Charlie, Bruce, Francois - room 213. Room is
paid for (by Charlie)
Nigel, Kitty, and Ghishu - room 215. Room
is paid for (by Nigel)
Marda, Sam, and Leo - room 217. Room is paid
for (by Leo)
A detailed description of Cesar's is probably unnecessary for anyone who has ever stayed at a mid-class hotel such as a Holiday Inn. The decor is modern, but tasteful, everything is in muted hues. The rooms are clean, nicely decorated, and sterile looking. Each room has two beds (and a rollaway on its way up) with pillows almost (but not quite) as thick as after-dinner mints, a couple of chairs, a television, a phone, a small closet, a coffeepot with complimentary coffee, a bathroom with a tub/shower and one less large towel than there are people in the room, and glasses wrapped in plastic. The air is really, really dry, there's a list of hotel rules tastefully bolted to the door, and there is a small closet and several small dressers in which people can shove their stuff. There is, however, no - repeat no - Gideon Bible in the room.
Cesar's restaurant is on the second floor (the same floor everyone's rooms are on). It seems like a nice restaraunt, is somewhat overpriced, and serves rather yuppie food. There is a patio off the restaraunt (which sits atop the covered walkway that leads to the hotel) which features a bar and piano music at night, weather permitting.
The pool is on the roof - 50 m long, 8 lanes wide, sloped and with a diving board at one end. The jacuzzi is nearby, and is usually full (one can sign up to use it for an hour at the front desk, subject to availability). There is no lifeguard on duty, so you swim at your own risk.
Weight room and sauna are located in the basement. The weight room is pretty standard as well, with a weight machine, a couple of stationary bicycles, a rowing machine, a stair master, and one of those stationary jogging machines. The sauna is also by appointment only, same as the jacuzzi.
Unlike the Terminal, security here seems to consist of one, and only one security guard. He appears unarmed.
When scanning the restaurant menu, Charlie's eyes light up. Bring
on the yuppie food! Charlie wants shiitake mushrooms with sun-dried
tomatoes, followed by sun-dried tomatoes with shiitake mushrooms!
And arugula! Plates and plates of arugula! Charlie grew up
on bangers and mash, and he's SICK of it! By-the-bye...
he wonders, where's the bleedin' bar? And do they have uisqueabaugh?
Ghishu enters the room and gently drops his backpack on a chair. He then starts walking around the acting like a little child on his first visit to a hotel room. He is opening each of the drawers to see if there's something inside. He takes the TV remote control and starts flipping through the channels with unexplained delight showing on his face. He goes to the door and reads the hotel rules plaque with interest. You know - like a little child.
Once he reaches the phone book, his expression of fascination changes into one of interest and curiosity. He takes the book, sits himself on one of the beds and starts flipping through the yellow pages. Loosing himself completely until about half an hour has passed when he suddenly snaps out of his serious looking reading posture into a more lightly one.
"Come on guys, we have to go and meet the others downstairs", he calls
Kitty and Nigel to follow him as he makes his way towards the door.
Thinking for a moment, Bruce says "MMmmmm. Think I'll 'ave to make a meal outa the peanuts and such at the ba-a... This place ain't cheap! Think it'll be job huntin' after a quick pint." Bruce looks towards his two room mates, seeing if they want to leave with him for the bar.
"Yes! But first, a shower..." Charlie arranges his belongings
in a drawer and hits the shower.
He then looks at Marda and blushes slightly, realising he is supposed to act like an adult in front of children. Oh, well. He shrugs and winks at the little girl, then gets back on his feet and promptly straigtens the covers on both beds before Sam starts complaining.
While his room companions are stowing away their belongings, Leo briefly rummages inside his duffelbag, grabs some items of clothing and a toiletry bag, and heads for the bathroom. The sound of running water is soon heard, as well as upbeat singing in French. After ten or twelve minutes, Leo walks out, his curly hair all damp, as a cloud of steam escapes the bathroom.
Sam is nowhere to be seen. Marda has disassembled the telephone, and has unbolted the television from the wall and is rummaging around inside the case, pulling out circuit boards and electronic parts seemingly at random. The thermostat has also been opened up, and wires trail from the rectangular hole in the wall where it once was. Finally, one lamp has apparently been pirated for wire. Marda is engrossed at the task in hand and thus totally oblivious to everything else around her.
With a horrified yelp about two octaves higher than his normal speaking voice, Leo drops the old laundry and toiletry bag he was carrying, whirls around and pounces on Marda. With the jerky movements well known to adults trying to deal sanely with children ("Why you little.. wait, can't hit a child... I'll just tear off her head and... can't do that either... Shut up brain!"), he grabs her little hands away from the electrical mess, squawking: "Marda! No, no, Marda! Why did you do that? That's a terrible thing to do!"
It finally dawns on Leo that a six-year old child traveling by herself to Al Amarja is not your average kid...
Marda just turns and with a look of hurt and confusion asks, "What did I do?"
Numbly, Leo gathers up Marda, searches desperately for Sam, to no avail,
and heads downstairs with the evil, evil child in tow.
Charlie wanders over to the concierge to ask directions to libraries in The Edge. The concierge is the same woman who was at the front desk when the party arrived. She answers Charlie's question politely.
"I'm sorry sir, but there are no public libraries on Al Amarja. If you are interested, D'Aubainne University has rather extensive collections. You can make arrangements for access by contacting university administration at the Thorvald Administration Center on the DU campus in the Science Barrio. There are also a number of new and used book stores if you are interested in purchasing or ordering something. May I recommend 'Rare Books' located at Chateau Melmoth, 777 John Dee Lane here in Sunken Barrio. Finally, the government archives are located in Freedom City, but copies of public records are kept at the Al Amarja Hall of records, 5212 Liberation Avenue in the Arms Barrio."
Charlie notes that she recites all this information without recourse to looking it up. "Hmmm... the 'varsity sounds more useful than a rare-books dealer. Could you ring'em up for me, please?" He discreetly offers a small tip, and wishes he had done better homework before coming!
Once the call is made: "D'Aubainne University? My name is Charlie Kennedy. I'm a writer, and I'd like to use Al Amarja as the background for my next novel. Yes... Mm-hm... Yes, THAT Charlie Kennedy." He laughs. "Well aren't YOU a sophisticate? Anyhow, I'm thinking of writing a thriller, with an archaeological angle, and I understand somebody has done some interesting work here. Would it be possible for me to do a bit of research?"
"Certainly sir," answers a voice on the phone. "You would need
to come out to the University itself and speak with Librarian Sommers here
at the Administration Building. Would tomorrow at 9:30 am be convenient?"
Nigel, Kitty, and Ghishu are actually the last to arrive, as they all take turns in the shower (Ghishu getting stuck using the undersized towel because he is unfamiliar with common hotel pitfalls). He takes long enough in the shower that Nigel and Kitty head downstairs for their rendevous without him.
Kitty comes walking into the bar looking refreshed, yet much like a tomboy, tan top showing a full tattoo on the left arm of a hissing tiger and tribal design around it, and a pair of white baggy pants. She carries in her arms a backpack, what looks like a white jacket and a black belt. Looking at Leo, she comments, "I dont think we should try to get work papers today. I'm sure thats probably going to be an all day process. I'll probably try my luck at the dojo unless anyone wants me to tag along".
Leo looks around to make sure no hotel employees are within earshot. He points discretely to Marda, whom he is still holding tightly by the arm (not tight enough to hurt, but very firmly.)
"While I was in the shower, Sam disappeared and Marda destroyed the room!" he whispers. "She pulled every bit of wiring or electronics she could find, everything. The thermostat is pulled off the wall, the TV is busted open, the remote... Well, I'm not even sure what parts made up the remote originally. The coffeemaker, the radio-alarm clock, the telephone, the lamps, EVERYTHING has been pulled apart and reduced to its smallest components. I left the 'Do Not Disturb' sign, but pretty soon someone is going to discover the mess... I sure can't pay for that amount of damage, I don't even own that much. I need your help!"
He looks around pleadingly. Then an idea seems to strike him, and he turns back to the junior-grade Eddison. "Marda, did you actually know what you were doing? Could you put things back together? Or were you just breaking things?"
Charlie chuckles. "When I was a lad, I was treated to a whipping for taking apart me uncle's alarm clock. Little did I know it was actually the timer for a large... umm... 'Republican Device'." He gives Marda a pat on the head... then counts his fingers!
Marda looks at Leo as if he just asked whether the sky was blue. "Of course I can put that stuff back together, but Teddy needs the spare parts."
Leo looks at Marda with a concerned, frowning expression. He shakes his head. "Marda, I performed surgery on Teddy myself," he reminds her. "Teddy had none of these components as internal organs, anymore than I do. What makes you think he needs them now?"
Marda giggles a little. "Not for body parts. We need the spare parts because we're building something."
"Spare parts for what?" Kitty asks, amused that it looks like she is going to get into a technical discussion with what seems to be a child.
Leo takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for moment, counting to ten. Then to twenty. He considers counting to fifty, then decides it probably wouldn't help all that much.
Shifting his grip to take both of Marda's hands in his, he drops to one knee in front of her to bring their gazes to the same level. "Marda, you wrecked the room, causing hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars of damage," he explains, still keeping his voice down to avoid attracting any hotel employee's attention. "None of this stuff belonged to you. What is it that Teddy and you are building, and why did you think it would be OK to use all those parts? How and when did Teddy and you decide to build this whatever?"
Marda remains stubbornly silent. Kitty shrugs, looks at the clock, and shakes her head. "Well," she says, "I'm off to the dojo."
Leo remembers that he was supposed to accompany Kitty to the dojo, then he was going to run some errands in the Flowers Barrio after they had gone to Kuan Tun's Black Belt Academy. There was also the possibility of going to the various employment agencies together. "I'm right with you!" he announces.
In short, Leo is going to high-tail it and try to find a source of income ASAP before he has to meet again with the Al Amarjan justice system to pay for what the little monster has done.
Stepping lively, Kitty and Leo abandon the junior electrician to Charlie
and Nigel, and walk towards the hotel's front door. They pause a
moment to speak quietly with the woman at the front desk, and to examine
a map of The Edge which is mounted on the wall nearby, then exit the building
through the front door.
To Be Continued...