Prestidigitation in the Lion's Den

Episode Five.

There were some who opted for limited enhancement. Tina Luisa hadn’t been in for a regular checkup for years, certainly not since the overlords made healthcare free to the masses. Going under the knife was a terrifying prospect for the Astrologers, but Leo – only a select few ever met the resistance’s leader – advocated a few improvement gifts from the overlords. A single enhanced eye was an accepted risk, if one could learn the important things not to look at with both eyes open. Tina was getting pretty good at it. Her position with the Astrologers was climbing and news was Leo’s Spearmen were assigning her to a new zip code. They were meeting in the park.

 He was there waiting when she arrived early. A jogger with his golden retriever ran by her bench for the second time, then stopped twenty paces beyond and leaned on his knees. He dropped the leash, and the dog turned and loped back to Tina. She seemed friendly, and Tina patted her neck. “What’s her name?”

 “Diana,” said the sweaty man. He wiped his face with a towel. “And you are?”

 “Minerva,” answered Tina.

 “Nice to meet you, I’m Apollo,” he said, and leaned down to pick up the leash. Apollo dropped something on the bench, on the side of Tina’s original eye. “Put that on, but not until you start back down the walk. I’ll catch up.

 There was a path into the woods, and Apollo led her into it. After a few twists and turns they came to a small clearing, well inside the trees. Tina had a patch over her enhanced eye, so she had to swivel her head to see everyone gathered there. A thin man with a thick head of hair put a finger to his lips, smiling at Tina, and he nodded to the jogger. Apollo picked up a stick and beat it three times on a hollow log. After a second a bird was heard, the distinctive call of a cardinal. Then two thumps and finally a keening howl. “Ha,” laughed the thin man. I never tire of Scutum. You will meet him soon, Minerva. In fact, I mean to send him with you, into the lion’s den."

 Tina stitched a knit into her brow. “The lion’s den? That sounds a bit ominous.”

 “It’s not a cake walk, no. I’d love to go, but that would be one lion too many, and you know how that would turn out,” said the thin man. He pushed his long fingers though his thick mane.

 “Why, you’re…”

 “That’s right. It’s nice to meet you, too. Now, Tina, and for now on you only answer to Minerva when one of the Astrologers gives you the sign, now you will learn your true mission. But only if you agree here and now to accept, for the information we’ve just stolen from the skies above was paid for dearly. Any and all involved from here out are standing on the razor’s edge. On all sides there is danger, and the worst is just under your feet.”

 She accepted, of course. The thin man, Leo, turned the meeting over to his second, the runner, Apollo.

 Operation Boomerang had every chance of failing. Surprisingly, only a handful of resistance had been lost to the lion’s den. Of the dozen who went up, nine returned. “Pyxis lost his wife, another member came back down after suffering the worst stomach ailment she could imagine,” said Apollo. “The rest were well rested and had nothing much to report, until they examined all the facts.” They all took the tour, and all noticed the similar and mechanical seeming dignitaries. The food and drink was quite good, especially the first sugary shake-like beverage they were all served. There was recreation they could all participate in, including swimming and boating. Sports, like volleyball and shuffleboard were prevalent, depending on how active you wished to be. In the evening people could enjoy comedy shows, or concerts. Members of the Astrologers were careful not to associate, but they tried to get out and around as much as possible, while other vacationers would just relax at the beach, sipping on cocktails, or staying in their rooms.

 “So far, nothing sounds too sinister. Surely something major stood out,” remarked Tina.

 “Nothing obvious, at first,” he said. “General consensus was there was something in that first drink that affected some people more than others. Most of Operation Boomerang had experienced a slight bout of flulike symptoms.” Of the nine who returned, none knew for sure what happened to the three lost, but the man who lost his wife said she had become lethargic and had gotten a bit more of a stomach. They were both a tad heavy to start. Comparing notes, they all remembered seeing a few people with abnormally big belly bumps. They couldn’t all be pregnant, or have dubious beer bellies.

 “It was clear there was something going on, because not everybody who went up came back down,” Apollo continued. “It was all hush hush, proving some sort of collusion. Boomerang was a success, but it begged more answers.” They sent up a second mission, Operation Mudpack.

 “Mudpack was designed to get a mole into the pleasure dome, but we didn’t want to risk any of our own to what we started to call The Drink. All of the return Boomerangs went through extensive medical testing, but we found nothing conclusive, other than some intestinal scarring.”

 “Ouch,” said Tina, grimacing.

 “Yea,” said Apollo. “The worst cases were repaired. We have some pretty good surgeons on board. We keep them under wraps.”

 “The mudders are our finest bunch,” said Leo from atop his hollow log. He was smoking a cigarette. “I hope they’re still up there, but we don’t know for sure. They knew from the beginning it might be a one way trip.”

 Tina gaped. Apollo went on, “Well, they had the option of going through the dome if they felt their mission was concluded, but I don’t think any of them wanted to risk The Drink. Anyway, they couldn’t go back the way they got in.”

 “What was their mission?” she asked.

 “They were to go as far as the preceding domes, then wait for an opportunity to bug one, or hopefully several, of the vacationers.”

 Leo interjected, “We called them victims, which is quite callus I know, but it’s not like we could have saved them.”

 “So you may as well use them?” said Tina. It seemed more like deplorable than simply callus.

 “Everyone entering Skyland Retreat is thoroughly scanned, they don’t even like letting any enhanced get in. It’s almost like the unenhanced are expendable goods,” said Apollo. By a little sleight of hand, they were able to smuggle in the pieces, bit by bit, until the needed devices could be assembled.

 “What happened?”

 Leo crossed his arms, leaving the half spent cig to dangle on his lip. “They got one victim through, he was properly bugged, and he got in.”

 “Yeah,” said Apollo, “and then he really got bugged, rather buggered.” The device that the man named Ted was applied to, gave his whereabouts, what he ate and drank, and his medical status. “Every indication is, whatever he drank initially got into his intestines and grew there, then ripped his guts apart getting out. Not too fresh.”

“Geez,” said Tina.

 “Naw, bad way to go,” said Leo. “So, we hear they’re looking for earth candidates up there. We feel you have the qualifications to go. Are you up to the next mission, our third to hell above, into the lion’s den?”

 “Operation Bowstring,” said Apollo, taking her by the arm. “Here, let me catch you up.”

Episode 6