Hospitality Operations of Alltalia Airlines Research Paper

Hospitality Operations of Alltalia Airlines - Research Paper Example The management is in disarray since it cannot possibly determine the source of the problem. The company that had a capital base of more than three million dollars and over two hundred employees has now shrunk to about five jumbo jets and other smaller jets with monthly revenue of six million dollars down from the previous eleven million monthly incomes. The current revenue cannot comfortably sustain the operations of the industry a fact that has resulted in the company retrenching some of its employees. The hospitality industry has a number of challenges and requires an extremely vigilant and dynamic management to process and effect policies that counter the challenges. Some of these challenges include understanding the market. Stakeholder analysis According to Slattery (2008), no business exists in a vacuum. Before setting up a business, one must have an effective understanding of the market and the entire community. Operations in the hospitality industry have a number of smaller co mmunities that must integrate for the business to succeed. The management requires a fundamental understanding of all these communities and effective operational policies that incorporates all of them. These communities are the global community, the industry community, business community and the local community. The global community determines the scope of the business, by understanding the global community in the hospitality industry, the Alitalia airlines will determine the global destinations that have a sizable customer base and the new global destinations to introduce to make the business relevant to the market (Painter, 2012). By understanding the industry community, Alitalia airline stays conscious of its competitions. In analyzing the competition, the manager determines the weaknesses of the current existing companies and majors on their weaknesses to introduce unique products that complement the weaknesses thus grabbing the market from the previous owners. The industry also reveals the stratification of the current market. Through this, the management formulates products that target every segment of the market thus maximizing sales through an increased presence. Understanding the business community is one of the most important determiners of the success of the market. This includes having an effective human resource management. Operations in the hospitality industry rely on the human resource, the employees of the companies require effective management to ensure that there is an efficient flow of information and optimum service delivery to the customers resulting in satisfaction. The management must determine cost-effective ways of hiring the human resource and keeping them highly motivated. Alitalia is currently retrenching its employees a clear indication of the human resource management flaws (Lane, 2005).

Health Information Management System (HIMS) Strategic Plan and process Term Paper

Health Information Management System (HIMS) Strategic Plan and process reflecting an information system model for an Internal Medicine Clinic - Term Paper Example In strengths and opportunities, the significance of the systems in terms of the accuracy of data keeping, and ways through which the process can be improved are looked to earn the process more credibility by limiting avoidable medical errors. Due to advancing technological innovation n the contemporary world, HIMS programs are more preferred to primitive conventional data collection and maintenance processes, which was mainly kept on hard copies (Emmendorfer et al, 2012; Diana, Kazley, & Menachemi, 2011). Although, there is substantial support for development of the HIMS within the department in different quarters, the implementation of HIMS has been uneven since the technological growth reached a crescendo in the first decade of the twenty-first century. This has impacted a disorderly system. In light of this, it is imperative to address matters relating to human resourcing and HIMS organization within the facility, and the regional offices to guarantee sustainability of personnel or technologies. Further, current techniques of data gathering are overly complex and are largely problematic for clinicians to use. The XYZ’s Internal Medicine Clinic has immense opportunities that will likely result in its HIMS growth and development. An issue such as increasing market segments, which are set to develop in the current technology aided world, are one such opportunity. Further, globalization through, brought about by the Internet revolution is likely to offer immense outsourcing potential for clients across the globe. Distribution channels looking forward to new and effective treatment options, for instance, will likely impact positively on not only the department but the whole XYZ facility. The entrance of several players in the healthcare market will likely shrink the returns the company gets from the targeted market of clients in need of the Internal Medicine Clinic services. New technology may make

Visor Essay Example for Free

Visor Essay Visor, is the handheld computer which Handspring company wants to release to the market to compete its market competitor Razor which produced by 3Com company. However, what is interesting is both companies has contacted IDEO for product design. Palm company, which is one of the 3Com devisions, has a successfully achieved its targets working with IDEO through its legendary product development process to produce Palm V handheld computer. IDEO enabled to translate the vision of Hawkins which was the Palm pilot at that time to reality which gave Hawkins the trust to work again with IDEO in his company Handspring. IDEO product development process is unique, it goes through five development stages which started by understand/observe, visualize/realize, implement/detailed engineering and finally Implement/ manufacturing liaison. Each phase has its targets and deliverables that has to be achieved to move to next phase. However, IDEO has been asked to design Visor to be compatible, smaller and cheaper than Palm V within a limited time that cutes down the development process which could effect the quality of the product. IDEO now has to decide weather to proceed the clint order and take all the consequences or advice Handspring to extend the development process time to create a killer product. From a business perspective, the features that Handspring asked to be designed into its handheld product are competitive but yet its not enough to compete the current market leader. However, maybe the cost would be the main factor which effect this competition. I believe releasing the product with this lower standards wont help Handspring to achieve its targets. here will be that barrier which prevent customers to shift to the new product. what i suggest is giving more time to development process and develop that killer product which then could successfully acquire market attention. What made these companies and other worldwide companies likes Apple choosing IDEO for designing their projects is the designing philosophy that they follow. IDEO is a pioneer in combining engineering with art to produce an aesthetic allycompetent products. Additionally, IDEO has covered all the designing services that is needed for developing and manufacturing new projects such as; mechanical and electrical engineering, industrial design, ergonomics, information technology, prototype machine and cognitive psychology. IDEO is believing in flat organizational structure, no titles, positions or even dress code are existed, only the how excited the individual is in leading the project. This organizational structure is differ IDEO from other startups and big companies which are appleying bureaucratic hierarchal systems to achieve their organizational targets. However, only few big companies like google enabled to implement such a flat system. I believe that these organizational approaches are based on the nature of companys business more than randomness. Its really hard to control a company with 10,000 employes using this methodology. It would cause a managerial problems, process delays and waste of money and time. IDEO believes that failure is enlightened trial which help the company reach production accuracy. Moreover, there is no a wrong idea, any idea has rose will archived for future project. The environment which allow all employes to design his or her own workplace, awarding them by giving more competitive projects and organizing these events where individuals and groups can present there latest projects and designs, it is the culture which characterized IDEO from all its competitors, awarded and made the company a leader in designing felid. Never go to a client without a prototype and If the picture worth thousand words, a prototype is worth ten thousand Thats what prototype constitute to IDEO. It is the most valuable tool which allow the company to communicate with its customers, experts, marketers and end users. Transform the visualizing image of a product into a tangible object is helping the two parties to be ensured about the final design. In prototyping, IDEO does not aim to perfect the prototype more than creating a a quick and simple ones which allow a greater number of iteration. Rapid prototyping at IDEO followed the three Rs : Rough, Rapid and Right. which the final R focuses on creating several models with Right product aspects. In comparison with software development, both systems use a minimal planning and faster designing to make it easier to write or to make and then eligible to make any changes. Palm V is a resulted from accumulative process of five phases started as Palm which had superior features than its competitor at that time Apple by graffiti program for writing, syncing and a size of deck cards that can store address, numbers and calendar. However, after this product has introduced to the market, Startups began to enter the market acquiring market share. Hawkins decided to to contact IDEO to create a slimmer and sleeker version of the existing Palm with a new targeted market segment, Female users. When they first started, IDEO couldnt find customer feedback and data regarding the current palm product to begin with, so they decided to buy thousand of these devices and distributed them among friends and employes to generates feedback about the product. Additionally, they involved female member to the team and other females groups to achieve that targeted focus. A weekly meetings has been held to get the client in touch with development process and to make any necessarily changes. IDEO suggested serval changes and improvements to the current product such as change the battery to the rechargeable lithium ion batteries and using the industrial glue?.? Some of these changes accrued due to the lack of experience and knowledge so they shifted the manufacturing to Asia. By the end of phase 2, 20-25 prototype were produced which used the CAD to help create accurate industrial model. Finally, in last two phase they started to test prototypes and meet governmental requirements and then to production.

United Colors of Benetton Controversial Advertising Campaign

United Colors of Benetton Controversial Advertising Campaign MOHAMED RAFIQUE BIN RAMLAN The United Colors of Benetton Controversial Advertising Campaigns: An Analysis on Power of Determining the Meaning of Media Text The need to effectively sell to consumers throughout many cultures across world borders compelled businesses to tailor their advertising strategies to appeal to different geographic markets. The United Colors of Benetton however, has been employing the opposite strategy by trying to impart a single, what the brand perceived to be universally accepted message that would generate positive responses from all consumers regardless of their geographical, sociological, psychological, cultural, and economical make-up. Ironically, historically speaking, the brand’s campaigns, which had a reputation of being controversial despite claimed as an effort to promote universally positive values have consistently sparked negative responses from their audiences (Boches, 2011). The reason for this disconnection between the expected results and actual outcomes is that the campaigns depicted perceivably negative images so explicitly that they ended up misleading the audiences away from the brandâ €™s well-intended meaning. According to Hall, the apparent meaning (how the meaning is ultimately perceived by the audience, regardless whether it aligned with the intended meaning) of a media text is not solely inherent in the text itself nor the institution responsible for its production. It varies according to the interpretations of its audiences. It highly correlates with and dependent on the audiences’ cultural background, economic standing and personal experiences, and everything else the audiences had already identified and acknowledged (Hall, 1973). Hall added that the audiences are capable and often do distort the messages themselves through collective action, whether consciously or subconsciously. Thus, the audiences effectively became active participants in decoding media texts’ messages as they impose their own social context in their interpretations. Thus, the thesis of this essay is that the power to determine the meaning of a media text lies primarily with the audience. This essay analyzes three of the brands campaigns, focusing on the formation process of audiences’ perceptions on each campaign, which can be categorised into three different positions as proposed by Stuart Hall’s model of communication theory. In 1980s, acclaimed photographer Olivero Toscani captured the image for the brand’s notorious campaign, which the brand claimed to be an effort to raise awareness on social issues pertaining to race and effectively promote the value of racial integration (Elliot, 1991). The print ad for the campaign portrayed a depiction of a (apparently Caucasian) white skinned girl innocently posing side-by-side with a (apparently of African ethnicity) black skinned girl. At face value, this print ad seemed to be just another print ad promoting multi-racial value. With closer inspection, the print advert added to the negative representation of black people in the media. The black skinned girl appeared to be somewhat dark and grimy. There is no representation of happiness in the look in her face. The eyes giving the expression of emotionless and cold with her insipid stare, half of her appearance hidden by dark shadows with no smile on her face and hair styled with spikes which somewhat resem bles a pair of tiny horns. This connotation of obscurity is reflected to the arbitrary meaning with malicious in society. In addition, somewhat societies claimed the looks appeared to be somewhat devilish because they associated darkness with negative appearance. (Moore, 1991) However, the white skinned girl quite apparently enhanced with digital editing appeared to look happy and healthy. Her blond curly haired and a smile underneath her rosy cheeks brands her to look innocence and radiant in person. This resembles her to be styled and edited to look somewhat angelic with her cupid-like look. (Moore, 1991) Especially in the U.S., the promotion of racial integration value from this particular print ad was less apparent in comparison to the sensational outburst created by this print ad by apparently reinforcing negative stereotypes on black skinned people. One might argue that portraying obviously negative stereotypes undermines against them rather than reinforces them, but tense racial dynamics in the United States resulted in dominantly negative perception towards the meaning of the print ad. The intended meaning of the print lies at which Hall established as ‘the negotiated position’, where the meaning is in a position that compels the audience to both accept and reject the intended meaning. The portrayal of the black skinned girl as explicitly and unnaturally devilish proved to be counter-productive to the intention of the print ad to promote the values of embracing other cultures and ethnicities. To a certain extent, the audience do recognized and acknowledged the intended meaning, but simultaneously resisted and modified the meaning in a way which reflects their own experiences, interests, and biases (Hall, 1980). Hall stated that â€Å"decoding within the negotiated version contains a mixture of adaptive and oppositional elements†: while the audiences somehow recognized the abstract idea behind what they were perceiving, the formation of meaning in their minds operated at a more restricted, situational condition, establishing new rules which ultim ately shaped the meaning of the media text. In the 1990s, the controversy ignited by the brand’s shocking campaign intensified. The brand’s shift in focus towards more gritty social issues ranging from dying AIDS patient to image of blood-smeared clothes (Mezzofiore, 2011) faced not only negative reaction from audiences, but sparked public protests and banned by many governments across the world. The print ad which depicted the blood-smeared clothes of a dead Croatian soldier was intended as a part of a campaign that promotes anti-war effort (Associated Press, 1994). One argument which could justify the explicitly gory depiction of the print ad is that it makes for an intense emotional appeal to the consumer, evoking feeling of compassion in them and to perceive the brand as sympathetic and with conscience, ultimately increasing brand appeal and loyalty. Ironically, the German court ruled that the print ad could not be published anywhere in the country on ground that using such intense emotional appeal to sell pr oduct is immoral (Walsh, 1995). Many audiences perceived the image as too disturbing to reflect the value of peace the brand claimed to promote and they could not make any sensible connection between print ad and the product the brand is actually selling. In this case, the intended meaning of the campaign was within ‘the oppositional position’ when channelled through a medium ready to be perceived by its audiences. One of the prevailing philosophy of the brand’s advertising strategy was that ‘there are no shocking pictures, only shocking reality’ which reflected the brand’s effort to expose realities that people refuse to see and face. The brand’s campaign strategy relied on the assumption that the value that it is promoting through this campaign is universally positive, and that it is immune to any interpretations (whether or not they are misleading) formed by the audiences on the basis of their overall make-up. In this oppositional position, the audiences understood only the literal meaning of the image and blinded themselves from the intended meaning. The audience decoded the message and formed interpretation in a way the campaign did not foresee. The audiences’ sociological mak e-up has placed the meaning in the oppositional position as to what the meaning was supposed to be. Although some may actually understand the intended meaning, the text of the medium did not speak in the same language as the audiences’, thus they ended up rejecting it. (Hall, 1980) After consistently recorded low sales, presumably due to a string of high-profile yet unpopular ad campaigns (Maguire, 2003), the brand finally employed a drastically different advertising strategy with its ‘Unemployee of the Year’ campaign in 2012 that addressed the issue of youth unemployment. The campaign was also a contest in which unemployed youths could win EUR 5,000 that they would use to implement a project that would create a positive impact on their community (Lidbury, 2012). The campaign featured a series of thematically focused print ads which depicted close-ups of youths paired with captions such as â€Å"Valentina, 30, non-lawyer from Italy†. The brand campaign â€Å"presents a realistic portrait of todays society by actively tackling a current problem, that of youth non-employment and the potential conflict between generations, in order to show it in a new light and create value for the immense human capital of young people.† This time, the c ampaign generated more positive responses in comparison to the previously mentioned campaigns which were perceived as exploitations of social issues that do not attempt to create solutions. In this case, the audiences were located within the dominant point of view where the audiences took the actual meaning of the media text directly and decoded it exactly the way it was encoded. The audience fully shared the text codes and successfully reproduced the text’s intended meaning (Hall, 1980). Since the issues of youth unemployment are arguably universal, misunderstanding during interpreting media text did not occur as both the sender and receiver have the same cultural biases. The sharp turn of strategy made by the brand was evident by criticism that the print ads for the campaign are too boring (Mahdawi, 2012) and did not represent what they have recognized the brand for: controversy. However, this criticism was overwhelmed by the overall positive response towards the brand’s effort to provide solutions to youths’ unemployment. Marketers predicted that the campaign would help the brand build a lasting relationship with its target consumers. The Reception Theory which focuses on the reader’s reception of a literary text or media established that the process of negotiation and opposition of meaning take place when the reader is interpreting the text. A text- be it a book, film, or other creative work are interpreted by their respective audiences who are not behaving passively, but acting as active participants in interpreting the meanings of the text (Morley, 2015) based on their individual make-up. In other words, the meaning of a media text is not inherent within the text itself, but is created within the relationship between the media text and the audience. A correct interpretation of the meaning of a specific text could only occur when the audiences have a shared cultural background and interpreted the text the way the producer of the text presumed it would be interpreted. The less shared heritage an audience has with the producer of the media text, the less likely the audience will be able to recognize the pro ducer’s intended meaning. Two audiences with vastly different cultural, sociological, economical, psychological, and geographical background will extract two very different meanings from the same text. Thus, the power to determine the meaning of a media text lies primarily with the audience. References: (Word Count: 1638) 1. (Fabrica) http://www.seouldesign.or.kr/EBOOK_DATA/pdf/fabrica_seminar.pdf 2. Boches, E. (2011) Three Ways to Look at Benetton: The Cause, The Creative, The Controversy, Creativity Unbound. [Online] Available at: http://edwardboches.com/three-ways-to-look-at-benetton-the-cause-the-creative-the-controversy. (Accessed: December 17th 2014) 3. Gianatasio, D. (2011) Benetton is Not Feeling the Love for its Unhate Kissing Campaign; Pope Ad is Quickly Pulled, Adweek. [Online] Available at: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/benetton-not-feeling-love-its-unhate-kissing-campaign-136587. (Accessed: December 17th 2014) 4. Crawshaw, S. (1995) Benetton Sued Over Shock Ads, The Independent. [Online] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/benetton-sued-over-shock-ads-1569139.html. (Accessed December 17th 2014) 5. Walsh, M. W. (1995) German Court Bans Shocking Benetton Ads; Law: Panel Labels as Immoral the Clothiers Campaigns on HIV, Oil Slicks and Child Laborers, Los Angeles Times. [Online] Available at: http://articles.latimes.com/1995-07-07/news/mn-21071_1_benetton-ads. (Accessed: December 17th 2014) 6. Moore, L. W. (1991) Is Ad Theme Racial Harmony or Angel/Devil Stereotype?, Philly.com. [Online] Available at: http://articles.philly.com/1991-09-12/news/25799573_1_benetton-campaign-racial-harmony-oliviero-toscani. (Accessed: December 17th 2014) 7. Elliot, S. (1991) The Media Business: Advertising; Benetton Stirs more Controversy, The New York Times. [Online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/23/business/the-media-business-advertising-benetton-stirs-more-controversy.html. (Accessed: December 17th 2014) 8. Mezzofiore, G. (2011) Benetton: A History of Shocking Ad Campaign, International Business Times. [Online] Available at: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/benetton-history-shocking-ad-campaigns-pictures-252087. (Accessed: December 17th 2014) 9. Kenna, A. (2011) Benetton: A Must-Haves becomes a Has-Been, Bloomberg Business Week Magazine. [Online] Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_12/b4220021488483.htm. (Accessed: December 17th 2014) 10. Hall, Stuart (1980): Encoding/decoding. In Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (Ed.): Culture, Media, Language. London: Hutchinson. 11. Schrà ¸der, Kim Christian. (2000). â€Å"Making sense of audience discourses: Towards a multidimensional model of mass media reception†. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 3:233 12. Salkeld, Richard , 2014. Reading Photographs: An Introduction to the Theory and Meaning of Images. 1st ed. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp64-65 13. Benetton Group Website. [Online] Available at: http://www.benettongroup.com. (Accessed: January 11th 2015) 14. Maguire, M. (2003) United Colors of Benetton: A Company Of Colors And Controversies. GRIN Verlag. 15. â€Å"A campaign to combat the culture of hate†, unhate.benetton.com 16. Mahdawi, A. (2012), ‘Benettons Unemployee of the Year is a Flimsy Attempt at Brand-Aid’, The Guardian, [Online]. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/19/benetton-unemployee-campaign-flimsiest-brand-aid. (Accessed: January 11th 2015). 17. Lidbury, O. (2012) ‘Benetton Launch ‘Unemployee of the Year’ Campaign’, Fashion. [Online] Avalable at: http://origin-fashion.telegraph.co.uk/columns/olivia-bergin/TMG9552570/Benetton-launch-Unemployee-of-the-Year-campaign.html. (Accessed: January 11th 2015). 18. AP News Archive (1994). ‘Latest Benetton Poster Provokes Croat Outrage With Am-Yugoslavia’. [Online] Available at: http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1994/Latest-Benetton-Poster-Provokes-Croat-Outrage-With-AM-Yugoslavia/id-83dd11f663e4b97caf2026954d083f9d. [Accessed 11 January 15]. 19. Morley, D. (2015) ‘Audience Research’, Museum Of Broadcast Communications [Online] Available at: http://www.museum.tv/eotv/audiencerese.htm. [Accessed 11 January 15]. 20. Hall, S. (1973) ‘Encoding/Decoding; Culture, Media, Language: Working Papers in Cultural Studies, 1972-79’, pp. 128-138.

Agnostic Essays -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I believe that I am agnostic because I don’t know what to think about religion. When it comes to saying whether I believe in God or not, I feel that I have not yet come to a complete understanding of God’s existence. This tends to be a vicious cycle which constantly runs through my head. Ever since I can remember, I was taught through my family and church that this being does exist, but as I grew older I began to question whether this almighty being really does exist. How can I believe that this being exists when every day I watch the news and hear of all the tragedy that is happening in the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have been taught through my family and church that God is the creator and supreme ruler of the universe. They also taught me that he has set up certain guidelines or rules for which we must obey. These are commonly known as the ten commandments. We have been told that if we disobey these commandments , we will ultimately go to hell. Furthermore, if we follow these commandments, we will go to heaven and live in peace eternally. We all basically have the same perception of what Heaven and Hell are like. Heaven is commonly thought of as a utopia. A place which is soft, beautiful and peaceful. Where there is total peace and harmony. Where as Hell is known as being a prison for evil doers. Hell is supposed to be a dark, hot, and gloomy place with much misery. A persons worst nightmare. As I have gotten older, I...

Womens Issues and Multiculturalism Essays -- Feminist Feminism Cultur

Women's Issues and Multiculturalism ABSTRACT: In part one of this paper, I offer a description of the main versions of multiculturalism, with its liberal interpretation among them. In part two, I give an outline of the changes that have taken place in women's social status in the course of history and of the various stages of their emancipation process. In the third part I examine the relationship between multiculturalism and women's issues in general. Finally, I explore the same in Hungary, and attempt to draw some general consequences. Does a minority group (e.g., Gypsies in Hungary) in a multicultural society have the right to maintain their traditional patriarchal culture? I argue that the liberation of women is not a "women's issue"; it is part of the persistent enforcement of human rights. My address is divided into four parts. In the first part I offer a description of the main versions of multiculturalism, with its liberal interpretation among them. In the second part I shall give an outline of the changes that have taken place in women's social status in the course of history and of the various stages of their emancipation process. In the third part I examine the relationship between multiculturalism and women's issues in general. Finally, in the fourth part I explore the same in Hungary, and attempt at drawing some general consequences. (I) It is appropriate to distinguish between two types of multicultural societies-the traditional and the modern. In traditional societies, several ethnic groups may have lived together, which, despite their differences, basically belonged to the same civilisation. In countries which belong in the European civilisation, for instance, English and Scots, French and Bretons have li... ...oup have the right in a multicultural society to maintain their traditional patriarchal culture? Members of a minority group are as good citizens as those in the majority. They therefore have the same rights. However, they also have the same duties. Maintaining traditions that violate civil liberties is not to be tolerated. Preserving the mother tongue or cultivating the arts is one thing, wearing chador or clitoral circumcision is an entirely different matter. If the female members of a minority group undertake to follow such traditions of their own will, they are similar to members of such sects as may go as far as committing collective suicide. In the majority of cases, however, coercion of some sort is present. The liberation of women, therefore, is in the spirit of the modern world not a 'women's issue'; it is part of the persistent enforcement of human rights.

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 28~29

Twenty-eight The Sheriff To Burton, it sounded like there could be thirty or forty people wailing in the cave, let alone whatever was making the roaring noise. It might not be as easy to get rid of witnesses as he'd thought. If all the people he'd passed on the road earlier were in the cave, the SWAT snipers were going to have their work cut out for them. One thing was for sure, he couldn't let Crowe and this woman, whoever she was, leave the ranch alive. His cell phone rang and he pushed the answer button. â€Å"What?† He set his gun down and covered his ear to shut out the noise from the cave. â€Å"Nailsworth here,† the Spider said. â€Å"They're on the way. Give it forty minutes. And there's no other entrance to that cave.† Burton was not happy, having to lie in this crevice for another forty minutes, but once the SWAT team arrived, it would be over. â€Å"Nailsworth, shot in the dark here, but have you ever heard of someone calling themselves Kendra, Warrior Babe of the Wasteland?† â€Å"The Outland,† the Spider corrected. â€Å"Warrior Babe of the Outland. Of course, only the finest series of nuked-out future movies ever made. Kendra's a huge star. Was a huge star. Molly Michon was the actress's name. Why?† â€Å"Never mind. One of the suspects thinks she's a comedian.† â€Å"If you want some of the cassettes, I can let you have some copies for twenty bucks apiece. I've got almost the whole collection.† â€Å"Nailsworth, you're a pathetic piece of shit.† Burton disconnected. The wailing was still coming from the cave and the woman was screaming something he couldn't make out. Molly Theo's sneakers were still showing, sticking out between Steve's teeth. Molly grabbed her broadsword, ran up the Sea Beast's foreleg, and leapt onto his broad neck. She brought the broadsword down hard between his eyes and the impact made her hands go numb. â€Å"Spit him out! Spit him out!† Steve tossed his head, trying to throw her off, but she gripped him with her thighs and hacked away at his head. Chunks of his scales flew off and the blade sparked. â€Å"Spit him out! Spit him out!† Molly screamed, punctu-ating the panicked chant with blows from the sword. She'd seen this before. She knew that if she heard a crunch, Theo was finished. The Sea Beast opened his jaws to deliver the coup de grace and Molly could hear a gurgling scream come from Theo. She leapt to her feet on Steve's forehead, put the tip of the broadsword in the corner of his eye, and prepared to leap on the hilt to drive it into his eye socket. â€Å"Spit him out! Now!† Steve went cross-eyed trying to see his attacker, then made a grunting noise and hacked the constable out on the cave floor. He whipped his head and Molly went fly ing, hitting her back hard on the cave wall ten feet away and sliding down. The pilgrims' wails turned to sobs as Steve slunk to the back of the cave. Theo, mired in a puddle of blood, bat guano, and dragon spit, pushed himself up on his hands and knees and looked to Molly. â€Å"You okay?† he gasped. She nodded. â€Å"I think so. You?† Theo nodded and looked down to make sure his legs were still there. â€Å"Yeah.† He crawled over to her and sat back against the cave wall beside her, still heaving to get his breath back. â€Å"Nice friends you have. Why'd he stop?† â€Å"I think his feelings are hurt.† â€Å"Sorry.† â€Å"He'll get over it. He's a big boy.† Despite himself, Theo started laughing, and before long he and Molly were leaning against each other, giggling uncontrollably. â€Å"Steve, huh?† Theo said. â€Å"He looks like a Steve, don't you think?† Molly said. Theo wiped the dragon spit from his mouth and leaned over to kiss her. She caught his chin in her hand and pushed him away. â€Å"Bad idea.† Another roar rose from the back of the cave, this one less angry and more sad than the last. â€Å"I guess so,† Theo said. â€Å"What in the hell is going on in there, Crowe?† Burton called from outside. â€Å"You don't have a lot of time to dick around here. There's a SWAT team on the way. What do you want?† â€Å"I don't even know what the hell you're talking about,† Theo shouted. â€Å"What do you want to walk away from this? Leave the state. Forget everything. How much? Give me a figure.† Theo looked at Molly as if she might have the answer. She said, â€Å"I thought we made our demands pretty clear.† â€Å"He's not going to let me go, Molly. And now he's not going to let you go either. If there's a SWAT team on the way, we're in big trouble.† â€Å"I need to go talk to Steve.† Molly stood and walked between the sobbing pilgrims to the back of the cave. Theo watched her fade into the dark where the Sea Beast was pulsing with dim spots of green and blue. Theo rubbed his eyes to try to clear his vision. â€Å"Well, Crowe? What'll it be?† â€Å"Make me an offer,† Theo said, trying to figure out some kind of insurance. Something that would keep him alive more than two seconds after he stepped out of the cave. â€Å"I'll give you a hundred thousand. It's a fair offer, Crowe. You can't prove anything anyway, not if Leander is dead. Take the money and walk away.† â€Å"I'm dead,† Theo said to himself. The size of the bluff offer itself betrayed Burton's seriousness. There was no way he was letting Theo get away alive. â€Å"We'll talk it over!† Theo shouted. His head was throbbing from the pistol whipping he'd taken and the vision in his left eye was blurry. His cell phone chirped from within the pile of pilgrims' clothing and he scrambled through the clothes and pill bottles to find it. His vision went black with the move-ment and he had to steady himself until it cleared. He found the phone nestled in a pair of panty hose and hit the answer button. Steve He knew an enemy when he saw one. He could sense waves of aggression and fear coming from them, and he had felt those things coming from his warmblood lover. He could feel the fear even now as she approached him through the feeder people. Why, if she was going to find another mate, did she go to the trouble of unwrapping the feeder people for him? He didn't mind being hit with the sharp thing, that felt good, he thought she wanted to mate again, but when she put it in his eye, he knew she would have killed him. He felt it. She had turned her loyalties to another. He considered biting off her head to show her how badly he felt. He tucked his head under his foreleg as she approached. She rubbed his gill tree and he sent a bolt of scarlet over his back to tell her to stop. â€Å"I'm sorry, Steve. I don't have many friends. I couldn't let you eat Theo.† He could sense benevolence in her tone, but he didn't trust her now. Maybe he would just bite off an arm as a test. His back pulsed magenta and blue. â€Å"You have to go, Steve. There's a SWAT team coming. You can get past that guy outside without a problem. In fact, you can eat that guy outside if you want. In fact, I'd really appreciate it if you'd eat that guy outside.† She stepped back from him. â€Å"Steve, you have to get out of here or they're going to kill you.† He pulsed a dull olive drab to her and tucked his head farther under his foreleg. She wanted him to go away, he could feel it. And he wanted to go away, but he didn't want her to want him to go away. He knew she could never be what he wanted, and he understood never now, but he didn't want the warmblood to have her either. Colors ran like sorrow over his scales. â€Å"I'm not rejecting you,† Molly said. â€Å"I'm trying to save your life.† She pushed through the pilgrims, who were all on their knees sobbing, and one woman, a thirtyish redhead with gravity-defying fake breasts, grabbed her arm. â€Å"I can sacrifice,† the woman said. â€Å"I can.† Molly pulled her arm away from the woman. â€Å"Fuck off, lady,† Molly said, â€Å"Martyrdom's easy, it comes with the plumbing.† Theo It was only when he answered the cell phone that Theo realized one of Burton's blows had caught him on the ear. â€Å"Ouch! Goddamn it. Ouch!† Theo limped around in a circle, despite the fact that his limbs weren't injured at all. â€Å"Theo?† Gabe said, his voice tinny in the receiver. â€Å"Yeah, it's me.† Theo changed the phone to his other ear, but still held it a few inches away, now that it had bitten him once. â€Å"Where are you? Who answered your phone?† â€Å"That was Molly Michon. We're in that cave up on the ranch where the mushroom farm used to be. Burton has us pinned in here and he's called in a SWAT team.† â€Å"Have you seen it?† â€Å"Yeah, I've seen it, Gabe. I think you were right about the brain chemistry thing. There's a bunch of people here all tranced out, saying they were called to give sacrifice. They all have prescriptions written by Val.† â€Å"Wow,† Gabe said. â€Å"Wow. What's it look like?† â€Å"It's large, Gabe.† â€Å"Could you be more specific?† â€Å"Look, Gabe, we need some help. Burton is going to kill us. I need witnesses up here so he can't claim that we fired on his men. Call the TV station and the paper. Get a news helicopter up here.† Theo felt Molly grab his shoulder. He turned to see her shaking her head. â€Å"Just a second, Gabe.† He covered the mouthpiece with his hand. â€Å"No reporters, Theo.† â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"Because if they find out about Steve, they'll put him in a cage or kill him. No reporters. No cameras.† She gripped his shoulder until it hurt and tears welled up in her eyes. â€Å"Please.† Theo nodded. â€Å"Gabe,† he said into the phone, â€Å"Forget the reporters. No news people. No cameras. You guys come, though. I need witnesses here that don't work for Burton.† â€Å"You said there were a bunch of people there?† â€Å"They're all out of it, I don't think they're worth a damn. Besides, they're naked.† There was a pause. Gabe said, â€Å"Why are they naked?† Theo looked to Molly, â€Å"Why are they naked?† â€Å"To deter them from coming into the cave.† â€Å"To deter them from coming into the cave,† Theo said into the phone. â€Å"Well, that didn't work very well, did it?† Gabe said. â€Å"Why didn't she scare them off with the creature?† â€Å"That's what I've been telling you, Gabe. They're here to be with the creature.† â€Å"Fascinating. And Molly has control over him?† Theo looked at the dragon spit running down his jeans. â€Å"Not exactly. Gabe, please, bring Val and get your ass up here. You can claim to be here for scientific reasons or something. Val can say she's a trained hostage ne-gotiator. These people are her patients; that should help her credibility. Bring as many people as you can.† Molly grabbed Theo's arm again and shook her head. â€Å"Just the people who already know.† Theo cursed under his breath. â€Å"Scratch that, Gabe. Just you and Val. Don't tell anyone else.† â€Å"Mavis and Howard and Catfish know already.† â€Å"Just them. Please, Gabe, borrow Mavis's car and get up here.† â€Å"Theo, this isn't going to help you much. We might keep you from getting killed, but Burton is still going to arrest you guys. You know it. And once he gets you in his jail, well, you know.† â€Å"One thing at a time.† â€Å"Theo, we've got to preserve that creature. This is the greatest†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Gabe,† Theo interrupted. â€Å"I'm trying to preserve my ass. Get going, please.† â€Å"You've got to get that creature out of there, Theo. They might not shoot you if there are witnesses, but they won't let the creature go.† â€Å"He won't move. He's in the back of the cave, sulking.† â€Å"Sulking?† â€Å"I don't know, Gabe. Just come, okay.† Theo disconnected and sat down. To Molly he said, â€Å"Gabe's right. We may just be delaying the inevitable by bringing in witnesses. Maybe we should rush Burton before SWAT gets here.† Molly picked up the AK-47 from the floor, released the clip and tilted it so Theo could see it was empty. â€Å"Bad idea.† The Head of the Slug â€Å"Hostage negotiator?† Val Riordan said. â€Å"I did my residency in eating disorders. The closest I've ever come to a hostage negotiation is talking a sugar-jagged actress out of purging fourteen quarts of Ben & Jerry's Monkey Chunks after she lost her part on ‘Baywatch.'† â€Å"That counts,† said Gabe. He'd related everything that Theo had told him and was ready to run to the rescue, but Val was reluctant. â€Å"I believe the flavor is Chunky Monkey,† H.P. said. â€Å"Whatever,† said Val. â€Å"I don't see why Theo needs us if he's got a whole cave full of my patients.† Gabe was trying to be patient, but he could feel a clock ticking in the back of his brain, each tick taking away his chance to save his friend and lay eyes on a living specimen from the Cretaceous period. â€Å"I told you, Theo says they're out of it.† â€Å"Perfectly logical,† said H.P. â€Å"How so?† asked Val, obviously irritated at the stuffy restaurateur's tone. â€Å"The tradition of making sacrifice is as old as man. It may be more than just a tradition. The Babylonians sacrificed to the serpent, Tiamet, the Aztecs and Mayans sacrificed to serpent gods. Perhaps this creature was the serpent to which they sacrificed.† â€Å"That's ridiculous,† Val said. â€Å"This thing eats people.† H.P. chuckled, â€Å"People have been loving vengeful gods for thousands of years. Who's to say it isn't the vengeance that inspires that love? Perhaps, as Dr. Fenton has pointed out, there is some symbiotic relationship between the hunting habits of this creature and the brain chemistry of its prey. Perhaps it inspires love as well as sexual stimulation. That feeling needn't be reciprocal, you know. He could be as oblivious to his worshippers as any other god. He takes the sacrifices as his due, with no responsibility on his part.† â€Å"That's a steamin bag of dog snot if I ever heard it,† Catfish spouted. â€Å"I been near this thing and it ain't never done nothin but scare the daylights out of me.† â€Å"Is that right, Mr. Fish?† H.P. said. â€Å"Isn't it true that your fear of this creature has inspired a lifelong career in music? Perhaps you owe thanks to this beast.† â€Å"I owe ya'll a ride to the booby hatch, thass what I owe.† â€Å"Enough!† Gabe shouted. â€Å"I'm going. You can come or you can stay, but I'm going to help Theo and see if I can keep that creature alive. Mavis, can I borrow your car?† Mavis threw her keys on the bar. â€Å"Wish I was going with you, kid.† â€Å"May I join you?† H.P. asked. Gabe nodded and looked at Val. â€Å"They are your patients.† She pressed her back against the bar. â€Å"This is all going to blow up, and when it all comes out, I'm going to go to jail. I should help with that?† â€Å"Yes,† said Gabe. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because it's the right thing to do, and because it's important to me and you love me.† Val stared at him, then dragged her purse off the bar. â€Å"I'll go, but you will all be getting hate mail from me when I'm in jail.† Mavis looked at Catfish. â€Å"Well?† â€Å"Ya'll go on. I got the Blues on me.† They started out the door. â€Å"Don't you worry, honey,† Mavis called after them. â€Å"You're not going to jail. Mavis will see to it.† Twenty-nine Gabe Up until the time that Steve had come to town, the most fearsome prehistoric beast on the Central Coast was Mavis Sand's 1956 Cadillac convertible. It was lemon-pie yellow with a great chrome grill that seemed to slurp at the road as it passed and gold-plated curb feelers that vibrated in the wind like spring-loaded whiskers. The daytime regulars called it the â€Å"Banana† and in a fit of ambition had once even fashioned a giant blue Chiquita emblem, which they stuck on the trunk lid while Mavis was working. â€Å"Well,† Mavis said, more than somewhat surprised by their efforts, â€Å"it ain't the first banana I've rode, but it takes the size record by at least a foot.† Even in his youth, Gabe had never driven anything like the Banana before. It steered like a barge and it rocked and lurched over dips and potholes like a foundering scow. Gabe had activated the electric top when they'd first climbed in and hadn't figured out how to put it back up. Gabe spotted Val's Mercedes parked on the side of a hill off the main ranch road. There were six other vehicles parked next to it, all four-wheel-drive sport utility vehicles: two Blazers and two larger Suburbans. A group of men in black jumpsuits were standing by the vehicles, the tallest watching them through binoculars and talking on a radio or cell phone. â€Å"Maybe we should have taken a more inconspicuous vehicle,† Gabe said. â€Å"Why didn't we take your car, Howard?† Val asked. She was slouched in the passenger seat. Howard sat in the back, as stiff as a mannequin, squinting as if this was his first exposure ever to sunlight. â€Å"I own a Jaguar. Superior coach works, none like them in the world outside of Bentley and Rolls. Walnut burl on all the interior surfaces.† â€Å"Doesn't run, huh?† â€Å"Sorry,† said Howard. Gabe stopped the Banana at the cattle gate. â€Å"What should I do? They're watching us.† â€Å"Go on up there,† Val said. â€Å"That's why we're here.† She had gotten brave all of a sudden. Gabe wasn't quite so self-assured. â€Å"Someone tell me again why the sheriff won't just shoot us along with Theo and Molly?† Val was getting into the spirit of the thing, realizing that this might be the only way to atone for what she'd done to her patients. â€Å"I'm a psychiatrist, Gabe, and you have a Ph.D. The police don't shoot people like us.† â€Å"You're kidding, right?† Howard said, â€Å"Does one require an advanced degree to be immune to gunfire, or does a life of scholarship count as well?† â€Å"Go, Gabe,† Val said. â€Å"We'll be fine.† Gabe looked over at her and she smiled at him. He smiled back, sort of, and pulled the Banana into the pasture toward five heavily armed men who did not look happy to see them. Theo Theo had searched the rest of the cave, using the disposable lighter he'd forgotten to abandon with the rest of his pot habit. The cathedral chamber was closed, except for the entrance where Burton waited. Theo gave the Sea Beast a wide clearance on his way back to Molly, who stood just inside the cave mouth. Burton shouted from outside, â€Å"Crowe, we've got your friends locked up! This is your last chance to make a deal! I'll give you five minutes, then we're using gas!† Theo turned to Molly in a panic. â€Å"We've got to get these people out of here, Molly. As soon as the first gas grenade comes in, it's all over.† â€Å"Don't we need hostages?† â€Å"For what? He's not going to negotiate. The only thing he wants is me – and probably you – dead.† â€Å"Why don't you call someone and tell them what you know? Then Burton won't have a reason to kill us.† â€Å"All I know is what I've seen. With Leander dead, there's no one to connect him to the labs. I've already told Val and Gabe. Now he's got them. I was an idiot to bring them into this.† â€Å"Sorry,† Molly said. â€Å"Wait.† Theo flipped open his phone and dialed. The phone rang eight times and Theo was glancing at the battery gauge, which showed only a quarter-charge, when a man answered. â€Å"Nailsworth,† the Spider said, leaving the caller to guess that they had contacted the Sheriff's Department's information officer. â€Å"Nailsworth, it's Theo Crowe. I need your help.† â€Å"Having a bad day, Theo?† What a prick, Theo thought. â€Å"Listen, I'm trapped†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I know where you are, Theo. Remember, I know ev erything. Actually, I'm glad you called. I had something I wanted to ask you about.† Theo fought the urge to scream at the megalomaniacal geek. â€Å"Please, Nailsworth, I don't know how long this battery is going to hold out. I need you to do me a favor.† â€Å"Me first.† â€Å"Go,† Theo barked. â€Å"Well, when Burton called me, he mentioned that your accomplice said she was Kendra, Warrior Babe of the Outland. So I started looking around. Turns out there was a Molly Michon admitted to county psychiatric a few times. She left a Pine Cove address. I wondered if†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It's her,† Theo said. â€Å"Wow, you're kidding! No way!† â€Å"She's right here.† Theo looked at Molly and shrugged. â€Å"Look, you warned me not to go on the ranch. You know about Burton's crank network.† â€Å"I might,† Nailsworth said. â€Å"Don't be coy. You know everything. But what I need to know is do you have access to information that could be used as evidence – money transfers, checks, offshore accounts, phone records, and such – stuff you could give to the state attorney?† â€Å"Why, Theo, you're starting to sound like a cop.† â€Å"Can you get it?† â€Å"Theo, Theo, Theo, don't be silly. Not only can I get it, but I've had it. I've been compiling a file for years.† â€Å"Can you get it to the attorney general's office right now?† â€Å"What's in it for me?† â€Å"Nailsworth, he's going to kill us.† â€Å"Kendra is right there with you, huh? I can't believe it.† Theo shuddered, halfway between panic and anger. He held the phone out to Molly. â€Å"Say something Kendra-like.† Molly cleared her throat and said, â€Å"Die, you scum-sucking mutant pig. The only thing of mine you'll feel is cold steel!† â€Å"Oh my God! It's her!† the Spider said. â€Å"Yeah, it is,† Theo said. â€Å"Now will you help?† â€Å"I want a copy of the Norwegian Battle Babes. Can I get one?† Theo covered the receiver and looked at Molly. â€Å"Norwegian Battle Babes?† Molly smiled. â€Å"Kendra VI: Battle Babes in the Hot Oil Arena. The Norwegian version is the only version that has full nudity in all the arena scenes. It's very rare.† Theo's mouth had dropped open. His survival had come down to this? â€Å"So do you have a copy?† â€Å"Sure.† â€Å"You got it,† Theo said into the phone. â€Å"I'll bring Kendra naked and in person to your office if you get moving now.† â€Å"I don't think so,† said Molly. â€Å"I'll send the file to Sacramento,† the Spider said, â€Å"but that won't do you any good. Even if you tell Burton about it, he's got you in a perfect situation to kill you anyway. You need media.† â€Å"Media? Helicopters? We're too far north to get anyone here in time,† Theo said. â€Å"No!† Molly shouted. â€Å"I'll call them,† the Spider said. â€Å"Hold them off for twenty minutes, maybe twenty-five.† â€Å"We don't have anything but naked people and a jealous sea monster to hold them off with.† â€Å"Is that more of your drug nomenclature?† the Spider asked. â€Å"It's what it is. If they use gas, we won't have twenty minutes.† â€Å"They won't.† â€Å"How do†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Twenty-five minutes. And Battle Babes better be in the original box.† The Spider hung up. Theo clicked his phone closed. â€Å"I said no helicopters, Theo,† Molly said. â€Å"Even if we get out, you know they'll hurt Steve. You need to call him and tell him no helicopters.† Theo felt he was close to losing it. He clenched his fists and tried very hard not to scream in her face. His voice went to a whisper. â€Å"Molly, even with a warrant out for Burton, he will kill us. If you want your dragon to live, then you've got to get him out of here before they get here.† â€Å"He won't leave. He won't listen to me. Look at him. He doesn't care about anything anymore.† Sheridan Sergeant Rich Sheridan was six-three, two-thirty, with dark hair, a mustache, and a long, hooked nose that had been broken several times. Like the other men on the hill, he was wearing body armor and a radio headset, as well as a weapons belt. He was the only one not holding his M-16. Instead he was talking on a cell phone. He had been a cop for ten years and working for Burton on the side for eight. If this had been an official activation of Special Weapons and Tactics he would have been second in command, but as the real commander wasn't in Burton's pocket, Sheridan was in charge. He let the binoculars dangle around his neck and waited while his men got firing angles on all of the yellow Cadillac's passengers before he approached. Sheriff Burton was screaming at him on the cell phone. â€Å"I'm pinned down up here, Sheridan. Handle this and get your ass up here. Now!† â€Å"Yes, sir. What do you want me to do with them?† â€Å"Find out who they are, then cuff them and leave them there. And hurry.† Sheridan hung up. â€Å"Get out of the car. Keep your hands where I can see them.† The two men and a woman did as they were told and submitted to pat-downs from Sheridan's men. When they were handcuffed, Sheridan spun the younger man around. â€Å"Who are you?† â€Å"Gabe Fenton. I'm a biologist.† Gabe smiled weakly. â€Å"Nice headsets. You guys could all be standing by to take my subscription order for Corrup-tion Weekly.† Sheridan didn't react. â€Å"What are you doing here?† â€Å"Endangered species protection. There's a very rare creature in that cave up there.† Val winced. â€Å"Were you supposed to tell him that?† she whispered. â€Å"How did you know to come here?† Sheridan asked. â€Å"This is the habitat of the California red-legged frog, very endangered. I saw your SWAT vehicle go by and the driver had that ‘I want to kill some rare frogs' look in his eye.† Gabe looked at one of the other SWAT guys, a stocky Hispanic man who was glaring at him over the sights of his M-16. â€Å"See, there's that look right there.† â€Å"We didn't bring the SWAT vehicle,† Sheridan said flatly. â€Å"Actually,† Val jumped in, â€Å"I'm a clinical psychologist. I have experience in hostage negotiation. I heard the SWAT team being dispatched on my scanner at home, and since you're so far north, I thought you might need some help. Dr. Fenton agreed to ride along with me.† â€Å"We weren't dispatched over the radio,† Sheridan said, dismissing Val as if she were an insect. He looked at Howard. â€Å"And you?† â€Å"Howard Phillips. I'm merely here to observe a hid eous ancient creature that has arisen from the darkest Stygian depths to wreak havoc on civilization and feast on human flesh.† Howard smiled (the smile of an undertaker at the news of a big bus crash, but a smile nonetheless). Sheridan stared blankly at H.P., saying nothing. â€Å"He's the caterer,† Gabe said quickly. â€Å"We brought him along to get your order. I'll bet none of you guys remembered to pack a lunch, did you?† â€Å"Who did you tell you were coming here?† Gabe looked at Val and Howard for some clue as to the right answer. â€Å"No one,† he said. Sheridan nodded. â€Å"We are going to put you in the back of that truck over there for your own safety,† he said. Then to the others he said, â€Å"Lock them in the K-9 unit. We've got to go.†