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Sorry about the absence. I hope to be back by September 15 October 6, with a full explanation. Or, at least, a decent excuse.
Banny and his father were talking again.
Actually their talking would be interrupted by long bouts of silence; they were two very different people, they were each being over-careful of the other man's feelings, and they each had their secrets they could not tell. But still, it was a start.
He was on the phone with his father when Nicoletta knocked on the door. She wanted to speak with them. It had to be back at her place, but she really only needed Lissa right now. Lissa could fill Banny in later. The two women went next door.
"I have good news. This may be a bit premature, but I thought I'd let you know now, just in case."
Mr. Fwuzzums added, "This course of action does not entirely meet with my approval. However, Corvair makes a persuasive argument."
"He still owes me for the squirrel incident."
"Speaking of which, you're looking a hundred percent better. I don't see any limping or bruises or anything."
"Oh, there are still a few aches." She sat in front of the computer screen. "In fact, that was one now-ow-ow. Is that set all right? Can you read it?"
It was an article from the Denver Post. A Boulder, Colorado man had committed suicide. Five years ago Theodore Jansper had gone from being a nobody ambulance-chasing lawyer to a well-respected judge. They were talking about maybe considering him for the Colorado Supreme Court. Two weeks ago Jansper quit, no reason. Two days ago he was hospitalized, raving about how there was this huge conspiracy, he himself had been part of it, he quit but was still racked with guilt over what he'd done. Jansper apparently committed suicide, though there was no note. Police were still investigating.
Nicoletta smiled broadly. "Isn't that wonderful?"
"Well, if you enjoy reading about mentally ill people killing themselves... I gotta say, Nicki, I never figured you to have that kinda sense of humor. Hey, does that mean it's okay for me to laugh at the image of Fwuzzums chasing a squirrel while you're flapping behind him like a flag on a car antenna?"
Mr. Fwuzzums whined.
"No, dummy. Think. What if Jansper wasn't crazy. What if he had been a gonner? That would mean that gonners can quit. That means your friend-" The dog yipped a quick warning. "I mean, hypothetically, if you had a friend who was a gonner, maybe you could save her. Um, assuming he's a her. Or him, if she's a he. Anyway, your sexually undefined friend. Don't hit me, I still haven't recovered from the squirrel chase."
"Cheng, if you do save your friend, you would then need to help her with her guilt, and that may be beyond human ability. Additionally, we have no idea how the Gonspiracy will acept her defection, but I would not expect them to be equanimous."
"Neither would I," agreed Lissa. "The gonners wouldn't be horse-like about something like this."
"Horse-like? Equanimous. Of course. I am glad to know, Cheng, that when O'Herlihy is absent you are capable of taking his place."
"I still don't have a gonner cure," Nicoletta said. "I don't know if it's something that can be administered, or if the gonner has to make the choice. Assuming that Jansper was a gonner, and not suffering from a variant of Paranoia."
"Hey, wouldn't that be great if you could come up with some sort of gonner-potion, that you could just splash on a gonner and cure them?"
"Do not get your hopes up, Cheng."
"And make it so it doesn't hurt non-gonners, so if we have a roomful of suspects we could splash them all. And no coconut. I hate coconut."
"Cheng, you are running away with yourself. Try to keep perspective."
"Perspective. What if your best friend were in trouble? What would you do?"
Mr. Fwuzzums looked at Nicoletta a long long while. She reached out, and he let her pat him. She said, "I'll keep checking into Jansper, and a couple of other leads." Mr. Fwuzzums added, "I have a number of avenues I can investigate, including at least one informant who knows more than it has said."
Lissa thought, you're innocent, Lizzie. I know you are. But if you're not, I'll save you anyway!
Go to Chapter 51 : Banny And His Father
Go to Chapter 53: Don't Blame Us. That's Why They Call Them Bad Guys
Bring your friends into the Gonspiracy! Tell them about
Banny
And
Lissa
and get their eternal gratitude, and a chance to win $10,000 and a Sony DVD Player, because using your friends for your own personal enrichment, and having them owe you for it, is the gonner way!
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Dave Lerner Stories (note that to use the mailto you'll need to edit it in your 'send to' window. I apologize, but I've already lost one address to spam, and if I get inundated again, I won't have time to read your letters.) - All Rights Reserved. Note that this includes images of the Tricryptogon, and the name "Tricryptogon".