RetreadsChapter 34
- 3 years ago
- 21
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Author's note:
It has been a long time, I know. Those who have read my blog, have an inkling as to why. Events in my life have not been kind to me since my last posting. I won't go into detail, because I realize that many of you have faced similar issues. For some, these take a while to overcome. I'm only human, and that is the case with me. I lost the will to write, or do most anything else I enjoyed. It was only recently that I opened my editor once again.
Even then, it was to write something different. At last count, I have five other stories begun. Most of those have two thousand lines or more. Evidently, I have concentration issues. So, there is my explanation, for what it's worth. These things, along with the fact that I write less in the summer anyway, are why this story has remained unfinished for so long. Summer at my place takes a bit of work. It takes all day just to mow the yard, not to mention the fact that that's only a small portion of my week. I'm taking care of two houses now, two hundred miles apart (part of my sad tale, sorry). My weekends are pretty well shot, and for the first time in memory, I'm looking forward to winter. Since I hate cold worse than I do extreme liberals, that's saying a mouthful.
-Rote
It was five years later that Matt leaned back in the chair at his desk, and let out a huge sigh of relief. Tedious would be a huge understatement of the effort in the transition of responsibilities he had previously seen to himself.
Twelve people now handled what he had been doing for a very long time. 'How in the name of Hel did I do all of that?', he thought. 'No wonder I fucked up so often! Things should definitely work out much better now'.
He had been slightly irritated with the fact that he hadn't even been allowed to see his new home, also. Only the fact that Rhonda was handling the preparations soothed his nerves. Like anything else the woman had undertaken, he knew she would do a better job than he would anyway.
Looking back on all that had occurred in the last half-decade pleased him. At least he was retiring on a positive note. The Federation was at peace, finally, though the mop-up of the Halim had been pronounced complete only in the last month.
Better than that, Earth had joined the Federation last year. That had been an accomplishment he thought he would never live to see. The seeds the Bards had sown took a while to take root, but take root they had. Some of the growth pains involved in the seedling stage hadn't been pretty.
The message had been one of peaceful coexistence, but the evolution it required to reach that point had been sometimes more than a little violent. It had been particularly bad in the Middle East. There were still religious fanatics everywhere, but the Islamists were, by far, the worst of the lot. What they failed to consider, is what peace and prosperity does to the human psyche.
Within a year of the Bard's appearance, stirring up old hatred ceased to be tolerated. Over a hundred self-proclaimed "Messengers of Allah" had been stoned to death in village squares, before the rest seemed to realize the people had a "message" of their own to impart to them.
There were no more hungry masses. No more people living under tyranny. As such, there was no way to blame others for troubles that no longer existed. The oil-based economies were industrial and agricultural, now.
A shift had occurred in economic prosperity, too. South America was now as rich an area as anywhere on the planet, along with anywhere else suitable for growing coffee. There were other planets where the beans could be grown, but for some reason, the coffee exported from Earth was the most popular.
Marijuana was another huge cash crop that had a vast market, and contributed greatly to the economy. Hawaii was doing quite well in both of these areas, for one. Not many other crops were exported, but some were. There were planets in the Federation where some things just wouldn't grow.
Looking back, Matt realized that if he had allowed replicators to be used dirt-side, none of this would have occurred. Not that it hadn't been attempted, he thought ruefully. Those that had used replication technology unlawfully, quickly discovered that this offense was not looked upon with favor. It carried a sentence of twenty years at hard labor. There were no excuses, and there was no parole.
His mates had been a slight problem, with regard to retirement. Most of them were not even close to being as overwhelmed and burnt-out as he was, and balked at the life of leisure he was looking forward to. Those that had been with him the longest, laughed at the very idea of him taking it easy.
Connie had about gone into convulsions, laughing "That'll be the fucking day! I give it a week, before your climbing the walls because you're bore out of your feeble little mind!"
He remembered her comment now, and smiled. She was probably correct in her assumption. After all these years, she knew him better than he knew himself. Still, doing nothing but relaxing seemed just the ticket to him. As he closed the last file on his terminal, it was as if the weight of the universe had been lifted from his shoulders.
Almost as if she had been looking over his shoulder, he heard Rhonda's sweet voice in his mind. "Time to go home, love", she said gently. "Your chariot awaits. It's at the private pad, and shouldn't be hard to find".
I thought it was strange that there was no one around. The offices were usually frantic with activity, but the place now looked deserted. I found out why, just as soon as I opened the door. From that point, all the way to the strange ship I could see in the distance, the way was lined with a cheering throng.
I stopped in my tracks, and seriously considered turning around. It was too much. As soon as the thought entered my mind, I found both arms clutched by a pair of beautiful bookends.
"Don't even think about it", growled Dina.
"They just want to say goodbye", added Dora, "and wish you well. You WILL behave. Got it?"
I laughed as I retrieved my arms, and wrapped them around my little blonde Spitfires. "Yes dears", I said, "anything you say, dears."
Any further comment was cut short by my "OW!", as both rear cheeks got pinched. The little tarts captured my hands so I couldn't even retaliate, too!
They released me as we began the walk, but quickly retreated a step. I was forced to the front, and began the long hike to the ship. It looked like two miles, but felt like fifty. It seemed like every race in the Federation had a large group in attendance, and I wouldn't even attempt to guess how many had turned out for this melee. Eventually, we got to our destination.
My whistle as I looked up at the sleek vessel was lost in the noise of the crowd, but the girls could tell I loved it. The ship wasn't huge, but it was much larger than the shuttle I had expected to take us up to the Sussmann. It didn't look anything like a shuttle, really. It looked more like an old jet fighter plane from the history books. On steroids. Lots and lots of steroids.
It had to be at least two hundred meters long, and though I couldn't determine the width from outside, it appeared to be proportional. I cracked up when I saw all of my mates line up on the boarding platform in two ranks. Each was wearing a uniform seemingly inspired by a cross between the old stewardess and cheerleader outfits. By the time they got lined up, and saluted, I was gasping for breath.
I returned the salute, and walked up the ramp. Thankfully, a speech wasn't required. My farewell address had already been broadcast, so I just waved as I entered the cabin. My mouth was still hanging open when the door fully closed and sealed.
"Welcome to the Loki", Tina said with a huge grin. "It's the first of many surprises we have for you."
My flawless eloquence immediately rose to the surface, and I stuttered "What? ... How? ... Who?..."
A chorus of giggles, was followed by Sharon explaining "It's a new ship type. We hope you like it, because we all designed it for you."
"From what I've seen so far", I said with a gulp, "I love it. What's its specification? I mean, what is it designed to do?"
"That would take hours to explain", Rhonda said. "Why don't we show you instead?"
That sounded like a fine idea, so they led me to the bridge. Dina and Dora were the pilots, of course. I wanted to fly it, but they wouldn't let me.
Matthias Sussmann: Chosen by the Gods to lead mission to prevent Ragnorok William Sussmann: Father of Matt Suzanne Sussmann: Mother of Matt Al Sussmann: Brother of Matt Beth Sussmann: First adopted sister of Matt and future mate. Computer design and CEO Tina Finch(Sussmann): Second adopted sister of Matt and future mate. Inventor. Head of independent lab Perfects Hydrogen power, alternate fuel, and Cold Fusion Paula O'Shea: - Oncologist - Mate of Bryan Sharon Granger(Sussmann:...
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It was a time of horrible raids by terrible marrauding hordes, which caused untold misery, fear and poverty in all of Pelopones. It was a time when Xena and Gabrielle were needed by all the towns, before it is too late, but she was nowhere to be found. The century before had been a good time for all, under the Cooperation Accord of Olympia, there was piece between all the polises, and Xena could concentrate on petty crime and feuding Gods. But now Xena had been on a mission in Asia for years,...
Cousins - Une Histoire de Famille - partie 3 Par Loulou Note: cette histoire est pure fiction et aucun des personnages n'existe vraiment ? l'ext?rieur de ces lignes. Ne m'en veuillez pas de prendre quelques libert?s avec la r?alit?. Chapitre 12 - Rentr?e des Classes pour Chris Pour des raisons diff?rentes, les deux cousins ?taient tout aussi inquiets. Chris faisait sa rentr?e dans la l'?cole de beaut? et Sam avait mis ses nouveaux v?tements et esp?rait plaire ? Jessica. M?me s'il avait dit le contraire ? son cou...
Ce jour-l?, Maxime Lamothe eu 17 ans pour la premi?re fois de sa vie. Bien s?r, il avait eu 16 ans, aussi, et 15 ans avant ?a. Mais ces ann?es-l? ?taient encore porteuses d'espoir. Il avait attendu, attendu, mais il s'?tait jur? que si ??a? ne changeait pas, il irait voir quelqu'un. Au cas o?. C'?tait maintenant. - Ecoutez, jeune homme...je ne vois rien d'anormal. Votre taille ne devrait...plus tellement changer. Vos parents ?taient d?j? petits eux aussi, apr?s tout. Mais c'est vrai, g?n?ralement...enfin....-...
Maxime resta tr?s longtemps dans un demi-coma. Ou, tout du moins, il le pensait. Des images allaient et venaient. Des personnages apparaissaient devant lui. Il ne pouvait pas voir leur visage, mais il les entendait parler. Parfois en fran?ais, parfois en anglais. Il se sentit avoir froid. Puis chaud. Puis froid ? nouveau. Et faim. Et chaud. Plusieurs fois il voulut ouvrir ses yeux, mais il n'y parvenait pas. Lorsqu'il ouvrit enfin ses yeux, il ?tait dans une chambre d'h?pital. Toute blanche, toute...
In this part Theron trys to drug Queen to make her his lifetime slave. And he started to sceduce her hard. [email protected]
FantasyNote from the author: The story is in Italian as I realized it is too hard for me to keep writing in English, but I will probably translate it later on. ---------------------------- Capitolo 3: Rachel Matt sedeva al tavolo della cucina di Steve. Una massa indistinta di capelli viola le ondeggiava davanti al viso ogni volta che si muoveva. Indossava ancora il pigiama prestatole da Chelsea. "Non riesco proprio a credere di aver avuto bisogno di un...
Cousins - Une Histoire de Famille - partie 5 Par Loulou Note : cette histoire est pure fiction et aucun des personnages n'existe vraiment ? l'ext?rieur de ces lignes. Ne m'en veuillez pas de prendre quelques libert?s avec la r?alit?. Chapitre 21 - Une jolie secr?taire Sam se r?veilla en pensant que jamais il n'avait si bien dormi. Comme Chris dormait encore, il prit son petit d?jeuner en silence. Quand il entendit Chris arriver derri?re lui, Sam leva la t?te pour recevoir un baiser. "Sammy, tu as l'air...
Introduction: Ron Popeil offers a new invention called The Spartan Spitter. Introducing the Spartan Spitter Story: #25 Copyright 2005 Written: February 06 2005 A story By: KaosAngel Proofed by: Piasa_Troll Please send any comments about this story to ([email protected]) ********************************************************************** Imagine yourself sitting in your favorite easy chair, nagging wife finally went to bed, or those unruly daughters disregarded your rules and ran out again,...