New Story: The Adjusters #38

(Well, that was a perfectly good weekend and early week completely wasted. And let me add that given the number of idiots in positions of responsibility, it's a wonder that the world isn't even more fucked up than it actually is. End rant. I'm back. Oh, and ASSTR's submission portals all seem to have gone on the fritz, too, so the story below is posted through Pastebin until things get back to normal. I'll get to comments and waiting emails in the coming days. Thanks for your patience.)

Way too late, here is March's installment of The Adjusters, “A Wedding and Three Debriefings”, wherein Daniel and Shawbank close up the investigation and return home.

As usual, comments welcome.

I'll also remind you that we have a Speculation Thread available for general discussion. (A thread which I read but do not comment on.)


The Adjusters #38 - A Wedding and Three Debriefings

(Charleston, West Virginia. The next day.)

"With this ring, I thee wed," Gregory Hermann said, "and with it, I
bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hands." He
slid the ring on the finger of his new bride.

Elizabeth Bowden, now known as Annette Elizabeth Hermann, echoed her
husband's statement before sliding a ring on his finger. "With this
ring, I thee wed, and with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of
my mind, heart, and hands." She smiled at her husband, a smile full of
promise.

The officiating priest extended his hands over the bride and
groom. "And now, by the power vested in me by the State of West
Virginia, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss."

Sitting on the last row of the church, Daniel Malcolm gave a little
smile as he watched the ceremony end. His smile was ambivalent. On the
one hand, from what Hermann had told him, and what he remembered from
his brief interview with Elizabeth--or Annette, as she was now
known--those two loved each other, and they had navigated around some
impressive reefs in the past twenty-four hours. On the other hand, it
was a wedding, and weddings had this bad tendency to remind him of
Jenn, and of the bare fact that he had no idea where she was or what
she was going through. Again, it took an effort to push the thought
from his mind. He would deal with it later. Always later.


Continue reading...


Next month: “Charlie and the Convent of Oblivion (I)”.