The Tsunami

by Marshall Miller

  The Tschaaa rounding up whole racial groups based on skin color had greatly simplified any conflicts between groups of humans. Now the “haves” and the “have-nots”, were ultimately controlled by the decisions of the Tschaaa.

  “Your Lordship, there is one large matter that must be dealt with, I believe head-on. That is the subject of genetic and body modifications secretly begun by you. The substances and nanites you introduced into our bodies and reproductive systems are rapidly becoming common knowledge, despite my efforts to keep the proverbial lid on it. I am specifically being accused of being behind it.”

  The Tschaaa Lord signed consternation with his tentacles. “I will record a message personally addressing this. I will assure your people that any unfortunate side effects will be dealt with and solved by my scientists. Physical harm to humans and their young was the last thing I wanted to happen. It was meant to have overall beneficial effects on your species, to make them a better client. I will explain this, and take what you humans would call ‘the heat’ off of you.”

  Adam knew that trying to explain the deep sense of violation his fellow humans felt, especially the women, would not be understood. First, the concept of rape or forced sex, seemed to be a completely foreign concept to the Tschaaa. And, of course, they were not Tschaaa, but still looked at as beasts of burden and food sources. The bizarre attempt by some ten limbed creature telling pregnant women that having their reproductive system secretly modified was ‘no big deal’ would go over like a fart in church. Such attempts at educating the Tschaaa about human sensibilities would be of little use. As much as his Lordship could speak like a human being, he would never really feel, think, or act like a human. There was just too many differences between the species.

  “I appreciate the effort, your Lordship. I hope it will suffice.”

  “It must, my Director. Or else your people will be unnecessarily miserable.” The large Tschaaa performed the equivalent of a stretch. “I grow weary, so I apologize that I must shorten our conversation. I must inform you that starting tomorrow, forces will begin to move into Cattle Country to stop any attempts to interfere with the meat supply. Which may mean some early harvesting. Some of James Kray’s Church Members will be used, and based on your concerns, I will monitor their effectiveness. Then I will consider a direct response to the Unoccupied and Feral areas. I will also complete my recording at my soonest opportunity, hopefully broadcasting it tomorrow.”

  He seemed to lean in toward the screen and Adam. “You have been loyal to me. I will be loyal to you. I owe you that much for saving my life. I will insure that Andrew spends more time with you, for your safety. To lose you would be very painful to me.”

  “Thank you, Lord Neptune.” The screen went black.

  Adam sat still for several minutes. He knew the attempts to salvage the Lordship’s relationship with the human population in the controlled areas, specifically Key West, may all be for naught. It had always been a balancing act of the most difficult kind, like juggling balls on a tightrope while someone shot large spitballs at you. He may have just fallen off.

  In the outer office, Heidi and Andrew had waited. Heidi, being the curious and mischievous type, decided to try an experiment. She stood up in Andrews direct line of sight, and began to stretch. The short sleeved shirt she was wearing stretched taut over her ample chest. She then bent over so her tactical pants were stretched taut over her tight posterior.

  “See anything you like, Andrew?”

  A hint of a smile formed on the cyborg’s mouth, his eyes obscured by his visor.

  “Ms. Faust, you are the second person in about a week’s time that seemed curious about my sexuality, or at least my ability to feel arousal and function. Yes, those ‘parts’ are still intact and operational. But we robocops, as you call us, have unique ways to experience sexual pleasure that seems as real as actual intercourse with another person. So yes, being a heterosexual male in my former life, I can still appreciate the finer points of the female form.”

  He continued. “So, do you want me to say that you have a nice body? Fine…” Andrew then switched to the exact monotone and stilted cadence of the movie character his kind was named for. “Petty-Officer-Faust. You-have-a-nice-body...”

  Heidi burst out laughing and fell back into the padded chair in which she had been sitting. Andrew actually chuckled a bit.

  Adam re-entered the outer office at that moment. “Well, I’m glad someone is having fun.”

  Andrew turned to look at him. “We completed a stress reliever exercise, Director. Ms. Faust may deign to show it to you later.” With that comment, Heidi blushed a bit and stood up.

  “Didn’t mean to disturb you, boss.”

  Adam waved the comment away. “Hell, enjoy yourself when you can, Heidi. I’ve just been a bit preoccupied lately. Hopefully, based on the conversation I just had, things may be working themselves out.”

  “I am glad to hear that Director. Please let me know if I maybe of additional assistance, including keeping your new communicator operating.”

  “Will do, Andrew. Now, Heidi, I need to wrap up a couple of things, and then we need to meet the Admiral at the dock near his place—the Admiral’s Cabin. He wants to show me something and refuses to tell me what it is.”

  Heidi frowned. “Do you want to take more security with you? There may be someone who doesn’t like you around.”

  Adam grunted. “I’m not going to sneak around. If someone wants to whack me, they can have at it. I have no reason to mistrust the Admiral. He could have done me in years ago.”

  Andrew looked at Adam. “I will be nearby, Director, monitoring the situation. And before you protest, I have already been instructed to keep a closer eye on you.”

  “Oh, alright. But I don’t want you eavesdropping. I would like to have a private conversation with the Admiral.”

  “Of course, Director.”

  A little over an hour later, Heidi and Adam walked down the dock near the Admiral’s Cabin. Berthed at the end of the structure was a large, well-maintained Hatteras Sports Fisherman. Boats like this were few and far between, many having been sunk by the Squids in the early days of the invasion when they distrusted anything that floated and carried humans.

  The Admiral was clambering around the sea craft, whistling some unrecognizable tune. He waved when he noticed Adam and Heidi. “Come aboard, Director. Susanne, Sharon, take the good Petty Officer Faust up to the seaside bar for a cool drink.” The two women he ordered about were his “Amazons”—his comely nearly six foot tall bodyguards that accompanied him everywhere. The two women smiled warmly at Adam, coming up to kiss him on the cheek before leading away a pensive Heidi.

  Heidi kept glancing back as they left. “Please, Heidi, relax,” Susanne, the large brunette said. “Sharon and I would never let anything happen to the Director. He is our special friend. And I know that the Admiral feels the same.” For a moment, Heidi sized up the two physically fit women, wondering if she could take them in a fight.

  “You said ‘special friend?” Heidi asked.

  “Why, yes,” the blond, Sharon answered. “The Director and the Chief rescued us from being used for ‘entertainment’ on a yacht in the bay. They killed a whole bunch of assholes, and freed us. Adam introduced us to the Admiral, and we became his daughters, then his Bodyguards. We have always been taller and bigger than most women, and both were well trained in Jeet Kun Do. So, we all go back some five plus years.”

  “No one hurts the Director or the Admiral when we are around,” Susanne added. “They are like a father and an uncle to us. I sense, Heidi, that you feel the same about Adam Lloyd, the Director.”

  “Yes, I do. He and the Chief also saved my ass. So, I guess we ladies have a lot in common.”

  The two Amazons chuckled. “Very true. Come, we’ll have some virgin daiquiris as we…”

  “...are on duty, Susanne,” Heidi finished her sentence. “Yes, we have a lot in common.”

  The Admiral had an ice
cold beer in hand for Adam. He motioned for him to grab a seat on his large boat.

  “I have always been fascinated by how well you keep this Hatteras, Admiral. Boats to me were always a hole in the water into which you dump money.”

  “They can be, Director. They can be.” The Admiral intently watched the three security women as they walked to the seaside bar. After they were almost to their destination, within sight but not listening distance of the two leaders, the man known only as the Admiral suddenly had a change of tone. “Well, Adam Lloyd, are we both going to be alive this time next week?”

  Adam’s mouth dropped open. The his eyes, face, and whole stance seemed to change. “You are used to seeing the helpful clown, the Admiral, whose elevator sometimes stops short of the top story. A few cards short of a full deck.” He chuckled at Adam’s confused look.

  “How in the holy frack did you…?” Adam began.

  “How did I fool you and almost everybody else? Easy, because everyone wanted to be fooled. They wanted a helpful, non-threatening father figure with a great sense of humor. Someone who wasn’t fully a grown up, to put people at east, and help them forget the fact that some alien a-holes are still trying to eat us. If only for an evening.”

  He took a swig of his beer. “I used to be a Naval Intelligence Officer, Major Craig Berndt. I was still in the Reserves when the rocks hit. Everything fell apart quickly, with Squids all over Florida by the end of the first thirty days. I was a manager of a resort hotel farther up the Keys. I hunkered down there, and hid, melting into the background. I tried to help as many people as I could to not get harvested, or killed by their fellow humans.”

  The Admiral sighed. “I soon saw that a happy-go-lucky older crazy man, was the most non-threatening. His Lordship soon had control of everything here, and began attempts to communicate with us. He liked my crazy sense of humor, so he used as labor. At least he stopped the harvesting.”

  Adam understood why Lord Neptune would be drawn to someone who seemed unusual. He too was unusual in comparison to his fellow Squids. His Lordship had soon begun to use the Admiral as a local organizer when he needed something from the local humans.

  The Admiral continued. “Then, you and the Chief showed up. Something clicked between you and His Lordship. So next thing I knew, you his Director. Which was fine with me. It took the heat off of me, and with it the stress of dealing with his kind every day.” He emptied his beer, went and grabbed another two, tossing one to Adam.

  “You actually turned out to be someone with some morals. You want to help people, even if you have to pick and choose who is helped and who is sacrificed. Hell, you saved a whole shitload of young girls and women who are now my ‘daughters’. You can adapt to that type of survival decision making—choosing who dies so that others may live. This ‘Protocol of Selective Survival’.”

  The Admiral chuckled. “If I had to make decisions like that almost every day, I would really be nuts, not just acting eccentric.”

  Adam took a long drink from his first beer, and immediately started on his second. “Why drop your cover now? How do you know that I won’t tell the Tschaaa that you have been faking everyone out for all this time?”

  “Well, Adam, because you have morals about throwing one more human unnecessarily to the Squids. Which is why Captain Bender is home safe and sound. And, you seem to actually like me.”

  Adam chuckled and shook his head. “I should have known that it wasn’t an accident that the Conch Republic had the world’s best intelligence service. You probably do know what we are doing before we do.”

  “So, Adam, I ask again. We will be alive next week?”

  Adam paused for a moment. Hell, he might as well fill him in on the whole situation. He probably already knew about half of it anyway, if he knew about Torbin Bender.

  “First, Admiral, I need a rusty nail. And now, an explanation. It’s like this…”

  Heidi and the Amazons were still sipping non-alcoholic drinks almost an hour later. Even in their shorts and tennis shoes, Susanne and Sharon were near six feet tall. Heidi could see the long, steely muscles in their arms and legs. They were the kind of women Heidi wanted on her side, not someone else’s.

  “So, ladies, if I can ask a possibly rude question. Is the Admiral always a bit…off?”

  They both laughed. “He can be a bit eccentric,” Sharon said. “At the same time, he misses nothing. He runs the restaurant complex, acts both as the Mayor of Key West and Governor of the Conch Republic. All everybody knows of him is as the Admiral. I think he acts a little bit over the top to help keep people in a lighter frame of mind.”

  “But, do not screw with one of his people, especially all of us he calls his daughters,” Susanne interjected. “He is extremely protective, which is why he respects Director Lloyd so much. Your Director has whacked quite a few people who tried to hurt, rape, and even eat women over the past five years. That is why so many of us love him. He is a special friend. He must really trust you to have you as his bodyguard.”

  Heidi shrugged. “This kind of happened by accident. However, he and the Chief did save me from probably a short life. So, I am loyal to him.” She looked up, and saw Adam and the Admiral slowly returning from the Hatteras. “Well, ladies, it looks like they are finally done.” She stood up and began moving toward the two men, Susan and Sharon following.

  “Ladies!” The Admiral greeted them loudly. “I see you have all gotten along just swimmingly. No hair pulling, no face scratching. Good.”

  Then, as if saying something in confidence, he lowered his voice. “Although I have to admit a good old-fashioned catfight floats my boat…” He winked at Heidi.

  “Admiral. Stop that.” Susanne scolded him. The Admiral suddenly took on a sheepish look. “Sorry, there goes my mouth overloading my ass again.” The two Amazons rolled their eyes, then each took an arm in tow.

  “It was nice to meet you, Heidi,” Susan said. “Stop by here anytime. We are usually floating around somewhere, and will always be back.”

  “Likewise. Someday, when duty doesn’t call, I’ll buy you a beer.”

  “What about me, the Admiral? Doesn’t the lovely lady want to buy me a beer too?”

  Heidi snapped to, and saluted him. “Of course, Admiral. Anytime we are both free.”

  “Well, young lady, I am not ‘free’. I’m pretty damn expensive, being an Admiral and all…”

  Sharon poked him in the ribs. “Time to head back to your suite, Admiral. You need your lunch.”

  The wild-haired and bearded man flashed a broad grin at Heidi and Adam. “See how well they take care of me? Now, Director, Petty Officer, I will take leave of you both. Please stop by again soon.”

  “Of course, Admiral. Enjoy your day. Heidi, time to head back.”

  “Yes, Boss.”

  They walked back to the staff car Adam had obtained from the motor pool. He climbed into the driver’s seat, Heidi in the passenger.

  “Boss, is he always like that?”

  “Most of the time. But, sometimes, he can get a bit serious.”

  Adam sighed. Too bad he could not tell her about what he had just found out about the Admiral. He would tell the Chief, but no one else. The Admiral’s charade was quite productive. No need to screw it up. Adam knew, after telling him what the Tschaaa Lord had told him, that the Admiral was on the same page. He may need the Admiral’s help if he and his staff needed to make a hasty retreat.

  “Come, Heidi, I’ll buy you lunch. There is a great little Mexican hole in the wall not too far from here….”

  -

  CHAPTER 5

  WAR DOG: The official current name given to the lineage of Sergeant Fuzz, a huge Great Dane and German Shepherd mix breed tweaked with Tschaaa genetic modifications. War Dogs have won the reconstituted American Kennel Club competition as Best Breed some twelve times. The Breed is officially kept under strict breeding restrictions as War Dogs are seen as an integral part of the Allied Defense Forces. Attempts at fraudulent bree
ding of War Dogs is a Federal Felony.

  -Excerpt from The Combined Works of Princess Akiko, Free Japan Royal Family. “The Great Compromise,” Appendix 30, definitions and vocabulary.

  MALMSTROM ARMED FORCES BASE

  Abigail Young was humming to herself as she walked across the Base toward her home, carrying her cloth grocery bag. It had been a very busy month since she had first arrived, but she would not have changed it for the world.

  She smiled and continued humming another song she had heard on a soft hits radio station. She had caught herself not only humming about two weeks ago, but realized she was also doing it with a smile on her face. This was not something she had done in Deseret. Maybe it was because she had a home.

  The two bedroom duplex section was the first really personal “home” she had lived in the last six years, since fleeing the Hanford explosion. Her thoughts returned to the first twenty-four hours she was at Malmstrom. The key General Reed had provided to her worked just fine. Inside was a living room with a sofa and recliner, a small dining table in the dining area next to the fully equipped kitchen, two decent sized bedrooms—with a bed in one and a papasan chair in the other. She had the Lieutenant place her personal items in the bedroom with the bed. She then escorted him back out to the front door.

  “Lieutenant Baker, I am in your debt for all your help, especially ensuring that my dear friend Captain Bender is returned to his wife in one piece.” She stuck her hand out for a handshake.

  It took a moment for Lt. Baker to take it. “Ma’am, I was just doing my job, but… I was wondering…” He began to stammer. Finally, he took a deep breath to collect himself. “Captain Young, if I came calling here, to see you…I hope it would not be too forward.”