The night is black and still; or perhaps the day is bright and sunny, but for the occupants of the dark room there is no light. In the darkness, there is no sense of distance or direction or size; all is darkness. Except for the table, which we must arbitrarily call the center of the room; for lack of a better term. Around the table, seated in some manner; whether chairs or stumps or cushions or merely floating upon the air, we cannot see in the oppressing darkness; are the figures. Dark and shadowed, they cannot see eachother; they cannot see themselves. They know not who they are or where they come from... all they can see is the pile of simple white cards placed in front of them; cards which shine through the darkness. Slowly, deliberately, a figure reaches out and flips over a card...

...Frank stood, or wobbled, upon the roof of some guy's apartment. "Some Guy" was the only way he knew his host; they had met when Frank was sober, but that was a few hours ago, and now the name of his gracious and wonderful host was lost in the fog of alcohol. The night was cool, but not cold, and streetlights illuminated the city, mostly deserted at four in the morning. The night owls had gone to bed for the day; the early birds still yet to catch their elusive worm. Even Some Guy lay in a drunken stupor with no less than three girls he had met just this night, comfy and cozy in his own bed. Frank, however, needed a cigarette.

Frank removed his packet of Marlboros; cowboy killers as he affectionately called them, and grabbed his black zippo from his pants pocket. On the fourth try he managed to light his cigarette; though on the second he had narrowly missed lighting his own shirt. He smoked quietly; the tobacco slightly waking him up from his alcohol daze.

Frank stood close to the edge of the building; looking over he could see his car, still parked below, as well as the cars of others. It looked a far way down... especially when intoxicated. Frank resolved that he would come back and make the leap when he could; when he was sober.

While he was contemplating the drop from the seven story building, and resolving to make it some day, Frank was startled by a brilliant flash of blue light. He looked up into the sky, and knew that someone must have spiked his drink. Because, coming out of a tear in the night sky, was a starship; though Frank thought of it as a pirate ship. The ship was made of dark wood, with three masts with white sails attached. The stern of the ship, however, was encased in metal, and twin giant engines stood on the underside of the hull, dimly humming in the night.

Frank was flabbergasted; and passed out...

... and awoke to the sight of a beautiful blue-skinned woman. She had white hair, and pointed ears. She was standing over Frank, and was all he could see. She was also frighteningly beautiful. When he opened his eyes, she called, in an accent he could not place: "Captain, he's not dead! He's just drunk!"

... On the card are two simple words:

Frank Gordon

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