The next morning after breakfast, Eleanor and Penelope left for Tahiti in the speedboat, leaving Astrid, Océane, and Adeline on Dolphin Island. After helping clean up the kitchen, the girl inventor turned on her computer system and checked everything over.

“Adeline,” she called into the other room. “I don’t suppose you have a connection to the Internet, do you?”

“As a matter of fact we do,” the young woman replied, stepping past Astrid to point to a spot on the wall. “They laid an underwater cable from Papeete a long time ago. I think back in the eighties. I hope it still works.”

“More like the nineties,” said Astrid, sitting down in front of the outlet, and pulling out her pocket toolkit. “This is a CAT-3 connection. I’m going to need to convert it. I’ll just strip an end off one of these cables I brought and we can see if the connection still works.”

A few minutes later, Astrid had a wire running from the wall to the back of the Ion desktop computer. After she ran the setup routine, the Maxxim Industries web page appeared on the screen.

“This will work. We’re limited to 100 megabits, but that’s not too bad really. When you said it was made in the eighties, I thought it might have been a 1200 baud connection.”

“I know most of those English words,” said Adeline, “but I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“That’s okay. Why don’t you show me your data?”

Adeline had recorded 2,164 sounds on a digital recorder. Each recording corresponded to an entry in a notebook that described the likely meaning. The job would require that all the sounds be copied to the computer and then to the data from the notebook would be typed in. Afterwards, a database would have to be written that included both.

“Well, I’d better get started.”

“I can help,” said Océane. “I am a very good typist. I can input everything from the notebook, while you create the program.”

“Great,” said Astrid. “Why don’t we take two of the portable computers and do it while we sit on the beach? I hope you have sunscreen.”

Océane did have sunscreen and they helped each other cover all their exposed skin. Océane had a black one-piece swimsuit, but Astrid wore shorts and a yellow top, not having thought to pack a suit. Adeline followed them down and set up a large beach umbrella, under which the two teen girls sat with their computers.

It was a lovely day and the only sounds were of the surf crashing onto the sand, and an occasional squawk of a seabird. It seemed like very little time had passed, when Adeline arrived back on the beach with a wicker picnic basket.

“Eleanor and Penelope should be back soon,” she said, as she passed out plates and then scooped potato salad onto them.

“Good,” said Astrid. “I really want to meet your dolphins.”

“Well, we really don’t need the boat for that. Most afternoons, they swim right around the island. I flatter myself that they come to visit me, but in reality they hunt over the reef and sun themselves in the lagoon. Have some cheese.”

“How come all the French people I know are thin,” said Astrid, taking a slice of Camembert, “and you all eat so much cheese and bread.”

“Obviously it isn’t bread or cheese that makes a person fat,” said Océane.

“You Americans don’t take time for your food,” said Adeline. “You are in too much of a hurry. It’s not healthy.”

“I agree with you there,” replied Astrid. “My mother is a perfect example. She’s busy all the time. Although, now that I think about it, both times I’ve talked to her recently, she’s been relaxed and at home.”

“Maybe she’s decided to start taking it easy.”

“Maybe, but that somehow doesn’t sound likely.”

“Have some dried fruits,” said Adeline, passing out an assortment of dates, apricots and roasted nuts. “Would you like some wine?”

She handed glasses out and then pulled out a bottle.

“Um, I’m too young to drink.”

“I only drink wine,” said Océane. “My father didn’t let me even drink it until I was twelve.”

“In France, everyone drinks wine. It is good for you.”

“This is that peer pressure everyone keeps telling me about,” said Astrid.

“I don’t want to pressure you, Astrid,” said Océane. “You can drink water.”

“Thank you. I’ll go and get it myself.”

The girl inventor got up and walked up to the house. As soon as she stepped inside, the phone ringer on her Carpé watch began to sound.

“Hello?”

“Astrid?”

“Hi, Toby,” said Astrid, a grin breaking out on her face. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on with me,” he said. “What’s this I hear about you being in Tahiti?”

“Um, well, I flew down to help a friend of Océane’s with some research.”

In an alternate 1975, where men are almost extinct due to germ warfare, someone is trying to kill history’s greatest rock & roll band. It falls to Science Police Agent John Andrews, only recently arrived from the distant male enclaves, to protect them. As the band continues their come-back tour across North America, Andrews must negotiate a complicated relationship with Ep!phanee, the band’s lead singer; drummer Ruth De Molay, bassist Steffie Sin, and the redheaded clone lead guitarist Penny Dreadful, as he protects them and tries to discover who wants to kill the Ladybugs.

This newly revised and edited, and contains the complete guide to the world and music of the Ladybugs.  Find the ebook for just 99 cents, wherever fine ebooks are sold.

Dolphin island was not just a small island. It was miniscule, barely a hundred yards across. It was shaped like the letter C. Inside the open mouth of the C was a beautiful white sand beach that stretched out into the blue ocean. Around the rest of the island was a coral reef about twice as big across as the island itself was. Right in the center of everything was a small house.

Eleanor steered the speedboat up onto the sandy beach. Océane hopped over the side and ran ashore to fasten a line from the boat to a stumpy tree at the edge of the sand. Astrid noted with some disappointment that there were no palm trees, just a few scrawny deciduous trees and quite a few large bushes.

A young woman with short brown hair emerged from the house and stepped briskly down a wooden walkway to the shore, where she gave Océane a hug and kissed both sides of her face. Then the two of them waded out to the boat.

“Girls,” said Océane. “This is Adeline. Adeline, meet Astrid and Penelope Maxxim.”

“This is quite a surprise,” said Adeline, her French accent just as pronounced as Océane’s. “I didn’t expect Océane to bring back anyone, let alone two celebrities.”

“Oh, we’re not celebrities,” said Astrid.

“I have a copy of People Magazine in the house that says differently.”

“All right, everyone,” said Eleanor. “We have a lot of cargo to unload. Then we can talk.”

Even with all five young women pitching in, it took almost thirty minutes to get all the cargo from the boat to the house. In addition to all the computer equipment that Astrid and Penelope had brought along, and their luggage, they had several large boxes of supplies that Eleanor had bought in Tahiti.

“If you girls will help put away the groceries,” said Eleanor, once everything was safely inside, “I’ll get started on lunch.”

Twenty minutes later, the entire group squeezed together around a small kitchen table. They had to use all the chairs in the house and even then, Astrid sat on a crate. Eleanor served filets of mahi mahi grilled on a small hibachi, a salad with asparagus and duck cracklings, green olives, cheese, and French baguettes.

“Except for the fish, I feel like I’m back in Paris,” said Penelope. “Where did you find all this?”

“We brought the olives and cheese with us,” said Adeline. “Vegetables are hard to get here, but Eleanor found the asparagus in the market. She also bought the duck. That was a rare find. We ate most of it the day before yesterday. Eleanor made the bread.”

“It’s wonderful,” said Astrid. “Fresh fish must be one of the benefits of living here.”

“You can always find dolphin fish,” said Eleanor, using the alternate name for mahi mahi. Red tuna and white tuna are available in the market, and often shark. Shellfish, not so much. If you are lucky, you can get prawns. The hotels import lobster from New Zealand. There are no crabs worth eating here. The land crabs are everywhere, but they’re poison.”

“Well, where can I set up?” asked Astrid, when their meal was finished.

“I don’t understand exactly what you are setting up for,” said Adeline. “Why are you two here?”

“Mon dieu!” cried Océane, which started a conversation in French between her and Adeline.

“Now I wish that I had taken French at school with Denise and Valerie,” said Astrid.

“She told her that you’re here to build the translator,” said Penelope.

“I am sorry, Astrid,” said the French girl. “I will try to remember to speak English for you.”

“Hey, we’re in French Polynesia. You shouldn’t have to communicate in a foreign language. My watch already has and English to French translator. I need to change the settings so that it works in the reverse as well.”

“You can set up your things in the office,” said Adeline.

“There’s something else, Astrid,” said Eleanor. “I should have mentioned this before. Our power is from a propane-powered generator. We only have about 200 watts available. Our lights are all LED, so we only use about 30 for all of them, but our little refrigerator uses 40.”

“We should be okay,” said Astrid. “The Ion desktop only needs 65 watts, and the laptops less. We can run them one at a time. We’ll need about 6 watts for the router.”

The office turned out to be a small room with a single bookcase and a desk made from four cinder blocks and a pair of old boards. Astrid began unpacking her computers, her aunt helping her.

“I think we may be sleeping in here too,” said Penelope.

“Why?”

“Because there’s only one bedroom and its not any bigger than this room.”

At that moment, Océane entered with a sleeping bag under each arm.

“Here you go.”

“I don’t think that anyone mentioned the lack of a bed when inviting us to a mysterious tropical island,” said Penelope.

“I didn’t think,” said Océane. “I sleep in a sleeping bag here, but I should have thought that you Americans would be too fragile to go without your comfortable beds.”

The next day was an idyllic one for Steffie, and a relaxing one for Andrews. It was, he reflected, the first really relaxing day since he had joined the Ladybugs in New York. They ate breakfast as a group and then Steffie spent most of the morning playing with her son. Andrews talked with Jane Stanley and Monica Sin, and spent the remainder of his time finishing his book. After a light lunch, they played a game of football on the vast lawn behind the house, males against females. They enjoyed a dinner of chilidogs and sat together in the parlor as Lars watched Adventure Island on radio-vid. That night Steffie reprised her submissive role and added to it.

Lars, his aunt, and Agent Stanley were delivered to the train station the next morning, where they boarded a train that would take them to San Francisco, from which they would board their dirigible for the flight back to Switzerland. After a tearful farewell, Andrews and his Ladybug drove back to the house and their waiting airflivver, which took off for Los Angeles.

It was an almost eight hour flight to LA, necessitating a stop along the way both for fuel and to give the passengers and pilot a chance to stretch their legs. The pilot, a blonde in her thirties named Henrietta Palmer, set the vehicle down at the Sacramento airport. Sacramento was on a small outcropping of land that jutted into the San Joaquin Channel, the fourteen-mile wide strip of seawater that separated the island of California from the rest of North America. The San Joaquin Channel, which before the Science War had been known as the San Joaquin Valley was, like the almost twenty years of constant rain in the Oregon area, a result of that conflict.

Andrews inquired at the information counter and found that there was one of the many new fondue restaurants popular in the north only a short distance from the airport. Though he invited Miss Palmer to join them, she demurred and so he and Steffie took a cab to the dining establishment. Attractively dressed, Steffie was not wearing anything that would have marked her as a rock star. She had on a simple blue miniskirt with a matching short-sleeved top and a pair of platform sandals. She had worn her hair down ever since Andrews had indicated that he liked it that way. Nevertheless, everyone seemed to recognize her, and if they weren’t actively pointing, they were at least staring.

“I don’t know how you can live like this,” said Andrews as he held the chair for her to sit down.

“How do you mean?”

“With all these people staring at you all the time.”

“Maybe it’s not me they’re looking at. Maybe it’s you.”

Andrews smiled. “No. For all they know, I’m just another faux man escorting a famous woman to dinner.”

“That could be,” agreed Steffie. “Most women have been away from men so long they have forgotten what they are like. Women expect them to be big and brutish, and you John are very pretty. On the other hand I expect that our interview has been seen by about a billion people by now, so most people know we have a boyfriend.”

Andrews looked around sure enough; at least half of the looks in their direction seemed more focused on him than his dinner partner. Their food arrived just about the same time that the first women approached for autographs, and while he wasn’t asked to sign his name, more than one was suddenly struck by their reaction to him. He and Steffie ate, dipping bits of meat and vegetables into the small pot of boiling oil, and talked about how pleasant the previous days had been.

“That was really one of the nicest things that anyone has ever done for me,” said Steffie.

“I knew you wanted to see him and I knew you didn’t want him near the concerts, so this seemed like the perfect alternative. Fortunately I arranged for it before my superiors heard about the interview. I don’t know if I could get them to go along with anything I suggested now.”

“Are you sure that Lars will be safe on the way home?”

“Jane… that’s Agent Stanley, would lay down her life to protect either Lars or your sister. I would trust her with everything I have.”

“You and she were in the Science Police academy together?”

“Yes. We became best friends there.”

“Just friends? You never got together?”

“Oh, I would have in a second. I had quite the crush on her. But she wasn’t interested. She finds the idea of sex between people… what’s the word she used? Icky. She feels the same way about having a baby growing inside her. She’s planning on a vat baby.”

“And do you want to have children?”

“It’s expected.”

“But do you want them?”

“Yes, I think so. I don’t know what kind of father I’d make.”

“You’d make a great father. I’d like to have more kids. I hated being pregnant when I was, but now I seem to only remember the good parts. Must be nature’s way.”

They finished dinner and had a chocolate fruit fondue for desert before taking another cab back to the airport. Miss Palmer the pilot was waiting for them and within minutes of climbing in the airflivver, it was buzzing south toward Los Angeles, crossing the San Joaquin Channel. They could see a large group of grey whales swimming south through the relatively narrow waterway. Once they landed, Andrews and Steffie were spirited away by private car to the Hollywood Bowl just in time to prepare for the show.

Steffie said goodbye to Andrews with a kiss and headed to the backstage area, while he made his way to the security headquarters. In addition to a dozen police and Agent Wright, there was another agent as well. She was a tall, thin woman with long blonde hair, and just as Agent Stanley had, she had chosen to wear a skirt with her black blazer.

“Welcome back,” said Wright. “This is Agent Patricia Ryan.”

“Hello.”

The Starcraft 170 shot through the sky at 320 mph, three miles above the vast Pacific Ocean. Astrid was piloting, though the autopilot was currently engaged. Penelope sat in the copilot seat. Both Sabrina Scacchi and Don Herron had taken a commercial flight back to Maxxim City.

“I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” said Penelope. “I’ve never piloted a Starcraft before.”

“But you have qualified on twin prop planes,” said Astrid. “Besides, I’m piloting and I’ve logged quite a few hours in the 170 over the past three months. You can go back and take a nap if you want to.”

Penelope looked over her shoulder.

“You didn’t leave much room after loading all that computer equipment.”

“So what was going on at the Maxxim Store?” wondered Astrid.

“What do you mean?”

“I saw the look on your face when that guy called you the ‘smartest girl in the world’.”

“His name was Daniel,” said Penelope.

“Don’t change the subject. You were upset. Why? You are the smartest girl in the world. I wouldn’t mind having an IQ of 228, I can tell you that.”

“You would mind, if they trotted you around showing you off like a circus act. I was sent out to every morning talk show and variety show. ‘Look at the little genius! She can tell you the cube of 23,916!’”

“It’s um… fourteen trillion…”

“Thirteen trillion, six hundred seventy-nine billion, three hundred fifty-five million, four hundred thirty-nine thousand, two hundred ninety-six.” said Penelope. “Look at what I can do. Tricks, like a trained dog. Penelope, the little freak of nature.”

“It wasn’t really that bad, was it?” wondered the girl inventor.

“It really was, and it didn’t stop until I left for college. It really ruined my relationship with my father. He thought I was a great little marketing tool. I graduated high school at fifteen just so I could get away. And that ruined my relationship with my mother.   And then they both died, and I never had a chance to settle anything with either one of them.”

“I’m sorry, Aunt Penelope. I hadn’t heard any of that.”

“That’s partly why your parents try so hard to give you a normal life,” she said. “You should be grateful for it.”

“You are smart though,” Astrid pointed out. “You have the highest I.Q. ever recorded. You finished a PhD in physics at the age of twenty-two.”

“Yeah, well… I haven’t done anything with it. Having a high I.Q isn’t the be-all and end-all of life. You have to have drive and vision, and you have to enjoy what you are doing. I don’t really think I want to be a physicist, or a scientist of any kind really.”

“What do you want to do?” asked Astrid.

“I don’t know. I just know that I don’t want to live off my trust fund my whole life. I want to contribute somehow. I guess, I’ll go back and take that nap after all.”

When Penelope returned to the cockpit an hour later, Astrid was quite tired. It had been a long day and now a long evening as well. Astrid decided to nap in the pilot’s seat with the autopilot on. Penelope sitting in the copilot position was just one more precaution.

“Brussels doesn’t know what to do,” said Wright. “They want you off the detail, but not necessarily off the team.”

“What does that mean exactly?”

“It means they’ve got another agent on the way to take your place. Once she gets here, you’re going to be off checking those few remaining people in our threat files.”

“I thought we had eliminated pretty much all the credible threats.”

“We have. This way they can say you’re still on the case, but you’re not engaged in any high profile sexcapades.”

“Great.”

“I feel for you partner. It’s not like I haven’t found my way into some nice warm beds in the past two weeks. Mine just aren’t so famous.”

“What do I do in the meantime?”

“Same thing you have been doing. Stay close to the Ladybugs. Keep them out of danger. We’ll decide what you’re doing next after your replacement gets here tomorrow.”

Andrews was halfway back to his room before he realized that his jaw was clamped shut. He stepped into an alcove and closed his eyes. He took three deep breaths and then held the last one as he rolled his head around. He pictured his dorm room in the enclaves as he took several more slow deep breaths. All he had ever wanted when he was there was to leave, and now that he was gone, it was the safe place he visualized in times of stress—the bare cement block walls, the simple white dresser and desk, the well-worn rugby ball sitting on his tightly made bed.

When he opened the door to his room, he was expecting to find Ruth there, or perhaps Ep!phanee. Instead Steffie was there. She was wearing a floral print cropped tie top with widely flaring sleeves and a pair of hip hugging bellbottoms in the same design. Her mass of platinum hair hung loosely about her shoulders, making her thin face look less predatory. Andrews thought she looked pretty, and he told her so.

“Before you say anything else, I want to apologize,” she said.

“For the interview?”

“No, for the other night at the club. I was completely toasted.”

“Yes, I remember. And now you’re here… because this is your day?”

“That’s right. Here. Ruth made this calendar for you.” She handed him a monthly calendar with a name written in each square.

“Steffie, Steffie, Penny, Penny, Ruth, Ruth, Steffie… Looks like you hit the jackpot.”

“Are you mad at me?” She had a hurt look on her face that gave him a sort of choking feeling.

“No, I’m not mad at you. I’m just upset. They’re going to send me away. They’re going to take me off the detail.”

“They can’t do that! We won’t let them.”

“No choice, I’m afraid.” He walked to the couch and sat down. “Probably all for the best. I’m sure this is playing right into the hands of those women in the Science Police who think men have no business in the agency. We can’t focus on anything but our penises.”

“That’s just stupid. Obviously they don’t know any men.”

“Maybe. Or maybe they know us too well.”

“You need to not think about it. Why don’t we have breakfast? Have you eaten?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Then let’s just sit and talk.”

“I don’t really feel like talking either.”

“You remember when you first interviewed me?”

“Yes.”

“We took turns asking questions.”

Andrews smiled despite himself. “That’s right.”

“Let’s do it again.”

“Okay, but you go first.”

“What’s your favorite sport? Is it that rugsby?”

“Rugby. Yes. Your’s?”

“I liked baseball when I lived in California, but since I’ve been living in Europe, I mostly watch football. Did you play rugby growing up?”

“Yes. All the boys did. It got pretty brutal. I busted my chin open and had to have six stitches right here.” He lifted his chin and pointed to a thin scar. “It was mostly just an excuse for the bigger boys to beat the crap out of the smaller boys, but it was a lot of fun.”

“Okay, your turn.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about your nose ring.”

“Yes?”

“Piffy and Ruth have the side of their nostrils pierced, and so do other women I’ve seen with nose rings, but you have it right in the middle. Why?”

“Do you think it makes me look like a cow?”

“No. But I can see how people might make that connection.”

“I wear it for two reasons really. One: it kind of touches on this submissive streak that I feel inside, but don’t otherwise let show. And two: it just pisses a lot of women off for some reason, and that’s always fun.” They both laughed. “Okay, my turn. What’s your favorite food?”

“A month ago, I would have said tacos, but now I have to go with hot dogs.”

“Have you had a chilidog yet?”

“No. Hey, you snuck an extra question in there.”

“Oh no,” she said, her eyes large with mock surprise. “Maybe you’ll have to punish me.”

“Maybe.”

“Ask me two questions then.”

“Why are you interested in me?”