tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61021950517711200752024-02-20T17:21:26.710-08:00Flash Master! The Fictional and Horrible Works of JD StottlemireHere are the best short stories from JD Stottlemire's "Flash Master."
Photo Credit: NASAAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471473408712376945noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102195051771120075.post-20654909365727760902012-03-28T13:13:00.001-07:002012-03-31T03:18:15.680-07:00Flash Master 005: "What Ever Happened to Summerville Part 4<br />
<br />
What Ever Happened to Summerville Part IV - “Dinner with Mr. Mayor”<br />
<br />
Mayor Campbell mopped his round face with a handkerchief and looked out the small,<br />
half submerged windows of his basement. It was hot down there and he had stripped to<br />
his tee-shirt though he still had on his suspenders, slacks and dress shoes. He checked<br />
that the shotgun he was carrying was loaded for about the thousandth time and renewed<br />
his pacing from the steam furnace to the wringer washing machine and back. There was<br />
something crazy going on in town. He didn’t know what. There were reports of fires<br />
and murders and some sort of monsters. He hadn’t believed the any of it, least of all the<br />
bit about monsters until Sheriff Nelson had called saying he’d seen one in person. That<br />
was six hours ago. No one had heard from Nelson since, although there had been a<br />
report his squad car was driving itself around downtown trying to run people over.<br />
<br />
The door to the basement opened and he turned quickly, pointing his shotgun up the<br />
steps. His wife was standing at the top. She was pleasant looking and fiftyish wearing<br />
a, very typical for her, floral print dress.<br />
<br />
“Henry. Are you going to stay down there all night?”<br />
<br />
He lowered the gun half-disgustedly. “Burnadette, I told you. The city is under attack.<br />
We’re safer down here.”<br />
<br />
“Oh,” she asked interestedly. “Is it the commies?”<br />
<br />
“No.” He growled around his jowls. “It’s some kind of demon monster things. Will<br />
you please close that door?”<br />
<br />
Burnadette stood at the top of the stairs unmoving. “You’re going to miss Ed Sullivan.”<br />
She said finally.<br />
<br />
“I don’t give a damn about Ed Sullivan!” Henry bellowed.<br />
<br />
Burnadette put her hand on her hip and sighed. “Well fine then. Shall I bring you<br />
dinner down there?”<br />
<br />
“Yes. Thank you.” He hissed through clenched teeth.<br />
<br />
Bunadette turned on her heel and walked out, closing the door.<br />
<br />
Henry paced some more. Why wouldn’t anyone call? Wasn’t he the mayor? Wasn’t he<br />
supposed to be in the middle of things?<br />
<br />
His musings were interrupted when the window behind him crashed open. He whirled<br />
and found a tall, gray demon had appeared. It seemed much too large to have come<br />
through the tiny window but there it was. While Henry gaped at it, the monster took the<br />
shotgun from him and broke it, casually, in half. Henry noticed that, while scaled, the<br />
beast had a series of round scars that ran across its chest and up one wing.<br />
<br />
“Good evening.” The creature said, slurring very slightly because of its great number of<br />
teeth. “I’m Grvix. I take it that you are the mayor?”<br />
<br />
Henry stood for a second with several of his chins wagging freely. “Um. No. I’m not<br />
the mayor. I’m...uh...the butcher.”<br />
<br />
“Really.” Grvix said, raising an eyebrow in a way that looked uncannily like a snake<br />
rising to strike. “I have it from several sources that the mayor lives here.”<br />
<br />
“Oh, well. I’m just here delivering meat.”<br />
<br />
“That’s too bad.” Grvix said, examining the room. “I’ve been locked in a crypt for the<br />
last several centuries, you understand.”<br />
<br />
Henry nodded as if this were perfectly understandable.<br />
<br />
“So I’m a little out of touch. But I think it is probably still the best policy to kill the<br />
leaders first. Don’t you agree?”<br />
<br />
Henry made a complex set of hand gestures that seemed to indicate that he felt killing<br />
leaders was a mixed bag at best.<br />
<br />
Before the conversation could go any further the basement door opened and Burnadette<br />
came down the stairs carrying a tray with a plate and a bottle of beer on it. “Oh,” she<br />
said when she saw Grvix. “I didn’t know Henry was expecting a guest.”<br />
<br />
Henry made another set of hand gestures that may have been recommending Burnadette<br />
learn how to fly or that she herself was a bat. He also turned a sort of purple color.<br />
<br />
“I’m Burnadette.” Burnadette said, putting the tray on a side table and offering her<br />
hand to Grvix.<br />
<br />
Henry made an “Ulp!” noise and shut his eyes but Grvix just shook her hand with his<br />
claw. “Grvix at your service.”<br />
<br />
“Grvix? That’s an interesting name. Is it European?”<br />
<br />
Grvix looked at Henry who was holding his breath and gesturing toward the foot of the<br />
stairs with a little shooing gesture.<br />
<br />
“Why yes.” Grvix went on. “It was given to me by the mad wizard Halgan a millenia<br />
ago in what is now Romania.”<br />
<br />
“Oh that’s nice.” Burnadette nodded to Henry as if he might agree. Henry didn’t nod.<br />
His head did wobble in a dangerous ‘I might just fall right off’ sort of way. “And what<br />
are you doing in Summerville?”<br />
<br />
“I’m going to destroy it.” Grvix said, matter of factly.<br />
<br />
Burnadette pursed her lips and thought this over. “Well, we’re having pot roast. Would<br />
you like some?”<br />
<br />
Henry made a sound as if he’d sprung a small leak.<br />
<br />
Grvix smiled a smile that wasn’t too convincing because his teeth got in the way of his<br />
lips. “Yes, thank you.”<br />
<br />
Burnadette turned and was going back up the stairs when Grvix stopped her. “Oh<br />
Madam Mayor?”<br />
<br />
Burnadette turned. “Yes?”<br />
<br />
“It was lovely meeting you.”<br />
<br />
“Well, thanks and same to you.” Burnadette was gone upstairs.<br />
<br />
Grvix turned to Henry. “Lovely woman.” He said.<br />
<br />
Henry swallowed hard. “But not too bright.”<br />
<br />
Grvix laughed lightly.<br />
<br />
A few minutes later Burnadette came back downstairs carrying another tray. Grvix was<br />
gone and Henry was slumped over the washing machine.<br />
<br />
“Oh Henry.” She complained. “That’s full of clean clothes. Don’t bleed in there.”<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471473408712376945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102195051771120075.post-70207058469809056882012-03-27T13:44:00.000-07:002012-03-31T03:18:46.332-07:00Flash Master 004: "The Turn On"<br />
Verder recognized the song. It was old and he couldn’t remember the words but with<br />
three hundred years of digital technology behind humanity, more for some races, there<br />
were a lot more old songs than there were new ones.<br />
<br />
He Bobbed his head and tried to swing to the beat a little as he sidled up to the bar. The<br />
place wasn’t smokey like some Urtin bars were but it smelled very strange. Someone,<br />
probably a Wikit walker was outgassing through its skin making the whole bar smell<br />
like a cross between a bakery and an ammonia factory.<br />
<br />
He put his elbows on the high end of the sloping bar and asked for a drink. You didn’t<br />
usually find many humans in multi-species bars. Between the smells, spores and species<br />
that killed each other during mating, humans tended to stick to their own. Not Verder.<br />
He considered himself a romantic adventurer. It was his opinion that most, not all,<br />
warm blooded life forms were fun to rub up against. It was a constant adventure; what<br />
psudopod did they have, how likely were they to leave red sucker marks on your face.<br />
There were enough life forms from other races with a like mind set that he seldom went<br />
home alone.<br />
<br />
The bar was looking likely that night. A pair of Gree Grasis were blowing puffs of<br />
green smoke out there noses at each other and giggling. There were also some lightly<br />
furred Pughs playing pool in the corner. He couldn’t tell whether they were male or<br />
female. It didn’t really matter. In the inter species mating game, you had to be sort of<br />
open minded. Lifflies could change gender during intercourse, always a surprising turn<br />
of events.<br />
<br />
He took his drink and sidled over to see who was plugged into the scanner-games.<br />
There was a new species there. It looked like a female something or other. It had a<br />
basically humanoid body with long folds of skin down its sides; wings maybe.<br />
He punched the call button on creature’s console and waited to see if it would respond.<br />
A minute or so later, the creature lifted up the head piece on the scanner and looked up<br />
Verder. It had a short oval head with wide eyes on either side of a small, lipped mouth.<br />
Verder took the lips as a good sign. He liked lips.<br />
<br />
“Hey.” He said. “What’s a beautiful creature like you doing in a dingy space port like<br />
this?” He smiled. He found parodying himself was as successful as trying to think of a<br />
good line.<br />
<br />
“I’m playing a scanner game.” The creature said. Actually, it chortled in its throat and<br />
the translator around its neck said, “I’m playing a scanner game.” in a pleasant,<br />
woman’s voice.<br />
<br />
“Right.” This bird didn’t understand human mating rituals. He cut to the chase. “I like<br />
to mate with different species. Would you like to mate?” Most species didn’t fool<br />
around with courtship or anything.<br />
<br />
“The creature blinked its big eyes slowly. “You want to mate with me?”<br />
<br />
Verder nodded and smiled a big smile full of polished, white teeth.<br />
<br />
“Great.” The creature rose. “I’m Vii. I would love to mate with you.”<br />
<br />
“Pleased to meet you Vii. I’m Verder. We can go back to my place.”<br />
<br />
Vii was naked and, apparently, genitalia free but it grabbed a small bag by stretching<br />
out one of the long folds. The bag stuck to the fold. “This is going to rock.” Thought<br />
Verder.<br />
<br />
As they left the bar, Vii put her pseudopod on Verder’s shoulder and put her head<br />
against his. She smelled vaguely like citrus. “I’m so glad you came by. I’ve been<br />
having a terrible time mating here.”<br />
<br />
“Why? You don’t do anything freaky do you?”<br />
<br />
Vii giggled. “Well, nothing that’s freaky for me.”<br />
<br />
“I know what you mean.” Verder had a hard time sitting in the air car. He was already<br />
excited.<br />
<br />
Back in his apartment, Vii wanted to hold him in her pseudopod and kiss the top of his<br />
head. He had to push her off so he could get undressed. After a few minutes he was<br />
naked and they were standing face to face. She had stretched her body length, skin<br />
folds completely around him from top to bottom. They were kissing and Verder thought<br />
he was in heaven. It was like being wrapped in a warm washrag. A little slimier maybe<br />
but slimy could be a good thing.<br />
<br />
“This is great.” He said breaking the kiss. “Is this how you mate on your planet?”<br />
Vii just nodded and wrapped him up tighter.<br />
<br />
“What do you do next?” Verder was panting.<br />
<br />
“I need to extract the reproductive fluids.” Vii said, blushing slightly.<br />
<br />
“Great. Let’s do that.”<br />
<br />
Verder howled in pain as hundreds of tiny needles unfolded out of Vii’s folds, drove<br />
themselves into his skin and began sucking his blood. She held him as he screamed,<br />
drinking blood from the top of his head to his feet until her wings were stained pink.<br />
She didn’t kill him, but it hurt like hell.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, it was one hell of a turn-on.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471473408712376945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102195051771120075.post-23949058983540098062012-03-18T17:16:00.000-07:002012-03-19T04:06:05.503-07:00Flash Master 003: "Thali's Gift"<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">Advanced
Live Encoding Neuro-Cyborg # 14 hung in space high above the planet </span></span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Menon
7. Its oblong, ungainly four kilometer long hull was in geosynchronous orbit </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">over
the capital city Ren Prime. It had been summoned there weeks ago to witness the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">surrender
of the last of the Mena Tarisee rebels.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Most
of the hundreds of surveyor craft it had recorded the surrender with, vid
ships, </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">audio
ships, atmosphere samplers were stored now, hanging from kilometer long racks </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">in
the nose of the ship. ALENC #14 had recorded temperature, uniform colors, soil</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">analysis,
dialogue of persons standing in the crowd. It had made a complete history of </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
event as it happened. When #14 met another ALENC or a library station, its data </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">banks
would open and the surrender of the Mena Tarisee rebels would become a part of </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">galactic
history.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">It
was still in orbit, arguably to record a more full history of Menon 7. It was
recording </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">a
wide range of data. It had probes at the frozen carbon dioxide south pole, a
walker </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">visiting
a hospital in Ren Prime, each craft recording every detail, sending the data to
be </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">stored
in ALENC #14’s virtually unfillable quantum data storage banks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">For
all else that it was doing, performing historical research, running repair
routines, </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">and
priming for interstellar travel, it was devoting a relatively large portion of
its </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">computing
power, 0.67% to a conversation it was having with a woman in a refugee</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">camp
near Ren Prime’s shield generator.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Centuries
ago, when the ALENC program had been designed, the engineers realized </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">that
humans react differently to machines than they do to other humans. In order to
give </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">them
a more human face, each ALENC was equipped with a dozen “walkers,”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">humanoid
androids capable of interacting with humans using a subtle but ultimately </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">artificial
set of emotional responses.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">It
had first interviewed this woman as a routine part of sampling the population
of the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">planet.
It sought her out a second time because she had lost her husband and family in </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
war and provided and excellent human perspective. Why it had returned this
time, it </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">wasn’t
sure, but it found itself dedicating more and more computing cycles to
improving </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
emotional response.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Is
this what you really look like?” The woman, Thali Minik, asked, squatting in
front </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">of
the wretched hut she shared with a dozen other war widows.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC’s
walker paused. The question puzzled the brain floating in space. “This is the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">accurate
appearance of remote unit #993.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“No,
no.” Thali shook her curly, blond hair and put her hand on the automaton’s. “I </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">mean
you, the human in space. Does your face look like this?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC
paused again and switched on the lights in the Life Bay. An inert form floated </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">there
in translucent gel. Most of its computational power lie in banks of circuits
ranged</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">around
the Life Bay but certain essential features, curiosity, innovation, passion
could </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">only
be found in life forms and so a genetically engineered human lay at the center
of</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC
#14.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“No,”
the automaton said at last. “Remote Unit #993 is only vaguely similar to the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">human.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Could
I see it? I mean if I were up there?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Yes.
I am equipped with an extensive life support system so that repair crews can </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">access
my areas. The human body lies in an accessible area.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“May
I see it?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC
was surprised. It was used to asking questions, not being asked about itself.
It </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">scanned
its records of the official visits it had received in the last four hundred
years </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">and
also its general operational parameters and concluded that there was no reason
the</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">woman
couldn’t visit. The word ‘want’ appeared out of a subsystem linked to the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">human
mind. After a quick analysis ALENC agreed with the subsystem that there did</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">seem
to be a ‘want’ for the woman to visit. “I’ll send a shuttle.” The automaton </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">replied.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC
did something like fret as Thali rode into space silently next to the walker.
It </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">knew
that she was familiar with space travel having been to several planets seeking
to </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">escape
the war. What it didn’t understand was her motivation for seeing the human. It</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">was
considering doing something it had only done once before. When confronted with </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">human
behavior they didn’t understand, ALENCs could increase the neurotransmitter </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">levels
in their human brains in an effort to simulate the motivations of the behavior.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">This
woman had seen a great deal of war and hardship. Perhaps if it stimulated the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">brain...
Reaching a conclusion it ordered micro changes in the levels of serotonin, </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">cortisol,
and a dozen other brain chemicals. It didn’t like the feeling, something like </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">being
nervous or slightly angry but it hoped it would provide an improvement over the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">artificial
emotion program it ran with the walkers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">The
woman strode into the Life Bay under the watch of dozens of ALENC’s sensors, </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">shock
monitors measured her weight by the impact she made on the flooring, audio </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">sensors
recorded her pulse and breathing, CO2 sensors adjusted for the additional
stress</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">she
put on the system. The walker had led her silently into the Life Bay and stood
inert </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">in
the corner of the room. ALENC found it didn’t know what to say.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">The
woman strode up to the glass case that the human hung in and stared at it for
long </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">seconds.
“It’s beautiful.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC
checked against the 23,409,865 objects that it had specifically heard of as </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">being
beautiful, scanned its human body, and flailed to reach any conclusion. “What?” </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">it
ordered the walker to say.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“It’s
beautiful.” She repeated. “It looks like a cross between a baby and a...the
creature </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">from
Sol. A burd.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">A
bird, ALENC knew, was a genetic cousin of man found on more than 950 different </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">planets
though not Menon 7. It scanned the body again and agreed that it did look a </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">little
like a bird.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Thank
you.” It said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">She
nodded as if she had satisfied something. “You must know all about Sol.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“There
are a great many Sol parables.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">She
shook her head. “Not the parables. The real Sol.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">It
shook the walker’s head in return. “No one knows if Sol was real.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“It
has to be.” Thali said. “Humans didn’t just appear one day. We spread from </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">somewhere.
You must have the real location hidden somewhere in your memory </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">banks.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“I’m
afraid not. Let me show you back to the shuttle.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">She
whirled on the walker, placing her back against the glass holding the body and </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">hissed.
“No. I won’t go back. I want to go with you. I want to go to Sol.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC
was completely taken aback. “You don’t want to travel with me. I spend </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">months
alone between planets. Let me take you back.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Thali
slid to the side of the case revealing a metal capsule stuck to the glass. “It’s
a </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">bomb.”
She opened her hand revealing a small device with blinking green light. “I’ll </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">blow
us up. I swear. Take me to Sol.” She was crying.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“I
don’t understand why you would do this. Let me take you back to Ren Prime. You </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">have
a home there.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“A
home there? A home there?” She cried in hysterics. “I’m a Parnine. A Parnine </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">refugee
on planet full of Shuleys and Menons. You know what Parnine widows do on </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Menon
7? They become whores. Already the women in my hut have started a</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">collective.
I lost my son and husband to those bastards. I’ll go to hell before I give </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">them
my body. Please, take me to Sol.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC
#14 evaluated the explosive and the woman. The device was a standard high </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">thermal
device. Not destructive to the ship as a whole but almost certainly fatal to
the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">human
behind the glass and so to ALENC. As for the woman, she was displaying
posttraumatic </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">stress,
possibly psychosis. He calculated a 66% chance she would actually </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">detonate
the explosive if challenged. On the other hand, she would have to sleep </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">sometime.
A 0.5% concentration of Xlynelan while she slept should render her</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">unconscious.
He could disarm her and return her to the planet without risk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“O.K.
You can stay with me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC
had lowered the lights for the woman when she showed signs of sleepiness. </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">She
had propped herself up against the glass under the explosive and sung quietly
to </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">herself
until exhaustion had taken her. ALENC had begun releasing Xlynelan into the</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">atmosphere
fifteen minutes later. When her breathing indicated she had gone deeper </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">than
mere sleep, he sent a walker in to remove her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">The
walker could see her clearly in infrared, a hot, glowing body. ALENC found
itself g</span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">oing
over and over the song she had been singing “I shall never be home till I walk </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">again
beneath the light of Sol.” There were more than 4,000 variations of it logged
in</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC’s
memory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">On
impulse it had the walker touch the woman’s hair. A complete record was made of </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">course,
length, coarseness, odor, but ALENC was made painfully aware by the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">hormones
in its human that it did not actually know what it was to stroke someone’s </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">hair.
It thought she was pretty in a tired, careworn sort of way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">It
wondered what she dreamed. Its human dreamt of walking city streets and walkers </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">coupling
in the halls like humans and things that made no sense but were only shapes or </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">moods.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">It
ordered the walker out of the room, recalled the last of its remote units and
gave its </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">departure
flight plan to ground control. By the time she awoke, Thali and her host were </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">deep
in the heart of space. The bomb, however, was missing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Remote
Unit #987 walked into the large research bay and waited quietly. Thali stood in </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
study pod jiggling her thumbs and rolling her eyes back and forth blindly as
she ran </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">spool
after spool of data across her consciousness.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Whatever
planet we’re at, I’m not interested in landing.” She said without stopping the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">memory
dump.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">In
the two years she had been traveling with ALENC #14 she had proven to be an </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">excellent
Palmet player and fine conversationalist, but she had flatly refused to leave
the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ship.
In fact, most of the time she could be found right there pouring through every</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">record
of Sol, looking for some clue as to its location.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“It’s
not a planet, Thali. I need you to come to the Life Pod.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Thali’s
thumbs stopped jiggling. She cut off the data spool with a hand gesture and </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">blinked
as sight returned to her eyes. A week after she’d come on board, she’d found </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
bulkhead to the Life Pod sealed. She’d assumed it was to keep her out. She</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">followed
the remote unit out into the hall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Are
the planet’s from the Virus Wars still contaminated?” She asked the walker. She </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">could
of course speak to ALENC from anywhere on board, but, even after two years, </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">she
preferred to talk to someone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“No.”
ALENC had the walker respond. “The viri mutated after no more than a </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">thousand
years. Most of those planets have been habitable for more than three </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">millennia.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Then
why aren’t they occupied now?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“A
few of them are. Most of them were severely depleted before the wars. There’s
not </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">a
lot to go back to.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">They
stepped onto a lift that began moving without a word from either of them. “And,” </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">she
persisted, “the Virus Wars are the earliest recorded events in history.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“The
earliest clearly documentable events, yes.” ALENC concurred.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Then
I think I’ve found Sol.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“You’ve
said that before.” ALENC was hesitant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Yes,
but hear me out.” They stepped off the lift and started down the broad, main </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">corridor.
“A standard year is 365.25 days right and a day is 24 hours right? But they’re </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">completely
arbitrary which is why no one uses them. Now, what if, a standard year was</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">one
orbital rotation for the origin planet around Sol, and what if a standard day
is the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">axis
rotation period for the origin planet.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“I’ve
heard this speculation before.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Yes.”
Thali insisted. “But I’ve found the planet.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">The
walker stopped at the door to the Life Bay. “You’re not kidding.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Nope.
Check it yourself. “The planet is ARARM 552.3. It’s listed as viri infected by </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
Magelnon Catalog.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC
scanned the record. The third planet around ARARM 552 was a perfect match. </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">It
was also a complete blank spot in its records. It had only the astrodata.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Very
good.” It said. “Now I have something to show you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">The
bulkhead slid up revealing a Life Bay transformed. There was a strange hospital </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">bed
where the gel tank had been and strange bits of equipment lined the walls.
Sitting </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">on
the bed was a man apparently in his mid twenties. He was bald, muscular, and</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">naked.
He had a thick tube of wires running from the back of his head to a conduit in </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
ceiling.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Thali
grabbed the walker’s hand instinctively. “Who is that?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">The
man made a croaking sound then said. “It’s me. It’s my human. I’m the bird.” He </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">got
gingerly to his feet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“By
Smarl.” Thali whispered. “It is you. But what happened?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“I
started a bio-generation process shortly after you arrived. It took me a while
to make </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
organs grow.” He took a step forward so that they were facing each other. “I </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">realized
that first night that I wanted to touch you.” He caressed her hair gently. “Yes,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">it’s
much better this way.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Are
you completely human? Are you free to come and go?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">He
shook his head, touching her shoulder. “No, there are bio-cells in the
attachment at </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
back of the human’s head. If the human and the library separate the library
will </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">die.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“No,
no.” She said petting his face back. “If you leave the library, it will die.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Right,”
he agreed slowly. “I am the human, attached to the machine.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">They
began a kiss then which she broke off suddenly. Looking down she uttered a
short </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">laugh.
“Well, you’re a man now.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">He
smiled. “Yes I am. And Thali?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Yes?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“I’ve
just laid in a course for ARARM 552.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC
was convinced. He’d had dozens of monitors brought into the Life Bay and he </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">and
Thali were sitting side by side watching report after report from his remotes.
The </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">planet
orbited the sun every 365.25 days. The planet rotated every 24 hrs almost to
the</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">second.
It had evidence of nuclear and perhaps even pre-nuclear technology. More </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">importantly,
it was teeming with a host of genetic cousins of man, far more than you </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">would
expect on a colonized planet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Let’s
land.” Thali said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">ALENC
grimaced. The core systems and life support modules of his ship could </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">separate
and land but it was never done. The atmospheric entry and exit were too </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">stressful
to be done on a regular basis. “O.K.” he said. “I’ll order a separation.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">He
watched her closely as the ship broke apart and the core pod trailed by several </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">support
pods started down into the yellow and pink plasma of atmospheric entry. She </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">was
so excited she was giggling and it filled him with sorrow. He had no doubt that
he</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">loved
her and she loved him but she had come all this way to walk under the warmth of </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Sol.
He doubted very much that she would return with him to the sterility of space. </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">His
reverie was interrupted when contact with the bulk of the ship was cut off by
the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">plasma
storm. Thousands of voices in his head, voices reporting the status of memory </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">banks,
O2 tanks, all the systems of his former self, stopped as surely as if a wire
had </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">been
cut. He felt so small. Running the core systems was still a large burden but</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">nothing
compared to the huge, dark library he left in space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">On
the planet’s surface it was a perfect day. They landed in a large field between
the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">arms
of a beautiful snow capped mountain. There was a stream running nearby and </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">some
large hoofed mammals grazed near the edge of a thick pine forest.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Thali
was out the hatch in a second, laughing and running through the tall grass like
a </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">child.
He watched her on the monitors. He missed the chatter from the library and felt </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">a
duty to return to it but found a larger longing looking out at her. He glanced
at a pod</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">that
had landed nearby. He checked it with his mind. Its proton reactor and </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">environmental
control were all in order. It could support two humans indefinitely.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">There
was a popping noise as a thick cable broke off from the back of his head then </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">another
and another. Bank after bank of computers registered errors and shutdown.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">None
of the errors were heard. Alenc was running to catch Thali, laughing wildly. </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Rolling
on the ground he made a mental note about the smell and scratchiness of the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">grass,
then laughed at himself and rolled over to kiss Thali hard on the mouth.</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471473408712376945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102195051771120075.post-80997942707342677072012-03-18T17:08:00.003-07:002012-03-18T17:25:56.257-07:00Flash Master 002: "Fog"<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">James
and Annette Burgess were not speaking to each other as they rode along through </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
thick fog.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">James
drummed his fingers on the leather wrapped steering wheel in a manner more or </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">less
designed to annoy Annette. They were on their way home from a dinner party and, </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">as
usual James had refused to leave until Annette was furious.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">For
Annette’s part, she was stretched across the cream colored, leather seat
looking </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">uncomfortable
and clutching at her purse. Jim’s little chat was going to going to cost </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">them
twenty dollars with the baby sitter and the sitter had been threatening to quit
if</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">they
didn’t start showing up on time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Outside
the yellow Crown Victoria, the white walled tires crunched their way down wet, </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">fog
shrouded streets. The fog was thick and still, rolling in off the bay with a
sound like </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">a
muted stereo.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">The
windshield wipers clacked back and forth intermittently. Jim stopped his </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">drumming
to flip on his blinker. The fog was so thick that the air on the front left of
the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">car
lit up yellow but the road wasn’t revealed. A white wooden sign, barely
visible,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">indicated
they were turning onto Bay Shore Drive. For once, Bay Shore Drive really </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">led
down along the shore of the bay. In better weather it was a beautiful ride with
the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">beach
on the right and a gently sloping cliff face on the left.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">They
had been driving down Bay Shore for about three minutes when the car ground to </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">a
halt.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“What
happened?” Annette asked, sitting up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“I
don’t know.” Jim turned the ignition but the car was already running. He
stepped on </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
gas. The car moved forward a few feet but then stopped again after a quick </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">squealing
of tires.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Did
we hit something?” Annette asked, peering into the fog over the dashboard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“I
don’t think so. Wait here.” Jim stepped out of the car leaving the door open so
that </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
dome lights would be on and inadvertently giving free reign to the bonger that </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">bonged
whenever the door was open.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">He
noticed immediately that the front end of the car was set much lower than the
rear. </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">As
he moved toward the front, he found he was moving through fog so thick it was </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">heavy
and hard to push through. Just as he was reaching the front of the car,
struggling</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">against
the weight of the fog, the grill popped out of the Crown Victoria and clattered
to </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
ground. A second later the right head light shattered.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Holy...”
Jim turned and practically swam back to the car door as the shocks groaned </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">and
the front end of the car settled toward the ground.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“What
is it?” Annette asked as he dove back into the driver’s seat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“I
don’t know Anne, some kind of fog.” Jim answered, slamming the car into reverse </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">and
mashing the gas pedal.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Fog?”
Anne asked as the rear wheels whined on the pavement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Jim
threw his door open again and watched his rear tires spin helplessly under the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">weight
on the front end. “Yeah. It’s some kind of super dense fog or something.” The </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">left
headlight shattered leaving them with only the running lights in front. “Come
on,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">we’ve
got to get out of here.” He grabbed his briefcase out of the back seat and
climbed </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">back
out into the night. The fog had grown so thick that it pushed his head and </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">shoulders
down making him walk like a hunchback.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Jim.
I am not getting out of this car until you explain to me just what the hell is
going </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">on.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">The
paint on the hood was flying off in spidery lines as the metal was pressed down
into </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
underlying supports. The left front tire popped.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Jim
stuck his head back in the door. The bonger was still bonging. “For the love of </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">God
Anne, just get out of the car.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Jim,
I am...” The windshield shattered showering Anne with glass and the dashboard </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">collapsed
pinning her legs. She screamed hysterically.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Hold
on honey.” Jim shuffled around the back end of the car under the oppressive </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">weight.
He found his wife’s door had popped open but that she was stuck firmly in her </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">seat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Oh
Jim.” She cried. “It hurts. Get me out of here Jim.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“O.K.
honey, just hold on.” He said, but before he could do anything, the entire roof
of </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">the
car collapsed down on Anne who screamed briefly and then fell silent. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">Looking </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">down
on the destroyed roof of his car, he could see the outline of Anne’s head and </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">shoulder’s
pressed into the metal.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“Oh,
lord. Oh, lord.” He mumbled, shuffling back away from the car. The weight was </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">so
massive and the air so hard to breath that all he could think was to get away.
Within </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">seconds
he was lost in the fog with only the bonging of the door to give him any sense</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">of
direction. He tried to move away from it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">In
a few seconds, he fell off the road and found himself at the opening to a
culvert. He </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">slid
into it feet first and found that ridiculously, he still had his brief case
with him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">“I’m
going to be O.K..” He mumbled to himself. “It’s just some freaky fog. It’s not </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">like
it’s looking for me or anything. Right? Right.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">He
realized suddenly that he couldn’t hear the car bonging anymore. Looking up, he </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">saw
that the entry to the culvert had been obscured by the fog. Looking over his </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: large;">shoulder
the far end was out of sight as well. The culvert was slowly filling with a
very</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">thick
fog.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471473408712376945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102195051771120075.post-19997977248316355752012-03-18T17:02:00.001-07:002012-03-18T17:02:26.854-07:00Flash Master 001 "Sacrifice"<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">Jenni
lifted the glass sphere and studied it with both her blue-black eyes. The stone
was<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">oddly
heavy, as all the Manji stones were. Inside, a tiny spot of light glittered and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">crackled.
The spot was blue-white and bright enough to make Jenni squint. She slid her<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">backpack
off her shoulders and dropped the rock into it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">Now
if only she could make it back to the pod.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">She
flipped back her long, raven black hair and picked up her stick. In front of
her a<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">bulkhead
door stood blackened and twisted, blown apart god knows how many years<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">ago.
She could feel a pit in her stomach. She was not designed for combat. In fact
she<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">was
an Engineered with an emphasis in mathematics and fluid dynamics. Useful if<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">you’re
colonizing an alien world. Not good against an automated defense system that<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">had
developed an unfortunate twitch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">She
approached the door gingerly and waved her stick on the other side. She heard
the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">defense
unit whirr and click but it didn’t waste valuable ammunition on a stick. It was<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">programmed
too well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">“I’m
Jenni A 936.” She cried through the door. “I’ve come for a Manji stone.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">“Unauthorized
removal of a Manji stone will result in termination.” An unsympathetic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">voice
advised her from the next room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">“But
I’m a Jenni.” She protested. “I am authorized to take a stone.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">It
was quiet on the other side of the door.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">Jenni
sighed and, with the sinking feeling she was making a mistake that had been
made<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">before,
she leapt through the door.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">The
outer room was brightly lit and she saw the defense unit swiveling toward her
out of<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">the
corner of her left eye. There were two loud pops and she felt two stings in her
side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">Digging
at the darts as she ran, she rounded the corner into the corridor. The hallway<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">was
a mess, scattered with the long dead bodies of a half dozen Menni and Pinni,
each<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">one
holding a red or green sphere. There was also a pile of bones and metal scraps
in<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">front
of a bulkhead where someone, probably a combat model had tried to blast its way<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">into
the rest of the ship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">Numbness
was spreading quickly across Jenni’s side and up into her neck. She only</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">had
a few seconds now. Quickly, she ducked into the third hatch on the right, the
one<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">with
the blue symbol over the door.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">Inside,
the room was lit by dim blue lights over three consecutive circles of
hyber-beds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">She
stumbled in the dark and pulled herself up to a short pillar in the center of
the room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">There
was the dried husk of a body lying over the pillar. She pushed it to the floor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">where
several other bodies already lay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">Underneath
the body was a used Manji stone, dark in the darkened room. She heaved it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">out
of its socket with a single motion and struggled to get her backpack off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">Her
face was going numb and she tasted an odd mint flavor on her tongue and in the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">back
of her throat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">She
got the new, glittering stone out of the bag and struggled to lift it into the
cradle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">Her
world was swimming and for a moment she couldn’t tell if she was pushing the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">stone
up or down. Finally it clinked into place and she was rewarded by seeing the
blue<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">lights
in the room brighten slightly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">She
told herself to rise but it was clear that the poison had paralyzed her torso
and legs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">She
lay on her side looking at a tiny porthole that led out into the stars. No time
she<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">thought.
No time to get to the bridge. No way to radio the Earth that something had<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">gone
deadly wrong with the security on colony ship N-432 and no way for them to
help.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">In
a hundred years another Jenni would wake up, find an ancient corpse lying over
the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">Manji.
No doubt she’d end up lying just where this Jenni was. She’d make the same<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">mistake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif;">But
then, when you have no options, what choice have you got?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471473408712376945noreply@blogger.com0