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It was a small sitting room, but able to comfortably seat the four present at the time. It was designed that way. A secret little alcove that had held many a meeting of Community leadership over the years, as it did tonight.

Janie sat, hir head resting on her arm, cradled between hir index finger and thumb, with a subtle look of amusement in the plush armchair in the corner of the wall opposite the door. On the wall to the left was Bethany, arms stretched wide along the back of a love seat, legs open in a rather unladylike fashion. In a chair that had been brought in from the kitchen was Brenda, whose research had prompted the meeting. The concern was visible in her posture and the way she would occasionally fidget.

Jun stood in the center of the room. Hir face was dark as shi looked to the assembled.

"So. What do you think?"

Bet rolled hir head around before making eye contact with hir best friend.

"I think you're crazy, is what I think, Babes."

Jun shot hir a look, but Beth responded, raising hir hands palms out as if to call for silence.

"I'm serious. You're crazy. What you're planning is crazy. And the fact that_you_want to be the one to do it is craziest thing of all."

"Actually," Brenda chimed in looking to Beth, "the plan itself isn't too out there. And we really do need the information at this point."

"If we need the information, I don't see why we can't just mount up and storm the castle 20 deep."

"That was like three different metaphors, Bethany."

"You get what I'm saying, Sweets."

"You want crazy, Bet?" Jun. "That's crazy. You're under estimating them. There goes what secrecy we have left. And, even more importantly, even if we get what we want, at that point it would be like we were declaring open warfare. The_last_thing we want is a war."

"The last thing we can afford is a war, Babes. I wouldn't say it was the last thing any of us would want. But point taken. So fine. We go quiet. I still say it shouldn't be you."

"Agreed. You're too important, Jun."

"Thank you, Sweets. So how about I go?"

Jun cocked an eyebrow.

"How does that make any sense? You're just as important as I am. Possibly more so."

"HA," Bethany laughed.

"Look at it this way, Jun," Brenda offered. Before continuing she pushed her spectacles up on the bridge of her nose. ""We're playing chess. They're playing checkers. That doesn't mean they're stupid. It means they have the advantage. As long as they have a piece on the board, they're dangerous. And if we take their king, they can make another one. Or two. Or ten. For us?" Here she paused to look at Bethany. "A queen is a strong piece. An important piece. Sometimes it seems to be the most important. And it's hard to replace." Another pause to look to Jun "But it CAN be replaced. But if we lose our king, we've lost the game."

"Face it, Miracle Baby, you matter too much. The people in the community our age, they look at you like a symbol for our future. The impossible one that happened. So anything can happen. We can't lose that. It could break us"

A chuckle came from the corner and after a long silence, Janie added hir thoughts to the mix.

"Bethany, this community existed before my granddaughter and, much as I love hir, it can exist after hir just fine too. You're all stronger than you think you are."

"So I take it, Ms. Riggs, that you're with Jun on this?"

"Brenda, first thing my name's Janie, second thing I don't have a vote in this. I'm retired. Even if I did, I'd recuse myself. Too close to the people involved. I'm just here to offer some wisdom."

Jun took the initiative.

"Someone has to do this. Bethany, you don't have the self control. Brenda, you don't have the experience. And even if Janie..."

"Nana."

"Nana Janie was an option, shi doesn't exactly look the vulnerable and easily manipulated type."

"Barely remember how to even pretend to be."

"So it's my job."

Brenda shook her head. "I can think of at least 5 of us who fit your qualifications while not being you."

"And not one of them has the responsibility to this Community that we do. I'm not going to ask any of them to put themselves in that kind of danger for something the people they've entrusted to take care of them should be handling."

Brenda turned slightly away at this, seeming to think.

"So, Babes. Sweets. Let's put it to a vote then. I still say you're crazy."

"And I say I'm doing it."

"That leaves you, Sweets."

Brenda, for a time, didn't say anything, seeming to take great care in considering her options. Finally she looked up at met Jun's eye.

"Good luck, Jun."