Invasion

Turning back into the house, Beau descended to the first floor and entered the ballroom. It was jammed with energetically toiling people. Now that the space was almost completely gutted, it looked far different than it had just the day before.

The people working in the room were a remarkably diverse group from all walks of life and of all ages. Yet they were working together like a synchronized swim team. From Beau's perspective it was a sight to behold and the picture of efficiency. No one had to give orders. Like the individual cells of a multicelled organism, each person had in their mind the blueprints of the entire project.

Beau saw Randy Nile laboring happily at a makeshift workbench set up in the center of the room. Randy's team was particularly disparate, with ages ranging from a man in his eighties to a girl less than ten. They were working on banks of sophisticated electronic equipment. Each person wore lighted magnifying headgear reminiscent of a retinal surgeon.

Beau strolled over.

"Hey, Beau!" Randy said cheerfully, catching sight of him. "Great day, huh!"

"Perfect," Beau answered with equal enthusiasm. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm going to need you this afternoon. Your lawyers are coming by with more papers for you to sign. I'm having the remainder of your assets signed over to the institute."

"No problem," Randy said. He wiped some plaster dust from his brow. "Sometimes I think we should move these electronics away from all this demolition."

"Probably would have been a good idea," Beau admitted. "But the demolition is almost over now."

"The other problem is that these instruments don't have the sophistication we're going to need."

"We'll just use what we can of theirs," Beau said. "We knew there would be problems with their degree of precision. But what we don't have, we'll have to develop ourselves."

"All right," Randy said, although he was less than convinced.

"Come on, Randy," Beau said. "Relax! Everything is going to work out fine."

"Well, at least they're making fantastic progress with the space," Randy said. His eyes roamed the room. "It certainly looks different now. The realtor told me it had been a recreation of the ballroom of a famous French palace."

"It will serve a far greater purpose once we've finished it," Beau said. He gave Randy a friendly slap on the back.

"Don't let me keep you. I'll see you later when the lawyers get here."

Stephanos picked up the soiled dishes from in front of Cassy, Pitt, Jonathan, and Jesse. Jesse asked for another "hit" of coffee. Stephanos went back behind the counter for the coffee pot.

"Did you hear him cough just before he got to our table?" Cassy asked.

Pitt nodded. "He's coming down with it. No doubt about it. But I'm not surprised. Last time we were in here we thought his father was infected."

"Hell with the coffee," Jesse said. "This place is starting to give me the creeps. Let's get."

The group got to their feet. Jesse threw down a tip. "This is my treat," he said. He picked up the check and headed for the cash register by the door.

"What do you think Beau is doing right now?" Pitt asked, as the group followed behind Jesse.

"I don't want to think about it," Cassy said.

"I just can't believe that my best friend is the leader of all this," Pitt said.

"He's not the leader!" Cassy snapped. "He's not Beau any longer. He's being controlled by the virus."

"You're right," Pitt said quickly. He knew he was touching a sore point for Cassy.

"Once the CDC is involved," Cassy said, "do you think they could come up with a cure, like a vaccine?''

"A vaccine is used to prevent an illness," Pitt said. "Not cure it."

Cassy stopped and with eyes that reflected a hint of desperation, looked up into Pitt's face. "You don't think they could come up with a cure?"

"Well, there are antiviral drugs," Pitt said, trying to sound hopeful. "I mean it's possible."

"Oh, Pitt, I hope so," Cassy said, near tears.

Pitt inwardly gulped. There was a nasty part of him that celebrated Beau's departure from the scene because of Pitt's feelings for Cassy. Yet he could see how bad she felt.

Reaching out he took her in his arms and hugged her. She hugged him back.

"Hey, guys, take a gander at this," Jesse said, while blindly tapping Pitt on the shoulder. Jesse's eyes were glued to a tiny TV set behind the cash register.

Pitt and Cassy let go of each other. Jonathan crowded in from behind. The TV was tuned to CNN and an instant news break was coming on.

"This is just in to CNN," the announcer said. "There was an unprecedented meteor shower last night seen halfway around the world from the extreme western part of Europe all the way to Hawaii. Astronomers believe it was worldwide but could not be seen in the rest of the world because of sunlight. The cause is unknown since the phenomenon has caught astronomers totally unaware. We will bring more to you about this breaking news as soon as it is available."

"Could that have something to do with you-know-what?" Jonathan asked.