Centaurs (Parallel Worlds)

by Aaron Pery

  Elwood was ecstatic when Marty told him about her plans. "That's a marvelous idea because it'll create additional jobs in manufacturing for our young people and give the economy quite a boost. But how d'you intend to set it all up, as a personal or State of Minos enterprise?"

  "I'd rather do it as an individual, using whatever facility is available for me to rent from the state."

  "I think that's a good idea because we got an old Gogian manufacturing plant that's sitting idle next to the maintenance building and is unused because we got no need to build more engines since we have great inventories that'll last us for at least twenty to fifty years. So what kind of arrangements do you want to make for the factory?"

  "That'll be your responsibility to come up with the right price and mode of payment for it."

  "I'll discuss it with Mike later on and have him propose it to you. But what about raw materials to build the power packs? Oh, never mind that because we have a surplus of scrap metal which we can melt in the factory smelter once the need arises--particularly the diesel tankers and the now useless engines that we'd replaced. Which, if you'll think about it, are actually yours."

  "How about manpower?"

  "You'll have more of them than you'll need and I'll send you one of my mechanical and electronics geniuses who'd love to run the factory. But you'll have to pay us for the engines that you need to use as Earth's samples."

  "Of course, but what will I pay with? And in fact, how will I pay all of my employee's wages?"

  "I have no idea but I'm sure that Mike will come up with an idea of how to do it."

  "Probably. So how about us having a board meeting tonight after dinner, let's say at eight, and tackle all these issues."

  "Sounds reasonable. We'll be there if you tell Paula to set it up."

  "Agreed."

  "I'm not surprised, Marty," Jenny said when they gathered in the board room. "That you'd come up with an international trade idea, which everyone I talked to seems to be quite excited about. However, regardless of how things turn out here we'd like to remind you that we, Brits as you call us, outnumber you two Colonials by a huge margin. And we therefore are just as loyal to our own old homeland as you are to yours, and insist on whatever you plan on to revitalize the economy of the United States should also include England."

  Marty burst into laughter. "Gosh, Jenny, I never thought a herbalist and a physician like you are will turn out to be such a good horse trader."

  "A rather appropriate name for me, don't you think, since we're dealing here with horseless carriages?"

  "Yeah, I guess so. And just so you know, not that I object to your idea, but you shouldn't forget that most of our Minoan population are natives rather than American or Brits. Anyway, you got my word that whatever the results of my negotiations with the American manufacturers it will include the Brits."

  "I think that's reasonable. Okay, Mike, since you're our finance man and were told about Marty's plan earlier, what have you come up with?"

  "To my mind, the solution is very simple since the government owns the land and the factory on it, we should treat it similarly to the maintenance building."

  "In other words, you'd like it to be nationalized. But what about Marty's part in it, doesn't she deserve the income?"

  "Of course she does and a lion share of it, too. So my thought was to split her seventy percent ownership into forty for her and thirty for us, and this way she'll have a clean income from it--without any out of pocket expenses for her."

  When Elwood tried to respond negatively to Michael, Marty raised her hand to stop him. "Actually, I like the idea because it'll minimize my time and personal involvement."

  "I thought you would, Marty, because this way the burden will be lifted off you and you'll be able to come up with more new, beneficial program for Minos."

  Marty chuckled. "Okay, Mike, I'll go for it. But how do I get reimbursed for the money I'd already transferred to the company's account?"

  "That's another issue I had been considering for quite some time now. Two of them in fact. One is that we're sitting on the largest treasure trove in the world and can't use it for anything to improve our lot. Which I think there's an easy way to bypass."

  "How would you go about it, Mike?"

  "Start by changing our monetary system from the original Gogian Drachmas to a Minoan Dollar, with it's value attached to the price of gold price on today's world precious metals' market--of, let's say, two-hundred American dollars."

  "Which will basically turn it into an international legal tender?"

  "Exactly--no paper money, just gold, which will keep it's value."

  "I like the idea, and I doubt anyone will quarrel with us about where we got the gold from or whom, and where the hell we are located."

  "How about restamping our gold coins with a centaur on it?" Nick suggested.

  "Excellent idea, Nikki." Jenny said. "And call it a Minoan Centaur rather than dollar."

  "Which will drive the money people nuts trying to figure out who we are. But there's another part to your crazy scheme, isn't there, Mike?" Marty asked.

  Michael grinned. "I knew you'd figure it out. Yes, I do, and it was quite easy to come up with it once I'd done a bit of research on the internet. Do any of you have an idea which is the largest gold consuming country in the world?"

  When everyone gave Michael a blank look, Nick burst out. "India, of course, where every bit of gold they lay their hands on at every level of the population, is melted and turned into jewelry--gold chains mostly, to serve as women's dowry and proof in public of her true worth. And they consume so much of it that no one can get any of it on the regular market, which is why it's always smuggled in and doubles in price by the time it's sold."

  "Excellent, Nikki, because that's what happens. So consider that the regular price of gold is eight-hundred dollars an ounce and we own tons of it in ingots of five pounds each, which comes up to a hundred and sixty thousand dollars for each."

  "At minimum. And that once we mint the Minoan coins we'll be able to sell them to supposed coin traders as collectors' items without fear of retribution from any of the governments."

  "Sneaky, Mike, real sneaky. I wouldn't go all out with it too quickly, though."

  "My idea is to drop them into the marketplace in dribs and drabs and create a demand for it first."

  "I like the idea, Mike." Jenny said. "So let's let Marty come up with ideas on how to set it up. In the meantime, is everyone agreed about her share in the engine sales business?" When no one objected, she hit the gavel. "So voted."

  "Thank you." Marty said. "Oh, and one more thing. I'd asked Adam to bring us some cows and a bull, which I'll send over to Dave's once we get them."

  "Which should be a good test on their survivability. Thanks, Marty."

  "Also, I asked him to bring us a quantity of steaks and ground beef so you're all invited to our house on Saturday at eight for a real American barbeque."

  "Should be an interesting meal." Ben said with a chuckle. "And thanks."

  "I've been wondering, Marty," Nick said as they walked home. "When you intend to reveal yourself to Adam, because sooner of later it'll have to be done."

  "I agree, especially in light of Mike's gold bar and coins exchange ideas, but I'm a bit reluctant to do it right away."

  "Why?"

  "Because if I do there are a few other trusted old friends that I'd like to include in our future plans."

  "I can see why. But aren't you at all concerned about breaching our security?"

  "How could that happen, Nikki? All they'll know about will be that good ole' General Sherman and his wife had been reincarnated as a pair of centaurs who possess great financial resources. And even better, no one will know or be able to figure out where we are located. Still, I think I should try it out with Adam and see how he reacts when I reveal myself to him."

  "That's better."

  Chapter 26

  When Marty received the call from Adam that he was a
bout an hour away from the warehouse, she went to the manufacturing plant and pulled out the palette on which the engines were shrink-wrapped, using a tow motor loader. She then drove it to the edge of the dimension tunnel and left it by the side of the building, then moved to other end of the tunnel to an empty field next to Dave's farmhouse.

  She waited for Adam's arrival with a fluttering heart, quite concerned about his reaction to seeing her as she truly was. Nick had offered earlier to accompany Marty to her first contact with a human, but she waved him away.

  "Come on, Nikki, you knew that this was bound to happen sooner or later so I might as well be doing it on my own now that the time has come for it."

  "I guess so. Are you going to cover your torso for the meeting?"

  "I considered it but decided not to because Adam needs to see me as I truly am. So you go play with our navy people and teach them all you can about modern naval lingo and equipment."

  "Which you know I love to do. So good luck with Adam."

  "Thanks."

  And now that she was waiting in the shadow of the wall Marty regretted being alone to bear the brunt of introducing Adam to Minos and it's people. It took her a moment of fidgeting before she heard and then saw the overhead doors rise, and the sight of Adam sitting in the cab and driving in very carefully instantly quelled her anxiety about what was to happen next. She watched him jump out of the cab and rush over to close the door before walking out of the shadows and then stand motionless in front of the truck.

  It took Adam's mind a moment to register the extraordinary vision of the half human and half horse who was undeniably a female. He came over and stood in front of Marty and grinned widely. "So you're the elusive Ms. Sherman, aren't you, the centaur I'd had the honor to speak with in the past?"

  "Yes, but not quite because a female centaur is called a kentauride."

  "Pardon my ignorance, Ms. kentauride, but I'm just an old Marine, you know."

  Marty smiled, then offered him her hand. Adam took it without hesitation and shook it, which made him blush suddenly when her breasts jiggled as a result. "Oops, I'm sorry about that, Ms. Sherman."

  "Sorry about what, Major? You never seen a pair of naked big tits before?"

  "But.... Oh, never mind, Marty."

  "Never mind, my ass. Well, my friend, I guess you just passed test number one. Ready for the next?"

  "Please explain what you mean."

  "That you didn't drop to the floor in a dead faint when you first saw this half ton creature who's half horse and half woman, and that the only thing perturbing to you were my big boobs. Says a lot in your favor, Adam."

  Adam grinned at her. "I is a Marine, isn't I?"

  "You sure are. Any curiosity about what's going on here, and who I really am?"

  "I'm dying to find out but as I'd already learned about you, Marty, I will when you're ready to show and tell me all about it."

  Marty patted him on the cheek. "That's a good boy, Adam, so let's take things one step further. But before we do, that cow trailer stinks to high heaven so what d'you say if I asked you to drive out of the confines of the warehouse into open air?"

  "I'd like that very much."

  "Then get in the cab and drive out of here while I hang on to the door of the passenger side. Oh, and just continue driving when you reach the end wall."

  Just as she had expected Adam did exactly as he was told, and gasped when he suddenly reached daylight just outside the farmhouse. He did gasp quite loudly when the truck was surrounded by youthful centaurs, both males and females, who quickly opened the livestock gate and drove the cattle out to a nearby corral.

  "Should we hose this thing down, General?" One of them asked Marty.

  "Yes, please. Is Dave or Sue around yet?"

  "No, both are at the pig pens ensuring that the right ones go to the slaughter house."

  "Thanks." Marty turned to Adam. "You got a choice, watch pigs being slaughtered or go have a nice lunch."

  Adam chuckled. "You forget where I'm from and so pigs ain't my favorite attraction. Lunch though, now that you mentioned it, sounds terrific."

  "Great, 'cause I'm a bit hungry myself. So follow me."

  Adam climbed onto the back of a wheel-less jeep after seeing that the front was built to accommodate a centaur-sized driver. He was somewhat flustered when he was confronted with Marty's huge haunches, but quickly forgot about it as the vehicle rose on an air cushion and sped away at a considerable speed.

  Marty turned around a few times to see Adam's reaction and was pleased with his stony-faced expression as he looked around at the many farms they had passed. She was happy, though, to see his hands shaking as he climbed off. He did not comment on the cafeteria food as they loaded up trays, nor on the crowd of centaurs of all ages that filled it. He did show appreciation as he munched on a tasty ostrich burger, and seemed to appreciate the fries as well.

  "Okay, Adam," Marty said when they relaxed over coffee and a smoke. "You'd been extremely patient so far, which I greatly appreciate because I'm sure that you're burning with questions from the moment you saw my petite looking form."

  Adam gave her a shocked look. "Petite? You?"

  "Everything's relative, you know. So far you've seen just me and a bunch of kids, but wait till you see some of the grownup males--like my husband, who's two feet taller than I am and at least two hundred pounds heavier."

  "Okay, so you're a petite whatever you are, Marty. But who are you really? For sure not General Sherman's niece because I looked at his dossier and found that he was an only son. And then, the kid at the farmhouse called you General, which really threw me for a loop."

  "I can imagine why. Anyway, it's truth time."

  "Before you tell me what you intend, aren't you worried about a breach of security? I could be a spy, or a grade A flimflam man who might betray you and your secrets--like the air-cushion jeep that might be worth millions of dollars by itself, that some people I know will gladly pay for it."

  "Very true, Adam, but you need to know my decision to trust you with these secrets stems from my knowledge that you can be trusted implicitly. But forget about that for a moment, just tell me who can buy you off with money that can even approach the value of my partnership offer to you for the special engines."

  "No one, I guess."

  "I'm glad that you can see it this way. Now, here's another, important reason why I brought you over here." Marty tossed him one of the Minoan gold coins that Michael had started minting. "Tell me what you think of this."

  Adam caught it, then looked at it closely before raising his eyes. "This is pure gold, Marty, or at least ninety-seven percent pure. And it's brand new for sure, not an antique, which is easy for me to tell because I know a lot about coins since my dad was an old coin collector and I dabble in it on occasion."

  "I knew that, which is why you're here."

  "Anyway, it also says here that it's worth one Minoan Centaur dollar, which is quite impossible because Minos was supposed to exist three-thousand years ago, and they sure didn't have anything called a dollar in those days."

  "Correct. What d'you think the coin's worth?"

  Adam hefted it a few times before answering. "Nothing as a collector's item, I'm afraid, since it's new. But I'd say that it weighs at least quarter of an ounce and is worth at today's gold price about three-hundred American dollars. And because of the scarcity of gold nowadays, more like five-hundred if you had a large quantity of it."

  "How about tons and tons of it, in five-pound ingots?"

  "Then I shudder to think about what it's worth. Do you really?"

  "We sure do. But how can one sell the stuff?"

  "You can't sell ingots but you can if it's in stamped coins and never mind that it bears the name Minos. But where the hell is Minos? I know about the mythical kingdom that was supposed to be on Crete, but that's just a legend."

  "And so are centaurs, yet you just had lunch with one. Actually, you're sitting in a building right now that's si
tuated in Crete, which is located between Greece and Turkey."

  "But how can that be? Are you saying that I drove the truck a quarter of a mile from Baltimore and ended up half a world away?"

  "Exactly, which I better explain to you how it's possible. So let's start with who I am and why one of the kids called me General."

  "Good starting point, I'd say."

  Adam listened with rapt attention as Marty told him about being hit by lightening and ending up in Maggog as two centaurs of opposite genders, under the murderous rule of the Gogians. "So you see, your original suspicion of me was fully justified and that's why the kid called me General."

  "This is some fantastic story, General, and our first two conversations were quite confusing because your attitude, demeanor, and expressions were those of General Sherman. But, I kept telling myself, how could such a sexy woman be him? It was an impossible dilemma for me, particularly after you wore that utterly transparent blouse and I saw your magnificent rack."

  "Thanks for the compliment. And now that you saw them in the flesh, but at the end of a horse-like body that's got a tail and an udder?"

  "Even more magnificent, General."

  "Stop calling me that, Adam. I'm Marty."

  "Then why did the kid call you General? Surely you didn't insist on that. And why did he and everyone here give you such openly adoring looks while the ones I got were virtually of murderous hatred?"

  "I guess both attitudes are fully justified." Adam's expression hardened as he was told about the cruelties of the Gogians, which turned into a wide smile when she reached the point of completely decimating them and taking over the island.

  "So you may have big knockers upfront and a real tail over your butt, but that didn't stop you from being the tough guy we'd all loved and admired like all these kids do here. I'm proud, General, to have earned your trust."