Doc's Place

Chapter 8 | Part 1

Wednesday, October 3, 1984

Wince at the cramping in my belly and gag at the bile in my throat as I leave my scat beside a tree. Extend my rear claws and scratch the ground to cover my scent. Leaping from rock to rock, I return to the fresh kill. Nuzzle the rich, bloody smell and growl a warning at the watching wolves.

Roll out of bed in the dark, still feeling nauseous. The mountain lion dream leaves me sick to my stomach until I move around a little. It's always a warning that something bad is about to happen.

For a moment, I`m confused by Lucy's absence before I remember she took a cab home last night. Stretch for a few minutes before pulling on my running clothes. The pain in my right shoulder from playing racquetball a couple days ago is still there, but it is subsiding. Strap the katana to my back where it is easily accessible over my right shoulder. The loaded Colt M1911A1 goes into the back of my pants.

Unfinished houses, jagged in gibbous moonlight, loom silent and cold. After the cat dream, I am not surprised to hear the whir of the guards' electric cart approaching so I stand waiting in the street.

The guard is one of the first-generation Japanese who have immigrated to attend school in the United States and work at the dojo. They also provide security for Baron Ranch and Pere offices. Dressed entirely in black like me, he carries a katana strapped to his back. Instead of a handgun, he wears the smaller wakisashi at his hip. He explains that the guards at the Pere offices killed two hakujin minutes ago as they tried to enter the building through the parking entrance. Both of the white men were carrying arms and explosives. Kuzuo, the head of security at Pere, expects an attack on me this morning.

We run through the back entrance and into the Sierra foothills behind the Baron Ranch development. We cross the street to a wide trail, easy to see in the moonlight. The trail climbs the slope steadily, winding among the tall trees and huge boulders. This is familiar ground and I maintain a fast, steady pace that eats up the miles.

The guard runs at a short distance behind me, completely at ease with the uphill run. It is part of his daily conditioning and he is young.

We reach a cluster of rocks along a ridgeline'the goal of my run'as the first light of day dawns. We pause to look at the trees and rocks about us.

He leads the run back, setting a faster pace now that we are running downhill. He wants to get me inside as soon as possible. Where the trail reaches the street, he pauses and looks carefully at the surrounding trees, up and down the street and at the gate, taking his time. Finally, he trots across to the gate and looks inside.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

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Doc's Place Chat
© 2008, Michel Grover.
Chapter 8 | Part 1
Summer 2008

Mic :

In the left frame, I'm posting Doc's Place, one of my copyrighted stories. I'll post a part of a chapter, wait for a while so people may leave comments or questions and then post those I find interesting.

Raj :

Lion seeing wolves in dream will be same wolves what seeing in your dreams of others morning?

Jill :

Possibly, Raj, but I don't have a way of knowing because animals in the wild don't recognize one another by sight. In my dreams, the lion can distinguish individual wolves by scent and feel but that does not have the same significance to the lion that it has to the wolves.

Ian :

Have you ever discussed your dreams with someone who has knowledge and experience with such predators in the wild?

Jill :

A couple times, but it doesn't work because such naturalists require more detail than I'm willing to provide during one sitting in a casual conversation.

Suze :

Animals of different wild species feel one another?

Jill :

They do. The lion knows it will receive only mild injuries while it can kill or severely wound multiple wolves, even during a coordinated attack. In this situation, the wolves are not hungry or desperate enough to make such an attack.

Maria :

Different topic: since the Pere security chief expects an attack on you this morning, why don't you skip your run?

Carlos :

I'll take that one. Jill wants to draw them out for a couple reasons: one is to discover the identity of the man who hired them and the other is to put a stop to their watching Pere headquarters.

Maria :

Uh, hello. Isn't that dangerous?

Jill :

Yes it is, but these people knew the work was dangerous when they accepted the contract to come after us. Alice can tell you that contract hits are always dangerous.

Maria :

What are you talking about?

Carlo :

That's amusing, taken out of context. Jill assumes Maria means that this work is dangerous for the people doing the contract hit.

A question on a different topic: are these guards at Baron Ranch part of the 100 Japanese orphans you bring over to the United States every year?

Jill :

Yes, they are.

Carlo :

So, they're signing up for work they know could cause them injury or even death?

Jill :

Yes

Maria :

Are you going to answer my question?

Carlos :

Pay attention, Maria. She did. Another, different question, Jill: once you knew that one attack had taken place earlier at Pere, did it occur to you to weapon up differently?

Jill :

For a run in the woods in low light, I didn't want to be lugging a deer rifle or carrying a shotgun in my hands. As you've probably surmised by now, I don't rely primarily on sight in combat anyway. A rifle locks you into a purely visual mindset, which is far too limiting for moving quickly and quietly the woods. Open country, sure, but not in this situation.

Carlos :

So a bow or crossbow is out because it's visual and therefore limiting?

Carlo :

Same with suriken? They're silent, light and easy to carry.

Jill :

It's the same with any projectile or throwing weapons. I had trained with throwing stars ten years before this incident but in the woods, even light branches can deflect such weapons. Beyond that, however, if I have an opportunity such as this, I'm not going to waste it on either throwing or projectile weapons. I need to get in close with the blade.

Alan :

An opportunity? Is that what you call this—an opportunity?

Jill :

Of course. What would you call it?

Carlos :

So, you are saying it's much more satisfying to kill up close and personal. Holy shit Jill, I never thought of that. You really are a freakin' psychopath.

Jules :

Wow, that is so gnarly. Close enough to smell `em.

Jill :

I can smell them at 3-4 meters. I need to be close enough to touch them.

Alice :

I've never understood the necessity of that.

Doug :

Are you still that way today as you approach 60?

Jill :

Oh yes.

Cyril :

So you've been anticipating this for some time. When the other people at Pere asked why you didn't get rid of the crews watching headquarters, you did not say that you actually wanted them to come after you. However, that is what you really want, isn't it?

Jill :

Correct

Suze :

I'm blown away. You don't consider this threatening at all. You want this, don't you, Jill?

Jill :

Desperately. I live for this.

Maria :

Oh, so when I asked you earlier if that was dangerous, you thought I meant for your attackers?

Jill :

Why else would you ask?

Benny :

Notice the haiku, Lucia?

Lucia :

Yes, it's apt—stark and foreboding: Unfinished houses, jagged in gibbous moonlight, loom silent and cold. Yours, Mic?

Mic :

Jill's

Amalie :

So our psychotic, serial killer not only witnesses apparitions in broad daylight and dreams she's a predator, but writes verses as well. Her mystical traits portend conflict and often violence, but do not convince us of either her avowed skepticism or atheism.

Benny :

Don't bother Jill, Amalie. She's busy writing verses.

Lucia :

Jill won't respond to your teasing. She's sound asleep, dreaming she's a predator.

Amalie :

In fact, you're both wrong. Jill is busy debating philosophy with her 14-year-old self, who at times pisses Jill off with her incessant questions.

Carlo :

Watch out, kids. Jill might pop out of the woodwork and kick your collective asses.

Alice :

You people must approach the impending peril in this story with the proper trepidation. Mic has gone to a lot of trouble to convince you that all hell is about to break loose and all you do is mock the dangerous and deadly Jill Price.