Chapter 1
He drove along the promenade being careful to keep to the speed limit. Young Davy had been done last week. Davy had forgotten that it was thirty along here.
To protect the kiddies in summer, he supposed. Bit pointless now in the pitch black with only the lights of the docks opposite to break the gloom. He felt sorry for the lad. A hundred quid was a lot to lose when you only get two-fifty a week. He might give him a sub for fifty when the fine came in.
He always hated this time of year. Dark nights and cold days. Being a builder was great in the summer. Great in the spring when you could look forward to summer. Not so good in the autumn when winter was just around the corner. Not yet seven and it was dark. He could see the lights of Morrison’s in the distance and a hint of a gleam from the sky - the Moon, maybe. Supposed to be a hunter’s moon tonight - full moon after the equinox - but the whole sky was full of clouds, keeping the thing hidden. Gloomy during the day and inky black at night.
Good night for lamping, though. He wouldn’t mind being out there tonight. Dark fields and the foxes and hares startled by your floodlights. Patience was all it took. Wait till one of them looked full on at the lights, aim between the reflected eyes and bang! Fox if you’re lucky - vermin. Did the Wirral a favour by killing them. Hare or rabbit was ok - cat if you’re unlucky. Useless animals. He could never understand why people kept them. He’d shot a dog once. He felt bad about that but it was the owner’s fault for letting it escape.
He wished he lived in Africa sometimes. Get some decent shooting done there. Get a proper gun - not a farting little two-two.
Suddenly the clouds parted and the Moon seemed to fill the sky in front of him. Low on the horizon, it seemed huge, bigger than he had ever seen. His eyes opened wide, the white orb of the moon filling each eye with it’s reflected light.
A red spot appeared on his forehead between the two eyes. It cycled through the colours of the rainbow becoming invisible as it went beyond blue to ultra-violet, x-ray, gamma ray. A faint wisp of smoke emerged from his nose and a trickle of blood from the hole burnt in his forehead. He slumped forward against the wheel.
The truck swung sharply to the right but stopped suddenly, it’s headlights vanishing as the vehicle rose silently into the air and rapidly disappeared from view.
They waited until the surface ship was back safely docked before checking the corpse.
‘Nice shot. No exit wound.’
‘Yeah - I’ll get it stuffed. It’ll look good with a couple of these tools in it’s paws.’
He kicked it gently so as not to damage the pelt.
‘Vermin - Doing the planet a favour.’
