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Stories from the Verse
Verse Three, Chapter One
Chapter 126, Kondor 41
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Chapter 125, Hastings 43
Kondor awoke in the dark. Even without seeing, there was much to know. There was a familiar feeling here, a pushing and releasing. Maybe he was on another spaceship. But no, his fingers felt the floor, and it was coarse, rough, like wood. There was the smell of wood and tar, and worse, thick in the darkness. Timbers were creaking, there was the sound of water splashing somewhere against the walls. This time it really was a ship.
Where was that flashlight? He had the M-16 still in his hands, probably bird blood and feathers all over him. Skewered by a spear--not the first blow they landed, but the worst. But he gave better than he got. He wondered what happened after they got him. Well, if Lauren was right, they'd meet again, and he could find out.
He found his light, and switched it on. It was getting weaker; he was going to have to get batteries somewhere, but somehow didn't think this would be the place. With a bit of jiggling, he got a beam. Yes, this was again a cargo hold. Maybe he could come up with a better story than the drink with a woman bit, if he gave it some thought this time. Jumped by ruffians, perhaps; robbed of his money, dumped in a crate? That had potential. But he should try to find out more about this world before he started trying to fake it. Probably the crates would have labels of some sort, names of origins and destinations, contents, possibly the name of the ship or at least the shipping company. He moved closer to one, and found what he sought.
He almost dropped the light. "Deja-vous all over again," he said. "We have been here again, we will be here before."
The crate was clearly marked, "Mary Piper--Sardic Registry".
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 #69: Novel Conclusion. 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:
