then hooded eyes darted down to Lena. "Lena." It was said gently, familiarly. Lovingly.
I took a step forward.
The Cardinal powered up a laser gun.
Holy fucking shit! I raised my hands in a peace-motherfucker move, let out a bark of unimpressed laughter, and stopped dead in my tracks.
"Some greeting, Tan."
"Stand down," he instructed the Cardinal. "These are my friends."
"I have my instructions, President Tan," the Cardinal advised, not lowering the weapon or powering it down. The whine sent a chill skating along my spine; like a primeval memory, burned into my brain before life began.
"You were expecting trouble?" I asked, unsure whether to be honoured or pissed off. Or just resigned to the fact that we'd been right. Tan was going to blame us for what had happened at the Pherres.
Tan shook his head, stepped away from Lena - thank fuck - and ran a hand though his dark cropped hair. It was the most I'd ever seen the guy stressed.
"Things are... delicate right now." He turned and walked to two couches, facing off against each other, with armchairs at right angles at either end. Cream leather. A luxury not often seen by the average Wánměi Citizen. Lena sat down on one side without so much as a blink, I made sure to sit next to her, and Tan took the sofa across from us. Paul grabbed an armchair and Alan stood at our backs. The message couldn't have been any louder.
Tan noticed. He noticed everything. But chose to be the bigger man and remain quiet.
"What do you know about what happened at the Pherres?" he asked, hitting the ground running and not giving a damn.
"Explosion," I offered. "Children rescued by masked men. A fucking disaster."
Tan nodded and then turned his gaze to Lena. "Your view?"
"I agree with Trent," she surprised me by saying. Not because I thought she didn't agree with me as such. But that she had bothered to say so at all. Lena wasn't one for stating the obvious. So her reasoning for voicing those words was to set the tone.
I flicked her an appreciative glance from the corner of my eye, and she promptly reached over and gripped my hand. Fingers laced. Palm against palm.
My heart damn near burst out of my chest.
I returned my attention to Tan, who watched on with interest but no other indication that the motion - or words - had meant anything to him.
"And the fighter jets?" he asked instead.
The Pherres I could almost understand. But how he thought we'd know anything about the fighter jets was beyond me.
"Loud," I offered. Being obnoxious to Lee Tan was just too damn tempting.
"Frightening," Lena added, softening my words. Taking the sting right out of them, in fact. "What can you tell us about them?" she hit back.
"I know as much as you," Tan started.
"I doubt that," Alan offered from over our shoulder.
Tan ignored him.
"Clearly reconnaissance of some sort," he continued. "Footage we managed to gain of them suggests surveillance equipment attached to their underbelly."
"You activated the street-cams," I accused.
"I had no choice."
"And yet the jets were here for less than three minutes. The command must have been an easy one to carry out."
Tan held my steady gaze with an unrepentant one.
"We're under attack," he said simply. "Whether that's a full-on invasion, terrorism from within the nation, or simply the benign interest of curious neighbours, is yet to be ascertained."
"And you think we know something about it," I concluded. "I'm flattered, Tan. But you're barking up the wrong tree."
"Are you telling me you've hung up your rebel hat?"
"I'm telling you we had nothing to do with the Pherres incident and we sure as hell don't fly fighter jets."
"Forgive me, Trent," Tan said in arched tones dripping his sarcastic intent, "but if anyone was to don masks to hide their identity, while playing at being heroes for the night, it would be you."
Well, he wasn't beating about the bush, that's for sure.
"Sorry," I replied, just as scathingly, " not me."
Tan stared at me for a long
I took a step forward.
The Cardinal powered up a laser gun.
Holy fucking shit! I raised my hands in a peace-motherfucker move, let out a bark of unimpressed laughter, and stopped dead in my tracks.
"Some greeting, Tan."
"Stand down," he instructed the Cardinal. "These are my friends."
"I have my instructions, President Tan," the Cardinal advised, not lowering the weapon or powering it down. The whine sent a chill skating along my spine; like a primeval memory, burned into my brain before life began.
"You were expecting trouble?" I asked, unsure whether to be honoured or pissed off. Or just resigned to the fact that we'd been right. Tan was going to blame us for what had happened at the Pherres.
Tan shook his head, stepped away from Lena - thank fuck - and ran a hand though his dark cropped hair. It was the most I'd ever seen the guy stressed.
"Things are... delicate right now." He turned and walked to two couches, facing off against each other, with armchairs at right angles at either end. Cream leather. A luxury not often seen by the average Wánměi Citizen. Lena sat down on one side without so much as a blink, I made sure to sit next to her, and Tan took the sofa across from us. Paul grabbed an armchair and Alan stood at our backs. The message couldn't have been any louder.
Tan noticed. He noticed everything. But chose to be the bigger man and remain quiet.
"What do you know about what happened at the Pherres?" he asked, hitting the ground running and not giving a damn.
"Explosion," I offered. "Children rescued by masked men. A fucking disaster."
Tan nodded and then turned his gaze to Lena. "Your view?"
"I agree with Trent," she surprised me by saying. Not because I thought she didn't agree with me as such. But that she had bothered to say so at all. Lena wasn't one for stating the obvious. So her reasoning for voicing those words was to set the tone.
I flicked her an appreciative glance from the corner of my eye, and she promptly reached over and gripped my hand. Fingers laced. Palm against palm.
My heart damn near burst out of my chest.
I returned my attention to Tan, who watched on with interest but no other indication that the motion - or words - had meant anything to him.
"And the fighter jets?" he asked instead.
The Pherres I could almost understand. But how he thought we'd know anything about the fighter jets was beyond me.
"Loud," I offered. Being obnoxious to Lee Tan was just too damn tempting.
"Frightening," Lena added, softening my words. Taking the sting right out of them, in fact. "What can you tell us about them?" she hit back.
"I know as much as you," Tan started.
"I doubt that," Alan offered from over our shoulder.
Tan ignored him.
"Clearly reconnaissance of some sort," he continued. "Footage we managed to gain of them suggests surveillance equipment attached to their underbelly."
"You activated the street-cams," I accused.
"I had no choice."
"And yet the jets were here for less than three minutes. The command must have been an easy one to carry out."
Tan held my steady gaze with an unrepentant one.
"We're under attack," he said simply. "Whether that's a full-on invasion, terrorism from within the nation, or simply the benign interest of curious neighbours, is yet to be ascertained."
"And you think we know something about it," I concluded. "I'm flattered, Tan. But you're barking up the wrong tree."
"Are you telling me you've hung up your rebel hat?"
"I'm telling you we had nothing to do with the Pherres incident and we sure as hell don't fly fighter jets."
"Forgive me, Trent," Tan said in arched tones dripping his sarcastic intent, "but if anyone was to don masks to hide their identity, while playing at being heroes for the night, it would be you."
Well, he wasn't beating about the bush, that's for sure.
"Sorry," I replied, just as scathingly, " not me."
Tan stared at me for a long
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