Cloud Rebel (R-D #3)(14)

Val folded us out of the Oval Office.

*

Ilya

I waited for their arrival. If the Larentii hadn't healed Sergei, then Katya would have arrived—alone and widowed. She and I had much to be thankful for. A military plane was scheduled to arrive at a nearby base; I waited under an awning outside a small building to stay out of the falling rain.

"They're about to land," a pilot placed a cup of coffee in my hand. "I hope you take it black."

"This will be fine," I mumbled. "Thank you." The coffee steamed in the chill air while the pilot walked away. Rain continued to drip off the awning over my head, spattering onto the concrete surrounding the low building.

Ten minutes later, the transport pulled to a stop on the tarmac. I watched as the steps were lowered and someone walked out of the plane holding an umbrella. Katya and Sergei appeared moments later, and the woman carrying the umbrella held it over their heads as they descended the steps.

Without caring that I'd be soaked, I began walking toward them. Katya and I embraced on a cold, rainy day while Sergei looked on. I hoped at that moment that she would be welcomed as a U.S. citizen one day—and Sergei with her.

*

"Papa, this is nice," Katya took in the townhouse after we left the car in the garage.

"The kitchen could be bigger," I shrugged. "But it is okay for now. Sergei, please sit," I motioned him toward a barstool at the island. "I will fix something for lunch."

"Papa always cooked when he was home," Katya laughed.

"I love to cook," I corrected her. "You make it sound as if I did it only out of duty. Sergei, how are you feeling?"

"I feel good," he said. "A little tired, perhaps. Better than it could have been."

"I have a tentative meeting scheduled for you with Dr. Shaw," I said. "In case the kidnapping still troubles you."

"I will accept the meeting," he nodded.

"Papa, he has nightmares," Katya hung her head.

"Look, this is nothing to be ashamed of," I took her face in my hands. "Either of you. Take the help you need to feel better. Perhaps you both should go this first time."

"I'd prefer that," Sergei said.

I made a mental note to alert Dr. Shaw—my daughter was fragile after Sergei's abduction. It appeared I owed the Larentii for a great deal, and had no idea how to express that gratitude or repay the debt.

*

Notes—Colonel Hunter

James appeared in my doorway, his expression mixed. "What is it?" I asked.

"Cori hasn't come to see me, and we got this from the President." He held out a sheet of paper.

"I'll take a look, and Cori said she'd contact you soon."

"All right." He turned to walk away, but I could see in his sagging shoulders that he was disappointed.

The paper was a copy of a telephone conversation Madam President had with the new Russian Ambassador. The current Russian President had been contacted by the same four I'd seen in the Oval Office—asking for a meeting.

It made me wonder how that one would go. Lifting my cell, I punched in Matt's number and listened while it rang on the other end.

*

Corinne

"Where are you going?"

"To see James. He's depressed."

Val frowned. I could see he was still out of sorts with humans. "Honey, maybe you've never been human, so you don't realize that they often put their foot in their mouth when they're uncomfortable."

"That is one of the strangest idioms ever created," he pointed out.

"Is that Larentii logic?"

"There is nothing logical about it."

"All right—you got me there."

"If you weren't so adorable, I could possibly be miffed."

*

Notes—Colonel Hunter

"What are these?" I thumbed through photographs.

"Pictures of a street in Dublin. Guess who was seen there?" Matt asked.

"No idea." I kept looking through the photographs, hoping I'd see something—or someone—I recognized.

"It's the last photograph, taken earlier today."

Frowning at Matt, I set aside all photos except the last one. It was dusk in Dublin, five hours earlier and just before sunset. A scaled creature, mostly covered by a trench coat and hat, was following a woman into a narrow doorway on a Dublin street.

"That's a small hotel," Matt said. "He's identical to the one killed in Vancouver."

I reached for my phone and hoped my Larentii friends weren't still angry enough to stay away or refuse to answer.

*

Corinne

"James, it doesn't make me uncomfortable to be like this for days on end," I told him. We'd settled at a Starbucks table in Silver Spring. "If we were elsewhere and it would make you happy, I'd be my taller, bluer self."

"I'm just glad you're here. I was feeling left out."

"Honey, you never left my thoughts," I patted his hand. "I thought of you the whole time I was on the Larentii homeworld, more than four hundred years in the future."

James had trouble swallowing his coffee. "You can't tell anyone else," I waved a hand. "You won't be able to tell anyone else," I added. "Larentii are one of the few races that can bend time. No, I can't go back and change anything for you—that's considered interference and carries a very heavy penalty."