116 lines
6.5 KiB
Plaintext
116 lines
6.5 KiB
Plaintext
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PARANOIA
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-=-
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By The Mathematician
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The man ran across the alley, and paused, frightened, at the other
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side. He pressed himself into a doorway, trying to flatten himself against
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the wall, as if to evade gunfire or to hide. After a minute, when nothing
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happened, he continued outward to the street.
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He wore a black cape and what appeared to be a military uniform
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underneath. The uniform was a combination of parts from a parade ensemble
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and the clothing of a combat infantryman. The man had on a felt
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wide-brimmed hat, which put his face in shadow as he reached the bright
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sunshine of the street. A police car drove past on the other side of the
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street.
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The man in the cape matched the description they'd gotten over the
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radio. Hall was staring out the window of the squad car in a daze, and he
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sat bolt upright in his seat after the car passed him.
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"Go back, that 2-11 suspect just came out of an alley on the other
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side of the street."
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Jennifer, Hall's partner, spun the Ford into a tight turn and ended up
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facing the way they'd came. She spun the tires, accelerating on the
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asphalt. Hall imagined he smelled burning rubber and tar for a second.
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The car careened toward the man in the cape. He turned, and broke into
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a run. When the car stopped, Hall was out and running, hot on the man's
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heels. He turned left into an alley, and stopped short at the end, which
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was fenced off. Hall arrested the man and led him off to the car.
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Lieutenant Jenkins swore loudly. After the whole damn day, with his
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ulcer stabbing him with pain whenever he moved, he really didn't like what
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Hall and Stuart had brought in this time. True to their talent for somehow
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always busting the craziest person to be found on the street, they'd
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brought in a real doozy this time.
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"I am General Faro Stenn, of her Majesty's third spacefleet, second
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wing. My serial number is B63434052B."
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"Dammit, we've already got that down! Tell us something new!" shouted
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Hall, banging his nightstick loudly against the table. It didn't echo like
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he wanted, due to the soundproofing in the walls of the interrogation
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room, but the message got across.
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"I sense you are of pure heart. Here's the truth. I broke into the gas
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station to get some inch-and-a-half rubber tubing."
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"What for?"
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"To fix my spaceship."
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"Oh, sure, and I'm Cardinal Richeliu."
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"Don't believe me, do you. Look, you've taken my bag. You've looked
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inside it. Notice the pistol? Try firing it at the wall. See what
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happens."
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Hall lifted the object in question. It looked like a cross between a
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machine pistol and a generator. The heft was just like what a laser gun
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should feel like, and it looked just like Hall thought a laser should
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look. Hall pointed the "gun" at the wall, and pulled the trigger.
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Nothing happened. Hall said, "So? Invisible rays?"
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"Well, the beam itself is of course invisible, like any laser. But if
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it were working, there'd be a big hole there," said the prisoner, pointing
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to the cracked and peeling paint of the station's interior. "I must have
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used the charge up in that fight out on the freeway."
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"Oh, right. The batteries are dead? Convenient."
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"Well, one battery. I think there's a spare in the bag somewhere."
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"Sure. I don't see one in here," said Hall, poking around in the junk
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inside the bag. "Guess you lost it, huh?"
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"I must have lost it," said the prisoner, looking hopefully into
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Hall's eyes for a sign of agreement. When none was forthcoming, he
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groaned. "Fell-spitting provincials! I suppose next you lock me up as
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crazy, huh? Can't anybody for once accept that they're not the only humans
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in the universe? No, of course not."
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Jennifer approached the man. He looked at her for a second, and then
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drew back in fear. He said, "The same face as the one that shot me on
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Altair four! Get away, I warn you! You'll never take me alive, and you'll
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never find the tapes!"
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Jennifer stopped, a puzzled expression crossing her beautiful,
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heart-shaped face. "Stuart, you're upsetting him. Better get out, ok?"
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said Jenkins. She left the room, stopping at the doorway and looking over
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her shoulder at the man in the chair.
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"The one that shot you? The what that shot you?" asked Hall.
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"The killer android! The android!"
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"Look, man. That woman is a damn fine officer. She's been on the force
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for three years. An android?" asked Jenkins.
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"Yes. Look, not a robot really. A genetically engineered artificial
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construct. She must have been planted here at the start of the war."
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"I see. And who is fighting this war?"
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"The Haron Empire started it. They began slave shipments from
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primitive planets, and the Galactic Enforcers came down hard on them. That
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goes on all the time. They hit back, but good. Took out three major
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systems in less than a standard unit. That's kind of unusual, but nothing
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to get excited over. Unless of course you're one of the systems."
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"Which side are you on?"
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"The Queen, Mistress Anira Franor the Third, was on the side of the
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Enforcers. We discovered a plot to take this planet as a source of raw
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materials, and they sent me to get proof to take to the Enforcers. That
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would give them evidence to take to the Galactic council, so the Council
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could call in the main Starfleet."
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"Where is this proof?"
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"What, do you think I'm a fool? I won't tell you, 'cause you'll tell
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her. Then what? It all comes crashing down."
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Hall started another question, but the Lieutenant cut him off. "Hall,
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we've heard enough. The guy is obviously over the edge."
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"Call County Medical?"
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"Yeah. Lord Jesus, what a day," remarked Jenkins as he left the room.
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The call came in three hours later. The prisoner calling himself Faro
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Stenn had escaped from his cuffs, and stolen a police car. The bulletin
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was of little interest, since he was heading away from their jurisdiction.
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Jenkins rummaged idly in the strange man's bag. He turned up a heavy
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metal case about the size and shape of a cassette tape. The "pistol" had
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another such object secured in a recess on the bottom, like a magazine.
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Remembering Stenn's talk about switching batteries, Jenkins replaced
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the pistol's charge unit. He jokingly pointed the weapon at Jennifer, who
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had just come into the office, and pulled the trigger.
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THE END (What a ripoff, huh?)
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