Gene Driscoll: A Green Eggs and Ham Story

Boonraker

A gas canister rolled into the tent. Mostly everyone inside was rendered unconscious by the time they noticed it.

Gene, however, was on the move. Covering his mouth and nose with his shirt and Pam's with his hand and ducked under a table, concealed by a tablecloth. They continued to hold their breath until the air cleared.

Although Gene couldn't see them, he heard someone say, "None of these people have periwinkle fur."

It was silent for a moment.

"Maybe he's hiding." Gene and Pam make wide eyes to each other.

"Likely. Check under the tables."

They tried to stay as still as possible. The only sounds that were made were footsteps, food trays hitting the floor, tearing fabric and plastic being pierced.

"Listen, Pam. You slowly back out of the tent flap. I'll distract these guys", Gene whispers to her.

"What? No! I'm not leaving you!"

"You have to! Do it for Mellie. Do it for the baby."

Pam looks at her belly with a sad expression. "I just want them to know their father."

"And they will, trust me." He kisses her. "I love you."

"I love you too." And she crawls under the gap between the tent flap and the ground. Gene offers her another smile.

As Gene came out from under the table, he had a katana blade just inches from his face.

"Yep. He fits the profile."

He got a look at his assailants. One was a goat wearing sunglasses and the other was a tall Who with blood red hair and a lighter shade everywhere else. He had on a black jumpsuit with a belt; a blowgun on one hip and a katana scabbard on the other.

"Come with us."

Defiantly, Gene asked, "Why should I?"

"Somebody's calling for your blood."

--

The two attackers had led Gene out of Yookia.

While stuffed in the back of a van, a blindfold over his eyes and duct tape binding his wrists, Gene was still deciding if he made the right call back there. He could've escaped with Pam. Maybe even explain to the Dooka why they were all knocked out.

But instead, he sold himself out. Pointlessly. Foolishly. For all he knows, Pam could end up widowed before the wedding, his children fatherless forever...

I love you, Pam, Mellie and...if you're a girl, Charlotte or a boy, Sam...

Those were the names he and Pam discussed the same night Pam discovered that she was pregnant. Sam was the name of Pam's mother while Charlotte was the name of Gene's mother. That is, until she was plucked right off this sinful world when he was a kid. After her passing, Gene had nowhere else to go but a foster home. He promised himself that his own children would never have to suffer the same fate.

Now it seemed like he subjected them, or at least Melanie, to that. For some reason, Yookia had it prescribed that if a child loses both parents, they must live in an orphanage or foster home, even if they have a stepparent. The only exception would be to send them to live with any other living family member, but both Gene and Pam were fresh out of those.

But, what was he thinking about? Yookian statutories? No! He's gotta identify his captors to turn them in, if he ever gets out of this alive, that is.

Suddenly, the vehicle they were in came to a stop. The back door was opened and Gene was pulled out, thrown face first into the grass.