Toy Soldiers

by Seven


Disclaimer:  Earth: Final Conflict and its characters are copyrighted by Tribune Entertainment Company.  All rights reserved.



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As the elevator doors opened, Liam saw dozens of cardboard boxes stacked on the tables, couches, chairs, and everywhere on the floor. There was a small bright patch of color near the far end of the room. "Augur?" he called out cautiously.

Augur's smoothly-shaved head popped up. "Liam, hi!" he exclaimed. "You caught me in the middle of unpacking."

"Unpacking what?" Liam asked, hurdling a particularly big box.

Augur shrugged. "My life, Liam. A lifetime of junk, of various types. I'm going to throw most of it out."

"Oh?" Liam asked, peeking into one box. "'Hotel California'?"

"I got it on CD now," smirked Augur. A PING noise came from the next room, and Augur made an odd "snick" noise with his lips. "My cake is done. I'll be right back."

As Liam knelt among the boxes, the computer wizard somehow wound past the huge mounds and into the small room that housed his portable oven. "Ah, chocolate!" Liam heard Augur exclaim.

Liam opened a shoebox on the floor, simply labeled TS. Then he dropped the top in astonishment. Inside were dozens of small toy soldiers and action figures. Some were metal antiques, most of their paint rubbed off by decades of use. Others were plastic figures that only looked a few years old. Their historical places ranged from the Middle Ages to the SI war.

For a brief moment, Liam simply stared at them. Then, almost afraid, he reached out and touched one of the knights, one with a bright gold helmet. Then he picked up a WW2 figure and whapped the second figure's rifle against the knight's lance. Then the knight struck back, tossing the soldier against Augur's gaudily-upholstered couch. Liam repressed a giddy smile.

He was so engrossed in the tiny battle that he didn't notice Augur standing in the doorway, smiling. Then the hacker stepped back into the nearby room and yelled, "Liam!"

Liam hastily dropped the figure back into the box and clumsily replaced the top. "Yes?"

"You want cake?"

"I'll be there in a moment." Liam slipped the shoebox back into its previous place, gave it a brief pat, and skipped into the next room.

****

Liam woke up, smelling chocolate. He pulled the half-eaten Hershey bar out from under his pillow and went to the door. He stared blearily at the note tacked to the door in an odd blocky handwriting. "Dear Liam. Check outside the door."

Liam opened the door, and stared in astonishment. Sitting on the floor was a shoebox, tied with gift ribbon, with the letters TS on the top. Taped to it was a note saying, "For Liam, who needs to play."