Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 16:00:02 -0700 Reply-To: Eternal Ravenette Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Eternal Ravenette Subject: Shades of Red and Black (part 2) comments are always welcomed and encouraged at jillmari@aol.com or jilkey@grfn.org Shades of Red and Black(A Highlander/V story) part 2 c. 1995 by Jill Spetoskey *** Funny how the rest of your senses sometimes seem to increase when you're unable to see for a time, Sara mused. Instead of viewing the crowded van as it jarringly made its way to resistance headquarters, she could smell the aftereffects of the raid on the Visitor chemical plant. Gunpowder mixed with sweat and the ozone odor she suspected came from the Visitor sidearms. From her right, the stench of burned flesh came from Hector's sidarm wound. A gaggle of voices surrounded him trying to figure out how to best treat his injury. Then the van turned a corner and downshifted, gliding to a stop. With one last rumble of voices, the raiding party moved out of the van, carefully carrying Hector among them, and leaving her alone with the blond man who had kept the blaster pointed at the base of her skull the entire trip. "Sara, now what we're going to do is move you inside one of the buildings here. Slide along the seat and turn your legs so that you can step out of the van, then lock your hands behind your head." Nodding carefully, she proceded to slide along the seat. Just as her feet began to feel for the doorway, she felt another immortal. As the disorientation hit her, she doubled over a little, almost feeling the blond man behind her tensing his fist against the gun's trigger. "Relax. I'm not trying to escape or anything. I'm just feeling a little carsick or something. Must have been from being in the van for so long and not being able to see." "Next, step out of the van, take three steps forward, and stop." He followed her out of the vehicle as Sara began to tense up. The other immortal was very close and she couldn't see anything about him. Heartbeat increasing, she reminded herself that it would only do her harm if she gave into her urge to tear the blindfold off and face the other immortal. She followed the instructions, coming to a posture that might almost be called at ease. " I don't know what to do with her, Ham." The blond man spoke. "She just showed up at the end of things dragging Hector along, and probably saved his life. She was also carrying a Visitor sidearm" "Take her down to one of the rooms, and I'll go get Julie. Then we can have a talk with our friend here, and decide what to do." The other immortal, Ham, moved away to find Julie, and the blond man started to direct her down through a series of tunnels. They wound up in a small musty room, Sara taking a seat in an old school desk, and the blond man standing behind her. He removed her blindfold, but warned her against trying to look back at him. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, her mind scurried over the last refinements of the story she was going to tell. A few minutes later, she felt Ham return accompanied by a woman's voice she assumed was Julie. "Well, Sara," the blond started, "Just how did you end up down by the waterfront and after curfew, for starters?" She took a deep breath. "It was an old friend of mine. I hadn't seen him in years, and he called to say he was in trouble, and to meet him down there. Now I hadn't seen Andrew in years, but I owed him a favor or two so I agreed to. Once I got there, maybe he was on drugs or something, but I don't know. He tried to jump me, and I fought back. In a fight, we're a pretty evenly matched pair, and it was taking me a while to get away from him. Long enough to attract the attention of the Visitors so that just as I knocked out Andrew, I looked up to see a Visitor deciding to arrest me. I don't know where his partner was, maybe chasing you guys down, but what I did know was that people who get themselves arrested by the Visitors tend to disappear. I didn't like that idea, so I did my best to get away from him, and in the process, he wound up slightly dead. I grabbed the blaster because I thought those folks traveled pairs, and I didn't know where his partner was. Then, I stumbled upon Hector about to get dragged away by the Visitors, and something inside of me said that it just shouldn't happen, so I found myself in your little war." Which was more or less the truth, but she had left out the part about blue lightning, and the fact the she'd never been able to stand the Brazilian. "You took out a Visitor guard without any weapons of your own?" Ham asked. "Well, I have my brain and my body, and that counts as two in my book, but I guess so. I'm obsessive on one point in my life in that I feel a need to be able to take care of myself, and have studied martial arts for, well, a long time. If you want to check, I've even taught self-defense classes for some people at work. "Ham?" "She could be telling the truth on the last point, Gooder. I saw the way she moved back in the yard, and she could be that good. As for the rest, she could still be a plant." So the other immortal was witholding his judgement for now. She wasn't sure what to think of it. "The next question: Are you right or left handed?" Julie spoke to her for the first time. "Actually, I'm ambidexterous." "Really?" Sara heard Julie's voice go a little brittle as a female hand placed a pen and paper in front of her. "Let's see you write with each hand then." Sara took the pen in her left hand and started to write neatly, 'We the people in order to form a more perfect Union," she switched the pen to her right hand, ' establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare.' She paused, the handwriting on the two lines indistinguishable. "A message there, Sara?" "Not really, the first thing that came to mind was that Schoolhouse Rock song." She heard a chuckle behind her. "Okay, are you Catholic?" "Yes." On several occasions through the years. "Make the Sign of the Cross." Sara brought her right hand up, and briefly traced the pattern over her body. "Okay, she hasn't been converted," Julie started, "Which leaves two options. One, she's a plant in this for God knows what, or two, she just was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She hasn't seen where we are, so we could just probably drop her off somewhere without to much trouble. In the mean time, why don't we try to get some sleep, and leave Sara under guard for a few hours." Sara found herself handed over to a pair of guards, and herded into another room in the underground tunnels that contained a narrow bunk. Arranging herself so that her sword was within reach, but out of sight, she slept lightly. ***end part 2 Jill Bradley, Ravenette As always, once she'd done what she'd had to, ravenjil@getnet.com Janette never looked back. member: Puppy Pack (Anniversary Song by Lisa Wolters) =========================================================================