{"id":22,"date":"2007-08-26T00:00:11","date_gmt":"2007-08-26T04:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/?p=22"},"modified":"2022-12-05T16:46:38","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T21:46:38","slug":"green-river-rain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/green-river-rain\/","title":{"rendered":"Green River Rain"},"content":{"rendered":"

J<\/strong><\/span>ake Bracken never liked the rain. It always seemed to bring him bad luck. It rained that night back on Earth when Holly left him. Took off with a pharmaceutical salesman from Abilene. It rained the day he came home from the Terror War and saw that the Qaeda had burned his ranch to the ground. It was raining now, as he pulled his Hover Jeep up to the boardwalk in front of the Green River saloon.<\/p>\n

A flash of lightning forked the night sky as he climbed out of the Jeep and stepped up on the boards, rain pelting the brim of his Stetson. He stood under the awning for a minute, looking into the saloon through the batwings. It was just a rundown saloon in a broken down town on the outskirts of nowhere.<\/p>\n

He was tired. It had been a long ride from Trans-Mesa. He was really too old for long rides. His body ached from the wear and tear of 64 years. They had been hard years, spent mostly in the Tulon desert, where the oil derricks all now stood still and silent like steel cacti. Tulon was a busted planet.<\/p>\n

He pushed through the batwings. There were maybe ten men in the place and a couple of women. A man with no hair on his head sat at a synthesizer playing \u201cWildwood Flower.\u201d Bracken went over to the bar.<\/p>\n

\u201cSynth-Whiskey, if that\u2019s all you got,\u201d he told the barkeep, a skinny fellow with black hair and a long neck.<\/p>\n

The bartender set a bottle and shot glass down and poured.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext shipment of the real thing doesn\u2019t come til next year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bracken tossed it down. His stomach turned hot when the synthetic bourbon got there and the warmth spread up his chest and out to his arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother,\u201d Bracken said.<\/p>\n

\u201cStranger, aren\u2019t you?\u201d the barkeep asked, pouring the second round.<\/p>\n

Bracken put the glass to his lips, but this time let it pour slow into his mouth and slide down his throat gradually. It tasted burnt and a little sour. He could feel warmth going down to his legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust passin\u2019 through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere you headin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo place in particular. Got anything to eat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s late,\u201d the barkeep said. \u201cOnly got just some Slumgullion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSlumgullion?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCook used to work on a ranch in the Mesquite country back Earth-side.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have some.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bracken picked up his glass and went over to a vacant table near the door. He sat with his back to the wall, and listened to the rain coming down in the street outside. To his right, a couple tables over, four men played poker. They looked like ex-oil field hands. There were plenty of them unemployed now. Men who drifted from place to place looking for work or trouble. Tulon had the richest oil deposits of any planet in the galaxy. It had boomed until they discovered Digital Atomic Virtual Fuel back on Earth and nobody needed Tulon\u2019s crude anymore.<\/p>\n

There were two men at another table who sat and drank with a young doxie who had her back to Bracken. There were a few other hands scattered around the place talking and drinking.<\/p>\n

There was a sudden lull and Bracken could hear the rain coming down harder out in the street. Funny, how the rain had made him think of Holly when he\u2019d pulled up outside. He hadn\u2019t thought about her in a long time. Not consciously anyway. Although he realized he probably had never gone a day when she wasn\u2019t there, somewhere in his mind. It was the loss of her and the ranch that drove him to leave Earth and come to Tulon thirty five years ago. They\u2019d needed men to work security for the oil fields back then.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s the gullion,\u201d the barkeep said, laying the tin plate full of stew on the table with some silverware. \u201cNeed a place to stay? We got rooms upstairs. Even fix you up with some company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bracken glanced up at him. \u201cProbably. The room at least.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019ll be ninety,\u201d the barkeep said. \u201cFor the gullion and drinks so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bracken reached into the pocket of his jeans, took out a roll of cash and peeled off a hundred. The bartender took it and went away, his eyes tight on the bank roll Bracken put back into his pocket. Bracken put a spoon in the watery-looking stew and took a sip of the gravy. Wasn\u2019t bad. He scooped up a piece of beef and a Bell pepper and put it in his mouth. Even though the beef had probably cooked all day it was still chewy.<\/p>\n

As he ate, he saw the bartender out of the corner of his eye give a high sign to the girl sitting at the table with two men. She started to get up but one of the men grabbed her arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere you goin\u2019, honey,? he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got other customers, Brent,\u201d she said. \u201cDon\u2019t worry. I\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow hold on,\u201d the man said. \u201cYou\u2019re with me right now. You just sit tight a little while and have another drink.\u201d<\/p>\n

The girl looked back at the barkeep who nodded and she sat back down. She was young, Bracken thought. Too young to be a working girl. But on Tulon the young grew up fast. He looked at the man she\u2019d called Brent. He was a big man who took up a lot of space in the chair he sat in. He wore a fancy white shirt and a black vest over it. Bracken didn\u2019t like him. But it was none of his business.<\/p>\n

He should probably get a room. No sense going any further in that downpour. What was the hurry? He wasn\u2019t going anywhere and he knew it. The doctor in Tulon Central had laid it all out. He\u2019d been having dizzy spells awhile and got short of breath easy. Then that terrible stabbing pain in the chest. He collapsed in the street in Trans-Mesa and came to in the doctor\u2019s office. They flew him to Tulon Central, where the sawbones gave him some pills for the angina, some blood thinners. They put in a defibrillator, but there was nothing that could be done. Too much hardening of the arteries. Bracken could tell there wouldn\u2019t be much time, the way he felt.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d stayed in Tulon Central a few days and then got Deputy Harris to pick him up and take him back to his home in Trans-Mesa. He called it home anyway. It was just a room above a convenience-general store that he rented by the week. After a few days, he got some of his strength back and packed up his few belongings in a blanket roll. He walked over to the Sheriff\u2019s Office, took the tin badge off his vest, and dropped it on the desk. Deputy Harris looked up at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s what you\u2019re going to do?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re sheriff now, Frank,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m leavin\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

And he rode out of Trans-Mesa. He had no clear idea where he was going. Just wanted to go where nobody knew him. Where he could die alone, in peace. He\u2019d spent thirty years as a lawman in one oil boom town after another. He\u2019d done some good in the world, he reckoned. But mostly he\u2019d just arrested drunks, wife beaters, caught a few bank robbers, shot a couple of killers. There had to be something more to it than that. A man\u2019s life ought to mean something. It ought to end with some purpose to it. He\u2019d ridden most of the day and then fifty miles from Green River, in the late evening, the rain started.<\/p>\n

\u201cWant some company, mister?\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked up. For a moment, he didn\u2019t breathe. Holly? He blinked. No, it wasn\u2019t Holly. But damn, she sure featured her a lot. Same color hair, same color eyes. She wasn\u2019t even seventeen years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said do you want some company?\u201d she repeated.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlright,\u201d he said. \u201cHave a seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBuy me a drink?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bracken looked up and saw the skinny barkeep standing there.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet her whatever she wants,\u201d Bracken said.<\/p>\n

\u201cChampagne?\u201d the girl said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever you want. Bring that whiskey bottle over here too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cComin\u2019 right up.\u201d The barkeep went back to the bar.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot often a hand around here buys a girl champagne,\u201d she said. \u201cThanks, mister.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrancine. What\u2019s yours?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had an uncle named Jake,\u201d the girl said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat right? He an old man too?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. That\u2019s not what I meant.\u201d<\/p>\n

The barkeep set the bottles and glasses down. He popped the champagne and started to pour it. The man named Brent, from the table that Francine had left, turned at the sound of the popping court.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Francine, looks like you got a live one,\u201d he said. Bracken looked over at him. He was a tough looking hombre with a big chin and a wide nose. A malicious grin split his face, and here was a wide space between his two front teeth. \u201cA little long in the tooth, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man turned back around to the other two men at the table and they all laughed. He picked up the deck of cards they were playing with and shuffled them.<\/p>\n

\u201cFriend of yours?\u201d Bracken asked the girl.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could say that,\u201d she said, taking her first sip of the bubbling champagne. \u201cOoh, it tickles your nose.\u201d She took another sip. \u201cIt\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bracken poured another shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cMind if I ask you a personal question?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow old are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m old enough. I\u2019m seventeen. Old enough to do what I want, when I want, where I want.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds like something you rehearsed,\u201d Bracken said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got plenty of practice saying it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo who?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father for one. He just wanted to keep me locked up until I was an old maid. I wouldn\u2019t have none of that. We fought all the time. He finally threw me out of the house. Here\u2019s to freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

She raised the half-full glass and poured it all down. Bracken took a sip of the whiskey and set the glass down.<\/p>\n

The girl poured herself another drink. She studied the pink colored beverage in the glass.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at all those bubbles rising to the top,\u201d she said. \u201cDon\u2019t you think they\u2019re glad they\u2019re not locked up in that bottle anymore?\u201d<\/p>\n

She raised the glass to her heavily rouged lips and gulped down half of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoa, there young lady,\u201d Bracken said. \u201cYou better slow down. That stuff gets to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what I\u2019m doin\u2019\u201d she said and finished the glass.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Holly said, the night she left him. \u201cI know what I\u2019m doin\u2019, Jake. Don\u2019t try to stop me. I can\u2019t take this life out here in the middle of nowhere. Ranch life is not for me. I need bright lights. People.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

And then she\u2019d gone out into the rain, where the drummer waited. He could have gone out there and shot the man. He never knew why he didn\u2019t. He just let them go. Maybe it was the look on Holly\u2019s face. The desperate look of a caged animal.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what you\u2019re doing, do you?\u201d Bracken said to the girl sitting in front of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatthew doesn\u2019t think so, but I do. I know exactly,\u201d the girl said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatthew?\u201d Bracken said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy ex-fianc\u00c3\u00a9,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEx?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d she said, pouring a third glass. \u201cHe was another one, wanted to put a cage around me. Keep me all to himself, out on his beat up old farm. What in the world would a girl like me do out on a lonely old farm like that? I\u2019d go crazy. So I broke up with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re pretty independent, aren\u2019t you?\u201d Bracken said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou bet I am. But Matthew is stubborn. He just won\u2019t let go. Keeps pestering me to come back. I\u2019ll tell you a secret.\u201d She leaned closer. \u201cYou see that man back there at that table? The one I was sitting with. His name\u2019s Brent Calhoun. He\u2019s going to take me to Tulon Central. Soon as we both get enough money saved up. We\u2019ll take the Electro-rail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not like Matthew,\u201d Francine said. \u201cHe let\u2019s me be. He loves me too. He said so. But he doesn\u2019t try to stop me doing whatever I want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bracken didn\u2019t say anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatthew \u2014 he just can\u2019t understand a girl like me.\u201d<\/p>\n

How many times had Holly told him that. He just didn\u2019t understand her. \u201cWe\u2019re two people as different as snow and rain,\u201d she said.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSo how about it, Mister Jake?\u201d the girl said. \u201cWant to take me upstairs?\u201d<\/p>\n

Holly went out into the rain with the pharmaceutical drummer and he heard the old combustion engine of the drummer\u2019s motor car driving off.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMister? Did you hear what I said? Want to go upstairs?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot tonight, Francine,\u201d Jake said. \u201cBut here.\u201d He reached into his pocket and took out the roll. He peeled off a hundred. \u201cHere. That\u2019s for your time. I enjoyed talking to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francine took the bill wide eyed. \u201cGee thanks, Mister Jake.\u201d She tucked it in her cleavage. \u201cAren\u2019t you just the nicest man.\u201d She stood up. \u201cIf you change your mind\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Bracken watched her walk slowly back to the table where the man called Brent Calhoun sat. She sat down next to him and talked to him in hushed tones. Calhoun gave him a short backward glance.<\/p>\n

Bracken drank down what was left of the whiskey and poured another. Outside the rain seemed to be coming down even harder. He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n

He heard about ten years later Holly died alone of pneumonia in Las Cruces. The drummer had walked out on her years before. She must have been too proud to come back home. <\/em> The synthesizer player stopped playing and the level of conversation in the saloon dropped low. Lightning flashed and thunder clapped loud at the same time. Someone came in through the batwings. A young man in his early twenties stood there. Water dripped from the brim of his hat and drops of water dribbled onto the floor from the poncho he wore . He walked into the bar, his eyes two narrow slits focused intently on the table where Francine and Brent Calhoun sat.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrancine!\u201d he shouted. \u201cFrancine, get your things. I\u2019m taking you out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The girl shot up from her chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatthew,\u201d she shouted. \u201cHow many times I got to tell you. It\u2019s over. I\u2019m staying with Brent. Get out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo you\u2019re not,\u201d the young man said. \u201cHe\u2019s no good for you. He\u2019s lettin\u2019 you whore yourself so he can use your money. He ain\u2019t never takin\u2019 you nowhere. Can\u2019t you see that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Calhoun sat there and looked up at the boy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou sayin\u2019 I\u2019m a liar, boy?\u201d His voice was low and rumbled across the room like faraway thunder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m saying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calhoun stood up slow, his eyes aimed at the younger man. He was tall and big shouldered and he moved like a cat. He took several steps away from the table. Bracken looked at the girl and saw the strange expression on her face. It was a mixture of excitement and terror.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll give you a chance to take that back and get out of here,\u201d Calhoun said.<\/p>\n

The boy threw the wet end of the poncho back over his shoulder. A Ruger Plasma T45 was strapped down on his leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh-ho,\u201d Calhoun said. \u201cYou came here ready for business. Then let\u2019s get to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMatthew!\u201d the girl shouted. Bracken could tell from what was in her voice how she really felt about him. And he knew what he\u2019d come here for.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you coming with me?\u201d Matthew asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll kill you!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne, or me him the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bracken stood up and everyone turned at the sound of his chair scraping the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo on home, son.\u201d he said. \u201cTake the girl with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The boy looked at him confused.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your say in this, old man,\u201d Calhoun asked. His hands were hanging loose at his sides. Bracken saw that he wore two pistols\u2014 Beretta Electro-Blasters like the one he carried.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo say,\u201d Bracken said. \u201cNo say at all. But you\u2019re gonna let that boy out of here and take his girl with him. You just lost your meal ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calhoun chuckled low under his breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat right?\u201d he said. \u201cWell, I guess you\u2019ll pay hell provin\u2019 it, old timer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my fight, mister,\u201d Matthew said and drew his pistol.<\/p>\n

Calhoun drew both of his weapons. He fired once and the boy spun to the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatthew!\u201d the girl screamed.<\/p>\n

Bracken drew his Beretta. Calhoun got off another shot. Bracken felt the blue electric pulse tear into his chest as he pulled the trigger. Calhoun crumpled to his knees and fired again at the floor. Bracken fell backwards and lay there looking up at the ceiling. He knew Calhoun was already dead. There was that silence that always came after every fight, then he heard the girl cry out and run to her ex-fianc\u00c3\u00a9.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatthew. Are you alright?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI -I think so. Just got me in the shoulder.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank, God,\u201d Francine said. \u201cWhy did you do such a crazy thing? \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t let him hurt you anymore, Francine,\u201d the boy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Matthew. I\u2019m sorry. I didn\u2019t know what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bracken heard the sound of the boy getting to his feet and footsteps coming toward him. Under the pain of the chest wound, he could feel his heart fluttering wildly. It was difficult to breathe. He saw the boy standing over him, his hand over the wound in his shoulder. Francine knelt down beside him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMister,\u201d she said. She looked down at him and didn\u2019t have to ask how he was.  \u201cSomebody get the doctor!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo need,\u201d Bracken said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy\u2019d you do it?\u201d the boy asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo time to explain,\u201d Bracken said. \u201cThere\u2019s money in my pocket. Enough for both of you to go to Tulon Central if you want to or buy improvements for the farm. You two work it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the hell?\u201d Matthew asked. \u201cWho are you, mister?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust somebody that came in out of the rain.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked up at the ceiling. He could hear the rain still coming down steady. For a moment, he thought he heard the sound of an old fashioned combustion engine and a motor car driving off outside. He shifted his eyes and saw the girl Francine leading the young man toward the door. They\u2019d be all right, he thought. And then he couldn\u2019t see anything anymore, and the sound of the rain echoed off into the night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Whalen brings us a tale set on the planet Tulon. Previous stories of his can be found at Raygun Revival<\/a> — ed. N.E. Lilly<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,5],"tags":[32,31],"media":[299],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1206,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions\/1206"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22"},{"taxonomy":"media","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}