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Post by skybright on May 24, 2006 23:37:43 GMT -5
Father Rick brushed dust away from his knees as he rose from genuflecting towards the altar of Our Lady of Refuge, and glanced heavenward with his four eyes.
"Lord," he muttered, "There's going to be a lot of hotheaded folks here pretty soon, and I'd appreciate it mightily if You'd try to keep them from killing each other in our church."
He glanced at his watch -- ten to noon -- and then directed his gaze to the door of the church.
"And Lord," he added, hearing footsteps approaching, "Keep in mind that I'm one of those hotheaded folks, will You?"
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Post by Jordanna on May 25, 2006 14:18:14 GMT -5
Mike Whitebird limped into the chapel, looking mildly uneasy, and pointed over his shoulder. "Padre, there's--"
"Skip it, Chief. The Padre's expecting us." Jerod Vance strolled in past Mike, self-possessed and at ease. His four-armed lieutenant Handy McCarty followed close on his heels.
"I sort of expected a posse," Vance remarked, glancing around. "Are we early?"
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Post by skybright on May 25, 2006 19:21:01 GMT -5
Padre crossed his arms. "What, don't think I can handle you by myself, Boyo?" He chuckled and shook his head.
"The others'll be along presently. They had . . . preparations to see to."
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Post by Jordanna on May 25, 2006 21:03:32 GMT -5
"I'll just bet," Vance murmured.
Mike popped back in then, with Daws, Sid, Alex, Henry, and Miriam in tow. "They here, Padre," the big handyman pointed out unnecessarily.
"Well, well." Sid smirked at Vance. "If it ain't bomber boy. Torch any warehouses lately?"
"When I do my work, you'll know it," Vance remarked coolly.
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Post by skybright on May 25, 2006 22:42:50 GMT -5
"Now hold it." Padre put his wide hands out in a stilling gesture. "Uneasy as our alliance might be, it's an alliance nontheless. We've more important things to be seeing to today than sqabbling between our two groups."
"I'll agree with you that far, Padre." Daws pushed back her fedora and raised her eyebrows at Vance. "Whattaya say, Major? You called this little garden party."
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Post by Jordanna on May 25, 2006 23:11:39 GMT -5
"Funny, I was under the impression the Padre sent for me," Vance retorted. He gave a stretch and dropped himself onto a pew.
"But you wanna know about Tuesday night. It's a simple plan. Tiernan's truck passes onto the bridge, and some of my boys dressed as cops will stop any stray civilians at either end--though at that hour, there shouldn't be. Meanwhile, Tiernan's crew finds another truck stopped in the middle of the bridge, apparently broken down. Driver'll be a pal of mine who's a teleporter--and the truck'll be packed with enough C4 to turn the bridge into a nice attraction for scuba divers."
Vance shrugged broadly. "I'll be on the bank, a little ways down from the bridge. My driver teleports to safety, and I toss a kinetic grenade to ignite the explosives on our truck. Boom. Splash."
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Post by skybright on May 25, 2006 23:15:54 GMT -5
Padre frowned -- he still wasn't crazy about the idea of blowing up a historical site -- but Daws broke in before he could say anything.
"So," She leaned up against the side of a pew, "What can our people do to help out?"
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Post by Jordanna on May 25, 2006 23:33:42 GMT -5
"Depends on what you wanna do," Vance drawled. "We've pretty much got the bases covered, but if you want to lend a hand, we'll work something out."
He removed a cigar from his pocket and examined it minutely. "See, I don't know how you people are gonna hold up in a fight--so before we get too chummy, I wanna see you in action. And I want to be sure I got everything in place to pull off the job if you can't take it."
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Post by skybright on May 25, 2006 23:40:44 GMT -5
Daws casually examined the claws of her left hand. "I could be wrong, Major," She remarked, "But that sounded almost like a challenge."
She raised an eyebrow and gestured at the rest of her friends. "You've heard the story about a couple of guys waltzing into a police station -- so you know we're capable of some subterfuge. Sid and I know how to handle a firefight. As to the rest . . . ."
Daws shrugged. "It ain't fair for me to speak for anyone else," She fixed Vance with a challenging gray-eyed stare, "But I can take whatever you've got in mind."
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Post by Jordanna on May 25, 2006 23:52:13 GMT -5
"I don't doubt it when it comes to you, or the Padre, or even the Enforcer here." Vance chucked a thumb at Sid, who glared back at him. "At least you've got some experience--but even you havta admit, your other friends here haven't been tested. I'm relaxing my standards this time just to give 'em a shot, detective."
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Post by skybright on May 26, 2006 0:03:29 GMT -5
"How big-hearted of ya." Daws sheathed her claws.
"Look, Major, the way I see it it takes a lot more guts to stand up to Tiernan without any experience than it does with. Any one of these folks," She nodded at Miriam, Alex, and Henry, "Coulda bowed outta this fight at the get-go, or at a dozen places along the way. They didn't - and trust me, it wasn't from lack of persuasion."
She stood fluidly and sauntered closer to Vance. "I vouch for these people, Vance. They've got nerve and brains an' more courage than I ever saw on the street. So what say we cut the banter and get down to the part where you tell us all somethin' useful to do with our Tuesday?"
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Post by Jordanna on May 26, 2006 0:27:27 GMT -5
"It's not like I'm going to war hand-to-hand with Tiernan's whole army," Vance retorted. "The way I've planned it, his people are gonna be on their way into the river before they know what hit 'em. Besides me, the driver of our truck, and the ones posing as cops, the fellas I'll have with me are just reinforcements in case something goes wrong."
He eyed Daws' friends, who stood in various phases of disapproval and indignance. "But like you say, your pals here have had practice at playacting. You wanna have them reprise their performances as cops?"
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Post by skybright on May 26, 2006 0:31:58 GMT -5
"That's up to them." Daws said evenly. "Just because I've got some experience doesn't make me anybody's boss."
She turned and raised an eyebrow at the group. "What do you say?" She asked. "Feel like reprising our roles from the fifty-fourth?" Then, with a chuckle, she added "Minus my old pal Simpson, that is?"
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Post by Jordanna on May 26, 2006 0:46:03 GMT -5
Sid shrugged. "I'm game." He glanced at Alex and Miriam, who both nodded. Henry shrugged morosely.
"But you couldn't do that, Henry," Miriam protested softly. "With your accent, you wouldn't make a very convincing New York policeman."
"I'll leave the speaking to Mr. Malone," Henry replied crisply. "He's made his skill in that regard abundantly clear."
Alex glanced sideways at Henry, but apparently decided to let the barb pass. The undertaker hardly even seemed to realize he was doing it anymore.
Her effort to keep Henry out of action having been thwarted, Miriam sighed and shrugged to Daws.
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Post by skybright on May 26, 2006 0:50:23 GMT -5
"Okay then." Daws scratched behind one ear and turned back to Vance. "Needless to say, I'm not gonna make any kind of a convincing cop. And neither will Joey Falco, for that matter." Plus it's no good letting any of Tiernan's goons catch sight of him -- or me.
Padre spoke for the first time, eyeing Vance with thinly-veiled distrust. "We've several other members of the resistance who are willing to help -- maybe as part of that 'backup' you mentioned, Boyo."
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Post by Jordanna on May 26, 2006 0:59:53 GMT -5
"That's fine," Vance replied. "Tiernan has a habit of sending out an extra set of guards when he's shipping weapons. If they get separated from the truck and show up late... well, that's when things might get a little dicey."
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Post by skybright on May 26, 2006 1:06:56 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Okay. The kid and I can hang back with our people and your reinforcements -- stay ready for anything untoward that might go on."
"And I can go with you," Padre said to Sid, "Put a uniform cap on me, and I'd make a convincing enough cop."
He chuckled and added "So long as they're not standin' behind me, of course."
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Post by Jordanna on May 26, 2006 1:14:13 GMT -5
"Sounds like a plan," Vance murmured, and glanced again at the less-experienced fighters in the group. "I hope you're givin' this bunch a crash course in shooting. With any luck, none of us'll have any guns pointed at us, but you'd better be ready for anything."
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Post by skybright on May 26, 2006 1:18:30 GMT -5
"We will be." Daws said, with more confidence than she really felt. Awful risky to be puttin' untried gun hands in this kind of situation, Ace . . .
Oh, shut up. she lashed her tail in self-rebuke and nodded at Vance. "They'll hold their own. When and where d'you want us to meet you?"
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Post by Jordanna on May 26, 2006 1:26:25 GMT -5
"There's a little mom-n'-pop convenience store about a hundred yards from the north end of the bridge. It's closed overnight, and it's got enough trees around it to give it some cover from the road. That'll be our staging area." Vance calculated quickly. "Be there by about three-thirty in the morning. Tiernan's truck should come along about half an hour after that."
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