34 - Chapter 32
Tasha was lounging in her room when she received a call from the concierge letting her know that her guest was waiting. From the tone and urgency of his call, Tasha was sure that it was Malim.
She double checked that everything was packed and made her way down to the lobby. Malim was seated in one of the luxurious divans idly playing with his phone. He noticed her as she exited the lift and made her way over to him.
“Good morning Tasha.” said Malim, his tone casual and friendly. “Before we leave for our agreed meeting, let me first fulfil the other part of our agreement.”
Malim took out a folio and handed it to her.
“This contains a contract handing over full control of Daud mining to your group as promised.” continued Malim. “Further, we have made sure that everyone who rejected your most generous offer has now changed their minds. They will be in touch with your team to complete the transactions today. I do hope that is all satisfactory.”
“It is an acceptable start, Malim.” replied Tasha, matching her tone to Malim. “And good morning to you too. Give me a few minutes to brief my team. Also can you let me know where we will be going, as my security team would like to be kept informed.”
“Unfortunately, the deal was for you to be read in, not your security team.” replied Malim, sounding contrite. “It was difficult enough to manage getting you cleared. I am afraid, we will not be able to extend the courtesy to any others.”
“They will not be happy.” replied Tasha. “However, this does mean your family is taking full responsibility for my safety. I am sure you are aware, my team can be extremely protective.”
“Of course, the Daud family pledge to vouchsafe your personage for the duration of your stay.” replied Malim in an overly formal manner. The fact that he was doing so in such a public manner was a great indicator of his intentions.
“Thank you Malim,” replied Tasha. “I am sure my team will feel more comfortable with the situation with your ardent assurances.”
In reality, Tasha was less concerned about Malim, and by extension, the Syndicate’s behaviour. They knew that if they attacked Tasha, while they would most likely be able to kill her, they would not escape unscathed in the aftermath. The amount of sheer wealth that could be brought to bear against them was unfathomable. She was more concerned about rogue agents taking matters into their own hands. However, with Malim’s very public assurances, even if the Daud family survived an attempt against her, their reputation would be destroyed. Guest rights were taken very seriously in the old families.
Tasha left Malim in the lounge and made her way up to the suite that was currently operating as her local branch office. She entered to find staff members already busy at work, this was from both teams, the local admin team and her security team.
She handed over the folio to the admin staff. “I am told all the companies that turned us down have changed their minds. The deals should all close today.” said Tasha. “Let Mamat know and get him to finalise the deals in my stead.”
She looked towards the security team. “I will be out with Malim bin Daud for most of the day,” she continued. “I will not be able to take a security team with me in this instance, however, please update Hanna, and let her know who I left with. Let her know he, and his family, have formally vouchsafed my life and sworn to undertake my protection.”
The security team were clearly not happy with the details of the arrangement, but were not in a position to challenge the decision. They agreed to pass on the message as soon as possible. Tasha returned to the waiting Malim.
“I am ready, shall we?” asked Tasha.
Malim stood and motioned for her to go first. Tasha stepped out of the hotel to find a beautiful Rolls-Royce Phantom Cintilla parked right outside. The driver was waiting with the rear door open. Tasha accepted the open invitation and stepped into the car. Malim entered from the other side and the driver gently closed the door. As the driver entered the driver seat and pulled away from the hotel, Tasha spoke.
“I am impressed,” whistled Tasha. “I believe only ten of these cars were made this year. And you managed to get your hands on one.” Tasha knew that Malim was just casually showing off his wealth in an attempt to claim parity with her. Though she was not showy, the wealth she controlled had to be intimidating to families like the Dauds.
“This thing,” replied Malim, in a tone of affected nonchalance. “A toy, nothing more. Since it is a new toy, I thought it would be appropriate to see how she handles.”
They made small talk as they drove out of the city centre. “Are we heading to Damansara Heights?” asked Tasha. “Don’t tell me you have purchased a modest estate out there.”
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“It is a small holding,” replied Malim. He was a little nonplussed by Tasha causal disregard for the threat he and his family posed. Her minor jabs had not passed unnoticed. “Just a place we use to hold informal meetings, when the family estate is not suitable.”
They were soon pulling into a walled estate decorated in a tastefully minimalist modern design. The driver opened the doors for them and they were greeted at the door by an uniformed butler.
“I must say, the estate is elegant, but does not match the car.” teased Tasha. “I thought you would have made sure to accessorise perfectly.”
“Sometimes we must mix and match,” replied Malim. “It is a burden, but someone has to bear it. This way please.”
Malim led Tasha deeper into the house, and towards a modern security door. The door opened upon their approach and an armed guard let them through, then closed the door behind them.
Tasha looked around the room, and recognised it for what it was. It was a SCIF, a sensitive compartmented information facility. Tasha had spent years in and out of facilities like this one. It seemed to be an up to date facility, and was geneally well designed.
“I have to say,” said Tasha. “I am impressed with the fact you even have a SCIF. Nice to see information security being taken seriously. Though we could have just used the SCIF I had put together at the hotel.”
“While I am sure that your team does excellent work.” replied Malim. “There was another reason for us coming here today.”
As he spoke the door opened and another man entered. He looked like a slightly older version of Malim, yet exuded an aura of power and command. Given that the family was a clan of ancient vampires, and the clan patriarch was coming to meet with this man, rather than calling for him to attend, that left very few options as to the identity of this man.
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” said Tasha. “Forgive me, I am not aware of the formal address, should I refer to you as founder or ancestor?”
The man was taken aback by Tasha’s entire demeanour. Prey should not be able to face him uncowed, and unbowed, yet this woman did both. He could also feel a presence from her that marked her as another hunter. He was sure he could win if it came to a fight, but it would not be unscathed. That alone sent warning bells ringing at the back of his mind. This woman was truly dangerous.
“It is a pleasure to meet you Ms Andersen,” replied the Ancestor. “Malim had mentioned that you were unusually well informed and highly perceptive. I am impressed to see that if anything he undersold your capabilities. You may address me as ancestor.”
“Thank you for joining us, Ancestor.” Said Malim. “You should be aware that I, in the name of the family, have vouchsafed Tasha at least until her return back to her hotel.”
“I see,” replied the Ancestor. “It seems that you are more paranoid than even I gave you credit for. I take it you are aware of what that means?”
“I believe, it goes back to ancient guest rights, Ancestor,” replied Tasha, a little amused at the little test. “As long as I do nothing to disrespect the clan, the clan is obligated to defend me against all threats, internal and external even unto death. However, since I am here as part of agreed recompense of a blood debt, there is no action short of an overt hostile act that could give cause to the clan to remove my protection. Even then, if I were to be attacked first, physically or verbally, I would be at liberty to respond in a proportionate manner without sanction.”
“So, you came prepared.” respond the Ancestor. “Very well, as the young patriarch has agreed, the family owe you a significant blood debt, but what you ask is no small thing. Are you aware of the consequences of revealing the secrets you are going to learn today to anyone outside the group?”
“Pardon me Ancestor,” replied Tasha. “But I think you are labouring under a misperception. If I reveal the details of what I think I am here to learn about, then your little group will face a unified human race, looking to erase your group from existence, and would be able to accomplish it, albeit at significant cost.”
“Oh,” replied the Ancestor. “And what do you think you are here to learn?”
“You are going to give me the details,” replied Tasha. “But the general gist is that magic is real and used to exist in the world, but for some reason was lost. When magic existed, all the races from the stories lived openly on the earth, but had to go into hiding or leave when magic was lost. You stayed hidden and formed a group, and now find yourselves facing a very dangerous human race. Or something to that effect.”
Tasha had spent a significant amount of time thinking through the implications of the existence of vampires, of a shadowy group that even she had not heard of called the syndicate and the the details from her own brand new system.
If vampires were real, and magic was real, then it only stood to reason that all the races described in children's stories are a remnant of a danger that once walked the earth openly. The stories were created to teach the children of the dangers they faced, but as magic failed and the races either left or went into hiding, the cautionary tales turned into fanciful fables. Her system had already confirmed the existence of dragons, everything else, however impressive in isolation, paled in comparison.
“You are indeed a dangerous woman.” mused the Ancestor. “Why would you reveal your hand so? Surely you could have used the knowledge and sought a more appropriate price from us? Ah, so that’s it. By revealing the main secret yourself, you significantly reduce the value of our information, while at the same time showing us how badly we have broken information security already. If we do not give you something of the appropriate value for the blood price, then you could refuse on the basis we are being insincere. Effectively you are now holding the clan hostage, and we can’t even blame you as the situation was created by us.”
“It’s good to speak to someone who can keep up, Ancestor.” replied Tasha. “You have no idea how often we were forced to explain things in excruciating detail and even then people did not understand in my former profession. So what will you choose to do, sacrifice pride or sacrifice blood?”