mouse1.html

Mickey the Mouse

by shapcano

"Wot's da damn hold up, Mandrake?

We......."

"SHHHH! Shut up!" Came the whispered

interruption "The target's talking with an unknown, and he

may be too dangerous to ignore"

"Drek. Why da dangerous label?"

"I tried to asense him astrally and at first

I got a flash like a lot of power. Like brighter than any aura

I've seen, but as soon as I focused on it, it.....I don't know,

dimmed. I'm looking now and I don't see any metal but I don't see

the power. Either he's a heavy spell slinger with a major masking

ability or......"

"Or ya fragged up da first glance.

Drek." The Dwarf merc touched the stud on his

wristphone "Janet, ask your boy if he knows

who's talking to da target."

After a few seconds the call came back

"He says it looks like a guy named Owen who's

a semi-regular for chess"

"Ask if da slot's a spell

worm"

"Nah" Janet replied

"Just a chess playing wannabe. Likes ta dress up inna cloak.

Sounds like a real loser, but he is kinda cute...."

"Frag! Mandrake you are one fraggin

paranoid, incompetent, spell worm. Ya get us all worked up over a

fraggin chess player? What's he gonna do checkmate us ta

death?" After a derisive snort the Dwarf touched two studs

on his wrist phone and said "Hit 'em"

The heavy set norm male's "But,

Brak....." was completely ignored as all hell started

breaking lose in the park. The dwarf's booted foot kicked open

the van's door as he tumbled out with his AK97 ready to rock and

roll. At the same moment from the opposite side of the park an

Ork female with a Remmington Roomsweeper shotgun charged up from

the east, a pair of Humans, a young decker male and a samurai

female charged up from the south with pistols in hand and an elf

male with a net gun moved in from the north.

Muttering under his breath, Mandrake prepared to

toss his sleep spell.

"Look, I know I bust yer chops a lot,

but....I...uh...talked ta some people who say you got

this....uh...major rep in da shadows. I ..... drek... I need

help. My deck's trashed, the fixer got iced, my team's scragged,

I think they went through my doss....."

"Mickey, Mickey, slow down" Owen said

"What's this all about? I only know you as the speed chess

king."

" Yeah, well, I'm a decker. My handle's

mouse. I was finishin a run fer dis Johnson, in da matrix, and I

saw a pair a deckers fightin. One of got beat and jacked out but

then some very black ice showed up and....Frag, I watched da

decker buy it. I .... I shoulda done somethin but I just

froze..... I guess he saw me too 'cause he gave me a data packet

just before he....before he died. I dunno why, but I took it and

jacked out and all hell broke lose. My team got wiped out, da

fixer's....."

"FREEZE MOTHERFRAGGERS!"

Mickey turned towards the sound as a Dwarf with

an AK-97 came charging forward. Alarmed he turned back towards

Owen, but as he did he fell asleep.

Owen was moving before the second word was out of

the dwarf's mouth. Berating himself for coming to the park

totally unprepared for battle, the Phys ad recognized the

approaching groups were not coming to wish them a wonderful day

and launched a sling stone at the elf with the net gun. He took

out the non-lethal weapon for two reasons: first, because he'd

recently read a posting from Typhoon's

weapon shop of a new ammo, a net made of monowire, which

potentially made the "capture gun" the most lethal of

the weapons he faced, and second, because he knew how to deal

with the firearms of the rest of the group converging on him. His

satisfaction at seeing the elf go down was short lived as Mickey

also dropped in such a way as to make Owen think magic was

involved.

When his second sling stone smacked the dwarf's

forehead, that worthy joined his elven comrade in the land of

nod, and Owen began a series of rapid backflips to avoid being an

easy target for the Ork with the shotgun. Tigra (the ork

samurai's name) was so disoriented by the phys ad's speed and

acrobatic moves as he approached her that when she finally tried

to draw a bead on him he was close enough for what a Capoeirista

would call negativa tesoura. Which is to say that from a

nearly prone position on his back, he trapped her lower leg

between his knees so that when he turned his body, she fell to

the ground. He then rendered her unconscious with what looked

like a pat on the head but which was actually a Chin Na Da

Hsueh Far (cavity striking method) to Tien Ling Gai (heavenly

spirit cover).

The norms running up from the south skidded to a halt as they

encountered this unexpected set back. Crusher (the decker) took a

two handed stance with a heavy pistol that threatened to

completely overbalance the skinny male. Janet (the razor) began

firing randomly without bothering to take aim. Drek, he's

quick! she thought as she fired at Owen. If he moves

fast enough to disarm Tigra when she's carrying a room sweeper,

the odds are I'm gonna have more problems with my Predator,

smartlink or not. Maybe, if I can pin him down, Mandrake can.... Before

she could complete the thought, she delivered a yoko-geri ([Karate]

side kick) to Crusher's gun arm, preventing the decker from

shooting the unconscious ork who was the primary target. She had

caught Crusher's aiming at the wrong target from the corner of

her eye and acted instantly. After delivering the kick, which

threw off the decker's shot, she glanced at her furious comrade. Stupid

fragger gets his butt kicked in the matrix and is gonna blow the

assignment by killing a target were supposed to cap....uh, oh. This

last thought was in response to "the wannabe's" form

flying into her vision as he delivered a ddwieo yeop chagi ([Hapkido]

jumping side kick) to the distracted decker. Pivoting as fast as

she could, Janet was still bringing her Predator to bear on her

opponents prone form when Owen's hoijeon yeop chagi ([Kuk

Sool] low spinning side kick) swept her legs out from under her.

Before she could form a coherent thought Owen rolled the sam on

top of him and used both legs to thrust her away, so that she

flew into the path of Mandrake's second sleep spell, which

knocked out his own team mate rather than the intended target.

Immediately, Owen leapt to his feet, screaming at the top of

his lungs. As he ran towards the van he put his hands up and

wiggled his fingers. The only purpose to any of these bizarre

actions was to distract the magic user so that he couldn't throw

another spell. Unfortunately, before Owen was able to cover half

the distance to the van, Mandrake cast a mana missile, which hit

the Phys ad in the chest. When the only effect the spell seemed

to have on the charging norm was to make him grin like a maniac,

Mandrake was panicked enough to try to aim Brak's Panther

Autocannon at his attacker. Before he could get the weapon

completely out of it's carry case, Owen's Shito Ken ([Ninjitsu]

thumb strike) to the region just over a kidney had rendered the

magic user unconscious.

OUCH! Owen thought as he

collapsed next to the Mandrake's unmoving form. That Hurts!

Drek! I wonder if my armor and stealth suit would have helped? The

unkind internal answer he got Well, donkey, since you left it

home, we'll never know, will we? did very little to increase

his comfort or improve his mood. Eventually, Owen heaved himself

up and tried to decide on a plan of action.

At the first sounds of gunfire the chess

players had abandoned their tables and to all intents and

purposes this part of the park was empty. Heaving the unconscious

ork decker over his shoulder Owen said,

"Well, Mickey, you're hardly

inconspicuous draped over my shoulder like this ........BUT, your

friends have a nice van that you could maybe nap in. Since they

are a sleepy group themselves, I'm sure they would

understand."

Suiting his actions to his words, Owen

carried Mickey to the van and deposited his sleeping form within.

The exposed Panther Autocannon gave the Phys ad another idea, and

continuing his conversation with the sleeping ork, he said:

"Yeah, with all the kids who play

in the park, it won't do to leave all these firearms behind. I'll

be right back."

On his third trip of looting the

unconscious forms he informed the snoring decker:

"Well, I spread around the tranq

patches so they could get their rest, but without the guns, I

thought the ammo was probably useless, and then leaving the

valuable comm gear, this neat deck, credsticks, and jewelry that

might turn out to be magical, didn't seem right. I mean, it's a

temptation that we just shouldn't leave lying around, right? I

knew you'd agree.

On his fifth and final trip back to the

van Owen said,

"Well, I couldn't very well leave

them naked, but, this wise raccoon shaman told me that people aren't so quick to chase you

after you've taken their shoes.......No, I'm serious....... Mask.......Yes,

well maybe it was a little over the top, but drek, man, I didn't

have anything except this piece of leather and a couple of rocks

but they didn't go easy on me and that magic spell hurt! Maybe

this will make them more considerate. Even if it doesn't, I bet

it slows them down. Shoeless, broke and unarmed aren't considered

optimal conditions for shadowrunners."

Owen's good humor lasted only until he

opened the van's driver's compartment and found the vehicle was

only driveable by a rigger. He called Itami, who had recently

returned from his search for Gitya and asked if the rigger could

come get him. When Itami started a litany of questions about what

was happening Owen said,

"My friend, I have no idea. I was

talking with a friend when a shadowteam jumped us. I've got their

stuff, including a rigger van which I can't move. I'm at Glover

Park across from the downtown branch of the Library. Could you

please come give me a hand?"

The Phys Ad winced at the panic in the

rigger's voice "OKAY, BOSS! Don't worry. I'm comin, just

hang on! Keep yer head down! I'll be there in minutes!"

"Itami! Itami, there's no

need.....Itami? Hello?" Turning to the sleeping decker, Owen

muttered, "He didn't even hang up the phone. You see? Nobody

listens..... Even with you, it's like I'm talking to

myself."

Six minutes and 23 seconds later Itami arrived at the park on

his Honda Viking. 18 seconds later Lug and Hamon piled out of the

Jackrabbit as Doc was exiting the SAAB. Owen approached making

calming gestures.

"Gentlemen", he said, "I fear you've been

alarmed unnecessarily. I am in fairly good health and no

immediate danger. I simply lack the ability to drive this

rigger's van. I fear I didn't express this well to brother Hanzo,

and actually led him to believe my situation was desperate. I ask

your pardon."

Lug said, "Hey, ferget dat stuff, sensei. Tell us what's

happening."

Owen relayed the conversation that the attackers had

interrupted and then pointed to the various unconscious forms.

When Doc asked "Narcoleptics?" Owen deadpanned,

"Apparently. I'd hate to think I'm that boring a

conversationalist."

"I don't know, boss, some a dose slots look like dey was

rocked ta sleep." Hanzo observed.

"Why aren't they wearing shoes?" Hamon asked.

"Well, you don't wear shoes when you go ta sleep, do

ya?" Lug reasonably responded.

"Gentlemen," Owen interjected, "might I suggest

that we repair to a marginally safer locale to continue this

discussion? If Itami takes the van, I'll get my bike, Hamon can

take Itami's hog, Lug can drive the rabbit and Doc, might I

prevail upon you, for the good of the team to drive the

SAAB?" Doc's sigh and reluctant nod got him a chorus of

sarcasm "Oh, thanks, Doc." "Way to take one for da

team, buddy" "Your sacrifice is noted" and from

Hamon a very earnest seeming thumbs up.

The joking over, the lost boys got to their vehicles and

headed towards the warehouse district and their new HQ, a

warehouse that at one time served the same function for a

shadowteam known as the Sandmen.

Mickey woke up just as the van had parked in the warehouse.

Itami heard the alteration in breathing pattern but said nothing

as he waited to see what the decker would do next. When Mickey

pretended to shift in his sleep, bringing his hand closer to the

pile of weapons that Owen had appropriated, Itami said over his

shoulder,

"If ya pull one a dem, ya may decide ta use it, an ya

don't even know if we're da good guys, come ta save ya. Just

leave 'em alone till da boss gets here."

Although nervous and torn by the desire to protect himself,

the decker found something reassuring in the rigger's words and

decided not to shoot his way out until he knew what was going on.

Seconds later the van door opened and he saw Owen.

"What happened?" Mickey quickly demanded.

"We were rescued" Owen replied brightly. Undeterred

by the snorts from the driver's compartment, the Phys ad

continued, "Whoever those people were, they seemed to want

you pretty badly, my friend. Why don't you step out here so I can

introduce you to the gentlemen who rushed to our aid."

As Mickey climbed out of the van, Owen said, "Your

driver, and the organizer of the rescue mission is the

inestimable Itami Hanzo. Itami, may I present the speed chess

king of Glover Park, the decker Mouse, a.k.a. Mickey.

"Yeah, yer kiddin, right? Mickey Mouse? Here's hopin ya

deck better than ya pick handles, kid." said the rigger.

"And the very fashionably dressed elven gentleman posing

near the sportscar is Doc, a master of the arts arcane and film

buff" Owen continued.

"Whoa," said the decker, "I heard a you. Are

you really da guy with the killer rep, da spell worm dat brought

back dat girl who writes da dragon stories, ah, Jennifer Graves,

an,..... an yer da one who fought wit da green arrow yaks dat

kidnapped her an....."

"The child has potential, Owen." Doc said to the

Phys ad. "He's well informed about significant events in the

world of the shadows and seems to have the proper reverence

for......"

"Egos bigger dan a dragon's butt" Lug interrupted.

"Don't go throwin anymore gas on dat fire, Mouse. We gotta

enough troubles gettin his head through the doors witout a press

agent. I'm Lug and my partner over dere is Hamon."

"REALLY?" Mickey asked "I heard a you guys,

too. Yer like top drawer, I mean like prime guys dat everybody

wants ta....."

"Mouse, we're not da ones ta butter up." Lug again

interrupted."Sensei's da one who's gotta decide what ta do

witya, not me."

"Sensei?"

"It's used to describe me, because of some instruction

I've passed along," Owen said, "Itami insists on

referring to me as boss, Hamon uses the Chinese equivalent of

Lug's label and as the mood strikes him, Doc comes up with any

number of titles for me. I assume you'd prefer to continue to use

'Lance Dashing' or 'Peter Perfect'?

Embarrassed, the Ork flushed and stammered

"Uh....I...uh..didn't know, I mean...I'm sorry....uh...I

never woulda busted yer chops in da park if I'd known dat you

wuz....uh...."

"No worry, mate" Owen interrupted. He said it loud

enough that Doc called back from across the room "That's not

a knife.....now, THAT'S a knife."

"It's some sorta contest between those two," Lug

explained to the perplexed decker, "they're constantly

throwing lines from old flatscreen vids at each other. Just

ignore it. We do"

"My apologies." Owen resumed "Why not give us a

full account of what happened to put you into the difficulties

with the runners we met in the park?"

"Brak. Brak, wake up! C'mon Brak! Ya gotta......"

"Get da frag off me ya stupid breeder! Oh, drek! My

head...." after a few seconds of groaning and feeling his

cranium the dwarf turned to Janet and said "wot

happened?"

"The wannabe turned out not ta be a wannabe." The

sam said, "From what I saw and can put together, he was

movin at almost the same time we were. He took out Jason with a

rock from some kinda strap and then took you out about a second

later. He went backflippin at Tigra and took her out before she

could get off a shot. I tried to pin him down for Mandrake with

random fire but I hadda stop Crusher from blasting the prime

target. When I was distracted this Owen slot landed a beautiful

flying side kick ta Crusher's head, knocked me down and then

flipped me inta the path of Mandrake's sleep spell. I guess he

got Mandrake next."

"Where the frag are my shoes?"

"I guess he took em. Along with our weapons, gear,

jewelry, cred sticks and transportation."

"Transport..... Ya mean da pudlickin, motherfraggin, son

of slitch, hoopkissin, drekhead, stole Baby?!

"Uh, yeah."

Janet tried not to react to the colorful invective of the

ensuing tirade by the dwarf rigger. Since in the entire 5 minute

diatribe, the leader of the Barbarians barely paused to inhale

and never repeated himself, Janet felt her lack of reaction was

quite an accomplishment. Eventually Brak wound down enough to ask

about the rest of the team.

"He musta put tranq patches on everybody after knocking

them out", Janet responded. "I took em off and woke you

right after I came out of it."

"Dammit! Well, help me up and let's see to the

others." As he got to his feet, the dwarf asked a rhetorical

question. "He took everything. Why didn't he just kill

us?"

Ruefully, Janet said "We've got no guns, no money, no

transport, hell, we ain't even got shoes! It's gettin dark and

were a long way from home. I think maybe he did kill us and we

just don't know it yet."

"......so Julio, he's a fixer, he called me and said he

had this easy run. An easy one, perfect for a newbie team and we

had a vote and decided to take it......."

"Vote?" Doc interrupted, "You mean your leader

took everyone's input? One usually does not find that level of

sophistication and confidence among a new group."

"Er...well, that's not exactly right, see, we didn't

exactly have a leader....." The groans and head shakes from

the experienced runners prompted Mickey to begin a defensive

explanation, but Lug said,

"Mouse, you said there was 6 of ya, right? How many

intelligent creatures with 6 heads do ya know about? Not many,

huh? There's a reason for dat. Tough decision, morally

questionable, risky, a leader can give everybody a chance ta back

out, but the only way a team works is if da best qualified person

makes the choice and everybody else backs him with all dey got.

When we're runnin, when it comes ta strategy/tactics Sensei and

Hamon are pretty evenly matched, so one a dem calls da shots and

da other shuts up. If there's spells involved we listen ta Doc,

if it's machines, we follow Itami's lead. Leaders ask fer advice,

too. But when da chips are down ya gotta have one person ya trust

yer life to who decides which way ya go next. It's da only way ya

stay alive in da shadows."

The mention of staying alive brought home to Mouse just how

accurate Lug's assessment was. With every decision made by a

committee, the Maniacs hadn't survived their first run. A more

somber decker continued:

"Well, we went to the address of ITC, its a small local

corp. Works primarily with games software. We were told about the

security set up, we got in without a sweat. Everybody was keyed

up, nervous, but da codes got us in....."

"Waitaminit!" Itami interrupted, "They gave you

passcodes?"

"Well, yeah....I mean, I figured we were working for

somebody inside....."

Mouse story trailed off as the lost boys again were shaking

their heads. This time Itami took point.

"Kid, those dream runs were the passcodes, magcards and

combinations drop down from da heavenly Johnson only happen on

trid, and only 'cause ya got 18 minutes between adverts ta tell

da story. Next time ya see a job were dey give ya a map, or da

keys, or da override ta shut down da sec drones, RUN. If it ain't

a tailchaser it's a doublecross, which means at best yer an

expendable decoy for da real run and at worst da new corp sec

chief is da friendly Johnson and dat gleam in his eye is because

he's dreaming of how good your dead hoop is gonna look on his

trophy wall. Ya want a run dats real, here's three things ta look

for: 1)Nobody has any idea how ta do it and it looks impossible.

2) Da Johnson is desperate enough ta pay ya but negotiates like

hell if ya up da price. 3) Da Johnson don't like ya, ain't

comfortable and wants out as quick as he can get it. Dey ain't

absolute, but if it's easy or da pays too good or da Johnson

wants ta buddy up with ya, yer in trouble."

"Succinctly put, oh pithy master of machines", Doc

said, then turning back to the young decker he admonished

"It's worthwhile to remember that there's a reason it's

never called shadow walking."

After digesting this Mouse continued, "Well, we got in

ok. Finlay, our rigger waited in da van an kept lookout. Juky

covered da 1st floor, Joe Camel, Windsong and Kwan went with me

up to da exec floor so I could deck in an get da codes. I had a

can opener program, real sweet, but a one shot deal, I couldn't

even look at it until I used it. Was that a mistake, too?"

"Why don't you just tell the story, Mickey," Owen

asked "and we'll hold the Monday morning quarterbacking

until you have finished."

"Well I deck in, sleaze my way to da data store and grab

the target algorithms. I start back and I see two deckers goin at

it. I never seen matrix combat so fast. Well, dis one decker gets

dumped and as his icon disintegrates the other decker notices me.

Before either of us could do anything he gets jumped by this huge

hellhound. Black as night this Ice was and breathing fire. Before

the decker can jack out he's badly burned and throws me a data

packet. Then he.....he screamed. It was the worst sound I ever

heard........... The hound turned towards me and I jacked out.

That... That scream was still echoing in my ears.....I come back

to da world and somebody's dumped a gallon a warm sticky stuff on

me...... Only it ain't stuff, it's....it's Joe's blood.

They.....they blew his head off an.. an...."

Hamon stepped up and handed Mouse a bottle of water. Turning

his back the samurai began adjusting the straps for his Katanas,

affording the young ork some privacy to compose himself out of

sight of the rest of the team. When Mickey cleared his throat and

Hamon stepped away he found the lost boys waiting as if nothing

had happened.

"Before I do anything else I popped the memory chips out

of my deck and pocketed them. Then I pull my pistol and crawl

over to Kwan. He says Juky's got his hands full downstairs but

that Finlay's goin to help him. He starts sayin something else

and I see this red dot on his forehead. I threw my deck up but it

didn't save him. The bullet went through my deck and then threw

his head. Then Windsong went up in a fireball. Huge

explosion....I...I ran, I mean, I crawled as fast as I could.

Alarms, flashing lights, sprinklers, somebody was still

shooting....I went flying down the stairs. I got to the first

floor and there's no noise at all. I found the guys. Finlay's

head was in his lap. Juky, they must have done Juky with a

shotgun up close. There was like, pieces of

him............................. uh, sorry. I got out and just

ran. I was so sick and scared and I just ran."

"The next day I tried to get to Julio. I asked around and

heard that his building, ya know where his place was, burned to

da ground and nobody saw him get out. Dat's when I also heard dat

you might be more dan a chess player" He said to

Owen."Then I went back to my doss, because I'd spent da

whole night on da street, but I got dis real strong feeling dat

it was a bad move. I watched from an alley about a block away and

eventually I saw some people I don't know comin around from

behind the building. I spent da past two days in da park waitin

ta get ahold of ya. Can ya......will ya help me?"

When Owen did not immediately respond, Doc decided to

pontificate.

"Whilst our peerless leader contemplates, allow me to wax

pedantic, young ork." Doc said as he began ticking points

off on his fingers." Just as, I assume, you would not

blindly take a chemical compound into your body without being

sure of its effects, you should not take strange programs into

your deck regardless of how wiz the program is supposed to be.

Splitting up your team and leaving them behind you, like a trail

of breadcrumbs, is not the strongest strategy in the world. I'll

hazard a guess that this was part of the ready made infiltration

strategy provided by the Johnson." When Mickey nodded Doc

continued. "Why, pray tell, did you pull the memory out of

your deck?"

"Uh, force a habit. I've got.....I had, real limited

storage capacity, so I always used to swap mem as soon as I jack

out in case I hadta use the deck again." Mickey replied.

"A fortuitous happenstance. Your instinctive move to

cover your teammate with your deck is, perhaps, more significant

than you imagine..... I know, I know, it was ultimately

ineffective, however, all of us have seen and worked with deckers

who have hazarded their lives and the lives of their teammates

rather than risk their precious decks. That you would

instinctively put another's life before such a personally

valuable piece of property speaks exceedingly well of you. As to

your running from slaughtered friends, you tell that part of the

tale as if guilty of some character flaw. I'm at a loss to

understand this perplexing attitude, so please elucidate. What

other course of action was available to you? You were out manned,

outgunned and without backup. To do anything other than run would

be to willingly jump into Charon's ferry. Allow me to share with

you a piece of sage wisdom that has always stood me in good stead

and with which Shadowrunners everywhere agree: dying is

bad."

"Uh, thanks Doc. I'll try ta remember that......"

Doc interrupted saying in a strange voice "No! Do or do

not, there is no try!"

To which Owen replied in the same voice "For 800 years

have I trained Jedi's. My own council will I keep on who is to be

trained."

Since he had been told to ignore the exchanges between Owen

and Doc, Mickey continued "And thanks to all of you fer

saving us from the ambush in the park...." Mickey didn't

understand the snorts and chuckles until Hamon quietly said

"We didn't save you. He did" and pointed at Owen's

retreating back. While the young Ork's eyes got big at the

thought that somebody whom he had made fun of for poor fashion

sense, had taken out an armed team of shadowrunners by himself,

Hamon ended the evaluation by saying quietly "Good to listen

to your instincts, bad to return to a known locale. Predictable

gets you killed. Dying is bad."

Owen ceased pacing and turned to the group "Gentlemen, it

seems that I've chanced on a young person in serious distress and

I can not in good conscience leave him to his fate. Since Mickey

is currently homeless and on the run, I'd like to request that

you allow him to shelter here while I begin investigating who is

after him and what can be done....."

"Excuse me, oh exceedingly polite master of mayhem,"

Doc interrupted,"but do my ears deceive me? Are you

suggesting that this is something better handled without your

merry band? Are you, by chance, offering us a tantalizing glimpse

of an enigma and then planning on investigating the mystery

without your team of stalwart bravos? Surely, you

jest......."

Owen interrupted saying "No, and don't call me

Shirley"

Doc's immediate response "I guess I picked the wrong week

to quit sniffing glue" earned him a nod of acknowledgement

before he continued "It's hardly credible that you would

entertain thoughts of such a course of action, much less that you

would believe that we would sit still for such treatment.

Additionally, lest we be accused of, heaven forbid, altruism, I

believe that the lost boys' deficiencies vis a vis matrix capable

members might be solvable by inclusion of our rodental comrade on

at least a provisional basis."

There is still some question about whether the ensuing silence

was caused by surprise at Doc suggestion or simply involved the

group's attempt to determine what exactly Doc's suggestion was.

Finally Itami asked:

"Doc, is your circumlocution intentional ?"

"Heaven's no, stout machinist, " Doc replied,

"I eschew obfuscation in all it's diverse

manifestations."

Lug stepped up and after making eye contact with Hamon said:

"Doc's right. A tad long winded and a bit obscure, but

right, Sensei. Hamon and I would like to help. We could give

Mouse some good advice, our contacts could help get to the bottom

of his mystery quicker and if he worked out, a decker would make

the team more effective. We don't like ignoring a cry fer help

either."

After getting a confirming nod from Hamon, Owen asked

"Itami?"

"Hey boss, you know I'm in on whatever yer doing. The kid

would get a good start workin wit old hands and if even Hamon's

talkin, ya know he'll get lots of advice. Besides, If yer takin

him under yer wing, ya got have somebody around who can drive ta

get the two of ya outta trouble."

"You see, my friend," Doc resumed, "the weight

of popular support swings away from your, dare I say, greedy

attempt to pre-empt the role of Maecenas. You know we could

help."

"Hmm," Owen replied "Well, Mickey, I guess it's

up to you. Are you willing to audition for a slot on the team

while we figure out why people are after you?"

"I......I........I...you mean.........I...."

"You'll find that yes or no are the best choices for

answering this inquiry," Doc confided, "Generally,

where English is spoken they help speed both conversation and

comprehension."

"As if de elf was ever concerned about either" Lug

stage whispered.

"YES! I mean....Yes, please. Wow! I never

expected......... but, uh, my deck is ...uh, gone. I don't know

how I could......"

"I believe there's a Fuchi-6 in the van", Owen said.

"Along with a nice selection of looted gear, weapons,

jewelry and a pile of unpleasant smelling footwear. I've also got

a number of certified credsticks, each containing 5k nuyen, which

I imagine was a down payment on your capture. There's a kind of

poetic justice if that same cred now is distributed among your

protectors, don't you think? Please, gentlemen, help

yourselves."

I can't believe this! Mickey thought, For the

past three days I've been in a living hell, expecting to get

cacked at any minute. Now I suddenly got protection, a place to

stay, a better deck than I started with and a chance to join a

team of prime runners. If this is a dream, I don't want to wake

up. I wonder what's in my memory chip.

End of Part 1

Acknowledgements: Moosman for the ammo &

Aurora for the strategy. Thanks, chummers.

Part Two

HEY SHAPCANO, KNOW WHAT I THINK? shapcano@geocities.com

This story is copyright of the author.

Shadowrun is a Registered Trademark of FASA Corporation. All

Rights Reserved. Used without permission. Any use of FASA

Corporation's copyrighted material or trademarks in this file

should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or

trademarks.

mouse2.html

A Better Mousetrap

by shapcano

(Read Mickeythe Mouse first)

"...... C'mon babe, be fair. I bit my tongue when youplayed hard to get as a single, but you helped some of myemployees set up an independent business without any concernabout what it would mean to me and without even the courtesy ofletting me know. On top of that, you are now running a fullfledged team with some of my best talent AND you want me to sellyou data at the same time you're telling me you're not for hire.I'm hurt that you would take work from another Fixer in spiteof......."

"OK, Felix!" Owen interrupted, "Ok.......Yeesh! Laying it on a bit thick there aren't you? I'm not takingwork for another fixer, I'm helping somebody in trouble. I'm notactually running a team, the guys just wanted a piece of this. Asto taking BeBop and Goren away from you, that's a load ofbulldrek. Yes, I made a suggestion or two because they are goodpeople who treat me like family, but helping them was neverintended to hurt you, and how was I supposed to extend you thecourtesy of letting you know that I had chatted with them when Ididn't know if they would even take the advice?"

"Well," Felix replied "I guess its not quite asbad as I made it sound, but you do have some of my best talent....."

"Felix, I'm sorry to interrupt again, but I don't HAVEanybody. I've signed no contracts, accepted no oaths and otherthan Itami's personal commitment, the lost boys are anassociation of independents. Please don't use guilt to wringconcessions out of me. I'll end up resenting the deal and you andI really like you too much for that."

"Aw, drek. Well, I gave it a shot, babe. Can't blame agal fer tryin." Felix flashed a tusky grin at the commscreen and then got down to cases. "Ok. Ya want data on amilk run at ITC three days ago. Fixer name of Julio set it up andmay have gotten dead fer his trouble. Newbie group called theManiacs wiped out except fer da decker who is now under yerprotection. You suspect because of the matrix hit that theManiacs were decoys fer the real run, but the double cross mayhave been a triple cross based on the mortality rate. Anythingelse?"

"Yes." Owen responded "There was an attempt ata kill or capture ambush in Glover Park a few hours ago. Whoeverset it up must have had good information on the decker whichmeans they may have been close to the original job. Any dataalong those lines would also be appreciated. Offer is 5,000 nuyenfor as much data as you can get, BUT, since the opposition mayhave already killed a Fixer, I want you to keep your profile lowon this, I don't want other teams hired for investigation and ifyou have someone go looking in the matrix they had better beready to jack out at the first hint of trouble, because thepeople involved have proved that they can deliver electronicdeath very quickly. I need accurate data, but I need it before Iget hit. Details and current info are a distant 3rd and fourth,priority wise."

"Ya want the data dropped, I call you, you call me,what?"

"I'll call in...... say four hours. That should give yourpeople a little time. You tumble to anything you think I need toknow, call my wrist comm. Transferring the 5,000 now."

"Talk to you in a while, babe." Felix said as theimage of the Troll fixer faded from the comm screen.

While Owen was calling Felix for help, Lug and Hamon weredoing their legwork on the street, Itami was studying the vanOwen had appropriated (along with the equipment it contained),while Doc charmed a slew of barmaids, waitresses and hostesses.All tried to gain some data or detail that the others might miss.

Working out of the back of the Jackrabbit, Lug and Hamon, onOwen's advice, distributed the collection of used footwear tosinless and homeless street people. As a result, they accumulatedenough data to conclude that Brak's Barbarians had been the onesto burn down Julio's building.

Doc's charm and good looks garnered him not only a plethora oftelecom numbers, complete with provocative notes, but info that apair of suitboys had visited several dives in the area a few dayspreviously. The corps had spread nuyen looking for a fixer whomight have a newbie team in his stable. The suits had beendirected to Julio, more because the fixer had paid the largestbounty for such advertising than for anybody actually knowing whowas or was not in his stable.

Itami found that if the rigger from the ambush team survived,he would probably make recovery of the Roadmaster his life'swork. Not only did Itami find a pair of brand new Kanmushicrawlers, an MCT-Nissan roto-drone and a Condor long rangeobserver, but the Roadmaster itself had been extensively modifiedwith a more powerful engine, weapons pods and armorreinforcement. The vehicle was the product of a great deal oftime and money from a sophisticated rigger/mechanic, which meantthat in addition to the opposition looking for revenge, therigger who had built the van was definitely going to come lookingfor the vehicle.

While all of this was going on, Mouse began investigating hisnew deck. More sophisticated and faster than he had everimagined, the matrix interface had the decker in ecstasy. OnlyOwen's appropriation of the memory chip prevented the young orkfrom ripping into the mystery data packet. The Boss, as Mouse nowthought of the phys ad, had been very polite but insistent thatthe potentially dangerous data packet remain uninvestigated untilthe lost boys returned from their information gathering missions.Although he appreciated the respect implicit in the boss' way ofexpressing himself, he wondered why the experienced phys ad felta newbie was entitled to such deference. When he asked, Owen hadsaid "If you aren't treated like a member of the team, howcan you be expected to act like a member of the team?" Aswith so much else that he had heard recently, the decker tuckedthe info away for review later.

Although rage was Brak's standard reaction to difficulties, hehad moved to an area beyond anger. Not only had his precious Babybeen stolen, not only had the Barbarians failed in their mission,but he had lost two members during the 12 mile barefoot trek backto their base. Jason had been taken out by a sniper when thegroup had wandered through an enclave under the protection of oneof the pure blood racist groups. Whether it had been Humanis orAlamo 20,000 or Flaming Sword mattered not at all. The elf hadbeen taken out by several rounds of long range sniper fire as therest of the group had scattered. The rest of the team, exceptfor Crusher, of course. Brak thought, Stupid breeder'sbeen a walking zombie since he found his deck was gone and hejust kept walking like a wind up toy when we started taking fire.I guess the fact that he's a norm convinced the sniper to keeppumping lead into the downed keeb instead of popping the robotdecker. With no means of returning fire the Barbarians hadsimply scattered and reformed later, one member shorter. They'dfound Crusher mindlessly orbiting Washington Circle a half hourafter the attack.

No matter how he rationalized it, Brak knew that Mandrake'sdeath had been his fault. If he had kept his temper when theGo-gang had stopped them, if he hadn't risen to the bait andtaken the challenge, the spell worm might have survived. Butinstead of backing off and playing it cool when the slitch hadmade fun of their shoeless condition, Brak had gottenconfrontational and somebody in the Death's Heads had twigged tothe fact that the overweight norm was a spell slinger. Mandrake'sbullet barrier didn't stop the switchblade from entering his backand without magical help the unarmed Barbarians had gotten theirbutts kicked in a running battle as they attempted to escape thebikers. Tigra's arm and nose were broken, Janet had some bustedribs and a slashed shoulder and Brak's own knee and jaw wereextremely sore. Fraggin Crusher didn't get touched, but thestupid breeder is still no use because he's fraggin catatonicover his missing deck. FRAG! Brak thought. Without thedamn spell worm, we can't even get any magic to patch us up! Thisjob sucks!

The comm call from the pair of Johnsons did nothing to lightenthe rigger's spirits.

"Brak. You are overdue for your progress report. I hopethis does not indicate a problem."

"Yeah, well, hope fer somethin else, 'cause we definitelygot fraggin problems." Knowing that withholding orminimizing damage at this point might be a terminal mistake, Brakdetailed everything that had happened. The fact that his team waswithout magical or matrix assets and short handed in bothmanpower and transportation meant no more to his employers thanthe fact that the survivors were working with backup weapons. Allthat Johnson & Johnson cared about was that the data packetwhich should not have left the ITC premises was now three daysoverdue. When Brak pointed out that without a deck his team couldnot even be sure that they had the data packet back, hisemployers had debated the merits of hiring a new team oversending out a "loaner". Brak had remained silent untilthe worst of all solutions, a compromise, was made. Brak's deckerwould be lent a Radio Shack CD 100, which he was not to modify,as a means of confirming the proper data packet had beenretrieved. If the retrieval involved real decking, Brak wouldcontact the Johnsons who would have a more competent and betterequipped decker waiting in the wings. Rather than point out theweaknesses of this strategy, Brak sighed and agreed, taking downthe details on getting Crusher's "new" deck. When theJohnsons began their admonitions and veiled threats, Brak justhit the disconnect switch.

"Hot stuff! I'm glad ya called! How ya doin?Waitaminit....GOREN! Get yer warty butt in here! It's Owen on dacomm!"

When the Ork weaponsmith joined his wife, the dwarf womanresumed "So, what can we do fer ya?"

"I called because I just spoke with Felix and she seemedupset that I had helped set you guys up in an independentbusiness venture without the courtesy of notifyingher......"

"WHAT?!" the smiths interrupted in unison.

"Are you kiddin me?" Goren asked, "We beenindependents from the word go! Just because we've taken some jobsfer her doesn't mean......"

"Waitaminit!" BeBop interrupted, "That slitchis tryin ta lay it at yer door that she isn't our only source ofincome? I'm gonna give that tusker a piece of my mindthat....."

"BeBop! Goren! Please. "Owen said "I didn'tcall to stir things up. I just wanted to say that Felix obviouslyconsiders you guys major assets and is nervous about losing you.I'd consider it a big favor if you'd take this into account thenext time she asks you to help her out. I'd hate to feel that Ipaid back all I owe her and all I owe you guys by driving a wedgebetween you. You guys are like family to me and I know she's bentover backwards to help me out, so if you could, you know, stillfind a way to work with her, I'd be really grateful."

After several seconds of stunned silence Goren said:

"Kid, yer unbelievable. Don't worry about us dealin witFelix. Nothin's changed, but....uh, thanks fer beinconcerned."

BeBop then said "Can ya stop by, Hot stuff? I gotsomethin her ya."

"Sure. I'm right around the corner. I'll be over in afew."

"I spotted it in Helion'scatalogue and thought it would be a perfect replacement forthe sword the Vampire destroyed." BeBop said. "It'sdesignation is CS-257a, "Vorpal" sword. The blade is ahigh impact ceramic so it won't detect and it's got greatertensile strength than the composite ya had before. The standardblade is double edged but when I special ordered this ninja-tostyle, they didn't bat an eye. I also managed ta do the shorterstaff/scabbard that ya asked for last time. It doesn't have theconcealed blade, but it shouldn't be as hard ta hide. The releaseworks the same way. Try it out."

Delighted with the weapon, Owen practiced several draws.Before he could say anything the dwarf woman held up her hand andshowed the Phys ad a silver Himogatana and a wooden Misericorde.The seven inch blade of the Japanese stiletto actually fit insidethe 11 inch blade of the medieval French thrusting dagger.Putting the compound knife together, BeBop walked through thescanner without setting it off.

Grinning at Owen's look of incredulity she explained "TheHimogatana is ceramic sheathed in silver. It'll do the samedamage to an allergic creature as if it were solid metal, butit's not dense enough to set off the scanner. The Misericorde ismade of Ironwood and with the "spine" of ceramic isimpossible to break. Since they are both thrusting weapons, youdon't have to worry about them keeping their edges. You've nowgot weapons for paranormals, that won't get you busted at theairport."

"BeBop.....Goren....I...thank you. Thank you very much.They are magnificent weapons and I'm flattered by the thoughtbut...."

"Kid! Fer frag's sake" Goren exclaimed, "If yamention money I don't even want ta be in da same time zone whenda old lady gets started! Jeeze! Just take em. Please. Ya know weowe ya fer all da biz we got followin yer advice."

"But these are custom weapons....." noticing thelook on the dwarf woman's face Owen said "I don't want tosound ungrateful BeBop, but this is too expensive and elaborate agift......."

"Owen Glendower! I am surprised and disappointed at you.That you would think so little of us ta look at our gifts andthink about the price tags. I never expected suchbehavior........"

"I'm sorry" Owen said quite suddenly. "You areabsolutely right. The gifts are magnificent and I will treasurethem as much for the thought that went into them as for theirusefulness in preserving my life. I'm very grateful and sincerelyashamed that I was crass enough to think about their cost. Pleaseforgive me and accept my apology and my thanks."

While BeBop smiled and nodded Goren shook his head in wonder."How da frag do ya do that, kid? She practiced that lectureabout a hundred times 'cause she knew ya'd think they wuz tooexpensive. Ya stopped her dead in her tracks and got her smilin.I ain't learned da secret in all da years I been wit her."

The mischievous look on the phys ad's face tipped everybodythat he had some maternal comment in mind but after a second hesaid seriously, "You owe it to the people you love to acceptthe love they show you. BeBop saw that I finally remembered thatdebt."

After sweeping both weaponsmiths up in a hug Owen said thanksand took his weapons and left the pair shaking their heads inamazement.

Owen detoured on his way back to "neverland", thelost boys headquarters, for a stop at Lee Ho Fuk's House ofExcellent Food where he picked up some 200 nuyen worth of dinnerfor the team and returned to cheers from the assembled group.

Before sitting down to the huge meal the team each equippedthemselves for battle. After dining they began comparing notesand reporting their conclusions. Mouse hesitantly raised hishand.

"Ah, we have an interrogative from the neophyte."Doc said, "What weighs upon thy doubtless expanding mind, ohmatrix boy?"

"Uh....I was wonderin how come we gotta get ready fer afight an put on armor an have guns at our sides before we eatdinner an......uh....why'd we wait until now ta discuss whatstuff we found out an why can't I look at the data packet?"

"A veritable cornucopia of questions," Doc observed,"I will handle the first, if I may, gentles. Have you evernoticed, young electron dancer, how storm clouds gather after thepicnic is laid out, or how the telecomm rings just after you'vestepped into the shower? This is due to a regulation known asMurphy's law, which states 'whatever can go wrong, will gowrong'. Now, when would be the worst time for an elite corp secteam to break in here with firearms ablaze seeking the elusivedata chip? Might it be while we are unarmed and unarmored,relaxing over a meal?.....Ah, I see the light dawning behindthose carmine rimmed glims. We've all run the shadows too long tobe surprised by Senor Murphy's intrusions. In fact, we now planfor his interruptions. If we are battle ready, and expectingtrouble the inverse codicil of Murphy's law applies, to wit:Trouble rarely occurs when you're waiting for it. We eat beforewe talk because the food is here now and we can talkanytime."

Lug then said, "We waited until we each had informationan share it together 'cause we each have different approaches andexperiences. Sometimes a question or an nugget a data will makeya think a somethin in yer past. Ya wanna take advantage of allda experience an imagination ya got, cause it might keep ya fromrepeatin yer mistakes."

Finally Owen said "I've asked you not to look at the datapacket because we've no idea what opening it will do. There's achance that some bit of data that someone picked up whileinvestigating might include a warning about Ice in the packet oralarms as soon as the packet was opened or any number ofunpleasant possibilities. After Felix calls and relays the datathat she has uncovered we will be ready for you to look at thepacket. Patience can save your life."

As the group moved to reform at the telecomm for Felix's call,Mouse pulled Itami aside.

"I know I been told ta be patient an all, but Itami, somea dis doesn't make sense. Why'd we spend all dese hoursinvestigatin if we thought the corps might send teams after us?Why is Owen taking calls on his own comm if we're......"

"Kid," Itami interrupted "Ya got goodinstincts, but ya gotta learn to trust da guys who've been herebefore. Da Boss is waitin fer an attack. If he makesmistakes dat even you can see, like bringin another team's gearin here, remainin stationary too long, makin calls like he didn'thave a care in da world, how are we gonna look to daopposition?"

"Sloppy?" Mouse asked.

"Sloppy and incompetent. Da kinda team ya don't need tago all out ta beat. Da kinda team ya can send yer secondstringers against fer a cheap win. Since we don't know who we'refacin, we gotta get the other guy ta tip his hand, but ya don'twant a corp coming at ya wit tactical nukes, so ya bait 'em intathinkin yer rep's hot air an luck. We want 'em lulled intathinkin it couldn't be a trap, cause da traps so obvious."Grinning at the decker, Itami said "Even a mousewon't fall for somethin that screams TRAP! So you just sit backan watch as da boss builds a better mousetrap."

"....even though, as I say, 4 hours is hardly enough timeto do a thorough job....."

"Felix," an exasperated Owen interrupted, "I'vealready transferred the creds, and time may be a factor here.Will you please stop selling and give me the info?"

"So much for 'patience can save your life'" Lug saidfrom the corner of his mouth. As Mouse chuckled, and Doc laughedout loud, Felix began her rundown.

"ITC is primarily a games programmer, but something abouttheir latest algorithms has come to the interest of some muchlarger players. I don't know why, but big blocks of stock arebeing gobbled up at a hostile takeover rate. Buzz from thetrading floor says Renraku and Mitsuhama, but who knows if it'sbecause they want this 'discovery' or if they just want to fragwith each other."

"There's a very bad smell coming from ITC's offices.Seems Dwayne Hickey, Deputy Director of Security Services, AshidaKim, VP of Research and Development and a decker known as Brickhave become thick as thieves ( that choice of words isdeliberate). My sources tell me that four days ago they startedlooking for a team that was 'competent but unproven', whichsounds to me a lot like 'victims that won't be missed',particularly as they already had Brak's Barbarians undercontract."

"By the way, babe, did your lost boys play rough withthat psycho and his playmates? I ask because a little bird toldme they came home without their toys, bleeding, barefoot, andshorthanded. It couldn't happen to a better victim, in myopinion, but it's...uh...less neat than usual for your people.That halfer is several slices short of a loaf, so for everyone'spiece of mind I ask that you'd be more thorough in your nextencounter"

"Felix," Owen replied, "I can honestly say thatwhen I last saw the dwarf and his companions, they were alltogether and sleeping like innocents. Is there something I'mmissing between you and Brak?"

"Well, now that you mention it, my sources say that thefixer who arranged the contact between the nutball and hisJohnsons, was wiped out by the nasty little man as part of thehousekeeping for the job. On behalf of my profession, I'd like tosee an example made of everyone involved in that sort of biz. Iknow you don't do wetwork, but...... no, I'll just leave it inyour hands. You're so much more creative when left to your owndevices."

"Uh....Thank you,.... I think." Owen responded.

"I will tell you that the Barbarians are working withtheir own backup weapons because the word has gone out and thefixers won't touch them."

"Interesting...." Owen said. "Any other data?Like who of the Barbarians didn't come home?"

"Jason, an elf sam was apparently zapped by some pureblood sniper and Mandrake, the group's magic user ended updecorating some go-ganger's knife. Death's Head, I believe. Oh,and Brick dropped out of sight three days ago. Vanished without atrace."

"Anyway, I agree with your analysis, babe," Felixcontinued. "I think the newbies were decoys while the actualrun was pulled off by somebody else, probably the missing Brick.I wonder if ITC's matrix protection was augmented by one of themajors trying to prevent the unholy trio from stealing theiralgorithm and selling it to another corp, and if that's what gotBrick. I think that when Hickey and Kim did not deliver the goodsthe corps started buying up the company. That means that Hickeyand Kim are desperate to get the data and that they have thebacking to hire a large number of ....uh..retrievers. They won'tbe working through fixers, but that may not slow Dwayne downmuch. I would also be on the lookout for Brak and company becausethey are petty enough to resent whatever it was you did to themand they probably think that they now need to do somethingspectacular to salvage their rep."

"Ok, Felix, I......whoops, gotta go. Bye."

Owen abandoned the conversation as the remote alarm lightflashed on.

"Showtime, gentlemen" Owen said as the team begandispersing. Mouse was amazed at lost boys' lack of worry, but hesuddenly had a million questions about what to do next. Seemingto read his mind, Owen said "Mickey, I'd like you to stickwith Itami, please. He'll be rigging so you watch his back,ok?"

As he ran to follow the rigger, Itami said "The new truckis nicely armored, so I'm gonna rig from inside a there. You'llbe able ta see a lot of the actions on da screens, BUT" hesaid, cutting off the rush of questions that Mickey wanted topose, "it's gonna require all a my attention, so ya gottasit quiet. Anybody opens them doors before we get the all clear,you blast 'em, ok?" With a grin the rigger asked "Did Iforget ta mention we wuz da bait fer dis mousetrap?"

The pair climbed into the back of the Roadmaster and waitedfor the attack.

The dozen mercs who fast roped down to the warehouse roof fromthe chopper were not regular corp employees. Like allmercenaries, they were contracted for a particular job. ToddSweeney, by virtue of experience and rep was placed in charge ofthe group attacking from the top of the building, but he had onlya nodding acquaintance with more than 1/2 of his team. They wereall pros, but in many cases they had fought against each other inthe past, based on the vagaries of corporate politics.

Because this was a night assault, the balaclavas and armoredjump suits were all black. Because it was organized by a corp,everyone had been issued the same web harnesses and similarequipment. Because the assault was a black ops job, everyone'sweapons were silenced. Even those carrying shotguns were loading Teleshot (soundsuppressed) rounds. The more massive firepower that such a groupmight normally carry had, over the objection of the participants,been left at the base. It was, after all, an urban warehousedistrict and not a gulf wars desert. The mission was simple-nobody living left in the building and every bit of electronicscame back to base. If anyone had an objection about thediminished firepower, or the lack of magically capable teammembers, the fact that three dozen experienced mercs had beensent to take out 6 unprepared shadowrunners seemed to embarrassthe dissenting voice into silence. In fact, right up until thefirst "Bouncing Betty" went off, the whole assignmentlooked like overkill.

In his truck, Itami waited until a good number of mercs werein the kill range for his remote controlled roof munition. At thecritical moment there was a "sproing" sound as springbeneath the anti-personnel device launched it up three feet inthe air. As the mercs turned toward it, the explosive detonated,launching the nearly 100, fin stabilized, Teflon coated, steeldarts that studded it's outer shell in all directions. Of thosecaught in the 10 meter "kill zone" the most fortunatewere those who died quickly.

His eyes riveted to the roof cam monitor, Mickey immediatelyfelt queasy as he saw the devastating results of Itami's firstsalvo. He was glad he did not have an audio pickup, as the riggerdid, to hear the screams of those who had not been killed.Thinking the worst was over, the young ork steeled himself forthe violent and deadly new world he had entered. When he sawthree other spiked deathballs jump into view, the decker reachedfor a trash can and lost his Soya-beef chow mein.

Although the Ingram Super Mach 100 was normally Hamon's rangedweapon of choice, because he anticipated that the oppositionwould be armored, the razor knew that his light weapon would beof limited use. Instead, Hamon was armed with a CastechAssault Rifle . The rifle's caseless ammo well held nearly asmany rounds as the clip from his Super Mach, and if the weaponhad greater recoil and less "hose" capability, it didmount a mini grenade launcher and fired rounds of considerablymore stopping power. Hamon demonstrated this when he opened up onthe 6 mercs who were approaching the south side of the building.The lead pair caught enough of the high velocity tumblers toimmediately exit this plane of existence. Merc number 3 screamedlike a small child as the concussion from the proximatedetonation of the minigrenade ruptured several internal organs inspite of body armor. The remaining mercs from the south attackgroup found what cover they could and began blasting back attheir unseen assailant. One merciful soul eventually dispatchedthe screaming merc #3 to join his companions in whatever eternalreward mercenaries earn.

Lug had also traded his standard weapon for this firefight,and instead of his beloved Colt Cobra, he was armed with an AresAlpha Combat Gun. His defense of the west side of the buildingentailed allowing the merc team to cut through the chain linkfence into his killing ground, electrifying the fence, and thenhosing the mercenaries down as fast as his weapon could spitdeath. Although only one of the half dozen attackers waseliminated by Lug's opening fusillade, another was wounded andtwo were fried as they attempted to pull the fence apart fortheir comrades to get more breathing room. The surviving mercshugged the earth for the meager cover she provided and directedall the fire they could back at the dwarf's firing port.

Directly across the building from Lug, Doc was watching thestealthy approach of 6 more black clad mercenaries approachingthe building's east face. Surprised by the lack of magical power,the mage shrugged as he summoned a fire elemental. Taking shapein the midst of the approaching mercs, the flaming spirit hadengulfed one invader and ignited a second before being riddled bySMG and assault weapon fire from the sound suppressed arsenal ofthe attackers. Of course, being a spirit, the projectile weaponsmeant nothing to the elemental which continued burning itstargets. Far from being horrified by the screams of themercenaries, as Mouse, doubtless, would have been, Doc used aglue spell to hold the invaders until the elemental could reachthem.

Pulling on his own balaclava, Owen slipped silently out of thenorth side of the warehouse. Because there was no concealmentavailable on this face of the warehouse, the Physical Adeptdropped to the ground and began fast crawling towards the knot ofsquatting attackers. Announcing his presence by simultaneouslythrowing a single bladed throwing spike through the lastmercenary's cheek while delivering a Soku Gyaku ([Ninjitsu]toe kick) to the first merc's diaphragm, Owen spun out of the wayof the answering burst of auto fire. Merc number one was nowvomiting blood while number 6 was screaming curses in severallanguages as he rolled on the ground clutching his shurikenpierced face. As Glendower spun back into range, Merc number 2found that he was too close to bring his weapon to bear and wasalso blocking his teammates line of fire. He attempted a Mae-geriKekomi ([Karate] driving inwards front kick) only to findhimself quickly taken down when Owen's Ashi Kujiki([Kukishin-Ryu] wrenching the leg) trapped the cyberlimb with theshort staff and spun the merc to the ground. The first blast fromMerc #3's shotgun prevented the phys ad from a follow up with thedowned merc as he was dodging the blast. Unfortunately, Merc #4'sattempt to bracket the phys ad caught Merc #2 as he sprang backto his feet. The close range blast from behind with the soundsuppressed shotgun cut merc#2 in half and the stunned look ofdisbelief on number 3 as he realized what had happened became theexpression he took to his eternal reward as the Phys ad's Inazuma([Eishen-Ryu] lightning stroke) drew the new high impactceramic blade from it's scabbard and in one continuous motionremoved the merc's head from his torso.

Mercenary #4 was attempting to load another round into thechamber of his Franchi Spas-22 shotgun when he left this plane ofexistence. He had pulled the slide down on the pump gun,expelling the empty shell casing and was about to push the slideforward to chamber the next round when 8 inches of razor sharpsword emerged from the back of his neck. Of course, the only wayfor that part of Owen's blade to get to that location was byfirst passing through the mercenary's trachea and upper spinalcolumn, an eventuality DocWagon generally advised it's client'sto avoid.

Mercenary #5 was so shocked by this occurrence that he took aninvoluntary step backwards. This ushered Mercenary#6 off thismortal coil, as an unconsidered foot position (on the back of#6's head,) drove the imbedded shuriken into that worthy's tinybrain. The regret #5 felt at this accident was short lived as hismoment of inattention to the phys ad caused him to receive thesame sort of foreign-body-fatal-penetration that would have upsetDoc Wagon about #4.

Because the mercenaries were experienced and planned theirattack, all of there approaches were co-ordinated with the rooflanding. Therefore all of these actions to repel borders occurredsimultaneously. The burst of noise that accompanied thefirefights was, therefore loud, sudden and short lived. The pilotof the Hughes Air stallion had hardly turned after dropping hispassengers when the missile that Itami remote launched had takenout the chopper's power plant. Using the big copter'sautorotation to get to the ground, the pilot walked away from hisdamaged bird, only to be taken out when he removed his helmet, byan Owen tossed Chakram that impacted in his forehead.

As the surviving mercenaries saw the chopper downed they beganconsidering a hasty departure. The wounded survivors on the roofreceived their coup de grace from the SMG's of the newrotodrone that Itami sent up. To the sounds of Mouse's retching,the rigger ended the screams and moans of those who had survivedthe bouncing bettys.

Owen moved around the perimeter counterclockwise. When heclicked his communicator three times, Hamon knew to cease fire.If the three remaining mercs suspected anything, they gave nosign and when Owen flipped into their midst to break the neck ofthe middlemost mercenary his hasty departure was so sudden thatthe mercs on either side of him ended up riddling both theirdying partner and each other with SMG fire.

Two clicks told Lug that the Phys ad had entered his quadrantand a few seconds later two more mercenaries were afforded theexperience of the afterlife. The single click to signify thatOwen was in Doc's defensive area had no meaning as the elf magehad already dismissed his elemental and had left very littleother than charred leg stumps still stuck to the ground.

Like the efficient team that they were, each member of thelost boys, except the still sick Mouse, began dealing with thebattle's aftermath. Itami got the all clear and hustled out witha pallet jack and a fire extinguisher. After dousing thechopper's smoking engine compartment he used the jack to raisethe chopper enough to get transport dollies under the landingstruts and towed the chopper into the warehouse.

While he was dealing with the helicopter, Owen, Lug, Hamonstripped the bodies of weapons and gear while Doc summoned an airelemental to carry the bodies to a single pile in the street. Bythe time all of the gear and the chopper had been moved inside,the reclamators (organleggers) had arrived from whatever holesthey hid in and had begun loading the bodies into their trucks,sparing Doc the need for the planned conflagration. Twentyminutes after the battle had begun the only thing to indicatethat anything had happened in the area was some blood, bulletholes and the lingering smell of cordite. LoneStar's eventualpatrol had nothing to report other than that Kreme Donuts wereout of crullers.

When he stopped vomiting and took stock of the situation Mousewas astounded. The lost boys were calmly discussing the mostlikely employers for the mercenaries while sorting through andcleaning up blood spattered weapons, ammo and equipment. Itamiwas actually humming as he examined the downed chopper. Damn!the decker thought, how do these guys do it? One minutethey're joking, the next minute they're killin dozens of guys,then they're calmly discussing who sent the fraggers who wantedto kill us. They planned to be in the middle of thisdrek storm! Fraggin mousetrap, Itami called it. Damn! These guysare a lot more chill than I ever thought and the fraggin datapacket must be a hell of a lot more important than I imagined. Iwonder what the hell is in it?

End of Part 2

Story concludes in OfMice and Elephants

Acknowledgements: Shapeshifterfor the sword. DanCasquilho for the ammo and assault rifle. Thanks, chummers.

Part 3

HEY SHAPCANO, KNOW WHAT I THINK? shapcano@geocities.com

This story is copyright of the author.Shadowrun is a Registered Trademark of FASA Corporation. AllRights Reserved. Used without permission. Any use of FASACorporation's copyrighted material or trademarks in this fileshould not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights ortrademarks.

mouse3.html

Of Mice and Elephants

by shapcano

(Read Mickeythe Mouse first)

(Then read ABetter Mousetrap)

".....that our young rodent, AH! Mickey, my lad!"Doc said when the decker stepped down from the back of theRoadmaster. "I apprehend you were feeling poorly, and I wasdevastated to hear it. Actually, I blame myself for not sharingsome other dishes from Master Owen's good repast. I'm sure thatit was the food rather than witnessing the bloody demise of thosemercs, who would have, incidentally, delighted in evisceratingyou slowly and painfully. Perhaps if you had tried somethingeasier to digest, like, for example some of that excellent squidin that thin black sauce. Why, even cold, although it is a littlegreasier..."

"Doc!" Owen said "Don't do that."

"Aw, boss," Itami called out from the chopper,"It wasn't like he was offering da kid one a dem fatty porkdishes or dat thick white lobster sauce....."

"Ughhhh" this sound came from the retreatingdecker's back as he hurried back to his basket in the back of thetruck.

"Was that necessary?" Owen asked. Shaking his headas he went back to sorting and cleaning the captured weapons,disapproval clearly evident. Both Doc and Itami sheepishly wentto get bottled water and to check on the puking youngster.

Hamon spoke up when the pair had left "Stupid"

"Cruel" Owen agreed

"But sorta funny" Lug amended and he and Hamonchuckled.

Owen said "Now I know why Felix says we need a femalearound here."

Lug could not resist replying "If we can't get a femalewill a ork wit a dainty tummy do?"

Before Owen could reply the telecomm started chirping. Owenhand signaled the pair to get the group and join him at the comm.

As the lost boys gathered around the comm unit, Owen was inintense conversation with Felix. ".....ya gotta see,babe." The image on the screen showed an attractive youngwoman standing in front of a burning industrial park.

"...... loss of life. But as you can see behind me theentire park, buildings, storage facilities, manufacturing plantsand offices, all of ITC's business future is going up in smoke. A"hot" property on the trading floor has nowbecome......."

"DREK!" Owen shouted out, startling the lost boys."Evac immediate. Three minutes from now we are on the road.Doc- you're the sweep, take the SAAB. Lug&Hamon- get thebikes in the truck, take the Jackrabbit. Itami- get the dronesand ordinance into the truck. Mickey- get that pile of gear intothe truck. Everybody grab bugout bags and ammo. Everybody grab anew wrist comm but leave them off until 8 minutes from now. Wecould catch major hell any second, gentlemen. Move!"

A testament to the experience of the lost boys and,ironically, Mickey's lack of the same, there was no hesitation orquestion. Quickly, quietly and efficiently the team removed asmuch of value from the warehouse as they could. Owen had signedoff after a very brief conversation with Felix when a second callcame through.

"Yes" he answered.

"Owen, it's me. Turn on the vid. What's going on,darling?"

"Drek! Sayla, I can't talk to you now. Please, go visityour uncle Gal. Now. Immediately."

An experienced shadowrunner as well as the love of Owen'slife, Sayla Starseeker recognized the fear in the phys ad'svoice. Although she was dying to know what was going on, the elfmage disconnected, grabbed her pistol and threw on her coat. Thetravel duffel that she had brought back from her last assignment,which she had dropped in the entry to Owen's doss filled one handand unfortunately, the Bonsai tree that she had brought back as agift for her lover occupied the other. This was unfortunatebecause, thus encumbered she had less freedom of action to avoidthe evilly grinning dwarf with the narcojet waiting just outsideher door. His leering grin as he shot her gave her a clue as tothe reason for Owen's fear.

Four minutes and fifty two seconds after Owen's exclamation,the lost boys were turning on the interstate. Ten seconds laterthe wristphones began to ring. As Owen, sitting in the back ofthe Roadmaster, called Mickey and Itami in the front, the deckerlooked quizzically at the rigger.

"Conference call lets us all participate, makes sure ourencrypted comm gear works, lets da boss tell us what he's figuredout all at once." Itami said quietly.

"Gentlemen. We have a major problem. My strategy has beenbased on the reactions of a local corp. The destruction of ITCindicates we have some much bigger players in the game. The fateof ITC has led me to conclude that the new player or playerscannot be described as subtle." Owen paused for the ruefulchuckles. "And since we all know that the majors usuallyrely on subtlety to avoid antagonizing each other, I'm forced toconclude that the data Mickey found is of great enough value thatthe big boys don't care if everybody knows they're going for theprize. If anyone has another workable thesis I'd like to hear itnow."

After a few second of silence Owen continued, "Now, Ihave to say that, forgive me Mickey, being a mouse with a peanutamong a herd of hungry elephants is not my idea of a goodposition. Whichever pachyderm we pick to give the prize to is aslikely to step on us out of sheer clumsiness as it is to protectus from the others of it's ilk. I believe, therefore, that we'vegot to put the prize where everyone can get it and we are nolonger involved. I know this minimizes the profit potential ofhaving the item most wanted by the rich and famous, but it doesmaximize our chances of survival. Pull in at the rest area aheadand we'll discuss this face to face. Out."

The greed and love of an easy cred that figures into nearlyall shadowrunners' make up, sometimes wars with the instinct forsurvival. Old runners refer to this as stupidity. Although eachof the lost boys had some dream of abonanza-run-to-pay-for-retirement, the complete destruction ofITC's physical plant clearly indicated that this was not thatdream run. When everyone had pulled into the rest area Owen spokefirst.

"We don't know what's on the chip. We don't know for surewho wants it. We have indicators that Renraku and Mitsuhama maybe involved. We also have a very blatant and destructive movewhich might involve those corps or indicate there are otherplayers in the game. Considering the size of ITC and it's ownwherewithal, I'd say that killing that corp was pricey anddangerous because now Major corps, Second or third level corps,and Governments are all going to develop an interest and want tojoin in the race for the prize that Mickey brought us. The six ofus don't have the juice to make a deal with this size player andbeing chased by a herd of hungry elephants is not my idea ofsmart mouse-like behavior. I think we should get rid of it, buteverybody's got to agree because were giving up a potentialfortune."

"It ain't a fortune, so much as it's a ticking tacticalnuke, Sensei." Lug said "I lost this game before and Idon't like remembering how much it cost. Get rid of it."

Doc then said "Far be it from me to either agree with thediminutive ronin or give away a potential fortune, but youranalysis has the ring of truth to it, oh peerless logician, and Iam far too attractive to be flattened by some lumbering behemoth.I only ask why we could not simply hide the dingus for a betterday."

"Corps want it, corps find it. Kill us while looking.Lose it" Hamon answered. After a few seconds Docacknowledged the truth of the statement with a nod.

"Boss, ya know I back your play." Itami said "Iwish we could get somethin, specially since I hadta leave aperfectly good chopper behind. I know, I know it needed someengine work, but I coulda had it flyin in no time and now we maylose it as we run. But, I guess dat's da way da gears turn, solets get it outta here."

Everyone waited in silence for a few seconds until Mouserealized they were waiting for his decision "I....uh...Idunno. You guys know what yer doin. Why ya askin me?"

"Because you are a member of the team, my weak stomachedlad." Doc said, "Despite your tendency towards nausea,you have more to say about the disposition of the gimcrack thanany, for you retrieved it initially."

"But you all want to get rid of it. What if I wuz ta sayI wanted ta keep it."

"Mickey," Owen responded "We work togetherbecause we want to. If you can convince us that we're wrong aboutthis, we'll change our minds. Or, if you want to strike out onyour own, there's nothing wrong with that either. We won't compelyou to do anything. You have to decide."

After a few quiet seconds, Mickey said "I'd really liketa turn dis inta big creds so dat I could get upgrades and wizprograms an all. But you guys ain't scared a much an you thinkit's gonna get us squished, I'll go with ya on this.And...uh...well, thanks for includin me in the decision."

"Well we have to include ya, kid. Yer da one dats gottagive it to all a da corps" Itami said.

"SAY WHAT?!" Mouse replied

"Mickey" Owen said "We have to put the datapacket where everybody can get it so there's no longer any profitin chasing us. We can declare the race a draw by givingeverybody, including the spectators, the prize. That means you'vegot to find a way to take the data packet and Spam it all overthe Matrix so that our elephantine and unsubtle pursuit can'tsimply nuke a bulletin board and keep the data private. Whetherit's a formula for 'do-it-yourself Ebola virus' or revealingphotos of the love lives of Corp CEO's, you've got to get it touniversities and libraries and other corps and government officesand newsfaxes. Whatever the chip contains, we've got to give theinfo to everybody if we're to avoid getting stepped on. It'sgonna be a hell of a programming challenge because there's a timeelement involved and were gonna have to keep moving. I'm surethat the matrix is already hopping as they look for you andunless I'm wrong we're going to start seeing physical pursuitvery soon. You have to write the program that will disperse thedata, we've got to keep you alive until you do, and save us all.Simple, neh?"

"You.....uh, mean......"

"He means, oh delicate constitutioned one, that, not toput too fine a point on it, our hoops are in your hands,"Doc interrupted. "Recognizing the value I place on that partof my particular anatomy, and assuming that such valuation isconsistent amongst all of the brethren, may I suggest that youget to it, and do that voodoo that you do so well, as opposed tostanding here sputtering with mouth agape and arms akimbo."

"Any questions?" Owen asked. "Alright then,Lug, will you take lead while Doc continues in the sweepposition? Thank you."

The lost boys' caravan quickly moved on into the night.

"Uh...Brak, I ain't so sure about this....."

"Listen Janet", Brak responded. "Tigra's tendinher busted wing and Crusher couldn't punch his way outta a wetpaper bag. He did his part findin the fraggin chess player'sdoss. Now we got his squeeze and when Crusher finds him we'regonna trade. He can have the slitch if he gives us back Baby andall da drek he stole. Plus...uh, well, he's gotta pay us ferlosin Mandrake and Jason. Witout da fatboy and da keeb we'reshort handed so it's only fair he compensates us."

"But Brak," The Sam replied, "we don't know thefirst thing about this elf bimbo. What if she's connected ormagical or somethin. We could end up....."

"What, we could end up flat busted wit our reps in dadrekker an only backup weapons? Girlie, dat's where we are now. Idon't give a flyin frag at a rollin donut what you or anybodyelse tinks. We're takin da slitch fer barganin and if ya don'tget wit da program, yer hoops gonna be laid out right next ta dafatboy's. Now help me roll her up in dis rug and lets get outtahere before da fragger comes home."

Mouse began programming as intensely as he was able. Takingthe boss's instructions to heart, he knew he had to get the data,which he still had not looked at, to as many public places aspossible. Places where it would be picked up and spread. He alsoknew that any single starting point, no matter how popular, mightget sat on by one of the "elephants" chasing them. Inspite of the tension the decker smiled at the aptness of theanalogy. He had to get the data to so may sites so fast that theelephants wouldn't be able to squash them all. He reasoned thatto accomplish his goal he would have to be both blatant andsubtle. He began programming his multi pronged attack.

Four hours later the tension of waiting for an attack whiledriving round the city was so intense that nearly everyone jumpedwhen the decker called "Boss, I got it!" Owen had thecaravan pull into another rest stop so the decker could explainwhat he had come up with.

"It's obvious and subtle," the excited deckerexclaimed as the group gathered. "Anybody got anything taeat? I'm starvin." Shaking their heads both Hamon and Docoffered candy bars which the ork began inhaling as he paced backand forth explaining his plan.

"Ok, so the obvious move. I post to Shadowland through alocal board I know. Not subtle, but expected. Then I incase thedata as text for a financial extract. Incredibly dull and full offormulas anyway, so it passes for our attempt to get clever. Eventhough it's pretty easily stopped, I'm betting that a bunch ofpublic libraries will get the data before anyone realizes theLibrary of Congress catalogue number is bogus. A minor attackthat may keep them busy is a page I took from a journalist I readabout named Zeb Waverly. He put a simple printer override virusin the stuff he was tryin ta get out and anytime anybody startedlooking at the file they got a hard copy whether they wanted itor not. Now, I've got that, but my own brilliant twist is Imanaged ta put a name randomizer on the file. It's selfreplicating and every time it reproduces itself, it will changeit's name so a simple destroy xyz.file won't take it out.Finally, the discovered attack: my first mailing will be to eachcorp and government's e-mail address as the financial abstractand as a personal e-mail to a random employee and as a saleannouncement from a shopping network. I'm betting that as soon asthey begin to realize that everybody's attempting to sanitizetheir own systems, they'll figure out that everybody's got a copyand give up on trying to supress it."

"Mouse, it sounds like dat chess playin has given ya adevious mind." Lug said "What is the data,anyway?"

"It's an algorithm that breaks public keyencryption."

"WHAT?!" the lost boys exclaimed in unison.

"Looks like the programmers at ITC stumbled on analgorithm that can be used to break public key encryption. Yaknow, don't ya, dat we're just using a refined variant of theprogram that was written like 60-70 years ago. Well, it's alwaysbeen considered unbreakable so no serious research has beenlaunched into overcoming the multi key system. This formulaactually does it. Until somebody overcomes this programming ordesigns a new public/private key system anybody who has this getsta peek at the other guy's cards. When ya think about it, it'sprobably only that anybody who smelled this would try to keep itcompletely quiet that's prevented world war three from beingdeclared ta get this. Somethin musta broke down for ITC to havebeen killed in such an obvious way."

"Drek!" Owen exclaimed "Lets get this out ofour hands right now! There are nations that would actually launchnukes over this. Mickey add embassies to your e-mail lists.Anybody else got anything to add?"

"Direct e-mailers. Spam masters already work fromshadows" Hamon said.

"Excellent point! Here's a cred stick to hire thoseslime. Now if our luck will just......"

"BIKERS INCOMING!" Itami yelled. The group meltedback into their vehicles as the go gangers started to pull intothe rest area.

Doc's manablast took out the front ranks of the bikers andcaused enough of a traffic back up to allow the caravan to getback on to the road. As Mouse began "planting thepeanut" Owen called for Doc to move up and for the truck totake the trail position. Knowing better than to argue at acritical juncture, Doc eased the sportscar up in front of theRoadmaster. Owen opened the back door on the truck and then hitthe button on in his bike, spraying calthrops all over theinterstate. The steel jacks proved more deadly on the highwaythan they ever had in the city, as a blowout at 65 or 70 milesper hour, tends to be rougher on both vehicle and rider than asimilar blowout at city speeds.

Pulling the door closed as the Roadmaster screamed down theinterstate, Owen spotted the approaching three Yellowjackets andcalled a warning to the rest of the team.

"Ok boys, the drek has hit the fan. Whatever elephant thego-gang was working for has competition. We've now got attackchoppers moving up from the south. Looks like it sucks to be us.Stay sharp."

The Yellowjackets proved that Owen's guess at their loyaltieswas correct. As the lead ship continued to pace the Roadmaster,it's partners began spraying the biker contingent with chinmounted mini guns. The ganger's leather jackets provided themwith very little cover on the deserted stretch of four lane. Nomore cover, in fact, than the open sky held for the choppertargeted by one ganger's fireball spell, which ignited thehelicopter's fuel lines and caused the one man chopper to becomea single occupant, rapidly descending, crematorium. The secondYellowjacket avoided a similar fate by adding it's missiles tothe minigun barrage. This strategy was flawless, wiping out theremaining bikers as it did. Ironically, the lack of missilesmeant that the Yellowjacket had little in the way of sting todefend itself from the Aguilar-EX attack chopper which put in anappearance.

Where the Yellowjacket was a one man chopper modified forsecurity work, the Aguilar-EX was a Milspec attack craft. In lesstime than it takes to describe the air-to-air missiles from theAztechnology bird took out it's opponent. Seconds later a brieffirefight ensued with the lead Yellowjacket. Although theYellowjacket had not expended it's load of missiles, thefirefight was and equally one-sided affair as the military attackcraft simply out gunned the security chopper in every category.

Having disposed of it's competition, the Aguilar then begantearing up the interstate between the lead cars and the truck.The pilot had apparently determined that the largest vehicle wasmost likely the one containing it's target and utilizing theinitiative that earns combat veterans both promotions and courtmartials, had decided that he wanted to capture rather thansimply eliminate his prey. By isolating the Roadmaster anddestroying the highway in front of it, the pilot was subtlyindicating his desire for the truck to pull over.

The appearance of a feathered serpent above the truck shiftedbattle lines again. When the chopper pilot backed off andprepared to defend himself, Itami made a mad dash betweenrecently excavated pot holes and sped into the night. Afterseveral minutes of aerobatic ballet between the chopper and theDraco form, the pilot noted his chaingun fire wasn't injuring hisopponent. Realizing that he had been had, the pilot resolved thatthere would not be a capture mission, after all, but there wouldbe several kills. He flew through a blast of illusionary dragonfire to resume pursuit.

"Heads up, my friends, our newest playmate has seenthrough my subterfuge. I don't imagine he's pleased." Docsaid as his astral form returned to his body. As he resumedmanual control of the sportscar, he added, "The overpassesand cloverleaves of the interchange ahead might afford us somecover. I suggest a stop."

In the absence of an objection, Itami and Lug slowed whenunder the cover of the series of overpasses to join the waitingDoc. The Aguilar pilot did not, unfortunately, see the east-westexchange, or the travelers upon it, as a particular impediment tohis mission. He simply blew up segments of the interstate untilhis prey was again exposed in preparation for the completion ofhis attack. The appearance of a western dragon, flying in fromthe east only caused the pilot to snort as he lined up on t