Mellie was the only one to notice that, while everyone recognized
Harlan, no one made any attempt to restrain him. He was a thief, but
he was also a legend. And Agalder had few legends. Its people tended
-to treat those legends with respect.
\ No newline at end of file
+to treat those legends with respect.
+
+==== Santorini: Boss of the Resistance ====
+
+Another of those legends watched the lights of the emergency vehicle
+disappear into the traffic lanes in the night sky. Santorini had put
+his head in his hands and cried when he saw that Mellie was alive. Now
+a couple of the detectives were eyeing him. They looked to Lt. Marks
+who shook his head. No messing with the legends tonight.
+
+Santorini kept his gaze on the sky, but he didn't miss the exchange.
+He smiled as he climbed back into his AirSedan and headed back to the
+Green Palace. Watching the lights of the traffic and the city, he was
+going over the plans for the next day. He needed to check with Behan
+to see when his partner intended to initiate the take-over of the
+police headquarters. His very last thought was how much he was looking
+forward to peace and prosperity for his planet.
+
+The missile hit his sedan just to the rear of the passenger door and
+exploded. Wreckage fell over a four square kilometer area.
+
+Harlan: Thief, Resistance Operative
+
+The fractures in Mellie's arm were multiple and involved both the
+forearm and the wrist. So Harlan was sitting outside the surgical
+suite when Jurgeson, one of Santorini's aides, came running up to him.
+
+He bent over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air. "They
+need...you. At the...Green Palace. Now."
+
+Harlan had stood up. Now he leaned closer to the runner. "Why? What's
+going on?"
+
+The man straightened up, putting a hand on the wall. Harlan saw that
+his eyes were red and swollen and tears were running down his cheeks.
+"Santorini's dead." he said, face screwing up like a little kid's.
+"Somebody brought him down with a missile."
+
+Harlan's gut felt like someone had hit him in the gut. He sat down,
+staring at nothing. Then he jumped up again. "Wait. No. I just saw
+him. He was fine."
+
+The other man nodded. "They got him when he was leaving the scene of
+Mellie's crash. Behan's car blew up, too, but he wasn't in it. It was
+still on the ground. They don't know yet whether it was another
+missile or a bomb."
+
+He took Harlan's arm, trying to drag him away. "Look. You've got to
+go. Now. I'll stay here with Mellie. I won't leave her side until you
+get back." He pushed Harlan toward the exit. "Now go!"
+
+"But why? Why do they need me so much?"
+
+The other man smiled sadly. "Because you're now the Boss of the
+Resistance."
+
+"Me?!"
+
+"Yeah. You. Santorini told us last week. With things coming to a head,
+he wanted the order of succession clear in everyone's mind. He even
+printed it out and signed it."
+
+Harlan shook his head. "But why me?" he asked.
+
+"Probably because you would ask that question. He said you'd feel
+unworthy of the position. You're not cocky." He hesitated and smiled
+slightly. "At least not most of the time."
+
+Harlan turned to stare at the door of the OR for a moment. Then he
+laid his hand on Jurgeson's shoulder. "You take care of her. They may
+come after her again. I'll send backup. Make arrangements to move her
+to the Palace as soon as possible."
+
+The Green Palace looked like a bee's hive that someone had just
+kicked. He walked in and saw all the red, weepy eyes and snotty noses.
+They were all talking at once. The noise was unbearable.
+
+He put two fingers in his mouth gave a piercing whistle. Everybody
+shut up and stared at him. "All right. We've lost the Boss. There will
+never be another like him. And nobody ever call me Boss." He looked
+down at his boots for a moment. "But I want to know what's going on
+now. Is anyone missing? Who's looking for the killers? And I want them
+brought in alive. Understand? Come on people. This is too important to
+stand around and cry. We've got work to do. Get me a sit-rep."
+
+He set up his office in an auditorium. A desk was placed in the middle
+and someone remembered to bring a chair. Computers and vid-screens
+covered 180 degrees of the walls. There were desks all around,
+climbing up to a viewing section at the top. Most of the desks were
+occupied with people speaking to faces on screens and to each other. A
+line formed in front of Harlan's desk. Most people had simple
+questions or suggestions, some of which were important.
+
+John Behan came up behind him and leaned down. He said "Mellie's doing
+fine. Drowsy and in no pain at the moment. Jurgeson and three others
+that I trust are with her."
+
+Harlan looked up. "How did she take the news about the Boss?"
+
+Behan shrugged. "She was so sleepy that I didn't tell her. I'll drop
+back later when she's awake. The staff knows to call me."
+
+He straightened up. "I'll be at APD Headquarters. It sounds like
+they're getting restive over there." Smiling slightly, he patted
+Harlan on the shoulder and left.
+
+It was several hours before Harlan could break away long enough to see
+Mellie. Behan was there, holding Mellie in his arms while she cried.
+Harlan felt a vast relief that he didn't have to tell her.
+
+She saw him and gave Behan a hug then held out her good arm to Harlan.
+Sitting on the bed, he put his arm around her carefully. His other
+hand reached out for Behan. Harlan looked at the older man and saw
+infinite weariness and sorrow in his eyes. Behan squeezed his hand and
+left and Harlan finally let his tears flow into Mellie's hair.
+
+==== Silver Santorini: Resistance Operative ====
+
+Murphy's surgeons had not let him out from under their gimlet eyes. So
+Silver treated him as if he were made of spun telucium and likely to
+break at any time. She made him stay in the hospital area. She knew
+exactly what would happen if she brought him home. He was just going
+to have to wait until the doctors were certain that he was healed.
+
+She was singing as she started out for her parents' suite. They all
+lived in the Green Palace. It was the safest and most defensible place
+outside of APD Headquarters. She wanted to talk to her father. When
+she got there, they told her that she would never be able to talk to
+her father again.
+
+Jade, Emerald, Silver, and Garnet were devastated. But they had to
+comfort their little sisters, Topaz and Golden. Their mother was in
+shock. She sat in a chair and stared at a hologram of her husband.
+
+When Harlan finally was able to visit them, he went to Santorini's
+wife, Lavender, and knelt beside her. Silver watched from across the
+room as her father's successor spoke in low tones to her mother. At
+first, nothing happened. Lavender remained almost catatonic. But
+Harlan kept talking and Lavender's head slowly turned to look at the
+young man. Once she even smiled. Then she began to weep, silently,
+covering her face with her hands. The daughters gathered, pushing
+Harlan out of the way. When they finally thought to look for him, he
+had left.
+
+==== Harlan: Leader of the Resistance ====
+
+After leaving the Santorini suite, Harlan returned to the auditorium,
+now dubbed the "War Room". He called for attention and stood by his
+desk, looking up at the rows of desks and those crowded into the
+viewing area.
+
+"The time is now." he said. "Now we go out and fight." He swept his
+arm around the huge room. "We all have assignments. We know what to
+do. Some of us will succeed. Some of us will fail. Some of us will die
+tonight. But the Resistance will win through. We will have freedom.
+Now go - go for Agalder! And may all the gods there are bless you and
+watch over you."
+
+He raised his fist. "Agalder!"
+
+The word came back at him with a thousand voices "AGALDER!!!!"
+
+He stood for a minute, watching his forces file out, then turned to
+leave. He ran into the Santorini sisters. Jade, Emerald, Silver, and
+Garnet stood between him and the door.
+
+Silver said "We're coming with you.". It was a quiet statement of fact
+that boded no argument.
+
+Harlan opened his mouth to protest but remembered when he had
+patronized Mellie and her reaction to his chauvinistic attitude. He
+shuddered.
+
+Looking into their eyes, he saw the fiery rage. But it was a cold,
+calculating fire and he nodded.
+
+"Thank you." he said.
+
+They climbed into two AirSedans. Three more sedans followed them.
+Harlan led the way to the Big House. He had to bring the thieves and
+assassins under the control of the Resistance. He had to find Cassidy.
+
+The neighborhood around the Big House was deserted. Houses stood
+empty, doors hanging open. Some windows were open. Some broken. A dog
+came running up to them, whining, lost. Jade grabbed her and put her
+in one of the sedans where she'd be safe and warm.
+
+The Big House was lit up like a small city. Lights were on everywhere.
+The Resistance group could hear shots and explosions. Windows were
+missing in places. Doors were on the ground or hanging askew.
+
+The group surged forward, but Harlan called out "Stop!"
+
+People stopped and looked at him.
+
+"We have to find Cassidy and his forces. If we go in there now, we
+won't be able to tell friend from foe." He looked at the house. "I
+know that place. I can find my way around."
+
+Looking back at the group, he said "You wait here. I'll find Cassidy
+and come back."
+
+Jade, Emerald, and Silver moved to stand with him. "You don't know
+that house as well as we do." Said Emerald. "We'll come with you and
+act as your runners."
+
+Harlan had to swallow his reaction. He nodded and they moved off into
+the night. They were all wearing black and they faded into the shadows
+within a few meters.
+
+Emerald led them to a door that was hanging ajar. The lock had been
+blown off. The door opened into a kitchen the size of a warehouse. The
+ceilings were at least five to six meters high. Moving quickly, but
+silently, they ran, crouching between huge machines and long tables.
+There was some fighting going on at one end of the room. Emerald led
+them in that direction.
+
+Huddling in the shelter of a freezer, they tried to make sense of what
+they were seeing. The brilliant flashes from phasers lit up the scene
+at intervals, but they could not identify the combatants.
+
+Jade suggested that they withdraw and try another exit from the
+kitchen. They turned to go to the other end and heard the sound of
+running footsteps coming closer. A young man ran up to them,
+completely ignoring the phasers that were pointed at him.
+
+He glanced at them and said "Come on. Cassidy wants you in the
+ballroom - now."
+Then he turned and ran back the way he had come. Harlan and the
+Santorini sisters stared after his departing form.
+
+The man turned and saw them standing still and ran back. "Are you
+coming? Hurry up." And off he went again.
+
+The four of them looked at each other, gave simultaneous shrugs, and
+ran after him.
+
+Their guide led them thru a maze of hallways and up and down
+stairwells. The sounds of gunfire and distant explosions grew louder
+and faded and grew louder again. Finally they ran up to a huge, ornate
+door that stood open with guards on either side. They burst into a
+room even larger than the kitchen. The ceiling was three stories up
+with mezzanines running around at the second and third floors. Floor
+to ceiling windows looked out on the lawn.
+
+Groups of people were scattered around the room, most leaning over
+tables, looking at holograms, some talking. Emerald spotted Cassidy
+across the room and they headed for him.
+
+Harlan reached the new Chief's side, but Cassidy ignored him and took
+Emerald into his arms. He spoke in her ear for a moment and then
+reached out and brought Jade and Silver into his embrace. The four of
+them stood, heads together, for what seemed like an hour to Harlan but
+was probably only a minute or two.
+
+An explosion sounded as if the battle was getting up-close and
+personal, but no one in the room even looked up.
+
+Cassidy finally turned his attention to Harlan. He nodded toward the
+door. "Yes. They are getting closer." He grinned. "Would you believe
+me if I said it was all part of my plan?"
+
+Harlan didn't smile. "No."
+
+"Then you'd be wrong. They are moving into this section." He pointed
+to a wing of the building that extended out into a wooded area. "Here,
+here, and here." He pointed to three sections of outside wall. "These
+are hidden doors. Our forces are just outside and when these thugs
+enter through here" he pointed again "we will attack from three
+sides."
+
+Then he smiled and added "If everything goes according to plan."
+Shaking his head, Cassidy said "And we all know how likely that is."
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projects / universe.git / blobdiff