Whoops.

This is set in the "Tales from the Blind Pig" universe.

I started awake. I looked at the clock. It was dark, like the rest of the room. Crap. The power was out. I checked the pager that work had thoughtfully provided me with. I looked at it, saw that there were no messgaes, and then checked the time.

damn, and crap. Late.

I finished drying the fur on the top of my head off as I waited for the nuker to finish. one hot shower cured the chills from me having to truck downstairs and crank up the generator. Normally, Kerry would have gotten me up, but she was out of town at a convention. The nuker beeped, and I nearly tore the handle off getting the door open. This morphic form that was my new default might be nice, but I honestly liked my full form better sometimes. I pulled the food out, set it on the table to cool a little bit, and sprinted back to my room to toss my clothes and riding gear on.

Undies, Pants, vest, belt, pager, phone, voder. All check ok. I chucked the voder into my bag along with the phone and pager, and zipped it shut. I put my overcoat, helmet, and backpack on, and headed twoard the door, grabbing my breakfast on the way. Locking the door, I jumped off the second floor balcony and 25 feet down hit the ground on both feet and headed to the door of the barn. This form DID have a few advantages, and being able to drop 30+ feet wthout taking injury was one of them.

Shutting down the generator and finishing my breakfast, I rolled the idling bike outside, and locked the door back up. I mentally noted to call the contractor to have the automatic switch fixed. Stupid old barn. I hopped on, and took off, tossing a rooster tail of snow and mud as the I headed down the road to the tollway. I was running almost an hour late, so I mostly ignored the speed limit signs.

I was cruising down the tollway down about 85 when I got painted by the radar. The cruiser pulled up behind me and turned it's lights on. He had been surfing in my blind spot several lanes and spaces back. Damn and damn again. I pulled over and waited patiently while he got out and strolled up to me. I already had my ID, license, and other paperwork out when he got up here. He took my ID, swiped it on his portable reader, and handed it back to me. "So, Mr. ---- (My real last name), what is the excuse this time? Late for work again?" I looked back at him, and I then noticed that he was smiling in a non-threatening fashion. I looked a bit closer, and then finally picked it up.

One of the local bands that we've had in the studio was one made up of cops. This officer was the drummer. That, and the fact that I got busted for speeding a few months ago by the same person did not help a lot. I nodded sadly. "Yeah. The power grid dropped and the generator didn't turn on. I woke up about 30 minutes ago." The officer nodded. " I'm going to have to write you a ticket. I clocked you at 80, and The city has been after us to crack down on speeders." He wrote out the ticket, and handed it to me to sign. I looked it over, and noticed that had had clocked me at 80 with the limit being 75. Signing it, I muttered, "Must not be my day" as I handed it back to him. "I'm sorry, but I gotta follow the rules. I'll get in trouble if I don't."
"I understand, Mike, I know. Are you folks still on for tonight?"
The officer nodded. "Yep. Be careful out there. We'll see you later." He walked back to his car, and waited for me to drive off. It is just not my day today...