InsaneJournal

Current mood:	creative
Current music:	"Charles Giteaux" :: Kelly Harrell
Entry tags:	backstory, katherine athena, tereska wasserbach

Likewise pay attention to these few lines from me
Who: Tereska Wasserbach and Katherine Athena.
What: Tereska meets Katherine for the first time, and gets to meet a double agent and a band of liberal whackjpbs at the same time.
When: July 10th, 2094
Where: The freeways of Seattle
Status: Closed; complete

"Katherine, just get in the car." Bart looked tired, his hand resting on his hip as he looked at his wife. "You're not solving anything by staying here."

"I don't want a security detail, Bart. I have a meeting at 3:30 with the Chinese trade delegation and a dinner at 6 with the Yakima Black Women's Collective. Those aren't the kind of appointments I can blow off. I've spent months trying to arrange a meeting with Joie Naughton." She glanced at her watch. "How many threats do I receive in a year? Sixty-three in the past six months alone since I co-sponsored the Huxley-Athena Bill. And you expect me to bow down to a bunch of liberal nutjobs who think that the presidency began and ended with Hillary Rodham Clinton?"

"Fine. I wash my hands of you." The gesture that followed was more expansive than Bart normally allowed in public. "I have a flight to catch." He leaned over, kissing her cheek with a faint wince. "Have a good weekend. Dear."



"You too." Katherine gave him a smile that wasn't much warmer than the greying sky, watching as he walked away. She walked over to her car, pressing her thumb against the keypad. Her head turned as she heard footsteps behind.

"You don't want one, but you've got one," Tereska pointed out bluntly. She'd never seen much merit to dancing around the truth of the situation, and it didn't take genius to realise that the other woman didn't want her around, even if she hadn't overheard the conversation with her husband.

She hated assignments like this. Even though she knew why she'd scored it, that she was being shuffled out of sight for a while, and that that met her ultimate purpose, she still hated it.

On the other hand, she'd read Athena's file. The woman was a magnet for crazies, always had been. She'd have been lying if she'd said that the element of risk wasn't worth it - that sense of the game, trying to outwit someone who wanted past you.

If only the woman would quit acting like such an annoying pain in the ass about it. "It could be worse," she added, though placatory
statements were no more part of her than delicacy was. "You could be dead, for example. Instead, you just have a watchdog."

"I could be dead, this is true. However, I'm about to be late," she said pointedly. "Does being my security detail require that you drive? Because if not, the passenger seat awaits." Katherine didn't fuss about the details--there was too little time to argue over whether or not she needed a handler.

She'd let Alistair do that.

"Actually, it does," Tereska retorted with a grim smile. "The driver is in a better position to react to landmines."

But the security detail wasn't supposed to make the principal unreasonably late, either, and she stepped to the side of the car so swiftly it was hard to imagine she'd moved. "Keys," she commented.

"First, ID." Katherine's smile was deceptively pleasant. "I don't know who you are."

"Then your staff is poorer than you expect," Tereska said, but she pulled out her ID folder without complaint. "This has been in the works for a while. Not with me, but they should've been following that up."

"Oh, I'm familiar with the fact that they would like me to have a detail but I also believe that would be an excellent way for the extremists to kidnap me." She took the folder, eyes dropping for a moment to study the person displayed therein. "Excuse me but I think I'll make a call."

She stepped away from the car for a moment, her voice rising and falling to the tune of a brief conversation before she slid the phone back in her purse. Walking back over, she handed Tereska the folder, then the keys.

"Thank you. It's lovely to have you on board," her smile was too bright for the sentiment as she walked over to the passenger side and opened the door. Sliding in, she secured her seat belt and pulled a compact out of her purse, eying the surface as it lit up. Her finger tapped the mirror to close an appointment reminder before she squinted back into it. "What is it you know about these groups? The ones making the threats?"

She said it as casually as she might have suggested stopping for dinner, her mouth making a perfect O as she neatly adjusted her lipstick.

"That they've been serious in the past," Tereska said, as she adjusted the seat slightly. "Very serious."

She eyed the other woman in the mirror, but it was easy enough to see the falsity of her statement, and to recognise that this was a test. Not that she'd expected less.

"About eight years ago, they were the ones responsible for Bergeson's murder - the representative from Rhode Island. I'm sure you recall that. They've been less successful since, but still serious. And still very, very careful. Their ideology makes sense to most people, up to the point that they demand action, and there's nothing illegal about that. And they're careful enough that you can't simply invoke RICO and get away with it." The antiquated statute had been updated over the years, but its core was as applicable now as it had been when first written. "We think you might be a case where they decide to demand action."

Katherine laughed, the gesture shaking her lipstick just slightly. She capped it, then gently began smoothing out the line. "No one's used RICO in years. They'll call out the IRS first." But Wasserbach was right. There was nothing light about this matter.

"I'm going to the Renaissance Madison to meet with the trade delegation," she told the other woman, snapping her compact shut and sliding it back into her purse. "Is there anything you want me to take into consideration? Or will you be tailing me there as well?" This representative was an interesting choice. Certainly unexpected.

"No one has," she agreed. "That's part of why someone thought it might work - whether you like it or not, what they're doing is conspiracy, but they're covering their tracks too well for conventional statutes to count. And they owe a lot to the old Mob."

The car was smooth in motion, her eyes carefully checking the road, the mirrors, the pedestrians, in easy sweeps. "And I'm coming with you. The thought was that one person would be less obtrusive than an entire detail." She didn't bother to emphasise it, but only a fool would assume that SAD agents normally wore suits. That had been over her protest, but in the end, she'd given way. "Call me an aide or a legislative assistant, I don't care. Just keep it consistent."

The older woman's eyes swept Tereska's figure, evaluating what she might be capable of pretending. "An aide, then. I'm always in need of them near election years." She leaned forward, adjusting her hair in the window's reflection so that she could subtly watch Tereska's movements.

"Have you identified any of the figures in this movement who might be targeting me specifically? I do know that there are a few on the Nets but I can't imagine that those individuals are the same that would be sent to do this kind of work." She doubted that the woman would tell her- SAD agents were, in Katherine's experience, notoriously closed-mouthed.

Tereska almost sounded amused. "You've been in office for how many years? You know that we never tell you who's targeting you. Better for you, easier for us."

Calmly, she made an easy turn, her eyes on the rearview mirror to mark the cars that also made the turn. There hadn't been anything suspicious about the traffic, but she wasn't paid to only see what was visible.

Four cars. It had been a busy street. If she made her next turn and any of them followed, she'd make a different decision. And she knew perfectly well that it was even more likely that the car was being tracked by GPS or some other device, even though it had been swept that morning, or that Athena held the device without knowing - she glanced at the other woman's purse. Her job wasn't, honestly, so much about prevention yet as it was about reaction.

That would change, as the assignment lasted, but right now - it was pretty much gut instinct and reaction.

Katherine had known that Tereska's reaction would be what it was but it had been worth an attempt. She set her purse down on the floor, fishing around in the glovebox for a moment before she pulled out a battered old book. Propping it on her knees, she began turning the pages.

Tereska added "brittle and too used to power" to her mental list of Athena's attributes. There was nothing behind that gesture other than the attempt to dismiss her and pretend that Athena was still in charge. Realistically, she hadn't been since she'd been elected - she'd been the figurehead, but she'd done what her staff told her she had to do. At least, if she was like the other senators that Tereska had met, and so far, she hadn't proven herself any different.

It could be worse, she added mentally. The woman could try to make small talk.

Notes were written in the book's margins although they weren't notes that anyone could understand without a good deal of attempt. Katherine had written notes to her brother when he was a child in a number of simple codes. She'd kept the habit up since, switching from one to the other, some of them basic, others written in a way that would have made little sense to anyone other than Rafe.

And in that book, she kept notes about the things that stuck out to her. That didn't fit.

"Watch for a Mitsuhama Trio," Katherine said as she turned the page. "License AH-130114. It's followed me three times during public events on the 1st-" A flip of the page. "The 12th and the 19th, respectively. The driver is different every time." She opened the glovebox and replaced the book, closing and locking it.

Perhaps brittle was accurate, but 'too used to power' didn't, apparently, mean 'didn't actually do work'.

"If they were smart," she pointed out, "they would've changed the plate. And that report wasn't in the file. Why not?"

"I gave it to an aide of mine, Michele Castiglia. You should have received it, along with some images I took on my phone." Katherine halted. "You didn't receive any of that." She paled for a moment, then said, "Michele planned the dinner tonight. At the Madison."

"It wasn't," she confirmed grimly, making another turn. Right now, the goal was to get away from the hotel, and away from the places they were expected to be.

It wasn't proper procedure, but she watched the turn again. One car made it with them, and that narrowed her options by a long way - she'd wanted to lose everyone so that she could make a few calls, but now that wasn't an option.

At the moment.

On the other hand, it was a Trio behind them. Too far away to make out the plate, but enough information to get to safe ground and to hell with the consequences.

"Hold on," she ordered. This corner was faster than the others had been. It was still basic thinking, but if someone really was following them rather than waiting and watching their tracking bug update, then it would work. They came around to level again and she hit the gas. Whatever was in the way would either get out of the way or wouldn't, but that wasn't her concern.

There were times to give orders and times to follow them. This was the latter.

Katherine straightened in her seat, her eyes tracking the movement of the cars outside their window. The Trio was still behind them, moving like a shark as it wove in and out of traffic. She wondered how long it would take Tereska to shake the tail. There was little for her to do but wait. There was no sense in getting in the agent's way.

There was an entrance to the expressway here - she'd been steering for it - and they took the ramp at speed. "Distance, cover, backup," she muttered, as much to herself as to the other woman. "You need to be upgraded to a larger detail. This is going to be tricky." But tricky wasn't the same as impossible; ahead, she spotted a truck that would do nicely for some cover right now. If they could make it past the first exit without being seen, they were - likely - home free.

In the meantime, she delegated part of her problem. "Anything you have that's got built-in tracking, shut it off. Actually, shut it off and toss it out the window. Anything you suspect could have tracking, same thing. Passive tracking's worse than active."

"Right." She snapped off her phone and threw it out the window, followed by watch and compact. "The purse should go by that accord. Michele's had access." Katherine sighed as she let it fall. "It's too bad there's no time to search the car."

She was leaning over, however, running her fingers under the seat and below the dashboard on the passenger side. Just in case.

"This was supposed to be easy," she pointed out. "Since it's all gone to shit - I have to say that fifteen minutes is something of a record."

Steering carefully, she used the truck for cover. She couldn't see the Trio any more, but she also couldn't risk popping up where it could see her. It was going to have to be a guess.

"They'd expect you to be driving," she pointed out. "It might be under the front dash on my side, and I don't have hands to look with. Hang on, exiting now."

She had to cross the lanes, and it was going to attract attention no matter what, but she had to hope that the Trio was, if it was still on, far enough out of position that it couldn't make the same exit. Given that she almost had to go perpendicular to the direction of the road to make the exit, that seemed like a safe bet.

"High ground," she said, searching the streets for anything that would work, but a second later, she countermanded that. "No. Low ground, with room to move. Found anything interesting?"

"A tracking device of some sort," Katherine answered, her hand opening to reveal a small metal button. "Do you want me to pitch it or would we be better suited trying to place it on a different vehicle?" A wry smile followed. "I've seen far too many vids, I think."

"We can't swap it on the fly; by the time the car's stopped long enough to have found another one to put it on, they'll figure it out. Toss it."

That might be enough to get them out of this. Nothing suspicious had taken the exit - nor had anything else, and she assumed it was because of her move. But still, they needed to get away from the car. "There should be a shopping centre around here. I want a very large parking lot, and buildings for cover. What do you know of?"

"Westlake. It's not ideal but it's as close as we'll find." Katherine gave the directions to the aging mall. It had once been a point of pride among Seattlites, her mother had told her, but it never had been in Katherine's lifetime. It was simply a mall among other malls, the paint flaking in places, the carousel outside it antiquated. But it was charming to her because of childhood memories. It reminded her of Christmas, always.

Which was exactly why she winced a little as they pulled up next to it. This wasn't a place for a showdown. She hoped Wasserbach had no intentions in that direction.

She didn't make an effort to properly park the car - they wanted the police here, and the sooner, the better. "Out," she ordered, halfway out herself, scanning the area again. The back of her neck prickled, but she thought it was just the open space. "We need to get away from here. Not the mall. But nearby. There." She pointed to one of the older buildings across the street. "I need to make a phone call, and we can't be on the street."

There was no point in belaboring the question of respect though the other woman's bluntness amused Katherine. She did as Tereska commanded and stepped out of the car, walking briskly but quietly towards the far building. Her heel stuck slightly in a wad of gum and she grimaced as she wrenched it free and kept moving, eyes wary as they surveyed the crowds milling in the plaza.

As she stood beneath the awning of the bookstore, Katherine pulled her jacket tightly around herself, slipping a pair of sunglasses on to hide her face. It was little enough, she thought, as she watched and waited, but at least it was some protection. The weak Seattle sun was shining just enough to make seeing difficult for Northwestern eyes.

Tereska had her phone out as they passed into the building; she urged the other woman into an elevator wordlessly. Somewhere, there was a roof access here. In a building without windows, that was the best she was going to get as far as seeing what was happening down below.

The conversation was mostly muttered as she passed the information she had back to Ari; finally, she tucked the phone away and looked at Athena again, wondering if she would see cracks in the armour this time or not. The sunglasses had seemed like the most frightened thing she'd done so far.

"Police are on their way. Here and to your office, and to find your aide. We're trying to make a connection between your crazies and the car, but it hasn't come up yet if it exists. And we'll take one between her and them, too. Meanwhile, we go up on the roof and," she smiled, mainly pleasantly, "wait for them to find the car." One hand touched the butt of the gun she wore, the best range weapon she had handy.

She wanted the Trio to get there first. More, she wanted time alone with them - routine being disrupted like this never made her terribly inclined to charity - but in the absence of the latter, she'd take the former.

"Your schedule's gone," she added briskly. "You've got limited options for the foreseeable future, but I'm sure you knew that." It was an odd statement, she supposed - it seemed to expect that she was planning to ask what the other woman wanted to do now, but that wasn't in question, at least from her viewpoint. It was more of a confirmation that they both knew the same thing.

"Yes." It was simple assent. This seemed more dramatic than it needed to be but there was no point in preventing the agency from doing their job. Katherine glanced towards the stairs, following Tereska's lead. "Would it be acceptable for me to contact my Chief of Staff? Over text, perhaps? Likewise, will anyone be reaching out to my appointments?"

There were security issues at hand for herself but she could see where those problems might touch those whom she'd agreed to meet with. An inward sigh was barely restrained as she thought about Joie Naughton, then brightened. There was, after all, some potential for political leverage there if it was played correctly.