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Stories from the Verse
Verse Three, Chapter One
Chapter 77: Hastings 27
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Chapter 76: Slade 25
Thursday was mostly dedicated to loose ends. After her martial arts workout, Lauren met with Father James and Raal to compare notes. Plans were falling into place for the raid on the pit.
Meanwhile, it appeared that other plans were working. There had been no additional action taken against Lauren Meyers. There had been burglaries at several of the properties owned by The Church of True Knowledge; offices had been ransacked, but nothing was reported stolen. And the last few nights at The Pit there had been some unfamiliar guests creating a disturbance. And Arnie had been seen in Miami, where hunters were keeping tabs on his movements. All was going well.
After that she spent the afternoon reading and studying, had an early dinner, and got to work ahead of time.
Saturday morning Raal picked her up after her workout. He reminded her that her robes should be at the store; she had lost track of the days. She bought all three of the identical robes. This got her thinking. There were many things she could buy in this world which she could not get in the last one, and she could not guess how many more worlds she might travel before she had another chance. This was a world with scientific and technical knowledge, and having reference books of some sort might prove valuable. There were also a lot of gadgets which could be useful. She thought about a watch, a portable computer, a calculator. There were guns and ammunition--although she had just collected a couple of excellent examples of that. She could get new clothes, jeans, dresses, underwear, whatever she needed. They would have packaged foods, preserved beverages, camping gear. There were more things available than she could buy, or carry for that matter. She wouldn't be here forever, and she should take advantage of the opportunity to pick up a few things while she was.
In the end, she bought the necessities: practical clothes including jeans and shirts and undergarments, and packaged foods and drinks. She also got a backpack and a sleeping bag, and a bit of rope and some bungie cords to hold it together. After that, she did a bit of grocery shopping so there would be decent food in the house for the next week. The battle for Philadelphia was barely a week away now; it was going to be a tough one.
Sunday she slept, as she did every alternate day. When she went to work, Jake told her that attendance was down drastically at The Church of True Knowledge that morning. Truth, she thought, really does set people free. She hoped to set a lot more free in the days ahead.
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with five other sequential chapters of the novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #50: Stories Progress. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
