Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 13: The Battle of Evergreen Park
Part 2: Guess Who’s Coming (Revision 2)
Part 2: Guess Who’s Coming (Revision 2)
1 october 2014.
wake-up call. The police siren wails on the Droid Mega, waking up Shira and Leila. Leila complains, “What’s that for?”
“I’ve got friends. If you know what I mean by... friends.” Shira winks. Leila rolls her eyes and rolls away from Shira.
Shira sits up, picks up the phone, and says, “Hello?”
“Sorry to pile on the lovely news, red,” says J.T. over the encrypted voice line, “but word travels fast here in the Blue Mafia. One of the girls in the office has a few friends among Bremerton’s finest, and she says your friend Mr. Green and his pastor got plans to drop by your high school picnic today. She also tells me they plan to test a few of your local law enforcement’s brand new copbots.”
“Does she know what they’re running?”
“I do. This new model’s the talk of the whole Police Guild. Top of the line expert system, immune to DDoS, better surveillance than an entire police department, can sniff a dissident from a mile away. Hot stuff, this. What’s it running on” You’ll never guess.”
“Right. iOS.”
“Nope. Windows.”
“Well, well, well!” Shira grins wickedly. Visions of malicious ActiveX exploits dance in her head. “Well! I know just what to get, then.”
“Love ya babe. Be careful.”
Shira kisses at the phone. “Ciao.” She puts it back on her nightstand.
Leila rolls onto her back so Shira can take the covers off her, get on top of her, and kiss her. “So what was that about?”
“J.T. says we’re gonna have ourselves a few unwanted guests at the picnic, and they’re bringing gifts. He wanted me to make sure I had a surprise ready for ’em.”
“Who would that be, I wonder?”
“Our old fiend, Mr Stanley Green.”
“Will you please let me kill him this time?”
Shira laughs. “But I’m toying with him.”
Leila frowns. “Figures you’d be named after a cat.”
breakfast. Shira, Leila, Ayla, and Hope sit together naked at the dining room table, conversing over delicious bacon and cheese omelettes. Hope notices the grim look on Shira’s face. “What’s wrong, darling?”
“Guess who’s dropping by town for a visit this weekend.”
The others stare at Shira. Hope cocks her head slightly in curiosity. “Anybody we know?”
“Only the worst person in the world.”
Leila gasps in horror. “No! You don’t mean him—”
“Yes, him. Mom, you gotta get out of here as soon as possible and stay away till at least Tuesday, or the King’s agents will find you and then he’s gonna have himself a live human barbecue on Sunday. I say take an official business trip to Portland or somewhere.”
Hope looks at her daughter strangely. “Are you serious about this?”
Shira’s look lasers into her eyes. “Damn right I’m serious, Mom. King Patriot is coming on Sunday. The rest of us will stay inside for the weekend with the lights off. But you have to get out and make it look official without making it look political. They can claim deniability all they want, but this time you need it. Got it?”
“This is about the election, isn’t it,” says Leila.
“Hey, if there’s one thing we all know about kings, it’s that they hate the very idea of elections. Reminds ’em they aren’t gods and the people aren’t their little toys or pets.”
“Actually, it reminds them that other people can replace him as gods,” Hope adds. “It’s also why royals tend to get jealous of mere celebrities. Anyway, the important thing is that we now know what’s going on. And forewarned is forearmed, right? We’re ready for ’em now.”
“But this is about you, and you know it.”
“Actually, I fully expected him to pull a stunt like that. Old Roger Becket was never subtle; he always loved to throw his weight around.”
“So what do you plan to do?”
“Warn people, first of all. Since we don’t want to get anybody hurt, I’ll suggest everybody stay at home when his imperious highness drops by.”
Leila sighs. “But there’ll still be somebody trying to kill him, and they’ll punish the rest of us for it.”
Shira smirks conspiratorially. “I’m already taking care of that.”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“Never underestimate the ego of a terrorist.” Shira winks.
Leila rolls her eyes. “Ohhhh.”
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