Don't blame me, someone asked if I could continue this...

 
As soon as she knew she would be alone for a reasonable length of time, Tessie dialed the seventeen digit number that would connect her directly to Centurion headquarters. It took awhile to set this up because who leaves a wounded eight-year-old alone for very long?

But her new parents were sound asleep after a couple of drinks at dinner and what had sounded like marathon sex. And her new older brother slept like a lump of basalt at the bottom of the Atlantic trench. She ought to be safe from being interrupted for a while.

She spent only a moment wondering why Kenny took so much delight in annoying her. Maybe it was just what older brothers did. Silently she mouthed apologies to the younger sisters of Hank Herbert who was no more.

She negotiated Daedalos's security gadgets with passwords, a triple layer that depended on timing as well as exact words because her voice print wasn't on file. She tugged on her braids when the phone finally began to ring.

"Hello?" someone answered cautiously. Tessie could understand that, she'd used Urban Commando's private codes and that would show on the phone screen.

"It'th me," she said.

"Who'th me?" the voice on the other end lisped back.

She recognized the voice; Blueblazes must surely be someone's older brother. She sighed. "Jutht put one of the grownupth on will you, Billy?"

"Urban? Is that really you?"

"It'th Tethie now. Tess-ie," she said carefully. "I need to talk to Kay."

"It's three in the morning, honeybun. I'm on mids so...wait? Guess who just came in?"

"Oh, hurry, Billy! Put her on the phone," Tessie urged.

"What's the rush? Sounds like you've got some growing up to do. Tessie, did you say? Are you a girl now? A little girl?" Billy Blueblazes snickered.

Tessie danced with a new urgency. "Yeth! Okay? Now put the Lady on 'cauthe I've got a little girl bladder now, too, and I don't want to leave a puddle in the living room!"

Over Billy's laughter, Lady Karma's voice said, "I knew you might call tonight, Urban." The advantages of dealing with a psionic sorceress, Tessie reflected momentarily.

"Oh, Kay!" Tessie whimpered, looking around to see that she wasn't being watched or overheard. "I think my new daddy is a thupervillain!"

"F-for heaven's sake, honey! Who do you think he is?" Even Lady Karma could be surprised.

Tessie enunciated carefully. "Death Masque," she whispered.