Marianne

By Vincent Cleaver

A Ranger comes to Earth looking for a missing resaercher and experiences severe culture shock. Earthlings are strange and deadly folk...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vincent Cleaver
• Release date: Jun 2, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458069009

Vincent Cleaver

Vincent L. Cleaver works in a factory in Clayton DE, as an assembler and electrician, and likes to write on the back of used paper at breaks and lunch-time (plus fold and blow up an occasional origami rabbit, or draw a planet map). He mostly writes sci-fi, with a little fantasy and horror.

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Marianne

Published by Vincent L. Cleaver at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 Vincent L. Cleaver

Marianne Boyle was a Ranger, and her current mission had brought her to Earth. She had been on Earth for only a few weeks, traveling about and gathering information. She was human, but not of Earth, and so she found every detail of life, on Earth, alien. She took a job as a waitress in a greasy spoon, following a few leads. In this small city on the west coast of North America, there might be a facility where the United States government kept the alien technology they had recovered, and the scout she was looking for.

It wasn’t glamorous work, and for that and other reasons, she was tired. She walked past an alley way before she realized that she had heard a woman crying out. She stopped and retraced her steps. A pimp was slapping one of his prostitutes around, apparently for not making enough money. This was all in the briefing but the reality was not the same as a dispassionate report. When the prostitute fell, Marianne frowned. Her orders were to not interfere.

Remember, whatever you may see, would happen even if you were not there. The mission comes first. Someone is counting on you to rescue her. Bring her home. Karen Boyle, Marianne's mother was a Ranger as well, like her father, before her. She had to have known exactly how hard to follow that advice would be.

What do you want, bitch!? The man called to her, standing at the mouth of the alley. Marianne walked towards him, noting the slick asphalt and garbage, the poor lighting. Bad ground, bad idea.

You are very rude, and hate women.

What're you, my social worker? The pimp raised his hand to strike her.

Marianne blocked his open fist, and back-handed him, hard. He fell into the garbage. She turned to help the prostitute up.

Why the hell did you do that? He's just going to be even more pissed off, and take it out on me. Why didn't you mind your own business? She went to help her pimp.

Marianne walked away, muttering in Ilshani, (What a messed up planet.) There was a click, and she spun around. The pimp, now back on his feet, had