The Good Doctor's Tales Folio Eight by Randall Farmer Page A

action.  She had even heard the ‘terror’ in Philadelphia, in the juice zombie fight, without realizing what it was.
    U nless Patterson ordered her to forget, of course.
    “Yes,” Carol said, leaning forward, her personal presence much more forceful.  There was magic in her voice.  “I think we can all agree that we need to hunt down and defeat Rogue Crow and his Hunters, and wash our knives in the blood of their entrails.”
    Tonya flushed momentarily with the lust for violence, and Lori let loose an actual snarl.
    “Looks to me that you Focuses need to work on resisting th is form of charisma,” Zielinski said, tut tutting the two of them.  He, dammit, had enough exposure to Carol’s predator to be able to shake it off as easily as he was able to shake off Focus charisma.
    Being able to rouse Tonya’s lust for violence did give Tonya a good idea about how Carol would be using ‘the Commander’.  Ally or not, she was going to be a problem.
    “So, let’s negotiate,” Carol said, ignoring Zielinski.  “How do we mollify both the Council and the first Focuses without giving in to their ridiculous demands?”
    “I have several ideas,” Tonya said.  “The first is simplest – we lie.  We say there is no Arm organization.  You still get Keaton’s permission before you agree to any job offer from the Focuses.”
    “Won’t work,” Carol said.  “Keaton’s often impossible to contact.”
    “You have that problem as well?” Tonya said.  Carol nodded.  “ So it’s not just me.”  She sighed.  “What is she doing that eats up most of her time, then?”
    Carol shrugged.  “It isn’t wise to even think about such things.”
    Gilgamesh minutely shivered her juice, and she turned toward him.  “No conspiracy, or secret identities,” he said, connecting Keaton’s behavior to Rogue Crow’s.  “She spends a lot of time dealing with her hidden organizations, training, and hunting.”  He sighed, minutely.  “Keaton hunts for fun, and to work off steam.”
    “ No wonder she thought having you around was cheating,” Carol said.  “I don’t think it’s cheating at all.  I like having Crows help me hunt.”  Gilgamesh visibly preened in response to Carol’s compliment.
    Carol’s charisma had another aspect to it she had never seen with Keaton’s, unanticipated and rich with potential.  Tonya didn’t fully understand it, but as best she could tell, it was something like ‘be my ally and I will protect you’.  Unexpected.  It gave credence to Lori’s assertion that Focuses and Arms were meant to work together.  Closely.
    “Any other ideas about our little dilemma? ” Carol said.
    “Yes.  Instead of recognizing the Arm organization, we acknowledge that Keaton is your boss, and for politeness sake, we must pass by her, first, any job offers to you.”
    “Politeness?”
    “Politeness is important among the upper-end Focuses.  An impolite comment can turn a Focus from a close friend into a life-long enemy.”
    Carol rolled her eyes.  “You should just fight.  Physically.”  She paused, and shrugged.  “Politeness!”  She shook her head.  “As a way of saving face, if this works for you Focuses, it’ll work for us Arms.”
    No, the Arms weren’t polite.  Tonya had known so for years.
    “So, Tonya, how did the Julius rebellion really end?” Carol said.
    Tonya blinked her way through the abrupt subject change.  “Now there’s a tale and a half.  It all started when…”
     
    Rebel Assault (1964)
    Tonya picked up the phone on the third ring.  “Two minutes fifty seconds.”  Click.
    She found herself standing, threatened and jittery, in her office.  She took three steps to her open office doorway.  “Attack coming, get ready,” she said, loud, yanking on her Transforms’ juice to get their attention.  All before she stopped to think – quickly, quickly – ‘what was that?’
    The person on the phone had spoken with Tonya’s own voice.  The