Queen Anne's Lace

The world watched and greeted the plant woman from their armchairs. Most of the initial contact was not nice, when you think that we were meeting the first known human-like life form. She might have come from outer space, or as some suggested, from the bottom of the ocean. Maybe she had always been there, dormant, waiting for this moment when life on Earth was on its downward spiral. Was she the Saviour — a Mother Earth Goddess — or a destroyer and restorer of life like the Hindu Goddess Shiva?

Whatever or whoever she was, the first recorded meeting did not go well for us. The world news was not aware of her previous interaction with the four boys. The army came out as she approached a city that was west of the dome that covered the Brown family. There in their family area, Robert and his family watched her approach. He had already made the call to ready the scientific team, and they would spring into action as soon as the go-ahead orders were approved. Meanwhile, the Army issued a command for the woman in the bridal gown to stop – and proceed no further. If she heard, or understood, she did not appear to be concerned. The command was issued again, and Richard’s father swore in a way his family had never heard before.

“Frig! Are you stupid? Give her some time – make an attempt to communicate,” he said to no one in particular.

The Army fired a warning shot – to no avail. And Robert repeated: “Frigging stupids,” in frustration.

And then the same foot soldier stepped up and looked at the world, watching for the instructions to proceed.

“Fire!”

The voice and the sound of the laser rifle echoed in the room and Bobby recoiled as Anne went down in a heap.

“She is down. Looks like we stopped her.”

An official from the army reported to families watching all over the world. He sounded relieved – almost proud at bringing down a frail looking young woman attired in a wedding dress.

“Get up Anne!” Bobby called out in an earnest voice.

And she got up. Grew up it seemed – from the earth, to stand straight and purposeful, re-aligning herself, before stepping forward once more.

“Fire, damn you - fire again.”

And she was struck down only to rise again.

All of Robert’s family — except for Robert himself — cheered.

The Army was looking inept in the eyes of the world. So they brought in flame throwers.

They advanced, turning the plant woman and one hundred yards of the flowers where she stood into smouldering ashes.

“Frigin’ stupids! Sorry —” Robert was frantically attempting to reach his office. He remembered that his family was watching and listening. “That has been tried before. It‘s a waste of time.” True, the flame throwers had been used before — on the carpet of flowers when it had first been discovered, they hadn’t tried torching the plant woman before.

Richard (and the world) watched with bated breath, until the white flowers began to repair the damage. Slowly, the patch of charred earth was filled back in with a carpet of white, and in one breath, two breaths, and the third out-breath, the plant woman stood again, reborn from the ashes.

“I could have told you,” Robert cursed in a whisper. He recalled the Cuban unsuccessful nuking.

“Hoo-ray!” Bobby cheered.

“She is unstoppable!” The voice of the commander of the Armed Forces went off-air, suddenly realizing what he was telling the world. Perhaps he remembered the same Cuban event that Robert had.

“It must be that the Earth supports her.” Richard recalled how she had nearly died without water and a connection to the Earth while tied up in the cabin. And almost immediately, he regretted his words.

“That is a good theory, son,” Robert congratulated him. “And something we might need to prove.”

* * * *

Robert Brown was one of the senior technicians for Genetic and Technical Systems reporting to the worldwide administrator of GETS in respect to the Phoenix Dome. His wife Francine was a laboratory assistant for the same city dome.

Robert boarded a helicopter and was soon face to face with the mystery woman.

The plant woman halted about a foot from Robert. Her violet eyes were expressionless, but it was evident that there was life and a degree of intelligence present. She did not attempt to break eye contact or to walk around him. She did not retreat either when he took a small step closer. He decided to find out what she might do if he simply stood his ground. Nothing happened and for a few minutes it was a stand-off. She did not move or make an attempt to remove him from her path. He reasoned that this could not be the first time she was confronted by opposition. What had she done to get this far? She did nothing but just being near her seemed to be affecting his thinking. He disregarded that impossible thought and resolved to stand firm. Soon something crept in – something that was not entirely alien to him, and yet something indefinable was tugging at the edges of his mind – and his emotions. Emotions! That was a start. Robert prided himself at being a level-headed thinker. Emotional outbursts might only serve to weaken him as he reasoned and yet during that first encounter with the plant woman, from the safety of his family room, he became a swearing, frustrated man. She might be more powerful than anyone had imagined so far.

“Sir?” he asked the Army Sergeant that stood by at the ready. “Can I ask one of your men to stand where I am – to block her way?”

The other man agreed. “As long as this does not put one of our men in needless harm’s way.”

Robert kept his thoughts to himself: “What kind of harm might an armed, combat-trained man expect from this frail woman?” It certainly was not harm that he guessed would come about. And as the minutes ticked by, the man’s face underwent a change – from that of one of those guards that used to appear standing to attention outside a Queen’s Palace — to? That Queen was long gone, and another Queen was somehow causing this guard to become uncomfortable. It showed on his face and then his body began to twitch.

“Sergeant? Can I be excused? I need to move from here.”

“Do you have an itch private?"

“No, sir, but I have to move. It is not right to stand in this woman’s way. She has an important mission.”

“Bring that Jeep over here!” The Sergeant was quickly catching on. “You are excused Private. I want that Jeep parked where you are standing.” Robert and the Sergeant exchanged knowing glances. In a matter of time – as measured by how long it took the Private to begin feeling nervous — a growth of white flowers reached out from behind the “Queen of Lace” and covered the Jeep. As this was happening, the driver made a hasty retreat. It took less than an hour for the Jeep to be dissolved. The tires went first.

“That is not friggin’ possible!” the Sergeant cursed. “No acid known to man can do that to this much high-grade metal.” And he was right. This was no acid or substance previously known to man (or maybe woman). And the Queen walked forward on a carpet of white lace to continue on her way.

Robert realized that something had happened in the cabin with the four boys. If she can dissolve a car, what had prevented her from escaping the bonds of her abusers? Perhaps something Bobby had said?

“Anne is Love.”

“What kind of love will suffer that kind of abuse – to the extent of possibly ending a world-changing mission?” It was a love that was scarcely seen or known to man. “But then again, it may be something else.” Robert’s logical mind kicked in. “There must be something we are missing.”

“She must think differently than us,” Robert mused.