07/10/06:

                I woke this morning to the sound of Dallas knocking on Olivia's door across the hall. Actually, it was Jim, not Dallas, who said (in a surprisingly cultured Carolina drawl!) "We should leave before Her Ladyship wakes up. Y'all get ready to hit the road while I tender our apologies for leaving so early to that Drow down the hall." He took a few steps, then turned back to say, "If I'm not out of there in five minutes, I trust you ladies will come to my rescue?"

                We assured him that we would and retreated back into our rooms to get ready. As I was headed for the stairs I saw Olivia telling Bunny 'good bye' and telling her that we'll probably be back thru here some time.

                I was letting Velma warm up as Alfred was dragging the last few mercenaries out of the brothel. Olivia was handing out some 'breakfast' to everyone and asked him where he'd spent his night. He snarled. "That 'woman' tried to foist her daughter off on me - and she couldn't have been more that 14 years old!"

                "So, how'd you get out of it?"

                "I told Miriam that I'm gay." He completely ignored all the laughter and continued, "I ended up playing Go Fish with one of her Alpha Males. A guy named Reginald. A guy not nearly as gay as he claims to be."

                With that the door opened and an Alpha Drow appeared. A big guy, not as big as Alfred, but pretty big, carrying a small suitcase. "Please! You gotta let me go with you!" he said.

                Olivia pointed to the men up on Velma's roof, "Climb on up," she said.

                Boy, did he move fast!

                Then Jim appeared from the same door, waving his hand in the air and yelling, "Move it out!"

                We had just gotten moving when Miriam appeared in the doorway, buck naked and PISSED OFF! She was yelling something that was lost in all the noise from Scooby and Velma. Then a younger Drow girl, (the daughter Alfred mentioned, I assume) came out and said something to her. Miriam turned and backhanded the girl hard enough to send her spinning into the wall.

                The last thing I saw as I turned the corner was the girl looking daggers at Miriam. I mean, if looks could kill, Miriam would be a goner. She had better treat that girl right or Sakkara's going to have a new 'advisor' on her hands. Not that that would be a bad thing!

                As we got closer to Vegas, the roads were in better shape and there were fewer vehicles to go around, so we made good time and made it to Hoover Dam by about 9:00. We were stopped on the road going over it; seems the Overlord of the Dam, Sparky, had decided the road over the dam is his, too. So Alfred paid the toll and we continued on. We'd barely gotten off of the dam when the DJ on the Vegas radio station announced, "And this just in - the contingent from the Kingdom of the New Outlands is back in town and Lord Caesar has a request, just for them!"

                The song? The cantina music from Star Wars. I have to confess, the meaning was lost on me. But I did learn that dancing in the seat is contraindicated when operating an armor unit.

                We pulled into the driveway at the Excalibur to find Alfred's staff lined up, waiting for him. There was also a limo from the Bellagio and as we pulled into sight Maisara got out of it.

                Jim got out of Scooby and greeted her with a polite little kiss and, "Hi Honeybunch." Then he shook hands with Alfred and nodded towards the rest of us, "I'm going to retire to the Bellagio to take care of some personal matters," he said. Then he asked Olivia and I, "Y'all will come around and say good-bye before you leave town, won't you?" We assured him we would.

                He turned away to get his gear out of Scooby and Olivia told Maisara that Jim had really been quite good on this trip. "There was more Jim than we'd really ever seen before." Maisara nodded and smiled, "I think he's getting better. Slowly, yes, but a little better every day."

                Then Jim was back and helping the driver load his gear into the trunk, Maisara gave us a little wave as she stepped into the limo. I couldn't help but have a flash of a guilty thought - would our leaving town help Jim's recovery? We sure don't seem to be very good for him. Then we were getting our own gear unpacked, and Debbie and Jennifer were both demanding attention from Olivia and Olias was there to help me with my stuff. Finally, from the back of Scooby, Mitzi appeared! We had all forgotten about her. But undoubtedly for the best; Kingman is NOT the place for her!

                She was looking all around, "How pretty! What's that thing?" she pointed at the Stratosphere.

                Olivia explained that was where Caesar lived. "I want to go say hi!" Mitzi said.

                We explained to her that now was not the best time, Caesar was feeling very sad. She could see him another time.

                "Okay," she said. Then she noticed the Excalibur. "This is neat! It looks like a castle! And every castle needs a dragon!" And with that she changed into her dragon form.

                I'll give Alfred's people full credit - they were all startled and some were flat out scared - but not one broke rank.

                "Is there a pool?" Mitzi asked.

                "Oh yes, there sure is, " we told her and made her promise that she would only play in the pool here at the Excalibur. She sniffed the air for a moment to locate the pool, and flew off. We heard a whoop and saw a huge splash that we figured could only come from a dragon doing a cannonball.

                Alfred invited the mercenaries to join us all for a 'real' breakfast and they gratefully accepted. They were impressed by everything they'd seen: the electricity, the cleanliness of the city, the order of the place, the breakfast menu. "We're staying!" the leader announced.

                I suggested that they check with Lucifer. "Lord Venetian is the one you should see. He's in charge of Security and Peace for the city. He can use as many good people as he can get."

                Alfred agreed and waived Allison over. "I'm granting these folks Citizenship on the basis of past meritorious service. Take care of the paperwork, would you?" "Of course," she said, "There are some forms you'll need to sign, sir." After Alfred had followed her to her office, I explained to the leader the value of the gift they had just been given. He was dumbstruck. "He can do that?" he asked.

                We explained that yes, he certainly can, he is the Overlord of Citizenship. "And Dallas - he's the Overlord of Entertainment."

                "Yeah, Dallas. I've got a question there, too," he said. "Dallas, er, Jim - what is he, a schizo?"

                I exchanged a glance with Olivia and we said at the same time, "Well, umm, yeah."

                Connors cleared her throat and said, "No, he is not schizophrenic. He is a schizophrenic, homicidal maniac with a total disregard for social norms and a profoundly disturbing messiah complex." She explained that Dallas had been military and had seen some things that left him with some real issues - and that was before the Change! At least that chilled their desire to pull a few tasteless practical jokes on him.

                The mercenaries thanked us for our help and headed off to the Venetian. The rest of the breakfast was Debbie catching us up on what had been going on while we were gone. Olivia asked her if Slash was in town and was disappointed to find the answer was no. When we finished, she looked at Jennifer and said, "Come help me get cleaned up." As they left, Connors said she was going to head 'home' - her rooms at the Bellagio - and I decided to head for my room to shower and relax. I had just gotten out of the restaurant when my phone rang. It was Leo.

                "Well," he said, "we do, in fact, have a date. When would be convenient for you? If you wanted to take a day, to have a 'homecoming' with your friend, I'd understand that."

                It took a moment for me to realize he meant Olias! "No. Tonight would be just fine for me," I said.

                There was a short pause. "Good. Um, would you like dinner first?"

                "Nah! Just come on up and do me right now!" I thought to myself.

                "Dinner would be great," is what I actually said

                "Good, okay, the restaurant I have in mind has a dress code, of sorts. No armor allowed."

                "Okay, " I said. "I think I can manage real clothes for one meal."

                "Should I meet you there or pick you up?"

                "Picking me up would be good."

                "8:00?" he asked.

                And so it was agreed. I looked thru my closet and decided a new dress was in order. Then I had an evil thought. That led to a debate with myself - should I - or shouldn't I? The 'should I' argument won but not wanting to disturb Olivia and figuring she'd be busy for awhile, I wrote a note asking her to come to my room when she had a chance and I slipped it under her door. Then I headed for the shops.

                I found two really nice dresses but couldn't make up my mind between them, (I was afraid one might be just a little too 'Let me bend over so you can drive'-ish) so I asked the clerk if I could take both of them and then, when I did decide, bring one back.

                "For a friend of Lord Alfred? Of course! Anything you want, miss."

                I like groveling. She even insisted on having someone carry the dresses, the shoes, and a purse I just fell in love with up to my room for me. It's going to really suck when the last clothing warehouses and shipping centers are looted, and all these lovely clothes become just another memory.

                I comforted myself by thinking that Olivia and I would just have to make sure we got more than our fair share of the remaining supply. I laid out the dresses and started looking through my loot bag for some nice jewelry.

                After a time, there was a knock at my door and when I opened it, there was Olivia. I invited her in and asked her opinion of the two dresses. She chose the one I'd been leaning towards. Then I asked her if she had anymore of the Go-Juice. She said that she did, why? I asked her if I could have a dose of it. She got a small bottle of it for me; I thanked her and put it in my new purse.

                And ya know what? I was actually disappointed that she didn't push for the reason why I wanted it. I was all prepared to tell her that I planned to screw her brother senseless tonight and was going to use the Go Juice for stamina. But I didn't get the chance, dammit! She just smiled that scary Olivia smile and told me to 'have a good time' and left to take Jennifer to dinner.

                I had just finished getting ready (it took longer to do my hair than I thought it would; it'd been so long since I'd done more than put it in a pony tail or braid it!) when the phone rang. This time it was the concierge, telling me that "my gentleman was waiting" for me.

                I told him that I'd be right down and hung up. I put on my shoes, grabbed my purse, looked in the mirror and said, "Jacinta Marie, what have you gotten yourself into?" When it was apparent there wasn't going to be an answer, I shrugged and headed for the lobby.

                I looked around for a moment or two before it sunk in that that man in the designer suit standing near the desk was Leo! I was stunned. He was in a beautiful suit (he later confessed to me that he had asked Phillips for his help in picking it out), was clean-shaven, had a fresh haircut and as he approached me, I could smell that he'd even used cologne! Paul Sebastian - why did it have to be Paul Sebastian? That stuff makes me weak in the knees! I did a quick review, had I ever mentioned that to Olivia? I couldn't remember. Could it just be coincidence?

                He walked forward to meet me and I saw that he was carrying a single, red rose. He held it up and asked, "May I?" "Of course."

                He offered me his arm and walked me across the lobby. I felt more than a little silly, even with the four-inch heels I'd bought - he was nearly a foot taller than me. We were almost to the doors when I spotted Olivia, doing a pretty shitty job of hiding behind a potted palm. I waved as we passed and said. "Good night Olivia." Leo chose to ignore the whole thing. I know that if I saw her, he did.

                Outside there was a Hummer limo waiting for us. Leo shooed the driver away and held the door for me himself. It was a short, quiet, uncomfortable drive to the restaurant - the Italian place that we had been to before, right after we'd arrived in Vegas.

                We were shown to a secluded table in a corner, candle light and violin music - the whole deal! Our waiter appeared and informed us that the House Mages had been working overtime to create tonight's specials. We settled on the fresh calamari and lobsters. I couldn't believe it - real lobsters with real butter!

                Then the waiter left us alone. Completely alone. Utterly alone.

                After a few awkward starts, we managed to get a reasonable conversation going. Leo was making eye contact and everything. But then he blew it. He said something about how nice I looked and then - he complimented my shoes. I couldn't help myself, I freaked. The first thought I had was, "This isn't Leo. He's been replaced by someone or something." And before I knew it, I was calling up the magic, to see just what had replaced Leo.

                But everything was fine. I simply over reacted. Fortunately, I was saved by the waiter and our endive and radicchio salads. I took a deep breath to calm myself from the whole 'shoe incident' and asked Leo about some of the places he'd been to with the Navy.

                As he was telling me about some of them, I had the distinct feeling that he was telling me more than he'd ever told Olivia or Cordelia. I checked to make sure that I wasn't unconsciously using any magic that might influence him. I wasn't.

                He told me that he guessed that they (Olivia and Cordelia) had never figured out the reason behind the postcards that he would send them. I asked him what he meant by that. He paused for a moment and said that (to him anyway) the postcards where a way of proclaiming that he was still alive. He had made it thru another mission and had lived to tell the tale. "I could never tell them that, of course," he said, "but that's why I sent the cards."

                I said, "Isn't is funny how your family can be the hardest people to actually talk to?" He nodded briefly, and clearly uncomfortable, changed the subject. He asked me what I used to do, Before.

                It seemed so very strange to be sitting it such a 'normal' setting and to be telling this man all about my old life. About my job, the people I had worked with, things I used to like to do, where I had lived, grown up, how I'd met his sister.

                It was surreal beyond words.

                Then he threw me for a complete loop.

                He asked me what I had looked like, before I Changed. For a brief moment, I was speechless, I was so angry. Was that some sort of insult? But then I thought, "I guess that would be something that anyone might be curious about." But he was the first person to ever ask me that.

                I opened my purse and pulled out the small photo wallet that I've carried with me ever since I left Denver for Estrella a million years ago. I showed him pictures of me when I was a kid, with my Grandma Hughes and then later with Mom and Dad Owens. Some pictures of me with some college friends and some with my SCA friends.

                He listened very politely while I explained who all the people were and what they had meant to me. Then he (again) shocked the Hell out of me by pulling out his wallet and showing me some old photos of him with Cordelia and Olivia when they were all little. He also had some others of Olivia and Cordelia when they were older. He admitted that he had 'stolen' them during one of his few trips home after he'd joined the Navy.

                It was so touching, I couldn't help myself, "That is so sweet," I said. "But don't worry, I won't tell Olivia." He was putting his wallet away and said (more to the table than to me), "I'd tell her myself, if she ever asked."

                I reached out and took his hand and said, "You know, she was SO worried about you the whole time. She was worried about Cordelia, too, but Cordelia found us so soon after things went to Hell. But you! You had her tied in knots. You would not believe the crap she gave Jes - President Ventura until he was able to give her some information. She hounded him mercilessly."

                I had made him uneasy. "We were pretty worried about ourselves," he said. "We were in Subic Bay in the Philippines with a couple of other ships and a carrier group. We all joined up with some others - civilian ships, mostly - and were actually headed to Japan since it was closer."

                I kind of laughed and said, "I've imagined Japan looking like the end of a Godzilla movie."

                He shook his head; "I don't even want to think about it. Pretty soon we ran into a Russian 'fishing' vessel," (He looked at me and I nodded to show him that I understood what he meant) "along with two Typhoon-class subs and a Japanese whaler. The CO met with them, and next thing we knew, they had joined us and we were turning the whole convoy around and heading at flank speed for San Diego. The slower ships were abandoned after we offloaded their crews." He had a drink and shuddered. "We were told, later, that the Russian's equipment had picked up a huge, radioactive object in the ocean, moving towards Japan. The Russian captain had called a meeting with the other captains, and they'd all agreed to two things. One - to change course and sail away from Japan as fast as possible and two - not tell any of the men about it - a policy our CO adopted. If we didn't know about it we couldn't think about it, and if we didn't think about, well then just maybe we'd get out of there alive."

                "And you did," I said. He nodded

                "And maybe at this very moment, Godzilla is fighting Mothra somewhere in Japan." I almost got him to laugh.

                Then the waiter brought out the dessert tray. After dessert and coffee Leo looked at me and said,

                "Shall we?"

                As we walked into the lobby of the Excalibur, I was half expecting to see Olivia still waiting for us, but she wasn't.

                We made the trip up the elevator and down the hall in silence. He unlocked the door and held it open for me to enter. Once inside my room, we were both really uneasy. "Um, if you want to freshen up, I'll wait here," he said. Well, I can take a hint, so I went into the bathroom to 'powder my nose'. (And gather my courage. I was so confused by that time, I just did not know what to expect next.)

                When I emerged from the bathroom my confusion only got worse. On the dresser I could see that he had laid his shoulder holster and gun, his gun belt and gun, and three other guns that he'd had with him. His suit coat was lying neatly on the bench at the foot of the bed and in the middle of the bed was a small key.

                Leo was sitting in a chair, in the corner, fully dressed (minus coat and side arms) and he was handcuffed to his chair.

                I stopped in my tracks and said, "Well, this is interesting. Definitely not what I was expecting."

                "What were you expecting?" he asked.

                "Well, to be honest," I said, "several different scenarios have run thru my head, but coming out of the bathroom to find you handcuffed to the chair was never one of them."

                He looked me straight in the eyes and said, "I have never pressured anyone into sex. So if you want to go thru with this, toss me the key. But, if you want me to leave, just give me the say so and I'm out here."

                I know I was focused on the wrong issue at this point but said, "And you'll take the chair with you?"

                If he thought I was being stupid, he hid it well and explained that when he'd been in the Philippines, some of the working girls were afraid of the American GIs, that some of the men hurt and abused them. So, some of the other men had taken to chaining themselves to something in the room. That way the girls would have a chance to change their minds and leave.

                He said, "Like I told you, I've never forced any woman into doing anything she didn't want to do, and I'm not about to start now with you. If you don't want to do this, I'll leave right now. And I'll tell Olivia to lay off, too."

                It was all sort of absurd, but touching. I said to him, "Leo, you've seen some of the things I can do, the Power that I can call upon. I think we're both well aware of the fact that no one is ever going to force me to do anything that I don't want to."

                He conceded that point to me but said that he felt as if I had been pressured into all of this. "First with that stupid game we'd been playing on the radio. Everyone heard. And then Olivia kept bringing it up, and I admit, I was guilty of doing it, too. Even though you were clearly embarrassed."

                I admitted that I was embarrassed by it and that Olivia's teasing had made me uncomfortable, but only because it had been a reminder that I had gotten into this situation by trying to be something I clearly was not.

                "And I'm giving you the opportunity to get out of this situation," he said.

                I got the key from the bed, went over and unlocked those silly handcuffs. He just sat there, looking at me so I took his hand and 'pulled' him to his feet.

                "Are you sure?" he asked.

                "I'm very sure," I said.

071106:

                Leo woke me this morning and asked if I would accompany him to breakfast. "Of course, I'm starved." I said. Inside I was ecstatic that I wouldn't have to face the gauntlet alone.

                He said, "I'll go change and meet you back here," and with a quick kiss he was gone. I was drying my hair when he returned. If he had shocked me with his clothing last night - that was nothing compared to the shock of this morning. He was wearing chinos, Gucci loafers, a button down Ralph Lauren oxford shirt, and a Ralph Lauren cardigan sweater! And - over it all - a black leather dinner jacket. Before I could stop it a giggle just burst right out of me. I tried to make it into a cough, my only hope was that Leo was as nervous as he looked and didn't notice.

                "Is this okay?" he asked.

                I took a long look and, oddly enough, it almost worked on him. "Sure! You look great," I said.

                I asked him to make himself comfortable while I finished drying my hair, and once inside the bathroom, I lost it. I kept imagining the look on Olivia's face when she got a look at that sweater, and the mere thought, made me laugh. I finished my hair, pulled it back, composed myself and joined Leo.

                Dammit! He had taken the sweater off! "It was a bit much, wasn't it?" he asked. "What about the jacket? Should I leave that, too?" "No! The jacket is very you," I said. He seemed reassured and we went off to face the barbarians at breakfast.

                They were all there ahead of us, even Connors! Olivia was once again shocked by Leo's appearance. He pulled my chair out for me and I thanked him. He sat next to me, took my hand and kissed it. "I had a lovely time last night," he said.

                I did my best to act as if Leo kissed my hand every morning at breakfast and said, "So did I, thank you Leo."

                I was trying very hard to not look at Olivia. I did glance at Olias, who gave me his very best raised eyebrow, Mr. Spock look, which I chose to ignore. If he had questions we could talk about them later - when Olivia wasn't around. I was still not looking at her. I was looking at the flowers, the saltshaker, the bowl of oatmeal Olias was eating - anything as long as it wasn't Olivia.

                Well, she was having none of that! "Jazz, would you like some orange juice? It replaces vital fluids."

                That did it! I just had to look at her, "Why yes Olivia, I'd love some orange juice." The look she gave me was just chock full of questions. I ignored them all. Like that helped. While we were eating she leaned over and whispered something to Alfred. I tried to hear it, but all I caught was something about a Polaroid camera. Uh-oh, trouble. Alfred nodded to her, summoned one of his people and whispered an order to the gal who raced off. She was back very quickly with a Polaroid camera that she gave to Olivia.

                Olivia said, "Leo, do you mind if I take a picture of you and Jazz, and then one of you and I - for Cordelia."

                I expected Leo to blow up at the idea, but all he said was, "Okay, as long as you take one for me to keep."

                So Olivia made the two of us stand up and smile for three pictures, one each for Leo herself and me. Than Alfred took three of Olivia and Leo. One each for her, Leo and Cordelia. I don't know why, but I got the oddest feeling when Leo took the photos and put them in his wallet. I was really touched.

                We finished breakfast with no more interruptions and Leo said, "I'm going to go change into my uniform. I need to go meet with the Ambassador out at Nellis. Then this afternoon we should all get together to discuss routes and supplies."

                Connors took that opportunity to tell us that she wouldn't be going on to New Ectopia. She was going to stay and continue working with Dallas. Olivia asked her to keep an eye on Debbie and she agreed to stop by and 'crack the whip' once and awhile. "And could you check in on Jennifer, too?" Olivia asked. "Not that I'm asking you to 'check in on her', you know I just mean…"

                Connors nodded and said, "I know what you mean, I will, but I think she's doing better," she said. Olivia turned to Alfred and asked, "Can we tow something behind Scooby?"

                "Like what?"

                "A small trailer."

                "For what?" Alfred asked.

                "So we (or Jazz) can have some privacy on this upcoming trip. We're gonna be gone quite some time."

                I refused to rise to the bait and Alfred explained that it wouldn't really work, since anything we were to tow would be right in the line of fire from the flaming oil jets. "Maybe we can rig something else, something inside Scooby," he suggested.

                Then we discussed Velma. It was cute, but there's no way we could create enough fuel for both her and Scooby. Should we sell it? Should we trade it? Should we keep it? I know Olivia really wanted to keep it, and so did I. Maybe we could just leave it here and decide when we get back?

                Alfred said, "Lucy - fer, ah, should get first crack at it if we do decide to trade or sell it." We agreed. Have to admit, that was a pretty good recovery!

                Olivia was wondering if there had been any luck setting up phone lines, Alfred asked and was told that there were a few, including a 'Hot Line' between Caesar and Malcolm.

                Then, out of the blue, Olivia said, "Do you think we could get anyone to lend us a helicopter? I'd like to take a quick trip home before setting out. We've been gone an awfully long time." We were discussing our options when Connors cleared her throat and said, "I'm probably out of line here, but Jazz, could you use that 'wind' thing?"

                Oh! Yeah! Olivia asked if I could do it and I told her I could, but it would take hours there and back again. I was willing to do it, but Olivia wasn't so sure. She suggested we talk to Charlie, to see if Zaphod could do anything to help. "Or maybe we can borrow the Gray's helicopter," I said.

                So we decided to go over to the Bellagio and pay a visit; Connors decided to go with us but Alfred had to beg off. "There's a meeting of the major Overlords, that I need to attend. We'll be discussing annexation."

                We were about to leave when Olivia remembered Reginald. She asked the concierge to call his room. She asked him if he had heard anything about the Drow enclave near Colorado Springs. She was silent for a moment then said, "Oh, I understand," and hung up. Then she burst out laughing. Connors and I looked at her, "He had 'company'," was all she had to say.

                Chocolate and Cherry, our erstwhile bodyguards, appeared at that point to escort us out to our car. Fortunately, the drive over was very uneventful. When we entered the Bellagio's lobby Connors headed to her office and said, "I'm sure I'll see you before you leave?" We told her she would and went looking for Charlie.

                We found him on the job - on the set of a porno flick. I don't even want to know what his job might be. We greeted him and he stopped us cold by saying, "You two got laid last night!"

                "What?" I asked, "Can you smell it or something?"

                "No," he said, quite seriously, "I've become orgasm sensitive. And both of you are positively radiating a 'I got royally screwed last night' (but in the good way) aura."

                We were speechless. Chocolate and Cherry were speechless.

                "So! You're back," he finally said, as he led us off the set so we could speak to him.

                Olivia told him how we wanted to go home for a day or two and asked if Zaphod could help. Charlie said that he couldn't think of any way. Then we asked about the helicopter. "It's not mine. You'd have to ask the Grays."

                "Is Tastes Like Chicken still hanging around?" Olivia asked.

                "Yeah, go ask Maisara, it's been doing odd jobs for her."

                Then she asked about Millie, "Is she still scamming the casinos?"

                "Nah - she's gone back to the Area. She's spending her time examining the ramifications of shit and doing a lot of plotting and organizing. I see her when I go out there once a week to pop up a few bodies & get juiced up."

                Someone called his name and he waved an acknowledgment. "Gotta go, business calls."

                We left him to it and went to look for Maisara at her office. She was on an errand, but would return momentarily. While we were waiting for her, Olivia asked me, "So. Are you and Olias still an item? Are you and Leo going to be an item?"

                "Well, I don't think you could consider what Olias and I have being an 'item'. And as for Leo, who knows. I will tell you one thing about your brother, though. He was a complete gentleman last night. Very sweet."

                Maisara arrived then, dressed for a day at the office, with her hair pulled up in a bun and wearing a rather demure business suit. She greeted us with hugs and kisses that were only slightly overwhelming. "Jim's sleeping late and has an important meeting later."

                "We heard. I would love to be a fly on the wall in that meeting," I said.

                "Alfred plans to reign in the others on their plans for expansion," she said.

                "Will Jim be supporting him on that?" I asked.

                "Of course, as will Lord Venetian."

                "Lucifer?"

                Olivia asked her if we could speak to her in private and she led us into her office. Once inside she closed the door and flipped a switch and some netting that covered the door and windows lit up and began to quietly hum.

                Olivia said, "How much of what he does as Dallas does Jim remember?"

                "You mean the 'incident' involving Lord Antonio?" she asked.

                "Exactly," Olivia said. "Is there any chance that Jim might 'accidentally' tell someone about it?"

                "He told me, but I don't believe he'd speak to anyone else. Dallas had never used friendly fire against anyone before and Jim was horrified. But tell me, he also spoke of a Drow woman with what he called 'questionable motives'."

                We told her what we knew of Miriam.

                She nodded and said, "Jim will be speaking to Lord Caesar today about the need to act for Sakkara's safety. He was telling me that the Azrael has antipersonnel capabilities that few know of. And Jim seems to think that this Miriam is a threat to the entire region."

                We had to agree with that assessment!

                "I have a question for you, now. Who is responsible for telling Caesar about snipe?"

                Olivia said, "That would have been Jazz," and she took great delight in telling her the whole story.

                Maisara glared at me and said, "Well, Lord Caesar has hunting parties out in the Sierra Nevadas. Scouring the area for some. They've been ordered to not return until they succeed. His is obsessed with the need to serve them at Antonio's funeral feast."

                I just wanted to die!

                She told us that with the mood that Caesar is in, no one will tell him the truth. Olivia looked at me and whispered, "Rhiannon?" I shrugged at her.

                Olivia turned to Maisara and asked where we might find Tastes Like Chicken. She told us that it was working down in a tavern on the first floor, where it's practicing being a girl. We thanked her and left her alone.

                In the tavern we found Tastes Like Chicken; it was 'wearing' its "Meg" identity. She gave us big hugs and told us to be seated.

                Olivia said, "Can we ask you a favor?"

                "Sure."

                "Can we borrow your helicopter? We need to make a trip back to Durango."

                "Well, it's not really my decision, but sure! Go out to McCarron and tell Flight Control what you want."

                And from there the conversation went to Hell. I asked if we were supposed to walk into the middle of the Air Traffic Control Tower and just say, "Hey! Can we catch a ride on that secret helicopter that no one's supposed to know about?"

                "Yeah." She said.

                "No, seriously, do we talk to Lord McCarron about it?"

                "Yeah! Like I said, Flight Control."

                "No! Do we talk to someone in flight control or do we talk to McCarron?"

                "Yeah!"

                My head was spinning! And Olivia didn't look to be fairing any better. We thanked her and left.

                We told Chocolate and Cherry that we were going to the Stratosphere next.

                Once there we told his people that we would like to use the phone line to Malcolm. We waited a few moments, and Armani (sorry - Phillips) came down and greeted us with a polite bow, "Lady Olivia, Lady Jazz. I understand you're interested in a phone? Please come this way."

                In the elevator he asked for our impressions of Kingman.

                Olivia said, "They're working hard and making progress, but that Miriam has got to go."

                Phillips reached out and stopped the elevator, "Please explain what you mean."

                So we told him about Miriam. Olivia said, "She's so screwed up - she's got her Breeding Males pretending to be gay, so they can avoid her."

                Phillips raised an eyebrow at that remark and restarted the elevator. He showed us to Caesar's communication room and asked the woman working there to make the connection, then the two of them left us alone.

                A voice answered, "Hawk's Nest, King Malcolm's line."

                "May we speak to His Majesty?" Olivia asked.

                "Who's calling?" the voice was a little snooty.

                "Olivia and Jazz."

                "Really?" Now the voice was interested. "Hold please?"

                A few minutes later Malcolm was on the line. "Well I guess you two are okay."

                "Didn't Caesar relay our message? I asked him to?" I said

                "I was told that you were successful at Kingman and Martinez Lake and you were about to move on Yuma. I assume you were successful there as well?"

                "We kicked Aztlan's butt!" Olivia said.

                We told him all about it and how they had been nothing more than a splinter group, not actually aligned with Aztlan at all. In fact, we'd had assistance from an agent from the actual Aztlan government. "Oh and by the way, you have a new ally in Yuma," I told him.

                "Yuma is now a Free Zone and the mayor is very interested in an alliance," Olivia said. Then she got down to business. "We need Rhiannon to Make something for us. We hope to be there soon to pick it up."

                "How will you get here?" he asked.

                "Helicopter, we hope. We're working on that part."

                "If not," I said, "I've got another way to get us there."

                "And what do you need her to Make for you?"

                "A snipe," Olivia said with glee.

                "A what?!?"

                This time I told the story. There was a pause and then we could very clearly hear Malcolm and Morag laughing their asses off.

                "It's not funny! We really need to find one!"

                "And I wish you luck with that," he said. "I do have some news that you and your friends out there should find interesting."

                "A trader came in from the Colorado Springs / Pueblo area and reported that Overlords have taken up residence."

                "WHAT!?"

                "The story is that one of Sigfried and Roy's tigers was at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and it was reunited with two who had been at the American Furniture Warehouse stores. The three of them took the Air Force Academy and Schreiver AFB. When they took the base, they did that 'thing' they do, and had all the men there kill each other. That done, they moved into the Cheyenne Mountain complex."

                "Thank the Gods that Moria is locked up!" we said.

                "Hold onto that thought," he said. "The three of them were apparently allowed in. The walked in and disappeared. Everyone assumed that was the end of them, but 24 hours later they emerged and not long after, the whole area transformed back to its original form."

                "They have Cheyenne Mountain?!?" Olivia yelled.

                "Boy is Jesse going to be pissed about that," I said.

                "But they have Cheyenne Mountain!" she insisted.

                "But there are no real weapons there, are there?" I asked Malcolm.

                "No, just some conventional weapons and small arms," he said. "But they do have two nuclear power plants. Or so a guy I worked with told me - he was a nuke plant tech down there when he was in the service."

                "I'm sure Jesse had all control switched from there to SAC Omaha when he originally lost the Mountain," I said. "He has been notified, hasn't he?"

                "He has," Malcolm said, "And so far the Cats have made no demands. They've stripped the Academy of everything they could take, although they left the Chapel alone. From the few remaining satellites Jesse can get anything from, we were able to get some photos of the area. It appears they're doing nothing but setting up housekeeping. So far, anyway." There was a pause as he conferred quietly with Morag. "Have any Overlords been exiled or dispatched from Vegas?" he asked.

                "Not that we know of."

                "This could turn out to be a good thing for the area," he said.

                Then he said, "Wait! I might have a solution for your snipe dilemma. Try telling Caesar this, 'As a sign of respect to the recently departed - let it be proclaimed that from this day forward, no one should ever again presume to dine on something that was denied the great Lord Antonio. Let the snipe be designated a protected species, as a sign of the benevolence of Lord Antonio'."

                "Wow! That's good!"

                Olivia said, "We've been thinking about making a quick visit home. Do you think that would be a waste of resources?"

                "We would like to see you," was all he said.

                "Well, we'll get back to you on that, good-bye" she said and hung up.

                Outside, Arma - Phillips - was waiting.

                Olivia asked him, "Would it be possible to see Caesar? There's some news he should hear."

                "No, his meeting has begun. But I have a question. A snipe hunt?!?" he said, glaring at me.

                "I confess! Mea Culpa!" I said, "But King Malcolm had a good suggestion."

                "Or we could just tell him the truth," Olivia said with her own glare at me.

                "That won't work. A couple of the other Overlords know the truth about snipes and are planning on springing it during the funeral ceremony, to humiliate Caesar," Phillips said.

                I looked at Olivia and she again said, "Rhiannon?" I again, shrugged at her. "What the Hell?"

                So she explained who and what Rhiannon is. "So if we could just get there, we can get a snipe."

                He was silent for a moment, then seemed to make a decision of his own. "Follow me." He led us to his rooms (rather plain, almost austere) where he got a key from a lock-box. Then he led us to a staff elevator and used a card key to activate it. Then he led us to a penthouse suite and unlocked the outer doors. Inside there was a second set of doors with a sign, 'Garrison's Room'.

                Phillips knocked and there was no response, he knocked again, "Garrison, open up. There are two ladies here who…"

                The door swung open and there stood a teenage boy, maybe 16 years old. At that stage when they're all bony wrists and feet. Picture Harry Potter at age 16 and you've got Garrison.

                He just stood there staring, Phillips said, "May we come in?" Garrison practically fell over those puppy feet, backing up to let us in.

                Once in the room, Phillips said, "Garrison, these two ladies need to get to a secret location."

                "And back," Olivia said.

                Garrison was just entranced with her, "And back. Can I get lucky?" When Olivia didn't answer he said with a rush, "You'll never get anything like it - wanna see what I can do?"

                He turned and began to rummage thru an entertainment center overflowing with video games, DVD's and girlie mags. He scooped up something and turned around, to show us a stack of Suzy B's.

                He said to Olivia, "Call it."

                "What?"

                "Heads or tails - call it."

                "Uh, I, Heads."

                He threw the whole stack in the air and when they landed they were all in a nice, neat line. And each and every one of them - heads.

                Phillips kind of snapped at him, "Garrison! Can you help them or not."

                Garrison never turned away from Olivia, "Well, sure I can help. But you're…. I mean you are so hot. Like, um, you're hot."

                Olivia graced me with another glare and said to Garrison, "Have you ever been with a Drow?"

                "Well, no," and he pointed at his TV, "But I get all the Bellagio stations, and there are a couple of porn stars who are Drow, and they're and you're, so totally hot."

                "Garrison!" Phillips yelled this time. And Garrison's eyes actually left Olivia for a moment.

                "How old are you?" Olivia asked.

                "Eighteen."

                Phillips confirmed that with a nod. Olivia sighed and shrugged.

                "All right! I'll help." He pointed at Olivia and said, "But you're going to do all the work. You know where you need to go, right?"

                "Yeah, do you have a map?" I asked.

                He ignored me, "I don't care where it is - all that matters is that she does. Just 'do' whatever it is you do to get there. But if you want to come back, picture me with you and take me with you." Olivia nodded as if she understood. (I know I didn't understand a word of it.) She called on the magic and then we were there.

                We were outside a small house (all four of us, and boy was Phillips surprised!) Suddenly the front door burst open and an older Navajo gentleman stepped out, pointing a shotgun at us, "Freeze right there!"

                Olivia and I identified ourselves and we saw Rhiannon's face appear in the window. She ran out the door and yelled at Olivia, "Flying pony lady! I remember you."

                "So you're back?" the man said.

                "Yes, we need to ask Rhiannon to do us a favor, we need her to make something for us."

                The man asked us, "What is it you need?" And Olivia told him, "A snipe."

                "What's that?" Rhiannon wanted to know.

                Olivia described a medium sized bird with bright green breast feathers and a large tail.

                I said, "Really? I always thought snipe were small, ferret-like rodents. Brownish gray, so they can hide and not be found."

                Olivia glared at me and I shut up. I am the one who got us into this whole mess with my big mouth.

                Then Phillips and Garrison joined in with what they always thought a snipe looked like.

                "Enough!" the old man said. We all stopped and looked at him. The old man shook his head and said, "What do you need it for anyway?"

                So once again, we explained it all to him. And I don't think I was exaggerating when I told him, "Now Caesar's rivals are just waiting for their opportunity to humiliate him. And once that happens there will be a power struggle that could cause the downfall of Vegas. And that could very well lead to war in the entire region. Ka would love an opportunity to move in and clean up."

                He was thoughtful for a few moments and said, "This Caesar, is he a good man?"

                "Yes he is," Olivia said.

                "And he is learning and trying to become even better," I said.

                "But if she Makes something that has never existed before, it will upset the great balance. Let's go think about this."

                We went into the house and he pulled out some volumes of an Encyclopedia. Together, we flipped thru them and marked some possibilities. Then he said, "Hold on a minute." He got a Pokemon magazine and flipped thru it, then he showed us a page and said, "What about this?" There was a drawing of something called a Furret. "It looks kind of ferrett-ish. It's fast and stealthy and would be hard to catch."

                There were nods all around and he agreed to be the one to ask Rhiannon. As we were getting ready to leave we noticed the skin that was being used for a rug in the room. It was huge! At least ten feet long and had some nasty saber tooth fangs.

                "What is that thing?" Phillips asked.

                "We have no idea, it was rooting around the stables one night," the man told us.

                "Is it possible that it was something Rhiannon Made?" I asked.

                "It's possible, but I don't think so."

                He got a couple of burlap sacks and we headed outside. He led us to an old dog run, made sure the gate was closed behind us and showed the picture to Rhiannon. He very carefully asked her to Make one. "One?" he asked us.

                "Um, six?"

                "Okay, six, and make them all boys, please." Under his breath he said to us, "I saw Jurassic Park."

                "But Granpa, I'm not supposed to Make things anymore, remember?"

                "Well, this is a special exception. It's okay to do it this time."

                Rhiannon studied the picture, waved her hands and said, "Littlefurryscrubblebunnies!"

                And then right in front of us were six 'snipe'. They seemed to be as shocked as we were.

                We quickly grabbed them and stuffed them into the sacks. Phillips held one up by the scruff of the neck and examined it closely. "Looks like a snipe to me."

                We thanked Rhiannon and her 'Granpa' said, "That was very good Rhiannon. Helping these people was a very good thing to do. Now go inside and get a treat."

                Olivia had a look and I knew she was thinking something evil. "What?" I asked.

                "Wouldn't jackelope be cute?"

                Granpa whirled and said, "No! Don't you even think it! Do you know what she did? She created TRIBBLES! It took weeks to find them all. Don't even think about it."

                Phillips thanked the man and said, quite pointedly, "Ladies, are we ready to go?"

                Olivia asked me, "Should we make a quick trip to the House?"

                Garrison said, "Only if you feel like gambling. The Luck worked once getting us here. If you want to go somewhere else, you'd have to make it work twice more."

                "Thank you Garrison," Phillips said, "Let's just go home, ladies."

                Olivia agreed and pulled up the Power.

                We were right back where we'd been. Olivia suddenly slumped and would have fallen, but Phillips caught her and helped her to a chair. She looked awful!

                Garrison was standing there, staring at her, shifting from foot to foot. I said, "Come on Olivia, we've got to get you something to eat before you pass out."

                She shook her said and said, "We've got to tell Caesar what Malcolm told us."

                Phillips helped her up and as we headed for the door, he said, "Garrison, why don't you clean this place up, you're going to be having a lady guest later." Outside the first set of doors, Phillips handed me the keys and asked me to lock up behind us.

                Once in the elevator he said, "So what's so important that you need to tell Caesar?" We told him about the three Cats in Colorado Springs. He took it calmly, just a slight raise to one eyebrow. "Are you sure?" he asked and we nodded. "We will discuss this in private with Caesar, but there are no Overlords unaccounted for."

                Olivia was feeling a little better and asked, "Where should we put the snipe?"

                "For that, we will interrupt the meeting," he said and led us to the conference room. He knocked and gestured us into the room. He bowed to Caesar and said, "I do beg your pardon for the interruption, my Lords. Lord Caesar, the Lady Ambassadors from the Kingdom of the New Outlands have a presentation to make."

                Dallas and Alfred were both giving us a 'What the Hell' look. Olivia gently laid one of the bags on the table in front of Caesar and said, "A small gift from King Malcolm."

                The bag moved and Caesar asked, "What is it?"

                Phillips pulled one of the snipes from the bag he was holding and said, "Snipe, Lord Caesar."

                There was a flurry of reactions from around the table. Luxor bared his teeth at Olivia and I for the briefest moment, and then said, "How do we know these are snipe?"

                Caesar asked, "Phillips - have you ever seen such creatures before?"

                "No. Never. I have hunted them often but with no success. But that is what they look like."

                Dallas (Jim) spoke up, "Snipe aren't all that common were I come from, but it was possible to find people who hunted them. Usually with no luck."

                I got up the nerve to speak, hoping I wouldn't screw it up again. "Excuse my Lords, but King Malcolm sent not just this gift but a suggestion." And I gave them the spiel. And just to make sure - I turned on the Trust-Me aura. They ate it up.

                When I was finished , Alfred said, "That is a good idea. Even before the Change, people thought snipe to be nothing more than a myth. You would see references to them - such as 'sending someone on a snipe hunt' meant that you were sending someone on an errand doomed to fail. They were a metaphor of all things unattainable."

                There was a snort of derision from Luxor, "So how did anyone manage to catch this many of them?"

                Olivia said, "King Malcolm has many loyal subjects, some of whom live in some very remote areas. Areas where they had not been hunted before."

                "How fortunate they could be found on such short notice," Luxor sneered.

                Caesar cut him off with a gesture and told Phillips to have someone take the snipe away to be prepared for the feast. Then he turned back to us, "What is the best way to prepare them?"

                Olivia, Phillips and I suggested some different ways, then Olivia said, "What was Lord Antonio's favorite?"

                Caesar said, very somberly, "He loved Texas Bar-B-Que."

                Olivia matched his tone, "Well, there you go."

                As the chefs moved to take the bags, Phillips gave Caesar a wink and nodded towards Olivia and I. Caesar returned the nod and said to the assemblage, "We will adjourn now and resume these discussions after the funeral tomorrow."

                They all stood and filed out. Luxor graced us with his fangs again as he passed us. I was reminded that humans are the only creatures known that consider showing teeth to be a sign of friendship. That sure as hell isn't the case with the Overlords! But I kept a bland smile as Luxor walked out with his supporters. "Something has got to be done with that one," I thought to myself.

                As they started to leave the room, Caesar asked Dallas and Alfred to stay behind for a moment. Then he waved Phillips over to speak to him. When everyone else had left the room Dallas said, "King Malcolm is an awfully resourceful guy, isn't he?"

                Olivia glared at me and said, "Yeah, and now, I'm going to have to be."

                "I'll do it, Olivia. I got us into this mess."

                She ignored me and said, "Alfred, there's something I have to do later."

                Caesar and Phillips approached us and motioned for us to take seats. Caesar spoke, "Phillips said there is something you need to tell me?"

                We explained about the other three Overlords and Caesar frowned, "But all have been accounted for. How is it possible?" He got up and stared out the window to the northeast, as though he could see all the way to Colorado Springs. Without turning around, he said, "Tomorrow is the funeral. Phillips, have my pilots stand by. I will go to Colorado Springs the day after that to bring our children home."

                "Um, sir, what if they don't want to 'come home'?" I asked.

                He turned to look at me with an expression of total surprise and disbelief. "How could they not?" he said.

                Olivia asked, "Would you want us to go with you since we've been there before?"

                "Aren't you going on to New Ectopia?" he asked.

                "Well, yes, but it's not as if there's a time table carved in stone, we can take a day or two."

                "We will talk about it tomorrow at the feast," he said. "You will be attending?"

                "As ambassadors from His Majesty, King Malcolm, it would be our honor."

                He grunted and left the room.

                "Snipes?" Alfred laughed.

                Olivia asked Phillips, "Can you arrange a meal for Garrison and I?"

                Before he could answer I said, "Look, I told you, and I repeat, I'll take care of Garrison."

                "No - he asked me."

                "Olivia! He's 18 and horny, he won't care!"

                Alfred looked at me, then at Olivia.

                Phillips said, "I can have a tray sent to Garrison's room."

                "I'm going now, Jazz. You can explain this to Alfred." And she left.

                "Well?" asked Alfred. So I explained how we had gotten the snipe and the part that Garrison played and how Olivia was going to 'pay' him.

                Dallas just howled! I expected Alfred to be mad, but he wasn't. He was disappointed.

                "It never occurred to either of you to hire one of those porn stars he's seen?"

                "Um, no. Never. Oops?"

                Dallas stopped laughing and got on the phone. A minute or two later he said, "Hold on." He turned to Alfred and I, "Okay, I've got one that'll do it for 100,000 chips."

                Alfred nodded, "Fine." Then he raised an eyebrow at me.

                "I'll let Olivia know." And I used a small magic to send a message to her.

                Dallas said, "Have her tell him that Obsidian is on the way."

                Olivia reappeared a few minutes later and reported that Garrison seemed quite pleased with the idea of 'meeting' Obsidian. We made no comments, just saying our goodnights to Jim (who was really working hard to not laugh) and headed back to the Excalibur for a quiet dinner in Alfred's suite.

                Quiet, that is, except for all the harassment from Olivia about Garrison. I tried to insist that it wasn't my fault. "Oh? 'This guy's just got to go on a snipe hunt'."

                "Okay so it was my fault, but I told you I'd handle Garrison."

                The conversation turned to how Olivia sleeping around could or couldn't affect Alfred's status amongst the Overlords. Allison explained that it could indeed have a negative effect. Not necessarily her sleeping around, but who she was sleeping with.

                "So Garrison would have been a problem?" Olivia asked.

                "Most definitely."

                I remembered to ask Alfred to arrange for citizenship for Brenda and her friend, "Allison - could you see about getting them both jobs?" I asked. Both assured me they'd take care of it, so I said goodnight and retired for the evening.