Sholan Alliance - AU Bk 04 Ch. 15

Both women gave him a good smile, "Pleased to finally meet you Grand Marshall. When you come back from the Fijishi come to our house for a meal. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you will be invited and we have a guest room as well." Amanda had heard of the man and had been impressed.

"Thank you Lady Amanda, I would be honored to come to a meal. Now we need to ensure we have everything to go up. If you'll excuse us." He gave her a nod and after glancing at Ike left the rooms.

~~~

Flower boy and the SDB

J'Kalan had waited several days before he went back to the Embassy. Before then he had talked to his parents about what had happened that morning. He didn't realize his parents were feeling rathe skeptical about what he was telling them. After he had talked to them and showed them the card Billy had given him his father had decided to go the Embassy. He had taken two hours off from work which was showing how much he was worried. They weren't a well-off family and had barely enough money for the house, bills, and food for their three children. Two were his and the third was from a previous bonding. The mother of the other child did provide some support but she wasn't well of either.

L'Edelon arrived at the Embassy right after 8am. He approached the warrior at the gate and held the card out, "I'm the father of J'Kalan who was invited by Ambassador Madlax to come back. I wish to talk to the Ambassador about this." It was hard to stand tall since he wasn't well off. Trying to face the Ambassador scared him badly. He was way up in society and L'Edelon was just above the poverty line. His son was very intelligent and had taken what he had taught him on working with engines and run with it. Between his son's job and helping his father they brought in enough to survive.

C'Astaellon took the card and gave it a good look before handing it back, "Good morning L'Edelon, go through that door and talk to the ladies at the front desk and they will help you." He knew about the flowers and the boy who had delivered them the last few sets of flowers.

The man flicked his ears at the Warrior, "Thank you." He headed to the door and had to pause before he opened it and walked in. The place was almost overwhelming in how it was designed. When he approached the desk, he found a human female there, "Um, I'm J'Kalan's father and hoped to talk to the Ambassador and his offer to my son." He held the card out and couldn't keep the slight shaking of his hands controlled.

Jenna looked up and could tell the man wasn't very comfortable. Frankly he looks almost scared to be there and asking to talk to Billy, "Give me a few minutes and I'll be back. Go and have a seat. If you want there is coffee, cshar, and even some juice. Have something to drink while I talk to the Ambassador." She waved him to the drink area while she stood and left the room.

When she walked into his office Billy looked up and he sighed, "More paperwork to sign?" It seemed like his mornings were nothing but fucking paperwork. It was even worse than when he had been in the military.

Jenna shook her head even as she handed the card over, "No, the father of the flower boy is here to talk to you. Be gentle with him since he looks like he almost wants to bolt. He is here for his son and that is the only reason he is still here. I have a feeling he is trying not to be overwhelmed by being in an Embassy to the new race."

"Ah, bring him in, get a tray of some snacks and bring it in. I have coffee and other drinks he might like. Thanks for letting me know." He moved over to one of the chairs in his office and started looking at one of the various documents he needed to review.

The man was shown in just a short time later and Billy looked up and waved him towards a chair, "Come, have a seat. Pleased to meet J'Kalan's father. You have a very smart young son. He saw what I was working on and recognized the components. He makes me think of when I was about his age. The drive and desire for knowledge can't be mistaken. My daughters have the same drive." He gave the man a knowing smile, "So what can I do for you?"

L'Edelon sat down in the chair and did his best not to look scared or worried. This alien was at the top of society as far as he was concerned. He didn't want to upset the man and possibly cause problems for his son but he needed to ensure it was a valid offer. He finally took a deep breath, "Ambassador..." He took another breath, "I don't want to upset or anger you but I want to ensure that your offer to my son is valid. I want the best for him and he is so smart when it comes to engines. I don't know why you offered him a chance to... I guess study or learn from you. We aren't well off and nobody has offered this before. I love him and he is a damn good son. Not sure what else to say."

Billy took a sip of his coffee and considered the best way to respond. He finally settled to be a homeboy as he replied, "Oh hell, wasn't well of when growing as well. We had a farm but it was only enough to keep us going. Didn't have a great deal of things growing up. Mah friends were about the same as me. We spent time fishing, swimming in the farm pond, and things like that. Didn't have all the fancy tech the well-off had. My computer was old, so was most of the other stuff." He leaned back and grinned, "Dealt with the computer, upgraded it and rebuild it. Mind you I'm considered a genius on the IQ level for humans. Drove my teachers nuts since they couldn't keep up with me."

After sipping on some more of the coffee he was still grinning, "Joined the military so ah could play with the toys they had." His voice changed, "Mah wife died with the birth of mah second girl. Ah guessing what ahm trying to say is we isn't much different from you. It was a twist of the fates which put me where ahm at now. If'n it wasn't for my Leska Satasha I'd still be on earth doing cargo runs. Tasha kick started mah brain and it sort of got out of control. Designed a way to deal with decrystallized tubes, redesigned our hyper and n-space engines. Started a company and where Ahm I'm at now. If'n I can help someone else achieve his or her dreams Ah'l do it. My offer is valid and he will get a salary for his work. He'll be an intern and end up doing lots of scutt work but he'll learn."

Billy had to pause for a moment and his voice softened some, "Both my daughters are bloody damn smart as well. Dani is going to be a surgeon who'll do incredible things. Sally is doing a double doc in Xeno-biology and Xeno-palentology. Dani is eighteen turns old and Sally is twenty-two. Z'Marl, my triad mate is as good as I am with physics and hyper and n-space engines. We'll give your son the support he needs and a recommendation he deserves. Family means more to me than you can imagine."

L'Edelon took a sip of the drink and it was rather good. He could tell it was cshar mixed with something else, "Thank you Ambassador, I want the best for my son so he can do better than I did. I love what I'm doing but it isn't the most money productive job. It's enough to support my family but I hate having to tell them no at times when they want something."

Billy scratched the base of his pony tail since it was itching slightly, "I'll take care of him L'Edelon. He is going to get paid for the time he is here. It isn't going to be a massive amount but it will be a decent paycheck. I hate to do this but I have work I need to get to. Please feel free to call and talk to me. I won't always be here since I do have a Leska but when I'm here I'll do my best to make the time to talk to you." He stood and showed the man out.

Once he was gone from the Embassy Billy took a moment to talk to Jenna and the two trouble makers, "Find everything you can on their family. Good, bad, whatever you can find on them. I also want to know the job history of L'Edelon. If he is as good as I think he is I might consider hiring him to maintain our vehicles. Take care of it. I I need to talk to both of you." He turned and headed towards his office.

They glanced at each other and wondered what they might have screwed up. They followed Billy into his office and carefully sat down when he waved them to some seats. Neither spoke since they didn't know what was going on.

Billy waited for them to sit before he growled slightly, "I have a job for you but only if you are willing. I won't order you to do this. It is probably going to be considered illegal but I need to find out who is sending those damn flowers to Z'Marl. I need you to break into the flower company's database and find out who has been ordering them. It is causing my Leska emotional issues and I'm not pleased with that. I don't want you to do this if you aren't comfortable doing it. If you aren't I understand and will find alternate methods to get the information."

Lycos felt his ears flatten against his head and he felt a growl of anger break loose. Even as he was doing that Illyos was feeling much the same. They knew Z'Marl and she was a damn good woman. She was somewhat shy and reticent even now. They could feel how the 'anonymous' admirer was starting to impact on her. Both snarled for several minutes, "We'll take care of it Ambassador. Don't worry, we have ways to ensure it won't come back to you or the Embassy." Illyos stood and did his best to keep his tail from lashing around but it wasn't working.

Lycos was snarling as well since Z'Marl was such a special woman. It wasn't just her being Billy's life mate. She was just... A damn fine woman, "We'll get you the information as soon as possible. We'll to this as soon as possible." Both left the room. Their ears were lowered in anger and their tails were lashing as they walked out.

Billy watched them leave the office and gave a satisfied nod.