Date: Sun, 29 Oct 1995 03:47:11 -0500 Reply-To: JillMari@AOL.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Jill Spetoskey Subject: Shades of Red and Black (part 6) comments are always welcomed and encouraged at jillmari@aol.com or jilkey@grfn.org Shades of Red and Black(A Highlander/V story) part 6 c. 1995 by Jill Spetoskey *** Sara carefully went about her business. Although Julie had kept her word and Sara's secret so far, Sara got the distinct feeling that it was only another part of herself that was being placed under a microscope. However, if she went beyond worrying about Julie, she was beginning to feel like a valuable member of the Resistance. On a professional level, she found herself named an instructor unarmed combat under the supervision of a diminutive former jockey named Gary, who had merely muttered something about her having a total mishmash of fighting style before sending her out to teach. On a more personal level, she was somewhat surprised at first at the friendship that was developing between herself and Willie. But after she thought on things a little while, she could find several areas of common ground between them. Neither of them would had originally sought out violence in their lives, but rather both had been thrust into their own wars in a world and culture that wasn't quite their own, and they had searched for some sort of explanation of why their lives had become as they had. She doubted she could ever tell an ailen about the immortals, but a part of her felt that Willie would understand if the truth of her ever was forced out. The biggest puzzle remained Ham. He had never given an indication that someone had sat down with him and given him what she thought of as The Big Explanation about Death, The Universe, and Everything. She was tempted to try to explain things to him on her own, but she could still recall befriending a seemingly harmless immortal named Kenny, and barely escasping with her head intact. From that point onward, she had tried to give The Big Explanation only when she had at least one, and preferably more, other immortals along as back-up. If need be, she could usually count on a few immortals in the area who owed her the odd favor to help her with the first confrontation. At first, she hadn't seen much of Ham in the camp because he had spent a lot of time using his contacts to get guns and supplies for the local Resistance. However, after a few patient weeks, she finally saw an opportunity to deal with what she though of as the Ham problem. It had started simply enough with a discussion of a weapons shortage at a general meeting. "Our ammunition stocks are running dangerously low. With increased security, it's getting very difficult to aquire weapons from the Visitors. In addition, it seems like our supply line for conventional weapons, things like armor-piercing bullets, is drying up as well. Why is that, Ham?" Donovan asked. "Gooder, these things just don't appear at my door. There have been some problems dealing with the weapons pipeline, more than I'll tell you about. If we can sit tight for another two weeks, the supply line will be functioning again." "And in the mean time, we wait, and the Visitors take God knows how many more people." Mike retorted. "Nothing I can do about it. I just can't get anything for you for that long." "I think I might know someone who might be able to help," Sara spoke for the first time in the meeting. "Who?" Julie asked. "His name is Lucian Domenici, and he's got a shop down in Orange County. He's what you'd call an exotic weapons dealer. Does a lot of business in antique swords and early and rare firearms and the like, but I get the feeling that he's got some interesting connections." "How did you meet up with him?" "I met him on a film set I can't remember the name of. He was supplying some of the swords for this period piece, and I was helping out with some monster or another." "Okay, why don't Ham and I make a meeting with him then?" Mike queried. "I don't know about that. He's kind of a skittish type in some ways. Considering what we're asking for, I don't really blame him if he is. If it could just be me and one other person, it might be best. Maybe Ham would be the right person?" "Okay, Sara. I'll take you up on the offer," Ham replied. "Why don't you go arrange to meet Domenici then." "Will do." She headed out of the ongoing meeting, and toward where they had tapped into the phone line, stopping back at her cell to dig out her address book. After flipping through the pages, she dialed the San Juan Capistrano number, and was greeted by Lucian's assistant Kate. "Hi, Kate. Don't know if you remember me or not, but it's Sara Ivnik, and I need to talk to Luka as soon as it's possible." "As a matter of fact, he's just doing some paperwork right now. Let me put you through to him." She heard the transferring of the line, and Lucian picked up his phone promptly on the second ring. "Hello, Greensblade Weapons and Antiques, Lucian Domenici speaking." "Luka, good to talk to you again. I'd like to offer you the chance to call things equal between us." "As if that would happen. I'll always be in your debt, Cara Sara." "You haven't even heard my offer, yet." She replied, smiling at her former student's charm. "First is simple enough. I'm looking for some special weaponry. Some friends of mine have expressed an interest in going on safari, and I want them to be safe. What do you have along the lines of, say, an elephant gun these days?" "Let me check on my inventory. And how big is this safari.? I assume you'll want to stop in later and ensure that my products will meet your needs." "Yes. And that comes to part two of things. I'll be bringing along a young man with me. One can never be certain, but he seems woefully ignorant of his highest potential." "I'd be glad to help out on that one. It will seem a little strange being on the other end of the questions instead." "Just getting you ready for Kate one of these days. Are you free today?" "All I'm doing is playing with the tax forms, and ever since the troubles and curfews began, we've had few people renting out the facilities at night. Come by around eight if that works, and I'll see what I have in stock for your hunting friends." "Will do. I'll round up Ham then, and we'll hit the road." She smiled as she hung up, finding happiness in being able to handle two problems with one action. Returning to her cell, she hid the address book back among her things, and retrieved her sword and its scabbard. She pulled her old Army coat on, the blaster hole as sewn together as carefully as she'd been able to, but didn't slide the sword into its hidden pocket. Instead, she carried the scabbard in full view in one hand as she made her way back to the meeting. Sticking her head inside the doorway,she called out to Ham. "What's the deal with the sword?" He asked, extricating himself from the meeting. "Justification of why we're heading to San Juan Capistrano if we need to give a reason to anyone. Luka's an expert on old swords, and we were just going down there to see what sort of price he'd give for it. With all the problems caused by those awful scientists, we just can't afford to hold onto something if it's really valuable. Got a car for us to use?" "I'd say we should take that old blue sedan. The paperwork on that one is the most up to date." "Okay." She followed Ham through the complex to their piecemeal vehicle storage area. As she slid into the passenger's side seat in the aging Mercedes, she flipped on the scanner hidden under the seat, and poised herself to listen out the roadblocks between the camp and Luka's complex. As Ham dodged his way through the Southern California, she directed him around a number of possible problem spots. Although planning their route took much of her concentration, she was able to give Ham a brief description of Lucian and his business interests, but he still wasn't prepared for what he saw when he pulled into the parking space stenciled 'For Greensblade patrons only" End part 6 =========================================================================