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The Backwater Project

Intro: Backwater

There are four books in this series. They start off with Casey A. A big girl with a heart of pure gold.

Casey A.

Preview:   Stones
First Three Chapters:  Word95  Word97

Elsbeth
Preview:   A New Queen.
First Three Chapters:  Word95 Word97

Kay

Preview:  Not ready at this time.
 First Three Chapters:  Word95 Word97

Donna

Preview:  Battle
 First Three Chapters:  Word95 Word97

Ship

Dee
Dee is in the early stages. Next year?
Preview:
 
 

Analin
Analin is in the early stages. Next year?
Preview:  Choose

Thor
This one needs a rewrite.
Preview:  Mother

     "Your Daddy sent you to make sure of me?" She asked tonelessly.
     "Yes." He answered in college English.
     "A wise man." Casey paused to finish off the beer while demolishing the other half of the bone. "Do you have any doubts?" She growled.
     "No." He shook his head again reaching inside his coat. B took over for a second. By the end of one second, both sleeves had ripped out and the heavy table had smashed into the far wall. The young man was pinned to the closer wall with his feet
dangling, her massive hand holding him in place without effort.
     "The last man to pull a gun on me was tough and stringy like an old dog. You might be tender." Casey explained, while she
patted him down with the other hand.
     He tried to shake his head no, but was held to tightly to move. He did manage to croak out, "Stones, -- only stones."
     She had shown him her strength, now to finish the impression. With her free hand, she ripped the remaining cloth from her upper
body, throwing the useless rag onto the floor.
     "Cheap shirts." She snarled with disgust. Using the one hand with arm fully extended Casey sat him at the next available table
taking the chair across from him.

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     "Elsbeth, come to me." The Queen commanded inside the little girl mind.
     "Yes, -- Gram?" The child stood in the doorway. As the new Queen, she was not with out senses of her own. Her feelings were telling her that something terrible was about to happen.
     "Come here, girl." Casey had ordered the hesitant child as she stood in the door.
     The child obeyed and as she approached, Elsbeth saw that the huge woman had her nightgown open. The giant woman took the small trembling hand holding it to the three scars on her old breast.
     "This is the mark of Old Woman. In order to be the full Queen, you must assume my burden and become Old Woman."
     "Are you going to cut me?" Elsbeth asked, but without fear, she had never been shown the scars before though she had heard of them.
     "No child." Casey smiled lifting from beneath the covers her dagger. The child had easily sensed the hidden blade.
     "This is something I bought when I was young and learning to be a soldier. I always thought I would kill someone with it, but I never did. Now be careful girl, this knife is sharp." With that warning, she placed the metal in the young Elsbeth’s hand.
     "You are giving me your knife?" The child had asked.
     "Yes, and you must use it." Casey opened the gown further touching the flesh above her heart.
     "I can't!" Elsbeth the Queen understood. Elsbeth the child could never override her love for Gram and do what the old Queen was demanding.
     "You must push the blade all the way in then jerk it side ways like this. I can’t kill myself. Elsbeth, you must take the burden so I can die and become a spirit."
     "No! This is wrong!" Young Elsbeth refused. Her young mind was frantically searching for another way.
     "Elsbeth, we are talking Queen to Queen. There are no laws of right or wrong here, only what must be done to save the peoples of the Earth. I have lived for two hundred years. I can now serve you and my people better as a spirit. Elsbeth, if you love me. If you love the people you will serve, then you must do this." Casey begged openly. Her great desire to depart the earth was displayed with a single tear that slowly rolled down her old wrinkled cheek. Casey didn’t want to control this child. It was wrong to force a child to do the unspeakable. There simply was no other choice.
     Elsbeth could feel Casey's strong desire to serve her people one last time, by giving them a new and young Queen. The child could also feel the spirits calling her old soul on to the next level. A level of existence, that would give the spirit of Casey, unlimited power.
     "You must possess the spirit of Old Woman. She will not leave me until I am dead." Casey begged. Then Elsbeth’s own spirit spoke to her.
     "Don't make the Queen beg!" The Biff ordered in its emotionless voice.
     The little girl hands against her powerful will took up the slim blade. They slammed it into the old chest with many tears and a loud cry of anger to the spirits. As the old Queen had instructed, she ripped the blade sideways with Havers strength, pulling the steel from Casey’s limp body.
     "Thank you child." The once massive Casey spoke her last living words as the blood drained from her body. As the massive head rolled to the side, Elsbeth with tear filled eyes saw the pale red light drift from the dying body. She felt the loving warmth descend into her own. The knife, still dripping with Casey's blood, raised in her own hand, by her own will, to her little girl breast. Her robe was in the way. She ripped the tough cloth from her shoulders. With this killing blade, Elsbeth sliced her own flesh as she screamed out her anguish. Then twice more she screamed her anger and loss, as the parallel cuts were made to mark her tender skin.

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     "Albert, make the most of what we have left and start a slow retreat."
     "What about Ronda? Her weapons will do no more then ours will."
     "Don't contact her, that might bring her to the attention of those and she might just have something up her sleeve." I hope so? Jay prayed to his spirit.
     Donna's eyes sprang open.
     "Ronda's out there, she says to hang on she's is taking care of the problem. Jay the kids will be killed!" Donna tried to stand, but she could not.
     "What is inside those ships?" He demanded.
     "Robots, and in the very core a frozen human brain. I tried to kill the one I saw but it's in a shielded container. Before I could destroy the shield generator a robot broke my arm, and I'm here." Tears appeared in her eyes. "Jay we can’t beat them."
     "I would not bet on that!" Ronda laughed in their minds. "What happened Sis, you finally meet someone bigger than you?"
     "Get out of here!" Donna begged.
     "Damn you, I’m a Morris! I won't run while I have the means to fight."

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     "Now choose for I hunger and the child has not eaten this day."
     "Choose?" The ranger asked having regained his wit.
     "Take plenty the first time." Analin warned. "Mama doesn’t leave anything for seconds the girl laughed.
     "Analin you make first choice these men do not understand our ways." The child pulled the dull blade and started sawing at the larger hind leg, if there were leftovers Roska would clean them up in the morning.
     "Use this knife Analin." Claud offered the girl the blade in his Ever tool. The Polly-ceramic was much sharper than the worn steel in her hands.
     "Thank you, I never learned how to sharpen a knife. Perhaps you will show me." The ranger, finally understanding, reached in and twisted the joint free allowing the girl to make all the cuts. Next Analin slit the skin pulling it back to bare the flesh, which she proceeded to cut into chunks. When she had three she turned to the elder human and said "Choose."
     "Evans reached forward and picked up the smallest piece. Analin took it from him and placed the largest chunk in his hands.
     "You are the oldest you should take the biggest piece." Analin explained teaching them their first lesson about being a Wog. The next best piece she placed in her uncle’s hands and took the smallest piece for herself. Then setting back against the rock wall she bit into the bloody meat while holding it in both hands.
     Evans looked to Claud and pulled his own knife to cut a small piece from his and place it in his mouth. He preferred to cook his food but now was not the time. Claud had eaten worse many times during battle and smiled at the old mans predigest. Just as he settled back another even larger wog backed into the tiny opening.
     "Gruqg! You were suppose to leave this valley!" Roska leapt to the challenge.
     "Roska, there is no need for a daughter to challenge her father in his own home. And stop scarring the humans!" He growled back. Then laughed for the little cub was explaining his words to the men, causing them to laugh as well.
     "That’s Grandfather. He is the leader and head of the elder council of Wogs." Analin finished and was surprised when both men stood. She quickly knocked then back down. To stand was to challenge and they didn’t understand the rules. They might hurt the old one.
     "Do they challenge?" the old one growled at Analin.
     "No grandfather they show respect in the human way, they do not understand our ways." Analin lavished a hug on the old neck.
     "Tell them that I will not challenge. I am old, tired and hungry. That makes me cranky sometimes."
     "You may take half, no more you old glutton." Roska whined while rubbing noses with the huge one.
     "Gruqg says that he is old and will not harm you. He apologizes for bringing you fear and Mama called him one that eats too much." Analin laughed again with little girl glee.
     "Standing up like that means you want to fight, I didn’t have time to explain." she whispered.

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       The Backwater project started in October of 1956 when a top-secret report was placed on the desk of the President of the United States. That man put the file away before sitting down to enjoy his breakfast of oatmeal with extra cinnamon. The bowl was too hot to eat. He slowly blew on the contents, enjoying the only quite time of his day. As he dipped the spoon in for the first test bite there were several flashes of blue light in front of him. There beyond the further edge of his bowl appeared a tiny and dirty pair of human feet. First, he thought the apparition was merely a child. He followed the thin body up past the crude leather dress to the extremely old face. After setting the food down, he allowed his failing body to lounge back into the heavy chair.
     "Good morning." The old face giggled at him. The voice was not frail and was projected with great power.
     Somehow, he understood that this person was real. Also, there was nothing in her to be feared. Then his heart stopped as he looked past the tiny one. Three giants stood behind her. They appeared to be a very capable escort for the tiny creature. His trained foot tried to reach the floor switch in order to summon armed aid. The foot refused to move.
     "Your hidden machine will not work. You and the other people in this house can do nothing that I not allow. Do not fear us, we came not to harm you. We bring Earth a message of joy!" The woman smiled again abruptly sitting down, sniffing his cooling breakfast. The giants moved closer to his desk.
     Proving his greater intelligence, he pushed the food to her waiting hands. This was not a normal political situation.
     "Ladies, breakfast, we eat?" The old crone asked the circle of guards.
     Two of the huge powerful women wore only a tiny cloth between their legs. They also wore two long blades, one on the left hip, the other a longer blade on their back. Each had two heavy knives, one sideways on the wide belt, the other upside down on the right forearm. Both had large hand weapons on the right hip. The make and use were unknown to him. The third looked to be more or less a lumberjack. Complete with stocking cap and heavy lugged boots. This one carried a worn auto rifle with a strangely elongated clip. Under her coat was a huge and equally worn pistol of unknown make. At least this woman appeared to be from earth.
     "Why not." the jack spoke with a deep resonating voice. Her cheerful manor further put him at ease as huge hands gathered all the papers and objects from his workspace. They placed them a respectful distance away on the floor.
     The second guard was a bit shorter than the lumberjack was, though that may have been the boots sense she wore no shoes or stockings to cover her thick hairy legs. Her weapons were business like if a little crude. They seemed to have been made without benefit of machine giving a sense of strength rather than design.
     "These chairs won’t hold up to our weight." she laughed walking back to the desk.
     "We shall have to make our own." The third woman was taller, less massive. She was more feminine if only in that her hair was up in a complicated braid with jewels dangling from her ears. Her weapons were very refined. The blade she had pulled from her back was polished with gold and other filigree. This she laid on the table pointing directly at his chest. The dried bloodstains proved that this was no toy or pretty, but a well-used working tool that she pointed at him without waver.
     "She said you wouldn’t hurt me?" Surprisingly his voice was stable.
     "You have a loaded gun in the upper right hand drawer. I place my blade on your desk within reach. We are even, though you have no chance of using your weapon. If you were to fire the weapon, the lead pellet will have no effect on any of us." She looked directly into his eyes for a second.
     "In your mind I see that fear still has control. I give you my word, as a Queen of Backwater, that you are in no danger." She smiled letting him see the inch long lower canines.
     Her words at an end she held her hands out shoulder high. Blue fire pored down to form the most beautiful work of art he had ever seen. The wood was magnificent, the inlays beyond belief.
     "I was going to make a chair, not my throne?" The lumberjack held out her hands. Her power formed into a golden throne to rival the kings of England. In fact, this one looked like a copy of one he had once been shown by Queen Elisabeth herself.
     The third woman held out her hands. Her throne was formed of two skulls. Skulls like these with their long teeth and huge eye sockets had never existed on earth. He was sure of that.
     When they were finished, all three sat down holding their hands over the empty desk.
     The elegant giant produced a large joint of raw meat and several long plant pods. The lumberjack made a baked salmon with steaming bread and carrots for herself. A surprisingly elegant meal, for so rough a character, he thought.
     "Anyone want some beer, besides me." Number two asked.
     "I’ll take one," the Jack agreed, "but no more or I’ll get rowdy."
     "Yes, two please." The elegant one responded.
     "I want whiskey!" The old crone demanded, as a dozen large brown bottles appeared scattered around his desk.
     "No way. You’ll go to sleep and the man will have to wait all day." The jack warned.
     The old one held out her hand producing a bottle of White Horse Scotch.
     Two and three looked at the jack."
     "That’s just a fifth, won’t hardly get her started."
     Old Woman held out her hand again, this time another bowl of oatmeal appeared. She carefully pushed the golden bowl over to him.
     "I am Old Woman. We come to talk, so you eat and listen." She smiled.
     "About what?" He took a bite of the gruel finding his created portion to be just the right temperature and taste.
     "About that file in you left hand desk drawer. The one code named, the Backwater project." The jack explained.
     "I don’t know of any file by that name."
     "President. My name is Elsbeth. If you ever lie to any of us again we will kill you and deal with your replacement." She grinned showing long teeth while her mind ripped through him like an ax through soft cheese.
     "Okay, it’s there, but that is classified material."
     "We don’t want the file. Hell, any one of us could quote the whole thing to you."
     "What do you want?"
     "Are you going to sign the request for funds?" Elsbeth asked around a bloody mouth full.
     "I was. I’m sure the enemies of this country are doing the same thing. I must!"
     "Good!" the elegant one smiled again.
     "Your name, if I may?"
     "Kay Morris. I am from the Planet Backwater, six hundred years in the future."
     "And you?" He dared to ask the naked brute.
     "Elsbeth Morris, born of Earth. However, I rule the planet Backwater three hundred years in the future."
     "I am known as Old Woman." The tiny women freely gave the information he wished. "I was born more than two thousand years in the past, in the part of your world that you call, Alaska."
     "And you?" The jack seemed hesitant.
     "Mister, your project Backwater will create a female child. In the year 1980 this girl child will mail to this office a package full of books written in code. You will start a separate program with the state department to make sure that the instructions this child gives to you are followed to the letter. She will rule over the earth and save the people of this world from a final death." The jack turned to face him squarely.
     "The name of this child?" He asked. To better obey he must have this one piece of information.
     "Queen Casey Morris, the First. Or you may call her, Casey A."
     "And you are?" He dreaded asking her twice.
     The giant stood up to lean over him with terrifying power.
     "I Am, Casey A!" She thundered.
     Old Woman used a gentle push to shove the dangerous woman back into her chair. This man was the cause of the man\womans pain. Becoming the first queen had not been easy for Casey. At her silent command the huge guards flashed away. Old Woman stayed scraping up the last of her boiled grain with tiny fingers.
     "This project must not fail. Remember, always that we are watching." She quickly and effortlessly pulled his hand to her mouth to make physical contact. After biting him, she also vanished.
     The toothless mouth did no damage beyond a sticky smear of cereal. However, that bite left a burning mark on his soul. The truth along with a vast amount of information had been burned into his brain. He now knew that Old Woman was no smaller than her giants. He understood that they would have to kill him if he disobeyed. More important, if he failed to follow the instructions, the human race was doomed. Casey and only Casey A could save them.
     "Madeline?"
     "Yes, sir."
     "Did you notice anything unusual, any, ah -- persons coming in here?"
     "No sir. The Oval office is off limits during your breakfast. Harry and Mark are guarding the door."
     "Madeline, cancel everything for today. Get the Secretary of State in here ten minutes ago. No one else comes in here until I say so!" He ordered into the intercom while looking at the remains of their bloody meal. The three huge chairs were going to be hard to explain. He took one of the un-opened bottles of beer twisting the cap as they had done.
     "Amazing!" The lid had been easy to remove. No opener was needed. Yes, this was going to be very hard to explain.
 
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Lotty's Fish
Preview:
 

Lotty's Boat
Preview:
 

Gator Fishing..
Preview:
 

Lotty's Door
Preview:
 

The Biggest Fish
Preview:
 

Huri   A christmas story.
Preview:

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     Lotty made a joke about Davy teaching her how to fish, and while they were laughing her line made a twanging sound and the bottle almost jumped out of the boat.
     "What have you got?" The boy yelled, completely forgetting that he had promised not to make loud noises the night before.
     "Catfish, -- I think." She said with her hand on the bottle ready to toss it over the side.
     "Can't know for sure until he comes up. If he comes up?" She corrected after a moment's thought.
     "Pull your line in so he don't get tangled up."
     Davy complied quickly while she sat there with her hand pushing the bottle back down to the bottom of the boat every time the fish pulled it up to the top.
     "He's not too big." She announced with relief. "See he's starting to get tired already." With that she picked up the line and started pulling upward. After two arm-long pulls, the fish took off for the bottom and Lotty had to give most of the line back. She let the line slide over the side of the boat rather then her hand. On the next pull, she got the fish up on the surface before it headed back down, but she didn't let this one go very far. Soon the fat thing was flopping slowly on the surface, swimming on its side in a little circle beside her.
     Reaching under her seat she pulled out a short pole with a metal hook on the end. With this she hooked the fish through the lower lip were the stringer should go through. She wedged the wooden end under her leg leaving the fish hanging there supported on the metal hook. It was easy to push the stringer through the same hole as the gaff. Only when that was done and the stringer tied off did she pull the hook out.

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     At some point the paddle had fallen over board and floated off down the river. So I had to lean over the bow and paddle with my hands. Finally I caught up with it, just before we both reached the boat dock.
     That hook was still in my leg as I staggered up to the house. I would have to show Mack, and I was never one to put off bad news. Besides, I was dripping wet and scared almost to death. Mack saw that I was limping and called me over. When he saw the little bit of blood, for there wasn't much, he also saw that big hook with the wire and about a foot of string still attached to it.
     I had never seen him so mad before and despite his bad leg for a moment I thought he was going to jump out of bed and hit me. But he soon calmed down and sent me for the wire cutters, pliers and his pocketknife."
     "The usual hook removing tools." She laughed for Davy,
     "After pouring kerosene from one of the lamps over the hook and knife, he cut the pants leg back. Then using the cutters he cut the eye off the hook. Next he used the pliers to pull the barb back out through my skin.
     That really hurt! Boy did I ever scream. But Mack ignored me and used the pliers to finish pulling the hook out of my leg. Then he poured more kerosene on both holes. That hurt almost as much as yanking on that hook.

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     "What happened Lotty?" She had waited for Davy to ask.
     "Every school has a bully. They did when I went to school and I am sure there is one in your school."
     "Johnny Smith." He declared the hated name."
     "I thought so." She agreed.
     "Well, when I was teaching there was this fat slob that pushed the other kids around. Since he was bigger then me he thought that I was fair game as well. One day he told me what, in front of the other students. Thinking that all I would do would be to call the principal in. He would kick the boy out of school for a week, which was exactly what that kid wanted.
     Well, I was never the kind to back down. I had the authority to rule in my own class. I walked right up into his face and told him to sit down and shut up.
     That ignorant idiot had the nerve to slap my face. Then he told me that he would do whatever he pleased. He wasn't taking any orders from a schoolteacher. I was so mad, I saw purple! Before I realized what I was doing, I had reached up, grabbed his ear, yanked his head down, and dragged him out into the playground.
     There I proceeded to give that boy a beating with my bear hands. No slaps either, I used my fists. I never let him take a swing at me. Like all bullies he was mostly fat and wind. While little Lotty was still paddling her boat up the river every chance she could get. Back then I was strong and full of confidence.
     When he was down in the grass, with his hands covering his head, I told him that he would be in class tomorrow. That he would behave! That he would learn, or I would drag him out here everyday until he learned something! The whole time I was kicking his rear end about every other word.
     Everyone was looking out the windows, watching. Those kids saw him for what he was. They were no longer afraid of him. He was in class the next day with both eyes almost closed and a fat lip. He did behave with a yes Ma'am, no Ma'am respect. In the end he graduated with honors, I was told."

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     "Well he didn't let that ugly fish go, I can tell you! No sir, he took the line in one hand and started swimming as hard as he could for our side of the river. He figured that if he could get out on the bank, he could drag the fish out, where it would die. Or lead the fish down to the dock where he could get his gun and kill it.
     Of course, the fish wanted to go to the other side. In the end, since they were both tired, they sort of, drifted down stream for a while. Finally, the river called a halt, to their foolish game of tug o war by placing another tree in their path. The line was stretched out between them. It wrapped around that tree as they both drifted past. Only to find that they were being pulled toward each other as the currant washed them down stream." Lotty laughed and moved her hands together to show him.
     "Neither one wanted to get close to the other you see, but they were both too tired to do anything to prevent that from happening. Then when they passed real close to one another, Mack in stupid anger, slammed his fist onto the fishes back. Breaking a finger bone, that stopped him from using his hand for days. The only good thing that blow did was to cause the fish to swim back up the river. That completely wrapped the line all the way around that log.
     Mack knew that he had best tie the line off to the tree. Then try to get back to the house where he could wait for some help. With a bad foot and a broken hand, there was no chance of killing that fish without some help. Mack had already fought that fish for several hours and he was very tired.
     Now, he knew that he had been whipped, but his man pride wouldn't let him give up. So with one working hand he pulled himself back to the tree where he tied the line off good and proper.
     By then his strength was almost at an end so he decided to crawl up on that leaning tree to rest for a while before deciding what to do next. He was still lying there when I came home about lunchtime.
     When I got there, he wasn't in the house. So I went down to the dock to see if his boat was there. It wasn't, but I did see a piece of it floating down the river. That really scared me. I just knew that something had smashed his boat and he was drowned. My brain said that couldn't be so because I could hear him yelling as loud as he could. Fact is he had been yelling off and on for most of an hour, hoping that I would come home and hear him. He was a long ways up the river, the only words I could hear clearly were, Lotty, and gun.
     I ran back up to the house and grabbed that twenty-two, when I should have taken his shotgun. At that moment, I couldn't remember where his gun was. In addition, I just knew that something would kill Mack if I didn't hurry.
     Jumping in to my little boat, I rowed as fast as I could. I almost went past him in my rush. Then I saw him sitting on top of that snag with that big old gar swimming back and forth below him on a short rope.

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The Farm Pond
Preview:  Wife + fish = laughs
 
 

My Good Friend
Preview:  Ever want to stick it to your Boss?