This seems to be going much better, since I decided that there's no plot.

My apologies to you Sam, as Griss will only have a cameo, but I'm not done with him yet.

The usual applies; I own no one or nothing pertaining to this story.

Conference; Day One

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I met the Three Stooges in the lobby at 8:00am. The conference was to begin at 10:00am in one of the rooms at the Mandalay Bay. Crawford decided we would go there to have breakfast, since there was a Star Trek convention in town, which meant every Trekkie would be descending on our hotel because the Las Vegas Hilton was home to Star Trek: The Experience. I myself had plans on checking it out before we left. I mean how weird could this alien stuff be considering whom I was traveling with.

Breakfast was pleasant, except for the noise Krendler was making as he ate. Man, this guy is a pig! Crawford seemed to be in a different world. Pearsall was also quiet, although he did attempt some polite conversation. I finished my breakfast and after excusing myself, I left the boys at the table and went to check out the hotel.

I walked around for awhile, checking out all the little shops. In one of the shops, I found a beautiful gold necklace with a small initial C. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was something I could see myself wearing. I looked down at my watch and noticed that the time was getting away from me, it was almost time to meet the boys. I decided to wait on the necklace, business before pleasure.

Standing on the escalator, on my way up to the conference room, I sorta felt like I was in a daze. Kinda like when you're driving home from work and all of the sudden you're just home, but you don't really remember the trip. A smell had brought me back to the living. Cologne, very expensive as far as I could tell. I looked around to see if I could determine were it was coming from. I was alone on my side of the escalator, but I caught a glimpse of a man just getting off the down side. He appeared to be very well dressed, from behind anyway, and the view wasn't bad either. There was something familiar about the way he moved, but as I reached the top of the platform, the escalator pushed me out onto solid ground. I just barely caught my balance.

When I turned back to look for the man, he was gone.

I then heard Crawford calling me, "Come on Starling, we're over here."

We made our way into the huge room. There were rows and rows of rectangular tables and chairs. It looked as if there was room for a least two hundred people and it was already over half full. We took our seats and Krendler started almost immediately, "Do they expect us to sit in these uncomfortable chairs all day?" The only response he received was from Crawford, who simply said, "Shut up Paul."

The conference lasted about six hours, with a few breaks thrown in. For the most part it was pretty boring, all but Grissom. This man truly loved his job and it showed. Everyone else seemed to be going through the motions. When it was over, Crawford and I went over to meet Grissom, as Krendler and Pearsall took off even before the applause had died down from the last speaker.

After speaking with Grissom for only a few minutes, he was called away on business, so Crawford and I left.

"So what did you think Starling?"

"I thought he was pretty cute, but all that bug stuff gives me the creeps."

"I was referring to the conference, Starling."

"Oh. It was okay I guess." I was trying to hide my embarrassment, but Crawford had already

seen the added color to my face.

"I've got some work to do and some phone calls to make, do you want me to take you back to the hotel Starling?"

"No, that's okay Sir, I think I'll just wing it."

"Alright, I'll see you later then."

Ahh, alone at last, now to check out the town. I decided to start with the hotel that I wished we had stayed in, the Venetian. I always wanted to go to Italy and I figured this was as close as I was ever going to get.

The Venetian was as beautiful as I imagined. It was almost like another world. I walked for what seemed like forever, just taking it all in. When I saw the gondolas, I knew I just had to ride in one. Venice may be far away, but you would never know it from this place.

With help from the Gondolier, I sat down in the small craft. As we started to move, I leaned back and closed my eyes. I could hear singing in the distance. This was the most peaceful I had felt in years. We were making our way under some small bridges when I heard something hit in front of the gondola. I opened my eyes to see the gondolier smiling at me.

"What?" I said.

Still smiling, the man pointed to the front of the craft. I looked were he was pointing to see a small black box.

"Where did that come from?"

"The man on the bridge." he answered.

Looking back to the bridge, I saw no one.

"What man, there's no one there?"

"The man on the bridge pointed to the box and then pointed to you and then threw the box into the gondola. Oh yeah and he winked." the Gondolier explained, still smiling.

I reached down and picked up the small velvet box. I wasn't sure if I wanted to open it or not, but I had to. I took a deep breath and snapped open the lid.

It was the necklace with my initial.