Encounters 1: The Spiral Slayers (32 page)

Both Edens shook their heads. “Ah…afraid not. You guys are
sort of the heroes…behind the scenes.” Brandon said a bit awkwardly.

Harrington rubbed her eyes -- they were watering from
laughing -- then looked thoughtful. “I guess when you work with someone…and
you’re right there with them and involved with events…you don’t see things like
that. And although we watch the news, we don’t pay attention to too much
else…so we don’t see or hear everything that the public does. A living legend? Really?”
She looked back at Leewood and they both laughed again, this time in amazement.

“Well, knowing Adamarus,” she chuckled, her attention
returning to the Edens, “he’s not liking that too much. But back to your
question…” she flopped her arms at her side as she considered what to say,
“…well, he’s a nice guy…” she shrugged, “…he can cut to the chase and take
charge when needed, but at the same time, he’s not overbearing. He’s very good
looking, but…he has eyes only for Grace…and his son, Nero. You’ll both like
him.” Harrington thought for a moment, then added, “He’s a stand-up guy. Hmm…in
some ways…well, he’s kind of a straight arrow.”

Leewood spoke up, shaking his head, “Yeah, you’ve got that
right,” he laughed, “he’s a frigging boy scout if you want to know the truth.” He
turned back towards the window to watch the Loud ship, dismissing the subject.

Evelyn and Brandon both nodded. They did not know what they
had expected, but for some reason, they both felt a little disappointed.

Someone across the room said, “There they are,” and Evelyn
turned to the view port. The shuttle that had carried Adamarus and company from
Amular inside the Loud’s ship now appeared next to the massive umbrella-like
structure. To Evelyn, the shuttle looked only slightly larger than a speck of
dust next to the enormous ship.

Twenty minutes later, the shuttle docked smoothly in Hideaway
Space Dock One with only a slight bump radiating through the floor. A minute
later, the hard dock transfer tubes sealed into place and the hatches opened.

The first to exit was Bugs’ avatar. After the Loud, Woodworth
came through, then two young men with briefcases. Finally, Adamarus and a woman
came through the hatch talking to each other.

Evelyn had hardly been aware of her people rearranging their
positions around her. She would be first in line as always. Despite the 50/50
partnership with Brandon, her father had also been the father of the Hideaway
Shipyard and the Leviathan Battleships, and to everyone, she was master of the
Yards.

Woodworth came to her first. He smiled warmly, “Evelyn, we
meet in person at last.”

She smiled back and offered her hand. “Professor Woodworth,
it’s a pleasure.” He shook it with a firm and sure hand.

Woodworth spread his hands and looked around to indicate the
entire five-mile space dock, “Couldn’t you find anything bigger to greet us
in?”

She laughed, “Couldn’t you find anything bigger to arrive
in?” referring to the seven-mile Loud ship.

“Touché.” Woodworth chuckled and moved by her to shake hands
with Brandon.

Next came Bugs, then Lenny Grant and Trevor Coleman, then Jan,
the woman who had been talking to Adamarus. 

Finally, Adamarus was in front of her and he was wearing a
smile that made her feel like she was melting. She was more than a little
surprised at her reaction.

Adamarus looked at her as if he were slowly taking her in. He
took a deep breath and said, “Evelyn, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.
You’re even more gorgeous in person.” He bowed slightly, “Brandon is a very
lucky man.”

This made her feel a little dizzy. For a moment she felt like
a young girl again. She could feel a heat rising up her neck. The sound of his
voice seemed richer and warmer in person. He was taller than she had imagined
and his eyes were electric.

She offered her hand automatically and when he took it, an
electrical charge seemed to course through her. She realized she had a stupid
grin on her face and that she needed to say something, but found she was tongue
tied. This was not like her at all. She remembered going over things to say to Adamarus
when they met, but damn it, right now she couldn’t remember anything. She heard
herself say, “Admiral, thank you for the kind words. I’ve been looking forward
to meeting you as well—it’s not every day that a girl gets to meet a living
legend.”

It was Adamarus’ turn for his face to redden. “Well…in
truth,” he leaned in towards her as if sharing a confidence, “my exploits have
always been badly overstated.”

Evelyn felt her smile getting larger if that were possible. To
hide this she turned her head towards Brandon, though her eyes remained on Adamarus.
“Oh, I somehow doubt that Admiral,” she heard herself say, and passed him on to
Brandon.

Evelyn watched him as he talked to Brandon. She realized she
was holding her breath and her heart was pounding in her chest. She made
herself breathe and forced her eyes away from Adamarus only to catch Harrington
staring at her with an odd expression on her face.

---

An hour later, Brandon gave Adamarus and Woodworth ”the tour.”
They took the elevators down to inspect the meeting area. The meeting was
several days away and the facilities were completed and simply waiting.

They arrived inside a large building that looked like a
luxury hotel with marble and granite columns, balconies, and a grand spiral
staircase with glass elevators on either side. Leewood told them it contained
four restaurants, two pools, four spas and a health club, as well as a dozen
smaller meeting rooms.

Then they opened one of eight double glass doors and stepped “outside”
onto the concourse overlooking the main meeting area and the landscaping. “Outside”
was of course inside the vast room called the atrium, which stretched out 1500
feet to where the domed ceiling met the floor. No one had warned them, and Adamarus
and Woodworth were stunned by the size.

As they stood there, a drop of water hit Adamarus’ forehead
and trickled down the side of his nose. He wiped his face with his hand, a
curious look on his face. At the same time, drops had started hitting Woodworth
and Leewood as well.

“What the hell!” Leewood said.

“I think you’ve sprung a leak,” Adamarus joked.

They all looked up and what they saw was unbelievable.

“Why would you want to have a rain cloud?” Woodworth asked
Leewood seriously. Sure enough, they could see a dark rain cloud above their
heads obscuring the central area of the domed ceiling.

“We wouldn’t!” Leewood said, concern obvious in his voice.

Woodworth pointed at the reflection pools and waterfalls
scattered about the surrounding landscaping, “By God, you’ve created…weather! The
room is large enough, and with all that water surface area…the lights…”

Adamarus laughed, “Now I am impressed!” But Leewood did not
hear him as he was already on his com unit to the construction crew.

Luckily, it only took half a day to dehumidify the room and
things dried up before the meetings started.

---

Captain Radin Talvin brought the ten battleships to a halt
five miles from the Hideaway Shipyard. Three of the battleships were under the
control of crews still in training. Although they were his best crews—the top
of the class—and Radin trusted them…he just didn’t want any mistakes.

He spent over an hour making sure that the ships were locked
down, secure, and not going anywhere. Finally, leaving their second tier in command,
he and Burnwall, along with their aids, took a shuttle to the Hideaway control
center. The Edens, Adamarus, Leewood and Woodworth met them. The original group
had not been together in a long time and they warmly greeted each other, then proceeded
to get the new arrivals settled into their quarters.

---

Finally, it was the night before the start of Amular’s first
Council of War. It had been over a year of constant stress and working
literally around the clock for everyone present, not to mention the deep
underlying horror of what had happened to the Loud’s home system. To those who
also knew about the alien ship…the fear and stress verged on, being unbearable
at times.

The new and expanded special team had assembled many facts,
and tomorrow they would brief a second tier of people working under them and
make initial decisions on what would be done over the next 200 years. Tonight,
however, everyone would take a moderated break, let loose a little and shake
off the burden for a while.

Evelyn excused herself claiming loose ends she needed to
attend to, but the six men and Harrington went out for drinks. There was only
one place to go, a facility that had just reopened, in fact. Its location
designated it as Deck 14U, but it was just called “One4U.”

The One4U was a full function club. It had a fully stocked
bar, a good sound system and a dance floor, pool tables, dartboards, and the
view wasn’t anything to sneer at. One wall was a floor to ceiling window, and
even though it was badly in need of cleaning, the spectacle beyond was still
awesome. It was Sunday night and the first of an unspecified number of serious
meetings would start at 8:00 AM tomorrow—The One4U was packed. Luckily, a table
had been reserved for them.

The music and noise was deafening. Although the converted
hanger was large, there were now over 1800 people stationed on Hideaway and it
looked like over 1000 were here.

With Leewood leading the way, they negotiated their way
through the sea of bodies towards the only empty booth which had a softly
glowing “reserved” sign on the table.

It was a zoo, and Adamarus found he was in the mood for a
zoo. Leewood was on the other side of the table and Adamarus saw him stand and
raise his hands, signaling for a round of beers. Then Leewood started looking
around the crowded room, “I need to thank Flannery and Mac for saving us a
table,” he hollered to the group.

Flannery and Mac were both Master Sergeants who had worked
for the Edens at Hideaway during the war. They had been in charge of the
construction for the atrium meeting area. Leewood and the two had hit it off
immediately.

The beers came and Adamarus took a drink as Leewood made his
way around the table to him. Leewood leaned in close to Adamarus’ ear and said
over the noise, “I think you might want to check on something.” Adamarus gave
him a questioning look. Leewood pointed and Adamarus looked and spotted a Loud
avatar sitting in a corner booth with two large, brawny men. Obviously it was
Bugs. The group looked like they were deep in conversation. Leewood continued,
“That’s Flannery and Mac, great guys, you’ll like them. However, they are a
couple of notorious jokesters and there is no telling what they are saying to
your Loud friend. I doubt there’s any trouble, but probably no one has warned
Bugs about those two.”

Adamarus nodded his thanks to Leewood, excused himself and
started making his way through the crowd towards the trio.

He circled around the room so he could approach Bugs from the
rear and listen in a bit before interrupting. Flannery and Mac did not know Adamarus,
but they would recognize him, so he worked in toward them trying to keep his
face averted. Finally, when he was as close as he thought he could get, he
stood about three feet behind Bugs, looking the other way. He could just make
out what they were saying, but it took a minute to get use to the strong
accents of the two Master Sergeants.

Mac was saying in an amazed voice, “So let me get this
straight, Mr. Bugs, you’re on your ship right now, in a ‘control booth’
operating this robot and seeing us and hearing us as if’in you were right here
amongst us?”

“That’s essentially it,” Bugs replied.

Mac said, “Bust my buttons!” Mac elbowed Flannery and said,
“I gotta get me one of these things!” indicating the avatar robot.

Flannery leaned forward and said, “And if you have to be
leaving this control booth to do something…then what controls this robot?” The
rolling r’s on “robot” were deep and rich.

Bugs answered, “The control booths are set up for
uninterrupted operation.”

“Ah…” Mac said, “but…what if you be having to…well…you
know…‘go?’”

“Go?” Bugs asked. “Go where?”

“Well,” Mac said, “you know, Mr. Bugs, ‘go’…see a man about a
horse…take a leak, drain your main…”

Flannery backhanded Mac on the arm interrupting him, then
spoke up, “What he means to say, sir, is…” he thought for a moment, then,
“‘deposit bodily waste products.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh,” said the Loud. “Well, first, we have a much more
advanced system of doing this than you do.”

“A ‘more advanced system’ you say?” Mac was intrigued.

“Yes.” Bugs replied. “You have separate openings that are
used for each function, one for expelling solid waste and one for liquid waste
and one for nourishment intake, and there’s one for breathing and two more for
hearing sound.”

Mac tilted his head, “Nourishment intake?”

Flannery backhanded Mac on the arm again, “Eating, you
diode!” Flannery turned back to Bugs, “Yes, we have, as you say, separate
openings…and you don’t?”

“No,” Bugs replied. “We only have one opening for all these
functions.”

The two of them were speechless for a moment – a rare
occurrence. They both looked at Bugs and then at each other. Finally, Mac
spoke, “And, you be tellin’ us that…well, that that’s more advanced?”

“Of course,” Bugs replied.

Flannery scratched his beard, “Well, I beg your pardon, sir,
but it seems to me…that is…ah…that means if you are… depositing waste let’s
say, then you can’t speak, and vice-versa, if you see what I mean. How is that
more advanced?”

“Not to mention the taste!” Mac added under his breath.

“Ah…” Bugs said, “we do these things at the same time.”

Adamarus was laughing, but as this was new information to him
as well, he wasn’t about to interrupt just yet.