BtH102

==Chapter 102 - By the Horns==
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Cháteau des Calderon
Samantha City, Taurus
Taurian Concordat
July 21st, 3026
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“Jake the Snake is ready on the mound . . . he waves off the first signal . . . waves off the second signal . . . here’s the windup!  Aaaand, the pitch!  Fast ball on the inside!”
CRACK!
“DAMN IT!” snapped Thomas as he watched the designated hitter for the Pinard Pirates drive the ball straight down the 3rd base line; it bounced off the wall just one meter shy of clearing it.  A double, at the least.
“And Espinozo rounds third and slides into home to tie up the game in the top of the ninth!” the announcer broadcast.  “All tied up at six runs for both teams in this winner-take-all playoff to determine the conference champions.  Jake the Snake Schaeffer looks worried; one out and runners for the Pirates on second and third.”
“Give me the phone." Thomas snarled to Raoul.
“Tom, let them play." his brother said with a wry smile on his face.  “Besides, Katherine is coming back from the little girl’s room—so behave.”
“Thomas Calderon." she said with a scowl on her face, “I—and your children—could hear you clear in the lavatory.  Watch your language." she ordered and then turned to Raoul who was handing Thomas the phone.  “Really, Raoul?  Why are you encouraging him?”
“He’s my older brother—and the Protector.  Besides." he continued as he passed the phone to Thomas, “if I don’t he might just have a stroke.”
“Hello?” Thomas said as he took the phone and raised it to his ear and mouth.  “Get me the Cavalier dugout.  Yes.  Yes!  I know it is the middle of the game!  Get me the dugout and put that idiot coach on!”
“Time out has been called and there is a conference on the Cavalier mound.  Schaeffer is handing over the ball and heading to the dugout.  And coming out of the bullpen is . . . Philippe Suchet.  This will be Suchet’s first appearance in the post-season following his injury in the final game of the regular season.”
“SUCHET!?!” Thomas shouted as he stared through the armored glass window that filled the front of the Protector’s box, the phone forgotten in his hand.
“Thomas." Katherine said patiently.  “It is a game, Thomas.  Your realm does not depend on the outcome, right?”
Thomas just looked at her in horror and then turned his gaze back down to the ball field where the replacement pitcher was completing his warm-up pitches.
“Suchet." he whispered.  “the last eight games of the season, he threw a dozen pitches that were all hit for home runs!  He almost cost us the pennant!” Thomas wailed, as he hung up the phone, even as a bewildered voice on the other end said, hello?  Is there anyone there?
“Just a game, Thomas.  Win or lose, we—you—will be a good sport about it.  As an example to the children.  Right, Thomas?”
The Protector sputtered again and his mouth opened and closed and then opened again.  “Suchet?!?” he whined.  “What are they thinking down there?”
“Right, Thomas?” Katherine asked in a sterner voice.
Thomas sighed and then he turned back to his wife and he nodded.  “Good sport.  No cursing.  I will behave myself." he paused and turned to Henri Jouett.  “If he costs us the game, have him traded and shipped out to some team as far away from Taurus as you can get him." he whispered.
Henri smiled and shook his head.  “Neither you nor I own the Cavaliers, my Lord Protector.”
“Well, buy them.” Thomas growled.
“We’ve tried—Thoreau won’t sell.”
“Da-ang it.” Thomas stuttered with a sideways look at Katherine, who nodded her approval at his sudden change in word choice.
“The count is 0 and 2 and here comes the pitch!  Curve ball and Morton swings!  Strike three!  Suchet has retired two in a row as the Cavaliers return to their dugout to start the bottom of the ninth inning here in Samantha City!”
“WHAT!” shouted Thomas as he turned back to stare down at the field.  “How . . . what . . . I missed it!”
“Six pitches—six strikes, and the Cavs have a chance to win this game without extra innings." said Raoul.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Thomas wailed.
“You were having such fun whining, Tom, I didn’t want to stop you.” his brother answered with a laugh.
“Whining?  I wasn’t . . . I was, wasn’t I?” he finished, shaking his head.
Katherine walked over and took Thomas by the arm and pulled him towards their seats—the best two seats in the entire stadium.  “Come on, Thomas.  Let’s watch the Cavaliers win this game.  And enjoy it.”
“Okay." Thomas whispered as he sat.  “And I’ll behave even if we don’t.”
“If you do that." Katherine whispered in his ear, “I might even let you get frisky tonight, my love.”
Thomas turned to stare at his wife and then be began to smile.
CRACK!
And just as quickly, his head jerked around and he looked at the ball soaring towards the right field wall.  “GO!  GO!” he yelled as he stood up and pounded his fist in the air.
“And Barton connects on the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth!  It’s going deep . . . it might clear the wall . . . and it is a home run!  The Cavaliers take the lead and the conference championship with a homerun by Elliot Barton!  The Cavaliers win it!”
“Oh.  My.  God." Thomas whispered as he sat back down.  “We won.  We won." he said in an incredulous voice.
“We won, Thomas." Katherine said as she laid her head on his chest and Thomas hugged her tight.  Then she sat up and pointed her finger at the Protector.  “And don’t you be spoiling the ending when you send the video to Eddie!” she ordered.
“I would never." Thomas insisted, but he stopped at Katherine’s glare.  “Okay, I might.  I probably would.  Okay, I was going to gloat in my message—but I won’t if you insist.”
“Damn right, I do, Tommy-boy." she whispered.  “What say we head home and put the kids to bed early—then we go to bed early?” and she smiled, her eyes twinkling.
Thomas swallowed heavily and then he smiled.  “Henri, tell security to have the cars brought around.  We are going home.”
“Of course, Sire." Henri answered, even as Raoul chuckled and the nannies were rounding up the children.
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ComStar “A” Station
Samantha City, Taurus
Taurian Concordat
July 21st, 3026
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“We had our chance at the stadium!” Precentor Taurus hissed.  “The Primus wants Calderon and his family dead—they were all there!”
“All of them except Edward." Adept Robert West answered in a somber voice.  “And trying it at the stadium would have resulted in nothing but a blown operation and dead agents—our agents.”
“The Primus wants results, Adept!”
“Well, the Primus can bloody well wait!  Precentor, we have to do this right—and we have to implicate the Capellans.  Now, you are my superior in the Order, so you can relieve me—but Primus Kristofur himself assigned me this task and I am going to do my absolute best to carry it out.  Which means that if you order me to do something that will fail, I will just ignore you.”
“Why you insolent, son-of-a-. . .." the new Precentor Taurus began to snarl, but he stopped when he looked at the cold, cold eyes of Robert West.
“Kristofur wants results, not action that fails to deliver the result he desires.  And if you don’t get that, Precentor Taurus, well.  You can be replaced.  You can be . . . retired, if you get my meaning.”
Philip Dane froze and then he swallowed.  “Are . . . are you threatening me?”
“I am, Precentor." Robert answered with no change to his facial expression.  “Now let me get on with doing my job and Thomas will be dead in two months—otherwise, I’m going to have to message Terra than we another new Precentor Taurus out here in the hinterlands of the Periphery.”
Robert West stood from his seat and took two steps towards the door, and then he paused and turned half-around.  “I am going to take your silence as confirmation you are going to let me do my job—interfere one more time, however, and I’ll see to your retirement myself.”
Philip Dane did not say another word until Robert had exited and closed the door behind him.  And even then, it was only a whisper.  “Bastard." but the voice that spoke that word was trembling and full of fear.
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