It had almost been a perfect escape only, the one thing that Carol had not counted on was, her Uncle Arthur. She had not been caught by the Americans, not even close. She was already in Quebec, on a board owned jet, waiting for it to taxi out to the line up, when the secured phone rang and Carol made the mistake of picking it up. Her only thought was to get back to England, somehow get her daughter away from Barnabas Reilly, and go find a hole to hide in. She might have been scared of such direct methods before but, with the entire world on the edge of nuclear war, she didn’t figure there was much that her own people could do to her that would rival getting vaporized in an artificial sun.

Carol was now thinking that, just maybe, she was wrong about that last part and, as usual, she had underestimated her family. Arthur made one of those requests that was impossible to refuse. He never mentioned it but, he did not really have to, did he? Carol had not reached her daughter yet and, as long as that was the case, he had the power no matter what her status was on the Board. It meant Arthur had his finger on Carol’s jugular and there was not a lot she could do about it.

She had told him on the phone, “we got out of New York, free and clear. They didn’t get anything. I instituted Lancelot before they actually penetrated our defenses.”

“Well done dear,” Arthur had told her on the phone. He followed that up by commanding her politely, “now you have one last service to perform for your people. You have to go back.”

That was how Carol wound up sitting in a little cinder block room that was painted in nauseating shades of yellow and pink. She was wearing a neon orange jump suit and shackled in belly chains that were, in turn, chained to a ring on the table in front of her. The seat was uncomfortable as well and, Carol figured, it was probably meant to be that way.

After she went and waived a red flag, almost literally, in front of the customs officials at the border, she had been arrested on the spot. That almost didn’t happen and if Carol had not gotten pushy about it they might have let her walk right back in the US. Apparently, only the agents monitoring out going traffic had been notified about her. It was good to know that the American bureaucracy was up to it’s usual efficient standards. It also made her wonder why, when they didn’t even want to arrest her to begin with, that after the US Marshalls arrived, they acted like she was the most dangerous escape artist since Houdini.

They had put Carol in body armor, cuffed her hands behind her, shackled her legs, and then they even put a bag over her head! It stayed there until she was dragged into some processing center where she was informed that she would not even be allowed to know where she was. What kid of morons were these people? It was written all over every sign in the room! They were in the basement of the Federal Court House in Buffalo! One prison guard actually got upset, and then worried he might get fired, when she mentioned that to him. He even asked her, “can we keep that between us lady? I might get fired.” After they finished doing drab things like finger prints, DNA swabs, and tons of paper work, they let her sit in this room. She really had to pee!

Finally the door opened and Carol was not that surprised to see who walked in. In fact, Arthur had suggested this might happen and it was exactly what Carol was hoping for. She sighed in relief and then said, “nice to meet you in person Misses Mary Isaacs.”

Mary sat down across the table from Carol and politely responded, “your jacket on me is out of date Miss Somerset, it’s Moore now.”

“I’m sorry,” Carol replied and then nodded to the cuffs around her wrists, “are these really necessary?”

“We don’t have much time Miss Somerset,” Mary replied. “You have been charged with multiple acts of terrorism, inside, and against the United States of America. This is, also, along with conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated assault of US Law Enforcement officials. The men that died in that raid, all four of them, they had families Miss Somerset.”

“So did mine,” Carol replied with a bit of anger, “I’m not the one that sent them in there, invaded a sovereign nation, and for what?”

Mary leaned over the table and locked eyes with the woman, “just to save time. I know who you people are. I know who all of you are.”

Carol smirked, “oh really? How many of us did your little dragnet manage to corner? Last I heard it was four and, oh, you lost four agents doing it. By my count that’s one for one. Want to go another round?”

Mary pretended to ignore the side remark and she kept right on, “you people may think you’re a sovereign country but, I have news for you, you’re not. You’re just what my ex husband said about you once, you’re a bunch drug running, terrorist, thugs.”

“Oh?” Carol did not act as if she took offense, “is this the same ex husband that’s currently on a plane and about to invade Great Britain? I wonder what the people in the Welsh countryside are going to call him when this is all said and done.”

Mary did not take the bait but, she did get one bit of useful intelligence here. They knew about the plan or, were slowly piecing it together. That info had to go back fast but, Mary could not stop to get this out now. She just hoped the guys watching on the monitor were smart enough to understand and make the call themselves.

“You can stop this Carol,” Mary told her.

“Miss Moore,” Carol emphasized the name when she said it, “even if I weren’t tied up to a table right now, there is nothing I could do to stop this. I’m afraid your file on me is not so up to date either. I’m afraid that the power to stop this rests in your hands, not mine.”

Mary backed off a little and changed her attitude to one of confidence, “oh we’ll stop it all right Carol. The only question is how many people die before that happens. The outcome of this is a foregone conclusion. What I’m trying to do is give you the opportunity to save lives, including your own by the way. I don’t know if you are aware but, what you are charged with carries the death penalty in the United States.”

Carol gave a very condescending, snort, and quiet laugh as she rolled her eyes at the woman, “exactly what I’m trying to do here Miss Moore, IS save lives. I’d say about six or seven billion of them.” Now Carol leaned forward and said, “since you stated that you wish to save time, let me repay that by doing the same. Your interrogation bullshit doesn’t work on me, Mary. I manipulate people like you for breakfast, every day of the week. So can we cut through it, and please talk business before it really is too late. I’m not sure what time it is now but, I’m guessing neither of us has very long.”

Mary simply shrugged, and waived the woman on, “be my guest.”

“Arthur is offering you a compromise. It’s really very simple and, coming from him, surprisingly fair considering the barrel he has you over.”

Mary shook that off and looked confused, “us over?” She got serious and very stern, “we’re about to drop a world of hurt on his ass and you can’t tell me that your little tin soldier, security guards, are going to stick around when the first JDAM turns their buddies into smoke. They’ll piss in their pants and run, hoping to god they can surrender to us instead of the British because after what you people did to Britain, I’m not so sure there’s much mercy to go around there right now.”

Carol laughed, “run like my security did this morning? The same ones that killed four of your men, after I ordered then not to fight back? I think you underestimate our soldiers. I also think you underestimate your position. As for the English, how can they want revenge on us when all they’ve seen is Prime Minister Thayer on the television?”

Mary shook her head in resignation, “how brainwashed are you Carol. Do you really think you can beat us in a war? You may have something you call a government but, you don’t even have a country.”

Carol grunted in frustration and lashed out at this woman, “how brainwashed I am has nothing to do with it. The real question is how stupid are you? We don’t have to beat you, Mary. We only have to fight you. There you sit, thinking you’ve got all the resources in the world but, you have no idea what we have.”

Mary rolled her eyes this time, “a few old sycophants with pedigrees from ancestry dot com?”

Carol remained dead serious, “Let me ask you this, do you think someone tipped off those Omani sailors that seized our ship? Maybe you have finally realized the truth of it, they were our sailors. Maybe not all of them but, their leaders were Camelonian. Oh, speaking of which, you killed them too, when your Navy SBS people blew that up, just like they did my building this morning. Are they terrorists too? I keep loosing track.”

Carol waited for a reaction but saw none so she went on, “we’re everywhere, Mary, and you have no idea who we are. Right now, I have no doubt that you’re banking on Rose Atwater and your state department to keep the other nations from turning against you. It won’t work, Arthur made sure of it. We may not have control but, we have considerable influence.”

Mary remained silent so Carol continued, “we also control the Dell and, right now, you might think you’re going to take it from us, just try. You’ll never open it again if you do.”

Again, Mary said nothing. The two women just sat and stared. Then Mary said bluntly, “we won’t negotiate at the point of a gun.”

“Finally,” Carol replied, “you get some sense about you. That means you will negotiate. I might remind you Mary, you’re running out of time.”

Mary composed herself and said, “let me explain something to you Carol. Threats will not work on my country and they don’t work on me either.”

“Really?” Carol acted sarcastically surprised, “I don’t suppose the entire cold war thing was because the Soviet Union didn’t have nuclear bombs? Maybe you hunted down Al Queada because they sent you a bouquet of roses?” Her eyes narrowed and locked in on Mary, “force is how nations do business Mary. Don’t sit there and pretend to be all high and mighty. I know your reputation and I know that you know better.”

“You might think Miss Somerset,” Mary replied with equal force, “that you know me. Let me tell you how unbending I am right now. Piss on the national politics, I will do whatever I think I need too right now, because, at this moment, my daughter is in Britain.”

Carol wasted no time and no ferocity in replying, “so is mine.”

Marry huffed, shifted her weight, and then said, “so what does he want? Your King Arthur that is.”

Carol laughed at the idea of Arthur with a crown and then she said, “you know, when he sent me here, he didn’t bother to tell me his plans. He didn’t have to really, because, I know him. Let me first tell you what he’s going to do, the moment that your troops move on ours, his first response will not be there. He’s going to take down Ten Downing street, unless I miss my guess.”

Mary did not flinch.

Carol did not even seem to notice anyway, she was too busy with, “that will leave his people in a position take complete control of Britain. Then, when your troops inevitably come raining down out of the sky, they’ll be blasted by the bases anti aircraft defenses. I, also, do suppose that you thought of the idea of bringing some of your people back from Feyland. As soon as they make their move, on Building 13, he’s going to blow it and them with it. Then your security troops at Coven Hill will find themselves with nothing to take, and deep in hostile territory, cut off from their supplies and chain of command.”

Mary remained perfectly still so Carol asked, “am I getting close?”

Mary asked with a smile, “and just to humor you Miss Somerset, exactly what does your glorious fuehrer want for this fantasy of yours?”

“I did hit the mark,” Carol said with a smile, “I’m rather proud of myself Mary. I never fancied myself a military strategist. Let me ask you one more thing. You see, I’m sitting here thinking to myself, if I were you, and had the contacts you do, including that funny little man Spivey, how would I make sure my daughter was safe. She’s not at Ten Downing is she?”

Mary snarled but, little more, “enough of the games, what do you want bitch?”

Carol relaxed, “nothing more than what should have been ours all along. Legitimacy.”