Tres frowned. "My brothers handle sales and stay in nice hotels while they wine and dine the brew-masters. We aren't that well off, and we are trying to expand, so we cut corners where we can. Which means me."
Johnny said, "Look, don't take this the wrong way, but I have a big house, with a guest house, you're welcome to stay there for the week. It's about a mile and a half away, down on the inlet."
Mace pointed at Tres, "If you're staying at the Dortmer, I'd take him up on that offer. The guest house is much nicer than most hotels."
Tres turned towards Johnny. "A guest house? And what is it you do for a living?"
Johnny smiled. "I live. I just sit on my ass and live. I inherited the house and a small but comfortable fortune from my mother's side of the family. In the morning I sit on my boat in the inlet fishing. And at night I come here to pick up stray skinny men who work in the brewing industry."
Johnny let out a howling laugh.
Tres asked, "He always this creepy?"
Mace nodded. "Yes. But he's seriously one of the most generous people I know. If you stay there, expect his wife to offer you breakfast before you leave in the morning. Great people, the two of them."
Johnny said, "Yeah, she's a peach."
Tres lifted his chin in curiosity. "You have a wife? What are you doing here?"
Johnny laughed. "I fish in the mornings and then sit around the house bugging her all afternoon. By five o'clock she's begging me to leave. Monday, Wednesday and Friday she runs around with her friends, so I get a pass to come here."
Mace said, "Sadly, this is the best option he's got."
Johnny smirked. "I tried golf, bowling, sailing, competition shooting and just about everything else. Found out most of those were boring without having a buddy or two to run around with. That's why I come here. My buddy is actually working, so he has to be here."
Mace poured a new Mangrove. "His wife is just as entertaining. She usually sits with us for a bit when she comes to pick him up."
Johnny took a sip of his fresh, cold brew. "She knows if I'm hanging out here with Mace, I'm OK. He does a good job of keeping me out of trouble. Not woman trouble mind you, just trouble from running my mouth. I tend to get into other people's business."
Tres sarcastically nodded. "I've noticed."
Their attention briefly turned back to the TV as a female newscaster came on with a report.
"It has been two weeks since the Large Hadron Collider conducted its latest experiment by smashing particles together. Online speculation in the scientific community has exploded with talk of the first-time discovery of what is being identified as... dark matter. Our on-call science specialist, Dr. Jeffrey Moskowitz, is going to tell us exactly what that means."
The reporter looked at the camera on a split screen as a new face appeared. "Dr. Jeff?"
The Dr. nodded. "Thank you, Melanie. The LHC experiments have reached a new phase. If dark matter is the actual discovery this time around, it will move a whole field of study from theory to fact, transforming much of what we believe to be possible, into what we know to be true..."
Two minutes of science speak later, the camera returned to the reporter. "Thank you Dr. Jeff. You managed to put that into terms that even I understood. I think. Anyway... media relations at the LHC have promised us a groundbreaking story tomorrow at 3PM, Eastern Standard Time. Next up, will our local celebrity, Mr. Football, Ronnie Baines, make it to the pros after this fall season? We'll be right back with that and other sports news, right after these important words from our sponsors."
Johnny shook his head. "The only dark matter I have an interest in comes out of that Mangrove bottle. And Ronnie... he will for sure be going in the first round."
Tres replied, "I don't know, that one... dark matter, is pretty big. It ties together a lot of the theories about gravity and the size of the universe. Kind of exciting stuff."
Johnny laughed. "Maybe if you're a physi-cisi-cist."
Mace pointed. "OK, that's it Johnny. Gonna have to cut you off."
"What? I'm only on number three. And it's not like I'm driving. Jane will be here to pick me up at eleven."
Mace shook his head. "It's not the beer. It's the bad jokes. I can't have you driving off my only customer with such."
Johnny looked around as he laughed. "Only? When did Marlene and Tracy slip out of here?"
The lone waitress, Vanessa, stepped up behind Johnny. "They've been gone for fifteen minutes. I see you're right on top of everything as usual."
Johnny pointed at the TV. "Hey, we've been discussing dark matter. Word is they will be announcing a full discovery of it tomorrow."
Vanessa replied, "Pfft. Yeah right. Dark matter. The only dark matter you... oh never mind. That's not a discussion I want to get into."
Vanessa turned and walked towards the kitchen.
Tres looked at Mace with wide eyes. "Who was that? She works here?"
Mace leaned forward on the bar. "That's my daughter."
Tres pulled back. "Oh. Sorry. Didn't mean anything by that."
Mace smiled. "Just pulling your chain. Not my daughter. Just our waitress."
Tres leaned back in. "She here every night?"
Johnny half frowned. "I wouldn't get my hopes up if I was you, Pancho. She's likely way out of your dating league. We've seen a few of the guys she runs around with. Big lanky fellas, Hollywood types with fancy cars."
Tres replied, "Well, maybe she needs someone to take her away from all this."
Johnny grinned. "Oh yeah? To where? Down to the Dortmer? Hahahaha!"
Tres again pulled back. "Hey, I've got a few things I'm working on. If they pan out, she could be on my arm."
Mace smiled, then winced. "Probably more likely to be in your wallet than on your arm. She's a good kid, but pretty full of herself at times."
Vanessa yelled from the back. "You know I can hear you, right?"
Johnny laughed. "You know we love you like family! That's all that matters!"
Vanessa poked her head out the kitchen door, pointing her finger as she smacked on a stick of gum. "Just remember, I see all and I hear all."
Their attention was diverted to the TV as another report flashed on the screen.
"We have new information regarding the crash of the Air Tratta flight traveling from the Cook Islands to Auckland four days ago. The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand has just released word that the twenty-nine passengers and three crew aboard that flight... are missing. I repeat, for the second time in four days, we have an airliner that has gone down with no one aboard. We'll be going live to the news desk to discuss this new information following this break."
Tres gestured towards the display mounted on the wall at the near end of the bar. "See. This is why I don't fly."
Johnny poured down the rest of his beer, setting the empty mug on the counter as he gestured for another. "Gentlemen, we have a mystery that needs solving. And I'm going to have to side with Tres on this one. Starting to look like abductions. The question is... are they little green men or little gray men?"
Tres replied, "Who says they're little?"
Johnny laughed. "Maybe they got swallowed up by the dark matter!"
Vanessa came from the back, plopping herself on a stool next to Tres as she leaned on the bar. "You following the plane stories? Two of them now."
Johnny made a curious face as he pointed at Tres. "He thinks it's aliens."
Tres defensively protested. "I was making a joke!"
Vanessa put her hand on Tres' shoulder. "Don't sweat it. I don't pay much attention to anything these two say. Everything's a conspiracy with them. I'm Vanessa, by the way."
Tres held out his hand. "Tres."
There was an awkward silence for several seconds as Vanessa stared at the outstretched hand.
Johnny said, "Watch out for this one, Vanny, he's a smooth talker."
Vanessa took his hand for a short shake. "Don't mind Johnny. He's proof that money can't buy you manners."
Johnny frowned. "Hey now, let's not get personal."
Power to the building flickered and went out. A single emergency light kicked on, illuminating the floor near the doorway to the parking lot.
Vanessa stood. "Third time this week."
Mace said, "Power grid in this area needs a major overhaul."
Tres scowled as he looked at his near empty glass. "I suppose that soda fountain requires electric?"
Mace nodded. "Yep. We had an old CO2-forced system up until six months ago. Sorry. No power, no soda."
Headlights flashed on the front windows of the bar. Seconds later, a short blonde walked through the door.
Jane Tretcher held out her hands. "You people just sit around in the dark all evening?"
Johnny replied, "Power just went off. What's it look like out there?"
Jane walked up to Johnny's stool, placing her arm around behind her husband. "Pitch black out. Except for emergency lights on a half dozen businesses. Satellite radio even has static."
Johnny pulled back. "Why would that go out? It's not wired to anything."
Tres shook his head. "No, but the signals from the ground up to the satellite are."
Johnny laughed with a slight embarrassment. "Oh yeah, well, tell you all what, if the power isn't back on in the next couple minutes, you are all invited over to our place. The beer is cold as are the sodas. Courtesy of our recently installed gas generators."
Vanessa let out a sigh as she looked at Mace. "What do you think? Not like we're rockin' the house tonight. And my date won't be here for another two hours."
Mace nodded as he locked the register. "I can give you a ride there and back if you want."
Vanessa smiled as she turned with an arm gesture. "Thanks. Johnny, lead the way."
Tres remained at the bar for several seconds, unsure of what to do.
Vanessa turned. "Well come on. We can't leave you in here."
Mace said, "I can bring you back with her if you want to ride with us."
Tres hopped off the stool.
Jane and Johnny pulled out onto the roadway heading south. Tres and Vanessa piled into Mace's four-wheel-drive. As they started down the road, Mace looked up over his steering wheel, taking notice of the blackness of the night. The low glow from the city lights was missing. A new moon had the normally washed out sky full of stars. It was a sight they would soon be getting used to.
~~~~~
Once again, this Human is asking for your help! If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review on the site where it was purchased. And by all means, please tell your friends! Any help with spreading the word is highly appreciated! I have a free science fiction eBook short story, titled "THE SQUAD", waiting for anyone who joins my email list. Also, find out when the next exciting release is available by joining the email list at [email protected]. Visit the author's website at www.arsenex.com for the rest of the series and other works!
Thank you for reading my work! I hope you have a great day!
Stephen
Books written by Stephen Arseneault
SODIUM Series
A six-book series that takes Man from his first encounter with aliens all the way to a fight for our all-out survival. Do we have what it takes to rule the galaxy?
AMP Series
Cast a thousand years into the future beyond SODIUM. This eight-book series chronicles the struggles of Don Grange, a simple package deliveryman, who is thrust into an unimaginable role in the fight against our enemies. Can we win peace and freedom after a thousand years of war?
OMEGA Series
Cast a thousand years into the future beyond AMP. The Alliance is crumbling. When corruption and politics threaten to throw the allied galaxies into chaos, Knog Beutcher gets caught in the middle. Follow along as our hero is thrust into roles that he never expected nor sought. Espionage, intrigue, political assassinations, rebellions and full-on revolutions, they are all coming to Knog Beutcher's world!
HADRON Series
HADRON is a modern day story unrelated to the SODIUM-AMP-OMEGA trilogy series. After scientists using the Large Hadron Collider discover dark matter, the world is plunged into chaos. Massive waves of electromagnetic interference take out all grid power and forms of communication the world over. Cities go dark, food and water supplies are quickly used up, and marauders rule the highways. Months after the mayhem begins, and mass starvation has taken its toll, a benevolent alien species arrives from the stars. Only, are they really so benevolent? Find out in HADRON as Man faces his first real challenge to his dominance of Earth!
Find them all at www.arsenex.com.
Table of Contents
Title
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Next
OMEGA Destiny Page 25