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1: Assassins, Gardens, Ouster, Board, Escape

18:32 Sat 02 Sep 2006. Updated: 13:54 09 Sep 2006
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I didn’t know it was an ouster at first. Guns and non-Security uniforms were enough to convince me to run.

They chased me through the gardens. Walkways, hedges, pools, flowerbeds, statues, the excess of the Redmane Board in restrained topiary.

There was nobody else there, the gardens eerily empty apart from us. Was it an attack on the whole Board? Too quiet. Some section, then. Perhaps a section containing only me.

A botched assassination attempt. Things would return to normal. If I could survive long enough.

I needed a quickboat. There were some behind the Boardroom, and I was close enough. They didn’t get me as I made the dash, and got inside, and overrode autopilot and traffic control systems to get airborne immediately.

From quickboat to my starship, a very fast modified yacht. If the assassination was less botched than I thought, it would be booby-trapped. It wasn’t, and my chances improved immeasurably.

But they pursued me into space. Three of them, in ships with more weapons than mine. I played in traffic, but other ships shied away once they understood. I asked the Navy for help, but they were far away. Evasive action into warp distance into warp was my only chance.

I made warp distance. Now it was their weapons against my shields for the duration of warp spinup. Indicators yellow, indicators red, indicators dead, and I thought myself soon to follow. But the entry sequence was complete. The uniform grey of warp engulfed me.

(250 words)

The above is part of a series of microfiction pieces.

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