A Fallen Angel - [NS]

[Note: No Sex In This Chapter]
A little after midnight, still asleep on the low wooden table, Ensign Bauer rolled over on his back and stretched out his legs. The table was five-feet by five-feet, meaning ten inches of leg were hanging in the air. It was probably that uncomfortable position that caused him to first stir, and then to open his eyes. It took him a few seconds to orient himself. As the memories returned, he struggled to rise and began to dress. Despite trying not to disturb the still sleeping Security Guard, the noises of Bauer moving around awakened him.

Neither man looked at the other as they dressed in silence. With the heat of the moment long since past, they were both embarrassed by what had happened. It was not until Guardian Ramesh O'Connell strapped on his blaster that Bauer spoke, "You wore your weapon?"

"Sure," O'Connell shrugged, finishing buckling it. "I envy guys like you. Complicated jobs. No two days the same. I'm a guard. I watch. I wait. I watch. Most men who make a career out of this type of work never fire their weapon except on the practice range. But what if . . . if . . . that one in a million . . . one in a billion situation arises and I don't have my weapon?"

"But you are off duty," Bauer pointed out.

"Not as long as I'm the only Guardian Commissioner Anderson has," O'Connell answered.

"What do you do?" Bauer asked, opening the heavy door to the 'game room' and heading up the stairs. "Sleep with that thing under your pillow?"

"Well . . . yeah," O'Connell replied as he followed Bauer out.

When the two men finally reached the upper floor with the sleeping quarters, Bauer suddenly stopped and extended his arm out to the side, halting O'Connell's movements. The Guardian heard it, too, and they both stepped back into the stairwell. Three men, one wearing the livery of a House Trog, the other two in khaki-colored, one-piece jumpsuits of miners. They had come up through the servants' stairs and were heading down the hallway leading to High Advisor Ishlass's bedroom.

Rushing forward on their tip-toes, Bauer and O'Connell saw one man kneeling at the door-knob, the other two looking over his shoulder.

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING!" Bauer yelled, startling them. The trio spun around, but did not stay startled for long. Rushing towards Bauer and O'Connell, their bladed weapons flashing, the men attacked. Bauer crouched down in a jujitsu defensive posture, the hand-to-hand combat training of the Academy kicking in. But he did not get a chance to use it.

Within the confines of that hallway, the explosion sounded like a stick of dynamite going off. Even Bauer clasped his hands over his ears and quickly squatted down. O'Connell carefully swiveled his arm to his left, squeezing off another ear-shattering blast from his plasma-energy pistol and dropping the second man. As he took aim on the third, that one flung down his weapon and threw his arms high in the air.

Somewhere in the ceiling a klaxon started blaring. O'Connell kept his weapon trained on the man as Bauer slowly rose to a standing position. Just in time to catch Dracina in his arms as she dashed from her bedroom.

"My father! My father!" she cried, trying to free herself from Bauer's embrace. Commissioner Anderson and Doctor Boyce emerged from their respective rooms, looking dazed and confused. Both were dishevelled from sleep. Anderson had thrown on a bathrobe, but Boyce was just in his pajamas.

The loud clods of heavy boots on the stairs preceded the arrival of four Palace Guards, weapons drawn. O'Connell made eye-contact with one and said in a slow, distinct voice, "I am going to holster my sidearm."

The Palace Guards all nodded in unison and as O'Connell carefully - and slowly - returned his blaster to its sheath, they hurried forward. Two Guards grabbed the intruder still standing, pulling him down the hallway, one Guard knelt to examine the men sprawled out on the floor, and the fourth Guard, the one with stripes on his arms, banged on Ishlass's door.

"High Advisor. High Advisor!" he called out. "This is Sergeant Gravmoor of the Guard. Are you alright, sir? High Advisor!"

His banging stopped when the door opened. Like Anderson, Ishlass was wearing a bathrobe and as he surveyed the scene in confusion, Dracina broke free and rushed into his arms. "That man is my Valet!" Ishmass exclaimed in shock, pointing down at one of the fallen.

"He is still alive, sir. Just barely," the Guard checking the shot men announced. "That other one is dead."

The Sergeant called for Medics while Ishlass strode over to the prisoner still standing. "Who are you?" he demanded, his eyes narrowed. Hard. Flickering across the intruder's face. When he received no answer, just a tight-lipped defiant stare off into space, Ishalass said, "Well . . . Maybe a couple of hours under the Agonizer will loosen your tongue."

The High Advisor stepped back and the Guards pulled their prisoner further down the hall. But when they reached the juncture with the other hallway, he broke free and ran for the balcony. "Stop!" one of the Guards yelled, not pursuing right away. "There's nowhere for you to go!"

But there was . . . Down.

Even though the Guards did give chase, they started too late. The prisoner was running at full speed when he reached the parapet. Slamming his palms down onto the flat, waist-high surface, he hoisted himself over and plummeted.

Darcina screamed, Ishlass tried to comfort her, and everyone else looked at each other in confusion. Shortly thereafter the Medics arrived and carried off the wounded man. The Guards and Ishlass followed, with Dracina accompanying her father.

"Downstairs. Dining Room," Commissioner Anderson said to his people. As they scurried down to the next level, Anderson asked Bauer if he could establish communications with his ship.

"Yes, sir," Bauer answered, patting a small square pouch on his hip. "My Comm-Link."

"Do it," Anderson ordered as he led everyone inside the large eating area. "Have them wake up your Captain. Guardian Gladden, too. I need to talk to them and . . . Doctor, what are you doing?"

Doctor Boyce was opening and closing doors on the credenza running the length of one wall. "Ah! Here it is," he reached inside and then stood up, showing Anderson his 'find'. "I'm making coffee." He busied himself spooning out the brown granules and then heading into the pantry for water. "It's in the 'House-Calls' Manual. Boil waters for baby deliveries; coffee for gunshot wounds."

Before Anderson could come back with a reply, Commander Smith came on line. After Smith and Gladden was briefed on the situation, there was a discussion that decided everyone would remain where they were, but the ship should be put on high alert and all liberty canceled. As they talked, Doctor Boyce raided the ice-box in the pantry, bringing out a bowl of fruit, a box of doughnuts, and some yogurt.

When Smith questioned if Anderson was certain it was safe to remain up there, the Commissioner replied, "Oh, I am totally safe. I have Dead-eye Dick looking after me." He grinned towards O'Connell.

"Well, I guess we can't do anymore tonight," Commissioner Anderson announced. "Let's everyone try to get some sleep."

Bauer and O'Connell nodded in agreement, and headed for the stairs. But Boyce said, "Let me just clean up first."

However, he did not clean up. He waited for the two young men to leave before remarking to Anderson, "Remember how the three youngsters left dinner together? And then those two wind up still fully dressed, after midnight, roaming around the Palace?"

"What are you saying, Doctor?" Anderson asked.

"Just that Dracina is a very pretty girl, in case you haven't noticed. And that Ishlass is a very protective father."

"We've already seen one person cast down from Heaven tonight," Anderson replied. "Are you suggesting there is more trouble in Paradise?"

"Just saying that you don't want young love, especially if it is triangulated, jeopardizing our mission." He picked up the bowl from the table and held it out towards Anderson. "Have an apple."

"You know, that weapon of yours is loud. Deafening," Bauer was saying as he and O'Connell climbed the stairs.

"It's designed to be that way," O'Connell answered. "In fact, the vents for the implosion chamber are tapered to make it even louder. It's to try to keep any pain-in-the-ass innocent-bystander from getting too close."

"And you got to experience your one chance in a million. In a billion," Bauer continued. "I am impressed by how calm you were."

"Calm?" O'Connell chuckled. "Look at this."

The Security Guardian held his hands up at chest-level, palms down. They were shaking like proverbial leaves. O'Connell's chuckle turned into a laugh, not the least embarrassed. "It's a normal reaction," he explained. "I've heard about it, but never experienced it before."

"Considering what happened in the 'game room' this evening," Bauer said, "We're both lucky we did not shit on ourselves."

Then both men fell silent, feeling awkward and self-conscious.