Renegade T.M. Read Online Free Page B
Author: Bernard Langley
there? !”
The room was silent.
“ E r , hello ,” said Pete.
“ Pete Martin ,” boomed the voice , “ you have shown yourself capable of descent at great speed, do you choose to represent your planet ?”
Before h e had been given enough time to answer, the heron, who up until that point had been most uninterested in the whole affair, suddenly decided to have its say, and launching away from the boulder, then started swooping around the room, squawking loudly as it went.
“ What is this ? ” said the voice , “do you, heron, wish to represent your world ?”
“ Now hang on a minute ,” he interrupted , “ you can't possibly think that a heron is up to the task ?! ”
“ The heron of which you speak, has shown itself to be most capable of descent at great speed. You, Mr Martin, have also demonstrated your considerable intellect .”
“ Because I threw myself off a car park? !”
“ Yes ,” replied the voice humourlessly.
“ Look ,” he began in heartfelt earnest , “ I'm not sure what ’s exactly going on here, but I am quite certain that somewhere along the lines someone has made the most magnificent blunder, and that in terms of my life, not one second of it was supposed to take place here. So, I propose that you drop me off at the next port of call , where we can then begin to forget this little muddle, say our farewells and proceed on our separate paths. You can then get on with doing whatever it is that disembodied voices do, perhaps pursue a career in film trailers or some form of conscience grooming, whilst I can go in search of a strong cup of tea and an affordable psychiatrist. You know this all makes perfect sense, so come on pal, how about it ?”
The room was silent.
“ Er , hello ,” said Pete.
“ Mr Martin, we have decided that your planet is too insignificant to exist, and we therefore intend to vaporise it. However, we offer you one chance at reversing this fate, by convincing us that your planet, and the life that occupies it, really does deserve its place in our universe. This defence can be instrumented by either one of you, the heron, the boulder, or you Mr Martin .”
Pete took a moment to absorb this information.
“ So you're going to destroy the earth, unless a heron, a boulder, or myself, can talk you out of it ?”
“ Yes ,” confirmed the voice.
“ Even though a boulder can't talk, a heron has a very limited vocabulary indeed, and I'm uncertain as to accept anything as certain ever again ?”
“ Squawk ,” confirmed the heron.
“ Right ,” he declared , “ I better do it then .”
“ Fine ,” began the voice ,” if you would just f ollow the lights outside, we will shortly begin the trial .”
The voice ended and he was left standing dumbstruck in the room. The heron had calmed down, and was now perched on one of the metal beams that cr ossed the ceiling, watching him with an expressio n that could only be pity. He noticed this, and pulling a loose chip from the impassive boulder, then hurled it with all of his might at the heron, in an attempt to knock the bird from its both real and imagined high-ground. The heron however, proved more than a match for the earth's representative, and side-stepping at the last moment, the stone then ricocheted off the metal beam only to adopt a return angle and ulti mately impact with Pete’s left knee . Limping, Pete made his way out of the room, to where some lights would show him where to go.
2.
““ Hey there space heads, it's your old mate Slip here, broadcasting today from the Milky Way, with hit after hit designed to enlarge the mind. That was Superego with Space may be Big, buy my Head is Bigger, and I just know that all you funk-stars would have dug it, if only there existed a spade big enough! Today folks we're talking about the Co-leen, are they evil, misguided, or just mad, mad, mad?! And if you want to have your say, just give us a shout here at
The room was silent.
“ E r , hello ,” said Pete.
“ Pete Martin ,” boomed the voice , “ you have shown yourself capable of descent at great speed, do you choose to represent your planet ?”
Before h e had been given enough time to answer, the heron, who up until that point had been most uninterested in the whole affair, suddenly decided to have its say, and launching away from the boulder, then started swooping around the room, squawking loudly as it went.
“ What is this ? ” said the voice , “do you, heron, wish to represent your world ?”
“ Now hang on a minute ,” he interrupted , “ you can't possibly think that a heron is up to the task ?! ”
“ The heron of which you speak, has shown itself to be most capable of descent at great speed. You, Mr Martin, have also demonstrated your considerable intellect .”
“ Because I threw myself off a car park? !”
“ Yes ,” replied the voice humourlessly.
“ Look ,” he began in heartfelt earnest , “ I'm not sure what ’s exactly going on here, but I am quite certain that somewhere along the lines someone has made the most magnificent blunder, and that in terms of my life, not one second of it was supposed to take place here. So, I propose that you drop me off at the next port of call , where we can then begin to forget this little muddle, say our farewells and proceed on our separate paths. You can then get on with doing whatever it is that disembodied voices do, perhaps pursue a career in film trailers or some form of conscience grooming, whilst I can go in search of a strong cup of tea and an affordable psychiatrist. You know this all makes perfect sense, so come on pal, how about it ?”
The room was silent.
“ Er , hello ,” said Pete.
“ Mr Martin, we have decided that your planet is too insignificant to exist, and we therefore intend to vaporise it. However, we offer you one chance at reversing this fate, by convincing us that your planet, and the life that occupies it, really does deserve its place in our universe. This defence can be instrumented by either one of you, the heron, the boulder, or you Mr Martin .”
Pete took a moment to absorb this information.
“ So you're going to destroy the earth, unless a heron, a boulder, or myself, can talk you out of it ?”
“ Yes ,” confirmed the voice.
“ Even though a boulder can't talk, a heron has a very limited vocabulary indeed, and I'm uncertain as to accept anything as certain ever again ?”
“ Squawk ,” confirmed the heron.
“ Right ,” he declared , “ I better do it then .”
“ Fine ,” began the voice ,” if you would just f ollow the lights outside, we will shortly begin the trial .”
The voice ended and he was left standing dumbstruck in the room. The heron had calmed down, and was now perched on one of the metal beams that cr ossed the ceiling, watching him with an expressio n that could only be pity. He noticed this, and pulling a loose chip from the impassive boulder, then hurled it with all of his might at the heron, in an attempt to knock the bird from its both real and imagined high-ground. The heron however, proved more than a match for the earth's representative, and side-stepping at the last moment, the stone then ricocheted off the metal beam only to adopt a return angle and ulti mately impact with Pete’s left knee . Limping, Pete made his way out of the room, to where some lights would show him where to go.
2.
““ Hey there space heads, it's your old mate Slip here, broadcasting today from the Milky Way, with hit after hit designed to enlarge the mind. That was Superego with Space may be Big, buy my Head is Bigger, and I just know that all you funk-stars would have dug it, if only there existed a spade big enough! Today folks we're talking about the Co-leen, are they evil, misguided, or just mad, mad, mad?! And if you want to have your say, just give us a shout here at
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