JC: Ed Biggers
Part 3: Accretion
Chapter 3
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Every Friday afternoon at the university, the geology department 
pizza party was held as a result of an anonymous donation to the 
department. Only a handful of people knew that Ed was the 
benefactor. Ed made it a point to work on Friday's so that he could 
attend the party. It was something that he enjoyed, not because he 
was paying for it, but because this was a time when people let their 
hair down and discussed their studies. Ed lived to talk about rocks.

This was the first pizza party of the school year and there a number 
of new students were in attendance. Ed enjoyed talking to the new 
students and made sure that every year he attended the first pizza 
party. It was his chance to discover their hopes and dreams for the 
future before they became totally involved in the program. 

One of the new graduate students was Kim. She had decided that 
she should pick up her MS before it was too late for her to return to 
school. She came over to Ed right after he had taken a bite out of 
his slice of pizza and said, "Hello, Ed."

He turned and saw her for the first time since his graduation party. 
Checking her out, he saw that she had lost a little weight, but not 
much. Rushing to eat his bite of pizza, he waved his hand in the 
universal gesture of wait while I finish chewing and then I'll talk to 
you. Once he had swallowed his bite of pizza, he said, "It's so good 
to see you again. I thought you had dumped me."
 
Frowning at the idea that Ed had even considered that, Kim 
answered, "I've been in therapy working through a number of 
issues. After Lily finished treating me, I chose to follow up with 
another therapist. I didn't want to see you until I knew that I could 
deal with facing your wives."

Setting the slice of pizza back on its plate, Ed asked, "And now?"

"Now, I know I can."

There was a surety and honesty in her voice that he had never 
heard before. Curious as to how she could say that with such 
confidence, he asked, "How do you know that?"

She leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "I've spent every 
night this week in a Lesbian bar."

This was an extremely surprising revelation. Ed wondered if this 
meant she was sleeping with women. However, that wasn't 
something he could ask outright. He asked, "What does that 
mean?"

Smiling, she said, "Last night I danced with a woman all evening 
and even hugged her without feeling ill. I know that I can deal with 
women now, even women that love other women."

There was no doubt in Ed's mind that Lily was a miracle worker. 
Smiling at her, he said, "So does that mean I have an assistant for 
my consulting?"

"You bet," replied Kim. She hugged him, almost knocking his slice 
of pizza off the plate in the process, and said, "I was hoping the 
offer was still on the table."

"What about your business?" asked Ed setting down the plate.

At his concern for her business, Kim smiled and said, "I hired two 
people to cover the store for me. One to work the front and one to 
work the back of the store."

This was good news for Ed since he had consulting work that had 
piled up recently.  He would be able to use her assistance on a 
number of them. Most of his time was spent collecting ore 
samples. With a helper, he could cut the time spent at each location 
in half. He asked, "That's good news. I think you'll find that your 
work as my assistant will more than cover the cost of employees at 
the store. When would you like to start?"

Smiling, Kim said, "Actually, the woman that I have working the 
front counter is some sort of local new age guru. She helped me 
expand my line of products and sales have tripled. She's paying for 
all of us at the store."

The news that she had actually hired a woman was incredible. He 
had sent several women over to interview for that job, but she had 
sent each away with the weakest kinds of excuses, even telling one 
very capable candidate that the position had been filled when it 
hadn't. Rather than make a big deal out of it, he replied, "That's 
great."

Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "Aren't you going to make a 
comment about me hiring a woman?"

"No," replied Ed. Eyeing the pizza with hunger, he added, "I know 
Lily is one of the best at what she does."

"She's a Druid, just like you are," said Kim. There was something 
otherworldly about the Druids, but she couldn't put her finger on it. 
Ed and John had that quality, and then she had recognized it in 
Lily. 

"Yes, she is," replied Ed. 

Having hoped for more of a discussion about that topic, she 
realized that he wasn't going to accommodate her. She wanted to 
learn more about the Druids and asked, "So how does one become 
a Druid?"

"If you are called, you will know," replied Ed. There was no way 
that he would send someone to the Gods or Goddesses without 
knowing for a fact that they were called. 

Frustrated, she changed the subject. "So, what are your plans 
today?"

This had been a busy day for Ed and was going to remain busy 
until late. This morning, he had walked through the IRS office 
marking up suspect tax forms. That was followed by three hours in 
his lab analyzing mineral specimens from several mines around the 
world. He was performing a detailed analysis of the matrix in 
which crystals grew and wanted to compare the chemical and 
structural compositions from various locations around the world. 
Then it was this pizza party. After that, he was supposed to go to 
the Fusion Foundation for another meeting concerning their fire 
fighting efforts. After dinner, it was a photo shoot. He answered, 
"Busy day today. Tomorrow is not going to be so busy."

Shyly, Kim asked, "Could I visit you tomorrow?"

Hesitating just a second, Ed considered what might happen if she 
came to the house. It wasn't clear to him how she would interact 
with Kelly, Beth, and Ling. He answered, "I'm sure that Kelly, 
Beth, and Ling would enjoy seeing you."

"Ling?"

Ed hadn't realized it until now, but Kim did not know about the 
marriage with Ling. He answered, "Our new wife."

Expecting some hint of jealousy, Ed was surprised when she said, 
"Cool. Three men and two women, I bet you guys must get quite a 
workout."

Ed laughed and said, "We are looking for another husband."

Shaking her head, she accepted their lifestyle but knew she could 
never live within that kind of marriage. Although she enjoyed her 
time with Ed, she didn't love him in the way that the rest of the 
family loved him. When she married, she wanted the man for 
herself. 

Their discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Professor Simms. 
Smiling at Ed and at Kim, he said, "I see that you know each other. 
My past and present students together."

Kim replied, "Ed and I have known each other for a long time. We 
are rock hunting buddies."

Professor Simms knew that there wasn't a better recommendation 
than that and said, "I have great expectations for you."

While the professor and student talked, Ed finished his slice of 
pizza. Looking over the remaining pizzas, he was depressed to see 
that all of the pepperoni pizzas were gone. He settled for a slice of 
a plain cheese pizza. Eating it, he looked around at all of the 
people talking animatedly about rocks and smiled happily to 
himself. 

Checking his watch, he realized that he had to leave to reach the 
Fusion Foundation on time. After saying good bye to Kim and 
Professor Simms, he grabbed another slice of pizza and headed out 
to his meeting. As he stepped out of the building, he realized that 
he had been eating a lot of meals on the run lately. It reminded him 
of when he was working full time and trying to go to school full 
time.

Arriving home late from the Fusion Foundation meeting, he 
entered the dining room finding everyone in the middle of the main 
course. As he sat at the table, Marguerite came out of the kitchen 
and, with hands on her hips, glared at him. Upset, she said, "You 
missed the appetizer and the soup courses."

With a negligent wave of his hand, Ed replied, "I'll pick up with 
the main dish."

Marguerite stomped out of the room and returned with a plate of 
Shrimp Scampi. Smelling the dish, Ed said, "It smells good."

Correcting him, she said, "It smells great."

Laughing, Ed replied, "Really, I didn't notice."

Taking a piece of bread, Ed dipped it into the buttery sauce. He 
tasted it and, winking at Ling, said, "Hmm, it tastes familiar. What 
is this dish supposed to be?"

"Barbarians! I work for Barbarians!" cried Marguerite as she 
headed into the kitchen. 

Everyone around the table laughed at the exchange. Even 
Marguerite knew that Ed liked to pretend that he didn't like the 
food just to get a rise out of her. Ed said, "Busy day."

John asked, "We're not supposed to discuss business at the dinner 
table, but I'm very curious about the Fusion Foundation and what 
you decided."

"Five new planes," answered Ed. They had initially purchased high 
load lift helicopters and now were expanding the fleet to include 
planes for dropping water and fire retardant chemicals on the fire. 
Two plane crashes in the Forestry Department motivated the 
decision. 

"Good," answered John. He had hoped that is what they would 
decide, but he wasn't going to voice his preference. It seemed like 
the entire summer was spent fighting fires and the effect on the 
equipment was significant.

Kelly asked, "Anything interesting happen to you today?"

Smiling, Ed said, "Yes, as a matter of fact. You won't believe who 
I ran into today."

"Who?" asked Ling.

"Kim," replied Ed as he looked around the room to see the 
reactions that various people had to the news.

Kelly replied with a very polite, "Oh."

"It appears that she has been hanging out at lesbian bars recently," 
said Ed.

"Oh?" asked Beth. The idea of Kim hanging out at a Lesbian bar 
was very interesting. She glanced at Kelly to see how she took the 
news.

Ignoring the real news, Kelly focused on the rest of his statement. 
She asked, "Lesbian Bars? There are Lesbian Bars in Phoenix?"

Shrugging, Ed said, "I guess so. I've never heard of one, but then it 
is highly unlikely that a lesbian would invite me to that kind of 
place."

Puzzled, Ling asked, "Why would she hang out at a lesbian bar?"

"She says that she did it to get over her fear of lesbians. She even 
danced with one all night and hugged her at the end of the night," 
answered Ed. 

Less willing to accept that Kim had changed, Kelly said, "I guess 
we will see."

Nodding, Ed answered, "Yes, I guess we shall. I invited her over 
tomorrow."

Beth and Kelly exchanged a look as Ling watched with a curious 
expression. Of the three, Ling had never really dealt with Kim and 
didn't understand her fear of women that enjoyed women in a 
sexual fashion. 

Ed ate his Shrimp Scampi while the women talked about Kim. 
Much of what Kelly said was not very complementary, but Beth 
was much more understanding. Ling's response to the matter of 
being afraid of lesbians was that it was stupid. Her position 
reflected her attitude towards fear in general. If a person is afraid 
of something, you face that fear until it is gone.

When the main course was finished, Marguerite brought out a 
salad. Ed looked at the salad and noted that it was a garden salad 
rather than a lettuce salad. As soon as she had set down the last 
plate, Ed smiled at Marguerite and asked, "What kind of rabbit 
food is this?"

Marguerite answered, "It is a garden salad."

Afraid of what was coming, Kelly and Beth shook their heads in 
the hope that Ed would notice and stay silent. Ed said, "All you 
have to do to make a salad is cut a head of lettuce into quarter 
slices, throw a slice on a plate, and pour half a bottle of Thousand 
Island Dressing on it. This looks like you were out weeding the 
garden."

Upset, Marguerite stood there staring at Ed with her hands 
clenched into fists. She was about to blow and John's laughter 
wasn't helping. Ed waited until she was really worked up and said, 
"By the way, I entered you in the International Private Chef 
Culinary Contest."

Mouth open, Marguerite stared at Ed in shock. The rest of the 
family expressed their surprise that Ed would think of doing that. 
The entry fee was twenty thousand dollars and only the best 
private chefs in the world competed in the weeklong event. 
Whispering, she asked, "Are you serious?"

Nodding his head, Ed answered, "Very serious. Submitted the 
paperwork a month ago and got the acknowledgment today."

She faced five days of preparing three meals a day with blind 
judging of the meals based on presentation of the dish, nutritional 
value, and taste. As her face turned white, she said, "I only have 
two months to get ready for it."

Nodding, Ed said, "Yes, that sounds about right. I gave the details 
to Cathy to give to you after dinner."

As the magnitude of the gesture solidified in her mind, she 
suddenly threw herself at Ed and kissed him while hugging him 
tightly. The excitement she felt was clear to everyone around the 
table. When she finally released Ed, he said, "The rules say that 
you can have an assistant. You might consider taking Bob."

Flustered, Marguerite didn't know what to do next. Finally, she 
said, "I better get in there and work on sauces for the soufflé."

As she ran towards the kitchen, she stopped to return to Ed and hug 
him one more. So excited that she could hardly focus, she ran back 
to the kitchen shouting, "Thank you. Thank you."

At the table, Kelly said, "That was a nice thing you did for 
Marguerite. You just made her day."

"Her day? I think you just made her year!" suggested Beth.

Looking across the table at Ed, Ling felt an overwhelming love for 
the man. He would tease and tease until you were frustrated, but to 
let you know that it was just teasing he would give you something 
that was a dream. Marguerite was a very lucky woman to work in 
this household. She said, "I think it was wonderful."

Shrugging, Ed asked, "She's earned it. Now Beth, what's the idea 
behind this photo session you set up?"

The change in topic would have been jarring to most people, but it 
was expected in this crowd. Excessive praise was always deflected 
with a change in topic. Beth answered, "I was thinking the other 
day about Ling and how her addition to the family has changed 
things a bit."

Ling looked surprised and was afraid that she had changed things 
in a negative way. She asked, "Changed things how?"

Beth answered, "The original marriage contract allowed for a very 
dynamic family with members leaving and entering the marriage 
over time. However, it was static for so long I think that we forgot 
that things could change."

Nodding her understanding, Ling said, "I can see that."

Puzzled, John asked, "I don't understand what that has to do with 
the photo session."

Beth said, " This family could live long after we are all gone. I was 
thinking that we have no photographic record of the marriage 
group. I'd like to decorate a wall with our pictures and the date at 
which we entered into the marriage."

Smiling at the idea, Ling said, "You mean like a gallery like you 
see in a castle that has generations of the leading members of the 
family?"

The idea that the family could last beyond his lifetime really 
appealed to Ed. It seemed to him that leaving a photographic 
record of themselves for later generations was a right thing to do. 
Nodding thoughtfully, he said, "I like the idea."

Although she had not advertised it, Kelly had been generating a 
history of the family since the very first day it began. She had 
collected all kinds of pictures of the family members in very 
situations. The idea of having official portraits would be nice to 
include in her documents. She said, "That would be great."

Beth said, "I thought that each of us should have a picture taken in 
a way the identifies us and our interests.  We should also have a 
formal portrait."

"How would that work?" asked John.

Excited, Beth answered, "The photographer explained to me that 
we could have a full portrait taken and a little inset picture that 
shows us as we pursue our interest."

John pictured it in his mind and then said, "You mean we would 
have a picture of Ed's head and shoulders with an inset picture of 
him looking at rock. I like it. So how do you see each of us posing 
for the inset?"

Beth answered, "Ed looking at rocks, of course. You in your cloak 
while you are holding your walking stick. Kelly wearing her nurses 
uniform. Ling wearing her fighting outfit. And I guess me as a 
doctor."

Looking over at Kelly, Ed countered, "I'd like to see her in the role 
of instructor of nursing."

In a quiet voice, Kelly said, "I have some pictures that I've taken 
that I think are perfect for each of us. I have one of John using his 
walking stick and wearing his cloak hiking out of the desert with 
Rover. I have one of Ed at that dig we went on with him where he 
is working on removing a rock. I have one of Beth in the 
emergency room at the hospital where she is about to put the 
paddles on a patient in cardiac arrest. I even have one of Ling in a 
martial arts contest where she's throwing an opponent."

Marguerite came out of the kitchen with individual Chocolate 
Soufflés and set them in front of each person. The Soufflés were 
outstanding as always. As they ate, they continued to discuss the 
photos. Everyone agreed that the photos that Kelly described 
would be perfect, it was just a question of whether the 
photographer would agree to use them. 

Exasperated that it was even a subject of discussion, Ling argued, 
"We are paying him so he'll do it."

Shaking his head, John said, "No. Beth undoubtedly got the best 
portrait photographer that she could find. You don't tell artists how 
to do their job."

Observing the look of disappointment on Kelly's face, Ed said, 
"However, we can show him the pictures and let him decide."

Brightening, Kelly said, "I will get them for him after dinner."

Shrugging her shoulder, Ling said, "Just tell him to use them."

Ed ate his Chocolate Soufflé, enjoying each bite. To complement 
the soufflé, Marguerite had prepared white chocolate, dark 
chocolate, and raspberry sauces. After trying each one, Ed didn't 
know which he preferred. They were all excellent. 

When dinner was over, everyone sat around drinking coffee 
waiting for the photographer to finish setting up his equipment. As 
he sipped his coffee and ate the little piece of chocolate mint that 
Marguerite brought with the coffee, he wondered if he was dressed 
appropriately for a portrait. He asked, "Since this is for posterity, 
what are we supposed to wear?"

Beth looked at Ed and realized this was a problem. Unlike many 
rich people, they didn't worry much about impressing people with 
clothes. There had been more than one occasion where Ed had 
shown up at a formal occasion dressed in blue jeans. His attitude 
was that if they wanted his presence at some occasion that required 
him to dress in an arbitrary uniform just to show that he could, then 
they could live with how he dressed or have the occasion without 
him. She answered, "You and John should wear your robes. They 
are your most formal clothes and probably will be timeless. Us 
wives have plenty of clothes to choose from."

Nodding his head, Ed said, "Sounds good enough to me. Should 
John and I get ready so that when the photographer is ready you 
guys will have time to get dressed?"

They didn't have time to answer before Cathy came in the dining 
room and announced, "The photographer says that he is ready to 
take the pictures."

John and Ed left to get their robes. The wives continued to drink 
their coffees knowing that each picture was going to take a long 
time to set up. They had plenty of the time to prepare for their 
pictures.

Following John into the darken living room, Ed saw the backdrop, 
lights, and camera set up in an extremely complex fashion. There 
were lights aimed at the chair from all different directions. The 
photographer turned to look at the two men and raised an eyebrow 
at their robes. He said, "Hello, I'm Ben Waters."

Nodding at the man, John said, "Hello, Ben. I'm John Carter."

Ed echoed, "Hi, Ben. I'm Ed Biggers."

Pointing at the chair, Ben said, "Mr. Carter, would you like to be 
first?"

As John moved to the chair, he said, "It's Dr. Carter, but please call 
me John. We are an informal group here."

Ben moved over to John and started positioning him for the 
picture. He noticed the medallion around John's neck and asked, 
"Do you want to wear that in or out?"

With a quick glance to Ed, John reached in and pulled the 
medallion out from under his robe. Ben picked up a Polaroid and 
took a picture. Waving it in the air, he waited for the picture to 
develop. Watching him, Ed said, "You're taking Polaroid pictures? 
I thought we were getting real portraits."

Laughing Ben held up the Polaroid for Ed to examine and said, 
"See how the light reflected off the medallion? That means that I 
will have to be very careful in how I pose him. See that faint light 
spot behind him. That means I will have to adjust the lights so that 
it goes away."

Frowning, Ed asked, "So how long is this going to take?"

Adjusting one of the lights, Ben answered, "As long as it takes."

"Five minutes?" asked Ed.

"More like an hour before I'm satisfied. Then we'll have to get the 
expression right," answered Ben. He made very subtle changes to 
the lights, flashing them several times while staring at the area 
behind John. Satisfied, he positioned John to face a little to the side 
and took another instant picture. 

Deciding that standing there for an hour would not be much fun, 
Ed asked, "Why does it take so long? Last time I had my picture 
taken was when I was a kid, but it took only five minutes."

Frowning at Ed, Ben said, "If you want a picture in five minutes, 
go to the shop in a mall and you'll get an image that bears a slight 
physical resemblance to you in five minutes. I'm trying to capture 
the inner essence of the person and that takes a bit longer."

Thinking about it, Ed knew that Ben must know what he was 
talking about, as that was what made him the best. It also made 
him wonder what the photographer would capture about him. He 
watched as Ben worked and the care he took about each and every 
detail. It was easy to see that this was another man that cared about 
excellence. That was a character trait that he could understand.

Finally, Ben took another instant picture and looked at the results. 
Smiling to himself, he moved over to the other camera. With a few 
adjustments, he positioned John within the viewfinder and then 
stood up. He said, "I want you to think about your duties as Grand 
Druid."

Magically, a deep thoughtful look came over John's face. His eyes 
narrowed, brow wrinkled, and lips tightened just a little. It was 
almost a dark brooding expression that suggested great wisdom 
and responsibility. Ben snapped the picture and stepped back 
extremely pleased with the image he knew he had captured.  

He said, "You can get up now, John. I'll take Ed's portrait now."

Ed sat at the chair in his black robe. Hesitating, he reached in and 
pulled out his medallion. Once Ed was in the chair, Ben snapped 
an instant picture. Looking at it, he shook his head. With the dark 
background and the black robe, Ed looked like a floating head on a 
gold ice cream cone created by the medallion. Going behind Ed, he 
selected a slightly lighter background that would provide just 
enough contrast so that Ed's robe would show up, but not enough 
to wash out the flesh tones. 

As Ben worked, John and Ed talked about tomorrow's visit by 
Kim. While Ed was pensive about the likely outcome, John was 
very positive that it was going to be a good visit. Ed said, "I don't 
really care if she comes here. I just miss going out to hunt rocks 
with her. It's nice to have someone there with whom to share a 
great find."

John thought about sharing and looked up at the clock. Shaking his 
head at the time, he said, "We might miss sunset tonight."

Looking over at the clock, Ed realized John was probably correct. 
That whole week they had missed sunset for one reason or another. 
Perhaps they could make it to the roof tomorrow.  He asked, 
"What's your schedule like tomorrow?"

Sitting back on the couch, John answered, "It's pretty light. 
Tomorrow morning, I've got to meet with William Redman to 
work out the final details for the Native American College. After 
that, I'll meet with Jim to go through some additional legal details 
so that I get proper tax credits for the funds I'm using to set up the 
college. Probably have a teleconference with Jack to make sure 
that the money is transferred to the correct accounts. After that, I'm 
free for the whole day. How about yourself?" 

Frowning, Ed answered, "I have a paper to finish before the 
conference deadline. I am going to work on that the whole 
weekend. Sometime during the day Kim is coming by. I'm hoping 
that it is early in the day, but we didn't establish a time. I'm 
supposed to visit Cathy tomorrow night, but I'm thinking of 
rescheduling."

Ben had been working the entire time on setting up the lights and 
camera. Finally he was ready and moved to adjust Ed's position 
one last time. Stepping back to the camera, he said, "Think about 
riding on the range."

Ed's face adopted a far away look as if he were scanning the desert 
horizon with the slight touch of awe that comes with realizing 
one's place in the universe. After a moment of delay to allow the 
look to fully develop, Ben snapped the picture. He smiled at Ed 
and stepped back. With a nod of his head, he said, "Perfect. Taking 
a second picture would be a waste of film."

Ben had taken thousands of pictures in his time and he was amazed 
at how photogenic these two men were. Most people masked their 
emotions and inner selves so that it took attempt after attempt to 
capture that spirit. With both of these guys, a single attempt was all 
that was necessary.

Standing up, Ed looked around the room. Beth, Kelly, and Ling 
came into the room. Beth and Kelly were wearing the Medieval 
Garb from the party. Ling was wearing a Victorian Lace Dress. All 
three of them looked stunning. Ben turned and stared at the 
women, surprised by their choice of dress. Seeing the look on his 
face, Kelly said, "They make us feel like Princesses."

Pointing to her Victorian attire, Ling said, "Of all the people here, 
I'm the most conservative."

Waving goodbye, John and Ed went upstairs to watch the stars. 
They had missed the sunset, but there would be stars all night. 
