“Are you ready, Bunierti?” they asked again.
“Fine, yes, I’m ready,” Bunierti finally replied, biting back her reaction to their use of her first name.
There was a short interval of silence, followed by a hissing sound. Bunierti stared. The bars and shield glass were gone. The wall at the distant end of the corridor was gone, and just past where it had been she saw doors to a lift. The prisoners stepped forward out of their cells and beckoned to her.
“Come this way,” some said.
“Welcome, Bunierti,” others said.
There was no synchronization now, nor rigid postures. On Jirit, she saw the wolf tattoo was replaced by a small box held on with a thin, light-colored strap that went around his neck. A tiny antenna protruded from the top of the box. He saw her staring at him, and he smiled in return.
“You remind me of my daughter,” he told her. “She had cancer. If you’d like to talk with her someday, there’s a very good video simulation of her. You’d never know it wasn’t her if you hadn’t watched her die.”
Bunierti gaped at him. “I….”
He shook his head as the doors of the lift opened. “Don’t worry. Just come along, quickly. We don’t have much time. There is much for you to learn.”
Acknowledgments
Since this story was originally written for a contest in the WritingPrompts subreddit, many thanks go to Reddit user “RyanKinder” and others who helped run the contest. Special thanks also go to my daughter, Holly, for alerting me to that contest. As the dedication indicates, this story would not exist had she not done that. Thanks go to the other contest participants who took the time to read my entry and give me feedback to help make it better. A tip of the hat to my wife, Evonne, for her feedback on the cover; to Denis Masharov for releasing the Ruslan Display font under the SIL Open Font License which allowed me to use it on the cover; and, to morgueFile.com user “Sgarton” for releasing a photo under the morgueFile license that was a useful guide for creating the wolf artwork on the cover.
Thank You, Too!
I am grateful for your reading time and your interest in Wolf Block. There are many other ways to spend your time, and I sincerely appreciate that you chose to read my novelette. I would also appreciate an honest rating or review online, if you are inclined to post one.
About the Author
The author lives with his family near Puget Sound in Washington State. He is a strong believer in creativity for the sake of creativity and he has released to the public many works, of various types, for free or low cost. He shares free photos on morgueFile.com, free sounds on freesound.org, free illustrations on openclipart.org, and free written works on a variety of sites. Apart from creative pursuits, Stuart enjoys outdoor activities such as kayaking. He is a veteran of the US Air Force and has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science.
Other Books by Stuart J. Whitmore
If you enjoyed Wolf Block, you can learn about new releases in the future by signing up for the author's newsletter. You will find the most recent list of his existing books, as well as social network links, at the following Web address:
http://new2u.info/SJW-Writings
As of the most-recent update of this text, his other books include:
Journey to Yandol, and other stories
This is a collection of four short stories, mostly in the science fiction genre. If you liked Wolf Block, you will probably like the longest story in this collection, "Journey to Yandol." A sample from the beginning of that story appears at the end of this book. The other stories in this collection include Power Off, Tea Leaf Technology, and Tramp Avatar.
Two Boys, Two Planets
In this tale of space adventure for beginning readers, a boy on Earth with his eyes to the sky finds out he’s not the only one in the solar system with the desire to visit other planets. This is a book for beginning readers, with vocabulary and sentence structure to match. Resources in the back of the book help teachers and parents find more factual information about Mars for young readers who show an interest in learning more.
Lesson One: Revolution!
Other teachers think of Dan Starney as a quiet, mild-mannered history teacher who fits in nicely with their small-town views. With little warning, Dan and math teacher Karena Walsh are thrust into the middle of a local controversy involving one of the school’s art teachers. Under strain, Dan begins to crack, giving Karena a peek at the social and political frustrations within. Disturbed by what she learns about Dan, Karena decides she needs to secretly investigate his activities. Unexpected romance can tangle even the most serious intentions, however, and as events begin to spiral out of control, the stage is set for explosive results that extend far beyond their quiet town.
Assets, Budgets, and Credit: A Financial ABC
In the format of a children’s ABC book but written for older readers, this book presents important terms and concepts that will help you understand and better manage your finances, whether you’re trying to get out of debt or you’re trying to build and manage substantial wealth. From "Assets" to "Zero-Coupon Bonds," this quick intro to financial terms will not only get you up to speed on some basics, but it will also pave the way for continued learning. As you might expect for an ABC book, each letter of the alphabet is used to feature an important term; unlike many ABC books, however, multiple other terms for each letter are also given as suggestions for future research.
Sample: Journey to Yandol
The following is a sample from the beginning of the main story in Journey to Yandol, and other stories, available in print and e-book editions from popular online retailers.
* * *
JOURNEY TO YANDOL
Alex Nabihr slumped deeper into the conn, her fatigued body refusing to keep up with her still-racing thoughts. The closing comments in the case of Modak 6 v. Nabihr echoed in her mind. “The justice system of this planet…” Alex snorted softly; “justice” didn’t fit in the same sentence as the Modak System. Had she been up against a farming peasant, she might have had a chance. Butting heads with Police Commissioner Bandy Perrine, on the other hand, was an exercise in futility.
“Alex… is that short for Alexandria?” the voice of her passenger interrupted her thoughts.
“No, it’s short for Alex,” she remarked bluntly. “I generally don’t take passengers. If I hadn’t had court costs to cover, I wouldn’t have accepted you. And when I do accept passengers, I generally do not permit them access to the bridge.” After a pause, Alex swung the conn about to face the man she was taking to the Fellight System. “Please return to your cabin. Accommodations are minimal, but you are welcome to whatever food or drink you can find.”
Ravin Sabik ruffled his fingers through his coarse, dark hair. “The only food I sought was food for the mind. But if there is none to be found…” The sallow-skinned man let his voice trail off with a slight smile, maintaining eye contact with the fair-skinned, fair-haired woman pilot.
“I’m selfish; I keep the best food for myself,” Alex stated flatly. “We’re nearly out of Modak now, and we’ll make the jump to Halene in about twenty minutes. Then it will be Zaire, then on to Fellight.”
“I’m familiar with the route,” Ravin nodded, the faint smile never fading from his lips. Alex shrugged and spun about in the conn, pointedly ignoring the man. The soft swishing of the door announced his departure a moment later.
The trip to Halene and Zaire was uneventful. Aside from the rote tasks of piloting the Sweet Journey, Alex spent her time reviewing her problems on Modak 6 and trying to make sense of it all. After unloading her cargo of fruit products on the planet, Alex had given the Sweet Journey over to port maintenance for scanner calibration. To pass the time during the maintenance work, she had settled into a booth in a nearby bistro to enjoy a tall coffee, iced. It was a soothing relief after the headache-inducing heat of the deserts of Central Ma’kalin. Within moments of relaxing in her window booth, Alex met Commissioner Perrine.
Her first i
mpression of the commissioner was negative. To the tall pilot, Perrine came off as a short, fat, greasy drunk. There was nothing about his appearance or demeanor that would suggest he held an official position. The commissioner had approached Alex and asked to sit down. She agreed out of boredom mixed with curiosity, but in retrospect she regretted the decision. Alex had accepted Perrine’s offer of another coffee, after which the man made it bluntly clear that he wanted to spend the night with her.
“I think not, but thank you for the coffee,” was her immediate reply. Alex was accustomed to her looks attracting men of all walks of life, but she had few friends who were male. The only man Alex could think of in any romantic sense lived in the Lopez system, and she missed him beyond words. Commissioner Perrine would have made a poor substitute, but he couldn’t fathom rejection. Instead of accepting her refusal, he had reached out and grasped Alex’s hand tightly.
Alex immediately knew that walking out was the best move she could make. She had no doubt that she could have overpowered the man, but her experience had taught her that there was only one path a physical confrontation would lead to. She would end up in court, being blamed for “teasing” the man and causing the fight. It was much safer to simply swallow her pride and walk away. When she rose to her feet, however, Perrine also stood and grabbed her by the arm. She pulled away forcefully, and Perrine let go of her so suddenly that she lost her balance and sat down hard on the floor. Her reflex to draw her pistol brought forth the two “peace officers” in the bistro, and she soon found herself in a local imprisonment facility with her pistol permanently impounded. The impfac was notably more secure than most of its type on other planets, and this difference was not lost on Alex. Modak 6 was definitely on the rough side….
* * *
...and if you like where this story is going, you’ll just have to get a copy of it for yourself!
The good news? Journey to Yandol, and other stories was released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, so it is possible to get it for free from a friend (and you can pass along copies of it too). On the other hand, the e-book edition is very inexpensive and available through many online book retailers, and buying your copy may make it easier to load it onto your e-reader of choice.
Table of Contents
Wolf Block Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Sample: Journey to Yandol
Wolf Block Page 4
