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Vaticide:

Grant stared at Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, they stared blankly ahead.

"I bet you two are the life of a party."

There was a slight shock through the ship that an experienced captain such as Grant would instantly recognize as a large ship docking to the space station. He heard the faint noise of activity in the IBI guard's earpieces. Whatever it was caused them to look at each other nervously.

"What happened, did your mom just come aboard?"

Like usual his banter that amused himself so greatly didn't seem to be appreciated by his hosts. They were very intent on what was coming through their headsets. Grant was pretty sure it was regarding his soon-to-be GIA executors being escorted his way.

Right-Dum ran into the hallway and accessed a command console. Left-Dum walked toward Grant, "We're moving you, come along now, this is not the time for games."

Left-Dum pulled him into the hallway at a quick pace and took him to the freight lift station. As they exited the lift, red strobes came on throughout the station, and the intercom announced in a bored voice that decks D through G were in lockdown. After a brief walk through increasingly dingy hallways, Grant was unceremoniously shoved into an airlock, the door sealed behind him. As he entered, the intercom message changed to warn apathetically that an unauthorized vessel had been launched. Through the window he could see the ship flying away with its afterburners kicked on.

Grant watched the ship grow smaller and smaller through the thick airlock window. Three minutes later a sleek black chrome GIA destroyer was in pursuit.

Boz stepped up to the window between the hallway and the airlock and patched into the com system.

"Ok Grant, playtime is over. I just made myself some enemies for life in the GIA, and I'm not sure you were worth it. Right now I'm not giving a rat's ass about this Beta-454 you supposedly have and I'm pretty much just inclined to open the airlock. Now, do you have anything to say before I have the gunners play skeet with your frozen body?"

Corwin:

The sun had barely stretched its length above the horizon, but Rose had already been up for hours. That was not unusual, but her foul mood was.

"Where is he? Where is that bloody bastard?" The sound of breaking glass barely registered on her consciousness, as she threw yet another against the wall of her dingy apartment. "He said he'd be here by yesterday at the latest. I should have known he wasn't to be trusted."

The buzzing of the intercom broke her fugue. "Yeah!"

"Hi, Rose, is Grant there? I need to speak with him urgently."

"No, he was supposed to be here by now, but I've not heard a word from him in weeks."

"Well, when he gets back, warn him that he's really in it this time. He'd better dig a deep hole, crawl in and hide for at least the next 50 years."

"What's he done this time?"

"You don't want to know Rose. Just warn him OK, got to go, See Ya."

Rose took one brief look around the room, shook her head and came to a decision. He just wasn't worth it anymore; no man was. She had to get out. She had to get away. Life had to be more than the partial existence she had right now.

In the distance, the faint echo of a siren swept across her awareness. She ignored it, as she always did. Sirens were a common occurrence here on this backwater pioneer planet. There was packing to be done. Grant wasn't coming. Of that she was convinced.

It didn't take long. She didn't really have much of any value; a few clothes and personal items. That was the sum total of her life. Pretty pathetic she thought to herself. That's you too my girl, pretty pathetic. Time to leave.

The front door to her apartment slid open as she placed her palm on the lock. She didn't even feel the prick of the needle as the dart struck her clean in the neck.

Lintra:

"Yeah, lets get going. I know you guys have access to cloaking technology ... ", as Boz starts to say something Grant waves him off, "Yeah, it's not all that effective, but with the GIA boys in hot pursuit of an empty can - quick work there - they might just miss the tell tales. So open up this ... ", Grant is cut off by the sound of the airlock door *whooshing open.

As Boz grabs Grant roughly by the arm he snarls, "You better come through with this or you're gonna WISH I'd let the GIA guys have a go at you." He then mutters to the collar com unit "T447 execute emergency Bz8, destination QQ triple aught - 1".

Grant, Boz, Tweedle Dum materialize in the cockpit of must be a very small ship. Boz snaps at Tweedle Dum as he shoves Grant at him "Secure this scum in the Com Seat while I start the count down. Yeah, yeah, I know regs say there should be three of us, but this baby only has room for three, and Scummy here has to come." Boz then plops down in the pilot's seat and starts flipping switches.

As Tweedle Dum starts to manhandle Grant towards the empty Com station Grant chomps down hard, breaking a tooth, he then turns around and sprays the gas that is filling his mouth into Tweedle Dums face. "Ooph" grunts Tweedle Dum as he passes out and Grant flings him into the Com seat while relieving him of his needler in one smooth motion.

"Hey don't abuse him too much ... yet ...", grunts Boz as he continues the warm up sequence "Uh?" he continues as Grant shoves the needler in his ear.

"Okay Mr. Uptight Goody Two Shoes, I suggest you don't move a muscle," purrs Grant as he relieves Boz of his gun. "That's a good boy. Now I think it is time ... ", On the word 'time' Grant throws Boz out of the chair an clips him hard behind the ear with the gun butt. "... to renegotiate our little deal." he finishes as Boz hits the floor.

"Stupid shits", exclaims Grant as he pulls Boz's body into the air lock. Moments later, "Heavy shits" he grunts as he drags Tweedle Dum's body over Boz's. He then closes the air lock and throws himself into the pilots seat.

.........

As Grant's newly acquired ship shoots away, a man and a woman watch it head for the jump point. The woman, the local GIA bureau chief, turns to her IBI counter part, "I sure hope that tracking device works as you say."

CM:

Grant punches in the new coordinates and hits the autopilot just as he reaches the jump point. As the stars melt into a blur of color and light, he smiles smugly to himself over his latest escapades. But as the ship starts to near the end of the jump a new feeling starts gnawing at him.

'That was just a little to easy, even for me. How did they miss the tooth? That guy is stupid, but not that stupid. And why did so many of them agree to go against the GIA? Something about this shit stinks!'

In seconds he was up and searching for anything in the ship that didn't belong. Suddenly he saw it.
"Cute, very cute. Too bad I just stole a batch of these last week or I would have missed it completely."

That smug feeling returned as he pulled an innocent bulb from behind one of the control panels. The only distinction it had was its color. A slightly duller shade of yellow from the rest, but with a stomp of his heel, it had no color at all.

As he settled back into his chair Grant let his mind wander ahead. Rose would be pissed. But she always was lately. "A great one in bed, but too nosey and to demanding." Yet there was something even Grant couldn't put his finger on. He couldn't admit to himself that he had any feelings for anyone, and Rose was no exception.

Tweedle Dee popped open the airlock as soon as the ship launched. Waking Boz first, he was met with a string of profanity befitting any good sailor.

"He bought it!" Boz yelled into his communicator as he rubbed the lump on his head. "Has he found the tracker?"

"Only one. The other is still working."
"Where is my ship, and where are those GIA agents now?"
"Your ship is getting ready to dock now, and GIA are still running after the decoy."
"Tell me when you get the girl to the new location. I'll have to stay far behind him to avoid detection until then. Then we'll see how he likes to play games."

Boz rubbed his head once more as a reminder to himself of just how much he wanted Grant in custody again.

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