Prologue.
From the personal log of General Joseph E. Colton,
Commanding Officer of Special Counter-Terrorist Group Delta (G.I. Joe)
The events of this past July, concerning the joint United Nations/Cobra investigation of the Meteor Menace, yielded more than the known conclusion given to the public at large.
But also during this dubious venture and it was discovered that Humanity is not alone in the Universe…
They call themselves Edrailians, an Elvish- humanoid race that have been in residence on this planet for Fifteen-hundred years and breeding freely with Humanity--resulting in a Hybrid form who call themselves 'Mixes'. These beings, the most readily available Edrailians seen, can pass for human in appearance but with the exception of their large tapered ears--which come in as many shapes and sizes as Human ears do.
Notable examples of these beings encountered were;
Lisa Hawkern; Notable Pin-up Model and Porn Star. CEO of the StarCrosser Model and Talent Agency.
Donnie Thomas Ayers; Professor of Cybernetic and Engineering Theory. CEO of Ayers' Aerospace.
Kimball Clarke Wildman; Highly talented scientist and physician. Fugitive from the Classified Warlock Design Facility for the past Twenty Years.
It was in the effort to prevent Wildman from joining the Cobra Organization that we became acquainted with the Edrailian Existence. The entire pretense of his joining Cobra was a ruse to get to Cobra Island to search for survivors of an Edrailian Shuttle (known as a Jumper) that were believed to be held in Cobra custody. It was the crash of this very Shuttle that set off the world-wide panic, known as the Meteor Madness.
Unfortunately, as revealed by Cobra Commander himself while under the influence of Wildman's 'Persuader', a device used by all Edrailians to mask their true heritage, there were no survivors from the shuttle's crash.
Besides the revelation of Wildman's true purpose on Cobra Island to myself, and recruited British Operative Angelica (Angel) Drummond, at the same time was also revealed to G.I. Joe Operative Duke and his hastily assembled team upon their rescue from the very ill-designed water assault craft, The Lowrider, by TOM; essentially a reconditioned Edrailian Powered Armored Suit-System 'built' by Professor Ayers when he was eleven years old. (Note: More on TOM later in this Log.)
Considering the circumstances, and possible effects, I have personally elected to withhold the Edrailian involvement in the MIDSUMMER NIGHT Affair from nearly all whom I serve in the United States Government and Military, with an exception of a very few who I know can be trusted with keeping such incredible information secret until the time when the Edrailians will reveal themselves to Humanity.
As part of the preparations for this, the Edrailians have graciously allowed both myself and small teams of G.I. Joe Operatives full run of their facilities—specifically Ayers Aerospace in the Southern California desert and the Exploratory Society just outside of Langley, Virginia. This is a clear effort on their part to defuse any 'Alien Invasion' beliefs and other possible attempts at Global Domination, and I do welcome their honesty in these efforts. But as of this time, none have seen the Main Edrailian Colony known as Glacier Valley, the reported birthplace of both Wildman and Ayers, in northern Montana, or any other Edrailian colonies around the World.
This Log is a record of my visit with the Ayers Family in their home just outside the Ayers Aerospace facility.
General J. R. Colton.
Chapter One:
Lisa.
As I comfortably situate myself upon the antiquated leather couch in the spacious living room of the sprawling Ayers' Mediterranean-style home, built atop, and along the sides, of a long and low mesa five miles to the south of the Ayers Aerospace facility, Lisa Ayers approaches me pushing along a tea server while wearing a white baggy loose-fitting shirt, standard gray sweat-pants (of no particular brand), and, I swear, large fuzzy orange slippers.
I'm also certain that she's wearing nothing else under that ensemble. I wont ask, just assume.
But then, this is Lisa Hawkern; greatly notorious for a wide variety of sexual dalliances and the founder and owner of a production company that not only markets such 'entertainment' but produces it as well--along with more 'acceptable' forms of entertainment and advertising. What's even more surprising is the fact that she's married, with five children and one grandchild, to Professor Donnie Ayers. Their polar dynamics are just too far apart to even take such a pairing seriously, but perhaps Edrailians have their own way of living.
And it's a happy marriage.
She also makes it quite plain that this meeting is 'business' only.
. "I'll never do such things at home", she begins with a rye smile "unless it's with Donnie. Otherwise, he allows me my vices, and I let him have his."
With that past, she proceeds to serve the coffee, and then to the books already piled on the low table before us.
"So, you'd like to know more about us?" she smiles.
"It's purely academic." I casually reply. "Considering that we know so very little about any of you beyond the known."
"Well," She still smiles "let me see if I can expand on that."
From the pile on the table before us, Hawkern takes the first one from the top.
She's well prepared for this
"We've known each other since early childhood." She starts explaining while opening the book. "And we've remained close, despite all that's occurred."
The ones in the book Hawkern is showing me literally pop-up in three dimensions once the page is flattened out, showing a group class photo of small children sitting on a bleacher. Right off, there's Wildman with thick bushy long black hair and unusual gold flaked eyes, looking just as out of place on the face of a four year old as they do now.
"Kim's had a very unusual upbringing, as you might say." Hawkern begins. "His Mother died soon after his birth from complications—he was single born, with no other brothers or sisters—and right after the first month his Father started 'training' him for his future."
Unusual in deed. Usually such is reserved for fictional heroes in far-flung literally adventures and comic books. But, as Hawkern explained, Kim's Father wanted him to be exactly like that; a hero in every definition of the word.
"By the time we entered pre-school together, Kim was already able to perform surprisingly complex physical and mental feats. But lacked terribly in social interaction. With his nose buried in so many books, and involved in so many simulations, he really didn't have much of a clue of how to deal with people. I guess that's why the Teachers worked with him so much, so that he could learn how to interact with others his own age."
"There's Donnie." Hawkern points out a small and frail boy sitting at the very far right, wearing large lensed glasses, holding what appears to be an inhaler delicately in his small hands. He's the only one of the group in short pants, wearing a black necktie.
"He almost didn't get in." she continues. "He had a very bad asthma attack prior to this picture being taken. So bad, he dropped his Inhaler during the attack and couldn't reach it to save his life. Kim saved him while everyone else just stood there frozen."
She quiet, gazing at the picture for several minutes in reflection—reliving that frightening moment before snapping out of it and pointing to the center.
"My sister and I." She then reveals; two identically twin girls with identically styled long golden hair, white dresses with lace, seated together in the center of the bleachers—one making a goofy face by smiling idiotically with eyes crossed, the other seated to the right more formal and reserved.
"You're the silly one I take it?"
"I started at a young age." She easily confesses before continuing in a serious tone. "We were the Children of Nobility and Notability, a very select group. This one was luckier than most, but we had our share of fatalities down through the years."
"Fatalities?" I wondered. Children in harms way always puts me on the defensive; some would call this a 'weakness' while others would praise me for having strong moral fiber. But Hawkern's statement had me utterly astounded.
"Yes, General—Deaths." She begins explaining with a simple nod of her head. "We're a Feudal society. In spite what people will think of us, due to what we are, violent schemes and dangerous intrigues are common occurrences between Houses and Industrial Magnates, with the occasional free radical group seeking to topple it all for the sake of establishing their agenda. Places, allies, family, even the children are all targets utilized to cause schism and change that'll either weaken or strengthen a particular group or alliance."
Once again, she points at the picture, this time in the upper left corner where a boy and girl with identically high foreheads sit, while facing me. "Those two were murdered soon after this picture was taken. Seven more died along the way to adulthood, and five after passing adulthood—including my sister.
"Kim, Donnie…myself, have suffered loss—especially Donnie and I. A Son-in-Law and Granddaughter were killed three years ago in an effort to force Donnie out of the bidding for a highly prized Repair and Refurbishment contract. It wasn't the first time the family was assaulted; years ago such an attack is the reason why Donnie's cybernetic.
"Nor do we believe the threat has ended, we're always on guard." She adds with a sad sigh, "Already there are maneuverings among the Magnates to scoop up as much business as possible when we Emerge. Security here and everywhere else will be beefed up shortly. But, still, it'll never enough."
This fact is rammed home for me which each class picture I see. Because as I watch them grow, I easily see those who didn't make it. Besides the two Hawkern pointed out to me, there's a red-headed boy with tasseled hair and a meek-looking girl with straight black hair who don't appear in the following picture.
A few pictures later, it's a black child with a high forehead and toothy grin.
One picture after that, a bald boy with a perpetually bored look on his face.
Then there's the very pert looking girl whose red hair simply flows down either side of her smiling face…Then an oriental child with intelligent eyes…
I had to pause for a few moments, feeling overwhelmed by the fact that they never survived their childhood—but able to keep the grief I feel to myself so not to alarm Hawkern.
Another book, another series of pictures…
Now, a more mature and dashingly handsome Kimball Wildman is standing face to face with Liza Hawkern. He's smiling down to the absolutely identical twin seated next to me, though her fair hair is far longer, holding to her what appears to be a ring...
An engagement ring. The scene in the picture vividly reminds me of a fairytale Princess falling in love with her Prince…
As it turns out, I wasn't wrong.
"This happened just after Kim and Donnie returned from schooling in England." Hawkern explained. "Right before surprising her, me, and everyone else in the room, with a marriage proposal."
Surprised? I couldn't really say that in the very least; for in several of the books, there are numerous pictures of them together walking hand in hand on forested paths and mountain trails, playing at numerous parties and parlor games either with others or by themselves, training themselves with numerous weapons and marital combat techniques, and some while they're tourists abroad. Some of the locations I do not recognize, but among other things there are shots of Kenya's grassy savanna plains and several European historical sites. As she is showing me these pictures, Hawkern speaks vividly of how her sister would pine and worry every day Wildman was away at school.
"I figured another year, maybe two. It definitely wrecked my plans, to say the least, because I was hoping to have him…Oh, it just floored me!"
For a few moments, she appears to be genuinely resentful towards her sister over this. But this stance softens as she goes on.
"Of course, Donnie's been fond of me ever since pre-school. His chronic asthma kept me well beyond arms length from him for years for fear of catching what he had, even though he got better with medications and by playing wind instruments—which greatly helped improve his lung strength."
Wind Instruments? Ayers being musical were really surprising, I've never would have figured him to even be musical in the slightest way…
"Oh yes." Hawkern nods to me smiling. "First, it was Recorders1. Then various Horns, Trumpets, a Clarinet, before finally he settled on the Alta-Saxophone. He can play both Jazz and Blues expertly, as well as various forms of Latin American Swing. Occasionally, when he has some free time, he'll go up on the roof and play—if the area's secure enough. There are numerous tales of Him and Kim playing the small clubs around Printell and Cambridge, even in Paris, for the spare change to pay for the incidentals they needed to get through their Term's.
"Noel, our first son, is afflicted with the same problem as Donnie was. Following the same advice, Donnie helped him in the same manner. Now, he's very good at playing Mariachi music on the Trumpet. Even earns himself some spare change, just like his father did."
Hawkern herself, along with second oldest daughter, Karry, plays the Piano. But not as well as her daughter, due to a lack of practice. This same daughter, like Wildman, also plays the Guitar, and does so for her son, Juan. But she prefers the Acoustic Guitar over the Electric ones that Wildman can play with expert abandon2. As for the younger members of the family; Fred, Fredia, and Grandson Juan, they are learning and have yet to settle on a choice instrument.
Only the oldest daughter, Kitt, isn't musical. This is due, as I will later witness, to a severe nervous disorder.
During the course of our conversation, we eventually come to the events surrounding her marriage to Donnie Ayers.
This causes a smile comes across her face while she remembers. "That was perhaps my wildest adventure, outside of all the gunfights and sex I've been in." After setting her coffee cup down, she begins; "Just like Earth-bound Nobility, it's the nature of Edrailian Noble Houses to marry off sons and daughters to other Noble Houses, regardless of their size, in the effort to strengthen ties with allies, compacts, and agreements— whatever…
"In my case, since Liza was already married to Kim by then, it was part of an agreement made to a Minor Noble House to lessen the cost of a recently discovered crop of vital raw materials needed for the building of Spacedrive Systems, as opposed to their risky and more expensive nuclear re-manufacture. These elements are highly important in the construction of key drive components, which allow ships to fly across the Galaxy without being subject to the effects of Time Dilation. Donnie can explain the whole effect and everything concerning it from beginning to end, but simply put; these components enable a ship to travel faster than light in relative time without the adverse effect of returning to meet your friends and loved ones who during the course of your cosmic travels have become far older than you--or any of your descendents.
"My Father figured that with my marriage into this House he'd be able to purchase these raw materials for a reduced cost for his House Fleet. However, that particular Minor Noble wasn't too overly bright. He allowed this boon to go right to his head, managing to bankrupt not only himself and his House before the quality of these sought after elements could be figured out. His eldest son, whom I was to marry, wasn't much better. Upon seeing me that first time, couldn't stop drooling or following me all over the place3.
"Quite frankly, I couldn't stand it and wanted out of the deal4.
"But my complaints over this went unheeded, because nobody wanted to interfere with this agreement. Those whom I had relationships with wouldn't help me, or even answer my calls. Kim himself gave me a very stern lecture on the importance of what was expected of me in this matter, and on the importance of securing the rights to those elements which were far more important in the long run than how I felt on the matter.
"After that, I very much considered suicide. Really, it wasn't worth being married to that creep. At least, he wouldn't be able to touch my body after my death. But, I really wouldn't have put it past him to be a Necrophine…
She pauses for a few moments, as if considering what she's just said. And after putting it aside, continues; "It was about a week before the marriage, and I, kept secure in my room at my future In-Laws opulent residence, building up the urge to kill myself, when Donnie appears. He, sent by his Father, was trying to land a contract for those same materials for their business that I was about to be sacrificed for. Normally, it would have been his father doing the task, but he was called away to oversee a hotly contested consulting matter.
"It had been years since we last spoken, and he was quite nervous considering it was his first business deal. But as he listened to my plight in the privacy of that room, I could tell that he was not only moved but wanted to help me escape. Only he wasn't able to, due to what it would do to his family. But after his meeting with my could have been Father-in-Law, he openly confessed to me that there was something not really honest with the deal as a whole and he needed at least three days to do some deep checking of matters that clearly bothered him.
"Well, he finally got back to me with mere hours to go. His father had been murdered, arranged by a Competitor to the Consultation Project, which not only bound-up his time but also placing him in charge of Ayers' Aerospace. That left him free to act as he pleased, thought there were a few touchy moments with his Mammeele5, who runs the entire family business— including Ayers' Aerospace …
"He came in the disguise of a confused delivery rep, with a very large package on a wheeled cart for me. I at the time was very much ready to blow my brains out, and when he revealed himself (after disposing of the Guards that followed him in with a Flash-gun), I wasted five minutes yelling at him for making me wait so long. After that, he revealed to me that not only were the vital elements in question not in that great supply, but what there was was of such poor quality that refining would produce a far less yield than needed for proper use. He also managed to discover that if the wedding went ahead there would be hell to pay; since the House I was being married into had so badly bankrupted itself the resulting bailout alone would've drug it and many other Allied Houses into serious financial depression.
"The sad fact about all this was that nobody, not even Kim, believed what Donnie found out. They figured he was so upset over his Father's murder he was delusional, for some utterly odd reason. So, he took it upon himself to rescue me.
"That large package he wheeled in contained a doll almost identical to me, but I simply wanted out of there fast. So after dealing with the Guards, he got me in the box and wheeled me out of the place with none of them being the wiser. By the time they were, we were safely on the verge of going luminal in the Angelstar. There was no way they could stop us."
She finishes the tale with a smile of triumph on her face, while idlely rolling the coffee cup in her hands…
Then she settles down to a more reflective mood.
"After solving the murder of his Father, and dealing with Mammeele, Donnie and I were married in a small ceremony. Soon afterward, an official edict was issued by Father stating that I was no longer Family and held no claim to the House Throne. It wouldn't have mattered, the Edict was irreversible. Even when the financial matter was finally uncovered, by Kim of all people, Father refused to reverse the Edict. But he was lenient with Ayers, letting them continue to operate their business concerns in his domain."
"Not that it matters anymore." She adds in slightly sullen tones. "I know this'll sound unusual, but I really don't miss the Noble life at all."
After a sip of coffee, she explains why; "One would think otherwise, due to the power, the poshness, the great reach and wealth. But those are simply the invisible bars of the cage they live in; shackled hand-to-foot by their titles, and kept where they are by the illusion of being in control of everything when in fact they really aren't.
"I'm glad my children know what it's like to be free. It's not wealth, or power, but to be actually being free of those burdens and expectations that are placed upon you because you have been born to carry on the 'noble' line. And never be used as Pawns, then discarded with the situation deems it necessary to the parents advantage."
There is without doubt the fact that after 'Emergence Day' occurs, the Edrailians will be considered by every known measure to be 'Gods above Us' by the aspect of their existence…
That, as I learn, will never be the case. In more ways than one…
Greenmailing…
Most have never herd of it, and I happened to have been one of them.
It's a variant of the Corporate Raid strategy of Asset Stripping, but with a rye twist. Instead of completing the take-over by solidifying control of the target company, the Greenmailer instead offers to sell the shares back to the company, but at a highly inflated price. Given the 'Monkey see-Monkey do' characteristics of the Stock Market, the Greenmailer actually insures themselves a significant profit because their initial buying action actually spurs other investors to try getting shares on the same stock—which they see as a 'must-have' due to its increasing popularity. But when the Greenmailer either successfully gets the Company in question to buy back its stock, or simply dumps in back on the market, the price of the Stock falls rapidly--leaving the company in question on the verge of collapse with impoverished shareholders.
It's dirtier than Blackmail. And without the risk of prison.
The Edrailian version tends to be twice as vicious with the level of violence involved, as Hawkern begins the tale of how her husband came to be what he is now.
"Several of our more promenade investors had been secretly backing a competing Astrospace Corporation, a recent start-up lacking any real credit, experience or customers to turn some ill-gotten gains into honest cash and maintain their honest front."
I nodded, understanding what was going on. The term is Laundering; the criminal act of creating a legitimate business so to convert monies gained through illegal activities into legitimate cash through investment in the legal business.
"They tried pressuring Donnie into selling out to them, and he kept blowing them off. They tried a Greenmail scam, and discovered that all of their stock combined couldn't even scratch all that the Family had.
"They made threats, very vivid threats. But Donnie countered them by threatening to make their stock worthless by issuing new stock to the remaining holders, which is perfectly legal for us to do in such matters. And none of them had the nerve to even try touching the Family. So, they came up with the ideal of Donnie having a fatal accident; thinking then they could make me, while in my grief, to give them the company for a 'comfortable price'."
"It almost worked…" she adds, before becoming quiet in a reflective sort of way on what could have happened.
"Sorry." She then embarrassedly says. "This was the closest I've ever come to loosing Donnie. Kitt and Karry were both four years old at the time, and Noel was four months away from being born. But even with the Family's help, I don't know if I could have made it without Donnie."
Now she takes several minutes to compose herself. It's very telling how this incident has affected her, for she acts as if she did loose her husband.
Then, she quietly begins…
"Donnie had gone down to the Amazon facility. There'd been trouble with an Auto-Bore, and the usual inspector was too ill to travel.
"They were trying to rewire the things' system, when a concealed Acidic Bomb went off. Military Spec, the acid is highly caustic designed not to leave a trace of whatever it destroyed without any shrapnel to piece together.
"Despite being behind several people, some bigger and thicker than he was, Donnie was still splashed with a heavy amount. That he's still alive is a testament to the Safety Personnel working the area at the time. They had him hosed down and on life support with in fifteen minutes.
"But he was mangled…The arms…The legs…His entire body and some of his internal organs—and other parts because the whole couldn't be saved.
"When his Grandparents herd, they were in route at once with the Prosthetic-Construct body he uses to this very day. They also tried warning me about this group that had been trying to buy us out, but after getting the news I was too far out of it to think straight.
"Like I said, it almost worked."
After a brief moment of staring into her empty coffee cup, she continues. "There were seven of them, all neat and slick in their business attire, giving me 'symphony' while handing me paper after paper to sign. Which, with my mind in a blur, I automatically did. Then Mammeele and Abba6, burst into the room with guns blazing; she with her Colts and he with his old Thompson, and didn't stop until all seven of them were dead. Later, when my head finally did clear, they told me what was really going on."
After a pause, Hawkern holds up her left hand with thumb and forefinger very close together.
"I came this close." She tells me, "This close to giving them all they wanted. The Tech that was too ill to travel was paid handsomely by them not to travel. And that other company was soon no more."
"Government takes a very dim view of those sorts of tactics." I remark.
"Oh, it's much worse than that." Hawkern seriously explains. "It's not unusual to hear of a House or smaller Principality being taken over by a Corporation, or vice-versa. Or, that a Corporation has managed to exert influence over a House or Principality—or vice-versa. There are many rulers who worry and rigorously fear the unrestrained growth of Corporations and their influence with in their territories, and have passed laws that strictly limit or completely contain their reach.
"Even we suffer under such laws, but that occurs in areas already under the influence of a Corporate competitor who managed to worm their way deeply into the core of the House Court or Ruling Family. Mammeele constantly fights this snubbing and paranoia as often as she has kids, which is practically perpetual in her case. She's won some, lost some—and has had to grit her teeth and compromise with others. All in all, Spacecraft isn't a pleasant business to be in
She pauses again in another reflective mood, but this time she is more composed than before.
"Putting Donnie back together again, "she says, "That was a challenge."
She leans towards the assorted albums, taking the one with the crème colored cover which she then carefully positions while opening.
The pictures on the first page show a gun-metal gray skull, slightly humanoid in appearance, with neither eyes or a jaw in place but instead it attached to a moderately sized bendable case of the same color by means of a flexible neck. There are numerous tubes and hoses attached all-over, namely where the mouth would be and at the bottom end of the case, and electrical cords plugged into the sides of the skull.
"This is Donnie right after the transplant surgery." Hawkern explains. "All of the useable surviving organs, and the artificial replacements, are all encased in that. There have been very few who have undergone such a significant transformation and survive to that point and beyond."
It's easy to see. Looking at these first pictures, I am reminded of seriously injured soldiers who've suffered extensive burns in combat causing the loss of limbs and other significant portions of their bodies.
But in the following pictures, I see Ayers being assembled. Beginning with what can only be described as a Torso and Pelvis Assembly that completely encases the Organ Case, to which arms and eventually legs are fitted before the entire body is covered with an elaborate replica of bodily muscle from foot to head. At this point, there is a jaw and eyes set in the skull. With the artificial muscle fiber finally in place, he resembles a skinned human being.
Then there is this simple picture that stands out in my mind. It's not of Ayers learning the walk, or use the cybernetic enhancements, or of him finally looking human with the Pseudo-Flesh covering. The picture in question is of him holding his new born son, Noel, wrapped in a blue blanket, as his wife and twin daughters look on.
It's amazing how fortunate he is.
I feel envious, after a fashion.
But as Hawkern explains, there were even greater problems for him to surmount…
"One of the most complex problems suffered by those who have undergone a massive body conversion like this, is Psychological Detachment Disorder." She explains. "The Theory is that all living things actually interact more deeply with Nature on a subconscious level by what they feel around them at all times.
"Hot, cold, wet, dry, rough, smooth, sharp, dull—everything that can be felt, in the physical range of things. These sensory inputs from those receptive nerves in our skin tell us a great deal about what's around us and guide us in how we react. This also effects our subconscious by way of 'telling' us that everything's 'fine', 'normal', 'happy'—whatever.
"Well, in the situation where one looses enough of their body, as in Donnie's case, the subconscious begins to feel 'isolated' and starts 'yearning' for that continuous stimulus. This begins effecting one's ability to perceive reality, creating a psychoneurotic state that can range from intense depression, to violent hysteria and even psychological delusion in the most extreme sense of the word.
"And definitely, you never want to face a mentally out-of-control cyborg ever." Hawkern concludes with absolute certainty.
"So the Pseudo-Flesh helps keep him mentally stable?" I asked, finding my self fascinated by the subject—due to numerous experiences with seriously burned individuals.
"Indeed." Hawkern nods surely. "There's enough for him to keep his mental bearings, and not impede the use of any built-in equipment."
It is plainly clear; Lisa Hawkern is a woman with no regrets concerning her life.
Both her children and grandchild are safely out of the harsh light placed upon Edrailian Nobility. But only to a point. Pictures of their slain granddaughter and son-in-law, placed proximately up on the mantle, are testament to the fact that they live a precarious existence…
There are other 'things' I am not including here, some of which involve excerpts of Lisa Hawkern's rather rowdy lifestyle (before and after her marriage), and how 'well equipped' her husband is now…Especially when it comes into all the tings his new body is capable of, with regards to combat and communications. Let's just say that they can continue to have children in the way the good Lord intended them to and leave it at that.
But, the one thing that is clearly unusual about this 'stable' marriage is the fact that Professor Ayers allows his wife to do what she does. Honestly, such behavior would easily destroy the marriage in every sense of the term. To that, Lisa Hawkern just smiles and says, "He allows me my freedoms, and I give him his. What matters the most is that we know and trust each other very well, especially knowing the other's ability to control the situation they're in."
Unusual in every sense of the term, but it works for them.
However, Hawkern reveals that not all is well as Emergence Day approaches.
"There's a feeling of helplessness and desperation seated amongst us living here, General. It grows as that Day approaches, and I fear the worst will occur in spite all our preparedness to prevent it from occurring."
It's very unnerving to be hit with something like this, and I am aware of the possibilities that can occur after such an occurrence. But I also know very well that despite the best plans it wouldn't take too much for a regretful calamity to occur.
1 This would otherwise known as a Flute, though it resembles a small Clarinet--C
2 From what I'm able to understand, Wildman's collection contains several, and extremely rare, Gibson Les Paul's ( known as 'Gold Top's due to their color schemes), Fender Telecaster's, early Ibanez (which are copies of the Gibson Les Paul 'Gold Top's') , two 1933 Beauchamp 'Frying Pan' lap guitars, and a Audiovox guitar from the mid-1930's--C
3 She said this with extra emphasis--C
4 Again, with extra emphasis--C
5 Edrailian for Grandmother
6 Abba "Al" Ayers, Professor Ayers Grandfather. More on him later on—C.
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