Unruffled, she slid the vibroknife back into its sheath on her wrist
and strode off into the night, wondering what Liam was doing.
-Liam Murphy: Advisor to President for Life
-
-==== Maloney; Resistance Operative ====
+==== Liam Murphy: Advisor to President for Life ====
Liam Murphy was at home, feet up, with a drink in his hand, staring at
plans for the pirates' invasion of the Emerald Palace, the
He frowned. When he had lost all his money gambling in the first-class
lounge. Landing on a slimeball planet, he had tried to use what skills
he had to earn his way off. No one, it seemed, wanted a
-lawyer/accountant. Even one with a degree from Harvard. The planet
-Harvard, which was entirely devoted to higher education.
-Law/Accounting had been easy for him. His mind worked logically.
+lawyer/accountant. Law/Accounting had been easy for him. His mind
+worked logically.
Then a military fleet arrived in system and he had been recruited to
join them. They could definitely use his advice, they said.
He woke up with no memory of the questioning when a soft voice called
his name. He was groggy but otherwise comfortable. He opened his eyes
and saw an angel. That was when he met Silver. She ministered to him
-professionally. She was a Nurse/Healer, trained at Johns Hopkins - the
-planet. She could have been a doctor but didn't want that profession.
+professionally. She was a Nurse/Healer - She could have been a doctor
+but didn't want that profession.
She helped him maintain his dignity through the recovery from
anesthesia with kindness and humor. That was when he fell in love.
Over dinner. Until Murphy's eyes were drooping. They let him sleep
then. The next day they made him part of the Resistance.
-Now he had to get to them or die - painfully.
\ No newline at end of file
+Now he had to get to them or die - painfully.
+
+==== John Behan: Detective, Resistance Operative ====
+
+Behan was riding in his AirSedan, much bigger and more comfortable
+than a Strider. He was too old for that kind of vehicle. The Sedan was
+equipped with all the necessities of a police vehicle, but discretely
+hidden. It had been quite beautiful, a soft blue with dark blue
+interior. However, the colors were obliterated by years of dust and
+dirt, and the dented, scratched surface area of the once shiny
+exterior no longer reflected the moonlight. It fit Behan's personality
+perfectly. He liked it.
+
+He was at a traffic halt. Great force shields stopped the vehicles in
+all lanes at certain points above Crater City, opening at regular
+intervals. Flying vehicles moved above and below him. A bright red
+Strider caught his eye and he thought he saw Liam Murphy on it. The
+red Strider flew off north and Behan changed direction and followed.
+He caught up with Murphy just in time to see an AirLorry sideswipe
+him, sending him tumbling. Murph managed to hang onto the Strider -
+barely.
+
+Behan came alongside the faltering Strider and yelled at Murphy. "Get
+in!"
+
+Without hesitation, Murphy jumped from the Strider and grasped the
+window edge of the Sedan. The Strider went silent and fell. Behan
+reached out and grabbed Murphy's wrist, pulling him inside.
+
+Another Sedan came up beside them and then they were dodging phaser
+bolts. Behan forced the blue Sedan into a 180 degree turn, throwing
+Murphy against the dashboard, then against the back of the seat. He
+grabbed a seat jacket and tried to put it on, ending up just clutching
+it to his chest.
+
+There were three Sedans behind them now, all black. They tried to
+spread out and come at him from different angles, but Behan was going
+too fast. One tried gaining altitude to swoop down from above. Behan
+put the Sedan into a steep dive. Murphy hung onto the handholds in the
+vehicle with white knuckles, mouth pulled back in a rictus, eyes wide
+and terrified.
+
+The Sedan pulled out of the dive with difficulty, nearly scraping the
+tops of buildings. One of the black Sedans had followed them down.
+Unable to pull up, it plowed into the top of a partially collapsed
+building and tumbled to the ground, exploding.
+
+"Push the red button to the right of the dash." Behan yelled as an
+explosion rocked the Sedan.
+
+Murphy looked. There was a small red button set among several other
+colored buttons.
+
+He pushed it. A hologram appeared in front of him, a representation of
+the immediate area with a bright blue dot for Behan's vehicle and 2
+red dots for the enemy.
+
+"Open the drink dispenser."
+
+Murphy complied. What appeared to be a joystick popped out. He put his
+hand around it.
+
+A sight appeared on the hologram, centered on one of the red dots.
+
+"Pull the trigger." yelled Behan as he slewed the Sedan into a 90
+degree left bank.
+
+Murphy pulled the trigger. Tracer rounds spewed forth, found the red
+dot. Then there was no red dot. The other red dot left hurriedly.
+
+Behan dropped down into forbidden territory, between buildings, and
+slowed to a crawl.
+
+Looking over at Murphy, he said "I guess you've blown your cover."
+
+Murphy nodded, wincing.
+
+Behan looked closer. "You're bleeding."
+
+Murphy passed out.
+
+==== Silver Santorini: Resistance Operative ====
+
+Her father woke her when Behan brought Murphy in. She flew down the
+corridors, white hair streaming out behind her like surf. Racing down
+the halls barefoot, she repeated a mantra over and over. "Please God.
+Please God. Please God..."
+
+She skidded around that corner into the emergency department and
+spotted the bay with all the people around it. Cutting through the
+bystanders like a knife, she evaded a nurse's grasp and stood next to
+Liam's gurney. His eyes were closed. He had oxygen under his nose and
+appeared to be breathing well, but he was so pale. Plastic lines
+dripped fluids into his veins as the staff prepped him for surgery.
+
+"Wake up, Liam." she said. "You're not going to surgery until you tell
+me you're going to live." She kissed him. "So open your eyes and look
+at me."
+
+A smile crept across his face and his eyes opened. "I'll live, angel.
+I'll live."
+
+The gurney was whisked off to the OR.
+
+
+A bit of the shiny exterior of the Sedan had been chipped off the
+machine and blown through Murphy's neck. It clipped the carotid artery
+on the right, opening a small hole in the artery. Behan had seen the
+blood and slammed his hand over the wound, keeping pressure on it. But
+Murphy had been almost bloodless when they arrived at the Emerald
+Palace.
+
+The surgeons had him typed and cross-matched and had started
+transfusing even before they moved him out of the vehicle.
+
+Silver sat outside the surgical suite and waited. She could have gone
+inside to the amphitheater and watched, but she just couldn't do that.
+She would rather sit and wait. People came in and sat with her for a
+time and left, to be replaced by another. Mostly, though, they left
+her alone.
+
+Leaning back in the chair, she started to sing, an old, old song.
+
+"I know where I'm going
+And I know who's going with me
+I know who I love
+And the dear knows who I'll marry.
+
+I have stockings of silk..."
+
+The ancient Irish ballad floated out from the waiting room and into
+the halls. People stopped and listened... and may have shed a tear.
+
+Silver sang until she exhausted herself.
+
+The surgeon found her asleep with a smile on her face. He gently
+touched her shoulder.
+
+Her eyes opened and she said "He's going to be all right." It was not
+a question.
+
+He smiled and nodded. "He's going to be all right."
+
+For hours, she sat beside him in recovery and in his room, dozing at
+times, singing at times. They kept him well sedated. The wound in his
+artery was very delicately repaired. It wouldn't take much to rip it
+open again.
+
+He woke the next morning to find her sitting beside him, looking at
+him with a smile on her face and love in her eyes.
+
+She said "Good morning, darling. Welcome to the rest of our lives."
+She stood, leaning over him, and very gently kissed him.
+
+==== Mellie: Detective, Resistance Operative ====
+
+Mellie had called in sick for a couple of days, getting Behan to cover
+for her. When she showed up, she looked like she'd been sick. Her eyes
+were deeply shadowed, black circles under them. She was obviously
+exhausted. She was told to go back home and come back the next day
+rested. She was perfectly willing to do that. She slept all day.
+
+She came in fresh and cheerful the next day. Behan and she caught a
+triple homicide in the North End. There were two suspects. Both had
+run off through the run-down neighborhood immediately after the
+killings. The cordon had been called down quickly though. They might
+still be trapped in the area.
+
+The house was made of gray stone like most of the others in the poorer
+sections of town. Dirty and covered with the red dust of the desert
+nearby, the houses looked like dark coffins dripping with blood.
+Mellie shuddered at the thought.
+
+They were out of the modified AirLorry before it touched down and
+running toward the house. Two uniformed officers stood guard, back to
+back, in the front space, eyes darting back and forth. Their shoulders
+eased back a little when the reinforcements landed.
+
+Mellie and Behan ran quietly past the two officers, using matter
+penetrating equipment to scan the house. Nothing seemed to be moving.
+Behan placed his hand on the door opener and overrode the lock. The
+door opened and they slipped inside. Mellie went right, Behar left.
+Still nothing moved.
+
+They found the bodies in a back room. The men had been lined up
+against a wall and shot. Like a firing squad. Millie thought.
+
+Two of the faces looked vaguely familiar. Behar drew in a sharp
+breath.
+
+She looked at him.
+
+"They're undercover Resistance operatives." he said. "Mason" he
+indicated the middle body "was a friend of mine. His wife is dead, but
+he has two sons and four grandchildren." He sighed. "I'm godfather to
+his sons."
+
+He looked at his friend a moment longer. When he turned back to her,
+his face was blank. "Let's check the basement."
+
+A hallway led outside with a door leading to the basement next to
+that. No light came from below.
+
+They pulled lights from their belts and started down the stairs. There
+were windows high on the walls, but the glass had been sprayed black.
+No light came through. And their lights seemed to be swallowed by the
+stygian darkness.
+
+They had almost reached the bottom of the stair when brilliant light
+exploded from a corner of the room, blinding them. Mellie dived to her
+right, followed by Behan, who landed on top of her.
+
+She said something like "Ummmpphh!"
+
+Behan rolled off and fired at the lights. Mellie was able to drag
+herself up beside her partner but was still having trouble breathing.
+Having a ninety kilo man land on top of you takes your breath away,
+she thought.
+
+The lights went out, although there was a dim glow where they had
+been.
+
+Mellie could hear whispers coming from that direction. She could see
+Behan's face and waved at the corner.
+
+He nodded. She went right. He went left. No lights. Nudging their feet
+along, trying to find objects silently. She thought she could see him
+as a darker shadow in the blackness. When he turned his face toward
+her, she knew she was right. They were less than twenty feet from the
+corner. The glow emanating from the area was a putrid yellow. The
+odors in the area were just as foul.
+
+Behan held up his fist, pumping it twice. Then he slashed it forward
+and they moved together. Leaping over boxes and cans. They landed in a
+pool of slime, which was glowing yellow. Movement to their right
+brought them scrambling to reach two figures moving toward the stairs.
+
+Moving faster than Behan, Mellie tackled the closest one. An inhuman
+screech shattered the silence and Mellie grabbed onto what felt like a
+crab leg.
+
+"Shit! Brol." she grunted. Wrenching the leg encased in chitin
+backwards, she felt it pull loose. The creature shrieked again.
+Multiple appendages grasped her , lifting her up and throwing her at
+the wall. She hit the duracrete wall and all the air rushed out of her
+- again. Sliding to the floor, she watched as Behan attacked the other
+Brol with a pipe he had picked up. He broke a couple of legs before
+the thing stuffed him under the stairs.
+
+They heard the two Brol skitter up the steps, then the yells and a
+couple of screams as they made their get-away.
+
+Mellie groaned and picked herself up from the floor, hobbling over to
+the stairs. Behan was just backing out from the small space
+underneath.
+
+He stood up, groaning even louder than Mellie. "You all right?" he
+asked.
+
+She smiled. "Probably about the same as you are."
+
+"In that case, call emergency." But he laughed.
+
+Officers came pounding down the stairs, looking concerned.
+
+Lt Marks appeared. "Well, you're both alive at least."
+
+One of the patrol officers joined them with a Brol leg in hand. It was
+about five feet long, made of hard chitin, an exoskeleton. Inside lay
+muscles and tendons and ligaments that attached to chitin instead of
+bone.
+
+A crime scene tech came by, looked at the leg, and said "We should be
+able to identify that guy by the morning."
+
+Mellie was surprised. "How can you identify one Brol out of the
+thousands on this planet?"
+
+The tech grinned. "They are all required to register when they arrive.
+We have their DNA. Each and every one of them." He got back to work.
+
+Behan nodded. "There's a law on almost every human planet. Alien
+sentients are required to register on arrival and record their DNA."
+He rubbed his back. "Brol are the most plentiful aliens on Agalder,
+but they are by no means the only ones."
+
+Lt. Marks walked over to them. "Get back to HQ. Get the computer work
+done." He hesitated a moment, looking at Mellie, then shrugged. "And,
+for God's sake, take a fresher. You both stink."
+
+The emergency personnel checked Mellie and Behan over and released
+them and they made their way back to Headquarters. There was a
+mountain of computer work to be done. Not only have they been fired
+upon and responded by firing their own weapons, but there was an alien
+species involved. But they washed up and put on clean clothes before
+getting to work. All personnel kept a spare set or two of clean
+clothes at HQ. Just in case.
+
+Something was bothering Mellie. Finally she recognized the concern her
+brain was niggling at. She turned to Behan. "Why didn't they kill us?
+That had to be deliberate."
+
+Behan looked up and nodded. "Good point." he said. "They never meant
+to kill us."
+
+Mellie frowned. "But they were shooting at us when we came down the
+stairs."
+
+Behan asked her "Did either one of us get hit?"
+
+"No, but..."
+
+"Brol never miss. They are close to the best shots in the universe.
+They want us alive. And they probably want to talk to us."
+
+==== Mellie: Detective, Resistance Operative ====
+
+"Well, we certainly want to talk to them." said Mellie.
+
+"I want to talk to them. I want you safely protected in here. You're
+not going anywhere near the Brol."
+
+"Do you think I'm afraid to meet them?"
+
+He snorted. "No. And that's the problem."
+
+Mellie looked at him, eyebrows raised.
+
+He sighed. "You are so determined to prove that you're just as tough
+as the guys that you put yourself in danger. The Brol are a
+patriarchal society. To be male is to be king of the hill. To be
+female is to live in misery.
+
+"The Brol warriors say that the females are all retarded and must be
+beaten regularly so they understand their duties. I passed a few words
+with a female Brol once. She seemed intelligent enough to me.
+Intelligent enough to learn a little Terran.
+
+"At any rate, with their attitude about women, the Brol would not take
+too well to a female officer. They have short tempers and they tend to
+lash out."
+
+Mellie stared at her partner for a full minute. Then she said "I'm
+going." She stood up, leaning her fists on her desk, towering over
+Behan. "You have to show them that humans value females as much as
+they value males. That we're equal. And screw their cultural
+sensitivities. We've got those, too."
+
+She leaned in a little closer. Behan was beginning to cross his eyes.
+"And as for that 'lashing out' business, we're pretty good at lashing
+out, too."
+
+With that, she straightened up and left the squad room. Every
+detective in the room followed her with their eyes. And Behan watched
+the watchers.
+
+The Brol contacted them the next day. Marks had pushed the BOLO to
+include any Brol anywhere or any being that even vaguely resembled a
+Brol. Several Brusqal and a Grinkek had been harassed. The Grinkek in
+particular was very angry. Grinkek do not get angry. Ever. Resembling
+terran mushrooms, they look nothing like Brols.
+
+Lt. Marks set up the meeting. He tried to insist on a dozen officers
+to accompany Behan and Kaminsky to the meeting but was turned down.
+
+They did agree that he could come and bring one other. Marks chose
+Alex Biggers. Mellie and Behan stared at him.
+
+"What?!" he asked.
+
+==== John Behan: Detective, Resistance Operative ====
+
+The Brol lived in an abandoned cosmetics factory, close to the
+crater's edge. They had dug nests and tunnels throughout the complex
+and no one had disputed their squatting rights. Picking a fight with a
+seven foot spider was not considered a good idea.
+
+The place was dark and creepy at night. Mellie whispered "Why didn't
+they just import cosmetics? They're not that expensive for the lower
+grades."
+
+Marks said "They were very expensive after the Iron Wars when taxes
+were placed on them. Manufacturing our own seemed like a good idea
+until the pirates showed up."
+
+They stopped on a low hill in front of the main building and waited.
+The Brol had wanted them to go inside - at night - with no lights in
+the building. Marks had expressed his opinion of that idea.
+
+So they stood and waited, their lights on, their hands on their guns.
+Biggers was whistling between his teeth until Behan threatened to
+shove those teeth down his throat.
+
+In the silence that followed, they could hear the same whispering that
+Behan and Mellie had heard in that basement. A minute later, they saw
+movement near the factory. It looked like a dark rug flowing toward
+them. The forward movement wasn't fast, but definitely threatening.
+Marks stepped forward and spoke.
+
+"That's far enough. Any farther and we will leave."
+
+A sinister chuckle ran through the spiders. Behan was very glad he had
+emptied his bladder before coming.
+
+Marks took another step and his attitude had changed. His shoulders
+were braced, his jaw set, and his eyes as hard as rock. He radiated
+belligerence. The other three walked forward with him. The spiders
+backed up, some being shoved against the building by their fellows.
+
+Marks stopped three meters from the Brol. "Now that we've got that out
+of the way," he asked "why did you want to talk to us?"
+
+One spider, larger than the rest, skittered forward a meter. Its
+whispery, raspy voice sent shivers down Behan's spine, while the hairs
+on the back of his neck stood up.
+
+"We talk to Behan. You weren't there."
+
+Mellie stepped forward. "I was there. You talk to me, too."
+
+The Brol actually recoiled. It hissed. "Take female away."
+
+Behan moved up beside Mellie. "She is my partner. She fought one of
+your people in that basement. She was there. She stays."
+
+A murmur ran through the crowd. "If she stays, we will leave." said
+the leader.
+
+Behan chuckled. "Then go." He turned to leave.
+
+The murmur grew louder. "Wait."
+
+Behan kept on walking. The others turned to follow.
+
+"Very well. She stays."
+
+They stopped and retraced their steps until they were crowding the
+leader. It waved a leg at them. "Move back. You're too close."
+
+They stepped back.
+
+Behan asked "What did you want to tell us?"
+
+Two of its three eyes glanced at Mellie. "Others of your kind came two
+days ago. They promised to pay us well if we killed the humans in that
+house. We went there last night and killed them. We were looking for
+anything that might be valuable to us when you trapped us."
+
+The leg wave again, this time to include the mass of spiders behind
+it. "We were not responsible for the deaths of those humans. They were
+killed by their own kind."
+
+Behan's jaw was clenched so tight that he thought his teeth might
+crack.
+
+Mellie yelled. "Bull shit!" She moved another step until she was right
+in the leader's face. "You killed them. For money. That makes you
+responsible."
+
+The Brol raised its two forelegs and gave a very obvious shrug. "We
+were only the instruments."
+
+Mellie put a hand on Behan's arm. He was trembling with the need to
+attack this blithe murderer. He glanced at her and took a few deep
+breaths. The trembling subsided.
+
+"No." he said. "You made a choice. You chose to murder three good
+people. I don't know much about the Brol, but from what I have seen
+tonight, I doubt there are three good people among you."
+
+The lead Brol raised his two front legs as if to step forward. A
+jabbering came from the back of the crowd. The spokesman put his feet
+back down. Behan realized that he was just a spokesman. The real
+leader, at least of this group, was at the back.
+
+"Why did you want to talk to us?" Behan asked.
+
+There was movement in the crowd and the largest Brol Behan had ever
+seen came forward. It pushed the spokesman aside and spoke. "We know
+who ordered the kill. If you want to know, you will pay us 60,000
+credits by tomorrow night. No negotiation."
+
+The monster turned and reached out with its front legs, grabbing the
+spokesman. Casually it bit off the creature's head. Then it threw the
+wildly twitching body to the side and sauntered off, chewing noisily.
+
+==== Harlan: Thief, Resistance Operative ====
+
+The four humans stood absolutely still for nearly a minute. Then they
+turned and walked away. Biggers got just far enough away to put an
+outbuilding between them and the mob of spiders before he threw up. He
+managed to do it very quietly.
+
+The other three stood by. Mellie handed Biggers a tissue after he was
+able to continue walking. She said "Don't feel bad, Alex. We were all
+struggling to keep our dinners down." She patted him on the shoulder,
+earning her a weak smile from the detective.
+
+The department had plenty of money. The bribe was paid. They were
+actually expecting a much larger number.
+
+They got the name the next day. Chas Hawkins. The chief of the
+Syndicate. Behan passed the word on to Santorini at the Resistance.
+And Santorini passed it on to Jake Rogers, one of the best assassins
+on the planet.
+
+Two nights later, the Big House suddenly turned into a stirred up
+sting dauber's nest. People were running in and out of the doors, even
+through the windows. Lights stabbed at every inch of the lawn and
+shrubs. People could be seen inside, gesticulating, shouting.
+Eventually the people and their intrusive lights returned to the
+house. Quiet returned, but it was a menacing quiet.
+
+Had anyone been watching, he might have caught a glimpse of a group of
+five shadows within the night's darkness. This darker dark moved
+across the lawn to a group of houses on a tree lined street with few
+lights. Very few watchers could have followed the progress of the
+shades from tree to tree, staying in the blackest part of the murky
+gloom.
+
+Harlan was one of those very few watchers. He saw their progress down
+the street. He followed them as they slipped through the night, unseen
+by people only a few feet away.
+
+Harlan realized that the group was splitting up. Three continued on
+toward the Green Palace, but the other two went in opposite
+directions.
+
+Harlan watched the two head out. One was going for John Behan. And the
+other was after Mellie. Harlan took to the roofs, running as fast as
+he could. He pulled out his communicator and called Behan.
+
+"Yeah?" came a gruff voice.
+
+"John, you're going to have a visitor in about five minutes."
+
+"Are you behind him?"
+
+"No. Another one is going for Mellie. And three are headed to the
+Green Palace."
+
+"No problem. I'll take care of this one and call the Palace. You take
+care of Mellie."
+
+"Right." Harlan disconnected and jumped from one roof to the next.
+He'd never jumped that particularly wide gap before. Now he barely
+noticed.
+
+It was late, past end of day. Harlan opened Mellie's bedroom window
+without thinking of how she might view the intrusion. The flash of a
+phaser brought him to a halt. A burn spot appeared 2 millimeters from
+his left ear.
+
+"Mellie! It's me!"
+
+Mellie appeared out of the shadows in her room and smacked him in the
+jaw. "You friggin' idiot! I could have killed you. All I could see was
+a dark figure wrenching my window open."
+
+Harlan rubbed his jaw. "You hit like a girl." he said. She drew her
+fist back for another demonstration and he caught it in his hand.
+"Okay. That hurt. The Syndicate is sending you a visitor and I don't
+think he's friendly."
+
+She nodded and reached into her cupboard for her phaser's power pack.
+"How do you think he'll come in?" she asked as she checked her weapon.
+
+"Through the kitchen." Harlan said. "But we need to cover both the
+bedroom and the kitchen."
+
+Mellie nodded. "What about the other entrance points? The front door?
+The rec room?"
+
+Harlan glanced at the windows with the stunning view of the city. "No
+one's coming through that window. If I can't do it, no one can. And as
+for the front door? No way. Too expected."
+
+So, of course, the intruder came in through the front door.
+
+Harlan was moving between rooms and he heard the slightest squeak of
+the hinges. Mellie was flat against the wall just inside the kitchen.
+Harlan could see her looking at him. He indicated the front room. She
+opened her eyes wide, raised her eyebrows, and grinned at him. He
+rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to live that gaffe down.
+
+The two of them moved to positions on either side of the entrance to
+the rec room and waited. And waited. Nothing happened.
+
+Fifteen minutes. Twenty. Nothing. Twenty-five minutes. Then a sock
+flew through the air and landed on the floor inside the rec room.
+Neither Harlan nor Mellie moved.
+
+Another five minutes before a shoe followed the sock, landing with a
+thunk.
+
+The intruder waited another ten minutes before he poked his head into
+the rec room and found himself facing the wrong ends of two phasers.
+He didn't move anything except his mouth. "If I moved fast enough, you
+two would shoot each other."
+
+Mellie looked at him with a nasty smile. "Go ahead. Try it."
+
+He smiled back. "No. I think I'll just put my weapon down and let you
+tie me up. Which is what Cassidy told me to do anyway."
+
+"Cassidy told you to give yourself up to us?" Harlan was incredulous.
+"I don't think so. Not after you killed three of our best people."
+
+"I didn't kill them. Nobody knew about that hit except Hawkins and
+four of his goons. His 'Special Squad', he called them. Well, he's
+gone now and Cassidy's in charge and he doesn't want anybody else
+killed. On either side."
+
+Mellie was nodding. "That makes sense, Harlan. Cassidy's known for his
+pragmatism."
+
+The intruder was nodding.
+
+"What's your name?" asked Harlan.
+
+"Ned Moreno. My father was Timmy Moreno. You might remember him,
+Harlan."
+
+Harlan remembered. Timmy Moreno. His father's friend. A man of honor
+and strength. Harlan had looked up to him. And he had played with
+Timmy's son. Ned.
+
+"Ned." he said. "I thought you died with your dad."
+
+==== Santorini: Boss of the Resistance ====
+
+Santorini chose Harlan to come with him. While Harlan was surprised,
+no one else was. Harlan was the best second story (or third or fourth)
+man in Crater City and, therefore, the best guard the Boss could have.
+
+They set out the next night two hours early in an AirSedan, black as
+the darkness around them. It was roomy and comfortable inside and
+well-equipped with weapons. They flew to the meeting point and waited
+a kilometer away, scans probing the area to give warning when anyone
+approached. The car was well hidden in some ruins.
+
+Harlan slipped away into the rocks and disappeared.
+
+The Boss was surprised when Cassidy and his assistant showed up and
+pulled in next to them. Cassidy raised his windscreen and grinned at
+him.
+
+"Good evening, Santorini. You can tell your young assistant to come
+back in from the wilds."
+
+The Boss raised their car top and glared at the Syndicate head. "I
+thought the meeting was later and over there." He waved vaguely in the
+direction of the proposed meeting place. Turning his head, he yelled
+"Come on in, Harlan."
+
+Cassidy laughed, a real laugh, full of humor and good feeling. "You
+seemed to have gotten lost. And out here, one place is as good as
+another." He climbed out of the Sedan and sat on the front and
+signaling his associate to join him, effectively eliminated any threat
+from the vehicle's armament. The associate was wearing a helmet,
+obscuring the identity.
+
+Looking at the Syndicate chief, Santorini grunted. "Gutsy, aren't
+you?"
+
+He climbed out of his vehicle and walked over to Cassidy and the
+other. He already knew who the helmeted other was. He had known as
+soon as she moved.
+
+Positioning himself between the Syndicate representatives, he leaned
+against their car and looked up at the stars. "Nice night." he
+commented.
+
+They were all looking at the spot where they expected Harlan to
+appear. Cassidy jumped and even Santorini gasped when Harlan touched
+them on the shoulders from behind.
+
+Cassidy and his associate looked at the thief and at the Boss, then at
+each other. Santorini reached out and hugged the helmeted associate.
+The helmet came off.
+
+"Daddy." said Emerald. "You're such a spoilsport."
+
+The four sat down and talked. Emerald had ordered sandwiches and
+salads from the kitchen and a couple of bottles of wine. It took two
+hours, but they hammered out an agreement that would allow for amnesty
+for freedom fighters and their families.
+
+They also discussed a land agreement. Everyone who fought for the
+Resistance would be eligible to buy land on the planet. Good land at a
+good price. The world had been devastated by the Iron Wars, The
+population outside of Crater City consisted largely of roving gangs of
+bandits. There were no other towns. Not anymore.
+
+Santorini wanted to rebuild not just the city but the whole world.
+
+Cassidy had his hopes set on New Dessel. He wanted to free the
+indentured servants and provide them with a living wage. He wanted to
+build a middle class that did not yet exist on that planet.
+
+Santorini wished him luck. The Syndicate chief would run into a lot of
+opposition from the factory owners on New Dessel. They liked the
+status quo.
+
+They were packing up to go home when Emerald spoke softly to her
+father. "I'll be going with him when he leaves for New Dessel, Daddy."
+
+Santorini went very still for a moment. Then he looked at her. "I
+know. But relations should improve between the planets, both
+communication and commerce. We'll see each other often."
+
+He grinned at her. "By the way, your mother's pregnant again."
+
+Leaving her with a shocked expression on her face, he hopped into the
+sedan and took off.
+
+==== Cassidy: Newly promoted head of the Syndicate ====
+
+Cassidy and his crew were pounding at the doors of the Green Palace at
+dawn the next day. They were ready to do the upgrades on the armory. A
+firefight almost broke out when Resistance members saw the Syndicate
+people.
+
+Cassidy was at the head of the Syndicate group and had his hands up
+high. "Hey! Hey! We're here to help you, not fight you. Where's
+Santorini?"
+
+A gruff voice down the hall called "Right here. I'm having to fight my
+way through."
+
+A path cleared and Santorini came trotting up to bring the delegation
+inside. He pushed his way through to the lifts and they climbed
+aboard, relieved to be away from the house guards.
+
+Cassidy looked at the Boss. "They didn't get the memo?"
+
+Santorini grinned. "I didn't expect you this early. I was just
+starting to inform everyone. Sorry about that."
+
+Santorini took them to the armory and left them on their own, a show
+of trust that Cassidy hadn't expected.
+
+Emerald showed up a few hours later. She walked up to him. Actually
+she did something between swaying and gliding. And then she kissed
+him. Thoroughly, The men cheered and Cassidy turned bright red.
+
+It took seven hours to install the new equipment and ammunition. By
+the time they were finished, several friendships had been formed
+between Syndicate guys and Resistance guys. After all they were in the
+same business - getting rid of the pirates. A large group went out to
+eat together that evening.
+
+Santorini and Cassidy watched from the third floor office as the young
+men left, pushing and shoving and laughing. Cassidy said "That bodes
+well for relations after we kick the pirate asses off the planet."
+
+The Boss laughed and agreed. "Who'd a thunk?"
+
+Harlan opened the office door and stuck his head in. "I can't find
+Mellie. She's not responding to her communicator. I'm going to police
+headquarters to find her."
+
+As he pulled his head back into the hall, Santorini yelled. "No!
+Harlan. Get your ass back in here. NOW!"
+
+A moment later, the young thief slipped back into the office, starting
+to argue. "Look, Boss, I know I'm not supposed to be over there. But I
+can hide in stairwells and bathrooms. I won't get caught. I..."
+
+The Boss put his hands on Harlan's shoulders and guided him to a
+chair. "Look. She's busy. She's not answering her com unless it's Lt.
+Marks or higher. She's on her own at the moment. We're keeping an eye
+on the situation and she seems to be doing well." He pushed Harlan
+back down in the chair. "Now don't you get yourself involved over
+there. She has her work and you have yours. Leave her alone."
+
+"Now you either get to share a bottle of supposedly real Scotch
+whiskey with me and my new best buddy here" touching Cassidy's
+shoulder "or get out and go foment riot and rebellion."
+
+Harlan couldn't help himself. He laughed and took a drink before he
+left to do some fomenting.
\ No newline at end of file
projects / universe.git / blobdiff