Johan Birch

"I'll have to thank Erin for her part."

"Erin doesn't know about the airfield yet, just that I needed you away from this particular area. I figure you can fly Erin, Jason, and the kids in sometime soon."

"You also kept me away from here. But not enough, I would have seen it unless..."

"Cloaking spell," Petra admitted. "Gerry, what is that rattling in your head over there?"

"I'm just thinking about how interesting my life has become because of magic. If there was no magic in the world? I would not be celebrating grandchildren. The arms business was dark, and I don't think I would have found my way out except by dying. Jaci Stone, she pulled on my hair so hard that my head came out of my ass and I saw that my life could be lived without selling guns. I thank the goddess for the day that Jaci crossed Valerie's path."

"Yes," I nodded. "To a life without guns. To the Unity."

"To Unity," Gerard nodded.

There was a popping sound. Aysun and Grace had went to get a bottle of champagne and a tray full of glasses. Gregory joined us for our toast: "To Jason Stonebrook!" Petra said.

"Huh?" Gerard asked.

"There's more to that story than you know right now, Gerry," I chuckled. "To...what is this airfield called?"

"Quarry Airfield," Petra replied with a giggle.

"Still with the fucking rock names. To Quarry Airfield!"

"Hear! Hear!" The rest agreed.

"Rock names, Petra?"

"That's okay, my plane is named 'Shale," Gregory announced. "I didn't have a choice, either."

"I'll bet that's a decent color," I nodded.

"Sir, I have my own jet," Gregory said. "I wouldn't have cared if Missus Birch had it dyed brown and named it 'Potty Training.'"

That was worth a good laugh.

***

I was done negotiating a deal for some land in South Carolina and was on my way back to Los Angeles when I got a call asking me to divert to Denver. I was in the cockpit with Gregory, learning nighttime flying in my jet. He walked me through a diversion and we landed thirty minutes later.

Gregory rated my landing as an eight, his highest ever for me. I had made a VFR landing at a high-altitude airfield with variable cover on the runway.

An ambulance came onto the tarmac, pulling up to the rear of the plane. The rear cabin could actually accept cargo and was serviced by a cargo door. It had come in handy more than once.

No sooner as I got the door open was a man with a medic uniform backing through with a stretcher. I got a glance at the patient, it was Natalie Birch. I helped the medic secure the stretcher to the deck when Yvonne Birch came through the door next, followed by another medic leading another stretcher.

I didn't know the man on the second stretcher, but I helped lash it down as well. The medics left the plane, and Samantha came through the door, followed by Natasha. I pulled the lever to activate the door mechanisms, and the plane was moving even before the doors finished closing.

"So, this is going to be an interesting flight," I commented. "Four magicians on one plane might attract some attention."

"Well, it's actually only three magicians," Samantha said as she pulled me into a hug. "Long story."

"Are they stable?" I indicated the two stretchers.

"As they can be," Yvonne admitted. "The worst is behind both of them, but we need to get to your medical facility very soon."

"My medical facility?" I asked.

"Nat, you can keep an eye on them?" Yvonne asked.

"I'm good," Natasha nodded. "Good to see you, Joe-han."

"Good to see you too, Tash," I gave her a wink.

"Goddess, you two," Yvonne sighed.

When I had been learning how to use my new body, Petra had brought Natasha in to spar with us. As a guardian, she could defend using magic with little effort, but there were times when that wasn't always feasible.

So I volunteered to teach some of the guardians how to fight hand-to-hand. When I asked why in all their centuries they didn't have any kind of advanced martial arts training, they didn't have a good answer.

One day I had been sparring with Natasha topless, and evidently my chest hair had been a little too arousing for her. She very illegally swept my left leg, and I landed on my back and she pounced on me. I didn't resist her ferocious kissing at first, but had managed to remember that Natasha was off-limits.

When she asked why I held her away from me, I told her that Jaci had made a promise to Samantha not to take her virginity. Natasha took a moment to weigh my words, then gave me a little peck on the lips before she rolled off of me and into a standing position. She stripped off her clothing, lastly her panties, which she threw at my head and walked off.

The next day, she started calling me 'Joe-han' explaining that she was telling me to 'put Joe-hands' on her body.

My calling her 'Tash' was my way of upping the sexual-tension ante, as only her intimates got to call her 'Tash.' The name-game was either a source of amusement or concern to her charges, but I never knew which. With Samantha back on Plane Terra, something would have to give.

I led Samantha and Yvonne into the main passenger cabin, pausing to pour three shot-glasses of whiskey for us. As natural immortals they couldn't get drunk, but they still had taste buds and I had good whiskey.

"So, what gives?" I asked.

"The man on the stretcher back there is Kyle Andrews," Yvonne said. "He's destined to be Starshine."

That word cause me to look over at Samantha. "Lucky guy," I panned.

"Put a sock in it," Samantha wagged a finger at me. "I gave you my word, my vow."

Not me.

"Jaci Stone told you that Merlin's Polygon was a joke written into the Alamain Zakrona by Mordred," I countered.

Yvonne put her hand up. "We believed her, and still do. The stupidity of the legend finally caught up to us when we learned that Paula Zedek and her sisters were dealing with a different version of the Alamain Zakrona. Their version does not specify that the seven daughters of each of the seven daughters has to be by the same man."

"Oh, neat," I chuckled. "But since there are only so many men in the world that can handle you gals..."

"It may as well be by the same man," Samantha giggled. "Yes, we know."

"Keep going," I said. "Tell me why a woman that I know to be an immortal is in my cabin with her legs splinted."

"Natalie gave up her immortality in her quest for Kyle. Magic could only track him so far, so she shed her immortality and went searching for him as a mortal," Yvonne explained.

Samantha picked up the story, "We tracked him to a ski lodge and Natalie was zooming in on him when Kyle vanished. He hadn't checked out, but he had rented some gear and was going to go cross-country hiking. Natalie went cross-country skiing, and they met when Natalie went along a miss-marked path and off a cliff. She found Kyle all right, by landing almost on top of him."

"Natalie suffered compound fractures of both legs," Yvonne said. "Kyle set the fractures and fashioned a carrier to drag her back to the town. Ten kilometers through a forest, half of it at night. He brought her back to us, almost killing himself in the process."

"Broke his ankle," I nodded. "And no magic, he'll be a hero to you all. You know, of course, that's part of the legend."

"What?" Yvonne asked.

"Not so much on the specifics, but Merlin did foresee that Starshine would be a hero in his own right. Nothing about how many kids he would have, but a hero nonetheless," I answered. "I guess you gals can't read that book either, mostly because it applies to you."

"He won't be Starshine if we don't get him to a non-magical doctor," Yvonne said.

"Don't you have healers?"

"They can't effect healing on either of them. Natalie, because she gave up her magic so that she could get closer to him, and Kyle because he has lead in his body. It's unusual, all that lead, but none of the signs of lead poisoning."

"So magic can't work on him," I nodded. "That's why you need my hospital, because you think that Gemma can help them both. I do hope you're right, because I am sure there were plenty of doctors in Denver and you may just have signed both Kyle's and Natalie's death warrants."

Yvonne didn't know what to say to that, there was no counter because she knew that I was right.

"Sam?" I asked.

"I know what you are going to say," Samantha sighed.

"Jaci Stone, your wife, is dead. She has been apart from you for over two hundred years, and while I carry her soul, we have never reconciled."

"Yes, Johan. Petra and I have debated that. I'm sure that I feel the same way about you as Petra felt about Jaci."

"Because of Peter, I know." I went and knelt in front of her. "I release you."

Samatha slapped me, and immediately burst into tears. I stood up and backed away so that Yvonne could comfort her. I knew she wouldn't want comfort from me.

Goodbye, Samantha.

After a few minutes, Samantha got up and went into the rear cabin. "Was I too harsh, Yvonne?"

"No." Yvonne shook her head. "She told me that she was waiting for that. For some reason Samantha still felt bound by her wedding vows."

"Okay," I nodded.

Natasha came in and plopped onto the bench across from me. "She's okay."

"We need to let go of this game we are playing, Natasha. You're a guardian."

"I know, Johan. My search for a suitable replacement has met with a lot of dead ends. But there will be a time when I will come to you. If you refuse me, you'll make me cry."

Yvonne chuckled. "Big girls don't cry."

Natasha turned to look at Yvonne. "So says you."

"You little friend Tatiana wouldn't make a good guardian? She seemed powerful enough."

"Except she got married to one of Jaci Stone's kids. He's knocked her up four times already," Natasha giggled. "I'll find someone."

Natasha whipped her head around toward Yvonne. Their eyes met, but neither said anything.

"Give it about fifty years or so," I offered. "By that time, I'll be old and grey, and it won't matter."

"You don't know that for sure," Natasha countered. "I'm going to check on Madame Samantha."

***

The transfer from the jet went off without a hitch, the helicopter whispering off in the direction of Birch Medical. There was something behind Yvonne's silence the rest of the flight that bothered me. I couldn't put a finger on it until after I got into the car that was waiting outside my hangar.

Starshine.

Nora was waiting in the car, and she immediately handed me my phone. Petra answered. "Hello, husband. I didn't think you would be calling me so soon."

"Petra, we may need to activate The Siefert Clause in my agreement with the Birch sisters."

"So you are a precognitive," Petra sighed. "I never thought you would need that clause. Care to share?"

"The man we scooped up with Natalie? They believe that he is Starshine."

"Oh. According to the legend, he would take over leadership of the Birch clan..."

"And all of its assets," I finished.

"I'll get Arthur on the legal part of the case," Petra said. "The Granite Slab, LLC branding? I never thought we would use it. I'll get the legal division on it first thing Monday."

"There's no rush. I have a feeling that it'll take a month or two for them to get all the knives ready."

"Knives," Petra snorted. "They're going to get dulled, the Laws of Man will see to that."

"Now who's the precognitive?" I asked.

***

It took the Birch Sisters three months to get their knives ready. They made an actual appointment for a meeting, and then they strode into my conference room like they owned it, which they thought they did. There were only six of them, Samantha wasn't there.

Yvonne began. "Mister Birch."

"Ms. Birch."

"As the six heads of Birch Industries, we are demanding return of our assets, namely Birch Research, Development, and Production, along with Birch America and all divisions thereof."

"So you are referring to Birch Aerospace, Birch Aeronautics..."

"All divisions of Birch America," Yvonne interrupted.

"Well, you can't have them. If you'll refer to page 67, titled 'The Siefert Clause.'"

"The Siefert Clause does not apply here," Yvonne countered. "You created those companies using funds from Birch America accounts."

"You are quite wrong. The only funds I did use were for the purchase of Boulder, Limited, and all of its subsidiaries. I repaid those funds within the year, adding the interest rate specified on page 89."

Vera was working on a laptop that she had brought with her. "There is no such payment in our system."

I had to smile. Petra had done work in accounting in her early years working for Birch Industries. She knew their systems, and knew them well.

"There weren't any payments directly from me, to be sure. When I told Arthur to put The Siefert Clause into our agreement, Petra asked me why I wanted it in there. She swore up and down that you wouldn't do such a thing, but here we are."

"Get to the point," Yvonne demanded.

"I had my people create a company called Granite Slab, LLC. Within that company, thirty shell companies were created." I chuckled. "The names were Maple and Oak, LLC, and various other tree and rock names. Those companies made payments to the one hundred twenty Birch Industries offices around the world totalling a little over two hundred million a month. Your systems don't really question incoming money, only the outgoing funds."

"What are the names of those companies?" Vera demanded.

"In the folder in front of you."

After a few minutes of fast and furious typing, Vera let out a sigh. "It's all in there. There were slight overpayments and underpayments of the funds due to exchange rates changing, but they all match up."

"There is the question of the initial capitalization of all those divisions," Yvonne said. One billion US dollars over the course of the following years."

"I paid for those with my money. Most of the funds came from sales of various products, the biggest being the mining contract I have with Brooks Mining. Under my scientific testing area known as 'Gravelton,' there are gold mines. You already know about the god's tear under the house that was once owned by Jaci Stone."

"The ownership of that gold is still in question," Vera countered.

Yeah, that was a big 'Oh Shit,' followed by Revengers.

"Leave it alone, Vera," Natalie warned. "That gold belongs to the owner of that house. I have already established that."

"Your meeting with Jaci Stone and your subsequent disappearance are still questionable," Vera countered.

The intercom on the phone in front of me beeped, as I thought that it might. "Sir, you have visitors in the front office," Nora's shaky voice said.

"How many?" I asked.

"Just two, sir. Joshua and Athena."

Two.That would be enough.

"Tell them to come on in." I knew Nora would be scared to death to turn her back on them.

The door opened, Joshua and Athena entering and circling clockwise around the table. The six of them grew very pale, Natalie more than the rest.

"Natalie, you can go ahead and take off. You delivered the warning and it was ignored."

She couldn't move fast enough, her chair falling over she moved so fast.

"How dare you!" Diedre snarled. "Dismissing us like children in a classroom!"

"I thought Revengers were supposed to prosecute crimes, not abet them," Vera observed.

Joshua growled, I held up my hand to stay him. The five remaining Birch women grew even more pale.

"Joy and Sunday don't want to be here, either. They don't understand why Yvonne is taking such a stance against you," Athena said.

"Go," I gave a flick of my hand and Sunday and Joy left just as fast as Natalie had.

"Yes, I don't understand it, either," Joshua added.

"Yvonne, I signed that contract in good faith. I only want to keep what is technically mine, nothing more."

"You don't deserve anything! We only gave you those companies because we wanted to see you fail," Vera snapped. "To prove that your former self wasn't worthy of Samantha. And you still aren't."

"Samantha never should have lain eyes on Jaci Stone!" Diedre piled on. "Now here you are, still stealing from us..."

I had stolen nothing. "Athena, you can play with your food," I sighed.

"It's no fun when you give permission." I heard a growl, and Athena jumped on the table and lunged toward Diedre. They both vanished in a popping sound, not even moving the chair Diedre had been occupying.

And then there were two.

"Joshua, I'd like to talk to Yvonne alone." It was an order. I blinked and he left, taking Vera with him.

"What are you going to do to me?" Yvonne asked.

"You didn't come here to just take your companies back. You came to try and take my hard work as well. There was a reason I set up everything the way that I did, because I knew you would try something like this."

"We gave you a company and our countenance to make another in our name."

"Your name," I interrupted. "What was that you and Diedre said to me when I established my identity?"

"You have the Birch name but you are not one of us," Yvonne replied.

"Like I said before, I created everything else in my name."

"You wouldn't have had the money to buy anything if we hadn't given it to you!"

"It was a loan, which I repaid. You, the six of you signed that contract, stating that I could use money from the Birch accounts for my personal ventures."

"We didn't think you would use almost four billion US dollars!"

"I repaid that money to you! Does it matter now?" She shook her head. "I'll happily return Birch America and Birch RDaP to your family. Everything else is mine, and I have the papers to prove it."

"Keep them," Yvonne raised her hand. "Despite what Vera may think, you are an excellent and shrewd businessman."

"You aren't caving because of my Revengers, are you?"

"Say what? Oh, yes, that totally escaped me. How does one control Revengers?"

"Well, that's a long story, going back to before there was recorded history. There had to be order to establish civilization, you see?"

"I understand."

"There was a goddess, she was named Ceres, and one of her side-jobs was to establish law and order. She had enforcers called Revengers."

"I'm guessing that Ceres didn't choose men to rule this civilization."

"No, but that is a totally different story. Everything that you do know fits, right?" I asked.

"Yes, oral and some written history picks up from there. It also fits that gaia doesn't involve herself with normal human events. Samantha knows all of this?"

"She and Jaci spent some time on Fontalan for their honeymoon," I nodded.

"So the Revengers listen to you because you are Ceres, or a descendant of?"

"You know, not even they know that, they just feel that they have to follow me," I admitted. "As you well know, I can die. I have descendants, but I don't know if the Revengers will follow them."

"Good enough. No, I'm not feeling under duress, and I am going to give you full control of our North and South American companies," Yvonne said.

"We're going to need some lawyers in here," I sighed. "I don't want to have to go through this again."

Yvonne stood up and rounded the table. "We can shake on it, just like the old-old-old days, yes?"

"I find myself questioning your motives, Madam Birch. You came in here ready to try and strip me of my companies, all of them. Now you are just giving up and wanting to return to the status quo."

"As you have seen, which I didn't see until today, that four of my sisters would stand against me. I knew Samantha's position, she absolutely refused to come here, calling us 'a bunch of vindictive bitches.'"

"If the heels fit," I offered.

"Then Natalie. She was a little...unusual after she had that meeting with Jaci and Doctor Winters. She told us this story, and even though Samantha backed her up, we just thought it was good fiction. I discounted Natalie's jitters today, chalking it up to her recent near-death experience."