Chapter 3

As they neared the end of the tunnel there was another loud roar, which was met with a loud call of voices and then music began to play. Lee and crew stood there at the opening, just out of sight and listened. Next thing they heard was an electric piano and after the opening solo riff it was joined by a snare drum and guitar. They all stared at each other in surprise as they recognized the tune.

"Is that what I think that is?" Kowalski asked.

The lyrics followed next. "A Louie Louie, oh no said we gotta go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, y'a said Louie, Louie. Oh baby said we gotta go…" As the song hit the chorus they heard grrow, grrow, grrow, grrow.

"What the hell?" Bobby asked.

"Geez, sounds like a furry frat party in there," Chip responded.

Lee furrowed his brow and shook his head slightly in amusement as he listened. He eased forward then crouched down and cautiously peered around the tunnel entrance to find a huge cavern. A huge cavern filled with a sea of huge furry sasquatches dancing and partying. He stood straight up he was so stunned by the vision.

They all stood at least ten feet tall, the tallest being well over twelve, and they were completely covered in long hair of varying shades. The shorter beings seemed to have more feminine characteristics and the larger ones appeared to be male. Some were all black, others more bark colored, and even a few were all white. Their faces bore a striking resemblance to a gorilla's or chimp's, but there was more hair covering the face. They had human like hands with opposable thumbs and large bare feet with five toes; the big toe slightly offset. Their movements were graceful and fluid as they moved to the music, something Lee didn't quite expect for creatures that large.

"What is it Lee?!" Chip hissed. "What's wrong?"

Lee waved him forward and Chip and the others moved cautiously to the entrance. There was no doubt it was one hell of a party with at least one hundred sasquatches having a good time. At the far end of the cavern was a stage for a band and a DJ. Suspended from the ceiling was a huge disco ball bathed in a rotating wash of colored lights creating a dappled rainbow over the dancers below. Monstrous speakers were positioned around the room, as were large tables and chairs, a mosh pit in front of the stage, and what appeared to be a bar along the wall to the right. There was a huge screen on the opposite wall playing the movie Animal House. Some of the attendees were dressed in what could only be considered togas.

"Are you seeing this?" Patterson whispered incredulously.

"Looks like a Wookiee spring break," Riley added, with a slight snicker.

"I suppose that answers the question as to whether they're intelligent or not," Lee replied with a smile.

"What do we do now Skipper? Do we make contact or try to figure a way out?" O'Brien inquired.

Before Lee could answer a loud growl rattled them from behind and three of the beasts stepped up blocking their retreat. The cavern was immediately silent as the revelers froze, the music died, and they all turned and regarded the six interlopers. It was the ultimate 'oh shit' moment for both species as they nervously regarded each other.

(olooo

Rapidly regaining his wits, Lee took the first step towards controlling the situation by holstering his gun and that action was quickly repeated by the rest of his men. He slowly stepped out into the room, again followed by his men, trying as best he could to indicate that they meant them no harm and would appreciate the same consideration.

"My name is Lee Crane, and we mean you no harm," Lee called out.

That was immediately met by a rapid exchange between the various sasquatches in the room. Lee figured they most likely understood English if they were watching American movies and listening to human music. They stood there as calmly and patiently as they could, waiting for some sort of response from the others in the room. After a few minutes the crowd began to part as three of the beings approached. The apparent leader wore a long white toga, a hideous necktie around its neck and sported a laurel wreath on its head. The other two were slightly shorter, one clad in a red and white checked tablecloth toga and the other just wore the laurel wreath. They regarded each other for what seemed forever, each trying to divine the intentions of the other.

"Graalll ooweemak," the apparent leader responded. The leader seemed to cough into its paw/hand as though clearing its throat. "Pardon me. I haven't spoken English in quite some time. My name is Graalll and we likewise mean you no harm, Lee Crane."

"You speak English, excellent," Lee replied. "My men and I have been taking part in an arctic cold weather survival course and I think you or some of your group were outside our hut last night. We followed the tracks in the snow which led us here." Lee offered as explanation for their arrival.

There were a number of growls and a series of exchanges as the sasquatches digested Lee's information. He noticed a couple of the smaller squatches getting a quick slap to the back of their heads. "Well that explains your arrival here. I must admit I'm rather surprised at how well you're dealing with our presence. Most of your people have either run in fear or started shooting, and given the weapons on your hips we rather expected the latter. Can you tell us why?" Graalll replied.

"We've encountered others from different worlds and dimensions before, so you might say we're experienced in this area. We work on a research submarine that conducts extensive exploration of the ocean depths and through our missions we've all met beings we never in our wildest dreams expected to encounter." Lee answered.

"You mean the Seaview? OMG, you're that Lee Crane?!" Graalll responded, almost fawning like a star struck fan.

"Yes, you've heard of us?" Lee asked, surprised at Graalll's response.

"Oh yeah. I'm majoring in Earth studies and I'm fascinated by the Seaview, NIMR, and the work you're all doing. Really interesting coordination between your organization and the US military and other governmental agencies," Graalll explained. He was tapped on the shoulder and had a quick exchange with one of the others. "Pardon me, but I need to get this party started again." He stepped back and let loose a ground shaking roar that was met with an immediate and equally uproarious response, then the music keyed back up and the rest of the group returned to their party.

"So I take it you're not from around here?" Lee inquired once Graalll turned his attention back to their new guests.

"No we're from a galaxy far, far away," he replied and then started to laugh.

"Let me guess, you've at some point met George Lucas?" Lee asked.

"I'm not saying one way or the other," he said with a grin. "So in answer to your question we're from a planet called Rotack, about 1900 light years from here. We call ourselves Ka Wookeeni and we have been coming to your planet for centuries. It's one of the top tourist destinations for us. My friends and I are here during our break in studies to decompress and have some fun. Although, that's probably going to come to an end in the near future given the number of technological advancements your scientists are making and just the sheer number of people that reside on your planet."

"Whoa, so you're saying Earth is like a Daytona Beach for you?" Riley interjected.

"Totally. I love coming here."

"Dude, that is so cool," Riley answered. Chip rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. "Sorry Mr. Morton." Riley then turned several shades of red following his outburst. Chip and Lee started to laugh.

"So why not just engage with human society instead of lurking in the shadows and being a creature of myth and mystery?" Lee asked, yelling over the music.

Graalll smiled and cupped his hand to his ear, having a difficult time hearing the question. "Come on, let's go grab a table in a quieter location and you can ask all the questions you want," Graalll answered then turned and walked back through the sea of dancers on the dance floor.

(olooo

Reaching the far end of the cavern, they located an empty table next to the wall. Graalll indicated they should all take a seat. Given the large size of the Ka Wookeeni, their furniture was sized accordingly. Each of the men struggled a bit climbing onto the high chairs and they all flashed back to childhood memories of sitting at the grownup table as kids, their feet dangling above the floor, the table almost at shoulder height and each feeling in serious need of the thick yellow pages placed on the seat to boost their position at the table.

"Let me introduce the rest of my group," Graalll started once they had all been seated. "To my left is Takeetna, who is my girlfriend, in your parlance. On my right is Malakata, my roommate at school and co-sponsor of the party." They each waved as introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Lee replied. "With me is Chip Morton, my executive officer on Seaview, Bobby O'Brien, my diving officer, Rick Kowalski, Dave Patterson, and Stu Riley all crewmen on the boat." As Lee introduced them they all nodded and acknowledged their hosts.

"Great to meet all of you. You really can't believe what a treat it is getting to meet you all in person; I have been enthralled by your operations for years. Before we get into what are probably thousands of questions, may I offer you something to drink? We've got a beverage from home that is very similar to your beer. Ours is called narval," Graalll responded.

Lee quickly scanned the faces of this men and then briefly locked eyes with Chip, who shrugged. "Sure, we'd love to try your brew." Malakata smiled, rose from the table and headed over to the bar. A few minutes later he returned with 9 large steins filled to the brim with narval. He quickly doled the mugs out to those at the table.

"To new friendships," Graalll offered and raised his stein in a toast.

Each of the Seaview men grabbed their mug as well and raised it up. "To new friendships." They then cautiously took a sip of the drink, tasting the alien beverage. After a moment they all smiled and took a deeper swig from the oversized tankards. The brew was very strong, resulting in some raised eyebrows, and tasted like a cross between a barley wine and an English stout.

"That's excellent," Chip replied as he licked the frothy head from of his lips.

"Glad you like it; this is one of my favorites. Although I am also very fond of your beers and ales too," Graalll replied. "So Lee, in answer to your question about keeping our existence secret, it's based on how your people tend to respond. Most don't handle things new and different all that well. You and your men are proving to be quite the exception. I don't mean to sound condescending, but as a race you're just not mature enough to really know what's out there."

Lee nodded his understanding, as did the others. "I totally agree with your observation. But given your concerns about our race, why are there so many sightings of your people and especially like the type of encounter that brought us here? I would think that you would be able to move around completely undetected given your advanced civilization."

"When someone is allowed to come to Earth for the first time, they must demonstrate their proficiency at locating and getting back to a transport site should their equipment fail or they become lost. For the newbies, they are, for lack of a better term, dumped in the wilderness and required to navigate their way back. If they can't do it, they're never allowed to return," Malakata responded. "They must locate the transport site by calling to others and signaling by means of code by whacking the trees. It's usually during these tests that we're spotted."

"That's part of the test too," Takeetna added. "If they are detected, they have to make sure they don't get captured and also find their way to the meeting point without bringing anything back with them. There have only been a few times in last 100 years that we've been discovered. I think you've guessed at one of them," she finished with a chuckle.

"Yeah, the elders weren't too thrilled with that, or the fact he was allowed to leave with his memories intact, but in the long run it will work to make the populace more accepting when we finally make our presence known," Graalll finished.

"We are however having a kickass time playing with those professional sasquatch hunters that show up on your television programs," Malakata injected and then they all began laughing. "It's a great game of hide and seek. It's so much fun jerking their chains and keeping just out of their reach. They see us as little more than big monkeys and it's a blast making them look like a monkey's uncle."

"I saw one of your people when I was a teenager," Kowalski offered. "I was out camping in the Cascades with my dad and we heard the roars, the beating on the trees and then there was this horrible smell. As we moved away from camp, we spotted something large and hairy running through the woods up the mountain. Sure scared the crap out of us. No offense, but why doesn't it stink in here?"

Graalll smiled. "No offense taken. The scent is an ancient defense mechanism, much like your skunks. When frightened or threatened our bodies start exuding the pungent odor you encountered. It really works to back off a lot of things."

All the humans nodded in understanding and silently responded 'oh'. They momentarily returned their attention to their drink. As they sat there an all-white version of their host walked up to the table and whispered something into Graalll's ear. Lee turned in his seat and scanned the crowd behind him and spotted only a couple of others like the white one.

"Yeti?" Chip asked Lee quietly.

"Yeah, yeti," the white one responded with a chuckle. "I'm an exchange student attending classes on Rotack. My name is Lladcaro and my people live on a different planet in our solar system called Bravdo."

"We're all the same species, kind of like the different races on your planet, but have developed different appearances and traits based on the planets we live on. At some point in our ancient history, members of our species were placed on the habitable planets in our solar system by an alien race, probably as some sort of experiment. As you may have guessed, Bravdo is a very cold place with lots of ice and snow. The tribe that lives there adapted by turning white, developing a heavier coat and thicker undercoat, and a greater resistance to cold. Like your people, ours also tend to stay with their own kind, so Lladcaro's people prefer to vacation in the Himalayas. The people from Nivarna are more inclined to go to your swampy bayou regions and are rather unflatteringly called skunk apes there." Everyone laughed at that one and took another swig of their drink. "Our people visit all of your continents, including Antarctica," Graalll explained.

"So Lee, Lladcaro and the rest of group want to know if you and your men would be willing to join in the party and give anyone who would like the opportunity to talk with you."

Lee looked at his men and received nods of agreement as they were just as interested in learning more about the Ka Wookeeni. "It looks as though that is a resounding yes," Lee replied. "Bobby why don't you Ski, Pat, and Riley go mingle and we'll join you shortly. I have a couple more questions I'd like to ask Graalll.

"Aye Skipper," Bobby responded, then he and the others climbed down off their chairs and followed Lladcaro to the party.

(olooo

"What other questions do you have Lee?" Malakata inquired.

"I've got two right off the top. First, are you responsible for our inability to access the communications satellites with our equipment?"

"Yes, we project a very small dampening field that scrambles those signals and hopefully hides our activities while we're here. The effect can only be maintained for about three of your days so before it plays out we have to be gone. I'm sorry if it has in some way put you in danger. We tried to select a very remote location where there would be minimal chance of encountering humans. I think you could tell we were as surprised to see you as you were to see us," Takeetna answered.

Chip and Lee smiled and nodded in agreement with her last statement. "My second question is how do you travel to our planet; by means of ship or do you utilize wormholes?" Lee replied.

The Ka Wookeeni looked at each other surprised by the second question. "How do you know about travel via wormhole?" Graalll asked.

"Admiral Nelson and I had an unfortunate run-in with another alien race that utilizes that mode of transportation. So which do you use?"

"We use ships with engines that create a field that allows us to travel faster than light. We have yet to develop the wormhole technology."

"Let me guess, a warp drive system?" Chip asked, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

The Ka Wookeeni laughed. "You could call it that," Malakata answered and winked.

"So now we know the second person who stumbled onto one of your parties," Lee replied and laughed as well.

"Who did you meet that travels by wormhole, Lee?" Takeetna asked.

"Odejaians*. It was not a pleasant meeting and I'll leave it at that," Lee replied, not about to go into their attempt to put the human race on the auction block for sale as slaves across the universe. As he tried to shove that unsettling experience back into its box, he looked out across the dance floor. He had to smile as he spotted Riley dancing with one of the Ka Wookeeni, while the other three were completely surrounded by those interested in meeting them and appeared to be having a good time.

"Understood," Graalll said solemnly. "We've also encountered certain races that didn't have the best of intentions towards us. Are there any more questions you have right now?"

"As you said thousands, but I don't want to keep you from your party."

"Not a problem," Malakata answered. "Why don't we all adjourn to the dance floor for a bit and then we can come back and address more of your questions."

(olooo