posting 20050824
 

"See you soon," Gwedif said and hung up.
"Okay," Gwedif said. The cube disappeared. I screamed. The cube reappeared,
transparent but visibly tinted.
Roughly twenty minutes later, a medical helicopter screams overhead, droppin
g dramatically into the Pomona Valley parking lot, as Pomona Valley has no h
elipad. The doors to the emergency entrance burst open, and a stretcher race
s to the helicopter, orderlies and doctors in a full sprint. On the way, a w
oman's arm slips off the stretcher and dangles, her IV tube fluttering with
the speed of the stretcher's journey. As the stretcher approaches the helico
pter, the side doors launch open; in one unbelievably smooth motion the stre
tcher is lifted into the helicopter and the doors slammed shut.
"Really?" Gwedif said. "Well, hell. What is it with you people, anyway?"