Let's see if this resend works:

 Here we go again:
 

    10

  Spiderbats were about the only animals that could live on
the rocky plains out here. They were much bigger than any birds
and were carnivorous by definition. Ever since they became year
round open game for anyone with so much as a slingshot, very few
were seen flying around over the city in recent years. They were
usually only seen during large storms when most people were
inside their homes. Spiderbats fed mostly on birds, and the
occasional small child left alone. The history books say they had
been a plague on the city at one point, over a century ago.

 I guess declaring open season on them helped things.
 

  I had shot down one or two of them myself, and never felt
any remorse. With a wingspan of over forty feet, they were an easy
target for a talented aim. It had even become legally viable to start
firing at them in public. The only caution was that more and more
had been seen lately and there was talk that the plague might be
gradually phasing back. Their bodies had to be removed by the
E.P.A. constantly. We all wished the species would just go extinct
already.

 
 Heh.
 

  No one was around to protest anything, so we walked into
it and I pushed the only button; marked with an arrow pointing
down. It felt like the floor dropped out from under us as the
elevator carriage actually fell for twenty stories or so. Going in the
other direction was usually just as fast in these things, shot back up
the shaft by a blast of steam under pressure. I really hate elevators.

 
 I would too if they were like that. ^_^
 

  In all of our historical records, there was never a mention of
how to build any of our own power sources, except simple
batteries, and alternators charged by Turbine gears.

 Hmm. Interesting.
 

 The fossil fuels

we once had were too diluted to be of any use and gun powder was
too unreliable. There had been some talk lately about somehow
using the sun for power, but nothing had come of that yet. When
the housing project was designed, no one knew how to keep it
energized. So there they were in Lanz Island, a great plateau
violated by all manner of machines and pipes; useless gears sitting
silent because they had no motive force. We did not know why the
Turbine turned, and consequently thought that if we just buried
enough machinery into the ground it would somehow start to move
also. No one thought twice about it when we turned out to be right.

 Heh. Interesting.
 

  It made me think. There were three possibilities for my
friend Zig after his trial. He could be sent back to the city to spend
the rest of his life underground. (The Mandate wanted its prisoners
as far from their offices as possible.) He could be hypnotrained as
a sanctioned laborer and serve the state for the rest of his life. Or
the rest of his life could be reduced to a few hours, and he would
never leave Lanz Island. None of the three were options I was
considering. I had to talk Zig away from Wells, and then get out of
this business entirely.

 Sound reasoning.
 

Sunday got closer everyday,

 
 It tends to do that.
 

excuse for architecture the government had dreamed up. It meant
that tunnels like these could get away with being completely
unpainted, wet, and really nothing more than mere spaces between
pipes. It was cheaper, and no one cared that it was about as safe as
a game of Mexican Sweat

 Interesting comparison.
 

  The moving bars swished around in silence. The fact that
Zig's trial had already begun meant he was probably already being
convicted. A serious attempt at armed rescue would be punishable
by death for all involved.

 
 If they didn't die in the attempt.
 

  "Reminds you too much of the city?"

  "Yeah. But I guess that's not a bad thing. I spent my entire
life there and I'm happy."

 
 there, and ( I think)
 

  "If he is here at all."

  "Oh, he's here."

  "Will the old man be in any kind of fighting condition? I
mean he got shot and fell out of a building two nights ago."

 
 Need a space here.
 

"That means nothing to him, unless it kills him on the spot.
Wells is not built like the rest of us. But there's no need to go over
that now, because I should be the only one fighting him. Hand me
the bag."

 
 Hmm. Interesting. I wonder how 'more human than human' he is.
 

  "Ok, here,"

 
 Okay
 

  "How the hell do I get Zig out of his cell? The place is
bound to be tightly guarded. And they will probably not even let
me in to see him, after he's convicted of a terrorist action."

 
 Need as space here.
 

Chris sighed, and leaned closer toward me.

 
 And not one here.
 

  "We have to kill the receptionist?! Why?" Alethea said,
shocked.

  "Because, little girl, she has a button under the desk she'll
push that will send every armed officer in the Island running in
your direction. She is actually more dangerous than either of the
first two guards for this reason."

 No. The people that can kill you on the spot are more dangerous than the
 ones that can summon people to kill you.
 

  "It's on right now but nothing has shown up yet. Once you
get past the desk, you may have to take another elevator and go
even farther down to where the prison cells are." He leaned in
closer. "There will be a retina scanner here, and I hate to say it, but
you know what you will probably have to do."

 Grab someone's eye, eh?
 

haven't joined you by then, wait there, and I will catch up."

  "If you don't?"

  "Then you have to get back into Lanz Island and take the
train back to the city by yourselves. You may have to steal some
clothes to disguise your friend. If they catch you, you're on your
own. Hell, hijack the whole damn train if you have to, just don't
get spotted by any Special Forces officers."

 
 Yeah. Then you might end up in trouble. :P
 

  It took our impartial jury twenty-five minutes to indict
Zigwell with everything from criminal conspiracy to murder in the
first.

 As well as jaywalking.
 

  Sentence: death by toxic exposure. This would be carried
out by the end of the week and there were no appeals. Zig was
cursing up a storm, for all the good it would do him.

 
 But it won't hurt him either. ^_^
 

took his lumps for it too. Chris, Alie, and I left the room with the
rest of the spectators and filed out into the side lobby. Everyone
else was either an employee, a reporter, or a law student. The
College frequently took it's

 its
 

 undergraduates here to educate them in

the ways of government procedure. I thought it was more to
desensitize them than anything else.

 
 Probably
 

  "Sorry, sir. Specific orders not to let anyone down. I
received a memo straight from the Internal Ops central office."

 Just like clockwork
 

  I pulled out my Beretta and started firing, while the guard
did the same thing. He dove toward the far side of the room and
the second elevator, as I jumped back on the desk. The Gyrojet
rounds went right through the floor around the guard, but he was
moving to fast for me to get a mark on him.

 
 Yes. Pretty good
 

  The guard grabbed his rifle and fired twice at my back as I
tried to get off the ground. The first missed me by less than an
inch, and the second connected. By act of miracle though,

 
 Awkward. I'd rephrase that.
 

  "I didn't want it to be either one of you! It's not right at
all!

 
 Nope. But necessary
 

  "It never 'all goes well,'" she said bitterly.
I could not argue with that, so I kissed her cheek instead,
and led her through the door to the rear of the room. There was no
point in disguising the bodies, because when the next person came
down here and saw all the blood, alarms would be wailing from
here to the aqueduct.

 
 Yep
 
 Nice work. Eager to see how it ends. Will get to the next part when I'm
 able.
 
 D.B. Sommer
 

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