July 2015 I’d noticed the other day that she kept hanging around, smoking cigarettes and occasionally taking one of my beers out of the cooler. She kept changing the music to some sort of music that I thought was punk, or at least related to punk. At first I thought she was watching Bryce, and …
Tag: Rook
A Lifting Fog – Missions of Discovery I
“Brett, War Room, now.” The quiet message came over the comm link embedded in his ear. He didn’t really understand all the technology Titan had created with Apex for communications, hell, especially for the armor. Privacy was an accepted illusion as a member of the Alliance, and that didn’t even count the magical artifact Brujeria …
The Danger of Dreams
“While no additional charges have been filed against UDP leadership or members beyond the alleged direct assassins in the three weeks since election day, the investigation into the attempt on Senator-elect Graham continues……” Outwardly, Brett didn’t sigh in frustration. He was attempting to enjoy the beautiful fall day in the park William had forced his …
Spiral of Regret
I’d left the conversation. I couldn’t leave the aircraft, but I'd left the conversation, turning my attention towards the take-off and initial flight maneuvering. The limited AI James, although I wasn’t entirely sure what Titan meant by that and why he was different than Apex, could have handled all of the flight controls, including the …
Waiting
“I 'ate this fuckin' room.” Five minutes later, “I 'ate this fuckin' room.” I sit next to the bed. Again. I sit and I stare at the unconscious form. Her long purple hair lies tangled about her sleeping form. Of course, its not entirely purple any more, and I guess its a sleeping form now. …
What Price Memory, Part II
I study her as the sommelier bringS the wine she ordered, offering it first to me, and with a shake of my head, going through the dance of the sniff and taste with her. Somewhere, a thought chases through my head, probably from Henri, that the tasting was irrelevant, that originally, the sniff was just …
What Price Memory, Part I
I wasn't sure why I was so nervous. She'd told me along time ago that she didn't want to marry me, and then kept a life altering secret from me. If dinner at an expensive French restaurant was the price to pay to find out information about my daughter, then I was willing to pay, …
What Price Memory: Intro
They'd had some good times over the last few days, the three of them. Awkward at times, of course, but good, he'd thought. But she kept doling out the information slowly, and he had a soldier's dichotomy of immense patience while on or planning the mission, and almost none in his personal life. Whether it …
Mending Fences and Digging Holes: Part II
He'd made sure he had plenty of time to get back to the base, he'd even made sure he had time to run back to base. Not sure what possessed him to run back instead of grabbing a car from the garage, but he'd been so nervous that Sarah had finally given up trying …
Back to Work
The prisoner hadn't given him anything more useful than the information that first night. More and more he suspected that the implant did more than protect his mind from outside influence. I mean, why give Dryce an implant to start with? From what he had said, both today and previously, was that no one really …
No More Running
He’d ridden home on the back of the SpyderCycle, alternately fuming quietly with the occasional angry outburst to his brother about their failure. It didn’t take them long with Bryce’s suicidal speed, to drive along the cost of California until they reached Tempest Point. Everyone made noises about a post-mortem session with food but he …
Safe Places: Part 2
He awoke to aching cold, a mix of numbness and pain in his legs. Dizzy, he couldn't really orient his direction, but when he moved, the feeling of water sloshing around him brought some coherency to his thoughts. A fine spray was showering over him, as he struggled to get somewhat upright. He moved his …
Safe Place – Part 1
He awoke suddenly, confused momentarily before his body addressed the swelling from the concussion driven through his brain as his head slammed into the steel walls a few moments ago. His senses fired, but the container provided no light for his eyes to filter, completely dark. It had been dark outside, but there was no …
First Loves: Part I
She awoke to an empty bed, not an unusual feeling. The darkened room was strange, only the moonlight glowing through an open window, the curtains waving slightly in the breeze of the Australian night, throwing waving shadows across the room. It felt more than a little creepy to be in Brett's childhood room and bed, …
Coming Home
He'd been obnoxious about the Venn diagram discussion. Intellectually, regardless of what he told Henri, he could recognize the value of such a proposition, and frankly it really wasn't that much different in its objective than many of the threat or target analysis discussions he'd either ran or participated in previously. Course, stylistically, anything related …
Last Dreams 