Peace, part 3, Blue
Beep...beep...beep...the heart monitor sounded. The resperator wheezed. Beep...beep...beep.
Olaf, great, arrogant CO of Blue Moon, looked strangely prone on the hospital bed. Most of his pompous beard had been shaved off by the hospital aides, for ease of care. He was unconsious, a victim of a case of a heart attack a week before. He had been rushed to the best hospital anywhere in the entire country. It had, naturally, been international news, pushing even Sonja's recent death from the front page in Blue Moon and Orange Star. Olaf had had several bypasses and other surgeries. But, the prognosis was still bleak. Beep...beep...beep.
Olaf's friends Grit and Colin stood at the foot of the bed. "C'mon, sir. You can d-do it..." said the latter.
"Ahh, you can calm your worries, Col. Olaf's much too touch to go down now"
"B-but the doctors said"
"Just forget what they said. They don't know nothin' 'bout ol' big 'n' bearded. He'll tough it out."
"S-sir, if I may"
"We ain't on duty. Dispose with the formalities, Col"
"Uh, yes sir. Anyway, I just want to say...you and Olaf are...are my only real friends, I-I think. I'm-I'm not sure how I would tough it out if...if..." A tear ran down Colin's cheek. "i just can't...I mean, couldn't...stand it"
"Oh, don't you say anything like that, sport. Just be brave. Olaf would command you to be brave"
"Yes, sir"
They looked at Olaf for a while, all three silent. Beep...beep...beep.
An half-an-hour later, the nurse came in to say visiting hours were over, and the two COs left in silence. Beep...beep..beep.
The sun was setting on the snow-covered plains of Blue Moon. Grit sorted through a pile of paperwork-his and the indisposed Olaf's-writing his signature wherever he needed to. He rubbed a red eye, and took a long swig of his whiskey. He sighed. A pencil broke on the "i" in Grit. He sighed again, harder this time. He opened a drawer, in search of another pencil...for some reason, he opened the lowest right drawer...this was where he kept he service pistol...it was gone. "Possum spit!" He said, searching through all his drawers for the gun. "POSSUM SPIT!" Colin couldn't be...he really wouldn't...no matter what he said.
As Grit ran down the hallway to Colin's office, hoping it wasn't too late, he ran past the junior officers' lounge, where they were all resting. He suddenly switched back, with the thought, "Would Colin stay in his room? Of course not!" and braced himself in the lounge's doorway. "Have-Have you guys-seen Colin?" he gasped.
"Why," asked General Younghost, "have you lost something"
Grit glared at them. "Yeah, my service pistol"
The room erupted into laughs and applause. "Fifty...four minutes!" decared Younghost. "Who was closest"
Grit was confused, then angry. "What's goin on in here"
"Oh, Grit." replied Younghost. "You looked so bad, working like that. We were just having fun. I snuck that away from you a while ago. We had a pool going on how long it would be 'til you found it missing"
Grit would normally respond to this with his laid-back good humor. However, this time, he was angry. He grabbed back his gun and glared at all of the men.
"We're sorry..." whimpered Younghost.
"See that you are." responded Grit.
Meanwhile, Colin looked out on the monsterous capitol of Blue Moon. He sat at the crest of a large cliff, over 50 stories. Colin sighed.
At the same time, in the Blue Moon hospital, Olaf's EKG-his heart monitor-seemed to slow down.
...Beep.
Colin mentally checked everything he had wanted to do.
...Beep.
Left the note, got everything taken care of...yes.
...Beep.
Colin stood up, saluting to no one visible.
...Beep.
"I'm coming, sir." Colin said. He stepped off the edge of the cliff.
...Beep.
Colin felt his stomach plunge with a rush of adrenaline as he fell. He somehow managed to keep his salute.
...Beep.
Every self-preservation instinct in Colin was screaming. REACH OUT, GRAB SOMETHING! STOP FALLING! Colin ignored them all, being stronger than ever before.
...Beep.
Just before he hit the ground, Colin closed his eyes. He said one word.
"Peace."
...Beep...Beep...Beep beep beep!
At that same instant...Olaf opened his eyes.
Heh heh. Good ending, no? Review!