The Journals of Zaleem: Part 6 - New Vistas

By Tommy Masek

As the result of an accident aboard their ship, Xacs Omathe, a California avocado grower, is inadvertently abducted by an alien race which has cultivated life in our galaxy and the greater universe for billions of years. He lives and travels with them for nearly three centuries, experiencing what the future may hold for the Human race.
The creation of all life on Earth was accomplished by the Aanbollth, an extraterrestrial race dedicated to the improvement and continued development of life in the Universe. They are the ultimate engineers of all organisms, great and small, on this beautiful planet known, in part, as M37CXA19B24R3.
The history of Earth and many other worlds is chronicled in the journals of Zaleem Aah Ju Amaharah Ees, Earth’s gardener until his untimely death at the relatively young age of 48,373 Earth years.
Sixteen of the seventeen crewmembers aboard the ship are killed immediately, and Zaleem, the Captain, dies five days later. A moment before his death, Zaleem slips an amulet, his recorder, into Xacs’s hand, saying it will provide him with safe passage.
An Aanbollth female, Oelphia, for short, is the only other long-term survivor of the accident. She becomes Xacs’s life-long mentor, supporting him initially through genetic modifications and rehab, and later by finding him a job and a mate.
In Part 6, Xacs continues his carving work, via the Strawlrend and Gyrond machines. He is called on to repair The Smiling Dragon Restaurant in Cortesa after a hurricane and an arson fire. That leads the new owner to build a second Smiling Dragon in Mosphire, closer to Xacs’s farm.
An attempt is made on Xacs’s life in Mosphire which requires him to defend himself with the DP stun gun he now keeps close at hand. For undisclosed reasons the restaurant owner decides to not continue building more Smiling Dragons.
Xacs continues painting and carving on statues of various animals but eventually begins carving wall panels as an income source. The panels become relatively popular with a furniture outlet and others.
As a part time project, he takes on building life-size animals. Since Aanabol limits exposure to all wildlife on the planet, building replicas is as close as he can get to the real thing. That interest is nurtured by the Species Development Group and the magistrate, and they encourage him to create an animal park at the farm that might eventually become a public attraction.
It turns out that the government’s support is a cover for another project they have in mind for Xacs, making contacts in the Other Life to discover how the Bank of Aanbol is having its pocket picked. An assistant to the magistrate, Arlyne, can appear to work with him on the animal park as they actually work on the bank issue.
Xacs encounters an attractive female advisor, Jenniphor, from the genetics group as he works on the animal park. Not long after Jenniphor moves to the farm, Arlyne with whom Xacs has been working on the bank fraud scheme decides to join the little harem. The regular engagements test his endurance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tommy Masek
• Release date: Jun 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005952587

Tommy Masek

In his early career, Tommy worked as an engineer and scientist, having degrees from the University of Colorado, and MIT. He worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Rockwell International, and Hughes Research Laboratories, with a primary focus on ion propulsion for spacecraft. In later years, he manufactured coal stoker heating equipment. The Journals of Zaleem Series will be six novels in the science fiction genre. In Part 1, Xacs Omathe is abducted by an alien race and must deal with survival on an alien planet. Eventually, after nearly three centuries of living and traveling with the Aanbollth race, he will be returned to Earth to publish his memoirs before his death. Tommy has also written The Alexander Affair, The Quixote Files, The Whistler Agenda, and The Heiress and the Black Monk. The last three of these novels follow political reporter Martin Cosgrove as he unravels mysteries and dodges bullets. Tommy has been married to his high school sweetheart, Claudia, since 1962. They reside in Oxnard, California, with their Yorkie dependents, Oscar and Theo.

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About THE JOURNALS OF ZALEEM

Part 6 – New Vistas

As the result of an accident aboard their ship, Xacs Omathe, a California avocado grower, is inadvertently abducted by an alien race which has cultivated life in our galaxy and the greater universe for billions of years. He lives and travels with them for nearly three centuries, experiencing what the future may hold for the Human race.

The creation of all life on Earth was accomplished by the Aanbollth, an extraterrestrial race dedicated to the improvement and continued development of life in the Universe. They are the ultimate engineers of all organisms, great and small, on this beautiful planet known, in part, as M37CXA19B24R3.

The history of Earth and many other worlds is chronicled in the journals of Zaleem Aah Ju Amaharah Ees, Earth’s gardener until his untimely death at the relatively young age of 48,373 Earth years.

Sixteen of the seventeen crewmembers aboard the ship are killed immediately, and Zaleem, the Captain, dies five days later. A moment before his death, Zaleem slips an amulet, his recorder, into Xacs’s hand, saying it will provide him with safe passage.

An Aanbollth female, Oelphia, for short, is the only other long-term survivor of the accident. She becomes Xacs’s life-long mentor, supporting him initially through genetic modifications and rehab, and later by finding him a job and a mate.

In Part 6, Xacs continues his carving work, via the Strawlrend and Gyrond machines. He is called on to repair The Smiling Dragon Restaurant in Cortesa after a hurricane and an arson fire. That leads the new owner to build a second Smiling Dragon in Mosphire, closer to Xacs’s farm.

An attempt is made on Xacs’s life in Mosphire which requires him to defend himself with the DP stun gun he now keeps close at hand. For undisclosed reasons the restaurant owner decides to not continue building more Smiling Dragons.

Xacs continues painting and carving on statues of various animals but eventually begins carving wall panels as an income source. The panels become relatively popular with a furniture outlet and others.

As a part time project, he takes on building life-size animals. Since Aanabol limits exposure to all wildlife on the planet, building replicas is as close as he can get to the real thing. That interest is nurtured by the Species Development Group and the magistrate, and they encourage him to create an animal park at the farm that might eventually become a public attraction.

It turns out that the government’s support is a cover for another project they have in mind for Xacs, making contacts in the Other Life to discover how the Bank of Aanbol is having its pocket picked. An assistant to the magistrate, Arlyne, can appear to work with him on the animal park as they actually work on the bank issue.

Xacs encounters an attractive female advisor, Jenniphor, from the genetics group as he works on the animal park. Not long after Jenniphor moves to the farm, Arlyne with whom Xacs has been working on the bank fraud scheme decides to join the little harem. The regular engagements test his endurance.

THE JOURNALS OF ZALEEM

As Chronicled in

The Memoirs of Xacs Omathe

PART 6 – NEW VISTAS

TOMMY D. MASEK

THE JOURNALS OF ZALEEM: PART 6 – NEW VISTAS

Copyright © 2021 by Tommy D. Masek. All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.

FOREWORD TO PART 6

By

Jacqueline Laleh Karacasevich

One recurring comment from readers of this series involves the apparent similarities between life on Aanbol and Earth, leading some to doubt the veracity of Xacs’s tale. I too have had similar thoughts. So far the story contains no wars with deranged inhabitants of alien planets, and no bizarre creatures with strange appetites or unusual appendages.

If one accepts that Earth was developed by the Aanbollth, it seems logical that the creatures they created to inhabit our planet, including Humans, would have characteristics similar to those they’re familiar with. Of course, evolution is a real process, and over millions of years, species adapt and change. The basic DNA remains.

For gardening, in their sense, the Aanbollth species would naturally seek planets with conditions that would support life as they know it. They’ve searched and selected new sites for gardening that will support life rather than choosing some arid or frozen landscape that would be a death trap for nearly any species. It is also probable that extensive thought would have gone into producing species that would be part of a sustainable food chain, and not be outliers leading to eventual self-destruction.

Of course, I suppose one could imagine choosing a barren planet and covering it with what might be thought of as elaborate greenhouses to produce a manufactured environment. Why not just make a better choice at the start?

My role is simply that of a messenger, and I’m definitely not the creator of these stories. Nor can I possibly judge the accuracy of the claims made by Xacs.

There is a great deal of background information in the first four parts and new readers are encouraged to begin with Part 1. We are presently in the process of obtaining Part 7. Any and all feedback is welcome.

CONTENTS

Foreword to Part 6

Prologue

Chapter 1 – The Mosphire Smiling Dragon

Chapter 2 – Dragon Fire

Chapter 3 – Two Perps in the Bag

Chapter 4 – Self Defense

Chapter 5 – A Delaying Tactic

Chapter 6 – Decorative Panels

Chapter 7 – Oelphia’s Next Mission

Chapter 8 – Vinnseen’s Missing Son

Chapter 9 – Carved Panels

Chapter 10 – Production Dilemmas

Chapter 11 – Process Tailoring

Chapter 12 – A Murder Inquiry

Chapter 13 – The Remainder of the Story

Chapter 14 – A Contact Agreement

Chapter 15 – The Black Calfid Murder

Chapter 16 – The Body in the Barrel

Chapter 17 – The Woolly Mammoth

Chapter 18 – A New Proposition

Chapter 19 – A New Partner

Chapter 20 – The Animal Exhibit

Chapter 21 – Bank Theft 101

Chapter 22 – Animal Selection

Chapter 23 – Bank Fraud Loose Ends

Chapter 24 – Exhibit Plans

Chapter 25 – Suspicions Abound

Chapter 26 – The Exhibit Team

Chapter 27 – The Special Fur

Chapter 28 – Jenniphor

Chapter 29 – The Xadromme

Chapter 30 – An Evolving Exhibit Design

Chapter 31 – In the Heat of the Night

Chapter 32 – A New House Mate

Chapter 33 – More Cameras

Chapter 34 – A Double Dragon Bridge

Chapter 35 – The Book

Chapter 36 – Rounding Errors

Chapter 37 – Back From The Dead

Glossary of Terms

Character and Name List

About the Author

Xacs Omathe

My Life with the Aanbollth

PART 6 – NEW VISTAS

PROLOGUE

The starting date of Part 6 is 4.19.45, 841 in Aanbol time. For me it was December 26, 2072 AC. Significant amounts of time pass between segments of my story because I’m only relating what I consider to be the highlights. I’m now 104 years old by an Earth standard and I’m still in good health. I have no means of determining whether I’ll live another hundred years or not.

I had found myself in a precarious position as described in Part 5 after conducting interviews in the Other Life, looking for missing individuals. Those interviews stirred up a hornet’s nest of sorts and nearly got me killed.

A senior bank manager had managed to facilitate a great amount of criminal activity for which he’d masterminded an ingenious system of bank theft. He’d also corrupted a significant number of police officers to protect his system. As a result of shutting down the theft, the Aanbol economy had been in turmoil for about a cycle.

After a number of false starts, my projects picked up momentum and I met a successful businessman, Vinnseen Christoffert, for whom I rebuilt the Smiling Dragon in Cortesa which had been damaged by a violent Spirocorr. He expressed his plan to develop a chain of Smiling Dragons around the planet.

My mate Sharnielle has continued managing the farm in a masterly fashion. Oelphia has returned to space and her twins are working diligently in technical fields. An old acquaintance of Shar, Zook, finds herself without a home, and accepts our offer to move to the farm and help me.

Not everything goes as planned and I eventually find myself working with Arlyne Anst again investigating a new and more sinister problem with the Bank of Aanbol.

CHAPTER 1

The Mosphire Smiling Dragon

My new partnership with Vinnseen had progressed well and more rapidly than I’d imagined. It had taken three revs to rebuild the Cortesa Smiling Dragon Restaurant and it went into operation soon after. From all appearances it was a great success.

I’d been mindful of Vinnseen’s desire for a statue, and I’d modified the program for the one I’d cut for Phallipa. The baby dragon was still attached by its legs, but it was now beginning to fly. The mother’s wings were in a more elevated position.

Construction on other portions of the massive Cortesa complex was underway, but the bank reorganization and subsequent new lending regulations seemed to have moderated the overall process. So far, the Smiling Dragon was the only restaurant of high quality in the area.

VOC was now working with Symphonia on another version of the restaurant they would open in Mosphire. The design was being changed enough from the original version that I had to create a new carving program. But over time I’d gradually become more proficient at manipulating the 3D program, so it had taken less time than I anticipated.

The choice of Mosphire was based largely on the fact that it would be more efficient and more cost effective for me to work from the farm on the new design.

By the time the dragon structure for the new place was installed, I had the skin ready to install. The Gyrond had cut the fabrication time in half compared to the original dragon parts, but each part still had to be sanded smooth and sealed by hand.

Shar had contacted me as I was packing skin pieces into a crate for transport to the site in Mosphire.

Are you heading to the Smiling Dragon soon?

I have one more crate to pack with skin parts. A semo will be here in a tick to pick them up. I’ll use the zamo Ute to transport the other materials and tools. I’ll get organized there before my sleep cycle and start on the dragon assembly after that.

Is Sergee sending a worker for you to train?

I haven’t heard. Why?

I have a candidate for you to consider, but she doesn’t work for Sergee. At least not yet.

Someone I know?

Zook. She and her mate have parted company. We still have room in the house.

It took me a few beats to reply. Wouldn’t that be a big complication for you and Solice?

You’d have your own little harem, in your terms. No, we all discussed it. We all share your heat now anyway, so it’s only a matter of who’s with you at the time. You seem to keep up with our needs. She has other males she engages anyway.

Was that part of the problem for her mate?

Probably.

She seemed to have her own business with the cameras, but I never asked if it was a satisfactory occupation. You’re thinking she’d help me?

She’s good with mechanical things and says she wouldn’t mind the kind of work you do. We’d have to figure out what we could pay her.

Is she available to work in Mosphire?

She could meet you there after your sleep cycle.

It’s odd, but I always wondered if she would be interested in working for me. But I assumed she was occupied with the cameras and whatever else she did. And I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it.

We also discussed the other locations. Instead of having Sergee or someone else doing the installations, she could work on-site with you.

I’d need to discuss it with Sergee and VOC. But this is the time to do it since I haven’t finished training any of Sergee’s workers. I’d agreed to do the Mosphire dragon myself and refine the installation process as much as possible. Sergee probably won’t mind not doing the skin installations, but we need Vinnseen’s agreement. We’d still need Sergee to move the shop when that time arrives.

When I reached the restaurant site in Mosphire twenty clicks later, Sergee’s crew was installing scaffolding around the building, including the appendages of the dragon. I soon had Zook in my ear.

Look up, she said. I arrived early. I wanted to see how it would be working up here. She was near the highest point, the dragon’s head.

How’s the view?

Nice. Do you wear a harness when you work this high?

I haven’t so far, but it would be a good idea. There are areas around the head where you are that will be difficult to reach. MB probably has such things. We can talk when you come down. The skin will be picked up by a semo and delivered here in about a tick.

The interior of the restaurant was still in a rough state, and I located an area that would be out of the way for storing the boxes when they arrived. With Zook’s help, I moved the tools and various supplies we’d eventually need into the vacant room.

Will the other places be identical to this one?

That’s the current plan to keep the costs down, but I’m more adept at changing the dragon design. Small changes wouldn’t be difficult to accommodate.

We walked back outside.

Do you plan to bring the portable shop here?

Working by myself I hadn’t planned to. I’d be going back to the farm for my sleep cycle, so I could bring whatever I needed with me. If you think this work might suit you, I’ll have Sergee move it here. It would be better for you to have a retreat. There’s room for it on the back of the site.

Shar said you didn’t plan to start installing the skin until after your next sleep cycle. Perhaps you can give me a lesson and I can get started before you come back. Are the parts in the right order?

It’s not quite that easy. You noticed the structure is in place, but it has to be wrapped in laminated Steern and Flexcorr foam. And we need to cover the floor of the dragon with Steernply to make it easier to work inside. You saw that in Lammeriate. Those materials are here. It’s better to have help wrapping the structure.

We also have to install lights and a fire suppression sprinkler system inside and outside the dragon. I have some of the parts for those, but I wasn’t planning on starting for a few ticks. There’s a hatch on the dragon’s back, and a door into another part of the dragon from a closet in the restaurant.

I sent the designs for the dragon to Zook and as I began to explain them, I had a contact from Sergee.

Xacs, have you taken on an assistant?

Zook installed cameras for us and she’d like to try working on the dragons. I was planning to discuss it with you.

I know her. I have plenty of work for the two guys I’d picked to learn that job so if you can handle it together, it won’t be a problem.

I didn’t need the shop moved to this site for myself, but it would be helpful for her.

Get it ready and we can pick it up in a few ticks.

How about after my sleep cycle at 19.52? I still have the cables, so I’ll get it hooked up and put the ring on the roof. Thank you.

When I disconnected from Sergee, I said to Zook, Sergee will move the portable shop in a few ticks and bring it here. I’ll call off the semo. I can load all the skin boxes in the shop before Sergee arrives.

Should I wait here or come to the farm with you?

I’m sure Shar would enjoy seeing you. As she said, you’re welcome to stay with us at the farm. Considering our history, we’ll need to be sensitive to managing our personal relationship appropriately. Perhaps this would be a good time to make yourself at home and check out the farm. Did you bring clothing and other things with you?

I left most of my stuff with a friend in Sporaale, but I have enough for now. Solice is living with you too, right?

She is. I think Solice is working at Visions today, so maybe we should stop there on the way to the farm.

It is awkward to move in with you instead of just visiting occasionally. I don’t wish to cause a problem for you with Sharnielle. I appreciate the opportunity to work with you on these restaurants and get some new experience.

Zook, I find you to be highly capable, and I’m sure you’ll quickly understand the plan for the dragons. The installation technique I’ve developed seems to work well, so I want to continue that approach. If you have a question or suggestion just let me know. And working with and for me might not be a satisfactory situation long term, but right now your life is a bit uncertain, if I understand correctly.

She smiled. My mate insisted I move out. It was his house.

I didn’t hear the details and don’t need to.

Shar said they plan eight more of these but the locations aren’t known yet. You’d want me to travel to those sites and live as you did in Sporaale?

I think it would amount to spending one rev in the field at each site. I believe I’d spend some time at each place working and making sure everything’s organized and that you have everything you need. The portable shop was the most economical way to do that for me since I have more frequent sleep cycles than you. But the shop provides shelter if there’s a storm, and other facilities.

And what would I do between the installations? There could be long periods between them.

That’s true. I don’t have a schedule and maybe there isn’t one yet. If you like the work, and they really do go forward with the other places, you could learn how to make the skin at the farm as well as install it. For now we’ll hope for the best. I now have a Gyrond, so cutting is fast. Each part has to be sanded and sealed.

I still have many contacts for the camera business, but I can’t afford a place on my own right now. I can probably schedule camera jobs when I’m not needed for the dragons, or whatever else I could help with.

In a similar situation, Oelphia began working on the farm. I think they could phase you into that work too. Since the attacks ended, business has improved, so I’m certain Pozzy could put you to work. We have enough employees now that we have someone off for a rev periodically.

Perhaps I can make up for your lack of engagements with Oelphia.

She pressed against me and kissed me.

Shar and I both anticipate that. Discreetly of course.

Of course.

• • •

After my sleep cycle, I stood atop the portable shop as the gravo descended with a hook hanging underneath. I secured it to the ring attached to four cables and climbed down a ladder. Each corner of the building had a yoke near the top to prevent the cables from bearing directly on the structure.

It’s all yours, I said, waving. Zook will meet you in Mosphire.

I’d packed the dragon skin containers inside the shop and added the porch I’d built originally in Sporaale.

Zook, the shop is on its way. I’ll see you in about ten clicks after I stop at MB for the harnesses we discussed.

CHAPTER 2

Dragon Fire

Sergee’s crew had helped Zook unload the porch and put it in place at the front door. They’d also used the gravo to place the Steern and Flexcorr on the restaurant roof, and someone had hooked up a water line to the shop.

When I arrived, Zook was sitting on the porch with a cup of tea.

You have some good supplies here already, she said.

That smells like regular Liaca.

She smiled. It is. You must have hidden the good ones.

We have work to do. I’m glad you had them move the Steern.

Jeremee offered to help me start wrapping the structure. I thought we should wait for you.

Glad you did. He’s one of the guys I was training before you became available. It’s important to start wrapping at the right point to end up with solid joints, on the structure. We’ll tape all those joints for strength and waterproofing. Sergee would probably rather have his guys working on the rest of the building. I asked him to put up lights so I can work in the night. There’s often good moonlight, but it’s not enough most of the time.

I think you and Shar agreed on a salary by the rev for an ordinary work period. I’m not expecting you to be here all the time like I am. I think she would agree that if you want to work more ticks we’d pay you proportionally for that. If you have other jobs you can do away from here that’s fine too.

Shar’s aware of my lifestyle and knows I have male clients. That’s what eventually angered my mate. I understand his feelings. I want to make sure you understand that, too. You know I love sex.

I do. Apparently the Aanbollth, you, don’t have what we on R3 called sexually transmitted diseases. Shar once told me that was not a concern. So if the occasion arises, I wouldn’t know if you’d engaged someone else or not. I won’t worry about it, but please don’t bring clients to the farm.

Shar explained that too. That’s fine.

For the remaining ticks in my day, I instructed Zook on how I wanted the laminated Steern applied. In some places the underlayment conformed to the structure; in others it needed to be bent and bowed to fit the underside of the skin.

One of the 3D programs provided that surface contour. An Aanbollth’s depth perception made it somewhat easier for Zook to create the correct shape than