Mr. Dove and the Pipes of Creation

[ohiopiper]

Is it wrong to have a mental image of Mel Brooks dancing and singing about The Inquisition from "History of the World"?

Probably. Forget I said anything.

[Jack Daw]

Is it wrong to have a mental image of Mel Brooks dancing and singing about The Inquisition from "History of the World"?

Probably. Forget I said anything.

Great. Now I'll have that tune running through my head all day long thanks to you.

[ohiopiper]

Always happy to help.

And now back to our regularly scheduled thread. Mr Dove? Mr. Dove? Has anyone seen Mr. Dove?

[davedove]

Scene 60

The young woman waited desperately as the computer drive was erasing. She had to destroy this evidence before the Inquisition found it. Fortunately, Father Arnold was away and would not be caught. She would also try to make her escape, but only after the computer drive was erased; too much was contained on it.

The crash from the next room startled her. It was too late, they were already here. She looked back at the screen and was relieved to see the screen dissolve into a patchwork of random pixels. At least the information was destroyed.

She desperately looked around, but knew she was trapped in this room. Rushing to the desk, she opened the drawer and pulled out the handgun within. She would not be taken without a fight. Wedging herself behind the desk, she aimed the gun at the door and waited.

Her wait was short and soon she heard someone trying to open the locked door. After a few moments, whoever was trying to open the door stopped and she heard something pounding against it, something hard. She shrank back further into her nook and waited for the inevitable.

As the first black-clad, church policeman burst through the door, she began firing. The rounds caught the policeman square in the chest and threw him backward. Only her first shots were successful, however. As the second policeman came through the door, he held his clear, bulletproof shield before him, deflecting the bullets.

Another two policemen came through the door, and all three of them rushed to pin her against the wall and disarm her. She continued to struggle in defiance, but quickly stopped when she saw the next figure walk into the room.

The white robes of an Inquisitor flowed around the man as he walked calmly into the room. He casually glanced around at his surroundings and then focused on the policeman who had stepped up to her computer.

The policeman attempted to access the computer, but soon shook his head in defeat. “It’s been wiped clean.”

The inquisitor turned back to her with an approving smile. “Very good, you were thinking.” His smile turned evil. “Don’t think that’s the only way we can get information though. I imagine you still have most of it somewhere in your memory.”

“I’m not telling you anything!” she said to him in defiance.

The man’s evil smile grew wider. “Oh, my dear, I have no doubt of that. You heretics seem to be an extremely defiant lot. You don’t have to speak for me to get the information out of head though.”

The inquisitor held up his left hand and removed the glove. The woman’s eyes grew wide when she saw what was there. In place of his little finger, the Inquisitor now had a neural jack. She knew what he planned to do; he would plug himself into her access port and invade her very thoughts.

“You can’t do this!” she screamed as the man stepped closer to her. She struggled against the policemen who held her down. “That’s against the law!”

The smile never left the man’s face. “Young lady, I’m an Inquisitor. I am the law.”

She screamed in terror as the man reached to plug the jack into the port at the base of her skull.

[ohiopiper]

Gratefully munching popcorn.

[davedove]

Scene 61

“Remember,” Robert said to us as we lowered ourselves into the small boat next to the Lady Chrystel. “It’s very likely that some of the Church Police will have night vision. Even with the diversion, you may be spotted.”

“Thank you again,” I replied.

He waved his hand dismissively. “Please, if you are helping Father Arnold I am glad to provide what service I can. But hurry once you are ashore. If the Inquisition knows about you, they probably know about Father Arnold. Get to his chapel as quickly as you can.”

We let the yacht pull our small boat as it approached the docks. The approach was angled so that the larger yacht hid our small boat from those watching from the shore. We had spotted several black-clad church policemen waiting to search any boats that docked. Robert had suggested our current plan and we waited for his signal.

As we neared the dock, Robert gave the first order. “Now, Jean Pierre!”

In a few seconds we could see the results of the cyber-hackers efforts. The lights around the docks suddenly extinguished, plunging the area into darkness.

“Go!” ordered Robert and the line to our boat was released. We wanted to avoid any extra sound, so The Wrecker and Gerald pulled hard on the oars, causing our boat to surge towards the shore. We wanted to land away from the docks themselves and avoid the policemen if we could.

As we watched the dark shape of the yacht approach the docks, the shapes of the crew could be seen on the deck. Several men had assembled on the bow. When Robert gave another signal, these men leapt into the air, their cybernetic legs propelling them across the hundred yards to the docks. The electric batons they carried flared to life as they struck out at the policemen, stunning them into unconsciousness.

The policemen were far from defenseless, however. We could see flashes from their own batons as well as the blasts from their energy pistols.

But Robert’s men only had to hold out for a short time. They had never planned to defeat the policemen, only distract them.

As our small boat reached the shore, we quickly scrambled out and pushed the boat back into the water.

I activated the small radio Robert had given me and spoke into it. “Package is delivered.”

[Livingston]

All right. I've run out of popcorn twice waiting for the next installment. This just gets more and more interesting.

[ohiopiper]

Thanks for the tip, Livingston. I'm going to call by broker in the morning and buy stock in Orville Reddenbacher.

Ha. As if I even knew any stock-brokers. But I am out of popcorn. Again.

The cybernetic legs were a nice touch. Didn't see that one coming. Alternate universes are COOL!

[davedove]

Scene 62

Sister Cynthia watched from the shadows as the church policemen carried out the body of her friend. The unseeing stare of her friend’s eyes told her everything she needed to know. The Inquisitor had used his enhancements to probe her friend’s mind for information and she had gone into shock from the violation.

She knew she was too late to do any good here. After waiting for the Inquisitor to leave with her friend, she slowly moved away, trying to be quiet so that the remaining policemen wouldn’t hear her.

Without realizing, her foot came down on a fallen branch and they wood cracked loudly under her weight. In fear, she looked back towards the policemen.

“Over there!” one of the policemen yelled and hurried in her direction. Knowing she had no chance to hide, she began to run, her nun’s habit flapping around her.

Unfortunately, the policemen’s uniforms were much better suited for running and they quickly closed the distance. She increased her speed in panic, but her clothes wrapped around her leg, causing her to fall to the ground.

One of the policemen grabbed her roughly and pulled her to her feet. With obviously enhanced strength he shoved her against a tree, pinning her there.

The policeman’s hand grabbed at her throat, cutting off her air. “Look what we have here, another heretic.”

Sister Cynthia struggled against the policeman’s cybernetic strength, unable to break his hold.

The policeman brought his face close to hers. “I don’t know if the inquisitor got enough information out of your friend, so I’m sure he’ll want to question you as well.”

Cynthia’s eyes grew wide with fear. The Inquisitor would probe her mind as well, violating her as he had her friend.

The policeman laughed at her fear. “Oh yes, your mind will be his and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Cynthia closed her eyes, praying that she would somehow be delivered from the unthinkable fate.

And at that moment deliverance came.

From out of the trees an extremely large man barreled into the small group of policemen, throwing them aside.

A small flying creature swirled through the policemen, leaving bright explosions of light in her wake, blinding and confusing the policemen.

A large, feral dog tore through more of the policemen, leaving a trail of blood.

The policeman that had held her turned to look in disbelief as his men scattered. A man with a military bearing stepped from the bushes and hit the policeman from behind with the stock of a rifle.

As the policeman fell forward, his grip was released and Cynthia fell towards the ground, only to be caught before she could hit. She looked up at the bearded man who had caught her.

“It’s okay,” he said to her in a calming voice as he supported her in his arms. “We’re on your side.”

[Cynthia]

Oh my!