Reed and his crewmen watched the shuttle's departure with a shared sense of grief. Their prayers were with Mr. Jeffy now as Krash raced him back to the Escort, his only real chance
of survival. His selfless act had not only saved Reed's life, but insured the success of their mission.
His shot, the only one he fired during his short stint on ancient Earth, had not struck Lightnin' Liz as the commander assumed was his plan, but rather plowed through the low beam beneath the balcony on which she'd
been standing. The balcony had shuddered violently, at which point VanTedly had fired his weapon. Liz, seeing the flash from his muzzle, returned fire at the Ensign. Both of the gunslingers aims
were true, if not too much so. The two errant rounds collided in mid-flight, each effectively deleting the other.
Having lost the initiative, Liz then turned to fire at the commander, who unbeknownst to her had thrown himself to the ground along with the traitorous sheriff. Her round sped through the vacant space where
Reed's head had been and finding nothing there, sped forth, burrowing deeply into the dry desert soil. She had just enough time to pull the hammer back a second time before the balcony fell to the ground,
taking her along with it.
Doody sat in shock. He'd been ruffed up pretty well when Reed threw him to the ground, and his head was still reeling when the strange flying machine had come to rest several yards away. He now cast
his vacant gaze in the direction of the main house where his partner lay buried beneath the rubble of the fallen balcony. One of her petite, supple hands jutted out of the debris still clutching the chrome
pistol she'd used to fire at Reed. He looked around at the solemn crew, their downcast eyes lost in each of there pathetic sorrows. He began to crawl with all the stealth his heavy, fatigued body could
muster, a thin smile spreading across his face as he drew ever nearer to the shining handgun.
The bark of a gun made him jump, his aging heart pumping furiously within his chest. He turned to see one of Reed's men, Broski was his name, casually pointing the smoldering muzzle of a rifle in his direction
with one hand.
"I...wa...wa...wasn't gonna...", Doody stammered, unable to catch his breath.
Broski 's malignant gaze never shifted from the sheriff's eyes. "Damn right you wasn't.", he said in a low voice.
Doody was still having trouble catching his breath, and he felt a sharp pain in his chest "I...think ....hav...havin'...heart attack", he managed despite the pain.
Broski nodded. "I reckon so", he replied evenly, "seein' as I just put a bullet through it."
Doody paled noticeably as he let his gaze fall down to his chest. Warm blood seeped through his clothing, and he became dully aware that he was dying.
Broski tipped his hat with the muzzle of his weapon. "That's the price of treachery, Sheriff." He held the man's gaze until the light faded from his eyes.
Reed and the others had watched the incident with little interest. Their nerves were numbed by the events of the day and none could bring themselves to mourn the loss of the tainted lawman when their own
crewman may likely be meeting his own fate many miles above. Reed motioned toward where the balcony had fallen and Broski moved over to retrieve the weapon from Lightnin's hand. He stepped on her wrist
before reaching down and was less than surprised when a feminine groan came from within the rubble.
"Oh, that's just perfect.", Broski muttered as he jerked the weapon from her grip.
