AIRPORT HILTON HOTEL,
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
MAY 19, 2009 (1:30 PM/PST)
* * * * *
NED FOGARTY'S P.O.V.
The four of us departed, the next morning. In our case, Melissa and I were shuttled by helicopter to the naval air station in Key West, Florida. There, we transferred to a Learjet that took off, for California, shortly afterward. During the six-hour trip, I thought about all I had learned concerning M.A.C.H.O.'s history, during my re-orientation training at "Kleinmann University."
It had started out as the Miniscule Operations Command of the CIA. With a name like that, most people automatically assumed it dealt with low-priority stuff. A.k.a. "matters of relative bureaucratic unimportance."
Which is exactly what the CIA had wanted outsiders to think!
In reality, half their operatives (then, as now) had been "bio-miniaturized." That is; reduced in both weight _and_ height, thanks to Solution 62. A biochemical originally developed by the Soviet Union. But, stolen/analyzed/duplicated by the Company.
Of course, when the Cold War had ended, the M.O.C. had been disbanded. A year later, however, it was reactivated and reorganized under the leadership of Myron Meriwether. You see, with the break-up of the Soviet Union, large quantities of Solution 62 wound up flooding the CBR black market!*
As a result, many innocent people--folks who had never had anything to do with the Cold War--started getting shrunk around the world. So, it became M.A.C.H.O.'s responsibility to police the ones doing the shrinking.
In any event, we landed at LAX at one o'clock local time (4:00 PM, back home). And, with me safely ensconced in her purse, Melissa promptly checked us into her hotel room. When we were alone, there, she withdrew both me and her cellular scramblephone.
"Are we clean and green?" she asked Myron, when she established contact with him.
"Affirmative," he replied.
"How did it go, with making an appointment to see Dr. Nozama?"
"You're scheduled to meet with her, in her office at Cal-Tech, tomorrow during her lunch hour. You'll be posing as a private investigator hired by Lloyd's of London. Okada Takeo's policy carrier is a genuine member of that august body. So, your cover should stand up to any normal background check."
"Do you wish me to ask her anything special?"
"No; just whatever would be standard if you were a legit private eye. But, do so in a way that will keep her attention focused on you while Mr. Fogarty bugs her office."
"Copy that," replied Mel: "Belmondo and Fogarty, signing off."
* * * * *
MILES STONE'S P.O.V.
Gladys and I had a less auspicious send-off than Ned and Mel. For one thing, a Civil Air Patrolman from Panama City (in northern Florida) flew us by De Haviland Turbo-Beaver to a rendezvous, just beyond the territorial limit, with the shrimp fishing boat, "Mal De Mer."
It was skippered by Marcel St. Denis; a Louisiana Cajun who moonlighted as a third-generation smuggler of Cuban cigars! And, it was Marcel who transported us to the docks of Nassau, on the Bahamian island of New Providence. Upon our going ashore, he gave Gladys the name of a local cabbie who occasionally peddled some of those cigars to the wealthy American tourists he chauffered to and from the Hotel Lilliput, on Paradise Island.
Upon arriving at the hotel (and, with me safely ensconsed in the cleavage of her ample bosom), Gladys asked the doorman for directions to the personnel director's office. While en route there, I heard a public announcement start blaring through the lobby.
"Ladies and gentlemen. Don't forget; tonight, in our Grand Ballroom, marks the debut of Eastern Europe's latest gift to stage magic. Don't miss that lovely lady of legerdemain; Juliet Merlinova!"
tbc
Giantess World
Chapter End Notes:
*CBR: Chemical/Biological/Radiological weaponry.