The 420th Order

**The 420th order**

The perimeter detail scrambled about as the sounds of gunfire and explosions echoed through the air, originating from inside Tfume’s apartment building. The street below had filled with onlookers and eyewitnesses while orders were screamed into radios and people in black, shouldering weapons, raced into the doorway of the complex.

“Goddess damn it, sir! How are we supposed to take them alive if they keep shooting at us? Gibbons just had part of his hand blown off and Richards has a slug in his leg. We’re getting our collective asses handed to us, and they seem pretty well hunkered down in there. We tried to smoke them out, but I think they have access to infrared because they keep moving through the smoke without hindrance. We’ve got to pull back and regroup if we’re going to have a shot at these guys. They are way more trained than we were led to believe,” the frantic voice shouted through the radio of the tall, slender man who stood behind the open door of the squad car.

He brought the radio up to his mouth and yelled, “This was a fucking setup! Get all our men the hell out of there!” Detective Holmes continued to scream obscenities as he slammed the radio down on the roof of the squad car.

---

**A few hours earlier:**

Tfume looked at his watch as he took a pull off his self-rolled crystal lotus fern cigar. Holding in the smoke for a moment, he exhaled into the air with a slight “woo” as his eyes closed slightly and the hallucinatory effects began to take hold. He opened his eyes to see the vision of Lady Fate as he peered through the windshield of the car. He took two more tokes and then passed the “cigar” to his team member and friend Shay Holly, who was gassing up the ladies that had decided to stay with them after the events at the bar.

“So you see, ladies, that kind of thing is just everyday business as usual for us. I can understand how the scene was probably dramatic for you and you may be feeling all this fear and whatnot, but no need to worry—you’re in the safest hands the Authority has trained,” Shay Holly said. He then took some deep pulls, exhaled, and continued, “Now if you ladies need something to calm your nerves, take a couple of hits of this here crystal lotus fern. It’ll get you higher than anything you can get on the street, with a nice hallucinatory effect that may put you in the mood for some other calming techniques that I’ve come to master.”

A lecherous grin slid across his face as he handed the “cigar” to the first lady behind Tfume’s seat. She said, “Look, I’m from around the way and I’ve smoked my fair share of shit, so I take it as a mighty bold claim that this crystal fern shit is going to make me forget your friend over here deleting three guys that were coming—apparently—for you. I mean, shit, your man here is a gruesome fuck…”

She was interrupted by a loud cackle from Tfume, who followed with, “Lady, to know anything about me is to know I’m a rather generous fuck.”

Shay Holly erupted with laughter as one of the other ladies said, “Now that I’ve got to see for myself—or with my girlfriend here,” as she wiggled her arm around the neck of the third purple-haired girl that sat between her and the smoking lady, who was now coughing violently as her lavender hair wisped about in the air.

Tfume grinned and said, “That tingle in your lungs will spread throughout your body.”

Again, the image of Lady Fate caught Tfume’s attention. Her moves were so intentional and masterful. Her body moved with a grand sensuality and enticement that sprang his awakening member from its slumber. Just as the image gained in intensity, a psychic message exploded inside his thoughts.

“Squad Leader, this is Joe. I’m here with the rest of the team at your place and we think there is a problem. There is a copious amount of crystal lotus fern and nothing to drink except for half a bottle of Yukon Jack. You know the 420th Order has passed through the pipeline and anything off-worlder is met with a trip to the Void and piles of bricks of dried-out crystal lotus fern count as about a lifetime of solitary,” Joe telepathically projected.

Tfume thought back, soberingly: “And both better be as I left it, you snoopy fucks. Me and Shay Holly are on our way up with three civvies in tow.”

Joe quickly shot back, “That is a negatory, Squad Leader! Ad-Command issued this squad briefing only. Guess you’re gonna have to marinate them bitches for later, you whores.”

“Is that a hint of jealousy I hear in your voice, Joe? How long has it been since you climbed atop someone or they atop you? Don’t you dare judge me.” With that, he projected a lascivious scene of a wet tongue tracing all about a naked “Joe.”

Joe responded with, “Keep your derogatory thoughts on your sluts and get your asses up here.”

Tfume reached his hand in the air and wiggled his fingers until the half-smoked “cigar” made its way back to him. He took two deep tokes and let his face melt into disappointment as he looked over at Shay Holly, who was back to chatting up the horny ladies in the back seat.

Shay Holly’s slyly smirking face registered the disappointment. “Aw, fuck no! Tell me you didn’t get a head message from Joe?”

Tfume just opened his mouth, never breaking gaze with Shay Holly, and said, “Pardon us, ladies, but duty calls and we must bid you fine creatures adieu.” as he stopped the car.

Tfume held his other free hand over the seat and dangled a 50-credit bill to the middle girl, who received it with a hint of desired anticipation. She reached forward, taking the bill in her hand and squeezing his fingers in the process. She pursed her lips together and kissed the air in his direction, saying, “Oh, we definitely have to continue this when you have the time, big guy.”

The ladies pushed out the back doors of the car and disappeared into the night as their hands groped and slid over each other. Tfume watched in the mirror until they vanished from sight and felt the crumpled paper in his hand with the name Vanessa and a holo-number.

Tfume looked at the paper for a moment as Shay Holly excitedly yelled, “We gotta call those fine pieces of scenery immediately!”

Tfume passed the “cigar” to Shay Holly, who quickly took a deep pull and asked, “Are they already here?”

Tfume just exited the car, saying, “Let’s go welcome my guests.”

As they made their way to the side door of the building, a small boy on a hover pad waved them over. The boy sidled up next to Tfume and whispered to him, “There’s some people at your place and they look serious.” Tfume just nodded and flipped a coin to him as he went past.

The boy wailed into the air, “There was some slap squads around here earlier too!”

This gave Tfume pause as he pushed the button for the elevator. Finally reaching the lofty apartment owned by Tfume, they entered to see Joe with the bottle of Yukon Jack and a drained shot glass on the table next to her propped-up feet.

“You’re gonna need all your healing capabilities if you don’t get your damn feet off my table and stop drinking my booze,” Tfume said as he passed through his doorway.

At the window, Sky stared out, seemingly reading his newfound environment. His volition vision was at full tilt as he planned escape routes and made structural mental notes to himself. Dewy sat on the couch, tossing and teleporting a ball from hand to hand.

Joe picked up one of the many bricks of crystal lotus fern that were piled about and said, “You did get the memo about this shit being outlawed now. From the looks of it, you got about fifty years of hard labor just in your living room. What’s the occasion? Spring cleaning or what?”

Tfume responded while snatching the brick out of her hand, saying, “Sumthin’ like that.”

Joe rose to her feet in such a defiant way and shrieked, “Don’t you know about the 420th Order that banned any off-worlder materials and substances? They will try you for treason to the planet if they can track any contact to the off-worlders at all. You got enough crystal lotus fern here to blaze up a medium-sized army. What’s your endgame here—to go out in a suicidal blaze of bullets or what? That’s mighty fucking selfish of you. What about the rest of the team? Or do we even matter when you’re hopped up on that shit? Think about it, you fucking psycho smoker.”

“I got it all under control,” Tfume said—until he was interrupted by Sky yelling, “Do you now?” as sirens began to fill the air.

As the sirens drew closer, Tfume’s mind was flooded with images of him surrendering to the rapidly approaching slap squad that was just doing the bidding of the all-ruling Authority. Tfume shook off the visions and shouted, “Squad, get the fuck out of here most ricky-tick! We got a symphony of sirens closing in and you don’t need to get yourselves wrapped up in this.”

Joe sprinted for the door, saying, “If you can get out of this, we will rendezvous at the boathouse by the bay.”

Dewy and Sky followed as Shay Holly looked back at Tfume one more time. He gave a nod and said, “You better get out of here before you’re thrown in the same pit they dug for me.”

Shay Holly just smiled as he followed suit out the door. Tfume grabbed some magazines off the shelf in his living room and loaded up a modified AR-14. Flipping over some furniture, Tfume retrieved a digital keypad and hurriedly punched in a series of numbers. The lights began to strobe as the blaring of Jimi Hendrix playing the national anthem poured out of hidden speakers throughout the walls of his loft.

The lights from the approaching slap squad cars splashed against the walls as Tfume paced back and forth from the window. He watched as the officers filed out of the cars when they came to a screeching halt.

Once again, the hallucinatory vision of Lady Fate engaged in her erotic manipulation of her body washed into Tfume’s head. Her words, auditorily eclipsed by her overlapping moans, came across like whispers of the mind as she said, “No, Tfume, you must surrender with your team. I have need of you all. Do not fight—it is pointless. You are to be collected.”

Tfume lit up another “cigar” he retrieved from an ammo pouch in his vest and said, “Pardon the presumption, my lady, but if you have need of me then you know what I do and how I do it. And my team is not as expendable as I am. All that going-peaceful-into-the-night bullshit is for the birds. If they are coming, then they are coming for a fight.”

Lady Fate just responded with, “There stands my StonerCiti warrior,” as Tfume slapped in a magazine and chambered the first round.


-Juche