As the immense room fell silent, Hoot looked at the Skalag leader and Vra. They appeared visibly shaken by the prior scene. Shock filled the faces of Proto and Teerha as if they hadn’t realized how close they came to meeting their death.
Hoot’s friends wouldn’t have survived if not for the bravery of the warriors. Squeezing her lips tight, she slowly let the air escape her lungs through her nose. Maybe the Skalags aren’t so bad.
She recalled the first time she laid eyes on Hound Dog after he and his uncle defected from the clan. I guess I should know better. She glanced at Puppy Eyes whispering with Tropokt and Storm a couple of chairs away.
While the video proceeded with the view of Havoc zig-zagging up the slopes and terrorizing snatchers, Hoot scanned the audience.
Most eyes remained glued to the action, but not Skeeter’s. At the far end of her row of chairs, he and Teli sat whispering about something, most likely drones from the look of their hand motions.
Suddenly, a closeup of Hoot’s image filled the screen. Observing such a large version of herself from above with her arms and fingers extended skyward seamed surreal. Loud cheers and applause filled the room and startled her. Why all the noise?
She gingerly turned her head and found everybody staring at her. Her cheeks warmed. As the mood of excitement wound its way through the attendees, she felt embarrassed and a bit awkward.
The music’s volume increased as her image began to vibrate. While the camera zoomed out, her sonic blast obliterated the wave of aliens charging Andralec and her broken brother. Time and time again, Hoot shifted her glare and annihilated more monsters until none of the unearthly creatures stirred along the mountainside.
Euphoria washed across the crowd like a giant wave pushed by a norther’s wind. Stunned, Hoot couldn’t believe her eyes. I really shake like that?
She never imagined looking so scary during her acts of devastation. For the most part, she remembered nothing other than exhaustion after such episodes.
As the noise from the huge group quieted, so followed the background music until it faded to silence. A bright glowing moon emerged among the clouds on the screen, and the view kept growing bigger and bigger.
Anticipation gushed through Hoot’s veins as folks along the front rows leaned further and further against the back of their chairs as if they feared the massive, white ball would roll right over them. Not a peep could be heard before a blinding explosion near the edge of the moon lit up the spacious banquet room.
Gasps and oohs emanated from the crowd. The gigantic flaming spaceship slowly tumbled toward the rim of Earth’s natural satellite until it crumbled into several fiery orange streams that finally pounded the cratered surface.
Deafening whistles and cheers pierced Hoot’s ears as she and all the participants hopped to their feet and vigorously clapped. Euphoria vibrated from the floor and up through the soles of her boots while her heart pounded against her chest.
The sheer excitement that eluded her on the battlefield during moments when the aliens had been exterminated now brimmed within her body and soul. They deserved every bit of what they got.
Hound Dog rushed to her side and kissed her. While they hugged, she glanced at Zo who held his brother and sister tight.
A calm settled over her like nothing felt before. Maybe we all can finally live in peace for a change.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Lake of Dreams
Eight Months Later on July 6, 2106
Ukkiville’s Community Park
Hoot sat with her back against a stout maple tree as she looked out over the Lake of Dreams. Large, yellow butterflies fluttered around tangled vines of honeysuckle along the shore, and a light breeze blew across the waters to cool the heat of the afternoon’s sun. How beautiful. It’s perfect!
A reprieve from months of agonizing nightmares about the aliens and the battle couldn’t be more welcomed. Several colorful blankets dotted the grassy area between the water’s edge and the shade from the lush hardwoods and pines at the edge of Wolverine Forest.
Closing her eyes for a moment, she marveled how much had changed in such a short time. This sure beats worrying about muclones and snatchers.
Lots of villagers, Ukes and Skalags alike, basked in the sun, sharing stories, and playing together with their Texas visitors. Most wore shorts and walked around barefooted on the soft grass. With so many people, a few of the men and women cooked a wide selection of food over several campfires.
Wolfuk, Tropokt, and Jrok prepared some of the wild game from their recent hunts. A boisterous conversation ensued as Bartuk, Tradulka, Vra, and Teli flipped hamburgers and chicken breasts.
Occasionally, they’d turn and chat with Tiger, Gno, and Drew, warming something called tamales and burritos. Some of the older women stirred pots of beans and other vegetables while others set tables full of homemade breads and desserts.
Sighing, Hoot looked at Hound Dog. “You know, I have to admit to being skeptical when Thoruk invited the Skalags to live with us, but he was right. It’s too bad a few moved back to the caves, but I never imagined we’d get along so well with most of them. There’s a lot of people here at the picnic, and the weather, well, it’s all pretty hard to top.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” He flipped a row of thin caribou steaks, sizzling on a long metal rack over the flames. “Ambush and I could be fishing out there instead of cooking.”
A wry grin spread across his southern friend’s face as he cocked his head toward the lake. “Yeah, that cool water looks awfully tempting.” Like a gorgeous sapphire, the rippled surface reflected a blue hue against the backdrop of a beautiful sky broken by a splattering of fluffy, white clouds.
Rising, she fetched a dish of her special barbecue sauce. She kissed Hound Dog on the cheek and lathered her concoction over the meat. The heat from the fire warmed her hand.
As she drew a deep breath, her mouth instantly watered. “Mmm, I can’t wait.”
Laughter caught her attention, and she turned her head. “Sounds like they’re having fun over there.”
Hound Dog pointed his long fork toward the chatter. “Go ahead, I know you want to talk with them.”
He hollered to his uncle. “We’ve got this covered, don’t we?”
Tropokt waved her off. “Yeah, we’ll call everybody when we’re ready.”
Smiling, she strolled to her friends and plopped on their blanket. “So, what’s up over here?”
Caru looked at the others. “We’ve been talking about how well Woody seems to be getting along with the women lately. He’s been dancing down on the beach with some of the newcomers.”
Hoot watched as he hopped and twirled with four women to the music pouring from the large battledrone hovering over their heads. Barking to no end, Bullseye ran circles around Woody and his friends. No wonder I haven’t seen him around lately. Good for him.
She turned toward Salty. “Bertha’s quite the attraction for a party. Can she play any kind of music?”
The admiral chuckled. “Whatever she can find on Armadillo.”
Caru glanced at Zo, then toward Hoot. “Seems like things have been going pretty good with you and Hound Dog.”
“Yeah, but he still needs a bit more training.” She winked.
Teerha laughed and squeezed her husband’s waist. “It took Proto quite a while before he finally got it.”
He chuckled. “Well, it’s not our fault. It takes a good deal of time to figure what a woman wants, and just about the time we do, you change….”
His wife interrupted with a sharp elbow to his ribs. “Don’t you dare.”
He flopped on his back. “Okay, I give.” The pale skin of his shoulders already glowed pink from the sun.
As Hoot and her friends continued talking, she scanned the shoreline and spotted Skeeter. He stood on the dock, staring at his drones.
Four hovercrafts lowered a net into the water and sprinkled something from their bellies. A few minutes later, the drones floate
d higher. Trapped in her brother’s web, fish of all sizes flopped continually in futile efforts to escape the boy’s trap.
He snatched one and tossed it on the shore. Jaws sniffed it but jumped back and yelped when it slapped him in the chops with its tail. Attracted by the commotion, Chili and Ice lumbered closer.
Utterly amazed, she snickered. Well, I’ll be. There’s no end to what Little Brother can do with his mind.
She turned toward Andralec who watched her buddy from a distance. “Did you teach him that?”
“Nope, he came up with that one on his own. Lately, he’s been teaching me about as much as I am helping him. He’s a remarkable young man.”
Hound Dog hollered. “The food’s ready. Come and help yourselves.”
Without the slightest hesitation, Hoot and her friends stood and walked toward the campfires. After filling their plates, they sat around a long row of picnic tables.
Thoruk stood. “Let’s bow our heads.”
Everybody grabbed a hand of those sitting on each side of them and closed their eyes as Ukkiville’s leader proceeded. “Thank you, Lord, for bringing us here for this wonderful bounty today. We appreciate your blessings as they have helped all of us villagers get along so well together, including our wonderful Skalag neighbors, our AI residents, and our visitors from Texas.”
After a short pause, everyone responded in unison. “Amen.”
Hoot opened her eyes early and peeked around. The Skalags and the AIs seemed much more at ease with prayers than the first few months after the alien battle.
While those around the table stuffed their mouths, Zo set his fork down. “So, tell me, how did the Lake of Dreams get its name?”
Storm slid his shades to the end of his nose. “Let me help with that one. Many years ago, around the time of the World Annihilation Period of the 2020s, there was a man named Tyler Luca who chose this area to escape from the nuclear holocaust. He and the friend he traveled with — I can’t remember his name — bumped into my father and got to talking. After a few months, when Tyler’s friend decided he needed to move on to find his family, my pa invited Mr. Luca to stay in our home. Tyler and his friend had been living under a makeshift shelter in Porcupine Forest. That just wouldn’t do in Pa’s book.”
When Storm stopped for a breath, Skeeter interjected. “Hey, you’ve never told me this story. Keep going.”
His father appeared surprised. “Really, I thought I had. Well, anyway, to make a short story long, Pa and our new family member became best of friends. They would sit along the lake talking about their dreams of how Ukkiville should look and the kind of values they wanted to encourage the villagers to follow. They got tired of saying ‘that lake’ and started calling it the Lake of Dreams. As their friendship grew, they decided Tyler needed a name more like the rest of the villagers in the area and agreed ‘Intellulka’ fit best, since it retained our ‘Ulka’ family name, and the young man seemed to be quite intelligent.”
He poked at his steak. “Okay, that’s enough. Let somebody else talk for a while. My food’s getting cold.”
Caru chuckled. “Wow, that was a long story.”
Hoot spoke up. “I’ve got a question for Andralec.”
The robot glanced at Skeeter who shrugged. “Okay, what do you want to know?”
“Please don’t take this personally, I’m just curious.” Her brother gawked at her as she continued.
“Do you and Havoc feel accepted and part of the human community?”
Her mother, Blessivil, stared at her. “What kind of question is that?”
“Don’t get me wrong. I really like Andralec and Havoc a lot. I was just wondering how they feel.”
The android looked at her brother and back at Hoot. “We don’t mind the question at all. We’re among friends.”
Smiling, she glanced around the table. “Absolutely, we feel welcomed by your village and friends. In fact, I’m even starting to like Speedy.”
He shot a goofy face as if pretending to be annoyed as she continued. “The more our designs are tweaked, and we practice using emotions during our interactions with humans, the closer we emulate human behavior.”
She stared at Salty and Speedy. “However, I recommend that future versions only be given the better human emotions. It would be best to skip hate, anger, revenge and other ‘bad’ emotions. That way humans can feel less threatened as we become more powerful, physically and mentally. Does that answer your question?”
Hoot smiled. “Perfectly and thank you.”
While most ate their food, Proto glanced at his wife and his mother. When they both nodded, he spoke up. “Teerha and I have something we’d like to share with all of you.” The two smiled at each other before he continued. “We’re going to have a baby.”
Hoot’s mouth flopped open. It’s about time!
Hound Dog squeezed her hand and whispered in her ear. “Let’s hold off announcing our engagement. Let Proto and Teerha enjoy this moment.”
She smiled. “Yep, I agree. I’m so happy for them.” Tears moistened her eyes.
Mercy ran to the parents-to-be and gave them a big hug. “That’s wonderful news!”
As others walked up to congratulate them, Caru and Zo held hands and strolled off together.
While hugging Proto, Hoot kept an eye on them. Hmm, wonder what they’re up to?
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Hope
A Few Minutes Later
The Shoreline of the Lake of Dreams
Caru gently swung the Skalag leader’s arm as they strolled toward the far end of the lake. She spotted Chili gnawing at the remains of a large northern pike Skeeter must have tossed her way. Ice romped with Jaws in the shallow waters. I guess I’ll let Chili be. She’d probably ignore me anyway with that fish in her mouth.
She turned toward Zo. “Did you have a good time?”
He grinned. “A lot of people, but yeah, I can’t remember laughing so much. My clan hasn’t had much to be happy about for far too many years. I almost forgot how good it feels.”
She looked up into his dark brown eyes. “Everybody seems to be getting along. A lot of announcements; looks like people are thinking a lot more about their future. Don’t tell anybody, but Aluki totally shocked me. She’s also pregnant! Her paranoid husband doesn’t want it out in the open yet. He’s afraid the guys are going to give him a hard time.”
Plucking a tiger lily, she sniffed it. “Isn’t it kinda strange how something as terrifying as those aliens brought us all together.”
“I suppose, but some of us lost a lot more than others during that time, and a few of the Skalags have returned to the caves.”
Caru squeezed his hand. “I know but look around. It’s spring and its time to be happy — no more attacks and no more muclones, I hope.” She cast a wry grin.
He shook his head. “No, you don’t have to worry about that. My denamod days are over. Gno has already dismantled the lab and brought the equipment here. He and Jrok have begun working with Tiger. They’re sharing their knowledge about genetic engineering and cloning.”
He pointed at the couple headed up the trail toward Porcupine Forest. “That’s probably what they’re talking about now.” Waving his arms as he chatted, Gno marched briskly while Tiger half jogged to keep up with him.
Caru stopped in her tracks. “Hey, look. Remember that tree?” She tugged his hand and pulled him toward an old willow with gnarly bark and a couple of dead limbs.
Appearing confused at first, Zo’s eyes and mouth suddenly opened wide. “Naw, that couldn’t be…,” he squinted, “…is it?”
“Yep, this is where you pissed me off. Made me lose a big bass and my fishing pole.”
“Yeah, I remember. I scared you good. I thought Chili was going to eat me alive for a moment.”
“You were lucky she didn’t notice you earlier or she probably would of.”
He walked around the trunk where he sneaked up on her. “Wow, that was a long time ago. We were just kids. Wh
at was it?” He paused. “More than 10 years ago.”
Caru kicked a twig. “It was 12 years, 11 months, and 15 days to be exact.”
Shock flashed Zo’s face. “What? You remember the exact day?”
She smiled. “Yeah, I was grounded, and Father let me have that day off for good behavior if you can believe that. You ended up being the other big surprise that day. Under all that mud and worn clothes, I actually thought you looked handsome for a Skalag.”
He chuckled. “Well, I’ll admit; for a Uke, you were the prettiest thing I’d ever seen, next to my ma. I couldn’t get your face out of my mind — not that I was trying….” Suddenly, he stopped, and his gaze froze.
Concern pricked her heart. “Zo, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing at all, I just remembered when ma called for me. I thought she was going to kill me. My heart was beating so hard.”
Caru’s muscles instantly relaxed. Whew.
He looked at her. “Speaking of Ma, her voice isn’t in my head anymore. It’s been a couple of months. I just remember the good things now.”
Relieved, she wasn’t sure how to react. Should I hug him? Maybe, too early.
Unsure, she grabbed his palm and stared into his eyes. “That’s great! We should remember the good things about those we love.”
“It’s not always easy, but you’re right. Come on, let’s continue our walk.” He softly clutched her elbow and led her to the trail between Ukkiville and Porcupine Forest.
After following the path and talking for a while, a sharp screech startled her. She jerked her head skyward. Oh no! What’s wrong?
A bald eagle circled directly overhead and screeched again. A second later, a distant cry responded, and a larger eagle swooped near the first.
Drawing a deep breath, Caru smiled. “That’s Slasher and his girlfriend.” She waved, and the playful eagle tipped his wings.
Zo watched as the birds swooped and clung to each other’s claws as they spun in a midair dance. “Wow, they’re having fun. It seems as if he likes you quite a bit.”
The New World: Crimson Winter Page 25