Eddie Lancaster Box Set 2, page 71
part #4 of Eddie Lancaster Series
‘This man,’ he pointed right at me. ‘died. It was all over the evening news nearly two years ago. And yet here he is! He has quite literally returned from the grave. That is how much power these people have. Is this the sort of power that should remain unchecked?
‘I witnessed a battle between vampires and sorcerers in Maidstone. The police could do nothing to control the situation. The streets were littered with corpses from all races by the end. Several police officers died. Their kind have no respect for the police or any government authority. What was the punishment for killing those officers of the law? There was none. If the people of this country continue to fall victim to supernatural attacks and the government does not increase controls then how long will it be until the people lose faith in their government? Maybe that’s what the vampires and the sorcerers want. They already have their own governing infrastructure. Shirley Demelza is the queen of the sorcerers in all but name. What if they’re waiting for the people to turn on the government so that they can then seize control? If you do nothing about this epidemic then soon enough the creatures of the night will be ruling the country and we’ll be nothing more than blood banks to them.’ Every face at the table was ashen. Richard’s speech was having the desired effect and from the looks of things, he wasn’t done yet. I never knew he had it in him, the ability to play politics and manipulate a situation for his own agenda.
‘Consider this too. The world is watching. It is watching the United Kingdom. Here, in this country, the supernatural was exposed. We are leading the world, showing them all how to handle this kind of thing. Europe, America, Asia, they’re all watching us to see how we handle this situation. They aren’t doing anything over there about their own supernatural communities. They’ve all pretended this hasn’t happened. Heads in the sand. We can either be the beacon that shows them the way or we can be the laughing stock of the world. Or even worse, we can be nothing more than a black mark in history when the monsters of the night rise up and smother us. We will become an example of what not to do.’
He turned our way and shot us a look of triumphant satisfaction before returning to his seat. He lowered himself painfully down, easing his wounded leg carefully. Then he poured himself a glass of water and took a victory sip.
‘Thank you for that, Agent Richards,’ said Giles in a hushed tone. ‘You have provided us with much to think about. Does anybody have any questions?’
‘I do,’ Donald wheezed. The guy spoke ironically slowly considering he was the one with the least amount of time to kill. ‘What measures do you propose we take, Agent Richards?’ I glanced at my wrist again. If Donald had many more questions then I’d be dead before the meeting ended.
‘Police forces have already been given equipment to help them deal with supernatural issues. I know of several research facilities in the UK that have been looking at further technologies to be used for the purposes of controlling the magical communities. With full government support, this research could unlock more potential than many people realise. It could seriously level the playing field,’ Richards said. He left out the part about the illegal kidnapping of the research subjects.
‘I don’t understand,’ Tony said. ‘If these facilities already exist do they not already have government support?’
Richards squirmed as he realised he’d tripped himself up. He grabbed his drink to buy himself some time to answer. ‘Yes,’ he said, nodding like a nodding dog. ‘Yes, they do have support, but there are certain things they can’t do without… more support.’
‘You mean research on living beings,’ Wendy said with disdain. It was clear from the set of her jaw that Richards would not win her over on this matter.
‘Yes,’ he said simply. ‘Existing research shows that we can neutralise magic completely but further tests are needed.’ Another lie. The technology I’d seen seemed fully functional to me.
‘What other ideas do you have?’ Wendy said. It was obvious from the vicious way she tossed her question at him that he’d lost her. That was one person in our corner at least. Four more to go.
‘Curfews. It is much harder to police magical peoples in the dark. By simply not allowing them on the streets at night it would reduce incidents more than tenfold.’
‘Do you have anything to corroborate that claim?’ said Tony.
‘I don’t have any statistics with me, no.’
‘Please refrain from making unsubstantiated claims, Agent Richards,’ Giles warned him, though his tone was friendlier than Wendy’s or Tony’s.
‘If curfews are too extreme then perhaps supernatural zones. Areas where they can go out and areas where they are restricted from entering at certain times. Places where ordinary people can feel safe.’
‘We’re not cattle,’ I interjected, earning me a few disapproving glares from the big table. I felt Shirley’s disapproval from beside me.
‘No, if you were cattle we wouldn’t be having this meeting. We’d be eating you, but instead, it is us being fed upon by your fanged friends.’
‘Could I remind you that the government has already outlawed feeding on unwilling humans,’ Wendy said, leaning forward to emphasise her point.
‘But that’s my very point, they aren’t listening. We need stronger controls to stamp out this bad behaviour for good.’
‘By rounding them up and putting them in designated areas? I think they tried a similar idea with the Jewish people in Germany back in the 1930s,’ said Tony. We had two on our side now. I’d been wrong in my earlier assessment, Richards was not cut out for politics.
The questions continued endlessly but none of the other committee members turned on Richards like Wendy and Tony. Shirley and I would just have to do the rest of the work ourselves.
‘I think it’s time to hear the counter-argument,’ Giles said after over an hour of questions for Richards.
‘Eddie, why don’t you speak first and I’ll finish things off,’ Shirley suggested. I knew what she was doing. She was sending me up as a guinea pig so she could figure out how best to convince them. When I failed using whatever tactic I went with she would change things up. Richards scaremongering had worked rather well on most of the committee so our work was cut out for us.
I stood up and walked to the middle of the floor.
‘There really is no need to stand,’ Giles complained, but it was too late. Richards had set the precedent.
‘First of all,’ I began, puffing my chest out like a lawyer addressing the jury. ‘That scar on Richards’ neck was earned in a situation in which he asked for my help. I had nothing to do with it until he involved me and had I not gotten involved the murders of over six-hundred children would have gone unsolved and more children would have died. By working together, magical people and the police achieved outstanding results.’ I looked along the table but other than Wendy and Toby nobody else seemed particularly moved. I was going to have to do better than that.
‘As for his most recent injuries, they are the result of a vampire attack. The vampires attacked one of the research facilities Agent Richards told us about earlier. The people there, of which he was one, had been kidnapping vampires and sorcerers and then experimenting on them against their will.’
‘That’s not true! The subjects there were arrested in accordance with the law,’ Richards argued, shooting out of his chair. I turned and gave him a shit-eating grin that told him he’d just fucked up. He closed his eyes and lowered himself back into his chair.
‘So you were illegally experimenting on these suspected criminals?’ Tony said in horror. ‘No charges, no trial?’ Richards was smart enough to stay silent.
‘Richards wants to scare you,’ I continued. ‘But be rational. The supernatural has existed for as long as humans have and we’ve never caused any problems before. Not major ones. If our people step out of line we have always acted swiftly to remove the threat. You don’t need to crack down on all of us because a few of us frighten you. Simply work with us to control the badness together. We will all be better off for it.
‘If you grant the people who ran that facility the powers they’re asking for then you will have a problem on your hands. Them. The government won’t be in control. They will. We won’t take over the country. They will.’ I nodded once to indicate that my speech was concluded and then wandered back to my table.
‘That was better than I expected,’ Shirley whispered in my ear. I couldn’t stop myself from beaming with pride. I don’t know why a compliment from Shirley made me so happy but it did.
The committee was not as impressed as Shirley was. ‘I find your predictions somewhat farfetched, Mister Lancaster,’ said Giles. There were murmurs of agreement from some of the others.
No victory sip for me.
Shirley leaned over to whisper in my ear again. ‘It looks like I’ll have to do some scaremongering of my own.’ I wasn’t sure what she meant by that. I’d just tried to shift the fear onto Richards’ team and it had failed.
Giles said nothing but he did let out a long groan as Shirley stepped into the middle of the floor. She cleared her throat once and clipped her heels together. The big table fell silent.
‘Both Agent Richards and Eddie have made some excellent points thus far. The supernatural community does pose some threats to ordinary human beings. Richards is right in that regard. These threats have always been and continue to be controlled in house, as Eddie explained. This is why we have a governing infrastructure, and I can assure that I am no queen. I was elected to my position, I did not inherit it. My job is to make sure any issues pertaining to sorcerers are swiftly dealt with. Issues with vampires fall under the master vampire’s jurisdictions, and the werewolves are governed by the alpha, and so on. Every now and then things may slip through our controls and then we work together to eliminate them. This is the system we have, and now that the Exposure has happened I propose continuing with this system and extending it to include the human population.
‘Richards warned you that the people would revolt if you did not try to subjugate us. I ask you to consider what will happen if you do attempt to subjugate us.’ That comment got them tittering nervously.
‘Are you threatening—’ Richards started but Shirley’s hand shot up and his lips knitted together, bound by an invisible thread. He grumbled from behind his lips but no discernible sounds came out. The committee watched on in horror but not one of them dared object.
‘I believe there is a rule against interruptions,’ Shirley reminded him. She lowered her hand but her spell remained in place. ‘If you try to subjugate us we will fight back. We will not be trodden on or given fewer rights than we humanly deserve. For we are human. We are just a different variety than you.
‘We are more than happy to work with the government to devise new laws to govern our people which we will uphold in conjunction with the police. But we will rule our own people and we will punish them. Your prisons cannot hold us and we will not allow our kind to be experimented on in your perverse facilities.
‘If you push us we will revolt and no amount of technology will ever be able to stop us. Do you think your armies can stand against a combined force of sorcerers, vampires, werewolves, fay, and things you don’t even know exist? Yes, Eddie did die, and yes he is back from the dead. Death cannot stop us, so how will you?’ She took a pause to let her words sink in. Richards had scared them with his speech, but Shirley was terrifying them. There was no colour left in Giles’ face. Donald had actually sunk so low in his chair that he was almost under the table. Even Tony and Wendy looked uncomfortable.
‘As for the matter of us taking over the government. We’ve had decades to do that. If that was our desire we would have done it long ago when you didn’t even know we existed. We could have taken the government by stealth. But we did not. Because we do not want to. This is an unprecedented situation we find ourselves in. Let us work together to make it work. One misstep and you risk starting a war you are not equipped to win. Richards is right, the world is watching. So tread lightly.’
Shirley strode back to the table at an arrogantly leisurely pace. She lowered herself gracefully into her chair and then folded her hands on the tabletop. Since she wasn’t going to take a drink I decided to do it on her behalf. I filled my glass right to the top and then looked right at Richards as I took a massive victory gulp. I slammed my empty glass down on the table enthusiastically.
‘Any questions?’ Shirley asked.
They had a lot.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
For hours they asked Shirley how they could all work together to keep order without subjugating anybody. She answered all of their questions and they answered hers. Together they came up with several viable options that everybody seemed genuinely pleased with. Everybody except Richards whose mouth was still magically sealed. Nobody seemed to mind that.
In the end, Giles said the committee would need some time to discuss everything but they felt the meeting had gone rather well and they were positive about the outcome. ‘You should hear from us in a day or so with our decision which we will present to parliament,’ he said. And then we were free to go.
Shirley released Richards from her spell. He said nothing. He knew better than to antagonise her further, who knew what she might do next. He’d lost and he knew it.
Before we left I turned back to him. He was still sitting at his table staring at the water. The committee had long since left. ‘Richards, if you don’t brush that chip off your shoulder you’re going to end up getting eaten alive,’ I said. He didn’t reply and Shirley and I left.
We were well into the afternoon now and I was very conscious of the fact that my time was nearly, up. I had to get back to Maidstone.
We got back in just over an hour. Shirley went back to her home to get the ball rolling on some of the things she’d discussed with the committee. It was a shame that she wouldn’t be by my side for the final stages of getting the dagger but she’d said I could keep Katelyn until the job was done. Apparently, she was a pretty good sorcerer. I’d find that out for myself soon enough.
I met Lydia, Gabe, and Katelyn on the railway bridge by the river. The Power Hub was in sight. I could see three removal lorries outside which people were loading boxes and other things onto. The Prevention Association was done in Maidstone it seemed. Gabe was now back to his old self; energetic and alert. He’d tidied up his hair and was dressed in a nice shirt. Not the complete suit he usually wore, but still a lot more formal than the rest of us. When I approached Lydia and Gabe shared a look that I could only describe as shifty. The look passed so quickly I wasn’t sure if I’d even seen it so I didn’t ask about it. I had enough worries without adding any more to an already overburdened mind.
‘They’ve been packing up moving vans all day,’ Lydia explained. ‘We haven’t seen Julia or the dagger yet.’
‘I spent enough time with that woman to be sure that she will not have let that dagger leave her sight. If she’s here the dagger is too,’ Katelyn assured me.
‘How many people have you seen over there?’ I asked.
‘At least a dozen,’ said Gabe. ‘We’re not sure what species they are though. The Prevention Association recruits all sorts.’ That was interesting, I’d foolishly assumed they were sorcerers, but I suppose every species had an interest in preventing potentially cataclysmic events.
‘Okay then,’ I said as I considered our options. I walked along the bridge to get a better view of the people loading the lorry below. Two people were carrying what looked like some kind of Sci-fi cryogenic pod. They slid it carefully into the lorry and then headed back to the building for the next load. A man dressed all in black stood guard at the back of the lorry.
‘Any idea what’s in there?’ I asked. There didn’t seem to be any other guards anywhere, just the one on the lorry with the cryogenic tank in it.
‘I never saw anything like that when they had us captured,’ Gabe told me.
‘Seers,’ Katelyn said as the next tank emerged from the building. We all turned to her for further explanation. ‘These people predict things with ridiculous accuracy. They know the percentage of the likelihood for each prediction. I think they have seers hooked up to some kind of spell or device. Those tanks have seers in them. I’d bet money on it.’
‘Seems plausible,’ I said. I turned back to the building as a plan started to form in my head. ‘Julia has something we want, so we need to take something she wants. There’s only one guard on that lorry. We take him out and steal the seers. Then Julia will have to trade the dagger for those pods.’
‘There’s one guard but several other people who might be more than capable in a fight,’ Katelyn said pointing out the people loading up the lorries.
‘Lydia, can you freeze them, or slow them down?’
‘Probably,’ she said noncommittally. ‘Only one way to find out.’
We talked through the plan as we made our way down to the loading area. If Lydia could freeze them all then nobody else would need to do anything. If not… things would probably get a little messy.
We reached the corner and paused. ‘Ready?’ I asked Lydia. She nodded. I felt a chill pass over me as she exuded power towards the loading area. I went to peek around the building but Gabe stopped me.
‘My head’s a little less vulnerable than yours,’ he reminded me. He stuck his invulnerable head around and then gave us the thumbs up. ‘Not exactly frozen, but they’re not going anywhere in a hurry.’
We all looked and saw the loaders moving items onto the lorries in slow motion. At this rate, it would take them an hour just to get a single box loaded.
‘Let’s go,’ I said.
We strode with determination towards the main lorry, the one with the tanks. Lydia pulled open the door and climbed into the driver’s seat. The rest of us headed around to the back. The guard saw us as we neared and his eyes started to widen painfully slowly. I started to call on a spell to render him unconscious but Gabe got there first. He shot forwards and twisted the man’s head round, snapping his neck. Katelyn and I both stopped in our tracks at the display of aggression. The guard fell limply to the floor in slow motion, never to rise again.
