About The Laws of Space
Post 200:
The Laws of Space
Episode 23
Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Alder’s Bout With Crack
“Alright you Spacer scum, hit me then! I said hit me!”
What was he saying? Alder didn’t understand at all—he was replete with disorientation. Geez it’s bright. Blinding, almost.
“Come on, you’re the big shot, I’m right here in front of you. I’ll let you have the first crack!”
First crack? What’s a crack? Geez it’s bright. I wish they’d put the bag back on my head. Alder still couldn’t see much of anything, but he could tell from the din in his ears that he was in and amongst a great many onlookers. Noises of all kinds—loud, disdainful, celebratory, he couldn’t distinguish—came from all angles. He tried to bypass the sensory overload with his intellect but it was too much.
These people weren’t much like people.
Gradually, his eyes adjusted to the onslaught of sun. He looked up to see a blue sky—beautiful beyond words. He looked down to see a shaggy, hulking man—ugly beyond adjectives. “I’m sorry, by crack, are you intimating that I strike you, good sir?” Tate was doing his best under the circumstances.
“Can you believe this guy?” asked the man, stepping about playfully and looking around at the others. By now it was clear to Alder that he was the subject of the group’s mockery. It didn’t happen often, but he was getting mad.
“I’d love to crack you, my friend, but I’m not a suicide case.”
“What?” the man asked. The question was followed by more foreign noises from the surrounding herd. “Wake up, big time. You’re not in City Five, your Laws don’t apply here, and I’m not some chipped slave.” Apparently the beast was done conversing, as he delivered a menacing left to Alder’s midsection. Tate took to his knees, looking at his palm, then at his assailant—nothing.
“Well then,” he grimaced. “You can’t imagine how long I’ve wanted to try this.” Alder rose up and threw the first punch of all his thirty-three years. Not exactly pugilistic, the brute easily sidestepped and shot a straight right hand to Alder’s face. It was enough to lay him out, but not enough to put him to sleep. Spread eagle, he coughed on pain and blood. The spinning sky was all he had. So blue. So blue.
“Alright partner, let’s get you up. You’ve been summoned.” It was a female voice, the one he heard during their abduction. “Partner, can you move? Help me out a little bit. Bob’s just having some fun with you.” Blinking rapidly he looked over to see who was talking. It was a girl. A beautiful one, at that. The sky and the girl—and being beaten to death.
