harriso3@ix.netcom.com (Ben Harrison ) Well here is my first posted Fanfic. After enjoying so many others I thought I would contibute. This is actually the 2nd Fanfic I've ever writen, the first was to a now defunct fanzine about the Dirty Pair called Dirty Little Girls. It was accepted but I never saw the magazine. Of course the Dirty Pair/Lovely Angels are the creation of Haruka Takachiho Twin Star/Dirty Pair were inspired by the Lovely Angels and my own strange ideas The members of Inquiry are the products of my own imangination and their use as Characters in several RPG's I've played in. I would like Twister (Darren Steffler) and Windlilly (Shannon Richmeyer ) for their prereading and comments. In fact the original version of Chapter 2 was Twisters, if you don't like it do not blame him I did a fair amount of editting. I wish to thank Christopher Paul Rijk for the comments he made for parts one and two. This story takes place in a universe were some people do have, for a lack of a better term, superpowers. The members of Inqiry are such people. The Dirty Pair (s) don't have them, and frankly do not NEED them. Enough of my talk, on with the story. You can send your comments to Ben L. Harrison 72440.2345@compuserve.com ************************************************************ Two Pair Beats Everything or Two Pair and One Full House CHAPTER 1 Samuel Martian sat in his study, sipping cognac and thinking deeply. As was his habit when doing so the was talking quietly to himself. "T'malt Bri'tang, the head of the Sivvat delegation, and my friend, is dead. Murdered in his private quarters. In an age and on a planet were energyweapons are common, he was killed with an old style handgun." Sipping his cognac he continued, "The police have forgotten about these weapons so it will take a while for them to dredge up the proper tests. I think could help identify the weapon with a simple spell, but they wouldn't listen to me about my mystic abilities. Odd . . . they accept my minor telepathic talents without hesitation, but would have me committed to a Psychological evaluation if I tried to cast a spell for them". Rising to refresh his drink Martin began to review the facts he _did_ know. "One of the few things we know right now is that the bullet was of silver. _Silver!_ Damn. That indicates someone knows something about Sivvat magic. But how and what does this person or persons know?" "Of course the Police don't know the significance of the bullet. One of the detectives did to make a bad joke about werewolves. Odd though, his humor appeared extremely forced. It probably came about from the Police's general ill feeling. They, as a group, aren't happy about the Foreign Ministry stepping in and having me lead the investigation". He then snorted. "I'M not particularly happy about this either. I am several things: a Mage, a diplomat, a minor telepath, and historian. But I am NOT a detective." "Of course, this will not be an easy investigation. It will not matter if technology, magic, or a combination of both solve this case. To start with the Sivvat value their privacy highly and had spells covering all of the delegation rooms and passageways. Naturally those spells interfered with the security cameras. To make things even more difficult I can't get a good retrocognition reading of the area, assuming my unreliable talent in that area cooperates". "Well, what is past . . . is . . . past." Martin stared into space for a moment. "Wait a minute. The. . . _Past_. There was something in my reading..." Martins frowned in concentration. Suddenly he straightened up, as if he had come to a decision "Fenton!!!" Martin called. Fenton, Martin's majordomo, butler and assistant in many things both magical and mundane appeared. "Yes, sir. What do you need?" "Your skills as a researcher. Access the Historical Records database and check the late 20th century for a investigation team called the Dirty . . . something or other." Bowing slightly Fenton said, "Yes, sir. What information will you require?" "Names & descriptions to start with. We are going to do something to move this investigation forward. AS the weapon used was from the past, so we shall get some help from the past as well." With the typical "nothing startles me all" look that all good butlers have Fenton inquired "Will there be anything else Sir?" "No just get started right away, please. I've got to see Al'teer." -Later- "I'm sorry to intrude, Al'teer, but I need your assistance." The female Sivvat looked at the human. To most other races the Sivvat always appeared under control. But those individuals who could read them, who had spent time with them, and the especially rare people who could call one of the Sivvat friend, one of those people could tell this ones control was fraying. Badly. "Bri'tang was not my friend for long, but he was my friend. I also guessed that you were . . . much more than just a friend to him. That is why I'm so sorry to intrude on your grief." "Wh.. What is it you need Samuel Martin?" "I see the need to summon help to solve this tragic crime. The Police could handle the mundane aspects, but they cannot begin to understand, or deal with, the magical aspects. In addition, I feel investigators who are more familiar with older technologies would be of more help. Also, as I was placed in charge, I would feel more comfortable with someone who answered totally to me." Pausing, and drawing a deep breath, he continued "Therefore, I have decided to summon some help from the past, and to do that I need to borrow the Spirit Stone." "What!! Why?" "Because alone I lack the power and the focus to reach back that far in time. I'm strong, Al'teer, but I need aid. With the help of your delegation's Spirit Stone I would have power and focus" Al'teer took on the Sivvat look of concentration. Then she appeared to nod to herself. "Yes" was her simple reply Martin was taken aback. The artifacts that the Sivvat carry with them are, if not sacred, very close to it. This is especially true when dealing with the Sprit Stones. Because of the raw magical power the Stones carried Martin expected to have a long drawn out argument, an argument he had been prepared for, not this quick agreement. His face broadcast the question before he could even speak or send a telepathic message. Control slipping further Al'teer answered. "Because I loved him, because I couldn't save him and," her face went almost feral as she almost totally lost control, "to help avenge him." -- Elsewhere -- The instigator of the T'mals death, code named Snake by his fellow cabal members, felt pleased with himself. This assassination would lend strength to the Isolationist Cabals position. In one stroke his plan had removed a strong Contact Party voice and disrupted negotiations with this Human scum planet. What's more he had a perfect cut out from the people who had actually performed the assassination. Yes there was no way that amateur Samuel Martian would be able solve this problem. Granted, he was a strong mage, possibly stronger than Snake himself to be truthful, but power and skill in one area does not always translate to another. Samuel Martin had been foolish in taking on this assignment. Satisfied Snake continued musing on this until a trusted personal aide (and fellow agent of the cabal) entered. announced the aide without preamble. . The Snakes voice had a dangerous calmness to it. The Snake gathered his thoughts for a moment. The aide remained quiet. Opening his eyes the Snake started to issue orders. He paused, mental checking if anything else needed to be done. No all appeared correct. Yes, this was disturbing, but his steps should be more than enough --- Later---- Martian surveyed the casting room. The chamber was located in a converted barn on his family estates. Martin was quietly proud of his rooms workmanship. When he designed this place as a place of power he had made it larger than strictly necessary to accommodate large ceremonies and rituals. Rarely, however, had the casting room held host to so many. Besides himself and Fenton there were several members of the Sivvat delegation present to witness and to guard the Spirit Stone. Carefully positioning each person and item he took his own place before the Stone. The Stone was a fairly large gem, that glowed with a strange inner fire. As Martin took his place the Stone visibly brightened Martin then began to cast his spell. Snake thought, hiding in his position as one of the invited guests. As the energies gathered the reception circle began to glow. Both Snake and Martian began to look worried, for vastly different reasons. thought Snake. Martian was more concerned for he knew more about what was happening, being the caster of the spell and thus connected to it. "More than two people are coming through!! What's more, the second reception circle has activated! Thank all good Powers that I built in that fail-safe, but why is it needed?" Then, with a flash of blinding blue-white light, the "guests" arrived. -Elsewhen, the 20th century.- Two beautiful women looked over a warehouse that had, until recently, been burning. In fact, they were illuminated by the flashing lights from Fire-rescue and Police vehicles. Even under the strange lights they were a pleasure to look at. One was quite tall, her short Strawberry blond hair appearing to change from red to blond and back again as the lights played across it. The other was much smaller, a delicate looking woman of oriental descent. Both of them where dressed in black urban combat overalls with the needed gear for combat, combat they had obviously participated in. The smaller of the two spoke first. "Think he will blame us for this, Karen?" "Nope. But he is going to have to do some fast talking to that board of his. Of course, we just thought they where using the warehouse to smuggle conventional arms. There was no way any of us could have known that the terrorist were making and storing Napalm there as well." The tall one sighed. "It could have been worse, we might not have been able to save the security people they took as hostages. By the way, Yevette, I saw you checking out one of them. Don't you think he was a little too tall for you?" Before Yevette could respond a figure faded in from the night. Literally. At six feet He was only slightly taller than Karen, dressed in a Maroon costume with dark gold boots and gloves. His face was completely covered by a mask and goggles combination. The rest of his costume included a combat harness (also in dark gold) supporting several weapons (most predominate a very nasty looking shotgun that even now he was returning to it's holster on his back) and other gear. He had a military air about him. The world at large knew him as Challenge. Karen and Yevette called him friend. "Don't get started, ladies. If it's the guy I'm thinking of, he is very happily married. His wife will be quite grateful for your saving him". His voice had a growl in it, like he had damaged it by shouting for a prolonged period of time (he had). "And don't worry about the fire, Yevette, when Fahrenheit and I checked over the remains of their storage facilities we found several things. According to him there was evidence of leakage and other lack of safety controls. That place could have detonated at any time. If it had occurred during the day the body count would have been very high." "Thanks, Challenge, nice of you to let us know. Now if you can convince our bosses everything will be sehr gut". "German now. Karen you must be more nervous about this than I thought," Challenge chuckled. Yevette covered for her partner , "Where is Fahrenheit and the rest of your crew anyhow?" A voice, with a disturbing similarity to Susan Summers playing "Chrissy" from "Threes Company", broke in from above. "Well, like Fahrenheit is asking some of those cute firemen if they need help hunting for 'hot spots', Seeker and the Lynx are on their way over here trying to decide how they will write up this story and I'm right here!!" "Plasma Girl, we know you aren't an airhead so why do you keep acting like one?", Karen asked with more than a little exasperation. Dropping into a BADDDDD Captain Kirk impersonation as she landed, Plasma Girl said, "Well, you know that, and I know that, but . . . the Romulans (and other bad guys) don't know that." Everyone moaned. As they considered an appropriate reply (Karen was wondering out loud how many grenades she had left) two more people, a man and a woman, approached the group. They were deeply into their conversation, barely paying attention as to where they where going. The lady, like Yevette, was of oriental descent. Her costume was a gray body suit styled to suggest a cat. The cat motif was emphasized by the snarling cat-face on her chest. Hand resting on the numkucks that she had holstered she was addressing the man. "Look, I'm not asking you to share the byline or anything like that. I just want some recognition of the help I gave you. To keep it fair I'll do the same when I write about the combat and the fire" The man, who dressed in a brown and blue costume with a "Zorro" type mask , replied, "OK, OK! Just make sure you get my last name right this time? And do you want the credit as the Gray Lynx, your secret id, or both?" "Both and I will do the same for you Seeker" "Ah, the joys of press cooperation," said Yevette, "Now if you can only get the rest of the press corps to report on us more fairly." The Gray Lynx replied, "I _did_ do a good job on that action you had in Arkansas a few years back!! It's not my fault the editor butchered the story. Although that attack helicopter you landed at, or rather _on_, Police central did cause quite a stir." Karen responded "Like I had any choice? I was running on fumes at the time! And I managed to miss landing on the local Chiefs car." A fifth person had joined the circle. He was dressed in a red and blue costume that appeared to suggest both fire and ice. Of all the people there he alone did not have a smoke smudged look. He commented, "Now we're going to have to listen to the Lynx, Seeker and the Dir.. Twin Star argue about press rights and reporting. Look, guys, if it's all the same to you let's table it or go get a cup of coffee and be comfortable while the argument takes place." "If you weren't so cute I'd get you for that Fahrenheit," commented Karen. Making sure it wouldn't degrade into a combination flirting/shouting match (even if he did almost use "that name" Yevette asked Fahrenheit about the fire site. After assuring everyone that all the hot spots were covered, and passing on that the police and fire departments had said they could go for now, Fahrenheit remarked, "Challenge, I hope you got a good fire investigator on call or with your insurance company. I just had a quick look, but I think they also had the building preset for demolition. Luckily that shot of Karen and Yevette's that set off the napalm also severed the link to the explosive charges. I've disarmed them, pointed the charges out to the Police, and glanced at what they were trying to protect. You should be able to clean house with the evidence that didn't go up." Challenge was about to thank him when he looked up. There was a strange sound that had came out of nowhere and was wavering through the air. The sound was almost a like a chant. Also, the area around them was now surrounded by a blue-white light. They all looked around quickly, going into combat/threat assessment mode. About the time they realized that the sound and light appeared to be centered on Karen and Yevette there was a sudden increase in the light. And they vanished. --- Elsewhen the 22nd Century--- The Lovely Angel had just finished entering her parking orbit. 3WA standard procedure now called for an initial debriefing. Neither of the human occupants were really looking forward to it. Especially when the comm screen lit up just a soon they had settled into orbit. "Would you please explain just how you managed to blow up the Planetary Chief of Polices private air car?!!!??" thundered Gooly from the screen. "Now hang on boss it wasn't our fault" replied Yuri. "The big jerk deserved it after the way he treated us anyway" groused Kei who was sitting in her typical debrief fashion (feet up on the console, hands behind her head, looking bored). "This was going to be a simple case, almost a vacation, find the fugitive, bring him to Windarea and turn him over to the Planetary Police there, What happened!!!" "Well while the Chief was making rude remarks after we turned down his blatant sexual invitation, the prisoner managed to overpower his escort" "*@#$%&*$ incompetent idiots" muttered Kei Yuri continued without a break "Once he got to a parking level he grabbed the first vehicle he could break into, which just happened to belong to the Chief of Planetary Police". "Jerk didn't bother to lock it AND left the keys in" interrupted Kei. " Once the alarm went out we assisted in the pursuit, when we buzzed him to get him to land he managed to loose control. He then ejected" "We recaptured him by the way" added Kei "And the air car exploded on impact" finished Yuri "So you can see it really wasn't our fault" Gooly just stared at them, a very odd look on his face, like something in his stomach disagreed with him. After a few moments he grated out "Right, get your written reports into Admin then you can start your vacations". As he signed off they could see a bottle of antacid rising from its compartment. "Whew I'm glad that's over with" Yuri slumped back into her chair. "If you had let me fly we could have caught him with out crashing the Chiefs car" "What!!! If you had the controls We'd be dictating the report from the hospital" "Are you saying I can't fly?" "No, just that you can be a bit clumsy in close flying conditions" Mugi, having heard variants of this discussion many times before got up and ambled toward the cargo bays. By doing so he missed a strange warbling sound, like a chant, that started on the bridge. The Lovely Angels, engaged in one of their favorite pastimes (arguing) missed it for a brief while as well. "And why did you turn on some of that boring classical drek you like anyhow" screamed Kei. "It's better than that Rock and Roll crap you . . . Wait a second. I didn't turn on the sound system I thought you had. And where did that blue light come from??" Before Kei could come up with a reply, they vanished. ************************************************************ Chapter 2: Arrival. Two Pair and One Full House Both summoning circles flared brilliantly, cutting off any further thoughts in Martin's mind. When his eyes could see once more he stared at the now-full circle's contents. What he saw was not quite what he had expected at all. In the primary summoning area were four very beautiful females, who where groaning as they stood up (they had landed on their derrihres and were rubbing the now-tender areas carefully) but were also carefully and professionally examining the area while doing so. By the descriptions he had been given, the two dressed in urban combat suits looked like the ones he had originally wanted to bring, the Dirty Pair. The other two were unknowns to him. They were dressed in very revealing clothing and, for some reason that Martin couldn't fathom, appeared similar to the other women in the circle. In the backup circle, a precaution Martin was now quite glad he had taken, was a group of strangely garbed people that tugged at his memory. Suddenly, it came to him. These were members of Inquiry, a group of adventures with whom the Dirty Pair reportedly had gotten involved with in several of their cases. Apparently they had been close by the Pair and had somehow been picked up by the spell with them. Two of Inquiry appeared quite nauseous. In fact the one in the brown and blue costume was on his knees actually vomiting on the floor. Martin felt sorry for them, as some forms of magical transport could be extremely disorientating for those with teleportational abilities. Deciding to take action Martin stepped forward, getting the new arrivals full attention. He cleared his throat and addressed the women in the first circle. "Are you the Dirty Pair?" "DON'T CALL US THAT!!!!" All four women shouted angrily at him, sending the mage backwards in surprise. Those within the circle blinked and both teams went to opposite sections to stare at each other. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" shouted the red-head and the strawberry-blond together. "We're the Lovely Angels. I'm Kei and this is my partner, Yuri." Kei glared at her opposite. "Aren't _we_ touchy? _We_ are Twin Star. That's my partner, Yevette. I'm Karen. And do _you_ have any idea where we are?" The one who called herself Karen irritated Kei a lot for some reason. "Why you..." "Kei! Hold it!" Yuri restrained her partner before Kei did something she would regret later. "I agree," Yevette said. "I think the guy who called us . . that name can tell us. Ease off, Karen," she added as she noticed her partner was smirking at an increasingly streaming Kei. Having regained some of his composure, Martin tried again, "Ah... if the name Dir..." he stopped as all four women glared at him and quickly amended his words, "...well, I mean, _Twin Star_'s more famous name is incorrect then I do apologize for my rudeness. I admit that this is very likely a highly unusual way of bringing you here but there is a need for your particular set of talents. Many of those talents are rare in this time. So I decided that reaching into the past was the best way to solve the problem. This is the year 2069" "Wait a minute! Are you saying we're in the FUTURE?!?" Karen incredulously said. Yevette seemed slightly stunned at this, as did the members of Inquiry, who still stood in the second circle. Kei and Yuri were puzzled. "Hey, Yuri," Kei whispered to her partner. "If that year's correct then doesn't that mean..." Yuri nodded, making Kei even more puzzled. To the others this was the future, but for the Lovely Angels this was the past. Snake was not pleased. This was extremely bad luck. Instead of the spell miscasting, that fool human Martin brought the team he wanted along with even more strangely garbed humans of unknown capabilities. It was time to use his pawn, but first he had to leave the area. Snake said in the Sivvat tongue. Several other Sivvat nodded and indicated that they also had pressing duties. Snake agreed. Under the cover of the Sivvat departing, The Snake cast a minor spell to give his pawn information that would cause him to attack Martin's estate. <* Sad parting ?*> Snake amusedly thought. <* Forever parting, foolish Al'teer. *> "Hey!" Martin turned his gaze to the fiery ... Kei, he recalled. "Yes?" "If you were trying the _past_, howcome you got _us_ too?!" "Pardon? I don't understand." "_We_ are from the future, bucko!" "F-FUTURE?! That's impossible! The spell..." Al'teer interrupted. "Friend, Samuel Martin. The spell seemed to me ... wrong somehow. Such a spell could do such a thing." As Martin struggled to digest that, Karen stepped over to Kei and looked at her from top to bottom. At 5 foot 11 inches this was a easy thing for Karen to do. Kei could hardly miss this and glared at her. "What's _your_ problem?" "You're from the future you say?" Karen mildly said. "Yeah. So?" "I would've thought that in the future they would have better ways of making a woman look good." Karen grinned at Kei's now growing anger. "How many _treatments_ have you had? Looks like you could use a few more..." "THAT'S IT!!!!" Kei launched herself at Karen and the two were soon fighting it out on the floor. Karen had an advantage in reach, Kei's advantage was that she could draw on more advanced marital arts training. When Yuri and Yevette tried to pry them apart, they got sucked into the two's fight. Click-Kclach ...BOOOOOMMMMM!!!!! The fight stopped as all four froze at the sound of Challenge's shotgun going off. He had fired straight up, but Martin still winced at the damage the gun did to the roof. "Enough!! Ladies, this is NOT the time to be fighting!" He stepped out the circle that Inquiry had appeared in and walked over to stand in front of Martin. "Sir, can we go somewhere else better suited to explain what the _Hell_ is going on here?" His body posture indicated that "No" was not going to be accepted. Martin glanced at where Karen and Kei were slowly getting up and glaring at each other. "A _VERY_ Good idea. Please follow me." He proceeded to leave the room and everyone else followed him out. Yuri tried to calm Kei as they did so and Yevette, Karen. Martin had the feeling that this was going to be a very long night. Note: Chapters 3 and 4 take place at about the same time Chapter 3. Meet your Local Police From general appearances it looked like a typical bar. However if you looked at the memorabilia and the majority of the customers you would realize that this was a police "watering hole". One such policeman, Fenris Donaldson took a sip of his scotch and sighed. This was not going to be a pleasant detail. It was bad enough that a case that was by rights his had be reassigned to some bloody amateur, but adding insult to injury they assigned him to be a liaison to that same amateur. He could still hear that prissy little diplomat in his mind. "Although Chancellor Martin will be leading the investigation, he will need access to Police Labs, so it would be best for a liaison to be assigned. Since you and your partner were the first detectives on the scene and because your experience with unusual cases, the two of you are the most logical choice for the job." If only the little twit knew why he and Darla kept getting the strange ones. For Fenris Donaldson was a rarity even in a era of contact and trade with multiple species. Detective First Class Donaldson was a real live were-wolf. "Bad enough I'm going to have to try and steer the case from an advisory mode with some idiot who has probably read one to many Sherlock Holmes or Ellery Queen novels but I'm facing someone who is packing silver ammo. Damn!! This thing will be tough enough with out that complication". His senses, keen even in human form suddenly detected a familiar presence. Attracting the attention of the bartender he ordered a Golden Sun malt. By the time it got there his partner Darla Lothe (also detective first class) sat down on the stool next to him. "One of these days I'm going to sneak up on you Fen" "You will have a better chance if you didn't shower at the end of every shift Darla. I could smell the soap you use as soon as you came into the bar." "Is there something wrong with it? I find it very pleasant." "Actually your right, it is very pleasant, its just very noticeable to someone like me." Pausing for a moment to take a sip of her malt she asked "How are you taking this Fen. I heard the werewolf joke you tried to make." Darla was the only one on the force who knew of his heritage. Granted she had been freaked out the first time she had seen him change (to save both their lives from a cyber-phyco) but she had come to realized he was still the same person no matter what skin he was wearing. She had kept his secret even from her husband and kids. "How do you think? Given the Sivvats appearance and the use of silver ammo it looks like someone is out hunting Weres. I'm more public than most of my tribe, I'm a possible target." "Could it be something else? Maybe silver has some significance to the Sivvat that we are unaware of, something cultural." "Could be, but something tells me it is not. Besides my instincts are also telling that me something big is about to happen". Shaking himself he asked "By the way why are you here? Its Thursday and you told me that your oldest had a soccer match." "Call came in just as I was leaving. " She scowled. "The investigative leader wants a meeting with us and some 'outside consultants' he is planning to bring in. Time's set for 0900." "Just when I thought it couldn't get worse" he moaned. Darla look agreed with him. Speaking up she said, "Tell you what, the field is close to Chancellor Martin's estates. You come with me to the game, we will swing by to get a look at it then take in the game. Then tomorrow we can see what nonsense his so called experts can come up with." Fenris stared into space for a moment. "You know, watching a game sounds real good right now." Driving along latter Darla and Fenris chatted about what her son had been doing in the league. Fenris was honestly interested as he felt his partners children were his family, or more accurately his pack. Darla was just going into a detailed description of a goal her son had made last game when she had to swerve. A hover truck was all over the road. As the truck sped by Fenris saw that it had taken what looked to be glancing hits from several plasma bursts. Just as he was about to share this observation Darla swore. He looked up. A woman was surrounded by a green glow.. and flying. "We don't have any paranormals in residence here" both detectives thought. The woman threw a ball of plasma at the truck. Only some inspired driving kept the vehicle intact. Then she turned and flew off. "She is heading toward Chancellor Martian's estate" said Darla, pointing. Fenris, with his better night vision added "And I see smoke, we better check this out" "God I hope we don't have another murder to add to this case" "Darla something tells me the Chancellor survived, something that likes to wear costumes" Arriving on scene they saw a battlefield, automatically they started cataloging their observations going into the comment response that longtime partners frequently develop. "Uniformed bodies everywhere" "All appear heavily armed" "Evidence of major energy discharges" "I'll say you can smell the ozone" "Are those Powered armor fragments??" "Ice on the ground?? At this time of year?" "Several small fires" Just as they pulled up to a group standing next to a wall with a major hole in Fenris jumped out, leaving Darla to call in the report "Just what the !@#$%^ &*<> is going on here!!!!" He had a feeling that no matter what he was not going to like the answer. ***************************************************** **************************** ***************************************************** **************************** Chapter 4: The League Strikes They were in a large dinning hall. Martin said it was the only room easily available that had a large enough table. Martin had been explaining his reasoning for summoning Twin Star. All the Sivvat had left except Al'teer. With his face and eyes completely covered by his mask there was no way you could read Challenge's face, but his body language showed he was not happy. He was speaking the tone that Officers and senior NCO's reserve for instructing their juniors on the error of their ways. "Your telling me that you intended to pull only Karen and Yevette from the past and ask them for their help. Fine. But you had no intention of bringing these other ladies", he pointed at the Lovely Angels, "or us with them." Martin replied with dignity. "That is correct. The problem is that in my summoning I used the name 'Dirty Pair'." Glancing apologetically at both sets of ladies linked with that name, "It would appear that all four of these young women are so strongly associated with that name that it has gained as much power as their proper code names." Karen and Kei started muttering something about the media never giving them a fair break. When they (and everyone else at the table) noticed they were starting to finish each others sentences they looked startled and suddenly shut up. Martin continued after they were finished. "The Sprit Stone supplied most of the raw power needed to breach the time barrier. However from what I have come to understand about the Stones they can be very precisely controlled. With the spell hunting for two sets of 'Dirty Pair' I can understand the spell reaching both ways in time but not the presence of ....Inquiry as you call your selves" Al'teer chose that moment to enter the room, holding a piece of parchment. "I have an answer for you Samuel Martin. But it brings forth more questions. When our guests arrived I told you the spell felt 'wrong'. Here is a major reason. The information that was given to you on control of the Sprit Stone was not translated precisely" "What?! But a race as close to magic as your own knows the importance of proper translation. I know you would not assign a sloppy scribe" "True, which is why I did not do the transcription myself." At every ones confused look she added, "It appears to be an universal constant that most doctors and healers can't write legibly" Fahrenheit got up from the table and asked to see the paper. Holding it up and looking at in various ways he then asked for some powered chalk. Sudden realization showed on Yuri's and Yevette's faces while Challenge body posture spoke of interest. Pulling a small device from her utility belt Yuri ran it over the paper. "Your hunch is right Fahrenheit, the writing on the paper has been changed. I can't read the writing but the scanner shows erasures and over writing" The Gray Lynx looked at Al'teer "Who had access to this paper? And why hand written? I would think it would be easier to have a computer print it out." "To answer your last question first" replied Al'teer "Computer printouts do not work well with certaint magical techiques, such as the spirit stones. As to your first question, just about the whole delegation including the human staff we have hired. The control techniques for Spirit Stones are not secret, just not often used due to the special place they hold in our society" "Like is there anyone who would more able change it or want the wrong info to go out" asked Plasma Girl (still sounding like "Chrissy"). Before Martin could reply he suddenly stopped and looked into space. "There are intruders on the grounds!! They have some how blocked both my mundane alarm system and most of my alarm spells!! We are under.." KABOOM!!!! Part of the outside wall caved in. "Attack" Martin finished. Five figures in power armor stood in the breach. Behind them appeared to be small horde of commandos. The suits and uniforms were of dark brown and blue similar to Seekers but with the colors reversed (mainly brown to Seekers mainly blue). "Your vile magical practices shall not be allowed to continue!!" said an electronically amplified and distorted voice. "The League of Pure Science shall see to that!! Grenadiers, the damping grenades. All other troops Attack Plan Alpha !!! Now!!" (Elsewhere a Sivvat chuckled in a most evil manner. Mentally linked to his pawn, he observed the group in the room, as his pawn gave his initial orders. ) The strike team leader expected the initial part of the battle to be quite easy. The grenades where going toward the targets. The rest of his troops where moving forward to engage the enemy. The low level damper field of the grenades would keep the mages and their summoned creatures off balance until englobed by the semi-portable damper/capture field. Then their other weapons would dispatch them. It didn't work out like that. The Lovely Angels, Twin Star, and Inquiry where already reacting to the threat before some of the grenades landed. Challenge disappeared in a bolt of lightning and reappeared next to one of the grenadiers. Drawing his shotgun he struck his target with it's stock then fired at the back of one of the armored units. The unarmored person was down at once while the armored one was staggered, obviously this was not a standard shotgun. A blue disk suddenly appeared by Seeker with a matching one appearing next to another one of the armored troopers . Stepping through it he arrived before his target. He then cocked his head to one side as if studying him. Suddenly he smiled and after dodging a blow from the trooper struck a very precise blow at the suit. The occupant was quite surprised when the blow caused the suits arm and all its weapons to shatter. Then the pain caused the trooper realized that Seekers blow had also shattered his own arm . The trooper passed out from the pain. Unfortunately some of the grenades still landed. The one targeted for Martin and Al'teer (who had been standing next to reach other) landed and started to emit. Instantly a force wall appeared around them. When Martin tried to blast it with a spell it didn't work. "You see vile magician your spells are useless. As soon as we destroy your demons we will take care of you" bragged the Strike Leader.. who had started to speak just before Challenge and Seeker teleported. Started he fired his own grenade launcher at the blur of motion that was the Grey Lynx. Amazingly she had dodged out of the way of the first grenade targeted at her. By the way she was moving she had obviously chosen him for her first target. He was even more startled when she used her num-chuks to deflect the grenade away from her. He was even more disturbed when she started applying said num-chuks to his armor.... hard and often. "Your not going to hog all the fun!!" shouted Karen. Drawing her .44 Desert Eagle (TM) she sighted on one of the commandos. The magnum roared and bucked in her hand. One down. Yevette was now engaged in hand to hand, covering her partner as Karen was methodically reducing the Armored troopers backup. As he watched Yevette in action Martin had the random thought "Amazing that such a delicate looking woman could be so deadly." Kei and Yuri had charged firing at one group of the commandos and where now in the middle of a swirling mass of bodies. Frequently one of the forms would come flying out of the melee. When it hit the ground it didn't move. "Hey watch it!! You could hurt someone!!" shouted Plasma Girl as one of the grenades landed next to her. It instantly formed a Force Field around her and Fahrenheit, who she was standing next to. "I really think we should get involved with the fight right now PG." With that both of Fahrenheit's hands started to burn. As he struck the force field it gave way surprisingly easy. "It must only effect magic!!" muttered Plasma Girl as she went airborne. Suddenly her costumes comm link activated and she heard Challenge's voice. Challenge had dropped into tactical mode. "Grunt to all troops. I need a SITREP now." Plasma Girl was the first to respond to his call. "Airhead here, no damage yet. I'm airborne and watching your six. I think the grenades are capture devices what only effect magicians" Fahrenheit checked in next. "Doc on line, Confirming that. I knocked it down with no problem. I'm going to try and release our hosts then back up Star 1 & 2" "Star 2 here. Star 1 is running low on ammo and one of those armored geeks is heading toward us, that backup would really be useful now" Kei spoke for the Lovely Angels. "Well what do you know!! Your transmitting on a frequency we can pickup!! The Lovely Angels are doing fine for now, Angel 1 out" "Grunt to Ski can you assist Star 1 & 2?" Seeker sounded like he was enjoying himself. "Roger, just let me," cue sound of a suit of powered armor rapidly being turned into junk "finish what I'm doing" "Catlady, this is Grunt. How are you doing?" "I'm a little busy right now" (sound of a blow hitting the floor, followed by the sound of armor getting struck several times) "Judging by the extra antenna on his suit I think I've engaged the team leader." "Keep at It. I'll back you up. Airhead, head outside and see if there are more coming. If not take them from rear, Doc after you free the friendlies keep them with you, and try to take some prisoners, Catlady I'll be coming up on your targets six." Plasma Girl acknowledged Challenge's orders as she flew toward the breach. As she went she fired a green blast of plasma that took out several of the troops pressing Twin Star. Then she did the same for the Lovely Angels. This allowed Yuri time to draw and use her "Bloody Card." Suddenly the Angels had no immediate targets. "That airheaded Plasma Girl will get herself killed if she doesn't have backup. Lets go Yuri!!" As she stored the card away Yuri followed her partner, wondering however if Kei's assessment was correct. As they broke out side they were immediately engaged in a second firefight. Taking cover they returned fire. Then they saw why Challenge had given Plasma Girl her assignment. A brilliant bolt of plasma burst among the strike teams reserve blinding many and sending others scattering. Immediately as second much larger burst exploded taking out even more. Yuri was impressed. Kei called out "Can you teach me how to do that?", visions of what she could do dancing in her head. "You have to be born with the talent for it" said Plasma Girl as she fluffed her hair. Then a laser bolt struck her shields. "Never interrupt me while I'm primping!!" she shouted as she returned fire. "Gee Yuri and I thought you where the only one to do that during a mission" "Shut up and keep shooting Kei" Two of the commandos had managed to avoid the others and get to Martin and Al'teer. Sneering they raised their weapons. "Enjoy you creatures brief success, it may help you endure Hell a little more" He looked like he was going to rant some more when he froze. Literally. His partner turned and saw that he was encased in ice. Fahrenheit announced "We can do this two ways, hard or easy." One of the hero's hand glowed with fire while the other was holding what looked like an ice dagger. "For your own health I hope you choose easy." The commando's laser bolt struck him causing him to stagger a step, his own powers enabling him to remain mostly unharmed. "OK so you want hard." What happened next was __not__ pretty. Karen was cursing in German (no I will not translate). The enemy was so close now she could not reload her weapon "Only one clip left anyhow" she thought as she demonstrated some basic and advanced Kung Fu techniques on some of the commandos. Turning her head she caught sight of Yevette getting struck in the stomach by a commando who had broke through her guard. "Verdammit Schwinehund!! Gehen zu Huella!!!" she screamed. Karen then proceeded to rip through the remaining commandos. Feet, hands, knees, elbows, a laser ripped out of the hands of a foe, they all saw use. She was a cursing Valkarie in full combat mode. Seeker, who had teleported over to take out the Armored Trooper that had threaten Twin Star bent over to help Yevette. "You OK Yevette?" "Yes, just got the wind knocked out of me" she wheezed. She looked at the damage her partner was causing "Amazing what she can do when she is motivated." "Yevette" "Yes?" "Just what is she saying?" "I don't think we really want to know." (Else where the Snake groaned. His aide was trying to awaken him. He had been in full sensory link with his pawn. The last image he remembered was of a human female striking the pawn more times than he thought possible. The Snake realized. The Snake pondered the situation The Snake suddenly realized that any further action was going to take careful thought. The last functional Armored Trooper regained awareness. Struck several times by Challenge's special shotgun rounds he had passed out. Bringing up a tactical map he realized that his team was taking a beating. Activating his PA system he shouted "Code Buster!! Grab you mates and lay down protective fire" As he gave this order he bent over to recover the Strike Team Leader. The heroes, in many cases close to exhaustion and/or low on ammunition had to let them go, although Fahrenheit did manage to capture a few more commandos. Plasma Girl harassed the retreating enemy until it looked like they had reorganized. Fearing an ambush by A LOT of commandos she returned to the estate. "Well Mr. Martin, you sure know how to show a girl a good time!!" she chorused. Just then the police arrived Well here is the next part. Please send any comments to 72440.2345@compuserve.com Thanks again to my prereaders. ==================================================================== Chapter 5: Secrets Discovered, Plans are made Martin closed his eyes. He knew that being assigned to lead this investigation was going to cause headaches. And the idea of summoning from the past a pair of investigators familiar with the murder method used had appeared brilliant. He had gotten much more than he bargained for. The investigators had arrived, along with some friends of theirs, super-powered friends. Due to interference his spell had also reached forward in time to pull in another set of investigators with the same nickname!! "Well at least these people know how to defend themselves" he thought, scanning the recent battlefield. The first thing he saw was a pair of Police detectives, one male and the other female. The Female was supervising the clean up, including the evacuation of the attackers wounded. One of his guests (Fahrenheit) and the Sivvat Healer Al'teer were assisting the paramedics. The one who called himself Seeker appeared to be examining several of the attackers. The Male detective was interviewing the remainder of his "guests". Fortunately no awkward questions had be asked, so far. Martin, in spite of the situation was somewhat amused by some of the interviewees actions. All of the females where clustered around the male detective, obviously competing for his attention. "I wonder how long it is going to last?" someone else said next to Martin. "I beg pardon?" Martin asked as he turned to face the speaker. "What's going on over there with that detective, Donaldson, and the ladies. I've seen what can happen when Karen and Yevette get interviewed by attractive policemen." "Oh?" "Normally they manage to tick off the officer in question, the officer gets ticked off at them or they compete for his attention. With those other ladies, and Plasma Girl being involved it will get real interesting." "And the final lady, The Gray Lynx, is she just not interested?" Challenge laughed and shook his head. "Oh she is interested all right, she just doesn't want to fight the crowd. She is very much like a cat in that way. She will want to do her thing on her own terms. If that means she has to do it alone, alone is how she will do it. The thing is, I can't remember when she appeared more interested." Looking out over at the group he added "And the detective in question appears to want to talk to us now." Walking over to Chancellor Martin Fenris thought, "Why is it when I'm off duty its hard to find real good looking ladies, but if they are involved with a case they come out of the woodwork?" Darla had teased him about it before but this was the largest single incident. Six of them, two of them paranormal and all of them very easy on the eye. And shedding pheromones so bad he could easily scent them in human form!! He was aware that he was considered attractive by women (something that still caused tension with Darla's husband) but he hated it when it interfered with an investigation. Oddly enough, although she was not quite as good looking as the others Fenris found his gaze returning to the one in the grey body suit. There was something . . special about her. And he noticed she was looking at him as well. Shaking his head he thought "Enough with that, back to business." "All right Chancellor, you invoked Diplomatic status so the cleanup squads can't ask questions and I can't require you to answer any questions of mine. The ladies over there," he gestured, "and the gentleman here," indicating Challenge "were helpful giving us details about the attack. However, there appears to be a certain reluctance to talk when we asked questions about themselves. Now as my partner and I are both the liaison to you and probably going to get assigned to investigate this mess as well I would greatly appreciate you telling me what I need to know. If necessary You can invoke the Diplomatic Secrets Act if you want to make sure confidential items stay confidential" At this point Al'teer and Fahrenheit walked up. With their medical training they had been treating the wounded, although Al'teer was quite perturbed that she had to be discreet in using her spells. She was preparing to ask for an introduction when she got her first good look at Donaldson. " a true skinchanger!!!" "Al'teer just what are you talking about" asked Martin. Donaldson started to look worried. "A Sivvat Healer has to have some degree of aura reading ability to get the best out of their spells. The aura of those who have the ability to change forms have a distinctive tint." "Just what do you mean by auras" asked Challenge "In our training auras are a reflection of the energy flows of a person. Although the environment can effect how well we can read someone, a trained healer can tell if a person is ill or injured and to what degree by reading the patients aura. The Aura can also reflect certain abilities like being able to use magic, highly developed martial arts, curses, and so on. A person with a strong life-force glows brightly. Someone about to die just flickers. Looking at you Challenge, I see evidence of power, not a great amount of raw power, but a very adaptive and flexible power. I don't normally do a continuous scan, as it is considered rude to do so in my society, but I forgot to 'turn it off' after looking after so many wounded". Looking at Donaldson, ignoring the people who had quietly come up Challenge asked, "Just what are you Detective Donaldson". "A police officer who just happens to be a Were" he replied quietly. "A Were what" With quiet intensity "I am a true Werewolf. By that I mean no matter what form I take my intelligence is in charge. I do not go out on the full moon and slaughter people. In fact if such a person, a person infected with lychantropy, was out there I would help hunt him or her down. We are people with a talent. While many of us prefer to live in rural areas we do not limit ourselves. There are several in the city that I know of, in many different professions. If anyone here wants to harass me about what I am I advise you to look at yourselves and the costumes you are wearing." There was a moment of silence. Then Karen spoke up "Well me and Yevette have a pet wolf, we call him Buttercup" Fenris started. "What?" Kei made a snorting sound. Yevette added "He has helped us out on several cases" Kei smirked "Buttercup?" Rounding on her Karen shouted "Yes Buttercup!! He has some beautiful buttercup yellow markings on him so we called him that. You want to make something of it you hair dyed bimbo!!" "Hair dyed bimbo!! Your brain must be low on oxygen from the height!! My hair is natural, more natural than yours you overtall geek!" As their respective partners pulled them apart (and Challenge stood there with his body language saying "Not again") the Grey Lynx observed "I don't think you are going to have any trouble being accepted with this group". She laid a confronting hand on his shoulder. Later they withdrew to Martin's Study. After making sure that Kei and Karen were on opposite sides of the room, Martin addressed the group. "My intention in summoning you here was to help with a murder investigation. Based on the attack shortly after you arrived someone has found out about you. And they want to stop the investigation. Detectives Donaldson and Lothe are my liaison. Perhaps they can tell us what the police know at this time. Before they started Al'teer rose. "Before we begin I wish to apologize to you Fenris Donldson. I can only offer my surprise and exhaustion as explanation. Skinchangers, or Weres as you call them are even more rare amongst the Sivvat than they are humans. While they too value their privacy, they are quite respected on my homeworlds for having a very rare gift. I should have thought of that before I spoke." She then made an odd ritualistic motion with her hand. Clearing her throat to give her partner a change to recover Darla started to recite, "The victim was a middle aged Sivvat. The cause of death was two bullet wounds close to the heart. These wounds have given us several clues about our perp." Fenris took over. "The bullets were large caliber gunpowder propelled projectiles. They were silver. We do not know why at this time the importance of the metal used." Martin interrupted "All Sivvat magic is ineffective against silver." Darla made a note, "That explains that but I don't think it will make any final report." Fenris added "That also explains why they didn't use a gauss weapon. Silver just doesn't work well as a gauss projectile" Darla resumed. "The location of the wounds indicates the attacker did not know Sivvat anatomy. While the internal anatomy of the Sivvat is similar to humans the heart is lower in the chest. In a human the shots would have been instantly fatal. Fen has told me that in human and hybrid form Weres hearts are in the same spot as any other human. When we put that together we have a person who may have thought he or she was shooting at a Were." "That is correct Darla. In addition we believe that at least three other shots where fired before the fatal ones. That leads us to believe the attacker was not used to the recoil of the weapon." "Something else that came in over the commlink just before we started. The victim appears to have manage to close and slash at his attacker. The lab boys found some material under his claws I mean nails. They are trying to get a DNA match." Yevette asked if there was powder residue or burns on the body. "There were burns on his pelt but we do not know what was the cause. We are so unfamiliar with gunpowder weapons we didn't even think of looking for residue" answered Fenris, "The weapon of choice here is a 'blaster'. It leaves different types of burns. Our forensic people are geared toward that and gauss weapons." "You have mentioned gauss weapons several times. Just what are they?" asked Plasma Girl. "A weapon that throws a projectile by way of a magnetic linear accelerator" answered Darla Karen got the conversation back on subject. "If there are powder burns that means that the victim was extremely close to the attacker when the weapon was fired. By the way did you find any shell casings on the scene?" "If that is the proper term for these brass objects" said Darla pulling an evidence bag from her purse, "Then yes." Karen took the bag, examining the contents. "Off hand I'd say it was a .44 or .41 magnum, most likely a .44 like mine". Passing the bag to Fahrenheit she asked, "Do you agree?" After looking the casing over and passing it to Challenge "Yes, and because no one reported hearing any gunshots I would suggest a silencer or sound suppresser was used. That eliminates a revolver as the murder weapon." Challenge asked where a person could find guns. Darla responded , "If you mean gunpowder weapons, then at collectors and museums. We started a search already but with a whole planet to search it will take some time. So far no one has reported anything missing from their collections." "How about on the streets?" asked Plasma Girl (causing amazement in Martin, The Angels and the police). "With blaster and gauss weapons much more available we haven't tried that area" "What about artifact dealers? If collectors and museums are the ones most likely to have firearms then an artifact dealer might be a good place to look." "Before we focus to much on the murder weapon I think we better consider something else." Seeker had been sitting quietly throughout the discussion. "We just got jumped by a bunch of well armed people from some anti-magic group. If our host has been as discreet about his powers as I think he has, then they got tipped about our presence. It can't be a coincidence. I suggest we cover more than one approach. With nine of us plus what ever our liaison and host can supply we should still be effective." Martin nodded. "You have a valid point Seeker. Who should do what?" "Twin Star with Fahrenheit should go to the police lab and check out the weapon evidence. Those three and Challenge are our firearm experts. Challenge you are more used to weapons in the tactical mode while Fahrenheit has a bit more tech training." "However that will free you and the Lovely Angels to hit the streets. With what just happened the street buzz has got to be pretty loud. I hope Donaldson and Lothe will supply us with some contacts." "Lynx and my self will hit the local press club, to see what we can find out. We will need some press passes Mr. Martin ("That's Chancellor" from Fenton) as I think ours have expired by now (General Laughter). If we strike out there we can also check out the street buzz." "Chancellor, is there someone in 'High Society' that might have something to do with this? Plasma Girl can act real well and is familiar with those type of people. Perhaps some one from the 'social elite' will drop something we need" Standing up the Gray Lynx yawned and stretched like, well, a cat. "Sounds good. However my personal past 24 hours have been jammed packed and I need some sleep." With that Martin had Fenton show everyone a place to sleep. The investigation would start in earnest tomorrow. ***************************************************** ***************************************************** Chapter 6: Preparing for the Hunt. After being shown their rooms (with many apologies from Fenton for not having better rooms available "We were just not expecting so many.") the various guests went to bed and had a oddly quiet night. Of course things didn't stay quiet after people started getting up again. Kei had thought she was the first one up. However as she left the guest wing to scope out the grounds she saw someone else was also up. It was the tall man in dark red who had taken tactical control during last nights battle. Normally military types ticked her off. However this one appeared to be both competent and knowledgeable on the difference between civilians and military. As she got closer she noticed that he had taken off his mask and goggles. He had his back to her so she couldn't see his face. Knowing that many paranormals prefer to keep their true faces hidden she cleared her throat to give him a chance to put his mask back on. Instead he just turned around and offered his hand. "In case I forgot to say it last night, Good job . . . Kei, isn't it? If you didn't catch it last night you can call me Challenge or while I have the mask off Stewart." Kei noticed several things as she shook his hand. The most noticeable was that he was wearing an eye patch. With organ cloning and cybernetic implants common in her era she was surprised to see he hadn't replaced it. His hair was an odd iron gray but his face didn't look that old. Not surprisingly his grip was strong and firm. And unlike some macho jerks she had dealt with he didn't try the hand crush routine. "Yes I'm Kei, are you doing a site survey too?" "My training calls it recon but yes. Also I can't break the Corps 0500 reveille conditioning. So I got up, and did a little snooping and pooping along with my morning run." "Mind if I ask you a few things?" after receiving a nod from Challenge "Just how do you put up with them? I mean the strawberry blond and the airhead." "They are my friends. I would and have trusted both my own and my love ones life to them. And they know they can expect the same from me. With the life style I lead such friends are rare. Plus we share common interest in investigations. Karen and Yevette are part of an international Detective agency and think-tank. They are _very_ good. Now let me ask you one. How did you all come to share a common nickname?" Flushing Kei mentioned some their past cases. The phrase "It wasn't our fault" was repeated. Often. "So we got stuck with that name. Sometime I wish we operated with masks like you do. Which leads me back to another thing. Why didn't you put your mask back on when I gave you the chance?" "You are from even further into the future than we are right now right?" Kei nodded. "So I figured that my dual identities are in some historical database. In addition I don't think the mask would be of any help in our part of the investigation. " Pausing for a few moments he added "I can tell you are just dying to ask more questions. Why don't you wait until after breakfast when we meet up with your partner. . .(Yuri right?) then I won't have to repeat myself". As he walked of he thought "And even odds one of the first five questions will be 'Are you married'." After looking around for a few more minutes Kei decided to go in and take a shower. A short while earlier Karen had awakened. The problem with that is she was not fully aware and running on autopiolt. "Still sleepy, God what a night, what a trip, where is the shower" were the more coherent thoughts as she stumbled toward the shower and bath areas, singing quietly off key. Yevette's room was just a short distance from the shower. By now familiar her partners morning routine she simply rolled over as she heard Karen pass by the door. She dozed for a few more moments then a thought tickled her brain. "We are not home. We are elsewhere. Oh well Inquiry has been told about how Karen is first thing in the morning". A few more seconds passed. Then she sat bolt upright. "OH NO!! _THEY_ WOULDN'T KNOW!!" Grabbing a robe (nice of the Mage to provide one for his guests) she rushed toward the shower area. She wasn't quite in time. Yevette arrived just in time to see a naked, squirming, and loudly yelling Kei get picked up out of the shower, and placed outside the stall by an equally naked Karen. Part of Yevette's brain registered that Karen's comment about dyed hair was incorrect. The rest of her brain was considering ways to keep Kei from killing her partner. Blocking Kei's approach to the shower Yevette shouted "Kei ! NO! Don't!! She didn't even realize she was doing it!!". Yevette hoped she was hearing the rest of the women coming up the hall (for convince Fenton had placed all the ladies on one floor and the men on another, yes the guest wing is very large). "I'll kill her!! I was having such a nice daydream while in the shower!! She did that on purpose!! She has been ragging at me since we got here!!" At about this time the Lynx burst into the room. She had obviously just woke up and was still dressed for sleep. She had found the time to grab her num-chuks. Sliding into a defensive posture the Lynx took in the picture. Seeing Yevette blocking the way to a shower trying to keep someone (oh yeah part of the _Other_ Dirty Pair) and hearing Karen singing (as usual extremely off key) the Gray Lynx concluded that someone else had become a victim of what she called "Karen's Morning Syndrome" (something she herself had been on the receiving end of before). Noticing that Kei was not immediately attacking nor going for a weapon the Lynx gave in to her instincts. She collapsed laughing on the floor. About this time Yuri entered the room. Half expecting to have to back up her partner (and wincing at what sounded like an animal in pain) she had come in with her weapon drawn. Seeing Kei having an argument with someone (odd how that other persons voice sounds familiar) instead of fighting Yuri holstered her weapon. Narrowing avoiding tripping over the convulsing Gray Lynx Yuri asked her partner. "Just what have you done this time?" "I didn't do anything!! I was taking a shower when that overtall b***h threw me out of the shower" "Actually my partner just placed your partner outside the shower stall. Granted it was rude but you don't know how she is first thing in the morning." Yuri was surprised when that remark triggered further gales of laughter from the Gray Lynx. Handing Kei a towel Yuri asked the obvious question. "Well Karen is on total autopiolt until she has showered and has had a chance to get some coffee into herself. It's different if she is in a combat situation but all other times . . . well you have just seen. What's more most of the time she will have no memory of what she has done. At least she is singing in English today. Be glad it's not a German day." Yuri turned to Kei , "And I thought some of your habits where bad" Kei: "Every Morning?" Yevette: "Yes, even if I get up first I wait until she is finished before taking my shower" Kei got a gleam in her eye. Yuri got worried. And at this time someone who looked like Plasma Girl, only shorter and with blond hair bounced in. "Good Morning everyone. . . Why are you all standing around and what is making that horrible noise?" The Lynx, finally able to speak, said "Charline, remember when I mentioned how Karen is first thing in the morning? And you didn't believe me? Well now I have independent collaboration" Charline/Plasma Girl: "Your kidding. Well I refuse to wait until she finishes caterwauling before taking my shower." Yevette came right up to her (she couldn't go nose to nose, Charline is taller). "You are not going to toss one of your Plasma Bolts, even a low powered one, at my partner!!" "Oh I wasn't going to do that" she smirked. Turning into Plasma Girl (the effect of which she gets taller, her hair turns green and her costume appears), she walked over to one of the pipes. Standing close to it she activated her powers, using the heat of the plasma to raise the temperature in the pipes. The result were not long in coming. Karen's "singing" abruptly stopped and she did a record standing broad jump from the shower, screaming. Kei joined the Gray Lynx in convulsions on the floor. Yevette and Yuri had identical looks of horror. Turning back to her Charline form, she got undressed and entered the shower, announcing as she did so that she had been told that breakfast was going to be in half an hour. Every else decided to head that direction. Chapter 7: The Hunt Begins in Earnest. "Well did you all sleep well last night?" asked Martian as he entered the dinning room. A chorus of polite replies greeted him. "I slept great but you really need to get your water heater checked" said Karen as she sipped her third cup of coffee. For some reason this caused a ripple of reactions among the ladies present. The gentlemen looked just as confused as Martian felt. As they ate Martian stated "I think Seekers division of labor is a good plan. However I have a few suggestions. Perhaps after they visit the Press Club, The Grey Lynx and Seeker can investigate the gun collections of our museums. I can also arrange introductions to those in the 'Social Elite' who collect weapons so Plasma Girl (from her "Call me Charline when I'm in this form") can investigate those collections. When Detective Lothe gets back we can see about contacts, passes and such." "And weapons" added Karen. "I'm down to one clip for my Eagle. I know how to make reloads, but I don't think we can afford the time it would take to find the tools I need." "But do you have the time to learn to shoot?" comment Kei. "Kei." Yuri said in her most disapproving tone. "Ladies. Please. Stop. It. Now. It is too early in the morning and my estate has already taken enough damage" Martians voice carried such disapproval that the red-heads stopped their bickering, at least for the balance of breakfast. When Darla and Fenris arrived they had the press passes with them. They also had news about the DNA sample taken from the murdered diplomat. The detectives relayed the information in their usual back and forth style (your choice as to who is speaking at what time). "Definitely human tissue. This information changes our scenario slightly. We think the first shot was a miss due to the recoil, as we earlier thought. The victim slashed the assailant who missed with the second shot, probably due to the victims strike. Whether the third shot missed due to recoil or actions of the victim has not been determined. The assailant finally killed him with the last two shots. We still haven't got a match on the attacker. The perp either has no criminal record here on Tejas or he is from off world. We are checking via interstellar links now." "Did you come up with any information on this 'League of Pure Science as they called themselves?" asked Seeker. "There is very little in the official police databases. There was an story about them a few months ago in one of our newfaxs. I don't remember that much on it. I went ahead and set up a meet at the Press Club. The reporter who wrote the story name is T.J. Hanover. " Fenris paused for a moment. "One thing that I do remember is that the report claimed a connection between the League and old Earth based anti-mutant group." >From Darla, "I've arranged lab space at HQ. We will have tech standing by to assist." With a slight grin she looked at Fenris "The tech is SUPPLE . . . do you want to warn them or shall I?" Fenris choked on his coffee for a moment. "Oh great. Ladies, Fahrenheit, be careful, be very careful. This guy has a very odd sense of humor. He also is a practical joker. No one from the Planetary Chief of Police to the newest rookie is safe. What saves him is the fact that he is one of the best evidence technicians we have on the force." During breakfast the detectives passed out other information needed for the investigation. They also said they would arrange for Twin Star to check out weapons from the Police armory. Then the various sub-teams split up to decide on tactics. ====================================================== "Lost my bet. It was the sixth question" thought Challenge as the Lovely Angels and himself planned out their part of the investigation. Out loud "Yes I am married, happily as a matter of fact. Her name is Maria. And my name is Stewart, Stewart Wilson." After some discussion they decided on a "bodyguard protecting rich slumming person" approach. After a LOT more discussion they decided to have Challenge play the bodyguard. "I think it best ladies, if I play the guard. With this patch," he said pointing at his missing eye, "I doubt I could pull a slumming routine. In addition if you play it like rich kids you could pick up lots of buzz. You know 'The impress the girl with what you know routine." Kei snorted "The problem with that method is filtering out all the drek they put out" "How would you know Kei, I'm the cute one. Your normal method of questioning is to beat them up against a wall." said Yuri archly. "Ahem , ladies let us stay on subject. However we can keep wall pounding as a reserve tactic. We could also use a variation of an old theme." "Which one Challenge?" "Why good cop/bad cop, Yuri. Only we play it as good cop (that's you), bad cop (that's me) and Kei you get to be INSANE cop. And please, while I have the mask off call me Stewart or Stew." Yuri agreed "There may be some historical hero buff out there who would recognize the name Challenge." With a little more fine tuning and getting some assets arranged (including disguises. . .which took the Pair a long time to settle on) they hit the streets. New Houston was in for a fascinating day. It had been hours into the bar crawl. Fortunately the Lovely Angels knew how to fake drinking , having experience with this type of investigation. Kei, however, was too damn good at faking being drunk for Challenges piece of mind. Unfortunately they had not picked up much solid information, although Stewart was a little surprised how little pickup lines and techniques had changed over the centuries. There was street buzz about the attack on Martians estates, but nothing but speculation as to the reason why. No one was bragging about the strike. There were other people looking for the strike group, possible over "turf" violations, maybe to hire as muscle, no one knew for sure. As he watched the Lovely Angels "interviewing" yet another possible informant Challenge wondered if this whole exercise had been a waste of time. Then the gang walked in. Colors had changed over the centuries but a gang still looks the same. And this one was definably looking for trouble with a specific target in mind. Like maybe the Angels and Himself. Maybe this was paydirt. "I hear you've been asking a lot of questions girlies" the chief punk drawled to the Angels. "Those questions might not be too healthy if you continue" "Hey, we are just looking for fun" Yuri said in her innocent girl voice. "Yeah fun" added Kei in her slightly sloshed tone. Only Yuri fully understood the undertones of her partners two words, but as Yuri looked over to Stewart she knew that he had made a good guess. They all knew that this was a possible major lead. And a possible major fight. Stewart came out of the woodwork, "I hope you are not trying to cause the Ladies any problems kid. Not only are their folks paying the bills, but I like them in their own right. So back off buckwheat." Oddly enough in the slang of Tejas "buckwheat" is a major insult. The seven facing Challenge squared off on him. "OK old man we were just going to cut you a little then have some fun with the slitches, then let you go crawl back to your hole to pass the word. Now you are going to get hurt bad. Maybe even take a dirt nap. Got anything to say to that?" The chief punk did look intimidating. He most likely expected this one eyed geek (guy can't be good, lost the eye, couldn't replace it) to either roll over (then they would kill him) or be unable to handle the seven of them (plus the five he had waiting just inside the bar). He didn't expect what followed. In a most pleasant tone, like he was explaining something to a group of fellow hobbyists, Stewart announced , "From this position I have seven basic moves." Then suddenly he was in motion. Still talking in the same tone in spite of the rapid actions he was taking he continued. "Of those moves three of them disable with minimal contact" He appeared to brush against the first three punks. There appeared to be a flash of electricity as he touched the last two. They all went down. "Three of the moves, if desired, can kill." As he approached the fourth punk his hand flashed out striking several times in the ribs. If you listen you could hear the ribs break. For the fifth punk a bo-staff appeared in his hand apparently out of nowhere. It was applied most strongly. Heading toward the sixth lines of electrical force appeared around Stewart. If you looked closely the lines looked to be shaped like muscles. Punk 4, 5 and 6 were definitely down, possibly in need of a hospital although they were still breathing. The chief punk had not even had a chance to move. His five back ups where finally moving but the Angels had leaped over him and Stewart. Kei threw one of the punks into another, stunning one and knocking the other out. Her elbow smash took care of the stunned one. Yuri's kick folded another one over nicely. Dodging still another who was charging her, she "helped" him into the wall. Double teaming the final back up the Angels looked over to Challenge. Still in that same pleasant voice Challenge addressed the now lone gang leader "And the last one . . ." "HURTS." The punk found himself in complete agreement. After they had finished "talking" to the punk (who had just discovered how much he liked to sing) the trio put their heads together. "Human type gave them the description and a picture of the two of you. Plus he had a good likeness of me in costume" stated Stewart. "Yes but then someone in an encounter suit meet him a little later and gave him this device" said Yuri holding up a wooden box. "We'll get it checked later. To bad we couldn't get a more accurate description of the contact man. Oh well at least we got a contact code from him." groused Kei. "Well if you hadn't been so into being 'insane cop' he might not have passed out," commented Yuri. "Never mind that Ladies, we now have some solid leads. Lets follow them up" ====================================================== New Houston Police Central was an imposing building. As with most such headquarters it housed not only the main administrative offices but the local forensic labs. After getting Twin Star checked out and issued weapons (being use to slugthrowers they had chosen gauss weapons) Fenris took them to Supple's lab. In addition to the standard wall charts of any lab this one had additional decorations dealing with the sport of ballooning. One of the first things Karen noticed was an old fashion microscope. When she looked into it all she saw was the words "Got You" when she looked up Yevette started to giggle and point. Karen now had "raccoon eyes". Then Yevette sat down. Upon a very loud "whoopee cushion". All Fenris had to say was "I did warn you ". Just then Supple walked in. Greeting Fenris he made a point of ignoring the fuming of Twin Star. "So where shall we start?" Controlling their anger (Karen with great difficulty) they explained some of the basic principles of 20th century ballistics matching. "So you want me to match your grooves" Supple said, somehow putting a sexual connotation to the words. "No we want you to match the grooves on the fired bullets. " replied Yevette. Karen brought out two evidence bags. "Look, to demonstrate here are two slugs. Both of them where taken from the fire fight at Chancellor Martians estate. Both of them are from my gun. One way we know is by the size of the slug. These are much larger than this" pulling out a 9 mm slug in another bag. "Now if we can get an enlargement of these two?" Supple gestured to a flat space on a instrument panel. After pressing a few buttons, a holographic picture sprang into view. "Do you have a second one of those?" Yevette asked . Following his directions she placed the second round on another imaging platform. A second hologram sprang into view. Walking over to where he was controlling the views Karen said "OK enlarge both images to the same size and then rotate them so I am looking down on both of them. Good, now rotate one of the images around the long axis, slowly. Good, now hold it. Superimpose one on the other. See the groves match exactly." Supple spoke into the air, "Computer confirm visitors' observation" "Affirmative. Groves cut into objects match. Chance of error is 0001 percent." "Good" he said "Log that in and place the procedure in memory" Karen then had one of the bullets that had killed the T'mal placed on the imaging field. The process was repeated. This time the computer replied "Groves in objects do not match exactly. Objects do have a base similarity " Yevette blurted "What !?! Beyond being about the same size what are the similarities? And what could cause the conditions" The computer responded with "General pattern of groves indicate common point of manufacture. Objects appear to have started with the same base mass. To achieve conditions noted objects would have to have been in contact with items of similar manufacture." Fahrenheit said carefully, "That means the murder weapon was also a Desert Eagle .44. That narrows it down considerably. Now we can limit our search to just that weapon type, Supple where is the phone?." Supple then handed Fahrenheit a old style handset. Without thinking Fahrenheit took it. And got something sticky all over his gloves. Then Fahrenheit was shown the comm unit. After relaying their recent discovery to Martin , Fahrenheit was told of The Angels' and Challenge's discovery. Signing off he turned to face his team mates. Just in time to see Supple trying to put a "Kick Me" sign on both Karen and Yevette. Clearing his throat he saved the girls from yet another joke. "We've got to go now." "Thanks for your technical assistance" he said with emphasis on the word technical. The tech responded with, "Thanks for the information on this technique. I'll make sure that I keep the information on file just in case we have use it again." He then offered his hand to Yevette. He was wearing a joy buzzer. As Fenris came down the hall a few moments later he saw walking toward him the usually calm Yevette looking like she could chew nails. Karen, of all people, was actually trying to calm her down. Fahrenheit motioned into the lab with his thumb. "I'll explain in the car" was all he said. Looking in Fenris saw a clearly unconscious Supple lying in a pile of broken lab equipment. Grinning Fenris closed the door reflecting that what goes around does come around. ====================================================== Andrea and Frank (AKA the Grey Lynx and Seeker) were sitting in the New Houston Press Club. They both drank in the atmosphere. In spite of the futuristic (at least from their point of view) furnishings it still felt a typical reporter hang out. The slang was much the same, those words unfamiliar easy to puzzle out. They could tell who was "print", "video" and who where rivals to whom. For the first time since the current weirdness started they felt at home. Sipping a light beer Andrea asked Frank about the news story he was reading. "This T. J. Hanover writes a good professional piece, sources look good from what I could see. And while the story never states flat out who the anti-mutant group was I have a very good guess." Laying her hand on his in a confronting manner Andrea said, "Ease up, you escaped them and you continue to confound them. Your presence in the Inquiry, a group that is 60% mutant has got to be giving them ulcers. Add to the fact that in your old Chicago team you where the only non-mutant and those ulcers must be bleeding." Trying to lighten the mood he had fallen into Frank admitted, "Yeah but my poor nose was running like a stream the first month I working with them." Suddenly he sneezed. Looking around he spotted a woman coming in the Clubs entrance. "Speak of the devil. Andrea that woman is a low grade mutant." "Better get your handkerchief out Frank, she looks like she is going to pass this table." "Change that to heading to this table, Andrea" "Do you suppose?" Andrea trailed off. "Hello, my name is T. J. Hanover. Are you the people from Chancellor Martin?" While still standing she offered a handshake to each of them. Andrea took T.J. 's hand with good grace, and in order to give Frank a chance to compose himself replied "Yes we are. Excuse my friend here. He has a few pollen allergies and one of the plants he reacts to must be in the area." Then she took a closer look at her. With her gray hair this T.J. reminded her of someone. "Great back to the old hay fever ploy," thought Frank. "That's odd I thought all the plants in here where artificial. Oh well never mind, I understand you have some questions about that 'League of Pure Science' article I wrote a while back.." "Yes (achoo) that's the story we are interested in. We need some (wheeze) more detailed information if you have it. Things like (hack), are they known for (snort) violent acts? Are they very well funded (cough cough) and if so by whom? Are they very active locally? If so in what areas. Your article didn't get into many specifics." "It wasn't specific because the only thing my editor wanted was a fluff piece on fringe elements. At first that is all they appeared to be was just that, a fringe group. At first glance most of their funding seems to come from some rich eccentrics, you know the type that leave a million credits to their cat, dog or fish. Then I discovered some of their past connections. The League started off as a splinter group of a much larger anti-mutant organization back on Old Earth. They haven't changed that much. One of the things they believe is that magic entered the human world via mutants. As they still feel all mutants are evil, magic is inherently evil. Therefor to protect the purity of mankind, magic must be destroyed and science supplant it. The break up occurred because the faction that eventually became the League wanted more effort to go into fighting magic specifically while the main body wanted to remain concentrated on the so called 'mutant threat'. I've been forced to probe into them in my spare time because," she gestured toward the story that Andrea now held "that was all my editor wanted. He didn't want anything more than a fluff piece. But when I get more on them I'll be able to write the story I should have written the first time," she said with fire and determination. Then she paused, looking slightly confused. "You know, I did some research on the parent organization as well, you sir bear a startling resemblance to a person that group called 'The Rouge Huntsman'." Now slightly nervous Frank/Seeker asked "Oh and who was this Rouge Huntsman". "A defector from the original main group. Part of an experiment to create paranormals under their own control. The project was codename 'The Huntsmen" Several people where subjects of the project . The Rouge escaped from them and continued to bedevil them for the rest of his know life." "Known life?" Frank said in a very strange voice. "Yes sometime around 2010 he disappeared. It is one of those stories that the unsolved mysteries crowd likes to cover. All sorts of speculation ranging from death by one of his enemies, wanting to give new paranormals the stage, just retiring, carrying on the fight against anti-mutants underground, to joining Elvis's entourage as a body guard. One thing that keeps the stories going is that the treatment that gave him his powers supposedly had the side effect of prolonging life to an undetermined length. The last reported sighting was at the other end of Human space about . . . are you feeling all right sir?" "Must be something I ate earlier . . . excuse me" Seeker rushed off to the restroom. "We've been traveling a lot. His system must not have adjusted yet." Andrea said looking toward the men's room with a concerned look on her face. "Sorry, the subject has personnel meaning to me and I can get to rambling on about it. Any how to answer the rest of you'alls questions. There have been no provable acts of violence. However my research has shown some mysterious fires and disappearances of people who they have persecuted. And of course like most fringe groups they do persecute people. Those rich folks that contribute are very rich and there appear to be other sources as well. Locally there is a small official chapter located in the "rough" part of town. They have kept a low profile, but I am sure they have safehouses and other support. Oh and they draw support from all levels of society. I think there might be a few members somewhere in government and/or the Police." "Are they funded well enough to buy powered armor" Andrea asked. "Yes but only relatively cheap versions. They most likely would go for the heavy firepower, relatively low protection type. Most of the people who are members are like most bullies." Frank returned from the men's room looking pale. "Sorry about that. Look can you tell me your basic references? I want to do some background checks and see if there have been any changes from your research." "All right. Sorry about how you are feeling. I anticipated your request so here is my source list. You can find most of the stuff on the public library database." T.J. then gave them directions to the nearest library's location. As they left Andrea asked "How are you doing Frank?" "How do you think you would be feeling, if you were given a date of your 'disappearance'? The only thing worse would be a confirmed death date." Frank shivered violently. Calmly Andrea said "Yes it shook me. As it would if she had said anything similar about the others in Inquiry, or our Dirty Pair. But she did say disappearance with possible later sightings. Maybe you finally took the time to write your novel." Frank looked at her with a speculating look. "How do you know I'm writing a novel? I've never told anyone about it, I only work on it at home. If fact I had planned to tell no one until I was ready to submit it. Come on give!!" Glad she had lighten his mood some she simply said "All reporters at least start a novel. I think it is a compulsion we get along with the job. Next time your in Miami I'll show you mine. It's dreadful but I'm having fun with it." Pausing for a moment she added "Now lets dig up some dirt on that League. . . or at least some background." Because they were involved with this impromptu therapy session, neither of the normally alert people noticed a man talking into a public comm station. "Prime Subject proceeded to her appointment. By accident subject sat with back to my position so I was unable to read lips. Shotgun and laser microphones unusable due to lack of surveillance site and nature of Press Clubs anti-surveillance measures. Did observe Subject 2 and 3 repeating directions to Public Library after being passed some documents from Prime Subject. Advise increased monitoring of library database." >From the blacked out comm unit. "Acknowledged. Continue with your surveillance of Prime Subject. Death to Magic" "Science Forever" was his reply. ====================================================== Charline Thomas, AKA Plasma Girl thought "There are a few rare times when I think my sister was right about my airhead act. This is definitely one of them. You would think the young set here would be having a blast. NOT. Boring. Now if I acted like Marline I could at least liven things up a bit. " Pausing for a second she completed the thought "But stealing something from your host or hostess is so very rude." The man currently trying to get her attention was started by her stifled laugh. "May I ask what amuses you?" "Oh just thinking about what my sister and some of her friends would be doing at this party" "Is she as lovely as you?" With a wiry grimace Charline said, "She better be. She's my identical twin. However the things she likes are different " "Oh and in what ways?" "The way she gets things for one. Also she likes to act like she is smarter than she is. For example she likes to talk about weapons when I know she hasn't even dated someone in the Army!!" The "Chrisy" voice was back. "I would love to get the chance to upstage her." "Well you are in luck my lady. I have a friend with a extensive weapons collection. Everything from Earth and Salusian Bronze age swords to Muskets to contemporary gauss and beam weapons. As it happens he is also giving a little party tonight. Would you like to accompany me?" Charline's thoughts where resigned "Might as well. None of the other places have checked out." So with great (but fake) enthusiasm she agreed. As she left she got a closer look at her escort. Her mind was suddenly on other matters than the investigation. "Yummy, _much_ better than I thought. And I've seen that look before in other guys. He has just had the same thought about me!! Well it may tick off Stewart but if the gun search doesn't pay off I'll find something else to do this evening. I think the Dirty Pair would understand." She then remembered the situation she and the others were in. "Both sets would." The drive to the new party site was a good distance but Charline didn't mind. The chatted about trivialities. Charline's cover was that of an heiress to a small but successfull shipping line, so gaps about her knowledge of Tejas' social set was not commented on. She got quite a bit of interesting but useless information about the planet. The estate was fantastic. Their host was a true gentleman, although Charline got the impression that if she had come alone she would have been invited to stay the night. While wondering if she would have accepted her escort asked to see the gun collection. The collection was housed in several rooms. Even with her lack of knowledge about weapons in general (when you can throw plasma bolts why bother?) she could tell it was a valuable collection. "Stewart would love it here!! Now that I think of it, maybe some of this collection was once his!" When she asked she was informed that parts were on loan to museums on a rotating basis. Finally she was in the firearms section. With one ear listening to her hosts spiel on how they worked she scanned the displays. There!! Something that looked like Karen's gun. In fact a lot like hers, down to the craftsmanship. "I see you have an eye for beauty in many forms" pronounced her host. "I knew from your swords and knives section that weapons could be pretty but I didn't know that guns could be to!" was her response. "Yes that is the pride of my gunpowder weapons display. A Desert Eagle .44 magnum. It was customized by the famous 'Man from Arlington' back on Old Earth during the late 20th century. Only fired a few times, it is in near-mint condition. It is an exquisite example of the gunsmiths craft." Cooing slightly Charline asked if she could hold it. Her host agreed provided that she kept her gloves on. Opening the door to the display she reached in. And grasped as here hand passed through the weapon. Giggling she said "OK I can understand you keeping a hologram on display while the real weapon is stored somewhere. Neat trick. I still want to hold it though." "I only use holograms when the weapon is loaned out. That one is not. What are you . . ." The host stopped when he saw Charline's hand. "Oh no!! It was mine!! But how. My security. . ." mine host started mumbling. Excusing himself he went off to call the police. Charline asked for a place to freshen up. Once alone she changed into Plasma Girl. She then activated her costumes communications link. "Airhead to Inquiry, Lovely Angels or Twin Star. Anyone out there. Come in? Come on you guys." "Star 1 go ahead." Karen sounded excited about something. "I think I found where the murder weapon came from. Are Fenris and Darla there? They might want to get here fast. Bring any of the others who can come." Charline finished by giving the address of where she was at. Karen informed Plasma Girl that they also had made some breakthroughs. "I will get Fenris or Darla to pick you up. We all have to get together now. I don't want to get into to much detail over an open circuit. By the way you missed a hell of a poker game." "What was that last part about" she asked herself as she returned to her Charline form. She had the feeling that they had gotten all the major pieces of the puzzle. Now all they had to do was put them together. ********************************************************* Chapter 8: Tracking Down the Source Challenge and the Lovely Angels continued their tracking. As they suspected the contact was only a "fixer" who had passed on the contract from someone else. The man became very cooperative when Challenge demonstrated some of his electrical abilities while hinting that he was working for the Pair because they were tougher than himself. Kei's knuckle cracking and grin did help. As they continued their investigation a voice called out from behind them. "Cousin Beaulregard!! I didn't know you were on Tejas!! Who are your friends??" Turning the trio saw a moderately tall woman with iron gray hair. Like Challenge she didn't look old enough to have gray hair. The woman continued "And still wearing that patch. Look I'm proud of the connection as well but you don't need it." With that she grabbed the eye patch. Then she gasped, seeing the empty socket it concealed. Grabbing the patch back Stewart said "Lets talk, in private." The Angels quickly grabbed the woman and hustled her down an alley. "OK lady, just who are you and who did you think I am." The woman looked a little shaky. "I'm T.J. Hanover. And you look just like my cousin Beaulregard. And he bears a surprising resemblance to our Ancestor. Bolgie has two perfectly good eyes but likes to wear the patch to enhance the resemblance. You looked so much like him that I . . . oh my God." T.J.'s eyes got even wider and the color drained from her face. Stewart didn't look that good either. In a strangled whisper she said, "Your him!! Your founder of the Wilson Clan. Your Stewart Wilson, the first Challenge!!" "The first Challenge? Clan?" Stewart was leaning up against a wall. "I don't know what you are talking about." T.J. continued "Your wife's first name was Maria. She used to be your secretary. When your corporations Chief Administrative Officer retired you got her to take his place. You also made her Vice-CEO to cover for you when you where adventuring. She referred in her diary's to your adventures as your 'strange hobby'. You were part of several hero teams. You were friends with the notorious 'Dirty Pair'." At this point, by reflex, Kei and Yuri hissed "Lovely Angels." Taking advantage of the interruption and T.J's confusion Stewart said, "Most of that information could be found in a historical data base. If I was your ancestor how would you prove it?" "Most of your descendants also inherited your powers to varying degrees. I'm one of them." With that her hands started to spark with electricity. "The powers that I do have aren't that much but they do give me an edge in some of my investigations. I haven't followed the costumed adventure tradition because being a reporter gives me enough excitement" Yuri looked at Stewart. "I hadn't made the connection before. Your family and corporation is still around in our time. In fact I think at least one of the other consultant teams has a member of your clan in it." Kei snorted "Great Yuri. You are suppose to be the smart one. Until just now Stewart could have denied a connection. You just confirmed it." Yuri blushed. T.J. was shaking her head. "Your time?" Stewart groaned "Never mind. This situation is just what I don't need. Ladies back to the car. I don't feel like discussing this in an alley." "My apartment is not to far by vehicle. We can go there." Stewart was understandably in a slight daze. It is not everyday you met someone claiming to be your descendent when as far as you know you don't even have children yet (although Maria and himself had been trying. A lot.) The Angels however where still fully in investigative mode. As they went to their borrowed hover car Kei gave Yuri the "we are being watched" sign. Yuri causally scanned the area and confirmed. T.J. was then treated to the typical Dirty Pair method of driving. Incidentally this also had the effect of losing their tail. When they arrived Stewart and T.J. had recovered most of their composure. Once safely inside the Angels did a quick sweep for bugs (they found none). "OK I should have known something like this could happen" said Stewart. "I just thought the odds were against it. T.J. if you are my descendant and my position means anything to you I'm going to have to ask you something very difficult, especially for a reporter." She interrupted with "I can't tell anyone about this right?" Nodding Stewart replied, "I'm afraid so. The person who brought us here could be in for a lot a trouble it became common knowledge." Pausing for a moment T.J. announced "That person would be Chancellor Martin. I met some people today to talk about the League of Pure Science. They were sent from the Chancellor's office. They called themselves Frank and Andrea. Are they friends of yours?" The trio nodded. "Frank became sick and agitated when I commented on a resemblance to the 'Rouge Huntsman'. It wasn't just a resemblance, was it? Frank is the original." This time only Stewart confirmed. "Because they were asking about the League, its history and operation methods, and because of the T'mals murder, coupled with your presence here. I can only conclude that the Chancellor has some sort of time travel capability. He used the ability to bring you to our time in order to solve the mystery." Again the pause. "Damn it Ancestor this is a major story, its mine and your right that I can't tell anyone about it. Ignore for the moment what it would do for the investigation itself. If I could get it past my editor without going to the psycho ward, then I would have to deal with the Foreign Office, who would try to lock me up. Plus I really can't prove any of this." Yuri asked, "Perhaps you could work something out with Martian. Maybe tell some of the story when we break the case." >From the window where she had been watching the street Kei announced "The tail is back. Appears to be settling in for a long haul." Both Stewart and T.J. went "WHAT TAIL". "Kei spotted him when we left the alley. Can't tell if his assignment is T.J. or ourselves." Looking at Stewart face, Yuri continued "Hey don't feel bad about it. I think I would have fainted if I ran into a descendant of mine. At least you have a spouse. Kei and I haven't been having to much luck in that department lately." "Shut up Yuri." "I think it might be a good idea to find out who sent him. It would be better if he didn't know we had made him." Looking at the Lovely Angels, "Do either of you have anything like that could help use with that?" "I've got a dart gun with a sleep drug like that but it is very short range. It is a fairly recent development so it will not show up on any tests they may run. Kei, could we get close enough without alerting him?" "Not from his position. What's more he would recognize us." "Ladies, you haven't seen all my talents yet. T.J. can you guess which one?" "That's right you can turn" Stewart had disappeared from sight "invisible" she finished. "Now how do you fire this?" came a disembodied voice. "I should have no problem provided he can't see into the IR or UV range." Kei announced that she could see no sign of any vision devices. She still advised Stewart to be careful. The Angels gave a brief run down on the operation of the dart gun. Still invisible Challenge left the apartment. "That was strange to watch" mused Yuri. "If you think that was strange try going to one of my family reunions" said T.J. in a wry voice. Continuing "Can you tell me more about yourselves?" As he approached the spy Stewart went into what he called patrol mode. "Still no evidence of enhanced vision devices. I will have to be careful, watch for puddles and such that might give me away." thought Stewart. As the invisible hero approached the tail looked at his wrist and started walking toward a public communicator booth. The thought that the man had received some training crossed Stewart's mind as he noticed his target positioning his body so no one could see the number dialed. Stewart did come close enough to overhear some of the conversation.. An electronically modified voice said "Report" "Prime subject accosted a trio, two women and one male, identifying the male as a relative. Prime subject then appeared shocked and was then was rushed into an alley. Could not approach without risk of discovery. After a few minutes entire party then went to a hover car with the license plate of UQV 87X. The hover car then was driven away in an very erratic manner. I was able to track for a while but they did lose me. Unable to conclude if driving tactics were normal for the driver or if the maneuvers were a deliberate attempt to shake possible tails. I decided to return to Prime subjects apartment building. Upon arrival I spotted the hover car from before. The two females appear to be part of the demon group that the Strike Team fought recently. Unable to identify the male but suspect he is also part of the group in disguise. These are not the same people Prime subject met with earlier. Will resume surveillance unless ordered otherwise. Report ends. Hail Science." There was a pause and the person as the other end digested the information. "Continue surveillance. Remain with Prime subject. Additional personnel will arrive soon to allow tracking of this trio. To avoid losing this group you are authorized to bug their vehicle. You are also authorized to use broadcast comm if the trio leaves before additional personnel arrive. You have your orders. Hail Science." "Death to magic" was the reply. Stewart thought "I'll let him plant the bug. It will give us an idea on the level of training and equipment they have. Then I will tranq him, riffle the body, leave him and then we all can head back to base. I think T.J. might be of more use to all concernd back at the estate." His invisible fist clenched, "And I am going to do my best to protect any descendant of mine from harm if at all possible." The tail was much better at tailing than bugging but was at least competent. He even did a check to make sure the bug worked right. He then settled into his "hide" to observe T.J.'s apartment. Kei still observing from the window saw the target suddenly slap his neck and slump down. "That's it he's been nailed. You finished packing T.J. ?" "I've had to do this drill before Kei, I keep a kit ready at all times." They hurried down stairs. And into the alley where Challenge/Stewart was looking through the spy's personal effects. "Nice slightly oversize watch, might be a communication device, what I assume to be standard ID and credit cards, a hold out pistol of some sort and a knife at his ankles, a small pistol in a holster at his back and the general junk a man will carry at any time. You ladies want see if I missed anything? Oh and he planted a bug in our car. I know where it is so we can disable it." The Angels searched the person. They noticed the ring was some sort of beacon, currently turnned off. T.J. said he had the look of a native or long time resident. According to T.J. the man's ID was good but fake. "Probably has his real stuff elsewhere. Bet we could use it though." "No we are going to tie up some of their resources. We are going to put everything back as we found it and then leave. He will spend his whole time watching us and waiting for us to leave. And when the backup arrives that was to tail us, those worthies will also be sitting around getting bored." Yuri agreed. Kei looked like she wanted to crack heads. Then they headed back to Martian's estate. (As The Lovely Angels and Challenge searched, Snake was searching for them. However the main method he had was via the locator box he had his aide give the punk. When the punk lost awareness of his surroundings from Kei's insane cop routine the link had been severed. The spell linking the holder of the box with the spell caster from a distance was very difficult and had only been re-established when the trio had almost reached Martin's estate. The estates shields greatly reduced the amount of information he could receive. However now he knew what Challenge looked like without his mask and he could track three of his foes once they left the estate) ================================ Somewhat earlier in the day "I'm bored" complained Karen. "Earlier that encounter with the lab tech was interesting, and I'm going to remind you of it Yevette next time you bug me about MY temper, but this repeat sweep of the grounds is looking like a waste of time. We haven't found anything new except scraps of the armor used by our attackers. Maybe we should go back and question a few of the people Farenheight took prisoner." "For one thing I'm not sure how far we can legally go, diplomatic status or not. For another the regular police are still questioning them. As for looking at this armor the amount of scraps indicate they most certainly were using lower grade armor. Collect enough we may be able to trace it to the manufacturer." returned Farenheight. "Yeah, the stuff has to be low grade. Even Yevette's wimpy 9mm could have penetrated this stuff." "Look Karen, just because you think everyone needs to crack engine blocks doesn't mean its always the best round." "I didn't hear you complaining during the last fight." "That's because I was to busy covering your rear once they closed with us" shot back Yevette. "Ladies I don't feel like hearing Twin Star standard argument #4 right now. Lets get back to the case." Farenheight said with a tired voice. "Well only because you're cute. All of these scraps really tells us they tend to go for the quantity over quality argument. Or maybe they were not expecting to go into action so soon and had to buy cheaper stuff than they usually use. Which gives me a thought." Raising her voice so she could be heard, she shouted over to Fenris and Darla "Hey the people who deal with personal armor, have they had any sudden big orders or losses?" "We are still checking, nothing from the big boys. We are also checking to see if they were stealing a little from different places. Also nothing from our smugglers. And no one has moved powered armor recently" Darla replied. "I'm going to try something now" said Fenris. "All our conventional methods are dead ends or are still pending. I'm going to try the Were touch now." "Uh Fen, is that necessary?" asked Darla. "I don't know what else to do. Maybe a different skin will give me a new perspective. Or maybe I can pick up a sent. Lets go inside so I don't ruin my clothes." As they started to return to the main house, Farenheight lowered his voice and spoke to Twin Star. "Did you notice when we were coming to and from Police Central how much Fenris was asking about the Lynx?" "Now that you mention it he has. Especially such things as if she had a steady boyfriend or what. We told them the truth, some guys but nothing steady or serious." replied Yevette thoughtfully. "Hmmm it may look like you two may have lost out on picking up a guy this trip. Of course that other Pair may also hold his interest as well" "Hurumph" Karen snorted. "Yuri might have a chance but I can't see a hunk like Fenris messing around with Kei. I mean Kei has a terrible temper, yells a lot, is highly aggressive." Before Farenhieit could say some thing stupid like "Sounds a lot like you, Karen" they reached the house. Darla was waiting outside a bathroom door. As they approached an arm holding clothing reached out and handed it to Darla. "Fenris says he feels uncomfortable changing from human to Hybrid or wolf in front of non-weres. I'm the only mundane he allows to see him change. I think it is because I'm his partner." Then there was a scratching at the door. "Fen's senses are at their peak in wolf form. How ever he has problems with doors and such." She opened the door. "He could be Buttercup's brother!!" said Karen and Yevette together. "I h'pe he r she s n't an acetor o mine usg y to mooch off of" came the reply from the wolf sitting in the door. Some how you got the impression the wolf was grinning. "Yessss I cn tlk in this frm but yyr gtt to list en car fully" Everyone besides Darla looked shocked. "Fen said he could talk in this form but you have got to listen very carefully" Calmly Darla continued "Fen's going see if he can find any unusually scent traces or tracks human eyes may have missed." "Interesting" observed Farenheight. "Do you know if you had any ancestors in the San Francisco area. I'm thinking of taking on a partner and I think someone with your capabilities would be useful." "Nrot tht I knnnow of" Fenris growled back. "Letts grett starrrted". "What?" Twin Star and Farenheit thought but were to polite to ask. Once again they started checking the grounds. After a while Fenris "hit" on a patch of uniform cloth. "Therrrre s somt'ing fam'er 'bout tis one. Somt'ing t'at meks me thnk of fooood. Cn y see any stns?" "Fen also has problems with colors in wolf form. He is not color blind but there are some contrast problems he has. And yes there appears to be a light food stain." Karen examined the cloth further "Yevette that stain looks a little like your apron when you are experimenting in the kitchen." "You're right Karen." Pausing for a moment she added "Fenris I assume that you could have recognized the scent from food you are more familiar with?" Fenris nodded. "This must be from a restaurant that serves food you just don't eat much of. It's useful, but I don't think we could get you into every restaurant to check." "N't unress wun of yew p'lays blnd prson adn uses me as a seeing eye dggg" Darla ignored his comment (they had done just that on one case and she felt embarised doing it) "Have you got a better scent now Fen?" "Yessss beeef, sme spiccess I can't ID, nd grease." After Darla repeated the statement Yevette mused out loud "Off world or minority culture cuisine??" "Probably off world. A cop eats all sorts of food in different places. Think it could be from the Starport area Fen?" asked Darla. The wolf nodded. "Lets finish the sweep. But I think this is all we will find" said Karen. She was right. ================================== "You know I'm beginning to wonder if we are going about this slightly wrong" mused Andrea King, A.K.A The Grey Lynx "What do you mean. Everything we have doubled checked so far matches what T.J. has told us." replied Frank Lipski (now you know why his call sign is Ski) better known as Seeker Andrea nodded "That's just it. What we have been digging out has been public databases. Granted it is useful as most people don't realize what can be found in public records but we really are not going that deep." Continuing and looking thoughtful she added "What I'm wondering is are we using all of our information sources." "I've seen that look before, normally in the mirror when I think I've got a good source worked out. Come on Andy, give." "We have got an diplomat, a rich one at that, who is officially in charge of this investigation. Even if he doesn't know how to turn on a computer himself, how much you want to bet he has connections who can dig deeper than we can here?" "No bet lady. Besides I think we are about as deep we can get from here anyhow." Chuckling Frank added "You know it funny when you look at it, some things just don't change that much." "What are you talking about Frank?" "Well here we are in the future" Frank paled slightly remembering the encounter earlier in the day but continued "Supposedly computer tech has increased with everything else but I can only retrieve stuff here only slightly faster than at my paper." "What?" said Andrea suddenly alert. "Yes the speed of retrieval here is close to what I'm used to. I even noted I was doing the same things while waiting here that I do at my desk at work." Whispering now Andrea said "Frank as a break I did a check on how Martial Arts developed from the 20th century to our here and now. It was larger than some of the files you showed me just now. I retrieved it almost instantly." Quickly Frank returned to his own terminal and asked for a file on Polish history and planets settled primarily by Poles. A large file was quickly presented. This file was also larger than most of the files he had checked earlier. The two reporter/heroes came to the same conclusion at about the same time. Inquiry triggers. "Someone wants to know if someone pokes around anything involving the League of Pure Science" he said. "How much you want to bet we are going to be followed or ambushed after we leave the library" was the Lynx's response. "No bet. Lets leave. It's at the end of lunch time anyhow so it will appear natural. I saw a restaurant not far from here. We can eat and call Martian's place from there. I am suddenly leery of using the phones here." "I am in complete agreement". The Denny's restaurant chain had somehow survived to the present time. The two noticed that the basic outline had remained the same. After being seated and giving their orders they started checking for threats. "That guy that just came in screams of muscle Andrea" "And the one who is coming in behind him is oh so carefully ignoring the first." "Not to mention the hover car limo that just pulled up into the parking lot. Funny how a gun wagon looks the same no mater what type of chassis it has." The salads they had ordered had just arrived. "Well I am going to see if Denny's has improved over the years" announced Andrea. "If they want a fight they can do it after lunch." Frank nodded his agreement. After lunch (Denny's hadn't made any great strides but they hadn't lost any distance either) the two reporters sauntered out. As they expected the two muscle-clowns followed. "Well, do you want to take them on or shall I? Or shall we split up and make them play hounds and hares?" asked Frank. Andrea was pondering this when the thugs reached them. "We have some friends who want to have a little talk with you" the slightly smaller thug said. "Lets share, This one is mine and you can take the other" said the Lynx ignoring both the punks. "OK fine" was Frank/Seekers response as he studied his target with a very precise focus. The first thug made the mistake of trying to grab Andrea and hustle her to the limo. "I said they want to talk to you oooffff" The interruption was caused by Andrea slamming her knee into the thug's stomach at a very high rate of speed. Reflexively he fell to his knees where her spin kick follow up sent him into dream land. Frank's attack was a very precise series of strikes to the limbs. His thug was laying groaning from a broken arm and leg with his other limbs responding slowly to his commands. The limo accelerated down the street. Frank leaped straight up, landed on the roof of the limo and rolled down the back side. Andrea also leaped but high and one side to a wall where she clung to the surface. The car kept on going. "I got a plate number" called Frank. "Good" responded his partner. We must really be on to something, they are trying to silence us or scare us off." "And you know the success rate for that method with us, don't you my dear? I think we should head back to the estate. We need to talk to everyone about this in person" Shortly there after their car drove off. During the trip back Andrea started to talk about and ask questions about Fenris. ================================= Frank and Andrea arrived while Fenris was completing his search. This put Fenris in an awkward situation. He wasn't sure how Andrea would react to his wolf form, but he couldn't change right away as his human form would then be naked. "Daaara what m I gna doo?" "Go and dash on to the house. I'll send one of the others to get your clothes and close the door for you." Darla then called Farenheight over and made a request. "But do me a favor. Don't be as quick about it as you can be. Have a little trouble finding a sock or something alright? I want to have a word with the Lynx" Farhenheit agreed and took off toward the house using his powers. Twin Star, seeing Fahrenheit take off, also started to walk toward the house. Yevette called out that she was in a cooking and thinking mood. Karen asked if she ment cooking or experimenting. Darla simply nodded and walked to the drive and waited. "Was that Fenris dashing into the house?" asked Andrea "if it was he is as handsom as a wolf as he is as a man." "Well that answers that question for me" thought Darla. Aloud she asked Frank to get out and walk on into the house. Puzzled but sensing he would be in the way if he insisted on staying Frank agreed. The two women sat in silence for a brief while. Andrea broke the silence first. "Isn't this suppose to be the father of the girl and her boyfriend?" Darla chuckled, "Am I that obvious? But to be honest, he is my partner and he has told me he considers me and my family his pack. For the type of person he is that means a great deal. I don't want him hurt. Despite his good looks he has had some bad luck with more than a few ladies. What I need to know is, how do you feel about my partner." Covering her face Andrea suddenly sobbed out "I don't know how deep it is dammit. I am certainty attracted to him but with the others around I have so much compitition. And I'm not sure how far I want to go. I'll be leaving fairly soon after this case. I mean I would be too far out of time if I stayed. And I can't ask him to come with me, the same would be true for him." "So you do care for him. Good. I've overheard Twin Star talking earlier, they consider themselves out of the running. In fact Fen was pumping them and Farenheight for facts about you earlier. You want some advice?" Andrea nodded. "Go to him, talk to him. At least have some time together. He needs to know a woman likes him for something other than the trill of being around a cop. Yes, that was what the others where after. And I think you could use some companionship too." Gaining control of her voice Andrea said "But I'm scared." Darla laughed, not in a mean way but in mild surprize. "She faces paranormal foes with calm, breezed through time travel without a qualm. But is scared to talk to someone she cares about. Go. We can handle the investigation without the two of you for a few hours." Andrea had a look of gratitude on her face as she got out of the car. And ran toward the house. Darla waited a moment then brought the car to hover and then to its parking space. Smiling as she parked she thought "The things you do for your partner." -- Ben L. Harrison 72440.2345@compuserve.com Harriso3@ix.netcom.com ==================================================================== "It wasn't our fault!!" -- The Lovely Angels, any post mission brief Chapter 9: Down and Dirty? When the Angels and Challenge brought T.J. in it caused a stir in more ways than one. Frank was still some what shook up by the revelation T.J. had hit him with earlier. However he became a little more resigned to the situation when Stewart/Challenge admitted that T.J. was apparently a descendant of Stewart's. T.J. was show to the room she was going to be staying at. She told everyone she would be down in a few minutes. With every one except Plasma Girl back, and she not expected back until much later, the rest settled in for a brain storming session. Darla announced that Fenris and the Lynx where busy elsewhere. Darla's statement was given in the "No Argument Allowed" tone that the police are capable of. No one, not even the more argumentative member (s) of the Dirty Pair (s) felt like contesting her statement. Martin had Fenton get the kitchen staff to prepare some food and then told Fenton to stand by in case his services where needed further. When he returned Fenton announced that "Ms. Yevette has asked for permission to share the kitchen. She wishes prepare something in addition to what the staff will prepare. Ms Yevette also said to tell everyone she would be cooking, not experimenting." For reasons Martian could not fathom, Karen and Stewart looked relieved. Soon the investigators started out reporting what had occurred during the day. Darla laughed the loudest when she heard how Yevette, of all people, knocked out the lab tech. Darla had been a victim of his jokes more than once. Kei almost started another fight with Karen when she speculated out loud if Karen's skin was smooth enough to feel a joy buzzer. Fortunately Yuri had made sure that Kei and Karen where sitting in different corners of the room so blows where avoided (barely). Frank/Seeker reported on their earlier conversation with T.J. and of the Lynx's suspicions of inquiry triggers. Everyone agreed that the suspicions were pretty much confirmed by the attempted attack after their lunch. Fenton was asked to take Seeker down to the computer room, after dinner of course, and have the two of them continue the research. When asked why a Mage had a computer room Martian simply stated he had many interests, that a computer was useful in dealing with them and with Fenton being one of the best hackers on the planet he really didn't need to know computers personally. Yuri started to look at the majordomo with a professional eye. Fenton, as usual, remained unflappable. When Challenge and the Angels turn came they produced the box they had taken from the punk they had "questioned" (Elsewhere Snake picked up the activity. Calling on the link he got a very blurry image of the investigators. Not enough to identify anyone he didn't already know, but he now could give a general outline, if he could maintain contact longer. Then he realized that Martin was picking up something from the box. Snake quickly severed the link. <"(Untranslatable Sivvat Expletive, normally considered obscene) Samuel Martin is luckier and more powerful than I thought. He is starting to gain my respect as a Mage.> The Snake then attempted to link with his pawn. That individuals mind was frantically trying to deal with several crisis at once. A street gang that had been hired by one of his pawns minions was now looking for the League with payback in mind, one of his surveillance operatives had lost his prime subject along with some secondary subjects. Two of his enforcers were now in the hospital, fortunately still unconscious and someone had been digging into the League's background. Normally the Snake could have slid into his pawns mind but there was too much "static" for him to do so and remain undetected. This was not good. Standing he called his aide. The aide bowed and left the room.) Martin was shocked. He had been getting a minor mental "buzz" of warning but had assumed it was from the general nature of their situation, but now it was sounding a full alert. "WHERE DID YOU SAY YOU GOT THAT BOX FROM?!!" Blinking Kei repeated how a punk had it on him when he tried to rumble with them. More in control now Martin asked if she knew how the punk had got it. Yuri told him how the punk described someone in an encounter suit. Before anyone could ask what was going on Martin started making passes over Kei, Yuri and Challenge. A strange glow surrounded all three. (Elsewhere the Snake suddenly gritted his teeth and made a cutting motion. <(Sivvat Equivalent to DAMN IT but with even more venom in it.) He was quicker than I thought. Now the best I can do is hide the traces>) Martin studied the glow. Suddenly he reached forward like he was grabbing something. He looked just like a wide receiver who _just_ missed a pass. "Blast it, I was so close. This one is good, very good." The Lovely Angels looked shocked. Outside of their arrival they really hadn't seen magic in use before and they didn't get that good of a look when they arrived. Some members of Inquiry had been members of teams with mystics in them so they were slightly less shocked. Karen spoke for all of them. "What just happened?? That glow just {now in German: didn't look natural. What where you doing Martin?}" "Karen you dropped into German just now" said Seeker. "Sorry. It was just too weird even for you guys. What were you doing Martin?" "There are several spells on that box. The first spell's job was to tell the caster the location of the holder. A second set of spells was to locate specific people. You noticed there were nine buttons on the box, three of those buttons are depressed, Yes? Take a close look at the dial. You will see three indicators of some type correct?" Kei who still had the box confirmed this. Martin continued to explain. "And one of them is pointing right at you Kei. The other two should be pointing at Challenge and Yuri" Again Kei nodded. "If we experimented we would find out which button corresponds to which one of you. There was a third spell connected with the box as well. This spell allows the caster to see through the eyes of who ever is holding the box. However with house shields in place I don't think he got much information, if any. What I did just now was a quick attempt determine what spells where being worked and to track the caster. However this individual was quick to discover my probe and severed the link. I will attempt to track it down further but to do so will take some preparation. And part of that will be to get a good meal into myself for the needed energy." "Just what are you planning to do Samuel Martin? is your hunt going well?" Al'teer had just returned from her Healer duties at the Sivvat delegation. "The hunt, as you put it, is progressing well. To quote Sherlock Holmes 'The game is afoot'" was Fahrenheit response. "I see. And what is Samuel Martin trying to do to bring the quarry to bay?" Stewart explained "Kei, Yuri and myself found some sort of wooden box that turns out to be magic. The three of us brought back it here. Who ever was at the other end tried to spy on us using it. Martin discovered it and tried to track down who ever it was. The quick check failed. Now he is going to try the hard way. After supper." Al'teer asked to see the box. After looking at it for a few moments she made the announcement "This box is of Sivvat manufacture, it is made of a wood found on one of our planets. We do not export it at all. I can see an aura around it but it is disguised, clouded, , I think the spells are from Sivvat as well. Samuel Martin I can't help you track this person, my magic does not run that way, but I think you are looking for a Sivvat or someone who has studied under a Sivvat." Just as Al'teer made this revelation a servant entered and told Fenton something. That worthy announced "As the Dinning Hall is still under repair, Dinner is now served on the terrace Gentle-beings, perhaps the discussion should continue there." The planet Tejas is a major beef and meat animal producer. A buffet of meat dishes and native vegetables had been set up to tempt the crowd. Wine was also available (how ever to be honest, Tejas vintages are not that great, their beer is decent). Yevette was standing there placing her contribution on the table. "I'm surprised that you had so much native Earth food already in stock Martin. I was afraid I was going to have to experiment instead of cook." "I am a diplomat Yevette, I must host numerous people from worlds all over this end of the galaxy. Tejas as close trade ties with Earth so I frequently entertain their delegations." "Why do you make a distinction from cooking and experimenting Yevette?" asked Al'teer. Karen broke in. "My partner is one of the best cooks there is. But some of her experiments in cooking are well, uhhh" "I believe you used the phrase bio hazard in the past Karen. Which unfortunately is true. But most of my recipes are great!! Don't you agree Stewart?" 'Yes they are _mostly_ good. Are those your two specialties?" "Only the sushi sauce. I didn't have the time to make jambilia so I settled for gumbo in stead." "Now you got me confused" said Kei. Karen made a comment about what else is new. "You look nearly pure oriental in decent. But gumbo and jambilia are not oriental dishes" "Trust Kei to know about food" muttered Yuri. "Well I am not 'pure' oriental, I'm half Cajun from my mother. Both of my parents taught me a lot about their cultures, including cooking. I try to do both justice. I also combine them when I am able." Karen told the others that she was going for the Tejas dishes first as she could have Yevette's cooking at home. She did tell everyone to dig in and enjoy. Challenge took a little from everything. Al'teer was fascinated by Yevette's dishes. "I especially like this sauce. It is slightly milder than what we use for a similar dish back home called . The taste is close to some of the ones we have at home." Upon hearing that Martin looked at the other guests. Both the Lovely Angels were trying the sauce, Kei in a much larger amount. Suddenly remembering what a Sivvat would call mild would be very hot and spicy to human palates, Martin tried to clear his own mouth to warn the Angels. Too late. Yuri was now quickly gulping down a glass of water while Kei was guzzling a much larger glass. Still showing some of the effects Yuri asked "Just what is that stuff?" Yevette said with pride, "I call it Cajun Style sushi sauce. The secret is the cyan peppers." Kei had finally put the fire out in her mouth and was getting ready to try some of the gumbo when a thought occurred to her. "Is this gumbo stuff as hot?" Receiving a no from Yevette (and ignoring a grin from Karen) Kei dug in. She rapidly finished her gumbo and then passed through for seconds. "The meats a little rubbery but good. What is it?" she asked. Yevette identified the meal as, "That is my octopus gumbo, I prefer jambilia but that takes several days to make properly." Karen's look of expectation ended when Kei asked for the recipe so she could try it back in her own century. However Darla started looking at her plate oddly and stuck to the Tejas dishes the rest of the meal. All involved dug into their meals. For a while coversation was on anything BUT the investigation. Martin was suprised to discover that Karen was asking about several paintings of birds that were hanging in his study. "Yes my uncle painted them. He wanted to be the Audabun of Tejas and many feel he was. He loved to paint and study all birds expecially the preditors." "What were those two over the fireplace?" "Those are Anglehawks and Starfalcons. They are considered the most lovely of our native birds and some of our most effective hunters. May I ask your interest? I didn't see anything about you being a birdwatcher in Fentons report of you." "I'm not but I am a photographer. The subjects caught my eye. Are they common enough for me to take some pictures of them?" Martin was about to explain how rare both birds were when Kei interupted. "I hope you can remember to take of the lens cap. That is if you can figure out how to load the film!!" Martin mangaged to keep the two from fighting, but he noticed the two kept sniping at each other the rest of the meal. Scanning the small crowd he noted "Well at least Yevette and Yuri are getting along well toghether." "All right people pack your plates and find a seat!! We still have a murder to solve," came the shout from Challenge. Numerous and humorous threats were made but every found a place "And I hope you save some for Lynx, Fenris and Charline." Continuing between bites of desert Challenge said, "Lets review what we know at this moment. We have a dead ambassador, killed by a 20th century weapon. Thanks to Fahrenheit and Twin Star we know it was a Desert Eagle .44." Martin added "The bullet was silver. Few people know that the Sivvat are a magical, not psionic, race and even fewer outside the Sivvat themselves know that their magic is ineffective against silver. That indicates an attacker with magical knowledge. Specifically knowledge about the Sivvat." Kei: "But we know from the DNA found under his nails that the T'mal's attacker was a human. And that all the attacks against us point have come from the very non-magical 'League of Pure Science'. T.J. is there any chance that they are really a front for some magical group?" T.J. : "Not very likely. Their history would never allow it. It is possible that a magician may have infiltrated the group under the 'hide in plain sight' theory. But I can't see one being undiscovered long enough to take it over." Seeker: "Good point. I think the reason we able to beat them relatively easily was because we were not the magical beings they thought we were. All the items I saw were techno based." Darla: "The lab confirms that. Uncommon power sources and some odd filters but all within current technology." Yuri: "But what about the 'Man in the Encounter Suit'? He gave our sparing partner that magic box. The League could not have made it, but it is obviously meant to track us down. What is this person's connection to the case. And Al'teer says the box was made by materials available only to a Sivvat." Kei: "Don't forget Yuri encounter suits are a favorite disguise method. That person could be female, human or any species that has contact with human space." Fahrenheit: "You know we have been concentrating on the perpetrator and weapon so much we have forgotten motive. Who would benefit from the assassination of the T'mal? Or could the murder be a personnel thing? Even the most honorable of people pickup enemies, sometimes simply by being honorable." Martin: "The delegation was here to see if trade ties could be established. Many of our foods are exotic to the Sivvat. Our petrochemical and chemical industry is the best in this quadrant. And finally there is a plant here that is of marginal use to us but the Sivvat could use in crop fertility spells. They also have exotic foods and spices. In addition the Sivvat are also excellent bio-engineers. While that box that was brought in is of one of their more common woods, many of their timber products are incredibly beautiful and strong. Killing Bri'tang would hurt many people both here and in the Sivvat Dominion." Al'teer: "The motive could be political. Bri'tang was a very visible member of the Contact party, a party of whom I am also a member. We believe that we need some contact and trade with other worlds. As many people would fear a contact with a magical race, We feel that contact should be done in a careful manner. We want and need the trade but do not want to cause harm ourselves or others." Challenge: "I must ask this. Could there be personal reasons? Someone he jilted, someone obsessed with him? Did he had a reputation as a ladies man? It wouldn't be the first time an important official got killed because of his or her private affairs." Al'teer's reply was the most vehement anyone had ever heard from her. "NO, there was only one person he was seeing, myself. We were . . ._very_ close. Before me there was only one other. And she died giving birth to their last child. He saw others for a time but was never a subject of talk or rebuke. Then we met each other," she trailed off with a happy-sad look on her face. "There were no others. His children like me, in fact his oldest set me a condolence message in spite of his own grief." Darla; "We are sorry Al'teer but these are standard questions. If Martin had not been placed in charge Fen and myself or some other police officer would be asking you these same questions (provided you didn't claim diplomatic immunity). Was there someone in your diplomatic corps that would resort to murder?" Al'teer: "We do have duels in our culture but no one ever challenged him. Any one who reaches the rank of T'mal will have professional rivalries but none of those rivalry that I knew of would be of the killing type." Darla (thoughtfully): "And with the type of weapon used in the killing we can eliminate an spur of the moment crime of passion. So it looks political. But what is the Leagues place in all of this?" Yuri: "T.J. is the League anti alien as well?" T.J.: "Not as far as my research shows, anti-magic and anti-mutant yes. And they are not anti-psi either, as long as the psi in question is not a mutant." Karen: "Dupes maybe? The autopsy report said the wounds would have been instantly fatal in a human. Perhaps someone told a member of the League that Bri'tang was a werewolf, not an alien." Darla: "I think Fenris was thinking in that direction as well." Seeker had finished eating. "Look folks I'll grab Fenton and head to that computer room. I'll see if we can get a fix on the Leagues leadership or any other useful data. It doesn't matter if they came up with the plan themselves or where dupes like Karen said. Unless something new shows up checking them out is the next logical step in our investigation," he then left. Darla's communicator choose that moment to go off. She looked at the message and smiled for a moment. "Can you'll do without me for a few hours? That was a message my husband flashes to indicate he and the kids would like to see me. And can I take some of this food home?" No one objected. Martin rose and announced that he was going to start his search. "It very well may take the whole night so I must take my leave now as well." As Martin left T.J. made a suggestion. "Want to play some poker as we talk? Sometimes on big stories the newsroom folks play to clear their minds." Both Yevette's and Yuri's eyes lit up at the suggestion. If Martin (or any telepath) had been monitoring Kei and Karen they would have been surprised to read the exact same thought "Some one is going to catch it!" Al'teer asked what was poker. "A card game using basic deck of 52 cards. Some variants allow the addition of additional 'wild cards' known as 'Jokers'. The game combines skill, luck and nerve to play it well. There are a lot of variations. The Angels probably know more variants than I do and I probably know more than the people from the 20th century. The most well know variants are 5 card draw, 5 card stud, 7 card stud and straight poker. Betting is a big part of it. In fact I feel that Poker is no fun unless you can bet. I suggest we play for chips only. Winner gets bragging rights." "I would like to see this game if possible." asked Al'teer "I'm in" said Challenge "Me too" said Yuri and Yevette in chorus "It sounds like fun" Karen comment "Well anything you can do I can do better" said Kei "Last time I played I got cleaned out. I'll be dealer" commented Fahrenheit "Good now all we have to do is get the cards and chips." said T.J. ======================================= "This way sir" Fenton said as he opened the door to the computer room. The rest of house was very tastefully done in a "Southwestern" style. That was only natural considering what part of the Earth that most of Tejas' original settlers came from. This room, however, looked like something NASA. would use. As he entered Frank/Seeker noticed a second door leading out. Following his gaze Fenton stated "It leads to my quarters sir. Chancellor Martin allows me to use the system for my own use as well. It helps keep my computer skills sharp and considering the amount of research he needs done, it is easier if my room is near the system." Striding over to the main screen and keyboard Fenton asked "Now what files did you and Ms. Lynx access in your initial research? And do you remember the name of the library you searched from?" As Frank gave him the information a change came over the majordomo. He was still appeared to be the same precise, almost stereotyped butler, but now there was a aura of excitement around him. Frank recognized the look. He saw the same look in the mirror whenever he was onto a hot story. "Lets try some light checking first." Fenton muttered. Soon he had a access log from the library on the main screen. Fenton soon able to determine which terminals Frank and the Lynx had been working. "Now that is interesting. There are indeed inquiry triggers on the files you mentioned. Multiple ones. Very well done triggers in fact, however the sheer volume slowed the system down. If I go any further they will alert someone to the probe. From this mode I can find out very little. However before I go to the next level let me examine a few more details." Fenton typed quickly on the keys, non-stop for a few minutes. Frank saw a bewildering number of screens flash and scroll by. "I'm accessing the outgoing communications log for that particular library . Judging from the speed in which a team was gathered and set on you indicates that the message must have been passed fairly quickly . . . ahhh there it is. Clever. They disguised the alert messages as if it was a E-mail message informing someone of a overdue book." At Franks questioning look Fenton replied "Yes we still use bound books. I would hazard the guess that you only saw the terminal area. As to why I know it is false, I am very familiar with the cities library system. The New Houston library system sends out its overdue messages at 5 AM and PM. At 4 AM and PM the branches send batch files to the central branch showing their overdue books and subscriptions. Central then collects and sorts this data and then sends the proper messages. This is not a batch message and it is done in the style a central not branch message." "So logically the E-mail address will be the location of those thugs who jumped Andrea and me." "Unless they have some forwarding software at that address. Which I am sure they will have, possibly in a chain as well. Well now we must go to the next level now." "And what is that level Fenton?" "The two most common terms in use are netrunning or matrix dancing. Care to join me?" ======================================== When Fenris left the bath room Andrea was waiting out side the door. In his spandex style jogging suit he would most certainly have an effect on female hormones. "Uh Hi there" she said. "Just waiting for it to become free or were you waiting for me" was his equally hesitant reply. "For you actually. I think I saw you dash in while in your wolf form. I told Darla you looked quite handsome in it." Fenris actually blushed slightly. "You know you and your friends are probably the first mundanes outside of Darla to see me in that skin" "Well I'm not a Were but I am hardly mundane. Nor would I classify the rest of Inquiry as mundanes." Looking around carefully she then said "And even if they have no powers I would not catalog either of the Dirty Pair's as mundane either. Look I feel like walking the grounds but I don't want to do it alone. Come with me?" her face had an compelling pleading look on it. "Sure." ======================================= "Cards people?" asked Fahrenheit. "Give me three" "I play with these" "One please" "Two for me" "Same for me" "Three to me" "You know something has been buzzing in my mind" said Karen "Must be from losing air pressure" commented Kei "Weak girl, lost your cheat sheet?" shot back Karen "Just what are you trying to ask Karen" asked T.J. "Why a .44? Granted it goes through a lot of things but for an assassin weapon?" "Ask Fahrenheit or Challenge" said Yevette studying her cards. "After all they were a SEAL and a Marine." "Ante please" from Fahrenheit. As the chips hit the felt he continued. "If the team mission was to take out a person I would chose a sniper with a Barrets .50 caliber. If we were on an infiltration mission and had to take out guards it would be a pistol cambered for the .22 long, silenced." >From Challenge: "I'd choose the M21 Sniper rifle with a scout/sniper behind it. But I see what your getting at Karen. It is not what a pro assassin would use. Not for close in work. Could the people just not get molds for a smaller caliber weapon? Bet 10." "See you and raise you 10 more. Yeah that's it. That's what been bugging me. Bet these League geeks couldn't get a hold of a proper weapon or couldn't cast silver to a smaller size." "Fold" "Raise 10 more" "Thirty to you now" "Call" ======================================= "This is amazing" said Seeker. "Yes I always admire the view from my home node before venturing further into the net" was Fenton's reply. The view was indeed amazing. Take anything you may have imagined from any netrunning story. It was probably there. "Now remember you are running from the Chancellor's deck. The firm wear lets you work in the matrix, but at a very basic level. Like him you are running through contact electrodes. Based on the way I've seen you move you will be feel like you are moving slower than you are used to in the real world. I simply did not have the time to tweak your deck faster. You will have all your skills from the real world but none of your powers. You do have a few defensive and offensive programs. All of them look like spells a mage would cast. Remember that in the net I am the expert and you are the stranger. Don't start fights. And if I tell you to jack out at once don't waste time, just do it." Taking a breath Fenton said "Lets go." ======================================= "Fenton the moon is full. Is that going to cause you any problems?" Andrea/Grey Lynx asked. "No. Granted I would like to howl my love to the moon but there is no severe compulsion" "Howl your love?" Andrea asked. "Were's, regardless of tribe or religion, honor the moon or moons of their homeworlds. Because like us the moons change, a change all can see. Werewolves honor the moon by howling their love and respect to her. The Were-cats play under her light, frequently acting like pups, I mean kittens." "You can do so if you want to Fen." "You know normally only Darla can get away with calling me that." At Andrea's alarmed look he continued "I said normally only her. I think you also qualify and I thank you for your permission. If you truly don't mind." Andrea simply nodded. The change was both slower and quicker than Andrea though. And at no time did Fenris show any pain. "It is natural for a true Were. An person infected with lycantrhopy is suffering from a disease, a condition that is not natural for their body. For them the change is painful because, for them, it is unnatural. For those like me it is in our genes." Fenris had chosen his hybrid form, so he could still talk to Andrea in a normal voice. Andrea told Fenris she couldn't make up her mind which form was most handsome. Fenris simply grinned. And began to "howl his love" to the moon. Andrea thought she had never heard anything as beautiful. ======================================== "Now let us see what he has left me to follow" thought Martin. As expected the opposing mage (Martin snorted that Fenton would have said OPFOR Mage) had tried to conceal his link and trace between himself and the spy box. "You are good but let us see just how good you are." was Martin thoughts as he began to gather the magical threads. ======================================= "So this 'bluffing' is a major part of this game?" asked Al'teer. Challenge, who had decided to sit out a few hands to massage a kink in his neck replied, "Yes and it can take many forms, from the way you express yourself, to the way you bet. For example in that last hand, Yuri bet large. That could mean that she had an excellent hand or she could have been bluffing Karen. She could have been bluffing when she got Kei to fold during the earlier round of betting. Of course Yuri has an advantage over Kei when it comes to bluffing because of their partnership, they know each other moves. Just as Yevette does over Karen. In both cases the first lady tends to win if they are indeed bluffing." Lowering his voice even further "And you notice when it comes down to one on one that Karen has lost just as much to Yuri as she has to Yevette. Kei has been showing a similar record. That means both Yuri and Yevette have realized that their opposite numbers partner plays poker in very similar ways." said Al'teer. "And it helps them that Karen and Kei are just not as good poker players as Yevette is and as Yuri appears to be. Those redhead tempers can really get in the way of winning." ======================================== "So that is what inquiry triggers looks like" said Frank. "Only because the programmer wanted them to. Miniature bird cages that double as mouse traps. It is likely that the traps are as strong as a bear trap" came Fenton's reply. "We don't like people nosing around" came a third voice. This icon showed a knight with a shield with the same colors displayed during the raid. "Guess you are going to have to pay the price." The enemy runner then attacked Frank first, seeing by his movements that he was a newbie to the net. And Frank was, he didn't blast the Knight like he could have with Martin's programs. Both experienced runners where surprised at the effortless way Frank dodged the attack. By instinct Frank looked for weak spots. And found them. The Knight was even more surprised when Franks blow struck such a weak spot in his programming. The Knight started to derezz. Then Fenton made his attack In the real world the League netrunner became locked in a temporal fugue, repeating the same move over and over. "You appear to be a natural at this my friend. But don't get overconfident. Let us proceed. With our foe locked in a loop it will be easy to trace him, most likely to his dispatch point but perhaps to their main headquarters. ======================================== "Now we are getting somewhere" mused Martin as he continued to follow the astral threads. "My foe did a good job of trying to hide the traces between him and his box. Whoever he missed a few things." Martin was concentrating on the treads so he was unsure as to his relationship with the real world. He was somewhat surprised when he came across another thread with similar characteristics leading into another direction. He was debating which thread to follow when he detected another presence. And barely dodged his attack in time. ======================================== "Thank you Fen. That was lovely." "Your welcome Andrea." There was a pause of "companionable silence" then. "Tell me about yourself Andrea. I mean, You know how I can change, I was born like this. How did you become a costume adventurer? And forgive me, just what are your powers. I can tell you are a good reporter, a cop learns to tell such things, but what else you can do?" "Being a reporter is what brought me to become the Grey Lynx. I was tracking down a lead about one of the major criminal organizations operating in the city I was in. I knew the police were also on the trail but I wanted to beat them to the punch. The guy leading the case was a real jerk. Well I found this lab. It turned out they were doing genetic enhancement experiments. All had failed with some very grusume results. I got some good photos and other stuff to make my story when I was discovered. I almost got away thanks to my karate training, but there were just to many of them. They decided to do one last experiment, on me. I think they planned to leave my body, probably heavily mutated, behind as an object lesson. Well whatever they injected into me didn't work the way it was planned. The police found me unconscious, but I revived shortly there after in the hospital. I even managed to file my story on time. Then I noticed some things. One of the first was when my sensi complemented me how much more graceful I was moving. How much quicker I was reacting to blows. Then I discovered just _how_ much faster I could move. About that time I also noticed I could see in the dark much better than before. The other things I can do I found out after I began adventuring." She paused and grinned for a moment. "You showed me something, now let me return the favor." Reaching into her purse she pulled out a set of num-chucks. "This is called a 'kata'. It is a preprogrammed fight to help a martial artist perform the moves better. I am going to do two of them, one armed with the 'chuks and the second while disarmed. Watch please." Then she bowed to Fenris, took her stance. And started to _move_. It was Fenris turn to be amazed by a thing of beauty. ======================================= "Who are you!" Martin "shouted". "Someone concerned with your investigation" said the cloaked figure "And why do you want to interfere with it?" a pause "Why did you have the T'mal killed" "An excellent deduction and an equally excellent question. Why is anyone assassinated? He was blocking my goals. Not that telling you will matter, You will not leave this place Samuel Martin" "I doubt that very much. You have my name, what shall I call you?" With a mocking bow the figure replied "The Snake" and struck like one. Only Martin was ready. The magical bolt was reflected harmlessly away. Martin's reply was equally swift. This time the Snake had to take such a blow on his shields. But they held firm. The battle continued on with some "leakage" effecting the material world. A storm started to form, centered on the area that corresponded with there astral duel was occurring. "We are very evenly matched. But I think I am fresher and slightly more skilled. If this battle continues I will prevail" thought Martin as yet another exchange of spell power continued. Apparently the Snake had come to the same conclusion. "Another time then" he hissed like his name-sake. Then he called forth a blinding wind. Raising his shields to their fullest Martin waited out the storm. As expected his foe was gone and with him the traces he was following. "Well it is not for nothing that spell is called the 'Winds of Retreat'". Then he realized that all the magic he had faced had a Sivvat 'flavor' to it. Once again a question had be answered but another raised. Who is this Sivvat? ======================================== This hand it was down to Kei, Karen and T.J. The others had seen the look in both of the red-heads eyes and decided their hands were just not good enough (Although Stewart/Challange though long on it.) There was just this one round left. Kei and Karen were just about even while T.J. was slightly ahead of them "Hah, got them. T.J. is doing that hair-thing of hers. That means she is bluffing, only Yuri can read my 'tells' well enough to occasionally figure out what I have (authors note: this is pure conceit on Kei's part), and she's out. Karen is just too dumb to drop out. HA this pot is mine" Kei gloated looking at her straight. "Ah look at all those red cards. All with little diamonds on them. Girls you are going down for the count. It is going to be soooo good when I watch Kei face get as red as her hair." "Hmmmm not exactly what I hoped for when I took two but it came out all right. The way those two are staring at each other they have just about forgotten about me. And I caught myself doing the hair number. I'll keep it up, let them think I'm bluffing and slam them hard." "Bets ladies. Your first T.J" She looked carefully at her hand, still playing with her hair. Hesitantly she pushed forward with her chips. Karen quickly covered and raised, eyes daring Kei to raise. Kei took the dare, and raised in turn. As it came around again T.J. timidly raised. "It is obvious it is make or break for the two of us Shorty (Kei growled) so lets just quit wasting time," with that Karen shoved all her chips into the pot. "Got you!!" thought Kei as she did the same, and called. T.J. did her timid act again. With a great show Karen laid her cards down. "Beat that!!" she laughed. And she kept laughing until Kei dropped her cards on the table, in order. Kei was cackling as she reached across the felt to collect the chips. "I believe you forgot me," said T.J. "Ha you were just bluffing, no way you could have taken either of us!" "Oh I don't know about that. Noticed how neither of you had any five's in your hands?? That's because I had all of them." T.J. laid down her 4 of a kind with great showmanship. Kei was now pounding her own head on the table while Karen was doing a nonstop monologue in German that was causing Yevette to wince. "Would one of you mind getting me a soft drink?" T.J. asked with a smug look on her face. ======================================= "How long will what ever you did to that guy last?" came the concerned "voice" of Seeker. "Long enough for us to track down wherever he is running from." replied Fenton. "They actually saved us some time with that maneuver of theirs. Now instead of following the chain of the inquiry triggers, we can go straight to a source." "A source?" "They very well may have disbursed their forces. However the runner will most likely have communications to his headquarters. And that is what we are looking for." "Well Fenton, that trace you showed me ends here. What is this place?" "The most logical place in New Houston, if you know the hacker underground. We call this place 'Hackers Hotel'. Oddly enough the owners real name is Hackney. He offers a no question asked log in spot. Of course anyone using it is on their own. Lets go in. We have things to do. Follow my lead, remember this place has its own protocol." "Batsman! Long time no see. Business or just cruising? Showing a FNG around?" "Business I'm afraid, Doorman. Don't worry, as long as everyone else follows the rules, so will I. And this individual, is to new to start anything." "Right you are." Fenton then lead Seeker into the "Lobby". Fenton then activated a "bloodhound" program. The construct took off quickly. "I had it take a 'sent' of our target back at the library. Soon it will find out which 'room' he is in." After a while the bloodhound returned to lead them on. "What are the entry rules." "Well this guy just took a room. No extra defenses that he didn't already bring with him. The Hotel has a rule against flat out killing a guest, which is fine by me." They went in like a police team. Fenton easily took out the defense programs that the Knight had used. Then he planted a "forget this" program on the runner. And copied all the data he had back to his own deck. "Paydata. I scanned a number he called constantly. Must be his control point. Lets do a quick check of it and head back to the estate. Once they traced the number they had no surprise. "Funny how this place looks so big." said Seeker. "This system is more than big it is a glacier of ICE. Only someone with something to protect would need something so strong. This place is also new. It is in an isolated area, computer wise. It has no smell of a corporation setup. We are going to have to bring everyone about this. But now we have a solid target." ======================================= Martin entered into the room, looking tired. Karen and Kei stopped glaring at each other to ask what was wrong. They were informed that the search was more intensive than he had originally thought it would be. "We are closer than before. But this news is going to hurt Al'teer a lot." Upon hearing her name Al'teer left where she was watching the game and came over. "Not like what Samuel Martin?" "Sit down please Al'teer. I had an encounter while I was searching. This person was cloaked so I could not make a complete id, only that my attacker was male and used Sivvat magic. He also admitted to having Bri'tang killed." Al'teer spoke in a quiet but emotion ridden voice. " As a healer I have sworn to save life when ever possible. I have and will keep this oath. But I also swear that I will do anything in my power not in violation of that oath to bring this one to justice." Kei and Karen were shocked. Even without knowing the language they new what cursing sounded like. Calm Al'teer was acting almost like . . . themselves. Then their professionalism kicked back in. "You need to stay here Al'teer" said Kei. "As much as it pains me to agree with her she is right (for once). Any one of your delegation could be the killer or in cahoots with him. You have been a big help and basically like a liaison with the rest of your people." Kei broke in "The killer may decide to take you out personally instead of the use of a dupe." At this point an cry went up from the table. Challenge had just won the hand and forced T.J. out. What was really ironic was that both had full houses, T.J.'s 3's over 8's Challenge's Aces over Kings. T.J. was so ticked off that she had used her powers to crisp the cards. Fahrenheit calmly broke out a new deck. "Just the two Y-ladies and the Big C now folks. Anything we should know about over there?" "Yes but continue the game. We can't act yet on the information. We will continue to discuss it over here." replied Martin. "If you are sure. OK" ======================================= "Thank you Andrea, that was lovely." The Lynx had completed her katas and finished with a bow to Fenris. Pausing for a moment She walked over and kissed Fenris (still in his hybrid form) on the mussel. He was most surprised. "I think I love you Fenris Donaldson. I am glad have this time with you but it aches to know we can't stay together." "Andrea I . . ." "No I'm sorry. I do want to stay but . . . how could I make my living? I would be so outdated it would be pathetic. I could still run around as the Grey Lynx but I can't make a living off of that." She looked at Fenris. "Yes I know you would be willing to support both of us. But I just could not do that." She sighed. "And I can't ask you to come with me to my time. It would be to primitive for you." Once again Fenris tried to speak. "Shhh. I want to kiss you in your human form as well. Then I want you to hold me until the others need us again." After Changing Fenris tried again "Andrea I want to but. . ." She kissed him again, with passion and sadness "I know we just can't go any further no matter how much I want to. But right now it would feel to much like a 'one night stand' and I think we both want something more than that. If all we can have together is this time and all we can do is hold and kiss one another then so be it. It will be enough." She kissed him again and he returned it. "Just keep holding me and kissing me Fenris. Perhaps it will be enough." She lowered her head to his chest. "Maybe." ======================================== While the final three continued the battle of the felt, the others discussed means. Kei and Karen (surprising themselves and others) agreed that they still needed to take on the League. "Look, whoever this Snake is he can obviously use the League to strike at us. If we take them out that is one less worry" argued Karen "Stretch also forgot to mention that we can use the League people to forge a link with the attacker. From what I see it could be magical or mundane (I don't believe I said that), it doesn't matter how we get it." Over at the table Challenge had to drop out. Yuri and Yevette both had to many chips, he couldn't cover. He stayed at the table, watching the final part of the game. "These two are great. Perfect poker faces. Great knowledge of the game. By thunder what a game" thought Challenge. At this moment in time Fenton and Seeker entered the room. Fenton announced for the room to hear. "We are sure we have found the hideout for the League. It is tight with computer security. I also assessed external cameras for some of the buildings around it. Seeker says there is a good amount of physical security as well." "We have a hard target now folks. Now we need to plan our attack. Chancellor I took the liberty of preparing the computer room for a brief with all the information we have." Yevette, Yuri and Challenge had left the table, the prospect of action drawing them even from this intense game of poker. "By all means Fenton, let us adjourn there." Yuri said "The rest of you go ahead. I will get someone to clean up this room, call Ms Lothe and fetch Mr. Donalson and Ms Lynx" said Fenton. "I will be along shortly." As they left Fenton's curiosity got the best of him. He looked at their hands and the hand that Challenge had folded. "Those two ladies are most interesting. And they have great nerve." Both Yuri and Yevette had been bluffing, having "junk" hands. ======================================== Chapter end. Whew Chapter 10: Assault on the League With a mildly amused look on his face Fenton entered the computer room. Sweeping his gaze around the room he saw that only Darla Lothe and Plasma Girl were missing. He noted that Karen appeared to be talking to someone on her communicator. The Gray Lynx and Fenris Donaldson were seated _very_ close to each other. As he approached the work station he called "The Lectern", Fenton asked Karen to whom she was speaking. "That was Plasma Girl. She says she has found the place were the murder weapon came from. She asked for Darla and Fenris to come on over." Martin spoke. "I think that sending Detective Lothe over alone would be the wisest course. Detective Donaldson is already here and would lose to much time meeting his partner. Once she talks to Plasma Girl she can do whatever is necessary at the site and then meet up with the rest of us. We can have Plasma Girl fly back here to meet us and help finalize details. We can evaluate the information Fenton and Seeker have gained for us in the meantime." "Sounds good to me" said Challenge. Fahrenheit, The Lovely Angels and Twin Star, started examining the external shots very closely. "Those look like motion detectors, along with the cameras" said Fahrenheit. "With more hidden there and there" pointed Yevette. "Oh boy Yuri! Look at that array on the roof. It reminds me of something, but I can't think of what." Karen made a comment about needing brains to think. While ignoring Karen, Yuri said "Yes what is that?" Then she asked Fenton to rotate the view several times. Suddenly she announced "That looks like the emitter for an early model APFD." Kei slapped her forehead in the "why didn't I think of that" manner. "A what ?!" asked several people at once. "Anti Paranormal Field Device. It produces a field or beam that disrupts, very painfully, a paranormal's nervous system. These things can't kill you, but the pain can knock you out. Early models like this would work on people who nervous systems reacted above a certain level, or who could handle unusual energy. Most paranormals who did not rely on suits or implants fell in this group. " Yuri looked around the room. "That means everyone except Kei, Yevette, Karen, Fenton and myself will be effected by it. Martin and Al'teer, with you being mages or magicians or what ever also makes you a target. Fenris, I don't know about your human form but in your other forms you are just as susceptible Plus they most likely have more anti-mage or anti-magic tech waiting for you." Every one was silent for a moment. Challenge finally broke it. "That means that the five of you will have to go in first to disable this APFD. And it will have to be done quietly so the whole place doesn't go on alert. Not only would it be bad for us. It might give the League a chance to destroy evidence" Fahrenheit added quietly, "We are going to have to go about this carefully" "Actually I think the covert assault force should be the four ladies." announced Fenton. "Why is that" asked The Gray Lynx. Fenton replied with great patience. "1. I am not as agile as I used to be. 2. I am not as fast on my feet, therefore I would be slowing down the other team members. 3. The ladies are familiar with one anothermoves, they know how the other will react. I am an unknown. 4. I can be of greater assistance working through the net. Although I would not attempt entry while shepherding a new person, I am confident that I can covertly enter their computer system. Once in I could cause enough confusion to aid our assault. I doubt I could stop an alarm forever but any edge would be useful." Seeker nodded "Let him do it people. By the respect I saw others in the net give him, he is very good." After taking a few moments to think the others agreed. With that detail of the assault taken care of the turned their attention to creating the rest of the assault plan. It was decided that after the APFD was disabled the "Pairs" would split up and quietly search for the leader. To provide cover for them, at any given signal or sign of the base being alerted, the Paranormals would start an noisy assault, drawing the attention of any defenders. Fenton would provide net cover and try and direct the search for the leader once he was inside. Kei stated, "I want to do a site recon before we go in. The cameras might have missed something important that we could see live." Karen snorted "Just so you can blow it?" "Want to bet? And do you think you could do better?" shot back Kei. "Before you two start pounding on each other . . . again, why don't you both go. I assume you are going to disguise yourselves in some way?" Challenge was handling his shotgun as he said this. "Uh, yeah, that sounds like a good idea" and more words to that effect came from the two redheads "I, too, shall do a second run of the area around our objective." said Fenton. "I have some experience in the net as well," added Yuri. "Plus I've got my mini-deck with me. It is not my best one but the technological differences should help me." "I want to check this out too." Yevette asked. "Maybe if you can show me the operating system I can do background checks while you two go netrunning". "I think the remainder of us should rest up and sleep if we can." suggested Challenge. "We just can't go charging in against some people who are likely to be expecting us. What's more, we have put in a very full days work and a lot of our reactions are slowing down." "Speaking as a medic I agree with our resident grunt ("Gee thanks 'Doc'" Challenge grumbled). If Kei and Karen want to do a recon fine, but it would be better if they got a few hours sleep before leaving. The rest of you also look a little groggy. Lets knock off for a while. Let's not ruin the investigation because we are getting punch drunk." ======================================== Kei did get a few hours sleep, but in order to do her disguise properly she had to be seen in the correct way. After carefully dyeing her hair brown she put on some "party clothes" and headed out. She then activated a seldom used part of her cyberware . "I hate using this thing. I don't mind not getting blasted that much but this thing won't even let me get a slight buzz. Plus it makes my nerves tingle too much." She stopped at several bars to establish a "pub crawl" background, just in case someone was paranoid enough to backtrack her movements. "Well a few here and a few there I will look just like someone out on the town. To bad I will have to disappoint some guys when they try to pick me up". After having more than a few at several bars, and turning down several "requests", some with regret, others with relief, she finally got to the neighborhood of the Leagues stronghold. After making several careful observations of the target and surrounding buildings she went in. "Hey Hey! Nice place, lots of cute guys too. If we have some time before we have to go back I'll have to check this place out on my own." When the bar had to close Kei was still there. Cursing with great imagination she was shown the door. Staggering along she reached the spot she had earlier chosen to make her observations, she sat down, just like someone who has had to much to drink and is not going to go any further. "Now the part I hate, the waiting." Karen's plan let her sleep a bit longer but she still got up early. After checking to see what the bag ladies of this world used she got into the proper attire. Battered hat, bags and etc.. all in place and with a stoop that hid her height she entered the target area doing the bag lady shuffle. She and Kei spotted each other at once. They each had to admit privately that the other had done a good job. However if they were asked publicly they would have denied any such thought. ======================================== Headfirst in the Net. Yuri's icon was a play on her code name. A most lovely angel was hovering in front of Martin's computers access node. Turning in a complete circle Yuri gazed out over the New Houston net. "No matter how advanced it gets the net still has the same basic feel to it. And the same beauty." Fenton's icon was that of a military "Batsman" Standing at a very proper "parade rest" he by reflex (actually a subroutine) came to attention and responded. "I will take your word on it Miss." "I just wish Kei had more patience so she could enjoy it also. The only thing wrong with this run so far is the speed I'm having to work. No offense Fenton. I can tell your world has a state of the art net and your equipment and 'wares are cutting edge but, " Yuri trailed off. In his normal dry voice the butler/hacker finished her thought. "You are from a more advanced time in which our level is considered 'old tech'. Yes I understand. But you appear to have adapted well." "Yes, well the 3WA does send us to some backward places sometimes. Now back to business." Calling up a display utility Yuri pointed "Do you think we can make a back door via this route? That is, with out alerting them?" "Perhaps. And perhaps I can arrange a diversion if the attempt fails. Enough of one so that they will not expect our attack later. "No problem, you forget the corollary of me being from a more advanced time. I've got some specific 'wares to deal with this set up. It still is going to be a bit difficult. Think you can cover for me?" "Try and lose me Ma'am, remember Old age and treachery will defeat youth and skill every time" "You say the sweetest things." The Angel drifted down and kissed the figure chastely on the forehead. "Lets get going" ======================================== "Well I've got to give her credit for a good disguise. No way that they would link her with any threats to their people". Karen made this observation as she "bag lady" shuffled down the street. "However that out fit is going to invite attention of a different kind." It had been amusing earlier to watch Kei deal with some fellow "drunks" who had tried to pick her up for some more partying. Karen suspected that what ever analog to her own .44 Desert Eagle Kei carried had something to do with those persons speedy departure. "Although that couple did look cute. " "Great, here she comes again. She is good but did she have to include the smell in her disguise as well?" groused Kei to herself. Suddenly both ladies were on the alert. Two people had emerged from the League's building and, after doing a quick scan, crossed the street and headed to Kei. "Hey we have a 'no loitering' rule around here lady. Sleep it off elsewhere" Kei groaned like someone slowly waking up, hoping she could avoid a confrontation, but fully expecting trouble. It was coming. "She looks really out of it. You know, she is a real looker." Glancing around the second one continued. "What you say to taking advantage of what has been given us?" His partner smirked and reached for Kei, who had tensed, waiting for action. The action started all right but not in a way anyone expected. A shopping cart slammed into the first punks legs. It tipped over and spilled a good deal of its contents. "OOPS Sorry Sonny, it got away from me for a moment." said the "bag lady". Sputtering the punks pushed some of the junk away. "You B**ch! Watch where you going!" "I said I was sorry. Help me pick up my stuff and I be on my way." She started to pick up trash, a lot of which had landed on Kei. Continuing to talk she pretended to just notice Kei. "My, that is a nice young lady there. Here honey let me help you up. Awwwh, you had a bit to much to drink huh? Don't worry I've been there myself a few times. Here honey, hold on to my cart for a moment while I get the rest of my stuff back. I know a place to help you sober up and get back home. Used it myself a few times." All the while she was saying this Karen was getting the junk, moving Kei and then withdrawing from the scene. As the punks watched to two leave the first one said to the second one. "Damn, missed a good chance." The second replied "Yeah, but why do I get the strangest feeling we just escaped from something?" As they left Kei hissed, "Did you have to dump that much junk on me?" "Yep." ======================================== Snake was in a bad humor. Raising his voice he called to his aide. <"Prepare the major place of power for evacuation at once. You are relived in order to insure that. Send your second in.>" The Snake didn't like this one bit. His primary aide was of great use to him, but insuring that the items in his Major Place of Power were successfully evacuated took higher priority. He was going to have to make do. <"Wait. Before you go activate Contingency Plans 12 and 3 as well. We may need some insurance>" ======================================= "All right, when 'Shorty' and I checked out the place we found the following avenues of approach." Karen pointed these out on the map. "We think the two best ways in are these two marked in red." Kei highlighted the indicated routes. "Both these routes are about equal in cover and ease of access. The second one is closer to our objective." Glancing over at Karen she added "'Stretch' there thinks we should use the further one though. She won't tell me why." Karen frowned as she tried, and failed to put her feelings into words. "Just a gut feeling". Yevette broke in. "Go with it Kei. When Karen starts getting intuitive, listen. And I got some information to back it up. While Yuri and Fenton where playing around in the net, I was key boarding it. The facts are hidden by several dummy companies, but that closer building is owned by the League. They rent it out but the roof is covered with sensors. This second building is not owned by them and based on my analysis there is a very narrow gap in their sensor coverage along that side as well. Fenton and Yuri confirmed my deduction's when they came out of the net." Yuri nodded. "We still have a worry about the sensors on the target building's roof. We think they are computer controlled but won't know for sure until Fenton gets in there. If they are hardwired we will just have to blast and bash our way in." Looking at the Paranormal people seated around the room Yuri continued. "If it goes that way wait until we disable the device before coming in." Fenton stood to take the floor. "I will enter the system one hour prior to your expected start time. I have the equipment to remain in communication while still in the net. During that time I will investigate the security system and inform you of any problems. And there will likely be problems of some sort. There always are." Challenge took over the brief. "Fahrenheit I think that you, the mages, T.J. and Plasma Girl should be position here." He pointed to a building. "And then move to here (he pointed to another building) once the field is down. From there Plasma Girl will join me and you can provide cover to this area or reinforce the rest of us as needed." "Why do you have me there Ancestor?" questioned T.J. "I want you to be body guard to the Mages, just in case someone pops one of those capture grenades on them. You will have a good line of sight to see anyone coming and you can witness the other part all you want for any story you might want to write." "I assume that you want me and Plasma Girl to fly Al'teer and T.J." inquired Fahrenheit. "I can produce a platform that will hold the three of us. That way the two flyers will be free to maneuver" "What is our legal status?" asked the Gray Lynx "Your boyfriend", the Lynx blushed, "and his partner are taking care of that right now. In addition to our diplomatic status we will be operating under a special warrant that allows us to "aid and assist" any efforts that the diplomatic chief investigator ' deems necessary' to bring the murder to justice." "We will be subject to review but both Fenton and Fenris assure me we have done nothing abusive so far. Fenris and Darla will be with us on the raid in order to make any necessary arrests." was Challenge's reply. "I have already briefed them on the ground assault plan. They are getting the actual paperwork and some equipment we will be needing." "How will the rest of us go in?" This came from the Gray Lynx as she studied the picture. "Team 1 will be Fenris, Darla and you. Team 2 will be Plasma Girl, Seeker and myself. Team 3 will be the Lovely Angels, Team 4 is Twin Star. Martin, You Al'teer, T.J. and Fahrenheit will be BAS. Martin DO NOT move in until we are sure an area is secure. Your team are not only our way home but our medical coverage as well." Pausing for breath Challenge continued, "We already know that Teams 3 an 4 will be looking for the OPFOR leader. Our job once we are called in is to make a noisy assault. If we can get in, we will clear the place room by room until whoever catches OPFOR 6 contacts us. If they still have effective strength, we bug out. If not we will finish clearing the building. Any questions?" Al'teer spoke up startling several people who thought the brief was quite through. "Several. The practical one first. How are Twin Star and the Lovely Angels going to get on the roof?" "We wanted to use gravity harnesses, but the ones available from NHPD are a real tricky model to fly. Me and Yuri could use them but it would take about eight hours to get familiar enough to use them. Those two," Kei jerked her thumb at Twin Star, "would have to be trained from the ground up." Karen started to sputter about how many hours of flight time she had. Yevette just looked startled. Yuri added "It actually hinders them that they can fly fixed wing air craft. Karen might have an easier time because she is also rotor-wing qualified, but using a grav harness takes a whole different set of reflexes." Kei turned to her partner. "How did you know they could fly fixed wings and helo's?" "I asked Yevette during supper while we were still eating." Slightly flustered Kei continued with, "Anyhow, we are going to do a slide for life down from the roof of that (she pointed at a map) building onto the target site. Stretch and myself will provide cover while Yuri and Yevette take care of the APFD and any other security." "Shorty forgot to mention that all four of use will be packing gauss autoweapons, in addition to our personal weapons. They make less noise than a blaster, plus me and Yevette are more use to some sort of slugthrower anyhow." Al'teer nodded her understanding "I see, the second question is a series. Just what does BAS, OPFOR and OPFOR 6 mean? I thought I spoke you language well but I have no idea what you are talking about.." Challenge sounded slightly embarrassed. "Sorry Al'teer, those terms come from the military, or as some people say Milspeak. BAS stands for Battalion Aid Station, a field first aid station. With you and Fahrenheit providing our medical coverage it made sense to call you that." Nodding with understanding Al'teer continued "And the other terms?" Seeker spoke up. "OPFOR stands for Opposing Forces. OPFOR 6 is a way of designating the commander of the OPFOR. In this context 6 means the Commander. If Inquiry was working as a tactical unit Inquiry 6 would probably be Challenge." "I see, why didn't you just say Medical or Leader?" Plasma Girl giggled, "Because they are used to those terms. You should see their eyes glaze over when I start talking about the world of fashion." "Any other questions?" asked Challenge. While in the background Kei and Karen started an argument over their pet nick-names for each other. The fairly low level of bickering indicated just how into the mission they were getting There were no other questions. ======================================= "Once again into the net dear friends" thought Fenton as he "flew" toward his objective. Then he was back to business. "All stations this is Batsman, stand by for comm check. Team 1?" "I read you loud and clear Batsman how me?" was Darla's response. "I read you the same, Team 2?" "Team 2 reads you Lima Charlie." was Challenge's response. "Team 3?" "I hear you fine Batsman, lets get on with it." was Kei's response. "Team 4?" There was a pause then Yevette came on the air, with what sounded like Karen's laughing in the background. "Team 4 hears you 5 by 5 Batsman." "What is causing Ms Karen to laugh so much?" "She thought the rest of us looked so serious she just broke up" was her reply. "At least the others know it is a serious situation Karen, lets clear the channel". Challenge's voice had a resigned tone to it. BAS how do you read." "I hear you fine Batsman. Be careful Please. It is hard enough to replace a servant. I don't want to morn a friend at the same time." Martin sounded very worried. "Thank you sir. But why the concern? You have net run with me before." "Just be careful all right?" "Yes sir, Comm check over. I'm going in." Al'teer laid her hand on Martin. She had heard the exchange over her own commlink. "What brought that on Samuel Martin?" "I have no more precognition than a mundane Al'teer, but I got the feeling someone is going to get seriously hurt, if not worse. It is unclear." He looked directly into her eyes. "I think your skills and magic will be needed tonight." The backdoor that Yuri and himself had installed was not being watched. Fenton still entered carefully. Activating a cloaking program he started searching for the security node. By pure luck it was near where Yuri and himself had created the back door. After dealing with the defensive programs Fenton observed, "Not at all professional . I would have a runner manning this place twenty-four hours a day. In addition that ICE was very weak for such an important node." As he examined the set up he became aware why no runner was present. "Maybe I should give them more credit." The system used a combination of software controlled devices and hardwiring. The hardwiring fed into a central control room where someone in the 'meat' world could monitor the system. "They do have a diagram of all the sensors, most likely for maintenance and diagnostics. Good for me." The Angels and Twin Stars comm links activated. "Batsman to Team 3 & 4. I've cracked basic security. Mixed news. Most of the roof sensors are computer controlled and I am now foxing them and the cameras. There are some hardwired trip beams but they are easily avoided. The bad news is the roof door and the panel access to the APFD. Both have a computer sensor and a hardwired alarm. You are going to have to disarm the hardwired ones manually." "Angel 1 here. Have you found OPFOR 6 yet?" "Negative. I am using the cameras to scan for him, but no one looks like the leader yet. It is likely that he is in or adjacent to a room marked CP in the building diagram. The cameras covering that room are a bit more secure than the others, though. I can't access them without dropping my coverage of the alarms as well." "Understood. Will contact again when we are in the building. Angel 1 out." ======================================== In the night there were a pair of soft pops. Lines shot across the space between buildings, silently impacting upon the roof of a multistory building. There was a pause, then two figures in urban camouflage clothing sped down the lines. Landing, they silently moved forward several paces then assumed a ready position and scanned the roof with the night vision gear they were wearing. "Left clear" whispered one. "Right clear" confirmed the other. The taller of the two figures pumped her arm up and down in the infantry "Hurry Up" signal. Instantly two other figures came down the lines. This second set of figures scanned the roof top. One made a questioning gesture. The second thought for a moment, then pointed at herself and then at a mass of machinery on the roof. Then she pointed at the first figure and the door. The first figure nodded, then she silently moved across the roof making little odd moves at times like she was avoiding something. The tallest one of the first group moved to cover her. The remaining pair headed for the machinery. Shortly thereafter secure commlinks heard "Team 4, door is ready" A few more minutes passed. As the minutes went by the tension increased for those who had to wait then, "Team 3, field is down. Be ready if we need you." So far everything was going to plan. Unfortunately, the military maxim of "No plan survives contact with enemy" made it self known again. As they prepared to move out footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs. The team near the machinery quickly took cover. As the door opened a man with a weapon about the size of a Uzi slung over his shoulder was outlined by the light. Briefly a light flared as he lit some sort of cigarette. Exhaling with satisfaction he stepped out on to the roof. Then he suddenly stopped. Standing if front of him was a young oriental woman, about 5 feet 3 inches and dressed in urban "cammies". Her looks and the way she was wearing them gave lie to the statement that no one can look pretty in cammies. As he looked at her several thoughts raced through his mind. "She is cute! Wait how did she get here?? Omgod an intruder!!" She waved at him and pointed over his shoulder. Still in the process of bringing his weapon on line he reflexively started to look behind him. Just in time to catch a fist in the face from a second, much taller woman. He fell into the waiting arms of the shorter woman who had moved forward when he began his turn. She searched the man professionally then produced a key card. The taller gave an OK sign then looked at the fallen guard, a flare of slow recognition forming on her face. She then signaled the other team to approach. As they did so the tallest made a "look at that" signal directed to a redheaded woman. The redhead had the same slow look of recognition. The tall one made a "he is all yours" motion and then rejoined her partner. The redhead planted one swift kick and then rejoined HER partner. Silently they moved down the stairs. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs Yuri got on the commlink. "Angel 2 to Batsman. Why didn't you tell us someone was coming?" Fenton's voiced sounded strained. "Because the enemy netrunner finally decided to do his job and check out this node. I have got him locked in a 'jack-attack' loop but it will not be long before his team mates notice something wrong. While we were fighting whoever you met must have slipped by. Sorry." "Grunt did you copy?" "Affirmative. Do you want us to assault now?" "Wait one." Looking at her partner Yuri stated. "Have Fenton help us track or raise hell?" "We can raise more hell in the meat world than he can in the computer." Kei responded with a wicked grin. "Why did I know you were going to say that?" Karen mock complained. "Any objections Stretch?" Karen made a show of checking her weapons and then activating the arming handle of her autorifle. "None what so ever. Lets Rock and Roll." Yuri and Yevette traded a "the things we have to put up with" look with one another. Then Yuri got back on the air. "Grunt start your attack 10 seconds after I give you my mark. Batsman, when you detect the attack set off EVERY alarm were ever it is. Then take over all the cameras and guide us to OPFOR 6. If he is not in the Command Post now he will be shortly" "BAS here, We are not yet at our Bravo position. Advise you wait for us." "Roger BAS. Advise when in position." A few moments later they heard "In position." Looking at her team mates and seeing them ready, Yuri simply said: "Mark" And all Hell broke loose. ======================================== Fahrenheit looked over the edge Fahrenheit looked over the edge of the roof he had picked as the BAS team's observation point. He had lead the way just as soon as he had heard the defense field was down. Once he got in position he pointed out the front door to Plasma Girl so she move into position. Then he signaled "In position". When Yuri sounded "Mark", He, Plasma Girl and Challenge and himself opened fire. In his case literally. Plasma Girls bolt was one of her most powerful. The door, which she had made the center of her attack was simply no longer there. In addition every window on the side of the building facing the heroes shattered. Then she went airborne to join her team. Challenge opened up with his "anti-vehical" weapon. The weapon really couldn't hit anything smaller than the broad side of a barn, but then again that was his current target. Fahrenheit kept up the pressure by shooting alternating fire and ice blasts at the enemy, providing covering fire for Teams 1 and 2 as they raced across the street. As the team sped across the street to the new entrance Gray Lynx snapped kicked a guard who could not decide if he was going to say conscious. By the time the others arrived she was the eye of a storm of combat. Three more of the defenders had already fallen as she faced the oncoming reinforcements. That was when Challenge arrived. Grabbing a disk from his weapons belt he threw it. It proceeded to bounce of the walls, ceiling and several of the enemy. Those that didn't get knocked out were shaking their heads to clear them, staggered by the force that struck them. Seeker teleported to the rear of the hostile forces and started to melee from that end. Just as suddenly as he teleported away. Confused, the enemy wondered why. Then Plasma Girl fired another one of her bolts. To quote the nursery rhyme "They all fell down". "Grunt to Team 3 and 4. We are in. We will start room clearing now. Team 1 take the right Team 2 the left. Request Status check." "Angel 2. No contact yet. Batsman reports CP and OPFOR 6 located on 3rd floor. In route now." "Grunt, Batsman OPFOR is still trying to figure out where we are. Will try and advise if they start coordinating better. They tried to signal some of their safehouses for reinforcements but I faked the signal. They will have a _very_ long wait." "Can you jam their interior communications?" signaled Challenge. "Do not advise that, Grunt. At this moment they do not know how compromised their communications are. If I jam, then they will switch to alternate methods." The majordomos voice paused and then the dry humor crept in again. "I can however cause them even more confusion without jamming." "Roger, Batsman. Do as you see fit. Grunt out" ======================================== Team 2 It was almost getting routine. Challenge would kick a door, hard. If one of the League's newer member's or one of their less intelligent ones were standing behind the door, they went down. Then Plasma Girl would throw in one of her explosive bolts. Seeker and Challenge then mopped the remainder up. They had already cleared several rooms using this method. Fortunately the League defenders where still confused by the suddenness of the assault and the fact that, thanks to Fenton, false reports and alarms abounded.. Team 1 Their attack was based on the standard police "Hostile Room Entry". With one change. After Fenris and Darla did a quick check, The Lynx rolled into the room. With her speed and reflexes she could take out several defenders. The two police would then follow up. Some of the defenders simply gave up rather than face the Gray Lynx. Their luck didn't last forever. In was one of the rooms the defenders had put up a serious fight. Several were down, from both the Lynx's martial arts and rounds from the two detectives guns. One however was not as unconscious as the hero's believe him to be. Slowly he brought his Gauss-SMG on line, aiming for the two he could see, Darla and the Lynx. Just as he started to pull the trigger Fenris spotted the movement. With a cry he leaped knocking the two women down. The needles tore into his armor, through him and out the other side. While most of their force was spent from passing through Fenton, some still had enough velocity to reach Darla. The needles turned her shoulder into a bloody mess with less serious wounds on her right leg and arm. The Lynx screamed. She hadn't taken any of the rounds because Darla and Fenris bodies had blocked them. As she reflexively turn toward the threat she could see every bit of damage that had been done to her friends bodies. Her own body was not in pain. Her spirit was. Everything seemed to go into slow motion. Almost immediately she flipped herself back up on her feet. She then had to throw herself to one side as she avoided a follow up burst from the gunman. "Fen" she sobbed. Flipping, dodging and tumbling over and over she used any surface she could to move closer to her objective. She had only two thoughts. Keep the fire away from the two downed detectives, and to get to the gunman. The gunman had gotten to his knees. His continuous fire was chewing up the walls and many of his fellow League members. "Damn you witch, stand still!!" he shouted in frustration, finger locked on the trigger. When the Lynx finally made it to her target her face was a mask of frozen rage. First she kicked the weapon out the gunman's hand. When he reached for a knife she broke his hand and wrist. When he tried to fend her off with his good arm she broke that for good measure. Slamming him flat on the floor, then placing her num-chucks across his throat in such a way that she could throttle the him The Lynx announced in a quiet _deadly_ voice, "You have just killed the man I love. This will not bring him back but I am going to kill you, slowly." The gunman passed out, from pain or fear no one would know. The Lynx started trying to wake him up. Slapping and shaking her foe she snarled "Wake up you bas***d, I want you to see it coming." The sounds woke someone up, just not the one she expected. In a coughing, racking, pain filled voice, a voice she did not expect to ever hear again, Fenris cried "NO!! Lynx ... Andrea, even if I was dead he is not worth it." The Lynx dropped the gunman, hard. "Fen?!! FEN!!!! But how?" her voice breaking from joy and relief. "I think I forgot to mention that only three things can kill a Were, besides old age. Magic, silver and the natural weapons of another Were. That (cough) doesn't mean the things that can't kill us don't hurt. Or that the pain can make us wish we were dead. Go get some help please? I think I am going to pass out again." And he did. "Yes, get some help please, He didn't block all the rounds" Darla sounded only slightly better than Fenris had. "Darla? Oh My God! I'm sorry!" "So'kay. I'm hurt but I'll live, I've been hit before." The Lynx activated her link. Striving to keep a professional voice she transmitted: "Corpsman up! I've got two wounded." As she gave directions to the room she picked up one of the fallen weapons and placed it beside her. Then she added, as she started trying to patch up the two as well as she could, "And signal before entering. I am not letting either one of them get hurt again." ======================================== "I was hoping I wouldn't be needed." said Al'teer. Martin shook his head and frowned. "This must have been the premonition I had." Fahrenheit made sure his voice was in a professional tone. "OK T.J. Keep a good eye out while I go and get the wounded." He then held up his hand to stop Al'teer's impending protest. "Look I am sure you are a top flight trauma type, but you are not trained in field medicine right?" Reluctantly Al'teer nodded. Still keeping his voice level he continued. "I was SEAL corpsman Al'teer, US Navy Special Forces. Commandos. I know how to get to them and get them up to you. Also you don't risk your doctor when a corpsman can do the same job. Set up whatever you need. I'll bring them back." With that he flew down into the building. Looking at the Sivvat Healer T.J quietly asked "You don't like to be told what to do in medical matters, do you Al'teer?" "It is more that I am not used to combat situations at all, T.J. Hanover." Al'teer shook herself, a sure sign of how agitated she was. "What is more, I do not think I want to become familiar with them." Shaking herself again Al'teer started giving orders. "Clear this area of debris you two. Samuel Martin, after you finish, I will need for you to inscribe a simple circle of protection large enough for one person. I will do a second one. By the time Fahrenheit gets back with the wounded we need to be done." They turned to their tasks. ======================================= Yevette suddenly moaned. "You're not hit, are you partner?" Karen's concerned voice carried from her position. The Angels and Twin Star had finally met some opposition. By misfortune the enemy had a little more fire power than the four women and both teams where pinned down. "No, I just heard over the link, two of our people are down, wounded. It must be Fenris and Darla because the Lynx called it in." Karen swore (in German and English). "And the longer we stay here the better chance the bad guys have of getting the others as well." A burst of fire knocked chips out the door jam. "Or us for that matter." "How about grenades?" Kei suggested as she laid down a quick burst in response. One of the opposition fell but fire from the rest drove her back to cover. Yuri shook her head. "Bad idea Kei.. The Mark XXX's we have are too powerful. We would be caught in the blast radius as well. Next time I suggest defensive grenades for a house clearing operation listen to me!!! This is one time when the biggest is not the best." The exchange between the Lovely Angels reminded Yevette of something. Thinking quickly Yevette checked her pouches. "Yes! I have two of them!! Yuri how quick do our night sights recover from bright flashes?" "About two seconds with this model, why? " "Show you in a second. Karen, Kei do any of the enemy have eye or ear protection." Doing a _very_ quick duck and peek, and drawing a hail of fire for their efforts the two redheads confirmed that none of the enemy had such protection. Yevette looked pleased with herself. "OK then, Karen cover your ears and close your eyes, just in case this doesn't work. Kei and Yuri get ready to lay down some heavy fire then move." "Yevette, just what are you going to do?" Karen asked. Yevette showed her partner what she had in her hand. Karen nodded and then covered her ears and closed her eyes. "What?!?" was all the Angels had to say as Yevette threw something down the hall. There was a blinding flash and a loud explosion that rocked the combatants on both sides. Standard 3WA cyberware for Trouble Consultants includes commlinks and sound dampeners. The dampers cut in. The League could not afford such gear for its troops. In addition Twin Star's and the Lovely Angels night goggles could also double as flash protectors. Once they could see again the Lovely Angles went full auto and charged down the hall. This quickly cleared the hall and opened the way to the stairs down to the third floor. Over their personal commlink Kei asked Yuri if the floor below could handle a Mark XXX. At Yuri's nod Kei opened the door and threw one down the stairs. Right into a charging knot of League troopers. The last thing Kei saw as she slammed the door shut was the League troopers trying desperately to get back down the stairs before the grenade exploded. They didn't make it. Growling with satisfaction Kei turned to see were Twin Star was. Karen was coming down the hall with Yevette slung over her shoulder. "Oh No!! Not Yevette too!" Yuri almost sobbed. Kei's face got a little harder. "Relax, she just got stunned. That was a Flash-bang she used. She managed to pull her earplugs out when she threw it. The sound knocked her out for a moment." Already Yevette was starting to revive. Karen sat her down on the floor. "See, she'll be OK." Yevette shook her head, trying to clear it. "Oh God! That was worse than when you're playing your AC/DC tapes at full blast Karen!" Ignoring the jibe at her taste in music Karen asked her partner, "Are you ready to move?" "Yes but keep me in the middle for a few all right? I can fight but I am still a little woozy." Looking up at Karen, Yevette grinned. "Next time you get to throw it." "I'll make sure I keep my earplugs in." replied her partner Kei was tapping her foot with impatience. "Lets go!!" ======================================== When Plasma Girl heard the call she almost turned around and went to the Lynx. Challenge stopped her. "But she needs help!!" responded Plasma Girl, all trace of the airhead gone from her voice. "No, she needs us to do our job. That is how we can help her most." "But ..." Challenges voice was remorseless. "Do you have advanced first aid training? Got a nursing or medical degree you've never told us about?" Plasma Girl shook her head no. He continued in the same remorseless voice, his growl even more noticeable. "What we do is keep up the pressure so that Fahrenheit can safely evacuate the wounded" Plasma Girl looked at Seeker for support. "It is a hard call PG, but Challenge is right. We need to keep going." Frustrated but seeing no other way, Plasma Girl turned back to the fight. "This still isn't easy." She said with a hard look at Challenge. If Challenge's mask was off you could have seen his face. Mirrored in it would have been the ghosts of other events, other hard decisions. Some of those decisions, even though they were correct, even necessary ones for the situation, still caused him to wake up at night screaming, needing to be held by his wife. Some of those feelings where reflected in his voice when he replied. "No Lady it never should be. And Lord help you if it ever does." The next room of enemy took the brunt of their anger. ======================================= The commlink activated, "Catlady, Doc. I am at the door and signaling." The Gray Lynx had stopped her checking of the bandage she had improvised for Darla's shoulder and was now in a combat stance. Num-chuks in one hand, a pistol in the other. Darla, swimming in and out of conscious, had the impression of a She-cat getting ready to defend her litter. The knock was two long and then two short. Taking aim at the door Lynx transmitted "I hear 2 long and 2 short." "Roger I confirm. I am now opening the door." Fahrenheit had the same impression Darla had when he came in. "Who's hit the worse?" "Fenris. He took most of a burst meant for me and Darla. It looks like the bad guys didn't have what it takes to kill a Were. Darla took some hits too, her shoulder looks real bad." The Lynx's voice had a brittle quality to it that Fahrenheit didn't like. Fahrenheit checked over both the wounded. Fenris looked like he should be dead, but he was breathing regularly if painfully. He was afraid to give him anything because it might interfere with his breathing, no matter how tough Weres were. As Darla was more alert he could give her something for the pain. As he gave the painkiller to Darla he apologized "I'm sorry, if I give you anything stronger we will have to carry you out too." Fahrenheit decided that getting the wounded to more advanced care was the most important thing. "All right, Darla can you walk with support?' "Yes if you take it slow. That stuff you gave me was a big help. If I can keep moving I can stay awake." "Then Lynx, you help Darla while I take Fenris." The Lynx's voice had a strange edge to it. "No. I. take. Fenris" "Lynx, you are not as strong as me. Let me carry him." The Lynx screamed, her body quivering. "I SAID I WOULD TAKE HIM!! My father taught me how to do field carries. Come on, we are wasting time." Agreeing but keeping a watchful eye on her all the time Fahrenheit lead the way out, hoping that he wouldn't have three casualties before the raid was through. ======================================== Kei lead the way down the stairs. All four women had to be careful not to slip and fall due to the damage Kei's grenade had done. Yuri and Yevette where also carefully looking everywhere but the floor. The floor was deserted when they reached the bottom of the stairs. Below they could hear Team 2 clearing building room by room. "Batsman, Team 2 we are on the third floor, at the stairwell. Where is the Command Post?" "Third door on your left. Be advised that your grenade destroyed a junction box. I am blind on the whole third floor. Last check had only two people in the room." Fenton sounded slightly reproving as he mentioned the effect of the grenade. Kei had a "Whoops" look on her face. As they position themselves Yevette made show of giving Karen the last Flash-Bang. In reply Karen made a equally big show of making sure her ear plugs where in place. The Lovely Angels rolled their eyes and waited. "Do we have contact with anyone?" screamed the Leader. A shaking technician responded. Striving to maintain a professional voice he reported. "Only with a few teams on the second floor sir. No contact with the floors above and with the first floor as well. All units on the second floor appear engaged. Sir, we have lost. We must evacuate the files and your self." "Very well do it. You can follow me after you clear the computer". Striding to what looked to be a closet he added. "You have done well. Death to Magic" By reflex the tech was going to give the ritual reply "Science forever". That is when Kei shot open the door and Karen threw in the Flash-Bang. Unfortunately the shock threw the tech onto the switch that activated the dump program. Fortunately Fenton was still in the system. He detected the data dump and rerouted the destination before to much of the data was lost. The concessive force also knocked the Leader down a hidden shaft and slammed the door shut. Rushing to the door Twin Star opened it, getting ready to avoid any traps. There were none. Only a shaft of some sort looking like it went to a basement. "Team 3 to all units. OPFOR 6 has bugged out. We are in pursuit. We are leaving one disabled hostile in the CP." "Grunt to Team 3 and 4 go get 'em!" Then there was a pause. "Airhead is going to link up with you. However do not wait for her. Keep up the pursuit. ======================================== muttered Al'teer "I beg your pardon?" asked Martin. "My two patients. I wish we could have had a better way to get them out of the building" "I'm sorry Al'teer, but I had to get them both out together. I could have rigged a stretcher but it would have taken both me and the Lynx to carry just one of them. I didn't know how she would react if we had to leave one of them behind, even knowing we would be back for the other." The Sivvat healer sighed, "Yes I know what it is like to see a Lover hurt or worse. At least she could do something to help hers." Dropping his voice low and glancing at the Gray Lynx Fahrenheit asked "Lover? I know she has fallen hard for him but . . ." Continuing to work both magic and more conventional medical care the Sivvat Healer continued. "One can have a lover and not yet achieved physical intimacy. Their spirits have been intimate if nothing else." The Sivvat paused then looked closer " The spell is not holding and we need to stop the bleeding there." Fahrenheit held a glowing finger. "Show me were you need it caulterised." Under Al'teer's direction he stopped the bleeding. Al'teer then directed, "Samuel Martin, I need you to maintain the power for both circles now. I also will need any power you can lend. I want to do as much as I can before we take these two to a hospital. The Lynx hovered nervously, watching the two medical people work on Darla and Fenton. T.J. walked on over and impulsively hugged the smaller woman. "Hey, are you OK?" Keeping her eyes locked on Fenris, with brief occasional flicks to watch Darla, the Lynx shook her head. "No I'm not. A man that I" her voice cracked "love is lying there, hurt bad. His best friend is lying next to him hurt almost as bad and I could do no more than stomp the person who did it." She started shaking violently "and the what I almost did afterwards scares me." "Go ahead and cry if you want. But remember this. They are both still alive, and most likely because you took out the gunman and kept yourself together enough to call for help." ==================================== "A fireman's pole?" Yuri was staring at the escape shaft not believing what she saw. "If the low tech works go with it. IPS has some very exotic weapons for our time but the standard agent weapon is a 9mm pistol." "But why not a grav tube? They are available at this time." Kei asked while quickly rechecking the area for traps. "Easier to install and no energy requirement, Shorty. Plus it would still be of use if the power was cut off." Yevette slung her weapon over her shoulder and grabbed a hold of the pole. Quickly she drew her pistol. "We are wasting time. Let's get him." ===================================== "", Al'teer said with a most satisfied tone. "I assume that meant something good Al'teer?" Fahrenheit sounded wearily amused. " Oh sorry Fahrenheit. Yes, with yours and Samuel Martin's help we have gotten them stabilized. I have also healed them enough so no awkward questions will be asked when we take them to the hospital. However, they will both be needing to stay in the hospital for time. Darla Lothe will likely need some re-constructive surgery on her shoulder." Darla woke back up with a groan. The side effect of many Sivvat healing spells is to put the patient into a healing sleep, however that sleep is a very light one. "I heard part of that. How long, and can my kids visit me?" "I can not say. In these conditions I could not easily read your aura. An X-ray would give me more detailed information, but I have none here." "And Challenge is to busy right now." muttered Fahrenheit. "And Fen?" came the Lynx's anxious question. "He too will need to rest. I could not heal him completely but I could repair enough so his survival will not be questioned." Fenris body choose to let him wake up. The first sight he saw was the Lynx. He could see the redness of her eyes under her mask. "Hello lady." With effort he reached up and stroked her face. "No tears" he continued "I'm a cop remember? This type of thing happens." "Oh Fen I wish ..." He cut her off. "No my lady, if you had dived you might have been killed. It was my call." A lopsided grin formed on his face. "Besides you and Darla are both worth it." Fenris didn't hear his partners good nature (abet pained) reply. He was too busy being kissed by the Gray Lynx. T.J. turned to the others. "Well _I_ certainly think he is getting better." ====================================== The Lovely Angels and Twin Star carefully slid down the pole. The door at the bottom of the shaft was open. Karen knelt down, checking something on the floor. "Blood. Fresh. Must have caught part of the casing or hurt himself coming down." "Great. Now we have got to deal with a wounded terrorist." Kei grumbled as she rechecked her weapons, making sure she had a full clip in all of them. "OK, Hostile Room Procedure right?" asked Yevette. "Yes, you two go right, Kei and myself take left" Yuri took a breath. "Let's go." The techs here had already fled. The leader was mumbling to himself as he tried to get into his powered armor. "This will increase my chances of escape. And if all else fails I can take some of them with me." {An admirable sentiment.} The leaders head jerked up searching . "Who said that!!" {Interesting, the emotion of the moment has put the pawn in full rapport.} "Pawn!?! I am no ones pawn!! Show your self. Are you one of the demons attacking us." The Leader got a impression of amused contempt. {Oh there is a certain irony in this situation. But to answer your question, no, I am not one of those you are calling demons. But by the way they have destroyed a very carefully crafted plan I am wondering about them my self.} Yuri had gotten separated from Kei. Keeping her dislike of dark places under control (with difficulty), she heard the Leaders side of the above dialog. "Either he is talking to a telepath or he has gone around the bend." She thought as she crept closer she could see the partially armored figure. Grateful that the place had several shadowy areas and for the urban cammies she was wearing she crept in to a better position. {Unfortunately your usefulness is at an end. Your main body of troops is shattered. You only have this one pathetic piece of armor left. You are no longer an asset. In fact certain people could locate me from you.} "Who are you talking about!! Who are you to threaten me." {My foolish pawn you can call me the Snake. And I am not making a threat. What is about to happen to is called "Brain Fry" by your people. My people call it And it will be the last thing you will ever know.} "Brain Fry! Snake?" Yuri heard the phrase as well. She did the only thing she could do. Fast drawing her dart gun she fired on the Leader. It was going to have to be a snap shot to the head/neck , one the most difficult ones to do. 3WA training paid off (although Kei would later maintain she could have done better). The amnesia traq took effect instantly. To a telepath the drugs effect was like turning off a light. Nothing active to read, no way to scan. Nothing. His pawn had escaped! The Snake screamed his frustration. "Angel 2 to all stations. I've got OPFOR 6. He is alive but unconscious. Teams 2 and 3 rejoin me. Airhead, I think we will still need you to get him out of here." Yuri let out a breath. "How are our wounded?" "Grunt here, all friendly wounded are being evacuated. BAS says prognosis, good. We will hold until you can move OPFOR 6." ====================================== Fahrenheit and Al'teer had taken Darla and Fenris to the hospital, The Gray Lynx insisted she come along with them. The remainder of the team had assembled on the roof of the building where the Lovely Angels and Twin Star had started their part of the assault. With them was the captured Leader of the League "How long will he be out?" asked Karen as she glanced at their prisoner. "About two more hours, unless I give him the antidote. When he wakes up he will have no memory of getting hit by the dart and no sense of time loss." Yuri responded. Martin was looking at their captive with his mystic senses. "Yuri, are you sure of what he said just before you shot him?" The dark haired Lovely Angel nodded. "Yes. In fact the phrase "Brain Fry" is what made me shoot him with the tranq gun. It at least gave us a chance of keeping the brain intact for questioning." Martin continued to ponder. "There must still be a link between him and this Snake. It will be hard to trace, especially if our 'guest' is guarding his thoughts." Yuri frowned, "But I heard him say he was no pawn. Wouldn't he want to cooperate in order to get back at someone who used him so?" T.J., who had been listening quietly until now broke in. "Think for a second, you told me that the League has called you demons, creatures of magic. We know how much the League hates magic and this is the local leader. Would you cooperate?" Everyone agreed it was unlikely. Plasma Girl spoke up, "Martin, you said you couldn't trace the link with him guarding his thoughts. What if had other things on his mind?" "Like what" asked Kei, still trying to deal with an intelligent sounding Plasma Girl. Now the Chrissy voice _was_ back. "Like if he is going to stay alive, silly." "Just what kind of mind game are you planning PG?" asked Seeker, head tilted to one side. "You'll see." Plasma Girl had a look of pure mischief on her face. ======================================= When the leader woke up he found himself in a junkyard. He was most disturbed to find that he was wearing only his only his jumpsuit and not the powered armor he was in last. He was smart enough to keep his eyes closed, hoping to gain information about his situation. The heroes, having given him the antidote, knew that he was awake. They continued with the plan. Karen appeared to be arguing with Kei. "I'm not sure that she is the best one to help us." "Com'on, Karen you know she has the most powerful blast." Shaking her head Karen responded. "That's not what I'm worried about. It's both her temper and her lack of control." Looking thoughtful Kei nodded. "Well that is a possible problem, but I think four of us can handle it." That was the cue for the rest of the "players" to show up. Plasma Girl walked around a pile of scrap. She frowned at a pile of particularly ugly pile of rusted metal. This pile just happened to be within sight of the Leader. The airhead voice was at its maximum. "That is just plain ugly, even for this place!! I'll take care of it!!" A ball of plasma formed in her hand, crackling with power. Then she threw it. FLASH!! ZORCH!! To be honest the now fused mass of metal did look better. The Leader began to steel himself for an ordeal. Karen pretended to just notice the Leader. "Oh, you saw Plasma Girl in action. Good, it takes less time when the client knows what she can do." The Leader watched as Plasma Girl turned another mass of metal into modern art. Kei took up the conversation "Right now she is in a good mood. You truly wouldn't like it if she got ticked off." Suddenly a very nasty look crossed Kei's face. Yuri sounded horrified (more so from Kei's overacting). "You're not going to do THAT again. We had a hard enough time covering up what happened the last time!!" Yevette added, "No one, not even that clown deserves that." Karen broke in. "Well he did say her costume was ugly." By instinct the Leader opened his mouth to protest. This was cut of by a sudden flaring of light. Plasma Girl had brought her force field to full strength, causing a bright glow of crackling plasma to surround her. "WHAT DID HE SAY!!!" Yuri looked like she was frightened out of her wits "Oh no, she heard you. Look, me and Yevette will try and calm her down. Kei, you and Karen talk to our . . . guest." With that Yuri and Yevette walked over to Plasma Girl. Karen spoke first. "Look jack, you are in trouble. We know who you are and can fry you for it." Looking as dignified as he could while tied up the leader proclaimed "I will never betray the League!!" Plasma Girl helped prepare more metal for recycling, while Yuri and Yevette "tried" to calm her down. Kei squatted down in front of the Leader. "We are not that interested in the League, with what we got on you right now, we can shut you down for good on this planet. No, what we want to talk about is this Snake guy you had a little chat with." Anger surged in the Leaders mind. * The Snake, how dare he enter my mind, call me a pawn and insult me!! * Hidden near by, Martin's mind, reinforced by his magic reached out. * Contact!! And I was right I can follow his mental backtrack. And with this one's anger I'm getting a boost in available power. * Martin was being body guarded by Challenge and Seeker. The retired Marine sent a message to the two red heads, "Keep it up!! Mr. Wizard has contact!!" Kei added more fuel to the fire. "You know, it must feel really great to be used like that. Especially when we suspect this Snake guy is a magician." Karen was now afraid the Leader was going to have a stroke, but she continued with the plan. "So we want you to tell us all you can remember about the contact you had with him and anything that hindsight tells you might have been a contact with him." The Leader was still wary but loosing ground fast. "And if I don't?" Kei produced a laugh that should be recorded for use by stock villains. "Then me and Karen get to take bets." Shaken the Leader asked "Bets on what?" Karen had on her face a _very_ evil grin. "On how long you will last against Plasma Girl." More metal was prepared for the recylcer. It still took some effort (and a lot more blasted metal), but Martin established his trace so he could track Snake to his lair. Unfortunately for his piece of mind the initial track lead straight to the Sivvat delegation. Martin got the feeling they had reached the beginning of the end for this case. ======================================================== Hey folks, tell me what you think! You can contact me at the below address ======================================================== Ben L. Harrison - HM1(FMF) USN Harriso3@ix.netcom.com Anime Excuse #212: Went on a mission with the Lovely Angels Anime Excuse #213: Tried to help Linna start her car