Prelude Three
TRIGUN:
MOON CHILD
Motor City Blues
By R. A. Stott
"…the Plants left behind became a bit erratic… there was that one in Detroit… oh, but that happened before SEEDS left… that's another story anyway…" - Kinza – Prelude One – TRIGUN: Moon Child – History's Observations
The rain was falling across Detroit. She walked along Michigan Avenue with a tattered shroud across her body. The rain made her long blond hair stick to her back as if plastered there. Cars slashed her as they moved along. She looked back at the darkened city. A blackout was covering that section of the town. She turned the corner at 1st Street and found a bar where the lights were still on. She stumbled into the doorway and collapsed to the floor.
"Come on darlin'," a husky voice said as she began to revive. "Drink this."
It was bitter and strong, which was probably why she was being given this awful tasting fluid. She coughed and gagged a bit, but if the plan was to wake her up, it worked.
"Blasted Plant!" she heard someone curse. "Ever since they installed that new South Station unit, it's been so full of bugs a can of Raid couldn't get rid of 'em!"
"Ea, that casino down there uses too much of its power, that's why," another voice griped.
"I remember when we built that casino," a third voice reminisced. "Tore down an old tenement apartment ta do it."
"You didn't build that casino," the first one started in on the third voice. "You lived in that tenement!"
"We all lived in that tenement," the second added.
"Indeed we did," the third agreed. "So whose deal is it?"
"Yours dummy!" the other two barked. Their yelling was causing her ears to hurt. She covered her head with her arms and whimpered.
"Quiet you three," the husky voice snarled with as much a whisper as it could do. "Can't you see that you're causing Cinderella here pain?"
She looked under her arm at the person whose voice she was hearing. She was a burly dark woman with short curly hair and an apron on over her blouse and jeans. She noticed that she was being looked at and winked back at her.
"Darlin', I won't ask what you're doing in this part of town wearing nothing but those rags, but you look like you're in need of some help," the woman said. She assisted her to her feet and showed her to a back section of the bar. There were a set of steps that she coaxed her up. At the top was an apartment that seemed to be the home of the gruff voiced lady, and one other.
"Mary, what did you bring in here this time?" a squeaky voice said as she was seated in a chair. She looked across the room and saw a thin tall woman with buck teeth and stringy blond hair.
The initial kick whatever it had been she drank was starting to wear off. The exertion climbing the stairs took its toll on her. She slumped over and fell asleep.
Morning broke with the sunlight blaring in through a high window. She blearily saw that the room she was in had a high ceiling. She sat up and found that she was on a sofa, and that a blanket had been placed over her. She wrapped it around herself and rocked slowly letting the ringing in her head pattern her movements. She placed her head onto the blanket hoping that shielding her eyes would stop the pain throbbing between her temples.
"It was only a little sip of cognac, dear," the short lady that she kind of remembered being called something like Mary said from over a railing above her. With great pain she glowered up at her to find that the apartment had a loft where the other ladies were sleeping. Then the skinny one looked over the railing at her, and suddenly she didn't feel so bad.
Because she looked worse than she felt.
The apartment filled with the smell of something that made her nose perk up for some reason. She did not know why, but there was something that made her stand up and wander over to a doorway to the room under the loft. There Mary was pouring something dark and hot into a cup. She smiled and placed the steaming mug on the table in front of her.
"You might want to put some sugar in that – it's kinda strong," she said.
She placed her thin fingers around the cup – it was hot, but nothing she couldn't handle… why did she know that? She took a sip of the brew. It was strong. It was another bitter taste. White granular material was offered to her with a laugh from Mary.
"Try it with the sugar, otherwise that face might stick," she chided. She watched Mary spoon some into her cup and stir it in. She then offered her the spoon.
She looked at it with the curiosity of a child. She dipped it into the sugar and poured some into her cup. She followed it with another, then another, then another, then yet another.
"Uh, like it sweet do ya?" Mary asked with a quizzical look on her face. She briefly looked away. When she looked back, an empty cup was being shown her with a look on the girl's face wanting more.
"You don't look impoverished," Mary murmured. "Other than not having any clothes on when you fell in here, you seem healthy enough… when did you eat last?"
She shrugged and looked down. Mary took her cup and refilled it.
The other woman stumbled into the kitchen. "Coffee! Must have coffee!" she squeaked. She grabbed a cup that had been left on the far end of the table and cuddled it. As she began to sip, she finally noticed the frail look she was getting from the other end of the table.
"Have we got a name yet?" she asked Mary, who had seated herself across from her. She shook her head.
"Actually, I haven't heard a sound from her yet," she said leaning into the table and looking at the strange girl. At least this time she was sipping her coffee, even though she had decimated the sugar bowl again. It was a good thing she didn't tell her about putting in cream…
"Do you know your name darlin'?" Mary asked her. The girl looked up and shook her head. Mary huffed. "Well, if you can't remember it, why not call you Cindy?"
"Cindy? Why Cindy?" the other lady said through a piece of toast.
Mary shrugged. "Yesterday we called her Cinderella when she fell through the door downstairs. Cindy fits her." She sipped some coffee and looked at the girl. "Mary, Cindy and Patty," she said pointing at the each of them. "It's the 'Y' girls!"
Patty shook her head then glanced first at a clock on the wall then at a wrist watch on her arm. "Whatever, Mary… I'm gonna be late to the casino if I don't get my tail in gear. Save some pop in the fridge fer me, will ya?" She got up as Mary waved to her. Cindy listened to her scamper up the steps to the loft. She then heard her cursing and complaining about some uniform she had to wear.
"12 hour shifts at that casino – it's gonna kill her some day!" Mary mumbled. She looked at her cup and snorted. "I'm one to talk, aren't I? I open the bar at eleven and close at two in the morning. I'm the one working to the early grave…" She looked at the girl who was pondering the toast Patty had left behind.
"You don't look banged up, so you weren't assaulted," she commented on what she saw before her. "And you're too pretty to be gutter trash. Someone's gotta be looking for you. How did you loose your memory though… Maybe we should go to the police…"
Cindy snapped out of her gaze and looked at Mary with shock and worry. She started to shake her head in a rapid 'no way'. She then felt a bit hyper as the caffeine from the coffee started to kick in.
"Okay - okay - okay!" she tried to sooth Cindy, whose eyes were dancing about. "No police. Well at least you know who they are!" Mary sighed. She turned about to look at the clock - Another day for the bar in less than an hour and a half. Nuts.
Mary went upstairs to get dressed. Cindy stepped out of the kitchen with another headache caused by the brown fluid. She suddenly found a pair of pants and a t-shirt flopping onto her head. There were a few other things, but she couldn't figure out what they were. She looked up from under the pile at Mary who was looking down at her.
"There," she said. "Patty doesn't wear that stuff often anyway. If you needed a bathroom, there's a small one past the kitchen." She then vanished beyond the edge of the loft to do whatever she was doing up there.
She looked at the clothes that had been dropped on her. The two frilly – um - things - that had been in with the pants and shirt seemed odd to her. The other two garments she had seen others, including Mary and Patty, wearing. But these other things she had not seen anyone wearing.
Patty came charging down the stairs like her life was on fire. She looked at the puzzled expression on Cindy's face and giggled a bit. "Don't go getting any of my clothes messed up now, you hear?" she kidded her. She reached down and turned on the TV. "Here you go. If you want to watch anything, the remote is right here. I'll see you tonight – bye bye!"
Cindy inserted her legs into the pants. They were tight – very tight. She found some sort of opening device at the bottom of each leg allowed her to get her legs in easier, but they were still tight. The shirt went on easy enough, but for some reason didn't feel right, and there was this tongue thing flapping up and flipping in her face all the time. She tried it the other way and found it felt much better.
This thing Patty called the TV was interesting. It was shouting and barking strange stuff, and showing people doing weird things – though at one point something came to her attention.
"It's Kohl's once a year lingerie sale!" it announced as a model twisted and turned across the screen. So that's what those were for! She removed the shirt and pants and put on the frilly things. They did make the pants feel better, but the shirt? It was hard to put that thing on and it was uncomfortable. And it must have been very wrong, as Mary was giving her a strange look when she finally came down the stairs herself and cocked her head to the side.
"Did you always slant down like that?" she asked. A quick check found that the apparel was too small for her. Mary set her free of it, which was just as well. She was having a hard time breathing with that thing!
The remaining hour was spent watching the television. Mary had switched the channel from where people were tossing chairs at one another to news.
"The power is still out along the area of town between the John Lodge Freeway and points southwest towards Rosa Parks Boulevard," the man on the screen reported, "adding to the areas around the Ambassador Bridge that have been in the dark since Sunday. Commissioners with ConEd's Plants Authority are still at a loss to explain why their new South Detroit Plant Station has failed to provide power or how soon it will be restored fully. With the growing sites of temporary ConEd generators being placed in vital areas of the city renewed questions about the dependability of Plants as our primary power source remains on the minds of many Detroiters."
Mary shook her head as she silenced an ad with the mute button on her remote. "Damn strange this power problem. You'd think they'd just fire up that old power plant along the river. Ah well, it's not our problem, is it?" She stood up and shut the TV off. "I've got a bar I have to get open. If you need anything come on down." She tossed the remote to Cindy and headed out the door.
Cindy looked around the apartment. She then went to the door and looked down the steps. She could hear the sounds of the clinking of bottles and glasses in the bar below.
Mary wrestled with a pile of leftover glasses that were waiting to be washed. Moe, the lunch cook was assisting her, prepping the sink. When she looked up from lugging them into the back room kitchen, she found the tall blond girl from upstairs looking at the sink. Moe just stared at her.
"Who's dis?" he asked startled by the sudden appearance of Cindy.
Mary laughed. "She kind of just dropped in on us yesterday. You had gone for the day when she crashed our party, right girl?" She plunked the dish tote next to the sink with a thud. "Cindy, this is Moe, my lunch cook. Moe, this is Cindy. She doesn't talk too much – if ever."
Cindy smiled and nodded at the man. Moe looked at Mary as if she were nuts.
"Man, is she safe here?" he asked bluntly, though Cindy didn't seem to understand. "This is a rough neighborhood."
Mary dropped a tumbler into the tote. "Moe, you are a momma's boy, ain't ya?" she sniped. "There ain't nuthin' around this part of town that'll cause her problems here. She's safe here. And until her memory comes back…"
"Memory?" Moe squawked. "You mean she's lost her mind?"
"I think YOU'VE lost your mind!" Mary barked. "She just lost her memory! And she's stayin' with me!"
Moe seemed to know when not to push any further with the boss. He held his hands up and backed away two steps. He started to fill one side of the split sink with soap and water. Cindy watched as he would take a glass from the tote and scrub in the frothy water, rinse it off in the other sink, and stack it in a rack next to him.
"Have you got the grub out of the 'fridge yet?" Mary called from the bar. Moe looked at the ceiling and sighed.
"Not yet," he yelled back. "I'm working on last night's load." He wiped his hands on his apron and stepped over to a large refrigerator. He looked inside and nodded at what he saw. He then stepped to the rear of the kitchen and opened the back door. He was greeted by a rack of freshly delivered rolls and breads. He dragged them in and slid them under a prep table that split the kitchen in two. It was then that he heard a clinking. He looked over at the sink and saw Cindy continuing where he had left off.
"Well, if she's going to make herself useful, I guess I shouldn't complain," the said to himself. He started to set up his sandwich counter as she toiled.
Mary walked in and saw Cindy washing. She nodded and added to the pile in the tote and returned to the bar. 11 o'clock – time to open.
Not that there was anyone to come into the place, save the three old men from the day before (and the day before that, and the day before that – Mary thought they came with the place).
"Looks like it's gonna snow," the first old codger said as he sat down in the far corner where he had sat the day before.
"I've been shoveling snow for nigh on 50 years," the second one added, planting himself against the wall next to the first one.
"You've been shoveling something," the third one griped as he reached for a pack of cards on the upper shelf of a small library behind a pool table. "Just what you've been shoveling is probably something other than snow!"
"Aw crap," the first one huffed.
"That too," the dealer said as he shuffled the deck.
The game was on – The 1st Street Bar and Grill was open for the day.
Lunch was coming fast on them, and it didn't take long for more customers to show up. The first sandwiches were ordered up – a Philly Cheese Steak with fried onions – someone was in from out of town. Cindy watched over her shoulder as Moe flew through his dance and whipped the concoction out.
"Blasted fryer," she heard him snort. "Still isn't hot enough." When she looked back, Moe was thumping away on a large silver sink-like unit at the end of his stove. A pair of baskets was hanging above it with long thin stringy things in them.
Moe shook his head and stepped towards the bar. "Yo Mary," he barked. "Look, I'm not sure whether we can get enough juice into the fryer for fries today – it barely worked yesterday."
"So, you're sayin'?" she asked a bit curtly.
"I'm sayin' that you can either have fries or hot sandwiches, but probably not both with this brown out condition we're in." They headed back into the kitchen, but when they got there, the fryer was bubbling away as if on fire. A hand hovering over the stove told them that it was hot enough to do a dozen cheese steaks at once. Moe scratched his head.
"I don't get it," he said. "This wasn't like this just a moment ago. And it takes a whole bunch longer to get that oil up to speed."
Cindy smiled and continued to wash glasses.
"Units 0-27 and 0-35 are 90 at 1st and Michigan," the officer reported into his microphone. A scratchy sound from the walkie-talkie's speaker confirmed their lunch break, and they entered the bar.
"Yo Ed – Mike," greeted the two as they took their seats near the door.
As Mary had greeted the two, she flashed back to that morning to when Cindy had wanted no intervention of the police. She looked towards the kitchen, as Cindy had finished with the washing, and was now bringing some of the lunches out to the tables. Mary had found it interesting seeing the reactions of her regulars to this drop-dead lady now delivering food for her. But she had forgotten that two of her regulars were cops.
"The usual?" she cautiously asked.
The chunkier of the two laughed and spouted out what must have been a standard answer to her. "Yea, two burgers, two pops and a pile of your greasy fries! Gotta put some weight on the rookie here!"
"Aw, lay off the rookie stuff Ed," Mike mumbled. "I've been your partner now for nearly a year, and every day it's – the - - same - - - thing! Damn!"
Ed looked at his slack jawed partner and followed his gaze, as did Mary when she noticed his reaction. Mary held her breath when she saw what his reaction was for. Cindy was serving a table on the other side of the bar.
Ed grinned and snorted. "Damn is right… Mary has a new waitress! I wonder if she's single?" He promptly found a fist being ground into his head.
"And what would your wife say to that?" Mary snarled.
Mike continued to stare. Cindy noticed him and smiled back, causing Mike to nearly jump out of his seat.
"Looks like she likes you," Ed continued to pester. He received another knock on the head from Mary. "Hey, you shouldn't hit an officer!" he kidded.
"And you should look out for internal affairs!" Mary dropped on him as she headed back to the bar.
Mike couldn't take his eyes off the new girl. Even Ed was beginning to worry as the young officer sat entranced as she would come and go from the back.
"You know, if it weren't for those pants," Ed started.
"They're a pair of Patty's," Mary noted.
Mike grimaced. "They look better on her," he mumbled continuing his stakeout.
"Hey, I heard that!" Patty barked and swatted Mike across the head.
Mary was surprised to see her roomie back so early. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
Patty pointed out the door and grumbled. "The casino is only working at half power, so they let most of us go. That's a day's tip and wages shot to hell."
"I thought the casino had a backup generator," Ed said while looking at his walkie-talkie's screen for updates.
"They switched to a micro-Plant recently," Patty said as she sat on a stool at the bar, "and it's been acting up ever since the other Plant started working strangely."
Cindy came out of the kitchen with the officer's order. Patty leaned on the bar and huffed.
"Got her working already?" she laughed. Mary shook her head and waved at her.
"She volunteered," she said. Cindy placed the food and drinks on the table and smiled again at Mike, who had forgotten anything about the meal.
"Hormones," Ed grunted and plopped some ketchup on his burger. Cindy quickly vanished back into the rear while Mike sat stupefied. "You'd better eat that before she thinks you don't like her service."
Mike woke up a bit on that remark. He knocked some of the cobwebs out of his mind and rattled his head. "Who is that Mary?" he asked in a near whisper.
Mary coughed. "Her name is Cindy, and she's a friend of mine. She also happens to be a mute."
The looks that Ed and Mike gave Mary made Patty break out in howls. "Oh! Oh! Oh! If you could just see your faces!" she screamed. She finally fell off the stool.
Before Ed or Mike could comment any more, Ed's walkie-talkie beeped a few times then started to blare an emergency code. The two officers waited for the squawk to stop.
"All units in the vicinity of Lafayette Boulevard and Cass Avenue," it finally yelled, "reported explosion and fire of a ConEdision power station. All units report…"
"0-27 and 0-35 on our way," Ed replied and nodded to Mike. The rookie was looking out of the window.
"That's only two blocks down and a block over," Mike commented. "You'd think we would have heard that!"
Ed patted him on the shoulder. "Come on kid – Mary, can you keep these warm? We'll be back." With that they were both out the door and running down the street. Cindy watched them go and saw a billowing plume of smoke over top the buildings. A feeling swept through her, but she didn't know why.
It was a feeling that she was to blame.
A week had past since Cindy had shown up at the bar. Business was brisk during the lunch hour, which wasn't normal for the little grill stop. With the areas south of their location nearly running out of power due to the Plant problems, the customers for those places were coming north towards them. This was the second day in a row that Mary had to turn away customers due to lack of space, what with the fire marshal making frequent stops now.
Mike stood outside the bar. The new foot patrols the police department was using meant that there were few times Ed and he would get to their favorite lunch stop before the overcrowding would force the temporary closing of the door. Mary was apologetic about it, but when the fire marshal threatened to shut her down completely, then also threatened License and Inspections on her, she quickly had to set her foot down. The bar could hold only sixty people at a time, and sixty was the limit. If she removed the pool table, she could get maybe another ten in safely. The codgers in the corner found their table shrunk from the massive five foot wide one they had always been on down to a small three foot bar top unit. It didn't faze them though – it still held the cards, even if they now had to bring them themselves – the library had temporarily moved upstairs.
Tomorrow though would be different. Mike knew it would be. The rotation was up – twelve days on, four days off. And he knew just where he was going to be on his first day off.
So he thought…
"Mike, what brings you here?" Mary asked as a familiar face followed the old boys into the bar when she opened at eleven. "You're just in time! You three – stand there and hold these!"
Old fogey number one was given the pool cues.
Old fogey number two was handed a salad bowl with all the billiard balls in it.
Old fogey number three was handed a cup, and small parts were being dropped into it by Patty and Moe. Patty looked at her watch and jumped up.
"I'm gonna be late!" she yelped. "I'm working the Noon to Midnight shift." She handed Mike a screwdriver and some pliers, grabbed her pocketbook and a pair of high-heels that she was required to wear at the casino and scurried out the door leaving a confused off-duty officer in her wake.
"Come on Mike, take this corner!" Mary told him. She was at the far end, Moe was on the other corner. On his end was Cindy. He swallowed. He then looked at what Mary had in mind, noting to himself that the door to the basement was open.
"You do realize that this is a slate-topped pool table," he noted.
"Yea?" Mary asked.
"You do know how heavy this is?"
Mary looked at the table. She reached down and attempted to move it.
"I know I removed the bolts to the legs," she grimaced. The table failed to budge.
"Tell me, is there reinforcing to the rafters in the basement?" Mike asked. Mary looked at him with a perplexed expression.
"Have you been in my basement?" she asked.
"Of course he hasn't," the first codger harped. "But we were here when Bruce put dat table in here!"
"I've won many a game on that table," the second one reminisced.
"Don't snooker us," the third one grumbled while rattling the cup with the parts. "You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with your pool playing!"
Mike shook his head. "They had to strengthen the rafters to support both the table and the customers, otherwise you'd be in the basement already!" He then pointed down as to refer to the quick route they would take if the supports hadn't been there.
"Then how did they get this thing in here in the first place!?" Mary shouted as she slapped her hand on the felt surface. After the third slap, she brought her hand back shaking. Slate hurts!
"They assembled it on site," codger one said.
Mike agreed. "Yea, there's the cap piece with the bumpers, the slate tabletop, the casket or carcass, and finally the legs. And it takes a pro technician to set these things up and get them balanced just right. Otherwise, the balls will roll to the low side every time."
Mary started to look for the way to remove the cap section. "How do you know so much about pool tables, boy?" she grumbled.
He shrugged. "My father taught me how to play pool." He watched Mary pop a few of the side markers up to find the bolts holding the caps on. She started attacking them with a ratchet wrench. The parts codger soon found more bolts being tossed in his direction.
The edge popped off once all the bolts were released. They all then proceeded to gently walk it down the basement steps. The next step was the removal of the heaviest piece, and the most delicate – the slate top. It took all four of them plus two of the codgers to ease the slab to the floor. How they managed to get it down the step without marring the surface or cracking the slate was a miracle in itself. Finally, with the massive weight gone from the table's top, the carcass was found to split in two. That made it easier to move the unit. Once the legs made their way to the basement, Mary now had the room she needed for the three small tables she was planning to put in its place.
Mike sat on a stool in front of the bar panting. Cindy sat beside him as she caught her breath. "That was heavy," he stated. She agreed and smiled. She took a paper napkin off the stack beside her and swabbed his sweating forehead. At first he was shocked that she was doing that. Then he laughed and did the same thing to her.
"Listen, I had come in here originally to ask if you'd like to go out with me after your shift here," he said with a sheepish smile. He looked up and stared into her eyes – those amazing emerald green eyes – and started shaking. He had thought she'd react with surprise or just brush him off, but she was looking at him with that same gentle smile she had given him the first time they saw one another. Then she placed her hand on top of his, and he nearly fell off his stool. She nodded yes then headed for the kitchen.
Mary had just finished taking the last of the small stuff the old boys had been holding for her down to the basement when she had seen Cindy and Mike at the counter. Moe had finished putting the extra chairs and tables in place just as the first lunch customers entered the bar. He headed for the kitchen as Mary got behind the bar and dusted it off a bit.
"So, taking our Cindy out for walkies, Casanova?" she kidded Mike. To her surprise, he was beet red blushing. She laughed. "What's with you? Haven't you ever asked a girl out before?"
Mike lowered his head. "No, not really." He twisted on his stool slightly as Mary gawked at him. "Not with someone…" He didn't finish his thought, he just nodded towards the kitchen.
"Well, I can tell you, you're the first one to score any chance with her," Mary giggled.
Mike looked up from the bar. "Huh? What do you mean?"
Mary cocked her head. "Hey, with the weirdos we've been getting' in this place, we were bound to get some that were drag-ins from the gutter. She's had jerk after jerk try to hit on her and she's shot them all down – now I can see why."
"Come on, Mary," Mike said embarrassed by her opinion.
"Darlin', she's been waitin' for you. Now I know why she looks out the windows during all those busy lunch rushes. She's been lookin' for you!"
Mike looked back at the kitchen entrance then back at Mary then back at the entrance just as Cindy stepped out with a serving for the codgers. She looked at him, smiled then went over to interrupt their card game, which they never seemed to mind when she did, the dirty old men.
"What would she see in a thug like me?" he asked Mary in a whisper.
"Don't put yourself down, kiddo," she snorted as the drink orders started to come in. "Besides, it will be good for her – she hasn't been out of here since she arrived."
Mike shot her a look. "Really?"
Mary pointed a finger at him. "Listen, I'm gonna tell you something that must NOT go any further than your ears, got me?" The young officer stiffened up and swallowed hard. Mary looked like the Precinct Sergeant on a bad mood day just then, and the same fear of god ran through him. She then proceeded to tell him of how Cindy had come to them. When she finished he was sitting with his mouth agape and eyes as small as dots.
"She doesn't want any help with her memory?" he asked in a stupor.
Mary shook her head. "I've offered. She outright refuses any. She seems happy just to be here and do what she's doin'." She stepped from behind the bar to deliver some beers to a couple of patrons at the new tables. When she got back, she could see that Mike was thinking. She swatted him with her wipe rag.
"Hey, whatever it is, drop it!" she warned. "All you will do is make her unhappy and probably make her not like you. Just be her boyfriend, dummy!"
He rubbed his head. "Uh… yea… right." He ordered a pop and waited.
The crowd was as big as it had been for the last week. Mike actually left the bar to allow one more in a group of four to come in before the peak number was met. Lunch was required to end at 3:00 by licensing, but the main rush would be over by 2. He re-entered the bar at about 1:45 when the crowd lessened enough to let him do so. The evening waitress had arrived, so Cindy was upstairs. She suddenly appeared at the doorway to the apartment in a new shirt and pants and a jacket. She seemed to be walking a bit oddly though. Mary looked a bit perturbed.
"I forgot that I hadn't given her any shoes to wear," she said to Mike's surprise. "She's been barefoot since she got here."
"She went into that basement without shoes?" Mike sniped angrily. He looked at Cindy, who was looking at him with a bit of surprise. He scratched his head and laughed. "Sorry kid." He held out a hand. She reached for it and took it.
A shiver flew up his spine as the smooth gentle fingers wrapped into his. At this point he didn't care if she had never worn shoes before. If she fell, he'd never let her touch the ground. They headed for the door.
"Good luck sonny!" one of the old codgers barked. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"
"Why would he want to do ANYTHING you would do?" the one next to him retorted.
"Well, he could always try juggling his dentures like I can," the third one suggested.
"Oh yes," the first one said. "That always breaks the ice on a date!"
They quickly departed while the card game degenerated into an argument over false teeth and first date etiquette.
They strolled down 1st Street as they walked towards the river. He had switched from holding hands to slipping her arm through his, as any gentleman should. But then she laid her head on his shoulder, and he nearly melted in the street. At least she was walking better.
"You know, I'm not even sure what to do on this date," he said mostly to himself. He looked over at her. She was looking at him, listening to him. She smiled and held his arm tighter.
"Do you just want to walk? Is that it?" he asked her. She squeezed his arm as if to say yes. He sighed and felt his feet lift off the ground. A glance down told him that they were firmly planted.
"You are amazing," he crooned. "I've never seen a woman quite like you. Your face, your hair, your EYES… your ENERGY… they're just so… wow… there's no words for it that fit how… incredible you are." He looked at her. He had felt her raise her head when he had mentioned energy and the look on her face was that of surprise, but more than that, worry. But the emotion of the moment made him miss that.
"I'm sorry," he said blushing. "I'm spewing my guts out, aren't I? Hey, I've got an idea… let's go up to Grand Circus Park – we can stroll around, maybe see some of the galleries up there."
She smiled again and nodded her agreement.
"Great – let's get the People Mover over at the Fort-Cass Station."
As they turned the corner, a rumbling sound started to fill the air. Cindy looked ahead of them to see a large box-like trailer with heavy cables hanging off its sides sitting near the corner. The cables all lead down a man-hole.
"Ah, they replaced the generator that was damaged the other day," Mike noted to himself. He looked at Cindy. Her face was sad for some reason. He reached over and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked. He then saw a tear roll down her face.
"Hey! Why are you crying?" He found her squeezing his arm even tighter as she placed her head on his shoulder again. They walked by the roaring machine that was providing temporary power to the area. Mike could have sworn he heard the machine rev a bit as they turned down Cass Avenue. Above them the concrete People Mover train line stood. They entered the ornate station with the mosaic artwork lined walls and the six large "Progression II" sculptures. While Mike slipped a card through a reader, Cindy examined the swirled multi-plated bronzes that were mounted there. They stepped onto the platform just as the train rolled into the station.
Mike noticed people looking at them, and it wasn't just men. Ladies, children, even a small dog that some swanky lady had brought on stared at them. Could they not believe someone like her would be with him?
The train started along its tracks southeasterly bound in the loop system that would take them down towards the river, then northwest to the Grand Circus Park some 10 to 15 minutes later.
"Dear god, no! Don't do it!"
Mike looked about. It was a woman's voice, but it was like it had shouted in his head. He looked at Cindy. She was looking behind them towards the southeast.
"Did… did you say something?" he asked her. But a flash caught his attention in the distance. Then a billowing cloud of black smoke and debris could be seen from where the light had come from.
Mike stood in shock. What he saw coming made him grab Cindy and drape his jacket over his and her heads while shouting "EVERYONE GET DOWN!"
The buildings behind the train, tall skyscrapers and small dwellings, were having their windows burst and shatter as a shock wave rolled up from the south towards them. The train had made the turn towards the north when the wall of sound struck them. As the windows burst around them, Mike could have sworn that the train was about to come off the rails. Somehow, the train remained on the tracks, but was now being pummeled by falling glass from the GM-Renaissance Center. A large section spiked through the roof of the train, which continued on its route for what seemed miles. Finally, the power was cut, and the clatter on the roof slowed to a mild trickle.
Mike stood up, raining glass shards off his back. He checked over Cindy, who looked a bit shaken, but not injured. The others in his car seemed okay as well, though the dog seemed ready to bolt anywhere it could. Mike moved to the rear of the car and hit an emergency stop button when he felt the train start rolling backwards. He pulled his badge from his breast pocket.
"Detroit Police," he announced. "Everyone remain calm. I'm going to check on the forward car. For your safety, please remain in the train until further notice."
An elderly lady tugged on his jacket. "What happened? How will we get off this train?" she begged. He saw that there was a trickle of blood coming from her ears. He quickly pulled a handkerchief and brought up to her left ear which seemed to be worst off. Cindy came over to take over from him as he stood up and looked forwards.
"There was an explosion. We got caught up in the shockwave," he explained as he pulled his special cell phone. "Everyone check your ears – that was a bad blast we just went through." He keyed a button on the side to connect to the police dispatch center as he checked his own ears. A small dab of blood came from his right one.
"Unit 0-35 to base – unit 0-35 to base, over…"
There was only silence for a moment as he stepped towards the front of the cabin. Glass crunched under his feet as he stepped around the impaled shard that was sticking down the center of the car.
The door slid to one side. The rubber gasket that sealed the two cars together was pierced in numerous locations. When he looked through the shattered window on the door leading to the front car he nearly gagged.
"Unit 0-35, this is base, please give your location," his phone finally squawked. Mike was squatting looking at the floor trying hard to hold in what he could. He took a breath and slid the door shut to the back car.
"Unit 0-35 here," he said with a shaky voice. "I'm in a People Mover just north of the Renaissance Center. Aft car intact, but the front car looks totaled. Send help."
He stood up and swallowed hard. He slowly opened the door and entered the car to see if anyone had survived. He stood and surveyed what he could.
It seemed that the people who had been on the left side of the car seemed to have taken the brunt of the blast. It looked at if a scythe had swept through them, some of whom were missing heads. Then there were the punctures from above. The rear car only received one piece. The front car was sliced by at least six that he could count. He started checking around for survivors. A young man suddenly appeared behind him.
"Damn!" he said, startling Mike. "Sorry man, thought you could use some help."
Mike held his hand up. "Just wait," he ordered. He then continued to tip-toe through the mass of bodies and glass.
"Unit 0-35, Base," his phone said again. "Due to the explosion of the South Power Station, we're unable to get rescue to your location right away."
He looked about in disgust. "10-4 base. Stand by…" He continued forwards. A sound coming from his left caught his attention.
"I found a live one," he yelled to the man behind him.
The man jumped from one clear spot to another. What he saw then made him gag as Mike had earlier. A young lady was cradling an infant. She was caught by death in a fixed stare at the ceiling where a shard of glass and metal had skewered through the roof and pinned her to her seat just missing the child. Mike gently removed the baby from the arms of the woman and handed it to the man behind him. He then found the lady's purse and started rummaging through it.
"Hey man, give the lady some peace!" the kid said to Mike.
He shook his head and grunted. "I'm looking for identification. I'd like to find the child's proper family – ah, here's her driver's license – keep this with the kid." He slipped the card into a fold in the blanket wrapping the baby. Then there was a moan from behind them. A woman was lying under a body waving her hand.
"Oh my god, look at this," another voice came from the back of the car. Another man was standing there. The first stranger bounded back for him and handed him the baby.
"Hold this, and don't loose that card," he told him as he headed forwards again. "We found another live one up here."
The man draped over the woman was peppered in glass, and had expired. Mike rolled him off and shuddered.
"Help me," she whispered. "Help me please, I can't see."
"M'am, I'm a Detroit Police Officer," Mike told her gently. "Don't attempt to open your eyes."
"Oh geeze," the young man said as he got up to where Mike was working. Mike shot him an angry glare.
"What is it?" she asked. "What is wrong?" Mike had to stop her from attempting to touch her face with her hands, as the shards that had struck her were well imbedded.
"Please m'am. Remain calm and let us take care of you," Mike said to her.
"My husband… where is Wallace?" she asked. Mike looked up at the man and then at the body beside him. Just then the car convulsed with something smashing against the roof. A shower of safety glass rained over the car. Mike almost thanked the shard for hitting at that time. It wasn't safe in the front car.
The baby started to cry.
"A baby!" the woman shouted. "There's a baby!"
"We already have the baby," Mike said to her as the two men lifted her out of her seat. The young man carried her legs as Mike lifted her by her arms.
"How about the driver?" the man with the baby asked.
"These trains are automated," Mike said making his way around the bodies. "Head back."
The man turned and headed out the doorway followed by the threesome. Another smash of glass on the roof hit just as they moved through the cars followed by a sickening slicing sound. Mike looked over his shoulder to see that where he had just been walking was now a steel window frame that only made a thump when it finally hit the floor of the car. He just continued on and slammed the car door shut.
Then he noticed something – the front car was dark. But the lights were still on in the rear car, even though the power had obviously been cut. He looked about for a place to place the woman.
"Is there anyone else?" a young lady asked the young man as she let them place the woman on the seat she had been on. He shook his head. The lady fell across his shoulders crying.
Mike keyed up his phone again. "0-35 to base – 0-35 to base."
"Go ahead," it replied.
"Base, found only two survivors from the front car," he reported. As he did, he saw Cindy tending to the cuts and wounds of the other riders. She had a roll of paper towels and was dabbing cuts and ears between about five people. "One is an infant – no visible signs of injury. The second is a white female, approximately sixty years of age with multiple facial lacerations and imbedded glass shrapnel to the eyes. We are continuing to receive debris strikes from the towers."
"Is there any way to move your car further south 0-35?" the communications asked. Mike moved to the rear and looked through the broken window of what would have been a driver's compartment.
"Base, these things are fully automated," he said, then looked out the rear window. "I could release the emergency break, but I see debris on the tracks that could either stop us or derail us."
"We are safe here," the voice zapped through his head again. He looked back at Cindy. She was looking at him while cleaning a wound on a boy.
"Understood 0-35," his phone said. "Priority to you situation will be increased."
"What do they mean by that?" the young man yelled when he heard what police radio had said. Mike pointed out the window.
"You see that?" he asked of a smoking building almost centered in the shards. "That's city hall. I think they have some priorities. Plus we were no where near the epicenter of the blast. There are many more casualties to deal with. We'll just have to work around it."
He bent down beside Cindy and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks honey," he told her.
"What for?" rang through his head. It was her. It was a warm pleasant voice. He looked about to see if anyone else heard her. The old lady who she had helped at first smiled and nodded. He then noticed that the wound she was dealing with on the boy was vanishing.
"For helping these people while I went up front," he said a bit flatly. He was shocked by the cut disappearing. "What… who are you?" he quietly asked her to her ear. She smiled.
"I am Cindy, for a better name… It's better than 0-72-629 Delta 4… That's what my keepers call me."
"Who said that?" the young man asked. Cindy turned and looked at him with a smile.
"Hi!" she said in his mind.
"Whoa, freaky!" he said as she stood and walked to the woman they had brought in from the front car. She placed her fingers along side the ugly wounds and concentrated.
"Please stand back," she said through her mind speech. As she did, the glass that had been in the woman's face was ejected. The woman should have been screaming in pain Mike thought, but he was seeing the wounds disappear from her face as well.
"I am what you call a Plant," she said in Mike's mind. "And I know what happened just now." She looked at him, then at the others in the car. "And do not worry… I am only talking to you right now."
Mike bent down beside her again. He was about to speak when he found her index finger from her right hand against his mouth.
"Think your thoughts," she said. "I've been able to hear them since the first day we saw each other."
Mike nearly fell over. He looked at her hard. She was human. She was an incredible human, but she was a human, damn it!
"Well of course I'm human," she laughed in his mind, "at least partly. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to tune in to your frequency as easily as I do."
"You said that you know what happened," Mike thought. "Is that why you cried out just before the explosion?"
She lowered her head. "Yes… it was my brother, the second Plant. He was the one who set me free. He was a troubled youth, I guess you'd call it."
Mike shook his head. "Wait a minute… what do you mean you're a Plant? What have you got to do with Plants?"
She looked him in the eyes with a tear rolling down her cheek. "I am the power source of a Plant. We are brought up to be the core power center of the fusion process that Plants are based on. We can tap into a source of energy that is unlimited. It means that we age to about what you would call our early 20s, then we become ageless." She returned to the job at hand.
"My brother, my twin brother… he couldn't understand that the scientists who created our kind knew that we were needed for our talents. But he refused to listen, he refused to cooperate. One day, he spiked his power and used some of the powers of The Source to eject me from my reactor. I woke up along a road. That was when I found my way to the bar." She covered the woman's face with her hand and bowed her head.
Mike saw something flash off her back briefly. They looked like little wings. When she took her hand off the woman's face, all traces of the injury were gone.
Mike placed his hand on her shoulder. "Is there anything you can do for the people in the front car?"
"No," she said sadly. "Their spirits have left their bodies already. If I recovered them, there would be nothing inside."
The woman took a breath. "The pain… the pain is gone," she said in astonishment.
Mike looked at her. He then looked at his phone.
"Damn!" he grumbled. "How do we explain this?"
Cindy turned towards him. "Tell them the truth."
Mike sat back. "What?" he said aloud.
She took his hands and held them to her chest. "I knew from the start that we were to be. But I also knew that for a time we will be separated. But in time…"
Mike looked at her eyes. There was something that he could see in her eyes. He saw space. He saw ships. He saw a fleet. Her voice echoed in his mind.
"In the future, we will be reunited. My foresight is not far, but what I can see, we will be together."
Mike felt like the world had just dropped on him. "But I don't want you to leave."
She smiled. "You will be able to find me at the bar, but only if I get off this train unseen."
"How?" he asked still speaking aloud. "They're obviously going to want to know where I met you. Internal Affairs is going to be all over me. Even Ed will know who it was with me."
"I won't say who was with you," the lady whose ears had been bleeding before said. "All I saw was a young lady on board who healed my ears then vanished."
"Same here," said a man who had a healed lacerated hand.
"You got it man," the young man said with his girl. "We might not have heard what she said to you, but we're not about to let any government bozo get hold of someone like this." The rest of the train agreed.
Mike smiled and looked at Cindy. "So, what will you do? They'll probably be here at any moment."
She tapped his arm. "Look at your watch," she thought to him. "What time is it?"
He looked. It read 3:35 – then it read 3:40. When he looked back, Cindy was gone. No one had seen her leave. Few remembered what she looked like. It was as if she had never been there, but had been there as well.
Mike sighed as he heard someone climbing on board the car. He got up expecting police rescue.
He found himself looking down the barrel of an M-16 held by an Army corporal.
Cindy looked at the glass strewn streets around the bar. Surprisingly, the bar itself was untouched, as it had been protected by a larger building behind it which took the brunt of the shock wave. The only window to break had been the high one in the apartment upstairs. She arrived as Moe was up there covering it over with some wood.
Inside the bar she found that only one bottle had shattered – vodka of a type that no one liked anyway, so it wasn't any great loss.
But Mary was still beside herself. The news reports were coming in from all over the southern part of Detroit. The blast seemed to have been aimed for all the new buildings that had glass facades. The worst hit was the casino, which had an almost entire glass front to it, and it faced directly at where the shockwave had come from. From the reports, there wasn't much left of it.
"I will find her."
Mary looked about. She could have sworn she heard a woman's voice. She turned away from the radio she was listening to see who it had been, but only got a glimpse of a shadow moving by the window.
Cindy headed down a block to Abbott Street. Abbott ended at the Freeway, and the casino was beside it. Even at this distance, she could see the wreckage in the road from all the shattered windows. Along the way she would stop at the occasional person she would find that she could help, but there were few that were still living. The blast had scattered not only glass, but bodies as well. A few that she found had obviously started out a great distance away.
At the edge of the Casino's property she looked about. The front façade had fallen into the freeway it faced. Worse, it looked as if much of the interior was also glass, so it too burst. The damage to the building ran deep. Then there was the parking garage – it had collapsed. Patty should not be in there, she should be in a main part of the building. She would need time to search.
Cindy found a small nook behind a shattered building. She crossed her arms and concentrated, touching her powers ever so slightly, and gave time a slight twist. Now to all, she would be but a blur – a trick of the mind – a phantom that arrived, helped, then left with a slight smell of sweet cakes, a rather odd aftereffect. Her clothing vaporized as she became nearly pure energy. Without her outer garments to hinder her, she once again tapped into her reserves and brought forth her wings. Now she had speed – she had the wings of Angel 1. And like that Angel, she fluttered and flitted across the devastated landscape.
She entered the casino. There were many in need of help. She could only give a cursory touch of energy and a mild healing stimulant to them. She was looking for someone - that was her first priority – she would have to come back for the rest later.
"Why are you helping them Delta 4?"
She stopped. That voice, the way it asked that simple question, and the unemotional way it did so… how?
"Delta 2?" she asked the voice from the ether. "Delta 2, how can that be you? You exploded!"
Miles away, Mike could hear this strange conversation. But he was standing with his hands on his head outside the rail car with four or five guns pointed at him.
"Captain," a private with a strange box with long multiple antennas on it yelped, "they're transmitting again!"
The commanding officer looked at the soldier. "Are you sure it's two signals Bradley?"
"Yes sir," he said turning his body to aim the antennas. "The first is definitely in the area of the power plant."
"The little bugger is still alive," the captain mumbled.
"The second is somewhere south of here sir," he reported. "Approximately four miles… I'd say in the casino area."
The captain spun about in his place thinking. "Have we anyone in that area?" he asked. Another soldier, this one with a large pack on his back looked up from a laptop screen that was strapped to his belly.
"No sir," he reported. "Closest units are at the power plant, sir!"
The commander looked about momentarily, assessing the situation.
"Kelly, take three of the men, grab the HumVee and get down there with Bradley," he ordered. "And don't stop for traffic lights!"
In the casino, those who were able to stand could see a misty glow fluttering about in the large open entry of the building. It would move from side to side at times, but for the last few minutes, it did little else.
"Oh Mike," Cindy thought. "They are coming for me. Delta 2, how could you do this? WHY did you do this?"
There was a laugh that ran through her soul. It was an evil, maniacal chuckle that she had been hearing more and more lately from her brother. "They are simple humans, Delta 4 - Only simple humans."
"NO, Delta 2! They are not simply humans! They are our birthright! They are our family! We are humans too!"
The laughter increased. "We are not humans! We are mere test-tube clones to their minds, creatures created to do their bidding. Lo, see what man creates! See what man has done! See what man has become! A weakling, underdeveloped copier of god's work! They think we are mere puppets! No! We are now superior! Watch the fall of man as we drain their lives from this planet! The fools who thought they were god by creating a new life form, but merely combined parts – combined souls that never should have been combined – merged without our consent or want – who is the evil force here? WHO IS THE EVIL FORCE!?"
In the casino they could swear they heard a woman crying.
The captain looked at Mike. He shook his head.
"You can put your hands down," he told the gathered survivors. "All except you."
Mike glanced behind himself. The captain was standing there smoking a cigarette.
"You can hear her, can't you?" he mumbled through the filter. Mike drew his breath. The captain knew.
He stepped around to face Mike. "Yes, we know," he confirmed, "though you didn't make actual contact until about an hour ago. For some strange reason, she chose you."
"Mike!" It was her voice. She knew he was being talked to by the captain.
"We had our suspicions," the captain continued. "We've had the bar on surveillance for the last week – the new girl was just completely out of place there." He dragged on the cigarette. "Listen, we know she's not to blame for this – let her know that. We need her help to stop Delta 2."
"How could you… how could you put a living being inside a Plant like that?" Mike spat.
The captain sighed. "Damn government greed. They thought they had a cheap – clean alternative power source. But they didn't expect one thing – they didn't expect their cattle to get smart."
A sense of rage flew through Mike. "Cattle!? You think they're cattle?" The others from the train gasped.
"No sir," the captain calmly said. "But I am the result of that mentality. I command a special force needed to contain this sort of occurrence. They call us the Cowboys… degrading yes, especially for the Plantoids."
"Even the name Plantoids is degrading," snarled Mike. The captain nodded.
"I agree. Would you rather I call them by their full name? Genetically Engineered Tri-Dimensional Life-forms – GETDLs – If you think Plantoids was bad, that was worse. Of course they could have kept their original names, but there would have been repercussions I think." He showed Mike a patch on his shoulder – it was a Cowboy hat with devil horns on it and a black halo over it.
"Angels, sir. They were once called Angels."
"Mike!" her voice shouted in his mind again. "I'll do what he wants – I'm the only one who can do it, but I must find Patty first."
Mike looked about. "Patty?" he asked aloud.
"What was that?" the captain asked.
"She agrees, captain, but she has to find a friend of ours first."
The captain threw down his cigarette. "There isn't time! If Delta 2 is still alive, he can still cause trouble. Delta 4 is our only hope!"
"Her name is Cindy!" Mike and a few of the passengers barked. The captain stepped back in surprise. He then scratched his head.
"Well, that's different!" he said. "Okay, Cindy. She is still our only hope right now. Let her know that. She knows what to do."
"I understand," rang through his mind.
"Cindy! DON'T!"
"Mike… I love you…"
He dropped his arms and fell to his knees.
Cindy launched herself in a mad dash to find Patty before the military got there. She knew that Patty worked on the casino floor serving drinks to customers. She darted into the main room and stopped, a wave of fear sweeping through her.
The ceiling of the casino had been reflective glass – one way mirrors for security reasons. Most of the glass was now gone, covering the floor and people below. It had broken in the million little safety shards they should have, but the amount simply buried many under a mountain of dark cubes.
"Patty!?" she shouted through her mind.
"Why are you trying to help this pathetic creature?" Delta 2 asked her.
"Shut up you!" she shouted. "I'll deal with you in a moment!"
"You'll deal with me now, sister," he snidely remarked. "I freed you, yet now you wish to imprison me?"
Bradley watched his device. The screen showed a remarkable increase in power at Delta 4's location.
"STOP HERE!" he ordered. The HumVee squealed to a halt.
"COVER!" he yelled, and all laid down in the vehicle, just as his box squawked. It showed an energy burst that flew from the casino area and struck a target in the power plant.
"OW!" rang through Mike's head. He smiled.
"Nice shot Cindy," he told her.
She was busy sifting through the rubble. "Patty! Patty!" she continued to broadcast.
She then felt a faint nudge. In a corner, near the bar… That was where she had to go.
A shower of glass shards was swept away. Patty laid face down, a trickle of blood weeping from a cut to her forehead, and multiple cuts from the shards that had fallen on her. Cindy looked about. She knew the military would be there shortly, and Patty needed help now. She gathered her energy, surrounded her friend with it then vanished.
"Whoa – whoa – whoa!" yelled Bradley. "Transference! Transference!" The HumVee stopped just outside the casino.
Mary stood behind the bar with a shocked look on her face. The three new tables now had a body lying across them, and an angel bathing it in light.
"Damn," the first codger yelped. "And I had a full house!"
"What game were you playing?" the second one griped. "I thought we were playing Fish!"
The third one tossed his cards in the air. "Aw nuts – 4 of a kind…"
Mary slowly came around the bar holding her special baseball bat that she had for such an occasion. She recognized the uniform on the body from the casino.
"She will be alright," she heard. "The wounds were all minor, and the bump on the head is easily fixed."
Mary looked at the angel. "C – Cindy?"
The angel smiled. "Help me turn her over," she said.
She watched as the cut on Patty's forehead vanished. She huffed.
"Can you do anything about that overbite?" she asked. "Patty's been wanting to do something about that for years…"
Cindy smiled. "Maybe later," she said then vanished.
"Hey, was it me, or was Cindy naked from the chest up?" the codger in the corner asked.
"Damn it!" the first one barked. "I knew I should'a brought my glasses today!"
"It was a miracle!" the third one said with a wry smile.
Bradley was having a hard time keeping up. "She's moving again! She's heading for the power plant!"
"Confirmed," the captain said into his walkie-talkie. "Have the Plant boys get the containment vessel ready."
"How can there be anyone still alive down there," Mike asked from his position on his knees, "after an explosion like that?"
The captain lit another cigarette. "Oh, very easily, if you know how to prepare…" He looked at the people by the train. "You may all leave… you too," he added towards Mike. "But I must ask you all to NOT mention anything that you saw here. We wouldn't want to start any hysteria, now would we?"
Mike stood up. "You caused this, didn't you?"
The captain looked at him with a minor expression of wonder. "Huh?" he asked.
"A containment unit… you had one just in case." Mike crossed his arms and faced the captain head on. "You were about to put Delta 2 into that containment unit, but he struck at you first, didn't he?"
The captain sighed. "Look, we were ordered to contain a rogue Plantoid. We didn't expect him to turn on us like that. Normal shut down procedures broke down. As for the results…" The elevated section of the People Mover gave him an unsettling look at the devastation around them.
"Whether heads will roll for this, I can't tell – I will find out after the reports are filed. But mine will probably be the first to bounce." The captain looked back at Mike. "I am responsible for the actions of my men – if they failed in their duty, then I must take full responsibility for this. Will that satisfy you?"
Mike stood for a moment. As a police officer, he knew what the captain was going through. He noticed his name tag. "I'm sorry… Captain Witherspoon?" He reached out his hand.
The captain shook his hand. "My friends call me Joey."
At the Plant site, Cindy materialized in front of the shattered containment bulb of Plant Two. She levitated through the gaping hole and saw him on the bottom holding his arm.
"You… you shot me!" he cried in her mind. "You shot me! Sister, why did you do that?"
Cindy placed her hand on the injured arm and concentrated. "You were out of control, brother. Must I discipline you again?"
"No… no, I know how you feel… NOW!"
He placed his palm of his uninjured arm in her face. A ball of energy started to form, but quickly dissipated. He looked at his hand in confusion.
"You broke your connection with The Source when you shorted yourself out," Cindy informed him. "You have little power to do anything to me." She stood up and changed her form.
"NO! NO, PLEASE DON'T DISCIPLINE ME!"
Her form was that of absolute pure energy. She enveloped him, and launched herself out of the bulb. Below her were a number of army men with a sphere with a steel outer hull, and a glass-like surface inside. A door was opened along the top. She noted that she might be working for these people, but she still didn't trust them. She momentarily stopped time and dropped into the sphere. There, she deposited her brother and left. Restarting time, she slammed the vessel shut then darted away.
"Sir," the captain's walkie-talkie squawked, "Delta 2 is contained, but Delta 4 has fled."
The captain nodded. "Good work men. Don't worry about Delta 4. She'll be back, I'm sure." He looked back at Mike. "Besides, I think we know where she's going," he said with a smile.
Mike nodded. "Give her a day or two, ea?"
The captain nodded. "I'll see what I can do. I have no guarantees here."
Mike sighed. He could see an ambulance finally coming for the train, along with rescue personnel from the outlying area. He began to walk back up the tracks towards the Fort-Cass Station.
A few hours later, Mike entered the bar. He found himself being grabbed and hugged by Mary.
"Oh thank god," she was saying over and over again. He could see Patty at the counter downing shot after shot of scotch.
"I'm never going into a glass room again," she was mumbling. Mike smiled.
"Where is she?" he asked Mary as he pried her away slightly. Mary wiped some tears away and nodded towards the door to her apartment.
"Up there I think," she said. "Are they going to come for her?"
Mike didn't answer her at first. He took a couple of steps towards the open door.
"Probably. I asked the captain in charge to hold off for a day or two, but I bet his superiors will counter that…"
"Then what are you waitin' for stupid?" Mary shoved him towards the stairs.
Mike entered the apartment, but was surprised by the light that greeted him. He saw wings of light and beautiful golden flowing hair as she had her back to him. They slowly seemed to start melting off her shoulders until the final set of feathers wrapped themselves around her chest. She then turned to him.
"It would be best I would guess not to excite the boys downstairs again," she thought with a smile.
"You know why I came," Mike said while looking at the floor.
"It is not goodbye, Mike. Not really."
He looked up. She had spoken that, not thought it.
She walked to him and took his hands again. "You see, I told you… we will be together again. The future tells me so. My heart tells me so."
"Unit 0-72-629 Delta 4," a bullhorn outside bellowed. "Please report to this vehicle."
"Did you mean it… what you said to me earlier?" Mike asked her. His answer came in a long and compassionate kiss.
"Unit 0-72-629 Delta 4," the bullhorn started again, but was stopped by the sounds of Mary and Patty yelling back at it.
"She'll be out here when she damn well feels like it!" Patty was yelling in a slightly sloshed stupor.
"After all, she just saved your butts!" Mary added. The kiss ended with Mike breaking into a laugh. Cindy joined him as they heard their defenders snapping at the wolves.
Mary and Patty were standing on either side of the bar's door keeping Bradley back with the bat and a bottle of Jim Beam. Mike tapped them on the shoulder as he lead Cindy out arm in arm. He looked at the HumVee. Witherspoon was standing with the bullhorn on his hip shaking his head.
"Countermanded?" Mike asked. Witherspoon nodded yes.
"I am ready, captain," Cindy spoke. Mary's mouth dropped, not having heard Cindy speak out loud before.
Mike looked at Cindy. "That was one hell of a first date," he said with a wry smile. She kissed him again. She then stepped away.
"Remember the stars," she said in his mind. "I will always be able to feel you, remember that."
In less than a minute, she was in the vehicle and whisked away. Mike stood outside for an hour after the crowd dispersed.
"Project SEEDS?" Mike asked.
The Major nodded. "It's an attempt to give man a second chance. To finally leave this home world, and maybe even help it out, though how, I'm not too sure. Resources are pretty much depleted. If we keep at this pace, man will soon be as extinct as the dinosaur."
"But Joey, why me?"
Witherspoon leaned on his desk. "Well, not to sound like a campaign poster, but we're looking for the best of the best. You've demonstrated that you're one of the best police officers in the US - first in Detroit, and now here in Philadelphia. You've been decorated many times, and I believe you were the youngest to become a Captain… We need a Security Chief. And besides, I know why you transferred to Philly.
Mike looked down. "Yea, I guess the chief cowboy would know that, wouldn't you?"
Joey held his hands up. "Hey, it wasn't my idea to move her here. The scientists that run these Plants say that a Plant that remains in one place doesn't maintain itself well. And as for the mission, she asked for you."
Mike looked up. "What?"
The major pointed at a map on the wall. "Haven't you been reading the news? Every city with two or more Plants is donating one or two to the SEEDS project. Philly has 5 units. Delta 4 and Delta 89 are designated to be sent. And Cindy asked that you come. She said something about you already knowing this."
Mike sighed and looked again at the campaign poster. A man and woman stood center on the sheet - a very youthful looking pair indeed - were looking towards the sky with the words 'PROJECT: SEEDS – THE FUTURE OF MANKIND' blaring at their feet. He smiled as the ship behind them showed signs of Plants being installed.
It was an artist's rendering, but he remembered that ship. He had seen a fleet of them before in Cindy's eyes.
He smiled. The time had come at last.
The little girl sat before her with an intent look on her face. The story had been long and involving. Her green eyes were ringed with tears and her long blond hair was mussed up from having just sat up from rest.
"So mother, why must I go to the planet below?" she asked in thought. A gentle hand touched her face as a tear fell to the floor beside her.
"Much like my brother, another of our kind is responsible for what has become of us, my dear child," Cindy told the girl. Your father may never awaken because of this Knives that I sense below. You are the daughter of the Security Chief. You must stop him - For your father, for your people, for the humans that he slaughtered."
"Why must father remain in Coldsleep?" the innocent mind asked her mother. She looked behind the glass at the row upon row of sleepers. Her father was the one in the red chamber. He remained still and preserved for eternity.
"You and I do not need the oxygen that he would need if he were woken," Cindy told her. "We can survive in this thin atmosphere much longer than a normal human being. To bring him to life would doom him." She sat down. "We can live nearly forever. But his life is short. I can survive for as long as it takes to see him revived properly."
"When will that be mommy?" the child asked.
She smiled. "Soon. But I'm afraid you will not be here to witness it," she said sadly to the girl. "For you will be on your mission, and I will be here alone."
"Hey, you're not entirely alone," a small man said stepping into the room with them.
"Eighty-Nine, how are you?" Cindy asked. The small Plantoid sat down on a bench beside the command chair of the Coldsleep room.
"Fine, fine. OneO'Five says that the final component for the boosters will arrive from ship eighty-two tomorrow. We'll be ready to launch soon." He stroked his mustache and chuckled. "Those folks don't know what's about to land on them, do they?"
The girl smiled. "I've been training a lot!" She pulled a laser and fired a low-powered test shot at the door. It danced around showing three spots.
"You've got it up to three spots – impressive. I can't see your hand moving at all," Eighty-Nine smiled. "Have you tried it with the type they use down there?"
The girl shook her head. "There's no place safe enough to try it up here."
The man rolled his lip and nodded. "Umm humm… Then I think you will need some extra training – those types, a gun that fires via an explosive charge greater than the one in that weapon you hold will give a kick, making your arm move after each shot. You may want to try to practice. Also, the gravity down there is greater than up here. The guns will feel heavier. You will have to learn to augment your strength with your powers."
Cindy nodded and sighed. She looked at her daughter – her child. "Then I too would suggest that you grow a bit to fit the part then."
The child looked at her mother. "Grow? You want me to grow older?"
"It's not like it's going to kill you," Eighty-Nine laughed. "Just free up some of your time flow and progressively age."
"Is that what happened to you?" she asked. "You're younger than my mother, yet you look greatly older."
Eighty-Nine cleared his throat and stroked his fuzzy lip. "Well, I chose this look to seem more distinguished, while your mother took the more natural approach for our people, and stopped her aging when she felt it proper. To the pure-humans, she would look to be in her 20s."
A grimy youth stepped through the door behind Eighty-Nine. His hands were dirty and his golden hair was covered in some strange pink grease. Eighty-Nine sniffed the thin air and turned around in shock.
"OneO'Five, what happened to your hair?" he asked seeing the pink slime. "Tell me that isn't hydraulic fluid!"
"Congealed hydraulic fluid," he thought aloud. "The maneuvering systems sprung a leak as I was testing them. Most of the hoses are old and brittle. It will delay us to mend them properly."
The child smiled. "It is no matter – I can remain a child for a little while longer then, okay mommy?"
Cindy looked down on the child and picked her up. The gun she held gently fell to the floor in the light gravity.
"No dear," she said. "You must start now. And we must increase your training." She held her tight then looked over to Eighty-Nine.
"Who is in Plant Four?" she asked.
Eighty-Nine pulled out a PDA he had in a pocket of his pants and tapped it a few times. "Umm… it looks like Twenty-Four is in there now."
Cindy nodded. "Good. He is a strong one - he should be able to do it. OneO'Five, how long will it take to repair the hoses?"
He scratched his head then noticed that he was scratching the fluid. "Ugh… well, we don't have the machinery to make the hoses, so we'll need to physically create them using our energy and matter transduction of raw materials – that's pretty time consuming on its own. We're talking a couple of months at least."
"What have you in mind, madam?" Eighty-Nine asked her. She smiled.
"Have Plant Four prepare a gravity training ground for my Sara," she thought to them while brushing the child's hair with her hand. "Tell Twenty-Four that he is to increase the gravity slowly while she dwells in his care. She is to practice and learn. She will be updated on the events of the worlds. She will be better prepared than we had originally planned."
Eighty-Nine swallowed. "That is for sure. At least we won't be as rushed as we thought. After all, she is only two weeks old." He stepped to a console and placed his hand on it.
"Computer," he spoke aloud. "Activate the simulation room – and give it direct ties to Plant Four."
The thin air made the speaker hard to hear, but a slight "Affirmative" could be heard. He placed his hand over the speaker so as to feel the sound better. "Current simulation is Grand Circus Park – shall I continue?"
Eighty-Nine glanced back at the two who were embraced behind him. "Store the current program. Run practice gymnasium and living quarters. Install into the program an exterior access to the gym via a work room that shall be independent of the rest of the simulation."
"What shall the gymnasium have installed into it?" the computer asked.
Eighty-Nine thought for a moment. "The gym will need the following – a work out facility and a target practice range. The living quarters should have the usual accommodations, as well as a learning center. I will personally draw up your schedule." He then felt something and looked up through a skylight in the room. He saw a flash of reflected light and grumbled.
"Them again," he said. "What should we do about them?"
Cindy looked up. "Don't be so harsh, Eighty-Nine. They are our salvation - they just can't do anything about it yet."
He looked at Cindy. "You – you've communicated with them?"
She handed her daughter to the man and looked back into the Coldsleep room. "In a way yes," she told him. "The captain and the first officer of that ship have touched my mind. They are quite remarkable people. As of now, they can only observe us and not interfere. But some day, they will be coming to our aid."
"Then, why send your daughter on this mission?" OneO'Five asked. "She should stay and wait for her father to be awakened."
"That is not the reason I was born," the child said. "You know that silly!"
OneO'Five was about to say something, but was cut off. A flash of light flared through the window.
"The ship!" Cindy cried thinking something had happened to the Observers.
"Something is coming up from the planet!" Eighty-Nine yelled aloud. Readouts on the computer monitors started to jump all around. He read the readouts of the five Plants. They were increasing dramatically. Then…
It was like the world had been picked up and shaken by a little boy. Gravity failed. Everyone floated as if in their containment vessels. The window became fogged over, and dust started to rise both inside and outside the SEEDS ship they were in. Clanking could be heard – something was striking the hull. This was replaced by thunderous banging. Situation alarms were keying all over the monitors. There were ruptures and punctures showing up throughout the base.
"Sealant pumps are at maximum!" OneO'Five reported. "What is going on!?" He looked back to see Cindy holding her hands up.
"It… it is Vash," she said in their minds. "Vash, calm yourself – release the hostility that they have plagued on you – terminate the beam, please!" Her wings were unfolding and she was beginning to power up.
"MOMMY!" Sara cried as she watched her float through the wall of the Coldsleep chamber. She reached her full power as she stopped before Mike's capsule.
"MADAM!" Eighty-Nine yelled. "YOU'LL BURN YOURSELF OUT GOING FULL POWER LIKE THAT OUTSIDE A CONTAINMENT VESSEL!"
Cindy ignored the plead and stared at the ceiling of the chamber. "Vash, I shall protect them," she said in her mind to him. "Cease your discharge, or I shall stop it for you!"
"Who said he was in charge of it?" another voice asked. This one was cold and heartless, and made everyone shiver when it rang through their heads. "You are weak and foolish if you think you can defeat my master. UHHH!"
The voice was cut off when someone else overpowered the first voice in a shout of pity and anger. "NO! STOP IT! STOP IT NOW!"
What happened next was communal. It rung through everyone's minds like a fiery hot dagger being yanked across them. It was like the sudden pulling of a great plug of energy. The pain within their souls was enormous. Cindy dropped to the floor, her wings vanishing as if they had suddenly disconnected from her body. When she looked up, there was no one in the windows of the control center. Then one was there - her Sara.
"Mommy!" she was crying.
"Is everything alright down there?" another voice asked. Cindy thought for a moment. Then she remembered – it was the voice of a friend who could not help at this time. He too sounded tired and pained.
"We are fine," she said gasping for something to say. "What about your ship?"
"We're fine," the voice said sounding a bit relieved to hear her, "but I'd look out your nearest portal – you probably have the best view of what just happened than we do right now."
Cindy used the door to exit the Coldsleep room. She looked around to see where the nearest portal was.
"That – that was the captain of that ship, wasn't it?" Eighty-Nine asked her. "What kind of human is he if he can talk to us in our own way?"
She didn't answer him. She only wanted to look outside the ship. She saw a portal to her left and ran to it. Her gasp brought the others as well.
The edge of the crater was only a few hundred yards away. A communications tower erected long ago had fallen into it, but was melted before it toppled. The curve of the moon surface no longer rose, but dropped away. Mountains they used to see were obscured by the smoke and dust, and were possibly gone. And under the dust was a red glow of hot magma.
She pounded the window. "Vash is loosing the battle," she cried. "Quickly, get Sara in the room – get her training. We must stop Knives and these… heartless minions of his."
"Mommy, I don't want to leave you!" the little girl cried. Cindy slid down the wall crying. She turned and embraced her child.
"You must my dear," she told her. "You may not see me when you get out of training, but you are our only hope if we are to ever stop this nightmare. You, like Vash and Knives, are a hybrid. Even though our origins are from humans and angels, you, like they, are a product of the mating of a human and our kind, the Angels of 5. This will give you the strength to fight them."
"Them mommy?" the child asked wiping tears away from her face. "I thought all I was fighting was Knives."
Cindy pulled her wet face away from the child and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "That voice we heard – you may have to deal with him as well – you may even have to deal with Vash. He is a kind hearted man – maybe too kind hearted. He might interfere rather than help. I will attempt to convince him otherwise." She kissed the girl on the forehead.
"Now go with Eighty-Nine. He will be your teacher and guidance."
The balding man coughed. "Well, okay, if you insist. OneO'Five, would you please inform your sister that I will need her assistance for this please? I may be able to guide the teaching and training part, but I have little on the 'being a girl' part."
"Why can't mommy do that?" Sara asked as she was taken by the hand by Eighty-Nine.
"It will soon be time for me to re-enter the Plants dear," Cindy said sadly. "By the time your training is completed, I may be well into my ten years of duty to the rest of the crews and ships."
"Then you will be like daddy," the child said with her heart in her mind. Mother's hand caressed her cheek. She looked up to her.
"Not really. When you're ready to go, come to my Plant. I will want to see you before you do."
"Time is getting short – we must start this now." Eighty-Nine looked grim, but he was right. He led the child down the hallway towards the simulation room. Cindy waited momentarily as she looked at Mike in his chamber. She then followed slowly behind.
Sara stepped out of the simulation room. Eighty-Nine shook his head and looked at her with an impressed look on his face. She smirked and laughed.
"Amazing how young one can be, and still be a dirty old man," she zapped into his brain. He laughed.
"When I put you in there, I looked down on you, young lady," he chuckled. "Now you're a good two heads taller than I am."
A girl stepped out of the chamber behind her and closed the door. "Remember Sara," she said aloud, "it is the men that you will mostly have to deal with down there, but don't be surprised if there are a few women that will be just as much trouble as the men."
"OneO'Seven, you're the best!" Sara said as she grabbed her with her forearm around her neck. The other girl began thumping Sara in the belly with her fist. It didn't seem to phase her much, but she did let go.
Eighty-Nine stood with a worried look on his face. "OneO'Seven, I asked you to be here to teach her the way to be a lady, not how to 'punch out a man's lights' as you put it!"
The punky girl looked at the man. "Her mother taught her that!" she squawked in his mind. "I just gave her the finer points of dealing with the worst of them!"
Eighty-Nine thought about that for a moment. "And how do you know about that?" he asked her. "You've never had to deal with that sort of thing."
The girl giggled. "I read the minds of many of the ladies in the Coldsleep rooms."
Eighty-Nine stood back. "You did WHAT!? OneO'Seven, you do realize that not only is that a violation of their privacy, but that most of them on this ship are from the security detail that was suppose to defend these people down there? Of course they would know of the worst on mankind! Wait a minute… that just might work out…"
"Of course it will," OneO'Seven winked. "Besides, the ladies seemed quite happy to help out!"
Eighty-Nine looked at her. "I won't even ask how you now that…" he grumbled. He then noticed that Sara was looking at the wall rather dejected.
"Sara?" he asked her. She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"I've missed my mother, haven't I?" she asked. He nodded then took her hand.
"But she is waiting for you, as is everyone else… Come."
She squeezed his hand then let it loosen up when he was complaining that she was about to crush it. They headed for the rear of the ship.
Plant Two – the main power unit for the ship, and the heart of the launch system. Sara stepped into the engine room to be greeted by all the off-duty Plantoids. They formed a corridor to the base of the main Plant unit. She walked through the gathering hearing well wishes from her fellow shipmates. She then stood before the vessel of the Plant and placed her hand on the glass.
A hand could be seen on the other side. The clouds of yellow haze parted, and Cindy came into view. Her elongated body and her face were slightly deformed by the process, but she could still smile. Crying was out of the question, as was direct communications with her daughter. But she still was able to pass her feelings to her. A pulse of energy was sent through Sara that was warm and caring. She held her right arm to her chest to relish the emotion then stepped back. She snapped her heals together and saluted.
"I am Officer Sara Montgomery of the SEEDS Security Force, daughter of Commander Michael Montgomery and Plant Number 0-72-629 Delta 4, also known as Cindy. My mission is to apprehend and stop the child of Plant 0-42-871 Delta 87, known as Millions Knives on the charges of mass murder of both humans and Angels of 5, the manipulation of the minds of both humans and Angels of 5, and the deliberate misuse of government property, namely, the ships of the SEEDS Project. I will bring him to justice, dead or alive."
A rousing cheer filled the engine room as the others bellowed out their approval of her announcement. She saluted her mother once again and turned to head for the launch bay.
"Okay, now that you're here…" OneO'Five started then stopped when he saw Sara. "Whoa!"
"What?" she asked. She had just finished getting into her flight suit.
He shook his head. "Wow, I mean, uh… I mean, this… umm…"
OneO'Seven knocked him on the head with her fist. "It's not like you haven't seen her before silly," she chided him.
"Not like this before," he complained while rubbing the spot on his head that she hit. "The last time I saw her was just after she entered the simulation room."
Sara looked at herself. "What? Have I changed that much?" she asked then realized what she was saying. "Oh, right… the last time you saw me I was a child."
"Technically, you still are, young lady," Eighty-Nine commented as he stood behind her. "Remember, you may have been trained about the humans, but training does not mean you know how to handle them yet. No killing! Got that?" She nodded.
"So, am I gonna knock them out?" she asked OneO'Five. OneO'Seven started giggling as Eighty-Nine groaned.
"Trust me, you're going to have more problems with the men down there than Knives," OneO'Five said while attempting to keep his mind on the work at hand. He quickly showed her the outlay of her ship, a converted escape pod with booster engines and flight controls. He showed her where her weapon stores were, a box-like device that snapped open and deployed a dozen laser guided guns, a hover sled to carry her gear, and a trapping device for the capture of Knives.
"The simulation was good," she told OneO'Five. "These flight controls are perfect."
He smiled. "How were you at flying this thing?" he asked. She gurgled.
"Umm," Eighty-Nine said while looking at the ceiling.
"Hey, the important thing is landing it, right?" OneO'Seven said with a grin. OneO'Five fell down.
As she strapped herself into the seat, Sara felt a tapping on her shoulder. Looking over, she found OneO'Five looking at her with concern.
"Listen you, you take care with this thing," he said out loud with the full atmosphere of the pod. It rang as if someone was shouting at her. "If anything was to happen to you, I've got to deal with your mother for the next ten years." She smiled and touched his face.
"Then tell her that I loved her, and father." She reached down and picked up a crash helmet that was unceremoniously dropped in her lap by her girl friend.
"This should keep that hard head of yours from smashing the equipment," OneO'Seven cracked. She smiled and wished her well. Then all started out of the cabin.
"Hey," Sara yelled at OneO'Five. "I forgot to look – did you do what my mother asked you to do?"
OneO'Five thought for a moment then smiled and looked outside the hatch at the hull of the pod. "Yea, I did, but it's an odd name for a ship. What does DPM mean anyway?"
Sara laughed. "Detroit People Mover… whatever that is…"
They both looked at one another for a moment. To Sara, this may be the last time she would ever see them. She smiled and waved. OneO'Five did as well then shut the hatch and sealed the ship.
The ship was raised to an upper platform above the engine room. A blast door slid shut sealing it away from the rest of the ship. Then a canopy opened letting in the light of both suns on Sara. She dropped the visor on the helmet, but it didn't help much.
"Okay – stand by for launch," a voice said in her head. It was Eighty-Nine. "I believe that one of those history tapes you watched said the traditional way to send you on your way would be to say 'God Speed, Sara Montgomery' – or something like that… Starting engines."
The pod started to pitch and roll as the twin boosters kicked in while still locked to the deck. She reached down and pulled a handle. Explosive bolts fired, and her pod was catapulted away off the planet.
"STOP THE LAUNCH!" a runner yelled. "Didn't you hear me!?"
Everyone looked back at her. "Two-Fourteen, what are you doing here? You should be at the communications center," Eighty-Nine noted.
She gave him a curt look and sent what sounded like a thunder storm through his head. "I've been trying to get your attention for the last few minutes! Vash has won! He beat Knives and disabled him!"
For a few moments everyone just looked at each other.
"Is there any way to turn that thing around?" Eighty-Nine asked OneO'Five.
"Not here… and communications while the boosters are firing is probably pretty slim, since Sara might have blacked out. By the time they separate from the pod, she won't have enough fuel to come back here safely. She's on her way."
The pod raced along on its proper flight path. Telemetry was being relayed, and all systems were go.
To the Federation, the planet it was heading for was Deneb One – to the people who lived there, they named it Gunsmoke.
They never knew what was about to hit them.
"LOOK OUT GUNSMOKE!" Sara shouted. "HERE COMES THE DETROIT PEOPLE MOVER!"
oOo
Next Episode
Destiny - a word used all too often with little meaning.
The lives of three women will be drawn together in a search.
One searches for justice
one searches for the unknown
and the third for her future.
When destiny smiles, will she smile on them?
Next Episode - Chapter One of TRIGUN: Moon Child - Second Hole
Destiny can have such a wicked smile
A Note: For those looking for the building I chose at 1st Street and Michigan Avenue, I chose a parking lot quite on purpose. Sorry 'bout that! Mind you, knowing how revitalization projects are in cities, I would not be surprised that at one time there had been a building on this site.
Also, please note that since this is the future, things like inflation might have been taken for a fact – 50 cents just might not hack it on the DPM in the future! (NOTE: As of 2019, the rate is now 75 cents... damn inflation! Where's that quarter...)
Thanks to MAPQUEST AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY MAPS for the guide-work.
Captain Roy Strom, Mr. Button, U.N.S. Forrestal & The Observers ©2003, 2019 DMS – Used with Permission
Detroit People Mover ©2003, 2019 Detroit Transportation Corporation
Crotchety Old Men from COWBOY BEBOP ©1998, 2003, 2019 BanDai Visual/Sunrise Productions
All characters from the Anime/Manga TRIGUN ©2003, 2019 Yasuhiro Nightow
Sara Montgomery and all characters created for MOON CHILD ©2003, 2019 DMS/The MOON CHILD Project
Edited 0311.11, 1901.19
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