Chapter 12 — Going to meet Gropius

The next day, everyone was seated in Marvin's Toyota, ready for the departure.

Marvin, in the driver's seat, and Angie next to him, both buckled up. Fluffy was also there, on the backseat. She insisted to come along.

They finally had an appointment with Gropius.

The day before that, when Gropius had called Marvin, he had proposed that Marvin come to his place, if he wanted to have a discussion about the fake aliens and so on. It would be easier than discussing it on the phone.

Anyway, Gropius sounded happy, and a bit flattered, that someone had been looking for him, someone who was genuinely interested in his story and willing to believe him. At last, someone to whom he could overtly speak about these controversial topics and who would not be — supposedly — a mere old drunkard. After all the unanimous mocking he received, and after having been so unjustly arrested by the police for having spoken his mind out loud, this must have felt like a kind of relief to him.

The police had released him after one night spent in custody. Of course, they had no serious motive to keep him jailed for any longer. The arrest was already quite scandalous for such a minor offense.

So, Gropius invited Marvin at his place. He promised to tell him the whole story about his cosmic dreams and to answer all the questions he would want to ask about that.

 After the call, Fluffy was of the opinion that Marvin should take her with him when he goes meet Gropius. It would be better if the goddess in person was there to ask him questions. What could Gropius refuse to the one authority from which originated the visions he received ?

For her part, Angie was curious to meet this eccentric guy she had heard about quite a lot during the last days. She wondered what could look like this slender half bald half shock-headed man, as he's been described by her husband. According to Marvin, he looked like such a dork! Angie declared she was to come too.

Hence, the three of them were now in the car. Marvin finished entering the address into the GPS. He turned on the engine, and they departed.

It was another sunny day. It felt a bit as if they were leaving for a nice trip, although there were quite urgent matters to deal with.

Gropius was living in a small apartment, somewhere in the borough of Rosemont. Their host was probably a bachelor and was living there on his own. Anyway, it wasn't that far away. If not for too much traffic, they'd be there in no more than twenty minutes.

It would be the right occasion to ask Gropius the right questions. Hopefully, he received some instructions from Fluffy's Golden Fleet, and maybe they gave him an appointment, thinking their message was sent to their goddess, when in fact they just reached this random guy. So, if Fluffy could learn about the location and the right time for their landing on Earth, she could finally encounter her space crew again.

The car was now speeding on a highway, windows down, and cool air rushing inside, ruffling their hair. The radio was playing Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones. Marvin and Angie were banging their heads to it, while Fluffy was sitting very still and stone-faced; only her whiskers were swaying a bit.

Suddenly, the music on the radio was interrupted by a newsflash.

"Dear listeners, we are interrupting our program because some important events took place. We've just learned that several attacks had targeted oil production complexes in Texas, in Saudi Arabia, in…"

"Damn it! Seems that you were right, Fluffy. They're keeping on destroying industrial facilities."

"Told ya."

They kept listening to the disastrous news for a few more moments.

"And we are the only ones to know." said Angie. "To know where these attacks come from, and who is behind all this, right? Shouldn't we do something about it? I mean, it becomes to serious. We can't let them destroy everything without uttering a word. Fluffy, can't you do something?"

"We are working on the project, aren't we?

"Yes, I know. We're going to speak to that guy. But I don't know how much it would help. I mean, can't you use your powers to stop them ?"

"I don't have much powers right now. I am in my mortal form. I'm not that different from a regular cat."

"But we saw some of your magic tricks." said Marvin. "Plus, you are speaking to us telepathically right now."

"That's not enough to stop them. But don't worry. We're following the plan. If I can re-establish the contact with my team, then it will be fine."

"Shouldn't we at least try to spread the word?" asked Angie. "We should tell the truth to everyone. If people knew the truth, they would react, they wouldn't let them do.

"No. It doesn't look like a good idea." answered Marvin. "No one would believe us. They would treat us the same way they've treated this Gropius, thinking we're some kind of fools."

"I guess you're right…"

The Toyota left the highway, and Marvin was now driving it through a more residential neighborhood. They were approaching the place they were looking for.

"In two hundred meters, turn left…" said the neutral voice of the GPS.

"Here we go."

But Angie started wincing a bit.

"What?" asked Marvin.

"I'm sorry…"

"What's going on?"

"I know it's not the right moment, but… I think it has begun."

Angie felt that her jean was wet and she was starting to go through painful contractions.

"I think… I think my waters have broken."

"Really? But… Isn't it a bit too early? It shouldn't be happening before…"

"Yes, I know. But I'm afraid it's now. I'm sorry…"

She winced again. Marvin had stopped the car on the side of the road.

"What do we do, then?" he asked.

"What you mean "What do we do?" We have to go to the hospital right now. We can't wait for too long, it could be dangerous for the baby.

"Okay. Heard that, Fluffy? Too bad for this crazy guy. We'll talk to him some other day."

"Can I swear?" said Fluffy sarcastically.

" Come on, is this guy so important for you? Aren't you supposed to care for our baby first? I thought he was supposed to be your great general, or something."

"I do care."

"You can still go meet him on your own, Fluffy." proposed Angie. "But now it's starting to be quite painful."

"Yeah" added Marvin. "His apartment should be just over there. A few hops away for you.

"No. It's better if I come with you. Maybe you'll need me" answered the divine cat in the cold and enigmatic fashion that was apparently common for deities.

It had been a sunny day until then. But some grey clouds were now gathering on the horizon.