Growth (GAIA Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  "Yes, I agree. No sense locking you away when you're most effective out front, but we'll get it done." He smiled at her.

  "I know you will, dear. Just remember, saving the world is difficult. But necessary."

  "Yes dear," said Lucas, thinking "saving you is what's important, the world can go to hell", but kept those thoughts to himself.

  "Anyway I love you," said Maeve, "and I love the way you look after me."

  Lucas grinned.

  "And the way I love you?" he asked.

  "Mmm, I don't remember. Want to show me again?"

  Hand in hand they went to their bedroom.

  Chapter 27

  Harrison took the long flight home in a curious state of mind. He was trying to make sense of his visit to Ocean City One and his thoughts were a slow churn of The Director, "directed evolution", life on the Southern Ocean and a pique of low level lust for Mme. Albana. The clearly sexual invitation she had extended refreshed him with its directness and lack of any sort of shame and he realized he would gladly have taken her up on it had he been free to do so.

  "You are free, except in your own mind," he thought, but mental shackles are the most effective. A large part of the delight of the offer was that he could still be seen as a sexual object. "Another perq of Rejuvenao," he thought.

  As the plane broke through the cloud cover over New York he noted with interest how the huge cubes had come to dominate the scene. The landing pad for the Director's private aircraft was atop the most current edition of Madison Square Garden, a monstrous cube which housed four arenas for sport and two of the media networks that owned the broadcast rights. From the roof-top landing pad he was able to catch a robo-copter which took him to the roof of his own cube.

  To his surprise Helene was waiting for him with a big smile of welcome. He embraced her fervently and kissed her with some passion.

  "I missed you," he said. "More than I thought until just now."

  "I missed you too, sweetie. Come with me."

  She led him inside where one of her aides took charge of his luggage and a robocar took them to a roof-top restaurant.

  "I wanted some time with you alone before you went to the office and got lost in work," she said.

  "Lovely. I can use a good dose of you after this trip."

  "So tell me all about it," she said after a meal was ordered.

  He told her the story of the trip, what he had seen of the City, the fabulous under-city habitat and its thousands of denizens, the Director's presentation and its omission of either mermen or space women and about Mme. Albana and her plans for a Gaian Meeting group.

  "And how did you find Sylvie?" she asked, a bit archly he thought.

  "Interesting. Playful, but serious about Gaia."

  "And did you play with her?" she asked.

  Harrison looked at his wife and smiled. "She's jealous," he thought and felt a bit smug.

  "No, I did not," he said, "though she did invite me to."

  Helene grinned back at him. "Did you want to?" she probed.

  "Ambivalent. My loins said yes but my mind said whoa so I politely declined."

  Helene took his hand, "I never thought I'd be jealous," she murmured, "but when I realized it was Sylvie I was sure she would make advances on you and I wasn't happy."

  "Nothing to worry about my dear. I'm hopelessly monogamous I'm afraid."

  "Well, it does me no honor but I'm glad. And tonight I'll reward your fidelity."

  They chewed and beamed at each other.

  "Now about the Director," she said, "how dangerous do you think he is?"

  "Right now I get the feeling that the urge to capitalize on Rejuvenao is foremost in his mind. He was really excited about the prospect of cruise ships bearing thousands of customers visiting Ocean City. But we definitely have to keep an eye on him."

  Helene nodded thoughtfully. "You have a pile of messages waiting for you that couldn't be sent on. Lots of gifts from China in thanks for the relief work."

  "What about that evil CEO? Your monster man?"

  "What about him?"

  "You're not going to let him off the hook are you? You know it's only logical that he turns his attention to trying to have you killed."

  Helene gave him a wolfish grin. "I don't think so since I told him that on my death, from whatever cause, the information would be published and distributed."

  "So you're going to allow him to keep operating?"

  "For now, yes. There are some other interests he funds that I want to shut down but blackmailers can't be greedy. One step at a time so he maintains hope."

  "And then?"

  "And then I'll throw him to the dogs and good riddance."

  "Nevertheless he might become desperate enough that he no longer cares and just wants to kill you."

  "I know, so I have increased our security."

  "Will you have Sam and Lucas review your measures and make suggestions?"

  "Okay, I will. Meanwhile we both will have personal guards."

  Only slightly reassured Harrison nodded.

  "And tonight," said Helene, "after playtime you can tell me all about Sylive."

  Chapter 28

  Maeve had a moment before she was due to enter the Reception Room to begin her day of meet and greet and she was using it to think about her children. Life in the semi-public eye as the offspring of a very public person may have seemed more or less normal to them but Maeve constantly worried about the effect so much exposure would have on their lives.

  She herself had been groomed and trained for her position by her grandmother and felt honored to be the point person for Gaia but she wasn't at all sure that she wanted the same sort of life for her children. She felt she had a duty to them to provide usable exits from a life of dedication to the cause.

  Moms was still the iconic figure in the Gaian movement. Despite the use of the image of the Earth in space as the official logo, Moms' image in her High Priestess' robe with welcoming arms outstretched continued to be the most popular one. More tee shirts and scarfs with that image sold than all other images combined. Moms had become Saint Moms in the minds of many and Maeve was happy to encourage that.

  She never wore robes of the same color as in the iconic image which was white with gold trim and had taken to wearing her hair in a more subdued style. The children seemed to take it all in stride. They treated young visitors with courtesy, rarely retreated from interactions and were clearly proud of their mother.

  "I need to find a place for them where they're just kids and not my kids. Maybe a summer camp..." she mused, "Maybe a week with Aquarius. That always grounded me."

  She knew her fears were well founded but felt frustrated by the little she could do about it. "I'll talk to Lucas. He needs to have some input anyway." Troubled in mind she went into the Reception Room to meet her admirers.

  The Reception Room itself was quite large and Maeve sat in an easy chair with a low table in front of it. Other chairs were arranged in a semi-circle before it. Visitors waited in a huge anteroom which had videos related to Gaia on an endless loop on one wall, printed material on Gaia throughout the room and a registration desk.

  The first group of the morning were two young families from Los Angeles, one African-American and one Latino. As the warming world swelled the oceans the geography of the California Coast had radically altered and the city of Los Angeles had shifted in response. Industries had to relocate, populations had to move and the pressures on the coast radiated throughout the area.

  The Black and Latino populations had taken the brunt of the displacements that had devastated neighborhoods and torn families apart. The two young families shyly coming into the Reception Room were scarcely a generation removed from the social upheaval. Their trip to Gaia had been sponsored by the office of the Mayor.

  "Hello," said Maeve. "Welcome. Tell me why you're here."

  The black woman spoke first, "We're here on behalf of the City of Los Angeles and especially old L.A. to say thank you to
Gaia for operating the Parenting course in high school. You can't possibly know how much good that does."

  Maeve felt tears start in her eyes and tried to smile them away. "That's wonderful to hear," she said.

  The Latina mother said something softly to her older daughter who took a folded sheet of paper out of her pocket and began to read, "My mama says muchas gracias for the Parenting classes which showed us the way to healthy children and a good life."

  The dark haired youngster flashed a sparkling grin at Maeve and added, "And thanks for the Communicators. They're really neat."

  The Parenting Classes had been suggested by Maeve at the beginning of her time as the High Priestess and she regularly heard from its beneficiaries so this wasn't exactly a new experience but the sight of the two mothers and their two children each, the scrubbed cheeks, the carefully chosen clothing, neat hairdos and smiling faces filled her with a warmth she never tired of.

  She quizzed the children on their schools and their school work and the moms on their situations. When Cindy began to signal they were running very long Maeve nodded and got out of her chair to hug each of her visitors in turn.

  "Thank you for coming," she said and was rewarded by the older girl rushing to her side to kiss her.

  As the families filed out she whispered to Cindy, "I'll take all of that I can get."

  Cindy grinned at her.

  Chapter 29

  Harrison poked his head into Helene's office and said, "How about we go to Huang Khan's tonight. Drinks, good food, quiet atmosphere, private booth. What do you say?"

  Helene's face ran through her reactions in a split second but not so fast as to be unreadable by Harrison. Annoyance at being interrupted, recognition of the love behind the interruption, realization of the lateness of the hour and her long-suffering assistant's patient presence, and appreciation of the place he had suggested.

  She looked at her assistant and said, "I'm a slave driver and I'm sorry. See you tomorrow." She closed her work down and smiled broadly at her husband.

  "Okay, ply me with liquor and good food and see where it gets you," her grin implied the pleasures that awaited where and when he got to it.

  They decided to walk the long corridor of restaurants on the main dining level just for the entertainment value. Restaurants featuring every possible cuisine and variations of cuisines, mash-ups of cuisines and wholly invented cuisines lined the corridor. Aromas wafted out of open doors and occasional spasms of laughter burst out.

  The walkway was alive with people coming or going to dinner and it was that mobile, walking zoo that provided the entertainment. Humanity comes in the broadest variety of any species and a good slice of that variety was always on view along the Restaurant Row Promenade. Every hue and shade of skin possible walked by, every fashion style was displayed and every type of body ornament was in evidence. Just strolling along filled their minds with so many interesting perspectives of individuals and so many notable couplings that the residue of the work day was pushed to the background.

  At the restaurant they chose a very secluded booth and settled in over drinks to talk about the parade they had just witnessed. Helene loosened considerably under the influence of alcohol and laughter and then tucked into their meal with gusto. Harrison was delighted to see her this way and happy about his choice of diversion.

  "Thanks, lover," said Helene. "This is just what I needed."

  Harrison smiled and pulled two pills from his pocket. "Love Potion #9", he said handing one to her. Helene grinned back in her old coquettish way and popped the pill into her mouth. Harrison did the same and toasted "To the re-creation of old times."

  Helene began to say something serious so he hastened to add, "Just for tonight."

  She laughed and took his hand across the table, "Reading my mind should be better hidden than that, but all is forgiven. Nightcap?"

  After dinner they ambled along the Promenade, reluctant to leave the show, until the pills' urgent requirements seized them and they rushed to their apartment and fell into bed. They were practiced and ardent lovers and they rode the chemical enhancements to their lust for hours. At last, exhausted and sweat soaked they lay back.

  "Now that took my mind off work," said Helene, "and I thank you for that. You're a rare gift."

  Harrison took her hand and they fell asleep that way.

  Chapter 30

  Lucas was on his way to Las Vegas. He was traveling with one aide on the mag-lev train connection from Denver and idly watched the scenery flash by at two hundred kilometers an hour. They were on a mission to personally inspect the new venue for the fall Gathering. The construction had included many of their suggestions and Lucas wanted to inspect the final result and get the feel of the place in person.

  Maeve had sent him off with a reminder that she had to be accessible to people, not locked away like an exhibit. He had assured her that would be the case but privately he was against it. The conflict in his mind between fulfilling her wishes and keeping her safe was raging and this trip was partly an attempt to resolve the internal warfare.

  A beep alerted him to a message from Helene asking him to check on a discrepancy she had found between the description of the Reception Room at the venue and the images of it she had been sent. He noted the time she had sent it from New York, midnight EST and shook his head in admiration. Helene had been an ongoing surprise to him since she had assumed the duties of CEO from Moms. He knew she was super smart when he had first met her but hadn't expected anything like the dynamic leader she had turned out to be..

  Midnight was not an unusual time for her to be at her desk. She rose early, worked late, had an incredible grasp of details and set an example of principled, professional dedication to the task that had, over time, permeated the entire organization. When she had taken over the Gaian movement was at its very beginning. Moms nurtured it, expanded it, gave it a manifesto, a direction and a good deal of treasure. In Helene's care the organization grew a hundred fold and continued on a steep upward trajectory. The coffers were full and the connections between Meeting Groups were rich and the sharing of best practices with each other and the central headquarters continued to bring improvements.

  Helene spent half her time organizing the present, facilitating events and guiding current actions. She spent the other half tending to the future. She and Maeve were passionate about delivering the Gaian message of Love for the World and all its creatures to the children of the world. Through the provision of educational materials of high quality to all schools that wanted them, through scholarships and mentoring, through outreach and support to underfunded schools they consistently worked to shape the future through education. Theirs was a long range plan to grow Gaia to a billion members in two generations and the statistics showed they could well achieve that goal.

  Lucas, who was born skeptical and who had gone to spy school before becoming an analyst for the nation's spy agency, had a naturally jaundiced view of humanity. When finding perfidy in human affairs is the easy target, and when the work you do exposes you to people whose wish is to do evil things to innocent people in the service of one perverted idea or another, a jaundiced view is your most realistic option.

  He had devoted himself to Gaia because of Maeve. Whatever she would have taken up would have been okay with him as long as he could be with her. Still, between Helene's relentless work ethic and Maeve's passionate dedication to saving the world for the children they had already attracted millions of followers and those millions were affecting Lucas' thinking.

  His work required that he retain his suspicious and paranoid cast of mind but he was bolstered by the growing evidence that many people, perhaps most of humanity, wanted to help save the world. Moms had said "Save the children and the children will save the world."

  Moms' image had become the de facto icon of the Gaian movement. The globe of the Earth was still the official logo image but Moms had grown into the patron saint of Gaia and merchandise with her iconic image continued t
o be their best sellers.

  As the train slowed entering the city Lucas had a reverie of being able to escape with Maeve from the bonds of commitment to Gaia and live a life out of the public eye. He smiled to himself at the thought but when the train announced "Las Vegas" he came awake and smiled ruefully. "Never going to happen," he thought, "so I better make sure I get the security here right." A living, passionate, dedicated Maeve was what he had and he admitted to himself that he loved it.

  He was picked up at the train station by one of the venue's security robo-cars and taken to the front entrance which surprised him. The Head of Security met him there and said, "I wanted to start here rather than around at the rear so you can see the newest wrinkle."

  They walked toward the entrance and Clarence, the security chief, pointed at the lintel above the bank of doors, "We have a thousand chip readers embedded there, capable of screening a thousand people a second," he said proudly.

  "Wow", said Lucas, suitably impressed.

  "Most people nowadays are chipped so we don't have to deal with them unless an alert sounds."

  "An alert?"

  "Yeah, if they're wanted for something."

  "What about the unchipped people?"

  "Like you."

  "Yes, like me."

  "Watch," said Clarence. Inside the doors they passed under an archway where he again pointed upwards, "Cameras connected to face recognition software. If you're recognized it's like you're chipped. Anyone not chipped and not recognized can't pass through the next set of doors."

  "What stops them?"

  "As they approach the door a buzzer sounds, a light flashes and the door locks. A security guard will then take them aside."

  Clarence looked pleased with himself and the precautions and Lucas complimented him on them.

  "This really looks good," he said, "and I'm ready for the grand tour."

  Over the next two hours they traversed the enormous facility checking on all the points of entry, the viewing rooms where security personnel monitored the screens, the secure Reception Room and the service corridors. Lucas occasionally gave notes to his aide and suggestions to Clarence. His aide recorded the walk-through and the conversation for Sam's benefit since he would take charge of security during the Gathering.