Joan Undone

Chapter 21

"I have news."

It's dinner time in the Bunker, which is crammed with most of the members of our growing team. In spite of the noise, my words carry.

"Then speak up and skip the grand speech," Elizabeth says.

Her regal tone makes me grin now that I know the person behind it. "Yes, Your Majesty. Last week, I met with Professor Wilde, and he donated $24 million to our efforts."

"What?" Leo pushes his way from the back of the room to where I'm standing on a chair. "I saw no new funds in our account as of an hour ago."

Keeping my cheeks from turning red is impossible. "Professor Wilde gave me the money on the condition that it stays in my personal account."

Sacajawea snorts. "Naturally. Only Saint Joan can be trusted."

"Or perhaps that is only the story she's telling us, in order to keep the funds in her control," Elizabeth says, her eyes narrowed.

"It makes me uncomfortable, too, all right? But we need this money, and I know what to do with it."

"Of course you do," Sacajawea says, her skeptical stare a mirror of Elizabeth's.

With my usual grace, I bulldoze over the tension hovering in the room. "There are egregious human rights violations occurring all over Seattle right now that the rest of the country has no idea about. We're going to change that."

Sun meets my gaze and moves to stand beside me. "We are going to appeal to the highest court in the state with a case that will blow open the corruption in Seattle for the rest of the country to see."

"You're in on this?" Elizabeth asks. When Sun nods, her face relaxes. "Thank God."

"With Wilde's funds, we can afford to hire an Evolved lawyer to defend a Throwback whose constitutional rights have been violated."

Harriet, who was sitting at the table, slowly rises. "We need to extract ourselves from entanglements with the Evolved, not invite another mess."

"The firm we'll go with has both Evolved lawyers and Throwback paralegals," I counter. "It will give us the best chance of getting noticed and quickly pushing the case through the judicial process."

"Those Throwback paralegals are there to do the grunt work. It's the Evolved calling the shots," Harriet says. "They will accept our money, but do little to advance our case."

"If money was the only incentive, I would agree with you," Sun says. "But there is another reason we have chosen this firm. There is an Evolved lawyer in his forties who was raised by Throwback parents, like Justus."

Justus gasps. "How is that possible?"

"That's a mystery we're working on solving," Sun says calmly. "But it's work for another day. Right now, what's important is that Mr. Scott Fairchild is sympathetic to Throwbacks, and very ambitious. This case has the potential to make him famous."

"Or ruin his career," Elizabeth says, but her gaze is calculating. "Clearly, he didn't keep his Throwback surname. Perhaps he's eager to cast off his less-than-stellar family connections."

"I researched him," Marie chimes in. "He gives his parents money regularly, and takes them to dinner at least once a month. He doesn't hide his Throwback background, but he's a pragmatist who has a lot of ambition. Hence the name change."

"We're not considering this," Harriet says flatly, but her words melt into the general chatter growing in the Bunker.

The earlier stress in Leo's eyes has eased, probably now that he sees we're using the money responsibly. "I'm in favor of this plan, and your choice of lawyer. Mr. Fairchild was a media sensation, like our Justus, when his birth story emerged a few decades ago. He conducted himself honorably throughout the media circus surrounding him."