Chapter 10 Keir
KEIR
The northern lights played outside my office window, gold-green tonight with streaks of pink. The storm was slowly moving in but had not yet arrived. The skies remained clear.
I’d been working all day on new analytics.
The structure of the storm didn’t look right to me.
Nor to Fallon. I had my team doing analytics as well, while Fallon worked on theories and speculations.
We needed to prepare for all possibilities which, when dealing with nature, was obviously impossible, but we were doing the best we could.
In the meantime, I was also concerned about Fallon.
He was young, but that wasn’t necessarily the problem.
His background was what made him a bit socially awkward.
Raised by elves. I was an elf and I understood there were some cultural differences.
They shouldn’t matter here, though. Not on my team.
I was, after all, an elf among shifters.
I certainly didn’t get invited to shifter parties, nor did I expect to, but Fallon being left out was not something that set well with me.
I had feelings for him. Protective ones.
Alpha ones. I couldn’t deny that to myself.
But I was also selfish in my instincts. I wanted impressive results at work.
Fallon could give me that. But Fallon froze and couldn’t work as well when he lost confidence.
I’d become aware of it during the first flight test of the sleigh just after I’d hired him.
He had eagerly come up with ideas only to freeze when I’d invited him onto the sleigh to examine the dash computer.
Fallon was made for great things. With his delicate sensitivity, I needed to balance that and I had to be smart about it. His abilities awed me. To harness them required me to move smoothly between him and the team at Control.
I walked into Fallon’s office and he immediately gave me his attention. “Any more updates on the storm yet?” he asked.
“I’ll be the first to hear of it if there are.”
“I got a program to study it myself, hoping it will help. I’ve been looking at the properties.” He turned his screen so I could see it better. “Comparing them to other storms here in the past, this is weird.”
I looked at his findings. “That is weird.”
He sighed and closed his eyes.
“Thoughts?”
“I have some.”
“Want to brainstorm for a bit?”
He nodded, his features brightening. Our sessions together were a joy. For both of us.
We spent the afternoon speculating and trying to draw up equations to support our best theories. It was exhilarating. Whenever I came off a session like that, I had a high like I’d just had the best sex. Combined with my attraction to Fallon, that tripled.
Later, I sent Fallon home for a few hours’ sleep.
He promised he would return for a midnight shift.
Then I went back to my office to do more work.
No sleep for me short of cat naps on my office couch.
While much of the world was attending Christmas parties and watching Christmas movies, we here at Santa’s Village didn’t get to start celebrating until it was actually Christmas Day.
And after. There was simply too much work to be done.
I informed Santa of the unique nature of the upcoming storm. He emailed and thanked me. He did not indicate concern. But then, Santa never showed upset or signs of anxiety. If optimists were glass-half-full types, Santa’s type was his glass was always filled to the brim.
Fallon returned at midnight.
“Did you sleep?”
“A little. But my mind is still going fast from this afternoon. You were here all this time?” he asked.
“I have to be here. The couch is my friend during breaks.”
His face turned down in concern.
We both went back to work. I checked in with the midnight shift at Control every hour. They were running constant storm scenarios in conjunction with sleigh functions.
The storm kept approaching. The next day the sky was overcast and the stars could not shine through. Our little night-world was cast in even more darkness. The lights of the village were our sun and stars and warmth.
I went outside for a few minutes to get away from everything.
And to observe the sky and horizon with my real senses.
Snow fell softly all around me. It should have been a peaceful, cozy sight.
But there was a strangeness in the air. Electric.
We already knew the ionization was up. I sensed more.
I couldn’t see it, but I felt it straight through to my bones. Like an itch I couldn’t scratch.
I worried. That was also part of my job.
Things we didn’t understand could affect our technology.
Santa’s magic was immune, but he relied on us for other important things, like not getting lost. It wasn’t Earth, here and present right now, that might mix him up, but the time flows.
Our tech concerning that would be considered advanced and alien to humans.
But we understood it as best we could and implemented special nav, which kept Santa oriented so he could return to us.
He might be a powerful and magical elf, but he risked becoming lost in unknown eddies and currents like any brave explorer. His reindeer, too.
I went inside, brushed off the snow, and back to my office. I checked on Fallon. He looked tired, his fine, shiny hair damp at the temples. He announced he was fine. In a few hours, I’d send him home to snatch a few more hours of sleep.
“I’m taking a break for a half an hour nap,” I told him. “Wake me if there are any developments.”
I turned out the lights in my office and collapsed on my couch. My mind raced. I probably wouldn’t sleep, but at least I was resting.
The next thing I knew, my eyes snapped open. I immediately looked at my smart watch. I’d been out for two hours. I’d forgotten to set the alarm.
I stretched, called out for the lights to brighten, and rubbed at my eyes. Two hours. I hadn’t meant for that to happen. My head was heavy. Groggy.
My assistant, Lance, had returned after an eight-hour break. I called out to him, adjusting the tangles of my long hair. “Coffee. Strong. No cocoa this time. Nothing. Just straight black coffee. The biggest mug you can find.”
He returned with a tray, a carafe, and my favorite mug decorated with moons and stars.
Fallon’s office door was closed, but the light shone through the windows facing the hallway. He was still here. I’d meant for him to go home for sleep an hour ago. I wanted him at full capacity leading up to Christmas Eve.
I took my mug and knocked on his door.
“Come in.”
He was bent over his screen typing away on the keyboard.
When he looked up, his eyes were bright.
He was breathtaking. I had to curb my urge to gasp.
What entity had sent this fawn to me? It was dangerous, these feelings.
Skin both hot and cold. Stomach tightening.
Arousal curling through me. Alpha instincts kicking in.
These weren’t my usual leadership instincts.
They were far more personal. A desire to fixate, hone in, possess. All targeted on Fallon.
I blinked hard, then took a gulp of hot coffee to settle myself. It burned my tongue and throat all the way down.
“I got updates from Control,” Fallon began. He recounted the last two hours I’d missed.
I forced myself to focus on his words. Not his breaths, which seemed more rapid than usual, nor his flawless skin and deep dark eyes.
Not his chest rising and falling, nor the spread of his legs as he sat slightly squirming in his chair.
Nor the wonderful scent of frozen strawberries and sweet cream that seemed to fill the room. None of that.
I looked him up and down before catching myself. I almost gave myself away by apologizing. I bit my burnt tongue and ignored my outright transgression.
He finished his speech and stared up at me as if waiting. For what?
“Yes, thank you for all that.”
“But what about the continuum?”
“Continuum?”
“I did a new equation.”
I hadn’t been listening too well. Now I needed to apologize. “I’m sorry. I just woke up. Can you repeat that part?”
“It shows the properties in the storm could affect it.”
This was huge. I needed to get my act together and focus. “You say could affect it?”
“It's not a fact yet. But it's a possibility.”
“A possibility is still too much. We need to be sure. This is something that could lead to some dire consequences.”
He blinked his big eyes at me. “You mean Christmas could be cancelled?”
Exactly that. But I didn't want to confirm it out loud. That would be too much. Catastrophic. Instead, I replied, “That's not a possibility. Not on my watch.”
“I'll keep working on it. I've never seen anything like this. It's actually fascinating. I have lots of ideas. I'll keep working through the night.”
While I wanted my best people on this, I also knew the work would not be optimum if they didn't take care of themselves. I was here to make sure of that, my alpha in full gear.
“You need a break. You need sleep.”
Fallon shook his head. “Give me some of that coffee you’re drinking and I can go all night.”
“No. I'll work while you go home and take a nap. I want you gone at least six hours. Do you hear me?”
“But--but I promise I can do it. If you send me home, I'll just keep working from my couch.”
“At least you'll be out of the office. Go. Rest. That's an order.”
He shook his head at the same time as he got up from his chair. “I want to be helpful. I want to do everything right.”
“We all do. And you are helpful. That's why I want you at your best and you can't be that way if you don't take breaks for rest.”
“What about you?”
I lifted my mug to him. “I just had a great power nap. More than you've had today.”
His feet dragged as he left the room. Reluctance or exhaustion? A little bit of both, I was sure.
I'd lied to him a bit. The nap had done little for me.
My mind was a fog. My alpha was in protective mode for my team, yes, but it was also out of control with thoughts of Fallon.
I couldn't get him out of my mind. I must have dreamed of him or something.
This wasn't normal for me. I didn't have ruts.
I was very disciplined in my personal life.
Maybe I was losing it. Maybe I'd worked here for too long.
I would have liked to have blamed my tension on the problems at hand concerning the storm, but this had started long before this storm appeared on the horizon.
It was like a beacon for my thoughts. As if I myself had created it out of thin air from my fixation on my new recruit.
It had to stop.
I went into my office to my private bathroom and took a quick shower as cold as I could stand it. It definitely cleared my mind for a few hours, at least. Though it certainly didn't feel good at all.
Two more days passed. Fallon would work for twelve hours straight, then leave for six. During that time, I went home but I was too restless to remain there for more than a few hours.
We'd ascertained that the storm, as it approached, was gathering momentum.
As it grew, the questionable particles inside it grew with it.
There could be no question now that it would interfere with continuum equations.
It wasn't known if we could track Santa one hundred percent through his twelve-hour journey on Christmas Eve.
If we lost his position through the streams of space-time, even if communication remained we wouldn't be able to radio his exact coordinates.
Without that, the reindeer would be lost.
Fallon came up with some brilliant math. I relayed it all to Control for double checking and informed Santa.
The tension in Control eased. But things were changing by the hour. I sent Fallon home again for some more sleep but all he did was keep texting me with new numbers as the storm grew. He wasn't resting.
I sent him a quick text.
You aren't resting.
His reply came quickly.
The numbers are flying like crazy through my head. I can't rest. Plus, I think I'm coming down with a cold or something. But I can do this. I won't let you down.
Damn it, kid. Take something for the pain and go to bed. I'm begging you. I need you back here tomorrow feeling better. The day before Christmas Eve is crucial. We can't have Santa loading into a sleigh that isn't working at optimal efficiency.
I'll be fine. I promise.
Take your time. You have all night. I need you the most tomorrow.
Got it. I promise.
And that was the last I heard from him until morning.