A Middle Earth Quest
Chapter 8
Disclaimer- I do not own Lord of the Rings or Michael Crichton's idea. Don't sue...
Suuki- Cool, I didn't know about all that, the Chimeras and such. That makes me feel a lot better. I'm not really into the sciences, so I just kind of went with a dumbed down version of what Crichton used in his book and what I thought would work. I'm like you too; I don't think all of that is moral either. You know, Mel actually wasn't supposed to take this moral stance she seems to have taken. She wasn't supposed to become Owen's enemy in this; she just kind of spiraled out of control and made herself this way. But I like her better this way. She's a more interesting character and a better character this way. Funny how characters will take on a life of their own, huh?
Shido- Yay! You finally got around to reading my story! Did you like it? I know you said it was interesting, but did you like it? Oh, and chapter three of your Harry Potter fic was really good, by the way. Sorry I didn't review it, but it was late and my parents kicked me off the computer. I'll review chapter four, provided you update it again soon! hint, hint
A/N- Whoops! Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter posted. I worked on a chapter for my other fic, and that took forever. Then I started on this one and I got writers block. It figures. Well, anyway, here's the next chapter.
Oh, I almost forgot. I'm sorry, but this will be the last update until after September 1st. Tommorow I will be playing host to a German friend of mine with no attention span and an addiction to being outside. She won't let me sit down at the computer long enough to get a chapter typed out and posted. I should be able to write them, but not post them. But that means, hopefully, after the first week in September, there should be lots of updates! Well, thanks for your patience and here is Chapter 8, for real this time!
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Cale woke up to the sound of the phone ringing shrilly in his ear. Groggily, he reached over and picked up the ear-piece and put it to his ear.
"Hello," he said.
"Good morning, sir," someone said cheerily on the other end.
"Who is this?" he asked, momentarily forgetting where he was.
"This is David, sir," the man answered. "At the front desk. Mr. Bridges asked that we give you a wake up call, sir. He would like to get the tour started early this morning."
Cale sat up so quickly he almost pulled the receiver off the night stand beside him. "Well, thank you David," he said, now far more awake than he had been a minute before. "I'm awake now." Then he hung up the phone and got up out of bed. He pulled the day's clothes out of his suitcase and entered the bathroom. He did his usual morning routine in record time. He took a quick shower, brushed his teeth and hair, and got dressed in twenty minutes.
Before he left for the lobby, he looked at himself in the full length mirror that hung on the inside of the bathroom door. He was dressed practically in khaki shorts and a plain light blue polo shirt. He had on worn tennis shoes and high socks. His nondescript brown hair was brushed neatly, except for one spot on the side of his head where he had slept on it funny. So he went wet his comb and forced it under control.
He gave a quick little smile at his reflection, then turned and left his room. He went straight to the lobby, once again ignoring Liam. He knew this was probably not wise, but he didn't want to associate with the dumb actor any more than he had to.
Not wanting to sit inside with the staff watching him, Cale went back out front to wait in semi-seclusion on the park bench there for his ride. In due course the actor showed up and took a seat beside him; the staff must have given him early notice so he would not be late, again. They sat there in uncomfortable silence for a moment, before Liam broke the ice.
"Beautiful morning isn't it?" he asked, looking up at the sky.
Cale nodded. "I guess you're right. It's not too hot, nor too cold, for early fall in the British Isles," he agreed, eyeing the trees on the edge of the parking lot. Their leaves were just beginning to turn orange, brown, and yellow.
They were spared from further idle chit chat when Mel came driving up in her jeep. Cale gave an inner sigh of relief, partly because he no longer had to converse with Liam, partly because her arrival meant it was time for the tour to start, and partly because it was her who had come to get them. Cale found that he rather enjoyed her company. And he admired her independent and slightly cynical nature, not to mention she was extremely easy on the eyes. Unlike most other women, Cale also found that she was easy to talk to. He didn't become uncomfortable or nervous around her.
She flashed them a huge smile as they got up and went to join her in the jeep. She appeared to be in much better spirits today.
"So," she said as Liam climbed into the back. "You two ready for your tour?"
"Yup," Liam answered. Cale only nodded.
"Good. We're going to go straight to the tour. We'll visit the nursery later. The little one's are still asleep, and it's not wise to wake them early." She put the jeep ion drive and took off, once again heading up the North road toward Mordor. Her mood must have affected her driving, because it took a little longer for them to reach the control building than it had the night before when she was angry.
# # # # #
When they arrived at Mordor, there were a couple of SUV's waiting for them. Mel parked the jeep, and they all climbed out and made their way over to the waiting SUV's. They found Owen and Freddy waiting for them on the other side of the waiting vehicles. Mel quirked an eyebrow, puzzled. She hadn't thought Owen was coming on this trip. She had thought he was leaving the work to herself and Freddy, again.
Oh, well, it didn't matter now. She nodded a greeting to him, and smiled at Freddy. Mel was no longer worried to death about the morning's tour. After their guests had returned to their rooms last night, she had gone to Owen again about the problem with the elves. They had come close to another yelling match, until Mel had given in and listened to Owen. She had, at his insistence, gone back to Lothlorien and managed to persuade the elves to allow their small group to visit them in their homes and talk with some of them. It was a small compromise, not nearly what Owen had wanted, but enough to satisfy the curiosity of their guests. The hard part was keeping both parties on their best behavior while poking around Lothlorien. One slip or one insensitive word could prove disastrous with the proud elves.
Mel left off her musings as Owen began talking.
"Well, gentlemen," he began cheerily. "We're going to start here in a minute. I don't know if Mel told you, but we'll visit the nursery later, the little tykes are still asleep. First we'll go through the Shire and talk a while with our hobbits. They are very accommodating people, and I'm sure they'll answer any questions you have. So, if no one has any questions, or a pressing need to use the facilities? We'll be going."
And with out further ado, they piled into the SUV's. Freddy climbed into the driver's seat of the first one, and Liam joined him in the passenger's seat, while Owen took the back seat. That left Mel to drive to second vehicle, and Cale to join her, by himself. Mel smiled. Now she could hold an intelligent conversation with some one she didn't detest.
The SUV in front of her started to roll forward as she turned on her engine. This time they headed down the East road. All the main roads on the island ran to Mordor, Mordor was pretty much the heart of the island, with everything else built out around it in a circle. The Shire was to the east, the Mines to the west, Lothlorien was in the south, and the guest accommodations were in the north. There were other building and places scattered around, and each had their own maintenance roads, but ultimately all roads came back to Mordor.
Despite the small size of the island, everything was spaced quite a bit apart. It was perfectly reasonable for the Mel and the other staff to walk from one section to another, but it was just far enough that it would seem rude to make guests do so. Mel preferred walking; it was how she got her daily exercise. When the park was ready to open for guests, there would be some form of transportation in place, whether it was horse drawn wagons, or an old fashioned trolley type system. That detail hadn't been worked out yet; Owen couldn't make up his mind which he liked better. For the interim they were just using jeeps and SUV's.
"So, Mel," Cale said tentatively as she pulled out onto the road behind Freddy. "Just how many of each species do you have? That didn't get mentioned last night. And Freddy said that you've only had them for three years. They can't be very old or self sustaining if the oldest ones are only three years old."
Mel grinned. It was a very good question. That aspect hadn't been discussed last night along with every thing else. "Well, we have eleven Hobbits, twelve with the baby in the nursery. There are nine dwarves, and that includes the one in the nursery, and sixteen elves. Freddy is right, we've only had successful species for three years, but they don't mature at the same rate as normal humans. And we couldn't make them do that anyway. It would take too long for them to mature to the point where we could let them live on their own. And we very well couldn't stick infants in tree houses unattended, could we? No, they all mature at different rates actually. The elves grow the fastest, and the dwarves the slowest. That's why there are so many elves and so few dwarves. By the time I introduce the elves into the larger society, they are the equivalent to a thirteen year old child. I keep the hobbits and the elves in the nursery for the same amount of time, about nine months. That's another of Freddy's little tricks. I couldn't tell you how he does it."
Cale's jaw dropped. She kept them in the nursery for nine months and the elves grew to be virtually thirteen years old! Ah, the miracles of modern sciences, he thought. "So, about the hobbits, at what rate do they grow?" he asked. Mel followed the SUV in front of them through a turn onto a new road. Her explanation had taken quite a while; he guessed they were almost there.
"They are only about seven or eight when I take them to the Shire. The oldest hobbits there now would be forty or so if they were human, but they act like old men," she said. Now she slowed down. Freddy had come to a stop in front of a huge gate and he had gotten out and was swiping an ID card. The gate swung open and they proceeded through.
# # # # #
A/N- sorry about the very long wait for an update. And sorry about there being no content whatsoever to this chapter! I had to break up this chapter into two, other wise I wasn't going to get it up in time. As I said, I probably won't get much of an opportunity to update until after September 1st. I have about half of the next chapter written (because it was supposed to be in this chapter), so there is a small chance that I can finish it and get it posted early, hopefully. I'm really bummed that I couldn't get it in this chapter, it was going to get fun soon! pout, pout. Anyway, tell me what you think, and please excuse the cliffhanger! I had no other choice, there wasn't a good place to stop! Thanks!!!
Chapter 8
Disclaimer- I do not own Lord of the Rings or Michael Crichton's idea. Don't sue...
Suuki- Cool, I didn't know about all that, the Chimeras and such. That makes me feel a lot better. I'm not really into the sciences, so I just kind of went with a dumbed down version of what Crichton used in his book and what I thought would work. I'm like you too; I don't think all of that is moral either. You know, Mel actually wasn't supposed to take this moral stance she seems to have taken. She wasn't supposed to become Owen's enemy in this; she just kind of spiraled out of control and made herself this way. But I like her better this way. She's a more interesting character and a better character this way. Funny how characters will take on a life of their own, huh?
Shido- Yay! You finally got around to reading my story! Did you like it? I know you said it was interesting, but did you like it? Oh, and chapter three of your Harry Potter fic was really good, by the way. Sorry I didn't review it, but it was late and my parents kicked me off the computer. I'll review chapter four, provided you update it again soon! hint, hint
A/N- Whoops! Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter posted. I worked on a chapter for my other fic, and that took forever. Then I started on this one and I got writers block. It figures. Well, anyway, here's the next chapter.
Oh, I almost forgot. I'm sorry, but this will be the last update until after September 1st. Tommorow I will be playing host to a German friend of mine with no attention span and an addiction to being outside. She won't let me sit down at the computer long enough to get a chapter typed out and posted. I should be able to write them, but not post them. But that means, hopefully, after the first week in September, there should be lots of updates! Well, thanks for your patience and here is Chapter 8, for real this time!
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Cale woke up to the sound of the phone ringing shrilly in his ear. Groggily, he reached over and picked up the ear-piece and put it to his ear.
"Hello," he said.
"Good morning, sir," someone said cheerily on the other end.
"Who is this?" he asked, momentarily forgetting where he was.
"This is David, sir," the man answered. "At the front desk. Mr. Bridges asked that we give you a wake up call, sir. He would like to get the tour started early this morning."
Cale sat up so quickly he almost pulled the receiver off the night stand beside him. "Well, thank you David," he said, now far more awake than he had been a minute before. "I'm awake now." Then he hung up the phone and got up out of bed. He pulled the day's clothes out of his suitcase and entered the bathroom. He did his usual morning routine in record time. He took a quick shower, brushed his teeth and hair, and got dressed in twenty minutes.
Before he left for the lobby, he looked at himself in the full length mirror that hung on the inside of the bathroom door. He was dressed practically in khaki shorts and a plain light blue polo shirt. He had on worn tennis shoes and high socks. His nondescript brown hair was brushed neatly, except for one spot on the side of his head where he had slept on it funny. So he went wet his comb and forced it under control.
He gave a quick little smile at his reflection, then turned and left his room. He went straight to the lobby, once again ignoring Liam. He knew this was probably not wise, but he didn't want to associate with the dumb actor any more than he had to.
Not wanting to sit inside with the staff watching him, Cale went back out front to wait in semi-seclusion on the park bench there for his ride. In due course the actor showed up and took a seat beside him; the staff must have given him early notice so he would not be late, again. They sat there in uncomfortable silence for a moment, before Liam broke the ice.
"Beautiful morning isn't it?" he asked, looking up at the sky.
Cale nodded. "I guess you're right. It's not too hot, nor too cold, for early fall in the British Isles," he agreed, eyeing the trees on the edge of the parking lot. Their leaves were just beginning to turn orange, brown, and yellow.
They were spared from further idle chit chat when Mel came driving up in her jeep. Cale gave an inner sigh of relief, partly because he no longer had to converse with Liam, partly because her arrival meant it was time for the tour to start, and partly because it was her who had come to get them. Cale found that he rather enjoyed her company. And he admired her independent and slightly cynical nature, not to mention she was extremely easy on the eyes. Unlike most other women, Cale also found that she was easy to talk to. He didn't become uncomfortable or nervous around her.
She flashed them a huge smile as they got up and went to join her in the jeep. She appeared to be in much better spirits today.
"So," she said as Liam climbed into the back. "You two ready for your tour?"
"Yup," Liam answered. Cale only nodded.
"Good. We're going to go straight to the tour. We'll visit the nursery later. The little one's are still asleep, and it's not wise to wake them early." She put the jeep ion drive and took off, once again heading up the North road toward Mordor. Her mood must have affected her driving, because it took a little longer for them to reach the control building than it had the night before when she was angry.
# # # # #
When they arrived at Mordor, there were a couple of SUV's waiting for them. Mel parked the jeep, and they all climbed out and made their way over to the waiting SUV's. They found Owen and Freddy waiting for them on the other side of the waiting vehicles. Mel quirked an eyebrow, puzzled. She hadn't thought Owen was coming on this trip. She had thought he was leaving the work to herself and Freddy, again.
Oh, well, it didn't matter now. She nodded a greeting to him, and smiled at Freddy. Mel was no longer worried to death about the morning's tour. After their guests had returned to their rooms last night, she had gone to Owen again about the problem with the elves. They had come close to another yelling match, until Mel had given in and listened to Owen. She had, at his insistence, gone back to Lothlorien and managed to persuade the elves to allow their small group to visit them in their homes and talk with some of them. It was a small compromise, not nearly what Owen had wanted, but enough to satisfy the curiosity of their guests. The hard part was keeping both parties on their best behavior while poking around Lothlorien. One slip or one insensitive word could prove disastrous with the proud elves.
Mel left off her musings as Owen began talking.
"Well, gentlemen," he began cheerily. "We're going to start here in a minute. I don't know if Mel told you, but we'll visit the nursery later, the little tykes are still asleep. First we'll go through the Shire and talk a while with our hobbits. They are very accommodating people, and I'm sure they'll answer any questions you have. So, if no one has any questions, or a pressing need to use the facilities? We'll be going."
And with out further ado, they piled into the SUV's. Freddy climbed into the driver's seat of the first one, and Liam joined him in the passenger's seat, while Owen took the back seat. That left Mel to drive to second vehicle, and Cale to join her, by himself. Mel smiled. Now she could hold an intelligent conversation with some one she didn't detest.
The SUV in front of her started to roll forward as she turned on her engine. This time they headed down the East road. All the main roads on the island ran to Mordor, Mordor was pretty much the heart of the island, with everything else built out around it in a circle. The Shire was to the east, the Mines to the west, Lothlorien was in the south, and the guest accommodations were in the north. There were other building and places scattered around, and each had their own maintenance roads, but ultimately all roads came back to Mordor.
Despite the small size of the island, everything was spaced quite a bit apart. It was perfectly reasonable for the Mel and the other staff to walk from one section to another, but it was just far enough that it would seem rude to make guests do so. Mel preferred walking; it was how she got her daily exercise. When the park was ready to open for guests, there would be some form of transportation in place, whether it was horse drawn wagons, or an old fashioned trolley type system. That detail hadn't been worked out yet; Owen couldn't make up his mind which he liked better. For the interim they were just using jeeps and SUV's.
"So, Mel," Cale said tentatively as she pulled out onto the road behind Freddy. "Just how many of each species do you have? That didn't get mentioned last night. And Freddy said that you've only had them for three years. They can't be very old or self sustaining if the oldest ones are only three years old."
Mel grinned. It was a very good question. That aspect hadn't been discussed last night along with every thing else. "Well, we have eleven Hobbits, twelve with the baby in the nursery. There are nine dwarves, and that includes the one in the nursery, and sixteen elves. Freddy is right, we've only had successful species for three years, but they don't mature at the same rate as normal humans. And we couldn't make them do that anyway. It would take too long for them to mature to the point where we could let them live on their own. And we very well couldn't stick infants in tree houses unattended, could we? No, they all mature at different rates actually. The elves grow the fastest, and the dwarves the slowest. That's why there are so many elves and so few dwarves. By the time I introduce the elves into the larger society, they are the equivalent to a thirteen year old child. I keep the hobbits and the elves in the nursery for the same amount of time, about nine months. That's another of Freddy's little tricks. I couldn't tell you how he does it."
Cale's jaw dropped. She kept them in the nursery for nine months and the elves grew to be virtually thirteen years old! Ah, the miracles of modern sciences, he thought. "So, about the hobbits, at what rate do they grow?" he asked. Mel followed the SUV in front of them through a turn onto a new road. Her explanation had taken quite a while; he guessed they were almost there.
"They are only about seven or eight when I take them to the Shire. The oldest hobbits there now would be forty or so if they were human, but they act like old men," she said. Now she slowed down. Freddy had come to a stop in front of a huge gate and he had gotten out and was swiping an ID card. The gate swung open and they proceeded through.
# # # # #
A/N- sorry about the very long wait for an update. And sorry about there being no content whatsoever to this chapter! I had to break up this chapter into two, other wise I wasn't going to get it up in time. As I said, I probably won't get much of an opportunity to update until after September 1st. I have about half of the next chapter written (because it was supposed to be in this chapter), so there is a small chance that I can finish it and get it posted early, hopefully. I'm really bummed that I couldn't get it in this chapter, it was going to get fun soon! pout, pout. Anyway, tell me what you think, and please excuse the cliffhanger! I had no other choice, there wasn't a good place to stop! Thanks!!!