in the alley three nights ago. It wasn't like her and he was worried.
He walked the same route she had that night through the safe zone
-around the headquarters, then into the dark alleys of Hollowtown, the
-area to the west of APD headquarters. He knew he was crazy to wander
-these alleys alone, but he had to see for himself. Garbage was piled
-high along the sides of the buildings. Some people just threw their
-refuse at the disposal openings and walked away, even if the noisome
-waste splattered against the side of the building. The openings to the
-trash disposals weren't all covered. He shuddered as he thought what
-could happen if a child climbed in there.
+around the station. He was headed into the dark alleys of Hollowtown,
+the area to the west of APD headquarters.
+
+But before the condos sprang upward to the sky, there was a large
+open, empty area. Anything that had been there before was gone.
+
+Looking around, he realized that he was in what had been the Gardens
+of Callough. He remembered the Gardens, filled with larkspur and
+hollyhocks, nasturtium and daisies, with fountains and a little stream
+running along the flower beds. There were dozens of flowers from
+Earth. There had been some from Agalder as well. The colors had been
+overwhelming: reds, blues, yellows, purples, greens, and every vibrant
+shade in between. All gone. The area was blasted. Grays and blacks,
+dirty browns were the only colors here now. He turned away. It hurt
+too much.
+
+There had been voting booths here, too, gaily decorated with the
+purple and green of Agalder. He had voted here, voted for Manchester.
+She had been by far the best candidate for President of the Republic
+and had won in a landslide. And then had been gunned down on the steps
+of the Capitol as she was taking the oath of office, along with her
+Vice President and dozens of others.
+
+On duty that day, he was standing at the base of the steps, thirty
+feet below the President-elect. She had stood straight and tall, proud
+to receive the honor. He had seen the guns coming out. How had they
+gotten them inside the barricades? He had pulled his weapon and
+started firing, already knowing it was too little, too late.
+
+Wounded, he had lain on the steps for hours before someone discovered
+that he was still alive. But he hadn't cared. Manchester was dead. He
+had heard much of the talk around him from the invaders. The coup had
+been a total shock to everyone on the ground. No one, including the
+security advisors, had ever heard of the group that took over. Tavis
+had learned later that they were a group of itinerant pirates who saw
+an opportunity and took it.
+
+Just because they were taken by surprise didn't mean that the people
+of Agalder didn't fight back. They fought. And they fought with a fury
+and a hatred engendered by the slaughter of Manchester and her people.
+
+The new President wasn't just wildly popular. She represented the
+whole history of Agalder. From the lost colony that was almost reduced
+to cannibalism before it was found to the exploitation by the Xei
+Empire and the rebellion, through the fall of the Empire and the Iron
+Wars, until a greatly reduced population on Agalder had banded
+together to throw out the remnants of the invaders.
+
+Manchester had come from the lowest class on Agalder. A street orphan,
+she had no idea who her people were. But she had understood the
+concept of a free society and its ramifications for all the people.
+She had educated herself and clawed her way upward. In many ways,
+Manchester had been the symbol of freedom on the planet.
+
+Ten years had gone into drawing up a Constitution, delineating the
+powers of the government with enough checks and balances to choke a
+chaupoo. The temporary government had agreed to step down when
+Manchester had taken office. Everything was going so well. And then
+the pirates struck. There was a fleet of them. Their soldiers had been
+off-loaded on an uninhabited island just off the coast. The first clue
+the people of Agalder had was seeing Manchester shot down. Then the
+troop carriers had skimmed by overhead. The tanks and JVDs had come
+rumbling into the city.
+
+Men, women, children, all had taken whatever weapons were available to
+attack the enemy. For a time the pirates were pushed back by the sheer
+ferocity of the attacks. The attacks came from everywhere. No pirate
+could walk alone in the city unmolested. Children as young as six
+would drop from windows with knives and razors, or spades and forks,
+whatever could pierce skin, put out an eye, or slit a throat.
+
+But children with box knives and sling shots couldn't defeat trained
+men with modern weapons. A lot of people died for nothing, thought
+Tavis. Yet the Resistance had persisted, Maybe soon they would take
+back the planet before the pirates destroyed it entirely.
+
+The spirit of revolution in the people of Agalder still flamed. But it
+had been nearly twelve years since the Pirate Regime had taken over.
+That's what Agalder called the usurpers. They called themselves the
+Democratic Advisory Council of Agalder. He shook his head. They were
+so good at putting their boots on the natives' necks. That was about
+the only thing the bastards were good at. Except of course, for their
+talent at taking every last cent you earned and their adeptness at
+making people they didn't like disappear.
+
+He knew he was crazy to wander these alleys alone, but he had to see
+for himself. Garbage was piled high along the sides of the buildings.
+Some people just threw their refuse at the disposal openings and
+walked away, even if the noisome waste splattered against the side of
+the building. The openings to the trash disposals weren't all covered.
+He shuddered as he thought what could happen if a child climbed in
+there. Kids got into everything, especially when told to stay away. He
+remembered his son climbing...
Movement to his right caught his attention and he turned, drawing his
laser gun. A shadow appeared farther down the alley. He had started in
back silently and sliced through his spinal cord. He dropped like a
discarded puppet, regretting that he wouldn't have time to finish his
work. He looked at the shoes next to him as a hand reached over him
-and twisted the knife. Then his eyes only saw eternity.
+and twisted the knife. Then his eyes saw only eternity.
==== Harlan: Thief ====
by, staring at them with open curiosity.
When he reached the little trail into the park, he disappeared along a
-faint trail that led to a clearing. By the time Alfie reached the
+faint track that led to a clearing. By the time Alfie reached the
clearing, he had discarded his female disguise, turning the raincoat
inside out and ripping off the lower half to form a leather jacket.
His wig turned inside out to become a leather cap and the scarf went
Cassidy sighed "I am not going to stand here and debate philosophy
with you. Suffice it to say that I think Harlan is a spy working for
-the cops. He's a traitor. He's not an innocent. Now goodnight."
+the cops. He's a traitor. He's not an innocent. Now goodnight." He
+picked up the woman, threw her over his shoulder, and trudged off.
Alfie stared after him, speechless.
told him to get rid of Harlan. He couldn't even confirm that the
orders came from the head of the Syndicate, Chas Hawkins. Cassidy
talked to him alone each time. No witnesses to what he said. It was a
-dead end unless they could get their hands on Cassidy.
+dead end unless they could get their hands on Cassidy. The woman from
+forensics had managed to get her ties off in just a few minutes and
+reported to the team. She backed Alfie up on what Cassidy had said.
But Cassidy lived in the big house and rarely left. When he did, he
was surrounded with his bodyguards. If they tried to grab him while he
"So why did you send Alfie to kill me?" he asked softly, his eyes as
cold as space.
-==== Harlan: Thief ====
-
Cassidy met his gaze. "We figured you'd come after us if we killed
-your father. So we decided to eliminate a threat. ‘Cept Alfie screwed
+your father. So we decided to eliminate a threat. 'Cept Alfie screwed
up."
Harlan leaned back abruptly. "You knew that the Chief was my father?
Mellie turned and gazed into his eyes. After a minute, she said "He's
already been hurt. He was shot with an old fashioned bullet by a
-sniper 2 weeks ago. And he disappeared today."
+sniper two weeks ago. And he disappeared today."
Her face crumpled. "I don't know where he is and I'm so scared for
him. I'm sure he was going after Cassidy." Tears coursed down her
Harlan took the hand and shook it warmly. "Harlan Tavis." he said.
Behan's eyebrows rose as he realized the true relationship between the
-Chief he had admired so much and the cocky young thief.
\ No newline at end of file
+Chief he had admired so much and the cocky young thief.
+
+==== John Behan: Detective ====
+
+The three of them talked for hours. Harlan had decided to trust Behan.
+His father had trusted the man. He told him everything, including
+their participation in the Resistance, although he refused to name
+anyone else in the organization.
+
+"Don't blame you. You need to keep that information secret."
+
+Behan stood up and started pacing around the small room, pulling at
+his lower lip and muttering to himself. Finally he stopped and looked
+at the younger couple. "As I see it, we have three problems to solve."
+
+He sat down abruptly. "First, we need to find out who killed your
+father, Harlan." His gaze switched to Mellie. "Second, we need to find
+out if Sam's killer is the same person who tried to kill you, Mel."
+
+Standing up, he walked to the kitchen and fixed himself a cup of
+express. He walked back into the living area. "And third, we need to
+kick start this revolution before the whole planet withers away."
+
+==== Mellie: Detective ====
+
+Mellie's jaw dropped. "What!?" she squeaked.
+
+Harlan came to his feet. "What have you got to do with it?"
+
+"I have some responsibility in the Resistance." Behan said.
+
+"He IS the Resistance." said a voice. Santorini entered from the
+kitchen.
+
+"Is my door wide open?" grumbled Mellie.
+
+The Boss grinned at her, then let his gaze include Harlan. "You think
+I'm the Boss? Actually John is."
+
+Harlan stared at the detective. "He's what!?" His voice had risen.
+
+"Calm down, Harlan." said Behan. "Greg just checks in with me once in
+a while."
+
+Mellie's eyebrows rose. "Greg? Who's Greg?"
+
+Santorini laughed. "I am, Mel. My name is Gregorio Santorini."
+
+"Oh." was all that Mellie said. "Okay. Let's drop the comedy act. Tell
+us what's going on."
+
+The two older men exchanged glances and Behan gave a slight nod.
+
+Santorini sat down. "We are about to launch the revolution. And you
+two will play important parts in winning it."
+
+Harlan opened his mouth, but Mellie said "Shut up, Harlan.", her
+attention focused on the Boss. Harlan's mouth stayed open as he stared
+at his sweet, cuddly girlfriend whose face had turned to stone.
+
+Santorini continued. "You, Harlan, are going to organize the thieves,
+destroy the Syndicate, and get the remnants to join us."
+
+He raised his hands as Harlan started to protest. "No, it's not going
+to be impossible. You will find many allies in this coming war and a
+number of them are in the underground. You even have friends in the
+Syndicate now."
+
+He made placating motions with his hands as Harlan half rose. "Relax,
+kid. Like I said. You have friends. Lots of them. And they will be
+there for you. You and I will go over the general outline later."
+
+He turned to Mellie. "Mel, you are going to take over the police
+headquarters and hold it until we can break through."
+
+Mellie stared at him. "Oh. And can I call on the Gods of Olympus and
+Saturn and the Titans to help me?"
+
+"You'll have real help, Mel. Do not doubt it." said Behan.
+
+Harlan and Mellie looked at each other. Mellie shrugged, then grinned
+at the thief.
+
+"What do you think? Should we throw our lot in with these crazies?"
+
+Harlan just gazed at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Hell,
+yes!"
+
+==== Harlan: Thief ====
+
+Hours later, Mellie shooed them all out of her home and fell onto the
+bed fully clothed, asleep with a smile on her face after one last
+thought about Harlan.
+
+The thief himself decided to be a smartass and slipped through the
+same window he had used earlier. He appeared in Mellie's bedroom with
+a big grin and was greeted by a snore.
+
+He sat on the bed next to her and kissed her. Then he kissed her
+again. Then he shook her gently. Then he shook her a bit less gently.
+All he got was snores.
+
+With a rueful smile on his face, he got her under the covers. Tucking
+her in, he kissed her gently on the forehead. Then he looked at her
+for a minute and lay down on the floor and went to sleep.
+
+He woke before she did and quietly left the condo after making sure
+all the windows and doors were locked securely.
+
+He arrived at John Behan's little house about ten minutes later. After
+disabling the security system and entering through a window, he crept
+silently down the hallway toward a bedroom. He eased the door open
+without a sound and went to the bed where a lump lay motionless. Too
+motionless.
+
+It took him a second, but by the time Behan put his stunner behind
+Harlan's ear, the thief had figured it out.
+
+"You coulda just knocked." the detective said grumpily. "Now I have to
+reconfigure the security system."
+
+"That's no fun." said Harlan. "But how did you know?" He stepped away
+from the muzzle of the stunner.
+
+The detective chuckled. "I have a secondary system. It goes to an
+earplug that I wear whenever I'm at home. I heard you breathing."
+
+Harlan turned and looked at the somewhat slovenly, middle-aged man in
+front of him with the protuberant belly, the thinning hair, and the
+tired eyes. "You're the Resistance?"
+
+Behan smiled. "Greg and I founded the organization about seven years
+ago. I went undercover and Greg has always been a bureaucrat. So he
+runs things. I just try to keep him informed."
+
+Behan sat on the bed and looked up at Harlan. The thief noticed that
+he still had the stunner in his hand. "So why are you disturbing my
+beauty sleep when we've been over just about every detail."
+
+Harlan turned and looked out the window at the back of another
+building, two disposal units, and a burned out aircar. "I just don't
+like what you have lined up for Mellie. So much can go wrong. I would
+rather she didn't have to do that."
+
+Behan looked at him and shook his head. "First, if she knew you were
+here trying to take her assignment away from her, she'd probably shoot
+you. Second, she really is the best person for the job. The department
+is riddled with moles. There aren't very many people I can trust like
+I do you and Mellie. She is bright, capable, and deadly. She can
+handle it."
+
+He stood up, holstered the stunner, and placed a hand on Harlan's
+shoulder. "I know it's tough letting someone you love go into a field
+of danger. Especially after your dad died a week ago. But you have to
+trust her. And me. And Greg. You do your part. We'll do ours."
+
+Harlan's eyes turned to Behan and held his gaze. "You think she can do
+this and come out alive?"
+
+Behan nodded. "Yes. She really is that good."
+
+==== Mellie: Detective, Resistance Spy ====
+
+Mellie had been given what was probably the hardest role in the coming
+rebellion. She was to live a dual life. On one hand, she was to make
+herself acceptable to the detectives. She was to become one of the
+'boys', slowly insinuating herself into the group until she was
+accepted. She agonized on how to break the ice with nine young to
+approaching elderly men, not counting Behan. What could she say or do
+that would look natural?
+
+The detectives were playing traffic in a soccer match that night. She
+decided to go. She wore her hair caught up in a black cap, which
+matched her black pants and jacket. Sitting high up, she could see not
+just the field, but the mountains and the waterfall to the west. She
+had arrived early and the sun set in glorious colors. She was
+transfixed and almost forgot about the game.
+
+Tearing her eyes from the fading sunset, she watched as the men and
+women of traffic outran and outscored the detectives. She didn't
+cheer. She didn't even move. She just watched. After the game the two
+teams went off to the Oasis Chance Casino for dinner and a night of
+carousing. Mellie went home.
+
+The next morning she was reviewing a file on her tablet, feet up on
+the desk. She got a few looks from the 'boys' for this lack of
+decorum, but no one said anything.
+
+Biggers was entertaining the unit clerks with his version of the
+soccer game.
+
+"Hanson kicked the ball to me. The way to the goal was open. I started
+running, keeping the ball just a few feet ahead of me. I dodged
+Phillips from traffic and swerved around Jimmy Ricci. I was clear.
+When all of a sudden,..." he paused dramatically.
+
+"He tripped over his own feet and traffic got the ball." said Mellie.
+She didn't look up from her tablet.
+
+Biggers mouth dropped open. Every pair of eyes in the room was
+suddenly scrutinizing Mellie. She finally looked up at the astonished
+Biggers. "Right, Biggers?" and she smiled.
+
+Behan began to laugh, a couple others joined in, and soon the whole
+room was roaring with laughter. Biggers was a little hostile at first,
+but then he got a sheepish grin on his face and joined in the
+laughter.
+
+Mellie shook her head. It really hadn't been all that funny. She
+pulled her feet down from the desk and leaned forward and got back to
+work.
+
+A few days later, she had an opportunity to insert a comment about a
+case as she was walking past three of them. It was something that no
+one had thought of. "Did you check the time that it got dark last
+night? Dusk is divided into several segments. I don't remember all the
+names, but the last one is astronomical dusk when the sun is something
+like 18 degrees below the horizon and there's no sunlight left. Your
+visibility at that time is just about ten feet. If your witness
+claimed she saw the suspect clearly at that time from forty feet, she
+was lying." And she continued on her way. Hanson scurried to his desk
+to check the information.
+
+As she was leaving that night, Hanson stopped her. "Hey, Mellie." he
+called. She looked back and waited for him as he hurried to catch up.
+Hanson was in his 30s, getting a little thin on top and a little thick
+in the middle. He'd never said a word to Mellie before.
+
+"I wanted to say thanks. That little tip you dropped on your way past
+this morning made a big difference in the case." He looked out over
+Mellie's head. "The witness was definitely lying. You were right. We
+arrested her and she broke down a couple hours later and confessed."
+His gaze came back to Mellie. "Without that piece of information, we
+would have arrested the wrong person and gotten egg all over our
+faces. As it is, we're lookin' good." He tapped her on the shoulder,
+smiled, and said "Thanks." as he ran down the ramp to the street.
+
+Mellie watched as a good looking woman on a bright red Air Jumper
+picked him up. He hopped onto the back of the skimmer and they went
+roaring off into the night.
+
+There was a definite thawing in the attitudes of her colleagues in the
+next few weeks.
+
+==== John Behan: Detective, Resistance Fighter ====
+
+As Mellie slowly, carefully found her way into the brotherhood of
+detectives, Behan watched and silently cheered her on. He was
+delighted that she had discovered a way to get the 'boys' on her side.
+When she spoke, they started to listen, instead of talking over her.
+And they often acted on her advice, having found that she actually
+knew what she was talking about.
+
+He stopped worrying about her the morning he came into work and Mellie
+was sitting with one hip perched on Biggers desk, drinking a cup of
+coffee, and laughing with four of the detectives. He just smiled as he
+walked past and got to work.
\ No newline at end of file
projects / universe.git / blobdiff