BY KEN LEHNIG
Adams fell to the floor in terror the building swung in a sickening figure eight. The earthquake was a bad one nine-pointer at least. He stared out the window as the ground undulated and burst. Flame and steam was everywhere. The window to his office was supposed to be shatterproof, it wasn't. He looked across the financial park at the new high rise building of the Dorcet Families it was crumbling in on itself and gravity was taking it to the ground in dust and flame. Adams began to laugh at his good fortune. It would take years for them to gain what was lost and his Family would move to block their every move. He only wished the bastards would have died in the collapse but they will find them in their damnable repulser pods, safe and sound, buried in the rubble… with air, food, and water and not a dent or scratch on them. The pods created a pocket of outra- dimension to hide in, till help came. Quantum stuff made them rich and gave Adams the creeps.
The ground gave one more horrible shake and settled. Adams stood and wondered at the anti-grav suspension on the bottom of this fabulous building. Then shook his head. He was alive and the building was still upright, albeit short some windows.
He touched a node on the side of his head and a hologramic screen appeared to glow green, red and white in front of him showing the casualties and the state of his families building. He grinned. Stock will soar. The suspension units will make them richer still.
Maintenance and housekeeping rushed in to check on him and start on the task of making his suites right. They worked with great aplomb. If it wasn't 'just so' who knew what form of punishment may befall them. It became a matter of company pride to do work with better than perfect results. Any form of torture was secondary to the need for an orderly universe. Those, whose duty here lay, knew the philosophic understanding that there were an infinite number of ways in which a thing can be messy but only a limited number of ways for a thing to be tidy. Seeking that perfection was the job of priests and mystics. The Maintenance Order and House Priests were a respected caste in this New World. Their holy orders were what kept the world worthy and well placed. Their seers had seen the signs, the sins of economic sluggishness and predicted quakes. All would be made well and balanced and the bills for these services would be rendered and paid as a tithe and an indulgence.
Adams thought how little would be his indulgence and how outrageously expensive will be the sins of the disreputable Dorcets. He laughed out loud. Then pondered the fate of his nephew Jene and the mission. Their life signs were off line. That did not worry him. Jene did not like a leash. He worked better when his own recourses were all he could count on. He knew that Jene was of the same ilk as the little monster. As for the beautiful Cassandra he fantasized having her. Leather, exotic oils and rose pedals filled those reveries without reason. Adams preferred the wham -bam method then quickly back to work. He wondered on the odd turn of his thoughts, then heard the gong of the Cardinal, coming to give the holy estimate. Adam smiled; the world is good place indeed. He would kneel and kiss the ring and smirk at the small estimate. He would let an uncomfortable silence pass then offer an extra twenty- percent for upgrades and some needed remodeling. The Cardinal would bless his family and this house, leave pleased and the skilled clerics would appear tomorrow with blessed tools in hand and all will be well in short order. The Orders would invest in his company and the Holy Circle of Economics will prove it's self again.
The old fraud left and Adams tested the comp system. All was well he typed in his password and waited for confirmation. He executed a program and smiled. The earthquakes were coming more often and he knew that putting an office on Mars was now prudent. He placed his hand on a device by his screen and suffered a prick to his palm.
He waited for the results…81% survival rate. Well enough it was off to Mars. He walked over to the windows, the glass no longer there. and watched the chaos in the street. One gets very used to comfort and the lack of power and comfort caused great upset. He smiled a large ugly smile. The barons would soon offer vast cash assistance and will take over the damaged Companies. A war was inevitable. But he would be gone. He poured himself vodka from an unbroken bottle and wished his nephew well with a toast. If Jene survived he would find him sure enough and kill him unless the deal was worth keeping him alive. It would be.
***
The narrow cleft in the cliff faces was not inviting. Bennings cleared his throat in nervousness.
"Are we going through there, Boss?" Raul asked.
"This pass will widen in a narrow valley that leads up to a mountain range that will lead us to that red-headed incubus.." Samson answered quietly.
"Boss?"
" Bennings?"
" I feel like I've been here before. Have we been here before, Boss? 'Cause I seem to remember, I was younger and there were monsters." Bennings's horse whinnied and shied back from the opening.
" Yeah we have been through here. If we go we go in the daylight. The dark is a bad thing in there. A rookery of some very ugly blood thirsty birds roost in here. We have to travel at a run for about six hours, without rest." Samson pulled his horse back away from the opening.
"What kind of bird and what will happen if we don't make it in six hours?" Raul backed up with the captured horses.
"When night falls slap two horses through the cleft. Fire your handgun to scare them through." Samson ordered. "Maybe they will get enough to eat we might have an edge."
"Uncle, that answers one question …what are they?"
Samson was walking up against the cliff face. When Raul started it dawned on him that the face was artificial. Samson stopped and sang a haunting note loud and opera- clear. A grinding sound and the fall of stones revealed an ever enlarging door, large enough for the horses to walk in. They walked into a large lit room. The light source was not apparent. Samson slapped the wall and the door closed. He pulled down his saddle and carried it toward the back of the hall. A glass walled room lit up as Samson walked toward it. Samson touched the glass and a section opened into a spotlessly clean kitchen, table, chairs, and beds.
"Keep the horses out side. There is a feed chute, Ebony will activate it, and water at the back of the cave. Bennings touch the glass."
The glass door slid back and air conditioning came on, even the horses were now glass enclosed.
Samson sat at the table.
"Raul? You used to make a dish out of corn meal flats and pig. It had peppers and onions if I remember. Would you be kind enough to fix some of that up for us. Man, I loved that stuff…beans too huh?" Samson was rubbing his hands in anticipation.
"You got all the makings here?" Bennings asked. "Sure sounds good."
"Freezer over there and micro and burners to the right. Ever used them." Samson grinned.
He stood laughing and rose to walk to the freezer. He pulled out three bundles. He put the bundles in an oven. He punched in some numbers then sat down. "When it bongs it will be done."
Music came out of the walls. Music that the Bennings had never heard. Their awed faces looked up at the ceiling listening.
"Sarah Brighton…pretty huh?" Samson rose at prepared the meals and set them on the table.
"Old sound system…still works. I don't know much about the singer."
"Sounds like an Angel singing…are there women who sound like that alive now? Raul asked almost in tears.
"Women don't sing unless they are safe from men and that can only happen when men are not afraid of other men."
That silenced the Bennings.
They listened, ate and marveled at the meal and the cold iced tea.
"This is my recipe, Uncle."
"Raul, this is your food. You made it for me when you were sixteen. I paid you to cook for a week."
"I remember that…what about the birds?"
Samson smiled. "This is all Elite gear. Nuke power source deep…I cleaned out the place a while back and use the place now and then."
"Boss?" Bennings slurped in some beans, chewed and asked.." Let's go back to the birds."
Samson patted his belly and yawned.
"Not so much birds as flying gators. They got big leathery wings and long beaks full of teeth. But don't worry. They are big and don't maneuver to well in tight places."
Raul palled. "How big?"
" Easy targets…seven- eight foot wing spans." Samson grinned. "Fun!"
"How many?'
"Good point. Better pick two of those nags I'll set them into the rift ahead of us. They are normally active at night . if we can get them occupied we may gain some advantage."
Raul stood and looked at Samson.
"Unc, these birds don't sound good."
"Relax, we have the advantage. Guns make them swerve…silent arrows could be good." Samson put his boots up on the table.
"Seems to me, I have nightmares, there's hundreds of those ugly beasts." Bennings sipped on his tea.
Raul slammed the table. "Thousands? Are we nuts?"
"You and I…"Samson ignored Raul"… survived the last time old bud, I have reason to believe there are less than when we last encountered them. I don't know how they came to be, but this area has changed and for some reason these beasts do not take to the higher skies to escape this canyon. I don't think they can manage the winds. At some point there are more of them than the things they eat." Samson mused.
"Even odds again, huh Boss? Bennings rose and started cleaning up. Over his shoulder he noted. "I've noticed that things are changing fast. Weather is wrong, earth moving, different plants in the wrong places, new critters popping up I never seen before…it's all weird. God must be pissed or confused."
"Frenchy toast in the morning…I even got some sugar syrup frozen away."
Samson went around a corner that Bennings didn't see.
"Boss, what's back there?"
"Something you have never seen my good friend… a bathroom. Indoor facility with a shower…hot water and soap."
Bennings whooped and ran around the corner and whistled at the tiled walls and plumbing fixtures.
"I heard about these…never seen one. How much hot water it got?"
Raul walked in and walked up behind his father and looked over his shoulder. Smiling and patting his Pops back.
. He hollered. "Unless you find looking at a naked man enjoyable, finish up out there and you both can use the shower when I'm done. There is a lot of water so enjoy it. Leave me your clothes, I'm going clean them. Maybe with a little less scent we will have a better chance tomorrow.
END PART7
***
BY KEN LEHNIG (C) 2004 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING FOREIGN RIGHTS