“Don't Forget your Comic Books!” by Alison Cybe

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You’re listening to The Voice of Dog.

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I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,

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and today’s story is

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“Don't Forget your Comic Books!”

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by Alison Cybe, who is a tabletop RPG writer for multiple companies,

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and author of “I was a gay teenage zombie”

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by Deep Hearts Press

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and you can find more of their stories on their webpage,

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//cybeswebsite.com/.

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“Don't Forget your Comic Books!”

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by Alison Cybe “I’ve almost got it”

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shouted the mouse,

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turning his head to glance back up through the darkness of the pit.

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Bellowing into the distant haze of sunlight,

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he shouted “lower me down another thirty feet!”

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Far above, Den began to slowly ease her grip on the tensile corded rope.

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Turning her head to look at the brawny tiger by her side,

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they worked steadily to ease their companion downwards,

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inch by inch, into the crevasse.

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“How about now?” she called.

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Planting one foot against the cragged wall of the pit,

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Luca wondered once again just what the young mouse had gotten himself into.

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He clutched onto the cable that held him suspended into the gorge for dear life,

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the precariousness of his descent having damn near robbed the air from his lungs.

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“How about now” grumbled the rodent

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in bitter mockery.

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“Oh just fine and dandy, thank you very much.”

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“What was that?” came Den’s voice from far above.

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She clenched her fists

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around the cable all the tighter,

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all the while her eyes darting cautiously back and forth around the horizon of the ravine.

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The rifle that hung around the vixen’s shoulder

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by a thin strap wavered slightly

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as she adjusted her weight.

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Of the three scavengers,

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Den was the only one who carried a weapon,

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and she prayed that she wouldn’t have the need to use it.

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“You got it?” she called again, anxiously.

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“No!” yipped the small mouse.

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“Give me a minute.”

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Reaching down to his belt,

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Luca fumbled until his fingers came to rest on a pocket.

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Flicking it open,

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he plucked free a glowstick and illuminated it.

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A hazy yellow light shimmered its way along the bottom of the ravine -

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the first natural light that had touched the area in what the mouse thought must have been

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decades. In the glow,

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the shadows fled from the irregular ground,

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packed with debris

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in piles of twisted and spiralling columns.

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The youngster’s jaw gaped for a moment

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as he glanced around.

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The descent into the ravine had been

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unsteady, causing the mouse’s stomach to form into a knot.

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Even so, he felt a giffy thrill at the sight that met him at the base of the ravine.

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“My word” he said, “Grandpa was right.”

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Another voice echoed from above,

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one deeper than the vixen’s.

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“Hey!” snapped the owner,

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a hefty tiger decked in a thick woolen cloak,

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“Is it a good haul?”

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Luca didn’t reply.

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He had known the tiger for over half a decade,

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and in that time had known almost no other person in the scrap trade that had quite the capacity to complain and moan as much.

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“Just don’t drop me on the way up!”

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Cautiously he set down on the assorted objects,

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his bare feet struggling to find balance as the piles of lost remnants groaned

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and shifted beneath him.

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Several of the edges that he stood upon felt sharp and broken,

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and Luca wasted no time in checking the sturdiness of the cable that held him.

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He looked one way along the breadth of the ravine,

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then the other. The decades worth of accumulated treasure seemed to line the bottom of the chasm -

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he had no idea how deep the trove was.

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Leaning down, he carefully pushed aside the outer layer of debris,

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ushering an old broken metal table to one side.

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The good stuff, he knew,

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needed to be dug for.

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Eagerly shoving aside the table,

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the mouse adjusted his goggles,

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twisting on the thick lenses that encased most of his face.

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Clutching the glow-stick delicately between his teeth,

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the mouse eased his upper body

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into the hole. “Ah”

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he exclaimed, his fingers wrapping around a small object.

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“Come on, boy!” snapped the tiger, anxiously.

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“Before the wind turns. I’d like to get home some time tonight, if you please.” “Geez”

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retorted Den,

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narrowing her gaze at her feline companion.

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“Do you want to relax a little there, Waln?”

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Her voice was edged with impatience,

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but even Den had to admit to herself that time was working heavily against them.

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Since the trio had heard word of the site only three hours ago,

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the rush to get out and be first on the scene

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had left them woefully unprepared

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against the advancing evening’s sunset.

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The mouse, however,

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was oblivious to his companion’s bickering.

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With as much care as he could muster,

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he slid the small object back from the hole,

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carefully retrieving it from the alcove in which it had rested,

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discarded and forgotten,

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for so many years.

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It was barely larger than his hands, yet almost flat.

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Turning it this way and that, he caressed its surface,

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feeling each small indent.

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He took one last look around

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at the bottom of the ravine, and as he did

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Luca remembered the stories that his grandfather had told him.

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Sliding the discovery into his backpack,

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he wondered if the stories could ever be true -

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that much of the surface of the region

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had once looked as the bottom of the ravine,

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filled with relics

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of amazing technological

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and near-magical capabilities,

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ripe for picking by the canny scavenger or trader

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eager to make their way in the world.

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His grandfather had taught him about such items as this,

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capable of things that could

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only be the truest form of magic.

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Of course, his grandfather had told other people these tales as well -

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stories of days when letters could be sent instantly through the air,

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or when machines could wait on their owners like personal butlers,

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and even myths of days

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when such impossible objects

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would rain down from the sky.

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Luca had seen many of them, of course, but they barely worked.

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He wondered if this one would be able to perform its ancient function,

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or if the magic had left it as well.

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Clutching the small device in his bag,

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Luca wondered just how old it truly was.

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Objects such as that -

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relics, they were called -

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always caught a high price among the traders of

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antiquated items.

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He gave the cable a pair of short,

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hard tugs. “I’m ready!”

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he called up, tilting his head to glance at the distant sunlight,

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“haul me up!” Planting her feet against the rocky ground,

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Den began to retract the cable,

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threading it sternly through Waln’s muscular paws.

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With the tug, the young mouse felt the ground sway out from beneath him

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and the still air of the chasm surrounded him.

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Dancing lightly back and forth,

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he clutched the tensile cord for dear life.

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“What did you find?”

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asked the tiger through gritted teeth,

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the glint of excitement in the treasure hunter’s eyes shimmering.

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Planting his feet against the side of the ravine, the mouse explained his find to his companion,

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each sharp pull of the cord around his waist

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causing a sharp ache

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through the small rodent’s body. .

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With a derisive snort,

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Waln gave another tug.

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“Really?” he grunted.

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“What does it do?” “Could you perhaps save the questions” insisted Den,

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her teeth gritted in sharply focused effort,

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“until he’s out of the damn hole?”

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Clutching his fingers around the lip of the chasm,

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Luca scrambled inch by inch up until he was resting,

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half-kneeling, on the outer rim of the crevasse.

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Taking a few careful steps,

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he reached into his pack to retrieve the item.

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“Here” he said, offering it to the tiger.

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“It’s just like my grandfather said.

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The ancients, they used to use them.”

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Clumsily, the tiger grasped the object

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and held it up. He tilted it,

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turning its disk-like sides this way and that with his pudgy fingers,

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peering at the relic uncertainly in the amber sunlight.

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“What’s it do?” he asked, finally.

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Reaching up to grab it back,

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the mouse gave his companion a weary expression.

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“It’s a seed-e-player. It makes music.” Waln snorted. He shook it. “How?

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Is this like your tame bureen?”

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Impatiently, Luca grabbed it back.

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“It uses light” he said,

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tucking the artefact back into his bag.

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“Human magic.” “Light doesn’t make music”

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interjected Den, winding the tensile cable back into long sturdy loops.

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“Air makes music. Like when we were cubs and used to hide in the caves and

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listen to the wind blowing through the rocks.

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Are you sure?” The mouse began to nod,

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eager to interject.

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“Speaking of wind,”

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said the tiger, interrupting,

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“we have to get going.

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We’ve got about two hours before the red wind hits us.”

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Den shrugged, fastening the cable around her shoulder.

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Quickly she pulled her hood up,

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encasing her ears in the sturdy billowing fabric.

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Cautiously she checked her hip,

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ensuring that her rifle was still safely in place.

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Noticing this, Luca couldn’t help but let a soft smirk cross his bemused face.

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Sure, he thought, it’s useful enough to keep her weapon nearby, but the bullets wouldn’t help her a jot if the ashen barbs of the red wind

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tore its way through the desert

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leaving them no place for shelter.

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“Is it a good haul down there?”

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she asked the mouse.

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Sliding his breathing mask back into place,

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Luca nodded quite eagerly.

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“One of the biggest”

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he said. “We’ll have to be quick.

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Once the word gets out, it won’t be long before the ‘claimers start crawling their way over here like lice on old Waln’s scalp.”

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“Hey!” snapped the tiger.

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The hoverskiff was

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old, battered and dented.

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It had definitely seen better days,

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having survived many close encounters with open firefights,

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radioactive winds and,

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in one unfortunate incident,

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barely escaping the jaws of an especially angry verocidon,

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Den wasted no time in starting up the ignitors,

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waiting for the engine to begin its rhythmically drawling hum.

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“We arrive early tomorrow then”

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she said, confidently. “Once

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we’re back at Ambara,

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I’ll buzz Declan and his chums.

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With three teams we should be able to get several skiff fulls.”

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“So why’s it called that?”

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asked Wiln with a voice edged with confusion,

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as though the idea had only just occurred to him at that moment.

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“It turns seeds into music somehow?”

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“It doesn’t do anything with seeds”

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explained the mouse,

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dusting off his leathers.

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“It’s just called a seed-e player.

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That’s just what they called it back then.”

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“So why doesn’t it work?”

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he asked. Shuffling into the seat,

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the young mouse slid his backpack safely between his knees.

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“It needs a disk” he explained.

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“Like, hmmm… do you remember the shiny objects that Ma Tanna uses to make dresses out of?

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The circles that she strings together?

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That’s the thing.”

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Slumping down into the seat beside him, the tiger gave a bemused chuckle.

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“What? The ‘claimers make music out of dresses?

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Is that what your grandfather told you?

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I think I see why everybody said that he’s mad.”

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Pursing his lips,

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Luca folded his arms.

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“Think what you will,”

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he said. “There’s more down there.

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Useful things too, I bet.”

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“Like guns?” asked Den,

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her voice starting to grow hushed

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over the growing sound of the engines.

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“We could really use them.

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I haven’t had a fully charged power coil for my rifle in almost two months.”

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Folding his arms,

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the tiger snorted.

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“Power coils and guns.

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Seed-e players and dresses. You know,

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if those ancient humans were as smart as people said they were, why couldn’t they build things that worked on their own?

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Why does everything they make have to have something else in order to make it work right,

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eh?” “Stop complaining”

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snapped Den, before turning her focus back to the mouse.

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“Ignore him. So, did you find power coils? Stuff we can sell? Oh please, tell me we’ve found something valuable!”

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“Better than that” said Luca,

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fastening his old worn seat

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-belt as the hoverskiff started upwards with a reticent shudder.

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“Far better. I swear that while I was down there digging through the rubble, I could see

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actual honest-to-goodness

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comic books.” The tiger raised an eyebrow.

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“Comic books?” Well, now I’m convinced. You’re as mad as your

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grandfather, Luca”

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he said, incredulously,

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as the skiff took a sharp jolt forward

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and began to trundle through the air

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above the rocky desert plains.

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This was “Don't Forget your Comic Books!” by Alison Cybe,

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read for you by Khaki, your faithful fireside companion.

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For more stories you can find us wherever you get your podcasts, or on the web at thevoice.dog.

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Thank you for listening

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to The Voice of Dog