5 – The meeting, pt 2

Greg

Nel went on with the dangers of a potential attack to the Golden Moon. On the outside that everybody can see, she’s just worried about the risks included in such a plan and the casualties. However, I notice how her eyes are on me all the time. I’ve had her full attention ever since I entered the cabin in the morning, even though it’s not too evident. I know her well enough to understand that even though her concentration seems to be on persuading the team against an illogical attack, her actual intention is to make me step up and voice what is going on in reality.

Touché!

She could always see right through me. Like that first time she ever laid eyes on me in that bar in Northam, close to her university faculty more or less three years ago. She knows there’s more to the story than we let on and is obviously in a hurry to get the details. Perhaps she feels left out as well. It would be no surprise, given her character and strong leading skills. I was also in favor of a more direct approach from the beginning, but Josh seemed worried it wouldn’t work well this way. So maybe for the first time, we orchestrated the whole backstage story, just the two of us, only now breaking it through to everybody else. Oh, it will piss her off to learn there’s a plan almost ready, and we kept it hidden from her! Truth be told, it’s not really illogical on her side to feel this way. This secrecy really isn’t like us at all.

The rest of the team watches the debate between Josh and her keenly. Josh is sometimes a really closed book for all of us. There are many parts of his life that we know nothing about and other parts that Sarah shared with us on his behalf, without his consent, in his defense for his dark moments. They have been through a lot of shit together. They met far away from here right after a bleak period for the packs of the area, full of schemes, secrets and dark motives, that was still casting a heavy shadow on Josh’s life. Its consequences, both physical and emotional, ruled their lives for years. Even when Josh left this area and they lived like nomads for some years, unlike Nel’s parents, they never secluded themselves. There were several people in his pack aware of their whereabouts and what they were up to. Eventually, they returned to the city, but never to the Black Moon, and started building a normal life away from all plots and machinations. Just the two of them working and earning a decent amount of money, living a seemingly boring and ordinary middle class life. You know, a pleasant apartment in a beautiful compound, friends, colleagues and saving for retirement.

But this was all a facade. Ever since they returned, they started forming the team as well. They started approaching us. They chose each one for a different reason, but we were all somehow connected to them because of our past, although many of us practically had no clue till they contacted us. The initial cause was to trace Milton and his accomplices, but somewhere along the way, it became more, much more. We grew close, started caring, helped each other out in everyday issues, like finding a better job, or offering our support through heartbreaks. Josh was like a rock, a solid support to us, like a strong father figure, while Sarah was softer, caring, warm, always having a hug and a cup of hot chocolate with cookies available for whoever needed it, like a mother who would never tire of looking after us, the kids she never got to have.

I am embarrassed to stand here silent and guilty. There’s no place for half truths and untold stories. We have to go all clean and let everybody know what they are up against. After all, we have established a pretty good chance of success. That would otherwise be impossible for all the right reasons she has been listing for a while now…

“Okay enough… You’re right… Happy now?” I interrupt their dispute, exasperated.

They all turn to me, surprised by my reaction, because the disagreement seemed to be between Nel and Josh, so they didn’t see why I would include myself, let alone get so desperate. All except for Nel, of course, who is wearing an evil grin, knowing that she once again read the signs right. I don’t have the slightest idea how it is possible, but this woman is a walking lie detector. A walking lie detector that can nevertheless lie so smoothly and delicately one would get shocked…

“Spit it all out,” she says dryly.

“This is not really a new story. I met some guys in a congress on poison antidotes some months ago. They were from the Golden Moon, but still we got along very well. They were witty and straightforward, not at all treating me like a rogue or a half-breed, like most pack werewolves would do. We went for some drinks at the end of each day for the week that the congress lasted. At first, I was pretty reserved. It seemed too good to be true. Some pack members befriending a rogue with no hesitation… So I held back and let them do the talking most of the time. That’s when they mentioned their Alpha. Both of them admired him, looked up to him as a leader and a man, no fear present, which seemed intriguing. It wasn’t exactly how we picture Alphas to be. Later they said he was interested in funding wolf related research, but needed to keep it totally confidential, if you know what I mean.” I sigh loudly. The living room has grown so silent that you could hear a needle falling by this point. They are all trying to understand how this applies to our topic.

“Alpha Nicholas is the CEO of Blackwell Corporation. It’s a lot of money we’re talking about. The business group owns several big companies covering different fields. I have been particularly interested in their Pharmaceutical Branch, GoldMed, for years. You all know that I’ve applied for regular R&D jobs with them more than once and never got that desired call back to an interview. It seemed like a pretty decent opportunity. They are so powerful, maybe we could get something out of it. I was sick of baking pizzas for a living when I could do so much more. My research is not a hobby, damn it…” after taking a slight break to sip on some water, I continue. So far, so good. The hard part is only about to start now.

“Anyway, some days later, I received a call from the guy himself. I kindly refused to go to pack territory, but he sounded laid back and it didn’t seem to annoy him. I expected him to invite me to his office in the headquarters, but he accepted to come for a casual lunch break and coffee at any place I would choose. The almighty Alpha Nicholas Blackwell didn’t mind going off his way and showing up with his attire that probably cost more than my car in ‘Le Papillon Cafe’ next to Luciano’s Pizza, so that I wouldn’t lose any time from my break. I won’t lie to you. It totally impressed me. There was something about him that drew me to cooperate with him and trust him. That’s how it all started.”

“Since the research he wanted me to handle was classified as confidential, it couldn’t easily be held in the company. The corporation goes through regular, meticulous checks by the human audit authorities in charge, so it would be quite insolent to hold such experiments right under their noses. We agreed somewhere in the middle. I would officially be hired by GoldMed, but any experiments that held potential risk, I wouldn’t be able to conduct them there. Leo and Bob would run them in the pack lab and I’d then have the results to analyze using equipment I needed. Even without the lab part, it was a dream come true thing.”

“Then one day, Alpha Nicholas called me for some emergency. One of their fighters had been shot with some lethal wolfsbane during a patrol, and he needed my help to identify the substance and provide the antidote before it was too late. He promised it was a onetime thing, no strings attached, just this one time crossing the pack territory. I accepted and went to assist them. It worked… We actually saved him, Nel…” My eyes are now totally on her. Nobody else’s opinion on the story really matters to me at this point.

“On the way out of the lab, I caught his ratty smell, and I knew Josh’s theory was right. I was extra careful. We didn’t cross paths and I’m sure he wouldn’t understand I was there at all. After that incident, I made more and more excuses to go to the pack lab myself. It didn’t seem suspicious as I actually had things to do that worked better, if I was there and at the same time I collected important information, lots of it…”

“At this point, the guards are accustomed to my presence and my going in and out of the pack house. With all that I’ve gathered, if we combine this with your stealth and Tim’s speed and strength, that’s all we should need. Just a quick and clean job… In and out, no one will even need to know there’s even been a trespass…”

I take an extra deep breath upon finishing. The room is as silent as a morgue at the moment. I honestly didn’t see it coming when she got up from Tim’s embrace, walked straight to me and punched me right on my face.

“That’s for going behind my back for all this time. Now let’s see the plan and go over the details…”