07/22/06:

                We didn't really do much of anything today. We hung around the mall to keep an eye on things - just in case the police or any remnants of Dragon Star came back for retaliation. But it was quiet all day except for all the noise coming from the garage as they worked on Scooby.

07/23/06:

                Olivia spent some time today converting water that I created into alcohol for Scooby's tanks. Afterwards, we made a trip to the market. Olivia bought a bunch of cushy furnishings for Otsune's 'condo' - she loved 'em! I don't think Olivia's ever going to get her out of there.

                I bought 14 nine-round clips for the gun I got at the camp and ammo for everyone else as well. We also bought quite a bit of camping equipment along with extra clothing for everyone. Then we bought a bunch of spare clothing as well, since, as Olivia pointed out, we keep running into naked people.

                In the afternoon, I Sent a message to Caesar warning him that two rather large planes would be showing up on his doorstep tomorrow. "They're ours," I told him, "but we'd consider a deal."

                "We'll work out a fair price for them, later," he responded.

07/24/06:

                After breakfast we moved everyone out to the airport for the flights to Vegas. Olivia gave her letters of recommendation to Brenda and Ebony, and Brenda handed over one of her backpacks. In it was the 350,000 chips that had been agreed upon.

                Brenda said, "As far as I've been able to determine - the bag holds about 40 cubic feet of stuff."

                Olivia pulled Alfred aside and told him that if he wanted to go back to Vegas with Brenda, she would understand. He declined, insisting on staying with Olivia.

                Olias had insisted that Osvanna go to Vegas and the two of them shared a tearful farewell, "I'll see you soon," he told her.

                Once the planes had taken off, we poked around the airport looking for the fuel injector for Scooby but we had no luck.

                Back at the mall, Rodrick tried out the instant camp thingie. It was pretty cool. He made a quick inventory and 'stocked' it with a few items before putting it away. After dinner, he asked me if he could see that gun I had at the market yesterday, the one I got at the merc camp. I showed it to him and he asked, "What would you take in trade for it?"

                "Take it," I told him, and gave him the ammo, too. "I don't use a gun all that often and that one would be lost on me."

07/25/06:

                At breakfast this morning, Rodrick and Leo announced that Scooby was ready to go. So as the rest packed the gear, Olivia and I went to say goodbye to Landau and to thank him for his help.

                By noon we were on hiway 5, headed north.

                We were approaching the town of Orland, when Olivia (back in her spot in the turret) spotted smoke ahead. Alfred slowed us down and suddenly the IFF terminal lit up and identified Juggernauts Issachar and Gad - directly ahead of us.

                The radio kicked on, "Juggernaut Levi?" a woman asked.

                Olivia answered, "Yeah. How's things going?"

                The woman said, "I think it best if we all refrain from any intra-familial hostilities, so how about we meet you two miles south of Orland on the 5?"

                "Sure." Everyone manned a weapon or information display as we moved to meet Scooby's brothers. The closer we got the thicker the smoke got. Finally we saw the two juggernauts. The first person out of either vehicle was a real surprise - a Drow woman wearing full combat armor. She was followed by a bunch of adventurer types of different races. They hauled some prisoners out behind them - Mormons, judging by their clothes.

                Olivia climbed out to greet the Drow, who said, "So you're the ones who hit Levi, huh? I'm Carmelita, nice to meet you."

                "We're with the New Ectopian Defense Force, though we're not officially recognized as such," she said with a big wink. "You surprised us. We were just finishing up here when the IFF ID'd you as an enemy. Our 'guests' told us that Sanctum Levi had fallen into enemy hands some time ago. Are you interested in caravaning up to Portland?"

                Olivia said, "We can only go part of the way with you. We need to make a stop along the way. At Crater Lake."

                "Why?"

                Olivia explained, "We're looking for some one. Do you know Ellen?"

                "Ellen who?"

                I said, "Ellen of Clan Silverwolf. They live near Crater Lake."

                Carmelita said, "You might want to reconsider going there. If you're resourceful enough to win this vehicle, we'd hate to lose you out there."

                Olivia shook her head, "We need to find Ellen, sorry."

                One of the Mormons started yelling, "You're all going to die - horribly!"

                Carmelita regarded him with contempt, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Then turned back to Olivia, "Really, why don't you come to Portland with us?"

                "Because we really need to get to Crater Lake. We've come along way to find someone," I said.

                Olivia asked her, "So what's with the flaming city?"

                "It was an NDR enclave," Carmelita said. "We traced the juggernauts here and decided to teach them a lesson. Shall we get going?"

                So we all loaded up and started north again. Going thru town we could see they had pretty much leveled the place. All the buildings were either destroyed or burning.

                We were closing in on Red Bluff and Rodrick told us it was a trading stop, "But they don't have much." So we decided to keep going. On our way thru the area Rodrick noticed a merc company and pointed them out to us. He told us that their usual MO is to take a contract, kill their employer and steal everything.

                "That sucks," Olivia said.

                "Not very nice," I agreed and we all made note of them and continued.

                Evening was approaching and although the roads weren't bad, they weren't that good, either; besides that, there was a fog rolling in from the west. Carmelita radioed that they were going to stop soon. "There's a safe traders haven ahead." We followed them in and paid to park.

                We found them hauling the Mormons out of the juggernauts again while Carmelita was bargaining with a slave trader for the men - but she sold the two girls (both looked to be 17 or so) to a different man.

                Olivia confronted her; "You're selling them?"

                "Yes. They tried to kill my men and me. Why? Do you have a counter offer?"

                The girls yelled, "We were defending our homes, our families! All we were trying to do was farm our land."

                Olivia looked at me and nodded; they were telling the truth.

                They went on to say that the Deseret forces with juggernauts were the only ones strong enough to get supplies to farms this far west. "We lived in that town, we grew up there and, yes, we're members of the Church."

                Carmelita ordered them to shut up; "Any scratch can start an infection."

                The slave trader renewed his offer of 50 utils for each girl. Olivia offered 100. Carmelita asked the trader for 125. He snorted, "Not even virgins are worth that much. She can have them."

                So Olivia paid Carmelita and we watched the three male survivors taken away. Olivia stopped them and asked how much to purchase them. One thousand utils each.

                The girls confirmed that all three of them were indeed NDR.

                I said, "Don't bother with them Olivia, they wouldn't do anything to help either of us."

                One of the girls asked Olivia, "Are you really a monster or do you just look like one?"

                "Huh?"

                "You'd really let them go just because they would do the same?" she asked.

                So Olivia asked the men, "Would you try to kill me in the night?"

                "That is the Will of God," one man said.

                Another said, "We will accept no aid from the Spawn of Satan." He pointed to the men who'd bought them; "These men can only kill us. But you can endanger our very souls."

                Olivia said to the girl, "There ya go."

                The girl was persistent though, "Their answers were spiritually correct, but you still refuse to help them?"

                Olivia was perplexed; she waved the slave traders away and asked the girls, "What am I going to do with you?"

                "Let us go?" the girl said. "Do the Mormon thing and supply us. Give us the wealth we need."

                Olivia said she was exaggerating but being basically truthful. So we decided that Olivia would take the girls and try to find someplace safe to leave them while I got rooms at the hostel for everyone. We had a choice of one, five or twenty util rooms. "And with the twenty util room, you get your choice from the brothel." When the clerk saw that wasn't doing anything for me, he added, "And a private bath."

                "Okay. Twenty utils rooms all around."

                Leo said, "Jazz, how 'bout you and I stay in Scooby?"

                "Someone should," I agreed. And Walter said he'd do it.

                As I was paying for the rooms I saw Leo and Rodrick having a conversation. "What was all that?" I asked.

                "Boy talk," was all he'd say.

                Olivia and the girls headed to where some caravans were staging and found one that was leaving in the next few days or so for Aquaria. And they had a guy in armor bearing the crest of the Kingdom of An Tir in the SCA. Olivia introduced herself as SCA herself and asked about Aquaria.

                The man told her that it's on one part of Vancouver Island, the other part is called Artemesia or the Woman's Country. Olivia told me that the whole Aquaria group was wearing a really interesting collection of garb - Celtic and Norse styles mixed and combined and almost everyone in the group was wearing some sort of enchanted armor.

                "We're not leaving for another four days," the man said. "Do you still wish to buy passage?"

                Olivia explained she just wanted to find someplace for the girls and asked if he would take them.

                "Sure. They'll like Aquaria, they'll be allowed to be Christian there, same as in the Woman's Country; they don't care either."

                The quiet girl asked, "Will we be safe?"

                The man looked at her and said, "Well, now, New Ectopian law calls for the execution of a convicted rapist. The Aquarian law is a fair trial, followed by torture, followed by execution."

                Olivia said she knew he was being truthful, so she asked him how much.

                "Five utils each."

                "And will they be able to farm there?" Olivia asked.

                "Mighty fine farm lands," he assured them.

                So Olivia paid the man for their passage and gave each girl 100 utils to get them started. She was about to leave when a large armored woman who'd been watching the whole thing interrupted, "You two girls can stay with me, separate from all these men. And then your honor will be protected."

                She explained that she was from Artemesia and Olivia had noticed that she was wearing silksteel armor - really nice silksteel armor. The talkative girl thanked Olivia and said, "May God notice your generosity when you come before His throne."

                The SCA guy asked Olivia where she was headed and Olivia asked him if he knew anything about the Crater Lake area.

                "I know it's inhabited by werewolves. Or were-elves, whatever - they're isolationists."

                Olivia told him that we were looking for a friend from Denver whom we heard was in that area and the guy suggested using a Bronco's flag as a signal.

                "Sure why not?" she thanked him for his assistance and returned to the hostel.

                We all cleaned up (in lukewarm showers - yuck!) and met for dinner. Olivia asked me if I wanted to go talk to the Artemesian woman with her; she wanted to see about buying more silksteel since hers got dirty in the attack on the mall.

                "Sure, let's go," I said.

                "Be back by midnight," Leo said as we stood to leave.

                "What?" I asked.

                "Be back by midnight," he repeated.

                I couldn't believe my ears. "Are you imposing a curfew on me?"

                "No, not at all," he said.

                I wanted to continue that conversation but Olivia had me by the arm and was leading me away. "He's planning something. Trust me, I know that look," she said.

                Oh, all right.

                We found the woman with no trouble; she had an area in the caravan that she had 'separated' from the rest by hanging tarps and blankets. She was teaching the two girls some fundamental sword work. She spotted us and stopped.

                Olivia said, "That's some nice silksteel you've got on, I noticed."

                "You and everyone else." She proceeded to tell Olivia that her silksteel armor had been made all wrong - apparently, the suits are supposed to be tailored to the individual wearing them and then "spun" together somehow.

                "Where did you get yours?" Olivia asked.

                "From the source. The Dugway Proving Grounds, south of Salt Lake City." She explained that she'd been stationed out there evaluating the stuff. Olivia told her that we had purchased a bolt of the stuff and had some bonding liquid but the woman told us that in that form it was only good for armor plates.

                "But you know," she said, "the facility was 50 meters deep; it should be intact. It'll need power of course, for the machines that measure a person and then spin the silksteel into armor."

                "And someone who knows how to use it," I said.

                "Yeah, that, too," she admitted.

                We thanked her for the info and headed back to the hostel.

                If Leo is planning something - he ain't talking.

                I (and everyone else in the area) was jolted awake about 2:00 am by explosions, weapons fire, and yelling outside. I turned on the lights and Leo was gone. I threw on some clothes, grabbed some weapons and joined the crowd outside. Everyone was there except Leo and Rodrick.

                Camped to one side of the hostel was a group of baby mercs (as Rodrick called them) and they were running around like crazy people, yelling something about bugs. Carmelita's people appeared from their juggernauts and apparently the bugs turned on them, because they started running around like maniacs.

                It really was pretty funny to watch.

                When the show got boring everyone returned to bed. About 45 minutes later Leo snuck back into our room wearing a ninja suit and carrying a bag full of something.

                He was pretty pleased with himself and showed me what all he'd gotten out of the storage compartments of Carmelita's vehicles. There was a spare fuel injector and replacements for all the electronics that had been lost in the fire. "They probably don't even know those storage bins are there yet," he said.

                "I like midnight requisitioning," I said. "And all that noise was Rodrick?"

                "Yep. He found a wasps nest and tossed it and a flash-bang right dead center of the baby mercs camp."

                "Oooh. That's mean. But how did you get into the locked compartments?"

                "With this." It was the wand Olivia uses to unlock things!

                About an hour later, someone knocked 'shave and a haircut' on our door.

                "What the Hell?!"

                Leo told me to relax - it was just Rodrick sneaking back in.

07/26/06:

                As we were getting breakfast this morning Olivia confronted Leo about last night, "Why didn't Jazz and I get to play?"

                Leo pointed to Rodrick and said, "He's a SEAL."

                "I'm your sister!"

                "He's a SEAL."

                "You're sleeping with her."

                "He's a SEAL," he insisted.

                We were interrupted at that point by the Artemesian woman. She just walked right up and said, "Leave. Get some food and leave. Get on the road."

                "What?"

                "There are some that would plan vengeance on their captors. You gave them the means."

                Oh shit. Should we warn Carmelita? The group consensus was no.

                Olivia said, "But we need to go to the market."

                "You have no time," the woman insisted.

                Rodrick suggested that since no one really knew that he was with us, that he could stay and get what we needed. We could wait for him further up the road and he'd catch up.

                I said, "We can leave the turbobike for you."

                And so it was agreed. He unloaded the bike and asked what we needed from the market.

                "A Bronco's flag," Olivia said.

                "What?" Rodrick and Leo demanded in unison.

                "We'll explain later - but we need it for a signal."

                "Okay," Rodrick just shrugged and headed towards the market. We loaded up and headed north.

                We got about 20 miles north of town and pulled over to wait. It didn't take long before he showed up. But he had no flag. "I couldn't find one - but I got this instead." It was an Elway jersey. "Will this do?"

                "It should."

                Then he told us that while he was in the market he'd heard explosions coming from near the hostel. An explosion had gutted one juggernaut and the other had the cab section blown completely off. "No one could have survived that. And the shrapnel took out that camp of baby mercs, too. I caught a glimpse of Carmelita standing in the doorway of the hostel looking at all the destruction and she was seriously pissed off."

                Then he'd spent some time asking around to see if anyone had any idea who'd done it; there were two popular theories. One was that an NDR contingent in town had done it and the other was that the vehicles had a self-destruct mode that the prisoners had managed to activate.

                I said, "Man, Carmelita is going to be pissed that we left them."

                Olivia agreed, "But she has no transportation, what's she going to do?"

                So we kept going and got to Medford without incident as it got dark. We found the junction with highway 62 eastbound and followed it until we found a place to stay for the night. We decided to stay there instead of pushing on to Crater Lake so we could approach Silverwolf in full daylight tomorrow.

                There was no real place to 'camp' so we all crammed into Scooby finding any place to sleep. We split the night into watches, but again, had a nice quiet night.

07/27/06:

                Before we hit the road this morning, Alfred climbed up and tied the Elway jersey to Scooby's antenna and we were off. Leo was driving but not having much fun. For long stretches the road was washed out and we spent a lot of time off completely off road trying to avoid old mudslides. We finally passed a sign for Crater Lake and found an open meadow area where we decided to stop and have a nice, visible, non-sneaky picnic lunch.

                Olivia and I had just gotten out when an arrow pinged off of Scooby. We scooted back in and closed the door. Olivia activated the PA and said, "We're looking for Ellen. From Denver. She used to know a guy named Malcolm. We mean no harm to anyone,"

                There was nothing for a few minutes, then another arrow hit and stuck in the ground right outside the door. There was a message attached to this one. Olivia retrieved the arrow and brought it back in to read it. The message was a short one, "Everyone out of the vehicle." So we all got out again.

                A voice yelled, "Okay, that's far enough." We stopped.

                "Why do you want to speak to this person?"

                I said, "She's a friend of a friend. We have a message for her."

                "We're playing matchmaker," Olivia said.

                There was a long pause, "Alright, wait there. Have some lunch, but cast no spells."

                "But we need to, to eat," we protested.

                The voice was getting exasperated, "Oh, okay - but that's all."

                "Thank you!"

                So we created some food for a nice picnic in the sunshine.

                The meadow got quiet. Real quiet, and that's when we saw a woman walking towards us. She was distinctly silverish. When she was close enough she said, "Malcolm sent you?"

                "No. Not really," I said.

                Olivia said, "But we're here for him."

                Ellen looked baffled, "Malcolm. Denver cop?"

                "Yep, was on the SWAT team," I said.

                "Malcolm Stewart?"

                "That's him," Olivia confirmed and we explained to her about the Kingdom and how Malcolm is our king.

                "King Malcolm? No shit?"

                "No shit."

                "So why are you here?" she asked.

                Olivia said, "Because he still loves you."

                "He would never say that."

                "He didn't," I said. "But we have it on good authority."

                She shook her head at that, "I told him that intercourse vests no property rights."

                Olivia and I lost it. We burst out laughing.

                "So we've heard," Olivia finally managed.

                Ellen smiled a little, "He said that to you?"

                I said, "Oh yeah."

                "Then why are you here?" she asked me.

                "Because he is our King. And we are worried about the King. Because he is our friend and we are worried about our friend because he is alone. He needs steady companionship but is afraid to seek it because of the sword."

                "The sword?"

                Olivia said, "Yes. The Kingsword chose him. It judged him worthy and now it seems any woman who looks to be Queen must also face its test."

                "But we're not asking that of you," I said. "We're just here to ask you if you are at all interested in going to Durango to see Malcolm."

                "And what if the sword judges someone unworthy?" Ellen asked.

                "Well, um, they sort of burn to a crisp," Olivia said.

                Ellen said, "And let me guess. When he found out about this, he swore (to himself, anyway) that he'd never ask a woman to face that. Because if anything happened to her the blame would be all his and he's wearing all that guilt ahead of time, like a fucking albatross around his neck?"

                "Wow!" I said, "You really do know him well."

                She was pensive for a moment. "Okay. I'll go with you." She held up a hand to stop us from saying anything, "For the sole purpose of slapping him and telling him to pull his head out of his ass."

                Olivia and I looked at each other and shrugged, "Okay, that works."

                But then Ellen said, "And then I'll tell him that I love him, too."

                She turned and yelled; "It's alight. I'm going with them!"

                So we made introductions all around and Ellen joined us for lunch. She asked us to tell her everything about Malcolm since he left Denver for Arizona, so we did. Then we explained that we were going to Portland first and she told us what she knew about the trip between Crater Lake and Portland.

                We cleaned up after lunch and asked her if it would take her long to get ready to leave.

                "I'm ready now," she said. "But I'm going to have to get some clothes somewhere. I borrowed this dress from a friend."

                So we got out some of the spare clothing we bought and let her pick some stuff. She changed and left the dress on a tree limb, "Let's go," she said.

                As we were working our way back to the road, Olivia said, "This was easier than we thought it would be."

                Ellen gave a little laugh. "That's all because of how you approached us. There were people with RPG's hidden away, waiting to see how you handled the arrows."

                She directed us to take the 138 to the 97 to the 58 which would take us back to the 5.

                It was getting dark and the fog was rolling in again when we came across a campground near Crescent Lake. We decided to stop there. We were setting up the tents when I just couldn't stand it anymore and asked Ellen to Change, "Please? I really want to see that."

                She simply shrugged and suddenly there was a HUGE wolf looking at me. She was at least five feet tall (taller than me!) at the shoulder, had gorgeous metallic silver fur and sapphire blue eyes. She gave me a wink, shook herself real good and was off like a streak!

                Leo asked, "That's your King's girlfriend?"

                "That was so cool," I whispered.

                She was back in about five minutes with a rabbit. She dropped it and took off again. It took longer that time but when she came back she was dragging the carcass of a deer. She set it by the fire and changed back. She said with a grin, "I caught it, you clean it."

                "Yeah Leo," Olivia said, "Clean that."

                Leo set to cleaning it while Rodrick tried his instant campfire charm. He tossed it down and there was a tent with a sleeping bag all ready and a cheery little fire with a pot of coffee boiling. Olivia and I built the fire up to a large bonfire and set some venison to roast.

                After we'd all stuffed ourselves we took watches and hit the sack.

07/28/06:

                As we were having breakfast, Rodrick asked us if there were any chocolates or mints that he could have, so we showed him were we kept that sort of stuff. He took a couple of those little Andes mints and with an evil grin went out to his campsite. He restocked the woodpile and water barrel and then made up his 'bed'. Before he put it all away, he laid the mints on the pillow, "Just in case I have a visitor," he said.

                Back on the road the going was rough again and we had to abandon the road all together at one point due to a washed out bridge. There was a dirt road that followed a river and we saw two men, middle aged and stark naked. Their bodies were covered with Celtic designs painted in woad and one had a huge broadsword strapped to his back. They were out in the river, spear fishing, but stopped to watch in amazement as we passed.

                Ellen said she knew this road, "The pack uses it, just follow the river to Eugene."

                As we were nearing Jasper we saw a New Ectopian security patrol vehicle waiting. There was an officer in uniform with two men dressed all in black and each one had a rocket launcher. The officer held up a hand and Alfred slowed us to a stop.

                The officer walked to the driver's side and said, "Good day. This is a customs stop.."

                Olivia interrupted him to say that our papers were all in order. Boy, that pissed him off!

                "Be quiet! Do you have the talking stick? As I was trying to say, this is a customs stop. Your belongings will be inventoried, you will be interrogated and your doctrinal purity verified."

                Suddenly Ellen was half out of the window and told the man, "No. We won't. Or your 'doctrinal purity' will be tested. By my fangs!" She changed and snarled at the man and he jumped back. Alfred floored it, spraying all three of the men with mud and gravel. Rodrick manned the oil jets - just in case they tried to come after us. Ellen changed back and explained, "That was nothing but a shakedown. You know, a big rig like this one, it must have lots of goodies in it."

                We finally reached Eugene and followed the signs that directed us to proceed to the weigh station prior to entering New Ectopia. What we found was a big, long, slow line of vehicles. Rodrick told us what to expect. "They'll go thru everything and compare what they find to the inventory you listed when you got your papers, anything not listed will be declared contraband and confiscated."

                After I don't know how long, Rodrick spotted a border guard walking the line of vehicles - someone he knew. He yelled to him and waved him over.

                "Hey Rodrick! This your contract?"

                "Yep and we have all our papers ready to go, wanna see 'em?"

                "Sure." So the guy boarded and took a cursory look around and then looked at our papers. He whistled, "This is some pretty heavy hardware you've got."

                "Yeah well, you know, better safe than sorry," Rodrick said.

                "Can I inspect your fuel tanks?"

                "Of course."

                Alfred opened them and the guy took a whiff, "Okay, alcohol."

                We waved over another guard; this one had a dog with him. Rodrick's friend explained that they'd be checking for drugs and if they came across anything other than what we'd listed, we were "in for some big trouble." Fortunately, we listed everything correctly. The guy looked at it all and asked if we were planning to distribute or if it was for personal use.

                We looked at the huge pile of everything and just laughed! "My God, we'd be dead!" Olivia said.

                The guy produced a packet of sealing wax and a signet. He sealed the packages shut and impressed them with the signet, "These will be checked when you leave, if the seals are broken you'll have to pay a tariff." He thanked us for our cooperation and waved us out of line, "Welcome to New Ectopia."

                As we passed the other vehicles still in line there were a lot of glares sent our way. I said to Leo, "This is why we hired him."

                Past the border there were a lot of signs claiming things such as, "Last Catholic Church for so many miles" or "Last Baptist Church for so many more miles". It was too weird. Rodrick directed us towards a nice hotel with reasonable prices. On the way, he asked me what we were looking for in New Ectopia.

                "Well, Walter here is an Ambassador from President Ventura to New Ectopia. Olivia and I are sort of doing the same thing for King Malcolm. But we consider our jobs done now that we've found Ellen."

                Olivia added, "Don't forget we have a letter to deliver in Salem."

                The hotel was a nice one; it had electricity and everything! We paid for our 25 utils per room and Olivia and I asked at the desk and were told that Temple of Crom was several blocks away and the Temple of Corellon was actually closer.

                "And right across the street is the Temple of Isis."

                "It's also a brothel," Rodrick explained. "But why pay for it?"

                The desk clerk arranged for pedicabs to take Olivia and I to our Temples while the guys took care of getting stuff out of Scooby. So Olivia went one way while Olias and I went another.

                Rodrick, on the other hand, wandered off to a mercenary bar to look for some friends. He found some, who were glad to see him and after buying him a drink he told them about what had happened in Sacramento (leaving out the part about his involvement). In doing so he asked about the Dragon Star Company.

                On of the mercs said, "Last I heard, they were on their way to California for a job. Was it Sacramento?"

                Rodrick asked about the Mage who may or may not have gotten away (the one who appeared before us to complain about his friend being incapacitated). From the description he gave someone provided the information that he was the commander of the company.

                "Did you see them?" someone asked.

                "Nah," Rodrick said, "I just heard that some Mage went kind of crazy. Did any of the Mages in the group have a parrot for a familiar? I heard they had one."

                "Yeah - that would have been their senior Mage."

                Meanwhile, it was about 9:00 when Olias and I got to the Temple. It was a nice one in an old Episcopalian church. The Priestess welcomed us and invited us in. She asked if we'd come thru Yosemite and when I said that we had, she asked, "What happened there?"

                "What do you mean?" I asked.

                "Well, we 'know' that something happened there, we 'felt' it. But that's all."

                So I shot a glance at Olias took a deep breath and relayed the whole story. There was a silence when I finished.

                "Wait, I have something for you," she said. She was back shortly and handed me some seeds and berries. "Take these. They are Elven berries from another plane. One of our clergy walked with the God and picked these. We are distributing them amongst our brethren. Plant them where you go, but be sure to save some for your home."

                I thanked her for the gift and she thanked me for the news and promised to spread it. Olias and I said our goodnights and walked back to the hotel.

                Olivia found the Temple of Crom dark. Its sign proclaimed "Free Healing, blacksmithing, weapons instructions and repairs." It also said, "After hours emergency - ring bell." Olivia hesitated, not wanting to disturb someone late in the evening but disappointed that she wouldn't get to speak to someone. So she finally rang. A muscular, smithy type human answered the door, "Yes?"

                Olivia told him, "This isn't an emergency, but…'

                The man nodded, "Ah yes, come in. You are a believer, are you clergy?"

                "Yes, from Durango, Colorado."

                "Wonderful! Be at home." He poured wine for them both. "May His strength be yours."

                Olivia explained that she was travelling thru the area and that this was only the third Temple she'd seen. They chatted for awhile, about New Ectopian politics and such, and finally she asked him about the bracelet I'd given her. "Did you know the Faithful one who was with Dragon Star?"

                "Was?" he asked. "I know of a woman who serves with them, yes."

                "Did she have family?" Olivia asked.

                "None."

                "Oh. I was going to give them this." She showed him the bracelet.

                "Who killed her?"

                "I did."

                "Then it's yours," he said. "I made that for her. It contains the experience and knowledge of a great fighter. It can be used only once, but if she ever had to face someone greater than herself, that would have made them equals."

                Olivia said, "Crom told me that she now walks in Valhalla."

                "That is good to hear."

                They talked a bit longer and Olivia ended up getting back to the hotel just as Olias and I did - and just in time to see Rodrick disappear into the elevator with a woman.

                Why pay for it?

07/29/06:

                We had a quick breakfast and we were on the road with the sun, so we rolled into Salem right before noon. Olivia read the directions she'd gotten from Slash to Leo, who was driving. When he made the last turn we all groaned as we saw our destination. It was another mall. Sentries stopped us and Olivia told them that we were looking for Joanne and Evelynn. They let us pass.

                Inside we could see the mall was smaller and less organized than Arden Fair had been. But it was better organized by far! Slash's parents were in the Sears store and the cookware department had been set up as a communal kitchen while the children's department had been converted to a daycare / nursery / play area.

                We spotted two older women, sitting around a potbelly stove 'knitting' chain mail. We approached them and Olivia introduced herself, "I have a letter for Joanne and Evelynn from their daughter."

                We had the right people. They we so happy! "A letter from Annike! Everyone! A Letter!" They insisted that we stay for lunch.

                "Well, we insist on contributing," I said.

                "If you'd like."

                So Olivia and I both created food and this time everyone was quite grateful and thanked us for it.

                Olivia asked, "Do you have an empty pitcher or jar? I can whip us up some daiquiris."

                "Don't mess with us," a woman warned, "Can you really?"

                They found an empty pitcher and the umbrella filled it and oh! How everyone laughed! Everyone from Scooby was invited and during lunch, while Evelynn was sharing Annike's news, I heard Leo ask Rodrick, "So, when we get to Portland what are you going to do? Have you thought about making this a permanent agreement?"

                Rodrick asked what was going to happen in Portland.

                Leo told him, "We're going to drop off Walter (if they accept him as Ambassador) and I know the girls want to go back to Vegas if not Durango. I don't know about Durango (I haven't been there yet), but it's not bad in Vegas."

                He continued, "Have you considered giving up the mercenary life, to start fighting for a cause again? Come here, let me show you something." They left, and being curious, I tagged along at a distance.

                Leo took Rodrick out to Scooby and opened up a chest that Alfred had brought along - it was full of chips. "Look at that. There's probably a couple million in there. Alfred - he's the Overlord of Citizenship. And thanks to your help, Vegas owes us for those two planes. You'll be getting a cut for that, by the way. And Caesar pays in cash. Caesar…well, he's not too bad."

                I almost choked when I heard that.

                "He could probably be in a better line of work, but there are worse characters out there. And Vegas is the only place left that's like the Old World. Olivia, her King is likely to name her his Ambassador to Vegas, and she's going to want to stay there. I don't know about Jazz, though. But if you stay with them, you'll get the chance to fight the good fight and get paid for it. Pays pretty damn well. I'd only been in Vegas for about two months and I've seen lots of action."

                I couldn't help it. He was being so serious again, so I said, "And he's seen some fighting, too."

                They both ignored me. SEALS!

                Leo told him, "Think about it. I'm pretty sure we'll be here the rest of the day, but we should get to Portland tomorrow. Then we'll turn around and head home. I really hope they reject Walter. He's a good guy who doesn't deserve these freaks, and if they do reject him, then hopefully I'll take him to Omaha to make his report to the President. Now let's go back inside. All of us."

                People had gathered to hear the news from 'outside' so we all took turns telling our tales. I whispered to Olivia, "Do you think we should leave some of the utils we got from the mercs here?"

                She pulled Slash's folks aside and asked if they be offended.

                "Oh goodness no! We'll take them."

                Olivia gave them 20,000 and they said that was more than their entire community could generate in six months.

                "Is there anything else we can do for you?" Olivia asked.

                "Well, if you could create some more food before you leave, we'd appreciate it."

                "Of course," I said. Olivia warned them that's it's only good for 24 hours. They assured us it would all be eaten before it could vanish. Then, I had an idea, and I asked if they had any room for a garden.

                "Yes, we have one. Out in the mall proper."

                I explained what I could do for them and they found some seeds for me to use. So I planted those and some of the seeds that the priestess had given me last night.

                While I was doing that, Olivia asked if there were any liquids that they needed reproduced.

                "Gasoline?" someone asked.

                "Sure," she said. "Do you have any containers you can fill with water?"

                So with light hearts and a letter to deliver to Slash, everyone turned in for the night.

07/30/06:

                We woke, created some more food for the people, and said our farewells. When we got outside we ran into a Mage waiting for us. I was immediately reminded of Vaschanka; he was dressed in deep purple velvet and had little purply stars floating all around him. Oh please!

                He gave a little bow and said, "Good morning. Your vehicle uses much fuel. I am here to replenish your supplies."

                "How thoughtful," I said.

                "How much?" Olivia asked.

                "One util per gallon."

                Olivia said, "No thanks, we can do it ourselves."

                "I believe you will need my help," he said.

                "No we don't," she insisted.

                "Yes. You do."

                Rodrick, Leo and Alfred barged past and into Scooby. Leo started it up with a vroom.

                The Mage was annoyed.

                Alfred said, very loudly, "Hey! Our wastewater tank is empty. Cool! We won't have to drain it."

                The Mage was mad.

                Olivia and I climbed in and Olivia waved, "Buh-bye, now!" And Leo put it gear and took off.

                The Mage was pissed!

                Once we were inside we could see that Leo was pissed, too.

                "What?"

                He snarled, "Our main fuel tank is empty, so is the fresh water. We can make it 200 miles, tops, on the remaining LPG."

                I said, "Well let's keep going so he doesn't know he won." Everyone agreed and we hit the road.

                We found a secluded spot well north of Salem, by a river, and parked.

                It took all day to pump enough water into the tanks and for Olivia to change it. We also filled the water tank and I made sure that it was pure.

                Leo spent the entire day muttering, "If I ever see that guy again…"

                We set up camp for the night and set watches, but all was quiet.

07/31/06:

                We hit the road early again and had a nice quiet morning until we were just outside of Portland. We were climbing a long hill only to find a huge tree lying across the road near the crest. And to one side of the road there was a man sitting in a lounge chair and sipping an umbrella drink.

                He was wearing crimson velvet robes (What is it with these Mages?) and he was just sitting there watching us. Rodrick pulled out the gun I gave him and, with a single shot, removed the guys head.

                The tree vanished and Alfred pulled us up to the spot. We did a quick search and grabbed everything that glowed when exposed to Faerie Fire.

                There was a black lacquer box, a wand and the paper drink umbrella. This one had two settings - Pina Colada and Banana Daiquiri - but no cone of silence. In addition, the guy had two nipple rings that glowed. Olivia leaned over and ripped them right out - making everyone wince in the process.

                There was a small cash box with 600 utils in it; we took that, naturally. The only thing we didn't take was the guy's vehicle. He had a civilian Hummer, hidden in the trees that glowed with a very strong Magic. Olivia could only identify it as a defensive spell, so we left it alone.

                Back in Scooby we continued on and made the Portland city limits at about 1:00 pm.

                The city looked pretty good, all things considered. There were some burned out sections, but they'd been walled off from the rest of town.

                We asked Walter, "Where to?"

                "How would I know?"

                "No. What we meant was - do we find a place to stay or do we find whoever's in charge and do this thing?"

                "Let's do this thing," he said.

                Olias told us that when he left, the Council of Elders was meeting at the old City Hall. We came across a couple of cops who confirmed that they still do.

                Walter and Leo disappeared into the back and when the returned, they were both wearing their dress uniforms.

                Alfred parked us near City Hall and we all followed Walter, with Leo precisely two steps behind him (in step, naturally). He was stopped by two armed guards at the front steps, "Who are you and what do you want?"

                "I am Lt. Colonel Walter Evans. I am here to present my papers to the government of New Ectopia as Ambassador from President Ventura of the Reformed United States of America."

                A voice came from a window above us; "He is speaking the truth. And who are you?"

                Olivia said, "We are representatives from King Malcolm of the Outlands."

                "And what do you want?"

                Olivia gestured towards Walter, "He speaks for himself, but King Malcolm wishes to discuss trading opportunities."

                "Very well, come up."

                So we all trooped inside. I noticed Rodrick and Leo exchanging some humored looks with each other regarding the 'guards' in the building.

                We were met by a middle aged woman in a tie dye dress, "You're here to see the Council? I think there's enough of us present to form a quorum, come on in. Can I get anyone anything to drink?"

                "Soda?" Olivia asked.

                "Uh, no. Herbal tea?" she countered.

                "Oh all right," Olivia said.

                "Tea would be lovely," I said.

                Rodrick said, "No thank you."

                And Leo, in his very best 'don't offer me tea I'm in uniform' voice said, "No. Thank you, ma'am."

                Some more folk wandered into the meeting room and took seats. One man (What a freak!) showed up wearing nothing but rough-woven pants and a bearskin thrown over his shoulders. He was carrying a really big broadsword and sat on the floor in one corner.

                Then a group of women walked in together. They all had a lot of ritual scarring on their faces and bodies and each had had their right breast removed. They were wearing togas draped to show that fact and each one had also had their tongues removed. They were all carrying bows, but none looked like they really knew how to use one.

                I whispered to Olias, "Priestesses of Diana?"

                He shook his head and whispered back, "New Amazons."

                They took their seats and sat there glaring at us all. The tie dye woman looked around, "Is everybody here?"

                The Amazons rapped their bows on the floor and signed angrily.

                Just then, a young woman in a flowered, hemp dress arrived. She waved at everyone and said, "Sorry I'm late." She was there to interpret for the Amazons.

                Tie-dye held up a rain stick with feathers on it. "This is the talking stick. Everyone will have 15 minutes to speak."

                She offered it to Walter who accepted it with great dignity. He started with; "You were all, at one point, American citizens. You still are, and the time has come for you to remember that fact and stop pretending you're living in the Sixties again."

                And the crowd went hostile!

                He continued, "Only by uniting can we be great again. President Ventura, the only remaining elected national leader, is asking for, and expecting, your loyalty and acknowledgement of his status. You must put aside this iconoclastic, lingo-ridden, jingoistic nonsense and do what is right. Thank you."

                There was an uproar! Tie-Dye tried to quiet them, "Calm down! Another Ambassador wishes to speak to us."

                The Amazon interpreter spoke, "There is no need. We vote now! We vote now!"

                Someone else called out, "Second that!"

                The interpreter continued, "We don't have to listen to them. Fuck them both!"

                I stood up and yelled, "Just listen to us, please!"

                Olivia snorted, "'Fuck them both'? I'd like to see you try. You have no tits or tongues!"

                Olias cringed.

                Leo rolled his eyes.

                And I do believe I saw Walter smother a laugh.

                The Amazons? They were not amused.

                I grabbed the talking stick from Walter. He was only to glad to hand it over, "I was about to scratch my ass with it," he whispered to me.

                I waved the stick in the air and the din quieted.

                "Listen to me." I said. "We represent the Kingdom of the Outlands in southwestern Colorado. Our King, Malcolm sent us here to establish trading relations between our two areas. That's it. Here is a list of items we would be interested in trading with you."

                I handed the list and the stick to Tie-Dye and sat back down.

                Tie-Dye addressed the quorum, "All in favor of rejoining the Reformed USA?" All were opposed.

                Someone yelled, "Send his head back to his president!"

                I said, "This man came to you in good faith and gave you a message that was his duty to deliver. Respect the man even if you can't respect his message. Or, at the very least - don't kill the messenger."

                Tie-Dye nodded and said, "All in favor of opening formal relations with the RUSA?" There were actually a few raised hands for that one, but about half obstained.

                "Do you wish to confer?" Tie Dye asked.

                "Yes." There was a lot of heated whispering and gesturing, but finally Tie Dye said, "Mr. Ambassador, take this message back to your president, 'We'll think about it.' We will send a representative to him when we are ready."

                She turned back to the quorum, "All in favor of opening a relationship and trading with the New Outlands?" About three-quarters of them were in favor of that - the Amazons were not.

                Tie-Dye said to Olivia and I, "Very well. You may send ambassadors to us."

                "We are ambassadors," Olivia said. "We have the authority to negotiate and sign agreements."

                "Very good. Tomorrow is a Holiday, so…"

                "It is?"

                "Yes. Tomorrow is Lammas. We will all talk after that. In the meantime, be welcome in New Ectopia."

                So we left City Hall and headed towards the Market. Walter, Ellen and Olias opted to stay with Scooby.

                On the street we found a cabstand of sorts - but this one had pedi-cabs and palanquins for hire. I decided on a pedi-cab but Olivia hired herself a palanquin, complete with muscular, oiled bearers stripped to the waist. She also hired herself a half-naked teenaged girl named Jessica to ride with her and feed her grapes. As we left we discovered another 'accessory' that came with the palanquin - a young Ogre who marched in front of the thing bellowing at people to clear the way. We also managed to acquire a large half-Ogre woman to carry things for us. Well, actually, Rodrick 'acquired' her - or did she acquire him? She just sort of announced that she was there to help him - and that was that.

                All in all, it was quite a spectacle. Alfred seemed embarrassed and walked well behind it all. Along the way we saw an inordinate number of street beggars. Olivia began to toss utils at them and laughed as they scrambled and fought one another to get at them.

                We were stopped at the gates of the Market and were being looked over by the guards when a snobby looking Mage walked up and sneered at us. (I can't imagine why.) He was dressed all in purple velvet and was carrying a wand made of crystal. He reminded me of Vaschanka - except this guy had Power. Lots of Power.

                He 'tested' us with a ring he was wearing and bowed to Olivia, "Welcome, Sister in Power." He indicated that she should pass through a gate behind him instead of another one that had a line of people waiting their turn. Olivia asked him if we were all allowed to use the indicated gate.

                He was surprised and asked, "All these Muggles are with you?" When she said we were, he looked appalled and waved us past. That's when I saw the sign over the other gate, "Muggles Entrance."

                Rodrick saw it, too. "Never seen that before. What's a Muggle?" he asked me.

                "That would be you, Leo and Alfred."

                "What about you?" Leo asked.

                "I don't know," I admitted.

                "But what is a Muggle?" Rodrick asked. So I explained. I guess SEAL's aren't much into children's literature.

                The man 'driving' my pedi-cab asked if he should wait for me, and I paid him to do so, but the security people at the gate indicated that Olivia could enter with her entire entourage, palanquin and all - so she did. As we walked around the Market, we saw lots of Mages, and almost every single one of them was dressed like it was Halloween and was carrying one of those crystal wands. And every single one of them was insufferably arrogant.

                We traveled up and down the first few aisles and found them to be full of Magical items of all sorts. Olivia would see something interesting and point to it, and then someone in the shop would run it out to her to examine. There were a lot of vendors selling clothes designed for mages - robes, cloaks, scarves, etc. All horribly over done.

                "Nice dresses," Rodrick said, earning some nasty glares from vendors and Mages alike.

                Olivia was looking for some leathers and Rodrick was hoping to find some boots to make him stealthier. At a shop selling boots the shopkeeper ignored him until Olivia said, "Hey! My friend is trying to talk to you."

                The man looked at Olivia only, "Ma'am? This Mugg - er, person is with you?"

                "Yes he is, and he wants a pair of boots."

                Well that totally changed the man's attitude! He said that he had one type of boot that wouldn't help a person be sneaky but could get the wearer thru any kind of hazardous terrain. Only 50,000 utils!

                Another shopkeeper interrupted, "Be careful. He'd sell his own children. I have the same boots for only 20,000 utils." He had a bucket with him and from it; he threw broken glass and nails out onto the pavement and proceeded to walk back and forth on it. Soon the two merchants were bickering over who's boots were better and they had spread caltrops, rocks, glass, hot coals and other materials all over the street.

                A guard arrived to 'break things up' and informed both the men, "You are both under suspicion of price gouging."

                "5,000 utils!" one of them yelled. The second man countered that and before we knew it, the price was down to 2,000 utils a pair. Olivia bought a pair for herself after Rodrick got his. And during the whole thing, Olivia was the only one who was spoken to. Even when he was being fitted for the boots, the merchants never spoke to Rodrick.

                The guard was waiting for us when Rodrick's girl (Daisy. Daisy the half-Ogre!) took the wrapped boots to carry for him. "You're new here. Let me give you some advice. Take your time. Window shop. Learn prices before you buy anything."

                Olivia thanked him for the advice, "But how did you know we're new?"

                "Because you were being nice to these Muggles."

                "Well, why wouldn't I?"

                He snorted, "Stay around for awhile. You'll learn." He wished us a good day and went about his rounds.

                A Mage had been watching everything and walked by us, sneering at Olivia, "Muggle lover."

                "Yeah?" Olivia said, "Well at least I'm getting some!" and went back to having the girl feed her grapes.

                She thought for a bit and then asked Jessica, "What's up with those wands?"

                Jessica shuddered a bit, "They're Wands of Stimulus. At the slightest touch they produce either great agony or great pleasure. Only Mages may use them, but they may use them on any Muggle, anywhere, anytime they want to. You can buy them a few streets over that way."

                I noticed that Rodrick had walked over to a guard and was telling him, "The Mage Olivia has sent me on an errand. I need to leave the market for a few minutes." The guard stamped his hand and Rodrick told Leo that he was going to go look for weapons, ammo and 'a friend'. Then he told Daisy to stay with us 'til he got back.

                In the meantime Olivia had found someone selling crystal balls. They had a really nice one that would allow you to see and hear someone for only 5,000 utils. We bought two of them figuring that we could leave one with Malcolm. In the shop right next door, a woman was selling a set of pocket mirrors that could do the same thing, so we got two sets of those. We can give one to Lucifer so we can keep in touch with Vegas. Those were only 2,000 utils for a set.

                Then Rodrick was back and pulled us aside, "A contact of mine here in town is interested in those stimulus wands, and would be willing to trade for one."

                "Sure, I was going there next anyway," Olivia said. On the way she found a great little shop and bought two wands that shoot Fireballs for only 3,000 utils each.

                Then we got to the place selling the stimulus wands. They ranged from simple-looking ones for 5,000 utils all the way up to double-ended 'fighting staffs' that cost 50,000.

                I asked if I could buy one - I was so disgusted by the thought of them I wanted to buy a couple to give to Rodrick's friends - and was shocked that the shopkeeper actually acknowledged me.

                "You may buy one if you are able to activate one," and he handed one to me.

                I tried, but nothing happened. I guess I should have known that clerical magic would have nothing to do with the things. The man snatched it back from me and immediately dismissed me.

                I said to Rodrick and Leo, "Well, I guess that answers the question about me being a Muggle."

                Olivia bought three of the wands; two small ones for 5,000 each and a big 'pretty' one for 15,000. I was relieved to leave that area of the Market and head for the section where armor was sold. But even that area was offensive!

                One shop looked like Frederick's of Waterdeep; leather, lace, feathers, sequins. It was disgusting. A proprietor swore to Olivia that all his garments would stand up to gunfire.

                "Yeah, but who would take you seriously, dressed like that?" she asked him.

                "If they laugh - you just have to show them the error of their ways," he said. Olivia asked if he had any silksteel, and was disappointed to find out that he didn't.

                At another place we actually found some useful items! We bought some really nice armored leather dusters for Rodrick and Leo. The shop next door had a girl standing out on the sidewalk wearing nothing but a dog collar that was enchanted with some sort of protection spell. She offered Rodrick a riding crop and said, "Flog me." He very politely declined her offer and we continued on.

                We came across lots of shops selling Mage clothing with various protection spells, but each outfit was more ludicrous than the last. Olivia's little harem girl, Jessica, spoke up and said she knew where there were some place that sell more practical items, and gave us directions to find them.

                But then we saw a sign that read, "Sculpted Slaves and Custom Creations". Inside they offered body sculpturing, all sorts of modifications and various forms of body art. Rodrick stepped inside and asked one of the 'artists' if they had any (or knew of any) sort of enchanted tattoos that could do Healing.

                "Charms! Yes indeed we do," and he showed Rodrick one that could even heal a gunshot wound. "It should last for fifty wounds - but who's going to get shot fifty times?"

                Rodrick and Leo both said, "I'll take one!"

                "Okay - but I have to see your money first. 10,000 utils, each."

                He took the money and told us that it would probably take an hour or so, each. Olivia and I left them and Alfred there and continued looking around.

                There was another shop, "Mage Ware" that was offering things like spell circuitry embedded into the body, dermal armor to be grafted and grown onto the body and eidetic memory added to the mind. The proprietor told Olivia that the dermal armor, once it was installed, felt just like normal skin but was every bit as effective as her armored duster. Olivia asked him how much that would cost.

                50,000 to 100,000 utils!

                She decided to pass. The man also had a wall covered with photos of other options, including some retractable claws or talons that were inserted in the hands. They looked like a cross between Freddie Krueger and Wolverine. They only cost 10,000 utils and Olivia really liked the look of them. The money was going pretty fast, so she asked him if he knew how she might make some cash.

                "You could make Magic items to sell."

                "No, that takes too long. What about trading for some items I already have?" He seemed interested, so she showed him the Pearl that she got so long ago from the Ogre raider who'd been living down in the Sand Dunes. He 'tested' it and offered her 12,000 utils for it.

                Their bargaining was interrupted by a young girl who entered the store and announced, "I've finally got it all - 2,000 utils for the deluxe rape-proofing."

                He said to Olivia, "Ma'am, you'll have to excuse me while I assist this customer. Please think about the talons and come back in a few minutes." He escorted the girl inside and closed and locked his door. I had a quick look at his price list to see what "deluxe rape-proofing" entailed. Apparently, it combines the "erupting shredder teeth" of the standard version with "50 bio-electrical anti-penetration charges". Sounded pretty effective. We wandered around for a bit looking at other stores, and returned to his shop just as he was opening the door and thanking the girl for her business.

                "You've decided on the talons?" he asked her. "Very good, come right this way." He led us into his operating room and had her lay down on the table. He handed her a thick piece of leather to bite down on and then he strapped her down and immobilized her hands.

                It only took twenty minutes, although I'm pretty sure that Olivia thought it was a lot longer than that! When he was done he showed her how to 'release' them and had her practice a few times. "Eventually, you should be able to control the length of the blade that extends, from just a point all the way up to twelve inches of forged steel," he assure her. They settled up and Olivia and I headed back to find the boys. They were waiting for us outside the body shop with a shiny coat of Vaseline covering their purchases.

                "So how'd it go?" I asked.

                Rodrick shrugged, "It was a tattoo. With chanting. And chickens."

                Olivia showed off her claws.

                "Damn!" Rodrick said.

                Leo looked worried, "Umm, Jazz - you didn't get anything like that did you?"

                "Hell no!" I assured him.

                Rodrick asked, "So, are we done?"

                "Yes."

                Jessica suggested a hotel. Olivia said that she was lying about it being a good deal - but was truthful when she told us that it was a nice place - so we decided to check it out.

                Back at Scooby, Olivia paid Jessica, the litter bearers and the 'Yeller' (as I thought of him). Rodrick paid Daisy, who offered to come with us to the hotel, "So I can carry your things there!"

                "Sure, why not?" Rodrick said.

                Before we left, Jessica showed Olivia the 'proper' way to hold and carry her stimulus wand. Even for Olivia, it was too much. She started to leave it in her belt sheath, when Jessica looked aghast. Apparently, it's supposed to be carried as a status symbol - only the military, the police, or professional killers (I suppose she meant mercenaries) carried theirs sheathed.

                Olivia just looked at her. Jessica suddenly shut up. Olivia paid her and she scurried back to the "cab stand" where we had found her.

                At the Hotel, we caused quite a stir. But then again, when don't we cause a stir? First of all, Daisy was greeted with open hostility from the hotel's stable of girls, then the desk clerk told us that for a 'common' room we would have to pay 50 utils a night.

                Olivia said, "That's not the price we were told about earlier."

                "There's been a recent change to the price structure," he insisted. As he looked at Rodrick and Daisy, he added, "There will also be a security deposit, for each room."

                Then the door to the office opened and a woman wearing black, shiny, armored leather lingerie emerged and asked the clerk, "Have you looked at the Lady's belt?"

                He did and saw the wand. He turned pale and I swear he turtled. "I am so sorry! Did I say 50 utils? Of course, I meant 15 utils, for suites, Mistress."

                Lingerie Woman apologized to Olivia and explained that the clerk's pay would be docked for his insult and that our dinner this evening would be on the House, "Did I hear you say we were recommended to you?"

                "Yes," and Olivia gave her Jessica's name and description.

                "Very good. I'll see that she is compensated for her recommendation." She called for the concierge to show us to our rooms. A male Moon Elf appeared and led us to the Penthouse suites. He took great pains to show us all their amenities, including the DVD library, "And of course - unlimited electricity."

                We cleaned up and went to dinner. The restaurant was very nice and offered lots of seafood entrees. There were some beef dishes on the menu but the price was really quite prohibitive - so we all ordered steaks - it was free, after all.

                During dinner I told Olivia that I was going to Send a message to Malcolm to let him know we finally made it.

                "Okay. Let's try one of the new crystal balls," she said.

                So, in her room, she got one of them focused in on Malcolm. He was bathing and had a dinner tray waiting for him. Someone was in the next room playing a harp and there were books and reports everywhere.

                I Sent, "Hey Malcolm! (we watched him jump at that) We're finally in Portland. Preliminary meeting is over. Another planned for day after tomorrow. Will apprise. Oh! We have a surprise for you!"

                He rolled his eyes, took some notes and Sent back, (counting each word on his fingers) "Glad to hear it. Update soonest. I hate surprises."

                I Sent, "I just love it when you count on your fingers and you're going to love this surprise. And Olivia says, 'Don't get your books wet,'"

                He shook his head; "There's something you're not telling me."

                "Lots of things."

                He stuck his tongue out. The old line about "Never draw a weapon unless you are prepared to use it" lept to mind, but I squashed it firmly.

                "We love you, too," I said.

                "What's the surprise?" he asked.

                "It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it?" I said. "Bye now!"

                He rolled his eyes again and heaved a big sigh and Olivia let the image fade away. Then she used the crystal to peek in on Lucifer. He was working in his office at the Venetian. At one point Brenda entered to bring him some files. She looked very efficient, wearing her little Ally McBeal suit.

                I said goodnight to Olivia and Alfred and headed down the hall to mine and Leo's room, but I was stopped by some really disturbing noises coming from the room that Rodrick was sharing with Daisy.

                It scared me, so I scurried past, trying not to think about it!

Continued...