Long excerpt

“Eyes up guys, I don’t think we’re alone.”  Crash said.

They entered a darkened bay full of moving shadows and horrible moans.  Bodies littered the floor.  As the four Rangers approached, groans turned into roars.  Men and women, clad in tattered Carrion overalls, charged.  “They’re unarmed!”  Crash yelled, hesitating to raise his rifle. 

The first worker, with graying hair and cracked skin, reached with gnarled fingers for Crash.  CRACK.  A burst from the corner woke him as the worker’s skull exploded in a bloody mess.  The headless corpse slid to his feet. 

“They don’t want hugs, stupid!”  A voice called from the rafters.  Domino, wearing the majority of a torn EVA suit, held a long rifle.  She squeezed the trigger again, taking out another worker.

The four rangers formed an arc and opened fire.  Bodies piled up to their knees.  After tense silence, Crash lowered his gun.  “Clear.”

“Clear.”  The other three sounded off.

Domino dropped from the crossbeams.  “About time you showed up.  I’ve been stuck up there for days.”

Rhu and Lupien trained rifles on her.  Crash stepped forward.  “I have questions.”

Domino looked at the barrels pointed at her.  “So do I. It’s easier to answer when I don’t have to worry about a bullet.”

Casteel holstered his rifle in the magnetic lock on his back.  “Don’t mean to interrupt, but who the hell are you, lady?”

“I’m here for the same reason you are.”  They followed her gaze to the foreboding structure in the center of the hangar. 

“It can’t be,” gasped Crash.

Excerpt

Twenty minutes later, self-stitched and full of stimulant-subdued rage, Domino redonned the EVA suit.  She strapped a portable med kit to her back and left the bay.  Her sentry had been busy.  A pile of bodies soaked the floor in crimson pools.  The drone was out of ammunition.  She entered the elevator, leaving it behind.

The lift shook to a stop a moment before power died.  Domino looked up to the  shaft access.  “Why can’t things ever be easy?  Just once I’d love to infiltrate a vacation planet, walk in, say hi, get what I need, leave.  Soak vitamin D on a beach, served tea by a waitress wearing nothing but a smile.”

Excerpt

“How many more of those do you have?” Sun asked.

“Four,” he replied.

“Should have let him suffocate a little,” Hoff growled as they ran.

“Primum non nocere,” answered the TK.

“The void that mean?” Chrichton asked. They slowed as Brachium stepped ahead to check the way.

“Ancient medics code: first do no harm.” Sun answered, waiting for the scout’s signal to moved down the maze.

Chrichton frowned, “that doesn’t work in war with an enemy that wants to kill you.”

“Honor is measured in fairness to those that want you dead. Or something like that it…” Crash said.

Hoff laughed, “When did you go all Zen?”

“Helps with jitters in the dark.”

Brachium knelt and whispered, “I love darkness. I can melt in the shadows.”

“You’re part cat,” Hoff joked.

“Gilead-Novartis Predator Pack 3B,” she corrected. “The purr, though, is all me.” She held up a fist. The party sank into the walls.

“You’re not going to mate with me then eat my head, are you?” Crash asked.

“Only one way to find out!”

“I knew it!” Hoff replied. Bright sparks lit up his shoulders and broke the moment.

3.19.19 - When the patellar tendon ruptures

when the patellar tendon ruptures
ruptured
you wonder if its
just you
falling apart
if the body is failing you
or you failing it
you wonder
if
its
just
you

bad things happen in threes
they say
cancer, says a father
surgery, says your knee
wait, says the distant love
bad things happen all the time
every day
not yours, support the man
heal, then fix yourself
she’ll find her, her way

But in all seriousness, knee injuries suck. It is not easy to go from 100 miles an hour every day to ice packs every chance I get. It’s hard not to feel sorry for myself. There’s plenty of reasons to do so, and the past week it’s been hard to write.

Don’t know what else to do. About any of it.