Operation (23 page)

“Okay, you’ve all had time to look over the syllabus. Let’s talk about it. What do you think?”

The students looked back down at the paper. After a few seconds, it was obvious that no one was going to say a word.

“That bad, huh?” He asked. “What? Boring? Too much work? Not enough work? You want more exams? What?” 

There was a slight chuckle from the students but still no conversation. Reese felt a growing pit of uneasiness in his stomach.

“Okay, I’m an easy guy, and as most of you know, this is my first crack at teaching this class. Let’s talk about it and if you have some reasonable requests, such as change in topics, paper subjects, projects, or whatever, I will consider them.”

A hand rose from one of the students.

“Yes,” Reese said thankfully.

“Mr. Reese, I think…and this is just my opinion,” the young woman began, “When I took this class, my understanding was that we would tie in the myths and legends to today’s society and examine what role they might play. But, when I read the syllabus, it sounds different: like some kind of military instruction where there isn’t much leeway to explore our own thoughts.”

“I’m not sure I follow?” Reese said.

“Well,” she continued, “it’s myth and legends—doesn’t that mean we are free to go pretty much anywhere in terms of our ideas?”

“Ah…that’s a good observation. I have to admit that I was thinking the same thing myself—old habits are hard to break. However, your original thoughts about this class are correct,” Reese agreed.

“Well…what does that mean?” another student asked.

“All right, let’s do an example. Pick some myth or legend. Anyone?”

“How about dragons?” a voice suggested.

“Okay. Let’s think about this. Dragons are quite popular in many myths and legends. A way to approach this would be to examine their origins and contrast that with why they were created and what their standing is in society today. Is there one? What about the capitalist approach: is there a market for dragons? If so, why?”

A murmur of approval came from some students. Some of them actually sat upright in their chairs instead of slouching in them.

“You get my drift now? How about another example?” Reese asked trying to broaden the area the students wanted to go in this line of study.

“What about dwarfs and elves, the
Lord of the Rings
stuff?” A student queried from the back of the room.

“Ah, a good point,” Reese suggested. “There is a myriad of ways to look at these. The commercial success is obvious, so I would suggest a different approach. A possible approach might be to perform an examination of how or if the original myths or legends that form the basis of the story have changed. Has today’s interpretation of the story altered the original and if so, why?”

“I’m interested in vampires,” a young woman called out. “What about them?”

Before Reese even looked in the direction of the voice, he was not completely surprised that someone had gone in this direction already. Vampires have always tended to be in the top five in myths and legends.

“As we are all pretty much aware of, vampirism is the one myth that will never die, no pun intended, regardless of how poorly they are portrayed on the big screen or are described in works of literature. Look at the popularity of such recent films as
Underworld
.” He turned in the direction of the voice trying to locate who asked the question. “The vampire has always been a cash cow so to speak.”

“You make some excellent points in your book, Mr. Reese,” the woman continued. “I’ve read it and personally, I think it’s the strongest section. It’s more in-depth than any other. You seem to really get into it.” 

“Yes. Well, thank you,” Reese said, as his eyes settled upon the woman who sat in the back of the classroom. She was young, maybe thirty or so, and very attractive. He was surprised that he couldn’t remember when she had come in the room: he knew he would have noticed someone like that—but then again, he had been nervous about the class tonight. However, Reese noticed that several of the other male students appeared to be having the same reaction to her: as if seeing her for the first time now, rather then when she walked into the classroom. He didn’t feel so bad now.

Stop staring, John!
He told himself as he realized that the silence in the room had become deafening. Reese forced himself to look away from her and focused on the open book in front of him.

“It’s one of my favorite sections as well,” Reese said, trying to move on. She had been correct in her observation about his book. He knew that he had devoted a lot more work in the section on vampires than any other section; after all, he had had personal experience in the area.

“Okay, then, vampires,” he began. “A popular myth that has probably enjoyed the most longevity compared to any other creature. Glorified in books, television, and movies more than any other type of myth.”

“But are they really a myth?” the same girl asked.

Ah…if only you knew, my dear,
he thought.

“Good point,” he answered. “That could be a way to approach this…although direct evidence might be a problem. For argument’s sake, let’s say that you support the theory that vampires do exist. In that case, you might pursue the ways in which they have escaped all forms of detection?”

“But, they haven’t actually escaped detection,” the girl pursued. “If they remain prevalent in our society’s literature and media mediums, some underlying cause must be at work.”

“Excellent point,” he agreed. “You are passionate about this, aren’t you, Miss…?”

The rest of the class turned in her direction.

 “Bukolovich. Christina Bukolovich. I guess my passion comes from my childhood. My parents were born in the Balkans. It was very common for them to tell me stories, many of which included stories passed down from their parents that dealt with such things as vampires.”

“That’s interesting, Miss Bukolovich,” Reese said. “Please go on.”

With the conversation focused on Christina, he could leisurely observe this woman with the vampire passion. He decided she was not as young as he had originally thought, perhaps in her mid-thirties. She was dressed in jeans and a brilliant white shirt. The color of the shirt highlighted her European skin tone—the olive tan, the dark shoulder-length hair, and facial features common to the region of the Balkans.

Her tone of voice suggested an obviously strong and passionate disposition to this particular subject that he found interesting, given his own interests in the subjects she had mentioned.

“I find the entire concept of vampires in modern society fascinating,” she continued. “There are reported arrests of vampires, secret societies, and even religions based upon the cult. However, unlike Wiccans, who have the authority of Congress behind their belief as a valid religious one, those who practice vampirism are discriminated against and persecuted unfairly based upon a false perception.”

“That’s an, er…interesting assumption. How so?” Reese asked.

“Well, I look at the myths and legends we have dealing with vampires and don’t see a creature of horrific origin or purpose. I look at it as an alternate lifestyle.”

“Unusual, but interesting point,” Reese agreed, liking the direction she was taking this argument. Not only was she attractive, but very intelligent. “In terms of research, you could perform an analysis of that point based upon myths and legends. Perhaps you could find some information that could support your thesis. However, you would definitely have to address the issues of the taking of life of others in terms of issues of morality.”

“They don’t have to take life. They can live on animals just as we do. We kill cattle in our slaughterhouses. A vampire could survive by just taking their blood and not killing them. So who is the killer now? Not the vampire, but the human.”

“Sounds like you have your paper topic already chosen, Miss Bukolovich,” Reese said. He found his interest rekindled by the woman’s determination and her similar understanding to his own. That was not likely, and it was time to move on. 

Reese turned his attention to the rest of the class. “Any more questions about the syllabus and what we’re going to look at in this class?” His eyes scanned the faces of the students. They were more alert now than earlier—a sign they understood what was expected of them. “I think we have discussed a few examples that have made it clearer what we will be doing during the semester. Remember, this is supposed to be fun and interesting. Take your topics and stretch your imagination…that is, as long as you have supportive facts to back those assertions up. Okay then, let’s move on to—”

The squeak of the classroom door opening stopped Reese in mid-sentence. A man stepped into the room. He was tall, with a shaven head. Reese guessed his age as around forty or so. He was wearing a suit, but looked harried, as if he had rushed to get to class. His shirt collar was unbuttoned and his tie pulled down. In his hand was a copy of Reese’s book.

Reese found his eyes drawn to the book in the man’s hands: it looked worn. The covers were bent and he could see that pages had been obviously folded and tabbed, giving the appearance that the book had been read or used extensively. However, Reese knew that the book store on campus had received them less than a week ago. 

“Excuse me, please, pardon the interruption—traffic was terrible,” he said as he took a seat nearest to the door.

 “That’s quite all right,” Reese said automatically, taking his eyes from the book and returning them to the latecomer. “We were discussing the class syllabus.” He handed the man a copy.

“Thank you.” 

“You might want to see me after class if you have any questions about it. We’ve already discussed it.”

“Thank you, I certainly will, Mr. Reese.”

Reese found the man’s tone odd and almost condescending. He was older than the other students in the class were, and there was something familiar about him that made Reese uncomfortable. He found himself staring. He was beginning to feel that he had seen him before somewhere.

“Mr. Reese,” a student’s voice called.

Reese returned his attention to the other students.

“Yes.”

“The syllabus says an abstract of the idea of our paper is due in three weeks. Is there a particular format you want that in?”

“Yes. I have an example to pass out to you at the end of class,” Reese looked at his watch, “which is just about now. On your way out, pick up a copy of the abstract. If you have any questions, we can discuss it next class. That’s it for tonight, folks. Don’t forget your reading assignment for next week. Have a good one.”

The students rose and began to leave. In turn, they stopped at the desk in the front of the room and picked up a copy of the abstract. As the classroom emptied, only two people remained: Miss Bukolovich, the woman who had shown the interest in vampires, and the latecomer who was still sitting and perusing the textbook. The woman approached the desk.

“Mr. Reese, I apologize if I got a little carried away with the topic.”

He tried to keep his gaze from wandering but he couldn’t help noticing the way she filled out the jeans and the shirt quite nicely. His eyes drifted to hers: they had an exuberance to them that attracted him intensely, and her voice seemed to tickle his skin at the same time. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, reminding himself that she was a student and he was the teacher. “That’s quite all right. It was a good example that helped make the point I wanted and got the class going, so to speak. I should be thanking you for that.”

“Well, vampires have always interested me. Forgive me if this is a little assertive of me, but I could tell from your book that they are one of your favorites as well. You seemed to want to say so much more about them.”

Reese’s surprise was halted at her statement when he saw the latecomer raise his head and look in their direction, as if he had heard something that he was interested in.

“Yes, they are fascinating, aren’t they?” Reese agreed, trying to sidestep any further questions or comments about the vampire issue.

She picked up a copy of the abstract. “Well, I hope we can discuss them during the class. I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially the ones that aren’t in the book.”

“I’m sorry?” Reese asked. Her statement startled him. He also saw, out of the corner of his eye, that the latecomer was now also staring intently at them.

“Oh, you know,” she continued. “The things not fit to print: your gut feelings and instincts. That kind of thing.”

“Ah, you might be disappointed then, Miss Bukolovich. My complete thoughts are in the book. I didn’t leave anything out.”

Reese felt her eyes examining him. Her perplexed look made him think she was going to say something to refute his last statement. He glanced over at the latecomer, who also appeared to be waiting to hear if she was going to add anything as well.

“Of course. Well, good night, Mr. Reese. See you next class.”

“Good night.”

As the woman exited the room, the latecomer rose and walked over to Reese. Reese couldn’t help noticing that the man was grinning, as if he had just heard a joke but was trying hard not to laugh out loud.

“That was handled well,” the man said.

“Excuse me?” Reese asked.

“The conversation with the young woman. You handled it well, Commander Reese.”

The mention of his former title obviously meant that this man knew him from the military—but he still couldn’t place him.

“Do we know each other?’ Reese asked.

“My name is Mr. Smith and I know you.”

“You’re not here to take the class, are you?”

“Not exactly,” Smith said, his tone amused.

“Then why are you here?” Reese asked.

“I am here to deliver an invitation.”

“Invitation for what? From whom?”

The man walked over to the door, closed and locked it. When he was satisfied the room was secure, he smiled as he turned toward Reese.

“We need to ask you some questions—about vampires.”

Chapter Two