Documentos de Académico
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Exclusive Serial -
The Adventures of the Sky Pirate:
The Friar of Briar Island, Part Three
by Johne Cook
Exclusive Serial -
Memory Wipe
Chapter 5 - Lashiir
by Sean T. M. Stiennon
Issue 10
November 15, 2006
“The Last Day,” by Jeff Michelmann
Pg.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents 2
The Battle for Monday Morning, by Jordan Lapp 3
The Second Ascension, by R. Cruz 10
Featured Artist: Jeff Michelmann 16
The Adventures of the Sky Pirate: “The Friar of Briar Island,”
Part Three, by Johne Cook 17
Memory Wipe - Chapter 5: “Lashiir”
by Sean T. M. Stiennon 24
The Jolly RGR 37
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Serial Authors: Sean T. M. Stiennon, Lee S. King, Paul Christian Glenn, Johne Cook
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All content copyright 2006 by Double-edged Publishing,
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Rev: 20061115d
“If you’re heating that for the mutt, the food’ll ice. She was obviously unused to being incon-
get cold before it’s done with that ball,” said venienced. “Then we’ll just have to ration.” She
Jenna as she rose from the command chair. The leaned forward, and her eyes became hard. “I’m
tiny kitchenette was just off the bridge, so Mitch not going to spend another minute in that pod
wouldn’t have far to go to grab a snack, and he waiting for a transport.”
had no trouble hearing her—even over sizzling
chop. Mitch withered under her glare. The situation
was impossible. She couldn’t stay, but he had
“It?” he asked, in temporary confusion. “Oh. trouble finding the words to tell her she had to
No, Monday and I have a system.” As soon as the leave. She was a military officer, used to being
mini-oven beeped, he tapped a large red button obeyed, and he was a robot designer. He had
on the wall twice, sounding short bursts over the chosen a life apart from the conflicts that came
station’s PA. with social interaction, and now he was faced
with one to which he didn’t know how to react.
Jenna’s eyebrows raised in surprise as Monday To top it off, her physical beauty was distracting.
sailed into the room, his prized ball still in mouth. He’d been alone—except for Monday—on the
“I’m not sure if that’s an appropriate use of the station for a long time.
station’s fire alarm.” He thought she was joking
at first and had to choke back a laugh when he “I don’t think you understand,” he muttered
realized she was serious. And that, by itself, gave into his cornbread, “I am rationing. Otherwise I
him reason to dislike her. couldn’t have Monday.”
They ate in silence for a while. Mitch was A silence stretched out between them and
starved for conversation, but he was angry with Mitch didn’t dare look up. Instead he pushed a
Jenna for being so short with him. She was a guest slab of meat around in his gravy. He could hear
on his station, but she wasn’t acting like it. Monday slurping around in his bowl behind him.
Finally, the silence became unbearable and he
“So, you must get supplies out here?” she said, looked up.
waving a knife at the windows. “When does the
next ship arrive?” She was leaning back in her chair with her
arms crossed over her breasts. Whether she knew
“Two months.” it or not, the position caused the silver handle of
her pistol to jut out of its holster. Mitch took it as
Silence. She chewed a morsel of re-hydrated a threat. “There’s only one thing to do,” she said
beef, tender and bloody. “It’ll be a long stay at last, holding his eyes. “Space the dog. Or better
then.” yet, store it for if we run out of supplies.”
“You’re staying? We don’t have the supplies,” She was a chess piece, sitting stoically across
he sputtered, suddenly alarmed. “I’m only from him, dark hair falling in front of her eyes. She
budgeted for one. I had to sneak the dog on made no movement, but she radiated menace.
board. There’s not enough for another person.” The situation was too alien for Mitch to feel much
Monday had been his daughter’s dog before the fear. “That’s not fair,” he said quietly into his
accident. The scruffy little mutt was all he had left dinner.
of her, and Mitch hadn’t been able to part with
him. The station had extra supplies in case of an “What’s not fair is that your mutt is eating our
emergency and, anyway, Mitch was careful and future dinner,” she said indicating Monday with
didn’t need much. a nod. Mitch couldn’t help but look behind him
at where Monday was still nose deep in the chop.
Jenna carefully placed her knife and fork When he looked back she’d drawn her pistol. With
next to each other on the plate. Her face was military precision, she cocked it and aimed at the
calm, but Mitch felt waves of anger beneath the unsuspecting pup.
Mitch yelped in fear and blindly thrust out enjoyable. Now, instead, he was in his bedroom,
with his hands, shoving the muzzle just as it spat afraid for his life.
fire and smoke. Heat seared his palm and thunder
thumped against his eardrums. A coffeepot Mitch looked at the photos hanging on his
behind him sprayed glass onto the countertop and wall. In his favourite, Bonnie, his wife of ten years
spewed coffee all over the mini-oven. Monday laughed back at him. She leaned on one hip, sup-
skittered away from the sound and bolted into porting a six-year old Rebecca on the other. He
the hall, yipping in alarm. often stared at the picture, into the eyes of his
dead daughter. The photo had captured the flame
Jenna calmly re-crossed her arms and leaned of life deep within their green depths. It was that
back in her chair. Instead of holstering the pistol, fire he missed the most. He missed his family so
she held it loosely in one hand and tapped it much he’d run as far from Earth as he could and
purposefully against her side. A satisfied smirk taken Monday with him, the last living link to his
twisted her face, like a poker player who’d just daughter.
realized she had the best hand.
He rose and stepped closer to the picture,
“Please don’t shoot my dog,” pleaded Mitch. reaching out to run tentative fingers along the
His hand burned and he longed to run it under frame. He knew the right thing to do was to give
the tap, but he was afraid to take his eyes off her. Monday up. Canine life versus human life. The
choice was clear, but to let the dog die was to
“Fine. But he eats from your share of the give up the memory of his daughter. He needed
supplies. Figure out a way to keep the CO2 more time to decide, but as long as Jenna was
scrubbers working until the next supply ship gets armed she alone could decide Monday’s fate.
here. Consider it your contribution to the war
effort,” she said. With that, she rose and went A jet of frozen ice dust sparkled in the corner of
back over to the controls. Mitch glared murder his eye, and he turned towards the tiny porthole
at her back and quickly left to check on Monday. that looked out into space. Ross 238 was going
The shattered coffeepot sat untended on the through another star-quake, a regular occur-
counter. rence for the little star, and the station’s stabiliz-
ing rockets were firing. The ice spewing rockets
Mitch knew exactly where to find his friend, were so potent that the station stayed perfectly
and made a bee-line for the bedroom. Sure aligned even during the most powerful flares. As
enough, when he knelt beside the bed he spotted he watched the wavering flow of particles, he
two green eyes in the shadows beneath. had an idea.
“Look boy, I’ve got your ball,” said Mitch He pulled the dresser out of the way and
shaking Monday’s ball in his hand. When the little stepped into the hall. At the end of the passage,
dog didn’t respond, he rolled it under the bed he could just see the corner of Jenna’s fatigues
towards him. As soon as it was close the collie sticking out from the side of the command chair.
lunged forward to grab it, and started chewing He shut the door as quietly as he could, and made
on it, flashes of white fur and red ball visible in his way into the back of the station.
the shadows. Mitch sat on the bed and looked
forlornly at the door. The station was built for one #
and wasn’t equipped with any locks. Jenna could
storm into the room at any moment and start A few hours later, he was ready. The edges of a
shooting. Just to be prudent, Mitch got up and glassy black remote cut into his palm as he walked
pushed a heavy cabinet in front of the door. towards the bridge. His heart beat steadily in his
He allowed himself a brief moment of regret. chest, but a sheen of cool sweat clung to his brow.
The captain was a woman, and beautiful, and the He knew Jenna wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him if
wait for the supply ship could have been quite she figured out what he meant to do.
At the end of the hall, he saw the edge of the She turned, finally, and stepped out from
leather command chair. It was empty. The barest behind the chair. She moved purposefully, keeping
hint of alarm stroked his spine, but he continued her distance from him and her hands away from
on. When he came to the bedroom door, just off her body. Mitch stepped back and wrapped
from the bridge, a dread seized him. It was open. his hand tighter around the remote, his thumb
His felt Worry looking over his shoulder into the tracing the edge of its single button.
room, whispering into his ear that Monday was
dead. He reached out to push the door open, but “I didn’t kill your dog. I couldn’t find him,” she
a thud from the bridge stopped him. Jenna was said. Hope flared within him. The crafty pup had
moving around on the command deck. She’d known better than to come out of hiding. Monday
walked under the flickering fluorescent lights and was still alive!
now her shadow hugged the hallway like an oil “He’s out there somewhere,” she continued,
spill. indicating the station with a nod, “breathing our
As he stood there watching her shadow air. We need to do something about it. You need
miming her actions, he began to contemplate to do something about it.”
exactly what it was he was about to do. What Mitch stayed silent, rooted to the deck. He felt
would he do if she’d killed Monday? He wasn’t the edges of the remote biting into his palm and
a murderer. Mitch shook himself and tried to he loosened his grip. He didn’t know what to do.
push the thought of out his head. For all he knew, She began tapping her foot, expecting him to say
Monday was off playing in one of the station’s something, but he couldn’t think that fast. There
modules. He stood for a moment in the hall taking wasn’t anything to say.
deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves. He kept
his eyes down, but the bedroom door haunted “Fine. If you’re not going to do something, I
him. There was no way the little Border collie will.” She crossed to the kitchenette in three quick
could have opened it by himself. Anger flared up steps and tapped the fire alarm twice.
again and he narrowed his eyes. He had to settle
this, now, for Monday. “No!” Mitch cried in alarm. As long as they’d
been on the station, that was their version of the
She stood on the other side of the command dinner bell. As he’d done a thousand times before,
chair staring out the window as he had done Monday sailed into the room and dropped his
hours before, her hands cupped behind her back. ball next to his dish.
The silver pistol was still holstered, but within easy
reach. The air was dead quiet, punctured only Jenna drew her pistol and took a bead on the
by the gentle rhythm of the scrubber, working helpless collie. Mitch had only seconds before she
patiently in the corner. Monday was nowhere in fired. He drove his thumb into the remote and
sight. a hideous whine pierced the air. The glittering
stream of particles spraying out from the stabiliz-
“What have you done with my dog?” he asked er engines increased tenfold until it was a raging
through clenched teeth. Whatever fear he had felt current of power and the whole station lurched
before vanished, replaced by anger’s clenched to one side, tearing schematics off the walls and
fist. sending dishes crashing onto the floor. Jenna was
thrown against the bulkhead and the gun went
She cocked her head, but didn’t turn to face off, but Mitch was already halfway across the
him. “I checked the supplies. You were going to room. He used the momentum of the station to
be short even before I came on board,” she said hurl himself towards her and thrust his shoulder
with finality. into her gut. He scrambled for the pistol, but she
“We could have put him in your pod. In stasis.” recovered too quickly and pushed away from the
He was nearly growling now and his eyes began wall. They fought for control of the gun, staggering
to water. around the bridge like dancing bears at a carnival.
Jenna was stronger and, with her military training, at the ceiling, revolted him.
was getting the better of Mitch. Still, if he went
down, she’d kill Monday. He wasn’t going to give He left the sight behind and made his way
up easily. Desperately, he clamped both hands to the bedroom. His favorite picture was on the
down on the shiny silver pistol, trapping her hand ground. He picked it up and brushed broken glass
so she couldn’t shoot. That left her other hand away from Rebecca’s face. Then, with a last look
free and she caught him around the neck, digging around the room, he grabbed Monday and made
her fingers into his windpipe. his way to the airlock.
His breath began to gurgle in his lungs, but he A cocoon of black steel rested gently on the
knew if he let her other hand go she would just floor of the airlock. Red figures he didn’t recognize
shoot him. He tried to knee her, but she angled flashed from a panel on the side, but when he
her body so his blows landed harmlessly on her tapped a button underneath, the hatch opened
thighs. Her dark eyes were serious and raging. Her like a wing. Too tired to wonder about the strange
mouth twisted into a snarl that screamed murder, little panel, he hoisted Monday over the lip into
and she pushed him back towards the wall. He the pod. The collie’s eyes were fearful, but Mitch
was powerless before her. His arms were losing whispered calming words in his ear and he didn’t
strength, and in another minute she could simply struggle. A good thing too, because the fight with
wrest the gun from him and put a bullet through Jenna had exhausted Mitch’s strength, and it was
his eyes. all he could do to lift the passive dog.
As his sight began to fade, he dropped his When Monday was secure, he tapped a code
grip and tried to claw at her eyes, but she batted into the keypad inside the airlock and activated
his hand away and threw her shoulder into him. Cycle Mode. Then he joined the little dog in the
Then an innocent squeak cut through the whine pod and sealed the hatch.
of the rocket motors, Monday’s ball flew through The interior was cramped, but it would have to
the air, and Jenna went down. do until the supply ship arrived. He crawled to the
Mitch staggered backwards and his lungs front of the pod where there was a small window.
heaved as precious air flowed back into them. He’d rigged the airlock so it would open without
He grabbed at the counter to steady himself and cycling the atmosphere. When the external doors
waited for his heart to calm. A pool of dark blood opened, they should be sucked into space.
spread across the floor before him, spilling from “Hang on, Monday,” he told the little dog. The
the wound in Jenna’s head. She’d caught the outside doors jerked and slowly slid open. But
corner of the command chair as she fell and died where there should have been a star field...there
before she’d hit the ground. was something else.
When his breathing returned to normal, Mitch Instead of the howl of atmosphere rushing
retrieved Monday’s ball from the floor, squeaked through the doors, there was only silence. The
it once, and put it in his pocket. He looked over at pod stayed motionless in the airlock. Behind
the air scrubber, now silent. Jenna’s wild shot had him, the pod door clicked, and rose silently on its
torn a hole in its ivory exterior. He’d already used hinges. Man and dog stared silently at the door—
the spare. In a few hours, the air in the station Monday with curiosity, Mitch with fear. Finally
would turn toxic, and a few hours after that, something caught Monday’s eye and he yipped
they’d be dead. in delight before leaping into the airlock.
“Monday,” he called hoarsely, “It’s okay. She’s “Monday! Come back!” cried Mitch. He took
dead. We need to go.” The little Border collie one last look through the pod’s little window then
emerged from the hall reluctantly, and snuffled followed the scruffy collie into the airlock.
at the corpse. Mitch felt sick to his stomach. He
hadn’t killed Jenna, but her eyes, staring doll-like
S hift supervisor Garvis expelled a tiny grunt aperture, had been home to Garvis for three year-
as he perused the third tour’s produc- long tours.
tion numbers, which appeared on the polished Grey painted and filthy looking, the mining
glass screen of his lighted clipboard. Not bad, he camp lacked in overall aesthetics, but Garvis was
mulled. At this rate we’ll qualify for a pretty big glad the mining camp was at least outfitted with
bonus—minus the fifteen percent church’s cut, an artificial gravity generator powerful enough to
of course. generate a field bubble of gravity. That allowed
Briefly scanning the status indicators of him to work in conditions at least one sixth of a
his atmospheric suit, which all read “nominal,” fraction the M-world norm. It was a long term
Garvis rewarded himself with the luxury of a project, he conceded, one that had begun long
quick moment of distraction, as he crossed the before he was born. Some said as far back as
bulky arms of his suit, raised his tinted helmet’s Mankind’s first arrival at this particular section
visor and glanced at the jeweled blanket of stars of the galaxy. It would take many more centuries
that shone above. before the entire belt, which ranged in the millions
of miles, could ever be fully mined.
He recalled his early school years and the
old hypothesis describing the asteroid belt that A sudden call emanating from his helmet’s
bordered this galaxy as remnants of a destroyed speakers broke him from his reverie. “Shift
planet. Church scientists later dispelled this supervisor, this is Maxwell, respond please!” The
notion, since a key factor with such a hypothesis excited voice call came from one of his female
was the staggering amount of energy required to assistants, responsible for scouting veins further
achieve this phenomenon. along the crevasse. “Sir, we found something!”
Another childish notion that no longer held If everything continued proceeding in the
weight, after empirical scientific fact, was that positive manner this work day had begun,
despite all the popular imagery he had been Maxwell would be reporting the discovery of a
exposed to, the asteroid belt was not crowded as new mineral deposit that would add to the pro-
he was led to believe but mostly empty, and the duction bonus they were already going to receive.
asteroids spread over such a voluminous amount Garvis replied with a hopeful, “I’m on my way.”
of space that it would be unlikely to reach another A quarter of an hour later, Garvis’ gruff voice
asteroid without adept navigation. could be heard over the entire facility’s com-
The Micci family had been commissioned system excitedly saying, “Get me the priest on
by the church to extract rare minerals and the horn!”
toxic gases from a rocky, crater-filled, unnamed
asteroid. Classified on nav-charts as A-1138, it #
measured 4000 kilometers across. The asteroid
It had been just a few short months that the was standing in a corner, conserving energy, but if
young Father Peleus had graduated from his a technician pointed a synaptic scanner at its CPU,
seminary and had taken the routine assignment it would prove nothing was farther from the truth.
at this Micci-run mining facility. Others might cite A classified directive, which had been instantly
problems with the narrow, low-ceilinged cabin he activated upon scanning—and positively identify-
had been assigned as something not fit for Dius’ ing—the image on Peleus’ flat screen mandated
representative, whose main purpose was insuring absolute discretion. For this reason, the Book
the church’s interests were always paramount. had not immediately taken the life of the young
But to the youthful-looking twenty-five-year old, priest. The second directive activated was to
nothing could dissuade him from the positive maintain secrecy. That meant the clergy’s robotic
feeling that the entire posting was the beginning tool was to exercise acts that would account for
of an exciting adventure. all witnesses. And, in order to guarantee zero
percent of possible leaks of information, it would
The call from shift supervisor Garvis had dispense with those witnesses using extreme
arrived just as he was researching the conflicts of prejudice.
secular ethics against Dius doctrine with his Book.
All clergy had a Book assigned to them for use Peleus’ Book exited the minister’s cabin and
throughout their entire career. Peleus was given strode to a particular section of the mining base
an older model, but it was still the standard two that housed gear-shaped circular valves. From
meter tall humanoid frame, metal android whose here any crew member or miner could release
memory banks retained not only the entire sci- mined toxic gases stored in enormous pressur-
entific, cultural and historical knowledge of the ized vats into the facility’s main ventilation shaft,
nine systems but all versions of the holy book which carried oxygen to each and every level of
of Dius. No Book, however, was assembled with Micci Base. With deliberate and delicate precision,
simulated emotions or distinctive personalities or the Book spun them open.
artificial intelligence.
#
The grainy image of the tour supervisor
appeared on the Dius servant’s sixteen-inch flat Garvis, Maxwell, and Father Peleus stood
screen monitor over his work desk. “I barely read in their atmospheric suits frozen with absolute
you,Garvis. How may I be of service?” wonder before the forty-meter-tall structure that
Garvis nodded. “The wall of this tunnel had obviously been carved out from the rock of
is saturated with heavy metals, and they are the asteroid. Framed by two large rectangular
interfering with the signal.” He pointed with his shaped columns, the thirty-meter-wide stone
arm over his shoulder. “Can you still see what is staircase led to an unadorned doorframe deeper
behind me?” inside the rock. They were all situated within an
enormous hollow chamber located approximately
The young priest’s eyes and mouth opened in one quarter of a mile from the main mining shaft
stunned surprise. “Oh my Dius!” he hissed, and at the end of a tributary tunnel. The cavernous
he ordered his Book to link onto the transmit- chamber was eerily lighted by bluish-green phos-
ted image and identify it. The Book complied but phorous like deposits.
announced in its flat monotone voice that it had
no comparison on record. “It’s a tomb,” offered Maxwell. Garvis nodded
in agreement.
“I need to come out there,” Peleus added.
“Normally I would agree with you,” replied
“Agreed,” Garvis replied before signing off. the Dius servant, “however, the total absence of
writings, symbols or carvings of any kind forces
# me to believe it is some form of...doorway. I’m
going to need to bring my Book here.”
Outwardly it would seem the priest’s Book “Comm system has steadily gotten worse and
even more unreliable; you won’t be able to call for worker droid, standing at attention, awaiting her
it. I recommend you head back; meanwhile, you acknowledgment to commence the procedure
don’t mind if we bring some of our probe-bots to for unloading the cargo. She continued with her
scan it for Micci company files?” asked Garvis. duffle bag in hand towards the exit. “Every thing
is fine, really. You know that leak that wiped them
The priest almost absentmindedly nodded and all out happened months ago. And since then, the
the shift supervisor gestured with his hand for his entire facility has been purged of any signs of it.”
female co-worker to execute the order. Spinning
carefully in the light gravity, she skipped/hopped Reaching the bay’s exit door frame, she took
into the tunnel. a last departing glance at her sixty-seven-meter
long, bullet-shaped space ship and continued,
Some time had passed as the shift supervi- “Thank Dius the church awarded the mining
sor and priest continued to speculate about the contract to the Mescena family...so far they’ve
structure’s origin, then after several unsuccessful been doing a bang-up job. Still, I hear they got
attempts to contact Maxwell, Garvis decided to the commission because they also donate heavily
seek out his assistant and discover the reason why to the church.”
it was taking so long to retrieve a probe-bot. A
few moments after his departure, the Dius priest Looking suddenly self-conscious, she
decided also to finally retrieve his Book and had whispered as she entered the main corridor, “And
just left the mouth of the tunnel when he stood I wouldn’t repeat that or even say it too loudly if
frozen in his tracks. The robotic mobile informa- I were you, either.”
tion unit, standing farther down the man made
trail, had just finished retracting its bloodied Although every docking bay came equipped
steel fingers from a gaping wound centered on with security cameras that recorded any and all
the chest of the now dead shift supervisor. movement in or around a freighter, they failed
to record the presence of a hooded figure in a
following black robe that also disembarked from
II—The Stowaway the landing ramp of the Star-land, just as the
enigmatic being wanted.
Located just a few hours’ travel time from
the edge of the asteroid belt, the small moon #
Anankee, in orbit around the crimson gaseous
giant planet Jovia, was where all ore and gasses During its construction, the corps of engineers
recovered from the mining facility were scheduled had dug a crater on the outskirts of the pro-
to be processed and refined. The plant itself was cessing plant; however, it was not destined to
twenty five times larger than the mining camp, a become a reservoir filled with water. Its purpose
virtual maze of buildings and spires, connected was to collect all toxic wastes and other by-
together by tunnels and multi-colored pipes, products generated by the facility. The artificial
some spewing heated exhaust into the densely crater was a half mile deep and ten miles wide.
polluted atmosphere. The plant was so large and It was also the home of Anankee’s only elusive
imposing it could be seen with the naked eye and indigenous life forms known to the workers
from orbit. jovially as “Ghoulies.” Sightings of these odd
Having completed all of the automated landing beings were extremely rare, but those that had
procedures, the square hatch of the exit ramp occurred had been studied and described them
situated just below the cabin of the ore freighter as asexual, albino humanoids, with tough, rock-
Star-land expanded. The ship’s pilot emerged into like skin and root-like hair. They lacked eyes and
the humid evening air, speaking via her ear-com ears and emitted a high pitched “trilling” sound
device with her husband, a supply clerk at the believed to be a form of communication. Classi-
processing plant headquarters. fied as benign and since they were hardly seen or
felt, they were mostly left alone.
“Yeah, yeah—just got in,” she nodded at a squat
It was the middle of the evening and Jovia’s
red swirling surface hung over the sky like the The church occupied the highest plateau on
eye of an angry god, when the stowaway reached Anankee and afforded Dius’ representative a
the shores of the poisonous lake. WIth his hood generous view of the entire processing plant.
removed, the crimson hue revealed a polished Bishop Viator, her golden locks held in a tight bun,
silver form-fitting helmet and featureless face believed that you can always see more from atop
mask that, with the suppleness of mercury, a mountain and from the perspective of years. She
suddenly began to fold into a head band that had been sternly presiding over the faithful here
kept his shoulder-length hair away from his eyes. for ten years now, and for the most part, it had
Pressing a stud on one of the nine golden disks, been an uneventful tour, except for the incident
which he wore as a necklace over his black tunic, at Micci two months ago.
made his ebony robe shrink and retract inside.
As a high-ranking member of the clergy and
The natives of Anankee and the mysterious as a benefit of her posting on Anankee, she had
stowaway were unaffected by the contaminated trained and sacrificed heavily for the “inevitable
air that permeated the crater. His senses already day” but when it suddenly arrived, it still caught
anticipated the ground shaking as Ghoulies her and the church slightly off guard. Thanks
emerged from the earth with the ease of a man mainly to her decisiveness and the swift reaction
passing through a doorway. One by one, hundreds by the special Dius response team, the damage
of the earth benders appeared and the evening had been contained but there still remained an
breeze filled with their trilling. important unanswered question. What happened
to the rock structure and the young priest? Every-
With his arms outstretched, he communed thing else had been identified and accounted for.
for a brief moment in the glorious sound of their
heavenly singing, his soul awash in the joyous Turning away from the view port, she decided
melodies. The newcomer happily addressed to retire for the night. She had just stepped off the
them, “Illuminated ones...your sufferings have podium when her gaze caught a long-haired man
not gone unnoticed...long have you patiently dressed in a simple, black tunic with white, open
waited to know the Word. It is my honor to bring sleeves. He held a white quarterstaff and stood,
it to you.” feet apart, on the crimson carpet between the
aisles of wooden pews. Although his appearance
He bent his head towards the nearest earth had altered since he had last been seen, Viator
bender and whispered the Word. The sound of recognized the man as the missing seminary
the gentle creature’s trill grew excitedly. Resting a graduate, Father Peleus.
tender hand on the rocky shoulder of the Anankee
native, the messenger nodded, and added, “Now “Welcome home, Father Peleus,” the Bishop
go and share it.” said with genuine affection. “Dius be praised, you
have come back to us safe and sound.”
Featured Artist:
Jeff Michelmann
Name: Jeff Michelmann
Age: 18
Hobbies: Art and music
Favorite Artist: Jason Engle & Tänaron
When did you start creating art? I started
creating art mainly in 2005
Where should someone go if they wanted to
view / buy some of your works?
http://gucken.deviantart.com or
http://www.GT-Graphics.de, a project with
a good friend of mine
Where do you get your inspiration / what
inspires you? Other works and artists give me
inspiration.
What are your favorite tools / equipment for
producing your art? Photoshop
What tool / equipment do you wish you had?
Wacom Tablet
What do you hope to accomplish with your
art? Since it is my hobby, I hope I can kill some
time with my art and maybe even earn money
with it.
A long night sleeping out under the stars had “I guess everyone on the island either has a
done nothing to brighten his mood. The morning boat or access to one.”
dawned and Flynn sat on the dock looking out Flynn nodded. “I need to find someone to
over the water. His hair was black, his eyes were take me over there right away.”
black, and his thoughts were black as he consid-
ered the view of Briar Island, visible across from The old coot shook his head. “I am sorry, I mis-
Parrot Bay in the morning sun. He normally understood. I meant to say ‘no one has access to
slept in the hold of his one-man boat, The Lone a boat’. That’s what I meant to say.”
Wolf; however, his craft had been stolen the day
before by the Friar, a flamboyant local captain Flynn looked over at him and his eyes
whom Flynn had considered a friend up until he narrowed. The old sailor lit an aromatic pipe,
abandoned Flynn to fight the Qantiin assassin by watching Flynn’s reaction behind the flame of his
himself, taken Flynn’s slowboy, and stolen Flynn’s match. He finally leaned forward and said con-
boat, stranding him on the Island. spiratorially, “I aim to keep this old carcass in one
piece. Not going over there is good for my health.
And now the Friar was over there on Briar Not going over there will be good for yours, too.”
Island somewhere.
There is a wealth of information in what he’s
It was a testament to the Friar’s powers of almost saying, thought Flynn. If only I could
encouragement and force of personality that correctly read between the lines, but I don’t have
Flynn wasn’t just yet sure what disturbed him the time to work this out. I might be able to find
more, the loss of his boat, the source of his a shortcut if I could figure who pulls the strings
freedom and the one remaining link with his past, on this old puppet, but I have half a feeling that
or the loss of his trust. the puppeteer is over there anyway. Very well. If
he won’t tell me what’s really going on over here,
I’m going to get The Lone Wolf back, one way
maybe he’ll tell me what’s really going on over slowboy and abandoned me to fight an assassin
there. “What is it about that island that keeps by myself.”
people away?”
Blind Bart drove his stick into the sand and
The old man blew smoke through his nostrils twisted it left and right, thinking. He decided
like a dragon. He favored Flynn with an enigmatic something in that moment, and he sighed. “That’s
smile that could have meant anything. “Other a problem, Master Flynn. The fact is, all boats on
than the impassible mountains that ring the Parrot Bay are grounded until further notice.”
outside of the island, the monster that roams the
inside of the island, and all the screaming?” He “And why is that?”
cackled. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” Bart looked at Flynn with frank guile.
Flynn snorted. So much for that idea. “I heard “Impending storm.”
my share of the stories the other night while being Flynn heard the missing ‘Sorry’ clear enough.
introduced to rum. So far, the only monsters I’ve He looked up at the sun in the clear blue sky and
seen around here walk on two legs, not four.” nodded to himself.
The old coot laughed and stuck out his hand. A tune from his childhood, an old sea chantey,
“I’m Blind Bart,” he said, changing the subject popped into Flynn’s head. It stuck there while
without preamble or apology. he considered his problem, and he found himself
Flynn looked at him with his black eyes. That’s humming along:
the strangest introduction I’ve ever heard. Flynn all that stands between me and thee,
thought, but he clapped hands with the old sailor are my captain and the deep blue sea
anyway. “I’m Cooper Flynn,” he said. “I notice all that divides my lass and me -
that your vision seems just fine. If you don’t mind my shallow master, and the deep marine
my asking…”
Flynn eyed the island, as he hummed to
Blind Bart cackled merrily. “I was a navigator,” himself; my captain and the deep blue sea, he
he said, “but not a very good one. I ran two ships thought, my captain and the deep blue sea.
aground before I got the hang of reading charts.”
He leaned forward and stage-whispered, “It helps He nodded to himself as the idea ignited. He
when you hold them right-side up.” rose and dusted himself off, grinning suddenly
like a schoolboy. “If there isn’t a boat here that
Flynn laughed. “Well, Navigator Blind Bart,” can take me to Briar Island, I’ll bring Briar Island
he said, “I have to get over to that island whether to me.”
it’s good for my health or not, and monsters-be-
damned. I fear that the health of a particular “Oh, and how will you achieve that?”
slowboy may depend on me, and that he may be
over there. I don’t abandon my friends.” “One stroke at a time,” said Flynn, and knowing
what he was going to do brought out his sunniest
Blind Bart looked at him, stroked his beard, smile.
smoked his pipe. “You’re still young, yet,” he said
gravely. Blind Bart stuck up his wrinkled hand. “It’s
been nice knowing you, lad.” He sounded almost
Flynn smiled briefly and returned to the matter genuine.
on his mind. “Plus, there is the little matter of my
stolen boat.” Flynn took off his shirt, folded it neatly, and
laid it over Bart’s out-stretched arm. Then he
“Ah, yes. What happened to yer boat?” winked, turned, and waded out into the surf. He
dove forward beneath the waves and struck out
The fury in Flynn’s eyes flared again. “The strongly for the distant island.
Friar stole it! He sailed away in my boat with my
Blind Bart tsked, draped Flynn’s shirt over the towering rock.
back of a carved wood bench, and stiffly seated
himself, relighting his pipe. He watched Flynn “How far around do the mountains go?”
swim for a good long while, the smoke swirling Blind Bart sat at the oars, resting, puffing on
around his head like a fog. his ever-present pipe. “All the way around, I’m
afraid.”
#
“There’s no shore, no dock, no way to make
And so Flynn swam. There’s something about landfall?”
swimming long distances that simultaneously
confirms and denies the very existence of time. “It is as you see it all the way around the
One’s normal sensory cues become subverted as island.”
soon as you dive under the water, and you are Flynn looked closer, thinking. While there
at the mercy of an alien environment until you weren’t any places to go ashore, he noticed a
climb back out again. number of dark caves along the shoreline. He
If you climb back out again, thought Flynn. was thinking about that when Bart spoke. “So
When you’re in the water and cut off from your what do you hope to find here, young Flynn?”,
usual vertical orientation, your mortality seems said Blind Bart.
very near, one stroke – one breath away from a “I hope to find my boat, for starters,” he said,
watery grave. thinking. “That rock outcropping looks like a giant
Flynn had been swimming for what felt like beast of some sort, maybe a bear.”
hours when he heard the sound of oars and the “Or a dragon?”
creak of wood behind him. He pulled up and
treaded water so he could turn around. A small Flynn looked at Blind Bart. “A dragon. If you
rowboat approached from the direction of Parrot say so. Take me to the dragon.”
Bay. He couldn’t see the pilot, but did see the
rope that launched out of the boat, dropping Bart shook his head slowly but brought the
neatly into the water by his arm. Flynn grabbed it boat around and started rowing. “Dragon likes
and pulled himself over to the gunwale and into ‘em young,” he said.
the boat.
“I’m seventeen,” said Flynn as if that contra-
It was Blind Bart. dicted Blind Bart’s statement.
“I thought the boats were grounded… incoming The rock was mammoth and did, indeed, look
storms or some such,” said Flynn, breathing like a huge dragon now that he looked at it. As
heavily. they got closer, Flynn noticed that the mouth of
the rock beast was open with jagged rock ‘teeth’
Bart laughed merrily, his pipe leaning out of jutting down from above, like it had its great
his mouth at a crazy angle. He winked. “They mouth open, swallowing the ocean. The opening
blew over.” He reached over and helped Flynn was large enough to sail the largest man o’ war
clamber out of the water. “We’re not getting any into and that’s right where Blind Bart was taking
younger. Let’s get you over there, shall we?” them.
# “They call it the Dragon’s Maw,” said Blind Bart
helpfully.
They didn’t talk on the way to the island. “Who is ‘they’,” asked Flynn, but they both
When they arrived offshore, Flynn stared at the treated that as a rhetorical question.
sheer expanse of rock that seemed to rise straight
out of the ocean. It was well past noon and the Bart stopped the rowboat at the shadow’s
sun was already threatening to duck behind the
edge. Flynn carefully stood up in the middle of The wooden dock was back over by one wall
the boat and peered inside the mammoth cave. and extended a good hundred yards back into the
He heard water splashing on rocks but couldn’t cave toward the island. He climbed up a wooden
see anything. “Take us on in,” Flynn said. The boat ladder out of the water, squeezed the water out
stayed there, rocking on the waves in the mouth of his shirt, and put it on. He started walking
of the cave. “Hey, Bart…” said Flynn, turning, and toward the shadowed shape in the water.
was hit in the face by wadded up cloth.
His ears gave him the first clue when he heard
It was his shirt. Flynn looked up and Blind the familiar rhythmic creak of a wooden vessel in
Bart’s eyes were twinkling. This can’t be good, the water. It’s the Venture, the Friar’s ship. What
thought Flynn. He noticed that Bart was puffing is that doing out here?
on his pipe with his left hand, but his right hand
had picked up a pistol, and it was pointed negli- He didn’t notice anybody on-deck at the
gently at him, less as a threat than as a conversa- moment, and kept walking. He then got an even
tion-expediter. I’ll have to remember that one for greater shock.
another time, thought Flynn. A weapon in the It was The Lone Wolf.
hand goes a long way toward making a point
without messy argument. Flynn’s face broke out in a smile that would
become a trademark, and which should not be
“This is as far as I go, lad. What you seek is in remotely associated with anything resembling
there. You’ll want your shirt later, I think. I may actual humor. He’s close. The Friar was here.
be many things, but I’m not a thief.”
“I thought it was a little convenient that you #
showed up out there in the water when you did.”
Flynn hopped onboard his boat long enough
Bart laughed wearily, and it was the first to check it out, then sat on the deck and leaned
honest sound he’d made all day to Flynn’s ear. back against the small mast and thought. I can
“Convenient for you, maybe. I still have to row all sail away from here right now and no-one would
the way back to Parrot Bay before nightfall. I was be the wiser, not Blind Bart, not the Friar, nobody.
requested to make sure you made it here at this He smiled, and the tension went out of his face.
place and this time in one piece. I should thank
you for asking me for help doing my own job. Then his smile faded. He was fooling himself.
Ah, well, you’re here and I’m still alive. I haven’t That was the easy way out. But there would be
gotten to my advanced age without learning from one who would be the wiser…myself. He remem-
my mistakes.” bered when he’d looked the slowboy in the eye
and given his word, the words echoing in his
Flynn broke out a grim smile. “Let us hope memory. “I’m Cooper Flynn,” he had said, “and if
you’ll live long enough to learn from this one, anyone gives you trouble and I’m around, I’ll help
then.” He turned, tied his shirt around his waist, you. Do you understand? As long as I’m around,
sketched a casual salute, and dove into the you’re safe.”
shadowed waters of the dragon’s maw.
Flynn nodded to himself once, and knew that
# his decision had already been made. He rose
to his feet and cracked his neck luxuriously. He
There were enough gaps in the walls of the retrieved his spare sword from down below and
dragon’s maw cave to let discreet sunshine in, stepped over to the dock. Prepare yourself—here
and Flynn’s eyes gradually got used to the darker I come.
area. He saw a large shape ahead of him, but
something more mundane over to his right, so he #
swam over that way. What the…it’s a dock!
Flynn’s bare feet were silent along the cool
rock corridors. There seemed to be tunnels hallway and echoing up and down the corridors
everywhere carved out of the volcanic rock, and weakened his knees and his resolve.
the floors were worn smooth by…whom?
The Friar came into the corridor bearing a torch
There was something up ahead, some kind and stopped. Flynn didn’t meet his eyes, however,
of commotion and a brightening. From the light as he was too horrified to move a muscle. All he
pouring into the tunnel, it looked like a large could do was look at the thing across from him.
courtyard open to the sun opened up to his left.
He crept up to the opening and peeked around There really wasn’t any other word for it—the
the corner. Friar had himself a genuine four-legged monster
here, and it was looking right at him.
A motley group of assorted men and women
milled around and appeared to be listening to Flynn’s exchange with Blind Bart
someone speaking on the end of courtyard. Flynn came back to him with a sick finality:
ventured around the corner enough to see a large “What is it about that island that keeps people
rock. The speaker was on the rock. away?”
Flynn’s lips compressed in a grim smile—it “Other than the impassible mountains
was the Friar. There you are. Who are you lying that ring the outside of the island, the monster
to now? that roams the inside of the island, and all the
screaming?”
Flynn backed up and slunk around to the
back of the tunnel and quickly slipped past the The Friar laughed suddenly. “Ah, Flynn, there
opening, continuing to follow the tunnel until you are. Your timing is impeccable but your
he came to a torch-lit intersection with another strategy is tragic; Monster hasn’t fed yet this
tunnel that looked like it went to the left behind week.” He sounded positively jovial.
the speaker’s rock. Flynn took the left tunnel Flynn had time to think two thoughts in rapid
and noticed various doors built into the rock. He succession; He was expecting me, and He calls his
didn’t dare open any to investigate at this time. monster ‘Monster’.
Flynn found the corridor leading out to
the rock where the Friar was speaking. The #
scene reminded Flynn a bit of the Abbey, which
reminded him of something the Abbot was fond Despite the coolness of the tunnel, sudden
of saying: “The wicked deal in darkness.” sweat popped up on Flynn’s forehead and started
dripping down into Flynn’s eyes, causing them to
Flynn took the two torches down and extin- burn from the salt. He really wanted to lick his
guished them. Deal this, Friar, he thought, and lips, wipe the sweat from his face, and run away
quietly brandished his sword, backing into the screaming. Instead, he spoke, very neutrally, very
darkened hallway. carefully. “I seem to be caught in a compromising
situation. What do you say about retrieving this
The Friar finished his spiel and the motley impetuous sword of mine before I try something
group cheered, and the Friar turned and walked really stupid?”
briskly back toward where Flynn waited.
The Friar let that sit there in the air for a
Flynn quietly raised his sword over his head moment and then burst out laughing, his heaving
with two hands, and then frowned. Something shoulders moving the torch and casting weird
was amiss but he couldn’t quite… shadows on the wall. Monster’s muzzle drew
The hair rose straight up on the back of his neck. back, revealing large and glistening fangs.
Two massive yellow eyes the size of tea saucers ‘Monster’ was an impossibility, a jet black
appeared out of the darkness just opposite him tiger with a head the size of a peach basket. “I’ve
about chest-high. The guttural rumble filling the never heard of a black tiger before.”
The Friar chuckled. “Neither have I. We have late afternoon sun. From Flynn’s perspective, the
an arrangement. I don’t mention that to her, and claustrophobic corridors gave way and the island
she doesn’t eat me.” opened up in front of them, a great space sur-
rounded by jagged protective hills.
The Friar turned and called back behind him.
“Who’s got the haunch?” He retrieved something Flynn saw a small, bustling colony spread
from someone out of Flynn’s field of vision. “Give out in front of him. To his right were a series
her this and she’ll be your friend for life.” The of clean and simple living huts with swept dirt
Friar produced what looked like a leg of lamb, streets and rock-lined paths. The Friar said “This
complete with cloven hoof. He reached up and is Targen Colony, my crowning achievement.” To
removed the sword from Flynn’s hands and gave Flynn’s left was a large series of inter-grown trees
him the meat appendage. Flynn’s heart was in that formed the basis for a sprawling complex
his throat. of elevated platforms with bamboo floors and
thatched roofs nestled in the massive branches.
“Based on that, she would seem to make “Yes, it’s all one tree, and it’s all one structure. I
friends quickly under the right circumstances.” wouldn’t go so far as to call it a ‘building’. The
Flynn licked his lips. “What about her enemies?” locals call it the Briar Throne.” Flynn looked
asked Flynn. around in frank amazement.
The Friar looked at him with a wicked smile. They walked over to the tree and up a bamboo
“Her enemies take rather longer to digest.” ramp. Flynn found himself on an elevated
platform thirty feet in the air, sheltered by thick
Holding the haunch out in front of him, Flynn tree branches and leaves, and patches of thatched
cautiously sidled up to…“She?” cover where appropriate.
“We took to calling her a ‘she’ because Monster The Friar led him through a large dining area,
is rather more feline than canine. She doesn’t past an open air kitchen area filled with exotic
seem to mind.” smells and laughing, milling locals of various
“How would you know?” Flynn asked rhe- island Indian origins, and out to a large, curved
torically, trying to be calm while holding out his railing that extended in a large semi-circle around
gift. He watched as Monster’s ears relaxed. She an open pool of incredibly blue water, fed by a
padded forward, sniffed the haunch, and looked waterfall that dropped fifty feet into the pool.
at him for a long moment with unblinking eyes.
She approached and licked his right hand with treeOnyet, the other side of the pool was the largest
with various rope paths and circular
a sandpaper tongue. She delicately accepted bamboo stairs leading to a great, open-air
the haunch, brushing against Flynn as if he was
a familiar friend, turned, and disappeared back hundred feet or sohad
elevated hall. It to be something like one
off the ground.
into the dark corridor, twelve long feet of silent,
black nightmare. The Friar went up one of the circular stairwells
The Friar watched all that with great pleasure withFlynn
and followed. He saw a great, open space
branches that supported a massive natural
and clapped Flynn on the shoulder. “She likes cathedral ceiling. In the center of the room was
you. Come along, I’ll show you around.” a simple elevated chair.
Flynn was momentarily dizzy. He basked again
in the Friar’s sudden good graces. He also wished theThe Friar stepped aside and gestured toward
room with his hand. “I present the Briar
he’d had the presence of mind to bring a hidden Throne.” Flynn’s eyes were huge as he tried to
knife. take it all in. The Friar motioned Flynn forward
and in a whisper he confided “It’s really made of
# bamboo,” and winked.
They walked under a rocky arch out into the Flynn smiled despite himself, and they walked
Johne Cook
Johne is a lifelong space opera fan and traces his
love for the genre to his dad’s fabulous paperback
library.
Memory Wipe
Chapter 5: “Lashiir”
by Sean T. M. Stiennon
The Story So Far: Three years ago, Takeda Croster making him wait. Vass had spent nearly fifteen
woke up in the city of Greendome on the colony world minutes in the cramped office, staring at the
of Belar with no memories, no connections, and no generic landscape paintings on the walls and
possessions aside from the clothes he was wearing trying to keep his impatience in check. He had
and an Imperial citizenship card with his name on spent five days traveling here in a police cutter
it. He worked at the Silver Sun casino, ignored by with six other men, none of whom could carry on
most, until one night when he began to manifest any kind of intelligent conversation. Another half-
superhuman powers in a fight against two corrupt hour wouldn’t kill him.
cops: Enhanced senses, great strength, lightning-fast
reactions. He seriously injured both cops. Terrifying The morning rolled on, and Granger came
dreams and a feeling of great exhaustion followed in at last around 11 o’clock—forty minutes after
the encounter. Vass had first sat down in his office. Granger was
a rotund man with unremarkable features, thick,
Now, Takeda has left Belar, fleeing from the corrupt brown hair, and a short, poorly trimmed beard.
police official Captain Brian Vass. His only companion His eyes were half-closed and languid in their
is a mysterious Lithrallian hunter named Zartsi who expression.
saved his life in the jungles. Together, the two of them
hijacked a ship and landed on the planet Freedan, in “Captain Vass,” he said. “My apologies for the
a rainy industrial city called Freesail. However, no delay. I had business to take care of.”
sooner had they sat down for a hot meal than Roger He walked around Vass and sank down in the
Clane—the son of the notorious Clane gang’s boss— thickly padded chair behind his desk. He picked
insulted Zartsi, and violence erupted. up a gray-colored paper on top of a stack, stared
Between them, Takeda and Zartsi succeeded in at for a moment, then set it down on a different
defeating Clane and his companions, but Takeda’s stack. “What can I help you with?”
powers continue to grow. During the fight, he “Your subordinate didn’t tell you?”
shocked a man with electric energy that seemed to
flow straight out of his body. As Takeda struggles to “No, and I’m not in the habit of interrogating
understand who—and what—he is and find his place them.”
in a vast galaxy, Brian Vass continues his pursuit, and
the Clane gang swears vengeance against both him Vass kept his pale features still, as always, but
and Zartsi... he felt a flash of anger within. “And you didn’t
read my message either?”
#
“I receive a great deal of correspondence,
Captain, and I don’t have the time or energy to
Brian Vass sat on a hard, plastic chair in the give much of it more than a cursory reading.”
Port Authority Office of Freesail. Painfully bright
lights made his eyes water—the brightness of Vass exhaled between his teeth. “It seems I
lights seemed to vary in inverse proportion to should start at the beginning.”
the amount of sunlight a given place got. Vass
had only been on-planet a few hours, but the “Please do. But keep it brief.”
constant pounding of the rain was beginning to
irritate him. “I’m looking for a man—an Imperial citizen—
named Takeda Croster and his companion, a
And now Control Officer Herbin Granger was Lithrallian who goes by the name Zartsi. They’re
wanted on Belar for numerous murders, thefts, “Thank you,” he said, coldly. “But the real
and a starship hijacking.” question is, can you tell me where they are
now?”
“Quite the career criminals, eh?”
“I told you: they’re outside the port, and
Vass took the comment for what it was—inane therefore outside my jurisdiction.”
and pointless. He continued, “My information
shows that the ship they hijacked, the private Vass stood, shoving back his chair. “Then I’m
freighter Brass Shield, was scheduled to arrive in wasting my time.”
Freesail yesterday.”
“You certainly are. That memo is all I have to
“I see. And you’re requesting that I check my offer.”
records, to see if these two gentlemen are at
large in the city?” Vass turned to leave, then thought better of
it. “Wait. Send a message to the Freesail police.
“Yes.” Tell them who I am, what my mission is, and that I
want any information they have on Croster.”
“Would you explain to me what authority you
have to make this request?” He gave Granger his comm number. Then he
left—finally.
Granger smiled arrogantly. Vass smiled back.
“Do I need to show you my badge? I have a com- The secretary outside sat behind a tiny metal
mission in the Colonial Police, Sector Kuro, Planet desk, her fingers pounding on a wireless keyboard.
Belar, District Greendome.” She was pretty and had the sort of pale complex-
ion that was all too rare on Belar. She reached
“All right then, Captain. A check of the records over to her printer, took a couple sheets of paper,
could be arranged. But Freesail has its own police fused them together neatly, and handed them to
force. I suggest you simply write your report, turn him with a smile.
the case over to them, and return to your district.
Extradition to Belar might be possible once the He smiled back—his most charming smile.
fugitives are in custody.” He might have stopped to chat her up, perhaps
invite her out for dinner...but Croster was waiting,
“No. I have a warrant from the Imperial Police and Vass knew he could never enjoy the little
granting me authority to apprehend and—if pleasures of life as long as that man eluded him.
necessary—kill Croster and his companion.” His rule over Greendome had been unshakable,
and his men had been obeyed and feared by
The Control Officer chewed his lip and looked everyone in the city. Then Croster had dared to
irritated. He would never make a good cop—he attack two of them. Vass had known that such
couldn’t control his face, couldn’t make it into a incidents couldn’t be tolerated, even though the
mask that displayed whatever emotion he desired. two were off-duty and practicing extortion. Such
Vass had mastered that skill long ago. incidents damaged his power and destroyed
“The Brass Shield checked in yesterday the fear people should have of the police force.
afternoon,” Granger said. “Captain O’Donnell Croster had escaped arrest. Not only that, he
reported a pair of hijackers to our local police had killed several of the Greendome Police with
department, and I received a memo on it. I didn’t reflexes, speed, and strength greater than any
give it more than a glance—they had left the port normal man possessed.
area by the time the memo arrived. My job was Vass caressed the fully charged pulser
to examine their cargo manifests.” strapped to his hip. With any luck, he would see
Vass steepled his fingers and leaned forward Croster dead within a few days. Then he’d make
slightly. “Show me the document.” the decision whether to return to Greendome
and resume his duties there or seek more lofty
“My secretary will give you a hard copy when employment. The girls wouldn’t be able to resist
you leave,” Granger said, tapping keys on his an Imperial Police uniform.
console. Vass could tell that he was finally suc-
ceeding in making the man nervous. Good. Not that they could resist his current one.
He smiled at the secretary again, and her eyes
“Not entirely,” he said. “I can’t control when it Zartsi smiled slightly. He stood up from the bed
comes, and once it comes, I have trouble holding and handed him the shotgun. “Agreed, Takeda.”
back. A bouncer has to hold back. You don’t want
to hurt anyone badly—just make them shut up or #
get out.”
Nathan Clane blinked as he felt the blindfold
Zartsi finished assembling the shotgun and fall away from his eyes. What he saw wasn’t
held it up in the gray light. He studied it for a few much different—inky darkness surrounded
minutes, running his fingers over it, and looked him. It was as if he’d been left in a starless void
satisfied. “Yes. Good weapon, beneath glitter. between galaxies. He stretched his arms out and
Appropriate ammunition will not be hard to felt only cold air on his fingertips. Even the cool
find.” concrete floor beneath his shoes felt strangely
Takeda checked the police-issue pistols he remote. As always, he had placed his life com-
already had. Each one had a full magazine loaded, pletely within Lashiir’s power simply by coming
and he had a few others in his pockets. He stuck here. The assassin or his servants could kill him
them through his belt now. “If we’re going to go with impunity.
shopping for weapons, I need a good gun belt The servant had been where he always was,
with dual holsters,” he said. waiting just inside the hollow doorway of a building
“And shoulder sling,” Zartsi said, waving the that, to all appearances, had been unusable and
shotgun. abandoned for years. Enormous gaps yawned
where chunks of concrete had fallen away, eroded
Takeda shook his head. “I asked you this by the near-constant rainfall. But the servant was
before: how many guns do I need?” always there. Clane’s guards had waited outside.
There had been some grumbling about letting
“One more cannot hurt. I suggest we go him go alone, but Lashiir’s rules were absolute.
shopping, get you full equipment. That will make The servant—faceless and shapeless beneath a
finding job easier.” hooded black robe—had knotted a soft band of
dark silk over Clane’s eyes. Then he had led Clane
Takeda sighed heavily. “All right. But can we go into the building.
somewhere else afterwards?”
It was a course he had traveled on previous
“Where?” visits to the assassin’s lair: down long flights of
“A doctor. A good doctor.” stairs and along corridors that never seemed to
end. The servant moved with a coolly deliberate
Zartsi looked bemused. He set the shotgun pace. The only sounds were the echoes of their
down. “Why? You feel sick, Takeda?” footsteps and the ring of water falling.
“No. But it won’t make any difference whether Now he stood in darkness, alone. The silence
I become a bouncer or a bodyguard or a security was crushing and seconds seemed like minutes.
guard or whatever. The only way I can earn money He didn’t think for a moment that Lashiir would
to stay alive is to fight, and if I fight, my powers betray him. He trusted Lashiir’s honor and he
are going to come out. I’m going to kill someone, wouldn’t have come if he didn’t. But his hand still
or someone will report me to the police, and then crept to the pulser concealed in the inside chest
I’ll have to keep running.” pocket of his jacket.
He clenched his hands into a double fist and At last, a door opened, and a servant—Clane
dropped his eyes back to the floor. His boots couldn’t tell if it was the same one—stood framed
ground at the rough carpet. “I’m not a normal by flickering lamplight. “My master will speak
man. There’s something wrong with me. And I with you.”
want to find out what.”
Clane grunted and stepped forward. The
“You think doctor can tell you?” servant turned and began to walk down the
corridor at a painfully slow pace, but Clane knew
“A normal human body doesn’t knock men that nothing short of a kick to his behind would
unconscious with electric shocks.” speed him up.
The only light came from lanterns in alcoves A single, huge cushion sat near the curtain
that burned a viscous, dark red fluid Clane had with a low table of dark wood next to it. Clane
never been able to identify. The nearly invisible crossed the room, his booted feet sinking in the
smoke carried a sweet aroma. Hangings that thick carpets, and sat. The thing was soft as hell.
alternated red and black covered the concrete He rested one elbow on the table and leaned
walls. There were strange designs woven into onto it, careful not to touch the curtain.
them with thread of slightly different colors, but
they made Clane dizzy if he looked at them for “You have prey for me?” Lashiir hissed.
more than a few seconds. “Yes. Are you open?”
The corridor ended in a second, perpendicular “Open? It has been many days since Tsikaa’s
hallway lined with gauzy hangings. More lanterns thirst has been quenched.”
were suspended on bronze chains from the
ceiling. Odd, twisted designs were etched into “Good. I’m willing to pay you well in return for
the concrete. Clane frowned. Lashiir had strange two corpses, heads delivered to my headquarters
tastes. He wondered how these servants—who on the east side as proof.”
were all humans—survived down here. As far as
he knew they never left this lair except on Lashiir’s He heard something shifting on the other side
orders. of the curtain and felt a jolt of fear run through
him. Clane had seen plenty of blood and dealt
His escort led him to one hanging at the far with plenty of nasty men and aliens in his time,
end of the hall and pulled it aside. “My master but having Lashiir hidden from him behind this
awaits,” he said, in the identical soft monotone flimsy curtain gave him the chills. He suppressed
all of Lashiir’s men used. the feeling. He had seen the assassin before.
Lashiir wasn’t a ghost. He was made of flesh and
Clane grunted and stepped inside. blood, although few in the Empire had ever laid
Lashiir had done even more to this room. The eyes on his kind.
ceiling—still made from dark concrete—had been Still, he patted the pulser in his jacket. He did
hollowed out into a dome, and the hangings here get tired of Lashiir’s mind games. “One thousand
were more opulent than the others. Thick, red Silvers for a clean job. No witnesses, no connec-
carpets covered the floor. Of all Lashiir’s decora- tions for the cops to follow up.”
tions, only these made any sense to Clane. They
depicted animals woven in black and dark blue “Have I ever done one unclean?” the assassin
thread. He didn’t recognize any of the creatures asked.
with their hooked beaks and sinuous tails, but
they weren’t overwhelmingly alien. “A couple drunkards saw you take care of
Philman.”
The room was divided in half by a blood-red
curtain hanging from a metal pole embedded in “And I drowned them in their own bottles.”
the walls. The only light on Clane’s side was a dish Lashiir’s translator gave his voice an unnerving
lantern filled with the usual red oil. lack of cadence or variation. He always spoke in
the same tone.
“Nathan Clane?” said a voice from the other
side of the curtain. It was quiet, with the distinc- “Right,” Clane said. “But I don’t want any
tive metallic rasp of a throat-implanted transla- mistakes on this one. My son was involved in
tor. something recently and I had to buy him out of
custody. The cops are getting tougher every day—
“Here,” he said. if we act too openly, there’ll be a crack-down.”
“You are alone?” “It is as I said. Tsikaa will be clean after she has
drunk.”
Clane glanced behind him. The servant had
vanished. “Yep.” Clane sighed. “Good. You’ll take the job?”
“Then be seated.” “Give me details.”
Clane pulled a couple small sheets of paper a minute. “Tell me, Nathan, what will you do if
out of his pants pocket and gently slid them under your son is killed in action?”
the curtain. “It’s all written out there.”
“If you were responsible, I’ll send every man
Lashiir could read and write Imperish even if I have over to tear your building apart chunk by
his physiology prevented him from speaking it. A chunk and claw you out of this hole.”
few minutes passed, then the assassin said, “For
one thousand, yes. Are there any conditions?” Lashiir’s laugh was nearly unrecognizable as
such. Clane thought it sounded like a flute being
“Just one. I want you to bring my son along.” played by a steam boiler. “This is why I like you,
Nathan. You are honest.”
Stony silence fell from the other side of the
curtain. “Roger?” Lashiir asked. “Thanks.”
“Yes.” “For two thousand and two hundred Silvers, I
will do the job with your son. I may strike him?”
“Not for ten thousand. He is an incompetent.”
“Yes. Just don’t kill him or permanently impair
Clane sighed and leaned heavily on the table. him. And, for my sanity, don’t give him any facial
It creaked faintly underneath his weight. “I know scars. The complaining would never stop.”
that, probably better than anyone else does. He
looks mean and talks mean, but can’t do much Lashiir laughed again. “I see. I will be honest
beyond beat up old men and women. If he tangles with you, Nathan—you increase my tempta-
with a serious fighter he goes down without a tions.”
struggle. I want to change that.”
Clane frowned to himself. “How so?”
Lashiir hissed. The sound emanated from his
natural speech organs rather than the translator, “Now I am tempted to quench Tsikaa in your
and it was a high, reedy noise. “It is not I who will son’s flesh and send you his head with his guts
help you raise your son.” as a pillow. It would be interesting to see if your
men could truly slay me and my servants.”
“I’m not asking you to let him make the kills.
Just find something for him to do, some way for Clane tensed. His right hand slipped into his
him to assist you. If he gets out of line you have jacket and he brushed the wooden grip of his
my permission to hurt him as long as he isn’t pulser with his fingertips. “Are you threatening
crippled or killed.” me?”
“I agreed to your terms.” each other’s systems even when no official war
was declared. He also recalled that the Imperial
Clane knew that was all he would get from the Fleet regularly sent the Republic weapons, ships,
assassin. He pulled the hanging aside and stepped military software, and Legion officers to act as
out into the corridor. training instructors.
# Still, the Republic didn’t encompass all Drava.
Zartsi’s reaction seemed excessive to Takeda—he
Zartsi’s wallet was full of two hundred silvers watched every one as if they were about to pull
after their trip to a guns and ammunition store. a knife and stab him. And yet, Zartsi seemed as
Takeda had his clothes, a gun belt, a knife, two if he had spent at least a few years in Imperial
police pistols, three extra magazines, and a couple space. He had certainly been born on Lithral—he
boxes of bullets that he carried in the ragged pack had mentioned the City of Golden Ascension,
Zartsi had bought him. But he still didn’t have the seat of the Serpent King. But how deep were
any money. He had convinced the Lithrallian to his loyalties to his people? Takeda knew almost
sell the shotgun, but every Silver had gone into nothing about his companion, and that added to
Zartsi’s wallet. his frustration.
Takeda decided that arguing was a waste of The buildings became cleaner and better
time. He would only irritate Zartsi, exasperate kept with every block they went. “Where is this
himself, and feed the resentment that chewed doctor?” he asked.
his stomach. At least the Lithrallian had agreed “Close,” Zartsi said. “Several men like that
to pay for a doctor after only a minute of further have offices here—lawyers, doctors, contractors.
discussion. And he seemed to know where to I know one place with good doctor who will also
find one. be cheap.”
The rain had stopped at last and Takeda could Takeda grunted. Cheap. That was certainly
see tiny slashes of blue sky in the pale-gray important to Zartsi. “He’ll have the right
clouds. Freedan did orbit a sun, even if it were equipment?”
rarely visible at this latitude. That fact helped lift
Takeda’s mood slightly. Perhaps this doctor could “For blood test, tissue sample, full body scan?
tell him what was wrong with him. Yes.”
They moved into a slightly less degraded area Some of the buildings they passed looked like
of town. Here, an occasional hovercar passed distinctly middle-class blocks of apartments—
overhead, and some of the pedestrians flowing women stepped out of them holding young
past them wore clean clothes and actually smiled children, and others played on the sidewalk. Zartsi
at them. Takeda saw his first Drava up close. They attracted gasps of astonishment and—occasion-
were short, bony beings with thin, white hair ally—fear. Lithrallians were rare in Freesail.
growing on their scalps and in thick patches on
their forearms. Their eyes were large and dull “Here,” Zartsi said, tapping a stainless steel
yellow, with invisible pupils. The Drava tended plate on the side of an office building.
to be close allies of the Empire and humanity in
general—millions of them made their homes on Takeda bent down slightly to read it. Various
Imperial planets. They mostly wore the same kind businesses were listed, including a law firm, a
of clothing as the human inhabitants of Freesail, child-sitting service, and an accounting officer.
but most bound their hair back with elaborate Three medical offices were on the fourth floor. He
headbands and wore matching bracelets on their nodded. “All right. Let’s head in.”
wrists. Females also wore thick woven bands An old voice-operated lift system took them
around their throats. up. The fourth floor was cheaply carpeted, and
Takeda noticed that Zartsi tensed slightly every the walls were painted a muted blue. Fluorescent
time they passed a Drava male, and he recalled bulbs provided light. Takeda picked a hallway at
that the Kingdom of Lithral and the Jeryan random and opened the glass door at the end of
Republic fought frequent wars and often raided it. The name “Dr. Lawrence Beinnen” was printed
on the glass, and below he could see the shadow The newscaster, a woman with a rich, low-
of another name which had been removed. pitched voice, asked, “Commander, what can you
Beinnen had once had a partner. tell us about the hijacking in Vodrune Province?”
There was a small waiting room inside with a Qin smiled slightly, “I’m happy to report that
row of molded-plastic chairs against one wall and Count Tong’s own military forces have resolved
some kind of news program projected against the the issue. Apparently, the hijacking was engi-
opposite wall. A gray-clad woman sat behind a neered by a rogue group of pirates operating
white, plastic desk, tapping her fingernails on the from one of the moons circling the farthest planet
desktop while she stared languidly at the news. of the Caulthor system—Styx, orbiting the planet
Her once-blond hair showed streaks of gray, and Brintris.”
she applied too much make-up to hide the lines
in her face. “And can you tell our viewers what Tong
has done to resolve the situation? Lord Canghi
It took her a few seconds to notice her visitors. expressed concern over the safety of shipping to
“Doctor Beinnen doesn’t do aliens,” she said, then Vodrune yesterday.”
turned her attention back to the projection.
Qin smiled without breaking the military
Takeda swallowed. “I’m here for an examina- sternness of his expression. “The Count has
tion.” reported that Caulthor’s own defense fleet has
successfully wiped out the pirate enclave. Our
She glared at him. “Appointment?” shipping is safe once again.”
“No.” “Some commentators have said otherwise,
Commander. The trade routes Tong allows
“Sit down.” for Caulthor are usually heavily patrolled and
Takeda frowned. “How much will it cost?” regulated. How were the pirates able to take
control of the Star Kelpie as it was outbound from
She didn’t answer him. Takeda remained Lieutenant?”
standing for a second, wondering what he should
do, until Zartsi said, “You still wish to see this “The Vodrune Province is a small one, and
man?” so the military forces allowed to Count Tong
are equally small,” Qin said, speaking in a polite
He grunted and sat down next to the Lithral- monotone. “He issued a statement from Caulthor
lian. The plastic seat felt flimsy, as if it were meant today stating that equipment malfunctions were
to be used once and then discarded. He watched responsible for the gap in patrols.”
the woman at her desk for a few seconds, and
when she showed no signs of doing anything “So you’d say that pirate threat has been elimi-
besides stare at the projection, he turned towards nated?”
it himself. Qin assumed the same smile. “Yes. Of
It showed a square-chinned man in the red course.”
uniform of the Canghi Province Army—the “And have the crew been returned to their
province that contained Belar, Freedan, and a families?”
handful of other worlds. He wore three medals:
two for victories in battles against pirates, and a Qin’s smile vanished. “Unfortunately, by the
third identifying him as a Knight of the Imperial time the Count’s force broke through the base
Lion. His warm brown eyes, deep black hair, and defenses, all of them were found dead.”
pale brown skinned marked him as a man with
strong Chinese blood. His name was shown He dropped his eyes for an instant and shook
along the bottom of the screen: Lt. Commander his head sadly.
Feldspar Qin.
The camera cut away from Qin to a head-shot
“I see,” Beinnen said. “Well, first things first. He began with the usual examination of
What are your names?” Takeda’s throat, ears, nose, and eyes. He had
Takeda remove his shirt and vest and felt his chest
“Takeda Croster. He’s called Zartsi.” while he monitored heartbeat and respiration.
Beinnen also ran a quick test on Takeda’s breath
“Any medical guarantees, Mr. Croster?” and mucus for toxins and foreign bacteria.
“No.” He entered something into the computer, and
said, “Nothing seems unusual, although your
“All right. How will you pay for today’s exami- heart rate is higher and the beat is louder than
average. Do you still want a scan and blood test? “I’m not in any hurry.”
They’ll cost you.”
“All right, then. There’s a little room across the
Takeda nodded, and Zartsi winced, clutching hall with some chairs and a couple readers—wait
his wallet. The Lithrallian didn’t vocalize his objec- there. I’ll come talk to you when I’m done.”
tions, though, and Beinnen plucked a syringe off
the wall, used a handheld scanner to locate a #
vein on the opposite side of Takeda’s elbow, and
sanitized the area carefully. “That’s odd,” he said. “You are satisfied, Takeda?”
“What?” “I will be when I get those results.”
“I’m not certain—the human body naturally Zartsi sighed and leaned back in his chair,
has a great deal of variability—but you seem to resting his head against the wall. He closed his
have some abnormal blood vessels here.” eyes. “Takeda, you will never be satisfied if not
accept your powers. You might do great things.”
He drew a small sample of blood from Takeda’s
arm. Takeda clenched his fists. For an instant, as Takeda just grunted and continued staring into
he felt the prick, he also found he could hear the his reader. It had several books and periodicals
doctor’s heartbeat and see tiny flecks of dandruff loaded onto it, and he was skimming an article on
around his hairline. His senses returned to the brawl at the bar last night. Roger Clane and
normal in a few seconds, and Beinnen snapped his cronies had been taken into custody by the
the capsule—now filled with dark red blood—out Freesail Police Department but released almost
of his syringe and set it down on his desk. immediately. According to the write-up, there
hadn’t been any witnesses to describe what had
“If you’d please remove your clothes, we’ll get happened—in fact, by all appearances, Clane
you scanned,” he said. and his party had been victims, not aggressors.
Takeda obeyed. The air in the room felt cold Takeda knew first-hand how corrupt the police
against his bare skin. As he stepped into the could become. They had been bribed.
scanner booth, he noticed Zartsi staring up at And Roger Clane had almost certainly reported
the ceiling with his eyes closed—sleeping or not, back to his father. Would Nathan Clane decide to
Takeda couldn’t tell. take vengeance on the two of them? Takeda felt
The scan only took a few seconds. A ring- nausea knotting his gut. He read something else—
shaped sensor array ran over Takeda three times, a book on Freedan’s native wildlife—while Zartsi
whirring faintly. He had read a brief article on seemed to be sleeping. A couple hours passed,
the device. It used various techniques—X-rays, and then Beinnen entered, clutching a sheaf of
infrared imaging, photon scanning, and more—to print-outs.
assemble a three-dimensional composite of the He sat down in one of the chairs. Takeda
body’s exterior and interior. This seemed like a switched the reader off. He noticed immediately
relatively new system—Takeda wondered where that Beinnen’s calm poise had vanished—the
Beinnen had gotten the money for equipment doctor’s hands were shaking slightly as he
like this. Perhaps his practice was busier than it clutched the papers. His eyes stared at a point
looked. between Takeda’s feet. He worked his mouth
Beinnen opened the door to the booth and nervously.
slid a datacard out of a slot in the machine’s side. “You found something?” Takeda asked.
“All right, Mr. Croster. Get your clothes back on
and I’ll look at your blood and this data. You got He glanced up for a moment, looking at
a couple hours to burn? I might be done sooner, Takeda as if he were a Vitai berserker. Then his
but if there is something abnormal, I’ll have to eyes dropped again. “Like hell I did,” he said.
give it a careful look.”
you don’t get on the wrong end of a gangster’s topics...but he mentioned a gland underneath
bullet. Can I ask you just one question?” the heart. And the ones in the muscles.”
Takeda nodded. Beinnen picked up the print-outs again and
meditatively slapped the table with them. “I
“Have you ever felt any odd effects from...all think maybe you aren’t the only person in the
that? I mean, you must have known something, galaxy with these things, and that he had seen
or else you wouldn’t have come here—without them before.”
an appointment, I’d add.”
Takeda felt feverish, as if he were having an
A half-truth seemed like the best course. “A nightmare—but he had been living a nightmare
few odd incidents that I couldn’t explain. As I said, since Brian Vass had come to arrest him. He could
I’ve been very strong sometimes, and occasion- only think of one more question to ask. “Where
ally I’ve felt like I could see better than normal.” is he now?”
Beinnen nodded. “I’m not surprised. It’s hard “He left, a couple years back. Went off to a
to imagine so many—mutations? I don’t know— colony where they needed good doctors and were
without any effect on you.” willing to pay them well—a place called Nihil.”
Beinnen tapped the fingers of one hand
against the table, staring at the top sheet of his #
print-outs. He riffled through them, skimming
over the text, for a few seconds. Takeda felt By the midnight after Nathan Clane had
increasingly uncomfortable—he wanted to get come to his nest, Lashiir had located the hotel
out of here and go somewhere to digest every- room where his prey was lodged. He stood in the
thing the doctor had told him. He was just about entrance of a narrow alleyway, his arms hanging
to stand up when Beinnen said, “I used to have a limp at his sides as he stared up at the building.
partner, a man named Cramer Orano. You might Rain poured from the dark sky in sheets, but his
have noticed that there used to be two names on thick cloak repelled the moisture easily. His body
the door.” remained dry beneath.
Beinnen set down his papers and cupped his Lashiir sighed into the rain. His informants
chin in one palm. “I remember a conversation I had found both floor and room number, and he
had with him, late one night, when we had both knew which window held his prey. Now all that
had a couple drinks at a tavern a few blocks down. remained was a few precious moments of fear,
I never knew anything about Cramer before he as Lashiir’s eyes met those of his victims, as they
arrived in Freesail...four years ago, now, I think. saw Tsikaa’s naked edge in the darkness. Nathan
But we were just talking a little about some Clane had wanted a silent death, and silent it
surgery we had been doing—heart work, I think— would be—no guns, pulsers, or filament sprays.
and he started talking about how the surgeries we Only Lashiir’s lovely one, although she would be
had been doing were hard for him to get used to, robbed of her voice.
because he kept expecting to find other things in But there were many ways to do it. The easiest
there. I asked him about that. Cramer was a man would have been to take a room in the same
who got sad when he was drunk, and this was no hotel, then cut through the room’s lock with a
exception. He started crying, and said he was sick laser and make both kills as the prey slept. But
of slicing people open and looking at their guts, there were many flaws in such a plan. By all odds,
especially when their guts were...his exact words the place wasn’t open this late, and if it was, the
were ‘twisted up and wrong.’” human manning the counter would be alarmed
“Wrong?” Takeda asked. by Lashiir’s appearance. Few humans had ever
seen a Clordite.
“Aye. He talked a little more before he switched
But Lashiir rejected it for one reason above all
My Name is Jim
by Bill Snodgrass
Back when we first seriously started coming into space for the purposes of making
money, they had a saying. It was not unlike what they said about North America back
in the day. They called it the “land of opportunity” back then. As for space, they told
us it was the “frontier of equal opportunity.”
Yeah, right.
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