Short Story: R-Point

R-Point

Day 160

The General entered the tent.

“We've cleaned it up a bit, sir” the Corporal said as he motioned his superior over toward the notebook computer. “Listen to this.”

He hit the button and the recording plays, there was a lot of static but someone was talking through it, giving out coordinates. Finally and more clearly “This is the 4th E-platoon, we are still holding on, just barely...”

“You heard it?” the Corporal said

The General nodded. A Major in the communications unit came over. “They've been missing for 6 months, and presumed dead.”

The General thought about it. “Do we know where those coordinates are. Can we send a drone to see if there is anything there?”

The Major scratched his head. “Well, our forces are so badly mangled right now, I'm not sure we can spare a drone. I'm inclined to think they are either dead or captured, maybe the enemy is laying a trap for us.”

“That's an E-platoon! If they are alive, we need them.”The General said “We need to put together a team, a squad to find them and extricate them if possible!”

The Major nodded. “I can't promise much, I can send one special forces operative, a sniper and a couple of rangers. We're really in bad shape.”

“Just get it done, Major!” The General said “If we can get the E-platoon out, we might still have a chance to win this war.”

The General left the tent. The Major sat and shook his head. “I don't know. It doesn't look good for the human race at this point.”

The following morning a lightly armored vehicle left the secret base toward the coordinates heard in the message. They hid whenever they detected movement of enemy forces, it was good that the area was heavily wooded. The location they were headed to seemed to be on the edge of a swamp.

“Sergeant Stephen Wald sat in the passenger side of the vehicle watching the navigation system on a tablet computer, they were getting closer. They parked in a densely wooded area. The spot on their map was across some water.

“Could be gators.” one of the Rangers said. The other seemed startled by this idea.

“Get it together.” The sergeant told them. Then he looked at the corporal, the sniper, who seemed calm and had done a good job driving them. “Get your gear, I hope it's waterproof. We need to cross this, unseen. Once we get to the other side, you find a good nest fast.”

“Yes, sir.”

He led them into the moss and leaf-covered water slowly, so as to not disturb the surface or create ripples that might be seen by the enemy. All the way across they were able to keep their feet on the muddy bottom, no sign of the enemy or gators. Once they got out on the other side, they quickly moved to a dirt berm and used it as cover. A thick fog had rolled in.

“We should be able to find them quickly. I want you, corporal, to move toward those trees and find a sniper nest. Can't see much more in this dense fog.” he told them in a whisper as they huddled. The corporal moved away, initiated his active camouflage device and bent over to get as little attention as possible.

The Rangers pulled out their Mark 5 battle rifles and attached V-Scopes that should be able to see a ways through the fog. The sergeant pulled on a pair of goggles that had the same technology and a small Mark 4 sub-rifle. The three of them started up their active camouflage and moved over the berm with Rangers covering left and right while the sergeant covered straight ahead.

A few steps later they found themselves at the food of a stone stairway, something large was close to them, towering over them. The sergeant adjusted his goggles, it looked like some kind of building. There was no known building of this size in the area. It was quite large, a mansion.

“Why would there be a mansion here?” One of the Rangers asked when the fog thinned a little. The other Ranger looked a bit skittish.

“I grew up not too far from here. There were stories of an insane asylum in the swamp. Inmates who got out were killed by gators or snakes or something.”

The sergeant hit him on the shoulder. “Pull yourself together. This place looks abandoned. No sign of anything or anyone.”

“Something sent that signal.” The skittish Ranger said.

The sergeant opened a local channel to the corporal. “Looks like we might need to search this building. The survivors might be close, keep an eye open.”

“Yes, sir!”

The sergeant headed up the steps with the Rangers on either side of him. He keenly felt under-manned and under-gunned but with the war situation, it couldn't be helped. The double doors at the top of the stairs were warped and rotted and easy to push open. They turned on the lights on their guns and the foyer was dusty but abandoned. No footprints they could see.

There was a stairway going up and doors to either side, plus a corridor behind the stairs. The place looked very large from this vantage point. The left side turned out to be a dining room with several tables and then a kitchen.

The pantry had been stripped bare, there were boxes and cans all over the floor. It was messy but they didn't find anything. To the right side of the foyer there were offices, some of the paper files had been scattered everywhere. In the largest office the desk had been turned over, the chair behind it ripped to shreds, even the curtains thrown down.

“Okay, let's check the upstairs.” The sergeant said.

“Can't we go back and say there was nothing here?” The skittish Ranger said “This place is not right, I get really bad vibes here.”

The sergeant grabbed the mans helmet and pulled him up the first couple of steps. Once at the top there were corridors right and left and then right and left again in the opposite end. They pulled the first doorknob and the door disintegrated on contact. All 3 of them nearly fell down and backed up quickly at the sight of a mummified corpse still on its knees, mouth open in a silent scream and arms as if banging on the door.

“Oh my god!” The quiet Ranger said.

“Let's get away from here.” The more skittish officer said, panting for breath. The sergeant got his own breath under control and used his gun to push himself onto his knees and stood. “There's nothing we can do for this guy. Let's keep looking.”

“They aren't here! Can't you see that?” the quieter Ranger said “There would be footprints and items they used scattered about. There are no survivors here, sir”

The skittish Ranger scooted over the mummified corpse. He moved cobwebs aside and pointed.

“This was them. This was the 4th E-Platoon!”

The sergeant dropped down and got a close look at the dog tag around the neck of the remains, his breath deepening. He rubbed his eyes. “Where are their E-suits?”

Truth was, they were sent more to retrieve the E-suits than the soldiers. With the E- armored combat suits they could possibly exploit a newly discovered weakness of the enemy. The problem was this weakness had been found too late. No more of the powered-armor battle suits had been left and more could not be built.

“The enemy might have captured them.” The quiet Ranger said.

“Search every room. Search the garage, attic and everything else. We need to find those combat suits if they are here. We don't leave until every stone is turned over.”

Then the corporal broke in over the radio. “You guys don't need to look. They are outside. They are across the swamp looking at the vehicle, dragging it to the water.”

“The enemy?”

“Yes, wearing the E-suits.”

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This is sort of an homage (loosely) to a Korean film of the same name.

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Short Story: Unprepped

Unprepped

I remember that day. I remember the power went off. It went off and on several times that day before going off for good around midnight. The Game-Station died right in the middle of my battle with an Orc boss, it was really close but I think I would have beaten him. I rolled over on the couch and went to sleep, sure that the power would be on by morning.

Nope. Since I could not restart my game I went and took a shower, it was cold because the water heater was electric. I heard the front door open and slam, then the locks being turned, all six of them. Sandra was home, I hope she went by McDaniels and got me a breakfast sausage burger.

The door opened and I was startled enough to almost fall down in the tub. “Sandra!” I said, catching my breath “You scared me!”

“Mike! You won't believe it.” she said, she looked harried. She wasn't holding a paper sack with the MD logo either, or anything else. “Everything is shut down, the supermarket doors are open because they were stuck since last night, it's a mad house! Everyone was taking everything, there was hardly anything left. The whole town has gone nuts! The stores are empty.”

I wrapped a town around my waist, just my belly hung over it. “I'm sure it'll get back to normal soon, it always does. Is there anything to eat? I'm hungry.”

She rolled her eyes and went back out. “There are some Cheese Doodles and a left-over ham sandwich from last night.” she said looking through the fridge. I rolled my eyes, it was turkey ham; that is why it is still there!

She was sitting at the small table in the kitchen when I entered. “I don't think you grasp what is happening, Mike. It looks like the end of the world out there.”

I nodded and said “Calm down. If it's that bad the National Guard will be here soon to restore order and stuff. We have some canned goods, we'll survive.”

I look at the cellphone. Obviously there was no cellular connection but I had a little power left and there were games I could play on it. Then again, it might need to last days, I put it on standby mode and put it back down. I was proud I could be responsible like that.

The elderly woman next door knocked on the door and Sandra ushered her in. She was carrying a box and set it on the coffee table. “I know you guys sleep late, so I brought you something from the store.”

There were some canned goods, a package of chocolate chip cookies and a bottle of some cheap liquor in it. She smiled, some teeth missing and nodded. “Thank you, Lilly” Sandra said, and she sounded totally sincere. After the woman left she sat down on the couch next to me “She had two big carts of crap from the store! I guess we're lucky to get anything.”

Sandra leaned against me and put her head on my shoulder. It was quickly cutting into the circulation and she smiled. I know that smile. What a weird time to get frisky. I get my arm out from under her and throw it over her shoulder to let the circulation move again, it had gotten tingly.

“How in the world are we supposed to cook Mackerel?” I said, peeking into the box.

“If it's the end of the world, let's just forget about it. Let's drink that bottle and stay in bed all day!” she said, I was a bit put-off, it'd been months. It must be because of the stress of the outage and the shower I took. She grabbed my arm and tried to pull me up, as if she could budge me if I didn't want her to.

She had the bottle of that rotgut but I grabbed the cheese doodles from the warming fridge on the way into the bedroom. She was throwing the clothes from the bed onto the floor in the far corner. I moved the curtains over the window blinds to make it darker, it was impossible to sleep-and stuff- in the bright daylight.

So I let her have her way. I mean she let me have my way with her. Soon enough the liquor was wearing off and it was getting dark outside, really dark. She had been sitting between my legs while I massaged her back and shoulders, her muscles really were knotted up. When it was too dark to see we laid down and cuddled.

It was tough to sleep once the gunshots started. I looked outside about midnight to see that there were several buildings burning in our neighborhood. Sure we lived in a low-rent area but I never thought this kind of stuff would happen here. We didn't sleep, she was shivering like a scared puppy most of the night.

“Maybe it really is the end of the world.” She whispered. I tightened my arms around her. The only girl who ever showed the slightest interest in me, Sandra was my everything. It was her section 8 and food stamps that kept me housed and fed. Sometimes I felt like a bad person for not doing a better job as a man, but when she needed to scare someone off, I'd show up. My size is actually one of the reasons she hooked up with me, it was good to be scary big in this neighborhood.

“They looted and burned down both pharmacies!” someone had told us after we opened the windows and door once the sun came up. Everyone in the building was spending time out on the bannister because it was just hot and stuffy inside. One guy named Jamaal walked by handing out warm cans of beer, saying he couldn't drink it unless it was cold.

The only news we had heard from “outside” came from the police, firefighters and others who were trying to put out the fires and pretend to guard the looters. Looks like much of the east coast power grid had crashed, taking out a lot of the country with it. Except Texas.

“I don't have any clean clothes, Mike, why did this have to happen just before laundry day?” Sandra said digging through the closet. She finally ended up wearing tight yellow short shorts and a purple tube top that a friend had left. I saw her looking in the mirror shaking her head. Then she shrugged and put on big hoop earrings and the red high heels.

“Might as well go all the way with this look.” she said, I suppressed a laugh. She looked like some crazy hooker but that was normal in this part of town. Sure enough, nobody else even raised an eyebrow. That made me want to laugh even more. Then I remembered she was mine, and I wanted to drag her back inside to hide her.

A truck carrying ice and water came through and I was able to carry a few bags up to the apartment, we were second floor. I put them in the old cooler we had, the one with the broken spigot. We put a shoe under that end. We put the cans of warm beer inside and some bottled water, which was all we had at that moment.

There were more shootings and fires the next night. Again we just huddled on the bed and pretended it wasn't happening as best we could. The supermarket burned down, probably punished for having been looted off all the food. We only had a couple cans of food left, we had decided to save green beans, corn and leftover cranberry sauce from two Thanksgivings ago.

It was the food we wanted to eat the least, but that was neither here nor there.

I thought things would be peaceful again when the sun came up. I was wrong. Crowds of people started mobbing the police and fire trucks, throwing things at them, trying to smash the vehicles. I saw some of this from the bannister, I was completely shocked. I backed into the apartment and shut and locked the door.

Sandra had been washing her face. “What's up?” she asked.

“There's a riot.” I told her and she went back to washing her face in the kitchen sink. Then the water stopped and she turned the knob a few times.

“Seriously?” she asked and then she looked at me and then her eyes were red and brimming with tears again, “What are we going to do?”

I took a rag and got some water from the cooler and wiped her forehead with it. She put her hand over mind and sniffled. “I'm so scared, Mike.”

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Oasis: Part Three

See Part One

 

 Oasis

Part Three

“We don't even know who is behind all this.” Jake stressed “Yes, Mr. Campo is definitely a suspect but you can't go off and do crazy stuff.”

The Administrator turned to him with a vague look on his face. “Aren't we also citizens of Oasis? Are we not allowed to visit our own city?”

Jake closed his eyes and almost pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know what I mean, if dozens of your fliers show up at once, people are going to think your invading or something.”

“We call them our dragons.” Ria said “Not fliers.”

They were outside walking into a field where dozens of the flying machines were being prepped by crews and pilots.

Lily spoke up waving a hand at all the activity. “Yes, he's right. They will definitely take it as a hostile act, this definitely does look an invasion.”

Soon all of the crews were standing at attention next to their flying machines and the pilots were standing at attention in front of them. There was blue squad with Ria and Hando, but there were several other color-coded squads too. Including the older pilots in the gold squad.

Ria came up to Jake and pointed “What is that?” she pulled something from his jacket pocket and held it up “Where did you get a boomerazor?”

“I bought it from a street merchant. It's a bit rusty.” he answered rubbing the back of his neck.

She opened it up and looked inside. “Yes, it's rusty all right. That's my mark, you found one of mine out there! Ha!”

She handed it back to him and ran off to be with her crew.

The Administrator rubbed his chin. “The council has become someone's prisoner. That someone has hijacked the authority of the council to send orders to the defense forces. People and businesses have been bullied to remove the ability of the masses to fight a prolonged battle. All of this points to a coup in progress. I think we should go and find out what is happening.”

Jake shook his head. “They have their anti-aerial weapons readied. To everyone down there it's going to look like you started the war!”

The elderly man nodded. “Possibly.”

Jake gave up on the argument and joined his friends at their flying machine. Bolt said”They were very impressed with my engine design. I bet they'll try to copy it.”

Lily shook her head. “Bolt, this is not a good time.”

Just then a couple dozen armed men and women wearing some kind of armor jogged out to join the pilots. Jake didn't know what that was about but it looked like they were going to pair up on those flying machines, they didn't look like they would carry two.

“They only need to go downward.” Lily said “They'll drop the soldiers into the lake and be able to pull up.”

Jake looked at her like she had gone nuts. “That's crazy.”

“It's what they have been trained for.” she said “Hando was boasting about it”

Jake shook his head, “Hando needs to learn to keep secrets from people outside the clan before he gets himself in trouble. Let's go. I don't want to get shot out of the sky.”

The engines aimed downward and their aircraft lifted off the ground, after a dozen or so feet he turned toward the edge of the plateau and headed off. They would have to head back to Oasis City from the eastern area, hopefully they won't be mistaken for Air Knights.

Now that they remembered how to use the short-range radio they were able to chat a bit.

Lily asked “Are they going to try and gain entrance to the council building?”

Jake hoped not. “They could die if they did that. I don't know much of what they are planning, maybe the air show will be just a diversion.”

Bolt spoke up, “Maybe we should try to sneak in when their attention is on the Air Knights?”

Lily exclaimed “Us?”

Several thoughts went through Jake's mind. Should they just go back to the factory and hide there for the duration? Then he saw a dust cloud below them and saw two long columns of Caravan nomads in their wagons headed toward the city. This was strange.

“I'm going to go around first!” he told them. Oasis City wasn't very big but his suspicions were soon confirmed when he saw a large number of cycles heading toward the town from the south and west.

“Riders!” Lily yelled, “What's going on?”

Jake didn't know. “It looks like everyone is converging on the city.”

He flew through and around the airships surrounding the city and landed back in Mr. Tinker's factory after Bolt opened the roof remotely again. He took off his helmet.

“Something big is happening.” he said

“No kidding, but we still don't know who is behind all this!” Bolt said, tossing the helmet “We don;t know who the sides are, or who is behind all this. We can't fight a shadow.”

Jake went to the wall terminal and called his father.

“Where have you been?” his dad asked, concerned.

“Dad, listen. I'm fine. It looks like a war or something is breaking out. Maybe you can take Tawni and Jato and get away from Oasis City for a while?” he asked his father. His father replied calmly and evenly “You have to come too, Jake.”

“I think it's too late.” he told his father “Just go past the mountains until this is all over.”

“Jake, listen to me.”His father said “If you can't come here, find a safe place and hideout! Don't do anything stupid. Can you promise me that?”

Jake put a hand over his eyes. “I can try. Just get to safety!”

There was banging on the door and Bolt went over to it and activated the door monitor. It was Lily's little sister Tulip. She looked frantic and she ran into her sisters arms when Bolt opened the door for her.

“Lily! Some men came and took Dad away!” she said, tears in her eyes.

Lily lost her balance and Jake helped her sit on the floor. “Who were they? Did they say anything?”

Tulip and Lily were embraced and crying but she said “They said he was going to be a hostage.”

“Bolt. We might need some guns.” Jake told him.

Bolt looked confused “I was kidding about sneaking into the council building...” he lied “Let's pretend that idea never came up.”

Jake shook his head. “I think we have to. We have to find out what is going on before this whole situation explodes.”

Just then loud streaking sounds broke the silence from outside. They were shooting the anti-aerial weapons from around the council building. Jake opened the door and looked into the darkening skies to see several vehicles zipping around.

“The air show has started.” he told them “Bolt, we need to go.”

They left the girls in the factory and made sure the door locked. They walked down alleys as quietly as they could toward the council building. They wanted to avoid the troops, but instead of finding the place surrounded they found it mostly not.

“They must be fighting the Air Knights ground troops at the lake.” Bolt whispered. That was as good a theory as any. It also fit with what they knew. Only the anti-air batteries remained around the building, and maybe a few troops. With their attention diverted, it might actually be possible to sneak in.

The main entrance and the back entrance were both guarded, but the third entrance on the side for the staff seemed to be unguarded. It was very quiet on that side of the building.

“What are we going to do once we're inside?” Bolt asked. Jake hadn't decided that yet. He thought the council chamber, where their business was done in public might be the best location to look if there are a bunch of hostages. It's the only room big enough.

“We need to look into the council chambers.” was all he said. As if Bolt could figure out the whole plan from that much information. The door was unlocked and they sneaked inside, the lights were off in this corridor, it seemed abandoned. It led to the kitchen.

“Don't touch anything.” Jake said, knowing Bolt would probably want to touch anything that looked unfamiliar. He was as much into doodads as his father was. They made it through the kitchen without knocking pots, pans or hydrolizers off a shelf. The next room was the banquet room. There were a lot of tables but it was dark and nothing was stirring here either.

'Nice carpet.” Bolt said. It was soft and thick, good for absorbing sound as a matter of fact. It had to have been an antique from one of the original colony landings. Must be very expensive to import one of these from off-world, ridiculously expensive. Concentrate.

He looked out of a crack in the old door frame into the corridor. There were two armed soldiers in the hallway by one of the entrances to the chambers. One of the soldiers put a hand to his hear as if being told something and then saying “Roger that.” then to the other soldier “Out front, they need some help!”

Jake really hoped that didn't mean the ground force of the Air Knights was arriving already. Then he opened the door and duck-walked to the chamber door. He could hear voices from inside. He opened the door just a fraction of an inch and put his eye to it.

The closest thing was a footed foot of a soldier facing away from him. He could the back of several heads in the seats where the audience would watch the floor. It was darker there than down on the floor where the small part of the council desk he could see had members sitting there. The few he could see looked haggard, dark sacks beneath their eyes as if they hadn't slept since the “lock-down” began.

One of the few council members he could actually see sitting there like a refugee was Mr. Campo, and he looked pissed. The speaker, whoever it was, was droning on and on about a united and peaceful Oasis. A free and democratic Oasis. At this point Campo raising his shackled arms and clanging the chains “That's the sound of your freedom!”

At that moment Mr. Campo suddenly looked like a rebel freedom fighter compared to the suspicions Jake had been having. A figure crossed the small space he could see, just from the back Jake could see the man was tall, painfully thin and had a pony-tail.

“Temporary measure, Councilman Campo.” The man said “This will all be for the common good and you will all see it my way soon enough.”

Jake thought really hard. He didn't keep up on news, especially politics, but he didn't think man was on the council. How had this happened? How had some stranger walked into the center of government and claim its power for himself?

“You can't just expect this will end as you want it to.” Campo told him. “The people of this world are fiercely independent. I've warned them they need to forge a common identity myself, but not for the reasons you might think.”

The man raised both arms into the air as if he were surrendering. “Oh enlighten me, newcomer to the council.”

Mr. Campo gave a grim smile. “They will not accede to your demand. The people of this planet aren't the kind who would trade their freedom for anything you could promise them. I know it has happened all through human history, maybe it will happen here in the future. Not now, though, you could offer them heaven itself and they would throw you out on your ear.”

The man laughed. “Do you think I haven't done my homework? There is one thing that is more precious than heaven on this world. Water.”

Campo's head dropped and his shoulders sagged.

“These men joined me for water and enough land to start their own colonies once Oasis is a lush green utopia. Their all going to be filthy rich. Your army has become my army. Everyone will fall into line for water. To see Oasis bloom they would sign a new Constitution, I only want to rule for 99 years.” The man said, Jake couldn't believe that a maniac like this had already fooled many Authority soldiers. He wondered how many outside or sent to the lakefront to fight even knew what was happening.

“They might fall into line to save the people you took as hostages.” someone said “They won't really mean it. Someone will come and stop you.”

The man laughed again. “The Star League will be happy to see Oasis united and becoming more than a dry dirtball. Sure, it won't lift a finger to bring water and it won't lift one to stop me.”

The man turned around. Suddenly Jake started to recognized that face. Almost handsome but with that ugly scar on his left cheek. It just could not be true. “The Cavers, the Caravans, the Riders and others all want to have their own green lands, I can give it to them. Why should it all be localized in this one valley?”

It made no economic sense to bring ice asteroids from the outer system, unless this pirate was planning to restart the colonization process. Why would the Star League stand aside and let this happen? How could Matt Dillinger have taken over the council and army?

He crawled back to the kitchen where he found Bolt nibbling on some fruit. He looked up and slid over to Jake. “What did you find out?”

Jake breathed a deep sigh. “Space pirates.”

Bolt tilted his head. “Sun stroke?”

“Matt Dillinger is in there. The council is shackled. The hostages aren't moving, as if they were scared to move. He bribed the soldiers to join him!” Jake told Bolt all this, hardly believing it was real. “I have a feeling that he isn't alone either. Where are his ships? His men?”

If the Star League had paid any attention to Oasis before maybe this wouldn't be happening, how could they let a member world be invaded? This violates the charter is so many ways. The Star League could have sent ships to drag the ice asteroids to Oasis without a coup. Maybe Dillinger was lying and the League knew nothing, which would make sense. The League really didn't pay attention to the desert world.

Quickly they were back outside the council building. The air show was still happening, there was a soldier on the ground in the road with a boomerazor in his chest. As they watched a laser zapped one of the dragons like it was a bug and it headed toward the ground. The pilot was able to pull up barely but it simply lessened the impact as it hit a barn.

Jake ran to the barn and opened the door. There were small fires breaking out, he saw Bolt start winding the pump next to the door. Water began dribbling from the ceiling pipes as Jake walked through the mess. He found broken dragon parts and then a pilot on a stack of hay, unmoving. He grabbed the body and turned it over and both he and Ria yelled at the same time.

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Link to Part Four

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Short Story: Texas 2121: The Rookie

Texas 2121

The Rookie

Rocky couldn't believe the dumb luck. He had somehow been chosen to partner with a new rookie Ranger. This was a duty he had been able to avoid for the first 15 years on the job. He took a swig from the flask and slid it back into its leg holster where it would be hidden under his duster.

“Okay, Rocky,” he told himself “Let's go meet this green Ranger.”

The door slide open as he strode inside, passed the lobby desk with a wave of his hand over the laser reader and into the chute. The air pressured chute shot him to the 4^th floor and he walked across the hall and into the chief's office without knocking.

“Okay Gramm, I'm here. Lay it on me, I can take it.” Rocky said. The gray-haired fat bureaucrat had become very tolerant of this kind of thing in past decade. He hardly even reacted at all.

“Rocky, meet your new partner.” He said motioning to the chair between them. Rocky looked at the chair and back to the chief behind his large wooden desk.

“The chair is empty.” Rocky said “Am I being paired up with a ghost?”

“Not as exotic as all that.” Chief Gramm said with a sly grin, “Meet Boda.”

The chair swiveled around to face Rocky. There was a 3-foot elf sitting on the chair in some type of overalls with a Ranger badge on. It seemed to be grinning, but maybe that was a neutral look for his species.

“Hello, Mr. Rocky.” it said “Boda, my name is.”

Rocky had a feeling this was going to be a long month.

As they left the building Rocky was back into his element. “First thing to know is, I'm the boss, I have the experience and you should listen when I say something.”

“Understand, I do.” Boda said, the backward English made Rocky grit his teeth. He would hold it in, it's not good manners to make fun of immigrants. Rocky stopped in front of the big black SUV and held out a hand.

“This beauty is the best vehicle that the Rangers can buy. It's outfitted with everything one could need in the field.” Rocky said as he hit the right button on his cufflink and the doors opened up for them. “I'm driving of course.”

They climbed in. Boda could barely see over the dash but he (?) hadn't complained. His pointed ears did droop just a bit when the General Patriot 2250 lifted into the air and Rocky ignored the regular traffic lanes. “We're going to make a stop in Hauston before we head out west.”

Boda just nodded.

Soon enough they had crossed town and stopped on the roof of Betty's Place Bar & Grill. Boda followed down the stairs into the loud music and the sound of clinking glass. A few people stopped to gape at the short alien with a badge, but it's not like they haven't seen an alien before. The big red furry guy sweeping the floor was proof of that.

The bald man tending bar didn't look happy to see them but he dutifully set out two glasses as they sat on the bar stools. Rocky hadn't been looking when Boda got up there, it was as tall as he was. He'll see it next time.

“What'll you have Rock-man?” the congenial but worried bartender asked.

“Two cold ones should be good, Fred. Don't worry, I'm not here to see you.” Rocky told him and he looked very relieved as he filled up the glasses with domestic brew. “I'm here to ask Betty a couple of questions. Is she around?”

Fred looked put out for a second and with what seemed to be a bit of a huff walked to a small cabinet, pulled out a yellow blond wig and put it on his bald pate. Then he, -pardon- she, came back and smiled at the two lawmen.

“What can I do for you boys today, Rocky?” she asked then looked at the smiling, green face of Boda and asked “Are you male? Are you old enough to drink?”.

Rocky put his emptied glass down on the bar with a thump. “We aren't here to fraternize, Betty. I need to ask you a couple of questions. Questions about Ro Bart, you know him, he was a regular here for a short time.”

She was blank for a second but her face lit up. “Oh right, Ro Bart. I wonder whatever happened to that son of a....”

“He's wanted on attempted murder.” Rocky said and then bent down and said in a quieter voice “Allegedly he tried to ax his wife. Killed a robot too, but that's not a crime if it was his property.”

Betty opened a bottle of water and took a long drink. “As I recall he had a cabin north of Bothur, not too far from the coast.”

This was good. Rocky needed a little more detail if he could get it. “Anything more specific?”

She leaned forward and tickled his chin. “Might be, if'n you call me honey once.”

Boda choked on the beer he had been pretending to sip this whole time.

Rocky chuckled. “Okay, Betty honey, if you know something else, and you don't tell me it's a crime.”

She rolled her eyes. “Thicket Mills, look there.”

Rocky slapped five Sammies on the bar and put his hat back on “Thank you, kindly.”

Boda and him went back up the stairs and started south. Soon enough Rocky had his SUV flying at 600 kph, which was almost fast. Boda worked the computer as they rushed into the area of Thicket Mills, quickly narrowing the list of fake names that could be their suspect.

“Swamp, this is.” Boda said “Feels like home, it does.”

Boda pinpointed the cabin and they lowered their altitude. Soon they were hovering right over the moss-covered swamp water and nudging through some trees. The cabin had a large wooden deck for a porch. They silently hovered next to it and got out.

Rocky grabbed the shotstub from between the seats as Boda pulled out his needle gun and went wide right of the door. Rocky took the left side.

“Alright, come on out Ro Bart! We know your in there!” Rocky yelled

As expected the door exploded from an inside blast. Rocky tossed a stunball inside and turned inside right after it flashed. Ro Bart was on his hands and knees as if he was searching for his glasses.

“Dang you Rocky!” he said, feeling his face and noticing the goggles were still there. “I know'd you come for me! I just know'd it!”

Rocky grabbed Ro Bart's arm. “You gotta do your time, Ro, you did the crime.”

“S'not me! I tain't did nothing.” Ro Bart protested as his arms were bound behind his back, but he was just going through the motions. His heart wasn't in the protest at all.

“I know you loved her, Ro, but you shouldn't have tried to hurt her.” Rocky said leading out to the wooden deck.

After shutting the door to the back seat he looked at his new partner. “Thanks for covering me, I didn't even have to tell what you to do. Looks like your training already took hold. Ro here, he ain't all that bad he just dumb crap sometimes, he gets emotional. He's a sad man.”

“Understand, I do.”

“I like to break in the new guys with a fishing trip in the Gulf, we usually just get drunk without catching anything. Ever been fishing?” Rocky asked as an alligator crawled onto the deck behind him. Boda raised his hands and the alligator lifted off and the ground and was flung back into the water, Rocky saw none of this.

“Young as you think, I'm not. Quite old, I am.” Boda said as he strapped himself back into the SUV.

“I think we're going to get along great as partners, Booda.” Rocky said as the SUV rose straight into air.

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Short Story: Mine

Mine

It's all rock. Dark rock as far as the eye could see. This whole planet seemed to be one big overheated rock. The sun wasn't bad, no way to get a sunburn, the heat seemed to emanate from the ground itself. As if it were a giant lump of charcoal. The air was thin and barely breathable. Too much time spent thinking up analogies, too much time alone on this worthless rock.

There were some flying creatures but I've not got a good look at them. The only food source are the hard-shelled lizards, or were they crabs? I guess I would have to name those things sooner or later, Lord knows I've eaten plenty of them by now. Just not enough of them to keep me from being tired and losing muscle mass.

My parents had thrown their fortune into buying this planet, then spent years trying to get their money back and then they died. This was my pathetic inheritance. Without the ability to earn much of a living at odd-jobs that couldn't pay rent on shack I took up a position on a star freighter. Got sick on my first trip when they initiated me with a zero-gravity in a pitch dark room prank.

Never lived that down. The rest of the crew treated me like I was beneath their contempt. All my belongings were in a crate on that ship. My open-top vehicle, a veek and a backpack. On my fourth trip I inquired if I could get a look at the world I owned and they decided to just leave me here.

That was two years ago. I've been roaming the surface of this planet since then. My veek, powered by an atomic battery, will last for years more. There has to be something on this planet besides me and the lizards or crabs or whatever. Since they exist there must be some water somewhere. I can't dig through the rock with the weak laser I have on the veek, though.

I know there was an attempt to mine the planet before my parents realized there was really nothing that would recoup their investment. I want to see what is down there. Maybe they hit a vein of water or something. I've traveled a long way in two years, been to both poles and there was no ice. It was a little cooler but the heat from the ground wasn't lessened much.

I had to reserve as much energy as I could, not just because I haven't been eating enough lizards but the thin air made everything worse. The only shade I made for myself was out of my old uniform, on a frame made from parts of the crate, I connect a hammock to it and to the veek to stay off the hot ground. It was as comfortable as it got. It's not like I need the uniform except for the boots, so it's all I wear.

I would use the veek's communicator to send out distress calls but it's range was too small, a ship would have to be almost as close as orbit to pick up the signal. Not that it would cause me to give up, but I was tired a lot lately.

Then one morning I'm shocked. I see three small buildings and the opening of a mine from the top of the ridge. I race down to the veek and negotiate the boulders (the veek hovers a couple feet off the ground) and then across the flat expanse to the abandoned mining operation.

Of course I checked the buildings first. One had been used as offices, another was barracks and the last one was storage, a mostly empty storage building. But it was off the ground and lying on the ground was very comfortable in comparison. After a nap I searched what little I found in the buildngs. A bag of old chips, I munched them as I continued looking around.

A big air conditioning unit. No generator. I could plug it into the veeks atomic battery I suppose but that wasn't a priority right now. The mine. I wanted to know what was down there.

I carry two hand-held lamps to the veek and let them charge from the battery for a while. I didn't suppose it would get colder down there, probably hotter actually. Since the heat came up from the ground I would bet everything on hotter. So I wouldn't need any of the spare uniforms I found in storage.

After a couple of hours I couldn't wait any longer. I wanted the mystery solved so I took the lights and entered the mine. About fifty yards in there was no more light from outside, I turned the first of the lights on. About one hundred and fifty yards in I must be at least fifty yards underground. There was some moisture on the walls and the temperature hadn't changed much.

About four hundred yards in and more than a hundred yards under the surface, the walls were still the dark gray rock I saw up top. There were dribbles of water on the floor going downhill. Then I reached the end. There was a large puddle of water at the bottom about two feet deep from wall to wall and stretched ten meters to the end of the mine. The lizard-crabs were loving it here.

At least I would have my fill of the lizard crabs and use of the water. A hot bath just sitting there waiting for me and I'd be surrounded by my prime food source.

I shine the light on the wall, unbelieving that it really ended right here. I sit and breathe as eeply as the thinning air allowed. One big wall of solid, worthless diamond. Probably a deep layer of it all over this world. Further down was probably the molten core that was giving off all the heat. The end of my search was fruitless. A world not worth having and it was all mine.

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Very Short Story: Last One Off

Last One Off

The monetary crisis was global, the debt bubble finally burst. Money became worthless, the cities burned, the farms and factories went belly up. Some survived on their food stocks, some on barter but it was useless. Even the idea of starting over with no debt didn't work, government unions demanded that their benefits be guaranteed under any new system.

There is very little lift. Those of us lucky enough or who had the resources were getting off this doomed planet. Maybe one day some of us will return when this brush fire ran out of brush to start over. There was no more looting and rioting, there was nothing left to steal or burn, the remnant still alive were living under tarps and those could be stolen by thugs at any time.

I avoided eye contact the whole way to this secret location. They brought me into the underground launch center and strapped me into my seat. There were a few dozen of us. Nobody said anything as the countdown proceeded quietly on the screen at the front of the cabin. My eyes were still red, civilization had once again crashed and burned. But I refused to shed another tear. It might not be true, but I cannot say humanity didn't do this to themselves.

Lessons learned to be unlearned again in the future. Like a never-ending cycle. Let it burn, rebuild from the ashes. Maybe the O'Neil cylinders weren't so bad, maybe I could have a nice life there and slowly forget about Earth. Less than a quarter million humans were escaping to the cylinders, well already had really.

This ship was the last one. The launch pad rose until we were on the surface. The lights illuminating the ship and rocket were the only electric light that could be seen across the continent now. Briefly I wonder how long the lights would last after we leave.

The countdown reached 3 and the main engines were lit up. Goodbye Earth, maybe my children will return some day to rebuild.

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Natural City (2003)

One thing I like almost as much as science fiction are Korean drama's (with sub-titles, naturally), merging these two things is nearly impossible. There have been some Korean science fiction films, such as this one called Natural City where renegade cyborgs are hunted by two cops.

Oasis: Part Two

Part One Here

Oasis

Part Two

The following morning Jake made it to breakfast and found his father eagerly reading the news on the flimsy. He hardly heard anything his little sister or her friend said, not really understand little kids much.

“Dad. Any political news today? Any shootings?” he asked as if he were just shooting the breeze. He father put the flimsy on the table top and looked at his son.

“Shootings? That's specific, why are you asking me that?” he asked, Jake tried not to look suspicious or anything.

“No reason”

“Well” his father said, picking up the flimsy again, “It just so happens that the Council Chambers are on lock-down, the report says there was a credible threat against the government.” He handed the flimsy to Jake and went back to eating his morning soup. “Of course, it could all be a lie. Government lies a lot.”

Jake was surprised to hear his father say that but he read the story. Apparently the council was rousted from bed in the early hours of the morning and soldiers were ordered to lock the place down. There have been no contact with the members of the council since then, although anti-aerial laser weapons were deployed in the vicinity.

“Has the government applied to the Star League for help?” Jake asked, not seeing anything about it in the story.

His father shook his head. “No. Apparently they want this to stay internal, or domestic, as they say.”

Jake gave the flimsy back to his father and wolfed down his soup. Then he was soon sliding down the anchor rope with his hook again, despite his fathers warnings. He was in far too much of a hurry to start using the vator now.

He found Bolt at the noodle shop. He didn't look like he had slept much and he was nursing the bowl instead of eating properly but he was there.

“Bolt, how is your father?” Jake asked

“Better.” his best friend muttered.

Lily didn't say anything as she set sat down on the opposite side of the table. “He's been here for an hour, and he won't say much.” she said.

“Bolt. Do you know who might have done that to your father?” Jake asked “Because I think it's probably directly related to the lock-down of the council!”

Bolt pushed the bowl away. “You think so? I'm so glad I wasn't the only one.”

“We're your friends, you should tell us.” Lily said before getting up to serve another customer.

“She's right.” Jake told him, then bent in and whispered “I saw a man shoot at an Air Knight yesterday, but she got him in the jugular with a boomerazor!”

Bolt's eyes widened.

“There was nothing about that in the news today. Someone has covered it up.” Jake told him, then he looked around for possible spies before saying “I think that Mr. Campo character is up to something sinister, but I couldn't prove it.”

Bolt looked at him suspiciously. “What do you want from me?”

Jake smiled. “A vehicle. An aerial vehicle if possible.”

Bolt chuckled. “I don't have one, and you don't know how to fly one.”

Jake hushed him. “Listen, you have access to the manufactory don't you? You can make one for me, I need to get to the Air Knights.”

Bolt was still not taking this seriously. “Even if I could, and you could fly it, they'd fight you off before you could get to the plateau. Especially if someone were shooting at one of them yesterday. Plus I would need...” He seemed to be fishing in his mind for something.

“Need what? If I can do it, I'll do it.” Jake told him.

“I want to go too” Bolt told him. Jake crossed his arms and sighed, then nearly fell over when Lily screamed “I'll go too!”. He hadn't known she was standing behind him and he had been startled.

“How could we all go?” Jake asked “That would be a bit too conspicuous! They might think we are invading.”

Bolt shook his head. “I know their radio frequencies. Well, one of them. I don't understand the codes they use, but we can tell them we're coming in peace.”

Lily hit Jake on the shoulder. “See, we can do this.”

“Jake, I'm going to need some help on that aerial vehicle.” Bolt told him “Come on!”

Lily stayed with the noodle shop as Bolt navigated the alleys and bi-ways of the city to a nondescript building that had no signage at all. “No reason to advertise. My dad does all his real business from the house.”

Bolt punched in a 9-numeral code into the lock and they were soon inside. Many of the machines had been smashed and some looked like they could not be repaired. Bolt showed him one that hadn't been touched in a far corner.

“It will take longer with one machine, but I already happen to have two turbojet engines I made for a future project.” he pointed to a far wall where a shelf was covered by blue tarp. While Bolt initiated the design computer, Jake walked over and pulled off the tarp. Under it were two silver cylinders about the size of a keg.

“Okay, if it's going to carry the three of us...” Bolt was saying to himself as he designed a basic outline for the aerial vehicle. “I want to have vertical takeoff ability...” Bolt muttered, Jake looked at the screen to see the rendering of the vehicle with the engines on a swivel of some kind. It looked a bit dangerous, to tell the truth.

“Those vertical tails are too small, they'll need to be bigger to give us some rudder control. Unless you feel like flipping sideways for every turn.” Jake told him. Bolt ran the design through a simulation, it crashed on takeoff.

“Needs some more work.” Bolt said. “When you mentioned the shooting incident, you said the Air Knight was a girl. How did you see her?”

Jake shrugged. “She landed on the ground with a busted engine. Her name was Ria and she was about our age too.”

Bolt paused what he was doing. “Don't let Lily hear you talking about her.”

“I barely got to say hello before some others showed up and took her and her vehicle away.” Jake told him “None of them seemed to be that old. Maybe they were a trainee squad or something.”

Fact is that very little was known about the society of the Air Knights. It was rumored that they have their own small oasis on the plateau and had their own farms and orchards. Since they seemed to purchase very little from the other tribes, they probably had to have their own factories too. A lot of the other twelve tribes had bad feelings for the Air Knights because they were aloof, they might have been a bit envious too.

Just before dark the assembly of the large aerial vehicle was completed. Bolt and he had spent a lot of time putting the engines on just right. When Bolt tested the controls the engines did exactly as they were supposed to do. There was a small computer in the vehicle, Bolt moved the controls and Jake moved an engine (both moved since they were synchronized) and this told the computer what was supposed to happen.

This 'manual programming' lasted until after dark. Jake borrowed a flimsy from Bolt, he would need to get one of his own sooner or later, and sent a message to his father that he would be staying overnight.

“It's good he knows where I am, in case something happens.” Jake said “It just makes me feel like a kid or something.”

Bolt laughed. “My dad can track my flimsy. You should feel lucky. I mean, it's not like there is anywhere to go.”

“Besides the plateau” Jake pointed out and they both laughed. “Can this thing really carry the three of us?”

Bolt looked offended. “Of course. These engines could get us half-way to mach one”, before adding, less enthusiastically “Probably anyway. I don't want to try that, though.”

Jake looked at the flat winged craft, the two keg-shaped engines between three seats that looked like they had come off a hover-scoot. No way to buckle up, apparently you were supposed to put your feet into stirrups and hand on the handles. The wingspan was about 3.7 meters.

Jake looked at the door, then at the big roll-up door on the other side. “I think we might not be able to get it outside.”

Bolt laughed at him and pointed straight up. Jake looked up and saw that the roof could open up for them. “Seriously?”

“Why do you think I wanted vertical takeoff?” his friend asked and smiled. “I got two cots in that closet over there, you pull them out while I pour us a tall glass of cold water.”

They sat on their cots and looked at the flying machine. “My dad is going to freak when he finds out how much of his stuff I used for this. That was a lot of granulated metal that I fused together. I wonder how much power I used from the sodium reaction system?”

Jake nodded. “If we can find out who did this, I think he will forgive you.”

“Tomorrow, we fly!” Bolt said in what was supposed to be a dramatic voice.

“Go to bed, already.” Jake said.

Jake woke up bright and early, washed his face and found Bolt returning with two bowls of breakfast soup and rice. “Lily is going to be here in a few minutes.” he said as Jake ate. “I put together some packs for us, stuff we might need. I made you a helmet, here are some goggles... are you paying attention?”

“Not really” Jake said “I get it, stuff we need.”

Bolt threw something at him and he caught it. It was a leather jacket. It was actually pretty cool and it looked a bit like what Ria had been wearing. For a second he wondered whether he was doing this to uncover the truth or to see her again. He didn't arrive at a conclusion before Lily showed up, already wearing the leather jacket.

“Jake. The council is still locked down, can you believe that?” Lily asked as she sat in the middle seat of the aerial vehicle. “Something big is going on and nobody has any idea what it is.”

“You would think the Star League would do something.” Bolt said.

“No. They don't care about a backwater planet like ours.” Jake said “Have they ever done anything for Oasis?”

Jake remembered history class. The Star League, so noble and grand, their mission to help mankind spread to the stats peacefully. They had taken out several tyrants in their heyday but they had become little more than a bureaucratic clubhouse. The chance of them stopping whatever was going on was none, even if a tyrant did takeover they'd study it for years and years before the first bad note was sent.

“I'm taking the middle seat, Lily. I need to fly this thing.” Jake told her.

“I thought Bolt was going to fly it, or a computer.” she said with a concerned look on her face. Then she winked at him and pulled his arm. “I'm just playing.”

With that they all took a seat on the aircraft, feeling exposed since they were on the outside. “It's like a motorcycle with wings” Bolt had said.

Jake started up the engines, as Bolt hit a button on his wrist and the roof opened up for them. The engines whined as they spooled up and when the power was more than sixty percent, he turned on the thrust and the aircraft rose upward. A bit to one side and then the other, as Jake tried to get a feel for it, as soon as the roof was cleared he began to nudge it toward forward flight.

Soon they were moving at a good clip and were already getting to the lakes that made up the oasis this world was named for. Jake increased altitude until the lakes were small and behind them. They were flying over the belt of farms and orchards, the expanse of green was beautiful from up there.

Suddenly the land angled downward and the orchards gave way to a grassy scrub-covered land, they had reached the area between the settlement and the plateau. Jake flew steadily, trying not to be threatening in anyway. Bolt got his attention and motioned for him to use the radio. Jake had totally forgotten about that.

He turned it on and heard voices. “Blue One, Up Four. Angels Six.... Roger, rolling.”

Jake didn't understand any of that but he had to break in. “Hey, we're flying to the plateau, we are not armed. We come in peace, this is important. Does anyone hear me?”

After a pause he heard. “I think someone is using our frequency.”

Then “Looks like we have company, look alive people. We need to show the flag!”

Almost as quickly five flying vehicles appeared as dots over the plateau but within seconds had passed them and were turning around.

“Blue lead here. We have a three-seater incoming!” he heard over the radio “Please advise.”

Jake looked side to side. There were two Air Knights on each side of them, he looked around for the other one. It was behind and above them. That person had an easy target if they were cleared to stop the intrusion.

“Escort them to East Field, directly. If they stray, boom them.” the clearly female voice told the Air Knights who were surrounding him. Jake concentrated when two of the Knights got out in front and pulled to the right. Jake could make out some buildings to his left, some greenhouses in the distance possibly but he was headed away from these things.

Two of the lead Knights dropped low, popped drag chutes and then slid to a stop. Jake pulled back on the stick and went into a hover and then slowly dropped to the landing zone. As the vehicle touched the ground they were surrounded by at least three dozen of the Knights, their uniforms did vary a little with a different color stripe on their sides.

“I need to ask something from you or your leaders.” Jake said as he took the helmet off “It's about the lock-down at the council, I think.”

“I remember you!” a girl stepped forward, it was Ria, “Did you really want to follow me all the way home like a puppy?”

The other Knights laughed, but Ria walked right up to him after he got off the vehicle. “What was this all about again? If this isn't good, I'll push you off the plateau myself.”

“I think the man who shot at you might have been working for Council member Campo.” Jake told her, she looked a little taken aback.

“What makes you say that?”

“His goons beat up my dad and trashed our factory!” Bolt said.

“Someone has been restricting access to weapons and ammunition, in secret. I think only someone on the council can get that kind of power.” Lily said.

A tall boy came forward, his red hair was cut to the top of his head like a small cap. “I guess that means we know who we're at war with then.”

“Hando, we don't get to decide those things.” Ria said “We need to take them to see the Administrator, so they can tell their story and then we can kick them off.”

She sounded serious but some of the other Knights snickered.

They were taken to a large white building with a small greenhouse connected to the side, they were brought into the greenhouse. It was lined with plants in large pots and small trees, but the center was a pool of water and farther down there was gym equipment.

“This building is the barracks.” Ria told them.

A boy and a girl were swimming laps in the pool. None of the three of them had ever seen a pool in person, living on a desert world. Hando looked like he found their reaction amusing. As Ria left to get the Administrator.

“This building is your barracks?” Bolt asked “You mean for all the pilots?”

“Not just pilots” Hando told him “We have people who take care of the engines and maintenance too, our air controllers and even some soldiers.”

“Are they all as young as you and Ria?” Jake asked

“Not all of us. We are allowed to stay in until we're twenty-two, then we have to move on to other jobs. Nobody complains because by then, most of us will be married, and you can't raise kids in the barracks, of course. Any other questions?” Hando said. Jake wondered if that was true or if this guy was messing with them. Air Knights were well-known at not telling secrets to outsiders.

Jake watched the Knights lifting weights, swimming and jogging outside on a trail. They were very disciplined, followed orders and conformed to the rules. These people lived close to the opposite of himself, running free in Oasis City. Jake thought they were kind of cool though.

Finally Ria was back, followed by a man in robes, probably getting close to fifty. “I am Administrator Brahma, what can I do for you?”

“We need to stop Council member Campo from taking over the government.” Jake said.

The Administrator held up a hand. “I admit that the shooting incident and the lock-down and the assaults are probably all related. I'll even concede there may be a coup in progress. I cannot, however, agree that there is definitely Mr. Campo at the top of it all.”

Jake was about to argue, but suddenly it made sense. Mr. Campo was far too obvious as the bad guy in this. He was an ideologue and he was bombastic and the attention he was getting made him look exactly like the perfect suspect.

Brahma was right, none of the evidence pointed at Campo. It didn't point to anyone, really. Whoever was behind all these things was still unknown. Campo was still a suspect, no doubt, but the thought that it might be someone else was a bit troubling.

“So, we might not know who we are at war with after all. Just that we are at war.” Hando said jovially “That really clears it all up.”

Brahma nodded. “We are, most definitely, at war.”

Go to Part Three

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