07/12/06:

                Woke to a ringing phone this morning. It was Alfred and he said, "Jazz, Olivia didn't want you to be mad at her for calling so I'm doing it instead." Then I heard Olivia in the background yelling, "Alfred! I'm gonna get you!"

                I laughed and said, "Watcha need?"

                "She is worried that Miriam might harm Bunny."

                "Oh!" I said. "That's a possibility isn't it?"

                "Could you join us when it's convenient for you? She wants you to try some scrying."

                "Okay, I'll be right there."

                "Can I order you something for breakfast?" He is so sweet!

                "Sure! A sausage omelet." He said he'd take care of it and we hung up. Boy, am I gonna miss room service when we're on the road! Figuring Alfred's staff would be as prompt as they normally are, I took a quick shower, threw some clothes on, and wandered off to Alfred's room.

                Olivia said, "I asked Alfred this morning if he thought that Miriam might know about Bunny spending the night with me. 'I can't imagine much goes on in that town that she doesn't know about,' Alfred said. And when I asked if he thought Miriam might hurt her for it, he said, 'You're the sneaky one, you tell me'." Alfred nodded and made one of his little 'um-hm' noises; he had nothing to add.

                So we sat down to see what we could see. We started with Bunny, which was easy. Olivia was relived to see that she was safe and sound and in her own bed. Her roomie was up and about - she was one scary looking human. She's obviously been enhanced - she had perfect Ice Queen facial features with almost translucent skin and jet-black hair. And her figure! Oh my God - 1950's Barbie Doll! But it matched the décor on her side of the room. Everything was done in pink poodles. Revolting.

                Bunny's side was quite the contrast. Latino Gang-Banger meets Classic Catholicism, right down to the niche carved into the wall for the Madonna. One wall was covered with articles and obituaries of people killed in gang activities, along with lots of photos of friends and family. A lot of those faces matched those in the newspaper clippings; it seems the people she knows tend to end up dying early.

                Satisfied that Bunny was safe for the moment, Olivia asked me to try to find Ilsa, Miriam's daughter. She had some of her hairs that ended up on Alfred's coat. So, using those, I located her - soaking in a bubble bath with a breakfast tray in front of her. She took an eyedropper of coffee and fed it to a rat in a cage next to the tub. Looking around the room we saw three more cages with rats in them. There were also a couple of dead rats and a few empty cages.

                Thru the open bathroom door we saw a full bookcase. It had books about the Borgias, Machiavelli, Churchill and DeGaulle. There was Mein Kampf (in both English and the original German), a DVD copy of 'Patton' and some biographies of the Civil War Leaders along with a complete set of Nietzsche.

                Suddenly there was the sound of breaking glass followed by a loud 'thump'. They were followed quickly by screams. Ilsa stopped eating for a moment, listened, shrugged and went back to her tray.

                Olivia asked, "Can you follow the screams?" I tried but no luck. The scrying faded and was lost.

                "Try Miriam now." I did, and saw a six inch hole in the wall, blood splattered everywhere and Miriam - sprawled on the floor. Her head was gone from the jaw up.

                Olivia said, "Well, we did tell Phillips about her, and we were told that the Azraels have 'abilities'."

                "I'm not so sure I want breakfast after seeing that," I said

                "Oh come on! We've seen worse - Hell, we've done worse!"

                "Oh, right."

                Allison arrived at the same time breakfast did, with our dresses, "I also have the veiled hats and hankies you requested."

                We had just finished breakfast when the phone rang - it was Phillips. Olivia asked, "So did you do it?"

                "How did you know? We only just got word ourselves. Sakkara called; she's afraid the bullet was meant for her."

                Olivia said, "I think her daughter's behind it. She just beat me to it, though."

                "We were hoping you had done it; then we could assure Sakkara of her safety."

                I said, "Ilsa could turn out to be just as bad. Remember Miriam was her 'teacher'."

                Phillips asked, "Is there anything you could 'do' to find the killer?" I looked at Olivia, who just shrugged.

                "We might be able to scry off of the bullet. Can you get it for us?" Olivia said.

                "I'll arrange it. Sakkara's coming up for the funeral."

                "Really? Do you think she'd be willing to bring someone in with her?" Olivia asked.

                "Probably. Is there anything in it for her?"

                "Jewelry?" she asked. I nodded at her - we had all that tacky stuff we got in Used To Be Morgansville.

                Phillips snorted, "She'd love that. Whom do you wish her to bring?"

                Olivia explained and he agreed to talk to Sakkara about it. "See you at the funeral, " he said, then we hung up.

                Since we had some time before the funeral was to begin, Olivia suggested we try to scry without the bullet. "What the heck, it could work." Since I had done the first three spells, Olivia was going to try this one, with me helping her. She 'found' the bullet (big one!) and followed it back out the window. But if the trajectory was correct, the shooter must have been either hanging, flying, or hovering outside the building. Magic? Either that or someone got hellaciously lucky.

                Olivia picked up the phone and *69'ed to get Phillips back. She asked him if the other Overlords have people like Garrison to control the Luck for them.

                "Almost all of them do, why?"

                "Well, Garrison helped us yesterday. Could someone's else Luck Charm have helped the shooter?"

                "No. They're all concentrated on gambling and money," he said.

                "Garrison wasn't"

                "No, but he is an exception," he paused for a moment. "Come to think of it, Bellagio had one like Garrison, too."

                "So what happened to him," I asked.

                "Ah...actually, I don't know."

                "Well, track him down," Olivia said and hung up. She shook her head, then asked if I thought she might be able to find the shooter by blind chance. "Why not try?"

                She did and we saw that female mercenary from the Tattoo shop - the icky one that is missing half her face and has teeth from her kills embedded under her skin. What was she Before, I wondered…a High School guidance counselor, maybe? Anyway, she was in the back of a van, cleaning a BFG. Beside her in the van was a rolled up Persian carpet. (A FLYING carpet?) She packed the rifle in its case and moved up to sit in the passenger seat. She and the driver high-fived each other, looking pretty pleased with themselves.

                The drove on for a few minutes, until the driver spotted something and slowed to pull over. "There he is." The van stopped and Rodrigo got out of another vehicle, walked over to them and handed them a large duffle bag. The woman opened it and we saw chips - lots and lots of chips! $100,000.00 chips from different casinos, along with stacks of bundled $10,000 chips.

                "Five million, as we agreed," Rodrigo said. "Are you sure she's dead?"

                The woman was offended and angrily mumbled something.

                The man asked Rodrigo, "You've seen her aim. Do you really desire another demonstration?"

                Rodrigo backed up a step or two, "No, thank you. Pleasure doing business with you." He returned to his vehicle and both went their separate ways. Olivia had the Magic follow Rodrigo. He was driving down an empty road, fiddling with some radio switches. When he was satisfied with the settings he spoke into the microphone. "Tora, tora, tora," he called out with a big smile.

                A voice answered him, "Very good. Phase two is beginning." Rodrigo hung up the microphone and turned the radio off. Olivia tried to follow that voice but it didn't work.

                I didn't like the sound of that, so I got Phillips on the phone, "Get some of your people to Kingman, now!"

                He was aggravatingly calm; "We already have people in place. What do you know?" I told him what we had so far. He took notes, thanked me, and hung up.

                I sat back down and Olivia sent the Magic out to find the originator of the plot against Miriam. When it finally came into focus we saw the Madame of the brothel there in Kingman! She was in her office and there were maps spread out on her desk - maps of Vegas and topographical maps of the Kingman area. There was a knock on the door. The man who entered was familiar to us, but no one we could place. "Okay, Miriam's out of the picture."

                Madame stood and walked to a wall that had three photos on it. One was Miriam; the other two were Humans, women and unknown to us. Madame had a marker and drew an "X" across Miriam's photo. "How long until Rosalinda's back in town?" she asked the man.

                "Three days. She's still in Vegas, soaking up the ambiance."

                Madame snorted at that, "Face down in a pool of Scotch is more like it."

                "Don't forget - she has her fifteen year chip," the man said.

                She dismissed the reminder, "What about the daughter?"

                "We believe her to be recruitable."

                "And her tastes?"

                "Males only."

                "Good. Once the news is official send Carson to her with condolences. Have him make an 'impression' on her, Have Bunny help with the wording, she's good with that sort of thing." She buzzed someone on the intercom.

                "Yes, Ma'am?"

                "Radio traffic - when is Sakkara leaving?"

                "Her helicopter is scheduled to arrive in about ten minutes. She's expected to putter around for twenty minutes or so and actually take off ten or fifteen minutes after that."

                Madame thought for a moment, "Prognosticate for me."

                "There's an 80% chance that she will stay the night in Vegas."

                "Hmmmmmmmm, call Rosalinda. I want her to 'bump into' Sakkara and make an impression on her. But tell her to be subtle - even Sakkara can draw conclusions. And if you hear anything JDSR….."

                "I'll inform you immediately, Ma'am."

                Madame turned the intercom off and moved to a lithograph hanging on the wall. She swung it aside to reveal a wall safe that she opened (too fast for us to catch the combination!). She removed a good-sized stack of chips and gave them to the man. "Rodrigo needs to go on vacation. His sentiments are too well known. I want him out of town. It's not in his nature to go to Vegas - what about Aztlan?"

                "The contingent from the New Outlands have halted their expansion and are back in Vegas. It's been forecast for only a 30% chance that they'll be on the road tomorrow. They managed to set the Yuma area up as a free zone, expelling the Aztlan rebels."

                "Very good. Send him to Yuma, but be quiet about it. And I'm tired of that Wood Elf face. The large male Drow are quite popular - take care of it. He is my Hand, but I do not want him to be my Mouth."

                The man accepted the dismissal, bowed, said something in Japanese, and backed out of the room.

                Once he was gone, Madame opened a small cabinet and revealed a small Shinto shrine to her ancestors inside it. She lit some incense and proceeded to remove her head! She pulled it off like a mask and revealed her true face - it was fox-like, and seven fluffy tails appeared behind her as well. She was silent in prayer for some time and Olivia let the Magic fade away.

                "JDSR? What does that mean?" we wondered.

                Allison piped up with, "Just Doesn't Sound Right." Alfred asked for her opinion of all we'd seen. She thought for a moment and said, "I think that Sakkara is in for a real party. But they could do worse."

                Olivia called on some more Magic and tried to find Rosalinda, but had no luck. "Will you try?" she asked me. I gave it a try - but I had no more luck than she had.

                "Wait a minute!" Olivia jumped up and started to rummage thru some bags and boxes of loot from out latest road trip. She returned with the large crystal she'd found at the rock shop in Kingman. She handed it to me, "Try again, using this."

                I did and it worked! In the crystal we saw a Drow female kneeling in front of a mirror, speaking to it. Inside the mirror was a Japanese man and they were speaking in Japanese! I added more Magic so I could understand them.

                The man in the mirror said, "Do you understand the command of your Grandmother?"

                "I do. Please tell her that I appreciate her faith in me," Rosalinda said.

                "She does have faith in you; we do not."

                Rosalinda kneeled even closer to the floor, "And my failure weighs upon me. I will not accept any further failures. I will explain them to my ancestors myself."

                "Yes, you will," he sneered.

                "Is there anything else this unworthy one needs to know?"

                "Rodrigo is leaving. He's going on a little 'vacation'."

                "I pray for his success," she said.

                "Pray for your own!"

                She lowered herself until she was completely prostrate on the floor before the mirror, "Yes Grandfather. I will see you again, in victory or in the next life."

                The mirror went black and Rosalinda got up off the floor. Looking out a window in the room we could see that she was across the street from Binion's Horseshoe. I let the Magic go and the crystal went blank.

                We discussed some options and Alfred suggested that we send a message to the 'Fox Lady', "Just to let her know that we know," he said. "If we try to contact one of her soldiers, they'll just try to kill us. Or themselves."

                So I sent a brief message. "Jazz and Olivia here. We know you killed Miriam. We've overheard your communications. What are your plans? No threat, just curious." Then we waited.

                About five minutes later the water glasses on the breakfast tray began to shake. Then the room was filled with blue smoke. The Fox Woman appeared with three men all armed with traditional Japanese blades. She bowed to us and said, "Greetings. I admit to being very impressed."

                "We do try," Olivia told her.

                Fox told her men, in Japanese, to secure the doors. "I do not want to be interrupted." (I'm glad I didn't let that Magic dissipate yet.) She turned back to us and said, "I suppose you want to know all manner of things. I will tell you some of them. Miriam was an obstruction, a cancer on the town. She needed to be dealt with. I wanted one of my people in her place."

                "That's what we figured," I said. "And Rosalinda is that person?"

                She cocked an eyebrow at me. "Sakkara means power, literally. Electricity, and a link to the Old World. It is not my desire to see her dead. We want her alive, stupid and busy. Too busy to look closely at what we do. And that should keep Vegas out of our hair. For good or ill, Kingman is our home now."

                Olivia asked her how she and her people had ended up there to begin with.

                She gave a sardonic little laugh, "Our tour busses broke down there. It has turned out to be fortunate for us, though." She backed up, closer to the door, "I trust we need not meet again?"

                Olivia asked her about Bunny, "Is she part of your group?"

                "No but she is one of my best girls - as you have learned. Why? Do you care for her?"

                Olivia explained that she didn't want to see Bunny hurt for what she had done.

                Fox was offended! "I take care of my girls." She calmed down and asked, "You are working for Caesar in this? No doubt he will demand an explanation. Blame Rodrigo if you must."

                Olivia asked, "He's not going to cause any trouble in Yuma, is he?"

                "No. He will be my Eyes and Ears there. If need be, he will be my Hand. This means he must live without being seen. Trouble is the last thing he would want."

                "Mitchell is a friend of ours. His security is of great interest to us," I said.

                "And he will be fine as long as my Eyes and Ears are left alone. My Hand will keep him safe." She bowed, the smoke reappeared, and she was gone.

                There was silence in the room. Finally Alfred said, "Bet they were Ninja Before. Maybe Yakuza. They still had all their fingers, though."

                Allison, as unflappable as always said, "At least they dress better than Ka."

                "Yeah, and smell better, too. I still don't trust them at all," I said.

                Then Allison tapped her watch at us. We rushed to get dressed and donned appropriately somber faces and let her hustle us down to Alfred's limo. On our way to the service (at the Las Vegas Country Club) we discussed Dallas. We agreed that we were all worried about Jim today and we'd make sure to sit as near to him as possible, just in case. Olivia and I agreed that we'd hate to have to use Magic on him, but were ready to if 'Dallas' were to cause any kind of trouble.

                At the Country Club, there was an open-air scaffold holding Antonio's 'remains'. The snipe were in some cages nearby, scurrying around and chirping. Otsune appeared and tried to hide her head in Olivia's arms. "What's wrong?" Olivia asked.

                "They're asking me to let them free."

                "They're sentient?" Olivia bellowed.

                Alfred shushed her and pulled he back into her seat. "Shhhhh. Stay here, I'll be right back." And he left.

                While he was gone, Luxor and his supporters arrived. They were all dressed in kimonos! A curious coincidence? They were also sporting Kabuki-style makeup (which looks really odd on a tiger that's already black & white). All in all, it was very KISS-ish, and creepy. I stifled an urge to ask which one was going as Peter Criss.

                As Alfred rejoined us, Caesar arrived, all in white, gold and silver. He had Roman-style armor, all white leather and gold decorations, and an Imperial Purple cloak over it.

                There were many speeches (all stretching the truth) about Tony's glorious life and death. And thru it all, Jim was just fine. He was putting a lot of effort into 'consoling' Maisara. Phillips approached Caesar and whispered something to him. Caesar looked shocked and looked over our way.

                When the time came for him to speak, Caesar stood and addressed the gathering. After speaking of Tony's deeds he spoke of "Antonio's great desire to hunt snipe." (There were a lot of people and some Cats struggling to not laugh at that.)

                Caesar was continuing, "And after hearing of this, my good friend King Malcolm magnanimously and generously provided us with these animals you see here. But I have been told by reliable sources that these are sentient beings."

                The snipe all stood up at that and began to nod.

                "This would explain their legendary elusiveness." Caesar said. "Madame Vizier, I have been told that you familiar can speak to these creatures."

                "She can, my Lord."

                Caesar addressed Otsune; "Do these creatures understand what we say?"

                "Yes. They want out."

                "Well, my good friend, Antonio, would never have hunted them if he had known. Lord Excalibur, would you assist me in releasing them?"

                Olivia said, "This is not their native environment and they are not equipped to survive in such an urban setting. Perhaps it would be best to return them to the mountains from which they came."

                Caesar agreed to the logic of that. "Please have your familiar explain, so there is no misunderstanding."

                There was a lot of chirping back and forth. "They understand and thank you," Otsune said.

                "Very good." Caesar said, "Now we must pay our respects in our traditional manner."

                And out strolled U-2, who began to play "The Circle of Life." I bit my lip 'til it bled to keep from laughing. Olivia was this close to losing it, "Oh! He was so young!" she wailed. Alfred bent over to hug me and I could feel him shaking with laughter. We pulled Olivia into the hug and I 'comforted' them with many repetitions of "There, there now" and "He's in a better place." Jim and Maisara were also clinging to each other for strength. The photographers from Bellagio were snapping away.

                When the song finally ended, Alfred stepped away for a few minutes, to make our excuses for leaving early. We were trying to make our way thru the crowd at the post funeral/pre-feast reception when Bunny appeared from the crowd.

                "Wow," she said. "Vegas really hasn't changed much." Then she asked Olivia, "Are you going to be staying in town for while?"

                "No, not really. Are you staying overnight?"

                "Uh-huh, at the Luxor. Hey! Did you hear?" She started whispering, "Miriam is dead and they say Rodrigo did it. I always thought he was okay; he did a lot to help people during the occupation. Oh! And Sakkara's going to offer you Miriam's job."

                I asked, "Can you get away from the Luxor? Maybe tell Sakkara that Olivia needs some extra comforting or something?"

                "Oh sure! No problem."

                "Okay, I'll send a car to pick you up," Olivia said and sent Bunny on her way.

                That's when we saw Rosalinda approaching Caesar. She gave him a short bow and said, "Mighty One, I haven't been in Las Vegas long, but I just wanted you to know what your administration has meant to refugees like myself. I know I shouldn't even be here, but I just had to tell you."

                Caesar just ate it up with a spoon! "Phillips, take care of this woman, will you?" and he walked off.

                Phillips handed Rosalinda a card, "I am Caesar's chief of staff. Come by the casino tomorrow, and ask for me."

                Sakkara pushed her way thru the crowd and confronted him in a huff and a pink mink coat. "Excuse me! I just lost an employee! I have an opening to fill!" The non-Overlords in the area struggled not to laugh or make rude suggestions.

                Phillips backed away. "I do beg your pardon, Lady." Then he said to Rosalinda, "This is the Lady Sakkara, Overlord of Kingman. She has recently lost her assistant."

                "I am so sorry," Rosalinda said.

                "Oh that's okay, I didn't like her much anyway. But I bet her clothes would fit you."

                Phillips took the opportunity to slip away towards Olivia and I.

                "Do you like boys or girls?" Sakkara asked.

                "Um, both," Rosalinda answered.

                "And how do you feel about child raising?"

                "To be honest Lady, I hate children."

                "Fabulous!" Sakkara waved Luxor over to her like she was flagging down a taxi. "Oh Luxor! Make sure my new assistant here gets a room at your place."

                Luxor clearly wanted to kill her. Or, more likely, both of them. "But of course, my dear friend," he said through clenched teeth. He turned away before his lips curled back far enough to reach his ears. Sakkara took Rosalinda by the arm and led her off, talking all the time. Standing next to us, Phillips let out a whistle. "Smooth."

                Very!" I said.

                "So, you have news for me?" he asked. We nodded and he escorted us to a quiet spot and pulled a little drink umbrella from a pocket. He opened it and said, "We may speak now."

                "A cone of silence?" Olivia asked.

                "How Get Smart! 'Come in agent 99!' That is the cutest thing!" I said.

                He was not amused. He snarled, grabbed a glass off a passing tray and dropped the umbrella into it. It helped some. We told him all we had learned; that there were Japanese gangsters in Kingman and Rosalinda was their new agent to control Sakkara.

                He absorbed it all and said, "I personally don't care if Sakkara gets popped, but Caesar does. I'll have a conversation with Rosalinda. So, are you ready for the trip to Colorado Springs tomorrow?"

                "Yeah, why wouldn't we be?"

                "Good. Then we'll see you at the airport tomorrow at 5:00 am?"

                "5:00 am?!?!?!?" Well, I suppose it is a few hours by helicopter from here.

We tried again to leave but were stopped by Sakkara. She spotted Olivia and came charging over, "Olivia! There you are. I was going to offer you a job, but I'm afraid that I just filled it."

                "Oh I am so sorry to hear that," Olivia said. Then Sakkara asked Olivia to take Ilsa off her hands. "It's either cast her out or destroy her."

                So Olivia agreed to take her. "Good!" Sakkara was pleased. "I'll send her over to you with Bunny."

                As she left Olivia asked me, "What? Am I running a home for wayward Drow?"

                "Saint Olivia's School for the Wayward?" I joked.

                We managed to get a little closer to leaving when we spotted a Ka contingent, a large male in charge, two other men, one woman and a group of 'security'. I had gone to tell Phillips one more thing we had forgotten when the female Orc left the group and approached Olivia. I saw it and moved a little closer to hear what was going on.

                She handed Olivia a card, "I do hope that the recent unpleasantness with Melissa won't cause any troubles with further negotiations."

                "Can we meet later?" Olivia asked her. My jaw must have hit the ground!

                "I'm so glad you have such an open mind," the Orc said. "I am here to tell you that the LA Basin is a plethora of salvage opportunities, for the right people. What we want is for Las Vegas to open Hoover Dam in our direction and send us some water. Ka is willing to purchase that water from your King Malcolm."

                "We can discuss it this afternoon, and we can order in while we're at it," Olivia said!

                The Orc said, "I know your Kingdom doesn't believe in slavery, but if I were to give you a gift that just happened to be a slave, you'd accept it would you not? You'd be free to do with it what you wished."

                Olivia agreed and the Orc returned to her boss. We could hear everything as she went to him and said, "I have spoken to the Vizier. We have a meeting. They say she's an omnivorous sex slut. I'll take the new acquisitions with me and fuck her into an agreement." Her boss grunted, "Very good," and they all turned to leave.

                I walked over to Olivia, who was still looking at the woman's card. "What the Hell was that all about?!?"

                She whispered, "That was Slash!"

                "Oh!" I said. "And she's got a 'slave' for you - I get it."

                We finally made it to the car and found some of Caesar's people loading the snipe. Otsune told us that they were asking for green grass and women. "Well they can have the green grass," I said. We agreed we'd take them to Colorado Springs tomorrow and let them go there.

                Back at the Excalibur, Olivia asked Allison to have rooms made ready for Bunny and Ilsa. "Send a car to the Luxor for them, please. And I need a suite readied for a business lunch. There will be a Ka representative joining me."

                "Ka? Yes ma'am."

                Alfred had been listening to some messages, "Jazz - Leo called. He wanted to know if you're busy tonight."

                Both he and Olivia stared at me. "Well, there is something I really need to do tonight. I need to speak to Olias and Thomas about something."

                "I think he wants to ask you out on a date," Alfred said, "He wants you to call him back."

                Olivia told Alfred that she was going to be busy. He shrugged and said, "That's okay. They're showing a double feature tonight at the mall -African Queen and Casablanca, and they're going to have real popcorn, too. I think that's where Leo wants to take you Jazz. Anyway, I thought I'd go and ask Jennifer if she wanted to go."

                "That is so sweet of you, Alfred! If I can go I will, too."

                I went up to my room and found a note from Olias; he was going to evening prayers at the Temple. "Dinner with the others at 4:00, preparations start at 5:00, and services to start at 6:00. You're invited to join us."

                Perfect! I could speak to both of them at the same time! So I changed clothes and let Chocolate escort me to the Temple where Thomas greeted me quite warmly. He showed me the repairs and improvements they'd made since the wedding. He also introduced me to his three new acolytes. Olias joined us and I said, "I am so glad to have you both here. I really need to speak to you."

                Thomas led us to his private chambers and we all got comfortable (more or less). I took a deep breath and said, "Okay, you're both aware of the visions I had back in May, of Corellon's apparent plans. I really need to know where you stand. What are your thoughts, your feelings about His 'Elves first, Elves only' stance?"

                There was a long silence and Thomas finally said, "I defer to the more senior Priest."

                "And I defer to you, this is your Temple," Olias said. My heart fell, they were stalling.

                Finally Thomas said, "I think, all things being equal, that if given a choice between an 'Elven' issue and an issue that effects all people equally, including enemies of the People, I would have to consider if the People would benefit greatly and if it would help as many others as possible. And even if it didn't benefit the People, I would have to choose the path that would help as many as possible.

                My heart lifted some.

                Olias nodded in agreement and said, "I believe that you can't give too much weight to any one group over others, positively or negatively. That's what got Matthew Shepherd killed and gets people dragged behind trucks. I know it is Corellon's Way - Elves before all else - but that way cannot succeed. Look at Israel; it led to decades of civil war there. If Corellon expects that of me, I will have to choose another path."

                "When I left New Ectopia, they had started down that path. You know how in the old South, they would mark things 'Coloreds Only'? Well when I left, there was a discussion going on to designate things 'Christians Only'. Some of the more extreme elements up there were pointing to the history of Western Civilization to prove that all things evil; war, hatred and bloodshed were results of Christianity. They're criminalizing thoughts. And now, when thoughts can actually cause effects to become manifest………." He let the thought trail off.

                "I could not be happier," I told them. "I decided back in May that I would never be Corellon's pawn in this matter. I will not turn against the Kingdom that I helped to create and I will not desert my people there. I do not want to turn my back on Him, but if He makes those demands of me - I will."

                Thomas gave a little laugh, "Boy, are you going to have trouble with Morning Mist!"

                Olias said, "Why do I picture you driving up to that redwood with the road running thru it and nailing a list of proclamations to it?"

                "What, me? Pulling a Martin Luther?"

                Thomas said, "I have to tell you, I've been thinking of changing the focus of the Temple. Opening it to all of the Gods (with a few exceptions)."

                I told him, "That's what I did back in the Kingdom. I established a chapel and held it for all that wanted to worship there. When I left, we had just started to build a Temple outside of the House. But now, I don't know what I'll do if I ever make it home."

                Thomas brought in his acolytes and I tried to explain to hem our concerns. Two of them didn't have a clue, but the third understood completely.

                "I suppose if Corellon gets pissed at you, you'll know it," she said.

                "That's what I'm afraid of, let's pray it doesn't come to that."

                So, with a much lighter heart I joined them all for dinner, then took my leave. Chocolate got me back to the Excalibur about 5:30 or so. Olivia gave me a call and I went to her room so she could tell me about her meeting with Slash.

                She had showed up with three bodyguards and not one slave but five of them. There were three Human teenaged girls, all dressed like hookers, a male Gold Elf who just had to have been a surfer dude Before and a big Half Ogre female who must have been a body builder. They had her restrained with big, thick chains.

                Slash said, "I understand you like a variety of 'playthings'. I hope these won't disappoint." She singled out the Half Ogre and told Olivia, "But be careful with this one - I might suggest some bondage for her."

                Allison was thoroughly disgusted by the entire situation and said, "Lady Olivia, I'll see that they're taken care of."

                "Not yet!" Slash stopped her, "Go get rooms ready for them. My 'boys' will go with you to oversee preparations."

                Allison was VERY upset so Olivia nodded to her. She and the Orcs left and when they were gone Slash said to the slaves, "Okay, you know the drill. Stay in your rooms and about midnight or so, the disguises will wear off."

                "Disguises?"

                "Yes. All five of them are Overlords. Courtesy of the San Diego Zoo. There were 15 of them but quite a few were lost to the US military and Ka took two of them for vivisection and experiments. Now, if we're going to pull this off we need some appropriate people to take their places and carry on with this charade until my boss decides it's time to go home."

                "I know just the person," Olivia said and called Phillips. She explained what was going on and he came up with a cover story.

                "Tell them that Caesar's security people insist that they be 'interviewed' before they're allowed to stay. The password for this will be Iron and Copper. Please give our thanks to your friend."

                Slash asked Olivia, "So you really trust this Caesar?"

                "Yes I do."

                One of the 'girls' spoke up, "We heard that he's tough, real strict."

                "He can be, yes," Olivia told her, "But he really cares about his people."

                They were interrupted then by the return of Allison and the Orcs. Slash told her men, "We have negotiations to conduct, and it seems Caesar doesn't trust our gifts, they're to be interrogated. But who cares? They belong to Lady Olivia now." She ordered her men to stand guard down in the foyer. "Don't let any of his people up here."

                They started to push and shove the 'slaves' out of the room. Olivia yelled, "Hey! Stop that!"

                Slash said, "Vizier Mitchell wants her property treated with respect. Do what she says or you will next see Vizier Mitchell in Thunderdome." Once everyone was out of the room, Slash dropped her disguise (much to Olivia's relief!) and hauled Olivia into the bedroom for a little nookie.

                When they got around to actual business, Slash told Olivia that LA does indeed, desperately need water and will pay Malcolm for it, "I really need you to lean on Caesar for me in this matter."

                "You returned his people. That's a big start."

                "Well, tell him I'm sorry I couldn't save more, but some of the soldier boys from San Diego were hunting them for their pelts. I understand your brother was there for a time; I hope he wasn't involved."

                "I'm sure he wasn't."

                "The commander of the forces out there was badly injured in an Overlord ambush and swore to wipe them all out. But he thought they were just stupid creatures. There may indeed be two more out there somewhere, but I'm not sure. They all got separated quite some time back."

                Slash continued, "LA needs water. Jesse's forces keep taking out the desalinization plants. Ka has tried making overtures towards Ventura, but they've all been ignored since Melissa fucked things up so badly." So Olivia promised to speak to both Caesar and Malcolm, soon. "Very soon actually. We hope to leave for New Ectopia the day after tomorrow. We'll be going to Yosemite first; might I see you there?"

                "It could happen, I never now. I have a letter that needs to go to New Ectopia if you wouldn't mind. Oh! And when you're talking to Caesar, LA has a labor surplus, they would be willing to try a redistribution of labor for wealth."

                Olivia said she'd mention it, then she asked Slash about the trip.

                "Stay east of Barstow," she said. "It's pretty much neutral and you can exchange currency there. Ka doesn't go very far east of there, but there are gangs who prey on traders and disapprove of scavengers in 'their' territories. Pretty much from Barstow to Death Valley is hostile country. Ka jurisdiction ends just north of Santa Cruz. New Ectopia doesn't go in for long rang patrols and sticks to their borders." She glanced at her watch and then hopped out of bed. "Well. I better not stay longer."

                They showered, dressed, and after assuming her disguise once again, Slash mussed her hair, smeared her makeup, tore her blouse and slapped herself a couple of times. "If any of my coworkers ask, I can say I pled my case well. Get back to me ASAP?" Olivia promised she would.

                After Slash had left Olivia went to Alfred's room and called Phillips. "So how did your meeting with Ka go?" he asked.

                "Good. Can I meet with Caesar and then use his phone to King Malcolm?"

                "Tonight?"

                "Please."

                "Come on over," he said. "And the business we discussed earlier - has been successfully concluded."

                Alfred told her that Bunny and Ilsa had arrived and were safe and sound. Olivia had written a note and asked Allison to see that I got it as soon as I returned, but Allison told her I had gotten back just a few minutes earlier.

                "Want to go see Caesar with me?" she asked.

                "Sure, but I have to call your brother first."

                "So call!"

                I got the barracks phone out at Nellis and asked for Master Chief Mitchell. A few minutes later he barked, "Mitchell here!"

                "It's Jazz, Alfred said you called earlier?"

                "Um, yeah, I, uh. The Overlord of Entertainment is having a weekly classic movie night. And it's tonight. They're showing 'The African Queen' and 'Casablanca'."

                "I love Bogie."

                "Yeah, I uh, thought that you might be the Bogie and Bacall type." (I didn't have the heart to tell him that Bacall wasn't in either of those movies.) "And I thought you might like to go."

                "I've got something I have to do tonight."

                "Oh, I understand," he said.

                I looked at my watch, "What time do they start?"

                "The first one starts at 7:00."

                "Okay, tell you what - I'll meet you there, hopefully for the first one. But if I'm going to be late, I'll let you know."

                "How?" Olivia asked, "he hasn't got a cell phone."

                "Okay Leo? I'll let you know."

                Alfred elbowed Olivia. "She'll Send him a message,"

                "Oh!"

                So Chocolate and Cherry took us to the Stratosphere. We were escorted to Caesar's business room; he was waiting for us. He stood as we entered and said, "I don't believe for one minute that Ka returned our children out of the goodness of their hearts."

                "No. It was a gesture of good will," Olivia told him

                "And I am given to understand that two of them were lost to Ka experiments?"

                "Yes," she said. "And eight of them to mishaps, there may be two more out there, though."

                Caesar sat and read the paperwork that Olivia had given him. Then she suggested that he might want to speak to President Ventura regarding the man commanding the federal forces in San Diego. "Now, I'm just the messenger here. Don't take it out on me or soldiers like my brother who weren't involved." Then she told him about the hunting.

                Caesar was LIVID. "I'll handle this matter on my own. Fine! She gets her water deal, if Malcolm agrees. You'll present this to him? Good. But tell her this - this agreement is contingent on any more Overlords found in their territories being treated as guests and returned to us immediately! If they do not agree, I will deny them so much as a drop of water!"

                Once he calmed down a bit, Olivia asked him about trading labor for wealth. He shook his head; "We have both of those in abundance. But with our water their farms will need more laborers."

                "Slaves," Olivia pointed out.

                "Yes,yes. We can make the deal dependent on our buying or leasing land for our farming, and people to work the farms. I will discuss it with the Ka ambassador."

                And then, suddenly, out of the blue, Phillips blurted out, "Hey! Why were the Overlord's disguised? Why the charade of replacing them with look-alikes?"

                Olivia said, "I didn't ask, I just accepted them."

                Phillips wasn't buying that for a minute! "Oh really?" So Olivia told the whole truth. Including the part about Slash not really being an Orc.

                "Oh, good!" Phillips said.

                Caesar smiled, "Once again you have surprised me. Are you ready to go retrieve more of our children tomorrow? Oh! That reminds me. I had a discussion with my Azrael pilots the other day."

                "The ones who tried to kill us?"

                "Yes, them. I've completely released them. It took some time to calm them down, but when they did I discovered that they are no fans of Ventura. But they recognize they are patriots of a country that no longer exists and have seen that the situation they are in now is not so bad. So they have taken oath to me."

                Olivia asked, "So does that mean they're not going to try to kill us anymore?"

                Caesar dismissed that, "They were frightened that night, but all is clear now. They will apologize to you two when we meet tomorrow."

                "Can you have them repeat their oath then, too?" Olivia asked

                Caeser looked puzzled. "Why would I?"

                She showed them her ring, "This will tell me if they are being truthful to you or not."

                "Really? Would you consider selling that to us?"

                "No."

                "But maybe later," I said. Olivia looked at me like I was crazy. So I mouthed to her, "Maybe we can make one later."

                "When we return from New Ectopia, we'll discuss a trade," she said.

                "Very good. Blonde, brunette or redhead?" Caesar asked.

                Before Olivia could start bartering THAT one, Phillips escorted us out of the room and gave us our very own Foo Foo Umbrella Of Silence. With a gleam in his eye, he dropped it into an empty glass and the glass filled with something. Olivia took a sip, then asked, "Strawberry daiquiri?"

                "Just for you," he said.

                He left us alone in the communications room so we could call Malcolm. He came to the phone almost immediately. "Hello," he said. "Do you have any news for me?"

                "I made a deal with Ka for water. They're going to pay you for it."

                "Good. The forecast for the runoff is great, but tell me something. Are you ever going to leave for New Ectopia?"

                I said. "We're going to Colorado Springs tomorrow to see about those Cats, and then we leave, I promise."

                "I would like you home before winter," he said. "I've been playing with the idea of naming you both Ambassadors Plenipotentiary."

                "Wow! If I make it out of Yosemite, that could be cool," I said.

                Olivia said, "So, tell us - how's the dating scene?"

                "Sticking to Gregorian, thank you. Is there anything else?"

                Olivia got serious, "How are my people doing?"

                "They're just fine."

                "Could you ask Connor to start looking for something larger to move my people into?"

                "I'll see he gets the message," Malcolm promised.

                "Tell Cordy that we're all fine. And that Leo is dating Jazz." I shot her a glare!

                Malcolm said, "Really? That's great." (He sounded very odd) "I'll tell her. Check in again soon, Good bye."

                Click!

                I gave Olivia another glare.

                "Sorry?"

                So she went back to the Excalibur to have 'dinner' with Bunny. She told me later that she ended up getting puppy-piled by both Bunny and Jennifer and calling room service for dinner.

                I got to the mall and found Leo waiting for me. And in civvies again! He was wearing jeans and a black silk shirt. I got there in plenty of time; the first movie hadn't started yet. Leo asked me if I'd like to go to dinner afterwards. I told him that I'd already had dinner with Olias, "But I would love some popcorn."

                So we got our fresh, hot popcorn (with a TON of REAL butter!) and fresh squeezed lemonade. While we were in line Alfred showed up. With Ilsa! It was a relief to see her dressed like a regular teenager. Alfred introduced everyone and when Ilsa was momentarily distracted, Alfred very pointedly said to us, "She just wanted to go to a movie!"

                "Okay! We believe you!"

                The movies were great! And during the airport scene in Casablanca - Ilsa cried.

                During the intermission, I took the opportunity to ask Leo, "So tell me. What was that 'look' you gave me?"

                "What look?"

                "Back at Martinez Lake, after we found Brenda. Olivia, Sari and I were going to go prowl around, I told Brenda that you would take care of her. And you gave me the oddest look."

                Leo got a little huffy, "You bet your ass - excuse me - I'd protect her."

                "Uh huh. And the look?"

                "Well," he paused for a moment, "ever since the whole "Tail Hook' fiasco, the Navy has had a bad reputation. And the Special Forces have always been looked at kind of askance, as if we're all a bunch of rapists. Rapists with the training to take whatever we want. That's not what we're all about. I guess I just appreciated your trust."

                "Leo, I don't know that much about you, and I don't even try to understand you, but I know enough to realize that you would rather die before letting anyone hurt that girl again."

                He was quiet, and obviously uncomfortable. Fortunately the second movie started just then.

                After the show was over Alfred offered us both a ride back to the Bellagio with he and Ilsa. Leo walked me up to my room and suddenly turned all shy and overly polite. So, since he wasn't going to ask, I asked him to stay the night, and he did.

07/13/06:

                The phone woke us up this morning with the 4:30 wakeup call I'd requested. I sat on the edge of the bed & stretched for a moment before turning the light on. Leo sat up on one elbow and asked, "Are you guys gonna be okay today?"

                "We should be. We're going to be knee deep in Cats though, and I know how you love 'em. Do you want to go with us?"

                "Is there enough room?"

                "As far as I know." So we quickly got ready and met Olivia in the lobby. If she was surprised to see Leo, she hid it well.

                "Good morning Leo, you look nice. Did you enjoy the movies?"

                "Yes, we did. You should have come - you missed the popcorn."

                We walked out to the car that was waiting for us and Olivia told me that Bunny was not going back to Kingman. No surprise there. Allison was going to see about finding her a job here in Vegas, so Olivia felt better about her future.

                Out at the airport we stopped to watch one of the ghost jets taking off for Area 51. "That is SO creepy," Olivia said. Leo and I agreed with her. We were driven to the secured area where the Azrael was waiting. Caesar and Phillips were there waiting for us, along with the pilots.

                "Damn," Olivia muttered.

                "Shit," I whispered.

                "What is it about them that bothers you so much?" Leo asked.

                "Later," I said.

                "It's a long story," Olivia told him.

                We got out of the car and approached them all. The pilots stepped forward and the pilot said, "We owe you two an apology."

                "Yes," his co-pilot said, "we got off to a bad start."

                "Yeah! A gun to her head," Olivia said. Leo looked startled at that.

                The co-pilot continued, "We 'woke up' and had no idea what had happened, where we were, or what was going on. We decided the best course of action was to carry on until we had someone to interrogate."

                "And hence the gun to my head," I said.

                "Do you intend to try to kill us again?" Olivia asked them.

                The pilot said, "We're now on the side of law and the new order."

                "Yes or no?" Olivia insisted.

                "No, we're not," the pilot said. "Now, the seats in the back recline if you want to get some sleep en route."

                Caesar spoke up, saying, "I have brought some of the Energy Potion if you'd like."

                "No thanks, maybe later. We'll take some good old fashioned sleep right now." We climbed in and I was asleep before we took off.

                Leo woke us a few hours later and handed some of the potion around. The pilot announced that we were approaching Colorado Springs. The snipe were awake and chirping loudly. Olivia whispered to me, "Shouldn't we tell Caesar the truth?"

                Phillips shushed us and shook his head, "Later," he mouthed.

                Caesar was up near the cockpit and when he heard us awake he waved us forward, "Want to see something neat?" He sounded like a kid in a toy store! He maneuvered us into the correct position so we could see that the windscreen was filled with data and readouts - if your head was in the right position, anyway. If you got off to the side they vanished completely. The co-pilot pointed to some of them and explained what they were, "Radios, CD players, cars."

                As we neared the Mountain there was more electrical power showing on the displays. The display showed the inside of the Mountain as a collection of about 16 rooms. The pilots said that was a good sign; apparently it's supposed to look like that. The pilot pointed to one room in particular and said, "Look at this. They've got two nuclear plants running." Suddenly a red warning light began to flash. "What's that?" I asked, thankful that my voice hadn't broken. The pilot nonchalantly said, "Cruise missile, nuclear warhead. Looks like an even dozen. None are armed."

                "Oh shit!"

                The bastard smiled at me. "No worries. They're inside, in a shielded room. Not launchable."

                The co-pilot was fiddling with more controls; "Ah - here we go. I've patched into the Mountain's PA system. Whatcha' want to tell them, Boss?"

                Caesar looked at us. "You're the Big Cheese," I said.

                Leo said, "Can I try?" When there was no objection, the co-pilot handed him the microphone.

                "Attention. Your attention, please. A delegation from the people of Las Vegas will be landing outside the main blast-doors in 5 minutes. Our intentions are peaceful. Please, we ask you to come out and speak to us in matters of mutual interest and profit," and he handed the microphone back to the co-pilot.

                "I could have done that!" Caesar said, somewhat huffily.

                "Wow! That really set something off," the pilot said. "The reactors are revving up and more systems are coming on line." He pointed to a new group of blinking things. "Autoguns."

                The co-pilot flipped more switches, "Okay, I shut them down." Click. "Rader is blinded."

                They uncloaked the Azrael and landed us in front of the main gates. We could see that on the entrance to the tunnel into the Mountain, where the NORAD symbol had been before, there was now a new crest. It was a lion's head on a pair of crossed spears. It didn't mean anything to either Olivia or myself.

                Caesar climbed out first and went to stand in front of the Azrael, looking horribly regal in his white, gold and silver armor and purple cloak. Three tigers drove out of the mouth of the tunnel in an electric golf cart (THAT just looked weird!) and were clearly astonished to see Caesar. There were two females and one male. "You're one of us?" the male asked.

                The larger female said, "We were told that you would come for us, but we didn't believe it."

                "Come in, come in!" the other female said.

                The pilot cleared his throat and said, "We'd be more comfortable in the air. We'll take off and keep the area under surveillance, if that's alright." Caesar waved them off and we rode with the Cats into the Mountain, sitting on the back of the golf cart.

                Inside, we could see that there was a lot of work being done by multiracial work groups. There were Dwarves carving the stone and elves working on a large mosaic on the floor. It was the same crest we saw outside. Looking around we saw very few humans. The main blast door was still there, and we were assured that is was still functional.

                The big female said, "We hadn't expected to see anyone like us. Where are you from?"

                "Las Vegas."

                That seemed to make them uneasy and she said, again, "We were told that you'd come for us."

                "And who told you that?" Olivia asked.

                The male said, "Well, she's human, and black like you, sort of, but her hair is short and very curly and very close to her head. And it's dark, not white"

                I nodded to encourage him, "A Black human."

                "Yes. And she had lots of gold jewelry." Olivia gave me a small nod, he was being truthful.

                "How did you change this all back?" she asked them.

                The smaller female said, "It was easy. We found the person running things, but we didn't want to play his games. So we told him to stop."

                The larger one nodded and continued, "Hadass - she's the one who told us to do it. She also told us about the missiles. She told us that they were a 'can of whoop-ass'."

                Hadass?" I asked.

                "Hadass Chesed, that's her name."

                "How did you me