nonFMP!- Homecomming Ch 2

[Belisarius]

the second chapter of this story.


Return Home Ch 2

IPA Solarian System Headquarters, L3 Starport, Terra, Solarian System
23 November 1200 TST

“We are sorry for any inconvenience that these false allegation caused you, Sergeant Mackenzie. It would appear that some local kids hacked into the database and messed with the information. They are being brought up on charges right, now.” Said another IPA captain.

“When will I be allowed to see my home”? I replied.

“In 30 minutes, we will take you down to the investigation site. There you will be allowed to go through the site for any personal belongings you want. Already, Detective …. I mean, your sister is on site making sure that proper procedures are followed.

“ So this in the Jurisdiction of the IPA, Captain?”

“ Yes and no, Sergeant. We also have the help of NIS,” said the captain almost disgustedly.

“Well at least the Military took this badly. If this happened where the Rangers were, there’d be some very irate and heavily armed commandos ready to take on the entire county by themselves” I thought.

“Have my parents’ bodies been recovered yet?”

“Only some DNA and blood samples have been found. The odds of finding anything more is so low that you might as well count it as zero.”

“Have you found out who did this?”

“The bodies recovered in the woods have not been identified.”

“Why?”

“Because they do not exist in any of the System Databases. We sent this information to the UFP and Terran Union Criminal databases and will be expecting an answer inside a week.”

“Who is going after the bastards, sir?"

“We won’t know that until we know did this.”

“Sir, I request permission to talk StarFleet about this.”

“They have already been notified, Sergeant. And yes, your unit is being notified as we speak. I do not want some Space Marines going off half-cocked through the American Southeast looking for revenge.”

“Sir, we Marines take care of our own.”

“I’ve been in the IPA for over 12 years, Sergeant. I’ve seen how Space Marines take care of their own. Believe me when I say this. When this does come to a head, I will want Space Marines backing me up, but till then we have to be discreet. And Power Armor is not discreet.”

“ Sir, I’m a Ranger. Power Armor is for recruits. Real soldiers don’t need it. As for being discreet, I’ve spent over 3 months evading an entire colony of Bugs on a distant world with some Valkyries. I know all about being discreet.”

“For now, I want you to be out of our investigation after you get your belongings. Preferably at least half a continent distant.”

“ How about Japan?” I asked.

“ Where?“

“ My family has some friends in the Nagasaki region. Rebekah and I would be there until you have more news. We would be about as far away from the investigation as possible while still on Earth.” I intoned.

The IPA Captain thought it through for a couple of minutes. Then a call came through that the ride had arrived to take us both down to the planet. He got up and said,” Just let us know if you or your sister decide to leave the immediate area of Nagasaki. It would seem that who ever did this wanted you dead, too. I don’t want to have do another investigation about the two of you disappearing.”

I got up and saluted “ YES, Sir”

We went to the evidence locker and got my things and went to the docks. As I entered the airlock I noticed that this was not some shuttle, but another Patrol Cruiser like the Blue Thunder. An officer welcomed me aboard the vessel and asked me to stay until the last passenger was aboard. I didn’t think much of this request as I was trying to figure out why somebody was going after my family. Then came a cry from the JO:
“ Attention on Deck. Solarian System arriving”

I stood straight and saw the IPA head of the entire Solarian System walking toward me on the quarterdeck.
I saluted him, which caused a smile come over his rough features. Then I realized that I was in civilian attire and didn’t have to salute him. However, he did return the salute. Not too many creatures can look me in the eye without tilting their heads upward, but he didn’t have to. He was bald, but had a beard. His skin was the color of onyx, but he had jade green eyes. IPA Marshall Lawrence Jackson was not your normal IPA officer. The very few times I heard him speak, it was as If the gods spoke. His voice had so much authority and determination in it that it was whispered throughout the UFP that he was Hercules reborn. It has been said that criminals would turn themselves in as soon as they heard that he was on the case for he was relentless in his pursuit.
That, and the hottest tri-vid show in the Terran Union was based on him.


“Sergeant Wallace, may I have a word with you before we depart.” said LJ

“ About what, sir?” I asked as he led me off to the side.

“ I am sorry but I bring some more bad news. You foster grandparents were killed earlier this morning. The indication would be carbon monoxide poison from a faulty chimney. Also your foster aunt and uncle with their entire family were killed in an automobile accident,” said the IPA chief in hushed tones as he handed me a PAD with the info.

These weren't accidents, they were a series of assassination attempts targeting my family. “How certain that these deaths were accidents, sir?” I said in a voice that could make death pause.

“ The local jurisdiction all believes that both incidents are what they seem to be. However, I believe that these ‘accidents’ were staged,” said LJ

“ Because of the attack at my home or something else, sir”

“ Because they all happened with 15 minutes of each other and the attack on you.”

“ How can that be, sir? Only my immediate family and my unit knew the exact itinerary of my leave.“

“ Exactly, the question is why do this and what brought about such a reaction at this time?”

“ Sir, Has my sister been notified yet?”

“ No, Belisarius. I thought that should be up to you. I’ll be there with you for support.” said the IPA chief.

“ Sir, what is going on here?”

“ The ship is leaving dock. All passengers report to their seats,” came across the intercom as a couple of IPA JO’s motioned us to the passenger compartment.

“ We just stumbled on something big, Belisarius. And it revolves around what you know or don’t know. Whoever it is has some major resources to pull what I am thinking is happening, and will to kill or sacrifice anybody for their goals.” said LJ.

The ride down planet side was uneventful. I exited the ship and was met by a bright sun. There was a crisp wind blowing the leaves around. This would be perfect weather for a family get together except for the view of the house. There was no house. Only debris. I looked for my sister but couldn’t find her. I surveyed the surroundings and found IPA, BRINT and local officials combing the area. That was when I noticed the felinoid. More specifically, a felinoid friend of mine, Melshia Merrshah.
His family emigrated here from Procyon IV to have the opportunity of creating their own destiny. Melshia was the same age as Rebekah and me and was part of our close group of friends. Some of the townspeople didn’t like having the felinoids around because of their hidebound ways and that felinoids are not exactly outgoing with strangers. Some of the kids decide to play some games with the new family, but Rebekah & I would not have any of that. We confronted our schoolmates and made fast friend with the Merrshahs. That Melshia was here meant that word had got through to our friend about my parents’ death. Melshia, last I knew, was studying at MIT about computers and robotics. For those who don't know, the MIT robotics department is actually accredited by the MekPurrs as an overflow school. I approached the big dust -colored felinoid to say hello.

“ Melshia, glad to see you here. I guess bad news still moves fast.” putting my hand forward.

He took it and said,” Come now, Belisarius. My family celebrates Thanksgiving, too. I just finished the Bachelor’s program at MIT, and will not start on my Master’s until next autumn. I came here as fast as I could but when I showed up the place was crawling with law enforcement. They also said something about you being arrested.”

“ Yeah, some file on the Terran network said I was wanted for multiple murders in Montana. Supposedly, it was some kids in California who decided to play god. It has been cleared up. Have you seen my sister anywhere?”

“ Been waiting here myself for the last 30 minutes to see her, too.”

“ Who else has heard the news?” I said as I scanned the area for Rebekah.

“ Most of the region knows because the local news agencies were here trying to get the story.”

“ BEL!!! MELSHIAR!!! Boy, I am glad I saw you guys. Can you tell the goon squad over here to let me in?” said a snow-white female canoid.

“ That is Mel-she-ah. Hirupchik. Not Mel-she-ar, you moronic bitch.” said my friendly MekPurr.

“ Melsheearr, Melsheeah, it all the same to my ears. You MekPurrs are so unimaginative with your names. They all sound the same. Now humans have such a wide… “

“ Officer, you can let her go. She is a friend of mine. “ I said. Knowing Hiru was a frustrating experience for anybody. Think blonde canoid. Intelligent but no common sense and no idea how to lie but loves to hear her own voice, that is the essence of Hiru. Unlike most races, what you saw and heard from her was it, no skeletons her closet, that’s for sure.

“ Damn Bel, what’s up with those black suits? Do they take a class in being obtuse? I told them that I was a friend and they wouldn’t even let me see Reb. I mean, …” Hiru was saying until Melshia growled.
While Mel and Hiru were good friends, putting the two of them in hearing distance was never a good thing. Something about Hiru’s high voice and Mel’s good hearing I would think.

“ REB” as Hiru rushed passed us and bear hugged my sister.

“ Does her voice have to do that?” from the growling MekPurr.

“Do what?”

“ Be so high pitched.”

I smiled as my sister and her best friend approached. They seamed to be catching up on lost time.
“ Sorry, Melshia, Bel. The investigation teams are not being very cooperative at this point in time. As you can tell, the house is now kindling but the workshop only took superficial damage.” as she pointed to the building about 200 meters away from the house.
I walked over to the workshop as Melshia gave his condolences to her. My sister was putting on her ‘all business’ face but I could tell that she was about break. Right now, too many things were happening too fast to get any bearing on the situation. I opened the door to the workshop and entered the garage. Here was my father’s and my pride and joy. I saw two tarp-covered vehicles. One was small and was obviously a motorcycle of some type. But unless you were a motorcycle enthusiast or a vehicle historian you couldn’t identify it. I pulled the tarp and saw it. It was a Harley-Davidson Road Warrior hog circa 1970 almost restored to original condition. It even had an ICE, just like the original. This brought tears to my eyes. The amount of time we put into its restoration was mind-boggling but this was an area in which male hormones ruled. The Harley and the other vehicle had been witness to many conversations that only men and their toys should hear. I put the tarp back over the Harley and went over to the much large tarp. This, you could tell, was a four wheeled all-terrain vehicle; however you might not recognize it as such. I pulled this tarp off and it revealed a turn of the millennium Hummer in Desert Camouflage pattern. Unlike the modern Hummers built throughout human space, this one had the wide body. I always thought that it was funny that the Terran Union, Mercantile League, the GPR, and now the Holy Catholic Empire’s most common ATV was based on the second generation Hummer, not the original. This one looked as if it was in original condition but it wasn’t. My father was a mechanic in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division of the Terrain Defense Force, so he knew what improvements could be made. That and some friends still in the force were able to give him some resources that normal restorationists did not have. Trajan, as I named the Hummer, was as modern as any Hummer coming off the factory lines now from Detroit, New Toledo, Agrippa, New Smolensk and Neu Salzburg. The engine of our restored Hummer was the multi-fuel type of similar design to the factory models and had the same vehicle armor. Its electronics suite was the best that civilians could get, which meant that it was equal to any the military had; and it could also accommodate installation of a low grade vehicle field generator (concealed, of course). The only thing it did not have was the weapons turret found on the military vehicles. That would be too obvious. Many times, when I still lived here, dad and I would take Trajan out and try to get it stuck. We never did. Many of my schoolmates laughed when I brought it to school. They all would have the Ford Toyota Cilicas or some other new or recent car, or even some of the civilian Hummers. They would never know what history was in this vehicle. However, whenever there was an impromptu off-road race (there were a lot of those here in the North Georgia mountains) Trajan would take the hardest course and win hands down, even against the civvie Hummers. I got into the vehicle and used a little-known feature on the old Hummers, the ‘push button start’. Trajan came to life. I didn’t care if the investigation teams heard her. I got out to open the garage door so I could take her out. I wasn’t really surprised to see my sister and my friends there. They probably figured that I was going to do and had waited to be invited. I got back into the driver’s seat and turned the sound system on. The computer randomly put on a track. I noticed then that they hadn’t moved. They were waiting for an invitation to go along with me. I motioned them to get in and waited as Rebekah sat in the shotgun seat and Hiru and Melshia got in the back.
I put Trajan in gear and tore out of the building on to the grounds of our home. Men scattered to move out Trajan’s way as I went to the main road. I didn’t care that I was tearing up the manicured lawn; I just wanted Trajan to get me away from the roller coaster that life had me on. I hit a pretty hard area that caused Trajan to bounce hard. Then I heard something from the back that sounded like a whimper. I looked through the rear view mirror to the back and saw Hiru rubbing the top of her head. I also saw a mild smirk from Melshia and the thrash of his tail that showed amusement. I guess Hiru forgot to put her seatbelt on. I was going to Atlanta Arcology the hard way. Music was blaring the turn of the millennium heavy metal that mirrored my feelings. Anger and resentment were my main emotions. That’s when I heard the song that summed up what I wanted to say: ’ Don’t Tread on Me’ by Metallica.
It would take two hours to get to the outskirts of Atlanta the way I was going and I couldn’t care less. Not a word was said during the trip to the Arcology and that was fine by me.


Later that night
Atlanta Arcology, Transgalatica Club

After my trip to the Arcology, everybody decided (except me because I didn’t care) to go to the new hotspot in the Atlanta’s nightlife. To say that this club was rocking was an understatement. This club was ten stories tall with at least four dance floors on each floor. It didn’t take long for Reba and Hiru to get lost. They both loved to dance and party so this was fine for the both of them. Melshia took me to some bar on the tenth level and found a somewhat secluded table. We sat and ordered some food and drinks as he pulled out his portable computer. We didn’t say anything for a long time. I was lost in memories and he was lost in the realm of computers. I had left to go to the bathroom when someone yelled my name. I turned and saw a young brunette with gorgeous features and the figure of a gymnast. I didn’t recognize the woman though because of the stroboscopic effect of the lighting.

“ Oh hello, I didn’t see you here before,” I stalled while trying to figure out who she was.

She stopped a few feet in front of me. She put her hands on her hips. “ Well Belisarius. At least you could use my name when we meet. Damn, it’s not like we didn’t grow up together.”
Damn, I thought to myself. The voice was familiar but I could not put it with any name.

“ I do declare, Belisarius Wallace-Makenzie, only you could be so dense that you cannot see who I am.” the female said.

Only one woman I knew would dare say that. I closed the gap to give Melissa a big hug.
“ It’s so good see you, Melissa.”

I heard her mutter some incomprehensible word then take a deep breath as I hugged my friend. I decided to let go of the hug and look her directly in the eyes. She was a little red from what I could tell and her breathing was a little deep and quick.
“ I am sorry, Melissa. I sometimes for..”

“...get your own strength. Yeah, I know,” she said while trying to catch her breath. However, she did give me a big smile.
“Sometimes you amaze me, Bel. You can be oblivious to the world one minute and the next be so attentive. I guess even now that old saying still works.”

I favored the brunette a smile and probably blushed, too. “’The more things change, the more they stay the same. Why are you here, Melissa?”

“ Silly, I’m on leave, too. Just like you.” she said.

“ How’d you know that?”

“ Friends. It seems that some clerks in the personnel department fought on Telleron 3 and well, I called in some favors. You are a hard person to find, you know that.”

“ Been in debriefing since then.”

“ For almost a year? Something is up.”

“ They want to make sure that it doesn’t happen, again. It would appear that I’m going to be an officer. Seems that my exploits did some good.” I said with a tinge of regret.

She thought for a moment as I looked into those eyes, which were telling me not to remember those bad times. We both went through that hell and survived but too many of our friends, from before and during that battle did not.
The music changed to a slower beat and Melissa’s eyes brightened.
“ I wish to collect on a favor you owe me, Bel.”

Puzzlement went over my face as I tried to phantom what she meant. “ What favor, Melissa?”

She was leading me to the dance floor. “ You’re going to dance with me now, Belisarius. You and I are going to have a good time tonight. We both deserve an escape.”

The tone in her voice brooked no dissent, but I wasn’t going to say no anyway. How could I?
We embraced each other as the song went on. The world seemed to become slower and smaller as the song continued. To say that this moment was grand for me would be an understatement. For a time, nothing was wrong with the world. All the things that had happened since I arrived on Earth fell to the background in that dance.


Then there was a commotion on my left. As I turned to see, a large felinoid came out of crowd toward me. It was Melshia running. Melissa and I had both turned toward him when a larger, black-furred felinoid attacked Melshia and grabbled him to the ground. I moved to enter the fight as the larger felinoid clawed at Melshia’s neck. Melshia was able to get his exposed neck out of the way. I threw myself at the black Felinoid, tackling him and getting him off Melshia.
The two tumbled over and separated. I came up and went to the ready position of my martial arts training. Our eyes met and we saw into each other’s souls. I saw an assassin and he saw his quarry. He leapt at me, as I moved in to engage him. He was about to strike with his claws as I dodged to my left and did a kidney punch to his right groin. He turned and tried a backhanded swipe that I easily evaded. However the Felinoid deftly evaded my next groin punch. He was good, and he finally connected with one his claw swipes. My left upper arm was bleeding pretty good now as we continued our dance. He leapt at me as I stood my ground. He didn’t expect me to stand there as I grabbed both his arms. Now we were in match of brute strength. He looked confident that he could overpower me until I did the unexpected. For those who do not know, the hardest area in the human body is the skull and the most sensitive area of any felinoid is his nose. I pulled his arms away from his body and my head with his nose twice in quick succession. Then while he was still stunned, I picked him up one-handed from his groin and threw him up. As he started his ascent up I started my roundhouse kick. He tried to shift his weight so that he could land on his feet like all felinoids but I had anticipated this. As he shifted his body, my kick connected with his head. This sent the felinoid flying toward the bar through a bunch of tables. He was obviously dazed by the series of blows I had delivered but I continued the assault. I picked a chair and broke off a portion of it. I put it into the en garde position that my extensive kendo training ingrained into me. The felinoid got up and charged again. That stupid cat. I deftly evaded the double claw strike as I hit him in the back of his knee. The follow -through continued as I hit his chest, sending him to the dance floor hard.

“ You are hurt, Avatar” I said in Alastrid, “ you have made the cardinal sin any warrior can make. You have underestimated the enemy. Stand down and no harm will come to you, you have my word.”

The Avatar growled and leapt for me again. I stood my ground and connected with his cranium sending him again to the ground. I circled him.
“What do you want, assassin? What have I done to you to cause such drastic action?"

The assassin got up shaking his head. He looked at me and showed his teeth.

“ Hold it right there, Felinoid. IPA.” as my sister got thru the crowd and pointed her las pistol at him. “ You are under arrest for assault…”

He went for the crowd of people and grabbed an onlooker, holding his claws to her neck.
‘ NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, MELISSA’ my mind shouted.

“ I will get out of here without being arrested, IPA. Or she dies”

“ I say again…” as she continued to point her las pistol at him.

“ IF ANY HARM COMES TO HER, AVATAR. YOUR ENTIRE CLAN SHALL FACE EXTICTION.” I growled at the Avatar.

“ Tough talk from a huu-man. I have no clan because of you.”

“ Any harm comes to her, you and your line shall be extinguished from the hall of your ancestors, this I swear on the graves of my ancestors. There shall be no peace between our two lines if harm comes to her.” I said in a low monotone.

This is when I noticed that Melissa was trying to get my attention. She was signaling me to be ready.
As my sister tired to reason with the assassin, Melissa went into action. She did a kick that only she could do as her right leg went full vertical and connected with the head of the felinoid. He let go allowing her to move out of the way. I had already let the makeshift bokken go as my sister started to fire at him. The steel rod went into his right eye and partially exited thru the back of his head as a couple of las shots hit.
Next both my sister and me went to cover the fallen Avatar as Melissa grabbed me. She planted a big kiss on me, as I stood dumbfounded.
She then pulled back and then examined the wound on my arm.

“ That wound looks bad, Bel. We need to get you to a hospital.” said a now worried Melissa.

“ Tis only a scratch.” I said trying to stop the bleeding with a towel that was on the floor.

“ MELSHIA” as Hiru shot thru the crowd and went to her fallen friend.
Melshia was lying there with a pool of blood from his abdomen.
Melissa and I went over to him as Rebekah was talking to some of the bouncers.

Melissa went over to him and immediately ripped his shirt off to expose the wound. “ Somebody get the paramedics, stat. BEL, get me a phone to get a hold of them, if they don’t what is happening before they get here, we’re going to lose Melshia.”

“I am going to die, am I, Bel?” said an obviously week Melshia.

“ No way, Melshia. Melissa is the best combat doctor in the Rangers, Melshia. There are no better hands in the entire galaxy,” I tried to reassure him. I looked at Melissa’s arms, drenched in the thick red blood of my friend.

She looked directly in my eyes and I knew that it was not going to happen. She continued to do her best to keep the life blood from exited the wound as towels and other linen came to her. My sister was right there talking on her IPA comm unit talking to the paramedics tell them what had and is happening.

“ WHERE THE HELL IS A FIRST AID KIT AT?”

“ I can not feel anything, Belisarius, Hiru,” my injured friend said weakly as I continued to help Melissa try to control the bleeding.

“Keep talking to him, Hiru. Do not let him fall asleep. Rebekah, tell the paramedics that this code blue. Tell them that there might be anti-coagulant in the blood. Bel, take your sister’s las pistol…” Melissa instructed us.

As soon as I heard that there might be anti-coagulant in the wound, I got the las pistol and turned the power setting down. The idea was simple. Cauterize the wound. We needed to control the bleeding and we were running out of time.
Hiru was trying her best to keep the attention of the fallen MekPurr as I got the las pistol readied. I offered the pistol to Melissa, but she shook her head.

“ I need to keep the wound clean as you’re doing it. You’ve got to see what you are doing.”
I nodded at her logic and readied the pistol.

“ Melshia, can you hear me? It is Melissa.”

The MekPurr only made a light growling sound that was his acknowledgement.

“ We are going to cauterize the wound. That is the only way we can stop the bleeding. I am sorry but this going to hurt badly.”

He growled again, “ DO IT, BEL. NOW”

To say that this was difficult would be an understatement but Melissa gave the signal and we started the cauterizing the wounds. Four deep claw marks had been slashed right to left across the abdomen. Next thing I saw was that his tail was no longer moving.

“ OH, SHIT. DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES, MELSHIA,” as Hiru shouted.

Both Melissa and I worked at an even more frenzied pace as she moved to his head and I moved to his chest.
Melissa put her ear to his nose and looked at his chest. She nodded and we started to do CPR. We had done this so many times on Telleron 3 that we worked as a single person, her with the three breaths and me with the fifteen chest depressions.
Hiru became hysterical and she yelled at the MekPurr as me and Melissa tried our best to bring him back to life.

“ DO NOT DIE, MELSHIA DO NOT DIE ON ME” as she was on the verge of losing it.

My sister took Hiru by the shoulders and slapped her. “ DON’T EVEN THINK THAT, HIRU. YOU KNOW THEN BETTER THAN THAT.”

Waiting for a response from Melissa, I spoke to the onlookers, “Somebody get a heart machine over here, now.”

It came not long afterwards and we got the rest of the CPR kit out. Once we had it all hooked up, the readings came back. Negative on heart rhythm. I started to apply current to the heart to try to jump start it, when the machine died. I checked it and found that the battery was dead. It could monitor but it would not have the juice to do the charge.

“ You there, go get another machine or a battery, NOW.” I pointed to one of the bystanders as Melissa spoke.

“ You, you and, you get some clean linen and take care of that mess. Come on Bel.” as we went back to work.

We continued the CPR for about 5 minutes until the paramedics showed up. My sister explained to them who we were and the nature of the emergency.
We got Melshia on the gurney and the paramedics took over.
They started to take Melshia away with Melissa and me in tow when a police officer grabbed my arm.
“ We have some questions to ask you,” said the uniform.

“ You better let go my arm before you lose it, sir. My best friend’s life is on the line and I will not allow you to take me away from his side.” I said in a very low menacing tone.

As the officer was as tall as me it probably didn’t intimidate him but he did relent.

“ Officer, I am Detective First Class Mackenzie. I was the one who called this incident in. This man was only defending himself and the patrons from that animal’s attack. I’ll shall escort him to the hospital.” said my sister.

“ Officer Menchez, go with Detective Mackenzie and escort this guy to the hospital.” said the lead officer as couple of others began to canvass the area.

“ Thanks, Reb.” as I whispered to my sister.

She continued to walk me out with our escort following close behind. She gave no sign of any relationship between us, but she did give me a wink for thanks.

“ Damn,” said the escort as we got to the elevator. “ You killed an Avatar, sir, in hand to hand combat. I’ve been told that is impossible for a human to do.”

“ I killed no Avatar, sir. I merely put a rabid animal to rest.” as we enter the elevator.

We got to the squad car and it sped away from the club toward the hospital. I know noticed the blood that covered my hand and lower arms. I tried to clean the blood of but couldn’t. I got a towel and tried some more. It wouldn’t come off. It wouldn’t even rub off; there was just so much of it. How could be so much of my friend’s blood be on me. It was just like Telleron 3 when Alex took the hit for me during that siege. Melissa and I tried our hardest to keep him alive but we were just a step behind the grim reaper. I just had to get this blood off of me.

Then I felt a hand on my arm. I looked up and it and saw my sister’s worried face.

“ Stop it, Bel. Get a hold of yourself. Melissa went with them. She won’t allow them to give up fighting. Melshia will get out of this alive.”

That when I just realized who was left behind. She observed this change in my demeanor and had obviously known what entered my mind.

“ Don’t worry, Hiru is being escorted there, too.”

We got to the hospital soon after that and were brought to the ER area. It was packed in there with a lot of other emergencies. That is when I spotted Melissa sitting down with her face in her blood caked hands. I went over to her and sat beside her. I took one of her hand put into mine. She looked up at me and now the tears streamed as she shook her head.
Melshia was dead.

My next action was not well thought out I would like but it summed up my emotions. I got up and took the chair I was sitting on and threw it out of the waiting area. It hit the glass and shattered it. It would continue on its way to the parking lot until hit the squad car that was bringing Hiru in, and imbed itself into the front of the car. I yelled and fell to my knees as I cried. This could not be happening I thought.

Mom, Dad, Grandma and Pah. Uncle Joe, Aunt Alice, and the Terrible triplets. And now Melshia.

Melissa came over to me and quickly took me in an embrace. It would be a long time before another thought came into my mind but when it did it was burning like fire.

Whoever was doing this was going to pay and they had already dictated the coin of payment. This galaxy would flow with it when I found out who was doing this. This I swore.

[HELLFIRE]

// wonders what scifi (author) Bel's been digging into of late

Well, ya got me with this 'what you do / not know' hook....

Umm, keep writing I guess. Just make sure your VOE one doesn't
fall by the wayside











Regards