The Travelers 3

by Lee Hunnicutt

  Pete, Zoe and Gyro plopped down in three of the chairs. Max curled up at Zoe’s feet. Victoria and the teens took a moment to look around in amazement.

  Victoria was the first to speak, “I’m stunned. I don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. It’s amazing.”

  Sonny looked at the hostess and said, “Could you pull up five chairs so that they form a circle with Pete, Gyro and Zoe’s chairs and then bring us all a cold Shiner Bock?”

  The young woman said, “Right away sir.”

  Beth was appalled and said, “Where are your manners you moron? You and Jack can arrange the chairs.”

  “She’s not a she, Beth. It’s a robot. It’s like being polite to your refrigerator or a toaster.”

  “Well, she sure as hell doesn’t look like a toaster. Treat her with more respect.”

  Sonny just shook his head.

  Jack said, “Yeah Sonny, show her more respect.”

  Sonny looked at Jack and mouthed “asshole.”

  Beth glared at Jack, “You’re just adding fuel to the fire, Jack.”

  “No I didn’t. I took up your side against your gauche brother.”

  With disgust she gave a guttural “Uhh!” and walked over to give the hostess a hand with the chairs.

  “Also,” said Sonny, “put some end tables between the chairs so we can put our drinks on them.”

  Beth turned and began walking towards her brother but Anne stopped her.

  “You never learn, do you Beth? You know he does this just to get a reaction out of you. If you go over and punch his lights out, he wins. He gets what he wanted.”

  Beth looked at her friend, blew air out with a loud poof and said, with disgust, “You’re right. Give me a hand with these chairs.”

  When they were all seated, Zoe said, “Betsy, I don’t want a beer. I’ll have a margarita on the rocks with no salt. Use Gran Patron Piedra tequila.”

  “Yes, Miss Zoe. Any other requests?”

  Beth, Anne and Victoria all asked for the same thing.

  Pete said, “Bring us all a shot of Patron. This is a real sipping tequila. Just give it a try, straight up. It is meant to be enjoyed slowly, so sip it. Don’t throw it down with one gulp.”

  Pete, Zoe and Gyro had lived on Mac’s planet for all the time it took to rebuild the hollowed out cavern to Shawn’s and Mac’s specifications. Through the years they had stayed there many times. They hadn’t been back in over five years. They were excited to see Mac and to see what improvements he and Shawn had made.

  Their excitement couldn’t match Victoria’s and the teens’. This was the Las Vegas of the galaxy.

  The shuttle docking bay was large. There were dozens of shuttles coming and leaving as tourists arrived and others were leaving to go home. The tourists disembarked to go through one more scan before they were shuttled to their hotels.

  Pete’s shuttle flew about 100 feet above the tourist shuttles. Victoria and the teens marveled at the number of people disembarking. There must have been thousands of them.

  Jack’s first thought was, “How could they house all of these people?” All would become apparent when they left the shuttle bay and entered the outskirts of the city.

  They entered a large park area that stretched for miles in either direction. There were large green areas with trees and they could see forests and lakes. There were paved foot paths. On the lakes there were docks and people fishing, sun bathing and water skiing. Flocks of colorful birds flew from one forested area to another. But the most amazing of all was the city.

  It was on the horizon about two miles away. There was a large boulevard that ran along the edge of the parkland. On the other side of the boulevard were the resort hotels.

  Each hotel sat on a large plot of land that had bistros, bars, coffee shops and a variety of high end shops. There were play parks for the young, and outdoor swimming pools. Like Las Vegas some of the hotels had architectural themes that represented landmark cities from different cities in the galaxy. Behind the hotels were water parks and theme parks. Each park was designed by architects from different worlds so they would be attractive to the different cultures.

  But the hotel in the center of the boulevard dominated all the rest. It was bigger and taller than the rest. It was made of highly polished, naturally colored stones. It was in an art deco motif. It had a large sign, “Mac’s Place”.

  Pete explained that the hotels had several floors and casinos that were climate appropriate to some of the different worlds. The gravities and atmospheres were different than the archetype Earth planets.

  The people from the planets that differed from Earth could survive in an Earth like environment but it was uncomfortable for them. So to draw them in, Mac accommodated his biggest non-Earth environment customers. They even had their own theme parks.

  Pete told them the hotel was almost a mile high, half a mile wide and three quarters of a mile long. It had tens of thousands of rooms and the occupancy rate at any given time was 85 to 100%. The top 20 floors were suites for high rollers. On the roof was a park with trees, a golf course, swimming pools, bars, restaurants and shops exclusively for the suite holders. In the center of the roof was a tower rising 100 yards and at the top of the tower was Mac’s 100,000 square foot penthouse and a 360 degree view.

  “Don’t you think that is a little ostentatious?” asked Victoria.

  “No.” said Pete “For the wealthy of the galaxy, wealth and status means everything. They expect the owner of this world to flaunt his wealth. If he didn’t, they wouldn’t respect him.

  Wealth also means power and over the last two hundred years Mac has demonstrated that power. He has been challenged several times by wealthy coalitions and each time Mac has swiftly and decisively destroyed them. He didn’t kill them. He took all their assets, leaving them paupers. In a wealth driven society death is preferable to poverty.

  After defeating the threat and making examples of the losers, he hasn’t been assaulted in over 100 years.

  So, when the wealthy come here and see how he lives and see his penthouse, they are in awe of him and they should be.”

  In the front of the hotel there were multiple shuttle pads where the guests were being off loaded. The front of the hotel had a large wide portico and the shuttles landed on top of the portico. They entered the hotel. Victoria and the teens were astounded.. They entered to a large mezzanine foyer that over looked the hotel lobby. They were forty feet above the lobby floor. The ceiling was at least one hundred feet high. The décor was meant to impress.

  Large porphyry columns rose from the floor to the ceiling. The footings and column caps were of a green jade. The walls, ceiling and floor were of naturally colored stone. It took their breath away.

  Anne said, “There is no check in desk. How do they know where to go?”

  Pete said, “When the guests left the screening stations orbiting the planet, they were assigned a shuttle and a seat number. On the seat was a welcome packet and in that packet were instructions on how to get to their rooms and a map of the hotel with a list of events. They were also fitted with an ID bracelet. Through this bracelet the resort security can keep tabs on them. If they have questions or get lost, they can communicate with the computer and the computer, which sounds exactly like a human, will help them.

  The suite holders are let off here just to give them an illusion of being VIPs. They are directed to their own bank of elevators to take them to the suite floors. We have our own elevator so we don’t have to mingle with the unwashed.”

  Victoria asked, “Isn’t that a little pretentious?”

  “Lighten up Vicky. I’m kidding.”

  Victoria made a face.

  “Let’s go to Mac’s bar and grill.”

  Pete led them to an elevator. When they exited, they were on the casino floor. The gaming tables and slot machines went on as far as the eye could see and there must have been thousands of guests gambling.

  Pete took them around the edge of the
casino into a large room with muted lighting. Victoria and the teens were struck at the size of the room and the size of the bar. Victoria said, “There must be hundreds of tables.”

  Interspersed with the tables were overstuffed chairs and couches forming conversation pits. The bar was an oval, one hundred yards long. There were dozens of waiters and waitresses. The wait staff came in a variety of skin colors, skin textures, sizes and hair.

  Jack asked Pete, “Are these all droids?”

  “No, when we built this place, we decided wherever we could, we would use humans to interact with the guests. It just somehow seemed the right thing to do. Also, no matter how human the droids appear to be, they just weren’t humans.

  I don’t know if that makes any sense. It’s just hard to replace the human touch.”

  “I understand and think it was a wise choice”, said Jack.

  As they moved towards the bar it was like being in an aviary with lots of birds chirping. From all sides came, “Hi Pete, Hi Peter, Petey. Where have you been?”

  One of the waitresses came up and got in his face. “I haven’t seen or heard from you in years, you jackass.” She slapped him hard.

  That didn’t seem to stop the female staff from chirping their hellos.

  Victoria put her arm around his shoulders and said, “Oh Peter, you devil you.”

  Beth put her arm around his waist and said, “How do you keep up with all of these women. Where do you get the stamina?”

  Pete’s face once again went red.

  A large, well muscled woman with green eyes, bright yellow skin and beautiful long white hair stepped in front of them. Beth estimated she was about six foot six, two hundred pounds and absolutely gorgeous.

  With one hand , the woman grabbed Pete’s cheeks and squeezed hard enough to force his mouth open and said in a hard voice, “Hi Petey.” Then she planted a hard kiss on his lips.

  Beth wondered how she kept from chipping his teeth.

  She then said, “Remember five years ago after we spent that wonderful week at Mac’s mountain chalet and when we parted you promised to call me? Well I’m still waiting, Petey. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t rip your head off your shoulders.”

  “Well Buffy I wanted to call you but I got called away.”

  Pete chuckled nervously and said, “Buf, you knew my job and how I have to go anywhere at a moment’s notice.”

  Buffy snarled, balled her fist, drew back her arm and as quick as a snake’s strike shot her fist forward but quicker than Buffy, a hand shot forward grabbing the fist, stopping it cold.

  Zoe held Buffy’s fist in an iron grip. “Take a deep breath Buf and let this go.” Buffy tried to break free but Zoe’s grip was like a vice.

  Buffy said, “This is none of your business Zoe. Besides, he deserves to have his lights punched out.”

  “Yes he does. But it’s not going to happen today and not by you so if you like your hand attached to you wrist, you’ll let this go and I promise you, Petey will be calling you. Isn’t that right Petey?”

  Pete sheepishly nodded yes.

  Zoe let Buffy’s hand go.

  Buffy glared at Pete and said, “This isn’t over asshole” and stormed off.

  “Buffy Pete? Buffy, really?” said Victoria.

  Beth said, “Gosh Pete, you certainly do have a way with women.”

  When they got to the bar, a pretty young woman with red skin who looked like she sweated too much came to take their drink orders.

  Pete said, “Alice when you have a chance, tell Mac we are here.”

  She smiled sweetly, reached over, touched his hand and said, “Of course I will, Pete. Anything for you.”

  Victoria groaned, “Oh my God.”

  They all ordered Shiner Bock. Pete ordered a bottle of Patron and a shot glass. When the bottle came, he said, “I need this.”

  Zoe said with disgust, “You earned this Pete. I warned you about what would happen. It’s a wonder all of these women don’t get together and stomp you into a grease spot.”

  Pete looked at her grinned and said, “I can’t help it if I am irresistible. It’s a gift.”

  Victoria said to Zoe, “I’ll hold him down while you beat the crap out of him.” Zoe reached across and they clinked the necks of their bottles.

  Three beers later, a very large black man showed up. He came up behind them, grabbed Zoe from the rear in a bear hug and gave her a loud smack on the cheek.

  She smiled, wriggled loose, turned around, hugged him and began kissing him all over his face. She smiled and said, “You do know you’re one of the few people who can grab me like that and live.”

  With a deep rumbling laugh he said, “Sweetheart I would have it no other way.”

  Mac called out to Alice, pointed to the Shiner, “Give me one of those.” He then pointed to the nearest conversation pit, “and bring it over there. You might as well bring us all a beer.”

  “Sure thing boss.”

  After they were settled, Pete introduced Victoria and the teens to Mac. He told of how he and Victoria escaped from the bogus nurse and her assistant. He let the teens tell their story.

  When they had finished with their stories, they had finished four more beers. Mac took them to his penthouse where they had dinner. They ate under an awning and looked out over the rest of the city, over the planes and onto the snow covered mountains.

  Mac explained what they were looking at. “This is a completely functioning city. Most of the high rises are condominiums and apartment buildings. This is where the staff lives and it has also become a retirement Mecca for this part of the Galaxy. We have about four million staff living here.

  Not all people visiting here can afford to stay in the finer hotels and not all people feel comfortable in the finer establishments so we built varying classes of hotels and bars trying to meet all needs.

  We have people who are rough and tumble. The seeder the bar, the better they like it. We deliberately made a run down part of town. This part of town has cheap hotels, apartments, small shops, greasy spoons and grocery stores.

  There is no privacy here on our world. We, our computers, see all. In the seedy bars we have the most fights. It is a form of release from spending years in space. We understand that and as long as no one is killed or maimed we turn a blind eye to the violence.

  We only tolerate this in the seedy part of town, nowhere else and our tourists are made aware of this. Outside of these bars, we don’t tolerate crime. Anyone who breaks the law is arrested and sent to our penitentiary for a year and then sent to their home world with a recommendation to prosecute. If the home world prosecutes or not is not our business. At least there is some punishment. A year in our jail is no picnic.

  These criminals are never allowed back here and if they do try to enter, we jail them for twenty years.”

  Mac changed the subject. “Tell me about this nurse and her assistant.”

  “She was no more a nurse than Max.” He reached down gave Max a table scrap, scratched his ears and said, “Was she Max?”

  Max’s expression didn’t change. All he was interested in was what else might fall off the table into his maw.

  Turning back to Mac, “I think she was an Irish witch and he was a Praetorian Guard sent to escort her. They either wanted to kill me outright or take me back to Ireland. Either prospect would not be pleasant.

  Vicky came just in the nick of time to distract them and when they left the room I escaped. I had to take Vicky with me otherwise they would have killed her. I owed it to her. She was my savior.”

  Mac said, “If they are looking for you, they’re looking for me.”

  “Yeah, but you are harder to get to. I move around a lot and somehow they found out where I was. Besides, you have great security. Even if they get through the entrance security, you’re internal security is, bar none, the best. Nothing gets by it.”

  Mac clenched his fist and said in a soft voice, “If we ever find out who they are, we need to pay them a visit
. I’ll put some feelers out.”

  “Well lucky for us, we have decided to operate out of here. Your place is a lot more fun than floating around in space. Besides, I can’t speak for Zoe and Gyro but I think Max was missing you and you know how depressed he can get. Isn’t that right Max?”

  Max had gone over to a couch, jumped on it, rolled over on his back, legs splayed apart and was fast asleep.

  Mac said, “I can see how depressed he is.”

  “Depressed people sleep all the time, Mac. Be a little more sensitive. Poor Max is almost suicidal.”

  Anne looked out over the panorama. There was the sprawl of the city followed by a large grass land and forests which ran down to a fresh water sea. Beyond the sea was a great plain, a sea of grass. It ran up to the snow peaked mountains.

  Zoe was sitting next to her and saw what she was looking at. “On the great plains is where we have our cattle ranches, orchards and fruit and vegetable farms. On the sea we have water recreation and sports fishing. On the mountains beyond we have chalets and ski resorts.

  All the cattle are robots. It’s a charade. All of our meats are made in replicaters. Our tourist don’t know what a replicater is so we show them cows, pigs, sheep and chickens. We show them what looks like cattle ranches and farms so they think they know where the meat, eggs and fish that are sold in restaurants and markets comes from.”

  Sonny asked Mac, “Do you have any humans working up here?”

  “No, only service bots. I have too much high-tech stuff in my penthouse. Not just replicaters but communications and surveillance gear and a variety of weapons. All these things are hundreds of years ahead of the of the current civilizations. If any of what I have here were to fall into the hands of any of the races, it would give them a leg up on all of the other races, destroying the balance of power.”