Date: Mon, 20 Mar 1995 02:01:44 -0500 Reply-To: JillMari@AOL.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Jill Spetoskey Subject: A Dirty Job (1 of?) c.1994 by Jill Spetoskey-some slight gore involved, but probably not excessive ** ** ** ** A Dirty Job- By Jill Spetoskey ** Part One ** ** ** --------------------------------------------------- Following Cpl. Breyer, Trent slipped through the forest, wincing every time a bad step left the snap of a twig. They were deep in Reb territory now. One too loud sound could get them killed. "Halt!" Suddenly, the three were in a clearing surrounded by soldiers. Trent, Breyer, and Wells raised their arms in surrender to the Southerners, and Trent prepared for rough treatment. Suddenly, a cannon boomed out, taking Breyer's head off, and spiraling it in an arc. A second cannon ball took off Wells' head within a few heartbeats. Trent dove to the ground, knowing that his attempt at survival was futile. As he hit the ground, he rolled enough to see the person behind the cannon. It was a woman, he saw, and started to form a name in his mouth as she laughed manically, and took aim at his head. "Patrice...." He started to scream. "Trent. Trent! Wake up honey, you were having a bad dream." Lisa was shaking him gently. He groggily managed a mumble to tell her that he was almost concious. "Trent, are you okay? You were thrashing around like a madman. What was it?" "I was dying for the first time, but it was different somehow. I... It's starting to fade away already.." Lisa looked over at the bedside clock, which read 3:13. She took Trent into her arms. "Whatever it was, its over now Trent. Just forget about it, and go back to sleep. It was nothing that could hurt you." She stayed awake holding him until she heard a gentle snore indicating that he had fallen back asleep. The morning came and gave the promise of a beautiful day. Trent put all thoughts of nightmares behind him as he finished packing for the book tour. The rest of the household was already in the kitchen when he came downstairs. Lisa was juggling a bagel and the telephone as she tried to get ready for work. Trina looked up from a small cooler that she was helping Joanna fill with food to offer him a cheerful. "Good morning Dad!" He grabbed an apple, and strated to talk with the women without getting too much in the way. Within a few minutes, they were ready to hit the road, and Lisa was heading off to her job as a hospital accountant. As goodbyes were exchanged, Joanna offered a cryptic "And since Trent's gone for a few days, it's your job to take care of your mother" to Trina. Trent gave Lisa a last kiss as he carried his garment bag out to the car. As Joanna started up her rental car, he sadly watched Lisa drive away from the house, not getting into the car until Lisa's car disappeared from view. "It was nice that how you asked Trina to keep an eye on things. I think that she's at that terrible age where nothing she does seems right somehow." "That wasn't all, you know." Joanna looked a little surprised at something. "What else was it then, Jo?" "I'll tell you later, Trent. But in the mean time, let's enjoy the ride. The publisher may have been too cheap to spring for plane tickets for this whole thing, but that doesn't mean that we can't have fun. Off to Portland now!" Trent knew that Joanna had changed the topic for her own reasons, and no amount of prodding on his part would result in her talking about things before she was ready. He felt like he hadn't slept enough, so he closed his eyes, and began to doze as the interstate sped by. Michelle turned around in the dressing room, looking at how the blue baby doll dress fit. Yes, I think we'll get this one too. She had looked forward to a few days of shopping, and had been disappointed when Amanda had told her that she couldn't go back to her favorite stores in Seacouver. She was supposed to be dead after all. Portland's stores weren't that bad, though, adn she was making a dent in the cash that Amanda had given her to spend before vanishing on business of her own. She gathered up her selections and was walking out of the store when she felt the other person. She looked around, expecting to find Amanda nearby, but instead found herself nearly being run down by a brown-haired man carrying two large cups of soda who looked as surprised as she felt. "Who are you?" "Gerald Trent, glad to meet you too. And you are?" "Michelle." She eyed him suspiciously. "I'd like to talk, but I need to get back down to the bookstore for the signing. Want to come?" "Sure." They started to walk through the mall. She noticed the wedding band on Trent's hand and relaxed a little. If you were looking for action, you didn't leave a ring like that on your hand. Besides, the mall was too public a place for anything to happen. "So who's signing books that you want to meet? I thought it was some some romance writer who was here today, and you don't look like the type to buy stuff like that." "Actually, I'm signing the autographs, not just getting them." She heard a note of pride in his voice." The Court and the Swordsman by Joanna Sanchez and Scott Trenton. To quote a favorite writer of mine. its a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Actually, I'm having a lot of fun writing. Lots of swashbuckling, swordfights and general brawling, and the hero always gets the girl in the end. Oops, here we are." They came closer to the bookstore, where a few a line was forming behind the table set up for the signings. She felt another buzz as they walked into the store. Gerald Trent offered one of the sodas to a young looking dark-haired woman with a bow and a grin. "Milady, the beverage, you requested, and an introduction. Jo, this is Michelle. Michelle, Joanna Kintoul Sanchez." Michelle juggled her bags, and offered a hand to the woman, who took it firmly. She felt a slight almost electrical charge in the grasp. How old is she, she wondered, hoping that Amanda would come past here soon. The other woman, although she scarcely looked older than Michelle, made her feel like she was in something way in over her head. She watched the two immortals sign books as she flipped through the magazine racks, unsure of what she had walked into. A little while later, Amanda did make her appearance, giving a surprised Trent a kiss, and leaving him to mumble something about "Lisa not liking it." A few minutes later, they had made plans to meet the other immortals for a late dinner after the singing was over. ---------- Trent led the foursome out of the restaurant. He grinned at the memory of Joanna trying to order a glass of wine with her dinner. The waiter, unfamiliar with her Georgia driver's license, had required for her to produce another piece of id, which had still read Joanna Kintoul, which had led to her producing another half dozen pieces of identification all to prove she was at least twenty one years old. Joanna had simply shrugged it off with a statement that at her age, it really was quite a compliment. The foursome paused and prepared to split back into two groups. Suddenly, a car rounded the corner at a high speed, and headed straight at the group. A mad dive got them out of the way of the sedan, and they landed on a landscaped median as the car disappeared around the corner. "Everyone okay?" "Ouch" he heard a groan of pain from Amanda." I think I broke my wrist here. Be all right in a minute. No way do I let you drive us home, Michelle. That could be even more painful." "Let's not let the crazy get another swipe at us then, and get out of here." The two groups sprinted across the lot until they reached their respective cars. Joanna waited until the other women had started their vehicle before she pulled their car out of the mall lot, and headed downtown to the hotel. They checked in to their rooms, and Trent tried to relax. After a few hours, he realized that he was too wound up from the close call with the speeding car to get any sleep. Nerves, you're getting too soft these days Trent, he thought. Fifteen years ago, something like that wouldn't have even rattled you, and now you're a near wreck. Time for some fresh air. He pulled a light jacket out of his suitcase, and donned it. He found himself reaching for his sword, chuckled, and started to put it back in its bag, but then decided to put it back into his coat. Heck, at the very least, I can scare off the would-be muggers. He took the elevator down into the lobby, and went out the door into the night air. He had gone a few blocks down the road when he felt the other immortal's presence. He looked around, searching for both the other immortal, and a place to run to. "No where for you to run to, Gerald Trent. Everything's closed around here now. Your head's mine now." A slight oriental man came out of the shadows toward Trent. "Who are you? You seem to know me pretty well." Trent found himself reaching for his sword now, glad he'd given in to his impulses. "Eddy Li, and I'm the last person you'll see. Don't even bother trying to run, I'll catch you." He replied, drawing his sword. Trent drew his own sword, and saw a look of surprise and concern cross Li's face as he came forward to cross blades with Trent. As they exchanged the first few blows, testing other's abilities, Trent felt his own sense of surprise. Although he had not held a sword in years, he was far the best in the contest. In a matter of moments, Li had missed a simple parry, and Trent brought his sword toward Li's neck. "You picked the wrong person to bother." He said quietly as he severed the man's spinal cord. He was so confident that he could take me, but why? Trent thought. Then before he could think anymore, Li's body started to give off a blue light. Trent tried to brace himself against a lamppost as the energy started to flow into his body. He heard a cat's yowl, and window glass starting to break as the shock waves poured into himself. Is this what dying in the electric chair feels like? Just when he thought he couldn't take anymore of the pain/pleasure of the Quickening, it came to an end, and Trent was filled with the need to be away from the site of the fight. He didn't remember how he got there, but he suddenly found himself pounding on the door of Joanna's hotel room. She answered the door, tired, but alert, and with sword in hand. She took one look at him, eyeing the where shards of glass had sliced into his coat, and his brown eyes, which shined almost to the point of glowing. She pushed Trent through the doorway, locking it behind her. Trent collapsed onto a chair as she took a seat across from him. "You took someone's head." "I didn't want to, but he just came at me. It was pretty strange because the street punk was so confident that he could take me." Trent paused, and reached for Eddy Li's Quickening in his mind. It was weak, and difficult to grasp, almost like a spider's web, the quickening of a man who hadn't lived long enough to take even one head of his own. He finally was able to find the memories of the man's last hours. "Someone called him up and told him that I was vulnerable, that I didn't carry a sword anymore." Trent recalled the surprise that the other man's face had held when he had drawn his own sword. "I was supposed to be easy pickings, his very first head. The man who told him this was named Martin. But how did this Martin know I was here? I don't know the name, and I've never been here before. Is there someone following us on this trip?" "It could be, but we don't know all the facts. There are two things we can do. We can call it quits, and go back to Seacouver, or we can go on, and try to flush out who wants to take your head. When Li doesn't report back to this Martin, he'll know that something happened. Your call, Trent." It would be so easy to run from things. Pick up, start over again, and not get found for several decades. Lisa and he.... Lisa. He had promised her that he would not let the Game come between them. Could he ask her to leave the only life she had ever known for his sake. Could he ask Josh and Trina to spend their lives looking over their shoulders simply for being Gerald Trent's son? He leaned forward, and rubbed his hands on his temples in thought. " To go back to Seacouver is to lead this Martin, whoever he is, back toward my family. I can't do that. I'll go on, but I can't ask you to keep going with me. It could be dangerous." "Oh, I think I can take care of myself, kid. Besides, I have an interest in you. If you die, I'm stuck writing books three through five of this darn series all by myself, and I don't want to do that, now. On we go. Next stop, California!" "Thanks, Jo. All I wanted to do was have a few years out of the Game. I hope I can settle this so I can go home, mow the lawn, and drop Josh off at baseball practice." He slumped down in the chair. "Let's get you back to your room, and we'll make more plans in the morning." end part 1 any comments, flames, and other fun stuff can be sent to Jill Spetoskey at: jillmari@aol.com jilkey@umich.edu =========================================================================