Go home first

“We will go home first,” Alex announces. Not only would the file help prepare them for the inspection, but it could be that a quick look through other files would give him all the information he needs to wrap this mission up and get back to ordinary life.

The jet rolls to a stop, and as the cabin door opens, Alex sees a shiny, black limo pull up beside it. For a guy who has never even flown First Class before, this billionaire treatment is almost overwhelming.

He bids goodbye to the flight attendant, noticing a drop of white, sticky liquid on her chin. He is about to point it out, but decides that would probably be out of character for the prince. Instead, he descends from the plane and enters the limo through the doors that have already been opened for him.

B’lail climbs in behind after Alex and sits across from him, speaking on the phone. “Yes, we just arrived. We will be there in about 15 minutes. Make all the necessary preparations. What about the report I requested? That’s fine; please forward it to my phone. I want to see it right away.”

B’lail ends his call and focuses his attention on the screen of his phone. After a few moments he grimaces and sets the phone down. “Well, I just got the latest report from your physician. The only good news is that the report came AFTER our conversation with your father. Otherwise, you would have had to report four more children than you did. This was a particularly-bad month, in terms of birth control, it seems.”

Alex tried to take in this new bit of information. FOUR more children? Could he have understood correctly that this K’han guy fathered FOUR children in the past month? Alex had a couple of pregnancy scares with Sabina – enough to make them both much more cautious about the use of birth control measures. It seems that K’han had yet to jump on that particular bandwagon.

Alex struggled to imagine what kind of reaction K’han would have to that news. He tried to calm himself, imagining that this is not the first time he and B’lail would have had this conversation.

“Four more, you say?” said Alex, with an attempt at casualness. “I thought it would be five or six.”

B’lail studies him for a moment. “It’s all well and good to be flippant about this, K’han, but you know your father is going to go through the roof when he finds out. And we still haven’t heard back on the one that is going to be the big bombshell if it turns out to be positive.”

He leaves that tidbit dangling out there without explanation. A bombshell? The more Alex thinks about this, the more he realizes that he has GOT to finish this assignment quickly and get the heck out of there. Whether K’han is a co-conspirator with his father, or whether he is just an out-of-control horndog, Alex is pretty sure the axe is going to fall on K’han sooner or later, and he would much rather have K’han back in his own shoes when that occurs.

As he contemplates this, the limo speeds through the gates of an enormous palace. Alex had been briefed on this place, but seeing it in person took his breath away. He had been in towns that were less spacious than this royal residence.

The limo comes to a stop under a massive entryway, and servants open the car door the instant the wheels stop moving.

B’lail is instantly back in servant mode, and allows Alex to exit the vehicle first. Remaining a few respectful paces behind, B’lail follows Alex into the palace before before speaking.

“Your Highness, if it would be acceptable to you, I would like to follow up on that report; we really should have heard something by now.”

What a perfect opportunity! With B’lail off on an errand, that would give Alex a few valuable minutes alone to search for the evidence to find out what is going on around here. The only problem is, now that he is actually here in the palace, he isn't entirely confident in his ability to navigate to the offices without getting lost. It might be better to keep B'lail around, at least long enough to get to where he needs to be.