The Hell With Earthside: A Novella (STRYDER'S HORIZON Book 1) by Daniel J. Kirk Page B
Authors: Daniel J. Kirk
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exactly Earthside is it?”
“ Earthside is not exactly Earthside anymore either.” Davis’ expression was glib. I checked in on the uniform that had introduced him. That joy of his must’ve been tattooed on or he must’ve been as dim as a rock.
“What can I help you with today?”
“Oh, that’s exactly want I wanted to hear, Stryder. We might get along after all.” He was still circling me, but he’d decided to pass judgment on Alice and Gregor as well. He snorted when he was done with the assessment.
“You used to run for the drillers. Thought you would’ve made a fortune. You must’ve pissed it all away from the looks of it. But I heard, and also can see you still race regularly.” Davis ran his hand along Old Shepard finding nicks in the fender panel. “So let me get down to it. I want to offer you a job, which I thought would’ve been a harder sell, but apparently you could use the credits. So I won’t sugar coat it, Stryder. The job I’m offering is not going to be easy. But I hope it will be quick and efficient to use you and your skill rather than exhaust the reserves of taxpayers. And since you seemed oblivious to Earthside’s current climate, I assume you are unaware of the predicament the people are in with regards to a particular element who has seen fit to terrorize any and all the good people.”
“I’m not seeing where this involves me.”
“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. I was hoping you’d say, yes, Colonial Officer Davis I would like to corral the Dessup Gang for you .”
There it was. Davis had played the Ace up his sleeve. He let it hang in the air for all to see. I could almost feel the hairs rise on Alice’s neck from ten feet away.
Even Gregor gasped, “The Dessup Gang?”
2. A 30-SECOND GUARANTEE
The Dessup Gang was ruthless. Three years ago they disappeared from Burnside. Burnside was grateful. We didn’t throw parties, but we started leaving our windows open at night and talking to strangers again. We thought that maybe they had looted us to the point that they ran out of places to store everything and simply decided to retire in their wealth.
Only, they had decided to focus their attention on Earthside, which seemed a bit brazen to me. Earthside was the image of paradise we all have engrained in our subconscious mind, perhaps a reminder of original sin. It’s very green, very clean. The beaches are white like snow and the water is so clear it looks like a sheet of glass when there’s no tide. Then there’s the attention the builders paid to the original engineers’ design. Earthside was an architect’s utopia. The variations in style and décor were meshed with the same harmony God must’ve intended for the Garden of Eden.
But Earthside was still the work of man. And with that came laws and varying degrees of bullshit. To make something so beautiful so unpleasant was the real crime. If it was any other gang, I would’ve laughed and let Colonial Officer Davis try and find some other former drill-runner to chauffeur the Colonial brand of justice around. But he had played that Ace card. He did more than stare at the picture of me in my profile. Apparently he could read, too.
“He is house broken isn’t he?” Davis asked me as Gregor followed us into the transport. We both tried to ignore it. As the door closed behind him, I figured Alice had either taken off in her green machine or started ransacking Old Shepard for my secret tank of luck. That made me antsy to understand just what plan Officer David had involving me and get back by my ride.
“The Dessup Gang is using Earthside’s network of facility tubes, air, water, and energy. They have modified drill-runners as you can see in this video capture, which allow them to navigate where humans have never been. These were all machined tunnels. We were never meant to travel through them.”
“So you want me to remember my days as a drill-runner and what? Catch them in the act?”
“When
“ Earthside is not exactly Earthside anymore either.” Davis’ expression was glib. I checked in on the uniform that had introduced him. That joy of his must’ve been tattooed on or he must’ve been as dim as a rock.
“What can I help you with today?”
“Oh, that’s exactly want I wanted to hear, Stryder. We might get along after all.” He was still circling me, but he’d decided to pass judgment on Alice and Gregor as well. He snorted when he was done with the assessment.
“You used to run for the drillers. Thought you would’ve made a fortune. You must’ve pissed it all away from the looks of it. But I heard, and also can see you still race regularly.” Davis ran his hand along Old Shepard finding nicks in the fender panel. “So let me get down to it. I want to offer you a job, which I thought would’ve been a harder sell, but apparently you could use the credits. So I won’t sugar coat it, Stryder. The job I’m offering is not going to be easy. But I hope it will be quick and efficient to use you and your skill rather than exhaust the reserves of taxpayers. And since you seemed oblivious to Earthside’s current climate, I assume you are unaware of the predicament the people are in with regards to a particular element who has seen fit to terrorize any and all the good people.”
“I’m not seeing where this involves me.”
“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. I was hoping you’d say, yes, Colonial Officer Davis I would like to corral the Dessup Gang for you .”
There it was. Davis had played the Ace up his sleeve. He let it hang in the air for all to see. I could almost feel the hairs rise on Alice’s neck from ten feet away.
Even Gregor gasped, “The Dessup Gang?”
2. A 30-SECOND GUARANTEE
The Dessup Gang was ruthless. Three years ago they disappeared from Burnside. Burnside was grateful. We didn’t throw parties, but we started leaving our windows open at night and talking to strangers again. We thought that maybe they had looted us to the point that they ran out of places to store everything and simply decided to retire in their wealth.
Only, they had decided to focus their attention on Earthside, which seemed a bit brazen to me. Earthside was the image of paradise we all have engrained in our subconscious mind, perhaps a reminder of original sin. It’s very green, very clean. The beaches are white like snow and the water is so clear it looks like a sheet of glass when there’s no tide. Then there’s the attention the builders paid to the original engineers’ design. Earthside was an architect’s utopia. The variations in style and décor were meshed with the same harmony God must’ve intended for the Garden of Eden.
But Earthside was still the work of man. And with that came laws and varying degrees of bullshit. To make something so beautiful so unpleasant was the real crime. If it was any other gang, I would’ve laughed and let Colonial Officer Davis try and find some other former drill-runner to chauffeur the Colonial brand of justice around. But he had played that Ace card. He did more than stare at the picture of me in my profile. Apparently he could read, too.
“He is house broken isn’t he?” Davis asked me as Gregor followed us into the transport. We both tried to ignore it. As the door closed behind him, I figured Alice had either taken off in her green machine or started ransacking Old Shepard for my secret tank of luck. That made me antsy to understand just what plan Officer David had involving me and get back by my ride.
“The Dessup Gang is using Earthside’s network of facility tubes, air, water, and energy. They have modified drill-runners as you can see in this video capture, which allow them to navigate where humans have never been. These were all machined tunnels. We were never meant to travel through them.”
“So you want me to remember my days as a drill-runner and what? Catch them in the act?”
“When
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