Big Yellow Taxi (Closed; TG for Entry. Warning: Mature )

[New Edom]

This thread will contain mature subject matter. Though obviously standards will be upheld, it is advised that those who do not like or are not of the right age for such avoid this thread. Thank you.

Outside the World Assembly Strangers Bar

Mara put her phone on message. There was a special override for her chief of staff and for the President and Foreign Minister anyway, but it would keep her from being buzzed by texts constantly. So much going on at home, and none of it anything she could do a damned thing about, whether it was the assassination attempt against the President on his visit to Ossurwald, the coup d'etat in Legionica, the elections in Raith Immel, the Floating City Project, legislation on compensation, the conference on WMDs she was supposed to attend in the region soon, hostilities along the border between the Cookish States and the Earth Sphere Coalition...or all the crap going on here, nations trying to make their mark with resolutions to control pornography, gambling and whatnot. Later, all.

She was still a bit confused about why she'd acted the way she had towards Tom. She was a little sobered by the fresh air and made a note to herself to talk to him frankly--or some variation thereof. Never mind.

Interesting people were all around the WA--she hadn't gone to the bar since that weird hockey game and brawl, it had been like a bad high. This time hadn't been so bad. She wondered if she could buy one of those talking skulls, that seemed kind of fun, though the song it sang had been a little depressing; she'd probably want a different playlist for it.

She checked her makeup in her compact while she waited, ran her tongue over her teeth, snapped it shut. She made an abrupt decision and walked over to her car and told her driver to take the night off. A bit reckless--Kurt might turn into a sadist, a jerk, a freak--but tonight was a night for recklessness.

[Radiatia]

For all his failures as a politician, or even as a person, Kurt Demodand could always lay claim to one talent - and that was his ability to drink copious amounts of alcohol and still remain relatively sober.

Perhaps growing up in Das Engel did that to him - afterall the city itself was like a strong cocktail. Bright lights, colours, noise, sex, drugs, alcohol and weird, weird people - it was intoxicating.

Kurt often wondered, in his darker moments, if he might have been a calmer and more honest person if he had been raised in the more rural state of Garotch, where he was born, than in the city so sinful that it made even the relatively amoral people of Radiatia squirm.

He took a deep breath of fresh air and looked up at the stars. He shook himself. This was not the time or place to have one of his moments of introspective darkness. Of course, as he reminded himself, there was never a time for those moments.

He continued along, the smug grin returning to his face - if only to convince himself that he was more confident than he really felt.

Not bad going for his first day at the WA, really.

Still, he couldn't help but feel that maybe Mara should be treated as something greater than a trophy fuck. The key word in that sentence was "maybe" of course.

He finally found her, waiting.

In his mind he turned the charm-o-meter up to 11.

"M'lady," He said with a semi-ironic, semi-sincere bow and took her hand and kissed it. "Permit me to spend this fine night in thy company?"

[New Edom]

"Why kind Sir, that's so thoughtful of you!" exclaimed Mara, batting her eyes and putting a hand over her heart. "I hope you have a means to chauffeur me to some place of discretion, I'm very concerned for my reputation!" she laughed and felt a kind of thrill. What a sleazebag! she thought with amusement. Let's make him work some more.

"So Kurt--were you coming in to the bar to pick up the first woman you saw that met your standards and had relatively low ones herself, or were you struck by me? You must tell me...I have a self esteem issue." she said, her eyes twinkling merrily.

As she was talking to him her phone buzzed to let her know she had a text. "Hang on a sec Kurt," she said, frowning. Shit, she'd forgotten to push 'accept' for her setting. And it was from Tom. Her stomach felt a little odd as she read it.

She wondered if he actually cared, or what. Strange. She wasn't sure what to do about it. And everything seemed to make sense at the moment, what she was doing, what she intended. Talk to U later, busy right now. Cant talk.

But no, she didn't want to miss...what? She wasn't sure. She wrote him anyway. Thanks...means a lot. PROMISE talk to U later, K???

[Hittanryan]

Tom continued to mull things over back at the bar. Previously, he thought he'd had Mara figured out, a free spirit from an oppressive, corrupt, and decadent upbringing amongst the royal family. She'd have good reason to be skeptical of any overt advances, after all, royals could be viewed as trophies or easily blackmailed. Mara surely understood that, yet off she went with just a few words from a polarizing, glad-handing ex-PM. "Something isn't right here..." he thought.

As he understood it, her homeland of New Edom was only one step above a police state, it was a parliamentary democracy currently engaged in a campaign of active political suppression of a breakaway province. The government was moralistic, its social controls and theocratic tendencies reminded Tom all too much of the Imperium, with whom Adiron had already fought three brutal wars. Anything to do with the upper levels of that sort of place was bound to be a sordid affair.

Against his better judgment, and thinking "I'm so going to regret this," he sent Mara a brief text message, having exchanged phone numbers the last time they met. Intentions or no, Mara had still acted very differently from the first time he met her. No dancing, no conversation, downing multiple drinks in rapid succession (with Kurt buying, of course). Her shift in behavior, he felt, warranted enough concern to contact her.

The text itself, despite all the agonizing over it, was mercifully brief: "U all right? Were acting weird back at bar"

[Radiatia]

"So Kurt--were you coming in to the bar to pick up the first woman you saw that met your standards and had relatively low ones herself, or were you struck by me? You must tell me...I have a self esteem issue." she said, her eyes twinkling merrily.

Kurt gently ran his hand down the side of her face and grinned. "Well now... let's just say it's a little from Column A and a little from Column B. There's something intriguing about you. Alluring. Dazzling. You may be a princess in your country, but right now you are Empress of my heart."

He linked her fingers with his and kissed them. "Come on now. We must be getting on our way."

He was about to signal for a taxi but thought better of it, noticing a novelty horse-drawn carriage nearby.

"I think I shall chauffeur you to the hotel in style," He said, helping her on board the carriage. He stuck a wad of cash into the back of the driver's collar. "The World Tower Hotel, please."

And the carriage began on its way.

"Princess I don't know if you ever have this problem, but one of the sad things about being as rich as me is having all that money and not enough to spend it on." He smiled to let her know he joking... sort of.

[New Edom]

"I never have that problem," said Mara, "Because there are things that money can't buy. But I don't want most of those so it's not really an issue." she wrinkled her nose. "In a way this is like being in a World Assembly session--I'm sitting with a horse's ass staring right at me." she glanced at him. Now he was buttering her up, being all courtly--and yet really, she was a chick he had picked up at a bar. She sighed. Life was so confusing, but whatever. She really, really wanted to see what he did. She smiled at his comments about Empresses and stars and other stuff, and frankly everything was a nice floaty crantini feeling anyway. "I like crantinis," she explained, "Because I don't feel like I'm really getting drunk until I am. When I had a straight martini for the first time I couldn't believe it--why would someone drink it, you know? But then I discovered crantinis and appletinis and all kinds of tinis and they're so delish--and you just float down a river of sweetness into a land of bliss..."

[Radiatia]

Kurt laughed heartily at her horse's ass joke.

"I don't often meet women with a sense of humour," He said honestly. "Actually the last girl I met who made me laughed turned out to be a man in a dress. That's the last time I go to that bar..."

She began to mumble incoherently, but Kurt just let her fall into his arms. He liked it when women fell in his arms. Occasionally that small voice of conscience would tell him things like "warmth" and "love" and murmur distantly about how women were more than sex objects.

Kurt's brain, on the otherhand, found the whole concept hard to fathom given that he was a born-to-rule Tory who grew up in a country where, particularly in the central states, it wasn't uncommon for men to trade in their wives for a bag of turnips.

They arrived at the hotel that Kurt was now living in full time, during his post as WA Ambassador.

Originally the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs had tried to place him in a humble hotel room, but Kurt felt this unfitting for a former Prime Minister, (and a man as rich as him), and upgraded himself to a luxury penthouse on the top floor.

Gently guiding Mara by the hand he led her into the hotel, past the door guard.

"Evening, Steve." He said. "Did you note the Radiatian Football League result like I asked."
"Yes sir, Das Engel United won 2-0 against Northern Alayenia."
"Wonderful," Said Kurt loading the guard's pockets with cash. "This night just gets better and better..."

---

Upstairs, on the 40th floor Kurt unlocked the door. Immediately he was greeted by three rather attractive Traditional Radiatian girls in skimpy outfits, though Kurt shooed them away with a gesture.

"Welcome home, Mr. Demodand." Said one in broken English.

Kurt looked at Mara and smiled. "Welcome to my humble abode.This is Kaitlyn, Jilena and Anna.

"They help me to do things. I mean not do things but ugh... I make a lot of mess, no I mean not mess but they clean me up. I mean not clean me up as in, you know, but they help me get up in the morning. I mean not 'get up' as such but they always get me off.... er, to a good start in the day, I mean.

"Basically they are valuable employees who do my dirty work. I mean not dirty but, anyway..."

Kurt said something aggressive sounding to them in Radiatian and the three giggled and left.

"Please sit down," Said Kurt, gesturing to the velvet sofa. "Please relax. If you need help relaxing, well we have a spa bath, and the girls give excellent massages. Come to think of it... so do I."

One of the girls handed Kurt an envelope, featuring the seal of R-SOD, the Radiatian secret service.

Kurt opened the letter and skim read it out loud.

"Let's see... To the Most Honourable Kurt Demodand, blah blah blah, you are required to be present at a hearing, blah blah, corruption accusation, blah blah blah, federal crime, blah...." He ripped the letter in half nonchalantly. "Looks like I'll be moving hotels. R-SOD are a bunch of clowns, change your address once and they'll never find you.

"I should know, I used to be the Minister in charge.

"Tell me Mara, have you ever been with a man who used to work for the Secret Service? Perhaps you have. But have you ever been with a man who used to have the Secret Service work for him?"

He retired to the couch, deciding to help Mara remove her high-heeled sandals. "Just relax. Let's forget about all the WA stuff..." He said and kissed her gently on the lips.

"How about we relax in the Jacuzzi?" Said Kurt leading her up. "Oh except. I have bad news. Um, I am fresh out of bath robes, which means that unfortunately we might have to get naked. I'm dreadfully sorry." He said with obvious glee.

[New Edom]

Upstairs, on the 40th floor Kurt unlocked the door. Immediately he was greeted by three rather attractive Traditional Radiatian girls in skimpy outfits, though Kurt shooed them away with a gesture.

"Welcome home, Mr. Demodand." Said one in broken English.

Kurt looked at Mara and smiled. "Welcome to my humble abode.This is Kaitlyn, Jilena and Anna.

"They help me to do things. I mean not do things but ugh... I make a lot of mess, no I mean not mess but they clean me up. I mean not clean me up as in, you know, but they help me get up in the morning. I mean not 'get up' as such but they always get me off.... er, to a good start in the day, I mean.

"Basically they are valuable employees who do my dirty work. I mean not dirty but, anyway..."

Kurt said something aggressive sounding to them in Radiatian and the three giggled and left.

Mara swayed in to the room, and tried to flip some of her hair out of her face. She took in the girls and listened to Kurt's babbling politely for a bit. She began to laugh a bit, and then said, after the girls were gone, "Kurt, relax. My Dad has women too--lots of guys in power do it." she smiled at him with her natural warmth, even as she was drunk. "It's okay."

One of the girls handed Kurt an envelope, featuring the seal of R-SOD, the Radiatian secret service.

Kurt opened the letter and skim read it out loud.

"Let's see... To the Most Honourable Kurt Demodand, blah blah blah, you are required to be present at a hearing, blah blah, corruption accusation, blah blah blah, federal crime, blah...." He ripped the letter in half nonchalantly. "Looks like I'll be moving hotels. R-SOD are a bunch of clowns, change your address once and they'll never find you.

"I should know, I used to be the Minister in charge.

"Tell me Mara, have you ever been with a man who used to work for the Secret Service? Perhaps you have. But have you ever been with a man who used to have the Secret Service work for him?"

Mara was musing as he spoke this, and then burst out laughing. "R-SOD? Seriously? That's their agron--acrong...never mind, whatsit...? Really? We have the Council Police where I come from. I think the closest I came was having them walk in on me when I was lying on my bed listening to music just wearing a t-shirt. Man. I was so scared--there were full scale riots going on in the capital...Oh gosh, Kurt, we're talking burning cars, riot police overwhelmed, the army got called in and everything. The end of the rule of the monarchy. I had gotten high as a kite, we weren't supposed to leave..." she shook her head. "Sorry, you don't want to hear about that bullshit." The memory oozed in and out of her mind. Mara loved being naughty at parties, things like that, but it was entirely another thing to have three strange men in black leather coats and brutal accents suddenly enter her room and start dragging her half naked off her bed. She felt a chill remembering how she had simply gone to pieces. Then General Harcourt was there, smashing one of them in the face, saying, "You idiots! Don't you know to knock on a lady's bedroom?" And then apologizing, the lousy thug, saying, "Apologies, Highness, but you must put some clothes on and come to the ballroom to be briefed on the current situation." The end of the rule of the monarchy, and so of course she and all the others with half a brain did whatever they were told. She realized, next moment, that he was taking her shoes off, and talking about getting naked. She wriggled her slender toes and smiled at him.

"Oh really...and I didn't even bring a bathing suit..." Mara said breathily laughing as she stood and reached for the hem of her tunic dress and pulled it upwards, revealing that under the dress was nothing but bare smooth skinned Mara. She tossed it aside and putting her arms around his neck caressingly touched her lips to his. Parting the kiss briefly she said in her soft accents (which sounded upper British mixed with something exotic) "Where's the jacuzzi then? Jacuzzi..J'accuse...what a funny word..."

[Radiatia]

"Mara you are beautiful," Said Kurt looking her over. "It should be a crime to have a body like that hidden away by clothing."

He stripped down himself, revealing himself to be more tanned and muscular than one would expect upon their first glance at him.

He lead her, naked, into the next room where the Jacuzzi awaited them. They entered the tub, and sat facing each other.

Kurt called out in Radiatian, and one of the girls appeared with two glasses of champagne.

"I hope this isn't going overboard." He said tentatively, handing her the glass. "Interesting that you told me the tale of trouble in your own country. I could tell you some stories about my own, from when I was a child.

"Back then R-SOD were terrifying, rather than the disorganised bunch of idiots we have today. Back then they used to listen in on every house, every street corner, every conversation for anyone expressing the 'incorrect' opinion.

"And if the Communist Party felt them a threat, well... when I was a teenager I had a few friends 'disappear'. Not pleasant." He sipped his champagne.

"Come closer Mara..." He said suddenly.

He held her close to him. "Let me feel you... I want to get to know you."

His voice changed to barely above a whisper. "I want to get you know you inside. I want..."

His voice, barely heard at all, but communicated mainly by the flash in his eyes. "I want to be inside you..."

[Hittanryan]

Tom found Mara's texts somewhat contradictory. At the same time she was dismissive yet appreciative of his concern. "Maybe she really does care what I think...or she's stringing me along. Screw it, whatever happens, happens. Maybe Friedman was right about the whole royal thing..." The early summer night was pleasant enough, and he was still mostly sober, so he decided to walk through the city to meditate on events.

And of course, that illusion of calm was shattered by a phone call. Hurriedly searching his pockets, he hoped it would be a call from a certain princess sorely disappointed in a certain Prime Minister's performance. He was in for a massive letdown, however, when he saw the call was from Ambassador Friedman, his boss.

"Hey, Smash Lampjaw, were you at the bar just now?"

"I don't know, why don't you just check the GPS tracking chips we think you put in our phones?"

"Well I already did, this is just a test to see if you're honest. Seriously, were you at the bar?"

"Yeah, and before you ask, yes, I finished the damn paperwork before I left."

"Forget about that for now. Did you happen to see ex-Radiatian Prime Minister Demodand there?"

"Oh boy did I. He really gets around, huh?"

"Is he still there?"

"No, he left a while ago. Why?"

Tom hears a loud groan from the other end of the receiver. "Get back to the embassy, and check the news on Radiatia for fuck's sake!"

After hailing a cab, still quite confused, Tom decided to search various news sites for any stories about Demodand. It certainly didn't take long before he found something of interest. Either the affair had been hushed up to that point or a decision had just been made within the last few hours. The various headlines from international and Radiatian press were...interesting, to say the least. "Oh dear..." Tom couldn't help but saying out loud in a sarcastic tone, while trying and failing to suppress a small grin. "I knew there was something I didn't particularly like about that character. Couldn't quite put my finger on it. Oh shit, Mara!" The last thought gave him a renewed sense of urgency as the taxi pulled up to the Adiran embassy.

[New Edom]

Mara felt a strange sense of mingled disgust and desire--disgust more at herself, but in a way also enjoying it. It was so raw. Once she remembered President Touchstone bluntly saying, "Power is power" when people had been talking about political systems, and went on to say, "And the trappings, the means of gathering it are all just a game. Power is the ultimate high, the ultimate aphrodisiac, the ultimate satisfaction for which there is no plateau." And that was what she was doing right now. What her father did, what her mother did. Sex and power mingling. She purred softly as he complimented her, began to caress her. Mara tenderly and expertly began to explore the strength of his arousal, and said, quietly, "Are you in a big hurry? Leaning in to lick his ear she brushed the soft firmness of her bosom against him. "I'm not." She liked how both their mouths tasted of alcohol and how she was making him feel impatient. For the first time she felt like she was with a man not a boy stammering awkwardly or a beast in human form...a man like her father, by whose standards she measured all men, a man not ashamed of loving power and luxury and wanting a particular woman. Her eyes and her softening mouth showed her delight at what she was doing, and she moved her body with delicious restlessness as he got to know her physically.

[Hittanryan]

Unable to stand still long enough, Tom ran up the stairs to Friedman's office instead of waiting for the elevator. Slightly winded, he walked at a brisk pace towards the office until he saw Friedman standing outside. "You got company, Butch Deadlift. AIS kid who says he knows you, and a couple of RSOD spooks." Tom was suitably confused. "AIS? I don't know anyone in the AIS."
"Well, it's their business to know everybody, so I wouldn't try to pull anything over on them. Wouldn't keep them waiting, either." As Tom entered the office, he stopped and looked at the man sitting in the chair. He seemed familiar, the dark hair, wiry build, focused look in the eyes. As the man rose, it hit Tom. "Wait a damn minute..."

"Glenn?!"

"Long time no see, Alvarado."

Tom gave Robert Glenn a pound hug, a smile breaking out. The two had served together in the Second Burnt Hills War. The 3rd Infantry Division was right in the thick of some of the worst fighting of the Winter Counteroffensive. Ultimately, Adiron won the campaign and the war, driving Imperial and Urdnot forces from their soil. Those who fought through it tended to be close friends.

"Yeah, long time. How the fuck are you? Where you been?"

"Oh, you know, keeping busy."

"You ever tell that girl how you felt?"

"No comment."

"Really Glenn? You fight through Asharis and Regulus, but you're still afraid of women?"

"Hey, I didn't confirm or deny anything."

"Riiiiight. So what are you doing here, you had Friedman make all that shit up, didn't you?"

"Actually...no..." Tom then noticed two unfamiliar figures talking in the background. "We are actually currently in a joint op with RSOD to haul in former Prime Minister Demodand," Rob explained. Tom went back to being confused, "Wait, Glenn, you're with the AIS, since when?" "Since I tried to help out a friend who got himself in trouble in Arcologia." Incredulous, Tom started to ask "Why would you go down there? And how does that..." "Let's just say it got really complicated."

Still trying to piece things together, Tom remembered they had things to focus on. "So why's the AIS working with RSOD?" Rob glanced over his shoulder before answering. "Give and take. AIS picked up Demodand's trail by chance. We offered RSOD a trade. Radiatia does business with the Imperium. They give us new figures on their manufacturing capabilities in exchange for Demodand. Did the ambassador say you met him? Do you know where the Prime Minister was going?"

"Definitely a hotel. He left with...a girl whom he intended to plow harder than a Canadian road in February. No idea which hotel he's staying at, though." "Do you know who he left with?" Tom hesitated. "Yeah, you do," Rob said, catching on. "Mara Obed of New Edom," he answered. "Well it's a start, have to figure out who might have her contact info who would be willing to part with it." Sheepishly, Tom held up his cell phone, "I uh...texted her a while after she left." Rob sort of grinned at that. "Still 'breaking hearts,' aren't you Alvarado?" he asked, giving him air quotes. "Never mind, we can work with that, better tell these R-SODs what's going on."

[Radiatia]

The World Tower Hotel:

Kurt Demodand held Mara's naked body close to him, gently stroking her hair and her soft flesh.

He drew a sheet over them and looked in her eyes for a moment.

"I wasn't lying about what I said before," He said gently, kissing her softly. "I may be a vile politician as they say, but... I do actually have a heart."

He wrapped his arms around her.

"Tell me a secret, Mara." He said. "Tell me really. What makes a beautiful young Princess like you gallavant off with an old Prime Minister like me?"

---

Near the Adiran Embassy

Karl and Larry of R-SOD began to approach the Adiran Embassy.

Karl and Larry weren't their real names of course - very few members of R-SOD knew each other's real name, just in case they were ever interrogated by an enemy organisation and forced to name other agents.

"It's weird that we're basically arresting our old boss, isn't it Karl?" Said Larry conversationally.

"Mmm..." Said Karl.

"And if he is guilty, how come we're only arresting him now?"

"Well, R-SOD wanted to get him sooner, but our idiot Foreign Minister, Josko Ivers, appointed him as Ambassador to the WA instead."

"Gosh. It makes you long for the last Foreign Minister. He wouldn't have protected the Demoman."

"Larry, the last Foreign Minister was Kurt Demodand." Said Karl.

There was silence for a few moments before Larry piped up again.

"Do you really think that he's guilty though?" Asked Larry.

"I hope not," Said Karl. "I voted for him. Twice."

"You voted for the Demoman!?" Said Larry incredulously.

"Didn't you know? I always vote Conservative." Said Karl. "I've supported the Tories since day one."

"Good god, Karl. I've known you for 12 years. How did I not know this?"

"Well who do you support? Some lefty-liberal party?"

"Me? Nah, I'm a Communist." Said Larry.

"Wow." Said Karl. "Not many of you guys left..."

"We're a dying breed." Said Larry. "But life was better back then. I mean, not so much the totalitarianism but... living quality was better."

"Larry, you can't be a communist. What about that 'I ♥ Capitalism' T-shirt you were wearing at the staff party last year?"

"I bought that to be ironic."

"You bought it? Don't you think buying stuff is a bit, you know, capitalist?"

"Okay okay so I'm not always a communist! Sometimes I vote for the Workers Party instead of the Communist Party. Sheesh..."

They had arrived at the Adiran Embassy. Karl clutched his briefcase, containing a few figures that had been requested of them by the AIS.

"Larry, I'll do all the talking in this meeting." He said.

"Karl!" Whined Larry. "You always get to do all the talking!"

"Well maybe if someone spent less time reading Karl Marx and more time reading mission briefs..."

"Fine Karl. I give up. You do what you want. I'll just stand aside as usual."

"Come on Larry, don't take it like that."

Larry folded his arms and looked away.

"Come on! Larry..."

Larry still blanked him.

Karl sighed and buzzed for the guards to let him into the embassy.

[New Edom]

Mara paused a moment; she leaned up on one elbow, looking at him, and ran a hand over the pectoral hairs on his body, then said, "You know, New Edom's a confusing country for a lot of people. It has an aristocracy which is influential but it's also a republic. It's religious but it is also open minded to change; it's economically growing but it's got socialist influences. I'm like that. People see the word "Princess" and they imagine some kinda fairy tale. I'm not like that. I'm a real person. I can't hide who I am, and I'm reaping the consequences of it. I don't know exactly why. I just know that I liked that you didn't beat around the bush." You're my male Lilith, she didn't say. "Now it's your turn. Were you trying to seduce me to get into New Edom's diplomatic pants, were you just lonely, or what? I mean I'm not the only attractive woman in the WA--though I am probably the most fun." she said with a smile.

[Hittanryan]

As the pair walked back through the offices to meet with the RSOD agents, Rob got on his phone, at which point he made an odd request: "Can you text the girl again?"

"What?"

"Contact at the provider is going to triangulate her position."

"Whoa...hold on, Glenn. Didn't you know where Demoman was already?"

"We need to know where he is currently so we can set up an intercept."

"Why not just kick the door down?"

"Doesn't work that way. We need to extradite him. If we get him on Adiron soil, namely this embassy, he'll get hit with dual criminality. The corruption shit he's accused of in Radiatia is also illegal in Adiron, so we can send him back there even though Adiron and Radiatia don't have an extradition treaty. If we know exactly where he is, we can create a situation where he'll make contact with the AIS. We then trick him into coming to the embassy. Now, can you text the girl?"

Tom thought about it. It hadn't been all that long since he got Mara's reply, and he had never responded in kind. He doubted she would be checking it anyway, and it was equally plausible that he wouldn't necessarily be keeping a close eye on his own phone. Tom acquiesced, and sent an innocuous message: "OK, ttyl."

A few seconds passed, until Rob said thank you and hung up. "World Tower Hotel, 40th floor. I'd leave now, but this is technically a joint op. Where...? That must be them now," Rob said as he saw the elevator hum to life. He thought he'd entertain a bit of curiosity.

"So who is this Mara person, anyway?"

"Princess from New Edom."

"Royalty? That's just begging for trouble."

"She's fun, might be a bit hesitant to open up to anyone, but..."

"Open up? I don't think royals can open up. Monarchy has a long history of court intrigue, succession crises, and self-destructive behavior. Your funeral, Alvarado."

The elevator opened, and the RSOD agents walked in. Rob addressed the pair, "You have the documents?"

[Radiatia]

The Hotel:

"Heh. Well it certainly wasn't diplomatic," Said Kurt. "You should hear what my successor has been saying about New Edom. We've got this horrible atheist lady as a Prime Minister who seems to think she's the second coming of Christ, given how judgemental she is."

Kurt thought for a moment. Why had he gone after her? Thrill of the chase? Lust? Something else...

"There was just something alluring about you..." He heard himself say, but his mind was elsewhere.

Lonliness.

"I think..." He couldn't bring himself to look in her eyes.

Lonliness.

He took a deep breathe. It was time to be honest. And if she hated him for it, well so what.

"Mara... I'm going to tell you something that I don't tell people very often," He said slowly. "The truth is... I've never been in love. I don't know what it is. I've been with nearly every prostitute in Xerconia and yet I've never been loved.

"Imagine for a moment that you've never been happy. How would you know that you were miserable if you didn't know what it's like to be happy?

"That's what my life is Mara. Maybe, for some reason, that's what I saw in you. I mean it Mara. You don't chat someone up after you've fucked them. That's who I am deep down."

---

Adiran Embassy:

Karl and Larry entered the room, with Karl carrying a briefcase and placing it on Rob's desk.

"Affirmative." Said Karl. His accent was harsh and clipped - English was not his first language.

Larry, meanwhile, still wasn't making eye contact with his partner.

"We also have here an official extradition request. We are very grateful to your government in helping us to bring a suspected criminial to trial."

He handed Rob the notice.

EXTRADITION REQUEST

---

TO: The Government of Adiron
FROM: Helka Färber, Head of Internal R-SOD

---

The Radiatian Special Operations Division, having been empowered by the Prime Minister of the Radiatian Federation does hereby request of the government of Adiron that we be permitted to take and recieve from the proper authorities thereof,

THE MOST HONOURABLE KURT JAMES DEMODAND,

Who is wanted to stand trial in the Radiatian Federation, to face accusations of the following Federal Crimes:

- Corruption

-Attempted Embezzlement of Public Funds

-Misleading the public of the Radiatian Federation

That he may be extradited to the Radiatian Federation, to be dealt with according to federal law.

Yours Faithfully,
Helka Färber
Head of Internal R-SOD

RFA Fortress Building
Federation Square
Xerconia, FCT
Radiatian Federation

"We've been building a case against this individual for some time," Said Karl. "But of course it's been caught in the bureacracy and complicated by his high status."

[New Edom]

"Heh. Well it certainly wasn't diplomatic," Said Kurt. "You should hear what my successor has been saying about New Edom. We've got this horrible atheist lady as a Prime Minister who seems to think she's the second coming of Christ, given how judgemental she is."

"Except she's an atheist so she can't be." Mara said, wrinkling her nose. "She doesn't sound like she's very much fun, she looks like a schoolteacher in her pictures."

"Mara... I'm going to tell you something that I don't tell people very often," He said slowly. "The truth is... I've never been in love. I don't know what it is. I've been with nearly every prostitute in Xerconia and yet I've never been loved.

"Imagine for a moment that you've never been happy. How would you know that you were miserable if you didn't know what it's like to be happy?

"That's what my life is Mara. Maybe, for some reason, that's what I saw in you. I mean it Mara. You don't chat someone up after you've fucked them. That's who I am deep down."

Mara was young, and so she didn't really understand getting old entirely, but she understood loneliness when she saw it. "Kurt, I'm a bad girl. I know I'm a Princess, but I am. I like shocking people. I've never had...a sense of propriety. I dunno...I guess I know what love is, but the crazy thing is that I was brought up to believe I could never never ever have the in love feeling with the person I would marry. I grew up knowing that I would probably marry someone I didn't love and might maybe grow to like one day. I'm surprised you didn't get married, but I guess you're Radiatan--not so much of a big deal, not so important right?" she kissed his cheek, then his mouth, and then stroked his hair as she tenderly flicked her tongue against his a moment, the traced it over his lips, as her bosom pressed against him. "You can talk if you want. I'll be here all night."

[Radiatia]

Kurt listened as Mara spoke, running his hands absentmindedly over her breasts as he did.

"We really aren't that different, Mara," He said, as he kissed her soft skin. "I think that's what I like about you. You're me. You're me in another life.

"Don't worry about marriage so much, Mara. It's not a universal thing. It barely exists in Radiatia, we just have a contract guaranteeing that a husband 'owns' his wife and vice versa.

"But love is a universal thing. Love is more important. Neither of know love but maybe, just maybe, love is what we have here. We made love, did we not? Am I making any sense? I have had a lot to drink.

"Maybe, whatever happens in the future to us... maybe I do love you."

He sighed and glanced again at her naked body. He was feeling aroused again.

"I certainly know there are aspects of you that I love..." He murmured with a chuckle, the old charismatic Kurt facade returning as he placed his hand in between her legs, while kissing her neck.

[New Edom]

"Oh, now you love me? Kurt we just met..." Mara said, shivering pleasurably as he began to touch her again. This was ridiculous. Her potential fiance left her kind of cold, though he was a pleasant and honorable man. Her actual lover was another woman who just made her feel cuddly and loving and tender. This guy, more than twice her age, in decent shape admittedly but a guy who was apparently a real jerk and a fascist to boot, was making her melt like chocolate in a warming pan, making her hips move with animal unconsciousness, making her body feel softly sensitive, almost unbearably so. For the first time in her life she had a glimpse of why her mother risked shame so readily. Shuddering, pressing her body against him, she felt bliss. She whispered intensely dirty talk into his ear, visceral things that presented herself as raw, teasing him, wanting to draw it all out. Grabbing his wrist with her hands she stammered amidst her cries her feeling of the pleasures she was experiencing.

[Hittanryan]

Rob handed the briefcase off to another AIS agent, who began to sift through the papers. "Just bear in mind that this assignment requires a more delicate touch," Rob reminded the RSOD agents. "No need to turn a routine arrest into an international manhunt. We flush him out of that hotel, where I'll convince him to go to the embassy. When we get to the hotel, you two stay at your positions and keep an eye out." He fully expected some kind of protest, but Rob, and the AIS in general, didn't have time for turf wars.

"Wait a minute, flush him out? What are you going to do?" Tom asked. "Don't worry, no grenades involved," Rob reassured him with a smirk.

"Well, he's got..." Tom looked at the RSOD agents "...other civilians in the room."

"Don't worry, we're not going to set foot in his room, at least, not while anyone's in it," Rob replied.

"Then how..."

"Leave that to us. There are other AIS guys who'll handle the details, you know they don't fuck around. Come on, we'll get a drink once this is over. Maybe you can even call your 'friend.'"

Rob glanced at the AIS agent checking the paperwork, who gave him a curt nod. All the figures were there. He then faced the RSOD agents, started for the door, and said "Let's move, I'll fill you in on the way."

[Radiatia]

"Karl!" Whined Larry in Radiatian. "I don't speak English! What's he saying?"

"Oh shut up Larry," Replied Karl, turning to the AIS officers. "I have here an express order from the President of the Radiatian Federation which claims that Mr. Demodand is to be appointed the new ambassador to Adiron.

"Needless to say this isn't a real order - but the plan is that we tell him he was expected at the Adiran Embassy quite some time ago.

"Meanwhile, you pull the fire alarm at the embassy to get his attention.

"He knows we're after him, so we have to act now before he changes hotels."

[Hittanryan]

One of the agents said something not in English, Spanish, or Mandarin Chinese, so neither Tom nor Rob understood. However, Rob did seem to think of a last-second detail that he hadn't before. "Actually Alvarado," he said, catching Tom before he went out the door, "you need to come too."

Immediately reluctant, Tom didn't respond. "Mara...what if she's there, or Demoman gets hold of her afterwards? She'll think I got jealous and sicced our intelligence agency on him...how's that for possessiveness?" "What are you talking about, Glenn? It's not like you need muscle for this job, and I'm just a staffer, not a spook."

"Excuse me," Rob said to the RSOD agents, taking Tom aside. "I'll level with you. We're giving Demodand a message that he's been reassigned as the ambassador to Adiron, so that we can get him on Adiran soil at the embassy here and extradite him. You said you met him before, it'll help put his guard down."

"Met him a couple hours ago, sort of. All he did was glad-hand me."

"Still, you're a familiar face. He can confirm you work for the embassy, and you're better than me at the whole politician thing. You'll definitely be more convincing than those two," he said, gesturing to the severe-looking RSOD agents.

Rob saw it wasn't really sinking in, so he tried a different approach. "We need this intel, Alvarado. Since the end of the war and the last bombing campaign, we've only got estimates on the Imperium's rebuilt manufacturing capabilities. We can't let them get the drop on us again."

Slowly, that seemed to bring Tom around. Both of them had lost too many friends to the Imperium to knowingly give the ruthless theocracy an edge, especially considering the Second Burnt Hills War opened with an Imperial surprise attack. Adiron could not afford another intelligence failure like that.

"Give me plausible deniability," Tom said, "and I'll go along. If anyone asks, Friedman sent me out as a gopher with this message thinking it was genuine." "Come on, Tom, you know the AIS. The question is never whether we're paranoid, it's whether we're paranoid enough," he reassured his friend. Rob then turned to the RSOD agents, "And you two, try to look a little less like Secret Service agents and more like run-of-the-mill bodyguards. You know, guard casual."

[Radiatia]

"What's he saying, Karl?"

"We need to act less like agents."

"But we are agents, Karl! Why would we have to lie about being agents"

Karl stared slack-jawed. "Seriously, did you find your R-SOD qualifications in the bottom of a cereal pack."

He turned to the others. "I apologise. My friend speaks no English so I have to explain everything to him." Not to mention he's an idiot. He added silently.

"I do have one question. And that pertains to the timing of the operation. We require an excuse to disturb him so late at night."

He added this as they were already out the door.

[Hittanryan]

The team's vehicles stopped some distance from the hotel. They wanted to give the illusion that they arrived after the fire trucks. Rob was at the lead, with Tom, Karl, and Larry following closely, and two teams of RSOD and AIS agents fanning out. Luckily the hotel was cooperative, and agreed to lock all exits but the main one. First responders were also cooperative, agreeing to stick to a line of "No one allowed back inside until it's all clear." They would make sure to be extra thorough, as well. Word would likely eventually get out, too many people were in on the plan, but it wasn't like they were selling nukes to Urdnotia.

Rob sent Karl off to pull the alarm, and stationed Larry outside the main door. Tom would stay at the front desk and move with the crowd towards Demodand as soon as he made his appearance. All of them, save Tom, were wired. Rob would wait nearby to let Tom know of any sudden moves by the target.

"Got your story straight?" Glenn asked.

"You kidding? We weave more twisted webs than this after lunch every day." Now that Tom was committed, he was starting to get a bit of a rush. He just hoped Mara wouldn't have to bear witness to it all.

"Ah, politics. Good luck, and thanks, Alvarado."

"Just be ready for anything. Did I tell you I got into a fight with an Inquisitor since I've been here?"

"Imperials? Here in the open? Figured they'd keep a low profile."

"Yeah, let's hope the Inquisition hasn't found out about your deal. An ex-PM I can handle. A squad of Templars? Not so much."

"Tell you what, if we fucked things up so bad as to not notice something like that, I'm buying."

"Gee, thanks."

Rob got into position, sitting down in a chair in the lobby. It was angled so he could watch what was happening without having to turn his head. He grabbed a Time magazine from the coffee table in front of him, opened it up, then put a cell phone to his ear. The phone was off, he just needed to make it look like he wasn't talking to himself. "Yeah, hi. What was the line? Something something, death and taxes, Confucius? OK, OK, calm down, no need for alarm."

The last sentence was the only one that mattered. Karl, sequestered away from the action, pulled the fire alarm, and the fun began.

[Radiatia]

Kurt Demodand was passionately kissing Mara, after another bout of love-making when there was a sudden blare of sirens.

"What the fuck?" Kurt shouted.

"Please evacuate. This is not a drill. Please evacuate."

He stared at Mara. "It's a fucking fire alarm!"

Visibly angry he put some trousers on as hurriedly as he could, helping Mara to dress herself and head down the fire escape.

"Well, Mara I hope I can't be blamed for this... indiscretion." Said Kurt with a bitter laugh.

He had been enjoying himself. He didn't know if he genuinely cared for Mara yet, or if he was simply in love with the idea of shagging a hot foreign princess half his age - but he was most annoyed at having had this time interrupted.

Once down in the lobby he joined the crowd.

"What he fuck is going on?" He yelled, but was drowned out by the other shouts of frustration.

---

Outside the building, Larry waited for instructions from Karl, who was himself waiting for instructions from Rob.

He remained on alert, trying to spot Kurt Demodand in the crowd. It was difficult - the former PM was known to only be 5 ft tall, and therefore not easy to spot.

So he remained waiting.