Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2022 17:41:18 -0500 From: Richard McQueen Subject: Makarovia! Sure, I Know Where That Is! Chapter 19 Malta Story: Makarovia! Sure, I Know Where That Is Chapter 19 Malta Author: Eric McQueen (mcqueen.richarderic@gmail.com) Adult Readers, Sexual Situations, Sex Freedom of expression is precious. To do that Nifty needs help. Your donation is greatly desired. Give to http://donate.nifty.org/ or this story ends and all the others! That would be a crime! Our honeymooners arrive at the island country of Malta and enjoy the sites and beauty. The also become closer to their own security agents and Duchess crew. Malta We were having a good time with everyone. Including the crew of the Duchess. When Gretchen passed again, I stopped her. "You can join us." She laughed shaking her head. "Oh, no. Thank you, but it's a vacation for me with less testosterone. We have nice quarters and comfortable. I'll see them at dinner." She gave a pleased smile. "For now, peace." She said and descended the stairs. Okay. I didn't dislike anyone. Certainly not because of their gender. Was I a misogynist? No! I didn't dislike women at all. News flash. I'm gay! Naturally I wouldn't be bothered spending time with just the guys. That was my preference for everything! She could simply be nice, knowing that and let Peter and me enjoy it. She and the others on the crew watched us interact with each other. The ones in a same gender relationship, in a conventional marriage (that wasn't that conventional) and those we didn't ask about or knew one way or the other. They knew we were trying to bring us closer together. I still lacked confidence in my plans. Who was I to say we're doing things my way on my say so? Remember? No poker face here. Peter came over, pulled me up and took me out on deck giving us more privacy. "Stop it." I know my eyes told him I what I was saying. The sun was in the sky as it warmed us. I was surprised. "What am I doing?" "You're still worried about how Yuri will take it." Peter stated. "How the Hell do you know that!?" I was starting to think he could read my mind. Peter shook his head. "You read me very well. I read you just fine." He explained pointing at my face, but he knew that answering my question I thought. I didn't say it. "I see it. You're happy and then a thought goes through your mind and it falters a little, then back again. Knowing what we just talked about makes it fresh." He looked at me seriously. "Since early last year, how long have we been apart? I don't mean to class or in the next room, I mean, you're sleeping in one location and me another?" I didn't have to think about it. "Never." "That's right. Never." He then sounded a little proud. "I think we had to learn to read each other or kill each other. I'm right, aren't I?" "Yes." I grudgingly admitted. "You're almost spooky at times." Peter grinned. "Remember when you helped me so much with Western manners, advice and just...everything. This time, I'll help you. What are you having doubts about?" "I have no training as an agent. Yuri trained most of his life! Maybe his way is better." I confessed. "I don't know." Peter smiled patiently. "It's not who you are. You befriend everybody. Even Yuri!" I grinned. "I love Yuri and Boris." Peter tapped me on the chest. "That's my point! So, do I! When I first arrived in Boston, there was Yuri and Boris. They were trusted employees of my brother. You move in and," he snapped his fingers, "just like that, you make them friends. With Yuri! It never occurred to me to hug either of them until you came along." He caressed my face. "I love that about you. What changed here?" He smiled. "Before you even had the authority you didn't back down from anyone, not even Olek! I know you confronted him! Now that you have the authority, you're doubting yourself? That doesn't make sense." "I know." I wailed. "I shouldn't." I tried to think what I was thinking exactly when the doubts came. It was Grandma's rule to talk it out! "I was thinking about the palace." I began thinking out loud. "That led me to all the changes there since I came. Then about Makarovia and that changed while I've been there." I snapped my own fingers at him. "Now, I remember! I thought, who do I think I am? No one is the answer to that. I'm a Southern Country Bumpkin from the Carolina's who married well, that's who I am. By what right am I making decisions about a country and making policy for everyone in Makarovia? It's been around one, almost two thousand years? Now, I have answers?" Peter nodded. "You are much, much more because I said so. Olek said it and Queen Alla said it." He waved at the men inside. "All of them said it when the Proposal was accepted! That's who you are and where the authority comes from. Them! They love you, but they also trust you. That's very important." He hugged me. "You'll be great!" I smiled kissing him gently. "I may need to be reminded." Peter nodded. "It's what we do." "You're right." I nodded. "My security net is gone." I watched try to work that out. I chuckled. "Like a trapezes artist has the net below taken away to cause greater risk. When I made a suggestion before, there were people that would say no if it was a bad idea. Now people are going to do things simply because I said so? Lives are at stake here! That's a lot of responsibility." Peter nodded. "It is. I resisted mine by staying in that room. You came out swinging! You took on the press, potential deadly threats...ready to take on Presidents, Kings, Prime Ministers, and others in control. You made Generals back down! You're good for Makarovia!" "Okay." I conceded smiling. "You're right." Peter hugged me. "Don't doubt yourself." I had thought of inviting everyone to the table. I joked that since I married all of Makarovia, it was everyone's and my honeymoon. You know I only had eyes for one Makarovian and you know that. I got an idea. Nothing demanding or taxing, but needed doing to keep it going. No dress code was being enforced. We would never come to the table without shirts, just in underwear. You didn't have to dress up, but you dressed to come to the table. I think Grandma was the reason I didn't need lessons until now. With some assistance, I put things together for the night. Henri even showed me how to do it faster. Thank goodness the agents were in a game with Peter. He and Alec were a team. They'd stopped poker just to have something new. Spades, where they made a bid for books after the shuffle and looking at what you could win. I knew that, too. Then I saw Peter and Alec seem to be losing, not taking a single book, then ran the whole board by making the other two have to take every book because of the card in play making the other two to lose miserably! If Alec and Peter got one book they lose. The opponent team only had certain cards in the end but had to play what they had. Peter and Alec didn't have one! That something that didn't happen often. Alec and Peter had worked that out silently. Communication between partners was not allowed. They did it anyway. Maybe I did marry a card shark. It was seven in the evening when I was asked to bookmark where we were with the movie we were watching. Then the guys headed toward the stairs to go down to eat. Peter was about to go, too. We didn't have to eat separately. I reached up and gently pulled him down. He looked puzzled, but the silence and shake of my head. Again, words unspoken, but it was understood. A smile grew as he nodded his head. At the agreed upon half hour, I took Peter's hand and led him to the dining area. It was a bit darker than usual. The lights were turned down. I picked up the little silver lighter left for this reason and lit the four candles on the table. Two on my side, two on his. I put the lighter in the drawer and picked a remote, hit a numerical code and hit "enter." Peter's smile grew with amazement as the lights went down further and a couple of recessed light increased to allow us to see what we ate. Music began playing softly as a slow pulsing sound of a piano was heard quietly. He looked at the room and simply said, "Wow." That Y chromosome guys carry, sometimes gets in the way. I'm glad it's there. You bet, but Peter was reaching for the remote. "How'd you do that? I saw you enter one thing!" I almost bought into it nodding as I began showing him. "It's a task code I programmed to do certain things with..." I suddenly caught myself, shook my head and put the remote away. "Never you mind about that." A guy loves tech-stuff and talking tech-stuff and I nearly went right with it. It didn't ruin the mood, but... "Show me later?" He asked hopefully. "Maybe." Peter wasn't bothered a bit. "Romance hasn't died for us." I nodded. "This is a preventative romance intervention. We see a doctor before running a fever or have symptoms to not have a problem. No sniffles or anything. Just turn your head and cough." Ever man knows that phrase. Peter nodded. "You're a wise man." Henri's antics were even subdued. He very quietly explained the lobster and crab bisque and then the Flounder of the Mediterranean. I wondered if...I know they ship sea products all over the world now. How did he verify these flounder were Mediterranean? What identification did they have? The dish was baked with fresh tomatoes, olives and I could see. Grandpa's wisdom said if I really wanted to know, I'd ask later. I guess I really didn't. I didn't remember and still don't know. I'm fine. Peter and I had enough good manners to not linger where people needed to work. In spite of what Peter had said to me, I felt guilty not helping to cleanup. Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, and Dad had taught me that long before I even knew there was a Makarovia. I took the remote out of the drawer. Peter looked at it and tried to touch it again. I lightly smacked his hand away. "Later." We walked through the ship and the music "followed" us. Or followed the remote. In our quarters, the music played as we enjoyed our time together. I say it again, there is nothing wrong with passion. That almost animalistic drive we sometimes have. That desire to "do it" was just calmer. There was less urgency for either of us to stake our claim. I belonged to Peter and he belonged to me. It was love, not just sex. Time was secondary. An hour? Several? We didn't worry about it. I woke to noise. We weren't moving now and the usual sounds like the distant sound of street traffic droned and that famous, lazy clang of a sea bell rang without force occasionally. The reason I heard traffic, I found out cars were owned in great numbers by the people of Malta. They numbered four on it in the whole European Union! Don't make me give you numbers, but I'll say by the amount of land and people per square mile they had more! Malta wasn't big. There are two large islands and one small one between them. Malta was the biggest of the two, Gozo was smaller, but not tiny and little Comino. It was always warm with a lot of beaches, beautiful waters and very, very old. Because of its location, like Makarovia, many people have taken over and control of Malta. Unlike Makarovia they wanted to keep that control of Malta for their location if nothing else. It was ancient! They found pottery that dates back six thousand years. BC!! And everyone is what I meant! Greece, Roman, Phoenicians, Arab, French, and British is naming only a few. There are plenty more. "I think," Peter said in a low rumble as he woke up, "we're here." I can't help it. I grinned. "Of course, we're here. If we were over there that would be here instead of over there and here would be over there..." An eye widened. Peter grabbed me pulling me over him. "You just sit up nights thinking this stuff up, don't you?" I grinned shaking my head. "No, it's a gift and just comes." "I enjoyed last night." Peter grinned. I shrugged. "Henri's a fabulous cook." I said, "It's not surprising that we love it." Peter rolled his eyes and then rolled us over so he was on top. "You know what I'm talking about." This time his voice was a louder rumble. I smiled. "I do." I said more seriously and added. "I'm in love with you." Peter smiled. "I know. I'm in love with you." From the first time or thousands of times since. It made my heart almost hurt hearing that. It was such a sincere statement that caused a surge in my heart. It didn't really hurt, but it was really felt. "I know." Yes, we did it again. We rose and showered. All those morning things not to offend anyone just had to be done. By now, those odd things said and seen by me is no surprise to anyone. I searched the net for what to see. Anchor Bay! You know I associate a lot of movies and television to life. Anchor Bay was here! About a sailor who loved this skinny woman named Olive Oil? Popeye! Bluto, Popeye's rival for Olive Oil? You might need to brush the webbing and dust from the VHS player, but it was good enough for a movie with Robin William! 1980. The village is in Malta! You'll recognize it if you saw it. It's online. I don't even need to look. We berthed in the area of Marsaxlokk. We were on the edge. There were many boats and small ships there. Colorful boats that were painted in bright red, vibrant yellow and blue sitting on water that was so clear in shallow water the boats seemed to float in the air. Not sort of these colors, but the primary, base, and bright colors. They didn't have to have anyone on them to look like a party or festival on the waters. Out in the lagoons the water or got more blue the deeper the water was. It was beautiful! Like many communities here...the other word was congested. The older parts of the cities and towns looked like they crammed in as much in as they could. It was clean, just cramped in places. There were ruins here that were here before the pyramids where even built! Churches. There were many churches. Religion and belief that someone was in control of all the wonder in the world just happened. From coming up for a reason the sun shines, rain falls, or for answers about death itself. Someone or something with greater understanding than we were capable of had it all under control. Religion was a way of more understanding for us. A comfort buffer. Many predate Christianity. The Tarxiens. There were temples, one huge one in Malta. A lavishly decorated temple that dated back three thousand years! Again, BC!! It blows my mind! I was getting excited by this. I paid attention at school, but knew almost nothing about the Tarxiens. As far back as they went in history, there was a lot of Tarxiens in all of us! The top brains in the scientific world say we originated from Africa as primates. I don't care what the race is. That far back did it matter? I saw a reconstructed skull of one of our great, great whatever grandpa. I say again, we weren't pretty. We looked a lot like chimpanzees than like we do now. Since we migrated out through Northern Africa, it makes sense the oldest anything human would be in this area. Sicily was just North of here. South a little ways was Tripoli. Tunisia was East. Malta was all by itself as civilized men evolved. I know! I get sidetracked. Even courts of justice have sidebars to discuss some things related more privately. This was related. I was looking forward to this. The crew and our agents ate an hour earlier. We were never late but once. I'd talk to them today about joining us tonight. Henri looked up and smiled at us. It wasn't his typical happy-go-lucky smile. It was love of what he saw that pleased him. "Good morning. I hope things went well last night." I nodded smiling back. "Very well." He nodded again. "It's not just for show either." He pointed at us. "Is it?" Both Peter and I were a little surprised. "For show?" Peter asked. "Why would we do that?" I asked. Henri looked as he considered his answer. "It was a spectacle. A marriage never done before. Two handsome young men marrying while millions watched live on television and the repeats broadcast in many languages many times since. It could have been for show." I had never heard about repeats. "Repeats?" Henri nodded. "Bootleg copies to countries that tried to prevent their citizens from seeing it like Iraq, Iran, and parts of India." We were contraband? Peter sighed and smiled sadly. "Sometimes I often wanted to just go somewhere and get it over with." I nodded. "We knew because of that unknown territory people were more interested seeing the wedding than usual." "Other than King William and Harry," I began, "what royal weddings did you see or hear about?" Henri shrugged. "None, really." "But you saw ours." I said. Peter cocked his head. "What happen to make you question it was for show?" Henri turned a little pink. "Last night." He confessed. "I could overhear some and saw...you are really in love." I smiled nodding understanding now. "Oh, I see." "You spoke in Makarovian," Henri said quickly. "I don't understand it. I didn't hear the contents, but I heard how it was said. You two are really in love." I chuckled. "Even if you understood Makarovian we didn't say anything graphic." Peter leaned in to seemingly confide in Henri. "There were so many forms and rituals to go through to get him, but I'll do it gladly again." My eyes widened. "Forms and rituals you went through?! Have you lost your mind!? That whole Proposal and yearlong engagement to Makarovia..." I was pointing behind us like they were there in reality. Peter nodded, not bothered, and whispered to Henri. "See? He's very sensitive." Henri chuckled. "It's nice to see. Many only want a commitment for fifteen to thirty minutes. It's nice to see someone really in love." That was almost sad to hear. Henri didn't say who, but said in a way that said there wasn't much hope. He was a great guy! Someone anyone would be proud to be with. I touched his arm. "Don't give up." His smile too placating. He didn't believe it. He looked at the clock. "What I thought making will take forty-five minutes. Can you wait that long?" "With coffee." Peter said, "Yes." We didn't have to go get our agents. The concept that we wanted them up here was finally understood. They had found the library, too. Mikell was reading something, Cosmo was scrolling through something as Mercea was shuffling the cards for no one but himself. "Where are we going today?" Mercea asked with a hopeful sound. Rolph came in the Living Area. "You may know my love of Archaeology." I said and got no reactions of surprise. "There are some ancient ruins, oldest in the world here. I'd like to see where great-grandpa went to church." Mercea frowned. "Great-grandpa?" I nodded. "Yours, too." I said. "After five or six thousand years, I know they were here. Thousands and hundreds of thousands were here. Many will be the same grandpas! We came from the same gene pool. We're all related!" I turned to Rolph. "That won't be a gamble. It's a sure thing." Rolph snickered knowing I remembered what he said and nodding. "Fine," Mikell said standing up. "When and how are we doing this?" "We have time, Mike." Peter chuckled shaking his head. "No schedule. We need to eat in about half an hour. We don't want to call attention to ourselves..." Alec looked up suddenly. "Wait!" He dashed away. He came back with somethings in his hands. He handed Peter and I pair of those dark glasses I asked to get. The ones that help you see better as it cuts glare even at night. It improved how we see at night! There was more detail and definition wearing them. The details of our eyes were hidden. He handed us two ball caps. The kind with that little draping thing in back that keeps the sun off your neck and keep it from burning. That really obscured our appearance. "This should work for now. We can work things out on what you can wear..." "Alec!" I nodded hugging Alec. "This is perfect!" Fair skinned Alec was like Peter, his face easily reddened. "Well..." Peter nodded looking in the mirror. "No. This is perfect!" I smiled knowing what Peter was doing. He hugged Alec, too. It was a very primitive, primate, and basic behavior. Peter was staking his claim. I was his. I chuckled. He was being nice about it. I was the same way with Peter. Remember Brad at Jocks? "We want blend in," Peter said. "Dress comfortably." I pulled Peter back a little as Mikell and the others agents discussed what to do. I was smiling the whole time I said it. "Do you need to flex or chest pound yourself?" I asked. "Roar, maybe?" He knew I wasn't angry at all. He looked at Alec. "Did I do that?" "I don't know." I answered. "I hugged him and you hugged him after that. Have you hugged him before?" Peter thought. "I don't think so." He frowned. "You hugged him several times yesterday and today!" I nodded and grinned. "It's who I am. Just a theory, but you seem to want even footing. I did it and you did it to tell what the limits are. Allowing a hug and giving Alec the hug evened things out and let Alec it was okay if you are included." "There's a lot of assumptions here." I nodded laughing. "Of course." I joked. "That's why it's called..." I used air quotes, "a theory." We went up to the Duchess' bridge. Captain Agius greeted us. I looked out the expansive windows at the city around us. "So, this is home." He looked out nodding. "This where I'm from." The way he said it told me he wasn't from there now. "My brother and his partner still live there. He lives in the family home now. My son goes there when not in school." He looked around the bridge. "The Duchess is really my home now." "We're here," I said. "Don't you want to see your brother? See home?" Peter asked. The Captain bowed slightly and chuckled. "If he and Steffan were here. My son's in Rome." I shook my head. "It sucks to be you." The Captain laughed heartily. "I'm at home!" "Fine." I said a little testily. "You're from Malta. Can you show us around?" He didn't have to think about it. "I'd love to!" I looked at him. He was dressed like a Captain. We were indoors, so no cover needed. (No hat.) The other crew members wore uniforms, but varied to the white shorts and short-sleeved shirt. We were in the Mediterranean! It was warm. Having a casual Friday was somewhat normal in the West. They could wear jeans and nice button necked polo style shirt. The shirt even had "Grand Duchess" written in stitching on the upper left chest. Classy Casual? They had the ball cap hats, also with the name on them. The Captain never wore the shorts. The jeans, he did. No one got to see his legs. His legs hadn't seen the sun in quite a while. "Can I ask?" Peter began. "Do you have to look so..." he stopped thinking of a word. "Official?" I suggested to Peter. Peter nodded. "That's it!" I nodded. "Normally, I have no problem being proud of where you work and what you do." Peter nodded as I was speaking and added, "but you would be telling everybody we're from the Duchess." "Right." I said. "We don't need them suspecting even what you do looking at you." The Captain nodded with a chuckle as he thought. "I think I still have regular clothes." He tried to remember. My watch sounded with the alarm. "There's time." I took Peter's hand. "After breakfast." Henri was back to his happy-go-lucky self. He took the lid off again and the now familiar aroma hit my nose and Peter's who smiled. "I thought we were out of lobster." Henri sulked. "We are now!" He waved at our plates. "This is a lobster and crab quiche. The last bit of lobster we had." He put his fist on a hip and in just a little above a mutter. "I planned to go to the open fish market after we arrived," he wavered his head, "but oh, no. The port authorities in Malta said we were to wait in line. Three cruise ships were ahead of us." He waved with both hands off ship. "The man to allow us in knew us!" He pointed up through the ceiling. "He knew the Captain!" "What was the problem?" I asked. "A petty little man with too much power." Henri said lightly angry. "That's what the problem was. I couldn't even disembark to go to any market!" "Are they still open?" Peter asked. "It's after nine and still morning." I chuckled taking Peter's hand. "They're open, but an open fresh fish market you need to be there very, very early." I smiled at Henri. "Four or five in the morning?" Henri nodded. "That's right." He held his hands up. "But not to worry." He sighed. "I called a friend who is a head chef on one of those cruise ships. He owes me a few favors. I'm cashing one favor in before he freezes anything." Peter looked at me asking silently how I knew that. I laughed. "I was raised on the Atlantic Coast. Fishing and crabbing a lot in life? It isn't new to me." "Oh," Peter nodded, "you were. I forget." Henri shook his head. "I'll need to get enough for the others." "We can stay another night if me need to." I said. Henri shook his head and said the quick but firm French "NO!" He folded his arms over his chest. "Even if there's no deadline! We never bow to what he says. Then he wanted to know about the non-crew members here that looked military and why they were here ." He laughed at something. "He was talking terrorists and spies and demanded to know who we hiding. "That's need to know!" I objected. Peter said a little angrily at the same time I spoke and said. "You couldn't!" "And we didn't!" Henri stated. "The Captain showed the signed agreement where we were contractually forbidden from telling him and would be prosecuted if we did. The Captain assured someone would call about his...dedication to duty. Your agents were prefect with the no English excuse. Count and Countess von Bar, Mario Basso will be sending words on that regard. He looked at our plates. "Eat, it's getting cold." He quietly fumed and went in the galley. Peter and I were laughing. Henri was like a show about his emotions and absolutely hilarious! Peter grinned at me. "Gay, straight, both, I don't care. I love that guy!" "He's a mature human." I said smiling and said. "I agree." More delicious sensations. Henri didn't just cook for us. Remember? He cooked for the crew, too. Two and a half days and we'd pick up two more people. Those additional people would need a couple of days of food. Malta was it supply wise, until we were back in Athens and see Pano, Barry, and Edger again. Henri could go to the fish market again. That took organization and advance planning, not just being a good cook! Rotating stock. Using business terms, FIFO and LIFO. First in-stock, First out. Last in-stock, Last Out. Something along those lines. We're getting dangerously close to that demon of math, so, moving on. I wished everyone could go. The Duchess was a prime target. There were millions dollars about her. I couldn't even guess how much the computer system cost. It wasn't just the hardware, but the software as well. The Duchess' Artificial Intelligence didn't belong to just the Duchess. The von Bars had their own network! The estate, offices and extensions were interlinked by this. The Duchess was one area that stood alone. Sort of. The Estate was one. Montbeliard International and the Duchess were each a category to choose from. They were all interlinked. Montbeliard was the original family name of the von Bars. It was French! It was fascinating delving in the past! How do you know where you'll end up? You can't! You can see where you're been. That could explain why you're calm or have an explosive temper! Or if not, why? I know, I took the side bar again. The Duchess couldn't just be left. We left the crew and two agents to watch the Duchess. The guys did the rock-paper-scissors moves for weeding things down. I didn't ask, but hoped it was to see who was left behind and who had to stay, not who got to stay. You know the difference. Cosmo and Rolph were staying. The law here restricted gun use in Malta. No automatic weapons allowed. At all. They allowed semi-automatic with a license held. Our agents held that license. They were to stay aboard just to be safe. What really helped was Alec, Mercea, Mikell, and even the Captain put those glasses and hat on. The Captain was in his forties and everyone knows if you sprang from this area, normally you don't go gray that fast. Maltese people were thousands of years of intermixing and became Carthaginian, Sicilian, and Moor combinations! The Captain was showing only the beginning a receding hairline. Just a little. Otherwise, his hair was black. He was nice looking. I wouldn't push him away. I would now, but I was married! Not that he was unattractive. We are much prettier that we were millions of years ago. You know about Lucy, right? She was three point two million years old! She was a Primate! Eve was a Human Primate! So, was Adam. She had human-like features but still retained some of the ape portions! A branch on the great ape tree. We're apes! Why did we get lucky on the evolution tree? I don't really know. Getting off the side bar and back on topic. The Captain looked like one of us like members of a team. He put the glasses on. "Alla tiegħi!" He said in awe. "This is amazing!" I chuckled. "Wait until it gets dark. Then your mind will be blown all over again!" Military men are in it as a career just carry a part it with them everywhere. The Captain was still trim and well groomed. This "military bearing" could almost be physically felt. In Charleston there was Air Force, Navy, and Marines. I could spot one without trying too hard. I grinned. "How long were you in?" The Captain looked at me over the glasses. "What?" I smiled bigger. "It was the Navy. When did you get out?" I waved at him. "Everything about you says the Navy. How long?" He laughed back. "I guess it still shows. I got out two years ago right after Count von Bar bought this. No mileage." He explained. "I was in the Navy twenty five years. My last Command was a P62 or Patrol Boat." He shrugged. "The fleet were all Patrol Boats. P61s and P62s..." He said and slowly shook his head, "...and you don't know what I'm talking about." I pointed at him. "You're sort of right and sort of wrong. I'll admit to not knowing what those ships are exactly." I looked at him. "I will tell you I understand why those ships are. Am I right to say the P61 and P62 are pretty much the same ships only the P62 has improved features." I smiled as the Captain nodded. "The United States use a small ship for the same reason and for the same reason. They're powerful ships!" The Captain nodded. "They are. They aren't the huge Aircraft Carriers or Battleships..." "Why are you apologizing for what you don't have?" I felt like I was being apologized again like Peter when I first saw Stryia. "I'll tell you what I see you do have in plenty. This is a beautiful island country! Water so clear and it's warm! This island, Malta and Gozo are in beautiful part of the world. And though I haven't seen them, some very, very ancient treasures. Some of the oldest. Extending thousands and thousands of years." I nodding really acknowledging what I knew. "A people that are kind and rational." I waved at him. "I'm looking at one right now!" The Captain nodded. "Thank you. I'll show you where to go." Mikell had arranged to have an SUV for us to take. It could be walked, but the need for a speedy retreat canceled that idea from consideration. The island at its widest was maybe three miles. The longest was ten to twelve miles. That was the big island of Malta. The Agius' home was on Gozo. If I say it was inside the triangle of Xlendi, Sanz Lawrenz and Gebel Ben Gorp? Is that make it more clear? No? It was near the beach. So was everything else. It was South of San Raflu Lake. Not getting into the laws about property ownership, you know there were taxes. Some of the families owned their home for centuries. Left in wills to children there was a tax. A yearly tax. We are talking about family dwellings that stretched back for hundreds of generations in history! Give or take a decade, the Captain could trace his great, great whatever for eight hundred and fifty years!! It's so close, I'll say a millennium! I was jealous as Hell with the Captain about that! I shook my head at those thoughts. "I'd be gloating, if I was you, Captain." The man nodded. "Call me Luke." His name was Lucian Agius. If he preferred it, I'd comply. "Sure," I said, "Luke." "I can't leave you for a minute!" Peter mockingly growled and waved at the Captain. "I come back and you're doing it." He grabbed me from behind. "Again." I shrugged. "It's an involuntary reflex." We could come back. Despite the size, Malta had a lot to see! Being a practical military man, Luke planned to start North and progress South. Also, we'd travel the farthest West and work our way East and back to the Duchess. We saw Mercea hand the keys to the Captain. Mercea simply shrugged and smiled. "Who is better to navigate in Maltese traffic than someone from Malta?" He asked logically We waited for the ferry to arrive that would take us to Gozo. Peter looked at Luke. "No bridge? The islands are close enough." Luke smiled back. "If it isn't broken, why look to repair it?" "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I nodded. Luke looked puzzled. "Isn't that what I said?" He asked Peter, but I saw the undercurrent of mischief. He knew exactly what he did. My eye narrowed looking at Luke. "See? I know you're trying to piss me off." I said shaking a finger at him. "It's another clever idiom we think up to remind ourselves!" The Captain nodded understanding with a smile. "He must have been from Malta." I chuckled at the irony. "That, is a given." "In 2019 Construction they began for the Malta-Gozo Tunnel." He said. "The closest land mass would be Sicily." He shrugged again. "If they do that, it could connect Europe with Africa. That could make two connections." Peter frowned. "There isn't even one now!" The Captain nodded. "It's there." He claimed with a knowing smile. "For now, just on paper. Plans are done and when," he looked at Peter and me. "I say when, not if. When they start the bridge over the Strait of Gibraltar. It take only a bit more to unite Malta with Italy. Malta to Tunisia. Sicily to Tunis, Tunisian makes more sense mileage-wise. That will be the second connection." "You want this connection?" I asked cautiously. "To include Malta in the connection." The Captain shrugged. "Whether I want it or not won't be a factor. It will happen. If we do it, it will be under our control." I heard Grandma and asked him the magic question. "And you've considered the ramifications to Malta?" Luke nodded. "I have." Peter wasn't dense or lacking anything intellectually. He just needed reminding. "When we heard that military plane overhead in Stryia, we knew that was going to be normal soon. We worried, and are still about worrying about the near innocence of Makarovians have will be threatened or just plain gone. " I waved at the surrounding area of Malta. "This will become a stopover. To get gas, something to eat or just for the night. What made Malta will be threatened." Luke nodded. "Many on Malta see that and aren't too anxious to change things now." He smiled. "We can wait." He looked as the ferry moved into position. "I know they aren't looking forward to it. It's cutting into their revenue." The two islands were different. Not the "over there" verses "over here" stuff. Malta was the urbanized island of the two. Gozo had more of the "farms." That's not quite right. We were driven to the "Azure Window' was first. It was a wonderful view! Breathtaking. The Captain nodded. "It's hard for me to accept." He pointed to the rocky shoreline. "I grew up almost never missing a day of seeing it." He smiled. "It was this natural archway to see the world through. In March of 2017, after more the six or seven thousands of years of being...beaten by the sea, storms, earthquakes and even the threat of modern bombs...it collapses." He loved a memory he had. "My brother and I played here many, many times!" He snickered with a shrug. "It was always there!" Luke stated. "I believed it always would be." He turned away. "Now, it's gone." We were so close to it. Peter and I insisted we drive by where Lucian Agius' home. Expectations were there, but no one prepared me for this! Lucian, was wealthy? There was a story here. The family home was beautiful. It had a view of the beach across a road on a hill that the house sat on. This part of the house was the back! Across the street was what looked to be a park of wide, white concrete rails and wide walkways. The house wasn't alone. Next door and I mean right next door. So close the backyard patio seemed to blend into one long slab all the way from house to house. There was a stone wall that divided properties. There were planters with greenery from the back wall to the street in a bushy green. Manicured, but bushy for added privacy. Luke knew where to go, to see through it. A nice sized swimming pool with three young people were in it. I guessed the eldest was a girl about twelve. Next was a boy about ten with the other boy maybe eight. There was another female lying on a cushioned lounge. Gay. Remember? She did nothing for me. The Captain smiled. "Guests." He shrugged. "When we're not using it, we rent it." I nodded my head. "That makes sense." Luke smiled. "Paying the taxes, maintenance fees, new appliances few years, renovations, remolding, Wi-Fi, and computer upgrades, money saved to make repairs..." he moaned, "and so on and so forth. It's tough. I gladly leave it to Thom and Steffan. They're more strict than I am." "More strict?" Peter repeated in disbelief. I waved in the direction of the Duchess. "You keep that in shipshape." Peter chuckled. "Which leads me to ask. It's not talking about the house or whatever shaped like ship." I chuckle and shook my head. "No. Extremely tidy and knowing everything goes somewhere and where that is." Peter nodded. "That's what I figured." He looked as the guys who smiled at him and looked lightly annoyed. "Oh, don't play like you already knew that all along." He fussed. "It was new to several of you. I wanted to know. Now I do." "This house has been built and rebuilt, no one can remember what it originally looked like." Luke confessed. "Yet," I observed. "It's home." Luke nodded. "Yep." The house as a good sized one. The resent reconstruction they increased the number of bedrooms. It originally had five. Luke's grandparents said it originally had three. New modern conveniences and clientele they now had eight bedrooms. Two baths? Now, there were five. Two kitchens, two living areas. Two families? Like many in Italy, Greece...a lot in the Mediterranean, the one color choice was white. Color was on the houses, but on umbrella covered tables, on awnings and doors to the garage or front door. None of your "ish" colors. Reddish, bluish or any other ish. Red, blue, green, yellow as bright colors. We headed inland toward this...temple. It was one of two of the oldest man made religious structures EVER built. Some people get upset without Jesus Christ in it. He didn't exist yet! This was Old Testament times. It was before kings and pharaohs (I know they are both and considered gods.) The slaves of Egypt hadn't finish building the pyramids yet. This temple was old then! I know, but I get excited about this sort of thing. Captain Agius grew up with this. Right here! In his backyard. I love the connections. The past to the present. Making familial connections with others. I told Peter that I enjoyed making those connections. I get a sense that says "us", not just a "me." I belong. I'm Human. One of billions. I'm not alone. The feeling I got was that Malta was one really big city. It was just a effect really big community that was the cause! I looked at the parts of this community as we rode through. My life changed course. I was someone that was assigned duties for the office I married into. I intended to use what I learned. Not to mention all the courses in Economics I took that got me here. (Why do we say, not to mention and proceed to mention it anyway?) Back on track. Right. The goal was to export something to bring an import to the city or community. Tourism is an export, but not enough even with those cruise ships ahead of us on arrival. They couldn't support a half a million people. I asked Luke. "There are farms in Malta." He began his reluctant agreement. "We have to rely on other countries. A lot people think farming will become something you do in your backyard." "Like a hobby." Peter nodded. Luke nodded. "Yes, that's right." Ruins are ruins. What's the big deal? (Yes, I heard that! The ambivalent approach to ruins.) I'll gladly get on my soapbox if you need a reminder. "We have exports." Luke said. "From mechanical machinery and appliances to pharmaceuticals." He glanced at me and then the road again. "Mostly France, Germany, the UK, and Italy top the list." We pulled into an area set aside for cars. Mercea was the designated parker...parkee? He waited in the car. On an island where vacant land was coveted, it's what you did. There were parking lots. Or car parks or...there were places to park! Okay? This part of Malta's big community is Ggantija. The Giantess. One more time. I'm just so GEEKED out with it. This temple was so old and I had no doubt showing wear before the first stone block was brought to Egypt and where to put it was even worked out about where to place the pyramids! The Sphinx still had its nose!! Six or seven thousand years ago when it was just a kitten with a baby's head. Whatever it was called during its youth. A generation is children born approximately thirty years (some much younger and some older, a night of romance or minutes in violence. A child was born and grew up to do it at least once if you're here. A child has four grandparents, so going back, each grandparent's parents with a factor of four...Owe, owe. It was my fault. My fault. I started it. Three hundred and thirty three generations factored by four each generation six or seven times...I can't see either island or combination would be enough land. That's just my grandparents! That is a HELL of a lot of people!! And such a crowd! Oyi! Spelled right or wrong, with what I just said and you just read. I dare you to find in my past that found not one of the thousands of people spoke Yiddish! I dare you. Brother. It's impossible!! Consider yourself one-armed bear hugged. Still, it was damned impressive. It wasn't just a pile of rocks. There were monstrous slabs there. They were put there. Sorry. Customer Service was neither dead nor even ill. I liked the choice of Tour Guide. They weren't really here. You rented this device and chose the language. Even the gender! Mine was male, duh. With a mellow and sexy voice smooth between a baritone and bass. He reminded me of Peter! Imagine that. Really, the study of Archaeology is just a baby. There were some excavation in late eighteenth century and early in the nineteenth century. Treasure hunters looking for a fast reward. Little was done carefully to protect the past. Seeing and knowing what we did helps us learn from our mistakes. We are a species who knows the we are a species and seek a better understanding of how we fit in the universe. The devises, a little bit larger than a cell or smart phone and rugged. There wasn't a choice. People are not always careful...or children or just plain klutzes. I saw one man try to adjust something and dropped it on concrete ground. It had a strap you could use so you wouldn't do that. The VTG (Virtual Tour Guide) knew where you were and even gave directions for where to go. "To your right you'll see..." and explained in more detail or moved on. I looked up to see Peter grinning and stepping forward and then stepping back with a chuckle. "What are you doing?" I grinned as I asked. Peter smiled bigger. Those glasses didn't allow hardly any detail of his face. "This is fascinating!" He pointed to the device. "I have it set for Ukrainian now. Makarovian wasn't even a choice." There were differences between Ukrainian and Makarovian. At first, Makarovian sounded like Ukrainian with a bad accent. Like putting a man from Queens, New York and a good ol' boy from rural Alabama. A few word changes, but they were having a conversation. They both spoke English it was the same language. Almost. Now, Ukrainian sounded like the one with the bad accent for me now. Peter turned and stepped forward. "Now he's," he pointed at the device, "talking about what's over there." He stepped back. "Now, he stopped!" He beamed at me. "Just fascinating!" I chuckled. "I'm so glad we found something for you to play with." As always, Peter wasn't bothered a bit, but had to be guided down the sidewalk. He let me do it just fine. This devise had a locator so the mainframe knew where you were located to give a more detailed explanation of what you were seeing. I didn't mind that, but I had other questions. I needed a real live breathing person. They had people walking around with name badges. A young woman with long black hair was common in these parts. She had the long hair, but blonde. She lived and worked here in Malta. She was in her late twenties. I saw on her badge she was an archaeological student and her name was Maja. She was here to help people like me and it was busy now. The three cruise ships that had at least a thousand tourists on board, plus the hotels and resorts... (Owe) The devices made sense. Human guides could catch cold or get laryngitis...a reason not to work. Then again, the computer could crash or just shutdown. "Excuse me." I said in a Southern way. Remember the vowels were spoken differently? Maja came over giving me a smile. "Can I help you?" She had an accent and name that said Sweden. I pointed in a direction and asked about the sacrificial rites done here on people as well as animal sacrifices. About the pottery findings that were even older than this very temple. Fifteen to twenty thousand years they estimated and were working to find out. BC or AD didn't make that big a difference with these sort of numbers. She spoke English well. There was the giveaway accent. I also wasn't blind. She was gorgeous! A Swedish blonde bombshell. Centerfold material. I knew guys would be in agony from self-inflicted pain to help them keep control of those primal urges. Did it work on me? I was aware of it, but gay. Remember? No urges. If this were a handsome Swedish Viking maybe. With Maja? No. The more I spoke to her, she relaxed. She knew history and could discuss it at length from known facts and theories. She had an act she had learned to use and followed to get what she wanted or needed all of her life. Now, I was listening to her about what she said due to her brain and knowledge there. I got a feeling like I did with Helga. Helga was every bit as gorgeous as Maja. Only, Helga played that down to make people listen to her. Maja used hers. She got a map. Not one of those tourist type of map, but detailed one. She was flustered as wind wasn't cooperating. "Can we step out of the wind?" I saw a booth nearby they didn't have anybody in it. Two people would be in close quarters, but not crowded. "Sure." Mikell and Alec looked a little worried. Peter and I were spreading them out. Mikell pointed at Peter who was talking to Luke. I held up a finger, one, I pointed at them, "you," I pointed at my two eyes, "watch," I pointed at Peter. "him." And we didn't speak a word in any verbal language. Alec and Mikell had their own. Maja hadn't missed it. Maybe speaking Makarovian would have been better, but we would have to speak loud be heard. "Is there a problem?" She asked. "Not really a problem." I smiled and waved to the booth. "You'll understand in a minute." There was the problem with the glasses. It didn't help your reading. It could be done and might have worked outside to read the map as it cut the glare. She smiled as we got in the booth. "I know who you are Prince Eric." Now, I was shocked. "You've known how and how long?" I almost demanded. She laughed shaking her head. "About five or ten minutes into our discussion." She pointed at my left hand. "A woman knows jewelry. I saw Prince Pedro put that one on you. I saw when he put the ring on the other hand a year ago." She smiled again softer. "I won't tell anyone." "Os' ty del!!" Peter said with a sound of relief and indignant at the same time. He was relieved I wasn't in trouble and indignation I had gone missing in the first place. "English, Babe." I chuckled. "We all speak English, it's rude not to." I looked at him. "Do we discuss the whole here verses there thing again? I'm here, you're there..." "I got that." Peter again growled. "I didn't know where you were." I nodded. "I know. I'm sorry." I said sincerely. "We had Mikell with us!! No, explosions or gunfire, but we had Mikell." I motioned for Peter to come in and that made it crowded. "Prince Pedro Ivanov of Makarovia, this is Maja Nilsson." I didn't need to see his eyes to read his surprise. "She's known about us almost from the start." "I won't tell anyone," Maja again swore. "Shout it from rooftops in twenty-four hours." I shrugged and reached out to her. "Do you have a camera on your phone?" "Yes." She smiled. It was no longer a question if you had one, but what features on it. How did we even function before the web and cell phone? "Some may want proof." I shrugged. "We'll give you some." Peter's brow came together as he thought. "Wouldn't it be better outside?" I shook my head. "You've never used one of those little photo booths. Friends all pile in and get wacky pictures to capture a moment in time." I waved at the booth. "This a bit larger, but the same thing." I looked around, but...I removed my cap and glasses. Peter did, too. Seeing him I huffed. "See!? You even look good with cap-hair!" I waved at his head. I really meant it, but it was fun to make him blush. One of the three of us as she did a selfie. A picture of our hands with the family crested fingers on our two ball fists just below her face. (No security breech there as it was known.) Topping it all off with her face in the center and Peter and I kissing opposite cheeks. Then I put his cap on him and glasses. "Now, give me a few minutes for why we came in here in the first place." I was looking for the settlements of these people. Humans were nomadic in the beginning. As our animal food supplies migrated, so did we. There were Ice Ages. We have had several. That last one just ended. About twelve thousand years ago seems sounds like a good chunk of time. That ice age started two and a half million years ago. Twelve thousand years is practically yesterday! I asked her about the sea levels being lower. She nodded, pleased with my understanding and questions. "Yes! Summer snow and ice covered ten percent world. Twenty-five percent over water." She waved out the window. "There have been many villages under the water now because of the water levels. Who knows the secrets we lost because of it? If we developed agriculture we stayed in one place. We could done so much in that two million years!" She was getting that feeling I got about history. "Yeah!" I nodded. "I know! The land bridges, packed ice, and snow really helped the Human Race migrate to almost every continent on Earth!" She was nodding quickly in agreement. Peter came to the door again. "No rush," he said, "will you be finishing with your new playmate?" We had been here a while. "Sorry." I chuckled. "I get excited about history. It's nice to meet a kindred spirit." Peter's face looked a little disappointed. "I like history." He was a little defensive. I laughed and said obviously condescendingly squeezing his face in my hand. "Yes, you do." I looked at him. "They aren't like spouses. I can have more than one kindred spirit. You," I grinned, "are my favorite person. Ever. Just you." Turning back to her I stuck my hand out. "Thank you for your time." She nodded. "Thank you for never challenging what I said." She patted her head. "There is some knowledge up here." I grinned. "I know someone just like that. Will we see you again if we come back?" Maja nodded. "If you come within three years. I do it during summer break to earn money to live when at school." "What school?" I asked. "York." She said. "That's in..." I nodded. "Yes, north of London about a hundred kilometers, Near Leeds!" She nodded again quickly. "You know it?" I nodded but raised my hand. "I know of it. I was looking for a school to..." "Poor Mercea," Peter said sadly. "Left in that hot car, no water, with no bathroom breaks..." Maja looked shocked. "You didn't leave a dog in the car, did you? He could have come out here!" I took the cap and swung it at Peter's face. "I will say, he is an animal, he's not dog or cat. He's human." Maja chuckled. "I see." We walked back to the others and I apologized and apologized. They had walked around using the Virtual Tour Guide. I handed mine back pretty much unused. "We'll go wherever you want to go, Peter." I said. Peter grinned. "I wouldn't mind seeing Anchor Bay." Mercea's eyes widened. "You mean Sweethaven?" I looked back at Mercea surprised. "With Popeye?" "Yes!" Mercea nodded as his smile got bigger. "With Wimpy, Olive Oil and..." I held my hand up. "How do you know about him?" Mercea now seeming to be ten rather than twenty. "We all didn't cable or satellite out there. We did in Stryia...when it was up. The only broadcast station was in Chernivtsi in the Ukraine. If we were lucky. They showed some classic reruns from the West. Popeye was a favorite of mine." He chuckled. "I didn't care for the can of spinach though." "That's two votes for Anchor Bay," a I glanced at Mercea, "or Sweethaven." I saw Mikell's face harden as he looked at Mercea. Disciplining agents, I wouldn't touch. I would leave that to Yuri and Mikell. I knew what Mercea had done was a breach of protocol. Or was it? I stopped Mikell. "Technically," I began making Mikell smile as he knew what I was going talk to him about. "He didn't break protocol." Mikell looked confused. "I was right there, I heard him." I nodded. "What did he say? Did he say I want to go or can we go." Mikell's head went back an inch as if that inch would make him see me clearer. "No." I nodded. "He inferred he wouldn't mind. He didn't even say that." I waved at the others. "I am leaving what you do with these men to Yuri and you. Don't crush his spirit. I could see your face and knew you were going to yell at him." Now, I was looking at Mikell from back an inch. "Do you ever yell?" Mikell chuckled. "I try not to. It hurts my throat." He put his hand on his chest. "My grandmother said, a soft answer does away wrath." My eyes widened. "You quoted a Bible verse. Was that Psalms?" Mikell shook his head. "No, but you were close. Proverbs 15, I think." I snapped my fingers. "The poker game!" I nodded. "You called someone a son of a bitch." Mikell laughed. "I did that a few times with several of them." I nodded. "About this friendship. Mentor him. You do it now! When you took him into the Big Bar. Making a search and sterilizing the area the Principal, Peter, and me. I know you have to be aware of your surroundings all the time keep a sharp eye out. Being pro-active not reactive. There will be times when that don't even think about it look will crucial. There will be times the need to blend in is preferred. This is that time. The image this principal wants to project is cohesion. There's a whole list of things like self-confidence. He has all of that." I watched Mikell's eye widen. "There's just one thing we need to change. The image is one of them. This Principal doesn't want the wrong one showing." "How...where..." Mikell stuttered a little. He may have studied a similar text. My use of terms were and what they were. "I read. Tomorrow or the day after we pick up Yuri." I chuckled not so free of a little trepidation. "I wouldn't go up against him without some preparation." Mikell shook his head. "You're a prince! He'll have to." I shook my head. "We can, but I've come to love Yuri and Boris like family. He is family. I'll do it with all of you, too. I'm trying to not hurt his feelings...at all." Mikell nodded. "I will..." he did air quotes, "remind him of the protocols. He can suggest when asked, but our preference is irrelevant." "You want to wait in the car this time?" Mercea chuckled to Mikell. Mikell shrugged. "Someone has to." He waved at the town/village. "I outgrew my love of cartoons. It could have a had quick fix. You know it was all sexual frustration." "Because Olive Oil make up her mind?" I grinned. "No!" Mikell said smiling. "Between Popeye and Bluto! You know they were in love." He said getting in the car. Peter was beside Mercea his head already shaking as he chuckled. "Did you hear that?" I asked them. "That's something I would say!" "He doesn't own it." Peter came over "No infringement of copyrights. You can use it, too. I'm sure that observation has been made many times." "It will be stale." I protested. "Jokes get stale?" Mercea asked. "Everything can get stale." I shrugged. "I know there are times you hear someone begin something and you think. Not this again. That's because its' stale!" Popeye's Village was an attraction. No roller coasters or even one of those chair lifts that took from one end to the other and save you from walking. It was popular for other uses. A children's birthday, (or adults, too), business lunches or dinners, team building, they did weddings, had shows, and yadda, yadda, yaddah...you don't really care I was sounding like a commercial. I hate commercials. Commercials and math are the same are on the list of Don't Want but Gotta Have. This town or village was constructed in 1979 for making the movie. Malta was keeping it and were making money. I would, too. It created jobs for its citizens. Built on a rocky cliff side, this new village looked old the first day. It was supposed to. The arrangement and placing of the twenty some odd buildings looked it was in a cartoon. New wood siding looked like warped wood and faded paint. These ram shackled wooden structures crowded together on the cliff. "Are we going out tonight?" Peter asked casually as we walked with an arm around each other's waist. "If you want to." I said. "We'll have to be who we are this time." Peter's brow wrinkled. "We are who we are every time even if they don't know who we are." The slight quiver of the corners of his mouth was a hint. I pulled his glasses up and confirmed it. I put his glasses back down. "That was pretty good, Babe." "Pretty good?" Peter asked stopping us. "You're new to this," I confessed sadly. Then I sneered. "I'm better." I began to get us moving again. "There is a dance club practically in visual range of the Duchess. We can walk there and back." I glanced back at Mikell. "There you'll have to wear those suits and DFWM faces." I said the whole thing in Makarovian except the letters which I did in English." "Our what?" Mikell asked. The people in Malta spoke English, too. It was one of the two required languages. Signs and billboards were in English over businesses. Glancing around to see who was closest. "Your Don't Fuck with Me face." I muttered and kept my voice low. Mikell's eyes widened and he burst out laughing. "I love this guy." He said to Peter. "So do I." Peter said.