Avatar Establishment Book 2Chapter 35
- 2 years ago
- 9
- 0
Avatar: Establishment, Book 2Chapter 58 free porn video
Ken never liked cooling his heels and waiting for bureaucracy to slowly grind its way through even the simplest of matters. Give a small minded man the power of paperwork, and he was just as bad as any tyrant lording over his people. Just without any of the consequences that said tyrant might suffer if he got too far out of hand. Ken hadn't been out of the corporate world for all that long, but it was easy to forget how fucked up it was. And the government was even worse.
Everything that had happened from the instant that they'd come into the courthouse had been irritating.
They'd been searched and questioned like criminals as they entered the courthouse. Ken had a small pen knife on him that had been confiscated. When he asked the guard -- who was carrying a gun -- what he thought Ken could do with a two inch blade, the guy had just looked at him.
"We don't allow weapons in here," he said.
"But you're wearing one," Ken had replied.
"I'm allowed to."
"I see," said Ken. "So the people who pay the taxes that paid for this building -- and your salary -- aren't allowed to defend themselves, but you are?"
The man snorted.
"What are you going to do with a pen knife?"
"Yeah," replied Ken, "that was my point."
David had pulled him away before he could piss off the guard any more. In general, Ken had been in quite a good mood since ... well, since he'd become the Avatar. What was not to like? He was wealthy and surrounded by beautiful -- and often quite naked -- women. He had a goal for his life, even if he didn't have a map to achieve it, and sex whenever he wanted it. He was living the dream.
Unfortunately, he hadn't realized just how much he'd bought into the concept of the American dream until he'd mostly stepped away from things for a while. Now he was just beginning to see that that dream might be just short of impossible for the majority of people to achieve. The system was rigged and getting more so each year. Worse, people were so indoctrinated, that they thought the rigging was just fine.
David had approached the desk in the office where they were supposed to meet the DA and told the woman why he was here.
"You'll have to wait over there," she said. "Mr. Strauss is running late."
"But we're due in court at nine-thirty," said David.
The woman had shrugged and looked unconcerned.
"I'm sorry, but Mr. Strauss is unavailable. I've informed him you're here and he'll let you know when he can see you."
David had come and sat down. Eventually, it was close to nine-thirty and there'd still been no word from Strauss. Finally, only minutes from when they were supposed to meet the judge, David got up again and tried to get the secretary to get Strauss.
"He said he'd inform me when he's ready to see you," she said, her voice unpleasant. "I'm sorry that he's running late."
"He's going to be sorry if he keeps Judge Kona waiting," replied David, pulling out his cell phone. He was just about to dial a number when the woman's phone beeped.
"Mr. Strauss is ready for you now," she said, nodding towards the door.
David and Ken got up and went through the door into a very nice office. Apparently public servants, even inefficient ones, received nice offices.
"Mr. Strauss," began David, only to be cut off.
"What's he doing here?" asked Strauss.
"Excuse me?" asked David, blinking in surprise.
"We don't need him for this -- it's just some paperwork."
David looked at the man and shook his head.
"According to my schedule, we're supposed to see Kona in chambers."
"That's next week," said Strauss.
"Not according to what I was told," replied David.
"Your office was informed."
David pulled out his cell phone to make a call.
"I don't have time for you to make phone calls," said Strauss. "I have a lot of work today. You can call them later. Let's just get this taken care of."
Ken could tell David was livid. Ken was pretty damned pissed himself, but this was David's turf.
"My time is my client's money," said David, "and you've wasted my client's morning. So I'm afraid you'll just have to hold on while I confirm with my office. I'll be back in a few minutes."
With that he and Ken left the room.
"This goes beyond unprofessional into harassment," he said. When his phone connected, he was brisk, but none of the anger he must have been feeling came through in his tone. "Marsha? I need you to confirm that my nine-thirty with Kona was changed from today to next week. Oh? Why didn't someone call me? Oh they did. I see. Thanks."
Now he looked even more pissed than before. He pulled Ken away from where the secretary could hear them.
"The fuckers called our office at nine-fifteen to cancel," he said. "They also told them someone from here would find me and let me know, but clearly that didn't happen. I'm going to have to have a little talk with the office staff when I get back, but it's not really their fault."
"So what's next?" asked Ken.
"You go home," said David. "I'm sorry -- I didn't realize that they were going to be such assholes."
"Things get rescheduled all the time," said Ken, trying to make the situation sound better.
"Not like this, they don't," he replied. "This is the kind of shit they pull when they want to fuck someone over. They know they don't have a case anymore and they're pissed."
"Nice," said Ken. "So now what?"
"As I said, you go home. I'll make sure the schedule's correct, and I'll see if I can hunt down Kona. He has even less tolerance for this bullshit than I do," said David.
Ken clasped David on the shoulder.
"Alright," he said. "Sorry for all the BS this morning."
"Yeah, me too," said David.
They shook hands, and went their separate ways.
Once downstairs, Ken tried to get his pen knife back. It wasn't anything special, but it was, after all, his. He wasn't going to leave it here.
"ID," stated the guard. The same guard that had taken the thing.
"You didn't ask for my ID when you took my property," said Ken. "Why do you need one now?"
"You signed the paper," said the guard. "I gotta make sure you're the same person."
Ken took out his license and held it out for the guard, who made a big show of matching it against his name. Then he looked in a bin and pulled out Ken's knife and placed it on the table. Ken shook his head in disgust, picked up the knife and left. He thought that Heinlein, who's books he was still reading, must have been some sort of prophet.
In a mature society, "civil servant" is semantically equal to "civil master".L. Long
He wondered if Heinlein would be amused or horrified to see it actually happening. He suspected both.
"Tankers are out for blood," said Gary to Knife as they sat in a bar. It was a bar where a lot of bikers hung out, but no one club dominated. Since the rumors that the Tankers were working for the police had begun to circulate, they were welcome in fewer places and mainly stuck to their own side of town. "They aren't welcome in a lot of the hangouts now. Whole club got banned from a recent ride too."
"Ain't that just a shame," smiled Knife. Then he straightened up. "Let'um come Gary. I'm done putting up with their shit."
"Not a good plan," said Gary. "They were always bigger than us, and with so many of our guys still in jail, they gotta shit load more people than we do."
"Well ain't you been takin' lessons from that karate dude?" asked Knife. "That oughta even things out."
Gary smiled and shook his head.
"Yeah, it means I can kick your ass even easier now, but that isn't gonna help against a bullet," replied Gary. "And you know those fuckers won't be playing fair."
"When have they ever?" asked Knife. "Word is they're dealin'."
"Shit, half the clubs deal in one thing or another."
"Yeah, but the Tankers are dealing girls," responded Knife. "It's pretty hush-hush, because they already gotta bad rep, but they're selling girls south of the border. Tradin' 'em for drugs. They gotta lot of money."
"Anyone got any proof?"
"Nothing hard," said Knife. "That's definitely the kinda thing that'll get the other clubs on their ass so they're keepin' it quiet."
"Christ, could those fuckers get any lower?"
Knife shrugged.
"They're gonna push someone too hard, and a lotta shit's gonna come their way," said Knife. Then, looking a bit nervous, he continued. "There's something else too."
"What, they killing puppies now?" asked Gary with a little smile.
Knife's return smile was short and more of a grimace.
"Word is, they're going to go for your friend."
Gary sat up straighter.
"Seriously?"
Knife nodded.
"They haven't put any money together for a hit, least not that I've heard, but the club knows where he lives and anyone at that address is fair game. Even the girls. Hell, given what we know about them, especially the girls."
Ken leaned back in his chair and tried to control his anger. Today could have been worse, but he was afraid to ask how.
"What are the chances that they'll try and come here?"
Gary shrugged.
"I'd say pretty high, if this were anywhere else," he said. "But with Lea ... it's anyone's guess."
Nemetodunum: Sacred Fortress. No, Ken thought. It was unlikely in the extreme that anyone from the Tankers would be able to get into the mansion. He wasn't even sure that they'd be able to set foot on the property, but he knew for a fact that if they did, he'd know immediately.
"Who's most at risk?" asked Ken.
"Anyone livin' here's fair game," replied Gary.
"Well, Cindy and Tina are usually at school," mused Ken. "When they're not there, they're at the mall and I can't imagine someone trying to pick them up there."
It wouldn't go well if someone did try and grab them in a public place. No matter what they looked like, both of the girls were much stronger than they should be, and that'd be a surprise for anyone trying to kidnap them.
"Bill is usually here, although he still likes to hit the trails with Sandy," he said. "Karen ... She might be a problem. Or Sandy."
Gary shook his head.
"They don't live here," he said. "This is personal. They're gonna want someone who lives here."
"Hmm. That leaves Eric, Joan, Sally, Fionna, Jane and Ari," said Ken. "And you and Annette, of course."
"Annette and I were targets anyway," said Gary. "We're Hawkes."
"Well isn't this just fun?" asked Ken.
"What are you going to do?"
"Hold a family meeting," said Ken. "Gotta let everyone know what's going on. Is there any way to get them to back off?"
"Well, normally the heads of the clubs would get together and hash things out," said Gary. "That's not gonna happen here, and even if it did, none of you are Hawkes. This ain't gonna cool until the Tankers are gone -- or we are."
"'We' as in the Hawkes, or 'we' as in the Circle?"
"Both, I guess," said Gary. "Bobbie ain't firin' on all cylinders. He should have just put the word out on you, not everyone. He's really pissed that you took out his guys. I guess he's thinkin' family for family."
"Nice to know he takes care of his own," said Ken dryly. "I guess it escaped his notice that he was the one who came after me?"
"Like I said," said Gary, "he ain't all there."
"So that's how it stands," said Ken a while later.
"Maybe we should pay the Tankers a visit," said Jane.
"There's more than thirty of them," said Ken.
"Two clips," she said, shrugging.
Ken looked at her. Jane was starting to worry him in some ways.
"We can't just go killing all of them," said Ken. "Any other suggestions?"
"We don't go anywhere alone," said Eric.
"That's a start," nodded Ken.
"Why don' ye go t' the bobbies?" asked Fionna.
"Because they've been such a big help recently?" asked Arianwen sarcastically.
"The what?" asked Ken. "Oh. No, I'm afraid that the police won't be too much help here." He was silent for a moment, then said, "Fionna, maybe now would be a good time for you to visit Ireland."
"'Scuse me?" blinked the woman.
"Well, you still have a house there, right?" asked Ken. "The one your parents left you? Now might be a good time for you to go visit it. You could arrange for it to be taken care of once you return here."
"'Tis true, I'm not the fighter that most of you are," she said. "We haven't started on the CD yet -- at least, nuthin' serious. I could take some time to go back. But it doan sit well fer me to be runnin'."
"No one thinks you're running," said Ken. "But of all of us, you're the one who has no training at all."
That was true. Fionna had made some attempt at training, but her heart wasn't in it. She was too rooted in music, and her extended illness made her want to get back to it too badly.
"Fine," she said, clearly not happy. "I'll see if I can get a flight."
"I'm sure it won't be a problem," said Ken. "First class rarely is."
Fionna blinked as she realized that, for the first time ever, she had the resources to actually fly first class. Still, it felt almost frivolous. Right up until she remembered how much damage the band's instruments had incurred over the years because airline employees simply didn't give a shit about what they damaged. Maybe she'd buy a seat just for her fiddle, since they always gave her a hard time about carrying it on with her, and there was no way the beloved instrument was going in the cargo hold.
"Bill," said Ken. "Do you think you can start digging around and get me some information on these guys?"
"Sure," he replied. "But they don't seem like the kind of people who use computers very much."
"Well, see what you can find, anyway."
They kicked around some other ideas, but no one really had anything to add. It was clear that they couldn't go to the police. Hell, the police were the reason the Circle had come up on the Tankers radar at all. He supposed he could hire body guards, but that seemed excessive. One on one, Ken would put his money on any of the Circle -- well ... maybe not Cindy. Even as strong as she was, she was just too physically small. No matter what people might think, in a physical confrontation, size matters. The thought of Cindy getting attacked by someone from the Tankers made his blood boil. He suspected that while he really didn't want to go off and start killing people, that if they hurt one of the Circle, his attitude would quickly change.
Later, he was sitting in his study reading, when he felt Lea appear.
"And so it starts," She said by way of opening.
Ken found it interesting that he wasn't reacting to Her the way he used to. He wondered if he was getting better at controlling himself (there was always a strong sexual pull when Lea was near him) or if She was getting better at throttling Her aura.
"What starts?" asked Ken.
Lizbeth
- 01.10.2022
- 11
- 0
Avatar Establishment Book 2Chapter 23
- 3 years ago
- 12
- 0
Avatar Establishment Book 1Chapter 9
- 2 years ago
- 10
- 0
