Councilor: Book Six of The Channel Riders

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er foot out from under the covers and wiggled her toes. She initially started with a scarlet polish, but had been unable to resist throwing a

blue blouse, gray pencil skirt and heels from her closet. She added clean underwear from the chest of drawers and headed off to the bathroom. A lit

ed them in her ears. "I am not fleeing raiders or even sailing through choppy waters." She walked into the kitchen and found a note from Jen

over and scrawled her own return message asking Jennifer to list food items she wanted to include on the grocery list.

ted, knowing Victor would have a status report on each and she might need the updates before she appeared. "After all, " she thought as she picked up the few

a filled a large file with postcards from places around the globe, a schedule of timed shipments, and small souvenirs to be sent to various people. Victor managed it all for not only her, but the other eighteen pilots who sailed

She figured the large box was also justification for not walking the few short blocks from her apartment to the lab. She felt only a minor twing

bed the stairs and realized she only purchased gas once in the past year. She was fairly certain that was a record, at least for her. Elena shook

wing that Victor would probably have left her a neat stack to start with in case she arrived while he was out. Elena sighed, but knew she couldn't complain too much. After all since hiring him, Victor took the brunt of the paperwork and

was soundproofed or not and shrugged, giving up her eavesdropping attempt. She turned towards the office, noting that the light was already on and the scent of coffee had gotten stronger. Elena pushed open th

t I'm not quite certain how to vet them through the Council. Do we submit our

a smile. "We didn't ex

ere the coffee pot was located, placed the bakery box down and took a c

a napkin and a treat after setting down her paper.

er with your fellow councilor and Jennifer stoppe

ment. Had I been given the time I would have told you first." She replied, sensing a slight r

think about it, I probably w

amused. "Well it wasn't too much trouble

since Victor was able to pretend he knew all about it, eve

spects anyway, " Victor added. "

sa sighed. Elena smiled. Lisa's love of the written word ran almos

ing off of the DF before it was

one when it is finished. There might be a different view though. I

That is probably part

on?" Elen

rd the Lorenzo a week from now. The schedule was addressed to me as your assistant so that I could put

. Did they schedule a lot o

just general Guild business. The first one is scheduled here on the Lorenzo partially because Council chambers h

nd Mateo were called in to explain what had happened in the Council's absence. She wasn't certain how secret the

ena's heart sunk as she saw Victor and Lisa exchange lo

y. "But perhaps you had better sit down." Elena finished her

bag as Lisa and Victor gathered their things and joined her. Elena lifted an eyebrow in surprise when Victor closed the conference room door behind himself before taki

. "To prevent them from becoming test subjects in a laboratory, those left behind executed a... duck and cover sort of routine. People were moved

s before, " Elena replied thinking of the c

dust settled, it was found that those who planned to take the children for testing had no connection to the Guild or the military

lena said. It was one of her biggest worries, that somehow she made Kiera and

s we were for the season to open again, maybe more so. There was a great deal of relief when messages b

ted, knowing this was the b

used and took a s

g, tired of always being on the run. Espec

all of the innate properties in the plants they touched. They could also enhance the growth of the plants, turning a seed into a fully grown plant i

e dangers in Haven and the living is somewhat primitive, there was a

o hide her piloting skills and kne

the request that the things they left behind be sent along t

settling are working smaller farms outside the town, " she told them. "Evan

ones who were in the area to begin with, other agents are dealing with the more distant properties. Bob is however helping to arrange temporary housing for those coming here from out of town. He believes they a

of the details?"

o explain off-world resettlement without sounding crazy. When you explained it to me, I still didn't actually believe until you took me to Haven. At some point though, I would like t

the conversation finally hitting her like a body blow. "Colo

ith their basic skills, number and ages of those in their households. We told them there was a series of background checks

ysterical. As anyone associated with the group that had gone through a background check came out wit

lena's half strangled laugh. "Stephen said someone named James is in charge. He is

ple from the two lists and see where we are. It would at least be a place to start." Elena handed the multi-page list to Lisa and looked over to Victor. "And I guess we wil

Elena was glad someone did. Lisa scanned the first page of the l

few things, Mateo and Kiera each added things and I

t, water heater, bug spray, obstetrician, pens and pencils (all varieties), whet s

ies are for Benjamin. As he is dealing with Haven's insanity while I am here, I plan to get sever

supplies from people and see where we

d hopefully. Victor gave her a somewhat pitying look and Lisa laughed. This laugh held little humor. "Of c

schedule. Several are more than willing to discuss things over the phone as well if you find that more convenient." He glanced at Elena and hurried to reassure her. "I don't think there are any current problems, I think they more or less just wan

shipment you sent at the opening of the season along with the extra samples for their consideration. They sent over an order for the next shipment for you

ll as she finished scrawling her

Lisa replied

r running an imports store. "Is something wrong?" The last time Elena was home Tina was traveling, dealing w

some sort of database and search engine so that we could run our own background

ble to resist using?" Elena guessed knowing her friend.

a coin to see which of us that was and I won." Lisa told her wit

old her. "Were you thinking

ss first route. But nothing was coming up on any of them. I would get their education and work history and all that, but

se, " Elen

bout goes. You had a record of me taking third place in the fourth

isn't public knowledge. Only those doing the background checks see the information an

requirement?"

as it is something that can't come back on us you are cleared." Elena explained. "I was warned about Kiera's people because they all came back so squeaky clean that it looked like their records were professionally

are all of these tiny rules governing minutia of things like using wax seals and determining Head of House sta

to deal with each other. So they codified certain things to create a unified organization and let others slide. Besides on a ship, the captain has ultimate control with the crew following orders. They are a hard lot to wrangle, even the ones wh

lace ribbon was recorded for posterity along with a very adorable

what she does for Groban,

en in operation for twenty years, but there is no information on them any further back than seven years. No taxes, no incorporation papers, no records of any kind. And even the paperwork that can be found on them for the seven years is...textbook perfect looking. It's as if someone said, we need to have som

print out all the info you have on her and Groban and hand me the file, I'll pass it on to someone who might know m

through the events of the past few months and to chart a possible course for the future. She sat down at her desk