From: Jason Self Date: Sun, 5 Jun 2022 17:00:16 +0000 (-0700) Subject: Publish new installment X-Git-Url: https://jxself.org/git/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=c63a86cd691e27d6410dd127ad98d8aaa31167af;p=universe.git Publish new installment --- diff --git a/agalder.txt b/agalder.txt index 2580a7f..4df21b8 100644 --- a/agalder.txt +++ b/agalder.txt @@ -2316,4 +2316,156 @@ with Silver at that time. But he sat down and they talked. For hours. 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. \ No newline at end of file