Cape Storm Page 0,4

shock once they got past her defensive dumb-blonde routine. She was a ruthlessly competent person, and if she couldn't get the Wardens organized, then it couldn't be done by any nonmagical means.

I knew what was going on with the Wardens, and why they weren't on board. We're an egotistical, self-involved bunch - which is, sadly, not our worst feature. Each of us tends to think he or she knows better, no matter what situation we land in. You can call it absolute power corrupting, et cetera, but I think it's more that we all have to make life-and-death decisions daily, and that tends to make you confident, bordering on delusional. That's fine if you're operating autonomously, but in groups it can get in the way. It takes a strong personality, and a stronger grip on your temper, to bend Wardens to your will even in such a simple matter as please board the ship now or we are all going to die .

Lewis had trusted them too much.

"Fuck," Lewis said. He had a tendency to be very Zen, but his legendary calm was showing significant cracks. "Jo, I need David back here. Can you find him?"

"I can try." I was glad for the excuse, actually. I stepped back against the billowing canvas wall, feeling the thump of rain like tiny body blows, and concentrated on the magical link that led from me to David. Up on the aetheric plane, the level of reality above the physical, the link looked like a gleaming silver rope, and it felt warm to the touch. It couldn't be seen here in the real world, but using Oversight - focusing my awareness into the aetheric, without actually leaving my body to go there - I could access it just a little.

Time to go,I whispered down the line, a pulse of power that he'd know came from me.

You're needed, mister.

And the answer came spiraling back, a surge of meaning without the framework of actual words to define it. He was coming, but there was some kind of complication. What else was new? Seemed like neither of us could take a breath without causing, or suffering, some kind of complication.

When I focused on the outside world again, things had not gotten better. In fact, they'd taken a significant turn for the worse, because Lewis's body language had moved from frustrated to outright furious, and he was fixed on the ship's Executive Officer like a cruise missile. "What?" he growled. "What did you say?" The officer cleared his throat. "I said that we'll need to have your attorneys draw up another set of papers to indemnify the cruise line if you sail with any - and I must stress any - persons who have not signed the appropriate waivers to - " Lewis had a wicked bad temper, which was something few people had ever had reason to know because he had such a long, patient fuse. Once it blew, though, it was catastrophic; I remembered that once upon a time, it had nearly killed someone. Granted, that someone hadn't been exactly innocent, but still - it had been like using a nuclear bomb to kill shower mold. Once you pull the pin from Mr. Grenade, he is no longer your friend.

I stepped up. "Lewis," I said, and drew his focus. Some of the rage calmed in his dark eyes, but it was more of a move from full boil to simmer; the heat was definitely on ."David's coming, but it'll take some time. Why don't we go round up the stragglers? Cherise can work on evicting the first-class stowaways. She'd love that." Cherise gave me a grin that assured me she would, very much. Give the girl a clipboard, and she became an unstoppable force. "Damn straight," she said. "You two crazy kids go have fun storming the castle. I'll go schmooze the stars. Damn, was I born for that or what ?" Lewis looked at her helplessly. He couldn't yell at Cherise, and he had no reason to yell at me. I motioned for the remaining target - Mr. Executive Officer Stick-Up-His-Ass - to back off, but if he saw the signal, he completely ignored it.

"The shipmaster is completely responsible for every soul on board," he continued, as if he wasn't facing imminent grievous bodily harm. "I can't permit this kind of violation of procedures to - "

"Procedures." Lewis's voice sounded almost calm, but I had a bad feeling. "Right. According to the papers I