Dr. Kelly passed a hand over her face. "Fortunately, somehow, they seem to have accepted your absurd cover story. Circus acrobat, my…" She shook her head, either running out of words or choosing not to voice the ones she had available. "It's all over the park in terms of employees, but it appears that people either don't quite believe it or recognize that if it's true, it would be devastating to the park's safety record. There seems to be a general agreement that it will be discussed only amongst the employees, or not at all."
"Just like the disappearing elephants and orangutans," Aoife muttered. Dr. Kelly's eyebrows went up, and Aoife spread a hand. "Come on, Maureen. I'm not the only one sent spare by the short-term animal guests we have, but we all mostly try not to think about it, because it doesn't make anysenseif we think about it. It's like there's some kind ofobscurospell on all of us so we don't really pay attention. And, I mean, you'reshifters. Do you do other magic?"
"No," Elliott said when it became apparent that Dr. Kelly could only stare at his fated mate. "No, not like that. Our shifting doesn't video well, though, so…maybe there is some sort ofobliviatething going on."
"What," Dr. Kelly said faintly, "are you two on about?"
"You don't know whatobliviateis?" Elliott hadn't thought Dr. Kelly wasthatold.
"It's just a spell to make people forget things," Aoife said, some of her tension dissolving into amusement. "Usually used against muggles. Or a notice-me-not spell," she said to Elliott.
He sniffed. "Fanon not canon."
Aoife straightened indignantly. "It'simpliedin canon, just not named!"
Elliott grinned broadly at her, and Dr. Kelly looked pained. "Oh. I see. Right." Then her eyebrows rose and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Perhaps you're right. Whatever theexplanation, you're dead lucky, you two are. At least on that front." Her focus moved from Elliott to Aoife. "And then there's the matter of the grant."
Aoife winced apologetically, but also straightened, determined to defend herself or take her lumps, whichever had to be done. "I'm sorry, Dr. Kelly, but they were bloody awful. Entitled, spoiled, self-centered and rude. If I've lost the park the grant, I'll resign my position if that's what you'd like, but they wereappalling."
Dr. Kelly exhaled heavily. "Yesterday afternoon I received a scathing letter from ColCor outlining the exceptionally bad behavior of one of my employees, and the total lack of regret on the part of the corporation for not offering the Shamrock Safari Wildlife Park any funding now or in the foreseeable future."
"Ah, God." Aoife slumped, eyes closed.
Elliott's lion said,We must comfort our mate, in dismay, and Elliott fought down the urge to scoop her into a hug. She didn't need that right now, in front of her boss. She might need it as soon as they left the office, though.
"I'm so sorry, Dr. Kelly. I really will tender my resignation. I know how much we needed that money." Aoife pulled an unhappy smile together and sat up again. "I don't suppose they mentioned whether poor Doug and Graham's companies were getting the funding they needed? I'd hate to have painted them with the same brush I've wrecked the park with. Never mind that that didn't make sense as a sentence."
Dr. Kelly chuckled quietly. "I understood. And no, ColCor's correspondence didn't mention them. But I wasn't finished. This morning I received another letter."
Elliott could see Aoife bracing herself. "Go on, then," she said tensely. "I've already said I'll resign, so I don't see how it can be worse than that."
"You apparently had another person on the tour yesterday? SomeonebesidesElliott," Dr. Kelly said with a gimlet glare at Elliott himself. He made a motion of apology, but Dr. Kelly brought her attention back to Aoife, who nodded.
"A hippie girl. Woman. About my age. Her name was," and Aoife screwed her face up dubiously, "Kanvas. With a K. She flirted with Elliott." Amusement suddenly ran through Aoife. "And then with me, after I told Ms. Collins I wasn't going to put up with her nonsense."
"Well, evidently you made an impression." Dr. Kelly ran her tongue around her teeth like she'd gotten a strange taste in her mouth and wasn't sure how to dislodge it. "And evidently 'Kanvas' is Kanvasara Roth of the Rawth Industrial Cooperative," her eyebrows lifted, "of whom I'd never heard. So I looked them up."
She turned her computer screen to face them. A Wiki page was on the screen, detailing an international consortium whose subsidiaries included everything from food products to military industrial companies with a stop in entertainment, clothing, and housing. It was over a century old, and the family's money apparently went back generations before that.
"Jesus," Elliott said after a baffled moment of skimming the page. "They're one of the corporations that, like, owns the world."
"Including," Dr. Kelly said with a certain arch glee, "ColCor."
Elliott's lion, leaping to conclusions faster than Elliott himself could, roared,She ATE the weak queen!in delight.
Aoife, less prepared to make assumptions than the lion was, sat up straighter again, suddenly clutching the arms of her chair. "What does thatmean."
Dr. Kelly turned her screen back around, moved it to the side, and slide a piece of paper across her desk to Aoife. Sheand Elliott both scooted toward it, Aoife's hands actually shaking with nerves as she lifted the paper.
The old queen is enjoying this,the lion said accusatorially.Why doesn't she just use her words?!
Elliott muttered,Hush,as he leaned in, reading over Aoife's arm.
Dear Dr. Kelly,the letter read,
I enormously enjoyed my time at the Shamrock Safari Wildlife Park yesterday, and was particularly impressed with your employee Aoife Gallagher. Ms. Gallagher showed great presence of mind in unorthodox situations during my visit there, and dealt with recurring issues from unpleasant individual firmly, fairly, and with remarkable thoughtfulness toward others whose livelihoods could be affected, however unreasonably, by her actions.
My visit led me to understand that the Shamrock Safari park and places like it provide a critical element in worldwide conservation and education efforts. Furthermore, it showed me that the park's staff are dedicated, passionate advocates for not only the job at hand, but for generosity and moral clarity. I couldn't be happier with the day I spent at your facility, or with the people who are running it.
