is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nKepa nodded as he and Maite rushed toward the opening. The woman above them fired her weapon, a bolt of energy roaring forth. Kepa smelled the ionized air around him as the blast flew over his head. He and Maite stopped in their tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat was a warning,\u201d bellowed the woman above them. \u201cThe next one won\u2019t be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before Kepa and Maite could respond, another blast of energy came from behind the woman. Cursing, she turned her head to see where it had come from. Maite and Kepa seized the moment and took off for the open door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cArraioa!\u201d cried the woman. \u201cDamnit!\u201d She fired again, hitting Kepa in the leg as he stumbled through the doorway. It closed behind them with a small click. They could hear another blast hit the wall where the door should have been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa and Maite found themselves in a dark room, with barely enough light to see their own shadowy forms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe isn\u2019t going to give up,\u201d said a voice in the corner, the one that had called out to them in the street. It was nondescript. Kepa couldn\u2019t tell if it belonged to a man or woman. \u201cAnd she\u2019ll already be calling for backup. Come, before they find a way in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shadowy figure belonging to the voice started scurrying down a long corridor. Kepa tried to stand, but collapsed to the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy leg\u2026\u201d he began in a panic. \u201cIt won\u2019t move.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The figure came to his side and picked him up, placing its arm around his side. \u201cDon\u2019t worry, it\u2019s just stunned. Your leg will be back to normal shortly. But we have to get out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The figure half dragged Kepa down the corridor, Maite following right behind. They turned left and then right, passing other forks of the corridor until Maite was completely confused. She knew she wouldn\u2019t be able to find her way back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They came to a hole in the floor with a ladder leading down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s hurt, his leg is stunned,\u201d said the figure into the darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have him,\u201d replied a gruff male voice. Rough hands grabbed Kepa\u2019s hips as he made his way down the ladder, his left leg dangling uselessly from its socket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The figure, one hand holding the top of the ladder and the other resting in the small of Maite\u2019s back, gently nudged her forward. \u201cYour turn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite paused, turning to the figure. \u201cEskerrik asko,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The figure stiffened. \u201cJust doing my job,\u201d it replied as she pushed Maite with a little more force down the ladder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net<\/a> if you want to get in touch with me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maite gave a panicked glance at Kepa. \u201cWhat now?\u201d Kepa shrugged, as he looked back up at the woman floating above them. \u201cEz dakit! I don\u2019t know!\u201d \u201cHemen!\u201d They heard a voice whisper from one of the buildings next to them. A door had opened seemingly from nowhere. \u201cHere! Hurry!\u201d Kepa nodded as he and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2640,864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/maite-and-kepa-v2-01.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1oU","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5388"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5389,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5388\/revisions\/5389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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