Who?”
“ I owe him money, Mr.
Luthor. Told him I'd pay off at the end of today. Must have
followed me. Flippin' idiot!”
“ Luthor” nodded to the
bodyguards. One word left his lips, “Quietly!”
The bodyguards headed up
the aisle shoulder to shoulder as the big man untangled himself and
started forward.
“ Please, sir, let our friend
finish his business...”
“ Business, Hell! I want my
money!” came the reply. With that the man grabbed the edge of a
tablecloth behind him. A hard yank sent things flying in all
direction. Before the bodyguards could react the tablecloth covered
their heads.
The attacker moved to push
“Luthor” aside. Only to have his arm taken into a Ju Jitsu move
that ended with him smashing onto the top of Claiborne's front
table. The legs of the thing folded. Bottles, flyers, and such flew
in all directions. But the attacker sprang to his feet. That's when
the bodyguards arrived. Claiborne grabbed the case of special
bottles and back-peddled to the rear of his booth. He stared wide
eyed as the real fighting started.
***
Emily would have been
astonished if she could have seen the space buff when things blew
up. Shedding his coat as he moved he dived under the heavy skirt of
a booth front. As he crawled towards the uproar he somehow managed
to reverse his suit coat. He yanked something out of pockets
revealed by the change. Then he tore off his hair, all of it
seemingly. But no, a receding, mostly gray crew-cut
remained.
He passed through a second,
third and fourth booth before he stuck his head out. Just in time
to see the interloper take a heavy tackle-box to the side of the
head. The man slammed into the cloth covering the side of the next
booth. Metal and plastic shrieked and snapped loudly. He staggered
further in that direction toppling the rear cloth of the booth, not
to mention three sets of display shelves, right on to
himself.
Before the sounds of
destruction faded “Luthor's” bodyguards snatched up fishing knives
from the next display. Seeing security guards hurrying in from the
exits, they bolted for the thin plastic covering the hole in the
divider wall. Not three steps behind them stumbled Roger with the
precious case of bottles.
The two musclemen swung
their knives like they'd practiced the routine. An opening appeared
as if by magic. “Luthor” stepped through and the two covered his
retreat. They hurried across the teams' area towards the
competition itself. The space buff now dashed forward as Roger
followed the others.
He saw Roger stumble as he
stepped on a pair of street shoes. Just as he reached the fresh cut
door Roger stepped over the low rope to the aisle. Then Roger
caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. But he figured
he'd just run over whoever came along. That's when the rolling
transport legs of the vaulting horse slammed into his
feet.
Roger went flying end over
end. All the while he rolled his body around the case to keep the
bottles from breaking. He landed flat on his back. The wind went
out of him. He fought for breath. He fought to get up. Then small
hands touched his neck and shoulder. And pressed hard. The last
thought he had for quite some time involved the Vulcan nerve
pinch.
***
As soon as the man's head
lolled to one side Emily dived and rolled into a now empty booth
selling meet souvenirs. All others in the vicinity had wisely fled.
She opened her butt-pack to extract her emergency money. Keeping
low she grabbed an oversized meet sweatshirt, and a Poplar Park
bandana. She slid money under the cash drawer, then slithered off
to don her “purchases.”
As she did she saw a man in
dark blue trousers, a blue-black suit jacket and clerical collar
hurry by.
She looked closely at the
trousers. Li Suan's voice spoke in her head, “Always memorize a
small detail, Emily. Something the subject will not be able to see
well. Or notice.”
And she remembered. In
addition to the man's jacket being exactly the same
“ I owe him money, Mr.
Luthor. Told him I'd pay off at the end of today. Must have
followed me. Flippin' idiot!”
“ Luthor” nodded to the
bodyguards. One word left his lips, “Quietly!”
The bodyguards headed up
the aisle shoulder to shoulder as the big man untangled himself and
started forward.
“ Please, sir, let our friend
finish his business...”
“ Business, Hell! I want my
money!” came the reply. With that the man grabbed the edge of a
tablecloth behind him. A hard yank sent things flying in all
direction. Before the bodyguards could react the tablecloth covered
their heads.
The attacker moved to push
“Luthor” aside. Only to have his arm taken into a Ju Jitsu move
that ended with him smashing onto the top of Claiborne's front
table. The legs of the thing folded. Bottles, flyers, and such flew
in all directions. But the attacker sprang to his feet. That's when
the bodyguards arrived. Claiborne grabbed the case of special
bottles and back-peddled to the rear of his booth. He stared wide
eyed as the real fighting started.
***
Emily would have been
astonished if she could have seen the space buff when things blew
up. Shedding his coat as he moved he dived under the heavy skirt of
a booth front. As he crawled towards the uproar he somehow managed
to reverse his suit coat. He yanked something out of pockets
revealed by the change. Then he tore off his hair, all of it
seemingly. But no, a receding, mostly gray crew-cut
remained.
He passed through a second,
third and fourth booth before he stuck his head out. Just in time
to see the interloper take a heavy tackle-box to the side of the
head. The man slammed into the cloth covering the side of the next
booth. Metal and plastic shrieked and snapped loudly. He staggered
further in that direction toppling the rear cloth of the booth, not
to mention three sets of display shelves, right on to
himself.
Before the sounds of
destruction faded “Luthor's” bodyguards snatched up fishing knives
from the next display. Seeing security guards hurrying in from the
exits, they bolted for the thin plastic covering the hole in the
divider wall. Not three steps behind them stumbled Roger with the
precious case of bottles.
The two musclemen swung
their knives like they'd practiced the routine. An opening appeared
as if by magic. “Luthor” stepped through and the two covered his
retreat. They hurried across the teams' area towards the
competition itself. The space buff now dashed forward as Roger
followed the others.
He saw Roger stumble as he
stepped on a pair of street shoes. Just as he reached the fresh cut
door Roger stepped over the low rope to the aisle. Then Roger
caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. But he figured
he'd just run over whoever came along. That's when the rolling
transport legs of the vaulting horse slammed into his
feet.
Roger went flying end over
end. All the while he rolled his body around the case to keep the
bottles from breaking. He landed flat on his back. The wind went
out of him. He fought for breath. He fought to get up. Then small
hands touched his neck and shoulder. And pressed hard. The last
thought he had for quite some time involved the Vulcan nerve
pinch.
***
As soon as the man's head
lolled to one side Emily dived and rolled into a now empty booth
selling meet souvenirs. All others in the vicinity had wisely fled.
She opened her butt-pack to extract her emergency money. Keeping
low she grabbed an oversized meet sweatshirt, and a Poplar Park
bandana. She slid money under the cash drawer, then slithered off
to don her “purchases.”
As she did she saw a man in
dark blue trousers, a blue-black suit jacket and clerical collar
hurry by.
She looked closely at the
trousers. Li Suan's voice spoke in her head, “Always memorize a
small detail, Emily. Something the subject will not be able to see
well. Or notice.”
And she remembered. In
addition to the man's jacket being exactly the same
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