Time on My Hands
Chapter 66: 452-456 CE: Operation Harmony Begins

In the spring of 452, Raben steeled himself as he headed north to Zarbam. He received a raven mail message from Ollie, who at 83, was dying. Ollie wanted to say goodbye to his mentor and for Raben to officiate at his funeral and burial. Raben knew he couldn’t refuse. He thought back to 415 and what he assumed would be a difficult conversation with Ollie. The planning for Operation Harmony had just begun. A crucial part of that planning was the ending of hereditary leaders for trained under 40 leaders with firm time limits to their positions. The hereditary leadership at Zarbam would need to end with Ollie’s time as head. When Raben arrived to have the difficult discussion with Ollie, he was surprised by Ollie.

That there was a total look of disbelief on Randy's face would be an understatement. "Mother of Mary, that thing really thinks better than we do?"

He stooped over to see if he could find any answers under or behind the desk. Picking up the keypad he felt along the top of the desk.

"Please Mr. Shells, if you must call me something, I would prefer you call me the same thing Karen does. My name is Henry. Although 'thing' may be appropriate in your mind when you refer to the unknown, it does not endear you with me. I understand the nature of humans to do name calling when they’re mad, frustrated, and scared. It serves no useful purpose to do so at an inanimate object."

I'm fairly confident that many of you have heard about me lately, especially after that "expose'

Before I get into that you should know a bit about my background.

I was raised in a fairly normal urban neighbourhood. Was enrolled into self defence classes and achieved a black belt purple strip by age seventeen in a martial art that has been lumped in under the general guise of Mixed Martial Arts now so the belt means almost nothing.

CHAPTER 80
She announced her return with a series of groans, a flutter of eyelashes, and unfortunately a grab for something, anything, to catch the few drops of vomit she brought up. Shan was quicker than me, taking one of the papier-mâché bowls from the side cabinet and holding it to Charlie’s mouth until she was finished.

“Diane?”

“Yes, Shan?”

“Buzz the nurse? She got something for me”

This story is being rewritten.
A new chapter will be published every 2 weeks starting on 19/07/2022.

When I finally reach this chapter again, I'll replace this message.

“Again,” Meredith said coldly. As always, my body responded to her command; I ran back to beginning of the obstacle course, bow in hand and gripped the rope net, hurtling up and over the obstacle as I raced toward the next.

“Meredith please,” I sobbed as I ran, completely out of breath and barely able to keep upright. “Please just let me stop for a minute.”

Mike watched in amusement as Karl pulled the gun out thinking he was using it only to scare Karen. Then the shots rang out. "CHRIST, KARL. You didn't have to kill her. She couldn't hurt us."

"Listen stupid. If she pointed her finger at us, those goons Comm Tech has working as her bodyguards would as soon kill us as talk to us. This way nobody knows besides us. She sure ain't going to be doing any singing..., Now."

“What are you thinking over there, Jasmine?” Angela asked me. I suddenly realized I was lost in thought, probably staring off into the distance.

“I…” I started to say, but trailed off, unsure of what I wanted to tell them. I gathered myself and sighed. “I’m just…I don’t want this to end. I like being…this. I like being your daughter, I like being…”

3627 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin)
Hyperspace, aboard the Aces and Eights, en-route to Ruuria, Outer Rim Territories

So, another installment. Enjoy a perfectly mundane day, where nothing ever happens.

And the surprise, if I did it right.

“Why did we drive a car if we can just walk through mirrors?” I asked as Meredith eased her car between two others on a temporary grass lot.

“Because it freaks people out when we just appear in front of them,” Angela told me, rummaging through her purse for something. Finally, she yanked a pink bracelet from the bag and handed it to me through the seats. It was pretty plain; there was nothing special about it, it kind of reminded me of a slap bracelet, though without the slapping part. “Put that on, it makes it easier to find you in a crowd.”