Serve and Protect

by Douglas Varnell

  Hunter stopped in to see his Grandpa before heading home. Chase and Daniel were there telling Paul about the terrorists in Africa and Iraq as well as the drug dealers in South America. Both boys were feeling good about doing something that could really make a difference in the world they had once called home. Hunter started telling his cousins about Amber getting ready for a stuff-shirt high society party. Chase joked, saying, “We ought to dress-up like the Beverly Hillbillies and go with her.” Hunter laughed with them then took a more serious tone, saying, “Hey, let’s make her the bell of the ball. How about we get dressed-up and go as her entourages. I mean royalty should have bodyguards and escorts and chauffeurs and servants and such. Have you ever seen the dog and pony show when the British royals go someplace? Amber should be treated even better. Don’t you think? This is important to her and her big day, let’s make it special.” Paul watched and listened to the boys and when they finished, added, “Chase, before long your sisters will be going through the same kind of thing, and I’m sure the twins are already talking about their big day.” Both boys grinned at that remark. “Let’s do this right. I think a grand entrance is in order. Let’s go see Zirtouni and get fitted for a spring outdoor formal event. I’ll have the Dragon Wagon shined and polished. Boy’s we’re going to be servants to Princess Amber. She is going to be the bell of the ball.”

  It was only one hour till time for the Spring Formal Garden Party at the Dragon Palace. Everyone was gathered and excitedly taking pictures of the future bride of Brigadier General Robert McGee Lawson. Renee, Josh and Justice were all three taking pictures, along with Danyel and Rachel. None of them had ever seen their sons looking so handsome, including the Queen Mother. King Paul Verron was identically dressed like the three young men. He even had on a bowtie. That alone was worth taking a picture of. He would never have done it for anyone but his Granddaughter. Amber entered the foyer of the Mansion and looked radiant. Robert Neal handed her two boxes and told her, “From your Mother.” She opened the first box to reveal a beautiful diamond and emerald necklace and earrings. The second box had a completely different style of ruby and diamond combo. Renee stepped forward and helped Amber remove the necklace and earrings she had on and replace them with the rubies. In her crème colored dress, the rubies were the best option. Paul then held out a very decorative wooden box and handed it forward to show Amber, saying, “I had Robert Neal design this for Robert’s Mother. It is after-all her birthday.”

  It was one of the most elegant emerald and diamond sets she had ever seen.” Paul reminded her, “Never hurts to make a good impression on a boy’s mother. I have never known a woman who thought a girl was good enough for her son. Let’s make her think you’re the only one for Robert.” They headed down the elevator to the hanger and the Dragon Wagon. It was so highly polished you could see yourself in it. Standing beside the door in the largest tuxedo anyone had ever seen was Hon IV. He smiled, exposing his short lower tusks and said, “Bodyguard. Ain’t nobody going to mess with you with me around.” The entourage boarded the ship and flew slowly out the hanger door. Renee actually began to cry, saying, “She’s not my little girl anymore is she?”

  The Lawson’s French Style Chateau was one of the most imposing homes on Long Island. Sitting on a low rise with the rear towards the South Hampton Beach, the huge front lawn sloped down for nearly 200 yards to the ten foot tall stone and iron fence that surround the entire estate. Hundred year old, sixty foot tall Maples lined the long circular drive. Security was heavy along the street in front of the Mansion and the long line of limousines lining the street were each being checked by a contract security firm before being allowed through the gate. This was an invitation only affair. Most of the guests were dropped off at the Mansion’s front door and the limo-drivers exited the other side of the circular drive and parked along the street. The more prestigious guests were allowed to park along the shaded drive or on the round-about that encircled the large fountain in front. The helipad had been left empty of Mr. Lawson’s usual transportation to and from his high-rise in Manhattan to accommodate those who preferred to arrive by their helicopters. Over a thousand guests had been invited to the gala event and it looked as if every one of them had shown-up. General Robert Lawson was dutifully standing with his mother and father greeting the guests and wondering when the most important guest, at least to him, was going to arrive. He hoped she hadn’t changed her mind.

  A beautiful blue Sikorsky s76 had just lifted off indicating the final flight in. Then at the far end of the lawn the Dragon Wagon uncloaked and slowly hovered over the front lawn toward the helipad. Robert heard, but never bothered to look-up, as tires screeched on the driveway when limo-drivers hit the brakes. Somewhere he heard a glass or two drop from someone’s hand. The Verron executive ship rotated 90 degrees to present the wide personnel door to the edge of the landing zone. Robert’s mother held his arm and said, “I assume your guest has arrived. She just upstaged everyone’s grand entrance.” Robert just smiled and started walking toward the helicopter-pad.

  As soon as the skids touched the ground the side door opened and a giant in a tuxedo exited the ship and stepped to one side of the door and took a vigilant stance. Robert recognized his friend Hon. Next, two young men in medium gray spring tuxedoes that matched Hon’s exited the ship and rolled out a beautiful thick red carpet made of spider-silk, extending all the way to the edge of the circular front drive, then took their place on either side of the carpeted runway. A moment later two more men stepped to the top of the three step exit and assisted the most beautiful woman Robert had ever laid eyes on down the steps. Amber looked beyond description. He heard his Father say, “Wow!” His Mother spoke softly, saying, “So this is Amber. No wonder you’re smitten.” Chase got the honors of announcing his cousin as other guests began to gather around the front of the house to see who had made such a grand entrance, saying in a loud voice, “Princess Amber Verron-Hall, heir to the throne of Verron, Commanding General of the Verron Air Force and member of the King’s Dragon Guard.” Amber looked to her right and smiled at Paul Verron, and whispered, “General?” Paul just smiled. He had told Chase, Daniel and Hunter but hadn’t let Amber in on it yet. She gracefully negotiated the steps to the carpet and Robert almost had heart palpitations as she sauntered forward. He had always considered her beautiful and one of the most desirable women he had ever known, but he had never seen her like this. She was runway super-model gorgeous. Standing 5 foot 6 inches and adding another six inches of heels, she looked very tall. Her firm athletic body was tastefully seen in her single bare shoulder, arms and long firm legs. With her hair up and her elegant neck displaying a unique diamond and ruby necklace and matching earrings gracing the side of her neck, Robert thought he was going to pass out. He didn’t, he walked forward as the proudest man in the world and extended his arm to his bride-to-be, walked her slowly to his mother and father and formerly told them, “Mother, Father, I’d like to introduce Princess Amber Verron-Hall the woman I intend to marry. Amber extended her hand to shake her future in-laws hands then smiled a smile that melted even Robert’s mother. Politely she told them, “Robert has told me so much about the two of you. I see now where he gets his good looks. It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Mrs. Gloria Lawson took Amber’s arm and smiled, “Let me introduce you to some of our friends. I have no doubt that Robert has been away so long he has forgotten who many of the people here are.”

  While Hon IV discreetly followed Amber through the crowd of people, Chase, Daniel, Hunter and Paul stayed with the Dragon Wagon. Before long they had a continuous line of spectators wanting to checkout Amber’s ride. They had dozens of offers of money from people wanting to be taken for a ride and everyone was enamored by the luxury of the interior. There was no shortage of giddy girls trying to impress the Princess’ servants. The four men left with the ship couldn’t believe how hoity-toity the women acted. They had grown accustomed to the twins, their sisters and cousins and just had to struggle to keep fro
m saying something to these arrogant guests at the party. Robert was the proudest man alive as he escorted Amber through the crowd. Making their way through the house, Amber must have been introduced to no less than 100 people. She got plenty of evil stares from some of the local women who obviously had Robert in their sights long before she came along. After only a brief conversation with a few, she couldn’t imagine Robert having anything in common with any of them, then she realized, he didn’t have anything in common with them, that’s why he was career Air Force and not a career Financier.

  Robert’s father was standing near Amber and Robert when he overheard Robert say softly, “I’m impressed with your entourage. It’s not every girl who has a King and four Princes as servants. Maybe you should dress like this more often.” Amber smiled and gave him a kiss and replied, “I promise that you will more than likely never see me dressed like this again. My feet are killing me and I feel like I’m about to pop out of the top of this dress.” He kissed her back and just replied, “Thanks!” and smiled. Amber always melted when he gave her that smile. Suddenly the torture of the shoes seemed worth it.

  Mr. Lawson turned from the conversation he was in behind Robert and stepped close enough not to be overheard, asking, “I do hate to interrupt, but did I just hear what I thought I heard. Those men accompanying Ms. Verron-Hall are members of the Verron royal family? Amber was not about to lie to her future Father-in-law and leaned closer to tell him, my brother Prince Hunter, my two cousins Prince Chase and Prince Daniel, and that big guy over there is Prince Hon IV of Klelta, the other member of the party is my Grandpa, King Paul Verron. The guys wanted me to feel comfortable and they thought if I had a few familiar faces around I wouldn’t be so nervous.” Robert’s father walked away to find Mrs. Lawson with a group of ladies discussing the upcoming tennis tournament at the local club. He discreetly pulled his wife aside and informed her who was outside their front door. Her first response was anger, then embarrassment, but settled on excitement. She and her husband grabbed Robert and Amber and headed for the front door. When Paul and Hunter saw the four walking their way they knew the cat was out of the bag, so much for being incognito. It was about to be show-time in the Hamptons.

  Mr. Robert Lawson was a tall man of about 6 foot 5 and Robert’s mother was close to six foot herself, and in heels stood almost as tall as her husband. When he extended his hand to greet King Verron, Amber couldn’t help but notice that her Grandpa was not a big man, but his clean-cut good looks and athletic physic were only part of what made him standout in a crowd, he had attitude. Amber couldn’t help but smile. She could tell by watching him that he wasn’t in the least intimidated by anyone regardless of size, power or position. He knew who he was and was perfectly confident he was good at what he did. She then realized her brother was so much like him it was obvious who he had for a role-model.

  When the hoity-toity girls saw the boys from the ship coming into the Mansion accompanied by the Lawson’s, they wondered what was going on. They moved closer to get an ear in on a bit of gossip and were floored when they heard them being introduced as members of the royal family of Verron. Suddenly they felt very foolish treating them the way they had. Mr. and Mrs. Lawson worked their way through the crowd and introduced King Verron to so many people that after a while they began to look the same. Robert took it upon himself to introduce the three young Princes to the ladies at the party. Prince Hon pretty much stuck to his role as bodyguard. He did however have dozens of people approach him for conversations and they were shocked that he spoke English so well. As the evening rolled on, Paul was inundated with men and women who wanted to get to know him for no other reason than to develop business with Verron. With so many people there who were financiers, bankers and industrialists he knew that he could easily spend his entire night doing nothing but talking business. Finally he drew Mr. Lawson aside and asked, “How would you like to do me a favor? I have no desire to spend the entire evening working out a business plan. Would you mind having those people who are interested in establishing a business relationship with Verron work with you and your financial institutions, I have a need for a local bank and you and I can discuss business later, but for now, I just want to enjoy myself. I am, by the way, very interested in expanding my business with Earth, but I have very good people in place who do that sort of thing for me. I would much rather these people work through them.”

  Since Mr. Lawson was all about business, 24-7, no matter where he was or who he was with, this attitude was a little hard to grasp, but he knew this man was a King and from what little he knew about the man, he didn’t do things like everyone else. He assured Paul he would run interference for him. Paul then told him, “As far as I’m concerned, this night is about your wife’s birthday and my Granddaughters engagement announcement. Let’s let them have their special night.” Paul could tell by the look on Mr. Lawson’s face, he knew nothing about the engagement announcement. With a shocked look on his face he replied, “Yes, of course.”

  It was time for the climax of the party. Mrs. Gloria Lawson sent the band for a break and began the fund raising portion of the evening. By making what was donated public knowledge, the peer pressure motivated people to give more than they normally would. Gloria made it known that all birthday presents given to her would be auctioned by Sotheby’s and the proceeds donated to the Gang Prevention and Intervention Foundation. So everyone attempted to out give when it came to presents for the birthday girl; paintings, jewelry, antiques of every kind, hunting rifles, autographed Chris Everett tennis rackets, a bicycle ridden by Greg Lemond in the Tour de France, a set of Arnold Palmer’s own personal golf clubs, trips to the Virgin Islands and dresses worn by movie stars at the Oscars. You name it, somebody donated it. Those that didn’t give auction items wrote sizable checks and dropped them in a box, others dropped cash. Paul came prepared. He did not want the special necklace Amber had to be auctioned; it was a special gift for her future mother-in-law. He let her know so before the charity drive began. He walked over to Hon and had him remove the jewelry box from his inside coat pocket. The box would have never fit inside a normal coat but it was completely unnoticed inside Hon’s. The Gang Prevention and Intervention Foundation was about to have a banner year. He walked slowly toward the bandstand when he felt the donations were coming to an end. He got Gloria’s attention and stepped up on the low stage with her.

  She handed him the microphone. In a short speech, he announced, “The Nation of Verron has no crime and no gangs. We would like nothing more than to see our friends in New York City and all over the world able to one day say the same thing. This is a very worthy cause and I would like to make a donation to the foundation that will have a major impact on the programs and services they provide the youth of this city.” He opened the box to reveal a large 47-carat diamond, surrounded by a dozen flawless emeralds mounted on a diamond and emerald chain. The entire necklace was set in Verron gold and over 100-carats combined. Based on the $300 million dollar price of the Hope Diamond Paul felt like Sotheby’s would be able to get between $400 and $500 million dollars at auction. For the first time that night Paul realized that the press and New Yorker Magazine were there to cover the gala event. He would now have his picture all over New York by morning.

  The sound of gunshots as the HK MP5K let off a short burst startled the crowd and women began to scream. A young man in a caterer’s uniform jumped onto the stage and held the gun to Gloria Lawson’s head. Almost simultaneously, eight more caterers popped-off short bursts from their 9mm assault weapons. The Mac Balla Family or Mac Baller Brims, as they were commonly called in New York, was not thrilled with the efforts of the people who knew nothing about life on the street building organizations to help destroy their way of life. “Slick” Ellerman was the leader of the gang members who had managed to plan this assault on what people believed to be a gang-free area. He proudly announced, “Ain’t no place we don’t control. You can’t sit in the Hamptons and think your safe no more. The Mac Ba
ller Brims are spreadin’ out. Now if you ladies and gentlemans would walk by this here box and continue to donate, we won’t have to shoot none of you.” He shot into the air once more and shouted, “NOW! Empty your pockets, and removed your jewelry and wallets and place them in the donation box. Youse gonna make a donation to the Mac Balla Family.”

  The armed men began herding and shoving the crowd of terrified men and women toward the donation box. “Slick” pointed his gun at Paul Verron and shouted, “You, empty yo pockets, like I say.” Paul looked around to see where the rest of the Dragon Guard was located. He noticed that Amber had removed her six-inch heels to prepare for a fight. Paul responded by telling the armed caterer, “I take orders from no one. But I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’ll give you and your friends to the count of three to drop your weapons before I kill you.” Gloria Lawson was still standing with a gun pointed at her head when Paul began to count. The Dragon Guard automatically knew to move on “2”; Paul had always told them there is no point in delaying the inevitable. On two, King Paul and the five members of the Guard did what only the Dragon Guard could do, they moved at jump speed and broke the arms of 9 members of the Mac Balla Family and removed their weapons from their hands. Not a single shot was fired. Half of the men attempted to fight, the other half tried to run. Neither option worked-out very well for them. Once the crowd realized their assailants were disarmed and unable to defend themselves, the sophisticated people of Long Island and guest from Manhattan began to beat the 9 men senseless. Their broken and unconscious bodies had to be removed by the security officers.

  The band was hiding behind the bandstand and the crowd was in a total state of disorientation. Paul Verron decided to see if he could change the mood of the crowd. He signaled for his people to join him on the stage. Then commanded them, “Let’s get their mind off what just happened and liven this place up a little. Amber handed her six-inch heel to Robert and took over the drum set, Hunter grabbed his instrument of choice, the bass, Paul grabbed lead guitar, Daniel took over the keyboard and Chase rounded out the combo with rhythm guitar. Paul knew these kids were all good and had been playing together every chance they had. He looked over his shoulder and said, “Amber!” The drums began a heavy beat and bass soon followed. The crowd turned to see who was calm enough to entertain them. It was also a much heavier beat than the regular band had been using. Amber broke into I Love Rock n Roll sounding just like Joan Jett. The guys jumped right in and played the other parts with enthusiasm and professional skill, the crowd began to turn and listen. Robert Lawson thought Amber was the sexiest and most beautiful drummer he had ever seen and hoped she managed to stay in her dress.