Cisco learns that there are benefits to his new job while Ronin goes back to Sateda. Carter has an encounter with the leader of the Genii, and invites him to dinner...
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Confirming Carter Book Three, Changes
Chapter Three
Interior-Infirmary
0620 Hours
"Samuels to Cisco."
"Go ahead." He said quietly as he tapped his headset.
"Can you meet me in the colonel's suite?" She asked.
"Five minutes?"
"That's fine, I'll have coffee ready."
He stood up, and saw that Tammy was looking at him.
"You're a light sleeper." He said. "How are you feeling?"
"Better." She smiled. "Who was that?"
"Samuels. She wants to talk to me."
She nodded, her eyes closing.
"Go back to sleep. I'll be back later."
She smiled, but didn't say anything.
Interior-Kitchen
0630 Hours
"Get some coffee, and have a seat, they need a few more minutes to finish getting your suite ready." Andi said, not turning around.
He noticed that she had a tablet on the table in front of her, and there were pictures of the living room and kitchen on it. He waved his arm, and saw himself doing it on the tablet.
"It's a live feed, we use it to monitor Sam. Or we used to, we don't need it that much anymore." Samuels said. "They both wear a bracelet that we monitor them with too."
"Could those bracelets be modified to send out a distress signal, or to track them?" He asked as he sat down across the table from her.
She shook her head. "The range on them is only about two hundred feet. It's a medical device. Sam has a subcutaneous transponder, I guess we could get Tammy one."
"Since she's already in the infirmary, could we do that today?" He asked.
"It might be a little soon for that." She said. "She may not be up to it."
"She's feeling better. I just came from there."
"When did you go down there?"
"I was there all night."
She looked at him, then nodded.
"I check the video system here in the suite, the conference room, and anywhere they go that has a video feed." She said. "I use it to track Sam's progress as my patient, and also to make a historical record as foreign minister."
She got up and refilled her coffee cup, then came back and sat down.
"They withhold information from both Jennifer and I, but they know that we check the video. They don't object, or else Tammy would have shut it down. She set the system up."
He nodded, and waited for her to continue.
"I understand that your first loyalty is going to be to them, and that you're going to have to withhold information from me at their request. But I need you to share information about their state of mind, and their health with us. We can talk to Sam about that later, I doubt if she'll object."
"My job is to protect the royal family, and that means more than just keeping them alive." He said. "Would you agree with that?"
She nodded.
"I'll need to speak to Ronin and the queens to see what that includes. But I agree, I doubt if they'll object to us sharing medical information with you."
She nodded again, looking at him.
"Let's go down and take a look at your suite." She said as she stood up. "I gave you the one I used to live in. It's got a rustic decor, I think you'll like it.
Interior-Kitchen
0745 Hours
"Carter to Cisco."
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Where are you?"
"Right here." He said as he stepped into the kitchen.
"Neat trick." She laughed. "I like the outfit."
He was wearing a light brown Atlantian style suit with a soft, cream-colored shirt.
"I don't like the cut of the jacket. No collar."
"Take it off." She said. "I want to see what you have on under there."
He slipped the jacket off, revealing twin shoulder holsters, each with a large automatic pistol.
"Turn around."
He turned, and she could see the two small pistols clipped inside the waistband of his pants.
"Now lift the pants legs."
He drew up the legs of his pants. He had another pistol strapped to one ankle, and his bowie knife strapped to the other.
"What else do you have? I know there's more." She said.
He pulled a small knife from one sleeve, then held his other arm out, and a small pistol appeared in his hand.
Ronin smiled. "What about the knife under your collar, and the one strapped inside your left leg?"
"Those are carved bone, won't show up on a metal detector." Cisco said.
"So another knife, or a bomb isn't going to pop out of your shoe? We've seen it all?"
"You never see it all." He said as he reached up and slipped a thin piece of wire from under the collar of his shirt.
"What's that for?" She asked.
"Garrote."
"And you're going to pack all that hardware around all the time?" She asked.
"No. But at least one guard per team will carry most of it. The other one will have a small automatic weapon." He said. "I like the Mac10. But if we can find more of Ronin's gun, we can use those."
"That's why we called you." She said as he sat down next to Ronin.
"I want you to go to Sateda today. I'll send the Apollo with you." She told them. "Ronin can tell them where to look, and they can scan before they send you down."
Cisco shook his head. "Ronin can do this. I'll be staying here." He said. "One of us will be in the city, with you, at all times."
"He's right." Ronin said. "And I want to sit down with you and Tammy when she gets home. We need to talk about ground rules."
Cisco slid a piece of paper with ancient symbols on it over to him. Ronin slid his own back to him. They both nodded as they looked at each others lists.
"So you're going to lock us down." She said.
"Only as much as we have to." Cisco said. "Once we get the security systems up, you'll have free run of this building, the conference center, and the formal dining room. Those areas are going to be kept locked down. If you go anywhere else, we'll do a pre-sweep of the area first."
He paused, glancing over at Ronin, then back at her.
"But the most important thing we're going to need you to understand, is what your job is in an emergency. It's going to be hard for you, because it goes against all the training you've ever had. You have to let our people protect you, and that means not resisting them if they try to move you out of an area, or try to cover you. You do not fight. If they go down, you run, you only fight as a last resort."
She looked at Ronin, and saw the same stony expression on his face that Cisco had.
"I don't know if I can do that." She said quietly.
"You'll learn. We're going to practice it." Cisco said. "We don't expect you to get it right the first time, or every time. We just want you to be ready."
"Do you really think something will happen that often?"
"No, but it will happen. People will just lose it, and try to take it out on you because you're symbols. We have enemies, and will make more, things change."
Interior-Infirmary
0930 Hours
"Hi sweetie." Tammy smiled as they came up to the bed.
"Hi, how are you feeling?" Sam asked as she took her hand in hers.
"Better, I'm still a little weak though." Tammy said. "Jenn says I have an infection, and she wants to keep me here for a couple days."
"Oh." Sam said, her face going pale. "I haven't talked to her."
"She just left. She let me feed Jacob. Just the bottle though."
She glanced over at Cisco.
"Did he tell you that he stayed here with me last night?" She asked Sam.
"No, Andi did." Sam smiled. "I don't think he was going to. He doesn't give up much."
"As long as he gives up the good stuff." Tammy said, wincing as she started to laugh. "Oh shit, it hurts to laugh." She grunted.
"Then don't laugh." Jennifer said as she walked up and stood on the other side of the bed. She looked over at Sam.
"She's got a minor infection and a low grade fever. We've got her on a wide spectrum antibiotic." She said. "I'm going to keep her here today, and we'll see how she's doing tomorrow. There's no more internal bleeding, we got everything when we went back in."
Sam nodded, but didn't say anything.
"I'm really sorry, Sam. We thought we had gotten everything." Keller said. "I went back over the video, and still didn't see the bleeders, even though I knew they were there. That's why the second surgery took so long."
"Tell her about the STID." Tammy said.
Jennifer looked at Tammy, then back at Sam.
"Andi called down and asked if we could put a subcutaneous transponder like yours in Tammy. We talked about it, and Tammy agreed."
Carter looked over at Cisco. "This was your idea I guess."