The Shape of Things to Come (Hypernaturals 15)

Purist Status Report

"They are called 'Gesellschaft zum Schutz der Menschheit' if you can believe it." Jacqueline told Denise and me.

"Society for the Protection of Humanity." Denise quickly translated. Into French since that is what we are speaking at the moment. Denise's German is far better than mine. Helps to be nearly 600 years old and also to have been born in Europe. I would have gotten there. I had the 'humanity' or 'man' part translated. I was working on the other parts.

"That is just great. My favorite people. Human purists by any name." I threw in. I looked at the skin color on the back of my hand. "I wonder if I have the Society's prescribed amount of melanin? No, I don't. Fuck them."

Denise compared the back of her hand to mine. "I do. I'm just the wrong sub-species. Also probably gender. I bet these fucks are women haters too."

"All of the above." Jaqueline agreed, contemplating her own skin color. "These are the people behind everything. This is the money and the power. When you were kidnapped and chased across Eastern Europe by vans and mercenaries, Adrian? The men in the Society are who paid for that. This is the sub-human scum we hurt when we took out that operation."

After her indictment, Jacqueline then enjoyed a languorous stretch in the afternoon sun. If she had fur, she'd be a cat, but her human ancestry that originated in what is now Belgium gave her skin instead. The only body hair she allowed was on her head, though she does have eyebrows. I did not stare at the basking in the sun head of the EuroCouncil, for so many reasons. None of them had to do with her potential physical attractiveness.

"The Society has been laying pretty low since we took out their mercenaries." Renee said from where she is hanging from the poolside in the water, slowly kicking with her legs. All the walls to the pool's enclosing building are open to allow in sun and air. To get direct sun, you have to sit where Jacqueline is. Renee is squinting into the light, but not in danger of a sunburn where she is. The design of the Claremont pool house had strongly influenced the one we built at Casa de Gato. The Casa de Gato pool house is more secure, with biometric fingerprint readers to keep the kids out when the adults are not around. I am waiting to see if Laura figures out how to hack the door lock. If she does, she will not enjoy the conversation after that.

Here at the Claremont Estate, staff monitors my brood. Makes sure they don't break into things. I did not even set that up. Fiona, always on top of everything, made sure they are watched. From a distance, but watched.

The kids are gone now, with Helen, Jessica, and Morgan. The rest of the family went back to the US this morning, so the pool house can be open without supervision.

We are probably being watched too, to be sure we don't need anything. It's weird. But this is a Council-and-Crew conversation, so no one is near.

"Our theory on the low profile thing is not that wiping out their goons, and all their rented assets cost them all that much." The person-cat-Vampire-leader explained. "All the money we have traced from that event led us to this facility and these people, but that operation, even though it was millions, seems to be a drop in the puddle. Collectively these people are worth billions."

"You think they are more worried about the way the Global Crew assassinated their underlings and did not leave a trace? That they don't even know what happened and realize they walked into a trap. They came after me big time and they were snared? No idea who set the trap. Wonder if that can happen, what can happen to them? That type of thing?" I asked.

"That you, as Adrian Sagan, are radioactive?" Jacqueline gave that a carnivorous smile to go with her cat-like stretch. "That is the working theory, but do not act like you were not part of it. It was not only Crew."