Veranda Incognita, Home of the Waverlys

[Craines]

The work on the Uli Rouge was proceeding spectacularly. Despite Fiona's insistence on using military lasers to quickly dispose of the granite that the mountain was comprised of, Mr. Yanami had decided on a good industrial nitroglycerin and dynamite mix. And when that failed, highly acidic or alkaline solutions were poured in. So far, about twenty cubic yards of granite had been removed from the mountain. However, from an eagle's point of view, nothing was happening; the cave concealed the entrance to the new subterranean lair of the ambassador.

The Uli Rouge Villa was simple enough in concept. On the advice of deSicev, the manor would be a simple two story building, with five rooms on the first floor, and three on the second. However, the intelligent little ball had also said that by hollowing out the mountain, an entire bunker-fortress complex could be built. And since the build team was using extreme caution, nothing could detect the artificial chasm that was being tunneled out. To everyone on the planet that wasn't directly related to the project, it was a nice little villa atop a mountain.

The bunker-fortress complex beneath the Uli Rouge, however, was nothing if not seductively inconceivable. Polymers that had not even been discovered yet were being used, at the behest of the orb. The complex, which would have at least three meters of granite in between itself and open air, burrowed almost a mile into the ground. The very bottom of the Uli Rouge would be beneath the surface of Gran Canaria by about 200 yards; the mountain, while high, was not large enough to house the complex.

Defense was a priority for the tiny architect. It had heard of how Dr. Artifice had been able to easily infiltrate the Veranda Incognita, and decided to make sure no such incursion could occur in the Rouge. The Veranda's laser defenses were admirable, said deSicev, but were not adequate for its own inspection. Strangely, though, it insisted that there be no turrets on the outside of the Uli Rouge; the defenses were in the complex beneath the villa.

To enter the true Uli Rouge, one would have to descend 40 yards in a single-shaft, slow moving elevator. Air tight, and lacking anything other than the two doors that allowed the passengers to enter and exit, this elevator was the first of the defenses. It could only house four grown men, as any more would exceed both the amount of air and space provided. As the elevator went down, energy fields were activated above it in the shaft; even if someone was able to enter the shaft, the fields would eviscerate them. The elevator opened into the second defense.

This was a foyer, complete with a receptionist's desk, two potted plants, and a waiting bench. However, if you were not being expected, the foyer would deploy seven Automated Vulcan Cannons. These machine guns fired used uranium shells, and while they had a finite amount of ammunition, could release all 300 of their shells within a ten second time frame. And that led to the next trap...

Or so it had been planned. But for now, the Uli Rouge was a secret hole in the ground. And the villa itself was being made, and it was suggested that it would be complete before the complex beneath it.

Reggie looked at the mountain from his porch. The location for Fiona's villa was quite far away from the Veranda, almost a mile. But still, he saw the outline shudder every 5 minutes, like clockwork. "The Shifting Mountain" was his little name for it. He sipped absentmindedly at the julip.

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