The Krakow Klub (22 page)

He leaned toward Jim conspiratorially. “All
this is
interesting,
but I’m sure that you’re
very curious as to the real reason that I brought you here. I
alluded to it when I called you in Washington, DC to invite you
down here. I’ve always thought that you were too good for that job
of
yours,
and I’m going to give you an
opportunity to walk away from it before it eats you alive. You’re
just not the type of person who can be surrounded by inefficiency
and corruption and not be bothered by it.”

He placed his arm around Jim’s shoulder as
they walked along the edge of the golf course where it met the
beach. “I’ve grown very fond of you. You’re like the son that I
always hoped to have. You accepted me and my wild stories without
question. You put your faith in
me,
and you
trusted me with your life and Mitch’s life as well. I owe you.

“We only have a short history up until
now,
but I think that there’s a long and
productive future ahead for us. I’d like for you to come to work
for me. I’d like for you to be my second in command. The pay will
be most
generous,
but you’ll earn it because
there’ll be many challenges. You’ll have the opportunity to
accomplish things that you’ve probably never dreamed about.”

He continued, “Ask me anything you wish and
I’ll answer you honestly and truthfully. It is very important that
you trust me implicitly. There are some things possibly heading our
way that might require us to use my substantial powers. Some of our
decisions might involve life or death situations.”

Jim Slater looked at John with a quizzical
look on his face. He seemed deep in thought. Finally he said,
“John, I know that you consider yourself to be, at least in part, a
Mylean. There is one area that I would like to know how you feel
and what you
believe.

“On Earth, most people, throughout recorded
history, have
worshiped
some deity. That
worship has served as the framework of nations and has been the
source of both
periods of peace
and bloody
wars. Many times, progress has been seen as dangerous or ungodly by
one religion or another. Just think of where we could be today
without that kind of influence.

“I am a man of faith but not a man of dogma.
Religion must have been an important factor in Mylea’s development.
Since you’re half Mylean, I want to know how religion affects you.
Do you believe in God? And if so, do you see him as a kind and
forgiving father figure or a stern and angry deity?

“How we believe, and what we believe, has a
great impact on what we do, even in business matters. Therefore, if
you could explain your belief, or disbelief, in God, I will have an
idea how you would handle ethical problems and situations in our
business and personal lives.

“Our lives are already closely
entwined,
and you’re asking me to be your partner. I need
to know you inside and out, so to speak, no pun intended.”

John immediately replied, “What an odd
question. I certainly never would have guessed that one. But, yes,
I believe in God.”

He continued, “I believe in God as a concept,
but not as an entity. I believe that God is a universal idealism. I
consider God to be the conceptual boundary between a savage and a
civilized being.”

Jim was silent for a long time. John simply
waited
until his friend
could process what he
had said. Finally, Jim looked at him with
a
sly
smile and said, “Once again you have answered my
questions and at the same time left me wondering about the rest of
the story.”

Turning to look directly into John’s eyes,
Jim continued, “Like you, I was brought up in a Christian home, but
I have also always had respect for other religions. Somehow, even
as a child, I felt that, perhaps, God spoke to different peoples in
different ways. Who knows?”

John was pensive for a moment and then
responded in a sincere voice, “You’re right. I did grow up in a
religious
family,
but I now understand that
I’ve been influenced by my Mylean side in that area. If it makes
you more comfortable, just accept the fact that I believe that
Christian teachings are consistent with my concept of God as an
ideal.”

Jim replied, “I’m not sure that you answered
my question. You’re the craftiest character that I’ve ever met. I’m
always left with more questions than answers when we get onto some
off-beat topic of conversation.”

John just nodded. “Sometimes, there just
isn’t a direct answer to every question. We’re complex entities of
flesh
and blood, as well as ideas and
emotions. We usually don’t understand ourselves much less those
around us. Life isn’t black and white. As far as I’m concerned,
most things fall into a shade of gray.”

John glanced quickly at his watch. “Enough of
this for now. Let’s go. Hop in La Cucaracha; I will take us back to
the house.”

The little craft cruised silently a few
inches above the ground and landed near the villa. Neither spoke a
word on the short trip.

Julia waited for them in the living area. She
sat on the
comfortable
white sofa with her
bare feet propped up on a large glass top coffee table.

Mitch was on the couch beside her, having
realized that Julia was important to her friend John. Poor little
Akiro was on the floor looking forlorn. He dared not hop on the
couch and
risk
the wrath of Mitch the
Bitch.

Julia hadn’t had a pet since she was much
younger and had forgotten how much they could enrich your life.
Since meeting Mitch, she had begun to study the little creature
closely. She reminded Julia of an
old-time
Hollywood goddess, used to getting her way and not hesitant to let
anyone know what she wanted.

She could be temperamental and
haughty,
but Julia had quickly discerned that this was
mostly an act. Beneath the surface, she was a loving and devoted
little creature.

Little Akiro was quite on the opposite end of
the spectrum. He was like the eternal beach boy, just lounging
around happily waiting for the next big wave. Not a care in the
world until now, when he met Mitch.

Just then, Mitch noticed a blur of motion
through the stained glass of the front door that told her that her
two men were coming home. She hopped off the couch and ran to the
door in anticipation. Akiro followed at a respectable distance
while Julia watched.

The two men entered to the raucous welcome of
the pups. Julia rose and stretched before greeting them. Jim
noticed that her toenails
were painted
the
same shade of blue-green as the ocean surrounding the island. He
wasn’t sure he’d ever understand women.

Jim was staring at her intently. “I know I’ve
met you before. I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember. I
had thought it would have been
Washington,
but
I just now remembered that it was in New York a couple of years
ago. I
was attending a
reception at, hmm,
let’s see, Compton Financial. I believe that Mr. Compton introduced
us. Back then, your hair was shorter. That’s what threw me
off.”

She laughed. “Why yes, I think that I do
remember that evening. I’m the daughter. My brother was there, too,
so you probably met him sometime during the evening. Father is
always dragging us around for introductions at his parties.
Sometimes, it gets to be embarrassing. There were so many people
there that, unfortunately, I just can’t recall our introduction
specifically.”

Jim almost blushed. “Well, I think you’ll
remember that someone bumped into
me,
and I
accidentally spilled some champagne on your dress. I can’t tell you
how humiliated I was. Here I am, at the party of the year, and I
manage to ruin your dress.”

Julia was delighted. “Jim, I can’t tell you
what a favor you did for me! I was bored to tears. After that
little accident, I was able to excuse myself
on
the pretext of trying to wash out the stain in the
ladies’ room. Instead, I sneaked out and went home to finish a good
novel that I had started. You did me a great favor. I am sorry that
I didn’t remember you. But at least I remembered the favor!”

“No need to apologize for not recognizing me.
Back then, I was just some invisible junior flunky toiling away in
my dungeon of an
office
. But it wasn’t all
bad. There were a few perks that compensated for the low pay. The
job title sounded much more impressive than it
was,
and I got invited to quite a few
high-level
parties and receptions. Deep down, I just
believed that the real reason that I got invited was that there
weren’t enough eligible men to go around.

“I was in New York visiting an old Navy buddy
that weekend. He
had an invitation
to the
Compton party and asked me to tag along. He was in finance by
then,
so that’s how he knew your father.

“I remember seeing you right off the bat. You
had that party in the palm of your hand. It was rather funny to see
all the guys hovering around trying to impress you.”

“Jim, it’s far more likely that they were
trying to impress my father. However, you could just see some of
them mentally calculating my inheritance.”

Jim continued, “Back then, in my callow
youth, I thought of myself as rather sophisticated and urbane. I
could move smoothly through the crowds and say just the right thing
at the right time to the right people
—
a skill
that I thought that I had perfectly honed.

“I could balance a wine glass in one hand and
a canapé in the other and buzz around without spilling a drop or a
crumb. Yes, indeed, I was quite impressed with myself, at least for
one brief shining moment.

“I’ll never forget that night. I walked over
to your little entourage and planned to impress you with some of my
utterly brilliant small
talk
. Just as I
reached you, it happened.

“It was as if someone’s hand just pushed
against my wrist and caused the flute to tip forward and splash the
champagne all over the front of your dress. I
was
mortified
and just wished that I could disappear. You were
very gracious and wouldn’t accept my apology. I could hardly sleep
for several days in fear that a bill would arrive for that dress.
It probably cost more than my entire annual salary.”

John had been listening
quietly,
and suddenly he had a very suspicious thought.
No
,
it was more than suspicious. This little
event had Maxx’s fingerprints all over it.
Could he have been
laying the groundwork for the three of us to meet? No! Never?
He brushed the thought aside, for the moment.

He changed the subject. “Let’s go to my
office. I’d like to show you the plans for completing my little
paradise.”

As they entered the rather large room, John
said, “This used to be a game room. I’ve converted it to be my
office and planning center. I had Mister T bring in a solid cover
for the pool table, so it is still
usable
.
I’ll challenge you to a
game later.”

He gestured toward the pool table.
“It was handmade
from
fine
walnut. Look at the details in the carved wood and
inlays. It’s a work of art. Can you imagine the skilled craftsmen
who created this over a hundred years ago? It’s so beautiful that
I’m hesitant to play a game on it.”

He directed their attention to the large
model sitting on the temporary cover of the pool table. “I’ve had
Maxxine create a scale model of the island. I’m using the pool
table to display it for the time being.”

Jim leaned over and examined it. He had seen
many architectural models in the
past,
but
this one was incredible. Every detail was perfect.

“I brought one of the
three-dimensional
printers from my space station to
create this.
I have it stored
in another part
of the house for
now,
but you
can see
it later. Might even let you play with it a bit.
Fascinating stuff.”

The model was of the entire island. It
included the new golf course and the proposed swimming pool located
just outside the house. “I used a computer program to design the
pool. I
had gone
through quite a few
iterations before I came up with the one that would blend most
harmoniously with the architecture of the house and the geography
of the island.”

The pool
appeared
nestled
into a garden area just beyond the lanai. At one end
of the pool
were
an outdoor kitchen, bar, and
dining area. At the other end, and along the sides, were
arrangements of comfortable
loungers
for
soaking up the hot sunshine.

Jim was totally impressed. “That’s amazing.
I’d like to have been here to see all your different ideas before
you came up with the final plan.”

“Look at those chairs and lounges. They’ll
be fabricated
from a material that Maxxine
suggested
—t
otally impervious to weather damage
yet extremely comfortable over the entire range of temperatures
that we experience down here.

“The pool itself will have some very special
technology. It will be
self-cleaning
and
temperature-regulated precisely to the exact degree that I desire.
The water comes from the desalinization plant that you saw. With my
technology, there is no need for chlorine or any other harsh
chemicals.

“There are sensors embedded in the walls that
have been programmed to recognize a critical situation, such as if
Akiro fell into the water. An alarm would sound inside the house,
and we’d be alerted to come out and rescue him. As you can see,
there are also a couple of sections of the side that slope gently
upward. If Akiro fell in, he could manage to climb out without any
difficulty. Maxxine came up with the
technology,
but I could only think of how many children’s
lives could be saved every year if all pools
were
equipped
with an alarm system like this one.