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  Mr. Hancock’s Signature: The dead walk in Monteray. The corpse of a nearly forgotten farmer named Hancock arrives via train. Ian Washington remembers Mr. Hancock and vows to return the body home. Yet Mr. Hancock's body will not rest while Ian works to reopen a cemetery, and the corpse staring each morning upon the doorstep forces the town to choose between the isolation of their fear or the hope of their fellowship.

  The Patriots of Griffin XIII

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  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Copyright © 2013 by Brian S. Wheeler

  The Patriots of Griffin XIII

  Contents

  Chapter 1 – A Thirteenth Founding Ceremony

  Chapter 2 – As Zeb Griffin Preached

  Chapter 3 – Tools for Civility and Law

  Chapter 4 – Open Acres

  Chapter 5 – Beneath a Wonderful View

  Chapter 6 – A New Name for the Future

  Help Spread the Story

  About the Writer

  Other Stories

  Chapter 1 - A Thirteenth Founding Ceremony

  "Humankind has colonized the stars, and still, we can't come up with a pill for the star-fold sickness that doesn't taste like Morovian beetle dung."

  United Systems' delegate Kyle Thurston grimaced in his medicine's aftertaste. Effects of the star-fold and the customary anxiety of conducting a Founding Ceremony for the followers of Zeb Griffin twisted his stomach into knots.

  "You'll make the Systems proud," Alicia Wyeth, Kyle's assistant, purred into Kyle's ear as she straightened his tie. "They've always sent you to conduct all the Founding Ceremonies for the Griffin settlements, and you've been terrific during all twelve of them. You'll do terrific for ceremony thirteen. They would've never assigned this ceremony to you if they doubted you could handle it."

  Kyle closed his eyes and counted silently to soothe his nerves.

  "And how was my accent? Did I hit the stresses on the proper syllables?"

  Alicia winked. "You're spot on. Just remember to talk slowly."

  "And am I wearing the Griffin flag pin on the correct side of my jacket?"

  "Of course," Alicia pinched Kyle's ear. "I've helped you through all of these ceremonies, and I'll get you through this one."

  "You have to forgive me," Kyle peeked through the stage curtain at the grumbling crowd assembled in the colony's park for the Founding Ceremony, "but the patriots of Griffin are always so distrusting, so unforgiving. They'll see any mistake as a reason to judge a person an enemy."

  Alicia leaned upon her toes and planted a short kiss on Kyle's forehead. "There's never been anything worse than jeers during all the previous twelve ceremonies. Take another breath. We'll be sharing a warm bunk on our private starliner less than a half hour after announcing the foundation of Griffin XIII. Just let whatever unpleasantly the crowd throws at you roll off your shoulders."

  Kyle nodded. "Of course. I should know better by now. But just look at that crowd frowning on the other side of this curtain. The patriots never miss an opportunity to assemble and heap scorn on any representative from the United Systems. Yet I can't help but feel a little sorry for them. After twelve of these ceremonies, I've come to admire them. They built this, their thirteenth, colony in less than a month. They shattered their previous construction time record. They're such industrious people. Certainly none of them are afraid to work the night shift."

  Alicia's lips curled into that smile that always made Kyle's knees weak. "There's no night on Griffin XIII."

  "How is that possible?" Kyle rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me. I don't have the time to listen to another one of your astronomy lectures. You know what I mean. The people in that crowd can't all be bad. How can I not feel at least a little empathy for them? Maybe it's time to stop hopping about the stars for these Founding Ceremonies."

  "Tell me if you're feeling any of that empathy after you're finished with your address." Alicia brushed a strand of her long, ebony hair from Kyle's shoulder and stepped back to admire the cut of the delegate's attire. "Play the snake-charmer's flute. Tell them what they want to hear."

  Music erupted beyond the curtain, a cackling, low-quality recording of the United Systems' anthem, filled with off-beat drums and missed notes covered with screeching feedback. Delegate Thurston shook his head. The followers of Griffin XIII went to such links to mock the United Systems. And still, those colonists, those patriots of old Zeb Griffin, could still not recognize when the ground was being stolen right out from under them. That thought bolstered Kyle's courage as he stepped through the stage's curtain to conduct his thirteenth Founding Ceremony for the patriots of Griffin.

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