Date: Tue, 31 Oct 1995 20:25:17 -0500 Reply-To: JillMari@AOL.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Jill Spetoskey Subject: Shades of Red and Black (part 7) comments are always welcomed and encouraged at jillmari@aol.com or jilkey@grfn.org Shades of Red and Black(A Highlander/V story) part 7 c. 1995 by Jill Spetoskey *** She doubted that Greensblade was what Ham had expected. Part gunshop, part shooting range, and part dojo, Lucian's business occupied the better half of a city block. The structure itself was a former chruch dating from about the 1940's. The congregation had moved looking for a larger meeting place, enabling Lucian to purchase the old building, and remodel it to suit his purpose. An ample vestibue filled with display cases served as showroom as one entered the building. Despite being partioned into a few office areas, the main body of the church still held ample room for any sort of trial a potential buyer wished to subject a blade to. The basement had been reinforced and soundproofed, and now served as a shooting range capable of stopping any type of ammunition short of a shell from a tank. Luka himself lived in the small minister's house on the far east corner of the property. "Lucian bought out here because there was no way he find the kind of space he needed in a place like Beverly Hills. As it is, the people who are serious about collecting know where to find him, and he says he isn't bothered by those aren't as interested in his wares." She explained as they extricated themselves from the sedan, feeling Lucian's presence within. "Not quite what I expected, Ivnik, but it won't be the first time I've bought guns from out of a church." Ham replied, following her to the shop's enterance. She knocked at the front door, and was greeted by Lucian's assistant Kate. "Sara wasn't it? Lucian's waiting for you in his office." The tall, slightly built woman nodded a greeting. "Thanks. How's it looking for the Olympics?" "Well I'm up to number five in the rankings. Hopefully I can mover even higher at nationals. Provided there is a nationals this year. Between the Visitors and the scientists, no one is sure if there's even going to be a next Olympics any time soon." "Good luck with it, Kate. I'm sure things will straighten themselves out." "Thanks. I never did get to offer you congratulations on the Oscar you won last year." With a flip of her chestnut hair, Kate returned to work cleaning the glass on the display cases. "You won an Oscar?" Ham asked. "Yeah. I was on the special effects team for the movie Dragon's Heart. I even had the statue in a closet somewhere back at my house." And my coworkers felt bad for my calling in sick the night of the award ceremony and giving up a chance to appear on international television. They moved past display cases filled with swords that could each pay for her house in Beverly Hills. Damascus detailed blades sat interspaced between katanas polished to a glowing sheen, and firearms of types she'd never seen before. As she turned to duck into Lucian's office, she found herself enveloped in a bear hug. Laughing, she pulled back to look at the cheerful, fortyish Italian. "Luka. You've got to be more careful. You scared the heck out of me, and I'm pretty hair-trigger right now." "Nah, Cara Sara. This place still has enough of the feel of holy ground, you couldn't have touched me. But come in, come in and have a seat." He ushered the two of them into a neatly kept office highlighted by a Chippendale desk piled in papers. "You must be the friend that Sara mentioned on the phone. I fear I didn't catch your name." "Ham Tyler." he offered, extending a hand. "And if Sara hasn't told you, I am Lucian Domenici. Would either of you care for a cup of coffee?" Before they had a chance to respond, he had already turned away from them, and was pouring them cups from a coffee maker on a side table. "Sit down, and make yourself comfortable." Sara settled into a chair across the desk from Lucian's seat, surpirsed at how comfortable the chair was despite its apparent formality. She knew that Luka wouldn't start discussing anything serious until he felt his duties as host were discharged. Accepting her cup, she nodded her thanks to Luka, and noticed with relief that Ham was following her lead. Lucian returned the coffee pot to its bracket, and settled down into his own chair. "As for the armaments you were asking about, I made a few phone calls, and I could not come with much on short notice, but here is what I've found." He passed a folded piece of white paper across the desk. "Thank you." She took the paper, looking over the list with approval. What Lucian could deliver would more than cover their needs until Ham's sources could reach them again. Ham slid her a brief smile as he read the paper. "And how much is this going to cost us?" he asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice. "When I first met Sara, I had only the clothes on my back. She helped me out in a lot of ways, one of which was staking me the money to open up the store. She's never asked for repayment of that loan until now. It was the very least I could do to scrounge up a few paltry items for her. No charges to you and your people. If anything, I feel as if I still owe a significant amount to Sara." He slid her a private glance. "I really appreciate what you've done for us, Lucian. When I make a gift of something, I honestly mean for it to have no strings attached." She gave a tilt to her head and nodded slightly. It was time to move to phase two of why she was here. "How are things going with Kate?" "She's a wonderful student, but I worry if she's learning quickly enough, even as I try to protect her by not telling her what her life will end up becomming. Things are just moving too fast these days. I've had to face more people in the past six months than I have in the past sixty years." "And when but a few remain, they will feel a calling to a faraway land, where they will fight for the Prize until only one remains. Who knows, maybe things will play themselves out up there." She saw Ham starting to eye the two of them at the odd conversation, probably deciding my description of Luka as skittish translated into crazy. Poor Ham, if he thought this was weird, then the next part of things was going to be rough on him. For the first time, she felt a little sorry for the CIA man. "Umm...Ham, do you remember the guy who wrote the song "Ballad of the Green Berets?" She fished her Swiss Army Knife out of her pocket, and rolled up one sleeve, wishing that it didn't have to hurt so much every time she had to demonstrate things. "Well, he also wrote a series of books about a man named Casca." She noticed Kate's light footsteps in the hallway. "Sorry to interrupt a private meeting, boss, but there's trouble. Casey from Beverly Antiques in Anaheim just called. They were supposed to be closed today, but he came back to his store to meet a supposed client, and the Visitors were there. He thought they had his description and stuff because they seemed to be looking for him as well as taking everything from his shop. He didn't get a chance to say much. You never know who's listening these days. But he did think if they were raiding his place, well there were some things linking our shops together, and he thinks we're next to be Visited." "Damn! Just when I find a nice little place, something like this happens!" Lucian swore. "Best waste no time then. The supplies that you two needed are loaded into the truck out back. We can probably just drive away with them with little problem. Kate, take the katana and the Williams' Damascus swords out of their cases, and package them for travel. The rest I won't miss terribly, but there's need for those two." He errupted into a scurrying of shoving things into his briefcase. "Sara, would you believe that Casey was the person I was working with? Things are probably compromised now between here and Mexico City. " Ham swore softly. The opportunity to explain the Game to a youngster had been turned into a possible race against the clock. If the Visitors could trace Casey's actions to Greensblade, then things could get ugly very quickly. In a matter of minutes, Sara was seated next to her old friend in Lucian's black delivery truck, with Ham and Kate leading the way in the blue sedan. "No, it never gets any easier, Luka." She said softly, keeping one eye out for any signs of Visitors. "I dunno. For the first time in my hundred and fifty years, I'm doing something I like, and even starting to make a decent profit at it. Now, it's probably all gone for good. I doubt I'll ever see some of my stock again. I was happy, and feeling like I had a home here. Now, I can't go back to what I built. Even if the Visitors didn't connect me to things this time, it would only be a matter of time before I had to disappear. Better it be under my power than in custody of theirs." "I know how you feel, Luka. I had to do the same thing in Berlin before. I barely got Daniel out alive, and we literally made it out with the clothes on our backs. You just do the best you can to treat it like its no different than any other move. It's a lie, but it eases the pain a little." She left Lucian to think, and found herself in a mood half-sad, half-tense on the trip back to the compound. When they arrived at the compound, the promised ammunitions were quickly carried away. Ham scurried off on an errand of his own, leaving Sara standing with Lucian and Kate near his almost empty truck. "Well, I guess we'll head off to see if my property in Bakersfield is still standing. I've got an old dodge or two that should get us past any obstructions the Visitors have thrown up. Ready to get going, Kate?" "I'm staying here, Lucian. Not that you haven't been a good boss and teacher, but it's time I did something on my own. I've had a few friends disappear into the so-called protective custody, and Casey's a fugitive for doing nothing that was not legal before all this martial law sh*t. I want to take a stand on this one, Lucian." She stood arms akimbo, back straight, and head thrown back a little defiantly. "I always knew that you'd have to go out on your own, Kate. I just wish it wasn't so soon." He reached across to hug her. "Take the katana and the Williams out of the truck for me. The katana is yours now, the Williams is for a friend of Sara's." "You're the best foster dad I ever had." She said softly, trying to hold back emotions as she disengaged herself from the embrace. She wordlessly retrieved the package from the van. "Willie," Sara called to the person walking past. "Could you show Sara around, and get her settled in here? I just need to wrap some things up with Luka here." "Sure, Sara. I'd be glib to." "That's glad, Willie." She saw Kate smile a little at the two of them headed off. "So Luka. care to join us?" "I've just never had the spirit of a warrior. You have it, and so does Kate. You'll do well. Me, I'd do find a way to do the wrong thing at the wrong time, think too much about messing up, and get a bunch of people killed." "I've always known how you felt. I just had to ask, my friend." The conversation stopped for a few seconds. "So Cara, it seems that I was about to do something that would help ease my debt to you, but instead I ask you another favor here." "You know I don't think you owe me anything." "But I do, my teacher. And I ask that you keep an eye on Kate for me." "I would have regardless, Luka. Safety and Godspeed as you head on out, friend." "I'll be careful, friend." He climbed into the cab then, and she didn't head back into the compound until she saw his truck disappear from view. End part 7 =========================================================================