North American Vampire Council & Past Calling (Hypernaturals 12 & 13)

Zipline

I left Denise and Anne to discuss Crew lead and Camp things and went off to find Jessica, who came down earlier but who I have not connected with here yet.

Denise let me sneak away without a bodyguard, I assume because she is distracted by business. Or that I am going to be with the biggest baddest protector in the world, my Jessica. Kind of funny, given Cert is running around here someplace and I will be 'uncovered'.

I did not remind Denise or tease her about her lapse of guarding me because sometimes all the protection feels smothering. I train hard, and I am pretty sure if the need came up, I could take Cert in a one-on-one fight again.

With apologies to Janis Joplin, it is not a case of freedom just being another word for nothing left to lose, although now that the lyric popped into my head, I can hear Morgan singing that to me, as she always does.

I may hate Council, but I have a lot to lose. So much love in my life.

I found Jessica with Uma in the clinic, talking to a young man. They were speaking French, but I am fluent these days so I had no trouble following along.

He is a new arrival from Europe, sent here by our friends on the Euro Crew, and just had a checkup. Check-ups are not about a fresh turn having medical problems. Pretty much the opposite. As we learned with Marvin, turning is a cure for many human ailments. We are trying to establish baselines, so Starfleet Medical gets a full blood panel. Check's reflexes. See what the parameters of a fresh turns senses and strengths are. Map the variability such as which senses are turned up first. In other words, we are collecting actual data. See if we can pinpoint the early stage aggression and maybe understand why some are less aggressive than others.

"Hello." I said in French, and his eyes lit up.

"You are French? Hello!"

I smiled and shook very gently 'no'. I nodded at Jessica. "I am her husband. I am Adrian Claremont when I am in France."

"Oh. You are not new. You speak French very well. I thought you from Burgundy."

"No. I am not a new Vampire. These days I sort of am from France. That is where my winery is. Claremont Estates." I explained, "I spend a great deal of time there."

"THE Claremont Estates? But: Your wine! it is fabulous! You do not export it: We cannot get it here!"

"Thank you. Yes. My wife, Helen, it was her winery for five centuries, give or take. All the work is hers. I just take credit for the new things. The recent Vintages, and our new products. Even the new things are only available in France though. What is your name?"

I put out my hand to shake. He took it. "I am Andreu. Andreu Chapman. Nice to met you, Adrian Claremont."

"So, Andreu: Just Adrian, please. We are Vampires, and last names have little meaning, as I am sure you will learn here. I am Adrian Sagan in North America, for example. We all have many names and identities, and more as years go by. However, keep this to yourself, but as a fellow Frenchman: I can get you a bottle or two of Claremont here. Do not tell anyone!"

Andreu looked very happy at that news "A little piece of home. I would like that very much!"

Uma mostly found the entire exchange to require her hiding her amusement. No easy thing given how white her human teeth are against her dark skin. Her smile has a tendency to light up. I like it.

"So, what's the story here, my love?" I asked Jessica.

"Andreu just arrived, and Uma and I checked him over, tip to tail. He survived his transition about thirty days ago and is finding red meat suddenly very delicious. We just put him on all the standard supplements, but he looks fine. No issues at all we could find. Haven't run the blood or anything of that sort yet, but looking good. Reaction times early Vampire normal. All of that kind of thing."