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'. |
| Now you see it.(theme was to use Spacefall's Bonk Generator) Avon looked up wearily as the rocks tumbled past him, wiping sweat from his forehead with his arm. Dorian moved his arm to compensate, with the instinct they'd developed over the last...weeks? months? Far too long, in any event. They'd been chained together slaving in the Monopasium mine longer than any of the other captured rebels Servalan kept sending here. Avon had been expecting an agonizing death by radiation sickness, but somehow it hadn't happened. The guards changed frequently to save them from dying of exposure, so no one was left to notice that this pair of filthy, starved slaves should have died weeks ago. Finally Avon's curiosity had roused despite his constant exhaustion, and he'd stolen a radiation counter from a newly arrived guard. When he was at the furthest stretch away from Dorian, arm held away, the counter buzzed madly, but close to Dorian... nothing. Avon whispered to Dorian, "You... are... absorbing the radiation?" Dorian grinned. "Apparently. Watch this." He picked up a piece of crystal, a worthless bit of quartz, and narrowed his gaze. The crystal shot out a fine ray of white light, scoring the rock face before crumbling to glitter in his hand. "Pity I can't find a bigger stone to focus the energy. By my calculations, one about so long..." He moved the hand that wasn't chained to Avon apart eight inches from the other. "...should be stable." -- After a few demonstrations, all the mine workers gave up looking for monopasium in favour of quartz, despite beatings and threats of no food or water. On the third day, Dorian held a roughly chipped icicle of glass-clear quartz that vibrated and glowed at his touch. He grinned as he obliterated guards and led the slaves to the surface, Avon at his side. Dorian blinked at the sunshine, and patted Avon on the arm. "We've done it, my friend." He glanced down at a faintly twitching guard, and used the crystal to cut out the man's still beating heart, then picked it up and smiled. "I've never been a rebel before. It looks like fun." (The generator gave me Avon and Dorian in a monopasium mine with a see-through vibrator) | A Fine Figure of a Man (for all of these the theme was Jokes) Cally thought Sarkoff should have known better than to commission Travis to produce a figurine of him for the Presidential Palace. The result was a lopsided mess that barely looked human, much less bore any resemblance to Sarkoff. As she watched him throw the thing in the rubbish heap, she murmured, "A man who busts can never be portrayed, only misshapen." Pearls before Wine On shore leave, the Liberator crew was interested to learn that the galaxy-renowned alcoholic pearls of New Arcadia could only be gathered from their swift-running rivers by scuba-divers or taken in nets dragged from para-sailers. It wasn't surprising when Vila announced, "I plan to dive a river. Or try flying." True Mettle Avon pulled Blake back from the rubble of the Scorpio just in time. A crater opened up as the decayed metal crumbled away, leaving Blake shaken, but unharmed. Avon sighed. "Rust is only dangerous when you tread too heavily on it." C.P.A. (Cally, Patriot of Auron) Cally took great satisfaction in pinning the big man down, grinding him into the dirt. He had been so powerful, so arrogant. But now, he was at her mercy, and she had none. Bill Gates should have remembered the Auron Proverb before he invested in Live Journal. "May you sign a loan and go insolvent." Biting Wit "You're dead! I saw you executed! I saw you buried!" Deva cried out as he walked into the computer room and found Avon bending over a wildly blinking Orac. Avon pulled a string of circuitry out and bit into it. Avon's pale complexion flushed as the computer went dark and quiet. "What have you done to Orac!" Deva screamed. Avon dislodged a tarriel cell from his fangs and grinned. "You know what they say. 'No undead geek goes unnourished.' " |
| In Stitches ( the theme was 'jokes') Avon looked at Blake's newest recruit with poorly-disguised disgust. "You're going about that all wrong." Cally straightened up from her work in annoyance, putting down the needles. "Do you have a problem with me, Avon?" She hadn't wanted this job, but some professions were assigned on a sexist basis among Earthmen. This was quite ridiculous, she felt, particularly when you considered that Gan did it better, but she knew she was on Liberator on sufferance, so she didn't complain about it. "Auron may be different, Cally, but on Earth it is considered ill-mannered to frill your ends while knitting camisoles." | Hold Your Nose ( the theme was 'jokes') Blake returned from his diplomatic mission on the colony world Flower, whose humans had been bioengineered to suit the environment. His clothes were in shreds and an eye-watering stench rose from him in a cloud, but he was ecstatic because they had agreed to join the rebellion. Avon, wearing a gas mask, hosed Blake down with tomato juice. Muffled by the mask he said, "I can't believe you went down to a planet of insane skunkoids who breed in triads." Blake smiled. "They should be an example to us all, Avon. All men should be three to stink and freak." |
| An Internal Domestic Matter (theme was 'Domestic Matter') The Council had been dead-locked for days, with the Loyal Opposition creating a new filibustering record stalling until blackmail... reasoned argument... could sway the last of the votes they needed. The senior member of the Opposition entered the chamber, giving the thumbs-up sign to their speaker, who closed the tattered copy of 'Lady Chatterly's Lover' he'd been 'reading into the record' and gave control of the podium over to him. Triumphantly, Roj Blake called for the vote. Five minutes later, it was decreed that 'Bubble and Squeak' should never again be served in the college refectory on Pub Quiz Night. | For my sins (random word from dictionary) Avon had fleeting fantasies about Gauda Prime. Sometimes he imagined he'd overridden Orac, heard Slave's warning and Scorpio had avoided being shot down. Or that Tarrant had fainted and not primed Avon to expect betrayal. Or that the troopers had shot a little straighter and Avon wasn't here at all. He looked down at the tray he held. Cereal, sliced banana, sippy cup of juice, buttered toast with the crusts removed. He triggered the door release with his elbow, and put on the smile that covered a multitude of sins. Softly he said, "Good morning, Rojjie, I've brought your breakfast." (My finger went between these two words.) expiation. (the act of making atonement) expiatory. (able to make atonementor offered by way of atonement.) |
| The Right Tool (Crossover with Classic Star Trek- miwahni tempted me into doing this) The slingshot effect might have worked if the sun they'd chosen to circle hadn't been unstable. It went nova at the worst possible instant, flinging the U.S.S. Enterprise far into the future. Spock argued that they should find another suitable sun and reverse the process, but Kirk's curiosity led them to discover that the Federation was now a repressive dictatorship, worse than any he'd encountered in his own time. Naturally, he seduced Servalan. One kiss and she was putty in his arms, vowing to reform and be a good girl, if only he would rule at her side and give her many children. Spock did a quick genetic scan and was alarmed at the possible consequences, but Kirk over-ruled him, saying that it was his manifest destiny. After consultation with Dr. McCoy, Spock accepted the role of Best Man at the bonding ceremony of his captain and Servalan. As he made the wedding toast, plate of cake in one hand, Spock deftly used the supplied utensil to carry out an impromptu vasectomy on Kirk. Spock's spork saved the day. I love Avon (X with I love Lucy) "I'm concerned about Avon," Cally said, "He practically lives on cheese buns and coffee." Blake sighed. "All right, give me your vitamin solution and I'll see that he gets it." Blake, delegated the responsibility to Vila, who was far superior at sleight of hand. Vila added a little something to it. By the fourth cup of coffee, Avon was grinning like an idiot and singing the FederationVitameatavegamin suppressant jingle. 'Mmmmmm.... It's so tasty! Tastes just like candy! Pour it on your citizen's rations and everything's fine and dandy!" | When The Spirit Moves You (Crossover with Ghostbusters) Only one family-run business had survived the chaos surrounding the formation of the New Calendar, and later the Federation. Egon Spengler the 43rd whistled as he returned to his spaceship with his ghosttrap full and gently steaming. The proprietor of the museum had told him this was a particularly vicious group of ghosts, but they'd been the simplest capture he'd ever made, following their leader into the trap after no more than a cautionary wave of his proton stream. But then, this was an unsophisticated world. Half of their ghosts were murder victims and the other half their murderers. They tended to quarrel with each other on the Other Plane and not bother live people. This group frightened the tourists, which was bad for business. -- Egon unloaded the filled trap into the secure building back in company headquarters on Earth and left to have lunch. The moment he was gone, the sealed door began making odd clicking and humming noises. A thin whisper of sound steadied, and became a voice, "I hear troopers coming..." The door popped open, and six streams of glowing ectoplasm flowed out, holding back the crowd of others still inside the containment field. The door resealed itself. The ghosts settled into wavering humanoid outlines. The one nearest the door put away his ectoplasmic tools and grumbled, "That's not funny, Avon." Avon's ghost grinned. "Well, now, you always say you do your best work when you're frightened." He looked at Blake. Blake said, "Enough." He seemed to sniff the air, and then he grinned. "Earth. I told them I'd be back." |
| Get Blake (Crossover with Get Smart) Travis said, "Blake is a Magenta Alert Case. We can only discuss this under the Dome of Silence." Servalan looked exasperated, but struck the control lowering the dome over their heads. "Blake is..is..is.iss...." The dome made her words reverberate until she growled and hit the release button, pulling it away. "I am your superior, and I order you to listen to my orders!" "Yes, Chief!" Travis said eagerly. "I'm all ears!" He unscrewed his new prosthetic ear, polished it on his sleeve and put it back in place. "Shoot!" Servalan rolled her eyes. "Oh, if only I could." She sighed. "You are to use Plan 9 on Blake." Travis's one eye rolled, "But, but, how can I seduce him? I'm not his type at all!" "Oh, sorry." Servalan turned the paper she was reading from upside-down. "Plan 6." "Plan 6? Just walk away from him!" Travis thought about it for a second. "That's brilliant, Chief!" He stood up, saluted smartly, and bashed himself in the good eye with his thumb. As he staggered blindly out of the room, he tripped over one of Servalan's carnivorous plants and fell towards a disposal unit. "Not to worry," he shouted, reaching for the vine of the plant. Servalan stretched out her foot and pushed the plant pot out of his reach. She listened to the scream, smiling, then murmured, "Missed it by that much." | Wild, Wild, Universe (Crossover with the original Wild,Wild West) James West didn't like his new partner. Not because his time-travel device had landed on Artemus Gordon. He was willing to believe that was a mistake. And he had to admit the man made even more ingenious devices than Artie had. And while West thought it was unreasonable to allow a foreigner into the Secret Service, the man had a vocabulary that would put an encyclopedia to shame. But damn it, the man couldn't ride a horse or shoot! West knew little blonde pigtailed girls with better aim. Worst of all, Avon looked better in tight trousers than West did. It Takes Two Thieves (Crossover with It Takes a Thief) When they defrosted the 'secret government project' the Federation was disappointed to discover that the man was only a common thief. He protested that he was, in fact, an *uncommon* thief, who had worked for his government at the highest levels. Unexpectedly, a document from Before the Old Calendar verified his story, and Al Mundy was recruited to spy on the Outer Worlds. He disappeared en route, along with a shipment of gold meant to cover troop expenses. Velma Restal was often sorry she'd refused to leave with him, but at least he'd left her someone to remember him by. |
| With One Leap He Was Free... (Crossover with Quantum Leap) "No, Avon, I haven't betrayed anyone." Blake stood perfectly still with his arms outstretched, hands conspicuously empty. "I built up this base and waited for you to find me, so we could join forces again. It had to be your choice; I've learned that much since we parted." Avon smiled, leaned to one side and shot Arlen, who was aiming her gun at Blake's back. "All right." A haze of golden light surrounded Blake for an instant as Sam Leaped. | Roj Blake and the Forgotten Place of Religious Assembly (Crossover with Indiana Jones) "Mutoids," Blake said, when he woke up from Veron's gas attack and realized they'd been captured. "Why is it always mutoids? I hate mutoids." Avon's Grand Adventure: The Search for Roj Blake (Crossover with Winnie the Pooh cartoon) Blake couldn't tell Avon that he had to go off to study insurrection with Avalon, so he left a message with Zen. "Hello and good bye, I've gone to Avalon's Isle View." Unfortunately, after the battle, Zen's memory was a little scrambled, and what he told Avon was "I've gone to hell. Av-on I love you. Oh, and good bye all." Avon spent several years trying to follow Blake to Hell. |
| To be expected (random 3 word challenge) "I sweats regular!" the space rat declared, but Dr. Plaxton refused to let him move the star-drive for the next set of trials. She also said there was no compatibility between the drive and a space-chopper. Atlan wasn't terribly surprised when he heard later that there'd been a blow-up between her and the rebels she'd run off with. "She never did make an effort to get along with people," he said philosophically. (the same three words were used for this and the next little story- 'compatibility' 'sweats' 'trials' ) | The Expert Touch (random 3 word challenge) Avon inserts a replacement part, makes an adjustment and winces at the resulting shower of sparks. "Not again." Tarrant peers under the console, face pink and shiny. "Compatibility problem?" "How did you guess?" Avon sweats even more now that Tarrant's cutting off what little air-flow there is. Tarrant grunts and moves back to check Scorpio's life-support indicators. "That makes six trials so far. You're losing your touch." Avon jabs viciously into the system at random with his laser probe. Cool air suddenly flows from the ventilators. "That did it!" Avon smiles at his probe. "It only wanted a little encouragement." |
| A Novel Approach (random sentence in nearest book- It was Attwoods B7 programme guide) Terry started out as a comedian, but on being told that his jokes were all right, but he wasn't funny, he turned to writing. He glanced at his to-do list. He noted with relief that he'd finished rewriting recent history for this year's textdisks. That was a boring job, mostly global changes to reflect the shifting list of who's in and who's purged. Kasabi was on the way out, while Servalan was on her way up. Next assignment... ah, he brightened. A rebel recantation. That was lovely, an opportunity to write original fiction. He typed, "My name is Roj Blake..." | Scientific Digest (theme was Proverbs) Avon waved a branch in front of the Terminal 'snake-plant' "Interesting, the tentacles act as sense-organs. In a way, they are its eyes." Tarrant stumbled along the cliff, still shaky from his injury,and was snared by the tentacles. "SHOOT, Avon!" Tarrant shouted as the four-way 'jaws' opened wide and engulfed his feet. Avon hesitated. "I hate to waste the energy pack." He watched while the plant continued to swallow Tarrant. The plant got him down to the belt buckle, then suddenly bent over and dumped Tarrant on the ground. Avon smiled. "I knew its eyes were bigger than its stomach." |
| Set on Earth (theme was: Set on Earth) Jenna knew it was childish, but what's the point in being adult if you didn't occasionally indulge yourself? It took quite a while- an enjoyable while- sorting through the contents of the treasure room before she found exactly the right thing. It even fit perfectly, if not on the finger she preferred. At first she wasn't certain, but a little research with Orac confirmed her instinct. Jenna held up her hand and smiled at the ring with the Winged Liberty Head coin on it, hand-set on Earth. It was the closest to a bonding token she'd ever get from Blake. | On Earth (set on Earth-written the day of the transport bombings in London) ZzxYy slithered away from the data-feed and slopped through the kitchen-iris to absorb sucrose being saved for dessert. ZzxYy's co-parent, ZzxQq recognized a grumpy mood. "What's wrong?" "My teacher gave me an impossible assignment. It's on Earth and there's nothing in the data-feed." ZzxYy extended a sulky pseudopod and transferred the genetically encoded information to ZzxQq, who grimaced. "Really, teaching that to youngsters not out of their second instar... well, I can help." ZzxQq sent back a highly edited history of Earth's humans, full of incidents of violence against their environment, the other life that shared their world, members of their fellow species, even sometimes members of their immediate gene-pool. ZzxYy was shaken. ZzxQq wrapped pseudopods around the young Andromedan for comfort. "It's all right, they're extinct now." |