4/28/06:

                At breakfast this morning, Olivia told me about her trip to the Temple last night. She said that Leo didn't seem quite ready to take the whole Crom thing seriously but when the Priest offered him some literature he took it and said he would read thru it. The Priest told Olivia that Leo is in serious need of some guidance from someone and that he is perilously close to losing himself. Olivia assured him that she'd keep an eye on Leo - after all, he is her brother.

                After breakfast I requested a car from Armani and went looking for some places to use in my 'demonstration' for the wedding. Armani insisted that I couldn't go alone, so I found O'Bannon and asked him to go with me. I found five lots around town that would be perfect for my plans and made note of their locations.

                When I returned to the Palace, Olivia had cleaned and fixed her dress for the wedding. She'd also checked the jewels that Queen Melissa had tried to give to Michael as a wedding gift for Vesta and detected something wrong with them. After some further investigation she was able to determine that they've been cursed - a curse that whoever wears them will be forever unlucky in love. That conniving bitch!

                Then she had a try at duplicating the bonding fluid for the silksteel. After three failures she succeeded, and was able to make a jug full of it. Boy was it nasty shit, with some really bad fumes. She sealed it up very tightly. Then she and Alfred went over to the War Temple to give it to Michael. He'd left at first light this morning to get back to work. They also took him some food. Olivia said he was looking pretty tired but thanked them and immediately went back to the workshop to continue his work.

                When she and Alfred got back she asked for an audience with Caesar to ask him how his meeting with the NDR turned out. She was told that he was busy, so she asked to see Armani, instead. He was available and she asked him how it went. He told her that as far as Caesar could tell, they really are here to 'spread the word". When Caesar asked them about being so heavily armed their excuse was "We had to get here alive, didn't we?" As to the question, "Why aren't you rebuilding your home?" They said, "That's for others to do. Our Mission is here in this Den of Iniquity to save all your souls." Armani said that Caesar thought they seemed sincere. Olivia asked if Caesar liked them. "He doesn't dislike them." Armani said. He told them to register their intent to preach and to follow the letter of the law and they'd get along just fine.

                Then Olivia asked him, "If they were to lose a battle in Thunderdome, would the victor get all their belongings?" "If that is the matter leading to Thunderdome," he said. He went on to tell her that others have tried baiting them into Thunderdome, but so far nothing had worked. They're trying very hard to stay out of trouble. (Except for the whole preaching license thing.)

                She asked Armani if he is in charge of Caesar's security. He told her, "No, there are others who are responsible for that. Why do you ask?" Olivia asked him, "Isn't it funny how they're here now, with all that's happening and all that is about to happen? They've already tried to kill Jesse once."

                Armani objected, "But they were already on the road here when everything was decided for the summit." She reminded him that their church history is full of supposed prophets. What if a new one has arrived? He shook his head and said, "I'll believe anything anymore." Olivia told him, "Just keep in mind the whole Ebola thing. One of their Elders infected himself with it and let himself get caught by Jesse's troops so he could spread the virus all over Cheyenne Mountain. If they tried that sort of thing once, they could well try it again. And this time they could get Jesse, Malcolm and Caesar, all at the same time."

                He assured her that he would pass the concerns on to the security people. Then he told her that the NDR "missionaries" are staying over at the Bellagio! She thanked him for his time and went upstairs to pass some time playing with Alfred.

                When Olivia and Alfred emerged for lunch, she told me about her discussion with Armani. I was VERY upset about the NDR staying at the Bellagio. We've been told about some of the threats the NDR has made against Dallas, and now they're staying at his hotel? I did not like that one tiny, little bit. After we discussed the situation, Olivia called him and invited him over for dinner. She asked him, "So, has the NDR tried to kill you yet? Have you killed them yet?" Then she asked him, "Do you mind if we do?"

                He told her "I don't care, but you'd better have a good reason" (This coming from Dallas? Has he gone respectable on us?) "You have to be able to prove any accusations you level against them." Then he told us that he knows of 6 or 8 different groups who've tried to provoke them into Thunderdome. But they just make reparations and avoid it and further conflicts.

                I asked him if he was being careful. "Oh yeah" he said. (Yeah, right!) But he did agree to join us for dinner and said he looked forward to meeting Leo. "A SEAL? Wasn't good enough for the Rangers, huh?" Olivia told him how Jesse had sent Leo to talk us into convincing Malcolm to surrender his power.

                "Suck what?" Dallas asked. Olivia laughed, "Yeah that was pretty much my response." They agreed on a time and Dallas hung up.

                Then Leo returned and Olivia asked him where he'd been. He admitted to her that he'd been to see his CO to report in. Olivia asked him, "What did you tell him?" He got defensive and snapped, "I'm not gonna lie to my CO or my Commander in Chief. I told my CO that the whole area was in ruins. That there are no survivors of Manzanar and there's a guy out there with the power to raise the dead. He and his 'friends' are trying to undo the damage, a few people at a time."

                "And?" Olivia prompted. He had also told them that there is some kind of device out there that the guy uses to help. Something that 'juices him up.' Olivia was angry with that! "Why did you tell him that?" Leo was angry, too, started going on about "his duty". "You could have left that part out!" both Olivia and I said at the same time. "That would be the same as lying," he said.

                Olivia asked him, "What if they go out there and try to take it?" He shook his head and said that he didn't think they would, he'd told them that there was no use trying. There's only one crazy old coot that can use the thing, and he'll never give it up. The massacre was committed by the Armed Forces, even if it was only one crazy guy who actually killed all the people at Manzanar. His opinion was that 'we' have more important things to worry about than one dead facility and a crazy old desert rat.

                His CO had asked him, "Don't you think that raising the dead is important?" and Leo told him, "Our job is to protect civilians. Living civilians. It was a horrible thing and it never should have happened in America. But Charlie's out there trying to fix things - leave him alone to do so."

                His CO thanked him for the report and Leo told him that the defenses out there have changed so that if a team of 'professionals' were to attempt to enter the area they would be met by whatever they fear most. So the chances of anyone getting thru were slim to none, a real suicide mission.

                Leo looked at Olivia and said, "Sorry, but I had to tell him. It's my duty." I looked to see how Connors was taking all this, she seemed to be pretty much ignoring it.

                Olivia asked him about the forces that had helped round up people to be sent to the camps to be killed, "Were they just following orders?" Leo said to her, (in a real flat voice. To me he sounded like he was ready to snap) "They might say that. But I say they were wrong, and if there's a Hell for people with no Honor, I hope they're rotting there."

                "My! How very Crom!" I thought to myself and shot a glance at Olivia, she seemed to think so, too.

                I was very upset listening to all of this. But rather than say or DO something to Leo - something I might regret later - I made myself scarce 'til Dallas and his green gal arrived for dinner. Michael also joined us; Vesta must have sent him word.

                Olivia introduced Dallas and Leo. Dallas behaved himself and didn't bait Leo once about the SEAL - Rangers thing. And in return, Leo also behaved himself. I was proud of the boys.

                There was lots of talk during dinner about what we should do next. We asked Connors what she was able to find out about an uplink to the Hammer. She said that she had gone to the Market and had 'talked' the dog who was with the guy from JPL. He (the dog!) told her that JPL and the rest of Silicone Valley was a no-go. Nothing there could help us. A military base named Onizuka near Napa was our best bet.

                At that point, Olivia asked Leo if he was planning on reporting our activities. Leo said, "I can't sit here and listen to you plot against my President and do nothing. I simply can't allow you to do that. You should be thinking about the future. You can't have an alliance if you're going to undermine your allies. Has Jesse ever done anything to undermine your King?"

                I was SO ready to start listing things when Olivia said, "You have no idea what's been going on. You've been stuck on a boat, out at sea." Leo countered with, "I can see what's going on now and wouldn't one central government be stronger than a lot of smaller ones?"

                Olivia didn't answer him but said to Connors, "Perhaps we should finish this in private?" Leo excused himself and as he was leaving he stopped by Connors' chair and with a glare at her he said, "I don't believe YOU were released from your oath." She smiled thinly and wished him a 'good evening' He stalked out of the room. Looking at Olivia, watching him leave, I bit my tongue, and didn't say any of the things I wanted to.

                We discussed how we might get to Onizuka. If we could get Lucifer's helicopter - would it have the range? No we'd have to re-fuel somewhere, Connors told us. How well guarded would the place be? If it were up and functional it would be very well guarded. What about Charlie? If we asked him, could he, would he 'kill' it for us? Olivia suggested we talk to Lucifer. He had access to a satellite (or at least satellite photos) at one time. Maybe he could be of assistance.

                So we headed for the Venetian. On the way I asked Connors how she was doing. I wanted to make sure that Leo hadn't 'gotten' to her? "Hell no!" she said, " I swore to obey all LAWFUL orders. My oath was to uphold the Constitution against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic. And by extension I swore to defend the PEOPLE of the US. And that's what I've been doing."

                Lucifer greeted us and invited us to his office and asked what brought us to his door. Olivia said, "Your previous specialty." He gave her one of his patented cheerful looks. "Jumping thru hoops backwards for Pounce snacks?"

                I said, "We would never presume!" And Olivia said, "No, information." She asked if he knew anything about Onizuka and (more specifically) if he knew anything about satellites. I said "You wouldn't happen to have the ability to uplink to one?"

                "What kind of satellite?" he asked. He and Connors put their heads together, and hashed it out. The only one he had access to is a military spy satellite in a relatively low orbit. He told us to talk to Caesar; he holds dominion over Nellis. "But, military satellites only take orders from a few specific locations," he said and Connors nodded in agreement. "Before I left, Caesar was very interested in controlling surveillance and communication satellites. He was very thorough in his interrogations of the few people he could find with knowledge of the subject. He eventually concluded that controlling one from here is just not possible, as long as the primary control centers are active."

                Olivia said that she has the ability to 'send' messages, magically. What if Charlie would let her use Zaphod? Could we contact the Hammer that way? I said that that it was worth a try. The worst that could happen would be that it didn't work.

                Lucifer asked, "What are you people trying to do now?" We started to explain about the Hammer. He reminded us that he already knew what the Hammer was capable of. So we told him about Jesse wanting complete control and his 'request' that Malcolm step down. We also told him about the laptop we have with the hacked codes and our desire to destroy the Hammer.

                He thought about it for a while and said, "The problem is time. Missiles would be detected and destroyed before any damage could be done." I said "Okay, no problem there, we don't have any missiles." Olivia asked about Zaphod again.

                Lucifer continued, "There are only two places I know of to uplink from around here. The 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force base east of Colorado Springs and Onizuka Air Force Base near Napa." Michael suggested that we take them out, or at least their control centers. I asked, "Let's suppose the 10 of us are able to 'take out' two military bases. Won't they just rebuild the controls or transfer them elsewhere?"

                Connors said, "There are other places to uplink from if you have the codes. There are emergency mobile control centers, for example. If we can find one." I said, "We have the codes! We need someplace to do the uplink from." Olivia wondered, "If we try it that way, Jesse will know that someone's trying something." "True," Connors said, "and if they have a control override they could stop it. We need a hacker to cover our trail."

                Olivia suggested (again) a magical approach first. Michael said that the only hacker he knew of who might be able to do it is the guy who created Moria - unfortunately for that idea, he's dead now! Olivia asked Lucifer if he would be willing to help us. "Possibly," he said. "It all depends on what you want and what I can do."

                Olivia thought of another plan, "What if we all fly to the base near Co Spgs, and Lucifer enthralls everyone, and we do our thing?" Lucifer liked that idea! "And since Peace is my Domain, I can write the whole trip off!" Michael said that he didn't feel comfortable in a military base with an Overlord in complete control.

                Lucifer pretended to be hurt, "But it's me! Are you saying you don't trust me?" Michael asked him if he'd be willing to give his word, which Lucifer was. "I would really prefer to see this thing dead too, you know. As long as it is intact it is a threat to this city. My responsibility is to keep the peace and to keep this city and all its citizens safe."

                Michael said, "I believe you want it destroyed, but for a different reason. By removing it, the Overlords would have the ability to do whatever they wish." Then he said that he didn't understand how we would do it anyway.

                Lucifer explained "After I have enthralled the personnel at the base, we 'ask' the technicians to change Mjolner's trajectory and deorbit it, or crash it into the moon, destroying it." Michael said that he believed there would be more than just one. "So we 'ask' them about that as well," Lucifer said.

                I said "I bet that it (or they) have a self destruct device on them. You know how paranoid governments are - they would want to be able to guarantee they could destroy their toys in case someone got their hands on them." Lucifer nodded and suggested to Olivia that if she were to make us all invisible it would make our work at the base that much easier.

                Then he said that if we were going to do this we needed to do it NOW. I agreed and said that it sounded crazy enough to work. Olivia warned us, "Leo knows we're up to something, he might warn someone." Lucifer told her, "Bring him here, I'll take care of him." Olivia glared at him. "Just long enough for us to do what needs to be done. There will be no lasting harm."

                Michael said he didn't think we should do it at all. "What if Jesse finds out we did it? There will be retaliation." So Olivia (again) suggested we try using Zaphod to take care of it. I said (again) that we should at least try it - if it doesn't work, then we can go to plan B.

                Michael admitted that that idea was sounding better. Connors agreed, "We've got a few days before the summit, so let's talk to Charlie. If the Zaphod thing doesn't work THEN we'll try infiltration. Who knows, maybe the little green men out there have a flying saucer and will fly us right up to it. If we had a flying saucer and a space suit, all we'd need would be a few pounds of C-4"

                I laughed, "Maybe if we think about it hard enough, they will!" Lucifer called to have his pilot get the helicopter ready and informed us that he was going to go with us. Dallas said he wanted to go, too.

                Olivia asked Lucifer if he had any porn we could take out to Charlie. "Porn?" he asked. I nodded, "Don't ask, you don't really want to know." So, he stifled his curiosity, got some issues of Penthouse and we headed for the airport.

                As we approached Area 51, we could see fires burning. I used true sight to see if they were just more ghosts, but no, the fires were real this time. They were burning all over Groom Lake but not Manzanar. This time I cursed Leo out loud for all to hear; I no longer cared about offending Olivia. Then again, she was pretty pissed at Leo too.

                The pilot put us down near Charlie's hanger and as we climbed out, a Gray came running out, waving at us. For a critter that doesn't feel anything but curiosity, it seemed pretty agitated! When we could hear what it was yelling, it told us that we had to get the helicopter inside. Several more Grays appeared to help and we all pushed the 'copter inside. We had just gotten ourselves inside Charlie's hanger when there was a bright flash, a deafening roar, and the ground shook. Dust and small pieces of the roof showered all over us.

                One of the Grays told us that this had been going on for a few hours now. I asked about Charlie. They assured us that he was fine and was downstairs 'working'. He had put up a force field to protect the area from the worst of the attack, but more were getting thru now and Charlie was getting tired. They showed us into the elevator and we started the long descent. The elevator bounced once as the area was hit again. We all looked around nervously and Olivia joked, "Wonder what Grays taste like?" One of them said at the same time I did "Like chicken." Nobody said much of anything else until we hit bottom - normally we would have laughed but things were just a little too grim for it.

                We finally arrived at the Zaphod level and heaved a sigh of relief as the doors opened to let us out. We found Charlie in his chair facing Zaphod, sweating profusely from the effort of protecting the place. He glared at us and growled, "You guys told someone didn't you?" "Not us exactly," I said, "Can you tell where it's coming from?" "Upstairs" was all he said.

                Olivia told him why we were there, what we wanted to do. Charlie told us that he'd be more than happy to destroy the thing that was doing this and told Olivia that if she could give him a target, he could do something with it. But then an egg timer went off and he said, "Hold on a minute," and turned back to Zaphod. We could feel as he brought up the power. The ground shook as another strike hit. Charlie turned away from Zaphod and reset the timer. "They're real regular, I'll give them that!"

                He gestured Olivia over and told her to sit down next to him, to help him visualize the target. He told her, "Visualize yourself as a tree with roots going into the next room. In that room is a genie. Tell that genie what you want it to do. Don't ask it, tell it and it will do what you want." She said, "Sounds like praying to Crom." Charlie looked at the rest of us; "All of you think really positive thoughts to help us." I don't know about anybody else, but I sure did!

                Olivia told the genie what to do. She 'saw' the satellite in her mind and to get rid of it she barely had to nudge it. She told me later that is was kind of like 'flicking' it with her finger and it vaporized into a hollow sphere of dust, thousands of miles across. She said she had experienced a moment of total clarity, and that she saw the Earth and the moon and the satellites like toys in front of her. The spell she used was so simple a child could do it - hardly more than a cantrip - but the moment ended when she destroyed the Hammer. She 'came back' and started to cry because she could not remember how she had done it - the clarity and understanding were gone and all she could remember was how much she wanted it back. Alfred went and comforted her.

                But what really mattered was that the attack stopped. I looked at Olivia, crying in frustration and Charlie, completely exhausted from defending us, and I started to mutter some of the things I wanted to do to Leo for blabbing.

                Charlie said to me, "Stop thinking all those negative thoughts! You never know what may happen around here." I stopped immediately!

                Charlie shut down Zaphod and said, "I need a beer." Olivia conjured one for him and I made it good and cold. He raised an eyebrow at us, tried it and admitted, "That's good!"

                I apologized for all the trouble and thanked him for his help with destroying the Hammer. He nodded and said, "Fortunately, they started the attack at the wrong end of the base. It gave me enough time to get a defense up. Do you mind telling me what's going on?" Olivia told him about her brother, the loyal SEAL, and how we felt the need to be completely honest in his report to his C.O.

                Charlie thought about that for a moment and said, "I've been thinking about pulling a 'Brigadoon" anyway, but now, I think I'm going to have to. The Dead aren't going anywhere."

                We tossed around some different ideas of 'hiding' the place from outsiders. Michael suggested a 'Mists Of Avalon' kind of thing. Charlie didn't get the reference so Olivia explained it as creating a 'fog' to hide it, and only certain people would be able to get thru it. Charlie liked that and asked if we could 'design' it. She looked at me and we shrugged, "Sure, why not?" And we asked him for some details on how we wanted it set up.

                "So that people can find it only if they're 'meant' too." One of the Grays piped in, "But then the person who is 'meant' to destroy it all, will be able to get in." Ouch! That made my head hurt!

                Olivia suggested making it so that only people with something like a Talisman or a tattoo or some other form of ID can get in. Or make it so that no one can get in at all, but make a door that someone already 'inside' would have to answer and decide to let them in or not. A Gray nodded and said, "There's the black mailbox."

                That created a silence in the room. I said, "OK, I'll bite. What the Hell is the black mailbox?"

                Charlie explained that at a crossroads outside the Area was a farmer's mailbox, and the UFO freaks used to meet there and they started calling it the black mailbox. We all agreed that was just the ticket.

                Charlie cracked his knuckles and said, "Once more into the breach, dear friends." He went back to his chair and once again asked us to think positive thoughts.

                He and Olivia went to 'speak to the Genie' again. It took a bit longer than taking care of the Hammer, but they were able to create what Charlie called a Bermuda Triangle effect. Vesta asked, "Are you sure? Everything 'feels' normal?" "Want to go take a look?" he asked.

                I said "If all else fails, and we get lost, we'll meet you at the mailbox." Charlie assured us he would let in anyone who meant no harm to him, his friends or the Dead. Then Michael suggested, "What about creating a place here for the Dead you raise? We know they'll be safe now. And they deserve a nice, safe place after all that's happened to them."

                Charlie got a big grin and said, "Let me show you how it's done." He turned back to Zaphod and we felt the Magic surge again. This time it was much stronger than before. It continued to grow and grow and finally Charlie slumped over in his chair. The Grays started to panic. One yelled at Olivia that she would have to go in and shut it down.

                She sat down and went into a trance like before. But after just a few seconds I could 'sense' a problem. She too was stuck and couldn't get out. So I sat down on the other side of Charlie and tried to do what he had said; I imagined myself as a tree and I sent my roots into the next room. I was just about to visualize the genie when he was there in front of me.

                I saw a big muscular guy in an Aladdin costume and it looked as if he was sitting on a pillar of flames. He was throwing lightning bolts around and I could see Charlie. He appeared to be unconscious. Olivia was not too far from him and she looked to be stunned. Before I could do anything, the genie threw a lightning bolt at me and suddenly, I was chained to a tree. There was a steel collar around my neck with chains that ran down to more chains around my wrists that held me to the tree and some smaller chains that led to big metal rings thru my nipples. "Welcome to my Harem," he said. Oh, SHIT!!!!

                Michael must have seen I was in trouble, because the next thing I knew he 'appeared' and the genie launched a bolt his way. When the blast of light cleared, he too was chained to a tree. The Genie laughed, "Good to see you! I need a eunuch for my harem." And a lightning bolt changed into a scimitar that went flying at Michael.

                By then Olivia was able to gather her wits and sent a spell at the genie to disrupt his magic and it worked just in time! Michael and I were released from our chains and Michael was able to jump out of the scimitar's path. The genie roared at Olivia in anger. "Damn you, mortal!"

                Michael spotted a bottle lying in the sand and dove for it. Olivia saw him do it and tried to distract the genie with the first thing she could think of - she flipped him off. It worked! His attention was on her alone, and while he was throwing a lightning bolt at her, he yelled "May your form mirror your deepest loathing!"

                I couldn't believe my eyes - she started to turn into an Orc! With a cry of disgust she was able to push the genie's magic back with some of her own.

                In the meantime Michael had gotten to the bottle and ordered the genie to get into it. The genie laughed and sent another lightning bolt at him. He tossed the bottle to me as he dodged the bolt. I caught it and yelled, "Get your ass back in the fucking bottle!"

                The next thing we knew we were all back in the control room. A Gray said, "You found the off switch." The bastard had the gall to be smiling at us!

                Charlie said, "Oh my head!"

                Olivia said, "Oh my head!"

                I said, "Oh my nipples!"

                Michael didn't say anything, but I saw him discreetly check his package.

                Charlie looked at Olivia and demanded, "What the Hell was that thing?" "What thing?" she asked, "All I saw was the genie."

                "No no no! Not that kind of genie! Jeannie! You know, 'I Dream of Jeannie'? Barbara Eden? You know," - he crossed his arms and bobbed his head rapidly - "Doink! Yes master! How can I be of service master?" He dropped his arms to his side and demanded, "Where the Hell did that one come from?"

                "You told me to imagine a genie, that's what I imagined!" Olivia defended herself. Charlie glared at her, "No wonder I got stuck! Jesus fucking Christ on a pogo stick!"

                Michael asked him "Want to come back to Vegas for a couple of days? We can fix you up with a nice Orion girl. Make ya feel better." A Gray told him, "There's no need to worry, we are capable of……"

                We all started to yell, "Ewwwwwwww, stop right there, don't need to know, don't WANT to know!!!!"

                It continued, "As I was saying, we are capable of managing for a night or two on our own. Go ahead."

                "Oh, sorry!" I said. Then I remembered what had started the entire ruckus, "Let's go see!"

                We all piled into the elevator. When we got upstairs we saw that all the buildings had been replaced with Graeco-Roman type ruins, all overgrown with foliage. Everything is green and tranquil, very lush and fertile. Off in the distance we could see that the toxic waste dump was completely gone!

                Charlie looked around and was very smug, "Can I cook or can I cook?" "You can cook!" we all agreed. He said that he'd wanted to do this for some time, but was afraid of what might happen, what did happen. "Glad you were here to help me out." We assured him that we were glad too!

                Olivia asked his permission to pick some of the fruit on some nearby trees. Charlie told us to help ourselves. Olivia asked Lucifer what he thought. He was VERY impressed.

                The we-taste-like-chicken Gray spoke for the first time since coming upstairs; "You broke the plane." It pointed to where the last working Janet jet had been parked. There was now an Egyptian looking barge there. It was on a launching ramp that led down to Groom Lake - which was filled with water for the first time in who knows how long.

                Lucifer's pilot came wandering over to us. Lucifer saw him and yelled, "My helicopter!" "It's fine" both the pilot and Charlie assured him. We asked the pilot what it had looked and felt like up here. (I felt bad, I had forgotten all about him!) He said that there had been a "whumpf" and a ripple went over the whole area. There was something shiny like glitter and then everything was green.

                As we all started to get into the helicopter, Charlie suggested a quick dip first, "after all that hard work." We agreed that the water looked awfully inviting in the moonlight. So we all went for a skinny-dip. The water was the perfect temperature; there were fish in it and the beaches were gorgeous white sand!

                Even Lucifer stuck a toe in, found it to his liking and joined us, playing and splashing! What a sight. We finally finished and decided it really was time to go back. Before we got into the helicopter, I did a small magic to get all the sand off of us. I'd forgotten how pernicious that stuff can be! Both Lucifer and his pilot thanked me for keeping the upholstery clean. After all, Lucifer said, "Do you know how many rich Corinthians I had to skin for the interior of this helicopter?" For a moment, I almost took him seriously…

                On the way back, I told Olivia "I am going to try VERY hard to not do something horrible to Leo, but I'm not sure I can restrain myself." Lucifer said to us, "Whatever you do, act as if nothing has happened." "Not tell him that his President tried to destroy everything out there, and in doing so completely destroy the last chance at saving all the Dead?" Olivia asked.

                Lucifer said, "He is a man of his word and he should be respected for that." The rest of the ride was quiet as we all thought about that.

                We got to town about 1:30 am and thanked Lucifer for all his help. He said he was glad to help. Then without warning he put the whammy on his pilot to make him forget it all. "Loose lips" he said. Boy! Don't we know that!

                When we got back to the Palace, Armani was pacing the lobby, waiting for us. When she saw him Olivia asked, "How's it going?" "Where have you been?" Then he paused, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to." I said, "You look tense!" "No one knew where you were." We told him we'd been sight seeing and found a really gorgeous spot near a lake. I couldn't resist saying, "I sure hope we can find it again!"

                "Caesar was concerned." He told us. Michael baited him about the Vaschanka incident and that made him even more upset. So I invited him to the bar for a drink. He sighed, "Ok, but let me report your return to Caesar first. I'll meet you there."

                Before he left, Olivia asked him if Leo was around. He had been, but when he discovered we were all gone he took his things and returned to Nellis. Olivia asked for a car and Armani got her Caesar's limo. She and Alfred went to check on Leo.

                Michael, Vesta, Connors and I bought Armani a drink. We questioned him about why he was so upset. "Does Caesar have to know every minute where we are?" "No of course not, he was just concerned when you were gone for so long. And no one could tell him where you'd gone." I got the 'feeling' that it was nothing but honest concern for our safety.

                Olivia showed up a while later with Leo and as we were getting ready for bed she told me what had happened once she got to Nellis.

                The M.P.'s at the gate took one look at Caesar's limo and knelt. When she asked for directions, they never even looked up, but sent her in the direction of the barracks where the troops of Jesse's contingent were being housed. She and Alfred wondered out loud about the kneeling and their driver told them that Caesar goes out there every so often to 'freshen up' the enthrallment.

                Olivia found Leo in his room doing some pull-ups on a makeshift bar on the door. She asked him why he'd gone back to the base. "Because all my stuff is here." He told her. She looked around the tiny little room with nothing in it but a glorified cot and a footlocker, and said, "Oh yeah, I can see where you would prefer this to a suite at the Palace." He told her that he's not used to the civilian life, but agreed to go back to the Palace with her.

                So with all the chicks back home, we hit the sack.

04/29/2006:

                Michael went back to the Temple early this morning to continue his work. Olivia asked me to see what I could do about removing the curse on the jewels. It was pretty easy. After breakfast she and Leo went sightseeing (for real, this time).

                I went over to the Bellagio to make arrangements with Dallas for all things wedding related. He assigned a couple of his best producers to help me. Finally, I couldn't stand it and had to ask him what was up. He was real "bouncy" (I never thought I would ever describe Dallas as 'bouncy') and it was making me nervous.

                All he would tell me was there was going to be an 'event' the evening of the 1st and that Jesse is bringing some 'entertainment'. I tried to wheedle more info out of him, but all he'd say was "Get ready for world class, front row seats in the mosh pit." I hate him! But I didn't have the heart to use magic to get the info from him; not after all we've been thru together. So I thanked him for his help and went back to the Palace.

                Late in the afternoon, Armani came to tell us that Malcolm was due to arrive at the airport within the hour so Olivia, Alfred, Vesta and I went to meet him. He arrived in a Blackhawk helicopter and he had Cordelia, Debbie, Jennifer, Olias, Morag and 3 of the SDN Elders with him. Caesar made much to do about welcoming Malcolm before allowing him to go back to the Palace.

                When we finally got there, we made introductions all around. When Debbie was introduced to Leo she said, "He's a jar-head." That pissed him off! "I'm not a jar-head, I'm a SEAL!" She gave him one of those you-are-so-DEAD looks that drow are so good at, and said, "Oh, you used to bark out 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' and do tricks for fish? Are you so grumpy because someone tried to club you and turn you into a coat?" Leo gave her a dose of his War Face and said, "Well, looks like we have a fucking comedienne here! An Honest-to-God Gilda fucking Radner! I'm so goddamn humbled by your almighty wit, I could have a fucking running chainsaw rammed up my ass and still get a hard-on!"

                Olivia broke it up before one of them reached for a weapon and sent them to opposite sides of the room. Then she started reaming Leo out for picking on a 14 year-old orphan; can't say I blame her. Debbie let Jennifer comfort her - I'm pretty sure her tears were genuine - and glared at Leo from time to time.

                Oh yeah! Those two are going to get along just wonderfully!

                Malcolm dismissed everyone but the council, accepted a drink, and made himself comfy before he asked, "What's up?" "Boy do we have some stories to tell!" I said.

                Malcolm wondered if it was safe to talk here and asked Morag to make sure, just in case. Morag did some kind of magic to guarantee that no one could see, hear or scry what was being said, and then we filled them in on everything.

                The full Manzanar story, including what had happened out there yesterday. How Leo's report had led to the attack. That it appears that Jesse has already begun negotiations with Ka. The NDR being in town. All the plans for the next few days and everything else we could think of. Olivia and I did not tell him about our little 'errand' for Caesar the night of the 30th. We'll tell him about that in private.

                He was very interested in the NDR being here. He agreed with us that their missionary story was bullshit. Michael suggested using the Geiger counter we got in Used To Be Morganville on their vehicles. We hadn't considered it before, but the possibility that they had a nuke on board was too dangerous to disregard.

                Malcolm told him to do so and Michael went by himself, using his stealthy guy mode, to check it out. We kept talking while he was gone.

                He came back a while later and reported that he had picked up a lot of radiation coming from the über-Scooby. We armed up and went to check it out. Malcolm wanted to come along but we insisted that he stay behind. We gave him a radio so we could keep in touch the whole time. I tried not to think about the fact that if it was a nuke, we would probably all be killed, including Malcolm. Enough with the negative waves, Jacinta Marie!

                There were plenty of cars around über-Scooby in the parking lot, so we could keep our distance while Olivia conjured up a magical eye and sent it in thru a vent to look around. She reported to us (and Malcolm) what she saw. Towards the back she saw a crate with radiation warning symbols all over it and the whole thing had been bolted to the floor. There were wires running from it to a control panel of some kind.

                There was also a note in some kind of strange script. She asked for paper and wrote down what she saw. We headed back to the Palace while Malcolm summoned Caesar, Lucifer, Leo and Dallas.

                We reported to them all what we knew. Caesar immediately made a call and ordered all the NDR arrested. "No don't!" I said. "Why not?" he asked, looking a little surprised.

                "We don't want to tip our hand!" I told him. "They could have a remote detonator, or some kind of dead man switch." He changed the order to have them watched instead.

                Olivia suggested, "They said they were missionaries, right? Tell them you want them to come give you their pitch." He called the producers of "The Palace" and told them to find the NDR and tell them that he wanted to write them and their mission statement into the next episode. "That should get them." He told us.

                So what to do about the bomb? Malcolm asked Leo if he knew anything about nuclear weapons. "Only that they're bad. I'm not in EOD, and disarming nukes isn't part of SEAL school." I remembered the note and Olivia gave it to me. I cast a spell on it so I could read it. It started with some astronomical figures that equated to May 2nd, and went on to say,

                "The 4 Kings of the Earth shall be gathered
                And the Sword of the Lord will smite them down
                And the pit in which they dwell"

                That got Leo moving! He called a buddy of his over at Nellis (another SEAL) briefed him, and gave him the serial number that Olivia got off the crate. He told Leo that he and "an expert" would meet us at the Market.

                They arrived just as we did and after consulting a book they'd brought with them they were able to determine where the bomb had come from. ("Who cares? It's here now!" I thought to myself.) The bomb guy introduced himself as Lieutenant Mobley and asked if we knew where he could get some liquid nitrogen.

                Michael went to the Temple to get it from the workshop there. While we were waiting for him to get back we got a report that Caesar's people had rounded up all the NDR that they could find, but most were un-accounted for. Apparently, some of his security was being a little over-zealous. Caesar was trying to contact his people to tell them to knock it off, but communications weren't working too well.

                Afraid that they might be watching the vehicles, Olivia set up an illusion so it would look like nothing out of the ordinary was going on. Michael returned with the nitrogen and volunteered to help Lt. Mobley disarm the thing.

                Before they went in, I cast a spell to detect any traps (other than the large thermonuclear device) and found a trip wire right inside the door that I warned them about it. Then Connors used Olivia's unlocking wand to open the door. As they got ready to enter the UAV, I cast another spell on them to delay the effects of the radiation - at least, that's what I was trying for. I've never done anything like this before. Once that was done, they very carefully stepped over the trip wire and went in. They had a radio with them so they could give us a running commentary on what they were up to.

                They found that the trip wire led to two canisters of nerve gas that they were able to disarm. There was a radio tuned into the Air Traffic Control at McCarran. The interior of the UAV was lined with lots of lead sheeting and there was a lot of radiation leakage; it was very 'hot' inside. When they were finished disarming the thing we would have to find someplace far from town to take it.

                They used the liquid nitrogen to take care of some tamper-proof mercury switches. Michael helped Lt. Mobley get the casing off of it then Mobley tried to get him to leave, "It's dangerous." "Duh! And if this thing goes off, we're not going to be far enough away!" He stayed. "Fine, be a hero!" Mobley told him.

                I asked Michael to grab the note and bring it out with him. Several hours later they emerged. (Oh my GOD! Those were the longest hours!) I created water and used it to wash them down. They had burns and blisters all over them. Mobley had one of those radiation exposure badges on - it was solid black. Mobley looked pretty calm for a guy that had just picked up a lethal dose of radiation. I don't know if Michael realized that he was pretty much dead too. Apparently, the NDR techs had removed a bunch of the shielding and there was some other radioactive stuff back there - Mobley said they had packed stuff around it to make it "really dirty" - so radiation and plutonium shavings were everywhere. I did a spell to neutralize the radiation poisoning (praise Correlon, it worked!), then took the opportunity to sit and rest a bit. After I caught my breath, I took the time needed to heal them all up.

                Mobley was going on again, emphasizing the need to get the UAV far from town. Caesar said he had called Nellis and ordered them to start digging a pit large enough to bury a bus and start getting some concrete ready. Mobley hot-wired the UAV and I did another spell on him to delay the radiation poisoning some more.
Olivia renewed her illusion so it would appear that the UAV was still there. But it was apparently too late. The radio in the UAV clicked on and a voice said, "This is a pearl of great price." And alarms went off as the NDR tried to set off the bomb.

                I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who experienced an extremely puckered asshole!

                After that little bit of excitement we got the thing to Nellis with no trouble. We were directed to an area over on the opposite side of the Base, away from town, but not out on the bombing range itself. As we approached we saw people with huge earthmovers digging a trench. "Put it in neutral and we'll shove it in." they told Mobley. I took both him and Michael aside for some more healing - I didn't want to take any chances.

                We all stayed around until the concrete trucks were empty and the UAV was no longer visible.

                We had taken turns catching short naps in the limo but we were all pretty wiped out by the time we were ready to leave. On the way back to the Palace, Cesar got a report from his security people - they'd found the person with the detonator and he was still alive for interrogation. Caesar said that when we were finished with him he would personally see to having the creep's tongue ripped out, and then he and his friends would be crucified.

                When we got back to the Palace, one of Caesar's House Mages was waiting for us with a pitcher full of a drink very similar to the potion Vaschanka had made. After one glass we all felt wonderful! Caesar promised Olivia that the recipe would be given to her.

                As we all sat down for an early breakfast Malcolm looked around the table at us all and said "I thought I was sending you out here to free some slaves. A nice easy mission. Now look what you've done."

                Olivia, Alfred and I looked at each other and shrugged. Olivia said, "The Overlords DO owe us, don't they?"

                Caesar asked, "What do you want?" Olivia never hesitated, "Free ALL the slaves." Caesar thought for a moment then said, "My mate and I watched an interesting movie the other night. Some friends of ours recommended it." Alfred asked, "Battle For The Planet of the Apes?"

                Caesar nodded, "An interesting movie. I give you my word, I will discuss it with the others." Michael said, "You know, he is richest who can afford to give the most away."

                Caesar liked that! "Well said! I will free the people! Then all will know our greatness." Michael also suggested that they do what Lucifer did in Montrose: make the criminals bonded slaves to work off their crimes. That way they'll still have someone to do the really nasty jobs. Caesar liked that idea too!

                "Send me my script writers and my costume designers!" he roared as he swept out of the room. I said to Malcolm, "And that is Caesar in a nutshell."

                Olivia said, "This calls for a celebration! We need to have a party!" Vesta reminded us, "Well, there's the wedding." "Right!" I said, "We need to have bachelor and bachelorette parties."

                "There's the Mustang Ranch," Michael said (and got smacked by Vesta for his trouble). Malcolm perked up at that. "That's still open?" Boy did he get interested all the sudden! Olivia and I laughed, which made him start blushing. Of course, that made us laugh even more!

                We decided it would be a pity to let the buzz we had going from the "potion" go to waste. So to the roof and the pools for a daylong party! Caesar had his people see to the catering. He also provided us with some extra 'entertainment'. Dallas and his friend stayed for a while, as did Lucifer. I couldn't help but notice that Leo seemed disturbed about Olivia's relationship with Jennifer but he didn't say anything. He did spend a quite a bit of time with Cordelia; she seemed glad to see him again. Speaking of being glad to see someone, I was very glad to see Olias. I hadn't realized I'd missed him so much.

                We'd come within a hair's breadth of being blown to atoms. It does wonderful things for the libedo.

continued