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"Um," Delenn started, still a little flustered. She looked around at what had caused the mishap. She saw the pile that must have stood several feet tall, now scattered across the floor. She couldn't imagine how she had ever have missed it, but then she remembered she'd been thinking about something, no make that someone, else at the time.
"What are these?" She reached down to pick up the closest one. It was in good condition, but obviously rather old. The paper yellowed and the corners a little worn, it still remained in remarkable condition. "Reeellla-tivity 5?" She stared at the gray cover for a long moment. "Oh my, John, it's you!" she exclaimed as she held up the book to his face to compare.
"You think he looks like me?" John squinted critically at the indicated drawing of the incredibly handsome man, one of four present. "I've never been able to see the resemblance..."
"It's not you?" Delenn asked. "Who is it? What is this?" The title was the same on all the books, but the numbers were different -- 4, 16, 22, 49, 98 -- and many she couldn't see.
"He's my great, great, great..." John waved his hand to indicate more, "...something or other grandfather. These are chronicles of some of my ancestors' lives; there were quite a lot of them." He laughed. "I believe my elder, outspoken, no-nonsense aunt used to say that the Michaels liked to 'boff like bunnies.'" He chuckled again at the memory.
She didn't want to break his reverie by asking what exactly the term "boff" meant, nor was she quite sure what a "bunnies" was, but her curiosity finally got the better of her. "May I...?" She indicated the tome in her hand.
"Of course," he replied. "They're my grandmother's legacy to me. I've been saving them. When she died, I didn't have the heart to really go through them. But since we just finished with Crisis Number 496 and there seemed to be a lull, I thought I'd check 'em out. Auntie said they used that one as a doorstop it was so big."
Delenn opened it, skimming the first few pages, then stopped to read out loud:
Twenty More Minutes of Apology by Elaine Gooo... Gaaa... She glanced to John for help. He only shrugged his shoulders.
"No one's sure of the pronunciation, lost somewhere in all these years. I wouldn't worry about it." She nodded, then continued.
This is the part I really hate... coming up with the editorial. We couldn't have done this one without lots of help and they have to know who they are, but Jill makes me...
"If she dislikes doing this so much, why does she?" Delenn was confused. "She was forced into this?"
"No, no... I think it's only expressing her own comments that's so bothersome to her. Keep going, it's pretty interesting," John assured her.
Nita did our spectacular cover! Joy, Brenda and Peggy worked on the inside art (I love the fact Peggy loves L&C!). John shook his head at her puzzled expression. And of course we wouldn't have any art at all if it weren't for Sharon cracking the whip for us! Thank you to all!
We've got two new authors to add to our already wonderful group - Welcome Diane and Tammy! And Well-Come back to Annita, Becky, Gina and Maura. Great job, guys!
"Who are these people, John? There seem to be so many of them." Delenn lost track several names into the recitation.
"Distant cousins or something," John commented matter-of-factly. "Don't try to keep 'em straight. No one I know can."
Hearty pats on the shoulders are sent to Brenda and Cathy who kept pushing me to get with it (but I got my revenge, I pushed back -- their SMK zine, A Need To Know is now available -- heh, heh, heh). I wouldn't have gotten anything written myself if not for Mark's coming over every time I messed up my hard drive (and I do mean every time!) and for the Claim Jumper cheesecake fixes he so kindly supplied me with when I needed them the most. Evelyn deserves my praise for listening to me grouse and drool over L&C -- and encouraging me to actually write my sequel - she's one of the best FOLC around!
And of course where would we be if the floppy diskette for backing up your hard drive hadn't been invented. Whew! Can you imagine a crash when you're just about to go to print and no way to store that information elsewhere? Makes me shudder!
I think I'm grateful to Jill for starting this all -- yeah, suppose I'm sure about that one, but sometimes... ;-)
"I know your written language but I do not understand this series of punctuation. It does not make sense." She pointed to the last line she'd read.
"Yeah, you're right." John turned his head sideways to get a better idea. "But from this angle, it sort of looks like a winking smiley face." He stopped, then felt the need to justify himself. "No, really, if you move your head this way and squint... Oh, never mind." Delenn started to giggle at the face he was making and all he could do was grin back at her.
Sorry about any typos or pages in wrong places (let me know on this and I can correct the latter for you -- typos you're stuck with) or yadda, yadda, yadda. The ambassador didn't even bother asking this time.
A word of explanation on my story: I've continued it from last year's and have pretty much ignored TPTB's 'Wedding Arc (from Hades),' I hope this doesn't bother anyone too much. I'll probably continue on with my universe next time, too (no promises it'll be in '97 -- stories from me two years in a row have to be a fluke). I'm not too worried, though, since L&C, like all TV series, have never had the concept of continuity explained to them. Thanks for understanding.
Any comments -- good, bad, constructive, chatty -- can be sent to me at: ElGust@aol.com. Since I haven't moved in 10 years, I suspect my e-mail address won't change any time soon, unlike Jill's seems to like to do (oh, yeah, my regular mail address can be found on the title page, too).
Thank you for your patronage. Enjoy and Toodle-oo! Elaine Guao....
Delenn stopped trying. "These look fascinating. May I borrow some."
"Whatever you'd like." He walked up and handed her a fluted glass with some non-alcoholic beverage in it. "What should we drink to?" He asked as he peered over his drink into her eyes.
"To ancestors, I think." She smiled at him and clinked her glass to his.
"Better yet..." He winked at her. "To descendants."
Her shy return smile was interrupted by the viewscreen coming to life behind them. "Captain, oh, sorry -- again." Commander Susan Ivanova at least had the good sense to hide her laugh behind her hand as she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, sir, but Crisis Number 497 has just reared its ugly little head. You're needed in C&C."
"I'll be right there." He glanced to Delenn. "I'm sorry..."
"It's all right, I understand."
He stared at her mutely-- frustrated, then turned and hurried out.
"To Descendants who might never be, at this rate," Delenn finished their toast. She wandered over to the couch with her treasure in hand, curling up to enjoy this glimpse into John's past while she waited for his return.
Elaine Gustainis
Co-Editor