Alice 1 (15 page)

The Shadow monk waved again on my way to see
Karla and pointed past Sather Gate to the sad Shadow hippie walking
to her death. Three black Shadow worms were following her. The monk
moved between the girl and the worms, did something, and they
scattered.

He put his arm around her as she came through
the Gate and they floated to the Campanile, and through the door. I
heard beautiful music from the Shadow World and looked up. They
were floating higher and higher into the sky. I’m pretty sure I
won’t see her again.

Why did he invite me to come along? How did
he scare the worms away? And why has he watched her go by so many
times and decided to help today? I hate knowing so little.

____________________

Karla’s in a good mood, poured coffee, and
pushed over two chocolate donuts. He’s discovered the second best
way to make me happy.

“That was quite a show at the Crowleys.”

“Oh my, yes! I was so impressed with Dr.
Crowley. How many people do you know can send the Devil back to
Hell?”

“None! That took great courage and self-control.
Oh I so wish I’d been there. What drama! The Devil himself,
appearing in a clap of thunder, surrounded by fire and
brimstone.”

“Believe me, it was impressive! I’ve never seen
a better entrance and I‘ve never seen a better exit. Dr. Crowley
flipped that poor Devil upside down and dropped him on his head. He
howled and screamed, and flew back to Hell with his forked tail
between his hairy legs.”

“Amazing.”

“Very.”

He burst out laughing. “Alice, you are so
entertaining.” Nice laugh, too bad he’s so old. “Ok. If you have
the time I have a little job for you.”

“Sure, and I have a question for you.”

“Go.”

“What do you know about the Satanist groups on
campus?”

“We know a lot about them. Would you like basic
information about the five most important, and pictures of their
members?”

“Yes I would. Thank you.”

He typed, and the printer printed.

“Ok, here is what I would like you to do. It’s
rather important so I would be grateful if you would come with me
now to the National Lab at Livermore. This is short notice and I
apologize, but it is highly important. A helicopter is
waiting.”

“Sure. Never rode a helicopter before.”

The helicopter pad is on the roof of an old
building on campus. They built solid back then. Wow! What a rush as
the helicopter went straight up and the campus become smaller and
smaller.

“Here’s the deal. There’s a shift change at the
lab in about 2 hours, and one of the workers will be carrying a
very valuable red plastic cylinder. The cylinder is about 6 inches
long, 1 inch wide, heavy, and sealed at both ends. No markings. I
would like you to stand next to the guard at the exit gate and
search for the cylinder with your Shadow hands. When you find it,
quietly let me know.”

“Won’t people wonder who I am?”

He opened a bag. “Here’s your uniform.” Ugly
gray and green.

“Change now, or…?”

“Changing now would save time, if you don’t
mind.”

So I went down to bra and panties. He looked,
but he’s a gentleman and only glanced. Strange, he’s getting
younger and I’ve always been fond of Jimmie Stewart. The uniform
has a badge with my picture.

The guard will hold each person at the gate
until I nod. They know Karla at the Lab and will ask no questions.
He gave me an ear plug and little mike.

____________________

As I waited for the workers to start coming
through the gate I noticed two Shadows standing against the far
wall. Both male and I think one has a beard. Foreign spies? CIA?
Tourists? Does Karla know there are Shadows here? Should I tell
him?

Never played authoritarian before, kind of fun
for a while. I ran my Shadow hands over everything and everybody as
they passed through. When they had 2 or 3 bags I asked for an
ID.

That guy has something very strange. “Karla, the
guy in the blue jacket has five heavy plastic cubes in his
briefcase.”

“Thanks, we’ll check it out.”

Then I found it. A young girl was carrying the
cylinder in a secret compartment at the bottom of her purse.

“Good work, Alice. Do you mind staying there for
the rest of the shift and see if you can find anything else
unusual?”

“Sure, if you pop for dinner.”

“It’s a deal.”

Then the two Shadows started toward me and I
knew I was in trouble. I felt an attack on my brain stem, ZAP, but
part of the attack got through and I lost consciousness.

CHAPTER 37

I woke the next morning at the Kaiser Hospital
in Livermore. I had a headache and was very confused. I didn’t know
who or where I was. A pretty little girl with long corkscrew curls
held my hand for a while. Then she left and a guy with a nice smile
sat down next to the bed. It was a while before I knew it was
Karla.

“Glad you’re back, Alice. How do you feel?”

“Still a little confused but I know who I am now
and who you are.”

“Good. What happened?”

“A couple of guys put the Squeeze on me and I
couldn’t completely counter.”

“What guys?”

And so the moment has come. Should I tell him
about the Shadow World? No point in lying. He is a very good lie
detector.

“The Glacier Gang calls them Shadows, as did the
ancient Egyptians. They are invisible to most people. There were
two at Livermore and attacked just after I found the cylinder.”

“We explored that area but got nowhere. It seems
others were more successful. Could you tell from their appearance
who they might be?”

“No. Casual clothes, faces not clear enough to
judge race. Both male and one had a beard.”

“Then at the Crowleys the Devil and Saint
Francis were Shadows.”

“Yes. They looked like old frat boys, playing
saint and Satan. That’s why I asked for information about Satanists
on campus.”

“Ok Alice, I’ve had such fun dancing with you,
but it’s time to stop. I am CIA Western Sector Chief. I also have
the Gift and can do what you do but know nothing about the Shadow
World. I won’t try patriotism because you’re too cynical, so I’ll
go self-interest. You are now a target and the more I know the
better I can protect you.”

I’m an excellent lie detector, but he’s an
excellent liar. I can’t tell for sure, but I think he already knows
about the Shadow World, probably much more than I do. Is this
another test? Those pesky Russian dolls are laughing at me
again.

“We can see Shadows but that’s it. The Glacier
Gang is working hard to learn more.”

“OK, time to reactivate our research team. Are
you interested in working for the CIA? I can offer you quite a
handsome salary in exchange for coming to Langley on occasion and
keeping us up to date on your progress.”

“Thanks, can’t do that. I don’t trust
governments and certainly don’t want to work for one, not even my
own.” He wasn’t happy but didn’t push.

“Feel good enough to go back to Berkeley?”

“Sure. I’ve been wondering, how did you get your
name?”

“I chose it. I admire Le Carre spy thrillers
and Karla is the name of his Russian master spy.”

CHAPTER 38

Great news! Mary is going on sabbatical the end
of the next school year and has been offered a visiting
professorship at the Sorbonne in Paris. I will be her research
assistant. With hard work and a little maneuvering by Dr. Crowley,
Jimmy and Mary, I can get my Bachelor’s degree in time to be a
graduate student. Starting today we’ll speak French as much as
possible. She grew up in Paris, and her 90-year old mother, Madame
Jeanette Barteau, still lives there.

Oh, and I’ll be Mary’s assistant in the
neuropsychology class next year and help in the lab. Unusual for an
undergraduate but as you may have noticed, I’m not an average
undergraduate. Going to even have an office in Tolman Hall shared
with three graduate students. Wonder how they’ll take having to
share a room with an undergraduate?

I checked the photographs of the members of the
Satanist groups Karla gave me. I’m pretty sure the ones at the
Crowleys are members of the Merry Jesters of Darkness. They never
have open meetings so I’ll visit the two Satanist groups I found on
the bulletin boards and hope members of the Merry Jesters sometimes
go slumming. Worth a try, and I might have a hell of a good time
having my own merry jester fun.

Tonight is the meeting of the philosophical
Satanists, 784 Bainbridge Drive.

____________________

The house has a messy yard, peeling paint, and
broken down awnings trying to hide dirty windows. Perfect for
worshipers of the Dark Side. I got there early and sat in the back.
The people coming through the door are as dark as the house, and
too cheap to buy soap or deodorants.

About 13 people were in the room, including two
females, when the Devil’s Disciple walked to the front. He has
intense eyes, a tiny tick on his right cheek, and the goatee of the
Great One.

“Welcome to all,” he said in a deep, solemn
voice. “Here in this room we are the reality of the world. Here in
this room we fulfill the mysteries. Here in this room we dance love
and hate, creation and destruction. You cannot have love without
hate, creation without destruction. Do not deny your true nature.
Do not deny your need to destroy in the service of creation! Your
need to destroy in the
service of Satan!”

Oh my, I have to do something. This is too
heavy. I picked a guy in the front row and tapped his laugh center.
He burst out laughing and almost strangled trying to stop. Tapped
the laugh center of the girl in the second row, and then tapped a
few more.

“
Yes! Yes! Satan has come among us,”
screamed the Devil’s Disciple. “Feel the power of Satan’s laughter!
Feel the almighty power of Satan filling your heart! Yes! Yes!
Satan is here! All hail Satan! All hail your wisdom and glory!”

They want Satan, they get Satan. I grabbed
his head off the table at the front of the room with my Shadow
hands and lifted it into the air. Everyone stopped laughing and
started to shout and scream and grovel before the Great One. Then I
sent Satan’s head swirling around the room and people groveled even
lower.

The Devil’s Disciple lost it, crawled under the
table, and babbled and blubbered obscenities and curses at
everybody and everything. After I set Satan back on the pedestal a
few good people tried to pull Satan’s Disciple from under the
table, but it was obvious his part in the service was over.

The headless herd didn’t know what to do. They
began to look around, confused and disoriented, afraid of what
might happen next. Then everyone broke for the door at the same
time to get away from this accursed room. Maybe Satan wasn’t as
much fun as they thought. Big trouble at the door but eventually
everybody escaped, except Satan’s Disciple. He was still babbling
and blubbering under the table.

I went over, crouched next to him, and tapped
his calm center. He recovered quickly and looked around at the
empty room.

“What happened?”

“Satan came, and Satan is not pleased. You are
unworthy.”

His eyes rolled back in his head and he uttered
such a long, pitiful sigh. “I try so hard to be worthy, so hard to
be bad. But I keep being good. Oh I try, I try, but I fail. Satan
is right, I am unworthy. I try so hard to take him into my heart. I
pray to him every night and sometimes, oh so seldom, but sometimes
I feel his presence. I beseech him to make me worthy to follow him
through the Gates of Hell. But then he leaves, and I doubt I will
ever be evil enough to enter his Kingdom.”

“I have been sent to tell you that you must
first go through the Gates of Heaven before you are worthy to enter
the Gates of Hell. You must first embrace goodness before you can
embrace evil. Go and do good deeds as penance. After you have done
25, look again at this image of Satan. He will decide if your
sacrifice is worthy.”

“Oh thank you, thank you! That is the answer
I’ve been searching for. I don’t know who you are but I feel the
power of Satan in your words.”

“My next visit is with the Merry Jesters of
Darkness. Do you know of them“?

“Oh yes, they are most worthy followers of
darkness, but they sometimes seem to have more fun than is proper.
But who am I to judge, only Satan has that right“.

“Where do they meet and when?”

“Friday nights, 7 O’clock, at Jason’s place on
Connecticut Street, 476.”

“I sense you will succeed in your quest. Do the
penance you have been given and you will return to the path of our
beloved Lord. Please tell the Merry Jesters I will be attending
their next meeting. Tell them the Dark Lady will be coming for a
visit.”

“Yes I will. Thank you so much!”

CHAPTER 39

Jason’s place is a lovely Victorian, nicely
landscaped with a recent paint job.

“You must be the Dark Lady. Nice name. Come on
in.”

I don’t think Jason recognizes me. He must be in
his late 20’s, and still has a frat boy look. I have no idea what
it is about guys that make them look like frat boys. Well yeah, I
think I do. They have an expensive, casual look, are fun loving,
and don’t much try to hide their sense of superiority. At least
those at Berkeley.

What a shock when I got to the meeting room.
No black candles sticking out the noses of cheap, plastic skulls.
No dark, gloomy symbols or flickering candles along the wall. The
meeting room

was well lit and full of flowers and
greenery.

Ah, I see! A statue of Pan is on a pedestal
beneath a bower of flowers. He has a very impressive erection. I
think I know where this gang of guys hope to go with a visit from
the Dark Lady.

I went over to Pan, bowed, slowly stroked his
penis three times, and bowed again. That got the guys’ testosterone
surging through their bodies. Males are so stupid when they’re hot.
I went and sat as demurely as I could on the couch. A guy sat down
next to me and started to fondle my breast. I’m pretty sure it’s
Darryl Delaney.