SatCom Array NW-05(a): A wandering tribal forces a DC raider to lead him to a great satellite array so he can commune with the old man in the sky. A short fallout story told in five vignettes. R&R as you please.

Vignette I

- Louisville Slugger -

Adriana pulled down her tight black jeans and squatted over the dirty, dirt floor. Kaelyn's Bed and Breakfast was only two half fallen walls and the bleached skeleton of an ancient stone foundation. The dust and wind had poured in from the desert over the years, sandblasting the wooden beams while eating through the dry, porous walls.

Adriana was using one of the remaining walls for cover as she went to the bathroom. Less than a few hundred yards away from her, the other raiders were laughing, shouting, and drinking together in Fordham Flash Memorial Field under the slowly setting, blood red sun. Adriana needed her privacy ? she had a very shy bladder and if she knew that anyone was watching her she wouldn't be able to squeeze out a drop.

As her knees grew tired from her position, and she finally finished her business, she pulled her pants up to her thighs and wiped herself off with an old rag. Her urine pooled on the arid ground which was too dry to absorb it. She tip toed around the foul puddle to be sure it didn't touch her boots and then hiked up her pants the rest of the way while fastening her belt.

Adriana spit in the sand and wiped her forehead as the old wooden beams of the bed and breakfast creaked overhead. Her almond colored hair was sticky and dirty. She peeled it off of her face and ran her fingers through it to untangle a few stubborn knots, before sparking up a cigarette. She then leaned past the wall and looked out at the baseball field.

Two of the raiders in her clique, Nails and Junk, were standing in the baseball field doing some batting practice. Junk had a good right arm and a mean curve ball. He was drilling pitches at Nails who was unable to hit anything but empty air. Nails was cursing Junk. His angry shouts carried across the empty field over to Adriana.

"The **** is this, the major leagues? I'm trying to have fun, not get drafted to play by John Eden. Just throw me something I can hit," Nails spit in the grass that had once been home plate and took a practice swing.

"If you can't hit a perfect pitch then don't blame me," Junk smiled. He flicked a fly off of his tattered badlands armor and then fired another curve ball that danced around Nails's bat.

"A**hole!"

Adriana heard the muffled thud of Nails throwing his bat into the dirt and storming off. She took another deep, long drag on her cigarette. It was a newly rolled cig, the crumbly material inside was an amalgam of tobacco taken from multiple used butts and other broken cigs. It tasted stale and faintly like woodchips. It made her lungs protest and tingle. She coughed and threw the foul cigarette away into a nearby broken bathtub.

A woman was handcuffed to the tall chain fence that lay at the front of the baseball diamond, behind the catcher's box. She let out a soft whimper as Nails passed her by. Adriana faintly heard either Nails or Trix mutter something horrible to her. The woman lowered her head and stared down at the swirling, sandy soil, trying to not cry.

Adriana didn't consider herself a raider, just a survivor. She had fallen into this line of 'work' after being orphaned, looking for people violent and intimidating enough to protect her from the harshness of life out in the wastes. Her mother had been a cook in Rivet City long, long ago, but Adriana didn't know that. The mother she knew was a gaunt, desperate woman who seemed incapable of taking care of her only child. She dragged Adriana across the wastes, from one run-down settlement to the next as she progressed through an endless procession of abusive, junkie boyfriends until she died of an overdose.

Adriana had forgotten almost everything about her mother in the seven years since she had died. She had tried hard to forget. The only thing Adriana had left of the woman was her name. Her mother's name was also Adriana.

Adriana hated her name ? too demure, too prissy, too feminine.

Everyone in Adriana's current clique only knew her as Mallory, or normally just Mal.

"Sure took you a while, Mal. What did you do? Dig a hole and bury it?" Buckshot laughed as he scratched his bald head. He had mean, bulldog like face, heavily creased and withered from years in the wastes. He squinted to see Adriana as she approached him through the setting sun.

"I only had to pee. Been like five minutes. You miss me that much?" Adriana sneered.

Adriana adjusted a bandolier of ammo draqed over her shoulder and fiddled with her belt. She was wearing a midnight blue merc veteran outfit with two side holsters. She looked intimidating to a stranger but the raiders in her clique knew better. Adriana was rarely violent. She was level headed and cool, with a conniving and devious side that had kept her alive and unscathed around innumerable dangerous men.

"Why do you always go all the way up there for a piss?" Buckshot pointed up to the bed and breakfast and then nodded towards a clump of rocks just behind the baseball diamond, "why not go in the scrub grass like the rest of us."

"Why," Adriana picked her teeth with her tongue, "you aching to watch me while I do it?"

"Maybe. . .now that you ask," Buckshot ogled Adriana as she passed him by.

"Pervert," Adriana rolled her eyes and walked over to Nails, Trix, and Hammer who were huddled around a small campfire they had set up next to the fence behind the catcher's box.

A tin of beans was roasting on the fire. Hammer was picking the gristle off a skewer of iguana meat. Trix was settling down in the dirt, trying to find a comfortable spot on the ground to sleep for the night.

The wind had picked up and blew sand and dust across the arid ground.

Junk was still on the baseball field, practicing his pitches. He threw a fastball at the chain fence and it hit just above the captive woman's head, on the opposite side. She let out a yelp and tried to duck. She couldn't move very far. Her hands were fasted above her head to the fence by rusty handcuffs. A trickle of blood dripped down from her white wrists.

"Can someone gag her or something, she cried all last night, I could barely sleep," Trix moaned. She was scantily clad in bombshell armor, and her exposed skin had hardened in the dry air under a layer of grim and dust. She sprawled out in the dirt and tried to clump some sand together under an old caravaner's shirt to create a makeshift pillow.

Adriana sat down next to the fire and peered over at the captive woman. She was older than Adriana, maybe thirty. Her belly was slightly swollen. When the raiders had ambushed her caravan, she had pleaded with them not to hurt her because she was pregnant.

"You shouldn't leave someone gagged when you go to sleep," Adriana muttered. She pulled a nearly empty whisky bottle from the scrub and took the final swig, "she could choke during the night and no one would hear her."

"Wouldn't be a big loss," Trix closed her eyes and tried to doze off in the dirt.

"She's worth nothing dead," Hammer threw what was left on his skewer into the fire and pried open the tin of beans, "I want to keep her and that baby in her alive. Make some nice caps when we sell them."

"She looks like she's only in her second term; it's going to be a lot of work taking care of her," Adriana looked over to Hammer, "and who would want to buy a mother with a baby anyway?"

"No, no. We don't have to sell them together," Hammer stared into the flickering campfire between gulps of beans, "some people want kids and can't have them. They'd pay a sac of caps for the baby. We can get rid of the girl anytime once she pops the kid out."

The captive woman struggled in her bonds. Her eyes burned. No one paid her any attention.

"We're out of beer," Nails mused. He launched an empty bottle as far as he could. It smashed to pieces on a far off rock and gave off a satisfying noise as it shattered, "see that Junk?" he called over his shoulder, "you're not the only one with an arm."

"I can throw straight. You got no control," Junk slowly strolled around the fence and plopped down next to Adriana. He stroked her hair while her back was turned.

"Why are you touching me?" Adriana glared at him. Her brown eyes trembled.

"Hehe," Junk sniffed and wiped his runny nose on his sleeve, "you're a real ice queen ? can't even stroke your hair. Why can't you be. . .friendly . . .you know, more like Trix?"

"You want me to be a skank?" Adriana scratched her scalp, trying to get rid of the lingering tingling feeling from where Junk had touched her.

Junk's eyes were drawn to a large tattoo that went from Adriana's right elbow up to the center of her palm. It was a long green viper, with a flickering forked tongue.

"**** off Mal, I'm not a skank, you're just a stuck up ****," Trix spat. She hadn't opened her eyes or even turned to look at Adriana. She wiggled and burrowed a little more deeply into the sand to block out the cool night wind.

Adriana made an evil little smile at Trix, "you sleep in the dirt like a pig."

Trix sat up and shook the dirt off of her cracked skin, "where the **** else am I going to sleep? Where are you going to sleep, princess?"

"Ease up on her Mel," Hammer yawned, "go to sleep. I want to hike out to a new spot in the morning."

Adriana took off her merc jacket and laid it across the scrub, "I'm going to sleep on top of something like a person, instead of wallowing in filth like an animal," she sat back down.

"Think you're so smart because you can read and you know useless words. Think you're better than me. . .," Trix fumed.

"I think I'm better than you because I can think. And because I didn't have to give it up to every guy here to join this set," Adriana cooed.

"Why don't you move into TenPenny, princess!" Trix seethed.

"Both of you shut up!" Hammer moaned.

Everyone went quiet. Hammer threw sand onto the campfire to snuff it out so they would be hidden for the night.

The captive woman coughed as the dying fire wafted smoke into her face. Buckshot walked over to her and began to gag her with a thin strip of Brahmin hide.

"I told you not to-" Adriana began.

"Trix is right," Buckshot interrupted her, "tired of this pregnant cow ruining my sleep," he tied the gag tight.

Adriana sniffed to herself and then shifted on her jacket. The ground felt cold below her. Goosebumps rose up all along her back, "who's going to keep watch tonight?"

"I will," Junk lit up a cigarette, its cherry pierced through the darkness.

Adriana stared up at the night sky. In the darkness of the desert she could see every star and the cloudy mist that made up the Milky Way. A brilliant shooting star streaked across the empty space just above the glowing crescent moon. Adriana wondered if it was a meteor or an ancient satellite, "you always fall asleep on watch, Junk," she closed her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine tonight. Took a lot of jet, still got the shakes from the buzz. I'll keep an eye on you," Junk knelt down and whispered into Adriana's ear, "Mal."

Adriana reopened one eye and glared at him, "touch me while I'm asleep and I'll bite your **** off."

Junk stood back up, "It would be worth it until you clamp down. . ."

Adriana drifted off to sleep under the stars as the wind howled.

Vignette II

- Empty Bear -

Adriana shifted on top of her coat. The air was cool and brisk with the chill of early morning. Through her grogginess, Adriana could hear a muffled jangling noise. It sounded like someone was shaking steel likely the captive struggling in her chains against the backstop fence.

Adriana didn't open her eyes. She tried to ignore the noise and get back to sleep. The early dawn light was making her eyelids glow. She put her arm across her face, to block out the irritating brightness.

As Adriana shifted, she felt something disturb the air next to her head.

"Junk, I swear to God if that's you. . .," Adriana began to moan.

Adriana moved her head to the side and started to open her eyes. While her vision was blurry from sleep, she could see that something was standing at the center of the camp, looking down at her and the five other raiders in absolute silence. It was a tall burly shape, covered in some sort of thick, yellowish fur.

Adriana's eyes slowly began to come into focus. The ominous shape crystallized into a towering Yao Guai. It looked like the animal was standing up on its hind legs near the ashes of the campfire.

Adriana's heart jumped into her throat. Before she could move, Junk woke up with a loud yawn. Without a thought, he sat up on the ground and rubbed his eyes. He then stared up at the towering creature in awe.

The creature was not a Yao Guai. It was a man who was dressed head to toe in a complete Yao Guai skin. The Yao Guai's long, vicious claws hung down at the sides of the man's wrists. The Yao Guai's empty head was draqed over the man's scalp like a macabre hood. The man's menacing faced poked out from between the dead Yao Guai's fearsome jaws. The Yao Guai's black glass eyes reflected Junk's terrified stare.

The man in the Yao Guai skin had cold green eyes and an expressionless smile. Tiny, black, tribal tattoos dotted his cheeks and bisected his lips. He was pointing a long, pump-action shotgun directly at Junk's face from only a few inches away.

Junk's jaw dropped. Adriana remained frozen in a stunned panic. Hammer let out a loud snore, still asleep and oblivious to the danger. The captive woman continued her muffled struggle, trying to get someone's attention.

The strange man closed one eye and peered at Junk down his shotgun's sight. The Yao Guai head on top of the stranger's head blocked out the sun, giving him a glowing aura. For a moment he didn't move. The wind rustled the dry grass.

"Boo!"

The stranger mouthed the word and pulled the trigger. The left side of Junk's head exploded into a spatter of skull and brain with a loud bang.

Hammer, Trix, Nails, and Buckshot were instantly roused from their slumber. They blinked in the morning light and tried to figure out what had just happened.

The fight or flight instinct flooded Adriana's system. Before she could pick which one to do, the stranger pumped his shotgun and fired straight into Buckshot's chest before the dazed raider could stagger to his feet.

"Whoa buddy!" Hammer tried to stand up, but stumbled out of sleepiness. As he went to put his hands up in the air in surrender, the stranger blew off the top of his skull.

Buckshot wheezed and bled out on the scrub. The stranger pumped his shotgun again and fired another round into Buckshot's chest without a moment's hesitation.

Nails and Trix clawed at the scrub, trying to retrieve their weapons, which had been buried under a thin film of sand from the breeze. Before they could pick them up, the stranger peppered their backs with a flurry of shotgun shells.

Horribly mangled, Trix tried to crawl away, pulling her whole body with her skinny arms. She left a long trail of blood in the sand as she tried to escape. The stranger casually walked up beside Trix, lowered his weapon, and blew apart the top of her spine. He again pumped his weapon and turned around to shoot Adriana without a thought, like he was wiping out a pack of feral dogs.

"Stop! Please!" Adriana held her hands in front of her face and cowered down in the scrub near the ashes of the campfire, "don't ****** shoot! Take what you want ? take anything! Don't kill me!"

In her rush to retreat, Adriana lost her balance and fell onto her butt. She continued to shield her face with her hands as she cringed below the towering stranger.

The stranger took a step forward and leveled his weapon at Adriana's eyes.

"Sell me, **** me, I don't care ? just don't ******* shoot!" Adriana screamed. She was shaking with fear, "please!"

The man squinted at Adriana. He could see the prominent snake tattoo on Adriana's raised palm.

"You are with the snake clan?" the stranger sniffed. His voice was gravely and scratchy. It sounded like he smoked two packs of cigarettes an hour. He lowered his shotgun to Adriana's chin.

"What? No, not anymore. I left those ****s behind. I'm with my own set. Listen, just-" Adriana tried to slink away on her butt but the stranger continued to walk after her.

"Where is SatCom Array NW-05(a)?" the man said the name slowly in monotone. It sounded like he was repeating the words without any comprehension as to what they meant. His voice had no inflection like a robot. He peered down at Adriana with icy eyes through the Yao Guai's savage jaws.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Adriana tried to nudge the shotgun barrel away from her face.

The stranger grabbed Adriana's right arm and twisted it behind her back. He then pushed her to the ground on her stomach, digging his knee into her back. He twisted her wrist harder until he could see her palm once more.

"Are you a snake or not!" he spat.

"Owww," Adriana's wrist felt like it was on fire, "not anymore. I left them to ? owww!"

The stranger dug his knee deeper into her spine. Her vertebrae cracked.

"Where is SatCom Array NW-05(a)!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Adriana cried out. The pain was unbearable. It felt like her spine was going to snap.

The stranger let go of her and pressed his shotgun against the back of her skull, "then you have no value."

"No! Wait!" Adriana panted, "I am a snake! I'm a snake raider, okay! Just tell me what you want!"

"Where is SatCom Array NW-05(a)!" the stranger repeated emptily.

"Sat what?"

"The Eagle men said the snake clan have made it their home," the man's pitiless green eyes shimmered like polished jade.

"Home? SatCom? . . .you mean the satellite dishes?" Adriana blinked in confusion.

"SatCom Array NW-05(a)," the stranger's razor thin patience was rapidly fading.

"I don't know that name, but there are a bunch of satellite dishes northwest of here. The snakes use them as a stronghold. I know where they are, I'll show you, just don't-"

"You will take me there," the stranger loomed over Adriana.

"Sure, sure!" Adriana feverishly nodded, "I can take you there. I can-"

"Lie on your stomach," the stranger ordered.

Adriana turned back over and lay prone on the ground. Her chest heaved. Sand blew into her face and she shut her eyes, "I can take you there. I can-"

"I will kill you if you move," the stranger whispered. He slowly stepped away.

Adriana continued to lay limp in the scrub, eyes closed.

The stranger walked over to the captive woman. She had stopped struggling. Her eyes pleaded with him for release and she moaned through the gag. He knelt down next to her and studied the rusty handcuffs.

"Where is the key to these?" he called over to Adriana.

"Hammer has them," Adriana went to point out his dead body, "he's-"

"Do not move!" the stranger went to shoot Adriana.

"Sorry," Adriana cringed, expecting to be filled with buckshot, "he's the one in blast master armor. Blond hair."
Adriana kept still, now staring at Hammer's bloody corpse. His whole skull had been shattered from a shotgun blast and his hair was matted and crimson. His face was an unrecognizable wad of meat. His toes still twitched in death.

The stranger walked over to Hammer and tore at his body like a scavenging vulture. He rifled though Hammer's pockets and snatched up the handcuff key. He then unlocked the captive woman and removed her gag.

The woman tried to stand but she was too weak. She crawled around on the ground for a moment, "thank God. Thank you, thank you. You have no idea what they were going to-"

"Leave now," the stranger interrupted the woman. He began to walk back to Adriana with the handcuffs in his hand.

The woman cocked her head puzzled.

The stranger leaned over Adriana and readied the handcuffs.

"I. . .I. . .I don't know where I am. . .," the woman didn't move. She brushed back her dirty hair as her eyes darted. Her lips were cracked and parched. She was disoriented, dehydrated, and had no idea which way to go.

"Give me your hands," the stranger barked to Adriana. He grabbed her fingers tightly and locked her wrists into the rusty handcuffs. He then pulled on Adriana's arms and yanked her off of the ground.

"Ahh-oww," Adriana tried to stand but she had no balance. The handcuffs were too tight and the pressure the man was putting on her arms made them throb.

"Help me. I don't know where to go. . .they took me here at night. I don't know ? I've been held here for days," the captive woman finally stood up. She tried to approach the stranger.

The stranger let go of Adriana and scooped up a bottle of vodka from the sand. He tossed it to the captive and then threw Trix's bloody pistol over to her.

"Leave us now," he ordered, "go home."

The woman peered down at the alcohol and the gun, "I can't drink that, I'm pregnant. I'm not a merc. I'm not good with a gun. Please help me; can you take me back to Megaton?"

"No," the stranger hissed, "no time for that. Must find SatCom Array NW-05(a)."

The woman didn't budge. She brushed her swelled belly; she hadn't been able to do that in days, "my husband will pay you-"

The stranger aimed his shotgun at her, "leave!"

The woman nodded and immediately limped away. She looked back once over her shoulder to make sure the stranger was serious.

Adriana watched as the woman disappeared behind Kaelyn's bed and breakfast. She felt off balance with her hands locked behind her back.

The stranger began to pick through the raider camp trying to gather up anything useful. He treated the dead raiders' bodies like trash, kicking them out of the way with his heavy boots when he needed to. He threw a few items aside ? a fifth of whiskey, an inhaler of jet, a bottle of Buffout. The raiders had very little, but he took his time making sure he scanned all of their scrap.

Adriana sat back down on the scrub, studying the strange man. She had never seen someone dressed like he was. The Yao Guai he had made into his clothing must have been enormous. Most of its body was still intact, and its fur was fluffy and plush.

The stranger was armed with only a shotgun and an assault rifle that was slung over his back. Otherwise he had no other visible supplies, no back pack, no knap sac, nothing to put scavenge into. She hadn't seen a wastelander travel so lightly.

"Who are you?" Adriana lowered her eyes.

The stranger ignored her question and popped open the bottle of Buffout. He put a mouthful of pills onto his tongue and then washed them back with a giant swig of whiskey. He then svcked the inhaler full of jet into his lungs and tossed all of the empty containers away.

In Adriana's personal experience he had just ingested enough drugs to put himself into a coma. While his eyes became slightly glazed, he showed little other signs of intoxication. He scanned the sky in silence for a minute or two and then motioned for Adriana to stand up.

"Let's go," he muttered.

"I can get you there more quickly if my hands are free," Adriana suggested. She tried to give him a disarming smile.
The man shook his head, "I do not trust you. You will remain chained . . .how far is it?"

"A day or so," Adriana peered out at the mountains that rose over the horizon. She tried to put her arms in different positions to see which ones dulled the pain.

"Walk now," the man pushed her forward.

"Yes. . .master," Adriana grumbled.

"Empty Bear," the stranger muttered. He grabbed Adriana's arm and led her like a small child. His hands were firm and cold, covered in calluses.

"Empty bear?" Adriana looked into the stranger's shimmering green eyes.

"You asked my name. My name is Empty Bear," the stranger looked away.

Adriana walked on in silence for over an hour. In the ensuing calm, she mentally appraised her situation. She had been kidnapped several times before; it was a common occurrence in the lawless wastes. Her best plan of escape was always the same - to play along with her captor. That was how she had convinced the snakes to make her one of their own. That was how she had escaped from a squad of Paradise Falls slavers.

Adriana was clever, pretty, and had a very malleable personality. She had deep hooks that could dig into anyone and pull on their heart strings. Especially if they were drunk and high on jet and buffout.

"My name is Mal," Adriana looked over to Empty Bear. She mentally pleaded with him to make eye contact and acknowledge her as a person.

Empty Bear sniffed the dry air and didn't turn his head, "Mal? Mal is not a name."

"Neither is Empty Bear," Adriana said indignantly. She slowed her walk out of irritation.

The two walked in silence for several more minutes.

"My tribe named me Empty Bear. Before that I was called Taul."

"Taul?" Adriana paused in her step.

The man waived for her to continue moving, "Taul Thomas Samuel."

"That's three first names," Adriana scrunched her face in a feminine pout, trying to lure Taul into banter, to allay his iciness.

"Better than Mal," Taul dryly quipped. He looked away.

"My real name is actually Adriana."

"Why did you say Mal?" Taul was only half paying attention.

"When I joined up with the snakes their leader said I looked like his sister. Her name was Mallory. He called me Mallory. . .like a pet name. I always hated my real name so I went with it. Mal's even better. It's short."

Taul nodded and said nothing.

"Which do you like better?" Adriana again tried charm.

"Call yourself what you will, just take me where I need to go," he began to walk up a jumble of rocks so he could get a good take on his surroundings.

Adriana didn't have the balance to follow, "how did you get the name Empty Bear?"

"Quiet Bear was my father. He adopted me as child, found me in the ruins, so I took his name," Taul hopped back down and took Adriana's arm, "you lead the way now."

"But why Empty Bear?"

"Because," Taul paused, "the tribal elders said I was born hollow. I was missing something inside."

"What were you missing?"

Taul's eyes glimmered, "a soul."

You got a review on FF.

nice story so far, i like this mystery character. The setup for Adriana is also very deatiled and well described.

Thank you to my reviewers.

Vignette III

- No Sale -

"Could you loosen these a little? They're too tight," Adriana squirmed in the rusty handcuffs. A long drop of sweat hung down from the tip of her nose and refused to fall off. It had been bothering her for hours. She tried to wipe her face on her shoulder to get rid of it but it came back every time, "it feels like my hands are going to fall off."

Taul gave her a detached glare, "they're fine."

"They're killing me," Adriana moaned. Her fingertips were turning dark red and tingled with pins and needles.

"You'll deal," Taul continued to walk northwards, through the mountainous wastes.

The rolling hills and gentle dunes near the raider encampment had given way to the tall mountains and craggy scrub of the northern DC highlands. The spine of an ancient monorail snaked across the mountains up ahead. A single rail car still clung to the rusty track, while the rest of the monorail cars hung precariously over the edge.

"These really hurt," Adriana whined. She had decided to test Taul's tolerance of her as she knew that the array was less than a mile away. She squatted unsteadily over the sandy soil, trying to sit down, "I'm not going any further unless you loosen them."

"They were just as tight on that woman with child. You didn't care," Taul tried to squint through the bright sun but its glare ruined his vision. Although it was nearing dusk, it had been a hot day and neither he nor Adriana had had a drop to drink. The thirst was making him irritable.

"Don't blame me for that, I didn't do any of that," Adriana felt around in her back jeans pocket and realized she still had a bobby pin.

"You were with them," Taul sneered.

"It wasn't my idea. I didn't want to babysit a pregnant woman. I said we should have just let her go, that she would be trouble, but Hammer and Buckshot insisted on keeping her for the caps."

"So what?" Taul sniffed, "you did nothing."

"You didn't help her either, you just freed her," Adriana frowned as she delicately hid the bobby pin between her fingers, "she probably didn't make it back to Megaton. She looked too weak . . . and who do I look like? It was Hammer's set. He got to make the decisions. I could complain about them, up to a point, past that he'd beat me. . .or they'd all beat me."

"If you choose to lie with them; you choose to be judged with them," Taul scorned.

"It may be hard for you to believe but I've never laid with any of them," Adriana spat. She stood back up and began to walk behind Taul, using his long shadow to shield herself from the sun, "but hell, I get it - its fine for you to go blow people's heads off for nothing, but I have to be loving and caring even if I die for it."

Taul shook his head, "you are just as guilty as they were."

Adriana inserted one end of the bobby pin into her cuffs without Taul noticing, "I did what it took to survive. Am I supposed to be a saint or a martyr? Are you?"

"No," Taul paused in contemplation. He scanned the mountains ahead, "but I would not choose to live with such men."

"Then you have the luxury of being able to choose. You have a home or tribe or whatever. I could have run away again - I ran away from the snakes and all that got me was a price on my head. . .so don't tell me what I'm supposed to do."

Taul saw a trail of dust being kicked up on the mountain in front of him. It looked like a trade caravan was making its way down the steep mountain, moving down towards the valley in his direction. Beyond the caravan, he could just see the very tip of a satellite dish poke above the mountain top, several miles away.

Taul paused, staring at the tip of the dish and the approaching caravan, "you ran away from the snake clan?"

"Yeah, I cut out," Adriana stopped trying to jimmy the handcuffs while Taul was watching her, "after I escaped I looked for someone to help get me on my feet ? I didn't have anything. No one helped; no one gave a ***. The junkyard boys ? Hammer, Junk, and all of them caught me out in the wastes. I acted like a badass and they took me in."

Taul studied Adriana's face. He had a nagging suspicion that she was lying or deceiving him about something but he couldn't properly read her. Something about her fogged his instincts. He was normally an instant judge of character.

"Why did you run away from the snake clan?"

Adriana looked out towards where Taul had seen the caravan. She noticed that the satellite dish was now just visible over the horizon.

"I lived as a scavenger years ago. I used to dig through the ruins. I was picking through Reclining Groves when the snakes kidnapped me. They were going to sell me or use me. Their leader was named Goss. I charmed him until he freed me. He made me a snake, gave me my tattoos. He'd figured I'd make a good toy like all of his other pretty raiderettes. I was fine being his girlfriend for a while ? he was actually pretty smart and intriguing. But after a few months he started taking other girls and trying to give his friends liberties with me so I took off."

Taul watched the caravan struggle to get down the rocky mountainside. He waived for Adriana to follow him towards them.

"What about you?" Adriana started to pick her handcuffs once more, "why do you have to get to the array?"

"Array?" Taul frowned.

"SatCom Array NW-05(a)," Adriana said robotically.

"I come from a tribal village called Detrick. Our village sits on the ruins of a warrior base built by the great ancestors. When I came of age, the elders said I needed to go on a vision quest, to find my soul. Until I find it I cannot fully become one of the tribe. The elders said I must speak with the old man in the sky. They said only he can give me a soul. . .make me feel. They said if I spoke to him, it would bring luck and great fortune to the village."

"The man in the sky is a satellite?"

"That is the word the Eagle men use for such things, but my people believe that they are spirits that dance with the stars."

"Are the Eagle men another tribe?"

"They are like you; they cling to the ruins of the ancestors, trying to live as they did. Although they claim to know much, they understand little. They used to attack Detrick to try to claim what the ancestors had left there for us, but for a year now, we have been at peace. On my quest I came to the Eagle men's camp and told them my purpose. They told me that if I offered them my gun, they would aide me in my quest. They told me that the ancestors built the array to speak with the man in the sky, and that if I went there and used this," Taul dug around in the Yao Gaui skin and pulled out a small diskette, "I would be able to speak with him too."

Adriana moved in closer and glanced at the diskette, "Eagle men? You mean the Talon Company?"

"Yes, they call themselves the Company but I know little of those things."

"The Talon Company are a**holes," Adriana scoffed. She followed Taul across the narrow valley, and up the steep mountain side.

"How are they any different from you?"

"They have the power to do some real good, if they tried, but they don't. They make the wasteland even worse than it needs to be."

"So did you. . .and you have the same power. Everyone does," Taul watched as the caravan continued to approach. He did a brief weapons check in case they were hostile.

Adriana squinted up the hillside, "what did the Talon Company make you do for them?"

"Kill an exile from their clan. He was an old Eagle man that knew enough of their ways that they were frightened of what he might do."

The leader of the caravan, a bald, older man in a prewar business suit gave Taul a wave from high up the mountain, trying to see if he was friend of foe.

Taul waived back to him and continued to ascend, "follow me. We need more supplies to take the array," he made sure Adriana was still right behind him.

"Can I go now?" Adriana asked.

"What do you mean?"

"The array," Adriana nodded upwards, "you saw that it's just over this hill. I got you to it, that was what you wanted. It will be dangerous there. Can I go? Are you going to free me?"

"We will wait and see what the rods say," Taul said ominously, "there will be many snakes at the array?"

Adriana continued to pick her handcuffs, "the whole clan."

"Then we will need to be prepared."

Doc Hoff watched the two strangers advance up the mountain, towards his caravan. He had decided to momentarily rest as descending the steep mountainside was hard on his pack Brahmin.

The sight of the two strangers made him nervous. The man out in front looked like a animal. At first, Hoff had thought he was a Yao Guai, instead of some nut job dressed in one's skin. The girl walking next to him had looked like the Yao Guai's handler, until he realized that her hands were pinned behind her back.

As the two strangers came upon him, Hoff motioned for his merc to keep a keen eye on them. Leslie, his sole merc, was the only caravan guard he had left. Rok and Bocco had died trying to fend off a rad scorpion. While loyal and an excellent shot, Leslie was always slow to the draw.

"Hello travelers, come to see what the good doctor has to offer?" Hoff gave Taul and Adriana a big, disarming smile as they trudged up to him.

Taul stopped in front of Hoff and scanned the lumbering pack Brahmin. The beast was laden with sacs of cargo and jugs of water. Its hoofs slipped on the craggy soil, sending a trickle of pebbles down the mountainside.

"Doctor? You are a medicine man?" Taul sniffed.

"Haha," Hoff chuckled, "yes, of course, a medicine man. You must be a tribal. Don't see many tribals out here but I know how you do enjoy your chems. Would you like to see what the good doctor has in his magic bag?"

Taul shrugged. He stared down the merc while Hoff began to dig through the bags slung across his Brahmin.

Leslie nervously eyed Taul and Adriana, trying to guess what they were doing together.

Adriana had no balance on the steep mountainside. She was seconds away from picking the cuffs. Her heart was racing, waiting for the tell-tale click. She looked down the mountain to see if there was any route of escape. It was seemed too steep to run down, her only chance to get away would be to continue going up.

Hoff looked up from his bag, "I have some jet, med-x, some buffout, a little psycho and a pack a mentats. Sorry for the lack of inventory. Sold most of my chems back at Paradise Falls. I traded them for ammo and grenades, so I have a lot of that if you're interested."

Taul took an inhaler of jet Hoff had offered him and svcked in all of the contents without a pause. Hoff furrowed his brow, puzzled at Taul's non reaction to the drug.

"This is too weak," Taul blinked.

"You're a man who knows his chems," Hoff made a nervous smile, "and who seems to have developed quite a tolerance."

"I'm a shaman," Taul picked a box of shotgun ammo off of the Brahmin and thumbed it opened. He fiddled with a single shell inside.

"A shaman? Well then perhaps this would interest you," Hoff dug deeper into his bag and produced a purple jet inhaler, "ultra jet. Mainly used by ghouls, but good for someone used to using as much jet as yourself," Hoff smiled to Adriana, "and who is your friend? I see she is restrained, is she dangerous?"

Adriana smiled back at Hoff and continued to inch away. Her cuffs gave off a barely audible click.

"I don't know yet," Taul mused. He turned back to Hoff and handed him the empty jet inhaler.

"Sorry," Hoff muttered, staring at the spent inhaler, "but I don't take returns. You'll have to pay for that."

Taul loaded the shell into his shotgun and pumped the weapon, "you do now," he fired straight into Hoff's chest.

The suddenness of the blast took the merc by surprise. Before she could react, Taul turned and dropped her with a single shot.

Hoff's lifeless body tumbled down the mountainside.

Adriana stood frozen in place.

Taul shouldered his weapon like nothing had happened. He began to pick through Hoff's inventory without a second thought.

"Why the **** did you do that?" Adriana was aghast.

"I will need their supplies to take the array. I have no caps to pay for them."

"You piss and moan about me being a raider and then you murder them like that?" Adriana was still in shock.

"He was a drug dealer. He fed off people's addictions and misery," Taul sneered. He reached into Hoff's pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He then began to unravel it, sprinkling Hoff's mentats and Buffout over the stale tobacco, "these chems are gifts from the spirits. They are not meant to be abused by addicts. They are meant to be used by a shaman, for a purpose."

"What purpose ?" Adriana watched as Taul re-rolled the cigarette, worried that Taul was randomly going to kill her.

"To see the spirits, to see the ancestors. . . to help with divination," Taul lit up the drug filled cigarette and inhaled its thick blue smoke. He then peered past the mountain top, towards the shadow of the giant satellite dish.

"You're insane," Adriana muttered.

"I may be empty but I have the gift to see what lies inside others. I could see that doctor was an evil man. His chems gave me the eyes to see into his soul."

"Let me go," Adriana squeaked. She backed up the mountain.

Taul continued to puff on his potent cigarette.

"The dish is right there. Let me go now," Adriana's eyes quivered, "I've played along, I'm done with this, let me leave."

"I can see inside anyone, except you. You. . .you hide your true self unlike anyone I have known."

Adriana scrunched her brow in confusion.

Taul reached into his Yao Guai skin and pulled out a small bundle of painted wooden sticks, "but the rods can still read you, even if I can't."

Adriana's voice trembled, "what are you doing?"

Taul cast the rods out on the sand, "I will lay my trust in the spirits. You may only go if the rods say so."

Adriana looked down at the jumble of sticks. As Taul squatted down near them and studied their pattern, she pulled out of her cuffs and inched over to the dead merc. It was going to be now or never.

"What do they say?" Adriana asked.

Taul spit on the ground. He turned around and casually shot Adriana in the knee.

"Ahhhh! ****!" Adriana collapsed onto her side crying. The bullet had struck just below her knee cap, shattering the bone. The pain was mind-numbing. She instinctively clutched her wound with her freed hands.

"I am sorry Adriana," Taul barely looked at her. He hadn't realized she had escaped the cuffs, "the rods said you will stop me from completing my quest. The rods never lie. I will not kill you, but I had to make sure you could not follow."

Taul reached into Hoff's bag and pulled out a needle of med-x, "you can have this for the pain," he turned back to hand it to Adriana.

Adriana shot Taul square in the chest. She had stripped a pistol off of the merc, and now took aim at Taul's head as he fell to his knees. Before she could get off another shot, Taul lost his balance and began to roll down the steep hill.

Adriana watched him fall down to near the bottom. He was too far away to take another shot.

Adriana painfully limped to the top of the hill. SatCom Array NW-05(a) was at the center of a wide open plateau that lay in front of her. Its giant dish was pointed straight up at the heavens which glowed orange with sunset.

Adriana peered back down the mountain and saw Taul begin to rise to his feet. As he began to stand, she frantically limped on her good leg towards the towering satellite dish.

The first stars began to twinkle in the sky.

Vignette IV

- Very Large Array -

A drop of yellowish, irradiated water began to bead on the cracked ceiling pipes of the satellite station. Goss watched the water droplet swell and elongate for several seconds, until it dripped down and landed with a splash on top of Marcus's head, three stories below.

"You spitting on me, Goss?" Marcus called up the stairwell with a chuckle. He shook off his head like a dog and began to guzzle the rest of his vodka. He staggered and leaned on the bottom railing of the stairwell to catch his balance.

"Just condensation," Goss scanned the platform below, looking down at Nilly.

Nilly was lining up a row of empty bottles on top of the railing for Marcus to shoot at. The green, amber, and clear bottles clanked from a minute vibration. Nilly's hands were shaky from jet. She had a big smile on her face as she peered straight up through the grating at Goss.

"Almost ready," Nilly beamed, "you should come down, Goss. Marcus could tag ya."

Goss nodded and spit off of the railing. His spittle narrowly missed the bar, landing just behind Curt and Rego.

Curt and Rego were twins. Their specialty was mixing alcohol. They 'ran' the bar at the station. They didn't sell drinks so much as mix them together. They scoured the wastes to find combatable spirits and mixed them into potent cocktails of ethanol, irradiated water, and scorpion venom.

Curt and Rego were inseparable. The only difference between them was in their temperament. Curt was quiet and morose. Rego was obnoxious and impatient.

"We all set? I'm ready to win some caps. I bet he misses every one," Rego rubbed his hands together, jumped over the bar, and huddled next to Curt.

"All ready," Nilly lined up the last bottle, and began to skip down the steel stairs to ground level. She ducked behind the bar, crouching next to the brothers, her eyes barely peering over the bar top.

"Do this!" Marcus began to laugh. He cocked the hammer of his empty assault rifle and let out a loud burp.

"Wait for me. I'm not about to get shot," Goss descended the stairs in a hurry. He had a wide, beefy body and fine silver hair. His face was scarred and dirty, but pleasantly handsome. Instead of cowering behind the bar with the others, he stood right behind Marcus with his back resting against the station door.

"Ebreybody ready?" Marcus slurred the words.

Goss licked his thin lips, "yup. We pay ya ten caps for every hit, you owe us ten caps for every one left standing. Twenty spins, one for each bottle, and twenty rounds - one clip," Goss handed Marcus a single clip of assault rifle ammo.

"Hehe," Marcus loaded the magazine with unsteady hands. He then rested the assault rifle's barrel on the floor, while putting his forehead against the top of the stock. He began to spin around in circles, trying to get dizzy, "you gona owe me eh sac of caps!"

"Don't shoot me, Marcus, or I'll put a slug in your head," Goss sniffed. He pressed his back against the door.

"Won, two, free, for. . ." Marcus stumbled in his step. His feet were unresponsive from alcohol and banged against the floor.

Nilly and Rego started giggling. The two of them shared a beer while kneeling under the bar.

"Boss you should get Mindy, Squeal, and all of em in here to see this. . . priceless," Nilly snorted.

"Firteen, fourteen, fifteen. . ."

Goss glanced up at the target bottles. They sparkled under the incandescent lights.

"Twenty!" Marcus screamed.

Marcus stood up from his hunch and raised his rifle. Before it was properly aimed, he squeezed the trigger. A spray of bullets rattled the stairwell, the rafters, and the empty walls. As the clip emptied, Marcus toppled over onto his side from dizziness. The final three rounds slammed into the bar.

Nilly, Rego, and Curt ducked from the impacts. A few ricochets continued to clank high above them.

All of the bottles sat unscathed.

Marcus hiccupped, now lying on the floor.

Rego slowly rose from his cover and squinted up at the bottles, "god**** Marcus. I was right - you didn't hit one!"

Marcus rolled over onto his back. He had a big drunken smile on his face. He said nothing.

"Looks like he owes us eight hundred caps," Goss smiled.

"A hundred?" Marcus croaked.

"We said we'd each pay ya ten caps for a hit, and you'd pay us ten for a miss. So that's twenty misses, times ten caps, times the four of us. . .you owe us eight hundred caps, Marcus."

"Eh hundred?" Marcus yawned. He began to pass out on the floor.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Who the **** is there?" Goss braced his body against the door and drew his pistol.

"Squeal," the name reverberated through the thick steel.

Goss lifted the heavy latch and opened the door. A short, spindly man slipped inside. His wiry frame and bent posture made him look like a monkey. He had biker goggles pulled over his eyes.

"You're never gonna guess who we found crawling around outside."

Goss shrugged, ". . . .John Henry Eden?"

"Even better," Squeal laughed.

Another raider, Mindy, staggered in. She was propping up a badly injured woman who was leaning on her shoulder. The two of them limped into the center of the station.

"It's Mal!" Squeal exclaimed triumphantly, "remember Mal?"

Mindy dropped Adriana onto the concrete floor. Adriana's jeans were soaked in blood; they smeared the ground around her. All of the color had drained from her face. She struggled to keep her eyes open. Her face was twisted in pain.

"Mallory?" a surprised smile crept across Goss's face. He slammed shut the door as the others formed a circle around her crumpled body.

"Goss," Adriana squeaked, "please, please help me. . .I need a stimpak. . ."

Goss knelt down next to Adriana and stroked her hair, "poor baby," he looked up to Nilly, "get her a stimpak."

Nilly furrowed her brow, "you ******* serious?"

"Yeah," Goss smiled. He grabbed Adriana's shoulder and began to turn her over onto her back.

"Oww!" Adriana winced in pain. She felt the bones in her leg shift.

Nilly scampered over to the bar and opened a first aid kit.

"Mal, Mal, Mal," Goss towered over Adriana, "never thought you'd come back here. You're too smart for that. . .but you've always had balls. . .hehe. . ."

"Please," Adriana whimpered. She was completely out of energy. She tried to sprawl out slightly and bumped into Marcus. He had passed out next to her on the floor.

"You're not looking so good," Goss nodded to himself, "where's that stimpak?"

"Keep your ******* panties on," Nilly handed Goss the needle and then peered down at Adriana expectantly.

Goss jammed the needle into Adriana's leg, just above the gunshot wound.

"Ow ? ****! Not there!" Adriana balled up and screamed in pain.

"Shhhhhh. Its best there, it will stop the bleeding," Goss left the needle in her leg, "you're lucky to get anything at all, Mallory."

The raiders waited for a second while the anesthetic took effect. The blood returned to Adriana's face. Her eye lids fluttered, no longer so heavy. She peered up at the circle of raiders who looked like they were going to begin feeding on her.

"So. . .," Goss began, "what happened? Brotherhood patrol? You cut out on another crew? You steal from them, too?"

"I didn't steal-"

"Don't lie to us, Mal," Rego interrupted.

"It was just a pistol and some jet," Adriana's head ached, she felt dizzy.

"All of my jet," Goss sniggered, "all my jet, two days worth of food, my pistol, my rifle, a blanket, and two hundred caps. . .a good set up."

"I'm sorry," Adriana squeaked.

"You are now," Rego sniffed.

"What are we going to do to her?" Nilly looked eagerly to Goss.

"We should tie her up outside and let the ants pick her apart," Mindy chimed.

Adriana began to cry, "please. . .I. . .I came here to warn you."

"Warn me?" Goss and the others began to laugh, "really? Came up here to warn me - not because you were bleeding out?"

"I'm trying to help you!" Adriana was frantic, "a guy; a ******* psycho kidnapped me and made me take him here. He wants to use the array. He's crazy. He's going to try to kill you. . . I escaped from him but he's coming."

"Aww," Mindy cooed, "you still care about us?"

"I swear," Adriana's eyes darted between the raiders, "he's coming here."

Goss nodded, "I believe you."

Goss leaned into Squeal and Mindy and whispered something that made them smile. He then helped Adriana up to her feet, letting her use his body as a crutch.

"Come on, Mallory. You need some rest. You can lie down on my bed upstairs," he began to carry her.

Adriana fought blacking out as she struggled on each step. She had expected to be shot on sight if she ever returned. She stumbled and leaned closer into Goss. His musk was familiar and strangely comforting.

"Goss," Adriana looked into his eyes as they crested the first landing, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to screw you. . . I only took what I'd need. I can repay you."

Goss made an eerie smile, "water under the bridge."

Adriana swallowed her pain, ". . . well I'm sorry for ditching you."

Goss laid Adriana out on the steps and opened the hatch to his room. It was at the very top of the station, just below the satellite dish.

Adriana waited for him to say something. Instead, he silently helped her limp inside his room and placed her down on his cot. Goss then closed the door and smiled to her.

"What have you been up to, Mallory?"

"A. . .a new crew," Adriana shifted on the cot. She felt deathly tired.

"Don't get blood on my sheets," Goss teased, "a new crew? Outgrow my crew did ya?"

"No," Adriana gave him a frightened stare, "where are the rest of them, anyway?"

"Bob and Ano are out hunting. Most of the others moved farther up to station three. Better position. . . all linked together. I like it here, more quiet. Get this big room to myself."

Adriana scanned the room. Goss's room was tiny. There was a first aid kit on the wall, a footlocker under the bed, and a Spartan desk opposite her. A computer terminal was sitting on top of the desk. Next to the computer was a stack of black diskettes.

Goss sat down next to Adriana and nudged her so that she would put her head on his shoulder.

Adriana wondered if he still had feelings for her.

"Tell me about this guy that's coming. He's alone?"

Adriana nodded, "just him. He's crazy but a good killer. He killed my crew. . . all of them."

Goss nodded, "Talon Company?"

"No," Adriana squinted, "a tribal. . .but the Talon Company told him about the array. . .how did you know?"

Goss stood up and walked over to the terminal. He scooped up the pile of diskettes, "he's got one of these, right?"

Adriana nodded in puzzlement.

"Over the past few months, Talon has sent five or six squads up here to activate the dish. Each one of them brought one of these disks."

"Why?"

"This array is still active, linked to military satellites with nuclear payloads. Leftovers from the war. . .some are empty, some aren't. Talon found out this dish links to a satellite with a live warhead. They've been sending squads up here to use it."

Adriana blinked, "on what?"

"Always so curious, Mal," Goss made a wry laugh, "an old military base called Fort Detrick. The disks are programmed with the Fort's coordinates, you feed one into this terminal, follow a prompt or two, and the fort goes bye-bye in a mushroom cloud. There is supposed to be a ton of pre-war tech buried deep under the fort in a bunker. Talon tried to salvage it but were driven off by the locals - a bunch of savages. Every month Talon sends another squad here for the dish to wipe them out."

"How do you know this?"

"We captured the last squad and tortured them," Goss smiled, "used their body parts to decorate the array."

Adriana tried to processes everything through the pain, "this dish works? Why haven't you used it?"

"For fun?" Goss laughed, "I'm not a ******* aerospace engineer or programmer or whatever. If I could aim it maybe I'd hold Megaton or Rivet City for ransom . . . but the only thing these disks do is target Detrick. I don't give a **** about that. If the Talon Company paid me to nuke it I would, but I think Jabsco is pissed at me for all the money and mercs I've cost him. He hasn't even made an offer. If he wants to nuke Detrick he can ******* come here and ask."

There was a knock on the door. Squeal and Mindy shuffled into the room. They were both carrying rusty meat hooks.

"We're ready, Goss," Squeal raised an eyebrow, "are you?"

"Yeah. . .I think we're done. She doesn't seem to know anything," he waived for them to take Adriana, "string her up."

"Goss!" Adriana's eyes widened. Her heart jumped into her throat "what are-"

"They're going to hang you from the dish. Make an example of you that everyone can see. Takes a while to die on those hooks," Goss chuckled, "you'll have a great view though."

"No!" Adriana screamed, "Why ? you. . .you gave me the stimpak."

"Wondered why you came back and what you knew. . .and I wouldn't have wanted you to die by someone else's hand, Mal. I owe you that at least. Think of this as. . .justice."

Mindy and Squeal grabbed Adriana and began to drag her through the hatch that led outside, to the top of the dish.

"Please, Goss! I'm sorry! I'll make it up to you!" Adriana began to cry.

"No one ***** with me. Not even you. If I let you live I'd look like a ****, have even more of my crew cut out to the other stations. Can't let that happen again. . .but it was good to see you, Mallory."

"**** you," Adriana began to sob. Mindy pushed her outside.

"Squeal!" Goss called out before Squeal had shut the door.

"Yeah?"

"Keep your eyes peeled," Goss said, "Talon is coming again."

Squeal nodded.

The wind rattled the ancient satellite dish. From the top, the entire capital wasteland was visible. Through the blur of her tears, Adriana scanned the crumbling skyline of DC and the thin spire of the Washington monument. They glowed white from the moonlight.

Mindy and Squeal dragged Adriana across the side of the dish to a section where its support struts came near the catwalk. They tied two ropes to the struts and fastened their ends to the meat hooks.

"Squeal, please," Adriana sobbed on her knees, "you know me! Don't do this!"

Mindy began to pull down the back of Adriana's shirt to see the best spot to dig in.

"Shouldn't have cut out, Mal," Squeal shook his head and readied his hook.

Squeal pressed the point of the hook into the skin just below Adriana's shoulder. She felt it begin to pierce her flesh.

"Squeal please, he's coming. He's coming to kill you. Don't!"

"This is really gonna hurt," Mindy began to cackle.

Adriana tensed up and focused on the skyline.

Before Squeal could dig the meat hook in, a well aimed rifle shot shattered his jaw.

Nice work. Keep it going.

I like it.

When I first started reading this I thought perhaps the big reveal was that Empty Bear was an android. It would have fit given his very cold personality. Great story though.

This is FREAKING good stuff. You write like a pro. What have you written before?

(Sorry, not a story update - Vignette V is being penned)

I have been writing fallout fan fiction compulsively for a few months. I published one other story on this site titled, The Ballad of Johnny Duke: The Roach King. http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1068336

I have 3 other fallout fan fics on fanfiction.net under SentientSurfer. http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1974400/SentientSurfer

If anyone checks them out drop me a line some time. It's been great to see everyone's comments. Thanks a lot, hope they continue.

Vignette V

- Starry Night -

Taul paused in the empty field that lay in front of SatCom Array NW-05(a). The giant dish and looming satellite station shimmered in the starlight under the glow of the full moon. The station's exterior was deserted and empty. The latticework supporting the dish groaned through the howl of the wind.

Taul was surprised to find the station unguarded. There were no patrols circling its perimeter, no one had been posted to watch the front door, there wasn't even a sniper or lookout up on the catwalks that wrapped around the dish, far, far above.

As Taul studied the array, his breath wheezed. Adriana's bullet had barely missed his heart and had clipped one of his lungs. Blood bubbled and gurgled around the gunshot wound as he exhaled. While he had patched it up as best he could with Hoff's supplies, his whole left side felt swollen and sore.

Taul touched his wound gently with his right hand and swirled some of the blood on his fingertips. His hands were shaking violently from withdrawal. The tremors had become so serious it looked he had Parkinson's.

To quell the withdrawal, Taul dug around in his Yao Guai skin and pulled out Hoff's ultrajet. The chem's purple packaging looked exotic and alien. Taul pressed the inhaler to his parched lips and svcked in the cloying mist. Instantly, his lips tingled with numbness and his body felt like it was melting into the scrub. The corners of his mouth pulled themselves upward, forcing him to smile, warming him up from the inside out.

For a few fleeting minutes, Taul felt whole again.

Taul had first taken jet as a little boy, barely ten years old. The medicine man in Detrick had given the drug to Quiet Bear to treat his adopted son. Quiet Bear had found Taul wandering the wasteland naked and alone. Taul had been traumatized by some horror that Quiet Bear couldn't even begin to imagine. The whole village believed Taul to be mute, as he never spoke a word, preferring to hide from the others in the darkness of the surrounding woods. When Taul was alone, he would pull himself into a ball and rock back and forth, crying over a memory he had suppressed so well, it had been forgotten.

It was the medicine man's jet that had pulled Taul out of his trance. It was the jet that had given him back his voice. It was the jet that had soothed his frayed nerves, so he could move on. It was the jet that had allowed him to forget.

The mystical, almost supernatural effects of the drug were what had inspired Taul to become a shaman. But after five years of burning through chems like kindling, Taul found himself empty. As he svcked in the mist, time and time again, the inhaler svcked back ? hollowing out his soul. Years of drug use eroded his sense of reality. Everything played out before him like he was a just spectator; as if he wasn't there. The decisions he made seemed predetermined. The wasteland, his village, his adopted family, all melded into an intangible illusion.

Without his chems, Taul felt nothing. The elders had seen this - that was why they had sent him on his quest. They had warned him not to return to Detrick until he was whole.

Hoff's ultra jet was so strong it made Taul feel like he was ten again, tasting the drug for the first time. His eyes watered and his vision faded with the thump of each heartbeat. Paranoia and adrenaline flushed the euphoria from his system. He gazed at the empty dish and peered up to the lonely moon. The stars above seemed to flow down in dazzling streaks of twinkling white light, as if he was watching the sky spin on its axis in time lapse. Taul studied the psychedelic pattern through the eyes of the drug. He thought about the old man in the sky, the most ancient and holiest spirit of his people. He was a wise elder and ancestor who knew all, and who could heal anyone.

Taul tried to clear his mind through light meditation. He tried to picture the ethereal shaman, sitting up on his throne of glittering stars, but couldn't form the image. All Taul could see was Adriana. Her body and voice hung in the air, forming a ghostly apparition that haunted his mind's eye.

As Taul lingered on Adriana's specter, he heard a loud slam echo down the satellite station from the catwalks above. Taul peered up at the dish through the darkness.

A hatch to the outside had been flung wide open. Several dark shapes emerged from the interior of the station and began to circle the dish. Their boots clicked on the steel catwalk with each step. Taul watched them shuffle about while he shouldered his assault rifle. He pressed the stock to his right cheek and felt the cold wood grind his stubble.

The shapes above Taul continued to flicker like shadows. He could hear a commotion but the words were drowned out in a stream of echoes. Taul closed his left eye and fired a round up at the tallest shape he could see.

High up on the dish, someone grunted in response. The low grunt was followed by a scream and then the clanking sound of metal on metal.

Taul began to jog towards the station. The station door was built into a deep recess of the outer wall. Once he reached it, he could use the doorway as cover from above.

As Taul closed on the doorway, he saw a muzzle blast flash high above him. A bullet kicked up the dry earth just over his shoulder. Without slowing his charge, Taul fired another shot up into the darkness.

High above, on the catwalks that encircled the ancient dish, Mindy clutched her arm. Taul's pot shot had splintered her elbow. Mindy was almost knocked out from shock. She dropped her submachine gun and fell onto her knees, clutching her arm, "*********!"

Squeal had fallen on top of Adriana. He tried to mumble something through his shattered jaw as Adriana used both of her arms to shove his dead weight off of her. While Squeal writhed on the catwalk, Mindy fumbled for her weapon.

Adriana lunged forward and tried to snatch the submachine gun from her grasp.

Mindy clutched her weapon with white knuckles. She refused to let Adriana pry it from her fingers. In the struggle over the gun, Mindy kicked Adriana in the mouth, splitting her lip. Adriana fell backwards on top of Squeal. She felt something cold dig into her side.

Mindy stood back up and began to raise her gun. Adriana reached back and realized she was sitting on Squeal's meat hook. As Mindy took aim, Adriana sprung forward and jammed the point of the hook into Mindy's face, just below her left eye.

Mindy screamed in the darkness.

Curt and Rego were still at the bar inside of the station. Curt was pouring Rego a colorful layered shot. He was finishing off the top pour of greenish venom when he and Rego heard gunfire.

Rego immediately darted over to the front door and went to open it a crack to see who was coming. He had just begun pushing the door open when a Yao Guai paw reached in from outside and tried to grab him.

"******* hell!" Rego jumped back in terror. As Taul began to force his way in, Rego snapped back to his senses and grabbed the door handle, trying to pull the door shut, "Curt! Some ******* help!"

Taul had the strength advantage. He started to drag Rego outside with the door. Rego's feet slid along the slick station floor. He braced himself in the doorway, desperately fighting against Taul. Before Taul could completely overpower him, Curt ran over and pushed his assault rifle around the doorjamb. He blindly sprayed the outside.

Both brothers pulled against the door. Taul thrust his arm inside the station one last time before they were able to slam the door shut.

"Lock it! Quickly!" Rego panted. He stared up the stairway, "Nilly, get Goss! Now!"

Curt's foot slipped on something. He looked down and realized Taul had dropped an object right at their feet.

"GRENADE!"

Curt leapt over the bar and ducked for cover. Rego hesitated, trying to lock the door. At the last second he gave up and bolted from the explosion.

The grenade exploded in a cloud of shrapnel. Tiny steel bearings dug into Rego's chest and thigh as he slumped over next to the staircase. Marcus's limp body was blown apart on the floor.

In the aftermath, Curt rested his gun on the bar top and took aim at the doorway.

Nilly peered down from the stairwell. She squinted down the barrel of her hunting rifle, ready to open fire.

A thick smoke hung in the air, through which the two raiders could see little.

Before the smoke dissipated, Taul threw open the door and again stepped inside. He emptied a magazine into the bar and the stairwell, spraying everything around Curt and Rego, before ducking back outside to reload.

Curt, Rego, and Nilly returned fire at the empty doorway. Their bullets rattled the thick door, pop marking the steel in a shower of sparks.

"Who the **** is this guy?" Rego stammered through the gun smoke, "where are Goss and Squeal? Nilly, get-"

Taul once again popped inside. He lobbed a grenade at the bar. It bounced off the wall behind Curt and came to a rest just next to him. Curt jumped over the bar top to escape the blast.

Rego and Nilly braced themselves for another explosion.

The grenade never went off. Taul had left the pin in it. While Curt was scrambling for cover, Taul sprayed the room. He strafed Curt, filling him with holes, before taking aim at Nilly.

Nilly has trouble seeing the ground level through the smoke. As she tried to get a clear beat on Taul, he opened fire on the stairwell. Bullets rattled the metal around her, and a ricochet bounced off the wall and tagged her in the leg.

With Nilly was dazed, Taul turned to Rego. Rego tried to retreat up the staircase. He went to raise his rifle at Taul, but before he could get it level Taul charged into him. The impact crushed Rego's chest and knocked the wind out of him. He crumpled down to the floor while Taul stepped back and snatched up his rifle.

"No! No! No! Wait!" Rego cringed.

Taul bludgeoned Rego to death with his rifle.

High up in the rafters, Goss peered down at the carnage. His heart was racing; he could feel the blood pulsate through his veins. He doubled back to his room to fetch his shotgun.

Goss snatched the weapon off the wall and kicked open the hatch to the outside. He poked his head out into the cool night.

"Mindy! Squeal! Get in here now!" Goss squinted into the darkness, "we've got trouble!"

Bullets rattled the steel hatch around Goss and he fell back into his room.

Goss shook himself off. He kicked the hatch back open and shoved his shotgun through it. He blindly riddled the catwalk with shotgun pellets.

Adriana crouched behind Squeal and Mindy's bodies, letting them absorb the incoming fire.

"Mal, you ******* little ****!" Goss screamed into the darkness, "I'm going to gut you!"

Nilly peered over the railing, searching the twisting stairwell for Taul. She briefly looked up, trying to see what Goss was screaming about. While she was distracted, Taul popped up around a corner and put a bullet into her gut.

Nilly collapsed instantly. Taul's bullet had gone straight through her abdomen and had snapped her spine. She couldn't feel her legs or anything else below her midsection. She dropped her weapon.

Taul continued to plod his way up towards her. He went to finish her off, but the assault rifle jammed. Taul threw the gun down and fiddled to free the shotgun from his back.

"**** you! **** you!" Nilly began to cry. She clutched her stomach and glared at Taul

Taul pumped his shotgun and smiled to her.

"Don't!"

Goss heard Taul empty a shell into Nilly. He ignored Adriana for the moment and ducked back inside, making his way down the stairwell. He nervously fired round after round into the smoky darkness below, aiming at any flicker of movement.

Taul ducked out of Goss's fire. He laid down flat on the stairs, flush with the steel, to keep out of Goss's sight.

Goss continued to descend the stairwell, pivoting wildly with his weapon. At the end of the stairwell, right at the landing, Goss could just see the very tip of Taul's Yao Gaui head poke over the flat steel. Goss took aim at the hood, but realized it was empty. He silently crouched on the stairwell, waiting for Taul to come up, and walk right into his barrel.

The Yao Guai head bobbed up and down for a moement. Then a shotgun barrel rose up from below, and came to rest on the landing, next to the head. Before Goss could react, the barrel flashed. The un-aimed shot hit Goss in the foot, blowing off his toes.

"****!" Goss fell backwards, clutching his shredded foot. Blood and gore dripped down the stairwell beside him.

Taul climbed the final few stairs and approached Goss with weapon ready.

Goss didn't look at him, instead focusing on his foot, "aren't you ******** tough ***hole! I hope you and Mal burn together!"

Taul jammed his shotgun into Goss's temple and blew his skull apart. He then continued to ascend the stairs up to Goss's room.

Adriana was standing at Goss's private terminal. Taul watched her from the dark stairwell like a stalking predator. She knocked a stack of black diskettes onto the floor, searching for a way to unplug the terminal or tear it from the wall. She found the power chord draqed behind the back of the desk and went to cut it with a long knife.

"Adriana," Taul aimed his shotgun at her.

Adriana spun around, training her submachine gun on him.

Neither of them fired. They stared at one another in a standoff.

Taul clenched his trigger and stepped into the room, "you betrayed me, Adriana," he motioned to the terminal, "now you betray my quest."

Adriana began to inch towards the hatch that led outside, "you shot me."

Taul nodded, "I won't show mercy this time," he twitched his fingers, ready to fire.

"Taul," Adriana began, "the array. . ."

"Not Taul. . . Empty Bear."

"Empty Bear, the Eagle men lied to you. This array is a weapon. It will destroy your village if you use it. They tricked you," Adriana's hand shook. She continued to aim her weapon at Taul.

"Lies," Taul sneered, "you are a liar. The rods said so. I always knew so . . .just couldn't . . .I just couldn't bring myself to. . ."

"The Eagle men want to scavenge the fort under Detrick. They don't care about peace with your tribe, they're too greedy. They tricked you," Adriana repeated, "they're using you."

"You're lying," Taul sniffed, "you always lie. That is who you are, that's how you survive. You're a deceiver," he took another step forward.

"The Eagle men sent others here," Adriana kicked the mess of diskettes at her feet, "Goss interrogated them. They told him they wanted to destroy Detrick."

Taul glanced down at the disks, "that others have tried to use this array is no surprise. Who wouldn't want to speak to the heavens?"

"You can't speak to God through a ******* satellite dish! If you try you'll kill everyone."

"What would you care," Taul spat, "raider! You care about nothing and no one."

Taul had never been so angry. He was so close to completing his quest, so close to becoming whole, and now he felt confused. He was never confused, everything had always been clear to him. Even though he knew Adriana was a manipulator and a liar, something inside of him still wanted to trust her.

Taul continued glare at Adriana, entranced. He didn't fire.

Adriana watched Taul waiver, "Taul, listen to me. . ."

"No," Taul snarled. He couldn't stand his uncertainty, "you. . .he sent you! He sent you to test me, didn't he? To see if I believe. . ."

Adriana squinted, "who?"

"The old man in the sky. . .you. . . I have to. . . I have to show him I am ready, that my mind is unfettered. . ." Taul trailed off.

"There is no man in the sky!" Adriana pleaded, "there's no one up there you can talk to."

Taul shook his head furiously, "lies! All lies! Everything about you, everything you say, even your name, is a lie."

"Believe me or don't, I don't give a **** Taul. I'm telling you the truth," Adriana lowered her weapon slightly, "I just want to get the **** out of here."

"No. . .no," Taul licked his lips, "the elders told me I could speak with him. They promised he would make me whole," he shook his head, "this is the only way. . .I've looked everywhere, there is no other. Why, why are you doing this, saying these things? What do you want?"

"I'm trying to help you."

"Help me?" Taul continued to stare at Adriana. She lowered her gun to her side. He followed her lead and lowered his own weapon. He had never felt so vulnerable around anyone. His weakness infuriated him.

"How do you make me feel like this?" Taul panted from the unfamiliar sensation, "how do you make me feel?"

"Taul," Adriana went to approach him.

Taul took a step back, "I. . .I will have my soul, Adriana," he was now terrified of her, "you cannot bewitch me. . .you cannot trick me out of it," he raised his gun and fired.

Adriana dove through the open hatch. Taul's shot barely missed her. She limped off into the darkness.

Taul charged after her in a frenzy.

Adriana and Taul traded fire as Adriana tried to make her way across the catwalk. She had never limped so fast in her life. She constantly had to duck and weave from Taul's fire, but she remained unscathed. After running around the dish, she came to the end of the catwalk. The only exit from the high perch was a narrow ladder that lead upward into the cone of the dish.

Adriana began to climb the ladder, keeping her gun trained below. Her right leg felt like it was on fire from the pain. She pulled herself up using only her arms.

Taul was right on her heels. When he reached the foot of the ladder, Adriana opened fire from above. The bullets smacked into the steel at his feet.

"I won't stop you, Taul. Go ahead and use the ******** array!" Adriana screamed, "come home to a big ******* crater!"

"You bewitch me, confuse me ? seduce me! I will prove to him that I am worthy, that I am free of doubt! He will speak to me, I will see him!"

Taul aimed his assault rifle up the ladder. He blindly fired as he climbed the rungs, up into the dish. By the time he reached the top, he had nearly run out of ammo. He scanned the dark dish for any sign of Adriana but saw only darkness.

Adriana was crouching behind him. As Taul began to turn around, she squeezed the trigger and sprayed his back.

Taul folded over and slid down to the center of the dish. He rolled onto his back and watched the heavens swirl, high above. The blood began to drain from his body. The last jet left his system.

Taul locked his eyes on the night sky. He became mesmerized by the stars.

Adriana loomed over him, staring down at his pale face, "Taul. . .I. . .I wasn't lying to you, I never lied to you," she stayed next to Taul as he bled out.

Taul continued to watch the heavens, hypnotized by the twinkle of the stars. As his lips went white, he opened his mouth for the last time. He sounded like a child.

"Do I get my soul now. . .can you give me my soul. . .I want my soul back. . .I want my soul. . .I want a soul. . ."

Taul's words haunted Adriana in a sad echo. She watched Taul die and then sank down onto her knees. In the loneliness of the night, she drifted off to sleep atop the giant dish.

The next morning she smashed the array's terminal to pieces before leaving it forever.

End

Your prose has a stark, terrible beauty, SS.