B7 Friday is a LiveJournal 'community'
which posts a weekly theme. Here are some of the stories I've done for it. These are mostly 100 word 'drabbles'. |
Failed Tech (theme was technological failure) The dishwasher repair-droid was made to look and act human, in order to appeal to Alpha snobbery. A randomizer program chose the features, body-types, personalities and 'intelligence'. The eleventh droid in the first year's production looked perfectly normal, but was kleptomaniac. After the third client's jewelry case had been broken into, the CEO ordered it destroyed. The droid jimmied the compactor and fled, determined to pass for human. Unable to erase the tattooed ID on its wrist, it chose a name to match the initials. Using the side of a discarded toaster as a mirror Kerr Avon perfected his smile. | Equation (theme was opposites) In mathematics, two numbers whose sum is zero are opposites. In human terms, then, my opposite number is someone who negates all my accomplishments. I was slow to recognize this individual. At first I blamed colleagues holding me back, and superiors preventing my advancement. Then there was Blake- with him gone, nothing would be beyond my grasp. I was right- without him, I found I have all the nothing anyone could possibly desire. I would like to name Servalan, but in all honesty I've never been an equal hindrance to her. I looked in the mirror at last; equation solved. |
Circular Ending (theme was 'Happy Ending') Servalan pulled the Visual-Structural-Imager off Avon's head. He blinked, dazed by the sudden passage from the dim redness of the tracking gallery to this brightly lit room. "My patience is at an end! No more chances, Avon!" Servalan snapped her fingers. Two guards marched him out of the room, and flung him to the ground along with the VSI. Avon stared at the shattered VSI and the irrevocably closed door, then took a much-folded piece of paper out of his pocket. Dream-scape Inc. offers 10 million credits for rights to Blakes 7. Avon shouted, “You didn’t sack me! I quit!” |
Outing (theme was 'First time')
Everything's red. The floor... no, the ground's, uneven- next time perhaps I'd better choose different footwear- boots to provide ankle support? The air smells... well, odd, rather like Lurette's scented candle collection. What was it... sage? Possibly that comes from the plants, which grow seemingly at random. Or maybe it's animals. I hear a low moaning and whirl, prepared to kill or be killed. Blake laughs and says it's only the wind. Everything's random. Disordered. Wild. But I'll be damned if I'll let Blake see how it unnerves me. |
Flip Side (theme was 'the other side') They must be dead. There’s no point in waiting, not with three pursuit ships on the way. Liberator is fast enough, you could escape. You could be safe. Alone, but safe. In the treasure room you’d found an old Earth coin, a Liberty head dime. Orac said it was valuable, so you’d kept it. You find yourself fingering the coin. Heads for Liberty, you think. Tails…you make an arse of yourself, trying to save them. It spins, shining silver, and lands, the other side of the coin daring you to keep your word. You laugh and head for the teleport. | Absolution Granted (theme was' PGP') The attendant unlocked the door, and Grant entered the visitor’s room. Kerr Avon sat in a chair, concentrating on a child’s hand-held computer. “Hello, Avon.” Avon looked up. His temples were gray, but otherwise he appeared the same as on the vis-casts of Gauda Prime. “Grant. I killed Anna, you know.” “I know. I don’t blame you.” He had once, before he understood what Anna Grant had really been. Avon returned to looking at the computer, silent despite Grant’s attempts at conversation. Finally, Grant rose to leave, and placed a hand on Avon’s shoulder. “I’ll be back next month, dad.” |
Profession: Woman (theme was Professional women) Avon was easy to manipulate. Not at all like her last catch. Admiring eyes, soft voice, plunging neckline, high boots and tight clothes; none of them had done more than amuse him. She had finally got the big man away from his obsession with his self-imposed goals, and he’d noticed her at last. Now Avon said he was dead, but there was a chance to revive him. Avon had been reluctant to go, as there might be danger, but ‘please’ and a soulful look had won the argument for her. Behind her helmet, Vena smiled at how easy men are. | Zero-Sum Game (theme was games) “You’ll have to do better than that, Orac, if you expect me to kill them.” Orac failed to make sense of Avon’s statement until Gambit’s circuit board was linked to him. A game between man and computer, ending in death, was a fascinating new concept. He was pleased that Avon had challenged him. He processed all the information he had on Avon from Federation sources, to analysis of Avon’s actions aboard Liberator, to a psychostrategist’s notes. Orac was ready to make his game-winning move. Orac said, “I have just received a message from Roj Blake on the planet Gauda Prime.” |
Killer Elite (theme was Lost, Stolen or Strayed) Kemp had never smelled very good even before Tober strangled him. Wardin agreed his odor was good reason to kill him, just as Tober’s whistling was good reason to put all the remaining hybernation pills into Tober’s coffee. Wardin explained it all to the aliens who stopped K-Forty-Seven fifteen years into its journey, just as he turned back toward Earth. There would be other humans, he assured them, many others. He and his friends were the hand-picked elite, and their ship the first to reach deep space; the first, but not the last. The aliens looked at him and nodded. | Cry for a Shadow (theme was Beatles Song Titles- could be interpreted, which is the way I did it.) Hanna and Petey were dead. Bek couldn’t even cry for them. Blake expected him to be fired up with loyalty to the rebel cause. Bek would go back and he would fight the Terra Nostra, but only because he couldn’t think what else to do with his life. While one moondisk lived, there would be Shadow. Bek approached the moondisk on the flight deck, and raised the heavy tool he’d found high over his head. He touched the moondisk to be sure of his aim… and he heard the moondisk weep. He dropped the tool and left the flight deck. |
Bloody Typical (think the theme was 'Rescues') Vila teleported into slimy leaf-mold on Gauda Prime. Just before the massacre began his boot slipped. He fell and stayed down, playing dead. After the troopers left a group of winged women flew into the room. They gathered the rebel corpses, and turned to leave, ignoring Vila. The women were unarmed, and very beautiful. Vila sat up. “What are you angels doing with my friends?” “We will give our heroes life in another world.” “I’m not a hero, but I don’t fancy staying here to die. What’s your name?” ‘Val Keery’, Vila heard her say as he followed them out. | Button, Button, Who’s got the Button? (Button was the theme) Avon lay unconscious in the medical unit, stripped to the waist. Cally conscientiously cleaned his shoulder wound, applied the healing pad and checked that the new skin was well on its way before giving in to temptation. She’d seen human anatomy in first-aid texts, and done her fair share of patch-up work on rebels, but circumstances were never right for her to satisfy her curiosity fully. Watching his face intently for any signs of returning consciousness, Cally undid the button on his trousers, and eased the zip down, then opened them. She smiled. “An innie!” Cally pressed Avon’s belly button. |
Minds’ Eye (theme was 'Eye of the Beholder') He enters Jenna, and her eyes go wide; at first in fear, but then it becomes ecstasy as he fills her. Her entire body goes still as he explores, moving inside her, discovering all her secrets. It has been so very long for him. He can’t make the moment last. He withdraws, more than satisfied. He’s thrilled after an eternity of loneliness, of meaningless, joyless, wandering to finally find love. He will do anything for Jenna. Even though she will never love him. For her sake, he will help the one she does love. “Welcome, Jenna Stannis. Welcome, Roj Blake.” | Shock Treatment (theme was Missing Scene) Servalan headed for the tunnel leading back to Ensor’s lab. “Come on, Travis, don’t dawdle. We may yet salvage something. Ensor may have left construction diagrams.” Travis grumbled, but followed. His hand was still spitting sparks when he tripped over Ensor’s body, putting out both hands to catch himself. Ensor’s body convulsed as the electricity shot through him, giving him an instant recharge. “OH!” He sat bolt upright, and stared at Servalan and Travis. “Why, those thieving rebels! I’ll use my remote control and have Orac give them a piece of my mind!” Servalan smiled. “I have a better idea.” |
Stud : an Alternate Aftermath (theme was 'Animals' Dayna led her silent prize home after killing the Sarran who’d nearly beat him to death. “No!” Hal ordered sternly. “I’ll take care of him!” “He’s brain-damaged. He can’t want to live like that. I can make it quick, and painless.” “NO!” Dayna flung her arms around the cripple’s neck, making him stagger. “Father, he’s beautiful! Maybe he’ll get better.” “You can’t keep him as a pet. He has… needs. He could become violent, hurt you or Lauren.” “We’ll be careful,” Lauren said. Hal gave in. He was relieved when the stallion escaped from the makeshift pen two days later. | Hung (theme was Revenge) They took Avon from his cell in chains. The trial had been tedious, with twelve good rebels and true on the jury watching a parade of character witnesses, experts on mental condition and pleas for justice from Blake's cadre of crimos. What a charade. Why didn't they just shoot him? Avon saw the long-term feeder and elimination tubes, the respirator and the structural image visualizer hooked up to the medical cot, and began struggling. "Six voted to execute. Six voted for mercy." The leader spoke as they dragged Avon into the room. "We decided to leave it up to you." |
Bad Day At Blake Rock (theme was School Days) He rolled up tighter, trying to avoid the boots without seeming to cringe. They'd taken everything else, even his computer, but at least he could retain his self-respect. He was alone, and it was his own fault. If he had a second chance, he'd be more appreciative of his friends, and to hell with Alpha reticence. Blood poured down his tunic from his nose. It was getting harder to breathe and worse, harder to curse his enemies. "Enough!" A familiar voice bellowed, and Avon looked up, more terrified of his rescuer than his enemies. "Fighting again, Avon! That's ten demerits!" | Bonding Ceremony (theme was 'Humor') Dayna said, "Mmmmmphhh!" and Tarrant replied, "MMmMM!!" . "They are quite energetic," commented one Ultra. Dayna arched her back and gave a muffled scream as she pulled away from Tarrant. The other Ultra remarked, "The female is escaping." The first Ultra replied, "Perhaps I underestimated the amount of super-glue required." |