| From: | "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Persuasion |
| Date: | Mon, 29 Dec 1997 17:10:35 +0000 |
>>>>>[They were willing to try it. Now you better make sure the
Department keeps its word.
+++++begin trideo
Marlowe walks into the Easy Eight, eyes adjusting to the darkness: heads
turn to regard him suspiciously. There's no music and the bar shutters
are down: the club is crowded with men and women, mostly but not all
Elven, in small groups: it seems like a mass teach-in on the care,
feeding and correct use of the HK227 submachinegun is in progress.
The last traces of what must have been a major party can be seen: it
looks like the cleanup afterwards wasn't too thorough, unusual for this
place - or perhaps because few people expect it to be standing in a few
days, so why waste time on more than a casual cleaning?
The detective makes his way to the "Staff Only" door, nobody stopping
him as he goes through: he finds a storeroom and a cleaner's closet
before he discovers the manager's office, Vincenzo inside looking up
only slightly surprised.
"Who are you?" the Ork asks suspiciously.
"They call me Marlowe, on accout that my real name's Andrew Kryzdanovich
and I like Raymond Chandler novels. I'm a PI from uptown. Lone Star
asked me to keep an eye on your war, keep the collateral damage down."
"So? A few days from now, a Butler Chemical construction crew are coming
to build a waste-disposal plant. We tried to con them into thinking
we'll roll over, but whether it worked or not we're going to fight.
"You want to help? Go back out to the bar, ask Dwayne, and he'll give
you a weapon. Otherwise, breeder, you're wasting our air." Vinny's tone
is as bitter as his words.
"Vincenzo, you fight these guys, you'll die. You'll do some damage, kill
a few guards, and they'll bring in APCs and gunships and level the
neighbourhood."
"Yeah, we know. It's that, or we get to be the slave labour and the
company whores. 'Die free or live as slaves' might sound dumb until you
have to choose, breeder, but those are our total options. Everyone here
chose to fight. The others will get clear so nobody gets hurt."
Marlowe sits, facing the Ork. "Listen. There's another choice here. I
can help you -"
+++++memory exhausted
Shit. Didn't notice I ran out of tape.
Anyway, I sold Vincenzo on the deal. Now you guys had better make good
on what you promised, or the Star's out of business in the Barrens for
years.]<<<<<
-- Marlowe <17:10:42/12-29-58>
