Justric

Found Alive

<<Double Post>>

Found Alive

Uncle should have ben shaking in fear at the show of violence that Cassie was both displaying and promising upon his body. Any reasonably sane human would not only have been sweating and gasping, but also quite possibly urinating themselves. Not Uncle. In fact, he seemed rather amused by the ordeal has he hung there, dangling from her gripping hands. "Interesting how you automatically assume that I had anything to do with Lucien's little accident, Castille." Despite his obvious physical discomfort of being lifted up by his shirt, he calmly stuck his hands in the pockets of his worn and filthy lab coat as though he was about to take a casual stroll around the tunnels. "The device I had him place was a sensor, yes. Should it have exploded in the fashion Toni described? No. Since it should not have done what it so obviously did, I can only put forth that either the robots had something to do with it or there was some other factor on top of that tower to cause the explosion. Those options are far more preferable to the notion that someone else in the mission had something to do with it, someone who stood to either gain a great deal by his death or had a score to settle with him. Not that you or I can really think of who else on that mission might fall into that category. I can not only show you the schematics I drew up while creating it, I can show it's 'little brother', a more portable version that is easy to hide."

He took a hand out of his pocket long enough to gesture to the table where indeed, a small mass of wires and bits sat half assembled. "The purpose of the device was to help find additional ways to unlock your memory, Cassie. A laudable goal, if I do say so myself. You can review the blueprints yourself if you'd like."

Sticking his hand back into his pocket, he shrugged. Or at least, he shrugged as best as he was able to while being hoisted in the air by a cyborg. "Or you may continue to threaten me while snarling and spitting in so impressive a manner, which if seen by anyone else who happens to wander in will due little to help your cause of convincing the other Colonists that you are no threat to them. You could even kill me here and now and walk away. Of course... if you did that... you'd never find out I propose to save your beloved Lucien's life."

Found Alive

Uncle snorted from where he sat. "I didn't say either of you planned to kill off Lucien. The motive to do so didn't even exist until about 24 hours ago. There is such a thing as a 'crime of opportunity', however. Ever since Cassie returned to us, tempers have been flaring and emotions have been high. Let's face it, gentlemen. Removing Lucien would solve a number of problems and that might have occurred to one, or both, of you while you were out there. While I will not actually accuse anyone of doing anything at this time and there be no sufficient proof or witnesses anyway, please bear in mind that I will be watching." At that point he noticed Pony melting away back down the corridor and out of earshot.

"Oh, course," he then gave a broad smile as he kicked his legs back up on the table, hands behind his head, "This may all be a moot point anyway. His woulds rather severe, and he may well not survive his injuries. God knows he would serve this community better as a martyr than has as anything else of late."

"Toni, you are to be commended on your actions. Together with Lucien, you managed to salvage something out of this complete and utter fiasco while accomplishing your secondary goal. You and your wife can have an extra ration of whatever alcohol you choose from the stores as your reward." Still kicked back in his chair, he then focused on Hassle. "You, on the other hand, have cost us lives and materials with your screw up. If Lucien had not been on that tower and seen the Androids approaching, and if Toni had not acted with such alacrity, the cost would have been much worse. Worse than you might even know, Hassle. You are assigned garage duty for eight days in two days' time. You will help guard and maintain the remaining vehicles during that time and... reflect upon what you might do better next time." The punishment was a harsh one. The Pit was not as deep as The Colony and so was much, much hotter. It wasn't even a cave, but an ancient quarry covered by sand tarps, netting and camouflage. Worse, The Pit did not have its own source of water. Normally no one stayed out at the Pit longer than four days at a time. To be assigned there for two rotations with no break was strict.

Uncle dismissed the young men firmly when he was done debriefing them of even the smallest details of their mission. He sat there for so some time staring after them, musing on various courses of action to take from there to keep the Colony from falling apart. As he pondered, the hum behind him became a little louder.

"Doctor," Liana intoned, "I am displeased. The course of action you propose-"

"Not now, Liana," he murmured, "Not now."

***

"Love you, too," he mumbled through the drugs and the pain. Lucien had a vague sensation of holding something in his bandaged hand. Was it Cassie's? He continued to ramble on to her, unaware of anything or anyone else around them. "They were waiting for us, Cassie. Like they knew we were coming. It was a trap. I only just got the sensor in place when... when..."

There was something wrong, he realized, something about the explosion that had nearly cost him his life, but Lucien couldn't focus on what it might be. He climbed up the tower... he paused to look around... he saw the Androids and tried to warn Toni... and then... something.... He tried to follow that train of thought but was quickly lost on a tangent. Cassie was there and he had to talk to her.

"Pony," he started in alarm as his eyes popped open. He was still in enough shock that he saw nothing, but the pupils were wild and dilated. "When you and I get married, she wants a baby... She wants my baby, Cassie... What am I going to do? What... Don't want to, Cassie... Want to have kids with you... But I owe her... she kept me alive..." In weak delirium, he gave a bitter laugh, "She kept me alive... for you... Did you know that? She knew you sacrificed yourself for me.... and she didn't want that to go to waste... so even when.... when everyone else turned their backs on me... Pony kept me alive.... Don't know what to do..."

The drugs coursing through his system had made his tongue loose and his thoughts wander, but those thoughts came full circle. "The sensor.... Uncle had me place a sensor... I stitched it on... I switched it on... and it exploded. Cassie? The sensor exploded... The wasn't any cannon or gunfire yet, it... Uncle's sensor exploded when I switched it on..."

The Highwayman Came Riding

Wait a sec... Your new avatar? Is that from Lackadaisy??

The Highwayman Came Riding

Oh good! Not I doubted you would return, of course, but it was nice to hear from you! Please post at whatever rate you feel most comfortable with, by all means. I would rather have a happy partner than one who feels pressure or rushed. My own response may be a few days in coming, I will admit, as I have a convention this weekend to prepare for and attend.

Your last post was great, by the way! I love how Bess's imagination leaps to the fantastic to explain the midnight encounter!

Found Alive

Got it. Sadly I probably won't be able to post again tonight. Inthe upside, you should get several out of me tomorrow! (Laughing). I still can 't wait to see Cassie's reaction to Pony's proposed compromise!!

Found Alive

Uncle was there as the team returned to the Colony. What was left of them, at any rate. His face remained stonily clam as the families of those that survived greeted them with cries of relief, while the kin of those who were missing issued cries of their own. When his eyes lit on Toni carrying the prone and bloody figure of Lucien, he scowled; the young man was being carried towards the infirmary, which meant he still lived. As he turned to follow, he caught sight of Hassle standing among the crowd. It had been upon Hassle's information and reassurances that the raid was planned and approved, and the loss of four productive members of The Colony (and potentially Lucien as well) had to be answered for. He jabbed a finger in the suave young man's direction. "You. My lab. Now. Wait there for me."

Without even waiting to see if he was obeyed, Uncle followed after Toni and the others towards the makeshift infirmary. He watched from the entrance as Jodie frantically did what she could for the bleeding man, just aware as she was that they really did not have the medical supplies or training to calmly deal with such trauma. The possibility was that Lucien would live was not too remote, but it would be so easy to miss something that could cost him his life under their care. Uncle sighed. Jodie was young, and the loss of a patient could seriously affect her morale and confidence. Other options were going to have to be pursued.

As Toni started to leave, Uncle put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Once the supplies are inventoried and stored, come to the lab. I want a full debriefing." He then grimaced. "Then we can ask Hassle what the hell happened to his 'piece of cake' mission."

***

Uncle left Hassle to squirm and wait in silence until Toni showed up. The de facto leader sat heavily behind the main table and drummed his fingers upon its surface, his eyes boring holes into the two young men in front of him. He wanted Hassle to squirm some more.

Just as he was about to start in on the men, he spied a slim shadow hanging by the entrance to his lab: Pony. The girl looked devastated and had obviously been crying - her eyes were puffy and red. Callous as he could be, Uncle did not have the heart to bring attention to her or send her away. Whatever miss-mash this happy little crew was making of their relationships with one another, he could not deny that she had a right to hear what had happened to the man she both loved and called friend. He ignored her for now, focusing his attention on the young men before him, Hassle most of all. "What happened out there? This was supposed to be an easy, high yield run. Instead, we lost Tall Bob, Gail, Mike and Jack. We also lost one of our only two modified vans, and the haul is nowhere near what we need or hoped for. Oh, yes, and oddly enough the man both of you were at odds with is a bloody sack of meat in our infirmary, using up even more supplies. So I would really like to know what went wrong, gentlemen."

***

Floating in a black haze, Lucien thought he heard someone calling his name. It was like swimming through a fog of confusion where nothing could possibility make sense, and yet that confusions as keeping a screaming agony away. He could feel the pain just at the edges of his consciousness, threatening to spill over raw and red into his mind. Distantly came the realization that he was drugged. That was the only thing that made sense. He thought he should feel bad about that, painkillers being preciously scarce in the Colony. He hated to think they were wasting them on him.

There it was, someone calling his name again. Crying. Well that wasn't right either.

Pony. Would cry for him. He would have cried for her, albeit for different reasons. But it didn't sound like Pony, he decided, because Pony's voice was much higher and had an air headed quality to her words. It sounded like Cassie's. But Cassie was dead, taken by the robots-

No, that wasn't right either, he remembered. Cassie had returned, had said she still loved him. Which was good because he still loved her, but it was bad because... because... it made everything he thought for the past several months a lie. But it was good, because she was back and she still loved him. Or had he covered that already? Lucien couldn't recall. Opening his eyes seemed incredibly difficult, as well. Instead, he raised an aching arm that was swathed in bandages to fumble loosely around for whoever it was that was crying.

"Cassie?"

Found Alive

Finally starting to post now. It's been a long day...

Found Alive

It was hard to resist the urge to punch Toni in the back of the head, regardless of the protection his helmet offered or of the fact that doing so could cause them to crash. In the end, Lucien held of not for either of these reasons but out of hope that if he performed well, Uncle might help him settle things with Cassie. It was a dim hope, and he really didn't know what sort of aid the old scientist could provide. Uncle, however, had pulled out an amazing number of rabbits out of his magicians hat in the past.

There was no comment to make at Toni's urgings. This was Lucien's job, and he was going to do it the way he thought best. He also did not want to dwell on the amount of time it was going to take to climb the tower, other than that the longer he took the more it would annoy Toni. Still... even though they were far enough from the desert to escape its dryness, the heat hadn't lessened so much that he had any desire to stay outside longer than he had to. The caves might be cool, but at least there was moisture! Lucien made sure the shotgun and pry bar were secured across his back as he made his way to the access ladder to start the long climb upwards. The winds buffeted him the higher he went. A steel cage arrangement was encircling the ladder's length for safety, true, but a fall against it would still cause any number of bruises or breaks even if it did stop him from plummeting too far. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to climb as high as he dared. Even though the structure was made of steel, he could feel it teeter in the higher gusts of wind that swirled about the higher elevations.

When at last he got up as far as might go, he paused to catch his breath. He could see the landscape all about them from there, and here and there Lucien could make out pockets of vegetation that had survived around the town. There was no way to call it could have been called beautiful. There was still too much desolation and ruin left of what once had been the human's great civilization for that label, but he had to admit it was breath-taking. So many years had been spent in the caves that he never knew what the world might look like from on high. The change of perspective was a new experience for Lucien. From the tower's tip, he could see the truck stop's parking lot and tiny figure moving about. Down below, the small figure of Toni sat perched upon his bike, arms crossed and impatient. And towards the opposite direction-

"Fuck," he whispered to himself. Quick as he could, he dug Uncle's device from his pack, hastily dropping several other items in the process. They didn't matter right now, though. The paper protecting the adhesive was ripped off and the electronic package slammed against a nearby access panel of some sort. Lucien turned and waved excited to Toni, pointing off in the direction he had been looking. "Toni!" he tried to call down, "Extermination teams! Hover skiff! Hover skiff!"

It was only because of his altitude that he had spot the two craft, lightweight hovercraft that zipped along faster than most human vehicles. Lucien knew each of those craft would carry at least five Androids, all bent on extermination or capture of the humans. He also knew that they were coming from behind a rise in the landscape. Neither Toni nor the scouts on sentry would see them in time. "Dammit, Toni! Androids!" And he tried again to point in the direction of the oncoming attackers. Unsure of Cassie's brother understood or not, he turned back to the device and, removing the blocks, flicked both toggles before letting himself drop down the ladder chute with hands and boots pressed hard along the outside to try and control his decent.

The explosion that followed hastened that decent. If Lucien had paused or taken the steps down as carefully as he had ascended them, he would have been caught in the core of the blast and been killed instantly. Instead, the expanding pressure forced him downwards faster. His young body was jolted against the safety cage several time on the way down. Pain blossomed in his elbow, ribs and head as the uncontrolled descent turned into an outright fall. The landing was the worst. The cracked concrete seemed to rush up to him and then slam his body hard, and Lucien was quite sure he heard a few ribs snapping. Overhead, thick plumes of smoke rose high into the air for all to see, Androids and humans alike.

Lucien was unaware of any of it. He knew pain and he knew danger, and he had to warn the others as quickly as possible. Gasping in agony, he began to try to crawl in the direction of Toni. His warnings were hoarse whispers for all that he tried to shout through the deafness that hummed in his ears. Lucien, stunned and bleeding, could only keep uttering the words, " 's a trap... Toni... Get out of here... It's a trap..."

Found Alive

Be home in about 20 min. Post to follow