"Bravo!" shouted Mal. The less than enthusiatic clapping picked up a bit, and then folks started to stand, glasses in hand, and shouts of "Shamus!" and "Dope!" and "Juniper Bushes!" filled the room.
Mal even thought he detected a hint of a blush on Kinpin's face. As the last official act of the Wake, all of the guests were encouraged to come up and tickle en masse the corpse of Seamus O'Shaunnessy, just to make sure he wasn't faking it. Once all present had had there share ot tickling Shamus to no avail, the coins were removed from his eyes, and the casket was closed.
Reggie stood, and beamed at the assembled crowd. "Kingpin, that was a lovely Eulogy. Not a truth untold; not a turn unstoned. And even though you once again kicked me out of my own Veranda and moved this Fool over here in, it was a smasher!
"Esteemed Gents of Sirius, and Revered Ladies. The Wake has concluded, but the bar and buffet remain open until morning and breakfast. Rooms down the hall for the faint! Then, skedaddle! We'd like to return to some state of normalcy around here, if that's possible."
Pops turned to the casket one last time, and raised his glass.
"To Shamus! The only manjack among us to ever fly a planet!"
"Sorry Old bean, but I'll never belieave that its not really his Veranda. You kids and your tricks. Now, seriously, where can I get more of those bushes? They've been consuming my dreams for a long, long time."
Buffles, starting to get nervous again, quickly shovel Mal out of the way.
"Erm, boss, I think theres a commo message for you on the ship."
"Bah! It can wait, this is much more important than some new associate getting the giggles. I need those bushes!"
Many of the guests at Veranda Incognita had departed.
Spike Harris and Kate McKintyre had long since returned to their chosen line of work, defending Bretonia against any possible Nomad attacks.
Scutter had muttered something about stripmining and disappeared in his box of a freighter.
Alan Kell walked from Veranda Incognita towards the Island hangar, taking the longer route beside the now flowing stream.
The stream had been widened while it was empty to allow larger aquatic creatures to pass between the lakes and now resembled a canal.
As Alan walks through the long grass, electronic beeping coming from behind brings a smile to his face.
"Ah XM, finished with your girlfriends?"
Loud beeping follows and Alan laughs. "I know, I know.
"Ever seen it so quiet and peaceful? Come on. Let's go and make sure everything is ready."
As they approach the crater lake, XM begins beeping again.
"Delivery due tomorrow? That's great." Alan replies. "Think you can handle looking after them?"
Disregarding XM's usual rude reply, Alan looks around at the remarkable place he's become so fond of and breathes in the fresh, clean air. A light mist from the wooded valley to the right chills the air a little.
Walking to the door embedded in a large tree stump he enters a code into a panel on one side.
With a click the door opens and Alan leads the way into a stairwell leading downwards.
As he starts down he can hear beeping coming from behind as XM operates another panel. A moment later, a beeping XM drops past Alan on a lift in the center of the stairwell.
Alan laughs. "I need the exercise you know. No need to be rude about it.
"Oh, and by the way, make sure Reggie has the keycode for the outer door in case he wants to make use of the viewing area."
He reaches the bottom of the stairwell and follows a beeping XM down a short tunnel through the rock into a transparent tube. A few small fish can be seen swimming past.
"Looks like that Planetform Fasteco program worked well. I guess some of those salespeople know what they're talking about."
They pass a few seats and tables partway along the tube and eventually reach the door at the other end. XM already has the door open and is whisked away up the elevator in the stairwell to the hangar.
Alan calls up the stairwell. "XM, get my fishing gear ready will you? I think I'll go and visit Reggie's lake before the new residents plunder it."
Looking back down the tube, Alan briefly wonders what the future holds.
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.
Free and Accepted TAZers are already sporting the new beacon.
Enquiries by potential TAZers are directed to the Zoner Creed (infocard);
to their preferred method of ID;
to the status of their HUDs;
and to the usual hemming and hawing by current TAZers.
(i.e. Invitation only.)
Now, I have a mountain to go watch.
Most interesting.
Note: Edited out message dump disclaimer.
If you couldn't come in, where would we get all our hapless victims and marks?
Pops still has to like you, though. it's his joint.
(not suitable for unformed Pineals or the One-tunneled.)
Alan Kell walked through the valley towards the hangar, his fishing rod over one shoulder.
After hearing the cheerful voices and splashing water, he had turned back before reaching the pool and waterfall, not thinking it prudent to disturb Kate and Spike. The couple were staying at Reggie's Villa for a while and were often out and about.
A beeping XM emerged from the door to the hangar, carrying a bucket with one arm.
The doid had finished installing the non-lethal internal defense system in the hangar recently. EMP and stunners had been designed locally, capable of knocking out anyone or anything that bypassed the shields and outer defenses without authorisation.
The cost was fairly high compared to standard point defense systems but well worth it considering recent events at the Veranda. The idea of being shot by a lethal defense system was not very appealing, although with XM on the job, that was not very likely anyway.
Alan glances at the bucket of fish. "New residents being fussy still?"
It seemed the pair of dolphins had been spoilt at the aquarium on Curacao and were only interested in playing with the fish in the lakes, rather than catching and eating them. This kept XM busy feeding the two, not that the robot seemed to mind. As Alan had hoped, the little droid was fascinated by the playful creatures, spending a great deal of time interacting with them.
Alan smiles at XM. "Perhaps I'll head down to Reggie's lake and try my luck there while you're feeding them."
XM holds a fish out over the water, beeping to itself.
As Alan sets off at a brisk walk, his thoughts return to the local political situation.
With the Bretonians tied up in the war against Kusari, there wasn't likely to be any major threat from that direction for the time being.
Any attacks that originated from Zoner bases could still potentially cause problems though. A trade blockade would be less than desirable.
Bombardment of Ska Jaktar was in full progress. Lots of massive asteroids were moving quickly towards the orb-shaped station and then crashing while causing significant damage to the structure of the station. The huge blue beam fired swiftly and vaporized some of the asteroids but there were simply too many of them to be swept away by a single gun, no matter how powerful it was.
Fnordie was marching there and back in the cabin of Rick's new Whale Freighter and it was quite a funny view. His eyes were closed but still he didn't walk into anything as if he was using some kind of a 6th sense. Rick was sitting in his seat and amazingly watched the fascinating scenery. He wasn't sure about this Fnordie's idea but Rick couldn't imagine resisting Fnordie in any way.
A massive explosion returned him from his thoughts to the reality. One of the asteroids probably hit some more vital part of the station and the explosion tore off a large peace of the station as if it was made of paper leaving a huge hole in the orb's surface. The beam stopped firing and Rick saw the whole station turned slightly. Rick looked at the huge gun and realized it was aiming in their direction. Wrinkles on his forehead turned into deep canyons and he quickly moved to the control panel to engage cruise cruise engines.
~ Rick, don't do it, stay calm and trust me! ~
In past few days Rick got used to Fnordie's "voice". The chance of escaping the beam by dodging with the Whale was too low anyway so he just sat back and waited for what happens next. All lights on station dimmed. It was obvious the gun was charging to full strength. Rick was sure that was last minute of his life but still there was a tiny possibility that Fnordie somehow could "handle" it and save them from the consequences of their brave but silly act.
The blue beam appeared. Rick tried to close his eyes but he was too stunned and he couldn't move. Everything was moving so slowly. A squared semi-transparent plane appeared in front of their ship. The beam hit it and was diverted back to the station as if reflected by a mirror. Some parts of the station disappeared immediately, some disappeared later, other parts exploded. No sound could be heard...
***
The dawn on Grand Canaria was in full progress, birds were starting their lovely song, blossoms were opening, trees were whispering. Rick and Fnordie were ones of the last guests who haven't left after Shamus' wake yet. Rick finally had some time to enjoy the peace he first came to Veranda for.
Reggie was on his daily observation walk at Uli Rouge. Fnordie was joking about his obsession with that place as he was doing these walks very frequently. But this time it came in handy. Rick and Fnordie slipped to the kitchen quietly, they didn't want to be caught in the act by Kate and Spike. They locked all the kitchen bots in the pantry after they took everythinq they needed from there. They worked hard and the result of their pain was a huge pie, equipped with 23 apples, 5 plums, 4 diamonds, 5 cherries and 23 nuts and it was strewn with sugar and cinnamon. Reggie had a special anniversary next day and they decided to surprise him.
But Rick felt they were bothering Reggie with their presence long enough so he decided they should go. They left their gift with a message on the table in the dining room, packed their things and left Veranda heading to the entrance. After few steps, Rick stopped and looked back. Lots of memories will remain after this visit. And the last dream he had, a weird one. He knew Reggie would love to hear that one during their evening conversations but Rick wasn't certain about reactions of the 'foot-stamping' lady he once pointed gun at when he first came here...
"Good bye, old fellow. Hope we'll meet again one day." he said quietly.
With a smile on his face he took out a tennis ball, looked at Fnordie who was standing there and looking back at him.
~ Show me how good you are, like in the old days.. ~ he let that thought out towards Fnordie, and then pitched the ball far away. Many of baseball players wouldn't be ashamed by that throw. But Fnordie didn't run for it as he always used to. He sat down and watched the ball which made a curve and started to fly back as if it was a boomerang. The ball slowed down when it came closer and Fnordie grabbed it in his teeth quite easily.
"You are cheating... you..!", Rick shouted. He tried to jump forward and steal the ball back but Fnordie was already running towards their ship. Rick followed him with loud laughter...
Reggie was still fifty meters from the Veranda when the aroma first accosted his nose. Now that this years crop of Kallisti Gold had been harvested, cured, and packaged; there was room on the breeze for other scents and smells. A picture developed in his mind as he approached the building. Cinnamon, baked apple, and a still warm, yeasty smell of the oven.
Reggie thought of Malaclypse, and the pie-throwing days of the Erisian Liberation Front, back when he had first received the Calling to balance the Chao. He thought of their own Laughing Goddess Bakeries, which actually did bake pies occasionally. And, he thought of younger days.
Tomorrow was indeed a milestone for Reggie. In his various lines of work, longevity had never been a part of the benefits package, while apparently luck had been. Reggie had firmly believed for most of his life that luck was on his side. It wasnt until just a few years ago, when Reggie had learned of Discordianism and one of its underlying precepts, Synchronicity, that he had acknowledged its power over his life; and conversely, the inherent power he seemed to possess to somehow attract, observe, and harness coincidence to his own benefit.
Meeting Mal. Entertaining his wild scheme to grow a psychoactive weed here on Gran Canaria, for religious uses. Becoming the financial muscle of an ancient Terran Goddess and Religion. Attempting and succeeding in moving an entire planet across space; not for its intended purpose as a home for Erisians, but to stop an agenda which threatened his friends and his home. Coincidences all, but vitally important coincidences.
And, just when needed, just when the balance of the Chao threatened to spin into Chaos, the incredible synchronicity of meeting Fiona H. DeLuna. The Ambassador was a well-connected scion of Order in what passed for the Kusari government. She had found in Reggie a sympathetic ear for her dreams of a peaceful Sirius, as well as an ally when her past came back with a vengeance in the form of Dr. Artifice, her grandfather in a sense.
Reggies musing ceased as he mounted the four broad oaken steps to the Veranda. The delicious aroma was almost overpowering. If that was not his very own mothers recipe for apple pie, then she was owed some serious royalties.
The pie was huge, over half a meter. It sat in a tin that seemed somewhat irregular, as if somehow a large pie tin had been stretched to accommodate this monster. Now, which of their recent guests would be capable of that. Reggie smiled hugely when the answer became apparent. Next to the pie sat a folded note, and on the note was a small paw print almost perfectly rendered in dark cinnamon dust.
Reggies eyes grew large as he read the first part of the note. It seemed that Madam deLuna had been given a surprise gift by Fnordie, with Ricks assistance and transport.
And Reggies supposed he could somehow forgive Fnordie for reading his mind. No one knew tomorrows significance. Reggie was a very private individual when it came to such things. And he had been a bit withdrawn after the rescue from Dr. As clutches. Perhaps waiting to see if that bloody Appendix Gimmel would fall from Mals shelf again; or awaiting a coincidence of some kind to give him direction
Well, here he had it. He remembered that new caf? in town, and the interesting folk who had begun to inhabit the place. Tomorrow, this very pie, along with a kilo of the plantations darkest, most aromatic coffee beans, would accompany him for a morning at the Canaria Caf?.
The Ska'Jaktar was not dead yet. The ZKW had fired and attacked the outer shell, but there was still a great amount of the super-station left. It was, after all, a Dyson System Sphere. Opening a jump hole, the Ska'Jaktar left the Sirius system. The intellect core could not understand how it had occurred. Still, it would not underestimate the inhabitants of that system again. When it returned, the Ska'Rallas would go out ahead of the Jaktar, and the Juggernauts would invade. The Yrshimi cannon would not be fired. It would be conserved. And the agents of the Jaktar would make sure that the pest that had harmed the Jaktar would be unable to do so again. But for now, materials needed to be harvested. There was work to be done.
-----
The Uli Rouge was finally complete. It was such a magnificently small villa that many thought it was nothing larger than a house. They didn't know about the extensive tunnels below. The Shifting Mountain, as Reggie called it, had finally subsided. An old Bretonian man, short and happy, sat outside the villa, rocking back and forth in a rocking chair, a cup of tea snuggly in his hands.
-----
The Ska'Jaktar reappeared within the Terran solar system. The third planet, Earth, was barren. There was a small nanocivilization once again rising, but that didn't matter. The Ska'Jaktar was here for one reason: resources. The fourth planet, Mars, was rich in iron three; such a strong element would be critical to remaking the outer hull. Using the remaining regular lasers outside of the Dyson Sphere, which still were more powerful than the Planet Scars, the Ska'Jaktar began to fire at the planet. Slowly, fissures began to erupt. And then...
CRACK! Mars split apart. The Jaktar had hundreds of thousands of refineries within it's hull, and the materials from from tens of planets were within. The Triumvirate, the three planetoid bodies within the Jaktar that orbited the star, had not been harmed by the ZKW misfire. From there, the intellect center could oversee the rebuilding effort.
It would take a while, the intellect center thought, but when the entire Terran System had been mined, the Sirius system wouldn't be fare behind. It would exact it's revenge. And it would take as long as it needed. It had no lifespan. It could outlast them all.
-----
Reggie had finally made it up the mountain to the Uli Rouge. He had in his hands a tray of slightly-sloshed julip cups, still 3/4 full, and was panting from the incline. The man waved absentmindedly from the porch.
"Howdy, neighbor!" the old man said, his accent pronounced and heavy. Reggie nodded, his hands full. With grace unbecoming of a man of his advanced, the man leaped off the porch and cleared the 40 yards of grass between the house and Reggie, helping him with the drinks. Reggie sighed.
Sigismundo gone, and he did make such delicious repasts...
Alan and his XM droid off on some blood extended adventure.
Koolmo still drops by..
Wonder when we'll get to meet this mysterious O'Darby chap.. Wonder if he's still mining..?
And that ol' crazy Mal. Still flitting about in his sampan, when not wearing his Fool's noses and converting those Kusarans to the ways of Goddess. :Sigh: I hear he does have his eye on another ship, though.. guess he doesn't have much time for fishing now...
I do hope the dinner party at Uli Rouge cheers up this "Rue Morgue". I'm almost looking forward to this year's Dung Festival, just for the diversion. Mama Dis is having so much fun running the Perfect Blossom that she hardly gets in her fighter any more..
Ah, but a new bright spot. I'll have to let the other TAZers know.. we have a new trader!
The [~V~]Shinigami was a delight to recruit! A sharp little lass named "Kat" contacted me while I was picking up passengers in Mahattan for the Dung Festival. I loaned her the Flax for a basic small transport, and we set off for Bering through fierce storms. She managed to cajole two "fixers" in a row at the FP2 bar, and almost bit a third's ear off for trying to fix her with Republican Shipping, for Goddess' sake!
Once we had ferried some Deut back to Pitts, and loaded her with more Festival-goers, we headed off to see our ol' buddy Hovis on the Hood to grease some IMG and Corsair palms. Her scanner was on the fritz, and I almost lost her near the Maggy/Leeds hole; but she finally found it on her own and joined me for the short hop to Dublin. Once at the Hood, the bloody Corsairs were a bit tight-fisted, so we decided to risk the passage to Lanzarote without the necessary baksheesh being passed.
Here's where the true delight ensued. Kat proved to be a crafty little lass yet again. One attempt resulted in some damage to her wee Transport, for which I apologized profusely. On the next attempt, I remained near the Dub hole in 49 to scout those bloody Titans. On her second run through, we got separated yet again, and I held my breath until she finally reported in from west of the cloud. I gave here the coords for Lanzarote, and toodled slowly along until she finally appeared 17K behind me, with three bloody Titans hot on her tail! We made it to Lanazarote with room to spare.
Final leg. I launched the Oro.de.Veranda to scout, and just as the coast is clear and the Shinigami launched, three Titans appeared from nowhere. I squawked to Kat to "go go go!", and she squawks back that she's stuck in the bloody docking bay. (Will they ever fix that damn facility??) My heart sank with the thought of what might happen next; but just then, the three approaching Titans had the bloody gall to scan me! Well, enough! I engaged them. I had plinked a bit of hull off one blighter, and was almost out of shields myself when Kat finally managed to extricate herself and made speed to Canaria. I shook off the Titans and breathed a sigh of relief as she finally made landfall at the Canaria spaceport.
Just as we landed, there was an announcement that they were rebooting General Comms ((server)), and I recommended a good B&B for the lass.
Reminded me a lot of the first trip I made down with another young lady, who now lives up on top of a bloody nearby mountain. They'll have a lot in common to talk about when they meet. Would like to be a fly on the wall when that happens!
Who know, maybe Kat will re-open that bloody Cafe, and we can get a decent omelette again!
Waverly
:End Journal entry:
*((If you TAZ blokes see the Shinigami, she still needs Zoner ID and rep work, and a little more "bling" for her Light Transport. Keep her happy, you boring bunch, or she's likely to bite your ears off too! Pops.))
![[Image: malsig_alt1.png]](http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o108/Shamus_FL/malsig_alt1.png)
![[Image: Harlequinn-Copy2.png]](http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j130/dboy1612/Harlequinn-Copy2.png)
