DR O and the ECO-X

by Aaron T Knight

  Not one to hesitate she made a plan to get him somewhere alone. When happy hour started the following night, she excused herself from her group of friends when Joe walked slowly into the bar. He was a malleable, easy going guy so he agreed to sit at a table with her quicker than the blinking of a gnat’s eye.

  Rocking, everything was rocking to and fro as Joe slowly came back into the world. He wondered how he had returned to the Eco-X boats. Sitting up abruptly, not a wise move to make in his condition, he dizzily looked around. His head was pounding and throbbing. His body felt like a limp rag. He regretted opening his eyes at all.

  There was one encouraging vision in front of him. It was Maggie smiling at him and holding a cold beer. Four mighty gulps finished off the beer. Joe felt marginally better.

  He asked her.

  “ How did I get back to the CRAP site? I thought I was on vacation in Hawaai.”

  Maggie like most Americans knew about the Eco-X project off the coast of California. She guessed Joe had some connection to the job.

  “You’re still on vacation in Hawaai Joe and you are on a boat, but it’s mine. I took you out of the bar last night, or should I say, this morning, well past any point of navigating on your own.”

  “Thank you.” he whispered.

  “My motive for helping you wasn’t exactly Christian charity, it was to satisfy my curiousity. You intrigue me. A month ago you arrived looking well dressed and sober. Now you’re a wreck, rapidly headed for skid row from what I’ve observed of your drinking habit. Do you want to die? is that it? There are quicker less painful ways to end it all than the DTs, or with a liver screaming to get out of your body.”

  She now had Joe’s attention. He was looking at a particularly pretty woman with light brown hair, warm brown eyes and kissable lips. Maggie appeared to be an outdoor girl, fresh looking without any make up, and a spray of freckles on her cheeks.. As he admired her, he thought, she doesn’t need any beauty helpers nature has given her everything she needs.

  , “I’m Joe, what’s your name?”

  “Maggie Brown. I knew your name because I asked the motel manager about you. He didn’t know anything except you paid your bills and lived like a hermit.” “I’m a boring, average guy without any deep, dark past. I’ve never had a driving violation, never been married and I’m pretty much a work-aholic. Aside from those statistics, there isn’t much more to learn by spending time with me.”

  Maggie looked at him pensively, then decided to tell Joe she had been at the motel earlier when several men took him away. She replied.

  “I disagree with you. I was here a few months ago when some men, more or less grabbed you. They looked like the usual plain clothes guys, either feds or police. I want to keep things out in the open with you.”

  Now Joe became wary, wondering what she wanted from him. He replied.

  “Appearances can be deceptive,” he conceded, “I wasn’t taken away in handcuffs, thus ruling out a bust. No it wasn’t anymore sinister than a couple of suits giving me a lift to the airport. I needed to get back to my job, they were leaving too so they gave me a ride.”

  Maggie didn ’t say anything, she was thinking, Joe has to be the clumsiest liar I’ve ever heard. It tells me he’s an honest man or the lie would have slid smoothly out of his mouth. She didn’t really want to make him uncomfortable her only motive was to satisfy her curiosity.

  “ I apologize Joe believe me it was only harmless curiosity. ‘Shanghaiing’ you from a bar was a little much, but it seemed to be a good idea at the time. We’re docked at the motel pier so it’s only a short walk to your shack.”

  He was being dismissed. Joe gingerly stepped onto the dock. Maggie didn’t look back. She started the twin screws on her cruiser and headed for the bay. I need another beer, he thought to himself, the incident was mildly unsettling. He was left without having learned anything about Maggie or her background. Aw the hell with it. Joe made a detour to the motel bar before scurrying to his safe haven.

  Chapter Seven

  Along the Southern California coast the police in some towns began to receive a growing number of theft complaints from the residents. Being selective they investigated some of the complaints, ruling out the chronic nut cases who were always reporting something to the police.

  Baffled the police were mystified. Solid citizens they visited about disappearances from their yards told them the same story, or close to it, about missing plastic items. One elderly gentleman had severely wrenched his back when he attempted to sit on his favorite porch chair. He hadn’t looked for the chair, it was always there, and landed flat on his butt. It was a suspicious complaint, since the police didn’t find a single clue it was ever there in the first place.

  There were never any eye witnesses of any skulking thieves in the neighborhoods. Policemen didn’t expect to hear about skulkers, the items stolen were all cheap things. A gang of kids was ruled out on the basis of the wide area of where the items were stolen, or whatever. Rats, cats, dogs or any burrowing animals weren’t on the list either, not a scintilla of evidence was ever left behind.

  US Coast Guard officials familiar with the CRAP project contacted the harvesting crews at the site inquiring if ECO-X could be the culprits. SAMI assured them all of the egg bearing ECO-X had been cremated on shore. They claimed a thorough search after the incineration verified no living thing survived the scorching. As for the embryo ECO-X none of them was missing from the site and they had never failed to respond to electronic signals. Well, what then?

  For the next two weeks, police districts ignored the complaints still coming in about missing plastic items. It was too costly to spend time on petty thefts, and no one was being injured. Phone calls to 911 were filtered for the substance of the complaint, plastic deals were shunted to a slush pile.

  Things changed though when Disneyland in Pasadena asked for help from the local police to find the cause of a strange phenomonen. A grounds attendant reported the tower on the Cinderella castle appeared to be sinking. At first his report was ignored as ridiculous however within a week the tower was visibly shorter by at least two feet. Maintenance was ordered to find out what the hell was wrong? And as usual the police were stumped.

  Crews went over the outer wall of the tower. All was fine, no damage was observed. Management began to worry about a possible defect in the construction posing an imminent threat to mouseketeers. They couldn’t afford to leave things as they were. The Cinderella castle was closed to the public while they dismantled the tower.

  An excavating shovel was brought in when the tower had been torn down to ground level. Nothing so far. Eventually the machine had reached the concrete base under the tower. No place left to go and nothing seemed out of place. As the machine operator prepared to close the operation down, he spotted a creature burrowing rapidly into the ground by the concrete base.

  Everyone by now knew what an ECO-X looked like and the operator moved the shovel over to the area where the animal had dug a hole. With one mighty scoop of the shovel he uncovered a colony of ECO-X living in a maize of interconnecting tunnels by the concrete base. There was a bedlam of furious burrowing as the ECO-X attempted to escape capture. He tried to catch them with the huge shovel without any success. It was akin to attempting to scoop up and hold water in your hands. They were gone.

  Birds do indeed come home to roost and this new surprise was dumped back onto WAMI’s lap. By now the company was trying to find a legal loophole to get out of their contract with Dr. O. They had been losing money rapidly due to the ECO-X disasters. But now they assumed the final solution in California had wiped out the egg laying ECO-X. They were having second thoughts about the business. Hope sprang anew about making up their financial losses and then some.

  An executive at Disneyland contacted them sounding rather surly on the phone. He told his story to a SAMI VP. “I’m calling you to report a major disaster in progress due to your ECO-X eating up our theme park. Yesterday we discovered the Cinderella Castle t
ower had been shortened by over a foot. It was your animals eating it from underground and we had to tear it down to find this out.

  “ This morning maintenance told me there was also extensive damage in progress above ground. One of Mickey Mouse’ ear has been chewed off, Donald Duck is missing a foot and Minnie Mouse has lost her skirt.

  We have brought in professional exterminators to fix the problem using a toxic smoke. ECO-X underground tunnels are being treated with the gas. Those attempting to fly are being brought down with a massive water attack. We have closed the park to the public. Your tab for this action will cost you $10 million per day until we can reopen. No estimates are available yet as to the duration of the closing. Get your people down here today.”

  The VP thought his high handed manner was uncalled for. Residents living near Disneyland knew there was something really big going on as the roads to the park became jammed. There was a parade of police vehicles, fire trucks, exteminator vans and a long line of cars. It was impossible to know what was wrong though. Once again a veil of secrecy was drawn over the actions going on in the park.

  When CRAP site personnel heard from WAMI about the debacle at Disneyland they were astounded. Of course, they all went around saying “how?” to each other as if speaking this word would somehow give them some insight. Everyone saw the area in California where the creatures had been supposedly incinerated. It couldn’t be possible for the ECO-X to be involved in the latest property damade crisis.

  In the end, scientist working for WAMI concluded that the ECO-X feeling heat used their corkscrew noses to drill underground. Normally, the drilling feature was used by the animals to burrow through piles of trash. Now catching and disposing of the egg bearing ECO-X appeared to be impossible. They could swim, fly, walk, run and burrow.

  After three days of using every means the men in charge could think of they resorted to placing extermination pipes into the ECO-X tunnels. Disneyland had become a deadly place for the ECO-X and underground they moved away from the smoke. Then workers heard a growing hum coming from somewhere beneath their feet. Reaching its peak the chirping sound of the ECO-X reached a crescendo causing the earth to shake in the park.

  Time for shelter as the men ran madly in a number of directions to get away from the invisible menace. Suddenly out of the tower excavation a huge swarm of the animals flew out. In a few minutes people on the ground were looking up at a large swarm of ECO-X.

  To be sure of their safety everyone sought shelter in the park exhibits. Flying above them and chirping loudly the ECO-X began to form themselves into a shape resembling a giant fist. Then at the top of the fist, a slender column formed resembling a middle finger. One excited man recognized the symbol and yelled out.

  “Those little buggers are giving us the finger!” Perfectly organized into a vulgar gesture of defiance, the middle finger waggled at the men below a few times. Then climbing above Disneyland the ECO-X flew away. Chapter Eight

  Sometimes a severe traumatic event can create extremely irrational ideas to deal with it. Under ordinary circumstances these suggestions would be considered preposterous. WAMI was in a quandary over the major damages ECO-X had caused them now. Everything before Disneyland seemed nearly laughable, that is, if it was hysterical laughter. Dr. O was still missing, and all attempts to find him were fruitless.

  Then Joe came to mind. Of course! He was an expert in the field. All of the WAMI executives zeroed in on this answer as the absolutely perfect solution to their troubles. As they thought about the idea Joe became a savior in their fevered minds. By the time the suits went into action to bring Joe back they were considerably soothed. He will solve the problem without any help from anyone. Such was his image now as a hero of mythical proportions.

  Maggie Brown docked her cruiser at the motel sometimes and participated in the Happy Hour carousing. Joe learned Maggie conducted excursions for the tourists.She had a long term contract with one of the rich resorts to take their guests out for a cruise around the islands. She did a few fishing trips, but mostly hers were night time affairs for drinking parties.

  All the booze they could hold and a lavish buffet was the theme. Invariably these drunken parties would begin to get too rowdy. Maggie had two large employees capable of stopping and calming down potential combatants. Other forms of entertainment were ignored.

  From time to time she would get fed up with her mindless business and take a few weeks off. Eager competitors gladly took care of her schedule in the interim. Joe was a current distraction for her. Nothing romantic he was just different and funny in the right mood. She was a good influence on him. Since meeting her he at least ate and bathed more regularly. She wasn’t out to change him or be his protector, only fun mattered to them.

  Happy Hour was in full swing one night and Joe was reaching his delicate point. Meaning he would be leaving the bar soon to avoid passing out short of reaching his shack. Maggie Brown was there but she wouldn’t try to help him. Joe would get surly sometimes when he was convinced he could make it without any help, thank you.

  Before Joe could struggle to get out of his chair to go home federal agents executed a sneak attack. Moving swiftly through the door were four men in dark suits. They had just entered a bar crowded with inebriated patrons. In general their temprament was not condusive to cooperating with the law.

  Before the crowd could react, which in their present state instant comprehension wasn’t going to happen, one of the agents ordered.

  “ We are federal agents and we are here to take Joe Parker into custody.”

  These patrons knew “custody,” really meant “arrest”.

  Maggie shoved Joe under the table. One patron standing at the bar was reasonably sober and caught Maggie’s move to hide Joe. The patron reached over the bar and pulled the power switch. Instantly the bar was in absolute blackness because it had no windows. Pandemonium broke out as the bar was plunged into a black void. Screams, yelling and curses accompanied the mob’s pushing to prevent the feds from capturing Joe. With the help of a friend still able to walk, Maggie grabbed Joe and they slithered him along the wall to the entrance. The duo dumped Joe onto the deck of her cruiser and she eased the boat away from the dock.

  She sailed out of the Hawaiian islands headed toward the mainland. Joe came to when he tumbled off a bench on the top deck. Sunshine and sea air cleared his head. He looked around and realized he was on Maggie’s cruiser. A description of his physical appearance isn’t needed. Joe looked the same as he did every morning.

  Maggie looked back at him not at all surprised to see him hung over. She ordered. “ Go make coffee for us.”

  He thought such indifferent treatment was harsh considering his present condition. Down in the galley things became interesting as Joe tried to synchronize his unsteadywalk with the rocking of the boat. Maggie heard him down in the galley banging dishes, yelling “ouch” several times when he spilled hot water on his hands. Thirty minutes later Joe appeared with two cups of coffee. Maggie said.

  “Marvellous Joe, you showed up with the coffee five minutes ahead of my estimate.”

  Joe grunted and asked her.

  “What are we doing out here on the ocean? Am I running from the feds again?” “ Your last question is appropriate. They stormed into the happy hour last night to grab you. Stupid move given the group partying in the bar. What are you running from Joe? It must be big stuff to have the feds trying to catch you. It’s obvious you’ve escaped from them in the past, or they wouldn’t try to ‘Shanghai’ you in a bar. What’s the deal Joe? I’m entitled to know since I am now an accomplice in your mess whatever it is. Start talking.”

  The coffee helped to clear his head somewhat. She was right it was time explain what the big deal was with the feds. Before he began, Joe had another cup of coffee. It was necessary to begin at the beginning in order for her to understand the complicated disaster with the Eco-X. It would be painful to revisit his life story but necessary.

  He talked for over an
hour starting with his work for Dr. O on the Eco-X project. Then how his fascination gradually mounted as he began to see what an important role the animals could play in cleaning up the debris of modern living. He explained that working closely with O created a strong bond and his own dedication to the project was formed. They had a shining vision of a major contribution to the world’s living environment.

  Then he told her about the nightmares created in the work when Dr. O, in spite of his pleadings, altered the Eco-X to begin reproducing themselves. Now the situation was out of control because of modifications Nature had made to O’s work. O had disappeared presumably to search for a way to bring the Eco-X under control.

  Joe ended his narration to her by explaining how his life and ambitions were annihilated in a matter of a few weeks. Sure he ran away he told her to try to grieve and find a new path in life. But first he would try to medicate his anguish with booze until he regained his sanity. He wasn’t running away, he said. When the grieving process was over he would stop drinking and hiding. Now was not the time and there wasn’t anything to change.

  Maggie had been silent while Joe laid it out for her. “It comforts me to know what I might go to jail for. It ’s called ‘aiding and abetting’ a fugitive.”

  “You owe me a little information about yourself

  Maggie. Why did you jeopardize your successful business

  to help me out? Maybe I missed something but I don’t

  recall any great romance with you. If not for love then

  what made you rescue me?”

  He watched her struggle while deciding what she could tell Joe. Finally Maggie opted to tell it all. “ I’m an ex con Joe. I served five years of a ten year sentence. I have three more years left on my parole to complete my sentence and free me from the felony charges.”

  Joe couldn’t hold back his astonishment. She did not fit any stereo types of lady cons he knew of.