sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you very enjoyable.
The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth
- Thread starter Kathy in FL
- Start date
goinpostal
Contributing Member
I'm amazed that She didnt run all of them out at the point of a gun.
I probably would have.
Thanks Kathy!Good story.
Matt
I probably would have.
Thanks Kathy!Good story.
Matt
I can relate to her temper. I've only truly lost mine twice and it wasn't pretty. Thankfully, I learned at a rather young age to control it and divert the energy into other areas.
As for the story, I'm thinking there is still some thing niggling at the back of my mind as to loyalties and such. But now that I'm still thinking on it, I realized that I had forgotten that the "spy" could be from the other farm.
And I agree there are too many people living in that house. lol! They need to either expand it or expand out into the barn or something. And I am assuming they are all still helping with the chores and such but it seems like Lydie is still doing most of the work....cooking, feeding the animals, and such. That would bug me! lol!
so many things to digest and think about though.... that IMO, is what makes a great story. Instead of just reading it for enjoyment (which I definitely DO) I think about HOW I would react and what I could do to .... do it better/right/different/blah blah blah.... lol.
As for the story, I'm thinking there is still some thing niggling at the back of my mind as to loyalties and such. But now that I'm still thinking on it, I realized that I had forgotten that the "spy" could be from the other farm.
And I agree there are too many people living in that house. lol! They need to either expand it or expand out into the barn or something. And I am assuming they are all still helping with the chores and such but it seems like Lydie is still doing most of the work....cooking, feeding the animals, and such. That would bug me! lol!
so many things to digest and think about though.... that IMO, is what makes a great story. Instead of just reading it for enjoyment (which I definitely DO) I think about HOW I would react and what I could do to .... do it better/right/different/blah blah blah.... lol.
2ndEviltwin
Inactive
Wow great addition.
“Yes way … and it is because Alexis is tough. If I had to guess, this is her way of holding it together for the moment; but she’s human, not a robot. Cut her some slack. She’ll snap back, but you gotta give her some room to do it. The more you ride her the less focus she has to deal with what is going on inside her head.”
That sounds like Lydie is talking from the voice of experience. Then when she looses it herself it just proves that she is human herself. Great chapter, thankyou.
That sounds like Lydie is talking from the voice of experience. Then when she looses it herself it just proves that she is human herself. Great chapter, thankyou.
I started reading this morning and got called away for what I thought would only be few minutes and it ended up being all day and half the night. This story has been open on my computer all day and I'm so glad I finally got the chance to sit down tonight and enjoy it.
It just gets better and better with every chapter. Thank you Kathy.
It just gets better and better with every chapter. Thank you Kathy.
223shootersc
Veteran Member
always better than the last, thanks
Sportsman
Veteran Member
A spy... Hmmmm.
I suspect that Matt can't risk sending one of his followers to be a spy. They'd see too much and realize how he's playing them. Besides, I don't think he needs huminit that much. Matt's a technologist. He could have have sent people on a covert mission to plant electronic spying equipment and learned almost as much about the group as a human spy could without the risk of someone becoming a traitor against him.
Great twists and turns, not mention the cliffs. Thanks, Kathy.
~Sportsman
I suspect that Matt can't risk sending one of his followers to be a spy. They'd see too much and realize how he's playing them. Besides, I don't think he needs huminit that much. Matt's a technologist. He could have have sent people on a covert mission to plant electronic spying equipment and learned almost as much about the group as a human spy could without the risk of someone becoming a traitor against him.
Great twists and turns, not mention the cliffs. Thanks, Kathy.
~Sportsman
juco
Veteran Member
Yeah, but I'm thinking cliff might be Kathy's friend.
<I'll see your snicker and up you a snort>
DustMusher
Deceased
Just stop and think -- we have never been told the real name of Kathy's DH. I think it is CLIFF!
DM
DM
I started reading from the start again a few days ago, restarting where Cal came into the barn. You think the cliffs are bad chapter by chapter, don't start rereading and get the kind of momentum going like I did and try not to go flying off!
Kathy, you are a master storyteller. Thank you so, so much for all you do for us.
Kathy, you are a master storyteller. Thank you so, so much for all you do for us.
Jeepcats 3
Contributing Member
Hopefully she didn't get washed out from the Tropical Storm Beryl going up the coast!
Moar Please!
Jeepcats3
Moar Please!
Jeepcats3
Hickory7
Senior Member
I wasn't here......boo hoo hoo, I'm not part of the gang.....
Kaijafon, I thought you were the entertainment! LOL
I wasn't here......boo hoo hoo, I'm not part of the gang.....
Don't cry you're our special effects person.
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Sorry for the delay ... been busy as heck in the land of real life. Now, to try and make up for it I'm going to try and get two parts up today. Here's the first one and I'll get the other one up before I hit the sack tonight. Thanks for being so patient ... and funny.
--------------------------------
The Empire Strikes Back
Part 3
“Lydie? You want me to stay tonight or …?”
I sighed and shivered despite having an extra blanket on the bed. “Don’t make me ask Jax. Not after everything that has happened. It’s one in the morning and I still can’t seem to sleep or get warm.”
He seemed to nearly fly under the covers and not quite meaning to was a little rough when he pulled me to him. “God Lydie,” he moaned quietly, neither one of us wanting to wake Kelly or have anyone else in the house hear our business. Breathing into my hair he whispered, “I promise …”
I put my hand over his mouth to hush him. “No promises, not in the heat of the moment. We’ve made the important ones already right? So let’s just stick with the ones we know we mean and can keep.”
“But I messed up.”
Shivering both from the cold and his sudden nearness and complete willingness to make up I told him, “We both messed up. We’ll probably mess up in the future too, let’s just not mess up quite that way again.”
A little while later we were a lot warmer and my shivering had finally stopped. Jax said, “I didn’t mean to just jump on you like that. I meant to … to talk and tell you I never meant …”
Not really wanting to rehash it I said, “Did you hear me complaining? As for the rest of it, it’s … it’s in the past. I just can’t … can’t do that … that loss of control again. It costs too much.”
“Yeah,” he said when he was sure I meant what had come earlier in the evening and not what we’d just experienced together. “We’ll figure things out … we’ll communicate better or something. No holding information back just because we think we’re doing what’s best for the other person. We’ll do whatever it takes; I just don’t want you to wind up resenting me like Darlene did.”
I shook my head. “I don’t resent you Jax, certainly not like you seem to mean. Being with you is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I think it’s just we both come with some baggage and we’re letting it … it control things too much. We need to pick what’s most important and stick with it.” I rubbed my cheek against his bare chest as much for myself as for him to feel that I was right there with him. “I’m … I’m trying really hard not to be a snot about this but I can’t explain it exactly right. I just mean there’s too much going on, too much that could kill us … figuratively and literally. I can’t waste time and energy on … on blowing up. Getting angry is sometimes necessary; being destructive and saying hurtful things is not and only makes things worse.”
I shivered a little as the cold crept under the covers where we’d pulled them loose from the foot of the bed. We adjusted the blankets and then I told him, “I don’t want you to think I’m pulling back from you after what happened, and I’m worried that’s how you’ll take it … how the others will take it too. I just only have so much to give and if I stay on this emotional hamster wheel I’ve been on … being hurt and confused because I can’t seem to get anyone to understand why I’m hurt … there’s gonna be a mess of some type. We can’t afford that. I’ve got to get my head in the game and keep it there. I have an itchy kind of feeling that we’ve breached some kind of barrier and there might be some nasty surprises on this level of the game. All the sides have been exposed; we’re here and they’re there, never the ‘twain to meet, and right now they hold more pieces than we do. Mathematically they could overwhelm us just with numbers. We need to take more time between moves but not so much time that the other side has the opportunity to guess our strategy.”
His hand traced from my shoulder to lower back and then pulled me tighter against him. “Ok. But I don’t want you to hold back because you are worried about sharing feelings you don’t think I’ll understand. Maybe I won’t but I’d still rather you keep me in the loop so I can try. How am I supposed to figure things out, make sure I’m not messing up, if you don’t let me know when I am.” He had a point so I agreed to keep it in mind. It would have been stupid to play martyr. Then he asked, “Are you in the mood to hear what we talked about or do you want to let it go for now?”
Something inside me relaxed. I hadn’t meant to put him to the test but I guess part of me had been waiting to see if he would follow through on what he said he would do. I knew it was late but I still told him, “Yeah. I need to know.”
“OK.” He sighed and then eased me over so I was on my back and he leaned over me a little. “I’ll be honest, everyone was a little … freaked out … about how you reacted.”
“Overreacted.”
“No … how you reacted. Yes it was an explosion but once everyone got a glimpse of how you were feeling they understood it better … not completely, but better. As you’d expect the girls got it better than the guys. But surprising or maybe not, Alexis is the one that chewed almost all of us out and put it in terms that even Gennie seemed to understand. After discussing it we agreed that we’d all made mistakes and it is time to knock it off, that we stand together or we fall separately. Reggie said in no uncertain terms that he is done playing keep away also; said it is too hard to remember who knew what and that what is not being said to whom doesn’t make sense anyway.”
Trying to unravel that last bit I asked, “Did what he said even make sense?”
I felt his hair brush me when he shook his head. “That’s what Aston wanted to know. Bottom line Hon is that we’re all in this together. It might take a little time to …”
“For them to get over me throwing hot gravy at them?”
“Well there’s that but mostly it’s we’re thinking on different wavelengths. As a guy I can tell you I don’t like being as wrong as we were. I don’t like knowing how close I came to the important stuff falling apart. I don’t like the feeling that Matt might have seen it happening or hope it happened and that he was as close as he was to being right yet again. It’s going to make me feel … cautious … maybe a little …” His head dipped down and he brushed a kiss against a particular spot below my ear that tended to make me have a certain reaction. He whispered with a slight smile in his voice, “Maybe make me feel a little needy to make sure things are the way they should be.” Not much of any sense got said after that and after a while we just fell asleep.
I woke up and the room was still dark due to the blackout curtains but it was the wrong body snuggled up next to mine. I started to sit up but Kelly whimpered sleepily, “Cold Widdie.”
“Then stay under the covers where it’s warm Butterfly.” The fact that the wiggle worm did told me just how cold it was. I slid out of bed trying not to let any cold air under the quilts and then shimmied into my clothes as fast as I could; but it wasn’t fast enough despite what appeared to be a new fire in the small wood stove in the corner of the room. I pulled the blackout curtain back and found frost on the wrong side of the window.
“Stay put Kelly. I need to find your daddy.”
I had to put on a second pair of socks and my house slippers to keep my feet from hurting from how cold the bare spots on the floor were. I opened the door and found the hallway even colder and reclosed the door quickly not to let what heat there was out of the room. I heard voices downstairs and found everyone bundled up and Ginger looking at the ancient wood stove like she was about to do battle with it.
I told her, “Hold that thought. I’ll help get Bertha up and running in a sec if someone will tell me why it is so cold in here.”
I heard footsteps hurrying up from the basement. Jax frowned and asked, “Did Kelly wake you up?”
I shook my head and looked at the meter in his hand. “Breaker blown?”
“No,” he said in frustration. “And it isn’t just the furnace. There’s no hot water, no gas to the stove, nothing. I was about to go check the shed. Water pressure in general is down so I think some of the pipes might have frozen as well but nothing stands out as obvious yet.”
I started to panic. “The animals!”
“Easy Hon. Johnson got the wood stove started out there. They were cold but not dangerously so. King Kong is feisty enough; nearly took a chunk out of him when he moved the hay around to try and find him.”
I shook my head. “That’s why I haven’t let Kelly out with him lately. He hates being cold and gets foul.” I had calmed once I knew the animals would be OK. “Since you’ve checked everything inside I’m guessing it is one of the main valves from the fuel storage tank or a clogged vent. I’ll help get … Jumping Jehoshaphat! … it’s lunch time!!” I yelped finally looking at the clock.
Ginger said, “Just show me how to get it started and I’ll take it from there.”
“I can …”
“Don’t worry about it, just show me.”
For a moment I worried that people didn’t want to have anything to do with me as the previous day’s events flooded my mind but at that moment Alexis came into the room in a good mood and bumped me. She must have read the look on my face because she said, “Don’t be a dork. People are just trying to be nice.”
My face reddening I said, “Oh … they don’t need to be. I didn’t … I mean …”
Ashley waddled into view and succinctly stopped my blathering by smiling and saying, “Shut up Lydie. All’s well that ends well. No flagellation, OK?”
“Oh. O … kay. Wait. What did you just say?”
Reggie picked that moment to hop into the kitchen with wood for the stove and broke the moment by saying, “She was driving us all crazy trying to understand what she meant until she found the word she was looking for in the thesaurus. But whatever … just don’t do it. It sounds painful and stupid. Stupid we don’t need any more of. Pain is worth avoiding as well.”
The rest of the day was a little like living in the twilight zone. Everyone seemed to go out of their way to make sure I understood that they weren’t holding anything against me or we talked a few issues out. Everyone wanted to be a team and I was basically told to take a load off, sit down, and sketch out some ideas on how to build a radiofax. It felt really, really strange and more than a little uncomfortable but Reggie caught me off guard by saying let them do it as it was a way for them to exercise out some of the guilt they might be feeling for thinking such a rotten thing about me.
As for the cold in the house, a valve had indeed been cracked but luckily it had frozen over the broken area so we didn’t lose too much gas, though enough that we’d have to change how we did things to stretch the gas as far as possible. We were also lucky that while some of the pipes had frozen, nothing ruptured in the house though we did have one break in a pipe out in the yard that had to be dug up, repaired, and then re-winterized. Doing all of that in the cold took its toll on top of all the emotionalism from the day before so we were all very tired; a good night’s sleep was all we craved. The day after that we were more back to normal; unfortunately in more ways than one.
The cold had retreated a bit so Johnson and Aiden volunteered their free time that day to go see about bringing in some fallen limbs that could be cut down to use in the wood stove not so fondly called “Bertha” by everyone in the house. If you’ve ever accidentally bumped into an old wood stove – hot or cold – they have a tendency to not be kind. Bertha would see a lot of use to try and ease up on using the furnace. Having wood stoves running in bedrooms also used up a lot of wood and while we still had a pile from the paper mill more would always be good to have.
A downed tree had been spotted not too far off of the road about three miles from the Home Place when one of the last groups to go hunting had come from the direction opposite that would have normally taken us toward town. Out Johnson and Aiden go and five hours later – one hour later than they should have been – right as we decided to send a team after them they come back with both wood and another flying rat.
“Dang it!!” I said nearly kicking the thing despite the fact that it was already in pieces.
Reggie pulled me back. “Don’t stomp on it Lydie; I want to try and salvage some of the pieces.”
“Salvage … !” I stopped and pulled my temper back. “Ok, fine. I suppose it would be a waste. Johnson, where exactly did you bring this thing down at?”
“About a mile from that old building that used to be Fowler’s Bar and Grille.”
“Near the road to the old trout farm?”
He nodded. Aiden asked, “What’s the range on these things? We were three miles from here and it was coming from the general direction of town … not a beeline but still.”
I gave it some thought. “The military ones are beyond belief, especially the ones they call predator drones. We won’t even go there. This is more like a remote controlled helicopter or hovercraft … the other one looked more like a plane. That tells me someone is just kind of cobbling these things together. They’re doing a good job but this still isn’t military grade or even close to it … so forget the national guard as well.”
Jules said, “I thought we agreed that this was Matt’s work.”
I shook my head. “It could be Matt’s work. It is likely that he knows about it or has a hand in it. But whether he is directing things we don’t know for sure and I don’t want to make any assumptions that might blow up in our faces. Speaking of which, here’s something else that will just turn you all sorts of happy; someone with enough smarts could load this thing with Semtex or some other type of explosive, fly it in, and then detonate it without even having to be in the area to get their hands dirty.”
That made everyone glance at the darkening sky. Reggie then asked, “And if they have night vision or heating seeking capabilities?”
I nodded agreeing with where he was going with it. “Yep. That could mean a night attack. The operator would still need to be within a mile or so of the drone however. We need to know where these things are coming from.”
--------------------------------
The Empire Strikes Back
Part 3
“Lydie? You want me to stay tonight or …?”
I sighed and shivered despite having an extra blanket on the bed. “Don’t make me ask Jax. Not after everything that has happened. It’s one in the morning and I still can’t seem to sleep or get warm.”
He seemed to nearly fly under the covers and not quite meaning to was a little rough when he pulled me to him. “God Lydie,” he moaned quietly, neither one of us wanting to wake Kelly or have anyone else in the house hear our business. Breathing into my hair he whispered, “I promise …”
I put my hand over his mouth to hush him. “No promises, not in the heat of the moment. We’ve made the important ones already right? So let’s just stick with the ones we know we mean and can keep.”
“But I messed up.”
Shivering both from the cold and his sudden nearness and complete willingness to make up I told him, “We both messed up. We’ll probably mess up in the future too, let’s just not mess up quite that way again.”
A little while later we were a lot warmer and my shivering had finally stopped. Jax said, “I didn’t mean to just jump on you like that. I meant to … to talk and tell you I never meant …”
Not really wanting to rehash it I said, “Did you hear me complaining? As for the rest of it, it’s … it’s in the past. I just can’t … can’t do that … that loss of control again. It costs too much.”
“Yeah,” he said when he was sure I meant what had come earlier in the evening and not what we’d just experienced together. “We’ll figure things out … we’ll communicate better or something. No holding information back just because we think we’re doing what’s best for the other person. We’ll do whatever it takes; I just don’t want you to wind up resenting me like Darlene did.”
I shook my head. “I don’t resent you Jax, certainly not like you seem to mean. Being with you is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I think it’s just we both come with some baggage and we’re letting it … it control things too much. We need to pick what’s most important and stick with it.” I rubbed my cheek against his bare chest as much for myself as for him to feel that I was right there with him. “I’m … I’m trying really hard not to be a snot about this but I can’t explain it exactly right. I just mean there’s too much going on, too much that could kill us … figuratively and literally. I can’t waste time and energy on … on blowing up. Getting angry is sometimes necessary; being destructive and saying hurtful things is not and only makes things worse.”
I shivered a little as the cold crept under the covers where we’d pulled them loose from the foot of the bed. We adjusted the blankets and then I told him, “I don’t want you to think I’m pulling back from you after what happened, and I’m worried that’s how you’ll take it … how the others will take it too. I just only have so much to give and if I stay on this emotional hamster wheel I’ve been on … being hurt and confused because I can’t seem to get anyone to understand why I’m hurt … there’s gonna be a mess of some type. We can’t afford that. I’ve got to get my head in the game and keep it there. I have an itchy kind of feeling that we’ve breached some kind of barrier and there might be some nasty surprises on this level of the game. All the sides have been exposed; we’re here and they’re there, never the ‘twain to meet, and right now they hold more pieces than we do. Mathematically they could overwhelm us just with numbers. We need to take more time between moves but not so much time that the other side has the opportunity to guess our strategy.”
His hand traced from my shoulder to lower back and then pulled me tighter against him. “Ok. But I don’t want you to hold back because you are worried about sharing feelings you don’t think I’ll understand. Maybe I won’t but I’d still rather you keep me in the loop so I can try. How am I supposed to figure things out, make sure I’m not messing up, if you don’t let me know when I am.” He had a point so I agreed to keep it in mind. It would have been stupid to play martyr. Then he asked, “Are you in the mood to hear what we talked about or do you want to let it go for now?”
Something inside me relaxed. I hadn’t meant to put him to the test but I guess part of me had been waiting to see if he would follow through on what he said he would do. I knew it was late but I still told him, “Yeah. I need to know.”
“OK.” He sighed and then eased me over so I was on my back and he leaned over me a little. “I’ll be honest, everyone was a little … freaked out … about how you reacted.”
“Overreacted.”
“No … how you reacted. Yes it was an explosion but once everyone got a glimpse of how you were feeling they understood it better … not completely, but better. As you’d expect the girls got it better than the guys. But surprising or maybe not, Alexis is the one that chewed almost all of us out and put it in terms that even Gennie seemed to understand. After discussing it we agreed that we’d all made mistakes and it is time to knock it off, that we stand together or we fall separately. Reggie said in no uncertain terms that he is done playing keep away also; said it is too hard to remember who knew what and that what is not being said to whom doesn’t make sense anyway.”
Trying to unravel that last bit I asked, “Did what he said even make sense?”
I felt his hair brush me when he shook his head. “That’s what Aston wanted to know. Bottom line Hon is that we’re all in this together. It might take a little time to …”
“For them to get over me throwing hot gravy at them?”
“Well there’s that but mostly it’s we’re thinking on different wavelengths. As a guy I can tell you I don’t like being as wrong as we were. I don’t like knowing how close I came to the important stuff falling apart. I don’t like the feeling that Matt might have seen it happening or hope it happened and that he was as close as he was to being right yet again. It’s going to make me feel … cautious … maybe a little …” His head dipped down and he brushed a kiss against a particular spot below my ear that tended to make me have a certain reaction. He whispered with a slight smile in his voice, “Maybe make me feel a little needy to make sure things are the way they should be.” Not much of any sense got said after that and after a while we just fell asleep.
I woke up and the room was still dark due to the blackout curtains but it was the wrong body snuggled up next to mine. I started to sit up but Kelly whimpered sleepily, “Cold Widdie.”
“Then stay under the covers where it’s warm Butterfly.” The fact that the wiggle worm did told me just how cold it was. I slid out of bed trying not to let any cold air under the quilts and then shimmied into my clothes as fast as I could; but it wasn’t fast enough despite what appeared to be a new fire in the small wood stove in the corner of the room. I pulled the blackout curtain back and found frost on the wrong side of the window.
“Stay put Kelly. I need to find your daddy.”
I had to put on a second pair of socks and my house slippers to keep my feet from hurting from how cold the bare spots on the floor were. I opened the door and found the hallway even colder and reclosed the door quickly not to let what heat there was out of the room. I heard voices downstairs and found everyone bundled up and Ginger looking at the ancient wood stove like she was about to do battle with it.
I told her, “Hold that thought. I’ll help get Bertha up and running in a sec if someone will tell me why it is so cold in here.”
I heard footsteps hurrying up from the basement. Jax frowned and asked, “Did Kelly wake you up?”
I shook my head and looked at the meter in his hand. “Breaker blown?”
“No,” he said in frustration. “And it isn’t just the furnace. There’s no hot water, no gas to the stove, nothing. I was about to go check the shed. Water pressure in general is down so I think some of the pipes might have frozen as well but nothing stands out as obvious yet.”
I started to panic. “The animals!”
“Easy Hon. Johnson got the wood stove started out there. They were cold but not dangerously so. King Kong is feisty enough; nearly took a chunk out of him when he moved the hay around to try and find him.”
I shook my head. “That’s why I haven’t let Kelly out with him lately. He hates being cold and gets foul.” I had calmed once I knew the animals would be OK. “Since you’ve checked everything inside I’m guessing it is one of the main valves from the fuel storage tank or a clogged vent. I’ll help get … Jumping Jehoshaphat! … it’s lunch time!!” I yelped finally looking at the clock.
Ginger said, “Just show me how to get it started and I’ll take it from there.”
“I can …”
“Don’t worry about it, just show me.”
For a moment I worried that people didn’t want to have anything to do with me as the previous day’s events flooded my mind but at that moment Alexis came into the room in a good mood and bumped me. She must have read the look on my face because she said, “Don’t be a dork. People are just trying to be nice.”
My face reddening I said, “Oh … they don’t need to be. I didn’t … I mean …”
Ashley waddled into view and succinctly stopped my blathering by smiling and saying, “Shut up Lydie. All’s well that ends well. No flagellation, OK?”
“Oh. O … kay. Wait. What did you just say?”
Reggie picked that moment to hop into the kitchen with wood for the stove and broke the moment by saying, “She was driving us all crazy trying to understand what she meant until she found the word she was looking for in the thesaurus. But whatever … just don’t do it. It sounds painful and stupid. Stupid we don’t need any more of. Pain is worth avoiding as well.”
The rest of the day was a little like living in the twilight zone. Everyone seemed to go out of their way to make sure I understood that they weren’t holding anything against me or we talked a few issues out. Everyone wanted to be a team and I was basically told to take a load off, sit down, and sketch out some ideas on how to build a radiofax. It felt really, really strange and more than a little uncomfortable but Reggie caught me off guard by saying let them do it as it was a way for them to exercise out some of the guilt they might be feeling for thinking such a rotten thing about me.
As for the cold in the house, a valve had indeed been cracked but luckily it had frozen over the broken area so we didn’t lose too much gas, though enough that we’d have to change how we did things to stretch the gas as far as possible. We were also lucky that while some of the pipes had frozen, nothing ruptured in the house though we did have one break in a pipe out in the yard that had to be dug up, repaired, and then re-winterized. Doing all of that in the cold took its toll on top of all the emotionalism from the day before so we were all very tired; a good night’s sleep was all we craved. The day after that we were more back to normal; unfortunately in more ways than one.
The cold had retreated a bit so Johnson and Aiden volunteered their free time that day to go see about bringing in some fallen limbs that could be cut down to use in the wood stove not so fondly called “Bertha” by everyone in the house. If you’ve ever accidentally bumped into an old wood stove – hot or cold – they have a tendency to not be kind. Bertha would see a lot of use to try and ease up on using the furnace. Having wood stoves running in bedrooms also used up a lot of wood and while we still had a pile from the paper mill more would always be good to have.
A downed tree had been spotted not too far off of the road about three miles from the Home Place when one of the last groups to go hunting had come from the direction opposite that would have normally taken us toward town. Out Johnson and Aiden go and five hours later – one hour later than they should have been – right as we decided to send a team after them they come back with both wood and another flying rat.
“Dang it!!” I said nearly kicking the thing despite the fact that it was already in pieces.
Reggie pulled me back. “Don’t stomp on it Lydie; I want to try and salvage some of the pieces.”
“Salvage … !” I stopped and pulled my temper back. “Ok, fine. I suppose it would be a waste. Johnson, where exactly did you bring this thing down at?”
“About a mile from that old building that used to be Fowler’s Bar and Grille.”
“Near the road to the old trout farm?”
He nodded. Aiden asked, “What’s the range on these things? We were three miles from here and it was coming from the general direction of town … not a beeline but still.”
I gave it some thought. “The military ones are beyond belief, especially the ones they call predator drones. We won’t even go there. This is more like a remote controlled helicopter or hovercraft … the other one looked more like a plane. That tells me someone is just kind of cobbling these things together. They’re doing a good job but this still isn’t military grade or even close to it … so forget the national guard as well.”
Jules said, “I thought we agreed that this was Matt’s work.”
I shook my head. “It could be Matt’s work. It is likely that he knows about it or has a hand in it. But whether he is directing things we don’t know for sure and I don’t want to make any assumptions that might blow up in our faces. Speaking of which, here’s something else that will just turn you all sorts of happy; someone with enough smarts could load this thing with Semtex or some other type of explosive, fly it in, and then detonate it without even having to be in the area to get their hands dirty.”
That made everyone glance at the darkening sky. Reggie then asked, “And if they have night vision or heating seeking capabilities?”
I nodded agreeing with where he was going with it. “Yep. That could mean a night attack. The operator would still need to be within a mile or so of the drone however. We need to know where these things are coming from.”
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you for all your hard work with the story. Good luck with all the work at home. Hee is what we have been doing. http://sarawolf6.blogspot.com/
Wow! And I have to laugh too ... gotta love the bathtubs as part of your raised garden. ROFL!! I wish now that I had saved more of the old metal tubs that we used to get out of the rental properties, now they only seem to be fiberglass and not nearly as sturdy. Hubby says that when he has the time - hah! yeah right -- he'll build some frames to put some tubs in that I can use as raised beds in an area that is back in the far corner of our current home.
And I have several of those books you had on the table. I'll have to lay all of mine out one of these days and take a pic.
Got it finished quicker than expected so here it is ....
The Empire Strikes Back
Part 4
Despite the scary thoughts about what the drones – we referred to them as flying rats to take the edge off of our fear – were capable of, the rest of that week was spent constructively setting up the radiofax system with the Houchins Farm. I went on one of the first runs and asked to speak to Vernon alone when Jax was off with Junior running some cable. I’ll admit I was nervous but I felt I was in the right and that it needed to be said.
Facing Vernon was nearly as hard as facing Mr. Houchins would have been. “Vernon, I know you aren’t going to take this kindly. You’re my dad’s age or close enough that you aren’t going to like someone my age – especially a girl – giving you a hard time. But I feel I need to say this … the next time you got a problem with me or are suspicious of me, talk to me about it instead of causing problems in my house.”
I don’t think he’d ever expected me to address it quite that directly. Caught off guard the large man said, “Now just wait one minute little girl.”
My fear lending me even more stubbornness than I normally had I said, “No, I won’t. In your home I won’t ever tell you what to do but you caused heartache that didn’t need to be for the people under my roof. It got very, very serious and downright ugly. I won’t come right out and say you did it on purpose because I don’t have any proof of that, but I could make a circumstantial case for it if push came to shove. Right now we enjoy good relations because I respect your folks because they were good friends with my dad and mom. That doesn’t mean I don’t remember how I got turned away at the gate when I didn’t ask for nothing but friendship to keep from being lonesome. I’ll always remember that because it keeps things in perspective when dealing with you and yours. And now I’ve got something for you to remember … we don’t need you. It’s nice to have you for friends but we don’t need you. We may not be your equal in land and stuff but we can get along without you. And if we have to we will.”
He was really angry. “Are you through?”
“No, I’m not finish digging this hole. See I set up this radiofax system just because I could. It might come in handy, it might not; that’s up to you. I’m not asking anything in return for the work I did … not a trade, nothing. You asked and I delivered … but only because I could and also because I wanted to. You only have as much authority over us as we are willing to give, no more no less. And I’ll refrain from being nasty and insinuating that if there is a spy that the odds are far more likely that it comes from your place than ours … but I could … and I would be right. And I’m sure you don’t want that kind of noise floating around the farm given how destructive it could be to your cohesiveness both as a team and as a family.”
“Why you little … You really think this is going to pass and there not be consequences for your mouth?”
“Oh, I know there will be consequences. I warned everyone at the Home Place what I was going to say and that you all might decide to take your ball and go home. They said they understood.” That caught him off guard though he tried not to show it. “This needed saying because we are smaller and younger. It would be real easy for you to get the idea that you’re doing us a favor by taking over and I’m here to tell you it just ain’t gonna happen. And if this was some kinda test let me tell you it was a lame one. You and Lon think you know everything that Reggie and I can pull off? That the others are just gonna roll over ‘cause you say so? Think again and I’m not bluffing. I won’t ever throw in with any bad guys against you all … my parents would roll over in their graves at the very idea of that … but that doesn’t mean we have to lend you a hand in that area either.”
He growled, “All your talk is just that and makes me think being suspicious of you was the right thing to be rather than the wrong.”
I shook my head. “Think what you want, all you want. Be suspicious and see what it buys you. But don’t try the same thing again. I didn’t deserve being treated like I was mentally damaged enough to turn on people that way. I was loyal and it hurt what you people did to me. I don’t know why everyone keeps thinking that just because once upon a time I was more than friends with Matt that he still holds some kind of power over me or whatever. The fact that I have seen him for what he is now should make the opposite case. I’d be much more worried about someone that wasn’t exposed to Matt not having any defenses to keep themselves from being manipulated and that isn’t anyone under my roof, but more than a few under your authority sure could be described that way.”
“You …” He was breathing like a bull but then he suddenly blinked and said mildly, “You’ve got a point.”
He had changed tack so fast I nearly stumbled. “Huh?”
He twisted his lips which was probably about the closest thing to a smile he could muster at that moment. “I said you’ve got a point. I don’t like you mouthing off at me but … but we’ll call it even. I just better not catch you trying to cause problems for my family.”
“I’m not the one that caused problems,” I reminded him. “But I’ll call it quits if you will.”
I held out my hand to shake on it. He gave me the hairy eyeball but eventually stuck his hand out and shook on it. “You are going to give Jax an ulcer.”
Being I was unwilling to comment on that type of statement we got back down to business. He asked, “You’re willing to vouch for everyone you got under your roof?”
“Yes.”
“Even those two females.” Since I knew he was referring to Alexis and Gennie I nodded.
I said, “And speaking of which before I leave I need to talk to your momma or one of the other ladies around here. A couple of us girls think Gennie – the young one you met – might be even younger than fourteen.”
Vernon’s face was blank for a moment but then he growled something fowl about the gang members. “How sure are you and how much younger?”
“Pretty sure and maybe as young as eleven, it’s kinda hard to tell. She wears make up like it’s war paint but Janice … that’s Johnsons’ sister …”
Impatiently he said, “I know who she is.”
“Anyway, Janice has seen her in … uh … let’s just call it a locker room setting, and she says that Gennie doesn’t look fourteen.”
Vernon growled some more and then shook his head. “A couple of the boys around here were looking her over so I’ll warn them off but you need to keep an eye on the girl.”
My lip curled at the idea of the farm boys looking us girls over but I kept my thoughts to myself. I supposed it was going to happen but I didn’t like it being said like we were cattle on the auction block.
“Vernon,” I started tentatively.
“What?” he asked cautiously.
“Is … is there any other way that the townies could have gotten information from us besides a spy?”
He was going to blow the question off at first, I could tell; then, he gave it some honest consideration. “There’s always ways to get information. Instead of a spy in our ranks we could have people spying on us. That could be literal eyes on us, cameras, listening devices, radar, interrogation of personnel, and so on … but most would be well beyond the capabilities of the refugees.”
I nodded. “Fine but some of those I can come up with ways to do without really thinking about it too hard … and think maybe we ought to start exercising a few of them … so wouldn’t it be possible that the townies have already gotten a jump on us by doing them too?”
He pointed to a chair in what they called the radio shack and indicated for me to sit. After I did he did as well and steepled his fingers. “Talk to me.”
“I thought I was.”
He snorted. “Talk to me now that I’m listening.”
I sighed and grumbled a bit under my breath but managed to keep my opinion of his remark to myself. “They are already using cobbled together gizmos to use as drones. What they are using them for we don’t know for sure. Maybe they are mapping locations for salvaging to save on gas and labor … or to prioritize various sites. Or maybe they are looking for people, maybe particular people.” Neither one of us mentioned that the possibility was that Matt had been particularly looking for me. “Maybe they just want to know what is going on outside of town without having to put too much man power into it. Or maybe they are already spying on known locations and we are just now noticing. If that is the case it makes me wonder what else we’ve missed.”
Vernon sighed and then got up and stuck his head out the door, sending one of the boys out in the yard scrambling to fetch Lon. He looked at me and said, “Hold that thought a minute.”
After Lon arrived Vernon asked me to start at the top. Once I’d got to the point of possibly having missed other stuff they both looked serious. I continued, “Reggie has gone over the drones that have come down and they had wifi capable cameras but no listening capabilities, but might be night vision capable; they look like those cameras you could hook into a security system. Reggie and I are pretty sure they are limited to a distance of about one mile from their controller. That means that we’ve had someone out there spying, at least indirectly, and in my opinion getting a little too close to have not let their presence be known. So what else has this person … or persons … done and to what purpose?”
Lon shrugged and said, “Nothing is missing around the farm. Crops have been in for a couple of months. Food is locked up tight, even the feed for the animals. No animals have been rustled. No equipment has been sabotaged. Kids are all accounted for.”
“OK. Then let’s reverse it. If they aren’t taking anything can they be leaving something? How secure is your potable water and/or the water for your livestock? Have you had any animals get sick lately? Had a sudden explosion in rodents when they should be hibernating? Have your fences needed an unusual amount of repair? Found fresh holes in the ground where they shouldn’t be that could bring down the horses while someone is out riding the fence line? Found what looks to be old hunting blinds … or maybe those hunting cameras even?”
I was going to keep going but Vernon was looking at me and shaking his head. I asked him, “What?”
Lon chuckled and answered for the speechless man. “You’re a mess girl. Vernon is old school and not used to little girlies being capable of what you apparently are.”
I snorted. “Old school? Really? Women have been spies for centuries. It is precisely because men underestimate women that this can happen. Mata Hari, Sarah Emma Edmonds, Aphra Behn, Belle Boyd? Do those names ring a bell at all ‘cause they should. The known list of female spies goes on and on so you know there has to be a lot of unacknowledged female spies that made a difference … and stop getting me off topic unless you are looking at a long history lecture. Let’s just leave it at the fact that women can be just as spy-ish as men can be.”
“Spy-ish,” Lon said with another chuckle.
“Whatever. You know what I mean.”
Vernon remained serious however. “Counter measures.”
Lon looked at him and nodded. I had to ask, “What counter measures?”
“We have to assume that our security has been breached in some fashion. We need to get on the defensive – do a thorough scan of the area surrounding the farm – but we need to go on the offensive as well. We’ve got the manpower to pull it off, you don’t.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’ve had the land around the Home Place bugged for a while. We rotate shifts so no one single person is observing the equipment and we rotate the schedule so it would be next to impossible for anyone in the house to make an assignation unobserved … not impossible but very difficult. We also have the same area seriously boobied and only Reggie and I know where all of the traps are. Several places are no man’s land because of this. Anyone thinking to sneak in would likely trip something and Reggie and I would know.”
“How?”
I gave him a closed look and said, “Don’t worry about it. We’d know.”
Vernon and Lon looked at each other then Lon asked said, “I got the impression from Jax and the others that have come out here to help set the radiofax that suspicions didn’t go over well at your place.”
Vernon told him, “The less that is brought up the better. I need you to set up a schedule and to check the woods and byways. The farm is as secure as we can make it but I want a perimeter around the farm of at least fifty yards, wider as we go along. I’m getting tired of that itchy feeling between my shoulder blades.”
Lon got up but before he left he gave me a smile and popped me on the head with his baseball cap. I was still huffing at the fact that he’d knocked my braids loose when Vernon asked, “Here’s something we might not have taken seriously enough. What if they’ve got the town and surrounding areas bugged?”
I saw it as soon as he brought it up. “You’re saying that when we were laying the boobies that they were already there, possibly watching for us to come?”
He nodded, “Or more than likely trying to keep an eye on their own. Our man Suicide didn’t strike me as the trusting sort.” When he saw me giving him the don’t-even-go-there look he just humphed. “As you kids are fond of saying … whatever. Let’s theorize for a moment that that is what happened and why we ran into an ambush. We need to know what, if anything, that could have been given away.”
“Reggie and I don’t talk when we are working and I – as you should remember – was not allowed to be part of the crews that laid the boobies.” His nose flared so I just blew on through rather than rub it in. “Numbers, who’s in charge, who is part of a couple, names, radio call signs, what method of transportation we were using, and any number of other things. I have no idea who gossips while they work, who doesn’t, and what they might have said. Oh wait … men don’t gossip, right?”
He surprised me with a grin. “Wrong. Men are as bad as women, we just don’t call it that.” His grin faded however as he continued. “But it gives me a lot to think about. We really have no way of knowing what the enemy knows and what they don’t.”
“So let’s find out.”
I gave him an innocent look and then he got a slightly evil grin on his face. “You know kid, I’m beginning to like the way you think.”
The Empire Strikes Back
Part 4
Despite the scary thoughts about what the drones – we referred to them as flying rats to take the edge off of our fear – were capable of, the rest of that week was spent constructively setting up the radiofax system with the Houchins Farm. I went on one of the first runs and asked to speak to Vernon alone when Jax was off with Junior running some cable. I’ll admit I was nervous but I felt I was in the right and that it needed to be said.
Facing Vernon was nearly as hard as facing Mr. Houchins would have been. “Vernon, I know you aren’t going to take this kindly. You’re my dad’s age or close enough that you aren’t going to like someone my age – especially a girl – giving you a hard time. But I feel I need to say this … the next time you got a problem with me or are suspicious of me, talk to me about it instead of causing problems in my house.”
I don’t think he’d ever expected me to address it quite that directly. Caught off guard the large man said, “Now just wait one minute little girl.”
My fear lending me even more stubbornness than I normally had I said, “No, I won’t. In your home I won’t ever tell you what to do but you caused heartache that didn’t need to be for the people under my roof. It got very, very serious and downright ugly. I won’t come right out and say you did it on purpose because I don’t have any proof of that, but I could make a circumstantial case for it if push came to shove. Right now we enjoy good relations because I respect your folks because they were good friends with my dad and mom. That doesn’t mean I don’t remember how I got turned away at the gate when I didn’t ask for nothing but friendship to keep from being lonesome. I’ll always remember that because it keeps things in perspective when dealing with you and yours. And now I’ve got something for you to remember … we don’t need you. It’s nice to have you for friends but we don’t need you. We may not be your equal in land and stuff but we can get along without you. And if we have to we will.”
He was really angry. “Are you through?”
“No, I’m not finish digging this hole. See I set up this radiofax system just because I could. It might come in handy, it might not; that’s up to you. I’m not asking anything in return for the work I did … not a trade, nothing. You asked and I delivered … but only because I could and also because I wanted to. You only have as much authority over us as we are willing to give, no more no less. And I’ll refrain from being nasty and insinuating that if there is a spy that the odds are far more likely that it comes from your place than ours … but I could … and I would be right. And I’m sure you don’t want that kind of noise floating around the farm given how destructive it could be to your cohesiveness both as a team and as a family.”
“Why you little … You really think this is going to pass and there not be consequences for your mouth?”
“Oh, I know there will be consequences. I warned everyone at the Home Place what I was going to say and that you all might decide to take your ball and go home. They said they understood.” That caught him off guard though he tried not to show it. “This needed saying because we are smaller and younger. It would be real easy for you to get the idea that you’re doing us a favor by taking over and I’m here to tell you it just ain’t gonna happen. And if this was some kinda test let me tell you it was a lame one. You and Lon think you know everything that Reggie and I can pull off? That the others are just gonna roll over ‘cause you say so? Think again and I’m not bluffing. I won’t ever throw in with any bad guys against you all … my parents would roll over in their graves at the very idea of that … but that doesn’t mean we have to lend you a hand in that area either.”
He growled, “All your talk is just that and makes me think being suspicious of you was the right thing to be rather than the wrong.”
I shook my head. “Think what you want, all you want. Be suspicious and see what it buys you. But don’t try the same thing again. I didn’t deserve being treated like I was mentally damaged enough to turn on people that way. I was loyal and it hurt what you people did to me. I don’t know why everyone keeps thinking that just because once upon a time I was more than friends with Matt that he still holds some kind of power over me or whatever. The fact that I have seen him for what he is now should make the opposite case. I’d be much more worried about someone that wasn’t exposed to Matt not having any defenses to keep themselves from being manipulated and that isn’t anyone under my roof, but more than a few under your authority sure could be described that way.”
“You …” He was breathing like a bull but then he suddenly blinked and said mildly, “You’ve got a point.”
He had changed tack so fast I nearly stumbled. “Huh?”
He twisted his lips which was probably about the closest thing to a smile he could muster at that moment. “I said you’ve got a point. I don’t like you mouthing off at me but … but we’ll call it even. I just better not catch you trying to cause problems for my family.”
“I’m not the one that caused problems,” I reminded him. “But I’ll call it quits if you will.”
I held out my hand to shake on it. He gave me the hairy eyeball but eventually stuck his hand out and shook on it. “You are going to give Jax an ulcer.”
Being I was unwilling to comment on that type of statement we got back down to business. He asked, “You’re willing to vouch for everyone you got under your roof?”
“Yes.”
“Even those two females.” Since I knew he was referring to Alexis and Gennie I nodded.
I said, “And speaking of which before I leave I need to talk to your momma or one of the other ladies around here. A couple of us girls think Gennie – the young one you met – might be even younger than fourteen.”
Vernon’s face was blank for a moment but then he growled something fowl about the gang members. “How sure are you and how much younger?”
“Pretty sure and maybe as young as eleven, it’s kinda hard to tell. She wears make up like it’s war paint but Janice … that’s Johnsons’ sister …”
Impatiently he said, “I know who she is.”
“Anyway, Janice has seen her in … uh … let’s just call it a locker room setting, and she says that Gennie doesn’t look fourteen.”
Vernon growled some more and then shook his head. “A couple of the boys around here were looking her over so I’ll warn them off but you need to keep an eye on the girl.”
My lip curled at the idea of the farm boys looking us girls over but I kept my thoughts to myself. I supposed it was going to happen but I didn’t like it being said like we were cattle on the auction block.
“Vernon,” I started tentatively.
“What?” he asked cautiously.
“Is … is there any other way that the townies could have gotten information from us besides a spy?”
He was going to blow the question off at first, I could tell; then, he gave it some honest consideration. “There’s always ways to get information. Instead of a spy in our ranks we could have people spying on us. That could be literal eyes on us, cameras, listening devices, radar, interrogation of personnel, and so on … but most would be well beyond the capabilities of the refugees.”
I nodded. “Fine but some of those I can come up with ways to do without really thinking about it too hard … and think maybe we ought to start exercising a few of them … so wouldn’t it be possible that the townies have already gotten a jump on us by doing them too?”
He pointed to a chair in what they called the radio shack and indicated for me to sit. After I did he did as well and steepled his fingers. “Talk to me.”
“I thought I was.”
He snorted. “Talk to me now that I’m listening.”
I sighed and grumbled a bit under my breath but managed to keep my opinion of his remark to myself. “They are already using cobbled together gizmos to use as drones. What they are using them for we don’t know for sure. Maybe they are mapping locations for salvaging to save on gas and labor … or to prioritize various sites. Or maybe they are looking for people, maybe particular people.” Neither one of us mentioned that the possibility was that Matt had been particularly looking for me. “Maybe they just want to know what is going on outside of town without having to put too much man power into it. Or maybe they are already spying on known locations and we are just now noticing. If that is the case it makes me wonder what else we’ve missed.”
Vernon sighed and then got up and stuck his head out the door, sending one of the boys out in the yard scrambling to fetch Lon. He looked at me and said, “Hold that thought a minute.”
After Lon arrived Vernon asked me to start at the top. Once I’d got to the point of possibly having missed other stuff they both looked serious. I continued, “Reggie has gone over the drones that have come down and they had wifi capable cameras but no listening capabilities, but might be night vision capable; they look like those cameras you could hook into a security system. Reggie and I are pretty sure they are limited to a distance of about one mile from their controller. That means that we’ve had someone out there spying, at least indirectly, and in my opinion getting a little too close to have not let their presence be known. So what else has this person … or persons … done and to what purpose?”
Lon shrugged and said, “Nothing is missing around the farm. Crops have been in for a couple of months. Food is locked up tight, even the feed for the animals. No animals have been rustled. No equipment has been sabotaged. Kids are all accounted for.”
“OK. Then let’s reverse it. If they aren’t taking anything can they be leaving something? How secure is your potable water and/or the water for your livestock? Have you had any animals get sick lately? Had a sudden explosion in rodents when they should be hibernating? Have your fences needed an unusual amount of repair? Found fresh holes in the ground where they shouldn’t be that could bring down the horses while someone is out riding the fence line? Found what looks to be old hunting blinds … or maybe those hunting cameras even?”
I was going to keep going but Vernon was looking at me and shaking his head. I asked him, “What?”
Lon chuckled and answered for the speechless man. “You’re a mess girl. Vernon is old school and not used to little girlies being capable of what you apparently are.”
I snorted. “Old school? Really? Women have been spies for centuries. It is precisely because men underestimate women that this can happen. Mata Hari, Sarah Emma Edmonds, Aphra Behn, Belle Boyd? Do those names ring a bell at all ‘cause they should. The known list of female spies goes on and on so you know there has to be a lot of unacknowledged female spies that made a difference … and stop getting me off topic unless you are looking at a long history lecture. Let’s just leave it at the fact that women can be just as spy-ish as men can be.”
“Spy-ish,” Lon said with another chuckle.
“Whatever. You know what I mean.”
Vernon remained serious however. “Counter measures.”
Lon looked at him and nodded. I had to ask, “What counter measures?”
“We have to assume that our security has been breached in some fashion. We need to get on the defensive – do a thorough scan of the area surrounding the farm – but we need to go on the offensive as well. We’ve got the manpower to pull it off, you don’t.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’ve had the land around the Home Place bugged for a while. We rotate shifts so no one single person is observing the equipment and we rotate the schedule so it would be next to impossible for anyone in the house to make an assignation unobserved … not impossible but very difficult. We also have the same area seriously boobied and only Reggie and I know where all of the traps are. Several places are no man’s land because of this. Anyone thinking to sneak in would likely trip something and Reggie and I would know.”
“How?”
I gave him a closed look and said, “Don’t worry about it. We’d know.”
Vernon and Lon looked at each other then Lon asked said, “I got the impression from Jax and the others that have come out here to help set the radiofax that suspicions didn’t go over well at your place.”
Vernon told him, “The less that is brought up the better. I need you to set up a schedule and to check the woods and byways. The farm is as secure as we can make it but I want a perimeter around the farm of at least fifty yards, wider as we go along. I’m getting tired of that itchy feeling between my shoulder blades.”
Lon got up but before he left he gave me a smile and popped me on the head with his baseball cap. I was still huffing at the fact that he’d knocked my braids loose when Vernon asked, “Here’s something we might not have taken seriously enough. What if they’ve got the town and surrounding areas bugged?”
I saw it as soon as he brought it up. “You’re saying that when we were laying the boobies that they were already there, possibly watching for us to come?”
He nodded, “Or more than likely trying to keep an eye on their own. Our man Suicide didn’t strike me as the trusting sort.” When he saw me giving him the don’t-even-go-there look he just humphed. “As you kids are fond of saying … whatever. Let’s theorize for a moment that that is what happened and why we ran into an ambush. We need to know what, if anything, that could have been given away.”
“Reggie and I don’t talk when we are working and I – as you should remember – was not allowed to be part of the crews that laid the boobies.” His nose flared so I just blew on through rather than rub it in. “Numbers, who’s in charge, who is part of a couple, names, radio call signs, what method of transportation we were using, and any number of other things. I have no idea who gossips while they work, who doesn’t, and what they might have said. Oh wait … men don’t gossip, right?”
He surprised me with a grin. “Wrong. Men are as bad as women, we just don’t call it that.” His grin faded however as he continued. “But it gives me a lot to think about. We really have no way of knowing what the enemy knows and what they don’t.”
“So let’s find out.”
I gave him an innocent look and then he got a slightly evil grin on his face. “You know kid, I’m beginning to like the way you think.”
2ndEviltwin
Inactive
Thank you mam for the lovely Moarrrr 
now where is my
while i wait for
now where is my
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Wonderful Kathy.
Yeah the bath tubs are great and hope you can come up with some again.
Yeah the bath tubs are great and hope you can come up with some again.
Jeepcats 3
Contributing Member
very nice,
I really like the way she thinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeepcats3
I really like the way she thinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeepcats3
You want to know what my name means? lol! It's Klingon (so spit when you say it) and it means: "warrior for peace and freedom" (actually "son" of a warrior but my fathers name cancels that out since his name means "father of a warrior", well that and the fact that I'm a daughter)
yep seriously
Oh glory ... now that's stuck in my head. ROFL!!
My 13 year old daughter is experiencing the Star Trek universe for the first time starting with the original series. Sometimes she gives me the strangest looks. LOL!
I'll try and get something up tonight. Rained most of the day thus far which has put me behind on the gotta get done list.
Okay, I went ahead and spit but I still don't speak Klingon. English is my only language and I still don't have it down pat. I guess I'll just Trek on into the backyard and see how the garden's doing.