{"id":75,"date":"2008-07-06T00:00:02","date_gmt":"2008-07-06T04:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/?p=75"},"modified":"2022-12-14T14:02:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T19:02:32","slug":"catch-the-starway-pass-put-it-in-your-pocketpart-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/catch-the-starway-pass-put-it-in-your-pocketpart-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part&nbsp;1"},"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 current-inactive\">Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 1<\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/catch-the-starway-pass-put-it-in-your-pocketpart-2\/\" title=\"Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 2\">Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 2<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/catch-the-starway-pass-put-it-in-your-pocketpart-3\/\" title=\"Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 3\">Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 3<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>W<\/strong><\/span>ith his body stretched fully over the white dirt of Exoterra and his hands clasped behind his neck, Harland Cherry\u2019s gaze swiveled leisurely from left to right. The moonless night sky, alive with pinholes of starlight, scrolled for the old man behind the prairie horizon like the tuneless paper roll of a Pianola. The three others busied themselves several feet away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI reckon you fellas don\u2019t think much of people like us, living out here on the edge of it all, cut off like we is. Folks must see this place as forsaken\u2014halfway to hell\u2014and it shows sometimes in our ways.\u201d Harland sat up. \u201cBut I think we\u2019re real lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow\u2019s that?\u201d one of the men asked in a brusque voice.<\/p>\n<p>Harland\u2019s grey eyes were still lost in the sky, wide as a child\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe got the stars and all the rest of creation on one side of us see,\u201d he pointed up into the night, \u201cand this here sun burning all alone on the other. Just think, if that sun was on the same side as everything else, we\u2019d never see the stars. You boys watch now, this whole planet will spin right around in a few more hours and you\u2019ll see these stars just peter out until there ain\u2019t nothing left in the sky but night. Then comes the sunrise. If that ole white fireball wasn\u2019t hanging between us and the void, every night would be just as black as a bag of assholes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The three men stopped and stared at Harland.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo I say we\u2019re lucky,\u201d he told them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou got a peculiar way of looking at things, olden,\u201d one of the men said. \u201cThe glass is always half-full with you Outridgers, ain\u2019t it? I guess it\u2019d have to be, stuck way the hell out here.\u201d He unpacked his saddlebags. One of the others poked at the fire seriously while the sound of static from frying meetsprouts on a flame-licked skillet hung in the air. Harland got to his feet and snuffed the aroma. The last of the burly trio stood at an outpost, guarding the camp.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is hard living\u2014<em>natural<\/em> living,\u201d Harland continued. \u201cIt\u2019s not for everyone, I know, but I been living this way from the beginning. I\u2019ve got to live this way.\u201d He pulled a few clumps of breadmeal from his pocket and held them at the mouth of his sectis. The beast\u2019s antennae curled down to inspect the food. It snatched a piece of the breadmeal with its mandibles and carried it into its mouth, then, opened its gaping maw, allowing the old man to hand feed it. \u201cThere you go, boy,\u201d he said, stroking the fur of its antenna. \u201cI hear you can\u2019t find real food inside the hub galaxies anymore. It\u2019s all pills, powders and pastes now.\u201d He shook his head. \u201cAin\u2019t nothing else in this world like real food. You boys will realize that once you get back home to the hub.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The men groaned unintelligibly.<\/p>\n<p>Harland rubbed at his back and eased his body down onto the blanket. He pulled off his boots and stretched out again under the wide velvet sky.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m through talking,\u201d he said, then added, \u201cFolks can live however they want, I s\u2019pose. You can live stacked up like bricks if you want to\u2014that ain\u2019t no life for me though. I <em>gotta<\/em> live this way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two of the men had fallen asleep.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo on and get you some shuteye now. We still got a ways to go before we reach town. It ain\u2019t right making you boys ride the whole way, but the fuel\u2019s been dried up for some time. I guess we always figured\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cQuiet,\u201d the watchman growled.<\/p>\n<p>He grunted out a warning to the other two men and cryptically motioned his teammates into action. The threesome moved with militaristic precision: The fire was stomped out and covered, removing that light source; Harland, the secti, and all supplies were gathered together in a small circle; and the three men formed a phalanx around everything, waiting in silence. The sound of footfalls intruded from the darkness and the great simultaneous <em>whooshing<\/em> of their dusters was followed immediately by the <em>swish<\/em> of rayzer guns being unsheathed from their holsters. Movement appeared in the deep distance from the southeast and the men stepped majestically in that direction\u2014ivory Stetsons low, winds billowing their coattails like comic strip capes, rayzers at the ready. Harland hid behind a decayed log.<\/p>\n<p>By full starlight a silhouetted figure materialized into view, striding toward the men. The tailless, twin-armed outline, and erect gait suggested the figure was not Skelt, but man. The distinctive hip bulge of a gunbelt further evinced this, as did the thin, unmistakable line of a hat brim.<\/p>\n<p>The men took aim, maneuvering into stiff poses, their bodies all straight lines set at jagged angles, meant to invisibly camouflage themselves into the mountain range behind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHold, you!\u201d the watchman called out. The figure did not answer. Instead, he continued to amble closer. \u201cI said, <em>\u2018<\/em><em>Hold<\/em>\u2019!\u201d The weapons screeched with a hummingbird flutter of high-pitched beeps, alerting the men of their readiness.<\/p>\n<p>Harland, still hiding, called out to the stranger, \u201cYou best listen to them. Y\u2019see them longcoats, don\u2019t you? These boys are sanctified, rangers\u2014<em>Order of the Black<\/em><em>Guard<\/em>\u2014from back east. They ain\u2019t the playful sort, neither. Don\u2019t give them an excuse to redball you, mister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe old man\u2019s right,\u201d one of the rangers bellowed. \u201cLive or die, stranger, your choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The arms of the shadowy figure immediately shot up. His answer serpentined into their ears as softly as if it were planted there by some direct means and only now flowered into existence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy choice? . . . Die, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The silhouette twisted and vanished. The men attempted to adjust their sights, but they no longer had a target. Their fevered eyes scanned for some hint of movement, their ears trained on any possible sound. There was none.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShow yourself,\u201d the ranger hollered out. \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Again, from everywhere and nowhere, the answer swept in, crawling up their spines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo feed the soil with your blood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Three angry bolts of crimson materialized in the darkness and streaked across the prairie like comets toward the men. The luminescent streams collided with the rangers in a lava spray, their chests bursting forth molten bone and blood that poured over their chaps. The smoke from their charred flesh rose above the fallen men before evanescing into the night.<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Harland emerged cautiously. \u201cI got nothing to do with these boys,\u201d he stammered. \u201cLike I said before, they come from somespace back east, I was just escorting them to town. Whatever beef there is \u2018twixt you fellas got nothing to do with me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is the Starway Pass?\u201d came from behind the old man. Harland flung himself around to face the stranger, still shrouded in shadow. He showed his empty palms and lifted his arms until they nearly stretched out of their sockets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never heard of it, mister,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs the Starway Pass here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI been around these parts a long time and I ain\u2019t never heard that name. I swear it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The stranger stepped out of the night and into the dying glare of the fire\u2019s embers. He was tall, bean-thin with a biscuit-colored suit and checkered vest that clung tight to the lines of his body. His slouch hat, a tawny flat-top, sat just above his eyes, the wide brim obscuring his face. But the old man could see that the outlaw\u2019s skin shimmered vermillion and gold. He stepped closer. Harland saw deep lines mapping a glistening face and dark, jeweled eyes that lent him a distinct reptilian appearance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you\u2014a goddamn Skeltie?\u201d Harland asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLomac Zhinn,\u201d came the reply, even as the creature\u2019s lips remained still. From inside his jacket, two arms of vestigial appearance reached out and pinned the old man\u2019s hands to his sides before he could pull his gun.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShow me the Starway Pass.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told you, I never heard of it. Lemme go now, there ain\u2019t no Starway Pass around here,\u201d Harland whimpered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re telling the truth?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harland nodded.<\/p>\n<p>The stranger took a long while then released his hold on the man, taking his rayzer from him and skipping it across the ground.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe you,\u201d he finally said. \u201cAnd because I do, it\u2019s a rightly pitiable fact that your death will forever be a mystery to you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With a free hand, Lomac drew his sidearm and fired a globule round straight through the old man\u2019s gut. Harland folded into the white soil and died, burbling.<\/p>\n<p>Lomac ransacked the camp, finding nothing of interest. He rolled one of the ranger\u2019s bodies over and took a seat on top of it by the remnants of the fire, stoking it back to life. A glint of metal leapt out at him from inside the fire. He kicked the woodpile and stomped it out. Then, using the dead man\u2019s hand, he sifted through the ashes. There he discovered a small, silver-chrome saucer. Lomac smiled and slipped it into his vest. He untied each sectis and sent them click-clack-clicking away, leaving the hollowed remains of the men to rot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve got to live this way,\u201d he said to the still faintly smoldering corpses. \u201cOther folks can live however they want, but I\u2019ve gotto live this way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>A<\/strong><\/span> young man sat in a tightly-fitted bib shirt with a wire-tangle of hair growing off his chin. He sank lower in the chair, one hand over his cards, the other shielding his eyes. The blond sunlight that had crept across the saloon floor was a couple hours old, but Bil-Li and the other two men at the table had yet to wrap the previous night. Each one had a set of small, cylindrical tubes depressed into the tabletop in front of them with varying amounts of liquid in each. Bil-Li\u2019s eyelids shuttered slightly as he reexamined his cards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn or out, Bil-Li?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li squinted at his hand. The tiny markings blurred and multiplied the harder he focussed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>You in or out<\/em>?\u201d The man across the table demanded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t act so damn anxious, Rory, it\u2019s a tell. I know you got something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not being anxious. I just want to get through this hand before you fall dead away right here at the table.\u201d Rory sat the hind legs of his chair back down on the floorboard. \u201cOf course I got something,\u201d he continued, under his breath. \u201cI\u2019d have to be plum foolish to try and bluff you, Bi-Li.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy\u2019s that, Rory?\u201d asked the younger man who\u2019d already folded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2019Because you can\u2019t bluff a man who doesn\u2019t give a shit about losing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li laughed, sadly. \u201cThat\u2019s a real persuasive theory you got there.\u201d He straightened himself up. \u201cAnd if I gave a shit, I might\u2019ve listened to it. But like you say\u2014\u201d Bil-Li took one of the tubes and poured a few notches of clear liquid crystal into a large canister embedded at the middle of the table. \u201cI\u2019m in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rory dealt two cards. \u201cDon\u2019t you think it\u2019s time you sold your place and moved into town, Bil-Li, started a family or something?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI <em>had<\/em> a family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFolks round here might treat you differently,\u201d Rory said, peeking at the upturned corners of his new cards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFolks around here treat everybody just how they see fit. Proximity ain\u2019t gonna change it. Things get hairy and I suspect you\u2019ll be right there with them, friend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rory gave a scowl. \u201cThat\u2019s a hell of thing to say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Bil-Li told him. \u201cI\u2019d like to be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rory\u2019s face suddenly cheered and he gave a nod to the door. Bil-Li craned his neck for a look\/see. A comely young woman\u2014strung knee-high boots, pattern-lace dress, parasol, and Saturn hat dipping down in a wave across her face, ice white from tip to toe\u2014entered the saloon with her parents. A droplet of sweat slid down her jaw, her body\u2019s only betrayal to an otherwise grand entrance. Her father spoke to the two women briefly before heading to the bar. Mother and daughter waited just inside the swinging doors.<\/p>\n<p>The younger woman\u2019s eyes found Bil-Li\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>He tipped his hat. \u201cMrs. Doil, Hannah\u2014I swear you ladies get prettier every time I see you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah stifled a smile and wound up blushing instead. Her mother looked to the bar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou gals look just fine today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell thank you kindly, Bil-Li Kay,\u201d Mrs. Doil offered skittishly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFine as cream gravy,\u201d Bil-Li said, adjusting his hat.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Doil returned. \u201cIf you\u2019re supposing that my bringing family in here while I conduct some business gives you license to make advances\u2014it don\u2019t!\u201d the stout, thickly-mustachioed man in the Skimmer hat said. \u201cWe\u2019re not ten minutes out of Sunday service and you\u2019re in here sullying my girls with your eyeballs. I should\u2019ve known better than to bring proper ladies around the likes of you. Go have your fun with Clementine Traynor, not my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li\u2019s face hinted of a smirk. \u201cApologies for my insulting behavior to you and yours\u2014especially on the Lord Mother\u2019s Day. You seen the Lord at church today, Franck? You talked to Her? Didn\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Franck Doil\u2019s whiskers bristled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m thinking She\u2019s just made-up by people like you so you can dress up on Sunday mornings and sing out loud while the rest of us heathens are trying to sleep. Hell Franck, if I\u2019d a known Sundays mattered so much to you, I would\u2019ve waited \u2018til tomorrow to sully your girls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The saloon went hush and Franck Doil\u2019s eyes darted with embarrassment. Bil-Li kicked the floor and lifted his wiry frame out of the chair. He approached the man with an outstretched hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDammit all, Franck, don\u2019t get your back up. All I said was your girls look fetching in their new dresses, that\u2019s all. I didn\u2019t mean no harm by it. Go home and enjoy the day with your family. Don\u2019t mind me, I\u2019m just tired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd drunk,\u201d Mrs. Doil said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, maybe a little drunk, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Franck spoke low. He pushed the words out past grit teeth. \u201cI would ask that you keep your eyes off my girls. You\u2019re nothing but a mudsill, Bil-Li Kay, still full as a tick at eight in the morning. Sure as you\u2019re standing here, your folks are in their graves rolling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rory pulled at the back of Bil-Li\u2019s shirt, but the young man shrugged him away. \u201cI would ask<em>you<\/em> to keep their names out of your mouth. This whole town owes them that much, and a damn sight more. As for your gals, it ain\u2019t my <em>eyes<\/em> you should be worrying about, Franck\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The older man pushed a finger into Bil-Li\u2019s face. \u201cHobble your lip, boy, or I\u2019ll have some satisfaction!\u201d His skin flushed bright as a bulb as he moved his hand to his belt. \u201cIt might\u2019ve done you some good to come to church instead of living wild out on that farm. Your daddy should\u2019ve taken a lash to your backside, but he was too busy dealing with them Skelties\u2014and look where it got him. Yep, I reckon your folks done you a powerful disservice raising you like they did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked you to keep from bringing my folks into it, Franck.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Franck Doil quickly drew his rayzer and buried it under Bil-Li\u2019s jaw.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s <em>Mister Doil<\/em>, boy. Don\u2019t ever forget what kind of man is standing in front of you.\u201d Franck twisted the barrel into the soft of Bil-Li\u2019s neck. \u201cWhy do you think I opened a gun shop, Bil-Li? You don\u2019t sell rayzers without knowing your way around one. I\u2019ve killed men.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know you have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Franck grimaced and raised the pistol up to Bil-Li\u2019s cheek. The skin bunched up around the young man\u2019s eye, partially closing it. He released the safety.<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li could hear the excited hum of Franck\u2019s piece warming. He moved his hand slowly down to his waist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo ahead,\u201d Franck said. \u201cSkin it and watch me melt your head clean off. I heard what they say about you, but you ain\u2019t <em>that<\/em> fast.\u201d He grinned with the smugness only a man with a drawn gun can possess. \u201cI got a real lively hand myself, and you\u2019re testing me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li\u2019s hand edged away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDrilling choo birds off of a fence post is easy\u2014redballing a man is different\u2014it takes some doing. Tell me Bil-Li, you ever killed someone?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li said, \u201cI\u2019m not like you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Franck lowered his rayzer. \u201cYou sure as hell aren\u2019t.\u201d He carefully stepped back, holstered his piece, then turned and motioned his wife and daughter to leave.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike I said, \u2018I ain\u2019t like you\u2019,\u201d Bil-Li told the man. \u201c<em>I\u2019m<\/em> not a coward . . . <em>Franck<\/em>.\u201d His voice was slow and clear, even as his nerves trembled.<\/p>\n<p>Franck turned back and fumbled for his gun. He held it on the young man. \u201cGet your ass outside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Franck led Bil-Li out into the morning followed by the patrons of Xebo\u2019s saloon. The two men stepped onto the plank porch walkway and Franck gave the young man a hard push off the steps into the street. A crowd quickly amassed from all corners of the town and Bil-Li could feel the air growing thick with malice. Franck bounded down the saloon steps and onto the blanched soil with his second in tow, a big-bearded townie by the name of Trick Jim Kettenden.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI won\u2019t duel,\u201d Bil-Li told him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuits me fine, I\u2019ll shoot you anyway,\u201d Franck said. \u201dTime to settle up. You can stand there and piss yourself or just stand there and bleed\u2014makes no difference to me. It\u2019s better if you take an active part. Either way, you\u2019re gonna wear the river.\u201d Franck turned to the townspeople. \u201cWhat say you good people of Neo\/Providence, does thirty paces sound fair?\u201d The town cheered its approval. \u201cThirty apiece, that\u2019s sixty paces, it\u2019s a long way, Bil-Li. My eyes aren\u2019t as keen as they used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li leaned in. \u201cTalk as loud as you want, you lily cur, I\u2019m not negotiating rules,\u201d he whispered. \u201cYou shoot me and it\u2019s murder. Stop this madness now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Franck hesitated and, looking into Bil-Li\u2019s glazed, veinous eyes, turned to the throng and announced, \u201cThe terms have been agreed upon, thirty paces a man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trick Jim lined the men up back-to-back. \u201cYou heeled, Bil-Li?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s ready, Jim, just count it off,\u201d Franck said. He inspected his rayzer\u2014eyeing the crystalline liquid in the cylinder and testing the power cells. Bil-Li fingered at the gun in his belt, but never checked it otherwise. Franck could feel the young man fidgeting behind him, struggling to stand in place. He leaned over his shoulder and told him, with sympathy in his voice,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll end you quick, Bil-Li. I won\u2019t miss. They say you only feel it for a second when the red line hits you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI won\u2019t let this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s <em>happening<\/em>,\u201d Franck said. He looked off into the sky. \u201cI admit your family was wronged, but I\u2019m going to take all that pain away forever, you just let me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li was sweating like bad meat. He suddenly darted into the crowd for cover, but the townsfolk spread out when he approached them as if there were an opposing magnetic field all around him. Trick Jim put his gun on him and Bil-Li sulked back along the dirty white street to where Franck waited.<\/p>\n<p>He couldn\u2019t stop the duel.<\/p>\n<p>Jim instructed the men to turn their backs to one another again and started the thirty-pace count. Bil-Li\u2019s dark eyes, closed by the sun, fought to sharpen themselves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThree&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFour&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li drew his rayzer and spun around just before the fifth step. A twine-thin round of beaded plasma blasted from his tiny rayzer gun and snaked through the air, connecting with the back of Franck Doil and severing his backbone. The man\u2019s body instantly tightened and fell as careless as an old oak. The chalk dirt kicked up and mixed with the thin pillar of smoke that rose out of the hole in his center\u2014a shadow soul trapped in fog. He only felt it for a second.<\/p>\n<p>Gasps echoed everywhere. Bil-Li locked his aim onto Trick Jim before the man could grab the pistol from his belt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSet \u2018em free,\u201d he told Jim. The brawny man unbuckled his gun belt and tossed it up onto the awning of Xebo\u2019s. An uncertain moment passed before Bil-Li let out a scream and swung his gun onto the crowd. The townspeople cowered as he waved the barrel nonchalantly past them. Hannah Doil and her mother watched from in front of the church with the other good women and children of Neo\/Providence. Bil-Li trained his sights on the cluster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou all would have me shot dead in the street,\u201d he shouted. \u201cWhy?\u201d His voice cracked slightly. \u201cBecause I remind you of what you are? Is it too much to bear? Tell me that\u2019s what it is because at least then I\u2019d understand it!\u201d He scanned their faces. \u201cI will haunt this town until the day I die,\u201d he said. \u201cBut first things first\u2014who\u2019s sixty paces away? I\u2019m going to show you all what I\u2019m capable of at sixty paces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li took careful aim and fired a blast line directly into the crowd outside the church. The laser streak zipped through the air toward a wailing mass of children. Amidst the cries, the ray disintegrating into a flaccid shower of sparks only a few feet in front a tow-headed boy, his blue eyes wide.<\/p>\n<p>The street fell silent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHad this made up special\u2014concentrated low level stream, minimal spray,\u201d Bil-Li said, holding out the gun that was not much larger than his own hand. His voice got quiet. \u201cI\u2019d use it to get rid of jackhops. Mama liked it\u2014it\u2019d do the job on anything up close without setting her whole garden on fire.\u201d The sadness in his voice was replaced with anger. \u201cBut it can\u2019t so much as give you a blister from sixty paces!\u201d he told them. He shook his head. \u201cFranck Doil knew that. That man would of put me down like a dog, and all you people can think to do is watch.\u201d Bil-Li shoved the gun back into his holster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should\u2019ve said something, Bil-Li, before you killed him,\u201d Jim said. \u201cTell me how Franck was supposed to know your piece was just for garden jacks?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The town murmured in agreement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s the one who made it for me,\u201d Bil-Li said.<\/p>\n<p>The young man walked the center of the street past Franck Doil\u2019s corpse. He stopped briefly and stared down at the dead man. \u201cYou were right, Franck,\u201d he said. \u201cIt ain\u2019t nothing like drilling choo birds\u2014a man\u2019s got to <em>learn<\/em> how to kill, just like anything else.\u201d He crouched down beside the body and whispered. \u201cI guess I\u2019m a quick study.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li unhitched his sectis from in front of Xebo\u2019s and mounted the hard-armored beast. As the townsfolk dispersed, he rode across the street to Clementine Traynor. He reached his hand down to her without a word. She grabbed hold of his arm and Bil-Li pulled her up into the saddle behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and nestled her head into his shoulder blade, filling her nostrils with the stale smell of rotgut whiskey and day-old sweat that Bil-Li shed like a snakeskin. She smiled a hidden smile and held on tighter as the sectis picked up speed and a cool zephyr ran through her clothes.<\/p>\n<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 current-inactive\">Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 1<\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/catch-the-starway-pass-put-it-in-your-pocketpart-2\/\" title=\"Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 2\">Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 2<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/catch-the-starway-pass-put-it-in-your-pocketpart-3\/\" title=\"Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 3\">Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 3<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>L. Christopher DelGuercio brings us this three part serial. In part 1 we&rsquo;re introduced to Lomac Zhinn and Bil-Li on the planet of Exoterra. <em class=\"nobr\">&mdash; ed, N.E. Lilly<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,5],"tags":[118],"media":[299],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75"}],"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\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1152,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions\/1152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75"},{"taxonomy":"media","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?post=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}