Interlude - Spy Games

"Control," the distorted voice said.

"Bishop," a digitized voice replied.

"This is an unscheduled communication," Control said coldly.

"We have an emergent situation," Bishop replied. "The operational timetable has been moved up."

"Clarify Bishop, are the assets in jeopardy?" A sharp ear would notice the hint of worry in Control's distorted voice.

"Knight is in the initial stages of Code 5," Bishop said, "and we have accelerated the timetable to complete the mission before metamorphosis."

There was a long silence.

"Bishop, repeat last," Control said finally. 

"Black Queen infected her." Bishop's fully digitized voice masked the emotion behind the words. "Symptoms are confirmed by observation to match the known pathology."

"That is... unexpected," the distortion of Control's voice couldn't hide her anger. 

"Not really," Bishop replied. "It was a risk. We gambled. We lost."

"Bring Knight in," Control said.

"Negative," Bishop said. "I repeat, we are moving up the timetable. The mission is a go."

"Protocol dictates any asset in the initial stages of Code 5 must be brought in for observation," Control said coldly, "and containment."

"To hell with protocol," Bishop replied. "Repeat - the mission is a go. The timetable has been moved up... to right the hell now. The assets are already in motion. Back them up or cut them loose... but I'm with them. Bishop out."

"Bishop..." Control snapped. "Bishop respond. Damn it!"

---------------

She was retired, damn it. She'd done her bit for God and Country. Given sweat and blood, betrayed her friends, sacrificed her integrity, maybe her soul, because that's what the Agency required. That was the price to be paid, so good people could live in peace. In the end, she'd taken down one of the most powerful criminal syndicates in the world. She'd blown all her covers in the process but retiring and dropping out of sight had been a blessed reward.

Still, when an old friend and a former protegee had called and asked for her help, like a fool she'd answered. One more mission. Not even field work, just handle an asset. Of course she'd agreed. 

Damn Liberty Lee to Hell, Bella Goth thought as she dialed her private and secure line. Damn me to Hell right beside her.

"We have a problem," Bella said.

"What's happened?" Liberty demanded.

"Bishop contacted me. Knight is Code 5," Bella reported. "She's moved up the mission, to complete it before the change. They're moving now."

"Damn it, how did this happen?!" Liberty cursed. 

"It was a risk," Bella echoed Snow's words bitterly, "but they don't recruit frequently. We... I... didn't expect it."

"Why did I let her do it?" Liberty groaned. "Why did I send her in alone?"

"She was going to go after Ms. H and the Altos with you or without you," Bella said, "and you didn't send her alone, thank you very much! You dragged me back in as her handler and pulled in one of the Agency's top Code 5 experts to help her."

"It was always a risk," Bella repeated.

"Danielle is going to kill me," Liberty sighed. "Bring her in. Protocol is observe and contain."

"I tried. It's too late," Bella smiled bitterly. "Bishop says they're already in motion. 

Liberty Lee-Rossi was an Agency Regional Director, a position she'd earned in defiance of the Agency's Old Boy network. She had long since proven herself as a leader who could listen to her people, assess a situation quickly and act decisively. 

"Alright," Director Lee-Rossi said firmly. "she's moved up the timetable. We need to clear her path and give her some cover. Kick up as much dust as you can. The Altos can't be allowed to know what's happening until it's too late."

"Consider it done," Bella smiled. "They'll be so busy putting out fires, they won't know she's moving. What about the target zone?"

"I'll handle that," she said. "We'll deal with this Code 5 business once the mission is complete." 

Shaking her head, Liberty opened a new secure channel.

From: Station Chief Tartosa

To: Station Chief Windenburg

Message Reads: Bjorn, I'm calling in a favor.

---------------

Author's Note: Code 5 or, if we write it in Roman Numerals, Code V. 

I can't take credit for coming up with that bit of spy-talk cleverness. I first heard it on a late '90s BBC vampire drama series Ultraviolet. I'm not sure if it's streaming anywhere these days.

-Leo

Chapter 49 - The Fourth Volume

"What's going on?" Genie asked. "Why is your karaoke friend here?"

"I don't know really," Aadi admitted. 

Contrary to Aadi's hopes, things were not looking better in the morning. They had slept late and awoken to find a frustrated Mariah searching unsuccessfully through the kitchen for something to eat that didn't upset her stomach. 

Snow, as she had promised the night before, arrived by midmorning and had immediately sat down at the table with Miranda and Mariah. Feeling a little left out, Aadi had claimed a spot on the couch, where Genie had found them all soon after.

"Miranda said that Mariah's been poisoned, but things are getting pretty weird," Aadi added to Genie.

At the table, the air between the three women quivered almost visibly with tension. Mariah was clearly still upset. Snow watched her with something that seemed to hover between excitement and caution. Miranda, who looked no worse for having not slept, seemed to hold an eerie calm over a barely detectable storm of emotions.

"How are you doing," Miranda gently asked her girlfriend.

"Nauseous," Mariah said, "but hungry. I ache all over."

"That's normal," Snow said. "Unfortunately, it's the vampire blood. It's slowly killing you. In a day or two, you'll turn."

"Then I'll finally, completely be a monster," Mariah said bitterly.

"You're not a monster," Miranda insisted.

"I'm turning into a vampire," Mariah groaned. "That's literally a monster. They make monster movies about them!"  

"Mariah, I told you..." Snow started.

"Wait... what the hell?" Mariah interrupted. "Guys, are you seeing this?"

"Bluebell!" Miranda smiled, relaxing slightly. "Bluebell, you've already met Aadi. This is Mariah, Genie and Snow. Bluebell is my friend. I sent her to find mom and Gwen last night when I couldn't call them. Spotty cell coverage."

Bluebell chimed like a tiny bell.

"She says hi," Miranda added.

"Is that... real?" Genie said, awed. "It's like... a fairy or something..."

"I told you things were getting weird," Aadi said in a sing-song voice.

"And I thought all this talk about vampires was strange," Genie said.

"Can Gwen and Cassie help us?" Mariah asked hopefully.

"Bluebell says they're in Moonwood Mill, dealing with something," Miranda sighed. "She says mom said everything is under control and can be here instantly if we call her. Apparently, she told Bluebell not to mention the 'Wildfang troubles' ... which doesn't sound good."

"So, that's a 'no' on help from your parents," Mariah groaned.

"Mom will come. If I call her, she'll come," Miranda said confidently, "but, whatever's going on must be serious, or she would have already. Let's see what we can do for ourselves for now. Snow, please tell me you've got something?"

"Excuse me," Genie put in, "If Mariah's been poisoned or cursed or whatever, is there a cure? Like an anti-venom or something?"

"Yes, the cure," Mariah's eyes lit up with sudden, wild hope. "It's mentioned a few times in Vasmer Balke's Encyclopedia Vampirica. What? Liberty made me read it."

"Unfortunately," Snow said sadly, "Balke never gives enough details to actually create it. Most scholars I know think he was recounting a vampire legend."

"No, it's real," Miranda insisted. "I've read about it... during the Vampire Rebellion, the Old Families developed a cure for vampirism. They even used it as a weapon against the vampires, to strip them of their powers!"

"So, your people know the cure?" Snow asked.

Bluebell chimed.

"Damn it," Miranda cursed. "Bluebell says no. The vampires made a point of hunting down all the witches who knew the formula, killing them and destroying their books."

"How does she know?" Mariah looked, puzzled, at the fairy.

Bluebell chimed again.

"She was there," Miranda translated. "She says the only record of the cure that she knows about is in the vampires' own history. Balke's fourth volume - the Ultima Vampirica."

"Liberty only gave me three volumes," Mariah said, puzzled.

"Because there only are three volumes," Snow insisted. "The Ultima Vampirica is a..."

"Don't say it's a myth," Mariah interrupted. "I'm becoming a vampire. My girlfriend is a witch and her little glowing buddy there is a thousand-year-old fairy. I think we're well past the point where 'myth' means something isn't real."

"Alright," Snow allowed. "So how do we find a copy of a book no living person has seen in centuries?"

Bluebell's chimed answer sounded ominous.

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Miranda sighed. "She says the Master Vampire who commissioned the Ultima Vampirica would have a copy. The last surviving leader of the Rebellion, the Master Vampire of Windenburg - Vladislaus Straud."

"Straud?!" Mariah groaned.

"The one and only," Miranda nodded.

"Wait, I've heard of that guy," Aadi put in. "He was in the news... when the Landgraab Syndicate got rounded up. He's a vampire? And you know him?!"

"Long story," Miranda said, "for another time. I'll get the book."

"No, we'll get the book," Mariah insisted.

"I'll be faster on my own," Miranda said firmly. "Besides, no one's seen Straud in years. His mansion is standing empty..."

"Unless he's hiding in it," Mariah countered. "You'd be walking right into his lair! The last time you met him, he killed you!"

"Killed you?" Genie gasped.

"I got better," Miranda said, "and then I set him on fire."

"That was you?!" Snow said, shocked.

"Long story for another time," Miranda repeated.

"Look, this can work," Miranda said. "I sneak into his mansion in daylight. I find the book, find the formula and get out."

"I should go with you," Mariah insisted.

"You have something else you need to do," Miranda said pointedly.

"The Villareal Files? Do you really think this is the time for me to worry about the Altos?" Mariah moaned. 

"Do you?" Miranda asked pointedly.

"But Genie's party isn't for days," Mariah insisted. "I... I won't last that long."

"So don't wait," Miranda countered.

"You're right. You're right!" Mariah nodded slowly but her eyes brightened. "We can go now. I can at least finish this before... before I can't."

-----------------------------

"We'll get through this," Miranda smiled.

They had all followed her out into the backyard, Miranda saying she intended to head for Straud's mansion in Forgotten Hollow immediately.

"I hope you're right," Mariah sighed.

"I know it," Miranda said, embracing her. 

Suddenly she whispered. "Genie's all in white. If you lose her, find her in the garden of bones."

"Is this like a Gwen prophecy thing?" Mariah groaned.

"It's a me prophecy thing actually," Miranda said. "Remember, look for her in the garden of bones... and when you need me, call my name under the moon and I'll find you anywhere."

"What if there's no moon?" Mariah said.

"There's always a moon," Miranda smiled. "Even when you can't see it."

"Uh, Genie," Aadi goggled, "Miranda is flying away... on a broom."

"Yes, she is," Genie replied, stunned.

"Genie, I think this is all for real," Aadi said.

Chapter 48 - The Weird and The Wild

"Hey Mariah, you're back early," Aadi said. "I was just telling Miranda... hey, are you OK, Girlfriend?"

"No," Mariah practically sobbed. "No, I'm really not OK."

"What's wrong?" Miranda gasped. "What's happened?"

Aadi watched and listened, while Miranda tried to comfort her obviously distressed girlfriend. Mariah rambled something about Ms. H, who Aadi gathered had something to do with the Alto gang, something about drinking blood, which creeped them out intensely, and something about vampires, which didn't make any sense at all. Still, it was obvious to Aadi that something had seriously and devastatingly shaken the confident and strong Mariah she'd worked so hard this semester to reclaim. Whatever it was, and Aadi wasn't quite ready to believe in literal vampires, it was deadly serious.

"Girlfriend, you are wiped out," Aadi said when Mariah started spiraling through her story again.

"Aadi, you just don't understand," Mariah started.

"No, I don't," they replied. "Totally lost, but I can still see that you are messed up, wiped and you need to rest."

"I can't..." Mariah started.

"Aadi's right," Miranda said. "You need to go lie down. I'll be in shortly."

"Maybe, maybe I should pack," Mariah said. "I should leave... get away from you..."

"None of that," Miranda said firmly. "You go lie down. Don't do anything noble, heroic or otherwise stupid until I get there."

"OK," Mariah sighed, sounding as hopeless and defeated as Aadi had ever heard her.

"Wow," Aadi breathed. "She is messed up. What really happened?"

"Aadi," Miranda sighed, "I really don't have time to explain the occult nature of reality to you right now. Would you please call Snow?"

"Oooo'K," Aadi said puzzled. "Why am I calling one of my karaoke group in the middle of the night? I mean M had fun and all, but I don't think it would cheer her up that much."

"Please, Aadi!" Miranda said. "I'll explain everything when I can... right now, I need to call my mom, and I need you to call Snow and ask her to get here as soon as possible."

"Damn it," Miranda groaned in despair a moment later. "Fucking shit gods-damned fucking phone."

"What's wrong?" Aadi asked, stunned at Miranda's outburst.

"The call won't go through," Miranda said. "I swear, Glimmerbrook is where cell service goes to die."

"Miranda, What Is Going On?!" Aadi insisted.

"Aadi..." Miranda sighed. "Ok, how do I explain this so you'll get it?"

"I wouldn't say no to the truth?" Aadi said.

"You've heard the truth," Miranda said with remarkable calm. "You just don't believe it... but vampires and stuff aside, here's the important part for right now. Ms. H poisoned Mariah."

"Poisoned?!" Aadi said. "Like, seriously, poisoned? Like, making her sick poisoned."

"Aadi, she could die," Miranda said seriously.

"Die?!" Aadi gasped. "Like, really actually die? As in dead? As in no more Mariah?"

"Right," Miranda nodded. "No please, call Snow. Tell her... tell her anything you want but get her here as soon as possible."

"OK, OK, I'm calling," Aadi said frantically. They still didn't know about this vampire business, but they could tell Miranda was serious.

"Thanks," Miranda said. "I'm going out back to try and reach my mom."

"Ok," Aadi dashed out into the backyard a few minutes later. "Snow says she'll be here in that... what the hell?!"

Tiny lights, like stars, flew from Miranda's fingertips, forming a glittering cloud around her. Aadi stared in awe as they spun and whirled in the night like miniature fireflies. Miranda called out, her voice musical, and the stars she'd conjured shimmered and moved to the sound of her voice. She spoke a Word, and the glittering swarm went streaking off in all directions.

"What. The. Hell?" Aadi breathed.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then Aadi saw what, at first, they took to be one of the conjured stars returning. A tiny blue light, it dropped down out of the sky and zipped across the rooftops before coming to rest just over Miranda's shoulder.

"Hello Bluebell." Miranda said. "Thank you for coming."

The little blue light chimed. To Aadi, it really did sound like a bell. Looking closely, they thought they could make out a tiny, winged figured inside the sphere of blue lights. It's a fairy, Aadi thought. It's an actually, honest to gods, fairy.

"Bluebell, this is Aadi," Miranda said. "Aadi, this is my friend Bluebell."

"Hi," Aadi said weakly.

There are some friends who you can not see for years and still pick up a conversation with them as if you had never been apart. It was clear to Aadi, whatever else the little blue fairy was, she was that kind of friend for Miranda.

Miranda quickly and urgently explained the situation and asked Bluebell to convey the news to her mom and Gwen. 

When Bluebell had vanished once more over the rooftops, Miranda smiled sadly.

"Aadi, you should get some rest," Miranda said. "Tomorrow... tomorrow, we'll see, but I imagine it's going to be a big day."

"You should too," Aadi said.

"I'm fine," Miranda said. "I don't need to sleep as much as mortals do." 

Aadi wasn't quite sure how to take that, but it was obvious something had changed in Miranda. No, they thought, that wasn't it. She was still Miranda. If anything, she was suddenly more Miranda than she had been in the years Aadi had known her. Some hidden part of her was no longer hidden.

Gently, she added, "I'm going to stay up and watch Mariah."

"Ok," Aadi nodded. 

Whatever weirdness was going on, Aadi was sure of one thing: their little M&M's loved each other and would stand together, even through the weird and the wild.