Dan Fairview [Fairview - Finding Purpose

J oy Walker dropped the heavy anchor over the side, shattering the morning silence. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, tied her hair into a ponytail, then paused to make sure the boat had stopped drifting.

It hadn't.

The rope was rolling over the side of the boat. She inhaled sharply and scrambled to catch the end, but it slipped through her fingers. Her four guests hadnt witnessed her idiocy, so she raised a seat and grabbed the spare anchor. This time she tied it off before heaving it over the side. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the moist salty air, then shook her arms to release the tension.

The two couples with her today seemed eager, so she set out the tackle and started baiting.

The older man came over. "Can I help? I'm not sure what to do, but I'm a quick learner."

"Thanks. Since my help quit I've had to do it all myself."

She instructed him and his female companion on how to bait their rigs, while the younger couple watched. The young couple had to be newlyweds; they couldnt keep their hands off one another.

The older mans face was familiar, but Joy couldn't put a name with it. He spoke like a politician, so she decided to let it go.

A rare Toika tree stood proudly from the water. Its yellow-green leaves danced in the breeze. Off in the distance, a single wisp of cloud floated over the snow-capped mountains.

"Beautiful spot," the older man said as he stepped up beside her.

"One of my favorites, Joy said. Good memories and good fishing."

A small boat came creeping around the shoreline toward them, stopping a few hundred yards away. She didn't recognize the boat or the owner. He either wore a ridiculously large hat, or he was tiny. She really didn't care, as long as he didn't come any closer.

She went about her work, but it was impossible to ignore him. He kept looking at something in his hand. He made her uneasy, so it surprised her when he waved.

She raised her hand to wave back when a blinding flash engulfed her and tore the flesh from her bones.

T he sky turned from orange to pinkish blue and finally to dark purple. Viata's first moon, Krenor, cleared the horizon. The second and smaller moon, Banta, wouldn't be up for another hour.

John Finder sat at his usual table, next to the kitchen in Barnacle Bill's bar, watching the lights of the boats crisscrossing the bay. The day was ending for some, but just beginning for others. A breeze blew in the scent of salt and brine.

John tossed back a shot of rum. He enjoyed the slow burn as the liquid slid down his throat. He had acquired a taste for it after arriving here on Viata.

Bill's bar had become his favorite place to hang out. Mostly because of the friends he had made with the staff, but partly because he could leave his cabin cruiser docked here and drive his roamer to work.

Sabrina, the young new bartender, dressed in a size too small Barnacle Bill tee shirt, brought him another shot while he waited for his to-go order, then returned to the bar to wait on customers. John wondered what his daughter Clarissa would be like when she reached Sabrina's age.

A whiff of rotting fish floated on the breeze making Johns nose wrinkle. Three men walked in and John could tell they were tourists by the clothes they wore. One was tall, one was short, and one was stocky. The loud-mouthed stocky one was clearly the leader. They ordered drinks at the bar, while loud mouth flirted with Sabrina. He tried to ignore the obnoxious banter that loud mouth flung at Sabrina. He supposed she would have to deal with people like that while working in a bar.

A loud smack caught his attention.

Loud mouth was stretched across the bar trying to grab Sabrina, while his buddies laughed.

John rose and immediately closed the distance between them. "Leave her alone.

They turned to face him.

"Are you okay?" John asked Sabrina.

"This jerk grabbed my boob."

Loud mouth puffed his chest out and got in Johns face. "It's none of your business. You her daddy?"

John appraised the situation. Short round wasn't going to engage, he was already backing away. Stretch looked too drunk to be a problem, but loud mouth might be if it turned into a wrestling match.

"You need to leave," John said. People began clearing a space around them.

"You going to make us old man? What you grinning at? I'll knock that damn grin off your face."

John couldnt help but smile bigger.

Loud mouth took a swing at him. John stepped aside and grabbed loud mouth's arm, using his momentum to toss him to the floor, knocking over empty tables.

Stretch stepped forward, and John met him halfway with a crushing blow to the mid-section; he doubled over into a fetal position at John's feet. Short round held up his hands, and backed further away.

When John turned his attention back to loud mouth, he got a fist to the face. It sent him sprawling. John jumped back to his feet and the wound in his side flared in pain. It was still healing from a blaster shot from a previous case. He needed to end this quick.

Loud mouth came at him like a charging bull. John timed it perfectly with a knee to the face and he went down. He put a foot on his back to keep him down, but it wasn't necessary. He wasnt getting up anytime soon.

Warin, the short Hawaiian cook, came from the kitchen carrying a stun weapon in one hand and a meat cleaver in the other. "Security is coming, they'll be here in a minute. Anybody who needs to leave better go now." He waved the cleaver at short round. "Except you tubby, get over there with your friends. You okay John?"

John rubbed his side as some of the regular customers slipped quietly out. "I'm fine."

Sabrina started picking up overturned tables. "Thanks John.

A jumper hovered overhead for a moment and then landed in the sand. Bright lights radiated from its sides, illuminating the beach area. After a pause, a ramp dropped from the rear and Victoria Sidewell with two of her deputies stepped out. She tugged the hem of her blue security uniform and surveyed the area, then headed up the beach into the bar with stun weapons in hand.

Victoria smiled and slid her stun baton back into its holster when she saw John. "Should've known you'd be involved."

"Good to see you too.

"What happened here?"

Sabrina spoke up. "That one grabbed me. John asked them to leave but they wouldn't."

Warin spoke up. "I heard him ask them to go, but by the time I called you and got out here it was over."

Victoria motioned for her deputies. "Put them in the jumper."

John pointed to short round. "He wasn't involved. He just came in with them."

Victoria paused, looking from John to short round.