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[font size=1" color="#FF0000]LAST EDITED ON Mar-05-01 AT 03:22AM (GMT)[p]
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[i]I CAN'T SLEEP!! THERE IS A GODDAMN JACKHAMMER OPERATOR WORKING OUTSIDE MY WINDOW A[/i]ND [i]HE'S DRIVING
ME [/i]NUTS!!!!!
And I can't do anything about it..I'm not in the mood to take on City Hall, so like a Good Citizen(tm) I'll have
to bear it.
Well, that and the fact that the construction man is an f*huge gorrila.
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[FONT COLOR=green]The C[FONT COLOR=#00CC00]ase [FONT COLOR=#99FF99]of t[FONT COLOR=#FFFFCC]he
[FONT COLOR=yellow]Water[FONT COLOR=#FFCC00]melon [FONT COLOR=#CC9900]Far[FONT COLOR=#996600]mer
a Harmony Ground Story
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This..is Harmony.
It is a city, sprawling and accepting. It is nestled in the cradle of the Sierras, protected by tall adobe walls topped with bluff autocannons. Shining and bold, it is all that remains of a grand experiment.
Seven years after the fall of the Enclave, three years after the rise of the Mordinos, and two months into a Vault City revolt...a refuge was built here by visionary men and women with the hope of a new Life..
It was Harmony Grounds, a place where the axiom 'live and let live' was made to heart.
Reformed Enclave men, exiled scientists from Vault City, ambitious ghouls from Necropolis, and hardy men from the dissolved Broken Hills and various New Reno clans....they all came together under the dream of a world free of interference, of prejudice and blank hatred, where they can all live together in peace and profit.
It is sheer folly. It didn't take long before...
End Prologue
*****************************
I sighed and guzzled my can of pre-war beer. It was sweet to the tongue, the years of being stuck inside a broken ice chest had fermented its juices to perfection. They really knew how to make this in those days...the old guys were really smart..
They were also so incredibly stupid, I can't believe it. Why the hell did they make those goddamned bombs anyway..
*sigh* The country is in ruins, the soil is burning. And for a hundred years hence, we've had to survive in a world that hates us for trying to destroy it...
I banged the now-empty can on the table and gestured for the bartender to give me more.
"No goddamn way..",the old and sun-darkened owner of the bar said with a frown. "You've got way too long a tab, son. I'm not givin' you any more credit until you show me that you can pay up."
"C'mon, Jake...."
"No. This bar is the last good place to be in this stinkin' town, and it wouldn't be fair to my other honest customers if I let ya keep on drinking without paying.
"Honest! Ha!", I snorted. "Honest..is not a word to use in Harmony..they're all lucky I don't run their ass down at the jailhouse."
"Well, why don't ya?"
"urk.....", I winced. Because then, the kickbacks I earn for looking the other way would disappear. It's my only viable source of income. The city hasn't paid me in...well, years.
My name's Julius. I'm Sheriff of this here town. Harmony is a good place to live in, if a bit lawless. The only laws that you need to follow is staying alive. There's a strange sense of honor among thieves, and it's so apparent here.
And that sense of honor extends to me. Although I wasn't really needed, no one's dared to go back on a deal, or to do anything stupid like steal from a Dominion man...they all still treat me with some modicum of respect.
The operational word is SOME. I get a little share of profits from illegal deals. I can't stop the transaction, but they may as well have my blessing. As long as I get my little part...
Tradition, that's the ticket. Harmony Ground is so rooted in tradition, a remarkable thing, since the city hasn't been old enough for tradition. Still, it was an old, established custom to give the lawman a bribe, even if said lawman was more lawless than you.
"Like as I thought..", Jake smirked.
"Heh.", I spat and slumped forward. Ruddy old Jake. I want to wipe that smirk off your face with the sole of my boot, you old bastard. But I knew better than to cross this man.
He's more than what you may think. Under all that false chummy bartenderness...lies a great and ruthless man, the leader of the Black Patrol..an anti-slavery posse.
Slavery is the only thing we don't tolerate in Harmony. Prostitution, drunkenness', junkies...that was choice that comes of your own free will. Freedom is the essence of Harmony. Freedom to think, to feel, and to make a buck.
Slavery is the antithesis of everything we stand for. I wanted to kick Slaver ass as much as anybody in town, but we can't. Those slavers are so many and so fortified, that I doubt even NCR could latch on to them.
Still, that didn't keep Jake from trying. He's had a son taken from him by Slavers, sold to Vault City, where he died of a simple case of miasma. It was refused cure by the Vault City doctors, who were recognized as the best in all of the Republic..
Heartless bastards.
The door to the Black Gold Saloon opened with a squeak, and someone sat down beside me. Jake glared at the newcomer, who cowered under his gaze.
People, I'd like you to meet Res, my new deputy. He's fresh from Vault City, and everybody is still more-or-less antipathetic towards him.
Poor kid.
He's not really all that bad. He honestly thinks that Citizens and Servant was a good system. Heh. They brainwashed him back at Vault City..I can't blame him too much. A little green, he's here just to fulfill a part of the Treaty that we signed with Vault City last month. If they leave us alone, we won't bother with them..to their slaver caravans.
"Hey, Res...you don't happen to have any money on you..would you?", I asked him.
"Uh..sure.."
"Good. JAKE! A ROUND FOR THE ENTIRE BAR!! COURTESY OF RES, MY NEW DEPUTY!!"
Jake grinned and began handing out drinks to eager patrons. "That'll be 95 dollars, kip.", he said to Res.
The kid gave the money and looked at me with a pained expression.
"What?", I muttered. "You should be thanking me.."
"Why ?"
A very striking woman sidled up to the bar and leaned on it sensuously. Even Jake, who had a self-imposed vow of asceticism, twitched.
So imagine the effect on a hormonal deputy..
"Thanks for the drink...", she purred. "Maybe...I'd like to...have another one."
"Uh..sure."
".....at your place..."
Res flustered and reddened. "Uh, ahn, well.....gah!"
I couldn't take it anymore. I burst out laughing and sprayed the bar with beer. "Easy down, kid. This is Syllia..and she's waaaay beyond your class."
"Oh, I am...am I?",she said with a naughty smile. "Don't worry, I'm always...willing...to spend some time...with the peons."
Res looked like he'd faint any moment now.
Syllia laughed, he voice tinkling like golden bells. "I have to go now, but if you....need me..I'm going to be.... relaxing....out at the Partenon."
Syllia left, and the stark reality that was dispelled by her wondrous presence hit us again like a ton of Uranium.
"She's a hooker?!", he asked me indreculously.
"Of course.", I answered. "Damn good one, too."
Res looked behind him, to the door. "Is she..and you..", he started to say.
"Nope. Never even manage to touch her arm, you understand. She's a very..discriminating woman."
"That's a strange way of operating. She's a prostitute..I would have thought that she wanted to get as much for her efforts as possible."
Should I take offense? Nah. The kid didn't know what he was saying. "Exactly. She is. It's just the way Madam Cancer taught her."
"Madam Cancer?"
I sighed. Might as well start his education. He won't last long on Harmony without my help.
"Madam Cancer owns the Parthenon. It's a brothel, but mind you..it's the most dangerous place on Harmony. The girls are nice and clean...and they get to choose their customers, not the other way around, like most skin shops. Unless you're very rich, or handsome, you don't stand a chance of getting it there."
"But..that's a crazy way to run a business!"
"Nope.", I shook my head. "It's a very good way to run a business. Madam Cancer takes only the best, the most talented. It's all worth it in the end."
"Oh..", he replied, and looked wistful.
"Worried that you won't get a shot at Syllia?"
He reddened again."What?!"
"Hey, she likes you. You might even get it for free...",
He looked like he was going to burst..his face is so red it looks like a watermelon.
And speaking of watermelons, look who just came in..
"Hey, Ming! Got something for us?!", I waved gleefully. The old man, bent and sunburnt, gave all of us a toothy smile.
"Maybe, maybe...", said hoarsely. "What do you hav for old me, eh?"
Jake laughed. "You're not that old. Your'e just a year older than me."
"Exactly. I'm an old, old man."
Jake mock-groaned and hurriedly mixed up a drink of Mentats mixed in with Rotgut. It had helluva kick, but almost nil hangover. Only old folks drunk it..,,it's more of a status symbol than a real treat. Mentats were expensive, after all..
Still, old man Ming hasn't paid for his Mensahattans in years. Jake always had one ready for him, gratis.
Now, you should now, that Jake works with only quid pro quo in mind..you get something for something. No freebies here.
Ming lugged a sack and noisily heaved it onto a table. From the sack rolled several dark green globes that rumbled across the wooden floor.
Res leapt up and scrambled after one. He grabbed the ball before it impacted against a wall. He cradled the thing in his arms and got a puzzled look in his face. "It's a fruit?!", he gasped. "Boy..I'd really like to see the tree this thing grew from."
Old man Ming groaned.
Jake snickered.
Ming snorted crossly and waved to Jake. "You know what to do with these things. If you need more, you know where to find me.."
"Hey!", Jake called out as Ming left. "This is a bar, not a goddamn market stall!"
But there was no anger in his voice. It was just another ritual...old man Ming had been taking his watermelon crops to Jake for years..and no matter how hard Jake tried..he couldn't talk him into applying for his own permit to sell these damn watermelons.
Not that he really didn't want to sell the melons, you understand. Since he gets a 30% take on all that he sells. Or a quarter of the crops used for his own consumption.
Mostly, we go by the latter. If you ever tasted one..you'd understand.
"Give me that watermelon before you bruise it, son."
"Watermelon? What's a watermelon?"
"Is he really as dumb as he looks?", Jake said to me.
"Hey!"
"That..", I gestured. "Is a piece of heaven."
"The most wondrous of all of Nature's gifts.."
"The greatest of all fruits of the Earth.."
"A watermelon!", we cried out. Res looked at us like we were crazy, like we had grown a third head..or some such.
"Seriously now..", Jake said. "Let's have you a taste." He took the round fruit from Res' hands and set it on the counter. As I stared at its hard green shell..I wondered.
"Hey..is the watermelon a fruit...or a vegetable?"
"Eh?"
"Well..we know that fruits grow on trees...but the watermelon grows on the ground..like a cabbage. "
"Cabbages and watermelons are two diff'rent things."
"Yeah..and that's why I don't know...the watermelon LOOKS like a vegetable..but it tastes like a friggin' fruit."
Jake shrugged.
"C'mon..Ming must have told you."
"Nope."
I shrugged. "How about you, kid? Is the watermelon a fruit...or a vegetable?"
"I..don't know.."
"Hey, you're from V- ....", I stopped myself. "The..City..you're supposed to know stuff. This should be middling compared to what you know."
"Well, I trained to be a field medic, mostly. We just let servants handle things like that."
Uh, oh..there's that word again. Jake's eyes glazed over and his face grew livid with rage.
"SERVANTS!! SLAVES!!", he spat. And the knife came down on the watermelon with a loud *twack* splitting it into two. The two halves shot to the side, and the knife buried itself into the wooden counter. Jake snarled and shook.
"Shit! Run, kid..RUN!"
He didn't need to be told twice. He scampered out there like a Gecko with its tail on fire. I couldn't tell if Jake was joking,,or if he really had snapped. He stood there, a quivering statue, and I grabbed half of the split watermelon even as I ran out.
I found Res a few blocks down, leaning against a post and gasping for breath. I sliced the watermelon into chunks with my switchblade and offered him some.
The magic of the fruit...vegetable? worked immediately. The kid's eyes regained focus, and a grin formed on his lips as he tasted the succulent red meat of the melon. It was sweet, and melted in his mouth..and its coolness refreshed all those who took a bite.
"Wow.", he gasped.
"Yup.", I nodded. The watermelon. It's what Harmony is famous for. Not our iron mines, not our strange government system...but watermelons. Even as far as New Reno...we got men paying by the premium just to get their hands on this rare commodity.
"Gather up the seeds..", I told him. "If you plant them right. maybe they'll grow."
"Really?"
"Well, no. Old man Ming..he's the only person whose ever got this things to grow...but he might help you out, teach you how to do it properly. You just might succeed."
"Uh..other than Ming..no one's ever grown a watermelon?"
"Nope. All of us tried, hell, I spent a few days breakin' my back in the sun myself..but in the end, we just didn't have that special touch."
"Hm...I'll go see him right now..", he said with a thoughful, faraway gaze.
"You do that."
He walked the opposite way, and I went back to the Center. But before that, Res turned to me and said.."Is it always this weird in Harmony?"
"Yep."
He grinned.
He'll fit in just fine.
**************************************
I entered the Police HQ, its stark white facade mocking me. It was a big building...and empty, the way it's always been. A large L-shaped structure...one leg housed the main Police working section, and bunks for those men of law. The other leg was the Jail...built to be escape-proof..with laminated ceramic walls, and barrier fields.
And as I said...empty.
I sat down on my chair, and propped my feet back up to my desk. The place was silent....almost virginal in its serenity. I looked up at the ceiling, it shone brightly, and cast the room in a ruddy glow.
"I really need to repaint that thing someday...", I muttered. It was too cheery. A police station should be depressing..but whoever modeled the town's building was either a psychopath...or just had a very persuasive daughter.
Look at this place..it's like a children's playroom. No hard angles, all soft corners and aesthetic implements are everywhere. I mean, hell...they even placed an indoor garden!
Really nice garden too...really restful to the eyes..
But that's not the point, dammit! No wonder nobody wants to take a job as a policeman. This place makes us all look like pansies.
If I wasn't a real hardy caravan guard before I took on this job..people would look down on me. But I had survived eleven separate run-ins with Raiders, Slavers...and once, Deathclaws..
Ah..those were the good old days.
I'm so bored I just might kill myself for kicks.
The door to the HQ opened with a bang. I was on my feet instantly, my Colt .44 Pistol out and ready.
Res peeked into the room, his face haggard and wild. He staggered into the room, and his hand clutched at his left arm. I could see blood seeping through the cloth he was covering his wound with.
He sank down to the floor. I was on him, and I did some first aid. "Hey..what happened, kip?"
"Dead...watermelon farm..attack.............", he said weakly.
He went limp under my hand, and I could see now that the wound he had. It was red, and smelled slightly like of burning sandalwood...the marks of laser fire.
Shit.
*************************************
I dropped Res off at the Meadling Pharmacy. Sure, Harmony had its own clinic...but it's closed..and the only man with real Medical Training lived at the Mead Pharm.
Turns out that the Chinese guy there, Tin Q'hian, knew Res' parents from long ago. I was assured that the kid was in good hands.
Now, as for me..
I gripped the butt of my .223 pistol, with the other hand I hid a Ripper Knife under my jacket, and I set out. It was high time to get to work, time for me to do the job I was sworn to do.
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End Chapter One.
Rant: C'mon people...go easy on me. *grin*
I'm almost halfway through the next one. If you like this one...it'll come out in a couple..or so. Please..helpful comments?!
Errata:
Screw this. I'm getting way too in over my head. Argh. I forgot that I still had a series I promised to finish first...
Damn.*bonk**bonk**bonk**bonk**bonk**bonk*
*bonk*
Ow.
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[email]bluepencil@techemail.com[/email] - it takes a big man to cry....and an ever bigger man to kick said guy in the nuts in first place.
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