Chapter 31

While the events were unfolding at Leann’s, Sally guided their shuttle toward the driveway of the residence for Muireann’s group. On their approach she and Aoife reviewed the feed from the C&C drone. Two people were monitoring the house from a car a half block away, Sally positioned the shuttle to block their view.

“Briana, Colleen, Melody,” said Jill, “we are here. All is quiet. The group at Shannon’s are all on their way to the resort.”

“Good,” responded the three.

Once the cloaked shuttle settled on the driveway the door opened and the four cloaked bots exited. Then Briana said, “See you in a few,” as she stepped out with Colleen and Melody.

When they moved out of the shadow of the shuttle, Briana, Colleen and Melody, all sensed that those monitoring the house had seen them. As soon as they stepped on the porch, Muireann and Evelyn opened the front door, immediately motioning for them to come inside. Briana and her friends stepped well inside allowing the two cloaked bots to enter. The bots eased around them so they remained undetected. Muireann closed the door, then locked it before turning back to her guests saying, “Since we’ve seen people watching our house, we’ve been very careful to keep the door locked. Come, everyone is waiting on the patio.”

On the patio Evelyn said, “Since Nancy and Julia visited all of us, I believe several of us have had very similar dreams. Those dreams all revolve around the opportunity they offered us. Nancy’s message this afternoon arrived just in time, as we are all here to discuss the logistics for our trip tomorrow to a lodge for a long weekend.”

“Sounds interesting,” said Briana.

“We were surprised to receive it. None of us have ever won anything and we won this by simply participating in a survey.” As she was speaking, she walked around the three looking them over. All three smiled as they knew what she was doing. “We’ve delayed having that discussion because all of us are interested in hearing the reason for Nancy’s request. While she didn’t say it, it seemed to be very important for us to meet with you.”

“There are microphones and cameras monitoring the patio,” said bot21.

“Disable them,” said Melody. “What about inside the house?”

“Bot29 is checking those. Our entry wasn’t seen.”

“Good evening, my name is Briana and with me is Colleen and Melody. Evelyn, judging by your comments and the way you looked us over, I have the impression you expected someone else?”

“Well sort of, the images Nancy sent of the three of you, only showed your faces,” replied Evelyn, “and I sort of expected you to look different.”

Muireann then said, “It is a little more than that. Who was coming was a topic of conversation before you arrived. Our dreams have been quite similar and vivid. Our more artistic one created a sketch of the people we remember seeing in our dreams.” Bairre held up a sketch. Briana, Colleen and Melody all smiled, as the sketch was of Aoife, Sally, Jill, Siobhan and Maureen. In the sketch, the difference between Sally and Aoife and the others was clearly visible.

“They are friends of ours,” said Colleen. “In fact, we went to school with one of them. The others we just met several days ago. One of the taller ones may join us while we are here.”

“Nancy requested this meeting,” said Briana, “to see whether you were interested in coming to the resort sooner than originally scheduled. We are also candidates for the same opportunity. In fact we’ve been there just two days, when we were asked to visit you.”

“Some of us are anxious to go to the wilderness lodge,” responded a woman. “None of us have ever won anything so we wanted to collect the prize.”

“See if you can get her to tell you more about the lodge?” asked Sally with a bit of edge in her request.

“That sounds like a great weekend outing. Is this something you’ve done before?”

“No. Actually we have never done anything like this as a group. We won the weekend at the lodge by participating in a survey. Actually, we came close to not completing the survey. One of the requirements was that all of us had to participate and it asked a lot of very personal questions. None of the information was particularly private. For completing it, our group was entered into the drawing for a free four-day weekend at a lodge.”

“It must be quite a distance from here, as I don’t know of any wilderness lodges near here.”

“You are right. It is a four-hour drive and we wanted to be there tomorrow afternoon.”

Jill monitored their thoughts as they talked about the lodge.

“What do they have there, that makes it so enticing?”

Muireann looked around at the group, “It is very isolated and has a lake with a sand beach and swimming. The letter telling us that we won included directions, along with a DVD showing the location.” Then Muireann remembered that the women in her dreams were nude. “The best part is that we can be naked the whole time we are there.”

“Muireann, you didn’t have to tell them that part,” said Ceara.

“Why not? Most of the people in my dreams are naked. Let’s get back to why you are here.”

Briana and Colleen then told them of the offer. They showed them the ship in response to a question. They then described how it came to be there and in general terms the repairs that need to be done. Colleen closed by saying, “Would you like to meet one of those in the sketch?”

Jason said, “There have been several people watching our house since just before we returned the survey. Do you know anything about them? Are they part of your group?”

“We noticed a group in a car a short distance up the street as we approached. We don’t know anything about them.”

“Good,” came the comment from several in the group.

Evelyn added, “I sensed that you were not like them.”

“I didn’t hear a car,” said Jason. “So how did you get here?”

Briana scanned the backyard, as she did so Sally said, “It is just big enough and I can partially uncloak.”

Melody smiled as she said, “In that.” As she spoke the side of the shuttle facing them became visible then faded away. The only visible sign of it remaining was the outline of the door.

“Jason, I guess she showed you,” said Muireann smiling as she hugged him taking the sting out of her words.

“Yes.” Looking back at Briana he said, “My apologies. We’ve been really edgy since those people began watching us. The details of your opportunity are clearer now but...”

“We understand,” replied all three.

“Several times those people have followed us when we left here.”

“How soon do we have to decide? Several of us would like to talk it over while we enjoy our weekend in the woods.”

“We have a counter offer, but first, can I ask you when the alarm system was installed?”

“It was here when we returned last fall. As a group, we have lived in this house for three years now. It changed owners last summer. The new owner installed it before we returned at the beginning of the school year.”

“Are you aware that all the sensors are equipped with cameras and microphones?” asked Colleen.

“What? How do you know that?”

“We have seen similar systems in the residences of several other groups we have visited with this offer. In those systems, the bedrooms were covered by several cameras and microphones, even in the bathroom.”

“I don’t believe it. Why would anyone do that?”

“The fucking perverts,” said several rather loudly.

“We may have been presumptuous, but we disabled the microphones and cameras out here on the patio shortly after we arrived. The cameras and microphones in the rest of the house are still active. If they are actively monitored, it is surprising that you haven’t received a call. If you would like, more of them can be disabled. Doing that to one of the rooms inside, will likely cause the alarm company to call to see if everything is okay. They will likely want to come service the system.”

Muireann looked at her friends for a moment and around the patio, then said, “I didn’t see either of you do anything, but do it. Damn assholes.” She looked a bit disbelieving. “I find it very disturbing that we have been watched for nearly a year without a clue. Those perverts have probably posted nude pictures of us on the Internet.” Her eyes were seething in anger.

“You didn’t see anything as our escort took care of it.”

“Who?”

“We have several assistants with us. One is in the house and is cloaked at the moment. In response to your curiosity, she just deactivated enough of the microphones and cameras that it should get a response from the security company.”

“What assistant?”

“She is one,” replied Melody as bot21 appeared next to her on the patio. Several gasped at her sudden appearance. She was nude and in the form of a very lovely young lady, with a stature similar to Colleen.

Before anything could be said, the phone rang. Jason pressed the speaker button to answer.

“This is Les at Secure Privacy calling. Our console shows that several sensors in your home just failed. Is there a problem?”

“Not that we know of.”

“Very good. Since these weren’t intrusion sensors, we didn’t call the police. Can we send a repairman there tomorrow morning?”

“Sure,” responded Jason tersely and hung up.

“Which ones did you disable?”

“Bot28 disabled those in the first floor bedrooms,” said bot21. “She said those in the bedrooms contained cameras and microphones.” The group had very surprised expressions, as they listened to the bot answer the question. Their expressions quickly turned to anger.

“It certainly clear now that those assholes have been spying on us. What some people won’t do.”

“You were going to make a proposal,” said Evelyn.

“Yes. We can take you to the resort tonight then you will have the opportunity to see it tomorrow morning. After that if you still want to go to the lodge, we will take you there and make arrangements to get your cars there.”

“You said we may be able to meet one of those in the sketch.”

“Yes. Jill will be here in a moment. Sally, the other tall one is piloting the shuttle.”

“While we are waiting,” said Melody, “would one of you give me directions for the lodge?”

“Why?”

“My specialty is personal security. I would like to have one of our teams check it out early tomorrow. If you like we can show you what we find there before you decide to visit it.”

“That would be wonderful,” replied Stacey. “I’ll go get the information.”

Stacey returned just as Jill stepped up on the patio and said, “Wow, you are tall.”

“Some think so,” replied Jill with a smile. “Sorry for the delay but I had to find my robe first.”

“That is all you’re wearing, isn’t it?” asked Muireann.

“Yes. We do not normally wear any covering as we find it more comfortable. I suspect Muireann would also prefer to be naked right now.”

“Well that fits with the dreams,” responded Muireann. “Wait how did you know?”

“Can I answer that later?”

Muireann hesitated, then nodded her agreement.

“We presume you would like any data the alarm company has, destroyed?” asked Jill.

“Yes!” replied the group.

“Erin, arrange a failure at the central office. Bot28, cause a massive fault in the system here.”

“Who is Erin?”

“She leads our backup team.”

“But she isn’t here.”

“We are connected, just like I am connected with Aoife and Sally in the shuttle here.”

Bot21 said, “System here is down and fried.”

“How did you do that?”

Bot21 looked at Joyce then said, “Bot28 caused a short in the power supply so it fried the electronics, along with a burst of emf. The emf corrupted the information on the hard drives. The damage should have them scratching their heads for a long time.”

“What’s going on?” Muireann’s concern showed on her face. Several of her friends showed similar concern.

“Muireann and friends, you heard the offer Briana made,” replied Jill. “As I think Nancy and Julia told you, we have made this offer to several other groups. The first group of candidates arrived at the resort this week. In picking them up, we saw some strange activity around their residences. Some nearly had unpleasant surprises. After gathering more data on our future guests’ situations today, we discovered your group was being monitored. It is similar to the situation other groups are in, so we decided to act based on that and other things we’ve seen. Tonight we are meeting with six groups of candidates that are being actively monitored. Our offer to visit with us as soon as you desire, it can happen immediately. One other group completed a survey similar to yours. They too won a weekend at a remote lodge. We believe it is the same lodge where you planned to go.

“Also, hidden cameras and microphones were found in several candidate’s residences. In each case they were disguised as a security system. So, all these circumstances cause us to be concerned for your safety. If we are wrong, we will be very embarrassed but pleased that you are safe. We suspect you would have similar concerns if you were in our shoes and that you would have responded as we have.” Many of the group had thoughtful looks on their faces.

“If you want us to stop or leave, just say so and we will,” added Colleen.

“No, I don’t think any of us want you to leave,” said Muireann. “Jill, I agree with your concern and I don’t think I am alone in that. I think we are all taken aback by the quickness with which our comfort has been undermined. Maybe, evaporated, is a more accurate.”

“Why didn’t you tell us all of that up front?” asked Ceara.

“We considered that,” replied Jill with a smile. “We decided to focus on simply offering to move up the date of your visit to us. This seemed a much more believable approach than anything else we could say. Remember, you only know what we have told you about us. So what you decide is based on you trusting your senses.”

“Good points. I hadn’t thought of it that way. So what would you do if we decided not to go with you?”