proselytize, and they were horrified that humans were adopting their practices. Since the Alfar were so tight- lipped we didn’t actually know what they called their faith. Nellie Winston, the first convert and founder of the first center, took a page from science, awkwardly bolted it onto the concept of change and transformation, and called it
Point was that, fairly or unfairly, when I ever bothered to think about Phase Change, I’d filed it under “loony cult” or “elfology,” which probably wasn’t fair since it was practiced by an entire race who had as much right to their respective looniness as the rest of us.
There weren’t a lot of phase centers because it was at heart an alien religion and it was confusing. The centers also seemed to be more prevalent where there was a lot of interaction between humans and Alfar. Which mean they tended to cluster in big cosmopolitan areas and in countries where religion wasn’t taken too seriously.
Naturally the first and by far the largest center was located in Los Angeles. Which made sense because this was a place where Alfar and humans had been living in fairly close proximity since the late 1960s. It was also a place that was in a constant state of flux. Don’t like your boobs, your lips, your hair, your name, your character? Change ’em! The Alfar worship of mutability made complete sense in Hollywood.
So the issue wasn’t understanding Phase Change. The issue was whether Kate Billingham’s embrace of this faith had influenced her husband. Merlin was a whiz. I was always links and pages behind him as we tore through everything we could find about Billingham, Montolbano, and Phase Change.
This temple to the Alfar gods resided in an old mansion just off Hollywood Boulevard. Kate Billingham, Jeff’s wife, was on the board of directors and had helped purchase the building. She wasn’t just a casual convert. She was deeply involved. Which would have made LeBlanc’s objection credible if the articles about Kate’s conversion hadn’t gone back
I made them wait. Because I was really annoyed. Actually pissed was closer to how I felt, but pissed didn’t sound very professional. I knew how I was going to rule, and I had a feeling I was going to be hearing about it on
I walked back into the conference room and surveyed the terrain. Everyone was keeping to their individual tribes. It wasn’t surprising that the human and Alfar actors weren’t mingling, but even the agents and the studios and networks who should have had common cause were keeping to themselves. It disturbed me because for the first time I was getting an inkling of how most humans viewed the Powers. I had an admittedly skewed view. My father had business interests with them. I had been fostered by them. I worked for them.
Most humans never really interacted with them. They just knew the Powers were richer and far more powerful than themselves. Of course this was nothing new. Before they’d gone public the Powers had still wielded enormous power, both financial and political, but from behind the scenes. They had pulled the strings. The difference now was that humans could see the strings being pulled. Groups like Human First were manipulating people, convincing them that they were being denied rights, wealth, power. Right now they were just going after the Alfar, but how long before they broadened the attack to the entire triad of inhuman powers? And a steady diet of resentment and hatred could only have one result—violence.
I feared this case was the first salvo.
But the broader societal implications weren’t my problem right now. This arbitration was my problem. I walked back up to the head of the conference room table. There was a rattling of china as coffee cups and plates were set aside, the chattering as chair wheels rolled across bamboo flooring, the whisper of shuffled paper, a few coughs, then silence. Everyone was now seated and regarding me. I met LeBlanc’s lizard stare and wondered if she would have raised this if David had been present? I decided she wouldn’t have, and the fact that she obviously viewed me with disdain got me mad all over again and stiffened my spine.
Gabaldon got to her feet. “Ms. Ellery, if I might have the opportunity to rebut Ms. LeBlanc’s assertions.”
For an instant I considered allowing her to take point. It lowered my visibility, defused any accusation of bias, but I could read the other woman’s expression. She wasn’t as overtly dismissive as LeBlanc, but it was there. Some of it was age. I was a baby lawyer, not even a year out of law school, but some of it was also because women still have a tendency to give greater credence to men. I suspected that if David had been present Gabaldon wouldn’t have been so quick to rise to her feet. I understood the impulse, I did it too, but I wasn’t going to let it stand. And it was time I tested myself. Maybe past time.
“Thank you, Ms. Gabaldon, but I will address this myself.” I shifted to look at LeBlanc. “Ms. LeBlanc. I’ve researched your claim.” I picked up the three-inch-thick stack of papers I’d carried in with me and dropped them with a dull
I leaned back in my chair and realized I hadn’t taken a breath the entire time I’d been talking. I sucked in a lungful of air and felt the pain in my chest and the fluttering in my stomach recede. I snuck a glance at my watch: 2:20 p.m.
“Ms. LeBlanc, do you intend to present evidence in the time remaining to us?”
“I had a casting director lined up, but when you called the recess she had to get back to work.”
“Can you get her back?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Will you have her first thing tomorrow morning?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Fine, then, we are recessed until tomorrow morning at nine a.m.” I stood.
“Will Mr. Sullivan be back tomorrow?” Brubaker asked.
“I have no idea. You may just have to deal with me.” I was startled when he ducked his head and looked down.
I gathered up my papers and headed for the door. Jeff touched me on the elbow before I could exit.
“Thank you,” he said and then his expression darkened. “They can go after me all they want, but when they start in on my wife…”
I touched his arm gently. “I know. You don’t have to say anything more.”
I headed back to my office cave reflecting on love. Conclusion: it was a good thing, and I wished I had somebody as protective of me as Jeff was of his Kate.
Qwendar was at the water cooler filling a paper cup. He gave me his wintery smile. “You are a most interesting young lady.”
“Interesting in the Chinese proverb sense?” I asked, a bit suspicious.
He chuckled, a sound like a breeze whispering through fallen leaves. “No, interesting as in intelligent, passionate, determined. In short, you were rather impressive.”
“Tiny but mighty, that’s me … okay, maybe not so much.”
“You should not doubt yourself.”
I slumped. “Thanks, but I was really nervous.”
“It didn’t show.”
“If it didn’t I can thank Mr. Bainbridge and my father. I channeled them.”
“Well, it worked.” He paused for a sip. “Though it is a bit disconcerting to have humans trying to worship in our manner when they cannot possibly understand our faith.”
“What do you mean?”
“You cannot walk the worlds, so you can’t see the face of…” He paused. “Well, let’s call it God since you really don’t have a word for it.” He correctly interpreted my expression. “You don’t agree.”
“I think there’s a constant tension between inclusion and superiority in religions. The “chosen people” strain
