You've killed us all
Every book has a final, pivotal scene; the culmination of moving all the chess pieces in place until you have the last meaningful dramatic confrontation. Yesterday was the setup for this slam-bam climax. MINIMCOM has disarmed (and in one case dismembered) the Darwin crew. MINIMCOM also gave Rome Jack Henry's handgun. Captain Keller has the fake virus container and still thinks he has the ultimate trump card. So here is the payoff for sticking with The Ark Lords up to this point:Keller assessed the situation and simply shrugged. He shook his head and stepped down from the box. “I don’t know how you do it,” he said, “but I guess you win this round. Be careful where you point that gun,” he said with just a tinge of fear in his voice. “You could hit this vessel.” He held it up and away from his body.They won! An utterly complete defeat over the forces of evil. But now that they have won, what do you do with a group of fanatics who are simply going to start their plotting all over again?
“That is exactly what I plan to do,” Rome said. She brought her left hand up to steady her aim.
“No!” Keller shouted hoarsely.
“Yes,” Rome said grimly. She flipped the safety with her thumb then she exhaled and firmly pulled the trigger. With a bang, the gun went off and the bullet flew straight through the aluminum canister. Because it was pressurized, the air shooting out of it made a loud, whistling noise.
“You crazy bitch!” Keller cried out. He threw the canister to the ground and covered his mouth with his sleeve. “You’ve killed us all.”
Rome lowered her arm slightly, still pointing her weapon at Keller’s chest.
“I told you it was a fake,” Rome shouted. “MINIMCOM really did fly the actual vessel into the sun. Virus 5 is no more. The Ark Lords are no more.”
Keller removed his arm from his mouth. “Damn you,” he spat. “I don’t believe it!”
MINIMCOM spoke up, directing his comments to Rei. “I still have the soldiers that were guarding your son and mother-in-law in my cargo hold. I rigged it as a containment cell. What would you like me to do with them?”
“Are they armed?” Rei asked.
“No,” replied MINIMCOM. “Their weapons remain back at the cave.”
“Then hold on to them,” Rei said. Balancing Aason on one hip, he surveyed the scene then with his free hand, he snapped his fingers. “I know what to do.” He set Aason down on the ground. “Let me have the gun,” he said, walking up to Rome who handed him the pistol.
“Captain Keller. You are done here.” Rei raised his voice. “All of you,” Rei said, waving the gun over the crowd. “You hear me? You are all done here.”
“You’ve already made that quite clear,” Keller muttered.
Published on March 13, 2017 07:04
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Tags:
action, adventure, ftl, science-fiction, space-travel, vuduri
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Tales of the Vuduri
Tidbits and insights into the 35th century world of the Vuduri.
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