The rainy season had come to Greensboro, Burlington and the rest of the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina. Epa, his green assassins and groups of green activists were busy taking on the Duke but his power was strong and it wasn't certain they would have the energy they needed to send the Duke running back to Charlotte, Raleigh or wherever it was he came from.
There wasn't much motorcycle riding going on so we were busy working on a commuter car/motorcycle based on GM's Lean Machine of the early 1980s. It was something that could be ridden in the rain even by those people who would never ride motorcycles in the first place.
Donny and Veggie were busy using what they'd learned from Donny's being inside and the knowledge given us by Alex and the others at Mutanthouse to design new weapons to use against the Aliens. I walked in the office to see Donny putting on his Ultimate Reading Glasses and pouring over the blueprints of the Aliens' building and the surrounding Downtown area. "Ever wonder why they built this private park in the middle of the city?" Donny asked.
"I always figured it was a tax dodge," I replied, "a way to get out of paying property taxes on the most valuable piece of real estate in the entire county until they finally find the right buyer."
"Could be," Donny said, "but I don't think so."
"What do you think it is?" I asked.
"A debris field," Donny answered.
"A debris field? Are you kidding me?"
"No," Donny said, "Veggie figured out the building is designed to fall away when the Aliens launch their space ship but they needed to make sure it had a clear space to fall..."
"So they tore down everything that might get in the way and made sure nothing else got built there," I added.
"Right," Donny said, "So if we're going to stop their launch..."
"We've got to put something in their way!" I interrupted.
"Here comes another one," Bobbie said walking into the office. "Third one this week."
She was talking about the unusual characters who had started appearing just days after we finished construction of the strange statue that was still standing out front. The check had cleared the bank, we'd been paid in full but no one ever sent a truck to pick it up or called to tell us where and when to deliver it to. The City of Burlington wanted it moved but having issued a building permit they were, like us, stuck in the middle waiting to see what happened next.
Only a few days after the statue was finished, men started showing up completely unannounced then climbing to the top of the 100' tall statue where they would sit and look to the East for hours without moving or making a sound. Then they would climb down and walk away without ever saying a word. We called the Burlington Police on the first few of them but as it didn't appear they were bothering anything we eventually quit calling altogether. "Just make a note of it for the records should the police want to know," Donny grinned. "Those are some more of Billy's crazy friends."
Monsanto and Bayer were still trying to kill off all the world's honey bees and the world's largest manufacturer of soap had just blackmailed the entire Greensboro City Council into giving them $1 Million Dollars.
Wackemall Inc share prices had tumbled to .02 cents per share and stockholders were getting nervous. Many were pushing us to return to Wackemall's previous line of products as the few products we were currently offering weren't returning as much profits as some of Wackemall's more... how shall I put it? As some of Wackemall's more controversial products had brought in and paid out in dividends. As majority stockholders in the company, we were determined to never let that happen again.
Me, I was thinking I might top off my old pick-up with gas and go see if a certain big dog, high on a mountain, wanted to come live in the city with the rest of us, maybe stopping by Walnut Cove and visiting with my old friend and local Blues legend, Abe Reid. After all, he had to be wet and out of firewood by then. The dog, not Abe.
Continue to Eating The Invaders
