>From: v103pdt5@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Lucia Fabbozzi)
Subject: On the road to Necronus.......
Date: 19 Dec 90 14:19:58 GMT



Dreams...



Darkness...Racing through the mist, over wet ground.......






he ran through the jungle, through his past.Ahead of him, staccato bursts of
automatic gunfire and screams.Surrealistic, he seemed to run forever.Bursting
into the clearing, a slaughterhouse of blood and flames, the smell of charred
flesh.Climbing the ridge, to find Kaldi, or rather what was left of him.
Throbbing beat of helicopters, a familiar figure perched on the out board, of
the gunship, and then oblivion....



The man they called The DarkAngel woke,quickly. His heart beat with a furious
thunder, as he scanned the room. He had no idea where he was. The figure next to
him on the temperfoam slab moved slightly. Del. A burst of air escaped him as
the sight of her triggered awareness of his surroundings. Lying back on the bed
he could feel his paranioa dropping to normal levels. Del rolled over and buried
her face in his long hair."You OK,?"He smiled wryly."Yeah. Everthings almost the
same."Gently disengaging from her, he rose and walked stiffly to the dresser.She
watched him,, watched the pain of his scarred body. Taking a hypodermic from the
black case, he wrapped a tourniquet around his arm. "Evrythings almost about the
same." The needle was a cold fang, as he found the vein and injected the liquid
fire deep into his bloodstream.Almost immediately the pain in his legs, back and
hand began to fade. Del turned her back on him. She hated the drugs,even as she
understood the necessity. To act...normal and keep the pain within bearable
limits, this was why he did it.


  "Jedda?" Her voice reached him as he traced the line of replacement tissue
and augmented circuitry on his arm. "What is this about,really? What happened
in the Congo?" Del sat up and brought her knees up under her chin.He didn't
answer for a long time, just sat there staring at the gauntlet that had become
part of his arm. "We were on a job,working with the local honcho, who was making
a name for himself. We were supposed to provide security for a shipment of regas
out of the mines to the capitol. Routine stuff. Somebody got wind of it, and set
us up. I was backtracking from the rear, when the call came in on the radio.They
had us made. Bushwhacked, in the absolute worst spot.Shades knocked down a
couple of their gunships, and got knocked down himself. I found the shipment
gone, and everyone dead.Kaldi was on the ridge overlooking the valley..." His
voice trailed off, as he saw it and felt it again, the rage and the pain.

  The valley burned with the sullenness of wet vegetation.He held the dying
man in his arms, as shock set in."Little brodir.." His voice failed him, as
he spoke the old language.Kaldi whispered his name. "Janni..miskan...veer meed
bai...ja knirtne...knirte ere..." He died.Rising from his brothers crumpled form
Jedda scanned the skies.A gunship swooped over the ridge, firing steadily.Jedda
saw a bulky form at the controls, a person he almost knew, and then nothing as
the explosive bullets pounded into his body...


  "That was basically it. If Shades hadn't been around, I'dve bled to death
within a couple minutes.Out of 50 men, he and I were the only ones who made it."
She gestured abruptly. "But why pick it up now? Its been 10 years,can't it rest?
" No, it can't. It took me this long to narrow it down to two men, and I can't
give it up. My brothers soul would cry out from the Other Side, if I did. Blood
pays for blood. You read that damned Bible, doesn't it say something about that?
He pulled on a pair of black jeans and lit a cigarette.She watched him silently.
"Look, fate has brought all the players back together.White Knight,Knightridder,
Shades and I, and Ryker.We were all involved some way with that job.My brothers
last words. The night...big night. I didn't figure it out until much later.He
was saying the Knight.Both of those guys knew about the mission, because they
were in the capitol, and both aren't friends of mine.One or both, set me and my
men up good, and killed them. If I can't figure out which one it was, I'll kill
both of them. Are you with me or not?"


   She just nodded, her grey eyes serious."Whither thou goest..." He walked over
to the bed and held her, smoothing her close-cropped mane of red hair."You gotta
stop reading the Bible.Its definately corrupting you..."



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Submitted by


JN Wolfe


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