Sunbucks Cafe

[hack]

"Oh yeah... .we were in the landing bay of the LPI station Chula Vista, 207th Precinct"

"well, the Captain set about restoring main power and checking the Nav status, I sat around and was bored.."

" Now, I wasn't a real good kid at that age, I used to smoke Synth pot, ditch school, maybe even took a joy ride once or twice."

" I decided I was bored, so I decided to start looking around. I statrted to notice that some of the other ships in the Hangar were looking a might disused, so I started looking in them. Most of them looked like they hadn't been used in a decade. I wanted to know more so I snuck out of the hangar area and started to look around the station. Most of the lighting was emergency lights, no computer terminals seemed to be operational, but most of all, I hadn't seen another human being. not one other Officer, or support personnel. No one. The place was eerily quiet."

" I found what looked like an old notepad, so I grabbed it hoping to look thru it later"

" I continued to look around, and more of the same greeted me: nothingness. Not a living soul to be seen."

" I was starting to get a real bad feeling and hoofed it back to the landing deck. I was almost back when I slipped and hit my head on a bulkhead."

" When I looked up Sergeant Price was standing over me, still with his helmet faceplate closed."

" He started to speak to me: " You don't know when to listen, or obey do you? You had better straighten out your ways, or you will be spending a very long time here with the 207th""

" Look Sergeant , all I want to do is get back to the ship and get out of here..."

" Then that is up to you Hull O'Brian. Your soul is in balance, you can go either way..."

" What are you talking about?" I asked

" You are slow boy, aren't you? You haven't quite worked out where you are, have you? You stand in nothingness, on the precipice of the long drop, or the tough climb, and you can't work it out" Said the Sergeant

" Then let your lesson begin...." Price started to say, but the words trailed off.... like the words were dying in his throat...

" Slowly he lifted his hand to his Flight helmet, and released the faceplate and looked at me....."

" And I stared in to the face of Death"

" There was nothing in the helmet except a skull with some sort of red glow where the eyes should have been."

" Run, boy, run!" intoned the Ghoul, "Make your choice, climb or fall!"

" I mustered all the will I had and ran as fast as my feet could carry me, all the while hearing the foot falls behind me, getting closer

" Climb or fall, Choose!" Continued the rasping rattle behind me.

" I ran harder, I made it back to the landing bay when the Captain saw me coming. He started to protest when he heard the yelling behind me. He grabbed me by the collar and tossed me into the ship and slammed the hatch shut. He dump started the generators, but hadn't lifted off yet"

" Then from outside the hatch, the pounding on the hatch came... bang.. bang.... Bang!"

" Change your ways and climb, or don't and fall!"

The Captain lifted off, and mercifully the docking bay doors opened......

I don't remember much after that,I suppose I passed out.

The next thing I remember, we were in the medical bay at San Diego Border station, a patrol found us the previous day

The LPI sent down an officer to check on us and to ask what had happened to us.

I told him my story, leaving out the part about what I thought I saw.

He asked again, "Which Precinct did you say picked you up?"

" The 207th, out of Chula Vista station" I replied.

His face lost all semblance of humor and said "That's not funny."

I looked at him and was confused. "Whats the matter?"

He looked at us and replied "The 207th Precinct was indeed stationed out of Chula Vista station. It was a halfway station on the trip between the California system and the old Bretonian station in the Magellan system. That station was lost with all hand over 100 years ago In a massive Ion storm like the one you
went thru. Nothing was ever found, nor did we ever hear anything about it ever again. I think the two of you were too disoriented to really know where you were."


"And so ends my sad story of the lost Precinct, but I leave you this warning to those among us who stand in balance between good and evil.... When the good Sergeant comes banging on the outside of your precinct or ship, I would choose to climb If I were you"

And with that, Hull got up from the bar and walked over the the wall by the Viewport that looked out into outer space , and Banged on the wall....








From somewhere, some time, a ghostly knock came back... Bang... bang... bang!






Half of the assembled LPI officers must have wet themselves when the banging began, the other half started to pray


After a minute or two, people decided that it was just a coincidence that the banging had happened and that it was a darn good ghost story..

The Chief Matt Myers came up next to hull at the bar and said "Wow, you really scared the with that story, good job. It was a story right?"

"Chief, I have never lied to you, have I?"

"No Hull, never"

Hull reached into his back pocket and handed over what looked like a standard issue Police leather bound notebook.

"Open it and look at the imprint on the inside"

Matt Myers did, and all the hairs on the back of his neck stood up

On the inside cover was the laser imprinting of the name of the Officer it belonged to. It read:

"Sergeant V. Price, 207th Precinct, Chula Vista station, 698 A.S."

---

Formerly known as LPI Police Chief Hull O'Brien.
Creator of Sgt. V. Price, 207th Precinct out of Chula Vista Station