear the click-clack of her steps on the stone floors as she walked away.

Moon-Base-One

Penn could feel three of his team come up behind him and the three faces on his screen turned to those people over his shoulder, “Hey guys!” Bobcat said, “Want some company?”

Bree responded, “Will you stuff more coffee in one of them?”

“Coffee?”  Marcus answered, “We just sent you twenty kilograms in a pod a couple of days ago.”

“She’s a hoarder of the stuff,” Coach quipped. “She stores half and then eyes everyone who looks like they are putting too much into the pot.”

Bree slugged Coach, “I’m not hoarding, you poor excuse for a coffee snob.  I’m making sure that the coffee is kept fresh!”

The three men on the video watched the two verbally spar.  Coach turned slightly towards the barista, “Those are vacuum sealed containers that you are keeping, might I add, in vacuum!”

Bree sniffed, “No rats.”

Rea Lea was smiling at the two behind them, a glint in her eye.

“How the hell,” Coach began, “are rats going to get up here?”

“Is it completely impossible, one hundred percent, that there are no rats on any of these containers?”  She asked magnanimously.

Coach’s mouth turned down into a slight frown, “It approaches it!”

“But, it ISN’T one hundred percent!” Her eyes opened wide, “And where am I going to be if the precious stash of coffee is ruined?  It isn’t like there is a Starbucks around the corner out here!”

“It isn’t like we can’t send up another pod,” Marcus began only to have Bree turn to the monitor and stick a finger out at him.

“If I wanted your take on how to help me with my post-apocalyptic coffee plan, I would have told you what to say.”  She turned back to Coach to start into him again.

William leaned towards Marcus, “That lady needs her caffeine I think.”

Marcus nodded his head, too shocked to say anything.

Bobcat was beginning to understand how Jeffrey felt when the three of them wouldn’t calm down.  He looked at Penn, who shrugged in response.

Rea Lea piped in from behind Penn, “Why don’t we put them together up at L2?”

“What?”  Asked Bree, momentarily pulled off of her coffee conversation with Coach.

“That’s a good suggestion,” agreed Marcus. “We can use the mitigated gravity situation at L2 and start creating a temporary space station with the containers.”

“That’s not a small moon,” quipped Bobcat.

“It’s a hundred cargo containers all jacked together,” finished William.  “I think we need to consider how best to connect them together, using the existing brackets.  Jeffrey wants them gone post-haste.”

“Do they all have to be connected right now?”  Asked Penn.

“No,” answered Bobcat, “But as soon as we have everything, we are delivering to you the first eighty.  The following twenty will be along soon.”

“When should we expect the first eighty?” Penn asked.

Bobcat looked over his shoulder to Marcus and raised an eyebrow.  Marcus grimaced, “Like you don’t already know the answer.”  Marcus looked at the screen and smiled, “In about half an hour or so.”

That caused all four of the Moon-Base-One team listening in to stare at the screen like four adults who had been told they were expecting quintuplets.

Bree whispered into the silence, “I’ll get the coffee.”

Moon-Base-One

“Penn, do we have room up there for a few more containers?” a voice asked Michael Penn from the wall, catching his attention.

Penn looked over at the monitor where he saw Bobcat looking at him. With a grinning William and Marcus looking over Bobcat’s shoulder into the video camera from over 200,000 miles away.

Damn.  He was doomed.  There could only be one reason those three individuals were grinning at him like three Cheshire Cats from their lair back on earth.

They were about to set him up.

Penn took a moment to compose his thoughts and finally replied, “Is it too late to resign?”  Their raucous laughter and glee traveled through the etheric link and out his speakers to travel down his container and was shared with those in the next container over.

Coach stuck his head through the opening, and the movement caught Penn’s attention.  When he looked over, Coach asked, “What shit are we about to receive?” Then finished his question with a grin. Soon, Penn noticed that ReaLea and Bree had their heads sticking out from behind Coach.

Penn rolled his eyes and turned back to the recalcitrant Bobcat, “I take that is a no?”

“Well,” Bobcat replied, “I suppose I could ask Coach to grab your items from your cubicle and show you the door?”

Penn heard the snickers from his team. Penn grumped, “Damned difficult to walk back to Earth, you arse!”  Bobcat smiled at him. “So, lay it on me.  How many are we talking?” Penn asked.

“Oh, only about ten,” Bobcat started, and Penn felt his tension begin to release slightly, “… to the second power.”  Bobcat finally finished.

Even the Coach crew didn’t have a comment to that. “You want us,”  Penn pointed to himself and the offscreen group, “to pull together a hundred new containers up here?”  Penn was trying to sound calm and collected and to NOT allow the squeak in his voice that was threatening to call his manhood a lie.

Bobcat looked over his shoulder as Marcus piped in, “I was for sending up a hundred and thirty, but the General wants thirty for a base in Australia.”  Bobcat nodded his agreement as he turned back to the screen.

Penn answered, “Marcus, you are off my Christmas list this year.”  Marcus made a face like he was hurt, “So, is there a reason we need to stuff a hundred containers up here?”

This time, it was William who spoke. “Yeah, we need to get some of this stuff off Earth.  We should have enough people. Well, twenty, to put up there and ADAM is picking up chatter that we have some potential sticky-finger suggestions going on.  Like major power players wanting to see what’s up.  Easier to move the candy jar than teaching the child he or she shouldn’t get grabby.”

Seattle, Washington – USA

“Are you telling me,” a gruff voice shouted from the phone, “that we have unexplainable tech that can lift stuff up to the moon and God only knows what else and you brains over in R&D can’t even tell me HOW!”

The five men flinched when they heard the slam of a hand on a desk erupted from the conference room speaker.

He continued berating them, “I just had an awful, no let me change that, a scathing conversation with a senior Senator in charge of military appropriations. It becomes a pretty one-sided conversation when the CEO of a company the size of ours is not only caught unawares of new technology, our radar emplacements, and security satellites can’t even spot the son-of-a-bitches!”

“But sir!” Jeo Deteusche spoke out, “How are we supposed to detect a revolutionary new drive system and or even spot these containers when they have a coating on them that reduces their radar signature to something the size…”  Jeo had been ignoring his bosses vigorous head shaking.  Having been with the company for a little over a year, Jeo was fed up with the politics, the bullshit R & D priorities and the snide comments from people who had been ‘in’ the system for over a decade.

This company, he had decided, wasn’t about protecting his country.  It was about fleecing the people of the country of their money in taxes to keep the conglomerate going.  They used the constant threat of the Russians or the Chinese coming up with new technology to maintain the budget money coming in hand over fist.

Jeo could imagine what the pissing match had been when the Senator had figured out that despite the ludicrous amount of funding, their tech was officially second-class.

By a large margin.

Jeo had been sitting in this room with these other four scientists for the last half an hour and had been fuming.  He hadn’t wanted to go into defense in the first place, but R & D positions like what he enjoyed doing with advanced metals and theoretical metal production in low gravity weren’t something that enticed too many companies.

So, he had few job options coming out of one of the highest rated engineering universities.  He could have stayed in and moved up the Professorial track, but he wanted to apply the technology.  Not just develop the concepts and sell off the licensing and move on.

He wanted to be a part of a team that was building the next stage of space exploration.

Two minutes ago, before he started what he knew would be his last conversation as an employee of this company, he placed a small little phrase on his Twitter account.  One that wasn’t directly connected to him, so he had no idea how they had figured it out.

He shrugged mentally; it wasn’t his to wonder why, but just type out the twelve characters and then start the last ‘hoorah!’ he would accomplish as a member of the R & D team.  He looked at his social account and smiled at the little phrase.  It only said:

#WEWILLBUILD.