the koas plot against ethan vulerummer

8/9/2019 The Koas Plot Against Ethan Vulerummer

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The Koas Plot Against

Ethan Vulerummer

The Koas Plot Against

Ethan VulerummerCha 6 fromLionWorldbyWilliam E Justin

Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved

Big-E woke up the following morning at exactly7 AM. The first image that came in his mind was of

Maxim taking off in his jet bound for Maui. On anormal day he was up before 5. But as the past

weeks had unfolded, normality was slowly bend-

ing into something elsehopefully a new nor-mality.

When he came into his bedroom late the previ-

ous night, Coco was still awake. Right away shebegan sobbing and he spent the next hour hearing

about her rotten day. Everything was upside down. Even Little B had been pushed out of his comfort zone.The usually pampered poodle-dog had spent half the night outside in the cold.

That Coco would allow such a thingleave him out and vulnerable to the coyotes that often worked their

neighborhoodthat alone proved how out-of-it she was. When he first came home Big-E had wanted to hitgo for sex. Instead, he had to be the comforter. He had to hold her for a full twenty minutes before she finally

fell asleep.

The Le Muffet business jet was in the air by 7:15. The various commercial and other aircraft had been linefor take-off at Bay City International, where a strictly enforced 10 pm to 7 am quiet time was reserved as a re

for the people that lived in the noise polluted area. Only Max and a pilot were aboard. It was the first time hhad ever gone in the jet by himself. Usually the 21-seater was packed with various combinations of his kids a

their mothers or his brothers and other companions. He hadnt even lined up a stewardess for the quickly ar

ranged flight.As it was early morningand would be stillwhen he reached Hawaii, Max stretched out for some suppl

mental sleep in the large recliner he had installed when they first purchased the jet. It was oversized but pr

vided great support for his bad leg. Four regular seats had to be eliminated to fit it in but he felt it was more worth italthough he was constantly in hot water from family members who couldnt fit on flights and wou

have to go commercial.He quickly fell into a particularly revivifying sleep there in his jet, alone, and seemingly suspended in a mo

ing sunrise that would last all the way to Maui. Maxim Le Muffet didnt get much time alone due to his alway

huge list of family and business concerns. Several hours later as he awoke, it occurred to him that the end of fighting career would bring additional periods of peace and quiet such as he had just enjoyed. That was a ni

thought.

At the airport in Maui, Jimmy Samoan Luani called him the moment the jet came to a complete stop. He out front waiting for him in his Asian Motors Rugged Road Car. He could have sent a driver but wanted to pe

sonally escort Max to his home atI Kini Akua Plantation in the Hana District. Max had never been there beforalthough his brothers Bill and Ronnie usually dropped in at least once during the off-season for big party eve

such as New Years Eve one week after the widely celebrated Christopian Feast Day at the winter solstice.

The previous night, Max had Bill make a call to a cousin of Jimmys who lived on the property year-round. message was that he and Big-E each had received phone calls from a particular businessman named Eric at t

party a few days earlier. He wanted to know if Jimmy had received a similar call. If he had, then Max wantedcome over and talk to him about it in person. The go-betweens were each asked to keep this under their hat

an hour later word came back from Jimmy to come over, that he would be there and wanted to talk about the

situation.Now in front of the airport, Max dropped his overnight bag into the top-down vehicle and exchanged a firm

handshake and bicep squeeze with Jimmy. The two all-time great Lion-fighters got right into the subject at h


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as they drove off. Jimmy said they would take a leisurely off-road route closer to a dormant volcano so theycould have plenty of time to talk, while also gaining a splendid view of Maui.

So oafy, thispinche agent Smith got you and Big-E into this too, huh? His eyes were shiny and he was al-most giggling. It didnt seem to Max like Jimmy was very concerned that the three of them were being played

by World Security.

Yeah Maxim said with gravity. And frankly, me and Big-E are a bit worried about this. Let me make surwe on the same page on this, Jimmy. This Agent Smith contacted you to do a exhibition with that guy Vuleru

mer?

Yeah Jimmy replied, except it was his girl Kerri Branghaue who hooked me up first, and then I met with

Smith.Right, Max said , nodding his head. Thats jus like with Big-E and mesame thing. Why you suppose he

wanna keep us in the dark about each other?

Jimmy shrugged. Its some kind ofkilu, ehI mean, he playin games with us. Hes messin with our head

He smiled as he was saying this and Max wondered if Jimmy was always so light and breezy. He really didntknow him all that well. His brothers knew him better and Big-E had known him since they were sophomore

football competitors in Southern California.

Max tapped his shoulder. You dont seem to be sweatin this much, he said with a bit of a nervous laughMe and Big-E feel likewe into somthin deep here!

Tell me what Smith told you guys. Jimmy glanced over at him and then back to the road which was a bitwashed out and had them bobbing in their seats.

Maxim ran him through all of the key details of their meetings with Smith and Kerri Branghaue. Basicallythey want to use us to set Vulerummer up. The guy is crazy about Lion-fighting and wants to stage some kinof indoor lion-fight and go out and kill one.

Jimmy was laughing. He said; but the guy wants a champion Lion-fighterat his side to bat his head. Thenthepanzone gonna run it through with a spear.

Yeah Max replied. Except in my case he want the lion throat-speared and held in place flailin away whi

he try to get it in the heart.Jimmy gasped a little then began shaking his head. Oafy, thats reallymessed up; it aint even legal, eh.

I know it aint Max said with disgust. But they say Vulerummer tell people all the time that...if Ethan Vu

erummer does it, then it legal.Thats reallyfucked up. No wonder they want us to kill him.

Did you say, wantus? Max needed to double-check on just what Jimmy was saying. He and Big-E weretold their involvement was limited to setting Vulerummer up.

Jimmy realized he was coming at all of this a little differently then Maxim and Big-E were. Max, when Sm

finished telling me about just how nasty and bad Ethan Vulerummer is, he made this joke. He said that if I hapened to swing and miss the lions head and whacked Vulerummer insteadwell, that Id be doing humanity

favor!But he was jokin?

Yeah, but it was more then just a joke, eh! Thats their Kilu. I bet Smith said something like that to you an

Big-E. Am I right?He was 100% right about Maxs conversation with Eric Brick Smith. Smith had jokingly told him that if

Vulerummer accidentally took a spear-thrust to the chest, the world would be a better place. But he had saidin a joking context. The killing of Ethan Vulerummer would come in a swarm of bullets brought by undercovWorld Security agents at the conclusion of the exhibition Lion-fight. They would be blended in and seen late

as a group of radical, unaligned assassins. If all went well, they would slide off into the night after Vulerummwas knocked off.

Maxim asked why he was so sure about this. He had spoken with conviction. I never knew you was such

wise-guy he kidded Jimmy.Hey, Im no wise-guy, Max. And Im sure as hell no assassin! The only reason I got insight into this is be-

cause the guy who owns the land here ,tells me things. He is Haka Kahu. Hes a holder of knowledge, a keepe

of the legends, a healer and a seer of the Spirit.


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Max instantly thought about Marthias Grandmother. This Haka Kahu almost sounded like a long-lost Hawian cousin ofhers. Do people around here call him Grandpa by any chance? he asked with a little less respe

then Jimmy thought was appropriate.Hell no! he replied. He explained to Max that in his old Chicanocrib in the eastern part of Los Angeles,

where he grew up, they always called the old guys grandpa. It was a kind of loving, inside joke because the

men were often grumpy about getting old and it helped soften the experience a little for them. But it alsoseemed to re-enforced the older mens sense of still possessing some potency or macho.

Its not like that with Haka Kahu! he said emphatically. He very special. Hes like Dr. Ben, oafy.

Now Max understood. He was the revered teacher here; some kind of local genius

perhaps a master of the martial arts. So, do you address him as Haka or Mr.Kahu?Jimmy pulled one hand quickly from the steering wheel and covered his mouth almost like a blushing teen

age girl might. Max,please dont call him Mr. Kahu or Haka!, he said laughing softly. Haka Kahu is what h

The mans name is David. Everybody just calls him David. He was born and raised here.

Oh. So am I going to get to meet David?Of course. Thats what I was beginning to tell you when I mentioned Haka Kahu. I was telling you thatIm

no wise-guythat the only wise-guy is Haka Kahu and around here, thats David.

Yesterday we were having our lunch break. A lot of us. We got a 60 inch screen out in our big lunch areaWe have a system here, that on odd days of the month we have sports on the TV and on even days the wome

control whats on. We got a lot of women working on the plantation.Jimmy paused and flashed a big smile. Anyway, yesterday was a man day and we were all watching Spor

Talkand they had something on The Le Muffet Crew and you knowwe all started hissing and booing. Hepaused again to see if Max was smiling at that and he was. Anyway oafy, suddenly David says, that Maxim gis gonna come here tomorrow. And I say, whats up with that? Youve nevercome over even though you ha

a standing invite just like your brothers and Coco and Big-E.But since youve never made it over here yet, Im telling DavidWhat makes you say that? I just saw the

man two days ago and I dont think well be seeing him as soon as tomorrow. And David just kinda shrugged

his shoulders and tells me, I just have a hunch that hell be coming through. Well see.So, its the end of the day and David and me have been working up in the Avocado grove and here comes

cousin saying he just got this top secret communiqu from Bill Le Muffet that Max wants to come over to tal

Thats wild said Max. That sounded like straight Dr. Ben kind of stuff to him; almost magical seeing. Noall dreams, visions and pronouncements like Marthias Grandmotherbut a high-speed rationality coupled

with pure intuition. Hunches of that type came of subtle, logical patterns of value most people didnt usuallysee, and almost never acted upon.

Hold on Max.

Jimmy suddenly turned the Rugged Road Caroff the paved road and up a long dirt road that was fairly steeOne half mile later they reached an eastern slope of the volcano whose rim was now partly in view. Below

them was the course of a small river descending from the highlands into the glorious belly of Moo-kapo Na-tional Forest. Max was a city guyhis interest in scenic wonders was small and always coupled with killing

lion. But he gasped at this view with its lush colors and compelling textures.

So there aint no lion in Hawaii? he inquired.Not even at the zoo! replied Jimmy. He explained that during The Last War, the Fascists had plans to pop

late much of the islands with lion to cut off expansion. But many of their staff were poisoned to death by the waiians and others forced to work as slaves and keep up their masters houses. The westerners never sta-tioned enough troops to control the local populationwho never lost control of the wildlands.

Then, even after the war was ended and the collusions began, they didnt have the heart or will to contaminate such a beautiful place. The Hawaiian Islands remained pristine with control of the large plantations bei

passed down through family lines, and public lands left unenclosed. It was one of the few desirable places in

the world that had escaped complete corporate control. It was a backpackers paradise and a huge source oftourism money. The only limitations were that many areas had become so flooded with tourists that a five-d

waiting list was usually in place for those who werentkupa or native born. Jimmy and his family had unen-

cumbered access to the wildlands because his father was half Hawaiian.Max, have you visited Lord Rashlings Castle in Kona on the Big Island?


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He hadnt but said enthusiastically that it was on his list of places to go. I heard it take three whole days tsee everything he remarked. Touring castles and grand houses was Maxims idea of scenic wonders. He en

oyed the mega-bling as he called it.Soon the men turned off of the main dirt road into a fruit orchard. Jimmy announced they had entered the

back end ofI Kini Akua Plantation. That was where David lived in a modest hut-like structure his grandfathe

had first built. They reached the hut but David wasnt there so they continued on toward the main house andplantation production area at the front of the property.

How many acres you got here? Max asked.

One-fifty Jimmy replied, adding that they had almost every square foot planted with something or anoth

He went through the full list the fruit and other edibles they grew there. It consisted of avocado, four varietiof banana, three varieties of apple, star fruit, cacao, cinnamon, curium, strawberry papaya, white pineapple, lchee, mango, breadfruit, jackfruit, red sweetsop, sour sop, coffee, two varieties of sapote and pomelo, pome-

granate, egg fruit, kumquat, passion fruit, rambutan, tamarind, tangelo, tangerine, gourmet guava and citrus.

He added that all of it was grown using something called the Ono Organic Methodand that they shipped prodall over the globe as well as to many restaurants and stores in the islands.

Damn! Max said when confronted with the entire list. All I can say is dont invite my brother Merle here

please. He gonna want to go countin all the produce and probably have a brain hemorrhage! They bothstarted laughing and Maxim told Jimmy a few good stories about Merle and his counting which he hadnt hea

But Max knew his brother would really like this place. He had his own fruit trees and garden and was crazyabout fishing which was a huge part of the culture here.

Counting the produce is my wifes job Jimmy said. She oversees the management.This was the first theyd spoken of Sydney that day and as far as Max could remember, the first time her

name had ever come up in the handful of times he had met Jimmy Luani. At the party a few days before, they

confined their conversation to the usual small talk and the Mary Harris portrait they were involved in.

Sydney and Maxim had something of a history that they alone shared. It mostly centered around a single

night 12 years earlier when they had ended up alone at the Le Muffet family home. His sister and young broters had taken their mother Lynette to the airport while Sydney remained behind. She was, as usual, spendin

the weekend with Cocos family as she often did during that period.

Max had come in late to wish his mother a nice trip. She was going back east to spend part of her vacationwith a boyfriend. Coco and Sydney would be minding the house as well as taking care of Bill and Ronnie. Th

were being looked in upon by Maxim and Merle for the few days she would be away. He was disappointed inhaving missed his mother, and Sydney had gotten him to stay for a moment by offering to make him a sand-

wich.

He sat down and turned on a baseball game. Sydney returned a while later with a tray containing the sandwich, two glasses of wine, and a plate with large pieces of cantaloupe. She was completely naked and her eye

smoldered with longing and an innocent, completely natural desire. She sat down next to him on the sofa anwith the tray on her lap and went to feed him a piece of the fruit. Maxi, I want you to be my first, she said w

clear intent and some awkwardness.

It took him a moment to recover from the initial shock and he let her put the fruit in his mouth. Oh..babydoll he said, gathering in the sight of her body and the look in her eyes. He let his hand run down her should

to the side of her back until he was grasping her from the small of her back. Oh..babygirl he said again, thitime with clear pain in his voice. She put the tray down, leaned back against a cushion, and brought one footon the sofa.

Max came to her and gave her a long kiss. Then he pulled back and told her that while every part of himwanted her, he couldnt go through with it. He quickly averted her gaze and left the house muttering how cru

and unfair life was. He drove straight to the home of Dr. Ben Akiyama and was ushered to the meditation roo

by Mrs. Akiyama.Dr. Ben appeared and saw that Max was deeply disturbed. He knelt down on the floor mat and gestured fo

Max to join him. They touched fists three times. This was becoming a custom of the new Akiyama School of

Martial Arts. Quickly, Max blurted out what had happened. He made a point of not using Sydneys name.


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You did the right thing Max Akiyama had told him plainlyadding that he was kind of surprised by thatSydneys a wonderful girl. Before Max could ask him how he knew, Dr. Ben waved the question away sayin

that he had put it together.Shes not yet eighteen, am I correct?

Not for six more months, Max answered with weakness creeping into his voice.

Well theres more to it then just that. Shes your sisters best friend, and she knows your wife! Max thenexplained to him that a month earlier, Marthia told him she wanted to free him into a partial marriage with h

so that he could go out and have more kids. Shed decided that further pregnancy and baby raising wasnt fo

her. This was the first Akiyama had heard ofthat. His eyes widened as he saidumm. But it didnt change

how he felt.This goes against the grain. Sydney is family. Forget about the biology for a moment. There would likely

a strong social cost if you pursue this. He went on to explain Maxs ordeal as a common one in the long hist

of Great Human Apes. Its almost a cornerstone of human civilization he said.

Decisions and customs about who not to sleep with have long provided the civilization that allows greateevolution for mankind. That is why something so righton one level, is so wrong on another. We have a long

hereditary history that programs us to sometimes act as you did tonight. And there are cases that work in th

opposite of that; fixed mating by parents of their children for social purposes that are rejected by the partici-pants because they feel a sense of it being evolutionarily degenerate or just plain stupid.

Max wasnt thinking about upholding the civilization when he passed on Sydneys invitation. He was thinking about her age and her relationship with his little sister. But it all feelqueer Max replied. One part of

me is sayin that taking her was the right thing to do. Notdoing it feelscruel.Dr. Ben tried to explain using precepts from his martial arts training. The Chi is developed in folds or a

swirl of layers such as a traditional oriental hand fan. In the Akiyama School, Chi was considered to be the

more physical and psychological nature of Dynamic Quality that is expressed in all of evolution and transceneven the most subtle of these folds in the phenomenal world. It was the power that begins in though-form a

is transferred through the nervous system into the musculature where it can be used to lift the blocks that bu

a shelter in the outer world.He explained the various levels this way; Its like there is a path that coils up a mountain that has been set

by natural means such as the flow of water and the wind. The traveler is continually reaching the cardinal

points but each time from a different level. There is pleasure and joy in worldly beauty and our ability to intact with it through the senses. But what is good at one level has little value when circumstances are encoun-

tered at a different level and the focal point has shifted.Dr. Ben smiled as he thought of yet another way of explaining this. One that Max might be able to easilyco

prehend. From the biological level, its always the right thing to do to take a ripe young woman! Especially

when its offered with a free lunch.But Max was partially blocked from getting to the core of what Akiyama had said. He told him earnestly,

One part of me knowtheres a way I couldmake it work.Yeah, you could try and re-wire it all. Anythings possible. But thats never recommended. Its better to j

stick with the usual program. Life itselfis queer, Max! Our job is to organize it so we dont get sucked into

downward behavior that might pull us off our higher goal of evolving stronger, more beautiful positions. Ofcourse, just as Lion-fighters fail and are sometimes killed by the beasts, things dont always work out as we g

through ordinary living. He told Max one more time that he was proud of him for how he acted. Id of betagainst it though if I had had the chance.It was another month before Max came face-to-face with Sydney. He acted like nothing had ever happene

With a heartfelt glimmer in her eyes, she slipped a note into his pocket when nobody was looking. It simplysaid, thanks Maxi, youll always be my big brother. Later, he was able to fully grasp what Akiyama had tried

to tell him. An involvement with Sydney wouldve changed everything and there was a great probability tha

the two of themand those around themwould not have been as well off as they came to be.

As they crossed the plantation and Max got a sense of its scope, he asked Jimmy how he managed to settle

here. Earlier he said that land was passed down through family. He wanted to know what the Luanis exact sition was. Who actually owned I Kini Akua Plantation? David, who was the actual family member, lived in


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what looked like a caretakers hut at the rear of the property while Jimmy, Sydney, and their two boys stayedthe main house. Did they have a special deal with David?

Sydney and me are likeapprentice landlords, Jimmy explained. The way it all went down was wild.When we first got married, her and me are driving all over looking for the place we wanted to settle down in

You know, shes very strict and picky about stuff so wed been looking for a monthall over Hawaii.

Somehow we came here one day and out on the main road in front of the original house is this older guyselling fruit at a stand. So we stop to get some and start talking to the guy. It was David. We get on to talkin

about looking for a house and he tells us hes trying to put this old place on the market, but that he cant tech

cally just go and sell the land outright. Hed have to lease it to the right people. We go look at the house and

Sydney falls in love. That crazy girl had just been all over Hawaii looking at the best houses you ever saw, anshe falls in love with this place which is all run down and old.

It was filled with all kind of stuff from even before David was born. He tells us that hed let most of the old

orchards go because he didnt want to run a big facility. Sydney tells him how he should be making money o

the land. You know, shes all about business, like your sister. Anyway, before long, were here and bringing IKini Akua Plantation back up. I got a lot of my old oafys from L.A. to come over here. They re-did the house,

the gardens and orchards cleaned up. And Sydney had the place turning a profit by the third year. A lot of m

oafys stuck around. They call themselves Maui Vatos! We got a wild mix of people around here Max. We haa party here every other Saturday night. People be roasting pig on a stick Hawaiian style, and have a goat co

ing in the ground like they do in the backyards in L.A.And before that David used to make his money selling fruit on the roadside?

No, no Jimmy said. He began nodding his head. His body language displayed an affirmation of some risfeeling of awe.

David came back here when he was in his late fifties. It was a couple years before we arrived. Hes an att

ney, Max. A big one. He graduated the school of law at Harvard College and had a big career in Manhattan CiHes never married. He was a big playera ladies manand ran through a whole lot of money in his time. H

told us that the salt of that place began to lose its flavor, and he came back home to be re-acquainted with t

Spirit.Really! said Max. That wasnt at all what he expected to hear. He had seen Davids residence and assum

he was, and always had been, a country guy.

They pulled up into a parking lot between the main house and the plantation production facility. Two youboys, followed by their mother, came down a hedged pathway from a plain but well-kept house that was up a

slight elevation. The boys quickly surrounded their father looking curiously at the tall stranger with him.Mejos, I want you to meet the greatest Lion-fighter ever. Mr. Le Muffet.

But Pop, youre the best lion-fighter protested the oldest boy as Sydney Luani quickly joined them. Max

she said lovingly, then adding with a hint of suspicion, All these years and now you just show up for breakfaone day? Whats up with that? She hugged her old friend whom she had just seen a few days earlier. Max

smiled and bent over to shake hands with the young Luani boys. Just call me Max he instructed them. Andyoure right. Your daddy the champ!

The younger boy began to inspect Maxims prosthetic leg and run his fingers across the seven encrusted je

els set into the shin area that were always slightly visible by way of the slit sown into the legs of his variouspants.

Benito! cried Jimmy. Thats rude!Benant! echoed the boys mother, who grabbed his hand and pulled him back.Maxim just laughed. The kids is always wantin to touch the leg, he said smiling at the boys.

Sydney quickly changed the subject and asked Max when he was going to bring his own kids over for a visHe replied that there would be an excellent opportunity to do that for a few days at Winter Solstice break. Sh

was happy to hear that. She told them that she had breakfast waiting for them and that she needed to get the

boys to school. Shed held them back so they could meet Max. They all walked up to a side patio to a tablewhere David was waiting for them.

As Jimmy introduced Max to David and the two took their places at the table. Sydney stood by for a mome

listening for details about why this impromptu meeting had gone off. She knew something was up. David toher Max was coming for a bit of specialized legal advice but she knew that was just a ruse. She was intent on


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finding out what was going on, but would pick her spot as she usually did. Sydney, like Coco, was used to getting what she wanted. She hovered there for a few minutes until the boys were in the car and ready to go.

Once she had left, David turned the conversation directly to the matter of the Lion-fighters enlistment witEric Smith and World Security. I know that guy he said dryly. He glanced at Jimmy adding that hed receiv

a casual call out-of-the-blue the previous morning from somebody with connections to the Level One World

curity agent. Now it was clear to him that Smith knew, or had suspected, Maxs impromptu trip this morningHe was watching his movements.

Maxim measured David as the Maui Plantation owner/Harvard-trained attorney gave a brief appraisal of

Smith. David now looked a little less like a local country guy and more like a wealthy, retired, big-city legal o

erative. He possessed an assuredness in the tone of his voice. It was deep and heavily influenced by his manyyears in Manhattan City. But he dressed about as casually as one could imagine. The dark-skinned, black-haman wore beige work pants and a faded Hawaiian shirt that was unbuttoned. From his neck hung a string of

old Puka beads but his footwear was very modern. He had on shoes that were a blend of sandals and work

boots. They were closed in at the toe and heel for good support but lightly strapped on from the sides. Theywere perfect for working in an orchard, allowing water to easily drain out of them.

He explained to Max and Jimmy that he was once in a meeting with Smith in Columbia District. The man w

big time he told themone of the truly powerful people around. While he came off as nice and casual, he wa man who made decisions that were life-changing for those involved.

Guys like that always think of themselves as agents of providence David said. When things go wrongwhen they go a little over the edge and innocent people are harmedthey blame it on the system. Psycholog

cally, this is important because otherwise they would be too stiff to ever make hard choices. And theyre great protecting their turf because they have real fear about the consequences when things do go wrong.

I mention all of this because if you guys get involved with these people, you need to be aware that they wi

sacrifice you in an instant if the choice comes down to getting Vulerummer or savingyou. World Securitywants Vulerummer and the Seven Lions Organization destroyed. Theyve spent a decade working toward th

They believeand Id say rightly sothat Fascism is an aberration that must be eradicated. Only just law

written in committee for clarity rather then obscurationshould have totalitarian power in a society. Andthen, only with the condition of review being trulyheld in power, by the voter.

David continued, providing them with some foundational preamble as an attorney is required to. The Fa

cism of today is an outgrowth of Republicanism. Republicans were considered to be those whofor one reason or anothercould represent their fellow citizens in The Peoples Government envisioned by The First Fa

thers. They saw themselves as honorary servants of their community. Fascists are Republicans gone badthey end up with a notion thattheyare the true and rightful power to be reckoned with. The chosen people

the best and brightest or those anointed by Lord Christoor even those of us with the guns and money.

They say power corrupts. It corrupts the normal, peaceful, human psychology and whispers to a man that henaturally entitledand to re-enforce this, he ends up enslaving his fellow man in ways great and small.

David paused to see if they were listening to him. Then he continued. Smith and the key Level One Agentare Democrats but Democrats are prone to going off the edge and falling into Fascist behavior too. They are

certainly not immune to the corruption. And Lord Rashling was stomped to death by a democratic mob that

had fallen psychologically into vigilantism. They usurped the process of law out of a primal desire for the experience of power.

Jimmy interrupted him. But didnt they just cut to the chase? They left something forpinche Fascists to aways remember!David responded. They couldve remembered how he wasted away in a jail cell, or maybe even how he

came to see the error of his ways. He mightve been of better use alive then dead. Valuable information waslost when he died. No, Fascist behavior is only appropriate for parents with their children. Or for people wh

gain legal right-of-attorney. Security and emergency people have to function within a qausi-Fascist chain-of-

command, but still, they cant be ordered to jump off a cliff into certain death. A city official for instance, whofails to provide a clear definition of a terminal inferno to fire-fighters, is usually charged if the personnel he

responsible for are ordered into one and needlessly killed.

You cant have a world where human beings are considered to possess basic equal and unalienable rightsand then permit idiots to upend all of that because they have money or position or some temporary advanta

Its like building a straw hut believing it will survive any real test over time.


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Max, I told you this guy was deep! Jimmy said with a smile. Hed heard David pontificate like this beforebut he didnt want Max to think they just sat around all day talking about abstract ideas.

Yeah, I can see that. David, why you quit the legal profession? Max was wondering why somebody assharp as this would retire early to rural life on a fruit plantation. He replied simply that he had had his fill.

Then David asked Max about Big-E Whites meeting with Eric Smith.

He gonna meet with him tomorrow. Im getting word to him later that Jimmy was part of Smiths goofy liplay at the party the other day. Why you think he called all three of us when he try so hard to make us think

each guy is his man? That what got me and Big-E baffled.

Jimmy offered his thought it was done so the event could be used later as reference if he wanted to put the

three of them together. Max agreed but David said he suspected that was only one part of it. Another part wto test their trustalthough Smith would violate the trust they had put in him to do so.

These Level One Agents are total control freaks he said. They cant sleep right if a colleague or a source

isnt on some kind of puppet string. I think he did it mainly to make you feel vulnerable to himI hate to pu

like this but I think it was like what a pimp does with his prostitutes. He knew he had you all at the party andwould be a perfect place to mark you. He added with a laugh that Smith had likely bet they wouldnt put it t

gether. So tell me about that Max, what exactly happened?

Maxim Le Muffet wasnt used to the idea anybody would even thinkof playing him for a punk. He was frowing. We come back from doing this photograph after getting these out-of-the-blue messagesin Big-Es

casea call from Smiths assistant. Big-E saw how me and Jimmy looked disturbedand he wasverydis-turbed about it. He kinda jus put it together...then came to see me last night to find out if his hunch was right

on.David began nodding his head as Max spoke and was going ohuumm. He suddenly asked the two Lio

fighters what they reallyknew about their oafy, Big-E White. This brought strange looks to the faces of Jimm

and Max. The way David put it made it sound like he was speaking about a casual acquaintance to them. Itmade both of them smile oddly and squint their eyes.

Ive known Big-E since we were both snotty-ass sixteen-year olds Jimmy said.

Ahhe my brother-in-law said Max, and we been workin together for eleven seasons now.Jimmy, Ive never spoken to you about Big-E White before now. David turned toward Max and let a little

smile fall out one corner of his mouth. I think Jimmys mad Big-Es batted a few more lion heads then he has

Eh. Jimmy looked a tiny bit defensive. Then he just came out and said what was on his mind. You knoits true Max, Big-E wouldnt even be close to me if he didnt haveyou there always scaring the secondary lion

off his flank. He gets to bat in a protected environmentyou know anybodywould be jealous of that! Headded that his own spearmen were always playing with the lions and that left him more vulnerable.

Both Max and David were smiling. David was glad to see Jimmy finally get that off his chest. In interviews

with the media, Jimmy Luani always had to just say that records dont matter, Lion-fighting is a team sport.Max was smiling because he knew hed get some serious play out of thatwith Big-E. In his mind Max could h

his brother-in-law huffing incredulously.David returned to his query of how well each man really thought they knew Big-E White. Max thought Da

must be alluding to Big-E aloofness which made him appear a little distant. Theres a part of my oafy thats

the books he said. Is that what you mean?.Thats a good way of putting it, Max David replied. But, what do you think made him the way that he is?

Well, you know who his daddy is, right?Fucking Buster White! David ejaculated, shaking his head the way people always did when the name wamentioned; and they all started laughing.

Anybody who spends much time aroundpinche Busterhe not gonna be altogether normal Jimmy said.Especially his kid. I always had to feel sorry for Big-E on that. You know, his mother died and left him with

Buster. Then we didnt see him for three years after that. Jimmy looked at Max. He was gonna be a great

linebacker, oafy. Probably the greatest ever. We first met on the football field. I was coming up the sidelinewith the ball and he was coming up on me straight up! Nobody ever came on me straight up because I was ju

too big. But Big-E was similar in size, weight and force to me. And here he come, andwhack! Jimmy

dropped his hand down hard on the table. And Whack!There had been two collisionsan initial mighty oneand another shorter one. Then other players came

flying in and Jimmy and Big-E ended up out-of bounds, beneath a pile-up with the front of their helmets push


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together, forehead-to-forehead, and their eyes locked into on anothers while the players all got up and cameaway. It was something people talked about for a long time. It was the first time I wasnt able to just run a g

over Jimmy confessed.Max liked the story and was all smiles but David was waiting for a moment to tell them what they didnt

knowabout Big-E White. When Jimmy paused following a funny story about their early days fighting fringe l

outside of Riverside in Southern California, he found his spot. I know some things about Big-E that you guywouldnt suspect David began.

For several years while he was living in The Arid Zone, he studied under a World Security martial arts in-

structor they called Saint Paul because the guy had never actually fought in real battles outside the competiti

arena. He was a champion in his weight class and then became a respected instructor.Everybody knows that Jimmy interrupted. Its part of Big-Es biography. One sports show did a portra

on this Saint Paul.

But that program was based on the cover story they always use David replied. It didnt penetrate much

beyond the surface. This Saint Paul is part Native Americanabout one-fourth. He grew up on Native Amercan soil among the yaHopi people. He is for all rights and purposes a Native American man who shed many o

their mannerisms to conceal his primary heritage. And he brought Big-E into this world.

That was a revelation to Max. As far as he knew, nobodynot Coco, not old Busterknew anything abouBig-E having some kind of secret life among Native Americans. He asked David how he knew that.

Ill get to that. But first let me tell you the true story about something calledWashington Kachina.David sipped from a glass of juice made from various fruits and other ingredients grown on the plantation

and continued. He told Max and Jimmy a legendary story from the time of The American Revolution one-hundred-and-sixty years earlier. It concerned an unknown soldier from that era named George Washingtonwho was a boyhood friend of Jeffersonthe countrys first president.

Washington was a respected soldier but never made a name for himself. He served in the personal guardJefferson and for others among The First Fathers. He also fought in various Army units to quell some of the

many Native American slave uprisings.

Then during the war with the British he was called upon for a secret mission to the English coast. He waslead the first of what we now call extermination squads. He was given three ships full of soldiers and sent t

burn down a few townships there. They were to kill a few mencriminals, town drunks or piggish officials

then leave with the bodies hung upside down from their ships. They wanted to send the message to the Britpeople that just because the war was taking place on the other side of the Atlantis Oceanthat it didnt mean

they werent at risk themselves. They picked Washington because he was a man that could calmly read the ccumstances and prevent things from getting out of control.

But this George Washington couldnt do it. He couldnt lead any murderous rampage against innocent pe

ple. So after the first town, he turned the ships back to America and presented himself before Jefferson. He wdeeply distraught and Jefferson was worried that his boyhood friend might even try and kill himself, so he

found him another mission.This one consisted of leading a contingent of soldiers to accompany an explorer named Clarke Lewis that

Jefferson was sending west to map out the continent. He was given the name Captain Hill since the name Wa

ington had become synonymous with coward by many among The First Fathersbecause the man was unwilling to carry out his mission on the English Coast.

The First Fathers had come to realize that the work of securing America against the British was only a firchapter in what would be a long work that would continue for decades. The wildlands to the west would betaken and The Native American people would be raised to European educational standards as they worked a

slave labor in the ambitious new country. The First Fathers considered themselves to be the best and thebrightest; The Rational Choice For Leadership as one political party used as its slogan. Many were Fascists

whose only real gripe with the British was that they occupied a rung above them on the ladder of exploitatio

of the new world.The Clarke Lewis exploration team sent by Jefferson had a hard time of it. Washingtons military escort h

lost a third of its soldiers by the time they came into The Arid Zone. In danger of being fully annihilated by N

tive American warriors they were driven into lands ruled by the yaHopi People who gave them sanctuary. TyaHopis were a peaceful people mainly because other tribes feared their shaman clanwhich was said to da


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back into antiquity. The Americans were given a guest pass while they prepared to either push on toward thPacific or go back east. The yaHopi allowed them to mix with their various clans and exchange information.

Washington was adopted by the shaman clan as a protg. The Clarke Lewis team spent three years amothe yaHopi before deciding to go back home. In that time, Washington was fully adept in the Kachina Arts, a

the people called it. He had even once left the yaHopi lands to go with members of his clan to The Great Crat

in the south of The Arid Zone, where shaman from all over the region came every twelve years to comingle aparticipate in an ancient ceremony.

David asked Max and Jimmy if they were familiar with the word Kachina. Jimmy wasnt but Max was. He h

gone with Marthia and Isis on a trip to Santa Fe in the east of The Arid Zone. The women went on a shopping

trip and came back with three figurines called Kachina dolls. One to represent Max, one for Marthia, and onerepresent Isis.

Max wasnt the type of man to pay much notice to figurines and the three dolls ended up in a display case a

the Le Muffet compound in The Oakland. Every once-in-a-while he would notice his Kachina doll and becam

bit interested in how the expression on its face seemed to differ depending on how the light from a nearby wdow struck it. One day, the doll was gone and he asked Marthia what had happened to it since he remember

it was there the previous day. She didnt know and neither did Isis. The only two people in the house beside

them who wouldve had access to it was a long-time cleaning woman and Marthias grandmother, who hadstayed over for a couple of days. Max never said another word about it but he was convinced it had been the

grandmother who had taken the Kachina doll picked to represent him. The next time he saw her she was allsmiles and laughter when she was in the same room as him. Usually, she adopted a somewhat somber perso

around him.Kachina is a magnificent concept David continued. It has a cousin word in the old Sanskrit language cal

Sat. Sat roughly translates to stuff or that which is. Its considered as the spiritual sub-surface in all pheno

enathe oceanic source of all various episodic waves. Kachina can be anything. It can be a dance, a doll, a cocept, a person, a rock; anything that coheres and everything there is from which coherent subjects and objec

appear. The first definition of both Sat and Kachina would be: that which aggregates and appears in Truth

an episode of Truth in which a subject or an object appears in some kind of meaningful way before melting binto the great reservoir.

Max wanted to know if Kachina dolls were similar to Voodoo dolls. David replied that they were very sim

but that the figurines of Voodoo were often misused in more the opposite fashion. Kachina dolls are aboutenlightenment, remembrance and healing. Voodoo dolls are often lower class objects used by non-priests to

vent their anger on. Actually, some of the great mis-users of Voodoo dolls today are the people who create atack ads and other predatory bits for the different media. David laughed at his improvisation but stopped

when he saw redness fill the whites of Maxs eyes.

Littlepunk-ass shamans said Max disdainfully. This thought had caused a flash of anger to pass throughhim. Years before, a comic skit appeared where somebody had a figurine ofhim being abused by a giant hand

with a pencil. The comic writer whod created it later had an encounter with a ten-pound sledge hammerwielded by a man people suspected to be an outraged fan of Maxim Le Muffet. The hammer attack permanen

ruined one of the writers knees. Strangely, that had occurred only a few weeks before Maxims famous battl

with the greatest lion that ever lived. A Lion-fight with a final result of leaving him with a prosthetic leg.So how does Big-E play into all of this David? Jimmy asked.

Well, as I said, there are some things that you guys dont know about your oafy.When he first settled in Phoenicia, Buster went on assignment to do a Lion-fighting broadcast. Big-E wasstaying at the house of a neighbor. He went with some kids to the river, to a waterfall. There was a place wh

the braver boys would jump into a basin pool among the rocks. On the way down, Big-Es head hit an extrudarea in the rock and he was badly hurt. He actually stopped breathing for some time and was in a near coma

state for 24 hours. The shaman of the southwest have a term they use to describe such a mental state. Its

called original Kachina. Theyd say Big-E was in original Kachina while it appeared he was unconscious. Butthe state oforiginal Kachina is not unconsciousness. One still has awareness, but of...awareness itself. Its

awareness without form. The knower, the process of knowing, and that which is known are merged in origin

Kachina. On medical test equipment, it often appears as the state of brain deathdespite the fact they retainthe breath, heartbeat and other body functions.


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Very often, people dont return from this. They eventually shut down physically in something like a longpattern of dimming lights. Big-E though, came back up fairly rapidly. He re-formatted so-to-speak, became r

acquainted with his prior memory set, and grew into the man you know today. Most people wouldnt remember much about emerging from the state oforiginal Kachina. But Big-E was taken in by this Saint Paul. He w

able to help him remember the first fundamental movements of the re-formatting of his mind. These are cal

the Kachina Ancestors. The old Athenians called them the original forms. From different cultures have comedifferent ways of talking about this. The Yod He Vau He of the ancient Hebrews would be considered words o

description for the Kachina Ancestors of the yaHopi.

The ability to understand the Kachina Ancestors is as important to a shaman as the cardinal points are to

map maker. This Saint Paul didnt only teach martial arts to Big-E, but intricate ways of looking at the worldaround him. David suddenly stopped talking and it was quiet. Neither Max or Jimmy knew what to say.

But let me finish what I was telling you about this George Washington guy

He returned to the east with the rest of the Clarke Lewis expedition. For the rest of his life he functioned

a kind of parlor room host of informal gatherings at his home in the newly built Columbia District. Some ofthose who passed through were tabbed as protg and Washington built a type of secret society with a very

faint footprint. The descendants of this group began to refer to themselves asWashington Kachina. There ar

stories of key events where they have intervened. They were said to have done things that made it possible Lincoln to transform outright slavery into the milder legal status of indentured servitude that followed. Ive

heard stories that they were involved in pushing America into the post-war plans to create World Security. Tday, they might be the hidden hand that is silently guiding people like Eric Smith into the final overthrow of

Fascism.So Big-Es one of these Washington Kachina ? Thats what youre saying. Max was looking for David to p

it in those terms.

Yes Max, thats what Im saying. But you have to remember that Im just a guy who has heard things. Theis no formal roster for this. They dont have annual meetings or anything like that. They dont even know m

about it themselves for the most part. They are people who just have contactswho have other contacts. Th

function more like a waveform. As he said this he used his hand to simulate the rise and fall of a wave.Off in the distance, David spotted Sydney Luanis car getting ready to turn into the front entrance ofI Kini

Akua Plantation. He realized they had been talking for quite a while now. Anyway he said, I just wanted y

guys to have a little background on your oafy Big-E. If you guys stay involved with Smith, you need to really derstand that this is no joke.

Yeah, Jimmy said with some pride, Butwe aint no joke either! Huh Max?Max smiled at Jimmy and looked over at David. Well, Big-E sounded to me like he thatclose to telling Sm

hes out. And if Big-E out, so am I.

What about you, Jimmy? David asked in a strong, serious tone of voice.I dont know he replied in his almost boyish way. I been fighting lion for a long time now. Its starting t

get a bit boring. Id really like to be a part of kicking this Vulerummers ass! He paused and let his mind goover the full spectrum of the question. We gonna know a whole lot more when Big-E talks to Smith.

The sliding glass door suddenly opened and Sydney Luani appeared. She came around the table up behind

her husband and let her arms drape over his chest. She noticed right away that the three men looked a tiny bweary as if they had had a very serious conversation. She told them point blank that she knew something wa

up and would like to be let in on it.Woman! Jimmy said with a mock hardness in his voice. You not suppose to talk to hombres like that, ehThis made her send her down in attack mode toward Jimmys crotch and he quickly covered up. No, no, Im

ust playing! He looked at Max and said that his wife ruled the roost around there. Hah, David?Thats right he replied as he climbed up from the table. Shes the plantation mistress. David smiled at

Sydney and gave her a reassuring wink.

In Santa Barbara, at Los Grotto de Mirillo Agua, Big-E White had just met up with his friend the anthropolo

professor. He had jogged the first half of the five-mile trail that connected the grotto with the back of his trai

ing facility at the rear of his property. The professor was waiting for him at the junction of the trail. He haddriven in along a dirt road in his Asian Motors Rough Road Car. The road looped around the trail and came to

their destination from above the grotto where they hiked down into its barely penetrable sheath of rock. At


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certain point Big-E saw the hint of the footpath used by the strange lion when it appeared to him during his l

visit.Big-E casually asked his companion if hed mentioned any of this to anyone. The professor said the time

wasnt right and he hadnt brought it upwhich was true. I thought I should see this for myself before I

breathed any word of it he added. As he was driving and looking at the road, Big-E was unable to measure tlook on his face as he said this. The fact was that a woman from World SecurityKerri Branghauehad call

and brought the matter up with the professor. She said they had captured video of Big-E Whites discovery o

the cave and had placed a temporary information lock to prevent a stream of gawkers from coming into thearea. She asked him to work with them and slow the process of publicly announcing the discovery. It would

even better, she had told him, if Big-E was left in the dark about their conversation. The professor agreed.

The rock slope above the cave flattened and jutted out like the brim of a hat. They came to a point Big-E sawas right above the site. The professor wondered about the angle a security camera would require to view t

protected nook from a point above the canyon. He realized there wasnt any and that the World Security lenKerri Branghaue mentioned must be implanted inside the grottoperhaps at a point from a hidden location

more toward the water pools that every once-in-a-while played host to skinny-dipping hikers. He knew ther

were a few ofthem. Once, he found a used condom pushed into a crevice next to the one of the hot pools.There were no cameras. That was just a cover story Kerri Branghaue had thought up. The Corporation fo

Public Wildlands Tours (CPT), which owned the land, were in the process of installing a network of such videtaping equipment throughout their vast holdings of various wildlands all over the world. But they hadnt yet

come to Los Grotto de Mirillo Agua.

The professor was wonder-struck at the sight of the long-hidden cave. Big-E showed him the huge piece orock that had suddenly dislodged itself and tumbled into the creek from above. Gaining a position on the litt

bit of ledge above the cave, he held a flashlight while the professor photographed the full interior as he stooda position from the other side of the stream.Big-E helped the professor to climb into the cave for the first time. The anthropologist instinctively laid

down inside the sunken area cut into the rock that mirrored the shape of the human form. He asked excitedlBig-E could get a picture of him to show how a body fits into the cut-out. Big-E was holding the flashlight wit

one hand while grasping some of the rock to maintain balance. He didnt see any way of doing both and look

around to see if there was something he might use to rig a support for his body and free up both hands. He dnt see anything short of piling boulders up from the floor of the creek. He asked his companion if he had an

rope in his vehicle. He didnt, but pulled off his belt and asked Big-E if he could use it in conjunction with his

own to tether himself to the rock. When he had the belts looped together, Big-E stretched it out to some vinegrowing amidst the rock and successfully accomplished the rigging. He was able to get the photograph show

ing the professors body lying below the surface of the cave floor in the cut-out region.


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The focus then came to the cave art. As he reached in and fully illuminated the figures, Big-E gasped inter-nally over the sight of the three warriors. Although reduced in scope and complexity, this portion of the cave

art was deeply similar to the photograph taken by Mary Harris of him, Max and Jimmy. When he had checkehis e-mail earlier that morning, a packet from her was there along with a draft proof of her choice for the

Portrait of The Lion-fighters which would go into the National Gallery in Columbia District. Although impo

sible, it looked as if the drawer of the cave art had inscribed the likeness from that photograph.Big-E didnt tell any of this to the professor. Instead, he went on about how the image of the three warrior

reminded him of something he couldnt quite put his finger on. He knew that the professor would eventually

see the Mary Harris photograph and put everything together for himself. But this odd coincidence was not

something he wanted to share at the moment. It would only excite more curiosity and possibly cause convertions to ensue that he wanted postponed for the time being.

These three figures bring a word to mind the professor told Big-E. Its a Polynesian word for fighting

men. The Koas.

Five miles away back at the house, Coco and Robert had made their decision. They would go to Australia a

talk about the cancellation of the contract directly with their friends atAussie BP. An e-mail had come in dur

the previous hour from them that had been routed through a server in Wisconsin of all places. The text of thmessage had been disguised and wasnt signed. It said:

Dear Coco and Robert, were so sorry we wont be able to attend the meeting as we had discussed. Theweather here has become worst then I can tell you. Perhaps we can do that meeting at a later timeits very

important to us. But for right now its like a big monster is hovering above us and were frightened to leave.Please do take care. The storm seems to be moving into your area.

When Coco read this she became instantly inflamed. She was sitting at the table in the breakfast nook wh

her and Robert had their laptops set-up. Her coffee mug was beside her and she grabbed it, drank the remaiing coffee inside, then flung it into the gas fireplace beside her. It made a large sound when it hit. Little B wa

laying contentedly on his mat in the kitchen area. He saw this and went outside. It was best to go outside wh

The Goddess was angry.We should to go to Australia right away Coco said, trying hard to muffle the reoccurrence of rage.

Robert Casoni was calm and collected. Randi had woken him early for a candlelight sunrise bath that fea-

tured warmed green tea and soy milk flavored with honey and a dash of cinnamon. He had soft instrumentaof peaceful Christopian hymns playing genteelly on the stereo. Robert came to work clear and rested. I thin

we need to find out just who were up against he replied to Cocos out-of-the-blue comment. We dont knowho they are.

This set her off. Theyre assholes she announced in a shrill, saucy tone. And theyneed to find out who w

are! Who I am, who my husband is, who my big brother is, who you are, who. Robert cut her off before shcould go down the entire list of friends and family that would eventually wind down to and who my god-

damned little dog is! He asked her if she just planned to drop in on their associates at Aussie BP unannouncExactly. They willfeelour support if we do it like that. You can tell by the message they are terrified. If w

show em they have powerful allies, theyll talk to us and well get the name of whose trying to mess things up

Coco looked at Robert sternly. And I dont care how much money this costs.This statement had cut Robert off. It was his job to point out that the Aussie BP account was not even apt

be a profit maker. But she let him know that money was the least of her interests in this deal. This particulaproduct line was like a child to her. Shed envisioned it several years earlier. There was no place in the worlbetter then the relatively small Aussie BP chain for introducing it.

Coco grabbed her phone and called the Le Muffet office in The Oakland to have the company jet sent to theairport 50 miles south of Santa Barbara. She was informed that her brother Maxim had taken it to Hawaii ea

that morning. She called Max.

He was watching sports at the production facility lunch and recreation area with many of the workers ofIKini Akua Plantation. Jimmy had gone to pick up his sons and David had left to do counseling sessions he sch

uled each week with people there. The work day was over but many were staying around late to spend time

with the great Lion-fighter. One young woman was flirting ceaselessly with him. She called herself apineapple-Asianpart Hawaiian, part Chinese. Max thought she was adorable as she kept telling him that


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she wanted to try out for the Le Muffet team. She kept saying she wanted to take him back to her apartmenHe saw the call from his sister come in and it was on the fifth ring that he decided to take the call.

Maxi, wha you doin up in Hawaii?.Ahjus had an impromptu business thing here.

When you comin back? I gotta take the jet to Australia A.S.A.P. He asked her why and she spilled the

whole story in one big emotional outburst.That sound serious he said as he looked into the eager eyes of the adorable pineapple-Asian girl. Max co

feel the wind change direction. He had originally planned to come straight home after talking to Jimmy but h

been side-tracked by his tour of the grounds and the fragrant smell of the place. He could see now why his

brothers Bill and Ronnie were always wanting to come here. The place was a revelation he had only began tuncover.

But now he snapped out of it. Max had lots of things to do with his kids and agreed to meet her at the airp

in 6 to 8 hours. He told her to try and get Big-E to drive her. He had some things he wanted to talk to him ab

When he put the phone away, the young woman sitting across from him said that she was available to drivehim to the airport. Theres a nice little secluded spot with a great view along the way she said. You could

give me a tryout right there!. Max chuckled softly and thought to himself how some days were justpacked

with pivotal events and potential pivotal events.

Coco hadnt been off the phone with her brother for two minutes when it rang. Sydney Luani was callingfrom Maui.

Maxis atyourhouse?He showed up here this morning. Thats all I know. Sweetie, somethings going on here with these men.

Sydney had that conspiratorial tone and Coco came on alert. She explained how they appeared when she re-

turned home after taking the boys to school. The dark tension present in the mens faces was palpable and thwouldnt tell her what they had been talking about. Sydney wanted to know if Big-E acting aloof and Coco

laughed and said he always acted like that.

But I think that whatever theyre into, Maxi plans to inform Big-E soon. He said he wanna talk to him. Bawhy dont you justinsistthat Jimmy tell you whats up?

Sydney sounded pained. Oh Coco, I did insist She paused as a slight emotional bubble welled up inside

He neverspeaks to me like that!. Coco wanted to know what he had said and if there was anything more toShe would not tolerate any mistreatment of her life-long best friend. The bond between them now was even

greater following their reconciliation.What did he say to you?

He said, no!.

Big-E returned to the house after finishing up his meeting with the anthropology professor. They had gott

many good pictures in their first documentation of the the ancient shamanic burial site, as they agreed to rfer to it for the interim. The world-renown Lion-fighter tried to persuade his friend they should consider the

find to be a mutually-made discovery. It would bring more academic weight if not burdened by his own cele

rity. The professor agreed to consider it but said that in his business, even the hint of fraud was not considerto be a great career booster. Anthropology isnt show business he said plainly. Its the laborious business

showing.He came into the kitchen and saw Coco bending over grabbing something from a low drawer. Big-E instintively wanted to hitgo for sex. Coco turned to him and he saw the look of seriousness on her face. She in-

tensely told him about the message from Aussie BP and her decision to go down there.Robert and Randi would be accompanying her. Randi heard about the trip and insisted that he go along to

keep Robert and Coco from becoming enraged if things didnt go the way they wanted. They had become so

gry the previous day and he never wanted to see them get that way again if he could help it. Coco had instantagreed. Randi would help break up the drag of two long flights. He would be available to get Little B properl

fluffed up for their entrance at the flagship Aussie BP store in Melbourne. She planned to make heads turn an

let everybody there know how important they were to Le Muffet Enterprises and that no Fascists would be alowed to intimidate them.


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Coco brought up the matter of Maxims sudden appearance in Maui. She said he hoped Big-E would takethem to the airport so they could talk when he turned over the business jet to her. She came close to him and

put her fingers down the top-front of his shirt the way Le Muffet women always did with their men. Whatsgoing on Big-E? she asked her husband in a calm, trust-enticing way.

Big-E was on the spot. Ahoh, Max is concerned about that picture we all took a few days ago. He then

sort of half-gestured toward the rear of the property. Then yesterday, I was out at the grotto. He stoppedtalking. His eyes were moving back and forth as he tried to come up with the right words to explain all of thi

And?. Coco tugged down on Big-Es shirt trying to get him to go on.

Its verycomplicated baby. He looked into her eyes. Its notthatimportant. Im more concerned with e

rythingyou coming up against. I think I need to take you upstairs so you can get some rest before the flight.Big-E had successfully turned the conversation. He could see it in her eyes.

Coco had suddenly realized that it would be the days before she would be with him again. She believed th

a woman should make sure her man was loved-up real good before they were parted for a period of time. Th

was something that Jean de Soul had always told both her and Sydney. Coco took a few steps back from Big-and quickly dropped all of her cloths onto the floor. Then she turned her back to him and moved her feet

slightly further apart from each other. She slowly bent over to pick the bundle of clothing up and turned back

toward her husband. The shed clothing did the best they could in trying to cover her naked body some. Coclooked at Big-E with a kind of peasant girl look on her face. Jean had taught her that as well.

the koas plot against ethan vulerummer

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