Chapter 36: Tall Woman

I had brought Anna back to 99. She had been on Drozul’s ship getting repaired. An accident had taken a leg, and she had lived a miserable life after that.

Anna started to come around. Drozul must have instructed her AI to wake her up.

I said, “Good morning, Anna. You are on our yacht on the coast of Delaware.”

She looked around, confused.

I asked, “Are you alright? Do you remember me?”

She said, “No! Why am I here?”

I said, “I rescued you. Look down at your legs.”

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!”

I said, “99, please play back my initial meeting with Anna Collins.”

He popped up a virtual screen and played back the few short minutes of our initial meeting.

She watched it for a minute and looked towards me. She looked long and hard.

Anna said, “What the fucks the deal?”

I said, “You saw it. I got you healed, and our bargain was for you to serve me for ten years as my bodyguard. You get a generous pay and allowances. Isn’t that what you just saw yourself agree to?”

Anna said, “I don’t remember that at all.”

Drozul sent, “She was full of pain killers, she may be telling the truth.”

I sent, “Thats bullshit, Drozul.

I told Anna, “Be that as it may, we are here, and you are healed; you owe me ten years. It’s not like it will be an arduous job. Some women even like me.” I pointed to the other three females present.

She said, “Well, I doubt that would hold up in a court of law.”

I laughed out loud. I said, “Follow me; both of your legs will work as advertised now.” I walked to the stern and pointed down toward the shore.

I said, “That is an Indian village on Delaware Bay in what should have become the state of Delaware. This is not your Earth. This is an alternate Earth. Notice we are up in the air and they don’t appear to know we are here.”

I continued, There is not likely to be any courts here other than my own. It’s not like you have money for a lawyer, anyway. You are presently on a luxury space yacht and should enjoy the adventure of a lifetime. Would you prefer I chop your leg back off and return you to your Earth? I will if you say so.”

She sat on the top step, sobbing. Amber joined her on the step.

I left them be. I was sure Anna would choose to stay. I actually suspected the crying shit to be female manipulation In other words bullshit. Been there, done that. I sense someone who has been at odds with the world her entire life.

When she denied knowledge of the deal, her eyes had changed momentarily. She knew it, and now she’s changed her attitude to a pity party.

Her being here is Drozul’s doing. I had not wanted a female bodyguard in the first place! I was one-third bigger than any male on Earth. I had an armored body. I could throw a mule punch that would knock any asshole into the next county, plus the laser finger thing. I think Drozul or someone over him prompted this lame ass idea.

Fuck her. I don’t need her. If we dropped her off in the US of A, she would only have the clothes on her back.

I got myself a beer and went down to my office. I needed some me time. Bitch! I hate scheming, manipulative bitches. It’s an underhanded form of lying, and they do it right to your face. They look you right in the eye and lie.

I hate liars with a purple passion. I had run across manipulating women a few times while spreading my Exos over the years. There is something in their mind that just isn’t right.

Drozul tried to talk to me.

I said, “Not now. Once in a while, a man needs some time alone.”

I used the time to watch the natives nearby. Several got in a long canoe and headed upriver.

I said aloud, “99, let’s follow those guys.”

I watched as they paddled northward up the river towards my favorite mullet fishing spot. Oops, I see I had rustled a few mullet from their private herd of fish.

I watched as a couple of them stood with skinny spears, and the others paddled around the school of fish. The two standing used their spears to harvest over a dozen fish. They pulled their knives out and quickly cleaned the fish. They threw the discarded parts back into the river in the midst of the school. As the other fishermen started paddling back, the spear guys rinsed each fish.

I watched them for a while and saw another canoe come upon them. It came from the north. These guys were dressed up nicer. The guys from Tall’s village canoe were in breech clouts. The new guys wore more formal duds.

They had full-length leggings from the waist to the ankles. They had fancy breech clouts. On top, they wore formal-looking tunics with some shell adornments and tasseled edges. The new guys wore moccasins.

To add to their stature, their headbands had colored seabird feathers. I assumed that by the number of feathers and shell adornments, they each had a different rank or status.

The two groups talked and signed a bit. Then our fishermen paddled ahead to notify the village that neighbors were coming. We followed the Northerners from the air.

The newcomers were welcomed reservedly, or was it with solemnity and seriousness? I needed to understand their language; It was lost on me.

“Drozul?”

He said, “I see them. We have just finished downloading ‘Tall Woman’s’ language overlay. One of the AIs is putting it into a database and sorting it. We will get back to you with the results of this meeting soon.”

Drozul said, “When you pick up Tall Woman, we can pop you into a chair and download her language into you.”

Drozul continued, “Our AI states there are fewer than two thousand words in the Lenape language. Unfortunately, many hand gestures go along with the spoken word. Otherwise, the context is lost by getting just a part of the overall communication.”

He said, “You may have problems with the hand gestures. They have done these gestures for years, so the gestures have their own muscle memory. It may feel odd to you until you get used to using the gestures.

The new guys sat down with someone I figured was the chief and a few of his loyal followers. A leather pouch of tobacco showed up along with a long pipe. The chief stuffed the pipe with tobacco. It was lit and passed around the chiefs. A lot of talking and sign language ensued.

If there was one big difference between what I saw here and what was on TV. Here, there was no beadwork or fine stitching. I had to puzzle over that. Ahh, they did not get their $26 worth of beads in New York City since the Dutch never showed up here in this version of America.

The Denisovans are more apt to eat the locals. The natives would not receive any beads, fine thread, or needles, either.

Drozul came back. Evidently, a warrior named Mësipék from the neighboring group was gored while hunting. A girl in the village here named Chëmamës was supposed to marry Mësipék. They were here to inform Chëmamës family that the young man had died. Ya. Don’t tell the girl, just the family. Not too PC here - y’all.

When I came up for air and another beer, I was hit between the eyes by Anna and her attitude. I felt a miasma of hatred rolling off her.

I said, “99, take us straight up to ten thousand feet.”

I yelled, “ANNA, take a look outside.”

She went to a window and looked out and down.

She said, “That could be fake.”

I said, “Bullshit! 99’ please unlock the aft door. Anna, you may walk out and look down if you doubt me. If it’s fake, go ahead and step off.”

She went to the doorway, looked out, and staggered back.

She said, “We’re way the fuck up high. How is that possible, and what or who is 99?”

I said, “99’ is the name for the ship’s Artificial Intelligence; it’s an electronic being. The ship is named 99 Red Balloons. We call the AI by the ship’s nickname, ‘99.’ The song 99 Red Balloons is an old rock and roll metaphor for alien spaceships.”

I continued, “This is relevant because this IS a freekin’ alien spaceship. So, do I have your leg removed and return you to an empty hovel, or are you going to honor the deal you made? I am not sure you are worth the effort. I don’t feel like I can trust you. You want to go back on your word! You are no good to me.”

Drozul said, “She has the conk overlay. She is totally safe.”

I said, “Ya? Well, she does not seem very enamored with me. She is someone who has graduated from your Conk University and has whiffed my hormones. What were her grades at that school of yours? I sense her primary drive is for herself only. She is for Anna Collins and nobody else in the whole wide world, either world for that matter. She’s fucked up somehow. She’s a schizo, her mind is no good.”

Drozul said, “Get ready to grab her; she needs to come back for testing.”

Anna was looking out the window as she began to crumple and fall. I did not catch her completely. I lowered her to the deck without her coming to harm. I picked her up in my arms and headed towards the portal. I walked through, and they had a gurney waiting for her.

I looked at Drozul with a jaundiced eye, “That whole concubine overlay thing is highly suspect right now; it does not work on people with mental problems.”

He said, “We’ll look into it. I am sure there is an explanation.”

I said, “Ya, she’s bonkers as hell. I don’t really care for an explanation. She is not welcome around me again. I’m done with her. She has issues with a five-letter word; that word is ‘Truth.’ She lied to me several times. I did not dip into her mind to get that. It was very evident by her expressions that she lies all the time. Fish breathe water; Anna breaths lies. It’s a constant with her. I think she was just a rotten bitch. It happens.”

I reiterated “I’m done with her. A liar always lies again. Get rid of her, I don’t want her.”

He said, “What should I do with her?”

I said, “Well, we made her disappear from our Earth, why not just space the bitch? Aim her at the sun. That’s what they always do in space movies. I bet Tall Woman would make a better choice for a bodyguard anyway. Give Tall Woman a Kung Fu overlay or something. She doesn’t hate me.”

“I have used the shield and invisibility, I haven’t even tried the armor or laser finger. I don’t need the bitch!”

I said, “I know Anna was alert enough to say yes to serving as my bodyguard for ten years after we would heal her. She looked right into my eyes and lied. Then she reneged and lied to me here. She played us. She can look you right in the eye and say something so convincingly, I think even she believes the things she makes up. That bitch is a psycho.

He said, “This is bad, very bad. This will not go over well in the Entertainment channel.”

I said, “Tell me you have not introduced her to the galaxy-wide audience already.”

He said, “We have shown you picking her up.”

I said, “Crap. Tell you what, do not mention Anna again. Let it just fizzle out as a mystery. It would not hurt to have a little buzz over her and why she is not being mentioned or shown again.”

I continued, “Mystery can be used as a tool. If the questions get too big, start a lottery and pay the winner for the best answer. Push come to shove, you only need to say Collins was unreliable, or unsuitable, or something like that.”

I continued, “That would not be your fault because it isn’t. A well-known comic once said, “You can’t fix stupid.” I subscribe to that belief. Many people just are not salvageable.

I then said, “You could pick a fictional answer from the submissions that best gets you off the hook. It’s entertainment. We use fiction in our entertainment all the time. Give out a prize, money, or maybe a date with a popular entertainer.”

Drozul chuckled, “Oh, wow! I never thought about that, but if I got caught, they would remove my skin.”