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DARK OCCURRENCES
ONE
(04/15/319 1430 Camp McDermott, Blue Continent)
The graduation ceremony was over and the multiple conversations of the nearly three hundred humans and pokegirls occurring at the same time were loud enough to be a dull roar. Cooper grunted when someone grabbed him from behind and hugged him hard enough to drive the air from his lungs. The hugger squealed in a feminine tone. “We did it!”
Cooper twisted around to look into impish brown eyes. “I told you we would, Rosalind.”
She grinned. “I knew I would, but there were moments where I wasn’t so sure about you.” She rose up on her toes to rub her nose against his and winked. “You’re pretty old. I was worried that the training might turn out to be too much for you.”
“I’m only 22,” he began only to break off when the camp commander’s Ladyien, Captain Tamarind, clicked on the microphone again.
She waited for a second as silence descended on the group. “Everyone who has not already received their orders is to proceed to their barracks room and wait for their barracks commander to get to them. Dismissed.”
Rosalind grabbed his hand before the mike clicked off and began tugging. “Let’s go, Bill. I want to see if we get Killarney or Dublin.”
He pulled back. “And we will, but running back to our room just means we get to wait longer. You know they’ll hand out the orders in alphabetical order, just like they do everything else. I want to enjoy seeing the outdoors without having to do pushups in payment.” His smile turned slightly lecherous. “Or we could find something entertaining to do while waiting.”
Her eyes went wide. “William Cooper, that is against the rules and you know it. No taming in the bunkrooms.”
“That’s the rule for recruits. We graduated, remember?”
“No, I remember Corporal Bradshaw’s statement perfectly. He said, and I quote, ‘there will be no taming outside the taming rooms’. That doesn’t leave room for interpretation and you know it.”
Cooper sighed. “You are the cutest girl here but sometimes I wish you weren’t an Officerjenny.”
Rosalind nudged him with her shoulder. “What if I told you I checked and there weren’t any rules against that sort of behavior once we get on the airship in Plymouth? Private, you’ll be lucky if they don’t have to carry you off that airship once I’m done with you.”
He began heading towards their barracks. “And if I remember, private, I tend to reduce you to a quivering puddle of femininity long before that point.”
“Not this time, sir,” she said firmly. “I’m going to win this time.”
He laughed. “I’ll take that bet.”
***
(04/15/319 1620 Camp McDermott, Blue Continent)
Corporal Bradshaw appeared in the doorway to Cooper’s bunkroom with a leather case filled almost to overflowing with papers. “To be honest, Cooper, I figured you’d be an officer since you’ve already got a degree.”
Rosalind gaped at him and then at Cooper. “You’ve got a degree?”
Cooper nodded. “I do.” He turned back to Bradshaw. “Sir, it’s in criminal science and forensics. I’m going to be a policeman and we always start out as enlisted, so no BLSF OCS for me, at least not yet.”
Bradshaw looked surprised and then grinned. “Cooper, you’re not a recruit anymore and you don’t sir me. I work for a living too.” He opened the case and double checked the papers he pulled out before offering them to William. “Enlisted you may be, but you graduated at the top of your form and you’ll find your promotion to Lance Corporal in there along with your orders. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, sir; I mean corporal.” Cooper took the papers and sat down on his bunk as Bradshaw left. Deliberately, he slowly read them twice while Rosalind almost danced with frustration in front of him. Finally he looked up. “We’ve been hit with needs of the service, Rosie.”
“I can live with Dublin. It’ll be fun.”
He shook his head. “You don’t understand, Rosie, we’re not going to be in Ireland at all. They’re sending us to London.”
“London?” Rosalind’s mouth twisted into a frown. “We requested Dublin, Killarney and Cork. Where did they get London out of that?”
Cooper shrugged and handed her their orders. “It’s called a dream sheet for a reason, Rosie. You dream about where you want to go, you write it down and then they send you wherever they want. We both knew there was no guarantee we’d get what we wanted.” He flashed a wink. “That’s the rule.”
Rosalind glared stonily. “You think you’re funny. I’m Irish. I have no business in England.”
“Technically, you’re Blue, just like everyone else.”
“You’re Irish too, Bill. Why doesn’t this bother you?”
“I’m not prejudiced against the English like you are. Besides, I’m perfectly happy to be far away from my mother.”
Rosalind’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“She’s a Night Nurse and dad’s a doctor. They expected me to go into medicine and she’s not happy I refused to obey her wishes. The fact that I didn’t tell her until after she found out what my major was only made her madder.” His smile faded. “One does not defy my mother and then get within arm’s reach of her unless one likes scars. I know that from bitter experience.”
“Is that where your scars came from?”
“Yeah. Let’s change the subject. You were whining about being assigned to London.”
She flared instantly. “I did not whine!”
“No? Then what were you doing?”
“I,” she broke off and glared at him. “I’ll follow my orders, of course, but there’s no law against complaining against something so wrong.”
He reached out and pulled her into his lap. “It’ll be fine, Rosie. We’ll work our asses off in London and show those bloody English just how much they have to learn from a pair of Irishmen.”
She brightened visibly. “Yeah!”
***
(04/16/319 0945 Plymouth, Blue Continent)
“What the hell is this?” Rosalind glared at the bed in front of them.
“I take it you didn’t ride on an airship to get here, did you?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea, but I was probably sent to the base via transporter. Even if I did get to ride in an airship on the trip, I was in my pokeball the entire time from the ranch until you opened it.”
William waved around them. “This is the way people travel on airships unless they can pay for first class.” The compartment that they were in ran the entire length of the airship. Three narrow beds just fit across the width of the room and identical rows of them stretched from one end of the compartment to the other. “You store your things under your bed. There’s a washroom at the stern, but don’t expect to be able to do more than wash your face and use the toilet. Even with antigravity assist, weight is at a premium and we’re not premium cargo. That’s why you’d have to go in your pokeball when I go to bed. If I had another pokegirl, you and she would have to take turns being out unless she was something really heavy. Heavy pokegirls get to spend the entire trip in their balls.”
“I thought we’d have a tiny stateroom or something,” she muttered dejectedly. “I do not want an audience while we’re having sex. I had entirely too much of that at the ranch.”
He cupped her cheek gently. “Staterooms are for first class customers. I don’t want tamers leering at you either, Rosie, so we’ll have to wait until we get to London. Besides, we wouldn’t have time or room for anything really fun.”
“Room?”
“ The flight is only four hours, so I suspect they will load our ship until it’ll barely float. Down here it’ll be standing room only unless they have a lot of cargo to move.”
“What happens then?”
“Then they stack the beds on top of each other and pack this place with boxes for us to sit on.”
“We are going to have our own apartment, right? Or are we going to have to live in a barracks again?”
He chuckled. “Our pay will cover a tiny flat. I’ve lived in them before while I was at university. As long as you don’t end up taller than me we’ll be fine.”
Rosalind looked up at him. “I don’t think I’ll ever be close to your hundred and eighty six centimeters.”
“There’s really no way to tell at this point since you’re only sixteen and you’ve still got a lot of growing to do.” He cocked his head. “I just realized I don’t know your birthday. When is it?”
Rosalind was poking herself in the breasts. “Maybe these will grow bigger.” She looked up at his question. “It’s January 12, 303.”
Cooper blinked in surprise. “You turned sixteen only three days before our class started?”
“That’s right.” Her eyes glinted dangerously. “Is there a problem?”
He held up his hands defensively. “You and I are both of legal age and you comported yourself perfectly as an Officerjenny, as the ranking and only member of my harem and as a member of the BLSF. I’ve got no problems with you, Rosie.”
Her anger vanished as quickly as it had appeared and she grinned at him. “Good.”
***
(04/16/319 1510 London, Blue Continent)
“I’ll get us some sodas.” Rosalind winked broadly at him and headed off at a brisk pace, her bright blue ponytail bouncing behind her.
As she walked away, Cooper watched her hips sway for a moment before turning back to the display and punching in the code he’d scribbled on a scrap of paper. The screen lit up to show an Officerjenny in civilian clothing. It was always hard to tell age in pokegirls, but something about her face suggested to him that she was a pokewoman. She regarded him with a neutral expression. “Good afternoon, citizen. I’m Penny. Can I help you?”
“I’m Lance Corporal William Cooper and I’ve been assigned to the London police. You were listed on their website as the ombudsman.”
Her face lit up. “I am indeed, corporal. Where are you now and what can I help you with?”
It was very likely that Penny outranked him and, even if she might be retired, respect never hurt. “Well, ma’am, I’m at the London airport. We just arrived. I’d have called you before now, but I didn’t get my orders until right after graduation.”
She looked surprised. “You just got out of boot and you’re a lance? Top of your form, I see. Well, congratulations and welcome to London. When do you have to check in?”
“We’ve got four days yet, ma’am. I was hoping you could help us find a place to live and, uh, whatever else ombudsmen do.”
Satisfaction filled her eyes. “I’m very glad you called me as soon as possible. You’d be surprised how many newcomers wait until the last minute to ask for my help. First, I retired from the Met, so I can assure you that you’re coming to a top flight organization. For newcomers they have a building of bedsits available. You’d take over the rent, of course.”
A bedsit was a room and kitchenette where he’d share a bath with the rest of his floor or, if he was really unlucky, the entire building and the thought of that made Cooper shook his head. “Thanks, but I think I’d like my own bathroom.” He was suddenly shoved to the side as Rosalind crowded into the video booth with him and handed him a bottle of soda. He gave her a look and chuckled. “Penny, this is Private Rosalind. Rosie, this is Penny. Penny, I was hoping you could give us a lead on some cheap flats.”
Penny looked doubtful. “There are some, but I’m not sure I’d recommend them to you. The neighborhoods aren’t the best, you see.”
Rosalind grinned. “Then they could use some police presence. That sounds perfect.”
The older Officerjenny smiled amusedly at her. “Perfect, is it? I swear they’re commissioning officers younger every time I turn around.” Her eyes returned to Cooper. “Corporal, do you have my email?”
“I do, ma’am. It was on the website too.”
“Yes, but a lot of people miss that. Send me a message so I’ll have your email address and I’ll send you a list of relatively cheap flats that I think are acceptable along with their rental prices. I’ll let the managers know you may be dropping by, but be sure to tell any of them you meet with that Major Penny sent you so they know to give you the rate we agreed on. If any of them offers to let to you for less that’s fine but if any tries to charge you more, walk away and call me immediately.”
“Will do, major.”
She nodded. “Once you’ve found a place, call me again and I’ll send you a welcome packet about London and the Met.”
“The Met,” Rosalind interrupted. “What’s that?”
“Young lady, it’s where you’re going to be working. You see, the Metropolitan Police Service is the police force for London and the surrounding area. It’s called the Met, the MPS or Scotland Yard.”
Rosalind’s eyes got big. “Oh.”
“Yes, oh. Corporal, I’ll also be sending you an evaluation sheet for the managers you talk to. I expect them to be respectfully polite to the BLSF and to the Met, so please be completely honest about how they treated you. Truthful feedback is the best way I’ve got to review them for suitability.”
“I’ll let Rosie fill them out, ma’am. She’ll give you the complete truth as she sees it.”
Penny gave him a satisfied smile. “Thank you, corporal. You should have that email from me just as soon as I get yours.”
“I’m sending it now.”
“Good.” She reached up to disconnect the call and paused. “If you have any other questions or need someone to talk to, please call me at any time.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” The screen went black and Cooper leaned back, draping his arm around Rosalind’s waist. “Message to Penny has been sent and now we wait for her reply.”
***
(04/20/319 0730 London, Blue Continent)
The Doggirl behind the counter watched as two uniformed BLSF personnel entered the Met station and headed for her. She plastered on a smile and bobbed her head in greeting. “Good morning, troopers. Can I help you?”
Cooper produced his paperwork from his breast pocket and held it out for the pokegirl as he read her nametag. “Mary, I’m Lance Corporal William Cooper and this Officerjenny is Private Rosalind. We’ve been assigned to the MPS and our orders told us to report in here.”
Mary’s smile went from artificial to warm as she took the papers. “The captain will be very glad to see you two.” She skimmed them with an experienced eye and looked up. “I’ll get your records transferred over and start processing you two in. Take that lift,” she nodded towards an elevator almost hidden behind a large potted fern, “and go up to the sixth floor. I’ll call ahead and let them know you’re coming.”
A Catgirl wearing a BLSF uniform was waiting when the lift opened. “Corporal Cooper, Private Rosalind, I’m Corporal Ashley. Please come with me.” She led them to a small office and settled behind the desk. “Please sit.” Cooper noticed that her unit badge was a black lamp with a blue window in the front. On the window, gold lettering read “Metropolitan Police”. Ashley turned to her computer and typed for a second. “Ok, you’ll spend the rest of the day filling out paperwork and then you’ll have to go through weapons training and qualification. Police do use standard BLSF weapons when the need arises, but we have a range of specialty gear that the regular military doesn’t and you’ll have to be checked out on the ones used in your borough.”
Rosalind frowned. “Borough?”
Ashley’s ears flicked as she nodded. “London is broken up into thirty- three administrative boroughs based upon the boroughs that existed before the Revenge War. You’ll be stationed in Tower Hamlets. It’s one of the poorest sections of the city and the MPS station there is chronically understaffed so you’ll stay pretty busy.” She smirked. “That’s where you young Jenny’s all want to be detailed to so we might as well put you there before you can argue about where you should be.”
Rosalind did a fist pump. “Excellent!”
Cooper looked thoughtful and glanced at Rosalind. “Penny knew where we were going to end up. All of the places we looked at were in Tower Hamlets.”
Ashley grinned for a second. “Major Penny knows all and sees all.” The smile flickered and vanished at the looks of incomprehension on the faces in front of her. “Her tamer was the commander of the MPS before he retired and both he and the major know pretty much everything that takes place in London, especially since their daughters are all highly placed in the MPS.”
“That’s good to know,” Cooper murmured. Rosalind nodded her agreement.
Ashley glanced at her screen again and made a notation. “After qualifications, you’ll start a probationary period lasting a minimum of six months. During that time you’ll be working with your borough’s field training officers. Usually it’s a team of a tamer and a police pokegirl, but it could be that you’ll be training with a senior Officerjenny or Growlie who works by herself. To be honest, I’m not sure who the FTO is in Tower Hamlets.” She stopped typing and faced them squarely. “Tower Hamlets does not have a Strategic Response Team and so doesn’t have any cars. Since you don’t have a centaur pokegirl you’ll either be walking or riding bicycles most of the time.” Her printer warmed up and began spitting paper. “And there are the first sets of forms. I’ll get you two set up someplace quiet and you can get started.”
***
(06/26/319 2220 London, Blue Continent)
Rosalind’s earpiece clicked and Cooper’s voice sounded through it. “The suspects are entering the warehouse. I’ll stay in position to observe while you and Katrina apprehend.”
She glanced at the Officerjenny next to her and squelched an almost irresistible urge to tell Cooper to remain out of sight. Her tamer had no illusions about his fragility and was well aware that the only bloodgift he’d gotten from his mother had resulted in his midnight black hair and eyes. He’d have found a hiding place that kept him from being observed while still offering at least one good escape route if he was discovered while they were making their way around to the back of the building. Sergeant Katrina had already dressed her down twice for trying to protect Cooper, once in front of him. The memory of the look in his eyes made her scowl in the darkness. “Roger that.” Beside her, Katrina drew her weapon and motioned for Rosalind to go ahead of her.
The warehouse was dimly lit and filled with ancient manufacturing equipment that created vast pools of darkness amidst scattered oases of light. Rosalind slowly drifted forward until she and Katrina were the three meters apart dictated by protocol and then cautiously advanced with every sense on high alert as Katrina followed silently behind her.
William shifted slightly to block the wind blowing down his neck and eased up to look over the roof ridge with his NVS/IW-2, a remake of the pre-revenge war AN/PVS-4 monocular. He wanted to keep a continuous watch on the front of the warehouse in case someone came out and the night vision device amplified ambient light to levels where he could see almost perfectly at this distance from the building, even if the image was green. The NVD was designed to act as the sight on a variety of weapons in the BLSF arsenal and, if he’d been issued a rifle for the night operation, the NVS/IW-2 would have been mounted on it.
He made a mental note to ask if there was a periscope for the device or one for daytime use. Considering how much time he seemed to spend hiding behind things, a periscope would allow him to see without revealing himself for attack by pokegirl or some maniac with a firearm. Not that he minded keeping under cover. The saying that there were old policemen and bold policemen but no old, bold policemen was even truer today than it had been three or more centuries ago. Since Cooper intended to live to retire, selective caution was his watchword. He couldn’t be cautious all of the time but he and Rosalind both knew that she could take damage that would turn him into a bloody paste. So he’d be bold when he had to be, but cautiously.
His mind snapped back to alertness as the building shuddered. Several windows exploded outwards as large portions of the brick façade crumbled and cascaded to the ground. Cooper’s instructions from Katrina were to only observe, so he didn’t bother with his pistol. Instead he pulled himself down even further in case an angry pokegirl burst through the doorway and decided she was looking for a pretty bit of revenge before being taken down.
She’d have to find him first and he was not going to make that easy.
A loud crash echoed across the area as a piece of something heavy that he couldn’t identify came through the wall and bounced across the street to slam into the building whose rooftop he was on. The impact knocked him off his feet. The NVD spun away and he cursed mentally as he searched for it, but there was no way he was going to shine a light to find it.
His scrabbling fingers closed on the monocular. Cooper jumped to his feet and immediately trained it on the warehouse. Katrina had planned to take the pair into custody quietly, but the fact that another piece of equipment was flying from the front of the warehouse and the visibly sagging sections of wall suggested that her plan hadn’t survived contact with the enemy.
They often didn’t.
A few loud bangs sounded and then an ominous silence settled over the area. It was broken only by the pattering of pieces of brick still falling off the walls. Cooper jumped when his forgotten radio clicked and Rosalind’s tired voice filled his ear. “Subjects secured and we’re coming out. The tamer had a Moriae and she had a bloody hammer. The bitch was playing croquet with the equipment in here and wanted us to be the peg. We spent most our time dodging the fucking things she was hurling at us.”
The radio clicked again. “Chatter,” Katrina warned.
The door slammed open and Rosalind emerged, dragging the human part of the pair out with her. Her clothing was shredded and a naked breast glowed white in the darkness. She slammed the human to the ground as Cooper jumped down to a wheelie bin and to the pavement. He trotted over. “You ok?”
She gave him a cheerful grin. “Of course I am, but I’m starting to understand why my uniform budget is so much larger than yours.” She hefted the bare breast suggestively. “See anything you like?”
Katrina came out of the warehouse. “Stop that, Rosie. Even if he was willing and it wasn’t against regs to tame on duty, there’s no telling what was in that dust.” She sneezed violently and wiped her nose with her sleeve before tossing a pokeball to Cooper. “You’ve got prisoner detail.”
Katrina was more than slightly prejudiced about humans as police and never missed an opportunity to give Cooper the work she thought demeaning.
Rosalind was staring at the senior Officerjenny. “You just called me Rosie.”
“I did not.”
“Yes you did.”
Katrina shook her head. “You’re hearing things, girl. Cooper, I called her Rosalind, didn’t I?” The look she shot at him told William what she wanted to hear.
Cooper hated politics and so gave Rosalind an apologetic glance before replying. “I don’t remember what you said, sergeant.” He relaxed slightly when Rosalind winked at him. “I was too busy staring at Rosie’s breast.” She grinned again for a second.
“See, private? Now take your prisoner and let’s get them back to the jail. You two have a lot of paperwork to do.” She glanced behind her at the warehouse. “And you’ll need to find out who the owner of that building is and give him a call. If he’s got pokegirl insurance he can cash it in now.”
***
(10/25/319 0845 London, Blue Continent)
Sergeant Katrina motioned for them to sit. She took a mouthful of coffee and grimaced at the burned taste. “How old is this shit?” She pushed the cup at Cooper as he obediently sat down. “Get rid of this.” Without a word he took the cup and got up again. Katrina called after him as he headed for the break room to dump her coffee. “And bring me back a fresh cup. Make it black with two sugars.”
He turned and smiled slightly. “Is that a fresh cup or fresh coffee in a new cup?” He disappeared into the break room before she could answer.
The Officerjenny shook her head. “Wiseass,” she muttered, fighting a smile. Her eyes met Rosalind’s. “You’ll have to watch that tendency in him. It can be cute, but not everyone will find it that way and being a smartass to the wrong person at the wrong time can permanently cripple a career. He seems a good enough sort and I wouldn’t want to see that happen to him.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, sergeant.” Rosalind leaned back in her chair and stifled a yawn. She and Cooper had just finished a double shift. They’d been pulling doubles all week and she was bone tired and just wanted to go home and get some sleep. “We finished the end of shift reports. Was there something wrong with them?”
Katrina chuckled. “No, but I want to wait until Cooper returns before discussing why I wanted you to stick around for a few minutes. Don’t worry though, it’s nothing bad. You two just have to sign something for me.”
“Oh, ok.”
Cooper returned a few minutes later with a cup of freshly made coffee and handed it to Katrina before returning to his seat next to Rosalind. The sergeant took a sip and smiled. “You make excellent coffee, Cooper. Your harem will be lucky to have you.”
“Thanks, sarge.” Cooper was getting used to the rampant sexism in the MPS. The pokegirls who worked in the police operated with an autonomy unseen in the civilian world and a small but vocal group of them felt that men had no place in the front ranks of an organization which combated pokegirl crime. Most of this group didn’t have tamers of their own and some of them had lost their tamers in fights with criminals, so Cooper could understand their feelings even as it sometimes pissed him off. He was careful not to let his aggravation show, though, since many of the pokegirls involved outranked him. “You wanted to speak to us?”
Katrina took another swallow of her coffee and put the cup down. “I do.” She reached for her keyboard as she continued speaking. “Are either of you aware of what today is?”
“I take it replying that it’s the 25th is not the right answer, is it?” Rosalind shrugged when Katrina shook her head. “It’s three days until All Hallows.”
The sergeant smiled smugly. “That’s not it either. Cooper, you want to take a guess as to what today is?”
Cooper crossed his legs and drummed his fingers on his knee as he looked into the distance while thinking. He frowned. “Nine days ago was the six month point since we came to London and that means we’ve been working at this station for a little more than six months. Is that it?”
“You win the prize.” Katrina grinned at Rosalind’s stunned expression. “I’ve finished your evaluation and the captain has signed off on it.” She leaned back and regarded the two of them sternly. “You are still as green as grass but I can’t shepherd you forever. We don’t have the manpower and we don’t have the time. I always shudder when I turn new officers loose. I’ve made you as ready as I can, but you’ve still got a lot to learn. You’ve got a good rapport between the two of you and it’ll save you if you’ll let it.” The sternness faded a little. “Cooper has an understanding of his own fragility that is encouraging. Rosalind, you’re a bit too prone to rushing into danger and counting on your abilities to see you through them, but Cooper has a good eye for situations you can’t handle and a firm hand in reining you in when you need it. He’s a good balance for your exuberance and if you two stay the way you have been, you’ll be ok. Don’t forget your radios are your lifeline and don’t forget that even with them any backup is minutes away at best.”
“We won’t, sergeant,” Rosalind promised eagerly. She turned and hugged Cooper hard enough to make him gasp. “We did it!”
***
(11/29/319 0230 London, Blue Continent)
Rosalind clicked on her torch and peered into the alleyway as she slowly swept the beam down it. “I still think I saw something.”
“Do you see anything now that you’ve got light?” Cooper didn’t think she’d seen anything worth investigating, but he kept an eye on their rear in case something came at them from that side. They were on Adler Street near a park that dated back before the Revenge War. The area right around the park was pockmarked by ruins and ferals sometimes sought out the park before nesting in the surrounding ruins. Cooper suspected that being eaten alive by one would feel just the same whether the ferals involved were just passing through or actually lived in the ruins. Ever since the Tower of London had been razed to prevent ferals from using it as a hunting perch the parks had become some of the most dangerous places in the area.
The Officerjenny turned the torch off and tucked it back in her belt. “No, I don’t.” She waited a few seconds for her night vision to return to normal and headed down the street ahead of him, appearing and disappearing through the pools of dim lamplight that interspersed the darkness. Cooper followed her until they got to the place where they’d stashed their bicycles.
MPS bicycles were the standard off road bicycle for the time, being ruggedly built with solid frames to withstand the stresses of enhanced strength and speed. They were painted in the colors of the MPS and prominently marked to identify the rider as a MPS constable. For the last twenty years the MPS had also confirmed rumors that they placed remotely activated tracking beacons inside the frames during the manufacturing process, not only to allow them to respond quickly to officer related emergencies but also in order to recover stolen bikes, something that had been an endemic problem for years. According to the rumor, the only way to get to the beacon was to destroy the bike’s frame. Counter rumors contended that the MPS only said that the bikes had beacons in order to discourage potential thieves. Since he and Rosalind had been vectored to aid other constables who couldn’t give their locations on radio, Cooper was almost certain that the beacons existed.
Rosalind reached for his bike and handed it to him. She was picking up her bike and he was getting on his when something moved in the darkness next to Rosalind. There was a soft hissing noise and the Officerjenny slumped.
Cooper went for his gun and tried to get off his bike at the same time. The shadow raced forward, becoming someone wearing a hooded full length cloak. Silver glittered in its hand as it slashed his gun arm, slicing through the tendons. Blood spurted and the gun tumbled away. The blade reversed and sliced open the side of his chest as he threw himself backwards.
The hooded figure kicked the gun farther away and then bent down and ripped his radio from his belt. It stabbed him in one thigh and then stood to watch as the pools of blood grew around his body.
Cooper fought to remain conscious, but soon his vision began to waver and time jumped whenever he blinked. Finally the figure vanished during a blink and he began muttering the healing spell he’d learned in BLSF boot training. He felt it take hold, but it was designed to allow a medic to get to him and he knew it would do little more than allow him to live for a few more hours before bleeding to death. He clamped his hand over the wound in his arm, hoping to slow the bleeding as much as possible. They had to report in every hour or two and when they didn’t someone would be sent to find them.
His vision finally faded completely and darkness swept him away.
***
William Cooper
Rosalind - Officerjenny