Paul looked confused and asked “Waddya mean? We weren’t gettin’ anywhere with stuff in space really until Bethany Anne and TOM got together.”
Alecta punched him in the shoulder and said “We went from pounding metal to getting objects to the outer solar system in the period she’s talking about. Sometimes I wonder why I married you when you act like such an imbecile.”
“I thought we agreed that you were going to restrict your insults about me to two syllables, dear,” Paul answered with a barely hidden grin. Alecta spun around and threw up her arms muttering in Russian. Once her back was turned, Paul’s grin broke out wide.
Everyone else in the room smiled at him when she wasn’t facing them. A throat cleared at the corner of the chamber. Well almost everyone. Boris was standing at the back of the room with a thoughtful scowl on his face.
“What did you mean, she stopped talking to you?” He had the expression of someone going down Alice’s rabbit hole… and not liking the experience one bit. “When did this happen?”
Gyada looked thoughtful, her eyes flashing back and forth. “Twelve, maybe thirteen days after you captured me, I think.” Boris looked at Shen and Janna.
“That was when you got the Faraday cage up and running, right?” Boris asked.
Shen mutely nodded, and Janna answered, “Yes. It was also when the cursed whispering stopped, and I managed a good night’s sleep for the first time in more than three weeks.”
She looked at him, appraising his mood. “It’s got a fair amount of room inside, and a chair is already there…”
She cut off as Boris raised his hand. “No, love. This is my responsibility. Therefore, my risk. If someone has to go into the cage, it’ll be me.”
Gyada looked up sharply and asked, “What are you talking about? By the nine realms, what is a Faraday cage?”
Shen quirked an eyebrow, then answered. “It’s a metal net or lattice surrounding an object that has electricity running through it…”
Gyada finished for him “That blocks certain wavelengths of the Electromagnetic spectrum, yes, yes. I just hadn’t heard it called that befo…” and she stopped dead. “You mean it’s been communicating with me by radio waves all these centuries? And how come the signal wasn’t detected…” her eyes narrowed in thought “Must be a lot of metal ores in the cave walls, blocking the frequencies it uses.” she mused.
She’d come to the same conclusion in minutes that had taken an hour for Shen, Janna, and Boris to reach with just a couple of pieces of information.
It was a little odd to see her work through a problem. It was almost like a person was there just as a thesaurus, dictionary, and wall for her ideas to bounce off. “Well, I can tell you she won’t be happy. She doesn’t like boredom. That’s why she taught me so many things. Teaching a primitive like me was a challenge. I’d better go in with anyone that wants to try to talk to her.”
She looked at Boris and Janna. “How’s your Kurtherian?”
They glanced at each other and shrugged, “It’s not.” Boris answered for both of them. “We haven’t had time to learn a language since everything came unglued.”
“Well, Hel and Niflheim. I don’t know if you’re going to be able to talk to her then. She taught me that first up. She doesn’t like other languages.”
“She’ll need to learn Russian at least. Probably English as well. If she doesn’t talk to Bethany Anne, the decision might be made to simply take her apart.”
Gyada frowned but slowly nodded. If the voice from her head wouldn’t associate with whoever was guarding it, the safest solution would be to simply dismantle the box that held her. Then she wouldn’t attract unwanted attention nor would she be a potential threat to her guardians.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Moscow, Chinese Intelligence Outpost, Russia.
Li Chen-Wu was an unhappy man. Werecat. Whatever. The elders of the plan had tasked him to find out where the Ghost Bear had relocated. To do that he had to possibly burn one of their best resources for information in Russia. One of the senior spies at this intelligence outpost.
Yes, the man was human, just another readily bribed Communist party member. But he was very effective at his job, more than willing to pass on information, and Li Chen-wu liked him. He also didn’t like having to expend assets he actually personally got along with.
There weren’t many of them after all.
“Bohai, what do you have for me? We gave you a name, and that he was likely involved in the recent disturbances inside Russia. “Li asked somewhat impatiently. The shorter he kept this, the less risk there was to both him and Bohai. Li definitely didn’t want to be in the Ghost Bear’s reach while he was alone in Russia. If they could infiltrate forces to his location and stage an attack, that would be a different matter. Li didn’t care how powerful a Were was, there was no chance that a single Were could hold off several of the clan’s elites.
Bohai bowed deeply, and replied with, “It’s good to see you too, Li. How’s the family? Everything going well for your clan? It would be unfortunate if something would happen to you while you are so far from any help they could offer.”
Li glared at Bohai. “You wouldn’t dare. Besides, this may well be a case where you can gain prestige by setting one of the official enemies of the party against another.”
“Yes, there is that, “Bohai answered. “After all it is clear there are links between this Boris and the Bitch Queen that flattened those mountains in eastern China. But I just wanted to remind you, that payment is due. “A vicious grin erupted on his face, and he continued, “I have reports of your clan’s weaknesses and now, I fear you less. Still, that is no reason we cannot work together. At least when our goals align. But you must think me a complete fool if I didn’t do more research on your people considering everything that has happened.”
Li nodded and hid an internal grimace.
The problem with truly effective agents was that they had to be intelligent. Otherwise, they weren’t worth the effort to nurture and maintain. Bohai was one of the most intelligent agents. He’d always been cautious in his dealings with the Sacred Clan.
It had been as much fear as money that kept him in line. That the fear was now a reduced factor in his thinking was a problem. It was almost as if he expected to start shifting their arrangements, so it was of more benefit to him personally. Possibly turning the relationship into a detriment to the clans as a whole.
That was a problem for another day.
The issue could not be forgotten, but the bigger problem facing the clan was a possibility of not only the technology slipping through their fingers but landing in the hands of an enemy.
“You’re fortunate that I have managed to suborn a member of the directorate of municipalities. It seems that one very unusual town has been set up very recently under the Siberian resettlement program. “He raised an eyebrow at Li.
“Yes, yes I know, the program to expand Siberia’s population base by resettling poor Russians and foreigners in Eastern Siberia. Adding to the population there and developing Russia’s economy as a whole.”