Yet A(nother) Year in Seattle – Week 18 – Manipulation

Yet A(nother) Year In Seattle

Sunday, April 25, 2066 – Food Poisoning

… and… it would seem I spoke too soon.

No, no one needed medical care during or immediately after the luncheon, but almost every one of us needed it later. The only people spared the midnight trip to the ER were those where were lucky enough to have opted for the kid’s meal.

Thankfully Bri still prefers chicken fingers to almost anything else… and as I’ve said before… she’s her father’s daughter… there is no wondering where she gets that. The two of them ate chicken fingers, I had the ham salad sandwich.

At least this time, if I miss work, I’ll be in good company.

Monday, April 26, 2066 – Just Poisoning.

It would seem the ‘Food’ part of yesterday’s diagnosis was incorrect.

I’m a lot better off compared to some of my compatriots and all tolled we got off relatively lightly. First shift, our back up medics and several ‘on call’ medics from other companies managed to keep the city covered but only just.

I’ve talked to Charlie about some of the alternatives but as it is neither of us is really in any shape to do more than mull it over in front of the trid.

Tomorrow; I’ll deal with the outcome tomorrow and let the Star (and Case) deal with the investigation, really.

Tuesday, April 27, 2066 – From the ashes

Things just keep getting better.

It feels like we’re sitting in concentric circles and yet somehow-it’s like they’re pointing out our weaknesses instead of pressing them and taking advantage of us. It’s almost as if someone is trying to tell us we need to shore things up and make sure we have contingency plans in order.

That may not be the case, but that’s the hint I’m taking.

Charlie and I have worked, with the regional CEO’s blessing, on an agreement with the area EMS corporations. If something happens like Sunday’s food poisoning case, whoever is affected will have back up from the others.

Let’s face it, competition is all well and good but in the end, we can all agree that patients dying is bad for everyone’s business.

Wednesday, April 28, 2066 – Symmetry

On my list of things I’d expect people to do in the name of power and manipulation … eating something you know might kill you has never been on the list. At least it wasn’t until we found out, from Bri, that Arthur knew full well he was allergic to shellfish.

Case, bless him, was much better at cross examining our daughter than I was-and far more diplomatic afterwards when dealing with Arthur and his family.

It took some more… intervention in the form of Jonathan to get to the bottom of things… Case’s diplomacy only goes so far where his family is concerned.

It had nothing to do with Saturday’s poisoning. Oddly enough it was an effort to get in with me in hopes of meeting the Walkers. He got his wish, but not in the way he wanted. I don’t think he’ll be getting that raise or an audience with the Walkers.

Jonathan, it turns out, can be as diplomatically challenged as my husband. No wonder they get along so well.

Thursday, April 29, 2066 – An un-pretty picture

There are times when I feel like Case and I are on the same page today, however, was not one of those days. It was one of those days where I was working on building things up, he was breaking them down.

We’ve got the Medic Accord signed and ratified, we’ve hired our first magical staff in the HRT teams and we have one Mage/Medic now on the payroll with two more in the pipeline… like I said, we’re building things up.

Case, on the other hand, was breaking down everything we know from Saturday. The toxicology reports and victimology profiles helped him determine how the poison was delivered. Breaking down the scene and things he hadn’t noticed because he was busy worrying about me led him to a very disturbing conclusion.

The goal was not to poison the adults, but to incapacitate them… thereby leaving the children…

Yeah you know where that’s leading…

Someone’s taking marrow samples from me, trying to take my daughter… it’s a very unhappy Jess.

Friday, April 30, 2066 – He sees you when you’re sleeping.

Remember what I said about vetting St. Nick’s… and finding out that they’d vetted us long before we got to their campus? Well… it would seem they really did their homework.

Last night, as soon as we suspected that kidnapping was the objective and just how far the people planning said kidnapping were willing to go we realized they wouldn’t stop. When Case remembered the helpful medics he didn’t recognize hovering around us… hovering around Bri well, that’s when we started to suspect Bri was their objective.

Once we realized that we had no choice but to contact the school. It wasn’t safe for Bri and it definitely wasn’t safe for those around her. While I made an appointment, Case called Jonathan.

We showed up for our emergency meeting ready to pull Bri out and homeschool her for the time being when several ‘educators’ we hadn’t met showed up for the meeting asking if they were late.

I was about to object when the head administrator nodded to Jonathan. “Mr. Walker,” he said calmly. “Would you mind telling your friends what you see when you look around this room… around this campus?”

I’m not sure what he saw but it didn’t take long for Jonathan to be smiling. “Case, Jess-they are more than ready to protect everyone here….”

He paused then looked back at the administrator. “My question is how do you hide it all?”

That brought a smile to the man’s face but he quickly turned back to Case and me.

“This is why we accepted your daughter-because you both are concerned not only about her safety and well being but that of those around her. The student body here shares common dangers and common parental values. This needs to be nurtured. You keep doing what you do, all we ask is that you allow us to do our part.”

Any argument I could have come up with was washed away when he turned back to Jonathan and added: “When your daughters are old enough, I hope you will consider St. Nicholas’.”

I think I’ll just blame Jenna and leave it at that.

Saturday, May 1, 2066 – Too much time on my hands

Sometimes a slow day can be nice-it gives you time to get everything organized. Sometimes it gives you too much time to think. Sadly this was one of those days.

I got into the office early to get some paperwork done, but there wasn’t nearly as much as I’d feared. And that left a lot of time for mulling over things that are probably better left un-mulled.

I realized some things I’m pretty sure Case has already thought of and investigated, but that’s his job and his way of thinking. Me, I don’t tend to think about things analytically until well into post-game analysis.

Whoever attacked me-they knew to avoid the cameras. It’s surprising enough they even know about them, let alone their location. The only way I can think of knowing where they are is to either have seen our footage or worked with us.

Filming everything isn’t even a companywide policy. It’s something I instituted first with the motor medics, then with the regular medics when I took over as chief. Let’s face it, I’m the paranoid masochist who makes sure my medics are protected. I’m the one who taught them to be paranoid and the boys were the ones who taught me.

That means they know my medics… they know me.

Then there’s the matter of the sample that was taken.

Bone marrow samples are very specific and the reason for getting a sample is usually a matter of checking for compatibility. It all points to someone who knows me or is related to me and the only people who know me that well are my brothers.

The thing is-skulking shadows are so not their style.

Like I said, too much time to think.

Copyright 2010 M.T. Decker