by P F Walsh
Sean had called ahead and arranged for a bungalow in the Hotel gardens for him and Nasht-Mer. The rest of the ladies had decided to pair up and little by little left the patio to check in and find out what a ‘Spa’ was all about.
“Sie möchten, dass wir was tun?” She said.
“What? I don’t speak German.” Said Millie
“I’m sorry, I was surprised at your request. I said ‘You want us to do what?’
“I want you to reassemble the entire Opera Ball and prepare it for a trip to Hhearn the central planet in the Council of Worlds in three weeks.”
“You must be crazier than the Americans. We spend the whole year getting ready for the ball. Impossible!” She said.
Millie Griggs, now an aid to the Cultural Attaché of the Interplanetary Resource Office in Washington was sitting with the chairwoman of the annual State Opera Ball in Vienna. This was the grandest social night on the whole planet Earth, and happened each year in February at the Vienna State Opera House. This building, built in the mid 1800's, was magnificently maintained, a huge structure, and for this one night, it was converted from one of the world’s largest Opera Houses to the world’s largest ballroom over 300 feet long. Typically, over one hundred thousand flowers adorn the inside of the building and the Ballroom for this one night. It was the highlight of the International ‘Social Season’ and everyone who is anybody, is there. The President of the United States wanted this event for the annual meeting of Worlds on Hhearn.
Millie said, “Now, I have thought about this and never let it be said that Austria could not rise to an occasion, or engineer something better than everyone else.” She started to continue but was interrupted.
“Do you realize that there were 180 Debutantes and their escorts, Two Symphonic Orchestras, four or five other bands in different rooms, a Ballet Company performance, two world class Opera stars, a disco, a Casino, and 40,000 glasses with 600 champagne coolers to accommodate all the 5,000 people who attend?” She asked
“But,” Millie tried to continue.
“And then there are the 500 people to convert the opera house for the one night?” She continued to bark.
Millie interrupted the Chairwoman’s big intake of breath before she could continue and stood up looking down at her with her best intense face,
“Look I know all that, I’ve been to the Ball three times. Now let me talk! The Debs and their escorts will want to go, count on that, they have already paid for a ball gown and a Dolce Gabbana tiara. The orchestras can be transported. A well-known American Symphony Orchestra has already played on Hhearn, so what difference does booking two or more make? Plus, we don’t have to plan for 5,000 people, there will be less than a thousand.” She continued not giving an opening,
“This is all about an emergency booking at a very high rate of compensation. Naturally, we wouldn’t want anyone except you to organizes this, how does €25,000 sound as compensation for your help in putting this together? Of course, you will have to travel to Hhearn and bring your best Ball gown to meet the leaders of fifty planets. All travel and expenses will be paid for, and the travel is by first class starship. Whatever the Orchestras’ fee is to play, double it, same for the Ballet Company and the singers. The prestige of playing this date alone will bring honors you have yet to dream of. Now, make up your mind, my next stop is to see the Chancellor who I know personally. I would hate to have to tell him Austria is not up to a world class challenge.” She finished and sat down.
The Ball Chairwoman, Liesl Von Woldenburg, just sat there for a full minute while Millie did likewise.
“Who is going to pay for all this?” She asked.
“The IRO with underwriting from the United States.” Answered Millie and went quiet.
Liesl’s mind was racing, “Yes this could be done, it will be a panic, but the prestige of Austria providing a Ball for the Council of Worlds would be enormous.” She thought. “Then there is the 25,000 Euros....”
“Miss Griggs you are mad, but no one comes into my office and tells me that Austria cannot overcome obstructions. You have your Ball; now get out of my office I have to work around the clock to assemble this. Email me your contact, payment information, and the absolute date of departure.” She handed Millie her card. She continued,
“I insist that travel originate from Vienna. The starship must land here. Now, go!” She barked in her most authoritative voice. Millie picked up her credentials, the chairwoman’s card, and left feeling ‘over the moon,’ she had pulled it off. She couldn’t wait to call Maejel, but first, lunch at the Mozart Café just around the corner would be perfect. “I think I will have their goulash again. Maybe some of those Viennese pastries too.” She mused. “I am really going to love this job.” She had just spent a pile of someone else’s money.
After lunch and a pastry, Millie headed back to her hotel, the Romischer Kaiser on Annagasse, just a few steps away from the Vienna State Opera House. Built in 1684, it was the personal mansion of the Emperor’s Finance minister. It had been converted to an elegant hotel with just 24 rooms. Back in her junior-suite room, she called Maejel to share the news and to have Maejel send a confirming email and overnight snail mail to Liesl. Now the rest of the day was hers to plan a delicious dinner at Sole’ restaurant up the street, say hello to Aki the owner, and then sips at Kruger’s American Bar around the block. “Time to celebrate my American and Interplanetary connections!” She mused. She smiled as she could imagine what was going on right now in Liesl’s office. “I love Vienna.” She thought, wondering why she hadn’t been back lately.
The two Doctors had huddled in a corner of the Lab both using microscopes to observe some wild guesses on a treatment for Beztl-Tor who was in a coma and failing. Nothing they could come up with was working to even slow the advance of the virus.
“This is one potent bug.” Thought Doctor Jess’m-Tak the Discovery’s Ship physician. “I will have to take a sample with me to work on.
Just as he concluded that thought, a nurse came in and told them the patient had died.
“Doctor Brennan, I suggest strongly that the remains, all his bed clothes, and linens be incinerated immediately, and an observation track be kept on everyone who came into contact for at least three weeks.” Said Jess’m-Tak.
Doctor Brennan agreed then asked Doctor Jess’m-Tak if he would like to consult on a couple of other patients, and they both left the lab after sealing up a sample of the viral blood in a double enclosure for him to take with him when the shuttle got back.
Later, Doctor Brennan informed the State Police, who notified the FBI, who notified the White House of Beztl-Tor’s demise. No one brought up the millions in Hhearnian kalt in the State Police evidence locker, technically smuggled interplanetary funds. If unclaimed, it would go into the general administration fund of Kentucky, none of which would go toward interplanetary trade, but a micro portion might find its way into police presence at the annual Kentucky Derby.
On Hhearn, Beztl-Tor’s business operations were now fragmented and dispersed per Beztl’s planning should his operations come under the scrutiny of the Denknish Rules Enforcement Police. Large blocks of cash were moved to a ‘safe’ vault on the property of the Zakar Embassy out of the reach of any investigative audits where it would remain until Beztl, now dead, would claim it. A minuscule portion was charged each lunar for storage in a bizarre perpetual storage routine. It could be there a very long time.
After an exhaustive four days shopping in Beverly Hills, and then in Palm Springs on El Paseo drive, where they fell in love with the creations of Grayse, a ladies upscale clothing shop that makes its own designs in their dress factory in Irvine, the ladies were ready to move onto the last and final visitation which none of them knew anything about other than the name. Las Vegas! The Boeing Dreamliner lifted off from LAX with Sean on board heading to Las Vegas as it got dark, and while the plane only had fifty passengers on board, its luggage hold had more in it than when they arrived. A smooth, short flight and
the charted Qatar Deamliner was on approach to Las Vegas. A controller in the tower picked up on a ‘heavy’ charter coming in and asked how many souls on board, when he was told from the pilot, he knew some very heavy hitters were about to arrive likely from the middle east. He slipped out and made a call to his contact at Caesar’s Palace giving them the heads up.
Regretfully for Caesar’s, the lodging booking was for suite parlors at the Wynn and those limos were already on the way to the general aviation section of the airport where the Qatar Dreamliner had asked to be parked. The motorized stairway was rolled out as the aircraft came to a stop. By the time the Caesar’s team had figured out where the plane was, the ladies were all loaded up in a fleet of limos and on the way to the Wynn. Eyeballs popped as they viewed their entrance into Vegas and looked astonished at the display of lights and activity along South Las Vegas Boulevard and then pulled into the Wynn. The ladies doubled up again in the suites and couldn’t believe the luxury suites and the view of Vegas all lit up. Dinner downstairs in a private dining room with four servers and a wine steward who plied them with the best Vegas had to offer.
Sean who had joined the group to be with Nasht-Mer was trying to explain to the ladies during dinner what Las Vegas was all about. Since none of the Council of Worlds had gambling, this was all new to them. He finally decided to sum it all up as an adult playground. While this raised some eyebrows, he felt the ladies understood. After dinner they went to the dramatic Wynn auditorium for an amazing show that left the ladies breathless. They were having trouble believing that there were dozens of shows in Vegas, more if size didn’t count. Vegas was all about entertainment. A whole city devoted to entertainment! For them, including Nasht-Mer, it was unbelievable. Nasht-Mer recalled one of the limo drivers as he welcomed them to his vehicle, he said,
“Welcome to the Center of the Universe” which didn’t make sense at the time, but looking back, she wasn’t so sure it wasn’t true.
When the Qatar Dreamliner left Las Vegas, the ladies had been up all night. No one wanted to go to bed. The beds in the suites were still made up from the day before, hardly worth checking in. Sean said his goodbyes at the airport and watched as the plane took off. He then waited for the shuttle to arrive from El Segundo with the crew aboard to pick him up for the trip to Louisville to collect the Doctor, and then on to Base Andrews at Washington where he could meet up with Nasht-Mer again before the ladies were taken back to Hhearn on the Seeker. The Qatar plane landed at Base Andrews to maintain security for these important passengers and they were shuttled back to Blair House to rest up. Nasht-Mer had to contact Allister and tell him they would need another day or so for the ladies to rest up before leaving.
At Blair House, no one showed up for lunch, they were sound asleep in their rooms. When dinnertime came most of the ladies came down for dinner but some were still snoozing and dreaming about Las Vegas and beautiful clothes. The next morning all showed up for breakfast including Sean and more bacon. This morning the Blair House had arranged for an omelet Chef to cook in the dining room. The ladies were very interested in how quickly he could put together an omelet with any ingredient he had from a large tray with many compartments. Breakfast was high fives and the ladies left to pack up for the transport to the Seeker. Sean helped Nasht-Mer pack, his role being the one who sat on the bag while the other tried to lock it. It was full of new outfits, so many she threw away some of the clothes she brought from Hhearn,
They all traveled to the Seeker to meet Allister waiting at the top of the ramp who welcomed them back asking did they enjoy themselves. Most of the ladies were speechless, and just sighed loudly, only a few said it was the most fabulous experience they had ever had, and would be back for sure.
Allister told Sean all the items he had asked about concerning the Discovery had been taken care of, and he would check with Sean when he got to Hhearn. As they were talking, Maejel showed up dragging her huge suitcase behind her. Sean rushed over to help her and got to meet his new employee he didn’t know he had. He was pleased, and asked Allister to give her a tour once they all got settled in their cabins. She gushed something about her arranging the universe’s most fabulous Ball for the annual Council World Leader’s meeting on Hhearn and she was going to Hhearn to prepare for it. Sean got that feeling, ‘I’m last to know ‘and watched her meet Allister and then head for the ‘lift’ he pointed to.
Sean and Allister shared a few more minutes of conversation and he walked back down the ramp while Alister caught up with Maejel. He watched the ship close up and begin to warm the engines. It lifted slowly up off the ground then faster as it gained altitude until it was finally out of sight.
“Time to go.” He thought. “I’ll be at Hhearn before they will.” As he walked back to the SUV where Doris was watching something on her smart phone. She nodded as he got in, and then the driver drove them back to Base Edwards.
Doris had enjoyed the trip back to California. She was able to get together with Jimmy ‘Crackers,’ and Ginnie Pulaski, officers she worked with at the LA Police Department. They wanted her to tell everything. There were lots to tell, and the hours had gone by fast. They kept trying to convince her to cut three notches in her .357 revolver grips. She stood her ground, “Nobody cuts into ‘Henry’.” She said
Chapter Fourteen
Book Two
Inside the stone walls of the old Mill on Hhearn,
“Mother we have served honorably, and we have found clean hands and true heart. He has been foretold by others in ancient scripts we knew nothing of, bearer of peace, and nothing of self. It is as you suspected.”
The two sisters chimed to Mother Primitia and they lay prostate before her. Mother Primitia floated above her ruling pedestal stone. She, like the others, was without her hooded robe, as a misty, humanoid figure, semi-transparent with a rosy glow in the center. She spoke,
“You have seen these things with your sight, no shadows of deceit?
“Yes, Mother, we have.”
“Have you have looked within his vault of trust?”
“Yes, Mother, his is secure from threat, no shadows color it.”
She considered all this carefully and looked within the sisters to see they spoke true.
“I am pleased, you have served well and shall sip at my draw tonight.”
Mother Primitia was the third Den Mother since their arrival on Hhearn. And now after all these annuals, perhaps the Column of Nourishment may finally be moved to the Den.
“We have tried others,” she thought, “but they all were struck into ash from touching it. The hands must be clean of misdeeds and the heart true. So very, very few are. The order must be upheld, events are pressing upon our treasure. Soon it will be revealed. We must be ready.”
She dismissed the two sisters, the only ones to travel beyond the planet since arrival on Hhearn. “Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of our isolation.” She thought. “Perhaps.” She returned to her alcove near the generator driven by the endless flow of water upon the wheel outside.
Above her in the overhead beam sat several hulking Zelkon hawks with their constrictor tails wrapped around their long bodies under their folded wings to keep them warm. They roosted quietly, but becoming restless awaiting the night for hunting or commands from the Mother to spy. It was getting near time for night vespers when all the Sisters would be led by Mother Primitia in their audibly silent chanting. Nothing was audible inside the Mill, but within minds inside these walls, the chanting was loud and melodic. That was when the hawks would leave their roost and hunt.
Three weeks had passed on Hhearn, the Seeker had returned with its passengers, the wives of most of the Councilors, except the Zakarian one who was always aloof. She had not returned to the Zakarian Embassy after being banished when her Mate was discovered to be the killer of the Senior Councilor and then executed by Zakarian Hunters. Two other Councilor Mates were unable to go but were willing listeners of the adventures of the ones who did. Those who returned came as
new-found acolytes of the sybaritic pleasures they had covered themselves with outside and within, and couldn’t wait to go back.
Sean had arrived back at Hhearn before the Seeker but not much before, and had been waiting aboard the Discovery for the Seeker to arrive so he could meet with Allister about the upgrades he had asked Allister to implement. Once the Seeker had arrived at the Orbital station and unloaded the passengers to the shuttles, including a very excited Maejel Tripperty, the new Cultural Attaché from Earth. She was met and taken in tow by Wally Henning to get settled in the apartment he arranged. Sean went over to the Seeker for tea with Allister to go over the changes he made with Martin.
Sean got his Zeng tea and sat down in the lounge as Allister approached.
“Captain,” he began but Sean interrupted.
“Allister, you don’t have to call me ‘Captain’ anymore, you are now once again Captain of this ship, and a good one too.”
“Are you not Captain of the Discovery and a retired Officer with that title?” Allister chided. “I believe the honorific is quite appropriate Captain.”
Sean laughed,
“I believe you’ve got me there. Thank you, Allister.” He said.
“Captain, I implemented the changes you wanted me to make in the Discovery’s security systems. That was the easy part. Not so easy was the improvement to Martin’s intellect level and social interfaces. There definitely were code blocks, quite a few actually, preventing upgrade and some code to detect if it happens to shut it down. Therefore, I was not able to do as you asked at that time because the ship was only within range for high capacity data while overhead, and not obscured by Earth as it orbited. I decided to wait until we got back to Hhearn and we were in nearby docks. What I propose to do is to completely wipe the existing code and replace it with mine. That would take a solar to do plus the installation of another large block of memory sink. Once that is done, I can adjust the security details you asked for easily. Would that meet with your approval?” He asked.
