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The sex isn't a major part of it, nor is it graphic. If you're looking for masturbation fodder, look elsewhere. There will be many slow times in this story, just like there are in life. Other times, things will fly at you too fast. There will be boring days, and exciting days. It's just how it's flowing.
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When Derrick disconnected, I turned to Josh, who was still
on the phone "Where are Andrew and Amie, and why aren't they on a plane to
Dracul?"
Josh offered me his phone as he said "They went to breakfast downtown, then
took a riverboat tour on the Monongahela, and now they're at a concert at CMU.
They knew nothing about what's happening because no one called them."
I took the phone and said "Andrew, please get to the office. I'll have a Bell take you two to the airport, and a plane to get you to me... Lucas, LeAnn, and Andy are on the G-700, already headed this way... Greece, I'll explain later... No, there's nothing you can do there, the house is gone. Derrick has things under control... I'll sort things out, your pilot will know where you're going... Thank you, please be safe."
I disconnected and handed Josh his phone as I asked "What
crown planes are at Pittsburgh airport?"
"You have the Embraer Lineage 1000, two G-650's, a Praetor 600, a BBJ-MAX8, and
a CJ4." Joshua said, looking to the dukes for confirmation.
I turned to Troy and Victor "And your advice?"
Troy answered "I don't even have to think about it, Greg. The G-650 will get here three hours faster than the BBJ, and the rest can't get here, er there, in one hop."
"Thank you. Would you two please go relieve Ted and Mickey, and ask them to come see me?"
As they left, I turned to the dukes "I'd like to keep your planes in Pittsburgh until this is sorted out. I'm going to ask Ted to step down from flying to manage the flight crews. The crown now owns what, 25 aircraft?"
Joshua looked at his tablet and said "32, Sire, including helicopters."
Yuan said "36, Sire. There are 4 Bell 525's waiting in Dracul."
"Of course there are." I shook my
head and sighed "Any more surprises, gentlemen?"
"I like surprises." Ted said, as he and Mickey came in.
"Please, sit down. Eat if you haven't." I said. As they began to eat, I went on "Ted, I need to ask you to stop flying. The crown now owns 36 aircraft, and I need someone to manage the flight crews. I'm assuming each of the dukes have crews that they've used, and are happy with, so you shouldn't have to find too many new crews, but I need someone on top of the whole fleet, aircraft, crews, supplies, everything. If you're not interested, or it's too much for one man, don't be shy. I will ask you to recommend someone though."
"It's not too much for one man, and I will be happy to do
it, Sire. I have a request, if I might?" I motioned for him to go on, so he
said "I'd like to have Troy changed, to be my mate. I'll
put him first seat in any craft you are flying in."
"What about Victor? And what about you two?" I asked, looking to Mickey and
Clint, "I hate breaking up a team."
Mickey spoke first "I'm fine flying second seat to Troy,
Greg. And you should hire Victor if you can, even if he stays human. This thing
should have a third man onboard, just in case."
"We're a team because we're friends, Greg." Clint said "We'll be working
together enough. For now, I'll be busy sorting out
cabin crew for this. The ones we have onboard seem good, but I want the best
for you, and if we're full, I'll need 6 or 7, as well as a cook."
I thought for a moment, then looked to Ted and said "I'll
need to talk to Troy, but I agree. If I do this, he'll
be a prince."
Ted looked horrified as he said "Oh gods no, Greg. I didn't
mean for you to change him. I mean, we're honored that
you would, but I don't want to be mated to a prince. No offense to Joshua and
Billy."
I laughed and said "I'm sorry I misunderstood, Ted. Do you
have a maker in mind for him?"
Joshua interrupted "With all due respect to Ted and Troy, I think we should
insist it be someone we know and trust."
Mickey said "Sire, can we take this conversation to the flight deck? We should include the boys."
I stood and said "Yes, we should." And waved for Billy and Josh to join us as I followed Ted and Mickey into the cockpit.
Mickey stepped up behind Troy and tapped him on the shoulder. Troy then said "Your aircraft, on auto."
Victor replied "My aircraft, on auto."
Troy again said "Your aircraft, on auto." Then he stood and stepped out of the
way so Mickey could sit in the left seat.
Once he was seated, Mickey said "Confirming, on auto, your
aircraft."
Victor said "My aircraft, on auto."
I looked questioningly at Ted and he said "It's just pilot speak so we know who's actually flying. We're on autopilot, but if something happened, Troy was in command until he told Victor to take it. Victor confirmed that he had control, then once he was seated, Mickey again confirmed that he is just an observer, for now."
I nodded as I asked "Not to insult you, but you never seemed
so `by the book' with the G-700. I don't mean you were
unsafe, but you were more relaxed. Why the change?"
Ted smiled and said "There's a lot less to worry about
in the Gulfstream. It has a max weight of 107,000 lbs. At takeoff, we weighed just
over one million pounds. In the G, we had 20 vampires, right now, we have 67,
but can have as many as 150. Not to mention the fact that we have the entire
government of Dracul onboard, and most of the Royal family."
Mickey turned and said "Have you ever pulled a trailer with
a car, Greg?"
"I pulled a neighbor's boat with his pickup, if that counts." I said.
"And you drove more carefully, focused more, because it was
new to you, and there's more that can go wrong. The same principle applies"
"OK, I get that, but..."
Troy cut me off "But nothing, Sire. I'm responsible
for every life on this plane, and we do it right, every time, or we don't do
it. Once I'm gone, they can do it however they like,
but I know Mickey and Ted, and I know they won't take shortcuts when it comes
to safety."
I turned to Ted, winked and grinned "You sure you want to marry him? He just mouthed off to a King."
"King or bum, I'm equally concerned about the safety of
either. You can throw me..." he stopped as he saw my grin, then looked at Ted
"You asked him, didn't you?"
Ted smiled as he said "Yes, I did, and we came up to talk about things. Before
we get to that, he's promoted me to..." He turned to me and said "Do I have a
title, Sire?"
Mickey laughed and said "Ringmaster of the Clint & Co. Royal Flying Circus
sounds about right." Then his face got serious as he keyed his microphone "Roger
Naples, Dragon 1 Super, turning right to 1-2-0, maintaining flight level 4-1-0."
"We can figure out a title later. For now, Ted is going to
head all aviation for the crown. He asked if I would approve your being
changed. Is he speaking for you?"
"He is, Sire. I've known Ted since I was 13, and we've
dated since I was 16. Crazy as it seems, I'd like to spend another few
centuries with him."
"And what about you Victor?"
Victor turned the plane over to Mickey, then turned to me and said "Troy and I
grew up together in foster care in London, Greg. We consider ourselves brothers
already, so we'd like to remain brothers, after the change."
"Have you considered who you'd like to have change you?" I asked.
Troy said "We hoped you'd allow Mickey to do it."
I turned to Joshua, and when he nodded, I said "Well Mickey,
congratulations, it's two boys. I'll let the four of
you figure out when you want to do it, but check with me. I might need to fly
and I don't need two of you out of service, since only the 4 of you are flying
this."
Ted said "I want to have ten cleared for this plane before they change, Greg."
I shook my head and said "No, I only want the four of you flying this."
"With respect, Sire, am I going to be second guessed on everything?"
"No Ted, I'm sorry. You handle things as you see fit. I will request that, as often as possible, these three are my flight crew. You're always welcome to fly me, too. I just don't know if you'll have the time."
"Thank you, Greg. You know I like to keep crews with the
same aircraft, but I want everyone cleared for as many as possible, so we can
move them around, if needed."
I nodded as Joshua said "I have a list of the aircraft, and where they were
when we left Pittsburgh. I'll get it to you. You
already know which are headed to Dracul, and you can check with each duke about
their crews."
"If you gentlemen will excuse us, this conversation has
brought to mind some things I should address with the dukes, while I have them
captive. How long until we land?"
Victor said "Two hours until we begin descent, Greg. When you feel the second
left turn, start getting settled in for landing."
I thanked them, then Josh and Billy followed me back to the dining room. I noticed that Billy had something on his mind, so after sending Joshua to round up the dukes, I asked him what it was.
"We have nothing to wear after we land. Should I try to find a tailor nearby? Or see what Tyler can do for us? Or find a Walmart and have Troy make a quick stop?
I laughed and said "As fun as that last one sounds, give
Tyler a call, see what she can do for us. I like her."
Billy nodded, and stepped out to make his calls. Joshua and the dukes came in.
Once they were settled around the table, and Clint had served some drinks, I
said "I'll be honest, I'm doing this to keep myself busy, so forgive me if I'm
all over the place with things."
"I've been thinking, and we need to figure out several things. I put Ted in charge of the aircraft, but does he have a title? If so, what is it? I need someone to represent us to world governments. I need someone to handle finance. I need to know what else I need, but first, I think I need to know how you want to structure the government? By that I mean, do I need a finance minister, a secretary of finance, a treasurer, or a Chancellor of the Exchequer?"
Josh spoke first, saying "Well, the US has 15 members in the
Cabinet, including the Vice President, but I don't think we need that many."
I said "You're getting ahead of me, Josh. I agree, we don't
need that many, but first, what are they called? Do we pattern ourselves after
the British monarchy? Do our higher offices all have titles of nobility? Or
just the Councils? Can Council members serve in other offices? And hundreds of
other questions we should address. I don't want to get
a question from the President of the United States and have to tell him that we
don't know who handles that."
They all looked around at each other, then Reinhardt said "Sire, other than
yourself and Joshua, we all grew up under feudal monarchs. This constitutional
monarchy is a modern concept. If any of the other dukes disagree, I beg them to
speak up, but I'm fully supportive of absolute power in the hands of the
monarch."
Everyone was nodding in agreement, so I said "You're
saying that whatever I say is law. I can give out titles, spend whatever I want
on whatever I like, or even imprison anyone for the least offense. Is that what
you've given me? What if I said that I want to
dissolve both Councils?"
George said "As to titles and money, yes, no question. If you want someone in
prison, put them there, but we have faith in the man you are, so we know that
if you do that, it will be just. And yes, Sire, if you feel you don't need the advice and assistance of the Councils, we all
would publicly support their dissolution."
I sat and looked at the faces of these vampires, some of them thousands of years old, and considered what had been said. I was about to speak when Joshua's phone rang. He glanced at it, then quickly answered it.
"What do you have, Derrick?"
As he listened, tears rolled down his cheeks as he started sobbing. I jumped up
and put my arms around him and held him as he sobbed. I was reaching for his
phone when Billy ran in.
"They've found Samantha."