“Oria, you drive a hard bargain. So what’s in it for me?”
“You get to live and I won’t take issue with your business, at least in the short run. In the long run, it is unlikely that Earth could rise above its current primitive state without addressing the sort of activities conducted by your business. I can help you get there.”
“Alright, from what you’re telling me I play ball with you or I may be taken out of the game.”
“Exactly, there is a lot at stake, namely the survival of Earth, as we know it. Don’t get in my way, don’t mess with Karen Brown again and we should get along fine.”
“Very well, I’ll consider your suggestions. My men have seen those Creyte beasts eat people. I know there is no chance that I want to align with them. My organization is at your disposal. I believe I know why you’re here and in spite of what you think of my business practices, I feel a patriotic duty to help. After all, I live and work here! This is my country, my planet, and I will fight to defend it!”
“Very well Mr. Pirelli, we’ll be in touch.” Satisfied with the results, Oria nodded to his team and they left Pirelli’s office.
8 PM: Karen Brown’s Condo
Karen was exhausted when she finally made it back to her condo. It had been an incredibly long and stressful day after an equally stressful weekend. Her mind was racing through the day’s events. Bronson had held a briefing with the Laser Watch and STAR Hawks teams informing them that the President considers their efforts a top priority. The two teams needed to keep on top of the situation with Oria. Bronson then briefed the group on a second team formed to establish relations with the Creytes and the Creyte position on Oria.
After Karen changed clothes, she was ready drop onto her couch, crank up the TV, and enjoy a beer. She had just pulled a beer out of the refrigerator when her brother Robert Brown called.
“Hi Karen.”
“Robert! Hello, boy do I need to talk to you.”
“I know; I’m sorry Karen. You weren’t supposed to get tied up in my business dealings.”
“Well, supposed to, didn’t work. Your business dealings almost got me killed!”
“I know Karen; I’m sorry, and glad that you’re still alive. Look, I think the problem has resolved itself.”
“What do you mean resolved itself? After all, of this are you throwing in the towel? You know you can’t just quit the mob! Nobody quits the mob and lives.”
“No, although I thought about giving it up. By the way, Dad was the mob member. I never signed up for this.”
“It doesn’t matter. You took over Dad’s business and the mob considers it their business.”
“Not anymore Karen.”
“Robert, what do you mean ‘not any more’?”
“I mean Antonio Pirelli himself, called me, and said that everything is cool.”
“No way! Do you actually believe him?”
“Yes I do. We spoke for almost 30 minutes. He explained that there were some unusual circumstances working in my favor and that his organization was going to let me go about my business. Although we won’t conduct any business with his legitimate companies. I’m ok with that.”
“Wow! I’d say so. It would be nice if he let someone at the Air Force know that. Bronson nailed me to the wall about your situation.”
“That’s not right. I’m sorry Karen.”
“It doesn’t matter what’s right. Look, I can’t go into any details but there is a lot of intriguing stuff going on right now.”
“I see. Well, I just wanted to let you know that those attempts on your life should end. At least the ones made by the mob.”
“Gee, thanks. It’s been good talking to you again Robert. Maybe we can get together in a few weeks.”
“Ok sis, catch you later.”
Karen hung up the phone while her mind was spinning. Something strange was going on. The mob didn’t just let people go. She reached for her beer when the phone rang and interrupted her again.
“Hello.”
“Hi Karen.”
“Oria!” Karen felt a surge of anger swell up inside of her.
“Yes. Sorry I left you at the ocean so quickly. Something came up that I had to attend to.”
“Sorry! Sorry! Don’t think that a simple apology will get you out of this one. You left and didn’t even say goodbye!”
“I know; I’ll make it up to you. I wanted to let you know, but circumstances prohibited that. I feel I should have at least said goodbye.”
“You’re right about that. Oria, I thought we had something more going for us.”
“Karen, we do”, Oria sighed. “Life is rather complicated right now. I love you. I haven’t felt this way about someone in a very long time. Falling for you was not part of my original plan.”
“Well, it sounds like your original plan got messed up. Oria, I love you too. Look, we have to be careful about what we say. Those groups that tried to kill us in Ocean City could be listening in.”
“Karen, they’re not; at least not your home phone. The only group trying to monitor our conversation is your employer.”
“What? This is my personal phone!”
“I know. I guess your associate, Captain Martello, doesn’t trust you. He suspects that you’re a little too close to me. Don’t worry about him now though. He won’t hear our conversation.”
“He won’t?” Karen hesitantly asked. Karen was thinking how she’d like to fix Martello’s wagon after all the crap he put her through.
“That’s right.”
“Oria, Martello’s right about us. I think we are too close to each other for either of our jobs.”
“In one sense you are exactly right Karen. I found my life has a perpetual problem with not being able to get involved with someone. There never is a good time. It’s time I changed all that. However, I won’t let it stop my mission.”
“Me too! What do we do about our jobs?”
“Nothing. We still do our jobs. In the end, it will work out. I’m not an enemy.”
“That’s not what they’re saying about you in some meetings with the President.”
“You’re referring to comments started by a Commander Retilia?”
“Yes, how do you know him?”
“Karen, I’m afraid I can’t tell you right now. I can’t tell you without compromising your position in the Air Force and the objectives of my mission.”
“That’s just great, Oria.” Karen responded feeling the rejection, “What kind of relationship can we have? Every time I feel we’re getting close, you say something that separates us again”.
“I know, I’m hoping for a great relationship with you. This situation won’t last forever. Look, I’d like to see you again.”
“Me too; maybe we can get together Thursday. Tomorrow I’m flying to Atlanta for Jack’s funeral.”
Oria felt a small knot building in his stomach when Karen reminded him about Jack. He wanted to tell Karen that Jack was alive and doing well. Unfortunately, that news would have to wait until a later date.
“Ok, Karen; I’m real sorry about what happened to Jack. I just wish I could have been there and spared both of you the pain.”
“Oria, I know if you could have done something you would have. I’m just glad you showed up when you did. I don’t want to imagine what would have happened if you and Bob hadn’t been there at all.”
“Karen, on another topic, I don’t think Antonio Pirelli will be bothering you or your brother anymore. We sort of had a conversation.”
“So you’re the one. I can’t believe it. Robert just called and said that Pirelli let him off the hook. By the way, how did you know his name and how did you know where to find Pirelli?”
“Karen, you should know by now that I have some powerful resources at my disposal.”
“Boy, I’ll say. No one just quits the mob. At least not until you came around. I don’t want to even begin to imagine what you said to them.”
“That’s just as well Karen. I couldn’t tell you anyhow.”
“Oria, one of these days your secrets are going to come out and I don’t think they include you being a god like that cult believes. You know the one that’s forming as a result of your escapades in Ocean City.”
“Karen, you’re right. I’m not a god and don’t know what to make of all this god-cult stuff.”
“You have to admit that you have some unusual powers”, laughed Karen.
“Oria laughed too, “Yes in the context of Earth, I would agree with you.”
“What do you mean in the context of Earth?”
“Just what I said; at any rate where would you like to go Thursday?”
“Just change the subject on me Oria. Oh, all right. I’ll let you by this
time. I do need to get away. How are you for the outdoors?”
“It depends on what you mean by outdoors.”
“How about shooting some white water in a canoe?”
“That sounds magnificent. I love the water and mountains.”
“Good, then meet me at my condo at 7AM sharp.”
“I’ll be there. Oria hung up the phone smiling.
Oria and Karen’s Canoe Trip
Oria rang Karen’s doorbell at 7AM sharp. When Karen opened the door, she was shocked to see Oria wearing a dark colored short sleeve cotton shirt,
buckskin pants, and moccasins.
“Hello Karen. Are you going to just stand there or are you going to invite me in?”
Karen tried hard to suppress a laugh. “Yes, I mean hello, Oria. It’s good to see you. Please do come in for a minute. I have a full pot of hot coffee. Would you like some?”
“Yes and thanks.”
Karen continued to stare at Oria. She was happy to see him and amused by his choice in clothing. “Oria, you know it is going to be in the 90’s today. Are you going to be okay with those clothes? I mean do you have any shorts?”
“I have the swim suit that I bought in Ocean City. Nevertheless, I think I should be ok. What type of clothes do you usually bring for a canoe trip?”
Karen let out a muted giggle. “I was thinking more along the lines of cut-off jeans and some water shoes. I guess moccasins might actually be pretty good other than being a little hot.”
“I guess I haven’t been in a canoe for a long time and don’t know what the current custom are for clothes.”
Karen was thinking, “Great, we’ll have to drop by a store on the way to West Virginia and get more reasonable clothes. It’s a good thing I already packed the car. We need the time now.”
“No problem Oria, we’ll stop at a store on the way down and get more comfortable clothes for you.”
“Sure, although I think that I will be perfectly comfortable in these clothes. If you think I’ll look more modern in some other clothes, let’s do it.”
Karen and Oria finished their coffee and headed out of the condo and to the elevators down the hall. In the elevator lobby, Karen stared into Oria’s eyes and felt happy that they were together again. The craziness of the past week seemed distant, as long he was with her.
Oria was looking forward to the trip with Karen. It seemed that the world was more at peace when Karen was around. The last time he had fallen in love was prior to his capture and torture 500 years ago. Karen brought a new feeling of warmth, inner peace, and direction to his war torn life.
Oria and Karen finally reached her brand new red Porsche. Karen pressed a button on her key pod causing the car’s alarm to chirp as it turned off and the doors to come unlocked. Karen climbed into the driver’s seat before Oria could even begin to open the door for her. Oria just started to sit in the passenger seat as Karen started the car.
It was close to 7:30AM when their car headed west on the GW Parkway towards I-66. Upon entering the parkway, she saw a sedan with standard issue government plates in her rear view mirror. Overhead she observed several military helicopters. Karen was amazed at the circus created by her little trip to West Virginia.
After several hours of driving, Karen and Oria finally reached a series of signs leading to scenic overlooks over the Cheat River. They drove a little farther towards Lewisburg and found a small hunting shop where they could purchase clothing that is more appropriate for a canoe trip.
Karen felt awkward walking into the shop with Oria since his clothes made Oria look like a real dork. Karen ducked behind several counters and picked out a t-shirt, shorts, and a swimming suit. She joined Oria at the checkout counter and started to pull out her credit card when Oria reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of $100 bills. Karen and the storeowner were stunned at the pile of cash in Oria’s hand. Karen rolled her eyes and thought great, what a moron! What is he trying to do, make us look like drug dealers and a target for anyone that wants some fast cash?
Oria pulled a bill off the top of the stack and handed it to the store manager. “Will this be enough to cover it?”
“Yes sir. Let me give you change.”
After the store manager handed Oria his change, Karen grabbed his arm and quickly led him out of the store.
“Geez Oria, what were you trying to do? That was a lot of cash you pulled out.”
“Yes and what is your point?”
“Are you stupid or something? At best, that clerk thinks you’re a drug dealer. At worst, you just set yourself up as an easy mark.”
“I don’t believe I make an easy mark.”
“Duh, I’ve seen you in action and that’s not the point. I thought you wanted a more romantic day.”
“What does having money have to with wanting a more romantic day?”
“Oria, for a smart strong man, you sure are stupid! Do you want to fight people off all day that want to take your cash, or do you want a relaxing day with me?”
“I think the answer is obvious.”
“Good, now that we settled that, let’s get back on the road.”
Oria and Karen climbed back into her car under close observation by the storeowner. He was quite suspicious of them having seen Oria’s wad of bills and Karen’s new expensive looking sports car complete with temporary tags. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out something was amiss here. As a good citizen, he called the local sheriff and told him about Oria’s wad of bills, the fancy new sports car, and their conversation about going on a canoe trip.
Of course, Karen and Oria were ignorant of this newly created interest in them and their trip. They blissfully continued on their way heading towards one of the more popular Cheat River vendors. An old river dog known as Ratface ran it. Ratface happened to be a close friend of Karen’s. Ratface’s reputation for his drunken escapades was almost as big as his reputation for his river exploits. It was during one of his drunken escapades at a local bar that he earned his name Ratface. After several men in the crowd dared him to eat several large rats alive, they dubbed him Ratface, a name that stuck.
After a short drive, Karen pulled her car into the small dirt parking lot next to Ratface’s shop. She parked the car, jumped out and headed straight for Ratface with Oria a short distance behind. Ratface grinned when he saw her headed his way.
“Hey babe, long time since I last saw you. How about giving me a hug?”
Karen threw Ratface a dirty look. “Not in this life time you ugly piece of trash.” She then gave him a big hug.
Ratface had a reputation throughout the river basin as a tough, rugged, and vicious scrapper. He was someone who it was best not to cross and was hard to make your friend. Karen was one of the few people whom Ratface really cared about and actually was quite close to. Ratface learned early in his military life that it was best not to get close to anyone. Most people that he allowed himself to get close to, died. That was the nature of his work, at least during a series of black ops in South America. Ratface used to be a member of an elite Seal unit that mostly engaged in covert activities, activities generally denied to have existed by the U.S. government.
Ratface met Karen towards the end of his official Navy career. Sometime after the year 2000, Ratface was on a mission to recover top-secret equipment and rescue a group of Air Force pilots. Ratface’s team reported to Major Henley. Henley appeared more interested in pulling his equipment out of the ocean and getting
it away from the wrong hands than he did for saving his own people. This was certainly not a Seal viewpoint. Seals do not leave their wounded behind. It was on this mission that Ratface met Karen, a young Air Force Lieutenant. They quickly developed a friendship, one where they became like a brother and sister.
Ratface slowly released Karen from his embrace and eyeballed Oria, now only a few feet away. Ratface instantly knew that there was something strongly different about Oria. He knew another warrior when he saw one. It was like a sixth sense. Oria generated a strong aura, a warrior’s aura.
Karen never fully understood Ratface’s penetrating glare whenever he met a new male friend of hers. It always made her friends uncomfortable. She normally would warn them about Ratface before introducing them to him. However, this time she chose not to warn Oria. After all, Oria had some peculiar characteristics himself.
Ratface finally broke eye contact with Oria. “What are you waiting for? Are you planning on introducing me to your new friend?”
“Yes of course, once you stop eyeing him to death!”
“Can’t help it, this one looks a bit surer of himself, at least more than the last idiot you brought up here.”
Karen felt like killing him when it came to dealing with her male friends. No one could quite meet Ratface’s standards, whatever his standards were. He always embarrassed her. “Good, now that we are through the preliminaries. Ratface, this is Oria. Oria meet Ratface.”
Oria extended his hand out to Ratface, which he grabbed with his usual bone-crushing grip. Karen rolled her eyes back as she watched Ratface clamp down on Oria’s hand; another one of his warrior tests. She was surprised to see Oria respond with an even firmer handshake, so firm that it was all Ratface could do not to grimace from the pain. Oria spoke first. “Good to meet you Ratface. So you and Karen are old friends?”
“You might say so. We met some years ago when my team rescued some Air Force people from one of their screw-ups.”
Karen laughed, “Ratface, give me a break. You don’t have to beat up on the Air Force every time you meet someone new.”
“Yeah maybe so, at least not the older Air Force. Today, it’s more like the Air Farce along with the rest of the so-called modern day military.”
“Ratface, please; do we need to have another lecture on the downfall of the American military establishment?”
“I reckon not”, spat Ratface. He spit his chew on the ground with more force than necessary. Ratface hated the new military. There were too many rules, procedures, and manners for rogue warriors like Ratface to exist in it. In Ratface’s opinion, the military had too many pencil-snipping desk jockeys and just plain wimps. Most of his friends left the military directly because of these changes. Ratface believed that in today’s military, men demonstrating true grit in combat received very little respect.
Karen wanted desperately to change the subject. “It looks like good weather for a canoe trip, at least from what we heard on the radio during
our drive here.”
“Sure looks that way”, responded Ratface, smiling at Karen. “However, let me just give you a few warnings. The river is running high and fast for this time of year. I don’t think a seasoned canoeist like you should have any major problems. If you were a rookie, I wouldn’t let you go. Watch out for your friend though. We wouldn’t want to lose him when you hit the rapids.”
“Thanks Ratface. I’ll keep an eye on Oria.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you will. Look, there’s a band playing tonight down at our pub. Why don’t you join us there? I’m sure you’ll work up a big appetite after your trip. You can wine and dine Oria in our friendly atmosphere. You know which one is my table?”
“Of course” Ratface always made a big deal about his table. Everyone called his table the Captain’s table and everyone treated it as reserved for Ratface and his guests.
Ratface led Karen down to a canoe that was already setup and waiting for them. Karen and Ratface discussed river conditions and a pick-up time. Karen climbed into the back of the canoe with Oria in the bow. They shoved off with Karen waving to Ratface as they began their journey down the river.
Within 15 minutes of Karen’s departure, Captain Martello and his team arrived at Ratface’s canoe rentals. He was fuming mad at Karen for not providing him a detailed itinerary of her trip. Karen didn’t think it was necessary for Martello to follow that close and did not want him wrecking an otherwise romantic day. She decided not to tell Ratface anything, knowing that he would provide Martello with his usual load of useless information.
Captain Martello saw Ratface sitting on a wooden bench in front of his shop. He walked up to him and barked “I’m Captain Martello. Did a young lady, Karen Brown, show up here with someone?”
Ratface glanced up and down at Martello, wondering from what B-movie he escaped. “Nope; it’s been pretty quiet here. What did you say her name was?”
Martello narrowed his eyes at Ratface, “don’t play dumb with me. That’s her car over there and from what I can tell the engine is still warm.”
“Don’t know anything ‘bout that car; must have been parked while I stepped into the trees.” Ratface returned Martello’s scowl. He was thinking to himself, “It’s a good thing I’m no longer in the service, if this guy was my superior, he’d be dead with his attitude.”
“Yeah, right, and all of your boats are sitting here accounted for.”
Ratface eased his body off the bench, spat out the toothpick he was rolling between his lips, walked towards Martello, and stopped when there was an inch between their noses. “Now pretty boy, if you value your body parts, I suggest that you get lost! I rent to all kinds of people, and right now, that don’t include you!”
Martello’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down several times until he found his voice. “I can see Karen’s not here. I was planning to leave anyway. By any chance if you do see her, please give me a call, here’s my card.”
Martello knew that working this piece of trash was a waste of time. It was just one more thing that he was going to add to his report to fry the good Major. Martello’s dislike for Major Brown was intensifying. Major Brown particularly bothered him since she was a pilot in a special Op unit. Martello could not begin to fathom why special operations accepted women.