Escape From Terra - by Sandy Sandfort, Scott Bieser and Lee Oaks! - Big Head Press, publishing Thoughtful Stories since 2002

Strip 50
Panel 1
Inside Isher’s Fine Tobacco & Firearms. Now we switch views so that we see the counter from the front. It is a glass counter, with a variety of handguns of various types on display. On the wall behind the counter, dozens of rifles of various types, lined up vertically, except for the left third, which has packaged cigarettes, cigars, and pouch tobacco on display. To both the left are shelves bearing ammunition and accessories such as holsters, cleaning supplies, other accessories. To the right, more tobacco products, ash trays, lighters, humidors, etc. Guy is now standing at the counter, facing Fiorella, who has laid the gun down on the counter but hasn’t let go of it yet. The gun dealer, Isher, is standing by, looking bemused.

Guy: Ms. Stellina, have you lost your mind? You can’t buy a gun!

Fiorella: And why not, Mr. Caillard? It’s perfectly legal here.

Panel 2
Closer shot on Guy, Fiorella, and Isher. Guy is clenching his jaw, Fiorella is looking a tad irritated, Isher looks like he’s about to burst out laughing.

Guy: Not for you it isn’t! You’re not a resident here, you couldn’t possibly get the required permits….

Panel 3
Now Isher is laughing heartily, Guy is looking surprised, Fiorella has a faint smile.

Isher: Haw haw haw haw haw! Permits?

Isher: We don’t need no steenking permits!

Panel 4
Alter the angle a bit, but still Guy, Fiorella, Isher.

Guy: You can’t be serious.

Isher: I figured you for Terries. Self-defense is a basic right here. Like I said, we don’t do permits.

Panel 5
Closer shot on Guy and Fiorella. Guy is sticking his jaw out, trying to lay down the law. Fiorella is smiling at him coyly.

Fiorella: In case you haven’t noticed, most of the people around here carry personal weapons. Sometimes concealed, sometimes openly.

Guy: A barbaric practice that won’t last for long …

Panel 6
Now she’s looking at him doe-eyed, brushing two fingers of his hand along his jaw-line – playing him like a fiddle.

Fiorella: But in the meantime, we don’t want to be at a disadvantage, do we?

Fiorella (2): Since we’re UWRS agents, I can get a weapon permit when we get home.

Fiorella (3): Please?

Panel 7
Guy turns away, struggling to retain his dignity as he relents. Fiorella turns to face Isher, who is smiling and holding up a compact pistol –
It’s a Tanfoglio Compact Witness, chambered in .40sw -- or actually, a Martian copy of the Italian manufacture.

Guy: Very well. But get something discreet, would you? We don’t want to look like … like the Rambo.

Isher: Got just the thing. And will you be wanting a concealment holster?

Strip 50 - Click on page above to goto the next page. -- First Seen: 2008-11-21
Escape From Terra is updated with new pages every Monday through Friday.

What Comes Next

The war is over, but This Means War has a ways to go. Novo Paolo/Bubbleopolis is still in a nebula/stellar nursery, no one knows what happened to the planet Sharen (center of the Intergalactic Council), and the status of the now-surrendered Invaders is yet to be resolved. What will they do when they learn their homeworld is basically destroyed? Will Alyss and Li be re-united? How about Diana (the real one) and Otto?

These questions will be resolved in the next few weeks, before This Means War part 3 wraps in late May.

After that, I plan to go BACK in time about 400 years, to when Alyss and Li left their home in the Sol System to colonize a new world on the far side of the galaxy. As one might expect, hijinks ensue. New subtitle yet to be determined, start date sometime in around the start of July. Stay tuned!

A Little House Cleaning

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The Transcript For This Page

Strip 50
Panel 1
Inside Isher’s Fine Tobacco & Firearms. Now we switch views so that we see the counter from the front. It is a glass counter, with a variety of handguns of various types on display. On the wall behind the counter, dozens of rifles of various types, lined up vertically, except for the left third, which has packaged cigarettes, cigars, and pouch tobacco on display. To both the left are shelves bearing ammunition and accessories such as holsters, cleaning supplies, other accessories. To the right, more tobacco products, ash trays, lighters, humidors, etc. Guy is now standing at the counter, facing Fiorella, who has laid the gun down on the counter but hasn’t let go of it yet. The gun dealer, Isher, is standing by, looking bemused.

Guy: Ms. Stellina, have you lost your mind? You can’t buy a gun!

Fiorella: And why not, Mr. Caillard? It’s perfectly legal here.

Panel 2
Closer shot on Guy, Fiorella, and Isher. Guy is clenching his jaw, Fiorella is looking a tad irritated, Isher looks like he’s about to burst out laughing.

Guy: Not for you it isn’t! You’re not a resident here, you couldn’t possibly get the required permits….

Panel 3
Now Isher is laughing heartily, Guy is looking surprised, Fiorella has a faint smile.

Isher: Haw haw haw haw haw! Permits?

Isher: We don’t need no steenking permits!

Panel 4
Alter the angle a bit, but still Guy, Fiorella, Isher.

Guy: You can’t be serious.

Isher: I figured you for Terries. Self-defense is a basic right here. Like I said, we don’t do permits.

Panel 5
Closer shot on Guy and Fiorella. Guy is sticking his jaw out, trying to lay down the law. Fiorella is smiling at him coyly.

Fiorella: In case you haven’t noticed, most of the people around here carry personal weapons. Sometimes concealed, sometimes openly.

Guy: A barbaric practice that won’t last for long …

Panel 6
Now she’s looking at him doe-eyed, brushing two fingers of his hand along his jaw-line – playing him like a fiddle.

Fiorella: But in the meantime, we don’t want to be at a disadvantage, do we?

Fiorella (2): Since we’re UWRS agents, I can get a weapon permit when we get home.

Fiorella (3): Please?

Panel 7
Guy turns away, struggling to retain his dignity as he relents. Fiorella turns to face Isher, who is smiling and holding up a compact pistol –
It’s a Tanfoglio Compact Witness, chambered in .40sw -- or actually, a Martian copy of the Italian manufacture.

Guy: Very well. But get something discreet, would you? We don’t want to look like … like the Rambo.

Isher: Got just the thing. And will you be wanting a concealment holster?