From: Jason Self Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2022 16:19:48 +0000 (-0700) Subject: Publish new installment X-Git-Url: https://jxself.org/git/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=7cd0509257c995edcc16193c40d3f7ffa1625df9;p=universe.git Publish new installment --- diff --git a/agalder.txt b/agalder.txt index 076d697..95c8020 100644 --- a/agalder.txt +++ b/agalder.txt @@ -3205,4 +3205,93 @@ their shock and started talking all at once. Behan leaned toward Mellie. "Good work." he repeated. "But you painted a target on your back. Be careful." -She nodded and headed out the door. She needed to see Santorini. \ No newline at end of file +She nodded and headed out the door. She needed to see Santorini. + + +==== Mellie: Detective, Resistance Operative ==== + +Mellie Kaminsky was feeling pretty cocky after successfully taking +Roper down. She climbed in her little tan AirSedan and lifted off on a +course to the Green Palace. But before she reached her assigned +traffic lane, three AirScooters surrounded her. The men on them were +dressed in black and had black helmets. One pulled right along side +her vehicle and smashed the passenger side window. Mellie shot him +with her phaser, but he kept coming, like it had no effect at all. He +pulled open the passenger door and came in. + +She took a crowbar that she kept in the car and swung it with all her +might against his left shoulder as he crawled in the vehicle. That +stopped him. He screamed and fell back against the passenger door. The +door swung open. Mellie pushed hard against the thug. He grabbed her +wrist as he fell out of the sedan. Praying that the seatbelts would +hold, Mellie stabbed him with a knife that she always carried. He let +go and disappeared, falling. + +The other two had been waiting to see if their colleague would take +care of the problem. When they saw him fall thousands of meters, they +attacked together. Mellie dived and then rolled her sedan, doing +acrobatic maneuvers that she had learned at the Academy. She came up +behind one of the scooters and rammed him hard enough to leave him +hanging onto his bike with his hands while his legs flailed in midair. + +She was just congratulating herself when she looked up to see the +third scooter right in front of her. The rider tried desperately to +get out of her way but there wasn't enough time. She slammed into him +and together they fell. + +Desperately Mellie threw the sedan into reverse and managed to +disengage from the scooter. She pulled up hard on the stick, trying to +come out of the dive. And she almost made it. + +==== Harlan: Thief, Resistance Operative ==== + +Harlan had just hopped on his AirScooter when he heard the sound of +the collision in the sky. He looked up. There were just a few sparks +falling. He thought it looked like a sedan vs scooter accident and +took off to see if he could help. He recognized Mellie's sedan as she +pulled free of the scooter wreckage. His heart seemed to stop as the +little sedan's nose was pulled up, away from the hard, hard ground. He +reached for the com to call for help, but all they heard at the Green +Palace was a scream as her sedan plowed into trees along the highway. + +He came down almost as fast as she had, his scooter skidding sideways +and throwing up a wave of earth and grass. Running through the trees, +he tripped and fell twice but barely noticed. He found the wreckage +back in the woods. The vehicle was wrecked, steam pouring from the +front. He saw a few flames. But he couldn't see Mellie. The protective +bags covered all the windows. Then he saw a hand pawing at the window. +It dropped to the door handle and the door cracked open about five +inches. The bags were still in the way, but the hand shoved a crowbar +at him. He had the door off in three minutes. + +Reaching through the bags, he felt her. He also felt blood. Cutting +the seatbelt with his knife, he started to pull her out. But she +resisted him briefly. She cried out as he removed her from the +vehicle. Her face was covered with blood and she was cradling her +right arm. + +He tried to stand but his knees gave out and he sank to the soft +ground. Holding her gently, he wailed, great, heaving sobs that +threatened to tear his chest apart. He tried to talk, to tell her that +his heart would die if she did, but she hugged him, pointing out that +there were flames coming from the front of the car and would he please +take them somewhere else? + +He carried her to the road where Santorini, Behan, and most of the +detective squad were just touching down. Mellie lifted her left hand +and waved at them. Behan sagged against his sedan as he realized that +she wasn't dead. Hanson and Biggers gently cleaned some of the blood +off her face. Finding a scalp laceration, they packed it and then +placed a splint on her arm. + +She accepted all these ministrations with good grace although she +yelped a few times. By the time the emergency vehicle arrived, she was +already bandaged. The emergency personnel scooped her up and headed +for the hospital. They let Harlan ride with her because they realized +he wasn't going to take no for an answer. Getting her out of his arms +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