From: Jason Self Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2022 16:38:08 +0000 (-0700) Subject: Publish new installment X-Git-Url: https://jxself.org/git/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=28568bac70ea1747ac6779d8922d65fd9586848d;p=universe.git Publish new installment --- diff --git a/agalder.txt b/agalder.txt index 881b684..95d5213 100644 --- a/agalder.txt +++ b/agalder.txt @@ -3433,4 +3433,146 @@ was hard enough. Mellie was the only one to notice that, while everyone recognized Harlan, no one made any attempt to restrain him. He was a thief, but he was also a legend. And Agalder had few legends. Its people tended -to treat those legends with respect. \ No newline at end of file +to treat those legends with respect. + +==== Santorini: Boss of the Resistance ==== + +Another of those legends watched the lights of the emergency vehicle +disappear into the traffic lanes in the night sky. Santorini had put +his head in his hands and cried when he saw that Mellie was alive. Now +a couple of the detectives were eyeing him. They looked to Lt. Marks +who shook his head. No messing with the legends tonight. + +Santorini kept his gaze on the sky, but he didn't miss the exchange. +He smiled as he climbed back into his AirSedan and headed back to the +Green Palace. Watching the lights of the traffic and the city, he was +going over the plans for the next day. He needed to check with Behan +to see when his partner intended to initiate the take-over of the +police headquarters. His very last thought was how much he was looking +forward to peace and prosperity for his planet. + +The missile hit his sedan just to the rear of the passenger door and +exploded. Wreckage fell over a four square kilometer area. + +Harlan: Thief, Resistance Operative + +The fractures in Mellie's arm were multiple and involved both the +forearm and the wrist. So Harlan was sitting outside the surgical +suite when Jurgeson, one of Santorini's aides, came running up to him. + +He bent over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air. "They +need...you. At the...Green Palace. Now." + +Harlan had stood up. Now he leaned closer to the runner. "Why? What's +going on?" + +The man straightened up, putting a hand on the wall. Harlan saw that +his eyes were red and swollen and tears were running down his cheeks. +"Santorini's dead." he said, face screwing up like a little kid's. +"Somebody brought him down with a missile." + +Harlan's gut felt like someone had hit him in the gut. He sat down, +staring at nothing. Then he jumped up again. "Wait. No. I just saw +him. He was fine." + +The other man nodded. "They got him when he was leaving the scene of +Mellie's crash. Behan's car blew up, too, but he wasn't in it. It was +still on the ground. They don't know yet whether it was another +missile or a bomb." + +He took Harlan's arm, trying to drag him away. "Look. You've got to +go. Now. I'll stay here with Mellie. I won't leave her side until you +get back." He pushed Harlan toward the exit. "Now go!" + +"But why? Why do they need me so much?" + +The other man smiled sadly. "Because you're now the Boss of the +Resistance." + +"Me?!" + +"Yeah. You. Santorini told us last week. With things coming to a head, +he wanted the order of succession clear in everyone's mind. He even +printed it out and signed it." + +Harlan shook his head. "But why me?" he asked. + +"Probably because you would ask that question. He said you'd feel +unworthy of the position. You're not cocky." He hesitated and smiled +slightly. "At least not most of the time." + +Harlan turned to stare at the door of the OR for a moment. Then he +laid his hand on Jurgeson's shoulder. "You take care of her. They may +come after her again. I'll send backup. Make arrangements to move her +to the Palace as soon as possible." + +The Green Palace looked like a bee's hive that someone had just +kicked. He walked in and saw all the red, weepy eyes and snotty noses. +They were all talking at once. The noise was unbearable. + +He put two fingers in his mouth gave a piercing whistle. Everybody +shut up and stared at him. "All right. We've lost the Boss. There will +never be another like him. And nobody ever call me Boss." He looked +down at his boots for a moment. "But I want to know what's going on +now. Is anyone missing? Who's looking for the killers? And I want them +brought in alive. Understand? Come on people. This is too important to +stand around and cry. We've got work to do. Get me a sit-rep." + +He set up his office in an auditorium. A desk was placed in the middle +and someone remembered to bring a chair. Computers and vid-screens +covered 180 degrees of the walls. There were desks all around, +climbing up to a viewing section at the top. Most of the desks were +occupied with people speaking to faces on screens and to each other. A +line formed in front of Harlan's desk. Most people had simple +questions or suggestions, some of which were important. + +John Behan came up behind him and leaned down. He said "Mellie's doing +fine. Drowsy and in no pain at the moment. Jurgeson and three others +that I trust are with her." + +Harlan looked up. "How did she take the news about the Boss?" + +Behan shrugged. "She was so sleepy that I didn't tell her. I'll drop +back later when she's awake. The staff knows to call me." + +He straightened up. "I'll be at APD Headquarters. It sounds like +they're getting restive over there." Smiling slightly, he patted +Harlan on the shoulder and left. + +It was several hours before Harlan could break away long enough to see +Mellie. Behan was there, holding Mellie in his arms while she cried. +Harlan felt a vast relief that he didn't have to tell her. + +She saw him and gave Behan a hug then held out her good arm to Harlan. +Sitting on the bed, he put his arm around her carefully. His other +hand reached out for Behan. Harlan looked at the older man and saw +infinite weariness and sorrow in his eyes. Behan squeezed his hand and +left and Harlan finally let his tears flow into Mellie's hair. + +==== Silver Santorini: Resistance Operative ==== + +Murphy's surgeons had not let him out from under their gimlet eyes. So +Silver treated him as if he were made of spun telucium and likely to +break at any time. She made him stay in the hospital area. She knew +exactly what would happen if she brought him home. He was just going +to have to wait until the doctors were certain that he was healed. + +She was singing as she started out for her parents' suite. They all +lived in the Green Palace. It was the safest and most defensible place +outside of APD Headquarters. She wanted to talk to her father. When +she got there, they told her that she would never be able to talk to +her father again. + +Jade, Emerald, Silver, and Garnet were devastated. But they had to +comfort their little sisters, Topaz and Golden. Their mother was in +shock. She sat in a chair and stared at a hologram of her husband. + +When Harlan finally was able to visit them, he went to Santorini's +wife, Lavender, and knelt beside her. Silver watched from across the +room as her father's successor spoke in low tones to her mother. At +first, nothing happened. Lavender remained almost catatonic. But +Harlan kept talking and Lavender's head slowly turned to look at the +young man. Once she even smiled. Then she began to weep, silently, +covering her face with her hands. The daughters gathered, pushing +Harlan out of the way. When they finally thought to look for him, he +had left. \ No newline at end of file