4 Quad

Note:  This story is incomplete.  I have posted only the segment that I have completed.  I have a rough draft of more.  I was amazed at how completely I became engrossed in this story.  I started with a paragraph description, then suddenly the story developed a life of its own.  It is an example of the writing technique Blue Moon.  I have never tried a fantasy or science fiction piece before. 

4 Quad


Ambassador Jenkins leaned back in his mahogany leather, ergonomic executive office chair. He was quite proud of the vintage antique replica, circa 2290, of an original ergonomic executive office chair, circa 1990. He laid the brief pad he had been reading on his large mahogany desk, another vintage antique replica, and sighed. “Rrrrktka,” he spoke into the com unit on his desk. “Have you verified transport departure?” A small, dark and furry, 2 legged mounse the size of a small woman scuffled into the Jenkins office. “Transporrrrt verified sssir, you are to board the Nemesis at 0800” she said as she settled into one of the two leather chairs on the other side of Jenkin’s desk. She wrapped her tail neatly across her lap and over the arm of the chair. “Why, are you innnn a hurry to go?” she asked with a look that Jenkins knew was her smile. It was hard for humans to tell when a mounse was smiling as their long snout like mouths were perpetually formed into what humans identified as a grin.

“Now Rrrrktka, don’t try to bait me.” Jenkins sighed again, stood and stretched. He walked to the window overlooking the Euclid Wars Memorial. The square was teeming with people.

“Rrrrktka, I am going to leave Harcourt in charge while I am gone. Please help him as you help me. As difficult as things are now, he will need your good advice and assistance. “

Rrrrktka nodded, and stood up to leave the room. “Shallll I notify media relations as to the time of your departure?”

“Not this time,” Jenkins said. “This time I want to board without the headache of the media relations.” Rrrrktka walked out of the room and closed the door.

Jenkins spoke, “Della, download my itinerary titled “4 Quad Planet” to list number one. All the offices except the media relations office.” Jenkins knew he would have to throw some kind of information to the media at some point, but he was not in any hurry. He continued to ponder about the timing of his anouncement, and what to put into it. At length, he made a decision. He spoke to Della again. “Della, send Rrrrktka in.”

Della chimed. “Done.”

The door opened with a hiss and Rrrrktka walked in and seated herself again in one of the two chairs opposite Jenkins desk. Jenkins turned from the window and re-seated himself in his office chair.

“Rrrrktka, I want to send a communiqué to the media relations office next week telling them about the ambassadorial exchange. I want as little information as possible in that communiqué. Something like, Ambassador Jenkins is currently off world visiting the 4 Quad civilization. His visit to 4 Quad is part of an ambassadorial exchange aimed at promoting, etc..etc…yadda, yadda, and so on. You know what I want.”

Rrrrktka swished her wrapped tail end, “Dellllla did you get that?”

Della chimed assent.

“Jenkins, I rrrrealize that you are afraid of another media riot like the one last year, but issssn’t that why USCHEU formed the media relations department. Asss a governmentally regulated department, media relationsss controlllsss alll assspectsss of presss releasssesss and conferencesss. Why arrre you worried?”

Jenkins frowned, forming a crease between his eyebrows. “I am not worried. I just do not like the media, or the media relations department. I question their competency and do not want to give them too much information to speculate with. When I return, I will schedule a full press conference and provide the press with full, true details that they can’t misrepresent.”

Rrrrktka swished her tail end again, “By not tellling the presss what isss going on now, you open up ssspeculation. Coullldn’t that be worssse?”

“By not giving them any information, I deny them the ability to speculate Rrrrktka. That is what I am after. I don’t want any public opinion group, core Dem group, or any other group to start some wave of sentiment against our possible alliance with this planet.” Now Jenkins scowled outright.

Rrrrktka nodded, wisely keeping silent. Jenkins spoke again, “You know that it is as easy for a protest to get started as it is to snap your fingers. Oh! Sorry.” Mounses can’t snap their fingers.

“That’s ok. You can’t swish your tail.” They smiled at each other in a comfortableness born from long familiarity. “Anything elllssse whillle I’m here?” Rrrrktka asked pointedly. She didn’t like it when he kept calling her in to cover one point at a time.

“I think that was the last detail. At least I hope so. I am sorry to keep calling you in. I guess I could have left it all to Della, but you know I value your personal input.” Jenkins knew that would mollify Rrrrktka, and it did.

“Thank you Jenkinsss. I am glllad to be of assistance wherrrever I can. If that isss all forrr today, I will be llleaving. I have a dinnerrr date at the Rrrye Grrrain Templlle Café. I don’t want to be lllate. Pllleassse rrremember I have tomorrrow off. I will not sssee you beforrre yourrr rrreturrrn. I willl make an oferrring to Grrrain forrr the sssuccesss of yourrr trrrip.” Rrrrktka waited for Jenkins to affirm that she would not be needed again. Jenkins nodded. “That’s fine , yes, I think we are done here. If there is anything else, I will give it to Della and you can address it tomorrow. Have a good date. I hope you have a fruitful outcome. Thank you for the offering.”

As Jenkins watched Rrrrktka leave for the last time that day, he secretly gave thanks for the quirk of nature that had cause the GMO Mounse species to lose their ability to have more than one mounse in a litter. It was also good, he thought, that they could only have one litter every two years. It put them more on par with humans. Of course, humans could replicate without sex, but what was the fun in that? Jenkins sighed, stretching, and got up again. He walked to the wall across from his desk and activated the bar. He poured himself an Obama Slick. He rubbed his hair and sighed again,activating the hand lav. As he washed his hands in the air stream, he looked in the Holomir at his reflection. “Holo activate,” he said. The corresponding chime indicated his request had been received. “Brown hair, chin hair, black eyes.” His image changed. He did not like the look. After trying out a couple of more images, he decided to stay with his current look. Then a thought occurred to him. “Della, download information on 4 Quad anatomy, physical characteristics and variations to the Holomir. different chime took him out of his reflections. “Yes, Della?”

“You have a frit from the Nemesis.”

“Open. This is Jenkins.”

In the middle of the room, a man in uniform appeared, standing with his hands behind his back, he lifted his right hand in standard acknowledgement of the ambassador.

“Ambassador, this is Warhol of the Nemesis. I have fritted to your Hcom all pertinent information for your arrival aboard. Your Rrrrktka has given a detailed list of your requirements while on board. My Beta has attended to these personally. We look forward to your arrival.”

Jenkins nodded, then lifted his hand in the familiar acknowledgement. “Thank you Warhol of the Nemesis. I am certain that all my requirements will be attended to most satisfactorily. I look forward to the honor of boarding your ship.”

“We will greet you soon. Warhol out.” Warhol vanished.

Jenkins grunted, then walked to his desk. “Della prep meal number 15 for me.”

“Sorry that meal is not appropriate for you at this time. I suggest meal number 3.”

“I don’t want meal number 3. I want meal number 15.”

“Sorry, but meal number 15 is not allowed at this time.”

Jenkins felt irritation rise like a burst of steam. The steam immediately dissipated as he accepted the inevitable. He had been through this too many times not to know the outcome. “Alright Della, the number 3.”

From the wall, an Ai walked out with a steaming plate on a tray complete with napkin, utensils, and beverage. Draped over the Ais arm was a waiter’s towel. As the Ai placed the tray on the desk, fussing over the accompanying flower arrangement and condiments, Jenkins walked to the window again and looked out over the square. No need to wonder what the weather would be. It was always California perfect. He wished he had seen California before the WW VI war.

“Della, call Mom.” Once the frit to his mother was open, he began with the customary pleasantries.

“Yes, Mom, all is well with me. I am calling for a reason other than to catch up. I will be leaving the planet in 48 hours to go to a new planet we hope to ally with. I wanted to let you know and say goodbye. I should be back in 3 months.”

“3 months? That seems rather long. This planet you are going to, what is the name?”

“4 Quad. It is a 7 day journey by Hdrive. I will be boarding the Nemesis in 48 hours. The Nemesis will take me there and remain there with me. The 4 Quad civilization is relatively unknown to us. The information we have about their way of life is sketchy. What we do know is that they are a powerful civilization to all intents and purposes. We have met with them on three separate occasions, and it has been decided that an exchange of ambassadors will allow both sides to learn more about the core of the other civilization. What I have been told is that the 4 Quads are a precise, rather rigid society. They do everything in 4s. This is why I have been chosen to go. My precision and attention to detail was a plus in this situation.”

“Shall I frit over and see you off?”

“No, I’d rather you did not as it seems that whenever the media get wind of you, they turn out like kids going to a circus. I want to avoid any contact with them. All media events are now supposed to be scheduled through the media relations office, but there are still some rogue mediasts willing to pay a fine and spend time in the meditation cells just to get a story.”

“Perhaps I should change my face. Then no one would recognize me. Noooo??´she said seeing the look on her son’s face.

“Mom, you know someone could have a holovid diffuser. If they see you coming to the opolis, they will want to know why you have made the trip. I told you not to recluse yourself. Now, anytime you go anywhere, it’s news. I don’t want the mediasts to know that I am leaving until after I’m gone.”

“Then I want to see you before you leave. I will prepare for your arrival tonight.”

“But, I can’t come tonight….”

“Yes, you can and will. I will see you at 0600. Love you.”

Before Jenkins could protest more, she was gone. Jenkins smiled and realized he had known this would be the outcome of a chat with Mom. He realized the lack of time and jumped up. He had so much to do before dinner. “Della, arrange a transpar. Download the route to my mother’s house, the one in Auckland. Departure time 0500.” So much to do.


4 Quad

Jenkins eased himself into the chair. They were not built for humans, and he fidgeted a bit to find the most comfortable spot. He reviewed what he had learned thus far about the 4 Quads. He had created 2 reports. One for the media relations department, and one for USCHEU. The reports were very detailed. After all, he was a detailed man. He grunted as he thought about details. The 4 quads put him to shame when it came to details. He had never, ever, seen such a detailed and rigid society. Their entire life revolved around 4. Their homes, families, government, everything right down to the number of grids forming a sidewalk were 4 or a derivative of 4. They were, however, strangely silent about religious beliefs they might have.

He was currently reviewing the media relations departmental report. The report read: For the purpose of this report, I will refer to the members of the 4 Quad society as quad people or just 4 Quads. The 4 Quad civilization is a technologically superior civilization to ours. Largely agrarian, 4 Quad has much to offer our civilization if an alliance is finalized. I will summarize the significant advantages we can realize from a proposed partnership as well as the possible problems we may realize in that same partnership. The report was long and involved.

He continued to review the report until he came to his review of a typical 4 quad home. He re-read his description. The 4 Quad society is dominated by its rigidity and devotion to the equivalent of what we refer to as the number 4. All familial structures and homes are identical in a number of ways.

There are always 4 quad people in 4 rooms. When the 4 Quads bear progeny, a shifting of families occurs to assure that there are never more than 4 in a home. They bear children in 4s per familial unit. Each room of every home has 4 windows and each room has 4 walls. Every house has 4 doors. In every house there are 4 chairs, 4 beds, and 4 tables. None of the furniture is built as humans would build it. I have included vidpics. One room is the kitchen combined dining area. One room is for living use and the other two rooms are bedrooms. Each bedroom has a small bathroom off it. The 4 quads (quad people) do not consider bathrooms to be rooms. Their bathrooms are not anything like a human’s bathroom. The houses can vary in size and do, but all sizes, large or small, are derivatives of 4.

The 4 quads do not understand kitchens as we humans do. Their idea of food is more consistent with the feeding habits of a shark. I have included a special section on the vegetation, foods, and eating habits of the 4 Quads. They sleep 4 hours at a time, 4 times a day with a 32 hour day cycle as opposed to our 24 hour day cycle. Their language is a mathematical derivative of 4, and they do not understand the world of variety that we humans have. Within the homes are subtle variations of design such as artwork, fabrics, and other individualistic signs.

Jenkins stopped reading and eased himself out of the chair. He heard footfalls coming to the room he occupied within the 4 Quad home. This was the home of the 4 Quad ambassador who had traveled to Earth in his place. He remembered parts of lecture series on the 4 Quads from ambassadorial college. His teacher, Wong, the only Ambassador to have lived with the Euclids, had also been the first Ambassador to have contact with the 4 Quads. He thought about the information he had received from his visit to Wong to refresh himself on all available information and insight on the 4 Quads. It was then he found out Wong had been instrumental in the decision to send him to the 4 Quad planet. Wong had told him again the history of the discovery and first contact with the 4 Quads.

“We met them off world in the year 2040 after the Euclid Wars. We barely won those wars and needed to find allies to deter the Euclids from attempting more aggression. Earth had few resources left after the Wars. Rebuilding was difficult and slow. We sent ships out looking for other civilizations, and after an initial contact with the 4 Quad civilization, negotiations were started. They are still ongoing. The 4 Quads do not do anything in a hurry. It does not matter to them whether or not we need a quicker pace, they will only form an alliance if they have the time to study the matter and if they decide it’s to their advantage. We are no different. In an effort to quicken the pace, we have negotiated an ambassadorial visit to the 4 Quad planet. Because of your attention to detail, your own ambassadorial history, and my familiarity with you, with who you are, coupled with the extreme importance of this exchange, I have thrown my influence behind you. There are few planets we can ally with who could benefit us as much as the 4 Quads. You must give this your very best effort.” Wong had told him with all the seriousness of a man at a deathbed. “Affairs are more serious than you know.”

Jenkins felt the pressure as he had never felt on any other assignment. This was so very important. He knew it was, but because of Wong’s words, he knew that it was more important than he could see. Affairs were more serious. He wished he knew what that meant, and how they were more serious.

(to be continued)