Laughing on the inside

Jueqel's strength returned enough to walk. Maintaining balance challenged every step taken. He staggered to the sidewalk and managed to keep from hitting the cement. He could see the Yogans as they fought with one another. They weren't holding back, and Raymond had Nita pinned, and she struggled to get free from his grip.

Concerned for Breyn, but she wasn't in sight. The sky had people dropping into the nearby woods, but one landed nearer to the highway. The parachute folded together before the skydiver even touched down. “Sieshin masters,” Jueqel muttered.

Unable to sense psychic activity, Jueqel ducked back into the woods to make his way around to where he had last seen Breyn. Leaves crunched underfoot and branches cracked, as he snuck noisily through the trees. A man dropped from a tree a few yards ahead of him. The darkly dressed man approached him cautiously. His goggles and headgear were not Sieshin gear. It was closer to standard issue military, special psi forces.

“Why are you here?” Jueqel asked.

The soldier aimed a pistol at him, and it ticked once lightly. His mannerism switched, but the weapon pointed just as threateningly. “I'm sorry sir, but this area is being secured.” He jerked the gun toward a noise on his right, then beaded back to Jueqel. He hesitated. “A wild bear is on the loose. If you would go back to your vehicle and wait for someone to assist you, you would be doing us a great favor. Your safety is our main concern. We don't want there to be any...” He stopped talking and put one hand to his ear, listening to someone. It was loud enough for Jueqel to hear shouting but not what was shouted. Alarmed and agitated the soldier said firmly, “please, get back to your vehicle.”

Jueqel recognized this tactic. The pistol was a psi-detector. “Shut up, I know the drill.”

In a rougher voice, “Sir, you are in serious danger.” He stepped closer and threatened with his gun. “Are you going to move on or would you like assistance getting back to your vehicle?”

“I don't have one. I'm an esper. Resonance,” he included for good measure. “I have a friend that needs help down there.”

The sound of air rapidly exiting the barrel of his pistol wasn't nearly as audible as the “ouch” that followed, but he could here it just the same.

It took a long time to fall to the ground. It seemed like ages. His weak limbs ignored commands to move. The instructions he'd given his arms yielded no response. His eyes swam in a slow moving arc out and then up to see the tree tops.

The earth was cool and soft, and the shimmering air was nice to look at. That soldier was not being nice, but I guess he had a lot of pressure. Securing an area would be lots of work, Jueqel imagined. Only, he couldn't understand what it really meant to secure an area.

It was funny to see the soldier up in the tree. “How'd he get up there?” Jueqel wondered. The soldier was making hand gestures or something. Maybe he got stuck.

Etten's face came into view and was saying something, but who could have said what that might have been. It was all a swirl of life gone by in ages. The silliness of the situation got Jueqel to laughing. He was helpless and that made it even funnier. Only, he couldn't laugh out loud. He did, however, manage a smile.