The room was dimly lit by a red light, illuminating a single chair in the center. Beside it stood a tall, rather slim Bigfoot. A phosphorus glow illuminated the eyes of her very Native American humanlike face. The rest of her was covered with an emerald-hued moss that in the dim light could have been mistaken for a Leprechaun’s suit. Aside from skin tone and height, she was remarkably human looking. Each hand bore five fingers. The five toes did not have claws. She stood motionless, as if waiting quietly was the only thing she had to do in the world.
The Bigfoot cocked her head and turned to the only door leading into the room. A sliver of light outlined the jamb and a body squeezed through the narrow opening, shutting the door soundlessly after it. The newcomer’s face was hidden in the room’s shadows. It looked right and left and then to the center, where the Bigfoot waited.
The creature was unafraid and watched with fascination as the newcomer reached inside a vest it wore and pulled out a small handgun. “Is the weapon necessary?” she asked.
“You, of anyone I know, should know better than to ask that question with the killings going on.”
The newcomer strode out of the shadows into the center of the room. She was a tall American Indian woman in her sixties, with silver-gray hair that gleamed a bloody hue under the red light. Age had not wrinkled her skin and her sparkling eyes were a curious blue, a singular family trait handed down from mother to daughter within the Potawatomie Tribe for more than fifty generations. The blue eyes marked the matrilineal power that her family had wielded since the arrival of the Bigfoot in the UP, ten thousand years ago. To the members of her clan and tribe she was known simply as Auntie. To the Bigfoot in front of her she was Ayasha, the Keeper of the Sacred Fire.
The red light gleamed off the nickel blue barrel of the Colt .38 caliber revolver. “We can’t be too careful, not now, when we are so close to the end.”
The creature shrugged in a very human way that was nonetheless a gesture she had learned and was not natural. “I understand your concern, Ayasha, but death is not the same for us as it is for you.”
Ayasha shoved the gun away and sighed. “You’re right.”
“It’s about to happen, right?”
Before she could reply, the multi-screen display of the casino flashed on. Her eyes shifted quickly from image to image, and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she let out another sigh of relief. In strong, hushed tones she said, “The Yeti from Russia has arrived, tonight’s the night.”
“Did it make it to the portal?”
“Yes. Three from the other clans were killed as you probably know,” she said sadly.
The creature’s liquid brown eyes were not saddened by the news and she said without emotion, “But every important Bigfoot advancement is now represented. Perfect.”
Auntie scanned the screens then gently touched the giant Bigfoot. “I’m not ready for you to go. We’ve known each other all my life, you healed me as a young girl when I almost died from pneumonia. You sent the gentle one to take care of my father. And now you are going to walk out that door to—” Auntie’s voice broke off with a little sob. She recovered quickly and wiped her eyes on her shirtsleeve. “Are you absolutely sure this is going to work? Are you sure you have to do it?”
The creature nodded.
“Why?”
She answered, her voice still uninflected as if discussing something as mundane as the weather. “Our ordinary reproductive metamorphic fields allow for only one of us to be downloaded to give birth to the next one. The mother portal is necessary for what we’re going to do tonight. There’s no certainty what we will be attempting will work. But the drive to do it is strong.”
“I understand that,” Auntie answered with some heat. “I’m sorry, it’s just, why does it have to be you?”
“I need to be the last one into the field, one each from the five clans and then me. I’m to be the new one’s teacher. I have the most advanced bio structure and knowledge.”
Auntie hugged the Bigfoot and she gently touched her shoulder. “My men will get you there.”
“I know. I am thankful for all you have done these past six decades.”
“What should we do now?”
“Sit together one last time,” she said, enfolding Ayasha in her long arms.