The Sheriff of Yrnameer by Michael Rubens

Author:Michael Rubens
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction - Science Fiction, Humorous, Space Opera, Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Fiction - General, General, Science Fiction And Fantasy
ISBN: 9780307455147
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2010-09-15T06:43:58.829000+00:00

When they found Cole he was floating in the corridor, cradling the little girl. She was crying. She wasn’t dead. Her head just bent that way. Cole was shivering so violently he could barely speak.

“Oh, farg!” said Bacchi, eyeing the bloody splatter on the air-lock door, a crimson bull’s-eye surrounding an irregular blackened circle with a bullet hole in the center. “Where’s Charlie?”

“Out the f-f-f-farging air lock,” stuttered Cole.

“Is she all right?” asked Nora.

Cole nodded, his teeth chattering.

“Are you all right?”

Cole nodded again. Nora had to gently unpeel his arms to take Aleela from him.

Joshua was staring at the mark on the door, wide-eyed. The blood was already beginning to turn brown and fade, the self-cleaning wall performing as advertised.

“Wow,” said Joshua. He turned to look at Cole, his eyes full of admiration. “Wow,” he said again.

“Get out of here,” said Cole, suddenly angry.

“Joshua,” said Nora, “go check on the other children.”

“But—” said Joshua.

“Get out of here!” roared Cole. He placed a booted foot on Joshua’s shoulder and kicked him away, the two of them tumbling approximately the same distance in opposite directions.

“Cole,” said Nora, “your side.”

Cole raised his left arm and looked down. A misshapen bullet protruded from his flank, like it had expended most of its energy bouncing off the walls and finally came to a halt when it encountered one of his ribs. He reached down with trembling fingers and pried the bullet loose and examined it, turning it this way and that. Then his expression changed, as if someone had reminded him of something important.

“Ooooooooowww!” he said.

“Oh, farg,” said Bacchi again.

Cole touched the wound on his side and looked at the blood on his hand. He grunted.

“Your head’s bleeding, too,” said Bacchi.

Cole put his other hand up to his temple and looked at that blood. He nodded.

“I think,” he said, “I’m going to faint now.”

They waited. After a few moments Cole looked around.

“Did I faint?”

“No,” said Nora.

“Okay,” said Cole. “Then I’m going to go take another mist.”

˙ ˙ ˙

Joshua took Aleela back to the children’s cabin. Nora insisted on escorting Cole back to his, a hand on his arm to help him along. She was silent, her brow knitted, glancing at him every so often.

When they arrived at his door she said, “You sure you’re all right?”

“Yeah, Ima rai,” approximated Cole.

“Heal patch. Three heal patches.”

“Mm.”

“Hot mist.”

“Mm.”

“Then we bend.”

“Mm.”

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