"No, but..."
"Brol never miss. They are close to the best shots in the universe.
-They want us alive. And they probably want to talk to us."
\ No newline at end of file
+They want us alive. And they probably want to talk to us."
+
+==== Mellie: Detective, Resistance Operative ====
+
+"Well, we certainly want to talk to them." said Mellie.
+
+"I want to talk to them. I want you safely protected in here. You're
+not going anywhere near the Brol."
+
+"Do you think I'm afraid to meet them?"
+
+He snorted. "No. And that's the problem."
+
+Mellie looked at him, eyebrows raised.
+
+He sighed. "You are so determined to prove that you're just as tough
+as the guys that you put yourself in danger. The Brol are a
+patriarchal society. To be male is to be king of the hill. To be
+female is to live in misery.
+
+"The Brol warriors say that the females are all retarded and must be
+beaten regularly so they understand their duties. I passed a few words
+with a female Brol once. She seemed intelligent enough to me.
+Intelligent enough to learn a little Terran.
+
+"At any rate, with their attitude about women, the Brol would not take
+too well to a female officer. They have short tempers and they tend to
+lash out."
+
+Mellie stared at her partner for a full minute. Then she said "I'm
+going." She stood up, leaning her fists on her desk, towering over
+Behan. "You have to show them that humans value females as much as
+they value males. That we're equal. And screw their cultural
+sensitivities. We've got those, too."
+
+She leaned in a little closer. Behan was beginning to cross his eyes.
+"And as for that 'lashing out' business, we're pretty good at lashing
+out, too."
+
+With that, she straightened up and left the squad room. Every
+detective in the room followed her with their eyes. And Behan watched
+the watchers.
+
+The Brol contacted them the next day. Marks had pushed the BOLO to
+include any Brol anywhere or any being that even vaguely resembled a
+Brol. Several Brusqal and a Grinkek had been harassed. The Grinkek in
+particular was very angry. Grinkek do not get angry. Ever. Resembling
+terran mushrooms, they look nothing like Brols.
+
+Lt. Marks set up the meeting. He tried to insist on a dozen officers
+to accompany Behan and Kaminsky to the meeting but was turned down.
+
+They did agree that he could come and bring one other. Marks chose
+Alex Biggers. Mellie and Behan stared at him.
+
+"What?!" he asked.
+
+==== John Behan: Detective, Resistance Operative ====
+
+The Brol lived in an abandoned cosmetics factory, close to the
+crater's edge. They had dug nests and tunnels throughout the complex
+and no one had disputed their squatting rights. Picking a fight with a
+seven foot spider was not considered a good idea.
+
+The place was dark and creepy at night. Mellie whispered "Why didn't
+they just import cosmetics? They're not that expensive for the lower
+grades."
+
+Marks said "They were very expensive after the Iron Wars when taxes
+were placed on them. Manufacturing our own seemed like a good idea
+until the pirates showed up."
+
+They stopped on a low hill in front of the main building and waited.
+The Brol had wanted them to go inside - at night - with no lights in
+the building. Marks had expressed his opinion of that idea.
+
+So they stood and waited, their lights on, their hands on their guns.
+Biggers was whistling between his teeth until Behan threatened to
+shove those teeth down his throat.
+
+In the silence that followed, they could hear the same whispering that
+Behan and Mellie had heard in that basement. A minute later, they saw
+movement near the factory. It looked like a dark rug flowing toward
+them. The forward movement wasn't fast, but definitely threatening.
+Marks stepped forward and spoke.
+
+"That's far enough. Any farther and we will leave."
+
+A sinister chuckle ran through the spiders. Behan was very glad he had
+emptied his bladder before coming.
+
+Marks took another step and his attitude had changed. His shoulders
+were braced, his jaw set, and his eyes as hard as rock. He radiated
+belligerence. The other three walked forward with him. The spiders
+backed up, some being shoved against the building by their fellows.
+
+Marks stopped three meters from the Brol. "Now that we've got that out
+of the way," he asked "why did you want to talk to us?"
+
+One spider, larger than the rest, skittered forward a meter. Its
+whispery, raspy voice sent shivers down Behan's spine, while the hairs
+on the back of his neck stood up.
+
+"We talk to Behan. You weren't there."
+
+Mellie stepped forward. "I was there. You talk to me, too."
+
+The Brol actually recoiled. It hissed. "Take female away."
+
+Behan moved up beside Mellie. "She is my partner. She fought one of
+your people in that basement. She was there. She stays."
+
+A murmur ran through the crowd. "If she stays, we will leave." said
+the leader.
+
+Behan chuckled. "Then go." He turned to leave.
+
+The murmur grew louder. "Wait."
+
+Behan kept on walking. The others turned to follow.
+
+"Very well. She stays."
+
+They stopped and retraced their steps until they were crowding the
+leader. It waved a leg at them. "Move back. You're too close."
+
+They stepped back.
+
+Behan asked "What did you want to tell us?"
+
+Two of its three eyes glanced at Mellie. "Others of your kind came two
+days ago. They promised to pay us well if we killed the humans in that
+house. We went there last night and killed them. We were looking for
+anything that might be valuable to us when you trapped us."
+
+The leg wave again, this time to include the mass of spiders behind
+it. "We were not responsible for the deaths of those humans. They were
+killed by their own kind."
+
+Behan's jaw was clenched so tight that he thought his teeth might
+crack.
+
+Mellie yelled. "Bull shit!" She moved another step until she was right
+in the leader's face. "You killed them. For money. That makes you
+responsible."
+
+The Brol raised its two forelegs and gave a very obvious shrug. "We
+were only the instruments."
+
+Mellie put a hand on Behan's arm. He was trembling with the need to
+attack this blithe murderer. He glanced at her and took a few deep
+breaths. The trembling subsided.
+
+"No." he said. "You made a choice. You chose to murder three good
+people. I don't know much about the Brol, but from what I have seen
+tonight, I doubt there are three good people among you."
+
+The lead Brol raised his two front legs as if to step forward. A
+jabbering came from the back of the crowd. The spokesman put his feet
+back down. Behan realized that he was just a spokesman. The real
+leader, at least of this group, was at the back.
+
+"Why did you want to talk to us?" Behan asked.
+
+There was movement in the crowd and the largest Brol Behan had ever
+seen came forward. It pushed the spokesman aside and spoke. "We know
+who ordered the kill. If you want to know, you will pay us 60,000
+credits by tomorrow night. No negotiation."
+
+The monster turned and reached out with its front legs, grabbing the
+spokesman. Casually it bit off the creature's head. Then it threw the
+wildly twitching body to the side and sauntered off, chewing noisily.
+
+==== Harlan: Thief, Resistance Operative ====
+
+The four humans stood absolutely still for nearly a minute. Then they
+turned and walked away. Biggers got just far enough away to put an
+outbuilding between them and the mob of spiders before he threw up. He
+managed to do it very quietly.
+
+The other three stood by. Mellie handed Biggers a tissue after he was
+able to continue walking. She said "Don't feel bad, Alex. We were all
+struggling to keep our dinners down." She patted him on the shoulder,
+earning her a weak smile from the detective.
+
+The department had plenty of money. The bribe was paid. They were
+actually expecting a much larger number.
+
+They got the name the next day. Chas Hawkins. The chief of the
+Syndicate. Behan passed the word on to Santorini at the Resistance.
+And Santorini passed it on to Jake Rogers, one of the best assassins
+on the planet.
+
+Two nights later, the Big House suddenly turned into a stirred up
+sting dauber's nest. People were running in and out of the doors, even
+through the windows. Lights stabbed at every inch of the lawn and
+shrubs. People could be seen inside, gesticulating, shouting.
+Eventually the people and their intrusive lights returned to the
+house. Quiet returned, but it was a menacing quiet.
+
+Had anyone been watching, he might have caught a glimpse of a group of
+five shadows within the night's darkness. This darker dark moved
+across the lawn to a group of houses on a tree lined street with few
+lights. Very few watchers could have followed the progress of the
+shades from tree to tree, staying in the blackest part of the murky
+gloom.
+
+Harlan was one of those very few watchers. He saw their progress down
+the street. He followed them as they slipped through the night, unseen
+by people only a few feet away.
+
+Harlan realized that the group was splitting up. Three continued on
+toward the Green Palace, but the other two went in opposite
+directions.
+
+Harlan watched the two head out. One was going for John Behan. And the
+other was after Mellie. Harlan took to the roofs, running as fast as
+he could. He pulled out his communicator and called Behan.
+
+"Yeah?" came a gruff voice.
+
+"John, you're going to have a visitor in about five minutes."
+
+"Are you behind him?"
+
+"No. Another one is going for Mellie. And three are headed to the
+Green Palace."
+
+"No problem. I'll take care of this one and call the Palace. You take
+care of Mellie."
+
+"Right." Harlan disconnected and jumped from one roof to the next.
+He'd never jumped that particularly wide gap before. Now he barely
+noticed.
+
+It was late, past end of day. Harlan opened Mellie's bedroom window
+without thinking of how she might view the intrusion. The flash of a
+phaser brought him to a halt. A burn spot appeared 2 millimeters from
+his left ear.
+
+"Mellie! It's me!"
+
+Mellie appeared out of the shadows in her room and smacked him in the
+jaw. "You friggin' idiot! I could have killed you. All I could see was
+a dark figure wrenching my window open."
+
+Harlan rubbed his jaw. "You hit like a girl." he said. She drew her
+fist back for another demonstration and he caught it in his hand.
+"Okay. That hurt. The Syndicate is sending you a visitor and I don't
+think he's friendly."
+
+She nodded and reached into her cupboard for her phaser's power pack.
+"How do you think he'll come in?" she asked as she checked her weapon.
+
+"Through the kitchen." Harlan said. "But we need to cover both the
+bedroom and the kitchen."
+
+Mellie nodded. "What about the other entrance points? The front door?
+The rec room?"
+
+Harlan glanced at the windows with the stunning view of the city. "No
+one's coming through that window. If I can't do it, no one can. And as
+for the front door? No way. Too expected."
+
+So, of course, the intruder came in through the front door.
+
+Harlan was moving between rooms and he heard the slightest squeak of
+the hinges. Mellie was flat against the wall just inside the kitchen.
+Harlan could see her looking at him. He indicated the front room. She
+opened her eyes wide, raised her eyebrows, and grinned at him. He
+rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to live that gaffe down.
+
+The two of them moved to positions on either side of the entrance to
+the rec room and waited. And waited. Nothing happened.
+
+Fifteen minutes. Twenty. Nothing. Twenty-five minutes. Then a sock
+flew through the air and landed on the floor inside the rec room.
+Neither Harlan nor Mellie moved.
+
+Another five minutes before a shoe followed the sock, landing with a
+thunk.
+
+The intruder waited another ten minutes before he poked his head into
+the rec room and found himself facing the wrong ends of two phasers.
+He didn't move anything except his mouth. "If I moved fast enough, you
+two would shoot each other."
+
+Mellie looked at him with a nasty smile. "Go ahead. Try it."
+
+He smiled back. "No. I think I'll just put my weapon down and let you
+tie me up. Which is what Cassidy told me to do anyway."
+
+"Cassidy told you to give yourself up to us?" Harlan was incredulous.
+"I don't think so. Not after you killed three of our best people."
+
+"I didn't kill them. Nobody knew about that hit except Hawkins and
+four of his goons. His 'Special Squad', he called them. Well, he's
+gone now and Cassidy's in charge and he doesn't want anybody else
+killed. On either side."
+
+Mellie was nodding. "That makes sense, Harlan. Cassidy's known for his
+pragmatism."
+
+The intruder was nodding.
+
+"What's your name?" asked Harlan.
+
+"Ned Moreno. My father was Timmy Moreno. You might remember him,
+Harlan."
+
+Harlan remembered. Timmy Moreno. His father's friend. A man of honor
+and strength. Harlan had looked up to him. And he had played with
+Timmy's son. Ned.
+
+"Ned." he said. "I thought you died with your dad."
+
+==== Santorini: Boss of the Resistance ====
+
+Santorini chose Harlan to come with him. While Harlan was surprised,
+no one else was. Harlan was the best second story (or third or fourth)
+man in Crater City and, therefore, the best guard the Boss could have.
+
+They set out the next night two hours early in an AirSedan, black as
+the darkness around them. It was roomy and comfortable inside and
+well-equipped with weapons. They flew to the meeting point and waited
+a kilometer away, scans probing the area to give warning when anyone
+approached. The car was well hidden in some ruins.
+
+Harlan slipped away into the rocks and disappeared.
+
+The Boss was surprised when Cassidy and his assistant showed up and
+pulled in next to them. Cassidy raised his windscreen and grinned at
+him.
+
+"Good evening, Santorini. You can tell your young assistant to come
+back in from the wilds."
+
+The Boss raised their car top and glared at the Syndicate head. "I
+thought the meeting was later and over there." He waved vaguely in the
+direction of the proposed meeting place. Turning his head, he yelled
+"Come on in, Harlan."
+
+Cassidy laughed, a real laugh, full of humor and good feeling. "You
+seemed to have gotten lost. And out here, one place is as good as
+another." He climbed out of the Sedan and sat on the front and
+signaling his associate to join him, effectively eliminated any threat
+from the vehicle's armament. The associate was wearing a helmet,
+obscuring the identity.
+
+Looking at the Syndicate chief, Santorini grunted. "Gutsy, aren't
+you?"
+
+He climbed out of his vehicle and walked over to Cassidy and the
+other. He already knew who the helmeted other was. He had known as
+soon as she moved.
+
+Positioning himself between the Syndicate representatives, he leaned
+against their car and looked up at the stars. "Nice night." he
+commented.
+
+They were all looking at the spot where they expected Harlan to
+appear. Cassidy jumped and even Santorini gasped when Harlan touched
+them on the shoulders from behind.
+
+Cassidy and his associate looked at the thief and at the Boss, then at
+each other. Santorini reached out and hugged the helmeted associate.
+The helmet came off.
+
+"Daddy." said Emerald. "You're such a spoilsport."
+
+The four sat down and talked. Emerald had ordered sandwiches and
+salads from the kitchen and a couple of bottles of wine. It took two
+hours, but they hammered out an agreement that would allow for amnesty
+for freedom fighters and their families.
+
+They also discussed a land agreement. Everyone who fought for the
+Resistance would be eligible to buy land on the planet. Good land at a
+good price. The world had been devastated by the Iron Wars, The
+population outside of Crater City consisted largely of roving gangs of
+bandits. There were no other towns. Not anymore.
+
+Santorini wanted to rebuild not just the city but the whole world.
+
+Cassidy had his hopes set on New Dessel. He wanted to free the
+indentured servants and provide them with a living wage. He wanted to
+build a middle class that did not yet exist on that planet.
+
+Santorini wished him luck. The Syndicate chief would run into a lot of
+opposition from the factory owners on New Dessel. They liked the
+status quo.
+
+They were packing up to go home when Emerald spoke softly to her
+father. "I'll be going with him when he leaves for New Dessel, Daddy."
+
+Santorini went very still for a moment. Then he looked at her. "I
+know. But relations should improve between the planets, both
+communication and commerce. We'll see each other often."
+
+He grinned at her. "By the way, your mother's pregnant again."
+
+Leaving her with a shocked expression on her face, he hopped into the
+sedan and took off.
+
+==== Cassidy: Newly promoted head of the Syndicate ====
+
+Cassidy and his crew were pounding at the doors of the Green Palace at
+dawn the next day. They were ready to do the upgrades on the armory. A
+firefight almost broke out when Resistance members saw the Syndicate
+people.
+
+Cassidy was at the head of the Syndicate group and had his hands up
+high. "Hey! Hey! We're here to help you, not fight you. Where's
+Santorini?"
+
+A gruff voice down the hall called "Right here. I'm having to fight my
+way through."
+
+A path cleared and Santorini came trotting up to bring the delegation
+inside. He pushed his way through to the lifts and they climbed
+aboard, relieved to be away from the house guards.
+
+Cassidy looked at the Boss. "They didn't get the memo?"
+
+Santorini grinned. "I didn't expect you this early. I was just
+starting to inform everyone. Sorry about that."
+
+Santorini took them to the armory and left them on their own, a show
+of trust that Cassidy hadn't expected.
+
+Emerald showed up a few hours later. She walked up to him. Actually
+she did something between swaying and gliding. And then she kissed
+him. Thoroughly, The men cheered and Cassidy turned bright red.
+
+It took seven hours to install the new equipment and ammunition. By
+the time they were finished, several friendships had been formed
+between Syndicate guys and Resistance guys. After all they were in the
+same business - getting rid of the pirates. A large group went out to
+eat together that evening.
+
+Santorini and Cassidy watched from the third floor office as the young
+men left, pushing and shoving and laughing. Cassidy said "That bodes
+well for relations after we kick the pirate asses off the planet."
+
+The Boss laughed and agreed. "Who'd a thunk?"
+
+Harlan opened the office door and stuck his head in. "I can't find
+Mellie. She's not responding to her communicator. I'm going to police
+headquarters to find her."
+
+As he pulled his head back into the hall, Santorini yelled. "No!
+Harlan. Get your ass back in here. NOW!"
+
+A moment later, the young thief slipped back into the office, starting
+to argue. "Look, Boss, I know I'm not supposed to be over there. But I
+can hide in stairwells and bathrooms. I won't get caught. I..."
+
+The Boss put his hands on Harlan's shoulders and guided him to a
+chair. "Look. She's busy. She's not answering her com unless it's Lt.
+Marks or higher. She's on her own at the moment. We're keeping an eye
+on the situation and she seems to be doing well." He pushed Harlan
+back down in the chair. "Now don't you get yourself involved over
+there. She has her work and you have yours. Leave her alone."
+
+"Now you either get to share a bottle of supposedly real Scotch
+whiskey with me and my new best buddy here" touching Cassidy's
+shoulder "or get out and go foment riot and rebellion."
+
+Harlan couldn't help himself. He laughed and took a drink before he
+left to do some fomenting.
+
+==== Mellie: Detective, Resistance Operative ====
+
+Mellie probably wouldn’t have phrased how she was doing as ‘well’. She
+was running scared, every day, every minute. Someone would call her
+out. She knew it.
+
+Meanwhile, she had dug up some important information, but no one had
+contacted her to transfer it to the Boss. She now knew the identity of
+the mole in the detective squad and he was likely to find out that she
+knew at any moment. She had tricked him. It was just a matter of time
+before he figured out that he’d been had. And her life expectancy
+would decrease exponentially at that point.
+
+She had been sheltering in the bathroom, but she really needed to get
+back to the squad room and keep an eye on Tommi Roper, Detective
+second class and spy for the pirates.
+
+When she walked in the squad room, a couple of the guys looked up, saw
+her, and went back to their work. Five men were grouped around Behan’s
+desk and seemed to be arguing vigorously. She could hear the raised
+voices but didn’t understand the words. As she approached, the voices
+fell silent and the men stared at her.
+
+“What’s going on?” she asked.
+
+There was silence for a while, then Alex Biggers spoke up. “Roper here
+thinks you’re a spy for the pirates. He says he’s seen you close to
+both the Big House and the Presidential Palace, like you were
+delivering messages or somethin.’”
+
+Roper stepped forward and squared his shoulders. “I saw you walking up
+to the presidential palace yesterday. It was dark, but I know it was
+you.”
+
+Her gaze didn’t waver. She thought Now or never.
+
+"And why were you there after dark? Exactly what time did this
+'sighting' take place?"
+
+Roper sneered. "I was on a stakeout. Watching for any unusual
+activity. And it was just about 20:15"
+
+She nods. "20:15. Well, at that time I was having dinner with Lt.
+Marks."
+
+Eyebrows went up. Even Behan gave her a look.
+
+"And his delightful wife, Celia. Lt. Marks thought that Celia and I
+would get along well. He was right. I think I will enjoy knowing
+Celia."
+
+Behan grinned. The rest looked mildly embarrassed. Roper looked
+unhappy. "Well. I said it was dark. Musta been somebody who looked
+like you."
+
+Mellie smiled. "Actually, Roper, I've been wanting to talk to you. You
+weren't on any stakeout last night. You were meeting with O'Hara, one
+of the group leaders in State Security. He reports directly to the
+President. In fact, I'll bet he wanted you to join with Caspenski, the
+Syndicate goon who wants to take over from Cassidy. You work for the
+Syndicate, too, don't you, Roper? And you report everything to the
+pirates."
+
+The group around them had grown. There were a dozen men and a couple
+of women listening now. The uproar that followed Mellie's words
+brought in another crowd.
+
+Mellie raised her hand and the noise quieted down. "You're double
+crossing everybody, aren't you, Roper? You're a spy for the pirates.
+So everything you hear, everything you see, even everything you
+suspect, goes right back to the bastards who have this planet under
+their thumbs. Just how much are you getting paid, you traitor?" Her
+voice had risen to a shout.
+
+Roper swung a fist at her, but she dodged and grabbed his arm, pinning
+him over the desk. "You're not even a good cop."
+
+Roper yelled "You're a liar! You can't prove any of that."
+
+Smiling a predator's smile, Mellie pulled out a disc, the size of a
+contact lens, and inserted it into Behan's computer. A vid came up.
+Roper was walking toward a dark shape standing near a hoverlight on a
+rainy street. The figure turned as Roper came near and the light
+played across his face. Every cop gasped. They all knew that face.
+Dietr, head of state security for the pirates. The two men walked a
+little way together, then stopped and talked. Something exchanged
+hands. Dietr slapped Roper on the shoulder and Roper turned and walked
+away. The vid stopped.
+
+Mellie looked around at her colleagues. "Santorini will want to talk
+to him." She pulled the disc and handed it in a container to Biggers.
+
+Everyone looked at Roper. He spread his hands. "I was playing him. I
+wanted to get some info from him and go to the Resistance with it.
+C'mon guys. You got to believe me. I was born here. This is my home. I
+love Agalder. She's lying. She created that tape." His voice rose as
+five cops hustled him out of the squad room.
+
+Behan hadn't moved during the incident. Now he looked at Mellie. "Good
+work, Detective."
+
+The stunned audience, consisting of cops and clerks broke free of
+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
projects / universe.git / blobdiff