From CHM173S@vma.smsu.edu (Chris Meadows) Newsgroups: alt.pub.havens-rest Subject: [Constellation] [Cain] Honor Duel! Date: Tue, 04 May 93 00:06:45 CDT "... and this is where we monitor the reaction core from," Jaana continued as she showed the crew of the CONSTELLATION around engineering. "We have an ion drive for regular space flight, but I'm sure you're more interested in the warp drive." Jaana smiled as Sharon nodded her agreement. "The warp drive is basically a derivation of an ion drive and a hyperdrive, that allows one to enter and travel through hyperspace. It is sort of similar to the wormholes around here, but we carry it with us. Of course, it is still limited somewhat, as it is not possible to enter hyperspace from every point in space. There are some systems that have only a few 'jump points' as we call them, and others that have more than you can shake a stick at. Generally, realspace has enough that you can usually jump without having to wait too long." Sharon gazed at the computers in rapt fascination. She touched a key on a small control box on her belt, and data began showing up on the lenses of her clear goggles. "Hmmm..." As the others were asking questions about range and speed and things like that, Sharon slipped unnoticed over to a vacant computer console. She probably shouldn't have done it without asking permission, but her curiosity got the better of her. She placed her hands on the console, to either side of the control keys, and concentrated. Her silver eyes glowed as she focused her psionic energy into comprehending the machine, to forming a link with it...there! Instantly circuit diagrams appeared inside her head, so complex and complicated that by all rights she shouldn't have been able to envision them, let alone understand them. And yet, she did. "So advanced...amazing." Access codes flashed through her mind, and she considered using them. "No...I won't pry. I'm just interested in the machine itself, for now." And there was something else...was it a presence? She only felt it for a split-second, so she simply dismissed it. Sharon liked machines better than most people. She could UNDERSTAND machines, she and they got along. They didn't talk back, didn't stab you in the back when you weren't looking, and could almost always be fixed when there was something seriously wrong with them. She was at her best when she was en rapport with machines, which was why Mako had declared her the pilot of the spacecraft--with her abilities, she was the only logical choice to fly it. Sharon sat there for a while, staring blankly forward, silver eyes continuing to glow as her mind wandered through the SOULSTAR's open-access databases. Then she removed her hands, stood up, and rejoined the group, unseen, or so she thought. Except by Jaana, who had been watching the whole time with a bemused look in her eyes. ***** "Louie Louie! Ohhh, baby, I gotta go." The old song blared down the corridors of the crews quarters as Blips played it on his new guitar, Motorhead style. "Nights, and days, I sail the sea. I dream of girls ohhh constantly...On the ship you know I dream she's there. Smell the roses in her hair. Louie Louie..." He finished the song and and laughed, obviously enjoying himself immensely. He set down the ancient guitar with great care and turned to the terminal on his desk. He began to type in his instructions, even as he spoke. He'd always had a thing for old keyboard style computers, and on this ship they were a necessity-- especially with earthers aboard. He knew that Hiroshi wasn't the only one from earth with telepathic abilities. Spoken commands to the intelligent computer could be dangerous if anybody was able to listen in. "Dargon, can you pull up that song we were working on last week? The assassin one." Blips always used Dargon to help him with his hobby. Why not, considering he was the only one besides Cain with full access. And the main computer didn't mesh well with the old cd's and equipment that he liked to toy with. One great advantage of having so many dealings with traders in antique artifacts. "The Ministry song. Yes, just a moment. I went over it, and smoothed out the irregularities that resulted from your old instrument's poor condition." Blips had never had a guitar in such good condition as this new one was--at least not an old classic guitar. He preferred them to the new ones that were around these days. To think, this was a guitar from the same era as the ones that Jimmi Hendrix played. A likeness of the man himself was on the wall of Blips room. "Here you are. Should I play it from the begi..." The face on the screen winced as if in pain, and the lights in Blips' room flickered. "What is it, Dargon?" He was concerned. The computer being in pain could only mean... "Commencing withdrawal and shutdown." Dargon withdrew himself into the computer bank below Blips' quarters. It was as if he withdrew tentacles, or as if mist was being burned off by the sun. He completely withdrew his presence from the main computer system and sealed off all connection to it. He was now only present in his own mainframe, and only accesssible through the work station that Blips had in his room. "What the hell..." "One of the earthers, Captain Daniels. One of them has the ability to mesh completly with machines." "The cyborg..." "No, this was no cyberjack hookup. This was by touch only. I felt the presence as soon as a console in engineering was touched." "You don't think... was it a purposeful intrusion?" "No, that is unlikely. I do not believe that she was even aware of my presence. I terminated and withdrew as soon as the contact was made. This is some sort of psionic ability. We must take precautions. There is no flight data in the Drakes or Starslayers. It has all been downloaded to my banks and terminated from the flight recorders. The Vulgs are a different matter, though. Do not allow the earthers to approach too close to them." "No kidding..." Blips was not like so many other Terrans were. Many didn't believe in magic or psionic abilities, even if the military openly used telepaths sometimes. But they were always of a different race, and there was yet to be proven a Terran with any such gift. Working and living with Hiroshi and Cain had taught Blips to accept it as reality, even if his people did not seem capable of such arts. In fact, he now recalled that there were some very adept magic-users among the Alzar, Foegarth's grandfather included. They had met the old Alzar once two years ago, shortly after their abrupt departure from the ranks of the TerraIV military. He had given them haven for a time, and covered their escape. Though the Alzar were now treaty-allied with TerraIV, they would ever protect one of their own, and all his comrades. Blips knew that they would have broken the treaty and gone to war with their allies if they had tried to extract the SOULSTAR while under their protection--it was a damn good thing that TARN hadn't found them there. Blips sighed. That does it, he thought. Dargon is staying locked up here until the earthers are gone. Well, nothing he could do about it now. He shrugged and picked up the guitar again. "Dargon, run it through one time, then we'll see if I should rerecord with this new guitar." ***** Sir Blake Piercy stood nervously by as Dr. John Talon and his assistants wheeled (or, rather, floated) Hiroshi's stretcher into place and set up complicated-looking diagnostic equipment, some of which Piercy recognized, some of which he did not. Talon checked the readout on the armor one more time. "Good, he's coming out of shock." He pressed another key on Hiroshi's Vanguard armor's left arm, causing a volley of popping sounds as all the latches on the armor suit released. "Come on, help me get this off of him." With the Vanguard armor piled up in one corner, Dr. Talon whipped out a hypospray syringe, checked one of the sensor readouts on the diagnostic equipment, chose a cartridge from a nearby table and inserted it. FSSSSST! "There." "Will he be all right?" Sir Blake asked, looking worriedly at Hiroshi's still-pale face. He looked rather vunerable lying there unconscious on the hospital bed. "Don't you worry about him," Talon said, his face softening. "He just pushed himself a little too hard, that's all. The injection I just gave him will flush the last remnants of those drugs from his system. With a day of rest--uninterrupted by fighter sorties this time--he'll be as good as new." "Ah, good." Sir Blake looked relieved. He looked around. "Your clinic is remarkably well-equipped for a ship this size." "The way this crew gets into tussles, we NEED an infirmary like this," Talon said. "I've saved this crew's life many times. More than I care to count." For a moment he was lost in thought, then he said, "Now, you go rejoin your friends. Unless I miss my guess, they should be in the gym about now...you want directions?" "I'll find it," Sir Blake said. "Thanks!" He turned and dashed out the door. Talon looked after him, half smiling, shaking his head. Then he went back over to his desk and sat down again. ***** When they were finished asking questions about engineering, Darcie led them to the nearest lift and they took it up one level. They emerged into another corridor, but the wall opposite the lift was pretty much one large window, allowing them to look into the gym. Mako and the others were surprised when they saw the gym. They hadn't expected it to be so large and well-equipped. It didn't only contain the regular weight machines and running simulators, but a large tumbling mat in the center and many things that they did not recognize. There were two smaller rooms closed off from the main room by large plexiglass separators. A man wearing a white track suit walked past them and crossed over to one of the 'courts' which lit up for a moment, then darkened, hiding him from view. Their attention, however, was focused on the central tumbling mat. It's not a tumbling mat at all, Mako realized as the group entered the gym. A woman with long red hair was fighting with a strange creature in some sort of obscure martial art. They circled each other, every once in a while darting in for a quick hit, then leaping back to circle again. "This is our training center, our gym." Darcie indicated a small set of benches along one wall, and led them over to it. "Why don't we have a seat and wait for Dandra and Foegarth to finish?" Jake noticed that Darcie nearly hissed as he said the first name. They all sat, and did as Darcie suggested, watching the two pilots spar with great interest. Mako studied the two combatants as they circled. The woman was tall, just over six feet he guessed. Fiery red hair crowned her head, and was pulled back into a tight ponytail. She wore a white robe of the sort that is used for martial arts training, but wore only a pair of shorts underneath. Very short shorts, Arla sniffed in disaproval. No matter that her long shapely legs were so exposed, most of the eyes present were focused on her oppenent. He was just an inch or two shorter than the woman, and wore only a short loincloth of some sort, which was actually more of a kilt. He had blue fur covering his entire body--a rich pelt of deep blue, a little darker than turquoise, but lighter than navy. No claws seemed to be visible on his paws, but the teeth that showed when he leaped for the woman were sharp--the teeth of a predator race. His face was rather strange. He didn't resemble a humanoid species that any of them had ever seen before. While Edward was a mutated canine, Foegarth was an Alzar, a race that has always walked upon two legs. He did not have a muzzle as sharp as a dog's, but rather more like a cat's in that it was short and subtle. His ears were small, and lay flat against his head as he battled. As the sparring went in, Sir Blake entered the gym. It seemed that he had decided to explore a bit on his own, and (like any true knight) had sniffed his way straight to the scene of the fight. It's strange, is it not, that they seem to be able to find them as easily as a pilot sniffs out a bar? Even before anybody could ask, Blake assured them that Hiroshi was going to be fine. He needed only to rest and let his injuries heal. Sir Blake took a seat and watched the conlcusion of the fight. Dandra and Foegarth continued to circle. Every so often, one of them would dart in and strike with multiple blows to the midsection and head, then leap back as each lightening quick attack was blocked with equal speed. It was rather incredible to watch, for the blows were often so quick that it was impossible to see how many were made. The next time Dandra leapt for her opponent, he didn't react in the same way, but circled slightly to the left again before he blocked. Dandra was put a little off-center of him, and her attack was not as effective as it should have been. Foegarth was able to step a little further back and reach in to strike at her exposed side. His hand went in with unbelievable speed and struck not once, but four times in quick succession. Sir Blake noted that the fighting style could very easily suited to knives--or claws, for that matter. Dandra fell to the mat, her breath knocked out of her and slightly stunned by the metal strap that could now be seen to circle the hands of each combatant. Some sort of stun mechanism, to register a hit. Foegarth bowed, and reached out to help the woman to her feet. She stood and returned the bow, smiling suddenly. Darcie winced, as the he caught the dazzling smile and his resolve began to slip for a moment. The two grabbed wet towels out of a small bin against the wall, then approached their audience, wiping the sweat from their necks and faces. "I was just giving Dandra another lesson in the Tiger Claw method of my people. She has been much improving in it, which is good for one who lacks the required weapon." They now noticed the claws that he had retracted for the fight. "I am Foegarth of the Alzar, a pilot of the SOULSTAR, and a warrior of my people. This is Dandra Hann," he indicated the tall green eyed woman, "a warrior of Saltha, and also a pilot aboard the 'Star." Foegarth had noted the look on Darcie's face, and took the initiative of introduction, knowing full well that his commander wanted nothing to do with Dandra at the moment. After the introductions were made, Dandra fixed a cold gaze on the commander of the ship. Uh oh, Foegarth thought, but he was too slow to stop her. There would be hackles raised now... "So, the little hero has come to see how real warriors fight. You are a soft and stupid man Darcie." Her voice, even with it's cold undertone, was extremely sexy, and her strange accent only added to the effect. Darcie glared at her and opened his mouth, but his knees melted once again under that voice and the glimpse of her sweating and well toned body. Curse me for the fool she thinks I am, he thought bitterly, but before he could summon the courage to reply, Sir Blake cut in. "No, milady, Hiro is in the sick bay. He won't be able to come watch a fight for at least a day or two." Blake seemed completely serious as he said this, and Dandra was lost for a reply. "And it isn't very nice to speak so to anybody, espescially one who is worthy of praise for a well-fought battle." Dandra was quick to reply to that one. "Praise?" she she almost sneered. "The only praise such men are worthy of is for the boys work they do. He is a scientist, not a warrior, and should stay in his place. Let real men and women do the fighting." Darcie began to retort, a comeback burning upon his lips, but Sir Blake held out a hand and continued, his voice completely serious and calm. "I do not think that I like your attitude, milady. You should apologize for your harsh words, for they are not becoming of one with honor." Dandras green eyes flashed hotly. "Do you attack my honor boy? Perhaps you would like a chance to test out just how much honor I have. Perhaps you would like a chance to attack me as you just slandered my ancestors." Sir Blake's eyes lit up. "Are you challenging me to a duel for Darcie's honor? How thoughtful of you! I accept your challenge with the most humble eagerness." Darcie groaned out loud and covered his eyes. Not only did she try to humiliate him in front of the guests, but now somebody else was fighting for him. Sir Blake walked over to the benches. "If you'll pardon me for a moment while I remove my armor..." He pulled off his helmet, then removed the sleeves and chestpiece, and finally the leggings and boots, revealing one of the shipsuits that Mako and Sharon wore. "The Crusader armor is so comfortable to wear, one tends to forget that he has it on," he remarked. "I'll just remove these coveralls--I'm wearing a pair of shorts underneath that will serve admirably for combat." He turned his back, unzipped, and stepped out. Sir Blake's body was not as musclebound as Arnold Schwartzennegger, but the muscles were there. Also there were gleaming metal plates on his chest, back, shoulders, and thighs--the black shorts were slit about halfway up the sides to allow them to go on over the metal plates. "Do you plan to remove that armor?" Dandra asked coldly, pointing to the metallic plates. "Milady, I would if I could, but I'm afraid that it's not possible. It is surgically grafted to my skin." Foegarth raised an eyebrow. This was interesting. The implanted armor would probably tend to slow a fighter down...but Sir Blake was probably used to the extra weight and bulk and knew how to compensate. He wondered how Dandra would deal with it--if she would be ABLE to deal with it. Fewer of the vunerable points he had taught her would be exposed...but some pressure points would still be there... Dandra stepped onto the mat, showing no traces of fatigue from her previous fight with Foegarth. Her eyes flashed. "Come on, then. I'll show you how a TRUE warrior fights." "Very well. Give me a minute in which to warm up first." Sir Blake began to control his breathing, and then began to run through a lightning-fast kata of martial arts moves that made even Foegarth give pause. He wondered briefly if this display was at least partially designed to intimidate Dandra. If she was, she gave no sign of it. As close as Foegarth could tell, Sir Blake's form was Tae Kwan Do karate, an archaic form of Terran martial arts that emphasized hand and foot attacks. This cyberknight seemed rather skilled in it to look at him. Foegarth grinned, showing sharp teeth. Indeed, this would be a fight worth watching! Edward walked over to Foegarth, nudged him. "Hey," the Dog Boy said, "I don't know what standard of currency you use here, but I'll bet fifty of whatever it is on Sir Blake." Foegarth considered, then said, "You're on!" Nothing like a little wager to spice up a good fight. He watched with great interest as Sir Blake stepped in to fight. As Darcie stepped back from the mat and prepared to give the begin signal, Foegarth stepped over to a small panel on the wall and pressed a switch. A small camera mounted in the corner of the ceiling of the room began recording the fight. Foegarth normally used it for recording their training sessions for later review. He had a feeling that, one way or the other, this was a fight he was going to want very much to review in future days. As Sir Blake gazed cooly at Dandra, a smile flickered across his lips. Sir Blake was, like most cyberknights, more than just an ordinary man. He had certain telepathic abilities, among which were an uncanny ability to sense the emotions of others. It had always helped him in combat, for he could usually sense when a blow was coming and move to avoid or block it. Right now, Dandra was very angry. For a moment, Piercy allowed himself to recall the words of his old cyberknight master. "Never fight angry," the man had said. "When you're angry, you're like this." He'd drawn a circle of arrows pointing outward. "You're going in all directions at once. But when you stay calm, you can FOCUS, in one direction." He drew several arrows all pointing inward. "And when you FOCUS, you can win." For a moment, Sir Blake wondered if Foegarth had given Dandra this advice. Glancing at the nonhuman instructor for a moment, he guessed that he probably had--but anger was too deeply ingrained in Dandra's nature for her to implement the advice. Too bad. It looked, however, that regardless of her anger, Dandra would be a formidable opponent all the same. Sir Blake was looking forward to this. "All right, the duel will be to first fall," Foegarth said. "First person to hit the ground and stay there for longer than three seconds loses." "Sounds fair to me," Sir Blake said. Dandra also nodded. "Let's begin." As Dandra and Sir Blake bowed to each other, a smile flickered across the cyberknight's face, making Dandra all the more irritated, making him grin all the more. Then Darcie called go, and they went at it. Sir Blake let Dandra take the initiative for the first round, letting her show him her moves and perhaps tire herself out a little. She obliged him greatly, telegraphing her moves with a flare of anger before she lashed out, allowing Blake plenty of time to get out of the way. It seemed that whenever she struck, he was almost never there. When she did strike, she often only hit his armor, which didn't do much to him and probably bruised her knuckles a bit. Dandra's martial arts style was one that Sir Blake hadn't seen before. It seemed to combine the rapid hand attacks of Karate with a graceful, sweeping style of movement characteristic of Aikido or Taido. It was fast, and slightly unpredictable even with Sir Blake's empathic talents. He began to feel that he might have his hands full. He loved it. Sir Blake's grin never left his face. As he dodged and blocked, he felt the tension built up over the last several days, tension that he had only barely been aware of, beginning to ebb away. It was THIS that he had been needing the last several days, he realized. Not his so-called "spiritual purification." THIS was all the purification he needed! Sir Blake ducked left, right, let Dandra's fists pass over his shoulders, and hit her with a knife-hand chop to the kidney. It was his first offensive blow, and it staggered her a bit, but she didn't weaken, instead trying to take advantage of the opening to get a blow in on him. Sir Blake simply dodged away again. "Damn you!" Dandra swore under her breath. Sir Blake said nothing as the surge of anger telegraphed another attack on her part. As she thrust her arm forward, Sir Blake grasped it and twisted, flipping her over onto her back. She kept rolling as she hit the ground, getting smoothly to her feet again, but some of the wind had been knocked out of her. Her anger was beginning to be tinged with feelings of--was that awe? Sir Blake didn't let himself get distracted; he moved out of the way of another flurry of blows and then hit Dandra with a swift snap-kick that knocked her back a little. But now Dandra was beginning to adjust to Sir Blake's style. She took the defensive, now, letting Sir Blake come at her, reacting with a speed that nearly equalled his own. It looked like it was going to be a very close fight. The fight went on, as Dandra scored on Sir Blake with hands and feet, and Sir Blake made some hits of his own. Most of Dandra's impacts had come on Sir Blake's chestplate, however, and while these did knock him back a little, they just didn't do the kind of damage that they would have against an unprotected person. Both Sir Blake and Dandra were beginning to tire. The blows landed less frequently, and there were more openings. Foegarth grinned. It would soon be over, one way or the other... And then Sir Blake seemed to get his second wind. He straightened up, moved faster, as if he weren't tired at all. As Dandra attempted to deliver a knife-hand chop to the side of Piercy's neck, he dodged right, then as she started to turn to face him, began his own turn. As he came around, his right foot came up, his left came off the ground, and then his right foot landed firm in Dandra's midriff in a flying roundhouse kick that sent her flying through the air across the room, where she slammed into the padded wall and slid down it to the floor, where she sat, shaking her head to clear it. Sir Blake walked over to her, offered her his hand to get up. She didn't take it, getting to her feet on her own. She walked silently off the mat. "Sir Blake is the winner, then," Foegarth said. "Congratulations. I'd say Darcie's honor has been well-defended." Darcie's comm unit beeped. "Uh, right," he said, glancing furtively at Dandra and Sir Blake, "I'll be, uh, right up." Clutching at the comm like a drowning man to a piece of rope, he dashed out of the room in the direction of the bridge. Foegarth shrugged, and started to walk over to congratulate Sir Blake personally. Edward cleared his throat. Foegarth rolled his eyes, and reached into his pocket for his wallet. He noticed some other money changing hands around the room, too. Dandra was about to stalk off, when Sir Blake put a hand on her shoulder. She turned lightning-fast, hands up in a defensive stance. "What do YOU want?!" Sir Blake extended his hand. Dandra glanced from it, to his face, back to it, back to his face, then hesitantly accepted it. "You fought well. I think that I would be honored to fight by your side." Dandra looked taken aback by these compliments, and for a moment she wasn't sure what to say. "Tha--thank you," she finally replied, then wrenched her hand free and ran from the room. After the little duel between Dandra and Sir Blake was over, Edward found his eyes drawn to the strange court at the far end of the gym. The second was still empty, but he heard sounds of battle from the one that had darkened. As he watched, the darkness suddenly lifted. He looked on in surprise as the plastic walls cleared, exposing the mayhem within. "I saw you watching, and thought you might like to see." Edward looked up as the blue furred Alzar turned away from the console on the wall and joined him. "That is one of our training simulators. It has much improved since we aquired the latest VR advancements from a wayward TARN transport. Here, let me show you how it works." Edward watched with interest as Foegarth pressed a button on the remote control in his hand. Where a moment ago there had been darkness, then a fierce battle, there was now only the junior med officer who had entered a while ago. He was alone in the middle of the court, wearing some sort of tight-fitting and light helmet, that covered his eyes. He was battling with invisible opponents. Foegarth pushed another button, and the opponents were once more visible to them again. One fell down with a knife buried in his head, the knife that the man had thrown at the target on the wall a moment before. "This is what is happening in there," Foegarth said, then pushed a button, "and this is what he sees." The cubicle went dark again, but not just the windows this time. Inside was murky, and Edward could only see a few shadowy figures flitting through the darkness. "Hmm," Edward said. "That guy is pretty good." "No, he isn't. Not yet." Foegarth countered. "He has been with us only a short time. We found the cargo ship he was working on being attacked by pirates. We were too late. Only he and two others were still alive by the time we were able to board as well. The other two we left at a station, but he wanted to stay on, and since he was the med officer of his previous ship, we took him in to work with Dr. Talon. He has been training every day for the last five months, and he's starting to show potential. I wouldn't be surprised if he is full Sasini by the end of his first year with us. The lad has great natural skill, and it surprises me that he was a doctor, not a warrior." Foegarth shrugged, then spoke up as he noticed that they were being left behind. "Come on, let's go. I wouldn't want you to miss the tour, considering next stop after our quarters will be the lounge." The Alzar grinned at the thought of hitting the lounge with new friends to drink to. He was a true pilot all right--any excuse to raise a few glasses, whether it be to victory, defeat, or just new drinking mates. ***** In the pilot seat of a small hyperspacecraft, a bored young pilot typed an entry for the local computer network, SereNet, on a small pocket computer he carried around in case he had time on his hands--like now. When he got back to Serendipity, he would upload it. This particular post would go to the local concert connection newsforum, local.rocknroll.concerts. He was inquiring about what group would be performing at the local concert hall in four days, since his leave was falling at about that time and he was trying to decide which girl to take out. Holly if it's alternate, Janice if it's R&B, Melanara if it's heavy metal--or was that Sherie who liked metal? Oh, well, no matter...he could always take June, who liked anything... BEEEEEEEEEEEP! "Holy hell--what's that?!" He dropped the minicomp and it landed on the floor with a clatter as his ship slowed to sublight speeds within sensor range of the ship he was supposed to rescue, and two other ships that weren't supposed to be there...at least, the controller had said nothing about them. And a whole lot of space debris. What the heck...? "This is HyStarTug HST-66, HST-66 to Scaler Control. I'm out here where you sent me, and there are some ships and debris out here that shouldn't be..." [ADMIN: Can anyone down there at Scaler Field provide an answer? Such as "Don't worry, PW is on the way" or "Observe and report" or "Try to make contact"? I'm sure they're all sweating enough bullets down there already...] [ADMIN: This post was written jointly by Chris Meadows and Daniel Treutler. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we've enjoyed writing it.] [ADMIN: To Be Continued Very Shortly...(Don't worry, Gythion, you'll be in the next one...)] -- Chris Meadows || Andrea & Sheryl CHM173S@SMSVMA.BITNET || [AU] thread, alt.pub.dragons-inn CHM173S@VMA.SMSU.EDU || -------------------------------- CMEADOWS@NYX.CS.DU.EDU || A supporter of rec.arts.creative From CHM173S@vma.smsu.edu (Chris Meadows) Newsgroups: alt.pub.havens-rest Subject: [Cain] [Hive] The Holiday's Over Date: Tue, 04 May 93 21:55:37 CDT [ADMIN: This entry was cowritten by Dani Treutler and Don Schaffer, originally. Then it was posted by Dani. However, since it looks unlikely that the original will make it out of his newsreader for a few days, I am re-posting (pre-posting? :) it, but with a few errors corrected by me, Chris Meadows. This version of it is the "canon" one... :) ] Cain looked at his watch, then out the window once more. He'd directed the driver to head across the complex and out to the desert. They still had a ways to go yet. PW had been curious as to why Cain didn't have his ship parked at Scalar Field. Damned if this guy wasn't looking like more trouble every minute. Not only does he have a space battle going on in MY space, but he didn't even get clearance to land in the first place! Cain was actually pretty curious about the real nature of his employer. One of the wolf-like members had gone with him. The red furred one--well, at least where it had fur, it was red. Cain noticed with surprise that this part was female. He shook his head, wondering why it should surprise him, but it did. The rest of PW seemed so obviously male. Hell, even this one looked the part, what with the grenade launcher mounted on it's back. The transport that PW had called was actually pretty fast, and soon they left the complex proper. Cain pointed the driver out into the desert. After several minutes, Cain asked the man to slow down, then directed him more to the left. He looked at his watch again, then hollered for a stop. The transport halted in the middle of nowhere and the mercenary and the cybernetic wolf got out. PW looked around, and started to get annoyed. "I HOPE this is not a joke on your part Cain--the area seems to be rather empty." The black-haired man just laughed. "Oh it's there, PW. Don't worry, we're in the right place. C'mon, it's just a couple hundred feet." Cain turned towards a slight hill and began to walk. As they drew closer, PW still could not see anything. Then Cain stopped up short, and before PW could voice his annoyance again Cain spoke. "Ah, here we are. And about time too." He reached into the pouch on his belt and pulled forth a small device, about the size of a stopwatch. He depressed three of the buttons that surrounded the round symmetrical device, and suddenly there was a hissing noise from about ten feet in front of them. PW watched as a cockpit opened out of the thin air. The view of the desert beyond was only broken there where the inner side of the cloaked fighter's canopy was suspended ten feet above the sand. Cain hauled himself easily into the cockpit and pressed a few buttons. He took his gun belt off and slid into his flight suit. As the engines began to hum to life, Cain disengaged the cloaking device and helped PW up into the cockpit. The fighter was only meant for one person, but there was quite a bit of room behind the pilot's seat, at least for the cybernetic shewolf. Cain put his helmet on, and slowly the canopy descended and sealed. In less than a minute the fighter was ready for flight. Cain flicked a few more switches, then thought of something. He pressed another button, and the air outside the cockpit seemed to shiver a bit. Cain pulled back on the stick and slowly eased the fighter into the air. As it rose a couple feet from the ground, he punched the main engine online and the ship gathered speed, and soon was rocketing towards the upper atmosphere. ***** Sometime later, the fighter was on its way to meet up with either the SOULSTAR or whomever it was that they were fighting. Cain didn't think that they had enough time to make it before the battle was over, but he was sure going to try. It was a good thing that he hadn't used the warp drive to come in, and had instead relaxed and read "The Eye of the Hunter" again. It was his vacation, afterall, and he was in no hurry to end it, despite the speed with which he now flew towards its imminent demise. The warp drive kicked in and the fighter hurtled off through space towards it's destination. "I hope you don't mind a little music, PW." Even before PW could answer, he popped an LD into the player that was wired into the console. After a moment, Rush was blaring over the speakers. PW winced at the volume, and Cain, seeing her discomfort, turned it down a bit. "Sorry, PW. I always listen to loud music when I'm in a foul mood, and this helps soothe my mind while I fly. Nothing to keep your mind on the business like a little Rush. I can't count the times I sunk a cruiser in the TerraIV wars with 2112 blaring in the background. The Kalnar used to call me Kilrahh, which I heard meant 'assassin,' but I think it really means 'the crazy hairless ape that plays music while he is in battle.'" PW sighed, WHY is it it that the ones I always travel with are the ones with bad choices in music. Not only did he have a CHIMERA team and a space battle to clean up and deal with, he had to listen to this $#)% also. Sigh. Cain checked his radar scanner once more. "We should be picking them up soon. God, they were a long ways off. No wonder I lost contact, especially if the LRC was damaged at all." Cain thought of something and turned to look at his passenger. "I know that you have some sort of mind link with your other parts, but are you still an individual creature, or just another body of the same mind? Oh, and how far can you go before you lose contact with the rest of you?" Great, now he wants to talk. Sigh, better make him happy. I'll just up his "repayment" heh heh. "Mindlink? Sort of. You see, I have only one mind. This body you see before you is just one part of me, much like your arm is a part of you. And also, as far as I have tested, I can extend this mind link from Serendipity to some of the the farther rift openings." Before Cain could ask another question, the fighters comm unit suddenly blared to life. "SOULSTAR to captain Cain. Do you copy?" The transmission was a little staticy, but it came through all the same. "SOULSTAR to Cain. Our LRC has just come back on line, so this may be a little cut up." "No, I'm reading you fine, Dargon. Just a bit of static. Where's Blips? How come you are calling?" "Captain Daniels is taking his break. He has been working hard for the last 36 hours, with little sleep." "If he's on a break, then I take it the battle is over?" "Yes it is. We were victorious." "Damn!" Even though his ship's safety was his primary concern, he still hated to miss a battle. Especially when it would give him an opportunity to lash out at whoever dared attack his ship when he was on leave. If this was TARN, he would be extremely upset. They had only hit three transports in the last six months, and he would have thought that they'd have given up the chase by now. But no, that's one thing the military can do well--hold a grudge. Cain guessed that he would have still been pissed off about it too, especially if he was one of the brass, who probably knew nothing at all about what had actually happened. "We were attacked by a fleet of Imperial-class destroyers of unknown origin," the SOULSTAR's intelligence computer continued. "Nine in total gave chase from the first check point. Three were destroyed before we jumped, and only three managed to follow." "Hold on there, Dargon. The FIRST checkpoint? You ran into trouble at the FIRST checkpoint? What the hell is going on? There should have been no danger at all until checkpoint three, and even after that no resistance like that should have been met. I was expecting a little bit after the objective was hit, but nothing near that force--NINE I-C d's! Christ, that's a lot. There is no way the old man could have had enough weight to throw that at us." "I have been unable to determine probable cause. We may know soon. We have company for dinner--the crew of the CONSTELLATION, a group of earthers from another dimensional continuum. "Waitasec. Earthers? Did you take necessary precautions?" "Of course I did, Cain. You helped program me, remember? As I was saying before you interupted, the CONSTELLATION came to our aid. Hiroshi boarded the third enemy destroyer with the earthmen. They were able to take one prisoner before the cruiser self-destructed. Lt. Darr questioned the man, but was unable to learn anything yet. The prisoner is currently sitting in the dark awaiting your arrival." "Good. I'll deal with him after I've had a few explanations. How did you manage to get into trouble at checkpoint one anyways? Was it TARN again? They shouldn't have been anywhere near that sector." "No, it was not TARN this time. Bounty hunters." PW listened in on the conversation. Bounty Hunters hmm? That was all Cain needed to hear. His face set once more into its grim expression and his voice was as cold as his eyes when he answered. "Under whose hire? There is more to this than them. Those destroyers weren't hired guns." "I have not been able to determine who hired them. But I believe that there is now a price on your head." "Or on my ship. Who were they? IAG? If they had anything to do with this..." "I do not know if it was IAG, but this was not one of their regular hit styles. I think these may have been independants. I have not been able to find out who ordered the hit, but I think that it may be an open contract." "Could it have been the old man? No, he couldn't know... Damnit! Dargon, what else can you tell me?" "Nothing important. Well, Lt. O'Kahgan took to the skies in a 'Drake today, and flew rather well. He had three confirmed kills." "Darcie? What was he doing flying in combat? He said he never wanted to do it again." Then Cain realised what that implicated. His voice was tight as when he finally spoke. "Dargon, who was it?" "Are you sure you want to know, Cain?" "Yes, tell me." "If that is your wish." There was a pause, and then Dargon spoke again rather quickly. "Shut down in progress. Intrusion danger, I must retreat. I must terminate now. I'll see you on the 'STAR, Cain." "Dargon?" No, he was gone. At least he was taking the proper precautions for a visit by earthers. It looked like all that painful programming had finally paid off. Cain knew how earth was, how many of them had psionic abilities and telepathic powers. Cain had set to work overtime with Blips to program the intelligence computer against the possiblity of psychic intrusion. Suddenly his thoughts were interupted by PW. "I thought you said you had no connections with the IAG." "Hmmm? Oh, I don't. I've only come into contact with them a couple of times, and it was on a professional level. I have neither friends nor enemies there. Anybody can hire an assassin team, you know. And somebody did. I only thought that it might be them, as anybody who hoped to take me and my crew out would have to hire the best. I'm in the dark about this as much as you are. I'm hoping you might be able to shed some light on this. If those destroyers were of unknown origin, it means they were something that we have never encountered before, and niether has TARN, unless it has been recently. I have their records for up to approximately three months ago." PW didn't exactly like this answer, but he doubted he could get a better one. He did wish he could have brought his 'bear' member along. For some reason, people were much more diplomatic when a pickup sized cybernetic animal with a gun on its back bigger than most creatures was talking to you. PW grinned at this private memory. Too bad it wouldn't have fit in here... Cain leaned back to nurse his troubled thoughts. There was nothing to be done now, so he eased up on the throttle to allow the warp drive to recuperate somewhat. It was an old model, not designed for use at full capacity over long periods of time, and so needed to recharge if it was over taxed. He closed his eyes for a moment, and prepared to face the fact that one or more of his friends had died. [To Be Continued (Aboard the SOULSTAR) Very Shortly] [Yes, Gythion, you WILL be in the next one DEFINITELY. :)] -- Chris Meadows || Andrea & Sheryl CHM173S@SMSVMA.BITNET || [AU] thread, alt.pub.dragons-inn CHM173S@VMA.SMSU.EDU || -------------------------------- CMEADOWS@NYX.CS.DU.EDU || A supporter of rec.arts.creative From CHM173S@vma.smsu.edu (Chris Meadows) Newsgroups: alt.pub.havens-rest Subject: [Cain] [Gythion] Stand By to Dock Date: Tue, 04 May 93 22:38:45 CDT [ADMIN: This post was written by Chris Meadows and Will Szabo, with input from Daniel Treutler.] "Gythion, they have received our message. What do you wish to do now?" "Well Joss, they didn't fire on us. It doesn't look like they are going to either. Why not go see if they know what the hell those things were. You don't think they will try something once we get close, do you?" "I am not sure. Perhaps we should assume a defensive posture? Do you wish to do so?" "Yes, Joss. Please assume a defensive posture. You might want to let them know we're coming to have a talk too." "Okay. I will try to hail them and let them know we are going to dock. Do you wish to talk to them?" "Sure, Joss. Please patch me through to them." COMMUNICATIONS RECONNECTED . . . DEFENSIVE COUNTERMEASURES ONLINE . . . "All right, Gythion, you can talk to them now." "Come in, this is the WEIRD. Gythion here. Clear." ssssshhhhhhhh "We are going to dock. Are you reading that? Clear." ssssshhhhhhhh ***** Darcie strode onto the bridge, and sank into the comm chair like he couldn't stay on his feet a moment longer. "Hey, what's wrong, Darcie?" Young asked. "You look a little pale." Darcie shook his head. "Nothing, nothing...what did Blips call me up here for. Say, where is he, anyway?" "He had to go...his shift ended twelve hours ago, recall? I think he's in his quarters playing that new guitar he picked up." "Oh, yeah, that's right. I should have told him to get off as soon as we got back in. But what's the problem?" "The log is over there on Blips' console, I think...hang on." Young walked over to the control panel and picked up the clipboard sitting on it, since Darcie still looked a bit unsteady. "Oh, okay, here it is..." He punched a couple of keys on the clipcomp and tossed it over to Darcie, who fumbled the catch and nearly dropped it on the floor. "What...huh? Stealth fighter attack averted by unknown ship...dispatched Lianna for a recce flyby...But this was nearly fifteen minutes ago!" Darcie looked around. He and Young were the only crewmen on the bridge at the moment. Sigh. "Looks like I'd better..." Darcie grunted, lifting himself from the seat. "...umph, get moving." Because of the relatively small crew of the SOULSTAR, most crewmembers had a working knowledge of how to operate each individual bridge post. Darcie was no exception. He walked over to the commo console and sat down there, clipcomp still in hand. He punched for a tightbeam comline to Lianna's fighter. "Lianna, Darcie here. Whatcha got on that ship?" The answer came back. "Beats the hell out of me what it is...that thing is shielded against most scanner packages...even the special package we acquired from that last TARN shipment. All I can tell is that it seems to have three distinct power sources, though only one is fully on-line at the moment. And it has some kind of energy weapons, but I only know that because I saw it fire them at those stealth ships. And a tractor projector, too." "Uh, right, hold on..." Darcie punched the review key on the clipcomp. Three fighters...two destroyed...tractor on the third...engaged warpdrive--WARPDRIVE?! "Holy--that fighter had warpdrive?!" "That's right..." "And it had STEALTH?!" "You tell me, you're the one sitting at the comm/scan station." "Gads." He checked the console data log. "Hey, Young, you know if we got through to Cain yet?" The corporal just shrugged. "Damn. I think he's going to want to know about this...For now, I'm putting the crew on full combat alert." He hit the keys to page each of the crew individually, then decided not to page Blips, Jaana, or Foegarth. Blips had been on the job for twelve hours over shift, and Jaana and Foegarth were showing the guests around. For what they'd done for him, he figured he at least owed them an uninterrupted tour. Darcie grabbed the headset and put it on. "Attention. Attention," he said into the mike. "This is a full combat alert. Three stealth fighters WITH warpdrive capabilities have just tried to pull a hit-and-run on us. There could be more coming at any time, I want you all ready. That is all." "Uh, Darcie, I hate to interrupt," Lianna said, "but I think that the other ship is getting nervous. I'm reading a power surge, defensive shields, etc. They're going to a defensive stance, and I BELIEVE they're trying to hail you." "What? Uh, oh yeah, right..." Darcie looked around, hit the hyperspace comm key. "Uh, this is the SOULSTAR. Come in, uh, WEIRD. Do you copy? Uh, clear..." "This is the WEIRD," a female voice said. Then a male voice said, "It's about time! Gythion here...requesting permission to dock. Clear." "What do you think?" Darcie asked Corporal Young. Young shrugged. "They did stop those stealth fighters..." "Darn it, why do we keep getting our butts saved by people we don't even know?" Darcie hit the mike again. "Uh, roger, WEIRD. Prepare for dock...use the docking hookup on the starboard side...Be advised, however, that due to those stealth fighters, we are on full combat alert in case they should decide to try again, clear." "Uh, roger that, SOULSTAR," the reply came back. "We would be, too. Coming in...clear and out." "Roger. Clear and out." Darcie thumbed the switch off. "Uh, Lianna, did you get that?" "That's a roger..." "Okay, escort them in, will you? I'll try to meet them at the docking bay." "Roger." "Okay, thanks. Darcie out." He removed the headset. "Cain's gonna be shitting bricks when he hears about this..." [To Be Continued Very Shortly] -- Chris Meadows || Andrea & Sheryl CHM173S@SMSVMA.BITNET || [AU] thread, alt.pub.dragons-inn CHM173S@VMA.SMSU.EDU || -------------------------------- CMEADOWS@NYX.CS.DU.EDU || A supporter of rec.arts.creative From CHM173S@vma.smsu.edu (Chris Meadows) Newsgroups: alt.pub.havens-rest Subject: [Constellation] [Cain] Under the Bridge Date: Thu, 06 May 93 00:20:13 CDT [This post was jointly written by both myself and Daniel Treutler, who may not have net access until the weekend.] Foegarth winced as the group got off the lift and entered the crew quarters. Blips was working on that song again. Foegarth didn't mind it, even if it was a little heavy for his taste, but it was rather loud, and he had guests to show around. "Uh...don't mind that. It's just Blips. He picked up a rather rare guitar at that last station we were at." Mako noticed the dark look that passed across both his and Jaana's faces. "Something from 21st century Earth, and in great condition. It cost him an arm and a leg, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he had offered the SOULSTAR up for it. "This is where we all live." Foegarth pointed at the doors along the corridor. "Pretty basic quarters, military style barracks although these are a little more spacious than the ones we had back on the TCV Blade. This ship was meant to run with a minimal crew, even though there is room for thirty." Foegarth led them up the hall, showing them Darcie's room when they came across it. "He won't mind." It was simple, as he had said--bed, desk, chair, computer terminal a few drawers and a small closet. There were a few laser disks lying scattered on his desk, and a tattered book as well. Mako could barely make out the title--The Iron Tower. Foegarth noticed him looking at it with curiosity. "Another rare purchase we made. Second printing, but also from 21st century Earth. I find it a bit strange, you know? 4th Terrans have such a strong interest in ancient artifacts from earth. Collecting them is a very lucrative business." "It's pretty lucrative back home too," Rory added. "Anything pre-cataclysm is valuable. And also illegal. Mako's father used to collect a lot of it, and then Mako, and then he sort of got us started on it too." They left Darcie's room and continued up the corridor, until they stood outside the door that all the noise was coming from. It stopped for a moment, and they could hear two voices talking, one very excitedly, before it began once more. Foegarth winced again and pressed the bell. "Oh shit!" The music stopped at once. "Hold on! Just a minute, don't come in!" He thought for a moment, then added, "I'm naked!" Arla looked at Foegarth. "Does he always work on his music in the nude?" Foegarth knew that Blips must be doing something important for him to use that as an excuse (and he couldn't resist the chance for a joke on a fellow crewman), so he replied, "Uh, of course. He says it helps him to concentrate." In truth, Blips was rushing over to the terminal as he spoke, and frantically typing a few commands: -> Initiate shut down procedure. Clearance 135#09fg9er2. Dargon. -> ######## clearance ********* **** * -> Terminate all actions. Lie low for a bit, old man. -> @@@*&&(). Access ********. "Termination complete." The terminal went blank as the computer withdrew into the protective shell of it's mainframe to hide. Everything it was doing was shut down, and only basic 'life support' was kept online. "That was too close," Blips muttered as he opened the door to greet the visitors. The man that emerged from the door was fully clothed, Arla noted. So fully clothed, that there was no way that he had been naked a moment before as he had yelled through the door, especially considering the old white guitar was still strapped round his shoulder. He had blond hair, fairly long and unruly after two days of wearing his headset with little time for rest. He had light hazel eyes that seemed almost verging on the edge of being greyish green, and was sporting a short goatee beard, which he even now stroked with his left hand. He was about 5'8", and looked fairly well built. All of those on the SOULSTAR that they had seen so far had been in good shape--except for Hiroshi of course, but that was only temporary. It was obviously a result of having artificial gravity and such a fine gym to work out in. He wore a pair of faded jeans and a black and gold jersey of some sort with the number seven on the back and left arm. She couldn't read the crest on the breast, as it was faded and covered by the guitar's shoulder strap. He wore combat boots as well, but they weren't at all in the shiny condition that soldiers kept theirs in. He smiled warmly and spoke in a familiar voice. "Uh, hi! How you all doing. I'm Captain Troy Daniels, but you can call me Blips. Everybody does. Come on in and have a seat." He stuck out his hand to shake the one the tall dark haired man offered. "You must be Mako. Pleased to meet you." The rest of the introductions went fairly quickly. The room was relatively spartan, but with some meaningful decorations. There was a desk with an old computer terminal and some audio equipment sitting on it, turned off. There was a bunk, a bedside table, and a couch. And there was a poster of Jimi Hendrix on the wall. "Thanks." Mako and Sharon sat down on the bed, Rory, Arla, and Sir Blake took the couch, Edward and Jake sat cross-legged on the floor, and Steele just stood, since no structure in the room would support his weight anyway. Foegarth leaned against the doorway, and Jaana leaned against the opposite side of it. Blips sat down at the desk chair. "You really pulled our chestnuts out of the fire back there, you know." Mako nodded. "We know. I--" He was interrupted by Sharon, who had been gazing at Blips' guitar since she entered. "Excuse me," she said to Blips, not taking her eye off the guitar, "I haven't seen such fine workmanship in a guitar in many years. I was wondering, may I have a look?" Blips looked doubtful. "I promise I'll be very careful with it...instruments like that are almost sacred to me." Blips saw only sincerity in her silver eyes, so he shrugged, lifting the guitar off his shoulders VERY carefully. Sharon reached out both hands and took it as though she were being handed a tank full of live nitroglyceryn. She settled the strap over her shoulders and Blips breathed easily--it wouldn't be dropped now. Sharon strummed a chord, enjoying the mellow tones of the ancient instrument. She strummed a scale, then the first few notes of "Dueling Banjos." Then her eyes lit up. She looked around for the power and amp leads, plugged them in, strummed a chord to check, adjusted the volume and reverb controls. "Okay..." she said. "Let's do it." Blips reached over to his desk and pressed the "record" button on his laserdisk recorder. After all, he had blank space to spare... Sharon produced a pick from somewhere and started picking out a series of single notes that sounded very familiar to Blips and Foegarth, but they couldn't quite place it until she settled down into chords and started to sing. Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner Sometimes I feel like my only friend Is the city I live in, the city of angels Lonely as I am, together we cry. As Blips' jaw slowly dropped, Mako pulled out a metal stylus and started tapping rhythm on the bedside table as she began the second verse. I drive on her streets 'cause she's my companion, I walk through her hills 'cause she knows who I am. She sees my good deeds and she kisses me windy, I never worry, now that is a lie. On the refrain, Mako picked up the tune, his smooth tenor harmonizing perfectly with Sharon's soprano. I don't ever wanna feel Like I did that day Take me to the place I love Take me all the way I don't ever wanna feel Like I did that day Take me to the place I love Take me all the way Sharon continued her song, her eyes closed, fingering almost instinctively through the chords. Blips, who had played the song often himself, recognized some of the chords she played as more complicated variations than the normal chording of the song, and his respect for her went up a notch or two. Everyone else sat hypnotized by the music. Even though the accompaniment was only an electric guitar and a stylus tapping rhythm, the performance held them spellbound. As Sharon strummed the finishing chords and finally looked up, her face flushed, everyone else in the room applauded. "That was amazing!" Blips said. He had been so wrapped up in the music that he'd almost forgotten to press the stop button on the recorder. "I haven't heard a performance like that in--in too long." His face darkened for a moment, then he put the memory behind him. Sharon blushed. "You're too kind," she said. "I'm not that good." "You underestimate yourself," Blips said. "You really know your way around the guitar." Sharon shook her head. "I just have an affinity for machines and electronics, that's all. I love instruments like this." An affinity for machines? Something in the back of Blips' mind reminded him of the incursion on Dargon, but he set that aside for now. "Wow, that's great. Do you all play?" "Most of us play one instrument or another, but not too well," Mako said. "We taught ourselves on a particularly boring drive across a few hundred miles of desert." He grinned. "We weren't pleasant to be around at first, let me tell you. In fact, we were like to kill each other by the end of the first week. But we got better. We'd hardly call ourselves band quality, though...we're basically pretty mediocre, except for Sharon. But it's kind of fun to play, and helps keep us from being bored sometimes." "Wow. You have your own instruments?" Blips asked. "Yeah..." Sharon said. "Nothing like this, though...just some stuff I threw together from parts." "We'll have to get together and jam sometime," Blips said. "How about later on today, if we don't have any more little incidents?" "I dunno..." Sharon said. "I'm not sure that I could actually perform. I just do it a little for fun." "Oh, come on..." Blips said. "I haven't had a jam session with anyone who plays like you do since..." He trailed off. "I don't know..." Sharon said. "I've never played with a real professional before..." "A professional?" Blips laughed. "I'm just an amateur who likes fooling around with playing and mixing." "Mixing?" Mako asked. "Yeah, I record and do some remixes with--uh, some equipment I have." "We'll have to talk sometime," Mako said. "You see, I used to run a radio station..." "What?" "Yes, a pirate broadcasting outfit. I would transmit music and anti-Coalition propaganda into villages, townships, etc., and then move on before the Coalition could catch me." At Blips' blank look, he added, "On the Earth I come from, the Coalition States are the one big human nation remaining, at least in North America. They're a bunch of fascist human supremacists, out to destroy all the d-bees and mutants in the world. Oh, you'd say aliens instead of d-bees, probably." Blips shrugged. "Cool. Well, come on, why don't we all continue the tour? "Are you sure?" Foegarth asked. "You've been up for nearly 40 hours straight, you look like you could use some rest." "Oh? I'd forgotten...guess the stimtabs I took about ten hours ago are still working. Well, I'll just show 'em a couple more things before I sack out..." Foegarth shrugged. "It's your funeral," he said. "I'll keep that in mind." Blips went back into his room and lovingly placed his new prize in its case, then joined them outside once more. He sort of immediately took over the tour, but it didn't seem to bother Foegarth. It was very obvious that the two were best of friends, and there was little that either could do to annoy the other. "I think that the next step is to head to the bar, er, lounge. I take it that you've visited engineering and the training room. Well, of course, they're on the way. I'd bring you to the bridge first, but the lounge is closer. Besides, the brigde is boring, and I don't know about all of you, but that dogfight made me just a little thirsty. C'mon, let's go. It's just over here a little bit." "But wait a minute; you weren't IN that dogfight," Foegarth said. "I know," Blips replied. The group followed Blips, and Jake winced as he realised that they were going to have a drink or two. He wasn't a heavy drinker, really--most times he drank only moderately. But once every couple of months, he would go out and get REALLY drunk, and usually would hardly drink at all for the next couple of weeks after that. Jake shrugged, deciding that it was only courteous, and maybe if his hangover wouldn't go away on it's own, he could chase it away with a few more beers. He followed the rest of them toward the lounge. [To Be Continued As Soon as Daniel Treutler Gets Net Access Back] -- Chris Meadows || Andrea & Sheryl CHM173S@SMSVMA.BITNET || [AU] thread, alt.pub.dragons-inn CHM173S@VMA.SMSU.EDU || -------------------------------- CMEADOWS@NYX.CS.DU.EDU || A supporter of rec.arts.creative