Bill James and Simon Leonard had been Rangers since The Year of Chaos way back in 1983, Bill laughed to himself "Rangers"? "Not really, we were little more than snot nosed kids back then, recruited to fill up the ranks". The original Rangers were the Scientists, Veterinarian’s, and Animal Creatures hired and trained specifically to deal with Dinosaurs. When the Dinosaurs started breaking out of the enclosures in Dino-Parks all over the world - it was an all you can eat buffet for the Carnivores, reducing the ranks of the Rangers to almost Zero. Thus creating a vacuum that needed to be filled as quickly as possible, and there were no shortage of willing recruits either.
Both Bill and Simon were both now in their 50's, and all they seemed to talk about when off duty, was work - and being 'to old for this s*#t' - and laughing over a cold beer or two. By all rights they should be considering retirement, but thanks to their station (Rangers are considered the Elite within Society) they had a free and steady supply of Varian's miracle drug "Tardinox" - so physically, they looked and felt like men in their mid-thirties. Some days, however, they really felt their age - and today was one of those days.
After spending nearly 24 hours straight trying to guide a herd safely past the Aztec Ruins of Calixtlahuaca, fending off Giaour who were after a quick meal, and poachers looking to score Dinosaur Glands and Hides - they felt OLDER than their age.
Still the job has changed since back the beginning, where Rangers were expected to take Dinosaurs down - now most of the world’s cities are walled off, offering a lot more protection than just regular patrols. Almost every City-State in the world had a contingent of Rangers, and at least 50 permanently Stationed ASP Troopers.
Having a new Ranger around, especially a young and attractive one like Janice, just served to accentuate the fact that both Bill and Simon were old - Bill looked at Janice and saw a child, but - as was the case - she looked at Bill and saw a vibrant man in his prime, not an over the hill Ranger with shot out knees and bad eyesight if it wasn't for his daily dose of the anti-aging Drug.
Janice came over to the table in the corner of the Cantina where they were resting up for the night, ready to make the long trip by ground-skimmer back to San Angeles in the morning. OK, it was safer than attempting to take a flight, but man did it take a long time to get to your destination.
Janice sat down next to Bill and smiled, Simon looked over at Bill and gave him that stony look he always gave him whenever Simon knew Bill was about to disappoint him.
Janice stood up, put her room key's in Bills hand and kissed him "Follow me up in 30 minutes" she said.
Bill smiled putting his feet up on the table and leaning back in his chair "Like I always say to the Rookies looking to score, act like you don't care and they come a-knocking".
Simon looked at him, it was obvious that he was feeling exasperated with Bill "your illogical approach to women does have its advantages on occasion Bill".
"Yes" said Bill "Yes it does" . . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment