Radioactive .....

     "Seems we're not much of a colony now.... More like a town.... And a big one at that.... Not much wilderness where we're at.... And now we got troubles with radioactives leakin' into the water to the North.. Gorram mines. Wonder what the previous folks left down there to ruin the land....Ok, so maybe I like seein' the wildlife roamin' the land. Like to see the skies all clear...." Gorram decontaminatin' the interior of the Shadow. Lily.... had to go on out and run 'round in the fallout durin' the Washtown disaster.....

     "Hell, now we got us a factory on our back door step. A BlueSun factory.... Figures.. 'nother thing to kill the area and the water... Been seein' Miss Marrah drivin' Xoxo out daily to that place. Most like makin' sure her place is runnin' smooth. Soon as they had most of the stuff in the place they were churnin' out cargo for shippin'." Rory come out and was helpin' with the decon. Need the help. Shadow's gotta be ready for cargo deliveries this week.

     "Speakin' of cargo.... We got a couple of hauls to do too. Svet come in and made a delivery then headed for her next drop. The little one called Medusa went with Seana, and Ketterley in the big Firefly. Some of the miners what did work on Hale's are gettin' antsy to go out and do some diggin'. Well, since the stuff comin' in to us from the mine cleanin' are pretty big hauls... Radioactives. No one's lettin' em into the mines. Guards in heavy suits outside the area keep turnin' em back.. or threatenin' to shoot em.... At least we got space to put the stuff whats been mined already. Got plenty of space for it since the new heavy load shelvin' come in."

     Rory was 'bout done with one side of the cargo hold. I was startin' on the ceilin'. "Then the other day was hearin' chatter over the wave 'bout somethin' happenin' in Washtown. Decided to take the Shadow out that way. Probably the best choice to make. Small stealth ship with good sheildin' for what I was gonna run into when I got there......" We were pretty close to done with the ship now. Rory had to get back to the office and I needed to get up to the tower for my turn at the systems.... Been doin' a lot of tower work of late....."Gettin' closer to Washtown I heard somethin' 'bout the reactor there ready to go critical..... Dropped Shadow down to help with rescuin' folks. Had Lily sittin' by the rear hatch to help with folks what needed some help."

     "Landin' was easy 'nough. Spotted a small shuttle gettin' ready to lift. Heard the hatch lower and figured Lily was helpin' folks in. After the shuttle lifted We could heard a rumblin' sound..... Somethin' had me itchin' to lift.... That's when I spotted the shock wave... It almost seemed to move in slow mo.... The ship was up in the air almost b'fore my mind registered.... The hatch closed just b'fore the blast wave hit us. Was able to get the ship up through the chop.... Had to fly on instruments cause the glass tintin' wasn't changin' back.. Musta been cause of the flash... Saved my eyes for sure.... Once we were in orbit, spotted the shuttle. Renee was flyin' it. had a few survivors with her. Her shuttle had to've been caught at the edge of the blast wave. Could see some minor damage to the hull. Not bad. She;' be able to land ok."

     "Rondez voused at Colchester. That's where the nearest clinic was at. Had a few folks that needed attention. Looked like Cobb got hurt. Feller was blinded..... The doc was talkin' 'bout regennin' his eyes..... Think that's the last thing I remembered..... Gorram Doc's and messin' with folks like that..... 'Cept the nightmares were back..... Don't much like not gettin' the sleep." Had to yawn thinkin' of how little sleep I got 'gain. "At least we didn't lose anyone.... Though if anyone's got to worry 'bout stayin' alive.... it Wally."

     "From what I hear tell, he was the feller what sold the bad reactor pump to the folks at Washtown. Now they're out for blood..... If he survived the blast.... Might be he knew it was bad and left in a big hurry. Who knows... But glad I ain't him. Nope.... Wally's on the number one list for most wanted right 'bout now."



Kids.....

Had to take down a bunch of the stuff from the show. The lightin' had to be done with the wirin' so they could be put back up later. "So far Lily's been not so crazy... Well ain' t been settin' fires this week... Could change at any time. Then there's AuroraBlue. She decided to come on out pf hidin' to spend some time with me. Wandered 'round for a spell and sorta talked. Was happy she was back. lily wasn't though. She's been say AuroraBlue's bad. That the cub's been causin' the vandalism. Hell.. Caught Lily in the act once.  "

"Thing is.. Thought she caused a bunch of animals from Ketterly's ranch to drop dead. Turned out is was somethin' in the area. The water's most likely the cause. Don't help that the fish're dead in the area. Over the last couple days, been haulin' the carcasses out to be burned. No sense in leavin' the bodies out for the wildlife to get sick on." Rolled 'nother long cable to be stored. One more and then it's down the power box to be disconnected and moved.

"Have to admit, I didn't b'leive Lily on seein' G 'til he showed up in the office..... Was a mite weird to be honest.... All glowin' and all. At first thougth it was the spice, but no. He said it was a transmitted signal to a holoprojection of him. Said he was dead but the 'bot body he was in was still somewhere in the floatin' rocks of what was left of Hale's Moon. That got me thinkin'.... Time to go do some salvage of a strange kind. Body recovery.... G's body. Desmond might be able to do soemthin' with the DNA thats still settin' the brain case. Maybe....."

Climbin' down the scaffoldin' was fair easy 'nough. Grabbin' the heavy gloves and the tools I needed to pull  the power box, my next job was set. "Then a few days back Svet showed up with one of her crew. Ayumi. They were talkin' 'bout takin' some trade to Colchester. Had some medical supplies for us too. Sheems she come with a brood too. Three little ones. One bein' an orphan named Medusa. The kid was feelin' lonely for a family. Lily took her on over to see Seana....."

".....After she and AuroraBlue played. Lily was sayin' the cub was bad to Medusa. Figures. A chance for the kids to be friends and Lily wanted to ruin it. But then Lily's not been her own self for a while. And after that talk with Xoxo 'bout her... No wonder. If she's re-writin' her own self.... What all's gonna be left of who she was to folks. Won't be the same." With the power off, removin' the box and coverin' the ends of the mains were pretty gorram easy. Took 'nother look 'roun dot be sure Lily wasn't 'round to hit the main power.... Didn't want to get cooked.



"Found out later that Seana was gonna care for Medusa. Good choice. I might have trouble with Seana on some stuff, but she's a good one for bein' a good parent to the kid. Now to work on AuroraBlue.. Needs a bath and a lesson on not stealin'.."