People Used Hard

By Mary Ellen Wall

Book 5 begins in a tragic meeting with Elise's Papa, a new complication in this interwoven story. Never fear, he survives with quiet strength. Naomi begs to show her reformation. Hmmm. Many changes in this book, with connections and some new crises! Let's follow Elise in her chaotic journey across the lightest highs and the darkest lows in her d

• Language: English
• Publisher: Flint Springs Publishing
• Release date: Jan 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781945937156

Mary Ellen Wall

Roaming from Egypt to the Philippines to Holland to the Hebrides to Tasmania to a tiny Indian Ocean atoll and to points between opened my eyes to others. Being a US Navy Machinist working on nuclear submarines widened my technical knowhow. A few degrees grew my understanding of form and substance. Building my log cabin in the Kentucky woods gave me a refuge from the world's turmoil. Brewing my own ale, bitter, porter, stout, wine, cider, kyser and mead (and drinking it) made me ready to spin some stories.

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Table of Contents

People Used Hard Ready

PEOPLE USED HARD

ELISE T'HOOT GALACTIC ADVENTURE

BOOK FIVE

MARY ELLEN WALL

Flint Springs Publishing

Horse Branch, Kentucky

Copyright © 2019 by Mary Ellen Wall.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Mary Ellen Wall/Flint Springs Publishing

www.maryellenwall.com

Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

Book Layout ©2017BookDesignTemplates.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019912034

Ordering Information:

Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the Special Sales Department at the address above.

People Used Hard / Mary Ellen Wall. -- 1st ed.

ISBN 978-1-9459370-9-5

To Barto, the lovely black cat saved from the pound. He is a constant comfort and undoubtedly lucky.

Forward, forward let us range,

Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change.

―Alfred, Lord Tennyson

one

VOTE!

"Citizens of Tenembras, I am Edwin Hotchkiss, Topside Commander, speaking for your planetary leadership. You are governed by what amounts to a military dictatorship, with me as the Dictator. I don't wear that title well, it is a poor fit. For years I have wanted to give you, the citizens, a voice in the way resources are used, a voice in the way justice is administered, a voice in the way property and rights are determined. Now that we are free from the yoke of tyrants, my desire is no longer a yearning but is now a real possibility.

"I am not alone in wishing this transition; multiple petitions show how dear this choice is to you. Citizens, I am pleased to announce Tenembras will hold planet-wide local elections for governance. The protocols for establishing voting districts and candidacy are available on Tenembras.gov along with tutorials for the democratic processes based on the premise that each person aged eighteen and older may vote. This site also contains many examples of governing systems, though no single one of these is intended to be favored.

"The first election will be for representatives that will determine the shape of our unified government and establish the offices needed as well as the necessary details to implement this government, a Planetary Congress. Any of our citizens of the voting age of eighteen are eligible to represent his or her fellows. To facilitate orderly proceedings, preliminary districts are assigned based on population centers such that one representative from each district will meet Topside for these deliberations. I will chair the proceedings as the Topside representative and shall have my single vote.

"This is a momentous occasion for Tenembras and I urge each and every citizen to study and discuss this matter carefully. Polling places are in construction now and election monitors are in training to prevent fraud and abuse. Candidates may begin forming parties and garnering support immediately. Run-off elections to reduce the candidate field to no more than three per district will be held the first day of August and the election by simple majority for the one representative for your district will be held on the first day of October.

"This process will not be faultless and I expect disagreements and unforeseen issues to arise. The men and women who have thus far served to govern Tenembras have won our gratitude for bringing us to this point and have established the bylaws for this effort. I have appointed a panel of nine exemplary citizens to arbitrate issues not covered by those bylaws and to settle disputes. These offices will dissolve upon the establishment of those new positions determined by your Planetary Congress representatives.

I have the greatest admiration for the citizens of Tenembras and have the fervent hope that this democratic process will lead us all to a world where liberty and justice for the people and by the people rule. Let your voices be heard.

TWO

IK OOK

Mr. Droop, Ricky inquired icily, can you tell me where Elise has gone? He'd found the fellow perusing the fruit in the shuttle's only mess area before the breakfast rush. He'd already been around the outside of the shuttle and saw the sky showing signs of the coming cinnamon-colored dawn.

Wolfgang, obviously off guard by the attitude, gaped with a furrowed brow for two full seconds, then shook his head slowly while assembling what one might assume was his 'man to be reckoned with' demeanor. "Sir, she left me here in the cafeteria yesterday, saying she had work to do. By the way, I hope you don't mind my monopolizing her time yesterday; all the time she was there, prior to yesterday, that is, she was off limits by order of the Angatkuq and I was beside myself to meet a countryman, er, woman, and speak Nederlands to someone who would actually understand it because while these northern languages are really intriguing and its such a treat to fill your mouth up with those impossibly long words, well, she felt like home, well, not touchy felt, mind you, but..."

Ricky held up a hand to stop the ramble. Perhaps it was the same for her and I apologize for my rudeness, I know what it is to yearn for the lilt of the ain country. Oddly, from what I've seen so far in my travels, there's a Dutchman peeping from every shadow, ten to every one from the British Isles.

Droop enhanced his cultured tone. Britain did not attempt to be independent harbingers of new hope in the deteriorating world and Scotland was not in the forefront of technologies shared across the world, even the banned places. True, there were villains among us, we are human, but most of them still pumped resources into the work at hand, their villainy reserved for those who paid them well for it.

The man seemed unstoppable, so Ricky got two cups and held them up as he motioned his head at the industrial coffee urn. Droop nodded without interrupting his oration. They sat at an empty table.

No offense, Crannog, but we were never a Patriot ally, indeed barely in the Eurussian chaos, and we challenged the status quo regardless of the threats and innuendos from the tyrants of America and of Eurussia. You will find the diaspora from the new Atlantis carrying on our traditions of windows without curtains to hide behind, constant learning and innovation, and quite importantly, rearing our children with knowledge that the Dutch make history; this currently manifests in many as the desire to pull the world from the brink of anarchy; sorry if such brazen defiance makes you uneasy. He sipped his coffee and smiled unreservedly.

I am humbled, sir; I have never understood why Holland was always spoken of with venom by some and praise by others, rarely anything betwixt; you have shed some light on why Elise refuses to listen to reason, why she doesn't see paradigm destruction as more than a hindrance.

Wolf peeled a banana. "Do you believe this? Real bananas? I have craved fruits but especially bananas for years, too many to count. Mmmm. Oh yes, Mevrouw t'Hoot. Elise is a special case; the horticultural marvels her mother produced to accelerate adaptation to the changing climate were renowned in their viability rates and their nutritive value. Mmmm. Oh, that was good, I shall fill my pockets. Sorry, yes, her other illustrious parent. You would find no more recognizable idol to people outside the American, Chinese and Eurussian seats of power than her father, the international water works lead engineer and director, a maker of monuments to challenge Poseidon himself. She has large shoes to fill, Mevrouw t'Hoot, ja. I think he did have big shoes, I saw him in an interview but that was at the inner seawall and he probably had overshoes on. A big man, Meneer t'Hoot, ja."

Wolfgang, right now I'd like to know where his daughter is because of that propensity she has to leap into perilous activities. If you have not seen her since yesterday afternoon and I certainly have not, the next person to ask is Bartolommeo San Luis. You're welcome to accompany me; Barto's the Chief of the Seneca City Police and her best friend.

They found Barto not ten steps away, smartly dressed in his ordinary yet seemingly tailored khaki jumpsuit and gleaming boots, thanking the man at the counter for the cup of real coffee.

"Señor San Luis, como estas?"

"Ricky, hola, bien, bien. You know I got my English back this morning, all the last few days my mind been going dark when I try to speak and that made the late Captain Entwistle very unhappy."

Wait one moment, please, I was unaware real coffee was available. Ricky and Wolfgang thanked the young man for their fresh coffees and followed Barto to a small table; it was only now dawn but the place was starting to fill up with many faces, many of them troubled, faces that Ricky didn't recognize.

Barto, this is Wolfgang Droop, an environmentalist and advocate for the peoples of the far north, many of whom are stranded on the high desert between Berkeley and the south coast of California. He is part of the cultural epic that is Holland with our Elise.

"That Elise, si. Good to meet you, Señor Droop, I know Elise had to be happy to find a gato with the same spots. He sipped the coffee, smelling the steam with a pained expression that lasted only a second, followed by a wistful curl of the lip. He swirled the coffee, gulped some and set the cup down. What time her and Lottie got back last night?"

The thought of Charlotte and his sweetheart together in a war zone rattled Ricky. Barto, where did they go, my Elise and Miss Floating Feather, the woman who splattered blood and gore three meters up the library walls, with gray matter adhering to the ceiling? I would rather have missed that report, particularly with Wing providing nuanced commentary to the vids, but that's the picture I now have in my mind.

Barto savored the coffee. "She knows how to use that machado of hers, she call it a tomahawk, you should see her throw that razor sharp thing into the air spinning and catch it; she can hit a target like the damn thing was laser-guided. Is okay, no fighting today because Sabatini dropped them off at the greenhouses, Hermana say she needed samples. She gotta be around here, we finish these cafes mas fina and we find her and me novia Lottie."

I've already looked around, let's find Sabatini. Ricky drained his cup, smacked his lips and set out, the others perforce following but bringing their cups with them as far as the last recycle receptacle before taking the door out.

Sabatini and Kathy sat cross-legged on the ramp of the Crenna involved in an intimate conversation, both looking up as the men approached.

Kathy, radiant, made a remark to her companion and they stretched out and stood by the ramp.

Sabatini swung his open palm out toward his craft, a more relaxed face than Ricky remembered seeing before. Where to, gents? My flitter is at your command.

Ricky had to smile at them, both having earned a bit of happiness. So sorry to interrupt, but have you seen Elise?

Barto added, And Lottie?

Sabatini dropped his hand and got a thoughtful look. I dropped them at the perimeter gate nearest the greenhouse complex yesterday afternoon and watched them get safely inside. I spent the rest of the day with Aphrodite here and a selection of your Amigos on formidable Volcan Osorno. Bravery, expertise and victory aside, you want to pop over?

Yes. He noted that the pilot seemed to ken that he'd forgotten to pick them back up.

The trip wasn't long, but they passed some rugged terrain and evidence of some of the small explosions they'd heard yesterday and through the night, probably from setting off the landmines rather than attempting to defuse them. At the southern end of the expansive medical camp, the greenhouses glistened in the new sun.

Soon they made the gate clearances and saw a tent city around the shuttle with medics hovering over cots and hundreds of men and women on folding stools or sitting or lying on what looked like huge sheets on the ground. Sabatini made inquiries and they entered the shuttle, packed with uniformed personnel and row upon row of patients. Sabatini waited to be noticed, clearly uncomfortable.

Barto grabbed a heavily freckled fellow with dark circles under his eyes darting past them. Hey, you seen two white civilian females, came in last night? Thin and thinner?

Uh, yeah, all the way to the back in the veg ward. He wriggled away.

" Señor Sabatini, we got it now, muchos gracias!"

With a quick wave, the pilot left.

They slowly wandered into the dimly lit rear ward, afraid to stumble or disturb a patient. Barto saw Lottie administering a shot to a very short, pale woman who stared vacantly.

She saw him as she put the gun back into the case and ran to him. Chief! And friends. She hugged Barto, who rocked her back and forth and crooned in her ear. She started explaining the shots to him, saying, …last round…

Ricky and Wolfgang, seeing better now in the poor light, made their way past silent suffering in all shapes, sizes and colors until coming upon a cot with a tall blond man laid out stiff and Elise asleep in her chair with her head resting on his arm, her fingers anchored around his stiff hand.

The man opened his eyes and glanced down to her, then focused on Ricky who’d come nearly close enough to touch her. Ricky stopped, arrested by the haunted visage accentuated by the strap across the poor sod's forehead.

Get her away from me, he rasped, take her away, far away, please, I beg you, take her away from me.

Ricky did not question the plea. Sweetheart, he said softly, hands on her shoulders, wake up, dear, it's time to go.

She startled and seemed disoriented. "Was?" She looked to the man, once