One more
piece of fan fiction for this setting.
Flashman-Raiders
It felt odd. Zepher ZB3, Pieces of Eight's best runner,
trudging along the slower public access circuit under armed escort. The eight bits in his memory lock comprised a
Beta Z9 string worth 6300 charge. Not
only the most expensive string in five mega-cycles, but the most expensive ever
handled by the company. Costs for the
transaction, including Neutronian tips, the buy price, paying off other
companies to shut out other buyers, and the Power Play guards was at least 4000
charge. But at the end of the circuit,
at the output tower, was a projected 2300 charge of pure profit!
"How you doin,' little
buddy?" said Power Play captain Soloman SR10, "Nerves ain't getting
to ya, are they?"
"I'd feel a lot better, if there
was a backup plan."
Casually, Sol remarked, "If it
gets too hot for us to handle, you just get to a junction and take-off on an
output wire."
Zepher wasn't impressed by the
Protonian's "run like hell" tactics.
However, he did feel safer, surrounded by four guards and four more
scouting their front and rear. Even his
memory lock had been affixed to his body in such a way that his arms would have
to be removed before it would come off without the proper codes. Zepher hoped it wouldn't come to that.
A low rumbling reverberated along the
circuit tunnel. The sound became louder
and Soloman brought the column to a halt.
Shaking into pieces, the circuit walls on either side crumbled to reveal
four large Protonians.
(Shoot first, ask questions
later.) The hiss and pop of Power Play's
mass drives exploded the attackers.
Suddenly, Zepher realized the rumbling wasn't coming from the
Protonians. A familiar sounding
crackling thunderstorm was coming from the output circuit running parallel to
their own.
Eight or more Electronians leapt
through the fissure in the output circuit wall.
The raiders' shock rods reduced the four rear guards to burning
embers. The messenger group was quickly
encircled.
"Looks like it's time for Plan
B!" yelled Sol.
"Yeah," Zepher nodded.
The guards moved in mass towards the
fissure. Under the Protonian's
concentrated fire, the Electronian ring cracked. Zepher jumped through the crack. A slick, smooth surface for high- speed
travel, he fell, rear first, onto the output circuit. Another Electronian stood on the track in
front of Zepher. Recovering quickly, he
charged. With the sound of a sonic boom
and the eruption of a volcanno, the circuit was torn apart. Blown backward, Zepher went back through the
hole.
Power Play was still holding out. "There's a circuit breaker in the tunnel
and not enough time to get back to the buffer!" Sol was about to reply by Zepher, when an
explosion rocked them all. The circuit
breaker had snapped their line. Seizing
the advantage, the Electronians made quick work of the guards. Alone, Sol prepared to defend the messenger,
"Better take off!" Zepher had already made up his mind to make his
stand with the captain, but instead found himself being tossed out the
grid-side crack.
The tunnel echoed thunder. On the grid, Zepher was then struck to the
ground by a nerve-breaking headache. He
looked up. (Neutronian!) Already, the Micronian was reaching for the
memory lock. Putting his hand to his
attacker's face, Zepher delivered a large shock to the Neutronian. As he fell backwards, several raiders came
out of the tunnel. Zepher sped off along
the grid. Two M Metrons away west was a
cluster local circuit to the tower.
Twenty C Cylces until the string was due. Several attackers and wild grid bugs in his
way, Zepher poured it on. (Some
workout!)
(Hey, that was actually somewhat exciting. I should have finished this at the time when
I actually knew the setting better.)
No comments:
Post a Comment