From fogelinc@pt.Cyanamid.COM (Carl Fogelin)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.havens-rest
Subject: [DD] Let's blow this joint
Date: 21 Jun 1993 17:44:51 GMT

[ ADMIN: From now on, the adventures of Foxbat and Vedemeer will be identified ]
[ by the [DD] thread signature -- the Dynamic Duo.  Foxbat is written by Scott ]
[ Kellogg and Vedemeer is written by Carl Fogelin.  Thanks extended to Chris   ]
[ Meadows for permitting Oberon, Inc to be included in this post.              ]
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The crowds had left Oberon Inc and the prize winners had just sat through 5
minutes of "legalese", disclaimer's on responsibility, and anything else
that Jerry could think of to distance Oberon Inc from possible future legal
recourse.  When he was done, the room was silent while the different winners
digested what was said and began to formulate questions.  Silent that is
except for Vedemeer and Foxbat who looked at each other and then back at
Jerry.  Vedemeer said "Where do I sign?"

Jerry smiled and produced the appropriate contract for his signature.
Without even looking to make sure that the contract reflected what Jerry
had said, he signed it, slapped high-fives with Foxbat and headed back to
the trike.  The other winners watched the pair with a mixture of confusion,
contempt, and concern.

***

"Jeesh Foxbat, these lessons are  b o r i n g!!!" said Vedemeer as he dis-
connected his jury-rigged datajack.  Jerking his thumb back towards Jerry
who was still discussing legal responsibilities with the other winners, 
"They must think we're Bozos."

"Fukkit, it's just your standard shit.  Don't do dis.  Don't do dat.
Maintenance...  We're not responsible..." responded Foxbat, flipping
through the owner's manual he had found under the seat.  He looked again
at the wiring diagram, then looked back at the trike, a smirk on his face.
"Dey wancha to be real careful, so dey don't tell ya how to get the
hi-perf outta it...  DAT'S what we want."

Vedemeer stretched, picked his nose, rubbed his finger on his spacer's pants,
and re-hooked up his ad hoc datajack.  His eyes glazed over, focussed off in
the distance.

Foxbat lumbered over to the trike and crawled underneath it looking for
obvious hardpoints and weapon's mounts.  Ok, the paneling was el-cheapo
plastic, but with some decent plasteel sheet stolen from the parts shop...

When Vedemeer unhooked again, he was very stiff and his vertabrae clicked as
he turned.  'Where was Foxbat?' he wondered.  Looking around, he saw that
that guy with the funny hat was actively arguing with one of Oberon's owners.
"Jerk!" said Vedemeer.  He stood up, disconnected the jury-rig datajack and
stuffed it into one of his pockets.  'That was enough of that' thought Vede-
meer.  'I can drive it now.'

Just then he spied Foxbat outside in the MiG, idling by the curb.  Foxbat
waved to him to come out.  Vedemeer nodded his head and hopped on the trike.
Flipping up a side panel, he pulled the safety checklist module out and flung
it on the floor.  Then he activated the engine, throttled up to 3/4 power and
popped the clutch.  The trike took off like a rocket, lifting the front wheel
off the ground.  Standing high on the foot pegs, leaning forward, Vedemeer
turned towards the shocked group of winners, gave them the middle-finger
salute, and howled as he took off toward the glass-doored entrance.

Jerry quickly slammed the button to open the door, less the kid crash through
it.  The door whisked open just as the trike touched down on all three wheels
and Vedemeer shot through.  Foxbat took off in the MiG and Vedemeer followed.

A little old lady in an electric scooter was just turning out of Barney's
Market (which for some reason had a large inflatable dinosaur on the roof
today) when Vedemeer caught sight of her as he bore down on her at high
speed.  A moment before impact, he punched in the underjets and screamed
over the scooter with decimeters to spare.

The scooter spun out of control and into a lamp post.

Foxbat snickered as he flew overhead.  The front wheels on the scooter
were badly dented, but the passenger compartment looked intact.  He
frowned, "Only half score for that one Vede!"

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 Carl Fogelin (fogelinc@pt.cyanamid.com)   "All opinions are strictly mine" 

   Up the long ladder and down the short rope,
   To Hell with King Billy and God bless the Pope. -- traditional