Epilogue – Elsewhere
(Jessica Meadows’s Flat, Washington, DC)
To say that Jessica Meadows was unhappy would be putting it mildly. She had not been ready for her Mantle to come to light. There were still far too many people that she had not yet brought into her web of influence. But the summoning from the House floor and everything else had ensured that her secret was out. There was no way to avoid it.
Worse still, she’d seen the news reports, showing the Ceresan delegation driving from Maryland to the White House. Zayn wouldn’t give the President any direct instructions, or any means to directly target her. That wasn’t his style. He did not use proxies for revenge. Subordinates or paid contractors, maybe, but he would not go about trying to use the US government as a cat’s paw to do the work for him. He would do the job himself, or have people do it on his command.
That did not mean that she was safe, however. Zayn wouldn’t know the specifics of her Mantle, but he had access to knowledge from previous time loops, and to knowledge from those outside the Sol System, people he’d bought from the Minion Market. Other worlds had Mantles, as well. Some of them would be social-focused or control-focused Mantles. And telling the President about those other Mantles wouldn’t be a direct attack on her. It would respect the silent agreement of neither one stepping directly into the other’s path.
They’d come to this unspoken agreement despite not actually communicating directly. The only benefit of a battle between the two of them would be catharsis for the winner. And the winner, if it came to any kind of physical battle, would be Zayn, she knew that clearly. She could not hope to face him in straight battle.
That did not mean she was helpless, of course. It just meant that she needed to keep any conflicts from becoming direct physical confrontations. If she could keep a clash in the realm of politics, social manipulation, and the court of public opinion, then she could hold her own, easily. She wasn’t fool enough to think that she could win, not yet. Not while the Ceresan Empire held the Panama Canal, and their main seat of power was out of reach.
She could not win, yet. But that didn’t mean she would lose, either. Already, she knew that, so long as she didn’t do anything too reckless, something that demanded a direct response, like those idiot Russians did, that she had already made herself not worth the headache it would cause Zayn to deal with her. So long as she did not make it so that he HAD to respond directly, he would continue to ignore her, maybe take a half-hearted swipe here or there. Nothing she couldn’t handle. Nothing that would be fatal, unless she severely overplayed her hand. So long as dealing with her was more painful than leaving her be, Zayn would not move against her.
The threat, now, would be from the President, and the people around him. So far, she had been very careful. She had not used [Queen’s Command] or [Loyal to the Queen] on any of the major players in Washington. No Senators or Congressmen. No Generals or the like. She knew better than that. Those people were watched too carefully, and even the stupid ones would look for ways to twist her commands, or find ways to reveal she was controlling them.
No, she had gone after the advisors. Every Congressman and Senator had at least one of her people on their staff, now. One in ten White House staffers had become her pawns. Most were mid-tier workers, the people who had the ear of someone who had the ear of the President. That insulated her from direct scrutiny, while allowing her to influence the flow of information and how it was framed.
She did have one high-ranked servant, though. The US Attorney General, John Sosa, had attended a party she’d also been invited to. They’d gone back to his place, since his wife was out of town. He’d been an acceptable lover, not terribly skilled, but fit and eager to please. She hadn’t even needed to use [Queen’s Command] to get him to pledge to her.
He was the most politically powerful of her pawns, at the federal level. She had others, back in New York, better suited to influencing the State and City levels. She was Queen of New York City in all but name, with the Mayor, City Council, and Chief of Police as her pawns, and a significant portion of the State Legislature now answered to her. Even if forced out of Congress, she could fall back and become Governor of New York. She did not need to win against Zayn. So long as she didn’t lose, she would recover from any setback.
It was as Sun Tzu said, in his Art of War, “The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.” She was focused on defense, and building power. Once she was able to keep her enemies from crushing her, she could then look at ways to undermine them, sap their strength, and force them into submission. But moving too quickly would only cause defeat, ruination, and death.
Her phone rang, cutting off that train of thought. She checked the number. It was the burner phone that she’d given Sosa, after he became her thrall. Calling to tell her about the meeting with the Ceresans, just like she commanded. She would need to see about rewarding him.
“Hello, John. What did the Ceresans have to say?”
“My Queen, the Emperor shared information about foreign Mantles, as you suggested he would. He also had one of his fighter pilots in the meeting, a young woman bearing the Mantle of the Red Baron.”
“I can guess that Mantle’s qualities from the name alone. Well, it would have been too much to hope for to assume that he would not have any Mantles working for him. What of the meeting itself? What measures did Zayn suggest to counter my influence?”
“His suggestion was for the President to encourage Congress to draft a law, saying that all federal employees, up to and including the President, sign System Contracts preventing them from lying during their term of office. He suggested that the President push it by asking detractors why they were so adamant about being able to lie to the American people. Director Bill Harper, from Homeland Security, said that there would need to be exceptions carved out for those doing undercover operations or the like, but was not opposed. I told the President that I would speak with my subordinates about finding a way to accomplish it without running into the First Amendment.”
“Clever. However, as a lawyer, I’m sure you’ve already figured out that you will be able to maneuver around this law, when it comes into being, by saying technical truths, or things that can be taken multiple ways, with at least one being true. Such a defense is only going to catch those who are too stupid to think clearly, or who are completely guileless. Even so, it will be a hassle.”
She paused, considering things for a moment. “Do as you said, John, and work with your people to make the draft language able to stand up to a constitutional challenge. And I think you’ve earned a reward. Come over tonight. Bring your wife, Alexandra, as well. I’m sure you’ve fantasized about having the both of us at once, or taking me while you watch my Knight do her.”
“As you command, my Queen.”