The Gathering Storm Page 5

  “I swear to God, Bossman, those Squids might becoming more human. They understood about the dead dog.”

  Talbot walked over to Dogman, seething. Before he could say anything, Dogman stared at him with those cold eyes he had, and said, “They killed my child, I killed theirs.” Talbot turned away. What could you say to a crazy mofo, who would get fried for a dog? Nothing.

  He walked back to his Lieutenant, who had something long in his hands. A spear.

  “Look, Bossman. Six guns, a bow and arrow, and a real life African spear.”

  Talbot took the spear, and examined it closely. On the shaft was a brass plate with the words: “Waziri, Property of Atlanta Museum of Natural History”.

  “Boys,” Talbot said, “we may be taking a trip to Atlanta.”

  CHAPTER 5

  KEY WEST, FLORIDA

  To say Director Adam Lloyd was a bit like the mythical creature the satyr with its legendary sexual appetites was not far from the mark. For he had three full time “ladies” at his beck and call, as well as in his bed, when he located one Kathy Monroe, adult film star and an admitted fixation of his. However, he had another every important role for her to play, one that had little to do with her onscreen talents. It was a role Kathy Monroe would fill quite nicely, to the surprise of many.

  Belying the image of an out of control sexual beast, the Director also was adept at selecting people with specialized skills and talents to join him, and showed the humans he chose the advantages of a benign dictator. Adam Lloyd was trying to build a safe haven for humanity. It was assuredly not propaganda.

  - “The Great Compromise”, appendix, item #7. Excerpt from the Sunday Supplement by Sally Rand, Great Falls Herald.

  Adam looked at his watch. “It’s almost 2:00pm. Who’s up next for interview, Chief?”

  Chief Hamilton smiled. “Guess, Boss.”

  “Hm. Judging by your grin... Kathy Monroe.”

  “That’s why you’re the boss, and I’m not. Can’t hide anything from you.”

  “Have her come in, please.”

  “Private interview, Boss?”

  “Yes please, Chief.”

  The Chief left to let Mary Lou know it was time to send in Ms. Monroe. Adam had actual jitters, like a nervous school boy at his first dance. Come on, pull yourself together, he told himself. He was possibly the most powerful human in the world, and yet he couldn't handle one attractive woman. There was a short knock on the door. “Come in.”

  Mary Lou entered first, announcing the visitor. “Ms. Monroe to see you, Director.” Adam noticed that Mary Lou was shooting daggers at Kathy as she came in, as if she wanted to claw her eyes out. Damn, he did not expect that level of animosity. She, Jeanie, and Jamey had quickly bonded. Just another problem to deal with later. No rest for the wicked.

  “Hello, Ms. Monroe. Please, have a seat. Care for something to drink?”

  “Hello, Mr. Director. What can you offer... to drink that is.” She flashed him her signature smile.

  Adam took in all the details of the very attractive woman in front of him. Blonde, blue-eyed, with that smile that started in her eyes and then animated her whole face. Feminine, but strong-looking nose. She was wearing fashion designer jeans that were clean, pressed, but had seen better days. Even with the jeans, he could admire the shape of her legs from the top of her running shoes went all the way up, where they joined a perfect ass. A light blue blouse, with the top two buttons strategically unbuttoned, covered yet gave a hint at the sheer nylon bra beneath. He also noticed, quizzically, that she was carrying an Air Force flight jacket on her arm in a size too large for her.

  “What would you like, Ms. Monroe?”

  “Glass of water–with ice if you have it–and a shot of scotch, neat, please, Mr. Director.”

  “Coming right up.”

  As he took the ice and glasses out of the refrigerator, Kathy asked, “Bartender has the day off, Mr. Director?”

  “No, simple tasks I do myself, saves wasted staff positions. And, I will make you a deal. If I can call you Kathy, you can call me Adam.”

  Kathy gave him an impish smile. “You can call me anything you want as long as it isn’t nasty. Although I’ve heard it all in my industry.” She added, “How about ‘Boss’, for you. I don’t think I’m in a position to call you by your first name, even in private. Especially with your secretary giving me the ‘stink eye’.”

  Adam paused pouring the drinks, and addressed Kathy. “It’s that obvious?”

  “Yes boss, it was. As soon as I walked up to her desk, I got the feeling she was ready for a good old-fashioned cat fight. I don’t want one, but I won’t back down if she tries.”

  Adam shook his head. “No, that won’t happen. She knows that would definitely displease me.”

  Kathy shrugged, then took the two offered drinks from Adam. “Kempai,” she offered in salute, and after tossing back the scotch, began to sip the iced water.

  “Damn, I really missed ice cubes. Just like I really needed that scotch to settle my nerves.” She set the two glasses down on the nearby end table and with a serious expression, added, “Like you said, Boss, I like to get to the point also.” She took a deep breath, then asked, “Why me? Other than the obvious. I’m guessing you have a huge collection of my DVDs you want me to autograph.”

  Adam reappraised her. He should have realized that to survive the last six years and still be in one piece took someone with special qualities. Especially someone who, because of her reputation, could be in someone’s private stable of kept women. Adam and the Chief had broken up several slave rings the past few years. Why humans, under the threat of extinction, couldn’t stop from exploiting other humans he did not understand.

  The Tschaaa enslaved humans because we were draft and food animals, a different species. Forced slavery of their own species was unknown to the Squids. Traditions and protocols let every being know their place in Tschaaa society.

  “I would be lying if I said it had nothing to do with your career,” Adam admitted. “However, although I must confess to having something of a schoolboy crush on you, your physical expertise is not the main reason I had the Chief look you up. I could have found enough of a lookalike to satisfy that urge.”

  “Well then, Boss, if it isn’t just my good looks, or my talents in bed, what is it?”

  Adam paused. “Remember an eternity ago when a porn producer said in an interview that your perkiness went a long way at five in the morning?”

  Kathy smiled. “I thought I was the only human being who still remembered that.”

  “Well, there are two of us. You seem to have the unique ability to project a positive, upbeat… presence I guess I would call it, over radio, television, internet, even electronic media–you name it. Some people would say you are just a good actress. I say that you have the genuine ability to project your positive thinking, that inner you that really exists. You see the potential best in humanity, don’t you? Despite the seedier side of life you’ve seen, and definitely all the crap you have been through in the past six years, you refuse to accept that things will always be bad.”

  Kathy gave a little snort. “Never give up, never surrender. That phrase was in a comedy, but I take it to heart. Also, illegitimi non carborundum– don’t let the bastards get you down–in very bad Latin.”

  Adam smiled. “I like a variation of a movie quote, turned on its head. ‘Positive Vibes, Moriarty, always with the positive vibes.’ ”

  They both laughed, and again Adam saw that special spark Kathy had shine through.

  “I need your ability, what one man called your ‘perkiness at 5:00am’”. Adam rose from his chair, and walked over to the large window overlooking the bay side of the Base.

  “We are at a crossroads as a species. As nasty as things are, it could be worse. We could all be lined up tomorrow and shipped off to the harvesters. Every part of the world could be turned into a Dachau and an Auschwitz, a Pol Pot killing field, the ultimate Siberia.”

&nbs
p; He turned around and faced Kathy. “Our Lordship and a few others see potential in our species beyond being a piece of meat. The Tschaaa have the technology in a pinch to grow us in vats, similar to the grays.” Adam gave a wry smile. “Lord Neptune said the result is the equivalent of Vienna sausage in a can, but it would still be edible with the Tschaaa equivalent of ketchup.”

  Kathy bit her bottom lip, then spoke. “You think I have the ability to help you keep things on an even keel, to help people keep on going on, day after day, working toward a positive outcome. Specifically, we are kept alive until we are seen as a needed, productive junior partner, so to speak, to the Tschaaa. And, my unique… ‘perkiness’ as you call it, is that unique?”

  “Yes,” Adam replied. “Yes, it is. I have made damn few mistakes in reading people’s ability, how they can help us survive. And that’s all it is about. Survival.”

  Kathy sighed. “Well, I have had stranger proposals. I guess, Boss, I could smile at you, bat my baby blues, and say…” At this, she adopted the voice of little girl. “Sure Daddy Warbucks. Whatever you say.” She returned to her normal tone of voice. “But, we would both know I would be feeding you a load of horseshit. So, let me lay it out to you. You see this flight jacket, the one that’s too big for me?”

  “Sure,” Adam replied. “I was going to ask you about it. The Chief and I are former Air Force.”

  “Well, I may have handled a lot of... joysticks in my former career, as it was, but I was never a pilot. My fiancé was.”

  Adam returned to his chair facing Kathy, and waited. He knew she would tell him the story in her own good time.

  “He was a fighter pilot the day the first rock hit, the first strikes. He’d given me a ring the week before. Me, a porn star, barely beginning in mainstream films. Usually playing horny young things, only I wasn’t so young anymore. He knew the Air Force brass wouldn't look too kindly at a wife who was in my line of work. The officers’ wives club would have imploded. So he planned on getting out and, using a few connections I had, flying in Hollywood. Computer graphics can do wonders, but actual hotshot flying sequences are hard to beat. Not to mention ferrying execs around. The rocks hit, the Squids showed up, and he started fighting.”

  She gently patted the jacket. “This was his old flight jacket. He had just been issued a new one of some fantastic new material. There is–or was, I guess–some news footage made by a very gutsy photographer of an Air Force fighter with a wingman attacking a harvester ark coming in for a landing near L.A., on day three. The harvester was hit by a missile and went in. A delta went after the wingman and, somehow, was out maneuvered and shot down also by the same pilot that had hit the ark. A couple of minutes later a Falcon appeared. It hit the fighter with one of those ‘tractor beams’ they have. Apparently, the Tschaaa wanted to see who could take out a harvester and a delta with inferior technology.” Kathy blinked back tears. “The fighter turned into the Falcon and rammed it before it was immobilized. The Falcon bellied in, pieces of the fighter imbedded in the body of the spacecraft.”

  Adam and Kathy both fell silent.

  “How do you know… it was him?”

  Kathy swallowed hard. “The wonders of digital film technology. A close up showed his tail number, with his handle and nickname painted in fairly small letters near the cockpit. ‘Chubby’ was his handle. And yes, he definitely had a large ‘chubby’–at least large enough for this adult film actress. I should know, I’m an expert.” A single tear rolled down her left cheek.

  Adam looked at the jacket. “His name tag, is missing.”

  Anger flashed across her face. “Yeah. A bitch at the ranch house where I was holed up at didn’t like the goo-goo eyes her so-called boyfriend was making at me. She stole the nametag, burning it to get back at me.” Adam saw a feral grin on Kathy’s face appear that he wouldn’t have believed was possible. “She won’t try that again with anyone anytime soon. I tore into her, tried to rip her tits off, which were definitely not as nice as mine. Here, look at this.”

  Kathy, with unexpected familiarity, opened her blouse and slid her right breast out of her bra cup. “See this? That little scar is from her trying to bite my nipple off. I returned the favor. She still had two when I left her, but I bet you she has scars.” Kathy slipped her breast back into her bra. “So much for perkiness.” She buttoned her blouse as she stood up.

  “What do you think you're doing, Kathy?”

  “Leaving, of course. Damaged goods, Boss. Who you think I was six years ago, that’s not me now. Thanks for the hot showers, the trip, the scotch, but I think…”

  “Kathy, sit down.”

  “No, I…”

  “Sit. Down.”

  Kathy saw a hard look in Adam’s eyes, and felt a cold rage behind the apparent calmness that scared her speechless. In another life, Adam might have become a hired killer, an assassin, a serial killer. That iciness was instead, here and now, from a man allegedly in charge of saving humanity as a species. She sat.

  “This is not going to turn this into a pity party.” Adam walked over to his bar, poured two glasses of scotch, put some ice and water in a third glass, and returned to Kathy. “Here.”

  “Thanks.” There was a pause. “Boss?”

  “Yes, Kathy?”

  “Can we move over to that nice overstuffed sofa of yours? I could stand some more comfort. It’s been a long time.”

  “Sure.” They settled into their new seats and Adam began. “Everyone has lost someone. The Chief and I were having breakfast together in Atlanta one minute, all hell broke loose the next. But we survived. The Chief’s wife and kids did not.”

  Kathy had the chance for a conversation with the Chief on the rather long trip back to Key West. He had felt her out, she him. She knew of the destruction that had happened around Atlanta, which had set into motion the chain of events that led them to Key West and Lord Neptune. The Chief had matter of factly talked about the complete strangers they had killed when certain people tried to hijack their vehicles, their equipment. No regrets, no emotions. And now the Director. The same, if not more, icy strength. Kathy shivered.

  “What I said during the briefing was all truth, no bullshit. Everyone has to make the same decision. Can they survive here, or does this setup offend them.”

  Adam took a drink, then fixed her with his piercing blue eyes. “So, Miss Monroe. You tell me. I told you what I expect, what I want. What you need to do for me and the Tschaaa Lord. No more, no less. Your decision.” Cold, almost a feral demeanor. Adam Lloyd was the alpha male, no question. Kathy kissed him. He kissed back. A quick fumbling and shedding of clothes followed.

  “Wait, Kathy.” He pulled his pants up enough to make it to his desk and retrieve a package of condoms. “You don’t have to try to get pregnant.”

  She giggled. “That’s nice. Now hurry up and screw me. It’s been a long, dry spell.”

  Twenty minute later, the two satiated humans laid back on the sofa.

  “I told you it has been a long time.”

  “I’ll be honest with you, Kathy. I did not plan things to go this way.”

  She wrinkled her nose at him. “Doesn’t matter, Boss. It happened. I liked it, you liked it. Both of us. A lot.” She looked at Adam. “The question now is... what’s next?”

  Adam frowned. “Normally I have everything planned to a T. As much as I may have fantasized about you, I wasn’t going to try and make you a concubine. The large part of what I told you about your abilities in communicating a special message is the reason why you are here. Seeing you on that local broadcast from San Diego was pure luck. It was just a test on connecting the west coast directly, real time, to here.”

  “And the rest of the reason was you had the hots for me.”

  “Alright, yes. Mea culpa. I’ve had the hots for you for years. But, remember what I said about the mission being the Mission?”

  “Yes, Boss.”

  “That’s true. No bullshit. I believe I can save what is left of the human ra
ce.”

  Whether he was mad, delusional, or both did not matter. Kathy saw in his steely eyes that he believed what he just said.

  “So, what’s next?”

  “I set you up in a private apartment here. You are going to be a Special Assistant handling message and media communications. I came up with the title, so don't laugh.”

  “I learned never to laugh at the one who signs the check. I just laugh with them, not at them.”

  “And since we are dealing in truth right this minute, if things work out like they just did, you move in to my suite with me.”

  “Uh, Boss, don't get mad, but a fourth wheel is great on a car; a fourth for a game of bridge is okay. A fourth woman in your bed is a recipe for disaster.”

  “We’ll discuss the future details later. I did have a suite planned here for you. Here is the key. The Chief can show you where it is. There are some clothes for work and some appropriate clothes for tonight… no protests. I provided all six hundred new arrivals with the right attire for tonight, no favoritism.” He winked.

  Kathy kissed him on the cheek. “I start work tomorrow? Where?”

  “Report to Major Grant in Communications. There is a map in your room of the entire base. 8:00 am and don’t be late. You may work directly for me, but Jane will not allow anyone to slouch on assignments I gave. She also helped me developed the program I have in mind.”

  “Then, I’ll see you tonight?”

  “Of course. It's my party! I also reserve one dance with all of the ladies I can handle, so be warned.”

  As Kathy finished putting her clothes back together in preparation to leaving, she turned toward Adam. “One last thing...”

  “Shoot.”

  “I am nobody’s bitch, unless I want to be. Threaten me, beat me, screw me over, and I still will not be yours, or anyone else’s–even the Lord Squid’s–bitch. I’ll die first, after I cut someone’s testicles or tits off.”