Master of Plagues, D. B. Reynolds [best books to read fiction .txt] 📗

communication between Stuart and the serpent had opened up. They transmitted telepathic messages back and forth to one another.
Like the ritualistic consecration of the other creatures, Stuart inducted the lead rattlesnake and his nest into his sensationalistic family.
Stuart stepped forward to place his hands at the center of the spade-shaped head of the now humongous rattlesnake. “From this day forward, you have been ordained as King Saraph. The name Saraph comes from the Hebrew word meaning ‘Serpent’.
King Saraph joined the ranks of the other Universally-charged creatures.


CHAPTER—29

BATTLE OF THE RATTLE TATTLE

Las Vegas was the place for fresh residents to find gainful employment. Abdullah Tariq Muhammad learned quickly how his electrical and computer engineering degree from NYU provided him the leisure to move to the “City of Sin”. Once he received his graduate degree from NYU’s Polytechnic Institute, he decided to head out west to Las Vegas where gambling casinos and hotels were always hiring people in that particular field.
The Nigerian native met a former Las Vegas showgirl named Tammy Froelich inside one of the most popular hotel casinos on the strip. Her strawberry blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, not to mention a body sculptured like a Greek goddess, sent his heart into overdrive. The pair obtained an instant attraction for one another. His glowing Hershey chocolate skin and pearly white teeth caught her immediate attention.
Her well-defined Eurocentric features took him straight to fantasyland. The couple got married after Abdullah took Tammy on a trip to his homeland of Nigeria and other parts of Africa. Oddly enough, Abdullah proposed to her at The Serengeti National Park in north-central Tanzania. She burst out in tears after he’d released his secret plans. They married at The Elvis Wedding Chapel and flew in guests from out of town to be a part of the reception.
Five years into their marriage, the couple were blessed with three children, four year old David Muhammad, three year old Abdullah Muhammad, Jr., and eleven month old Christine Muhammad. With a sexy wife, beautiful and healthy children, a promising career with outstanding benefits, Abdullah couldn’t ask for more. The final pieces to the puzzle were put in place.
Abdullah couldn’t’ve been happier with his job at the Computer Gaming Laboratories, Incorporated there in Las Vegas. As a test engineer expert, he spent most of his day testing gaming devices and online systems like slot machines, video poker machines, Keno, Bingo and lottery systems. He analyzed the hardware and software of gaming systems used around the world.
The program languages were no challenge for him. The man had intelligence beyond his years. His familiarity with microprocessors were second nature. His proficiency with Windows and UNIX amazed his computer literate contemporaries. Abdullah was a true asset to Computer Gaming Laboratories. Machines operated back and forth inside the busy laboratory. Having the vast knowledge he’d gained through college and the on-jobsite experience, someone always came to Abdullah for answers.
“Abdullah,” called out his fellow employee named Peter Barksley.
“Peter, what can I do for you?” asked Abdullah, speaking with his heavy Nigerian accent.
“I’m trying to use the Crystal Report in Net Windows Application with respect to Oracle and parametrized queries.”
“First of all, you have to create a project in the Microsoft Visual Studio and give it a name under the Crystal Report.”
“How do I do that?”
Peter was still relatively new at Computer Gaming Laboratories. Abdullah didn’t mind helping him. “From available data sources, you have to choose the OLEDB. Then, you have to select the Oracle Provider for the OLEDB.”
“You know your stuff, Abdullah.”
“Next step, you have to provide the necessary information for database login per your Oracle configurations.”
“What information?”
“Data source, user id, and password.”
“I don’t have neither of them.”
Abdullah put in all three requirements and moved to the next step. “Once you have the data source, you’ll have to add a management view. An empty data set has to be added to your project.”
Class files from the DL applications caused a database connectivity. Connection strings operated as a result of the Oracle configuration. The DL applications displayed the required parameters of the newly-generated reports.
“Wow!” Peter applauded. “You’re the best, Abdullah.”
“Well, I try to always give it my best.”
“And your best you’ve given.”
“Where’d you go to school at?”
“Polytechnic Institute at NYU.”
“They sure taught you well.”
“Thank you, Peter.”
Peter glanced down at his watch and the time sort of surprised him. “Oh look, Abdullah, it’s lunchtime. Care to join me for a bite to eat?”
“No, I’ve got lots of work to do.”
“Okay, I’ll see ya in about an hour.”
“See you then, Peter.”
Abdullah scanned the laboratory and no one occupied a single space in there. Growing up with integrity, capacity, ability, and authority, he believed in exercising his work ethics when others wanted to take lunch and breaks. His imagination and creativity became the driving force behind him being a valued employee at Computer Gaming Laboratories. Clients and customers always came first. That was the company’s mantra. Hotel casinos throughout Las Vegas hungered to provide future innovation for their thriving businesses, courtesy, of course, through Abdullah and his colleagues.
Abdullah worked with diligence on a futuristic poker machine. Not seeming to know where they came from, small wormy creatures squirmed out of the machine and onto the floor. More of the creatures wiggled from out of the cracks of the gaming machines and computerized equipment. Before Abdullah’s very eyes, the small, worm-like figures grew into giant western diamondback rattlesnakes. The entire gaming laboratory became filled with snakes much larger than Abdullah himself. Since he’d developed a stomach-churning phobia for rattlesnakes, his worst nightmare played out before him.
“Noooooooooo!” Abdullah cried out, grabbing hold to a cord to one of the gaming machines.
King Saraph appeared before Abdullah with his large fangs burning with grayish flames. The King’s rattler swung side-to-side with a fluorescent gray. His flaming black eyes gave off a shine which was compared with a polished mirror.
“Snakes!” Abdullah yelled, wanting to use the cord as his weapon. “I hate rattlesnakes!”
“Don’t be afraid, Abdullah,” King Saraph teased. “You’re only going to get what’s coming to you.”
“Coming to me? Whaddaya mean?”
“Abdullah, I have been sent by my master.”
“Who’s your master?”
“You know my master very well.”
“Where do I know him from?”
“From several years ago.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“My master has sent me to plague you.”
“Plague me? For what reason?”
“For your evil transgressions against him.”
“Transgressions about what?”
“My, you have a short memory, Abdullah.”
Abdullah pointed all around the laboratory. “But snakes aren’t supposed to grow to those giant sizes.”
“Powers granted to my master have ordained me and my nest to grow to these giant sizes.”
“But snakes also aren’t supposed to talk. How are you able to speak plain English?”
“Divine powers granted to my master.”
“At first, you big snakes started out like little worms. How’d you grow to be so big in a matter of seconds?”
“That you don’t need to know. The Universe will keep such secrets from you.”
Abdullah snatched the power cord out of the gaming machine. He swung it wildly at King Saraph. The cord went right through him like an invisible gust of air. Magically, the cord held in Abdullah’s tight grip turned into a dark brown western diamondback rattlesnake. Abdullah dropped it to the ground and ran behind a cluster of machines. The ground under the machines shook. A superordinary transformation of machine-to-rattlesnake took place. He watched the machines turn into serpents before his very eyes.
“Please, please, leave me alone!” Abdullah pleaded, running to every corner in the laboratory.
“No, Abdullah, we can’t leave you alone,” King Saraph declined, using his magical serpent’s body to fly through the air.
“What have I done for you to plague me like this?”
“Trespassing against my master, Abdullah.”
“Don’t do this to me.”
“You will come crawling on your hands and knees to beg for my master’s forgiveness.”
“Bring your master to me and I’ll apologize.”
“In due time, Abdullah, in due time.”
King Saraph used his masterful rattler to strike a blow to the side of Abdullah’s head. Lying flat on the ground with his head tilted upwards, Abdullah watched King Saraph hiss with his dagger-like fangs. The king’s pit vipers concentrated on his superimposed visual and thermal images. The vertically elliptical pupils in his eyes frightened Abdullah into submission.
He swung at the king and hit nothing but air. He picked up computer gaming parts and threw them at him. Efforts to hurt the huge serpent were useless. The attempts angered him further. King Saraph dove down at Abdullah and popped him in the middle of his face with his aggressive rattler. Knocked flat to the ground, members of the nest restrained him. The knife-like fangs sunk deep into Abdullah’s backside like hypodermic needles. Severe swelling had him feeling like he’d been given an extra backside.
The king knew to spare the lives of those he’d been instructed to plague. Easily, he could’ve released the hemotoxic venom that were packed inside his fangs. The venom could’ve easily weakened his victim to the point of a slow death. Members of the nest slithered around Abdullah and penetrated the flesh of his arms and legs and chest with the orifices of their fangs. There were snakes bites up and down his body. King Saraph slapped him a few more times with his rattler and stood him up against one of the gaming machines.
“Ahhhhhhhh!” Abdullah screamed in pain, running while grabbing his smoky backside with both hands. “I’ve been bit in my backside!”
King