Chapter 13
Wizzit teleported us back to the common room. "Indigo and Yellow, do not deactivate your force shields," Wizzit said. "I am receiving information indicating that the problem in Philadelphia is about to be resolved. I will teleport you there to observe as soon as you turn on camouflage mode."
The two of them looked at each other. "Camouflage mode on," they murmured in unison. They disappeared from view, and then there were two flashes of light, one yellow and one indigo, as Wizzit teleported them away.
"Let's get together in the office," Bill said to the rest of us. He led the way. Our office setup was designed partly for Prime Commander to do whatever administrative work he needed to do, but also for us to hold debriefings in. There were seven chairs besides the one at the desk. I gallantly offered Mayumi the seat I usually had, the other Primes took their accustomed spots, and Alvaro and Cathy sat in Nicolai's and Padma's places.
It occurs to me that I haven't really introduced you to Cathy and Alvaro beyond mentioning their names. The reason is that I simply don't know them all that well myself. I know that Alvaro is from Ecuador. He's not very big -- shorter than me -- and I suppose one would use the word "wiry" to describe him rather than "muscular".
I also know that he is a musician and that he's getting to be a big name in the music scene in Ecuador. I bought an album of his off the internet once, just for kicks. It was called "Musica Costena (Music of the Coast)", and it was pretty good stuff. I couldn't understand any of the words, but it was very energetic, with a nice danceable beat. I still listen to it occasionally.
Cathy is a slender, lissome African-American woman, about my height, which makes her a little taller than your average female. She looks to be in her early twenties, about fifteen years or so younger than she really is, but there is a certain air of dignity about her that you don't often see in twenty-year-olds. Just by looking at her, you can tell that Cathy is a dancer; I guess she has been working on Broadway more-or-less continuously ever since she retired from being the fourth Prime Red.
Bill took the seat behind the desk; he has been running our debriefings ever since he joined us as Prime Black. He steepled his fingers in front of him. "Why don't we start with the New Zealand mission?" he said. "It was a fairly simple one. Trina, if you would care to narrate . . .?"
Wizzit started playing a vid of what had happened in Auckland from Trina's point of view. The monster was some sort of giant rat thing. Bill and Toby went in for some close strikes, and Trina coordinated a few triple-blaster shots with Cathy and Alvaro, and the monster vaporized within just a couple of minutes. All in all, a satisfactory outcome, especially considering that it was the first mission Trina had ever led. Her narration left a little to be desired, but I could empathize; I'm never comfortable when I'm narrating one of my adventures, and I'm a native English speaker. English is Trina's second or third language.
There were no questions, so we moved immediately to Paris. It appeared that Mayumi and I hadn't missed much. Padma yelled out what I assumed was our standard everybody-move-away speech in French, and the bystanders dutifully scattered (those that hadn't already scattered, that is). Nicolai lunged at the monster and nearly got a horn in the gut. Everything else that happened, I've already told you.
"But I don't understand why the creature acted the way it did," Trina said once Mike finished his narration. "Why did it calm down when it came near to me, but not with anyone else?"
The rest of us looked at each other; no one, it appeared, wanted to venture an opinion. I mean, I had a pretty good idea, having read a few medieval unicorn legends in high school English class, but I sure wasn't going to say anything. Finally, Bill cleared his throat. "I, er, I expect that whoever made that thing was trying to copy the, uh, the classical ideal of the unicorn as closely as possible, for whatever reason."
Trina frowned. "I am afraid I am not following you, Bill."
Bill looked up at the ceiling, obviously wondering how best to proceed without causing her any embarrassment. After a second or two, he beckoned her over behind the desk, where he whispered something in her ear. Her eyes widened as he spoke, and her mouth made an "Oh!"
A slow blush crept up her cheeks, which is always a pretty thing to see. "But that doesn't make sense," she protested. "Why did he not behave that way when Padma --?" She stopped herself then, and her mouth made that "Oh!" shape again. She blushed even harder and said softly, "Um, never mind. I think I understand."
"I didn't think Nicolai had it in him," Toby chuckled. "That sly dog!"
"I'm not so sure it was Nicolai, mate," Mike said. "He told me --"
"Yes, well, let's not speculate, shall we?" Bill interrupted him. "This is not high school; gossip about who has done what with whom is not appropriate."
Cathy smiled. "That's a very good impression of Prime Commander, Bill," she said. "And you're quite right." She turned in her chair to take in everyone in the room. "When I was a Prime, I remember that we never functioned at our best when there was a lot of . . . this kind of tension in the air. I would recommend that we keep such talk to a minimum."
I privately agreed. Of course, a goodly part of that was because I wanted to steer the discussion away from who had done what with Padma. Already, Trina was giving me a speculative look, and my face felt as if it were turning a bright red.
"But of course, we are here as your guests," Alvaro added with a significant look at Cathy. "Even though Cathy, Mayumi, Bill, and I have all been Prime Red at one time or another, we would not dream of telling you how to do your job, Mike." He flashed a brilliant set of white teeth. "Not unless you asked."
The door to the office opened, and Nicolai and Padma walked in. "They finally dropped a bomb in Philadelphia," Nicolai announced. "They had to drop two, actually, because the first one either missed or wasn't powerful enough. What a mess! They are going to be cleaning up that square for years to come." He stopped and frowned. "Why is everyone staring at us?"
"No reason, mate," Mike said, quickly shedding his grin. "We're just happy you're home safe, that's all."
Bill indicated the unicorn horn that Trina had placed on the desk. "We were debriefing the mission in Paris. Wizzit, what do you make of this?"
"Uncertain. I scanned it before I brought you kids back. It's not typical Enclave hardware, that's for sure. It appears to be exactly what it appears to be -- a very sharp, very hard horn . . . from a unicorn."
"Is it useful at all? Is there any way we could, say, turn it into a weapon?"
"Mmm . . . possibly. As I said, it is very sharp and very hard, and it has some intriguing properties that could make it fairly effective against Enclave enhancements. However, it would be next to impossible to imbue it with any of our tech. For my money, Trina has simply picked herself up a unique souvenir."
"Right. Well, I guess we're done here." Bill stood up and bowed to the three Primes Emeriti. "Mayumi, Cathy, and Alvaro, thank you folks for coming. It's always a pleasure to see you. We are looking forward to working with you in the future." He then shooed us out of the office, obviously eager to end the debriefing before Padma or Nicolai starting asking uncomfortable questions about the unicorn.