CH 18
John looked up everything he could find on the communist party in China. Instead of printing the pages out in English, he printed it out in Chinese so Mei and Lee could easily read it. He got everything from how they were supposed to 'govern' to what the laws were now. He also got much of what was happening in China. He took these up to the lake and handed them to Lee.
"I found out what I could," he told her. "You'll have to read that yourselves."
Lee hugged him again. "Thank you, John."
"Do your best," he told her.
John did get Harry Dresden to agree to get them back home. As for where to put them in China, he let them decide. He'd give them advice, but they were the ones risking their lives, after all.
Cameron was happy about how the movie was going so far. They had their cast and the materials to build scenes and the computer generated 'buildings' were coming along good. Even Charlie now was liking the semi-rebellious attitude of 'Princess Lisa'. Jackie was having fun playing her as well.
One thing Cameron and Delilah insisted on after they were getting settled was finishing the work on the house and do something about the giant green pool the lake had turned into. Algae was the problem. After everything else died in the lake, algae took over. It was so thick on the surface, it looked like one could walk across it. It was also keeping the lake oxygen poor.
Searching, Delilah found an anti-algae agent used for ponds and lakes. Knowing the approximate size of their lake by volume, she ordered enough to do the job. The bad part about this product was it had to be dispersed over the water. She called Joan who was up in Collinwood to see if she could use her plane to spread the mix over the lake. She talked to Duncan, because Joan and Jackie were currently under water.
.
in the ocean just off the coast, down to 120 feet near the bottom, Jackie and Joan followed behind a couple who swam along searching for a wreck they knew was down here someplace. It was a ship that had gotten sunk during WW2 by a submarine. Following the divers who were about 15 feet off the bottom, Joan and Jackie were 30 feet above them. Close enough to see them, but unless those divers turned around and looked up, they wouldn't be seen.
Jackie tapped Joan on the shoulder and pointed off to the right. In the dimness the shape of an old ship showed. Joan motioned up. They swam to the surface.
"I don't think they see it," Joan said.
"They're going to swim right on past," Jackie agreed. "Should we help them?"
Joan grinned, "That would be neighborly of us. Of course, we'll need a light."
"They each have a light."
They giggled then went back down. On their way down they picked up speed and dropped down behind the divers. The woman had a lantern type light, the man had a large flashlight. Joan swam fast up behind the man and grabbed his light from him. Jackie swam between them. They then headed fast for the ship. Swimming to the ship, Joan panned the light over it and inspected the large hole they saw on this side. They then swam up to the bridge and looked for a way in. On the other side they found a door open and went in.
There was sea life in here everywhere, it looked like on every surface. A school of small fish darted down an inner passageway. The helm was covered with anemones and barnacles. Jackie decided not to try to 'drive' it. Through a window, she did see the divers coming. She tapped Joan and pointed.
Joan shown her light through the window and waved it. They went back out the door. On the deck Joan found a place to point the light at the divers and left it. She and Jackie them swam away back towards their boat.
On their way back, they came across the dive boat. Jackie motioned to Joan and moved her fists as if beating on something. Joan nodded. They moved up under the boat and on their backs to thumped on the bottom rapidly as they went by underneath. Once clear of the boat, they swan a little deeper, then came up to see the man there was looking over the side first on one side, then the other, trying to see something. When they laughed at him, he turned to see them.
They both dove back under and swam away. Yes, screwing with divers was fun. Heading back to their own boat, they each had to do a high jump out of the water to find it. They'd gone a little farther than they had thought.
Getting up and on, Jackie beamed, "I think those divers were a little shocked."
Duncan grinned. "What did you do?"
"First we raced past them and Joan stole a guy's light. We swam to a wreck and left the light there so they could see it," Jackie said with a big grin.
"We found their boat too," Joan added with a big smile. "Passing close under it we played drums on the bottom. The guy there was still trying to figure out what the noise was when we popped up and laughed at him."
"He was looking worried," Jackie added.
Jerry laughed.
Duncan shook his head. "Are you two sure you've grown up?"
Jackie shrugged. "Maybe not completely, but it's fun."
"Bet it makes the news." Joan said.
"Those divers didn't have a camera, did they?" Duncan asked.
Joan looked at Jackie. "I didn't see one, did you?"
"They only had lights," Jackie said.
"Joan, while you were down picking on divers, your Mother, Delilah called. She found an organic compound to get rid of the algae in the small lake. She ordered it, but it had to be spread over the lake. She wanted to know if you'd do that with your plane."
"Sure! If we can get the lake back to normal, that would be great!"
Duncan handed a phone to Joan. "Let her know."
Jerry sat down near Jackie. "Can you teach me to swim like that?"
Jackie nodded. "It's a lot of work. It's a lot of fun too. We'll find a place to teach you. We do have to get you a tail."
.
That night they watched the local six o'clock news. Sure enough, the divers were on it and as the woman explained, the video was shown.
"We had no idea they were there until they shot past us and grabbed Evan's light. I mean zoom! I caught a good shot of them as they swam away to the old wreck we were looking for."
The video showed two humanoid forms swimming fast away. "From behind, all we could make out was their tails and saw one had dark hair, the other was blonde. While we tried to catch up but they were way too fast. They got to the wreck and played around some, then took off to the side. They left Evan's light on the wreck. By the time we got to it, they were gone. We did get our light back."
The news reporter said. "From what we know, this has been the behavior of these mermaids. They seem to like messing with divers, but this is the first time anyone had gotten even a parting shot of them. Seeing their forms, the other reports we've heard are correct. They don't have any air equipment and are very fast. Although it's possible they could be human women, it doesn't seem possible they could move that fast and stay down that long. These mermaids also banged on the bottom of the diver's boat, then came up only to laugh at the man searching for the cause of the noise, then they disappeared back under. No one has seen them since."
Turning to the couple, the reporter added, "Also Evan and Darla here get the ten thousand dollar reward for being the first to have photographic proof that there are mermaids off our shores!"
Jackie let out a snort. "We mess with them and they get paid. Doesn't seem fair."
"Awww, did you want the money to turn us in?" Joan asked.
"You two need to be more careful," Duncan stated.
"I swear, people can't put two and two together," Joan complained. "Sonya dives and swims in California, she saved a mer girl who was stuck in the rocks! Jackie did that whole sea world show in Australia, and on that island I flew to, there's mers all over the place!"
"Many people have short memories unless they are involved," Duncan stated.
"That's how useless assholes get elected," Jackie agreed.
They all laughed at that. It was sad but true.
.
At the movie site, Malinara's hut was up the props were in place. Not far away, the bridge was being built across a couple knolls and the extra plant life was being added. Malinara got her costume, which was a leather shirt and skirt with a cloak that had a large hood. So far many of the cast had their costumes. Malinara had hers on when she recited her lines with Montgomery. She only had a couple scenes in the movie but since she'd never done something like this before, she thought it was interesting.
In this movie, Malinara was a witch due to the fact she could cast fire at will. She also had few lines to remember, and one scene, all she had to do was accept a bag of 'gold' then burn the bridge once the riders were over it.
She also lit campfires for those who stayed mostly at the movie site. There were a few who would talk to her. Mainly Charlie and Monty. Knowing she could cast fire kept most away from her except when they had to be near her for the scene.
Sunday night, Malinara visited the camp sites, and the ones that had wood in them, she lit for the campers.
Montgomery watched her light his campfire, then asked, "Mal, you can sit and have a brew if you want."
"Thanks, but no, I have to be getting home."
"You're Joan's friend, right?" he asked.
Malinara offered him a short smile. "Yes, Joan's part of my family."
"Just out of curiosity, who else is in your family?"
In a musing tone, Malinara said, "Not sure. I know Master, Joan, Allison Ellen and Enel are. John, Cameron and Delilah are the parents. It does seem like many others are too."
"Master?" Montgomery asked. "You have a Master?"
Malinara grinned. "I do, and Robert is the best Master there is! He really cares about me and all of us."
"You almost make it sound like you're a slave."
"I am a slave. Always have been. Now, Robert is my Master, the only one I will ever accept as a Master. Although I am dedicated to him, he lets me do things on my own. Things like being in this movie with Joan."
"You know, slavery is illegal," Montgomery said firmly.
"So was nuking our town, but that didn't stop someone from doing it, did it?" Malinara replied in a hard tone.
Trying to explain, he said, "If this Robert really cares for you, he would not hold you as a slave."
Malinara eyed him and shook her head. "You don't get it and probably never will. It doesn't really concern you, so don't worry about it. See you tomorrow."
Montgomery watched her go. Joan and Jackie were due back in the morning. He'd talk to them about this. It was plain wrong for anyone to hold someone in slavery.
.
Joan flew her and Jackie back to the big lake. They had breakfast with Jackie's family before they came, so they headed off to the movie site.
Over the weekend a bunch of costumes had arrived. They went first to go get theirs. Both were long 'royal' looking gowns with plenty of gold and sparkling jewelry. Joan had a gold crown, Jackie's was silver. They each had clip on ornate earrings and shiny silver necklaces and more rings than they had fingers. Joan's gown was blue and gold. Jackie's was white and silver. Although both gowns went to the floor and blossomed full from the waist down, and long fluffed out sleeves, they also had low necklines that would show the tops of their beasts.
"Showing a little sexy?" Jackie asked with a grin.
"Yeah, sexy sells," Joan agreed.
After they checked out their costumes, they put them away and went out to find out what they were doing today.
Montgomery met them coming out of the dressing room. He didn't look happy. "Joan, can you tell me why a guy named Robert is keeping Malinara as a slave?"
Jackie laughed. "Oh boy, you didn't know, did you?"
Joan let out a huff. "Monty, that is all Mal will accept. She insists she's Bob's slave no matter what we tell her."
Monty eyed her. "Your Bob?"
"Yes, my Bob." Joan explained, "We tried hard to convince her otherwise. Mal has taken a hard stance, keep me or kill me. She's very serious about that."
"Maybe if you sit her down…" Montgomery started.
Joan shook her head. "Believe me, we tried everything. To Malinara, she's Bob's slave and that's that."
"There has to be some reasoning with her," Montgomery insisted.
Jackie giggled. Joan just let out another huff. "Monty, we can discuss it after work. This is a long story."
Jackie raised a finger up. "One with the 'breast' intentions." She giggled again. Joan rolled her eyes.
.
Today they began doing 'dress' rehearsals for the camera inside in front of the green screen. Scenes with Joan and Jackie were interrupted by giggles and ad-lib by both of them. Upon Joan announcing, "Fight me first!", Cameron had them take a break to 'get serious'.
Out of the full day of making scenes, Charlie and Cameron agreed there was only two they could keep. This movie was going to have plenty of 'bloopers'
Quitting for the day, Montgomery went to the hotel with Joan, Jackie and Malinara. Patricia and Louise had dinner ready for them and called everyone in to come eat.
Jackie introduced Monty to people as they arrived. Monty did notice a man coming in with another woman hand in hand. They were met by Joan then Malinara with hugs and kisses.
Jackie pointed and said, "That's Bob in the girl gaggle."
Monty frowned. "I though Bob was married to Joan."
"He is. He's married to Allison too, Mal's his slave and Ellen who's had a son with Bob, isn't here yet."
"He's worse that a playboy!" Monty said angrily.
Jackie giggled. "Yeah, I don't know why Joan puts up with it."
Monty took a couple steps towards Bob looking angry. Jackie quickly grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"Whoa, Monty, you don't want to do that," Jackie said firmly.
He turned to glare at her. "He needs his ass kicked!" he stated.
"Not by you," Jackie replied. "You go over there and even say anything bad about Bob, and we'll be holding production until you're out of the hospital. You don't want to be aggressive with him. Trust me on this."
"If he can beat me, then everyone will see what a bad guy he is!" Monty stated.
Jackie shook her head. "It won't be him who trashes you. Every one of those girls love him. They will beat the living crap out of you if you don't get fried to a crisp by Malinara. For whatever reason, that's what they want."
"But, he's got … his own harem!" Monty hissed.
Jackie shrugged. "Yeah. That's their problem, not yours. Don't make it yours."
Hearing them, Joan came over and motioned Monty towards the door outside. "Montgomery, we need to talk. Outside, now."
"Better listen to her," Jackie coaxed.
Montgomery followed Joan outside. She held the door open for him, then shut it behind her.
"You got a problem with us?" she asked in a heavy tone.
Seeing she didn't look happy, he only said, "I do with Bob."
In her heavy tone, she said, "Bob is not your concern. How we live is none of your business. Got that?"
Monty noted her eyes were turning red. He backed up a step. "But, he's got a slave."
"Again, not your concern!" Joan all but growled. "After dinner I can explain our weird relationships, but know this, if you can't be decent, walk away now. Any questions?"
Forcing it out, he said, "Sorry. It just makes me angry he's like that."
"For now, until after dinner, just go in and keep your mouth shut!" She then opened to door back up and motioned him in.
Montgomery went back in. Jackie again grabbed his arm. "Come on, sit here by me."
He did. Many people came to et, including an odd looking woman in a power chair. He thought the gray skinned woman who was naked was disabled, but when he looked down, she had a long tail, not legs. Bob's gaggle of girls met her with hugs, and the odd looking boy who came in with his own wheelchair. Allison guided him up to the table.
"The hell?" Monty asked quietly.
Jackie nodded to the woman and told him, "Ellen's a mermaid. That's her and Bob's son, Enel."
Eddie came in with Louise. Before he sat down, he seated Louise then raised a hand up and said, "I already fed Venom, OK guys?"
There was some laughing and clapping from his statement.
To her side, Jackie reached down and said, "OK I'll feed you."
Monty looked to see her pick up a small alligator and put it in her lap. He then noticed others were doing it too, as was Enel. "You feed alligators, here?" he asked.
Jackie giggled. "Yeah. At least it's not Allie-gator. We fed her cake. It was like feeding a dog peanut butter."
"That was fun," Joan agreed. "But Dad insisted we not feed alligators at the table."
"At least these are little ones," Jackie said with a smirk. "How big did Allie-gator get? I'm thinking she was nine feet."
"About that," Joan agreed.
Allison grinned. "They had to make sure she got some birthday cake."
Montgomery stared at nothing for a moment, then said, "You people are weird."
Everyone burst out in laughter.
Chuckling, Eddie said, "You're in Driftwood now. Weird is normal."
Lee spoke up. "Yes, after being here, I don't think anything I see at home will scare me."
"Just watch yourselves closely," Joan told her.
"We will. We will also miss this," Lee replied. "It's very strange here, but even with how hard we are working, it's nice."
Allison put an arm around Lee. "You know, you and Mei can stay if you want. We'd prefer it."
Lee cast her a smile. "You are our friends. I am thankful for the time we have here, but we must go."
"Change you minds at any time," Joan said. "I know Dad would prefer you stay also."
Mei said, "We know, but we must go and do our best, even if it means our lives."
Montgomery eyed her. "If you may die, isn't better to stay here?"
Eddie cleared his throat. "Montgomery, right? One thing you must know. Whatever you see or hear here, stays in Driftwood. You can't talk about it anywhere else."
"You know, like what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?" Bob said. "It's more serious here."
"It is," Jackie stated.
Monty nodded. "OK, yeah it's a little strange but not that different."
Again the others laughed at him.
"You ain't seen nothin yet," Jackie told him.
Louise sang, "B. b. baby you just ain't seen nothing yet!"
Eddie jerked and Venom came out his back. "Here's something that you're never gonna forget!"
Montgomery's eyes grew wide, he moved to back away and fell out of his chair.
Everyone roared in laughter, then admonished Venom for scaring him.
Chuckling, Jackie got up and helped Montgomery up. "Bad Venom," she giggled.
"What the fuck was that!" Monty cried.
"That's Venom. He eats the bad guys. Don't be a bad guy." Jackie told him as she got him back in his chair.
Montgomery stared at Jackie. "There's things like THAT here?" he cried.
Waggling her finger at him with a grin, Louise said, "There's more things in Driftwood than in Heaven or Hell."
"Yeah," Malinara agreed, "Because many of them probably got kicked out. Maybe that's why Hanna's back."
More laughter sounded.
Louise said, "I heard Anne got kicked out of hell for giving damned souls ice water."
Another round of laughter sounded out.
"We can't go telling about others," Joan stated.
Louise eyed her. "I didn't say Anne was a Succubus!"
"Ah, Louise, you just did," Eddie told her.
Patricia pointed at Louise. "Fifty lashes with a wet noodle!"
"And she has to hear Venom sing!"
"Punishment, not torture," Joan said.
Montgomery listened to the banter that sounded more like a Halloween party than just a dinner. He was now feeling like there were real reasons people in Driftwood had isolated themselves. True monsters lived here.
.
After a shocking and scary dinner, Joan took Montgomery outside and explained her, Bob's and all of their relationships. He had to agree, after what he saw and heard at diner, Bob was one of the more normal people here. He also concluded that while he'd been thinking about moving into this nice hotel, his camp site was looking much safer. He also understood why Jackie and Joan were so tough. They grew up here.
.
Bob was eager to spend the night with Joan. Knowing Joan wanted 'Bob time', Allison and Malinara stayed out of their bedroom. They made out in the shower, ensuring each other was good and clean, then headed for bed.
By the bed, a shining white figure appeared, stopping them in their tracks.
"Hanna!" Joan cried.
Her hands together, Hanna pleaded, "I'm so sorry to bother you now, but Robert, she really needs you! They're being attacked!"
Bob held up a hand. "Whoa, stop! Hanna, we're naked here!"
"I said I was sorry, but she needs you now," Hanna complained.
"Figured it was a she," Joan grumbled and eyed Bob.
"It' not my fault, I never touched her!" Bob cried back at her. To Hanna, he asked, "Why me?"
"You are who she's praying for," Hanna explained.
"All right!" Joan said loudly. "Look, we're naked. How about letting us get some clothes on and get some weapons before we go."
"We?" Bob asked.
"I'm going too, or you're not going," Joan said firmly.
"ok" Bob replied meekly.
Joan turned to Hanna. "Once we're dressed, take us to the armory out past the small lake. You know where that is?"
"I do," Hanna agreed.
They threw some clothes on. Hanna moved them into the armory. There, Joan and Bob grabbed suits of the new coltan reinforced armor, a plasma rifle each, and Joan clipped a pair of hand thrown bombs to the back of her belt.
"What are we facing?" Joan asked.
"Hanna, is it the tall but weaker terminators I saw before?" Bob asked.
"It is."
Bob told Joan. "They have machine guns in their forearms, but their armor isn't the best. You can kick right through it."
Joan nodded. "Let's go kick some ass."
