The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) by Mackenzie Morgan Page A

Angeles, or Chicago, but for an elf who loved the outdoors, it was suffocating at times. At least when he was living in Seattle he could see mountains in the distance. Here, nothing but city.
    He had moved to Omaha a year ago when Kevin had accepted a job with Beasley, Dixon, Matherson and Co. PA. He had expected to be stuck here for at least a couple more years, but now it looked like his days in Omaha were coming to a close. As soon as he could figure out how to get Kevin and his friends on Terah, he could leave. He could go back to the Seattle area.
    That thought alone helped ease the panic. So he took a deep breath, grabbed a pencil and notepad, and sat down at his desk to make a list of Kevin’s friends. As Pallor stared at the notepad, he realized that there was no one to list. Kevin had not made any close friends while he was in college, and, as far as Pallor knew, Kevin had never even made it to first name basis with anyone in Omaha. He would have to send complete strangers to Terah with Kevin. As the panic started to build again, he forced it down and tried to tackle the problem logically.
    First, he had to find some suitable candidates. He needed people without strong ties, basically loners, so he began by listing some quiet restaurants in the area that would appeal to loners. Then he added a few coffee shops near the college where the more independent types hung out.
    Next, he listed several of his contacts who would have information on new arrivals in town. Maybe he’d luck up on someone who was a drifter, working at odd jobs, seeing the country one piece at a time, a modern day explorer.
    After that, he picked up a stack of old newspapers that had piled up on the floor beside his desk and started going through them. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but he made notes on anything that caught his eye. A couple of hours later he had found a few articles that he wanted to check out, but only one that really tweaked his interest.
    On the sports page of a week-old paper, there was a follow-up article about a college football player who had been injured in a game a few months ago. The thing that caught Pallor’s attention was a quote from the young man: “Football is my life. There’s nothing else. I can’t even imagine my life without it.”
    According to the article, the doctors would soon know how successful they had been at trying to save his career. Pallor made a note of the athlete’s name, his coach’s name, and the orthopedic surgeon in charge of his case.
    Wednesday morning, he began calling his contacts. One was a woman in a real estate office that managed several apartment complexes. After they joked around about his only calling when he wanted something, Pallor said, “I’ve got a character who’s going to have to pick up, move across the country, and take a new job in a strange city. I want to talk to someone who’s doing that to get a better feel for my character. Do you have anyone moving in soon who would fit the bill?”
    “Give me a couple of hours to look through the new rentals,” she answered. “Male or female? Or does it matter?”
    Pallor paused for a moment. “My character’s male, so maybe I’d better stick to males.”
    “Okay. Do you want someone who’s already moved in? We had a few who took possession over the weekend.”
    “I’d rather get his thoughts when he arrives, as he’s moving in, but I guess I could work with someone who hasn’t been here long.” Pallor said. “But I don’t want him to know he’s being interviewed. I need his real reactions, so don’t tell anyone.”
    “Don’t worry,” she said with a little laugh. “I don’t want to lose my job. But you owe me! Again. Call me back this afternoon,” she said, and then she disconnected.
    Pallor’s next phone call was to the young football player’s coach. When he finally got through, he introduced himself and said that he had been asked to write a series of feature articles for one of the