Operating System: HP-UX A.B7.00 U
Organization: AT&T-BL, Red Hill System Administration Group (HRSAG)
Location: HR 2C119
Phone: [phone removed]
Return-receipt:
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL5]
Since Metlay descided to post that portion of a novel, I suppose I
can get away with posting an outtake of a story I've been in the
process of writing for a while now... Chapter 1:
* * * * * * * *
They were in a festive mood. Then again, they were always in a
festive mood. The sounds of a loud party filtered throughout the
yacht as did the smells of good food, and the slight reek of
alchohol. Noone was watching the instruments on the bridge. If
they were, they would have seen the larger ship approaching.
Slightly more than twice the size of the yacht, it approached
noiselessly. A beeping emmitted from the collision avoidance
system and the on duty helmsman woke up long enough from his nap to
stab a finger at a button to silence it.
The yellow indicators turned red as the larger vessel closed, drew
along side and established a parallel course that paced the
yacht. The revelers had no idea of the danger that approached.
The duty helmsman shifted in his chair slightly, adjusted the hat
over his eyes better to close out the light and began to snore.
In the cargo area, by the main airlock, a steward's assistant was
removing bottles of wine from a rack. He spotted one of the
engineering lackies climbing down a companionway. "The stuff we
stowed for you guys is over th..." A silenced weapon spoke once and
the steward was thrown back, a bottle smashed, and a puzzled look
came over his face. His mouth tried to form a question that was
never uttered as blood gushed forth from where an eye was supposed
to exist. His now lifeless body slid to the deck.
The engineering hand removed a panel from the wall, cut three
wires, and removed a module. Moments later, the airlock opened and
six individuals of various races entered. One tossed the engineer
a submachinegun and a bandolier and three of them went to the turbo
lift. The remaining four went aft.
In the main gallery, the party was going strong. Drink flowed
freely and food was consumed in obscene quantities.
In the center of the maelstrom of activity was a rather bored and
rather disgustedlooking young man of fifteen.
In his lifetime he'd seen his eldersas well as his older cousins act
in this manner and vowed when it was his turn to take the reigns of
power from his father, this sort of activity would not be at the
expense of the estate his father would leave him as it was now.
"No," he thought to himself, "my aunts, uncles, and cousins just
sponge off my dad, and he lets them!" "Have some wine Derek!"
shouted his uncle Jarns, "you're old enough now!"
At that moment the loud staccato of firecrackers was to be heard
from a passageway. The partiers were stunned into silence. The
bodyguards that were assigned to Derek closed distance with him and
grew very alert.
With the dying of the last echos from the firecrackers came the
three maurauders wielding their weapons. One of Derek's guards
attempted to draw a weapon from inside his tunic. The other placed
himself as a human sheild between Derek and the intruders. If
anyone had been watching the forehead of the guard drawing his
weapon they would have seen a red dot of light appear a fraction of
a second before the 9mm slugs from a four shot burst arrived. Two
of them striking the guard and the other two spending themselves on
the wood clad walls on the other side of the gallery. One of the
other intruders also fired a four shot burst at the guard who was
playing human sheild. All four of these rounds found flesh to bite
into, as one round impacted the base of the man's skull. The face
of this guard exploded in a shower of blood that spattered over
some of the guests resulting in a terrified hysterical screaming
from one lady in particular.
The now dead bodyguards crumpled to the floor leaving Derek
standing more or less alone. One of the shooters asked the third
individual "is that the boy?" A nod and they grabbed him and
pulled him effortlessly in spite of his struggles to the doorway.
"I am Lieutenant Drazin of the Solvanian Freedom Party " intoned
the being who had not untill this point done any of the shooting.
"I expect and will recieve your full cooperation " he went on "or
more of you could end up as these did..."
The the engineering assistant and one of the other boarders
appeared at the doorway. Drazin looked at the engineer and he
nodded. "I have taken the liberty of having all doors, hatches,
and turbolifts locked so you won't be strolling around the ship.
Please make yourselves comfortable, young Derek Thalman the second
will be coming with us. Feel free to continue your birthday party
for him, if everything goes as I expect he will celebrate many more!"
They left at that, taking Derek with them. After a few minutes,
the more bold of the guests tried to open the sliding damage
control hatch in the passageway. It was, as promised, locked tight.
Someone tried to overide it at a terminal in the main gallery.
Unnoticed at first, hydrogen gas and an accelerant were pouring in
through the life support ventilators.
The privateer vessel "Wraith" was pulling away from the yacht.
Drazin and an older greying human were watching it get smaller in
the viewport.
On the yacht, within the central ductwork of the life support
ventilation system a greyish blob with a timing device on it had
been left behind by the boarding party. At the predetermined
moment in time an electrical current passed through the blob a
white-hot ball of expanding gasses were created. This ignited the
now explosive mixture of hydrogen gas and air.
>From their places on board the privateer, Drazin and his commanding
officer watched as the yacht became a silently expanding fireball
and scattered debris. "Is our guest comfortably situated?" "Yes
General" "Good, the first phase of our plans are complete. Let us
hope that the elder Thalman is as reasonable as we expect him to
be."
- - --
Peter L. Berghold | TELEPHONE: [phone removed]
- - ------------------+---------------------------------------------------
EMAIL ADDRESSES: BIX - PETEB COMPU$ERVE - 70152,3017
FAX [phone removed] DELPHI - BERGHOLD GENIE - PBERGHOLD