Chapter No. 43 Idols of Gold

Margaret tried to get comfortable, but she couldn't. She isn't accustomed to sitting up on a stage in front of a large audience, especially a large audience of women. It makes her uneasy--some would call it embarrassed. She would rather be in a lab or somewhere out on her beloved oceans hunting for new specimens, not sitting on a hard chair in front of an American flag waiting to receive an award.

She would have preferred to have had her husband by her side, but he wasn't getting an award, so he's sitting out there somewhere in the audience, more than likely amused by her plight.

She wasn't amused at all.

She glanced at the three other women sitting next to her. They appeared to be more at ease, even pleased to be up on the stage, and, even worse, they were younger. But, they were not nearly as fit as she was.

Despite that, Margaret felt out of place. The other recipients were business types, with entrepreneurial or executive personalities. Not one of these women looks as if she spends much time out of doors.

Waiting patiently for the awards part of the evening to unfold, Eric keeps his eyes on his wife. He's proud that she's getting an award. She deserves it, and he's glad to be here to show his loving support. What he's really glad about is the fact that he isn't up there on that stage.

A tall woman with short auburn hair and wearing a well-fitting gray suit shimmered up to the podium to boisterous applause. A. Grace Walters scanned the audience, nodding, smiling and waving to acknowledge specific individuals.

She waited until the applause stopped before she began. "Good evening ladies and the few gentlemen present." Laughter interrupted. "Welcome to the Association of Professional Women Annual Award Night. I think--no, I know--that we have an outstanding group of candidates here tonight. They represent the best women in professional careers and we're here to see that they're fully recognized."

The audience erupted with applause and cheers. Eric joined them but he felt self-conscious. He was only one of a dozen males present at an otherwise all-women affair. He smiled when he thought of George and how he would cope with this . . . this female spectacle.

I'll bet old George would be full of acrimonious complaints and gripes. In fact, he would be beside himself. But, then again, George hates women.

"Our first candidate should be familiar to all of you. She's been in the media quite a bit recently. Dr. Margaret Hauptman is a marine biologist with a long list of accomplishments. She has uncovered many new species of marine life from the oceans and waterways all over this planet. She has co-authored hundreds of papers and books on mollusks and crustaceans. She is a world-renowned expert on these marine creatures and has given talks at dozens of professional meetings in several countries. Despite her age, she is still engaged in an active career as a field researcher and continues to go on expeditions."

Applause. A few stood, but quickly sat down.

"It was on one of these recent expeditions that she and her husband found the marvelous mermaids. Her courageous efforts have enabled scientists to learn much about these creatures, and she is our first contact between them and us." Grace turned to glance at Margaret. "It is with pleasure that I present her with the Elsa McIntyre award for Inspirational Courage."

Everyone in the audience stood and clapped. Some cheered. Her husband smiled.

Margaret smiled at him and the audience when she took her place at the podium after accepting the medal from Grace. She spent several minutes smiling and nodding until the clapping stopped.

"Thank you. Thank you. This is a very special honor. I thank all of you for your recognition. However, you'll have to excuse me if I seem nervous. I've never received an award--at least an award of this significance--so the experience is new." She paused, lowering her eyes. "I don't know if what I do could be considered courageous or not, but it's what I've done most of my life. It's what I've always wanted to do."

Applause.

"What I don't understand is why more women don't go into the science fields. We only have three women, including me, on the staff of the Institute. There should be more effort on the part of educators to interest girls in science. To not do so is effectively throwing away half of the intellectual talent of this country."

Wild applause and cheers.

She paused to scan over the audience. "Don't let me get started. I could go on all night."

Laughter and some applause.

She smiled and lowered her eyes. "As far as the mermaids are concerned, that was strictly luck. My husband and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Our only problem was that nobody would believe us. They thought we were old fools. That was worse than the danger we endured to find them."

Margaret eyes rolled up briefly. "Most people ask me what the mermaids are really like. All I can say is that they are unlike anything I've ever seen. They're a form of life completely different than anything man . . . and woman . . . has ever experienced." She smiled again. "You know, there's one thing about them that is very interesting: The males are identical to the females and they have functional breasts."

That caused a ripple of giggles to flow through the audience.

Margaret's took on a more serious facet. "Seriously, mermaids are a form of intelligent life that is on a level with humans. They've developed a completely different culture because they're marine creatures. My husband and . . ."

A disturbance in the back of the auditorium caught her attention. She looked up to see several people running down the aisles. They were shouting something, but she had no idea what it was. It was as if she were dreaming of things happening in slow motion. One of those things was a young man waving an object.

What is that thing? Why does he appear so angry? I have no idea what he's yelling.

Eric was not in a dream. The shouting gestures were all too real. And everything was happening too fast.

He saw something that nearly made his heart stop. One of the protestors, a young man with short blond hair, was holding a handgun. His fair-complexioned face was twisted with hatred; his gestures expressed latent violence.

What in the hell is his problem?

Panic reigned. People began to bolt for the doors. Some screamed. Some cried. Eric ran to the stage, climbed the stairs, and wasted no time in pulling his wife to the stage floor just as bullets pounded into the podium showering splinters and chunks of wood about the stage. As bullets whizzed overhead, he crawled back to the curtain with his wife in tow.

They were safe now, or so he thought. The man with the gun burst through the curtains and aimed his gun at Margaret's head.

Margaret's eye's widened in terror when she contemplated the instrument of her death. She wondered if this was to be the final reward for discovering these creatures that most people insisted on calling mermaids. All of the dangers and suffering that she had endured were for naught. What a waste.

Her husband had other ideas; He tackled the gunman, smashing him into the floor. The gun fired. The bullet missed his wife's head by a few centimeters, causing her to flinch and scream.

Eric made sure that the gun didn't fire again. He yanked it out of the gunman's hand and tossed it.

"Animal killers," the young man shouted, struggling to escape Eric's grip on his shirt.

"I never killed an animal in my life," Eric shouted back before he gave him a fist to the jaw. Then he gave him three more blows for good measure.

Eric got up and tried to regain his composure and nurse his sore fist.

His wife's composure was wrecked beyond repair. "Why did he say that? We're not animal killers."

He turned to her with a grim face. "Who knows what these people mean. They're crazy."

"Who are they?"

"Hell if I know. Probably some radical animal-rights activists."

"Are they that adamant that they would try to kill someone?"

"They're crazy," he said, rubbing the back of his sore neck. "There's no reason involved in what they do."

Two policemen arrived to take the suspect into custody. One of them looked familiar.
"You two again! Every time there's trouble I find you two."

Eric recognized him as the more portly officer at the attempted car bombing. "We're like two moths flying round perdition's flame. We seem to attract trouble."

"I'd get in a new profession if I were you. You're likely to turn up dead if you don't."

"Too late for that," Eric said with a mild grin.

"What happened?" the officer asked, his face reflecting confusion at Eric's amusement.

"Some nut tried to shoot Margaret. He was spouting something about us being animal killers."

The officer screwed his face with disgust. "Yeah, those bastards are causing all kinds of trouble. It's them mermaids. They're making everybody go crazy."

"The mermaids are not doing anything," Margaret said. "It's all the nuts out there who can't deal with them. That's who's going crazy."

The officer stared at her for a few seconds. "Well, anyway. They're keeping us busy. That's for sure." He gestured to Eric. "You can come down to the station tomorrow and give a statement."

Eric nodded, and the officer went to work picking up shell casings, digging slugs out of walls, and measuring trajectories.

"Let's get out of here," he said to his wife.

She nodded her approval and they made their way back to the parking lot.

"Where's your award," Eric asked his wife as they walked toward the Blazer.

"Oh, shit. I don't know what happened to it."

They stopped walking.

Her husband gave her a confused look. "What?"

"Did you see it?"

His eyes moved around searching for an answer. "No. I guess I didn't." He started walking again. "Oh, well. They'll mail it to you."

His wife exhaled a long, uneven breath. "Maybe after what happened--"

"It wasn't your fault, Love."

"I realize that, but it seems that everywhere I go trouble follows. I don't understand why they always attack me. They never go near you."

"Remember what you said, Love. You warned me that we would be right in the middle of it. You were right. It's just that you're more in the middle than I am."

She sighed. "Yeah, I know." She turned to flash a smile. "It's still worth it."

He husband returned her smile. "I agree, but we'll have to be more careful now, especially after what happened to Kathy."

She lowered her head. "I wish we knew what happened to her."

Her husband didn't say anything. No need to make her more upset than she is already.