Pig: A Thriller
Authors: Darvin Babiuk
For
Boy
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
– Eric
Blair (George Orwell)
,
Animal
Farm
Although some of the characters in this book are real people and at times their actions reflect the true lives of their real life counterparts, the story is fictional. My account of the incidents of their lives is not intended to be a reflection of their characters, and is to be considered only as a work of the imagination.
Copyright
©
20
12
by Darvin Babiuk
PIG (p
g
):
Noun
1.
farm animal with broad snout:
Any of several mammals of the family
suidae
, having short legs, cloven hooves, bristly hair, and a cartilaginous snout used for digging, especially the domesticated hog,
Sus scrofa domesticus,
when young or of comparatively small size.
2.
greedy person:
somebody who is regarded as slovenly, greedy, or gluttonous.
3. 4. 5. |
6.
offensive term:
an offensive term for a member of the police force
(
slang
).
P.I.G
. (Pipeline Inspection Gauge)
Pigging refers to the practice of using pipeline inspection gauges, or ‘pigs,’ to perform various operations on a pipeline without stopping the flow of the product in the pipeline. Pigs get their name from the squealing sound they make while traveling through a pipeline. These operations include but are not limited to cleaning and inspection of the pipeline. This is accomplished by inserting the pig into a ‘pig launcher’ – a funnel-shaped Y section in the pipeline. The launcher is then closed and the pressure of the product in the pipeline is used to push it along down the pipe until it reaches the receiving trap – the ‘pig catcher.’ Pigs are also used in oil and gas pipelines; they are used to clean the pipes but there are also ‘smart pigs’ used to measure things like pipe thickness along the pipeline. They usually do not interrupt production, though some produce can be lost when the pig is extracted. They can also be used to separate different products in a multi-product pipeline.
AFTER
“
Birth and death are easy. Life is hard.
”
--
Unknown
mean a
job. He had one of those. N
ever been without one in his life
. Right now, Snowden Nastiuk -- Snow, to those who liked him; Nasty to those who didn’t
-- had
a job just try
ing to stay alive. Problem was,
he wasn’t sure he wanted it.
Back to the work. Which Snow needed. Work on his being, his self, his existence. Which he’d never done. N
ot
until now.
Until he had t
ime.
Until the woman:
Magda
;
Magda
was probably the only reason
Death wasn’t sure it was interested in Snow.
Freezing to death is surprisingly peaceful.
Snow
step
s
outside
his
porta-cabin just outside Noyabrsk, Wester
n
Siberia
in the middle of the night for
a quick
piss
, his breath feathering out in wisps of steam
. The water in his
commode has frozen over again.
There isn’t a Canadian man alive who hasn’t whipped out his dick
and
spelled his name in steaming piss in the snow.
With the wind howling,
he doesn’t
hear the click of the lock behind
him
.
He is
dressed only in underwear.
After
he
piss
es
,
he
turn
s
to go back inside. The door is locked. At the time
,
his
core body temperature is 98.6 degrees.
His
first thought is how embarrassing it is going to be when someone finds
him
. Cold slaps
his
naked face, squeezes tears from
his
eyes.
He
check
s his
watch: 03
13
hours.
His
breath
leaks
from
him
in short,
billowing
steam
puffs
, cre
ating a sharp catch deep in his
chest as the cold air reaches
his
lungs.
He
hop
s
up and down to try and keep warm as
he
think
s about what he’s
supposed to do
in situations like this
.
He
spend
s
precious time rushing from porta-cabin to port
a
-cabin, knocking on doors and trying to wake someone up.
No luck. Either they’re asleep or passed out drunk.
Already,
his
extremities are cold, the web of surface capillaries on
his
skin constricting, sending blood coursing
inwards and deeper into his
torso in order to keep vital organs warm.
His
temperature has now dropped
below 97 degrees, his bod
y covered in goose bumps.
Snow’s
second
thought
is
that
he doesn’t
remember locking the door.
He
n
ever lock
s
it
,
in f
act.
The door jamb is so damaged, it can’t be shut completely and there
’s nothing inside worth stealing anyway
.
His
watch reads 034
8. At least
he
think
s
it does.
He’s
shivering too hard to read it correctly, a vain attempt to
get muscles
to generate additional body heat.
He has
trouble controlling
his
hands.
His
motor skills are seizing up. If there were a mirror
nearby
,
he w
ould see
his
lips turning blue.
His
body temperature is now
less than
9
0
degrees.
Soon, h
e
has
stopped
shivering. Metabolic processes are shutting down. Amnesia is setting in.
He
will have a hard time remembering any of this later.