Every time his mind wasn't focused on something else it returned to the question of Marc and his kick in the shins. At the time there had been the attacks on the teams, going on for over two years and showing no signs of abating then stopping abruptly the night Richard and Lily disappeared, a point that had always intrigued him. There had been the matter of the children, but Marc had been no where in sight when the first had been born, as had been the case when the second was born. Though thinking it through, he concluded that that was suggestive but not conclusive.

Bella had held the chair and had been the most outspoken of those against Richard and Lily's relationship. Behind her had stood Maya and Margaret. He'd had to involve the full council on that occasion to finally achieve what needed achieving. He was fairly sure Bella had never forgiven him for it and he really didn't care, all things considered. He had no doubts regarding his ability to handle Bella.

He'd never doubted, either, that Bella, Maya and Margaret had been entirely in favor of meddling with Lily's children, who, though he'd never asked, must have inherited their mother's ability to bond with non Awakened since that was the only thing that explained their determination to block their talents at any cost. It made him wonder if power-stupid was a diagnosable condition...He had always taken it for granted that Marc, from where ever he'd been at the time, had at best known and not deemed it a matter of sufficient importance to merit action. At worst he'd been complicit.

And so his mind went, turning over personalities and considering alternatives and the only even halfway plausible answer that also fit what Reno had said last night - assuming as he was for now that Reno had been as frank as he felt he could be - about Marc ignoring matters, among other things, was that he had in fact not known, but had found out after the fact. Then, having found out, he'd returned to active involvement in the Council, which meant that he'd found out before Lily and Richard had. OK, suppose that was true. How he'd found out was interesting but not cogent, at least not at the moment. What was cogent was the question of what he had done about it.

Well, Stephen thought, what could he have done? Now there was an interesting question. What if what he'd done was take control of the Council? That would make him a man who took a very long view of things, indeed. But it was also possible that control of the Council was a byproduct of something else, which seemed, on its face, much more likely.

Stephen set that aside for a moment and moved on to the next issue, the implications of Marc protecting him because he believed that if he didn't the result would be a breach. It made sense only if it was part of a larger picture and it was the larger picture Stephen was trying to see. A breach or rupture with the Awakened as a whole? That just didn't fit for reasons he considered too obvious to need enumerating even though Reno had specifically raised the specter of war; which left only a breach or severing of his relationship with the Council.

Or was Marc afraid that Stephen would openly reject the covenant and take all the Listeners and a fair number of other Awakened with him? He couldn't possibly think Stephen was that big of an ass; not that he hadn't been tempted more times than he could count. And, don't forget, Reno had specifically referenced a level of play beyond the Council which was the basis of Marc's concern. But, he thought, let us not forget that it might be Marc had concluded that the commission was viewed as sufficiently threatening to some one's or ones', as the case may be, power and control within the larger scheme to necessitate a strong response now that boiled down to...but that was moving a bit fast. He needed to take a step back.

So, there was Marc, in control of the Council, and a level of play occurring beyond the Council, which could only mean among the Awakened…a person or group of persons who were seeking control other than Marc. There was also the not so subtle statement of Marc's that he'd moved that machine here because he didn't want it used against the Refuge and Reno's clear statement that Marc believed he was at risk. And there was the undeniable fact that things had started to come to the surface with Marc's return to the Council, a return he was positing had resulted from learning about the children.

Now, if he were either an Awakened or a group of Awakened trying for control of the whole picture, what would he do?

And then the penny dropped. The equation that had always governed his decisions as he'd tried to chart a path towards his goal. Control the council, control the Listeners and you controlled the Awakened. He had always controlled the Listeners and had not the slightest doubt he would for so long as he lived if that's what he wanted. He had chosen to control the Listeners because they were the leavening factor, they had a foot in both worlds, literally. He had, when the Covenant was adopted, made and ever since held to a conscious decision that he should not be in control of the Council, though viewed from where he sat now that might have been an error in judgment on his part. The fact remained you could control the Council without controlling the Listeners but you couldn't control the Awakened without controlling both and if you controlled the Listeners control of the Council was a piece of cake if you wanted it bad enough.

He had stood in the middle for so long, a finger on the balance of power, tilting it ever so slightly first one way and then the other he'd forgotten he was doing it. It was among the numerous reasons too obvious to mention. Another was the wild card no one ever remembered; the Awakened who'd never signed the covenant, those who'd rejected it later and the Awakened children of Awakened and non-Awakened parents all of whom lived here, on earth, plus all the talented like Clem who together were moving towards integration in ways both numerous and subtle and that would eventually, if things stayed as they were, take the entire matter of integration out of the hands of the Council. He didn't control them but they were as one on so many things it was practically a foregone conclusion that they would come down on his side in the event of…Oh yes, most definitely a wild card.

Marc didn't want a breach because he didn't want someone else or perhaps just this someone else controlling the Listeners and that was the war Reno had alluded to. Marc thought that the Council could have declared him a renegade and striped him of his powers over Charlie Palmer; leaving the Listeners open to a palace coup, hence his intervention. Or, the posited players beyond the Council would kill him in order to attain the same result. The first was extremely unlikely given the entire Council would have to vote for it and that he would have to cooperate in the stripping, while the Listeners and the wild card factor sat on their thumbs, but no matter. He had always known more about that then most, having always had the best view and...and...oh so that was it...that made sense, that was the catch up. Marc was in no position to influence that with any degree of certainty at all...and Reno being here...Which made the second possibility that Marc was seeing much more likely…because that person or persons would have to know that the window of opportunity assumed to be at hand had a fairly short shelf life. When all this was over he was going to have to spend some serious time and energy getting to know Marc a whole lot better.

So, he thought recapping in his mind, just to be sure he now had it all straight and hopefully correct, Marc had returned knowing about the children before Lily and Richard had and his response to that had been either to take control of the Council or it had resulted in that. Marc had first protected him at the Council meeting and was working now to stall for time. He had told him that a person, or persons, unknown were now players who were actively hostile towards him, and outside the Council which he had not been compelled to do and would only have done for the most pragmatic of reasons. He had also, gone out of his way - since there was no way he believed that the only safe place Marc could have put that machine was here - for the same pragmatic reasons, to assert that someone on the Council was equally actively working against him but that person may or may not be tied the other person or persons. That's what he knew.

What he didn't know yet was who those people were, and if Lily's babies had lit a longer fuse than he'd known about. And, he still didn't know if he could trust Marc, though the odds were growing in that direction, because Marc struck him as the sort Machiavellian enough to have used events to lead him by the nose to this very conclusion - he was certainly not forgetting Marc's last words to him at the Council meeting. He would however assume that wasn't true while also taking as a working assumption the idea that all of this was about controlling the Awakened by controlling the Listeners, while Marc recognizing, he was some distance from being a contender in those stakes and so had a stake in seeing that he, Stephen, stayed in control of them, was now proposing an alliance against person or persons unknown.

All that might or might not be true, he didn't know yet. But if it was true they'd almost done it. They'd almost controlled the Listeners because for ten goddamn years he hadn't been paying attention to anything but his own bloody grief.

Later that evening, Baz, crossing the lobby was surprised to hear himself hailed by the desk attendant, a lovely dark haired Maltese woman who in other circumstances he'd have wanted to know much better.

"Telephone, sir." And then into the receiver, "He is right here, one moment." She held the phone out to him.

"Hello," he said, just the faintest of queries in his tones.

"Is it possible for you to visit this evening?"

It was voice he recognized though was somewhat taken aback to hear on this particular phone. "Yes. What time?"

"Seven-thirty." And the connection was broken.

His response to the call was to spend slightly longer than he'd planned over lunch.

Elsewhere in the world another phone rang and was answered by a man who was asked the same question to which he also responded in the affirmative. His caller then named a time and promised transportation would be provided. Neither said good bye as they hung up. This man had sun bleached brown hair, clear sky blue eyes, a remarkably strong jaw line, a cleft in his chin and a dimple. He had the sort of surfer-esque physique and tan provided by an active life to a person of over six feet and with a frame that was lean but not thin, and without an ounce of spare fat. His response to the call was a long and thoughtful silence.

Elsewhere in the universe, a young woman with cascades of wavy mahogany hair falling to the small of her back, a slender figure and wire-rimmed glasses covering eyes of a remarkable shade of violet answered her door. A man she didn't recognize handed her a package and with a slight nod turned and left. Upon opening it she found a complicated wooden and metal puzzle and a note that said, "I have another you'll like. Seven-thirty." Her response to the note was smile that changed pretty to something more than stunning and set her eyes glowing with anticipation. She was a woman who loved puzzles.

Dinah, on her way to her apartment to finish packing was hailed by Leslie. "I was just about to send Asher to find you. This came for you a few minutes ago. It's real telegram." She was awed by the thought.

Dinah raised an eyebrow and opened it. All it said was, "Seven- thirty. You may count on making your connection New York. Important. It wasn't signed. She wasn't amused but was otherwise willing, Stephen having never felt it necessary to use such roundabout means of contacting her. She called and cancelled the cab to the airport and her airline to rearrange her connection at Kennedy.

Clem got a note taken over by hand by Tommy that read, "If possible I would like to see you at seven-thirty here." He replied in the affirmative and sent a message to the Prior to take Vespers and Compline.

Tommy returning from the monastery found Eli, Tabitha, and Liam and informed them that their presence was desired in the conference room at seven-thirty. He also told Tabitha that Stephen was hoping she'd supply coffee. He escaped with his skin intact and continued to execute the rest of the instructions Stephen had given him after lunch before informing him he would be gone for the day but back in time for the meeting. Of course he didn't know where.

He found Cal as expected in the ops center and delivered his invitation and an accompanying request. Cal responded with a yes to invitation and gales of laughter to the request. Tommy choosing to view the laughter as agreement, maintained a dignified demeanor and went on with his rounds.

Meanwhile Stephen, unbeknownst to his faithful and longsuffering aide de camp, had gone no further than the living room of his house where he was currently lounging on his couch, his feet on the coffee table and iced tea close by. He had chosen Miles Davis as his background muse while he re-examined the plans he'd made previous to his chat with Reno in light of his current assessment of the situation. He was not inclined to think those required much modification at the moment. What he needed to do, though, was decide how to integrate those plans with those designed to meet what he had concluded was his most immediate need in such a way as to not tip his hand on anything prematurely. And that need could be summed up in one word – information. The challenge was how to obtain it as fast as he wanted it without broadcasting that fact.

At about seven o'clock he returned to the House, checked his office for messages, reviewed the board and charmed Tabitha out of some sandwiches. By seven-thirty he was in the conference room. At seven thirty-five everyone but Cal was seated and he was parting from his current trainee in the doorway. As he got started he reflected that six minutes late for nine people summoned from around the world and in one case off world at the last minute was surely a record.

He glanced around the table and then began. "Before we get too far along I think it's important to be clear that if you decide to help me on this occasion you will find yourself, in all probability, engaged in actions the Council would most likely construe as being violations of the Covenant. They might also be inclined to take their dissatisfaction with my behavior out on you. So if you aren't comfortable with that and would prefer not to be involved I'll understand."

Cal didn't miss a beat. "Man, you always say that and you always say it like none of us never been there or done that. My experience is, you get us into it and you get us out. Now if you're tellin' us you think you lost your touch, that's one thing, but violating the Covenant…that's all in a day's work usually…leastways workin' for you it is."

Baz, nodding in agreement with Cal said, "My friend, I do not think any of us are all that concerned about that at the moment. Simply tell us what it is you are planning and then we can decide."

"I am certainly lucky in my friends." Then he laid out for them his conversation with Reno and the conclusions he'd drawn from that along with the reasoning to support it.

"You have been busy, haven't you? I'm surprised you got any brain left at all after all the work that must have taken." Dinah observed when he'd finished. "So what are you going to do it?"

"I think first I'd like to know if anyone sees anything wrong with my reasoning. It is a complicated situation and the assumptions I am making are key to what we do next. Eli, what do you think?"

Eli, a James Earl Jones look alike, took a minute before answering. He was generally a slow spoken man of few words. "I can't see any problems with it. I can see other interpretations as you did, but I agree that they're unlikely. What is not so unlikely is someone finally attempting something like this. You are perceived as weaker than you ever were before, both because the Listeners are so firmly circumscribed by the Council, the events of the last Council meeting and, I am sorry, but also because you have been largely a nonentity in this arena for so long. Certainly someone could reasonably conclude from all of that that the time was ripe for an attempt."

"Tabitha?"

"I agree," she said. "It's time and past you took up your responsibilities again. But that's not what you're askin' me. Looking at it like you described it, it's a logical place to start from. I would suggest, though, that you don't reject completely the other alternatives."

He continued to poll the room, most responding much as the first two. He finished with Clem. "I have to say, Stephen that if what you're assuming is correct then who ever it is would certainly not be out of place at the Vatican, though we usually don't include murder on our list of possible power play strategies. Do you actually think someone might try to kill you?"

I don't know. I certainly find it somewhat incredible. I preer to think of it in terms of assuming control, since that presumes the possibility of other alternatives to assassination, as it were. But as I said this is a working hypothesis and unless someone has a better notion the first thing is going to have to be to either confirm it or discover the alternative." When no one contradicted him, he went on. "Now, while there are specific things I will ask of some of you individually, what I would like from all of you is a renewed effort to locate Lily and Richard. I know it was tried when they disappeared. I have no reason to think that it will be different this time, but it needs to be attempted. The second is for you to begin to use your contacts to see if there is anything to support my assumptions or to contradict them. You," he nodded to the violet-eyed woman, "at Home will need to be extraordinarily discreet. Here as well, since I would also like to assume that there is someone here, besides Reno, whose primary loyalty lies elsewhere."

Liam interrupted, "You're talking about a mole or a spy?" His seemed to find the idea hard to imagine. "Everyone here was handpicked."

"That doesn't make it impossible. Consider for a moment the question of how the Council found out about Charlie Palmer and the babies. Certainly it is possible that it was innocently, but we managed things here in such a way so as to ensure that would be unlikely. The only ones who would have said anything innocently was a New One and they were kept far away from the children and from Charlie."

"That is a good point, my friend, generally speaking as well. Certainly an excess of caution in the circumstances is no bad thing. It would not hurt to make sure, certainly. In fact, it wouldn't hurt any of us," he nodded at the violet-eyed woman and at the blue-eye man as he spoke, then at Dinah and Eli, "to scrutinize our own circles and contacts as well. I do not suggest we will find anything but information is a commodity that moves in many directions. We, for instance have shared contacts and information for many years. But who knows who else has used them."

Stephen nodded, "Dinah, I know you're taking a break, but if you could pass the word along I would appreciate it."

"I can do that."

"The rest of you know best how to approach the matter with your specific contacts. For now, I think routing information back to me through Liam would be best, and if he isn't available, Tommy. Any questions?"

There were none and the meeting began to break up. Stephen caught Baz's eye, "A word, Baz?"

He nodded and waited.

"Clem, I'll be over in the morning, OK? Sam Watkins should be here tomorrow or the next day so we should probably get that sorted out."

"Can't in the morning, but after lunch is fine."

"OK."

Stephen shut the conference room door behind Tommy, after assuring him he'd be in the office tomorrow. Then he sat down again across from his friend.

"It is good that you are not trying to keep all of this to yourself, that you are asking for advice. Things are in motion, are they not?" Baz said.

"Yes, though I would have preferred….but it doesn't matter. I will need that favor we discussed. I have not yet spoken with Marc, but I don't think that will change things materially. "

"Certainly. I told you, you had only to ask. I have already made the arrangements. I will let you know the details as soon as I know. Malta has come at a bad time for you, has it not?"

"I could have done without it; but it was unavoidable, nor can I see any way to accelerate the matter. And, Dinah is right, she needs this break. You will be keeping an eye on her won't you? And without letting her know?"

"Yes, that is also already arranged."

"Thank you for that. As for Malta, if it works out, then I can free Liam as well. What do you think of him?"

"It is early yet, but he is doing well. He is pleasant and does nothing to draw attention to himself at least not so far. But there are other qualities, too."

"Yes." Stephen fell silent then.

After several minutes Baz reached across the table and touched his hand. "Stephen, the past is the past. Let it go my friend or it will destroy what is still to come."

"It isn't that, at least not really. It is just that I realized last night, sorting through all of this that I am tired of this game we play. I have played it for too long. A thousand years I said to Reno and he never batted an eye. I found myself wishing that I could just bow out. I envy Dinah her break. I envy you as well, because you have found a way to move forward, while I think we have only been moving backwards."

"My friend, there is nothing to envy, as you will know in the morning. What you are feeling is something that comes to us all sooner or later. To live forever is not really a blessing at all, but rather a challenge, because at some point we realize we can not change the world, not matter how long we have. It will not be we who determine whether our plans, no matter how divinely inspired, succeed or fail, we are not that powerful All we can do is hold them up for others to share or not as they wish. Get some rest and let the universe carry its own burdens for a few hours."

Stephen nodded. "Until Malta, then, your lordship."