{"id":71,"date":"2008-06-22T00:00:11","date_gmt":"2008-06-22T04:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/?p=71"},"modified":"2022-12-14T14:00:09","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T19:00:09","slug":"a-man-called-mister-brown-the-graves-speak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-the-graves-speak\/","title":{"rendered":"A Man Called Mister Brown: The Graves&nbsp;Speak"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"serial-posts-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"serial-posts-heading\"><span class=\"serial-post-text\">Read more from this serial.<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"serial-posts\">\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown\">A Man Called Mister Brown<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-ms-hitt\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Ms. Hitt\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Ms. Hitt<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-mr-green\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Mr. Green\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Mr. Green<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-the-ishtar-death-march\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: The Ishtar Death March\">A Man Called Mister Brown: The Ishtar Death March<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-camp-adonis\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Camp Adonis\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Camp Adonis<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-mars-in-winter\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Mars in Winter\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Mars in Winter<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-to-the-underworld\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: To the Underworld\">A Man Called Mister Brown: To the Underworld<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item current-inactive\">A Man Called Mister Brown: The Graves Speak<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>V<\/strong><\/span>aino \u201cGreen\u201d Fingers had run to a vehicle when the lake collapsed, and  the wrecked machine took the impact of a falling block \u2014 saving him from  certain death.<\/p>\n<p>Shaking, Green came up from  the crevice underneath the block, blinked at the night sky, and muttered: \u201cI  believe in you, great and unfathomable Constant. I\u2019m sorry I every doubted in  you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And then he saw the hole in  the floor. He made his way over crushed and slippery ice to the opening, and climbed  down the rope that Mister Brown had tied to the edge.<\/p>\n<p>The two men faced each other, on the floor of the crypt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeems you got it wrong,  Green.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Green threw up his hands. \u201cOkay,  so I thought he meant a <em>graveyard<\/em> when he said \u2018<em>burial site!<\/em>\u2019 But  we found it anyway. We make a great team, eh, Brownie?\u201d He lit a suit lamp, and  let the beam glide across the gravestones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne, two, four, six, eight&#8230;\u201d  He counted to forty-three graves. \u201cThat can\u2019t be. The old man told me they were  no more than fifteen, sixteen people who stole the shipment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerhaps a lot of witnesses  also got buried here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a trick,\u201d Green said,  frustrated and tired. \u201cNow tell me, Brownie! What\u2019s the name on the marker?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWait.\u201d Brown kneeled down and  brushed crushed ice off one gravestone. The name appeared to be engraved on a  pressure switch. He carefully pushed the switch, and a humming noise came from  the floor. Brown stepped back.<\/p>\n<p>From a slit in the gravestone,  a pale hologram appeared as a sheet of light in the air. The figure of a man,  dressed in an old-fashioned uniform, stood in the light and saluted them. A  hidden speaker in the stone produced a voice, badly synchronized with the hologram\u2019s  moving lips:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Chong Li-Wei, Field  Operative, Agency for Terran Affairs!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was the name on the grave:  Chong Li-Wei \u2014 an Old Terran, by the look of the hologram. Once he had uttered  his name, the projected figure stood rigidly to attention \u2014 as if waiting for  his next orders.<\/p>\n<p>Astonished, Brown pushed his  foot down on another gravestone. It, too, projected a speaking hologram \u2014  another man in an outmoded uniform, saluting them:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Miles Simmons, Captain,  Earth Fleet!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Green followed suit and stepped  on other graves, with increasing excitement and terror. Grave after grave lit  up and spoke in its own distinct voice:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Eliza Milone, Captain,  Earth Fleet!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Akhmed Batra,  Field Operative, Agency for Terran Affairs!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Timothy England,  Private, Martian Security Forces!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Barry Francer,  Private, Martian Security Forces!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Bjorn Chavez,  Colonel, Earth Fleet!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Tuesday  Germanier, Colonel, Martian Security Forces!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finally all  forty-three holograms stood to attention, row upon row of simulated ghosts,  waiting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell?\u201d Green stood in a tense  fight-or-flight posture, his gaze flicking from the ghosts to Brown, who was  still walking among the ghosts, searching the inscriptions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s not here. She didn\u2019t  die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brown went around the edge of  the burial site, kicked away chunks of ice and slush, and uncovered a blank  gravestone. He pressed down the blank switch with his foot, and its hologram  slit lit up. But the sheet of light was empty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs that it?\u201d Green asked,  coming up behind Brown. \u201cJust open it!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Look at this elaborate  setup&#8230; the whole site could be booby-trapped.\u201d Brown was sweating underneath  his transparent mask. \u201cOne ton of weapons-grade plutonium under our feet, and  you want to risk setting it off?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCareful, my friend,\u201d  whispered Green, and backed a step. \u201cDon\u2019t destroy my fortune!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brown stood before the blank  hologram sheet, thinking, when he heard Hitt\u2019s voice. He lowered his gun but  did not drop it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you waiting for?\u201d  she asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know the name.\u201d He did not  turn around. \u201cAnd I know why it <em>has<\/em> to be that name. But I don\u2019t know  how to use it. Only she must know how.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Hitt came walking toward  the grave, her weapon-arm ready. And Brown made a quick decision.<\/p>\n<p>He removed the face mask to  make sure the words wouldn\u2019t be garbled, and placed his lips directly into the  hologram beam.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKatrina Mendez, Field  Operative, Agency for Terran Affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hitt\u2019s eyes widened, and the irises  turned red. \u201cThe bitch knew&#8230; she knew all along!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The simulated ghosts flickered  and disappeared. The nameless grave slid open and revealed a pit. From the pit  rose a square black container, similar to a coffin but twice as big, on an  elevator platform.<\/p>\n<p>The elevator stopped on the  ground and the container stood there, unlabeled, silent.<\/p>\n<p>Green wanted to hug and kiss  it; when he rushed forward to express his affection, Hitt fired a shot in the  air.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStand back!\u201d she said  urgently. \u201cNobody touches it.\u201d She raised her free hand to her lips and spoke  into the palm. \u201cI found it. My crew is down. Send someone to haul it up from  here. Are you there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An expression of fear came  over Hitt\u2019s face, and her irises turned silver. She turned around, ran for the  rope, and climbed up faster than any Old Flesh human could.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was that all about?\u201d  Green asked.<\/p>\n<p>Brown smiled. \u201cSomeone must\u2019ve  seen my flare.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Green ran for the container,  and tried to push it. He groaned and grunted, his faced darkened, and the  container refused to budge. \u201cHelp me move it, Brown! We gotta get it out of  here before it\u2019s too late!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Brownie was already  walking away toward the rope, to climb up and leave.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Browniiie!<\/em>\u201d Green  pressed his face and body against the black container, but couldn\u2019t move it at  all. Even in the Martian gravity, it was heavy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBrownie, my friend!  Don\u2019t you want to get rich?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can have my share. One  ton of plutonium pellets encased in lead. All yours. Have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd how am I going to get it  out of here, you bastard?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He gave Green a smile. \u201cI\u2019ll  leave that question to the philosopher.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the Terran climbed up from  the crypt, a furious NeoMartian yelled after him: \u201cYou know what you are,  Brownie? <em>You know what you are? Your mother had horns! You<\/em>\u2019<em>re a  stinking no-good SON OF A GOOOOAT!!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>A<\/strong><\/span>t the first hour of dawn, when the ATAF and MSF forces had surrounded Lake Carter, the airships and  the <em>Babykiller<\/em> had already taken off. The ATAF crewleader sent a report  to the Director.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMs. Mendez&#8230; there are dead  Mini-Men all over the place&#8230; but all the plutonium is here, and we\u2019ve secured  it for transport to Fleet HQ. And we found a screaming Greenie who\u2019s  threatening to kill someone named \u2018Brown\u2019 or \u2018Brownie.\u2019 He got a bit violent, so  we sedated him and took him in for questioning. But the warship Ms. Hitt stole  is gone. Traffic Control says it was headed for Earth before it went into  cloaking mode. Shall we alert the Fleet?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Minutes later, the report  arrived to Katrina Mendez\u2019 office.<\/p>\n<p>She let out a sigh of relief,  and sent a reply to Mars: \u201cDon\u2019t worry about the ship. It\u2019ll turn up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And she dictated a message to  Brown\u2019s secret address: \u201cMy dear Mr. Brown, I\u2019m prospecting for a new husband.  My last rejuvenation is now complete, and I\u2019m eager to resume my private life.  I\u2019ll offer you a dowry you cannot refuse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course, it\u2019s negotiable how many  years this proposed marriage should last&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The conclusion of the 8 part <em>A Man Called Mister Brown<\/em> serial by A.R. Yngve where Vaino &ldquo;Green&rdquo; Fingers, Mister Brown, and Ms. Hitt discover the secret of the missing plutonium. <em class=\"nobr\">&mdash; ed, N.E. Lilly<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,5],"tags":[97,98],"media":[299],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71"}],"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\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1157,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions\/1157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71"},{"taxonomy":"media","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?post=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}