07/04/06:

                Slept late this morning then joined Alfred and Olivia for breakfast. Alfred filled us in on the details for today's celebrations while we ate. The concert is scheduled for 6:00 and the party at Caesar's to watch the fireworks is supposed to start at 9:00.

                Alfred said that as a gift to the people, he was giving away 50 citizenships. All residents of the city are eligible; all they have to do is spend some time doing 'community service', and for every 4 hours they put in, they receive one entry in a raffle. Winners receive free citizenship for themselves and their families.

                I had a mouth full of fruit when Olivia asked a question that had been on my mind as well. "Why is Las Vegas celebrating the 4th of July at all?"

                Alfred shrugged. "Caesar's reasoning was, "Because I felt like it." Besides, a lot of the populace still have strong feelings about the holiday." He sipped his tea meditatively. "But privately," he continued, "Caesar told us that the people have been working very hard and they deserve a party. On top of that, they'll be working even harder as soon as the harvests begin."

                Olivia asked, "What about Leo? Is he still around?" Alfred nodded. "He's still around, but staying out at Nellis. I don't think he likes staying at the casino very much." He glanced at his watch and got up. " I have to be getting to the Bellagio. The raffle for the citizenships was going to be televised and I have to get there early to get my make up done."

                "Make up?" we asked. "Mm-hmm", he nodded. "Drow don't come across very good on TV. Not much visual contrast. We look like blobs with eyeballs unless the makeup is right." Olivia started to fret about how she looked for the wedding. Alfred shook his head. "I've seen the tapes. You looked fine." He got up to leave. "I'll back at the Excalibur by 4:30 so we could go to the concert. If you need anything while I'm gone, Allison will take care of it." He gave us both hugs and headed out.

                We lingered over breakfast and debated our morning. We finally decided we would take the opportunity to check out the Scooby-Van and see what kind of ammunition we could get at the Market. I told Olivia that I really needed to radio home. I'd been so intent on helping her create those wands that I completely forgot to call Malcolm and tell him what I had learned during my trip to the desert. Oops! That had been a month and a half ago! We asked Allison if she knew where we might find Connors; she told us that Connors had taken up residence at the Bellagio. That made sense; she and Dallas had been working together for so long now.

                We asked Allison for a car and a truck to carry supplies, "Right away," she said. We told her not to rush too much; we had something we had to do first. She gave us one of her patented customer service smiles. "Then they will be waiting for you when you're ready." We got dressed and headed down to the security parking lot.

                At the Scooby-Van we took a quick inventory of arms and ammunition and then fired up the radio. All we got was static. We tried getting a clearer signal but no luck. After fiddling with it for a few minutes, Olivia started to giggle. I looked at her, "What's so funny?"

                "Um, remember? I blew up the communication satellites?" It finally sank in and we laughed ourselves silly. D'oh!

                When we calmed down and caught out breath, I told her I was pretty sure I could use magic to send a message to Malcolm. Olivia agreed it was worth a try, so I gathered some power in and focused my will on a short message: "Good news! My meeting went well, and I'm not going to overthrow your Kingdom after all. Will explain later, sorry for the delay. Jazz"

                A few moments later I 'heard' Malcolm respond. I could also hear the disgust in his 'voice'. He said, "Short wave," and gave me a frequency. We dug out an instruction booklet and after a lot of swearing and cursing we figured out how to use the thing.

                Malcolm answered and Olivia said, "We seemed to have blown up the communications satellites! Whoopers!"

                "This is not a secure channel," he said. "I take it from your earlier message that things went well?" "Yes they did," I told him, "I met with the person I was hoping to find and she put my mind at ease. I wish I could tell you more, but for now, all is well."

                Olivia warned him against sending anyone in the vicinity of Martinez Lake and told him about the raiders. Malcolm got very gruff and told us not to go near the Martinez Lake area. "They made their bed when they left us at Estrella and now they can lie in it. They had their chance but didn't take it, so fuck 'em." Olivia and I looked at each other; that wasn't like Malcolm at all! He continued, "The Kingdom needs you more than they do. Let them find their own heroes. I've given you your orders regarding approaching New Ectopia, and I want you to focus your energy on that." He paused for a moment and let that sink in. Then he continued, "I expect you to obey me in this, as you do in all things."

                We looked at each other again, and I bet if someone else had been there they would have seen the light bulbs go on over each of our heads. We assured him that we were very clear on our orders and that our priority was going to be carrying his trade offers to New Ectopia.

                Malcolm was still going on, (laying it on pretty thick I thought, but better safe than sorry. I guess, anyway.) "Olivia, Jennifer has been moping around the House for weeks, afraid that something will happen to you. I don't want to have to tell her if something does happen, so you will obey me. No damn-fool idealistic crusades!"

                We 'promised' that we would obey, "As we always do," trying to sound as sincere as possible. He gave us some set times when there will be someone listening to the radio, in case we need to report anything and we made note of them. Then I said, "Tell your sword that I say 'Hi'." He sighed and said, "My sword is poised and awaiting your return." With that sarcasm still hanging in the air, he signed off.

                Mere moments after he did so, I 'felt' Morag's presence and 'heard' him ask me if we "got Malcolm's true message." I assured him that we did indeed 'get it', and he was gone again. Olivia and I exchanged a look; curiouser and curiouser!

                We locked up the Scooby-van and headed out to find the car Allison had promised. We found it… and our bodyguards. Standing by the limo were two serious looking women. Both were wearing suits and both had their guns out in plain sight, for all to see. They introduced themselves as 'Chocolate' and 'Cherry'.

                "Beg pardon?" I said. They repeated themselves, and Chocolate explained that the names had come from their boss, Lord Venetian. "He has a rather…odd sense of humor" she finished. "Don't we know it," I said. They explained to us that they are both former members of the US Secret Service who'd been in the field when the Change hit. They had been unable to make their way back to DC, so they took employment with one of the minor Overlords and are now employed by Lord Venetian. That's when I noticed they even had the prerequisite earpieces and wrist radios!

                They showed us to the car and as we pulled away, Chocolate spoke into her wrist-radio, "Crimson and Clover moving." Olivia and I lost it! "Crimson and Clover? Which is which?" Chocolate gave us this little, indulgent smile and said, "Olivia is Crimson, you're Clover." Well, that did it again. We laughed our asses off. Olivia got on the phone to call the radio station and requested they play that old Tommy James song, 'Crimson and Clover'.

                I asked them if I could get one of those wrist-radios, "I've always dreamed of being able to talk into my wrist!" Cherry 'smiled' politely and told me that we might be able to find some for sale in the Market. That cheered me up, and I resolved to look the first chance I got...

                We pulled up front of the Bellagio and Chocolate told her wrist, "Arriving Bellagio." We got out of the car and passed a long line of people waiting to get into the building. We asked what was up and were told that Dallas is hiring laborers for his farms. At the concierge desk, Olivia asked them to page Connors. While we were waiting I wandered around the lobby humming 'Crimson and Clover' to myself. The hotel was broadcasting the radio station over their Muzak system and soon the real thing came on.

                Olivia came over to me and indicated a guy in line, "See that guy? He's been looking at me funny."

                "So?"

                "It's annoying me," she said.

                So she approached the guy, he was average age, height, and size. Was filthy dirty, wearing an equally dirty poncho and a big floppy hat against the sun. "What's your deal happy pants?" she asked.

                He looked puzzled and answered, "No habla."

                "Are you sure?"

                "Que?" and he turned to someone near him in line to translate. A woman did so.

                Olivia said to her, "Ask him why he was staring." She translated and his answer was "Bonita chica."

                Connors arrived then and we got distracted. I gave her a hug and told her it was good to see her. Olivia said, "Good to see you again. Couple of things: there is a 'situation' going on, and we're going to the Market to do some shopping. But first we're going to Nellis. We just found out that Leo is still out there."

                She nodded, "Yeah, President Ventura stuck him out here to play bodyguard to the Ambassador that he's sending to New Ectopia. They've been waiting for you two to finish your work so we can all leave." Ambassador?

                We asked if she knew what the guy was like. Fortunately, she did. "He's Human, an ex-SEAL, about 70 years old and a widower. His wife had died during the Change. Remember the first season of Survivor? He's kind of like Rudy - kinda gruff, but easygoing."

                As we walked past the line, the man was still staring, Olivia wanted to stop again but Connors said, "Just ignore him. Let's get going." We introduced her to Chocolate and Cherry and they all checked each other out (professionally speaking!). As the car pulled away I grabbed Cherry's wrist and said into it, "Leaving Bellagio." Chocolate gave me 'the look' and said into her radio, "Cancel that! Crimson and Clover moving." Connors laughed at that as much as we had.

                When she stopped she asked Olivia; "Do you really want to know what's up with that guy in line?" We nodded. "It was Dallas. He's testing to see how his employees treat people. So he had his TV make-up people disguise him with about fifteen pounds of latex and has been in that line since 5:00 this morning. Only problem is, he doesn't speak Spanish very well. All he knows is stuff like drop it, spread 'em, where are the drugs, move and I'll waste your ass, that sort of thing."

                I asked her what she'd been up to since we last saw her. She told us that she'd been working with Dallas on some security issues. He's been having problems with raiders attacking his farms that are in a valley about 75 miles southeast of here. Apparently, the area is the Overlord's primary farming region, and attacks have been getting worse lately.

                "Yeah we know." I said. Connors nodded. "I heard about your 'encounter' with a group of raiders last night. I'm waiting for Lucifer to finish his interrogation of the two men you brought back. He told me about the one who'd passed the Overlord's interview and had made into in Caesar's Cadet Corp." She grinned. "Lucifer called Dallas & I in to ask if we knew of any drugs the government might have developed that would allow such a thing to happen." Olivia and I looked at her expectantly. She let us hang there for a moment, then continued. "I actually do have a theory about that." she said. "There was nothing different about the man, nothing special. I think that the Overlord who 'interviewed' the man has been bought and allowed him to pass thru. Fortunately, we know precisely which one of the minor Overlords it was."

                We were at the gates of Nellis then and were allowed to pass thru without stopping. I asked, "Is Caesar still doing his 'thing' out here?" "Regularly," Connors assured me.

                We checked with the Officer of the Day at Leo's barracks who told us that we could find Leo at the firing range and gave us directions. We found Leo, plugging away at some targets.

                When he'd emptied his clip he turned to us and said, "So, you've finally come out of your ivory tower? Nice of you to make the time to come see me."

                Olivia said, "Hey! We just got out yesterday."

                "I asked Alfred to tell you to call me as soon as you two were finished 'working'."

                "We got busy yesterday, I'm here now."

                "Going out and sacking people was more important than calling your beloved baby brother?"

                Olivia refused to rise to the bait, and he asked, "Did anyone tell you that I've been assigned to escort President Ventura's Ambassador to New Ectopia and that we'd like to travel with you?" Olivia assured him that we had been told. "So when do we leave?" he asked.

                Olivia said, totally deadpan, "Well there's some more people we need to go sack tomorrow. But we can leave after that."

                "Good," he said. "Than you don't have a problem with escorting the ambassador and I?"

                Olivia smiled, "Of course not, that way I can protect you."

                "And I can redeem your mortal soul," he returned.

                They continued to trade jibes and barbs, something about Olivia wearing My Little Pony pajamas, Leo wearing Spiderman Underoos, and Olivia playing with Barbies. It all pretty much blew Connors and I away! We just stood back and laughed at the thought of our Olivia playing with Barbie dolls! Although, I can see Leo 'capturing' Ken in order to torture him until he talked.

                They stopped long enough for Olivia to ask Leo if he would come to the Market with us and for Leo to agree. Then we asked Leo if he was going to go to the concert with us tonight. He declined, saying that he and 'the guys' were going to stay on base and watch it all on TV. Olivia tried to entice him with the promise of front row seats.

                Another guy who'd been taking practice spoke up, "Hey Master Chief, if you don't go I will. That way I can get some time in with your sister."

                I took a couple steps back; I didn't want to get in the way - Leo's or Olivia's! Leo looked at the guy and said, "My Little Pony pajamas aside, my sister'll have your balls for earrings."

                "Leo!" Olivia said, "I have better taste than that."

                Leo and his buddy proceeded to get into an insult-a-Rama, which apparently Leo won. I shook my head and turned to Connors, "How could you stand to deal with that kind of shit?"

                She flashed a grin of pure evil and said, "By being nastier than any of 'em."

                We checked Leo out with his C.O., introduced him to Chocolate and Cherry, and headed for Fremont. Our first mission was to get the 'appropriate' clothes for tonight. You know, something that looks good - not too dressy, not too slutty - quite the dilemma! We finally ran across an old Fed Ex truck with racks of designer clothes for sale. The proprietors were a couple of Orcs, but they weren't wearing the Ka insignia anywhere. The clothes weren't in the best shape, but it's been a rough year.

                Olivia got a great red cocktail dress and shoes while I opted for green. After we'd paid for our things we realized what we'd done - 'Crimson' bought a red dress and 'Clover' got a green one!

                We then started looking for supplies for our venture to Martinez Lake. Had no luck with the wrist radios, though, dammit! My pouting was interrupted by a commotion back at the main entrance. When we got there we saw the Lucky Duck crew rolling in - and they looked like Hell! Someone beat the living shit out of them. They were missing some of their escort vehicles and their big rig was a mess. There were big gaping holes in the sides, buckled armor everywhere, and scorch marks all over it. Hanging from the edge of the trailer were 15 heads that looked to be 'fresh'.

                Venetian's security people were keeping the crowd back to give the crew some room. The man in charge of the squad recognized us as 'Friends of Lord Venetian', but wouldn't let us pass. "They're not in the mood right now and would appreciate it if you would please wait," he said.

                "We're also friends of the crew," I said. "And if they have injured, we can help." Dave, the son of the Duck's leader, saw us and told the squad leader to let us pass. He showed us to where their wounded were being looked after. There were several injured - mostly from shrapnel - and one fatality. As Olivia and I were taking care of the wounded Connors told us that Dave's father was the one fatality.

                When we'd finished we asked Dave just what the Hell had happened to them.

                "We got jumped going thru Flagstaff. It wasn't the nomads that we usually run across - they behaved differently. They hit the rig a couple of times and faded fast before we could hit them back. We normally won't pursue in a city - too tight. We tried to use our normal routes through the city, but the route was blocked by debris - a lot of buildings just happened to have collapsed right across our favorite route. Then they reappeared and herded us right into an ambush." He shook his head. "The only way out of the city turned out to be through a mine field. That's where we lost a couple of the escort vehicles. One of the mines ripped a six-foot hole in the trailer. The shrapnel from that explosion is what caused the injuries. But still, we were lucky. If the mine had exploded just a few feet later it would have detonated under the ammo magazine."

                He went on. "Flagstaff has quite a few gangs in it, but we've always stayed neutral by trading with all of them, and stayed on good terms with everybody."

                " Anyway, after we'd found our way out of the minefield, we headed for Kingman. The same group was waiting for us. By then we were ready for them, and it was our kind of fight. We blasted thru the blockade they put up and redlined it for Vegas. They sent some dune buggies after us, but they wouldn't get close enough to engage." He paused for a moment before going on. They wouldn't give up until we ended up using nerve gas on them. We hooked a canister to our smoke generator and opened it up. They died pretty fast. We waited for the gas to clear, then went back to take the vehicles and the heads."

                I asked him if they'd searched the bodies; they had, but found nothing that might identify the men. Olivia asked if they'd seen anything odd in Flagstaff. "Like I said, just more destruction than the last time we were thru there. Fires burning, more buildings collapsed, that sort of thing."

                He said that they got the distinct feeling the whole time that they were being herded, first into the ambush at Flagstaff and then to Kingman. Olivia suggested that someone was trying to keep them from seeing something that they ought not to see.

                "What if it's someone simply trying to eliminate the competition?" Connors asked.

                "No, that doesn't make sense," I said. "It seems like all they wanted to do was get rid of the Crew. If it were nomads, raiders or the competition, why would they work so hard at destroying everything? There was no attempt to get their hands on any of the trade goods - not to mention their arms, ammunition and gasoline. On top of that, they were wasting large amounts of their own supplies." Connors looked at me with mild surprise. "Good analysis, " she said.

                We asked if they'd been to Martinez Lake recently, but the last time they were there was 7-8 months ago. We all agreed it sounded like someone had been trying very hard to keep them away from somewhere or something. But what? Olivia suggested maybe an armed force of some kind. The area is close enough to Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, and all the farms that support it.

                Olivia asked Dave if he would come with us to talk to some friends. He was reluctant but agreed.

                When we got back to the limo, Olivia got on the phone to Allison and asked to be patched thru to Alfred. Once he came on, she told him that there was a security problem and we needed to see the appropriate people, ASAP. He said that he'd get on it and call us right back.

                When the phone rang it was Caesar and he told us to get over to the Stratosphere. Olivia had just hung up the phone when Leo yelled, "Oh shit!" grabbed her and I, threw us to the floor, and landed on top of us.

                I couldn't see anything but I heard the sound of automatic gunfire and heard glass cracking. The driver floored it, but was having trouble controlling the vehicle with blown-out tires. Leo shifted to draw his weapon and I was able to roll over to see what was going on. Chocolate was firing out of a gun port in the door at what appeared to be three street cleaners on the sidewalk. (Leo later said that he'd seen them pull some M-16's out of a trash bin.) Cherry had the sunroof open by then and was standing and firing at them, too.

                All of a sudden there was a thump on the roof and something dropped thru the sunroof - a grenade! Leo, Connors, Olivia and I all grabbed for it but Olivia managed to get a hand on it. She jumped up and threw it out the sunroof, back at the guys on the sidewalk. It exploded right on top of them as Cherry and Olivia dropped back inside the car.

                Chocolate ordered the driver to get us to the Stratosphere as quickly as possible. Olivia grabbed the phone and started yelling at whoever answered that Lord Venetian needed to at least double the security at the Market around the Lucky Duck.

                Connors took control of the situation, "Okay, is everyone alright?" Cherry was the only one who took any damage. She took two slugs to the chest, but her vest absorbed most of it. I healed the rest.

                At the Stratosphere, there was a small army of security waiting for us. All the sudden I had to pee, BAD! Turns out we all did. The security people escorted us to the nearest ladies room. Fortunately, Venetian security had already swept the restroom - I don't think we could have waited for Chocolate & Cherry to do it! When we came out, Armani was waiting for us. "Are you all alright?"

                Olivia asked, "We take a month off and you let the town go to Hell?"

                He shot right back at her, "So don't take any more time off."

                We went back out front to see the limo. I'm not sure how the driver managed to get it there, and it sure wasn't going anywhere else anytime soon - it was a wreck! Bullet holes everywhere, cracked glass, and only the front tires were intact. I walked over to Leo and said, "Thank you Leo. You saved us." He was silent, and I understood that; I couldn't seem to get any more words out, either.

                Armani was looking at it, too. "Are you sure you're all okay? Alfred, Lord Excalibur called, and indicated there was a security issue. Is this incident related?"

                "We think so," I said, "Phillips, can you make sure that someone saves what's left of those bodies?"

                "Why?" Dave asked. "So we can interrogate them," Olivia told him. Armani seemed to notice him for the first time, "Who's this?" We introduced him as the new leader of the Lucky Duck Trading Company.

                Armani told him, "You are about to meet Caesar. He is not in the best of moods right now. These two" (and he gestured to Olivia and I) "have earned certain rights and tend to behave with some degree of casual irreverence towards Caesar. Do not follow their lead. You will address Caesar by 'Mighty One' and speak only when spoken to." Dave nodded and said, "Of course. I understand."

                Caesar was waiting for us in his conference room. "Only one day out, and you're shooting up my city!" I got defensive; "It wasn't our fault! We didn't start it!"

                He waved dismissively and pointed to some chairs. "I know you didn't. Was anyone hurt?"

                We assured him the only casualties were our attackers, and then explained everything, including the attack on the Lucky Duck, and told him of our suspicions. He thought for a while and told us that there have been reports of people in that area disappearing, but nothing like the attack on the Duck.

                Then the conversation turned to why WE were attacked. Because we're from the Kingdom? Was it because of our relationships to Dallas and Alfred? Our roles in the downfall of two Overlords? Was it the NDR? Or were we the targets at all? Was Dave the real target? The attackers had been dressed as street sweepers - just how many other people have infiltrated Las Vegas?

                We were still working out questions when Lucifer arrived and asked us if we were all right. We assured him we were and thanked him for Chocolate and Cherry. "My pleasure, I assure you," he said. Then we got back to business.

                Olivia asked if they could have someone check on Alfred, to make sure he was okay. Caesar switched a TV on and there was Alfred, pulling the name of the last winner of a citizenship out of a barrel. Olivia & I both breathed a sigh of relief.

                Lucifer had brought some maps with him and we took those and the ones Caesar had and spread them out on the conference table. We marked the areas of 'known troubles' and started throwing out ideas. Lucifer and Caesar were both pacing while we talked - just like tigers in the zoo used to! I squelched THAT thought in a hurry! Olivia suggested doing a flyover of the areas where the Lucky Duck had been attacked. Lucifer didn't think we should do that quite yet, but suggested that Caesar bring in Mandalay Bay. Olivia and I looked at him in confusion. He noticed our expressions and enlightened us. "Trade", he said. AHHHH! The lights come on……

                Caesar called Mandalay while we were looking lost. "Come to the Tower. This isn't something to discuss by phone, but Venetian has some questions for you." He passed the phone to Lucifer, who asked Mandalay to join us and to bring his records for the arrivals and departures of all traders for the past four months.

                There was a moment of silence before Mandalay spoke. "I don't like where this is headed, but I'll be right there." He hung up immediately.

                Lucifer put the phone down slowly. Caesar said, "I don't like that at all! Mandalay never opens his books for anyone. He must be worried about something."

                "So why didn't he say anything before this?" we wondered.

                "He was probably afraid that it would look like he could not manage his domain," Caesar answered. "If that were found to be the case, he would lose it to another."

                Mandalay and Alfred arrived within minutes of each other. Olivia went to Alfred and received a big bear hug. He asked if she was all right and she answered him, sounding really shaky for the first time since the attack. "It was a grenade. In my hand. A live grenade…" Alfred hugged her again.

                He let Olivia go and turned to shake Leo's hand. "Thank you for taking such good care of them." Leo decided to stick with a silent nod. Then he hugged me while Olivia introduced him to Chocolate and Cherry, and he thanked them, also. Finally he told Olivia that he'd sent extra security to keep an eye on Debbie at the Temple.

                Mandalay had spread his records out for us to see and called us back to the conference table. "I've been examining these for a while, and was able to put together a recognizable pattern for most of the larger traders. As of today, three California-based freelance traders are four or more weeks overdue. One of them was last heard from in Barstow. They'd been carrying a load of produce to Vegas. They never showed, and no wreckage was found."

                "Ka runs regular patrols out to Barstow to keep their trade routes open, and occasionally they run from Barstow east, almost to Vegas. But the patrol that went thru after the traders found nothing to suggest an attack."

                Olivia asked how many groups, large and small, were overdue right now. "Right now there are seven groups who are four or more weeks overdue," he said. "One should have been coming from New Ectopia and the three from Southern California. Three groups that run a short circuit between Flagstaff, Phoenix and Albuquerque are missing, too."

                He went on to say the traders who come by way of Tucson haven't been having any trouble; "The traders from Aztlan who come that way have all been getting here on schedule. That at least tells us where the attacks are coming from."

                "Wait a minute." I said, "Aztlan? We were told once that Aztlan was coveting Lake Mead and Hoover Dam, and now you're saying that the only traders getting thru Arizona unmolested are theirs? Isn't that just a little curious?"

                "Unless someone wants us to think that way and blame them," Lucifer said.

                "Well it's, one more option to consider." I said.

                Connors spoke up. "Las Vegas doesn't have the power to wage a major war. Aztlan doesn't have the technology or weaponry, but they do have lots of people. But the Aztec civilization they want to rebuild is centered in Mexico City, and they have their own power plants there."

                Caesar admitted that lately he'd been pressured by the minor Overlords to start an expansion into the Flagstaff - Phoenix area. Olivia asked him, "What would this trouble and turmoil mean to your leadership?"

                His ears went back, "Are you suggesting that Overlords are involved?"

                "Well, yes," I said, "Since you have minor Overlords out there with no demesnes, and others who want to move up the ladder."

                Olivia continued on and asked if this didn't reflect the behavior of large felines in the wild, where younger members of the pack look to take over from the older, more dominant members. Could it be possible that two non-felines becoming major Overlords have spurred them on to take action?

                Lucifer asked Caesar, "What about Luxor? He's been a supporter of the Expansion Faction."

                I said (speaking for all the non-felines in the room), "I don't trust him any further than I could pick him up and throw him."

                Mandalay said, "Don't forget he's also facing the possibility that Las Vegas Hilton may call him to Justice regarding his practice of trafficking his drugs to children and endangering unborn children by selling to pregnant women."

                Caesar had to admit, "This does seem to have Luxor's paw prints all over it. But we need more information."

                Olivia said, "We could scry him."

                "Sounds painful," Caesar joked. "What would you require to do this?"

                "A quiet room," I said, "and Olivia's assistance." Olivia suggested that Lucifer join us to 'listen' in on the session.

                Caesar nodded to Armani, who showed us to a smaller conference room. I got comfortable and began to call and shape the Magic. Soon, I saw Luxor sitting in his office, watching the news and reviewing his books. They were just listings of his drug transactions, nothing much.

                The news was reporting on 'the assassination attempt on the ambassadors from the Outlands. It has been confirmed by Lord Venetian's investigators that the assailants were members of the NDR."

                I looked at Lucifer. He shrugged, "Plausible deniability. The people want an explanation."

                Luxor listened to the report and shook his head. He opened up his intercom and asked the person on the other end, "Do you have any idea what they're covering up?"

                "No, Mighty One, but our agent is trying to find out," a voice said.

                "Very well, let me know the moment you hear anything." He pushed away from his desk and began pacing, stopping occasionally to glare out at the Stratosphere. A few minutes passed and the intercom buzzed. The voice reported, "We have ascertained that the bodies of the attackers have been interrogated by one of Venetian's mages. They 'confessed' that they'd been promised citizenship plus 500,000 in chips for each dead ambassador. They were told that the ambassadors' itinerary would no doubt consist of some shopping, probably at the Fremont Market. The attackers stated that they could not get a clear shot at them in the Market and left to wait for a better chance outside."

                Luxor pondered for a moment, "Who made these promises?"

                "Someone they met doing farm duty, Mighty One. Last month a migrant worker named 'Raoul' approached them. He told them that he was working with an organization that was anti-Overlord and was also working towards eliminating all non-humans. They're trying to maintain Human racial purity."

                Luxor grunted, "Double our informants wage and get him to Farm #7. I want him protected! Get him a girl - or a boy, whatever he likes! I want him kept happy!"

                "Yes, Mighty One." The intercom clicked off. Luxor leaned back in his chair, kicked his feet up on the desk and muttered to himself, "Mighty One."

                I glanced over at Lucifer; he had quite the look on his face.

                While Luxor continued to gloat I took the opportunity to look around his office some more. There was a map on one wall and Olivia asked me to get a closer look. It had the farming areas marked (including Farm #7 - Olivia made a note of its location). It also had various resources marked: copper and nickel mines, uranium mines, lakes stocked with fish, and most of Arizona was marked as agricultural areas. Big Mountain was circled and had a legend, "Coal, natural gas and oil."

                The larger towns and cities were labeled with, "Steel, copper, aluminum," etc. I asked Lucifer, "Could he be in cahoots with The Dragon of Denver?" Lucifer shook his head, "Later", he said.

                But the scariest thing was one town that had a red star on it and a notation, "Organ harvest." It was a town called Thoreau in New Mexico, just a little east of Gallup.

                That was when the spell ended and I asked Lucifer about the Dragon. He said that he doubted that Luxor would align himself with something more powerful than he. "None of us have ever tried to match our mental abilities with the Dragon," he said.

                I nodded, "We only encountered it once, and that was at a distance but it was enough to make me almost shit my pants."

                "You've dealt with the Dragon?" He was astounded, and ever so curious. We explained that we saw it only once, at a distance as it flew over us, but it had been a terrifying experience. "How far was it away from you?" he almost demanded of us. Olivia and I tried our best to describe it - probably at least half a mile, maybe more. Lucifer was amazed that it could have that kind of influence at the range we described. "No, Luxor would not mess with something that powerful. He's arrogant, but not suicidal."

                We went back to the large conference room to report what we'd seen. Caesar was none too pleased when we told him that Luxor has his subordinates calling him 'Mighty One'. I told him, "He really wants your job. I mean he was totally Jonesing for it."

                "He can want it," was all Caesar said.

                Olivia asked, "So what do you make of the map?"

                Caesar dismissed her concern with a shrug, "He's interested in the area's natural resources."

                "Organs?" she demanded.

                "That…is disturbing," he allowed.

                Olivia said, "Look, we've got the Martinez Lake thing that we've committed ourselves to look into. Do you have the people to look into what ever it is that Luxor is up to?"

                He assured us that he did. Then she turned to Lucifer; "Our Scooby-van isn't really up to taking on an army."

                I snorted. "Yeah! We saw what they did to the Lucky Duck's rig, and they had that thing armored to the gills. Scooby hasn't got a chance."

                Olivia agreed. "How about a flyover of the areas where they ran into trouble to get an idea of what we might find."

                "Not in the Azrael!" I said.

                Caesar hesitated for only a moment. "Do it."

                We decided it would be best to go this afternoon. We'd skip the concert, because after all, after our 'brush with death', no one would really expect us to be out and about, so we wouldn't be missed.

                Olivia told Caesar, "This time we really will just scout the area." He gave her a 'look'. And I told him with a smile, "If it makes you feel any better, we do the same thing to King Malcolm all the time."

                "No, that does not make me feel any better. Be careful and come back to tell us what you find."

                Alfred echoed him and told us that he wished he were going with us.

                We told Lucifer that we had to make a stop before we left. "Where?" he asked.

                Olivia said, "We need to at least shower before going anywhere, to get rid of the stink of the fear." "We've also got to arm up, just in case", I added

                He agreed to meet us at the airport. We were greeted at the lobby by an entire truck-full of Caesar's security people. But knowing what we've learned about Caesar's security, I felt less than safe.

                When we got to the Excalibur, Jennifer was waiting for Olivia; she'd seen the news and was in a panic. Olivia took the time to calm her and then showered, dressed and armed.

                Lucifer and his pilot were waiting at the airport, as promised. Olivia and I told them that before we took it off we were going to 'try' a couple of things. Olivia pulled together some magic to try an augury spell and asked if looking towards the farms on the I-93 corridor was a good start. She was 'told' that that would be looking in the wrong place.

                I decided to try my luck beseeching Corellon for answers. I concentrated some power into a divination spell and asked, "Where will we find the locus of the force behind the attack on the Lucky Duck Trading Company and the Las Vegas farms?" The answer was slow in coming, and annoyingly cryptic. "Where the Old World meets the New, where the red, dividing waters flow and sparkle as gold, there does The Hummingbird of the South erect a new House and call for the hearts of the living to be brought to him." Why can't these frigging oracle spells give us a fucking straight answer? "It was fucking Colonel Mustard in the fucking kitchen with a fucking chainsaw!!" Is that so goddamn hard!?!?!?

                Okay, so we remembered from 4th grade Colorado Studies Class that Colorado means 'Colored Red', and the Colorado River is the border between Arizona, Nevada, and California. The pilot went to dig out a map.

                Olivia remembered that 'Hummingbird of the South' is the English translation of the name of Huitzilopochtli, the Aztecan God that regularly had the beating hearts of sacrificial victims offered up to him. (I could have kicked myself; I should have remembered that - I spent a semester studying the religions of Central and South America!) Anyway, that would explain the 'Organ Harvest' notation.

                We took a look at the maps, and when we took a better look at Thoreau, Olivia and I remembered why that name had sounded so familiar…we'd been thru there on our way from Estrella to Chaco Canyon! That was the town where we'd run across the massmind.

                Then we checked out the Colorado River. Finally, way down towards the end of the map, near the border with Mexico, ("Where the Old World meets the New.") we saw the Barry Goldwater Airforce Range!

                Leo urged me to have another try at divination and ask, "Where is the nearest group of hostiles?"

                "In the wilderness where the grain is gathered."

                Lucifer handled that one. "Dolan Springs. The main granaries are there; all the farms use them. The town is our central processing point."

                So Connors, Leo, Olivia, and I climbed into the helicopter and strapped in for take off. Lucifer sat up front with the pilot and the maps.

                Shortly we were over Dolan Springs and spotted the grain elevators and a large number of different types of trucks, all flying the colors of various Overlords.

                Olivia asked Lucifer if everything looked normal to him. He got a pair of binoculars and took a closer look. "Hmmmmm, interesting," he said, handing the binoculars back to Olivia, "Take a look."

                She did and told us she saw a group of people on a low podium. One of them was paying the farmers for their produce. The farmers all looked very unhappy. Then she spotted a sign that said something about "Caesar's New Mandates", and had a list below that was too small to actually read.

                What wasn't hard to read was the body language of the people. The farmers were angry and frightened, and the man paying them was enjoying every minute of it. We could sense his arrogance all the way up in the helicopter.

                Leo said, "They're wearing Caesar's colors." We looked again, and sure enough, they were, but the uniforms fit badly. Caesar would never allow his people to look so shabby.

                Looking further, we spotted about 12 more men hanging around some big-rig semis, all wearing the same ill-fitting uniforms.

                Olivia pulled a neurogun, leaned out the open door as far as she could, and fired at the 'leader' of the group. He hit the ground like a sack of potatoes and the five men with him all started to look around for the source of the attack, shoving farmers back from the fallen man. One of the men drew his weapon and trained it on the man who'd been arguing with the leader when Olivia shot him. Olivia tried to throw a sleep spell on them to prevent the shooting, but she rushed it and only the one who had drawn his weapon succumbed. Well, if you're only gonna' get one, get the one with the gun, right?

                Now the others on the podium were drawing weapons and I threw a burst of power at them - and a wall of hurricane-force wind appeared between them and the farmers, who started to scatter.

                The pilot was bringing us lower to the ground as Olivia pulled out her zapper wand and laid out one guard. Leo opened fire, injuring another.

                Two of the men had gathered their wits and started firing into the group of farmers as they tried to escape - I saw at least five go down. Bastards!

                I pulled up the magic and called down a flame strike on them. Shooting unarmed farmers! Die, scumbags! When the flames cleared, the two of them and the one Leo had been shooting at were dead, but the two who were sleeping were untouched.

                Connors opened fire with an M-16 at the larger group by the trucks, and killed two while injuring a third. They were scattering like quail!

                Olivia directed her attention to that area as well, and conjured up a hailstorm right on top of them that put six down - dead or unconscious, I couldn't tell.

                Leo changed targets, fired, and dropped one in his tracks with a head shot. Not bad from 200 yards in a bouncing helicopter!

                Then a man emerged from the sleeper cab of one of the trucks. He looked around the area and somehow spotted our helicopter. He drew up magic of his own and summoned a retaliatory hailstorm - right on top of the helicopter!

                We were hit with some huge hailstones that smashed the windows and pounded us with ice shards & broken glass. At the same time, the steady vibration of the rotors changed to a horrible lurching. We all had a split-second of sickening weightlessness as the helicopter lost lift. Then a screech of rupturing metal filled the cabin as the engine seized up.

                Then we dropped like a rock.

                The pilot was screaming a prayer as he shoved the stick forward and angled us straight down. I thought we were just about to hit when he jerked the nose up and turned our dive into a steep glide. We hit the ground hard - luckily the rotors were still moving enough so it wasn't as hard an impact as it could have been. I found out later that he had used the dive to get all the speed he could into the rotors before pulling up and praying we had enough lift to survive the landing. It must have worked - we lived.

                I was stunned for a moment. When I got my bearings, the first thing I saw was Connors, lying on the floor. She was unconscious and bleeding badly from a head wound. I grabbed her to get her out of the helicopter, but Leo stopped me. He said he didn't smell gas, and if there were no flames we should leave her and the other wounded inside so they would be protected. I looked around and saw that he and Olivia were both okay, but Lucifer and our pilot were both still strapped in, wounded and unconscious.

                We took a peek out and saw the mage was still over by the trucks, looking quite pleased with himself. Olivia snarled and conjured up another hailstorm directly above him. He was hurt by it but was still standing when the storm ended.

                The other guards started to pull themselves together and move our way. I sent power into summoning one of Corellon's creatures to fight for me. My prayer was answered and a huge, short-faced bear appeared right in front of them. While they were wetting themselves, it roared and attacked, killing one guard instantly.

                Leo took careful aim at the mage and shot him directly between the eyes. The bullet bounced off and the mage laughed. Olivia decided to stick with a good thing and called another hailstorm down on him. The other attacks must have weakened him, because this time when the storm cleared he was dead.

                The storm had another affect; it made my bear even madder! It mauled the two remaining guards badly and started to look for more victims. Leo grabbed the neurogun from my holster and opened up on them. He hit one guard cleanly, but the other dart deflected off the guy's leather jacket. He managed to pull his gun and started firing wildly in the direction of the three of us.

                He missed Leo and Olivia but hit me. My armor held, but the impact knocked me on my ass. The bear turned his attention back to the last guard and bit him on the neck/shoulder area. It growled and shook him violently before flinging him aside. I didn't look at what the bear was eating.

                With all the enemy dead, I thanked the bear and dismissed him (he grabbed the last guy in his mouth like a salmon and faded out, taking the guard with him. Then the three of us turned our attention to the wounded. Leo said he and Olivia would take care of the three in the helicopter; I should look to the farmers.

                I found four injured, one critically, and one dead. I healed the injured and myself and then I said a blessing for the dead man. I asked the farmers not to leave and said that I would be right back, then went to check on our own wounded.

                Olivia told me that Connors had a concussion to go with her bloody head wound, but she'd taken care of it. Lucifer had a broken shoulder as well as a concussion. The pilot was concussed and had too many broken bones to mention. We worked together to heal the two of them.

                We exhausted our spells and Olivia told me to go 'sweet talk' the farmers while she did some searching. I asked Leo to gather all the currency he could find and bring it to me. Then I went out and told them that these people had not been from Caesar. As for the new 'mandates' - hogwash! They seemed to believe me, and then Leo came over and handed me a sizeable amount of currency that he'd taken from the leader's till and from all the bodies. I handed it over to the farmers and told them to go get any produce that these men had 'purchased' from them and Caesar would have some representatives out here tomorrow to pay them fairly for their crops.

                I went to find Olivia. She was telling Leo to tie up the guy with the sleep spell on him; the spell would be wearing off soon. She showed me what she'd found: a wand with some kind of acidic missile spell in it, and a ring that let her 'see' the aura of anything magic. That was how the mage had spotted the helicopter.

                But the ultimate find? Written orders. Orders from a 'General Ramirez' that stated these men were to get as much of the harvest as possible and then return it and any potential sacrifices to Kingman, ASAP! Olivia and I quickly searched all the vehicles to see if we could find any of the 'potential sacrifices' but we found nothing.

                We returned to the helicopter to see if the radio was functioning - it wasn't. I was explaining to Connors and Leo that I could use some magic to send a message for help when the pilot (who was still awfully weak) said, "Don't bother - black box, emergency transponder. It started to transmit as soon as we hit."

                Sure enough, just a few moments later we heard the sound of helicopters - LOTS of helicopters, coming in from the northwest. Soon they were in sight. Two wings of a dozen each, being led by that damned Azrael. My stomach tightened at the sight of it.

                The aircraft went into a holding pattern while some men wearing Venetian's colors dropped to secure the area. As they were doing that, a Flight for Life helicopter landed and medics jumped out as soon as the rungs touched ground. The pilot and Lucifer were loaded immediately and took off for Vegas with a couple of Blackhawks escorting them. Two more air ambulances arrived to pick us up, and back to Vegas we went….

                On the way, the nurses insisted on 'checking us out', even though we all insisted we were fine. They didn't want to believe that the blood on Olivia, Leo and I wasn't ours, and they were down right skeptical of our ability to heal Connors.

                When they informed us that we were to be delivered to the ER at the hospital in Vegas for a full check up, I thought Olivia was going to blow a gasket. When she informed them that this was going to cut into her party time, one of them mumbled something like, "obviously suffering from a head wound." I'm not sure if Olivia didn't hear it, or chose to ignore it - I figured she must not have heard it.

                At the hospital, we were taken in to the ER and Leo was taken one way, Connors another, and they put Olivia and I in the same exam room - probably because we had so much blood on us. A nurse appeared and braved our unhappiness to get blood pressures and such (what is the 'normal' BP for an Elf, anyway?) and right after she scurried out, the door opened and something scuttled in.

                I don't know what the Hell it was supposed to be. It had crab claws and bright red skin with these tentacles dangling down from where its mouth was supposed to be. It said, "Relax, young mammal. I'm here to help, and I know all about the physiology of whatever you two may be." Olivia gasped at the sight of it and I asked her, "What is that thing?"

                "It's the Crab Doctor from Futurama." Yet another show I never saw. If I had only known then what I know now, I would have watched a lot more of those goofball shows.

                But then the thing pulled its head off - it was just a costume! - and the man inside of it was pretty amused with himself, "April Fools!"

                We were not amused. "It's July, you moron, and we're leaving," I said.

                "Well, if that's what you want," he said, "But I've got to do something to justify my bill rate, so hold on one second." He started to reach behind a curtain as Olivia and I made our way to the door. I saw the glimpse of a pet carrier and just knew what he was going to do.

                But when he actually said the words "I have to do a cat-scan on you both", I couldn't help myself. Without even thinking, I threw a holding spell on him before he could finish that horrible joke. The nurse came in, saw what I'd done, and said, "Oh, thank God."

                "Is he really a doctor?" Olivia asked her. The nurse assured us that he is, and then she asked a coworker to bring her a speculum. I assumed she was going to use it to do something rude to the idiot, but when I turned I saw that he actually had a cat - a live cat - trapped in his hand. The nurse pried his fingers open and freed the cat, which raced off down the hall as soon as it hit the floor.

                Another doctor came into the room, took a good long look, then 'thumped' the guy's head - kinda like a melon - and asked, "How long before this wears off?" I told him it would be a few hours and he sighed. "He's a goofball, but he's a competent doctor and we are in desperately short supply of those." Olivia asked, "So, does he think he's Robin Williams or something?" The doctor shook his head and said, "No, he just feels that people need to laugh, especially since things are so bleak and depressing these days. He just gets carried away sometimes."

                I felt bad that I had let him get to me and waved the spell off. He just started right back in as if nothing had happened. He declared, "Okay then, you're both alert and aware of your surroundings. That deserves a treat." He reached into a pocket on his lab coat, pulled out a bag of cat treats and said, "Here you go!" He tossed a couple in the air as if he actually expected us to jump for them!

                That was it! I snapped. I can't really put it any other way - I totally SNAPPED! There was a small crate sitting on a counter and without a thought I snatched it up and smacked him upside his stupid head. He spun and grabbed his head with both hands and then fell to the floor like he was dead.

                I was confused - it was a small crate and I hadn't hit him that hard! Then I noticed that Olivia had her neurogun in her hand and that there was a dart sticking out of the guy's ass.

                The second doctor continued, unfazed, "You were in that helicopter crash?" We told him we were indeed. "And you used some divine healing on yourselves and the others? Well, then, if you insist, you can go check yourselves out of here."

                We got to the waiting room and were appalled by what we saw - a huge crowd of people waiting to see a doctor. I felt AWFUL! I looked at Olivia and could see she felt the same way, so I went back to the exam room and managed to scrape together enough magic to neutralize the toxin in the doctor. Then I ran out of the room so he couldn't possible say or do something that would make me regret waking him up. I grabbed Olivia and we headed outside.

                Outside the ER, there were even more people waiting to get inside! The entrance to the ER had a machinegun nest in front of it and at least a dozen heavily armed guards. There were people circulating through the new arrivals, examining them and directing them to different lines or turning them away entirely. There was a big sign that read, "NO ADMISSION WITHOUT TRIAGE" over the main entrance, and a bunch of smaller signs with lists of what they would admit you for - mostly infectious and communicable diseases.

                Alfred's limo was pretty easy to spot - it was waiting in the middle of the patient drop-off zone with several guards around it. Alfred wasn't in it, but Allison was. We asked if she'd seen Leo or Connors come out yet. She said that she hadn't, so we turned around to go look for them.

                When we tried to go back in, one of the armed guards stepped in front of us and said, "Back of the line, ladies." We explained that we had just come from inside and all we wanted to do was to look for our friends.

                "Back of the line, ladies."

                Olivia was about to 'do' something when Allison appeared and calmly said, "These people are friends of the Lords Excalibur, Bellagio and Venetian." He stepped forward again, this time to open the door for us. We thanked Allison and she told us that she'd be waiting for us in the car.

                The woman working the desk was surprisingly helpful and told us, "The pilot of your helicopter and 'the other party' are upstairs, in ICU." She did some more looking and told us that neither Connors nor Leo had been released yet, and told us where to find them. She also gave us instructions to the ICU and badges to get into it. We met Connors coming out of an exam room and found the room Leo was supposedly in. The door was still closed so Olivia knocked on it. "Come on in," Leo said. He was just putting on his shirt as we did. Of course, they were both fine.

                We all took the elevator up to the 5th floor and when the doors opened, we stepped into a cage. A big sign warned us not to try to touch the bars - high voltage! We could smell the ozone, and our hair was starting to rise up from the charge in the air. An armed guard asked our business and to see the security badges. We showed them to him and he examined them quite closely. Finally he was satisfied. "Don't touch the bars," he warned us. He nodded to his partner who flipped a switch on a wall and turned off the electricity. The first guy unlocked the door to let us pass and directed us to Lord Venetian's room.

                The guard outside the room was one we'd seen before and he told the nurse that we were okay. She opened the door for us and asked us to be quiet, "Lord Venetian is sleeping. We'll be keeping him overnight for observation, but he's fine, really." We took a quick look to reassure ourselves and Connors noted that there was a warning on his chart: "No Overlords allowed to visit except for the Lords Bellagio, Excalibur and Caesar."

                We tiptoed back out and asked about the pilot; he was next door. When we went inside he was awake and speaking to a neurologist. Olivia asked him how he was feeling.

                "Better. They say that any landing you walk away from is a good one." He asked us what had happened - after the crash. We told him all that he'd missed. Then we all commended him on his getting us down in one piece (more or less). He explained what he'd done and why and how it'd worked (something about rotation speed and lift - I didn't follow it!) He sounded real weak and shaky and wasn't moving very well. Olivia asked me in Elvish if I had anything left to do some more healing for him. Then the neurologist shooed us outside, "So my patient can get some rest."

                In the hallway he told us that the pilot didn't really need us to do anymore of our healing. "You speak Elvish?" Olivia asked him.

                "No, but I saw your concern and the only reason you would be speaking in your language was if you didn't want him to understand you. So it isn't hard to figure out what you were talking about." We asked why he was still in such bad shape - Olivia and I had put enough power into healing him that he really should be doing better.

                The doctor shook his head and told us that physically, he was fine. Tired, but fine. Emotionally, he was a mess from the trauma. "He has convinced himself that he's paralyzed from the waist down and that he can't feel his hands." He went on to say that the doctor down in ER (the one I smashed and Olivia tranquilized) had theorized that with things the way they are now, if the patient is allowed to go on believing that he was paralyzed, he would indeed become paralyzed. I was amazed! Dr Happy-Ass actually came up with that all on his own! Anyway, until they come up with a plan to help him, they're keeping him sedated.

                While the doctor was going on about that theory, I became entranced by the sign on the door. It had the pilot's name on it - Rupert, Barnaby. First of all, I was struck by what an awful name that is. Then I was struck by the fact that the man had been our pilot who knows how many times and I'd never once asked his name before. Never thought to ask the man something as simple as, "What's your name?" And Armani? How long had I known him? How many times had he helped us or saved our skins? Did I ever ask him his name? No. He had to pointedly tell us his name was Phillips - and then I never asked what his first name was!

                Before, in the 'Real World', I was in the fund raising business. I was a 'People Person'. I would know everything there was to know about a person ten minutes after I'd met them. Now, I can't even be bothered to find out someone's name. What have I become?

                I shook my head to bring myself back to the here and now and heard the doctor ask if we knew about family or friends who might be able to help. I shook my head, "Hell, we didn't even know his name until today."

                Olivia said, "Hizzoner probably knows; we'll radio him and get back to you." The doctor gave her a phone number where he can be reached. Then he told us that Lucifer would be spending the night here, per Caesar's orders. We thanked him for his time and effort and headed back down to Allison and the car.

                We asked her to have us taken to the Venetian to see if his people could help us contact Montrose and Hizzoner. When we arrived, there was a news crew waiting outside. As we stepped out of the car the lights went on and they shoved microphones at us asking if we'd seen Lord Venetian, if we knew his condition, etc, etc.

                We tried the 'No Comment' route but a reporter stepped right in front of us and said, "Look, I understand your feelings, but Lord Bellagio assured me that you could be counted on." Olivia looked skeptical, "Are you sure about that? Lord Bellagio told you that personally? Because if I check with him, he'll kill you for using his name." The reporter stood firm, so she asked Allison to put a call thru to the Bellagio. Allison handed the phone to Olivia and she held it so I could listen in as she told Dallas what the reporter had said.

                Dallas said, "What I told him was that if he could get you to talk, you'd be honest with him." Then he asked us to give him a sound bite he could use - apparently the people were beginning to freak out. "The 'Big Guy' wants us to do what we can to keep 'em calm," Dallas said. He told us that the 'official line' is that the helicopter crashed due to mechanical difficulties while the Lord Venetian was checking out a refugee camp.

                Olivia handed the phone back to Allison and we turned to face the reporters. The reporter started off by telling the camera who we were and that we'd been on the helicopter with Lord Venetian when it had crashed. He shoved the microphone at us and we started off by saying that Lord Venetian was fine and we praised the pilot (Barnaby!) for his efforts.

                Then somehow Olivia was suddenly talking about the earlier attack on us, down at Fremont Street. The reporter misunderstood and started to ask about the 'attack' on Lord Venetian's helicopter. The more Olivia tried to clear up the confusion the worse it got. I tried pulling on her sleeve, then her arm. Then I was trying to drag her away. Allison finally stopped the scene by telling us (very loudly) that Caesar was on the phone, demanding to speak to us. That got us off the sidewalk and into the lobby, where the press was not allowed to follow. Allison stayed with them to make a statement to them - she told them that we had just been through a lot and that the reporter had gotten two separate incidents confused, then proceeded to sort everything out. Give that girl a cigar!

                We took a breath and saw that we were in the presence of another Overlord, a male leopard. One who looked distinctly unhappy to see us. We didn't recognize him, but he certainly recognized us. He said something about it being time for him to leave and started towards the door.

                We asked him who he was and if there was anything we could help him with. He gave us some song and dance about stepping up to fill in during Venetian's absence to maintain the security of the city. We told him that Lucifer was just fine and would be back in his office first thing tomorrow and again asked if we could help him.

                His attitude got more and more insolent and he made it clear that he thought we were lying about Lucifer's condition. He was SO very irritating and before I knew it my hand was on my neurogun. It took a lot of self-control to not pull it and plant a dart in the bastard!

                We asked the man at the concierge desk who this person was. "I don't know," he said. Great! He'd obviously been enthralled! The leopard grinned and the only thing that stopped me from shooting him was the thought of how much trouble it would mean to Alfred and Dallas if I did. Olivia darted outside to get Allison from the car to see if she knew who this was - she didn't. By then that spotted bastard was outside and was sauntering (no other word for it) down the drive to the street. We had the news crew film him, figuring that someone must know who he is.

                Back inside the lobby the concierge 'came to' and remembered nothing. All the other people in the lobby had the same story. Who knows what he could have done while he was inside! We asked for a phone and tried to call Caesar. Fortunately, Armani (er, Phillips) answered. We asked him if an Overlord could put the whammy on another Overlord's people. He told us that yes, they can - if the other Overlord is weaker, anyway - but they don't; Overlord courtesy, you see.

                He asked why we wanted to know and we explained. After we described the cat, he said, "Yeah, I know him. He's one of those without a domain. If you want to really annoy him, call him 'Josey'. He's quite fond of Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name" westerns and Lucifer started calling him Josey Wales, or just plain Josey because of it. Drives him nuts. Since he has no domain, he lives in one of the small hotels along Fremont. He has rooms that face the street and he usually just hangs out and watches people."

                Then Phillips confided that he is one of the suspects in the attacks. "Shouldn't someone be watching him, then?" I asked, "Instead of just letting him roam about and muck around with someone else's domain?"

                Phillips dodged the question and asked what we were doing at the Venetian anyway. We told him that we were trying to get hold of Hizzoner back in Montrose and that we needed to see Lucifer's communications people.

                "Come back here to the Stratosphere," he told us, "We have all you'll need to get thru to Montrose." Back in the limo we told Allison where we needed to go and she gave the driver his orders. She had the radio on and was listening to the concert.

                Armani greeted us and showed us to the communications room and told us that the comm officer had already initiated the call. Hizzoner was on his way to his office to speak to us. He finally came on and we told him about the crash and how Barnaby needed help. Did he know of any family? Hizzoner wasn't very helpful. "He has no family here, he was a refugee. He was also a loner socially, and so has no close friends. He does have one real interest - the piano. He's quite a musician, or so I've been told," he said. Well, that would explain his obsession with his hands being damaged! Then Hizzoner suggested that Lucifer use a compulsion and order Barnaby to function normally. By the time the compulsion wore off, he'd HAVE to believe that he was fine.

                Then he started in about the helicopter. To say that he was one pissed off giant, floating eyeball would be an understatement! Good thing it was just a radio connection; Olivia and I could just picture him floating back and forth with that eyeball twitching away. When he got to the point where he actually threatened Lucifer we cut him short and told him to take up the issue with Lord Venetian, then switched off the connection.

                We called the hospital and asked for Barnaby's doctor. It took a bit to get to him, but we finally were able to talk to him and we passed on Hizzoner's suggestion. The doctor was appalled! "That's the most cold-blooded thing I've heard in months!" So I told him about the piano - maybe he should try getting Barnaby to play. The doctor seemed a little happier with that idea, but was still pissed. "We'll weigh all the possibilities," he said, then excused himself and hung up.

                We left the room and Armani told us that Caesar and Binion were in their private quarters. They were watching the show and asked us to join them.

                They were lounging about when we arrived, "Come in, sit down, have a drink," said Binion. Olivia sat and said, "We've got prices on our heads."

                "So I've heard," Caesar said.

                "Well, Lady Jacinta is quite put off by the news."

                "But not as 'put off' as by the news that there's a spy in Alfred's organization, a spy in Lucifer's organization and that these spies were assisting the assassins," I said in my defense. I still don't think there's anything wrong with being disturbed at the thought of someone putting a price on my head!

                "Half a million for each of us - does that sound like the right price to you?" Olivia asked Caesar. "And what about that promise of citizenship? Alfred's the only one who can grant such a thing, and I don't think I'm too far off the mark in saying that he'd be just a little annoyed with our deaths. Not too likely to be granting citizenship to our killers."

                Caesar said that probably neither the bounty nor the citizenship would ever be paid, and that it's far more likely that once the dirty deed was done the assassins would themselves be killed.

                I told him about Josey being at the Venetian and asked, "Wasn't that more than a little odd?"

                "Yes," he said, "I'm sure he was up to something. I'll have my security people go over and check things out before Lucifer returns in the morning." We told him about our conversation with Hizzoner and his distress over the loss of the helicopter and how he'd actually threatened Lucifer. Caesar dismissed that as nothing to worry about, then he thanked us for liberating the farmers and expressed his concern regarding 'bandits' running around in his colors.

                Things got quiet and we just sat and watched the concert. Once or twice they showed crowd shots and we spotted Alfred, putting in his public appearance. The concert finally ended and Alfred appeared so quickly that we figured he must have left before it actually ended. He had clean clothes for all of us. That's when I realized that we were all still in our dirty, bloody clothes. We must have looked like we'd come from a slaughterhouse.

                Binion said, "The fireworks won't be starting right away, I'm sure there'll be enough time to for you all to shower and change." Well, we can take a hint, and went to clean up and change. We had all just gotten comfortable on the observation deck when the first rocket went up. (I'm pretty sure Caesar had some sort of signal and had them wait until we were all ready.)