"S.G. Hagen" <u8842885@muss.cis.mcmaster.ca>

    One of the nice things about short stories is that a weak idea is 
often never realized to be one. Novella and novel length works on the 
other hand are a different matter entirely. This is my way of saying that 
I'm not completely sure of this work.
    I can be both my easiest and hardest critic, I have a hard time being 
completely objective about my work.
    Oh well, enough of this.
    I wrote this beast a year or two or three ago. At the time it was 
more of an exercise in writing something of this length. Genrally I'm 
pleased with it but overall, well like I said, I'm not sure if the basic 
premise was meant for something this size.
    Such is life though. Hope you enjoy.
    Send all comments, concerns, questions, complaints, compliments and 
criticisms to yours truly and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

I plan to be making weekly posts consisting of three or four chapters at 
this time.

                     That which does not kill us must have
                     missed us.
                                  -Friedrich Nietzsche

                    S. Hagen u8842885@muss.cis.McMaster.ca




          The Good Life, The High Life and The After Life.
                                                [working title]

     CHAPTER 1
                        It was an excellent plan. Yuri puts on the right
                clothes, the right attitude and drops about a hundred IQ
                points. Then she wanders around playing airhead until the
                slavers nab her. After that she sits tight and waits for
                the cavalry.
                       Problem was Yuri wasn't the type to sit and wait.

                            Philasa Drast, Guns, Bad Karma and Babes.
                            (Unreleased, under litigation, unauthorized,
                             biography of the Lovely Angels.)

     The city of Motrono, on the planet Taris 4, was quiet. Most of its
five hundred thousand inhabitants were asleep except for a few thousand
shift workers and night people.
     Near the bay, three black stealth drop ships hovered in a triangular
formation. The flat black ships were only visible to the naked eye when
they moved and only because of how they temporarily obscured the stars.
Most people would not even recognized them for what they were.
     Powerful ECM equipment rendered them invisible to all but the most
powerful sensors. Air traffic controllers had been keeping air traffic away
from the sectors the ships had been in all evening. They didn't know why
and knew they were not likely to find out any time soon.
     In the Ops bay of the lead ship a woman sat, seeming apart from the
men and women of the cities SWAT team. 
     Her medium length red hair was held from her face with a black ribbon,
a similar ribbon had been tied around her slender neck. She wore a pair of
v-cut shorts that were silver in colour, her top was the same colour as
were the calf hugging, knee high boots she wore. The uniform showed a lot
of her creamy gold skin, too much in the opinion of those with conservative
tastes and ideology.
     Kei was not the sort of person to let what other people thought bother
her overly much though.
     She around, checking up on the activity of the SWAT team she shared
the bay with. Most were quiet now, making last checks of their equipment.
At least they were professionals Kei thought, feeling a little better.
     She brushed her hand across the pistol grip of the heavy laser pistol
she wore in a holster along her right thigh.
     Captain Asam, the Ops commander, walked past her. He had been in the
back making sure the battle frames and cymechs were ready to go. Reaching
out she grabbed his arm before he could pass.
     He looked down into intense brown eyes set in a beautiful face. In an
almost absent way he noted her long legs, the sensuous curves of her body.
Any other time he would have been very interested but at that time he had
too much on his mind.
     "Yes?" He asked.
     Kei looked at the man, calm, cool, it seemed he didn't have a worry in
the world. He was either an unfeeling bastard or a consummate pro. Slightly
above average height, in excellent shape, she could feel muscle in the arm
she held. His short brown hair was only beginning to grey at the temples,
dark blues eyes patiently regarded her as he waited for an answer.
     "When?" Was all she said.
     "It should be any minute."
     "I've heard that before and I don't want to hear it again unless it's
the truth." There was anger in her quiet tone. Asam felt her fingers
tighten on his arm for a second and was surprised at her strength.
     "We are doing our best, no Op ever goes completely to plan." He
decided to withhold the, you should know that, part.
     "It was your idea." Kei accused.
     "I'm aware of that, thank you." A touch of anger coloured his voice as
his composure cracked ever so slightly.
     "You will take responsibility." A statement, not a question.
     "Of course."
     "If anything happens to Yuri you're dead." Kei let go of his arm and
settled back into her seat.
     He nodded and left.
     Kei stared at his back. Yesterday she and Yuri had been laying bets on
who could seduce him first. Now she was thinking about killing him. Closing
her eyes, she let her mind drift free, trying to keep her thoughts away
from her friend.
     Asam did not let Kei's threat bother him. He understood her, he had
lost two partners in his career.
     He still was not sure why the trouble consultants had been assigned to
him, to the Op really. From what little he had been able to ferret out they
were finishing something that might be personal. They wanted the criminal
organization they were after brought down. He might find out what their 
personal stake in it some other time. At the present he could not afford
the time to speculate about it.
     The Captain climbed the ladder up to the command section of the drop
craft. Coming up behind his com officer he laid his hand across her
shoulder.
     "Sir?" She turned to look at him.
     "Have you got it yet?"
     "We're in the general area, but it's a circle with a diameter of
almost five klicks. I'm having trouble pinpointing the signal."
     "Why?"
     "Interference."
     "Are they onto us?"
     "No, it looks like it's accidental. Probably due to the structure
they're in I'd guess."
     "How long?" Asam asked.
     "Next pulse should come soon. I'm certain I can get a lock from that
one, or the next. Let's say ten minutes max."
     "Too long." He said softly.
     "Don't worry Captain." She smiled. "We'll pull the prima donna out
before any one has time to offend her sensibilities." The com officer
didn't care much for the trouble consultants, Yuri in particular. Her
reasons for such feelings were petty and childish, she admitted to herself,
but then so was Yuri.
     "Those two may cop the attitude but don't let it fool you Lieutenant."
He told her as he left her side and continued forward to the pilot's
station.
     "Mryia make sure your ready to go as soon as we have a location." He
said to her.
     "I'm all ready on it." She told him. "All ships are holding their
engines at full readiness. The techs are going to bitch about it but we'll
be able to move and move fast on a moments notice."
     "Good." Asam said.

     The large storage room, like so much of the deserted factory, no
longer served its original purpose.
     Yuri's hands were secured to an old shelving bracket above her head.
The thin cord chafed at her wrists and her shoulder's hurt. She really
hated that kind of thing.
     There was an angry red mark on the left side of her face. Her blonde
dyed hair was dishevelled, her blouse ripped but the rents were covered by
her jacket for the most part. Her skirt had a tear in it and there were
several holes and runs in her stockings.
     The man standing in front of her was named Valemar. She had read his
file. Tall, wiry, chrome cyber eyes stared out from his face, a distinctive
gentleman to say the least, Yuri thought. His head was shaven showing
several input jacks mounted in his skull. He wore tight leather pants and a
t-shirt with no sleeves.
     "Who are you?" He asked Yuri, not for the first time.
     "You have my ID." Yuri sobbed, not for the first time, tears poured
down her face, streaking her mascara even more.
     Valemar back handed her. Hard enough for her teeth to cut into the
inside of her cheek but not doing any other damage. Yuri once again thought
of how much she hated that sort of thing as she tasted her blood.
     "Not the answer I wanted." He screamed into her face.
     What had he been eating Yuri wondered. She resisted the urge to tell
him that she would talk if only he would go gargle for a week with a
germicide. You are supposed to be a terrified sixteen year old she told
herself, act like it. She began to cry even harder.
     "Stow your bawling girl or I'll give you something to cry about."
     Yuri acted like she was trying to make a valiant and vain attempt to
do just that. No one seemed to appreciate it. What kind of heartless
bastards were these peoples she asked herself but then, she knew the
answer. Slavers, among other things.
     "Who are you?" He asked once again.
     "Ismae Grey. Just like it says on my ID." Yuri sobbed. Hopefully they
would believe it this time. She hated being helpless and the beating didn't
help much.
     Valemar shook his head slowly. Then, with an almost regretful look on
his face, he slammed his fist into her stomach.
     White light danced in front of Yuri's eyes, breath exploded from her
lungs, saliva mixed with blood ran down her chin. Her body arched as much
as the bonds would allow.
     "Valemar, I'm surprised." The big man who came into the room said,
becoming the center of attention. "You know not to damage the merchandise,
really I didn't think you went in for this sort of thing."
     Alamon was a very powerful underworld figure. Yuri and Kei had been
assigned to track him down two weeks ago, half a galaxy away. He had
acquired some information that was considered very dangerous in the wrong
hands.
     While they had already retrieved the information it had been
considered prudent to find the man and capture, or kill, him just to be
sure they had taken care of all possible ways the information could spread.
     It had taken them a while to finally track him down, several thousand
people killed along the way, not their fault, as well as a few friends.
     He was a well built man, his muscle was covered by a generous layer of
fat though. It made him look obese, one would think he was slow and
harmless. It was a dangerous thing to think. Greasy blonde hair worn long,
muddy brown eyes, not a pleasant sight.
     The fact he was referring to Yuri as merchandise did not impress her
all that much. She didn't have much time for any angry thoughts though. She
was too busy trying to force air back into her tortured lungs. It felt as
if there was an obstruction in her throat.
     "I need her to tell me who she really is."
     "Have you tried checking out her ID."  Alamon asked, a hint of sarcasm
in his tone. "Blade does her ID check out." He asked, turning to his
decker.
     "As far as I can tell." She said. "I've gone pretty deep to."
     "Well?" Alamon turned his gaze on Valemar.
     "She killed three men in the pens." Valemar told him.
     "Really." He turned to look at Yuri more closely. "One might wonder
how she hid weapons in clothes that barely hide her."
     "She didn't use a weapon, bare hands, well feet for the most part.
When I got in there she had just crushed Cansor's trachea with her hand
cuffs."
     "Isn't it policy to cuff their hands behind them so things like that
can't happen?" Alamon asked, a bit of anger in his tone. He hated
incompetence.
     "They were." Valemar told him.
     "Most interesting." Alamon rubbed his chins looking at Yuri very
closely. "I suppose we should find out if she really is who she says." He
conceded the point to Valemar. "But do try to keep damage to a minimum."
     "We could sell her to one of our blood game clients, we know she can
fight and they won't mind a few scars." One of Alamon's men suggested.
     "Perhaps but the best return would come from selling her as a pleasure
slave."
     "That would be like selling someone a mountain lion when they asked
for a kitten." Valemar said.
     "So, I have several clients who would enjoy breaking her."
     "You people make me sick." Yuri sobbed, she had got her breath back,
perhaps she was not using it in the most productive way but she felt the
need to assert herself.
     "No doubt, but we are rich." Alamon said nonchalantly as he took a
seat close to her. "Continue." He told Valemar.
     Valemar spun on his heel, hand extended, the blow split her lower lip.
     "Well girl, what do you have to say now."
     Yuri spat a spray of blood and saliva onto his face and shirt. He
looked shocked for a second. He reached up and wiped some of the blood off
his face. Then he growled and cocked his hand back, forgetting Alamon's
earlier warning not to damage her. Yuri recognized a man planning to kill
when she saw one. That she had made mistake flashed through her mind.
     Yuri dropped all her weight onto her arms, ignoring the pain of the
cord cutting into her wrists. She snapped her legs up, jackknifing her
body, slamming her heels into the underside of his jaw.
     Valemar's body jerked, went limp. His head snapped back, there was a
cracking sound as bone broke. His fist brushed her face, no force behind
it. He fell to the floor.
     Yuri pushed herself up, taking the weight off her arms. She could feel
blood from her cut wrists trickling down her forearms.
     Everyone in the room was silent. Alamon looked at the body of his
second. Valemar had not been a friend, Alamon didn't have any friends,
couldn't afford to. What he had been was someone who Alamon could trust not
to put a knife in his back, as long as he never showed weakness. That was
infinitely more valuable to Alamon.
     "Get that body out of here." Alamon snapped. "Someone tie her legs."
     Several men and women rushed to do his bidding.
     Yuri fought, though she knew it was useless. If she didn't fight she
would prove what they were beginning to suspect, and she wanted to get a
few licks in while she could. She broke one woman's nose with a kick,
doubled a man over when she hit him in the crotch. It didn't help though.
In the end they had tied her feet to another shelving bracket.
     "Garman." Alamon's tone was deadly soft. "Convince our guest to talk."
     A short, stocky man stood. He took a riot club from the floor and
approached her. Yuri found herself begging and crying, most of it was
faked. She was terrified, but she didn't let that control her.
     "You want to talk?" Garman asked.
     "Please don't do this." She said, knowing he would.
     "Wrong answer." He slammed the club into her side. Yuri screamed as
she felt a rib snap.
 
     "Captain Asam." The com officer called, looking over her shoulder.
     Asam looked up from snapping ballistic plates onto the armour cloth
body stocking he wore. He would not be going in with his men, his reflexes
had been slowed by age and his presence would be a danger. Still stray
shots killed as well as directed ones.
     "I've got the prima donna's location pin pointed. Lamar island." Asam
felt the ship begin to move as Mryia acted. "In the deserted factory
complex. I called up the file. It's been empty for five years but three
years ago some one bought it though according to the records it's still
empty."
     "Good." Asam pulled his pistol out of his holster and cocked it. "Get
a map transferred to all section commanders." He pushed the pistol into his
holster.
     He walked to the rear of the bridge section, grabbed the lader and
slid down into the Ops bay.
     "All right boys and girls, it's showtime." He yelled. "Lock and load."
     A flurry of activity exploded around him as his people made last
second preparations. The ramp at the back of the drop ship was beginning to
open for launch of the flight capable battle frames and cymechs.
     Asam looked at his watch. It was almost thirty minutes later than he
had planned to extract Yuri. She should be fine but he couldn't help
feeling he had sentenced a woman young enough to be his daughter to her
death. It was a grim thought. He climbed back up the ladder to the bridge.

     Kei picked up the Serec-Anderson submachine gun she had chosen.
Pushing the drum magazine into it she thought about Yuri, before she had
gone off with her hair dyed that stupid shade of blonde to play bait.
Cocking the weapon she made a promise to herself. If Yuri didn't make it
out then the worse disaster they had ever been involved in would pale in
comparison to the funeral pyre she would raise.
     It was not realistic but it did make her feel better.
     "Yuri you better not die on me or I'll never forgive you." Kei said
quietly to herself.

     "Want to talk now?" Garman asked, his tone almost civil.
     Yuri was not feeling her best. Her lower right arm was broken, she was
putting only a little weight it for traction. It was a fairly clean break
at least, that was something.
     Her left eye was swollen shut, she had felt something warm and sticky
leaking from the socket earlier. Several more ribs had broken, fortunately
the internal damage they had so far done was minor.
     Added to that were many welts, bruises, cuts, and abrasions. To top it
all off she had to go to the bathroom. The silliness of the thought made
Yuri smile.
     "You think something's funny bitch." Garman grabbed her chin, she
winced as he reopened her split lip but put her smile back on.
     "Oh go to hell you slimy, boneheaded, sad excuse for a sentient
being." Yuri said around her swollen lips and the blood in her mouth. She
met his gaze with her one good eye and broadened her smile.
     "It's useless, she won't talk." Garman said. "Maybe we could try
drugs?"
     "Oh who gives a damn any more." Alamon said tiredly. "Kill her, we'll
figure it out later." He was getting bored with the entire exercise.
     Garman nodded and cocked his arm back. Yuri guessed this next hit was
not going to be the taps he had given her before. He looked quite ready to
crush her skull.
     Her mind exploded into all directions at once. There were thousands of
things she had wanted to do but now never would. The operation had gone
sour and she couldn't expect extraction, she was dead. Then her mind
focused fully on Kei. Poor Kei, without her around who was going too keep
her out of trouble Yuri thought.
     Then the absurdity of that thought hit her. Kei was sitting safely in
one of the drop ships right now. She laughed, ignoring the pain it caused
her.
     Garman stopped his swing, he looked at the Yuri, not understanding
what was going on. He looked at Alamon who just shrugged his shoulders and
drew a finger across his throat.
     Garman nodded and prepared to swing again.
     Still laughing she looked right into his eyes. Something from her
earlier days at the 3WA training academy on Shimogu came back to her. Live
fast, love hard, die young and go with a gun in your hand, a motto of young
women and men who believed they were immortal. Three out of four wasn't bad
though, Yuri decided.

     The drop ships made a full combat landing, actually damaging their
landing gear. The techs are really going to hate us, not to mention our
kidneys, Mryia thought as she opened all external hatches.
     Asam slid down the ladder from the cockpit, all ready his ear piece
com link was filled with noise from all the teams. To anyone else it may
well have sounded like bedlam but he heard a symphony. All around him
people were moving into their positions.
     The flight capable cymechs and battle frames were all ready
penetrating the structure. So was Kei.
     He had seen her grab a map board, a locator and a flight harness. Then
she had gone out the ramp with the air assault section. He had not even
thought about stopping her.
     "Mryia." He switched his com frequency over to Air Tactical Secure.
"Get these birds in the air. On my go signal flame the two bridges leading
to this island."
     "Don't you think that is a little extreme sir?" She asked but her drop
ship was all ready taking to the air, the other two following.
     "Yes, but do it anyway and any aircraft not emitting a friendly signal
are to be considered enemy, take them out."
     "Yes sir." Mryia said, Asam was certain she was smiling.
     He switched back to Ground Tactical Secure frequency and began giving
his orders.

     Yuri watched as his back swing stopped, then the club began moving
towards her head.
     Garman's skull seemed to explode as a high energy particle beam passed
through his left temple and exited the right side of his neck. She tired to
decide what it meant. Then Yuri felt herself falling.
     For what seemed like an eternity to Yuri she was in a daze. Then the
screams brought her back. She could hear gunfire far off but getting
closer. Better late then never she thought.
     She pulled her wrists apart, trying to ignore the pain from broken
bones grating together, and the cord came loose. That had been some close
shooting. It had Kei written all over it. She thrust her legs apart and the
cord around her ankles unwound just as easily.
     Someone was running at her. Yuri grabbed the riot club Garman had
dropped when he died, twisted up and slammed it into a woman who tried to
jump over her. She was on the woman's back in a second, driving the handle
of the club against the woman's skull, behind her ear.
     She saw Alamon duck off into a door, partially hidden by an old
storage cabinet. Yanking the assault rifle out of the woman's hand Yuri
pushed herself up and set off after the man, revenge dominating her
thoughts. She had no time for pain though she didn't doubt she had to clear
a reasonable portion of her calendar for it later.
     It was not easy to keep up with him, many times she lost sight of him
but fortunately there were not many places he could go, the corridor was
almost straight with few branch offs. He went down several flights of
stairs, Yuri following as fast as she could push her abused body. She knew
she was not really in the shape to be doing it, but she had a stubborn
streak. Her bare feet slapped against the floor of the corridors and on the
steps sounding loud to her ears.
     Alamon didn't even know he was being followed and had even slowed his
run, his booted feet obscured the sounds of Yuri's approach. He carried a
machine pistol in his hand but didn't expect to have to use it. Down in the
sub basement of the factory was an elevator that would take him to a hidden
space craft resting on the floor of the bay. He always had a bolt hole.
     He wondered about the girl they had been questioning, had she been
involved in what was happening? Was it the police or another criminal
organization. He would try to find out later, once he had escaped.

     Yuri felt as if she was on her tenth wind. She was having trouble
breathing. Please don't let lung be punctured she thought. Her adrenaline
high was gone, she had trouble believing it had ever existed. She found
herself wishing for one of the wet ware packages that allowed one to shut
off the pain centers of the brain. So what if most recipients ended up
killing themselves without even knowing they had pushed themselves to
death. It would have been worth it.
     Then she saw him, stopped just ahead in front of a set of elevator
doors.
     "Freeze or your dead." She yelled and then wondered if the rifle was
even cocked.
     Alamon spun and fired. Yuri felt a round pass though the fleshy part
of her left arm. From the small amount of shock she guessed it had been an
low calibre, armour piercing round, probably the only reason she was still
on her feet.
     Yuri pulled her trigger and missed by almost four meters. Suffering
from a concussion, Yuri thought, dizzy, blurry vision, no depth perception,
and I try to hit him with a short burst. She held the trigger down and
swept the rifle back and forth hopping the ammunition would last.
     She caught him in the knees, almost taking his lower legs from the
rest of his body. He conveniently pitched forward into her reverse swing.
The hollow points chopped away at his head and chest.
     The bolt locked back when the magazine emptied. She let go of the
rifle and it clattered loudly on the floor.
     Yuri turned slowly and began to walk back the way she had come. I've
been kidnapped, beaten, and killed one of the bigger crime lords in the
galaxy, Yuri thought. What next? I'm going to Disney World she thought,
smiling at the ridiculousness of it.
     One of Alamon's men suddenly came into the room, perhaps making for
the same bolt hole his employer had hoped to use. He looked at Yuri, he
looked at the bloody pile of flesh lying near the elevator doors. He drew
his pistol.
     Before it was even out of the holster he jerked back, a hole appearing
in his chest. More holes appeared and the wall behind him was coated in
red. He hit the wall, a hail of bullets holding him there.
     Yuri looked behind her. In one of the maintenance accessways high in
the wall was a red headed form. It had to be Kei.
     She was leaning out of the accessway, one hand holding a ladder rung,
the other holding her SMG, glad for the muzzle break. She finally stopped
firing and let the body, minus most of its chest, slide to the floor.
     Kei had traced Yuri by means of the homing device that had been
implanted in Yuri's buttocks. It sent out a pulse strong enough to be
traced anywhere within two hundred kilometers, randomly every several
minutes. It also emitted a tight frequency, low level signal constantly
that could be tracked up to five hundred meters.
     Kei slid down the ladder with one hand on the side. The other still
kept her SMG pointed at the body in case it was not as dead as it should
be.
     Once she reached the ground she ran to Yuri and threw her arms around
her friend.
     "Yuri." Kei cried, hugging her tightly. Yuri didn't let the pain that
caused bother her, just happy to see Kei. "Don't you ever do this to me
again." Kei said fiercely.
     Kei released her after a moment and stepped back to look at Yuri. The
smile was instantly gone from her face.
     "Those bastards." Kei snarled. "I'll kill them."
     "I'm all right." Yuri lied. "And the bastards are all ready dead for
the most part."
     "Your not all right." Kei said to Yuri. "You look like you've been
through a shredder." Kei touched her com link and switched to Medical
Tactical Unsecured frequency. "This is tri whisky alpha. I want air medevac
on my signal and I want it yesterday!." Kei turned the receiver off so she
didn't have to listen to some one berate her for improper radio procedures.
     "Come on." Kei helped Yuri to the elevator. "This will take us up to
the surface of the island." Kei had checked the building plans earlier and
was fairly certain it would.
     The doors of the elevator stood open. Kei helped Yuri over the body of
Alamon into the elevator.
     "I swear if there's not a hospital ship waiting for us I'm going to
rip Asam and anyone else I can lay my hands on, into bloody chunks." Kei
growled.
     Yuri began to giggle. It was a mixture of shock, hysteria, relief and
the humour she found in Kei's over protectiveness.
     Kei looked down at Alamon's body as the doors began to close.
     "So much for bringing him in alive." Kei said.
     "Oops." Yuri said, then she passed out, Kei grabbing her before she
hit the floor.




             CHAPTER 2
                             "Dr. Gravst was really giving Kei a hard time
                     today about all the classes she had cut. The same
                     ones I missed  but I am passing after all. Well Kei
                     decided to be obnoxious, as usual. She told her that
                     she was hypolevetic and if she doesn't have fun at
                     least once a day she'll go into a boredom coma and
                     die."
                             "Needless to say the good Doctor wasn't 
                     impressed. I think I still have the password for
                     Dr. Gravst's computer system. It looks like I'll have
                     to alter another of Kei's grades again."

                               An excerpt from Yuri's journal.(Age 16)


     The music was too loud but its saving grace was that it was actually
good. Yuri didn't so much mind loud music but couldn't abide it if it was
bad. She also approved of the many speakers that floated on AG platforms,
out of the reach of any overzealous fan. It was preferable to speaker
stacks that caused ones' ears to bleed if they were in the front rows.
     She pushed her way through the crowd of rock enthusiasts that filled
the concert hall. Her leather miniskirt, white mesh blouse, fishnet
stockings, stiletto heels and leather jacket could actually be considered
conservative compared to what some of the other people were wearing.
     On the back of the jacket was a flaming skull in side view with a pair
of fiery wings coming out the back. It was the symbol of the United
Galactica tactical aerospace squadrons. On the left shoulder was a skeletal
hand holding five aces, each with a 36 on it. Written in latin was
"Cheating Bastards".
     She had won the jacket in a poker game. Kei had won an aerospace
fighter bomber after beating a straight flush with a royal flush. And the
thirty sixth called themselves cheating bastards.
     Yuri had a patch over her left eye socket.
     A 3WA medical ship had arrived only hours after Kei had saved her on
Taris 4.
     3WA med techs were among the best in the galaxy, they had to be. It
was tribute to them, medical technology, and the Luciren genetic program
that she was back on her feet only a week later. Except for a few bruises
there was almost no outward sign of what had happened. Except for her
missing eye.
     The doctors had decided it was not worth the time to save the eye,
even if they had there would have been a sixty two percent loss in acuity
and a twelve degree decrease in peripheral vision.
     Yuri had talked to a cyberdoc but he had told her that replacing only
one eye was usually trouble and it was better to do the pair. Then he had
started making all kinds of suggestions of other modifications they could
do.
     Yuri had decided to stay with what she knew worked. 3WA med techs had
pulled some of her DNA samples and were growing her a new eye. As soon as
it was completed they would put it in.
     Her right arm still hurt a little and the doctors had told her to go
easy on it for a week or two until the bone matrix had fully healed. Yuri
was glad she had been able to remove the cast.
     She was getting close to an open aisle when she felt a hand grab the
back of her thigh and started sliding up. She spun around to face a highly
inebriated young man who looked a few years older than her.
     Yuri was about to launch into her speech about keeping ones hands to
themselves and about respecting women. That was before he reached forward,
grabbed her skirt, and started pushing it up. Then she gave him a close up
of the bottom of her shoe.
     Oooh, Yuri winced in sympathetic pain, bet that hurt a lot she thought
as he flipped over backwards, a trail of blood, from his nose, in the air.
     She turned away smiling. It was nice to know the beating and loosing
one of her eyes had not effected her too much.
     Yuri and Kei had decided to spend their off time on Beronvus, mainly
because it had been so highly recommended. Yuri was on sick leave until her
eye was replaced, and Kei was getting a free ride as it were.
     A long with a number credit vouchers 3WA had given them another number
of nice things such as the tickets and back stage passes for the concert.
All they had asked was that the two trouble consultants not get into
trouble.
     She pushed her way through a crowd of people standing in front of the
gate that led to the good seats. Yuri showed the woman at the gate her
ticket and walked through.
     Kei was standing on her front row center seat and screaming
obscenities at the warm up band. Typical rock concert behaviour Yuri noted.
     The red head was wearing tight black leather pants, high heeled boots
and a lacy black camisole. The studded wrist band was more then decoration.
It contained a small laser and garotte cord. She had acquired it on one of
their first cases.
     While Yuri would normally accuse anyone else of being overly paranoid
for carrying such weapons to a concert it was in fact 3WA policy. In the
event of reprisals trouble consultants were to be armed, covertly of
course, at all times, if possible. Not that Kei or Yuri had had any
problems with reprisals. Living enemies were very rare in their case.
     Still Yuri was of the opinion the Kei carried weapons like children
carried security blankets.
     Funny enough Kei thought the exact same think about Yuri.
     Yuri took the seat beside Kei, grabbing the red head's belt to pull
her down.
     "Show a little tact." Yuri said.
     "Stop being such a wet blanket." Kei tossed her head back to get her
hair out of her eyes. "Do you see anyone else showing any tact."
     "Maybe we could set a precedent."
     "No thanks." Kei got back up on her seat and started yelling at the
warm up band again.
     Shortly after the warm up band had left the stage and the roadies were
setting up for the main act Kei dropped back into her seat.
     "You packing anything?" Kei asked.
     "We were searched before we came in here, you do know what that
means?" Yuri said with mimed patience.
     "Yeah, you had to carry something small."
     "Slim line derringer and a bloody card."
     "Wait a minute, if your going to be throwing that thing around with
your vision as it is I don't want to be on the same planet."
     "Thanks a lot." Yuri sulked.
     "Well it's true. Even when you had both eyes you could never use the
damn thing very well."
     "In your opinion." Yuri's voice was ice.
     "Not just mine." Kei told her smiling.
     "Who else?" Yuri demanded.
     Any answer Kei was going to give was lost in the opening rift the
guitar player launched into and the deafening roar of the crowd.
     Yuri leaned back in her seat and glowered at her shoes for a few
minutes. Then the music made her forget her anger.
     Yuri found her self caught up in the music. It was better then she had
heard, better then she had believed it could be.
     The guitarist had her instrument plugged into her neural interface
socket and was making the instrument do things that were just short of
amazing.
     The bassist was totally relaxed. He looked like he was asleep on his
feet and only the movement of his fingers showed otherwise. His music
seemed to support the rest, giving it a strong foundation.
     The lead singer was attractive, he knew how to play and audience and
most surprising was that he could sing.
     Their drummer was pleasant surprise, most bands used drum machines. He
looked like big mech, whether that was a costume or not Yuri didn't know.
     The two back up singers were obviously only there as decoration but
Yuri could forgive that.
     "Sugar Coma" was launching into its sixth song when a tall and very
stout woman in motorcycle leathers ran in front of Yuri and Kei and started
screaming basic concert endearments at the band.
     Kei stood up, grabbed the woman's shoulder and spun her around.
     "Push off." Kei told her. "Your blocking my view."
     "Stuff it you little tart or I'll tear your arms off." The woman
snarled.
     "I'm supposed to be scared of an overgrown social delinquent like
you?" Kei asked.
     "Ladies." Yuri stood up and interposed herself between Kei and the
woman, facing the woman. Yuri didn't really want Kei to get into a fight.
They were supposed to be on their best behaviour. She also didn't like the
way the lead singer had been eyeing the little altercation. Yuri was not
about to give him the satisfaction of seeing a cat fight. All she had to do
was diffuse the situation for a minute or two and security would clear
everything up. They had been told to keep a low profile after all.
     "Let's not be barbarians." Yuri smiled at the woman.
     The woman looked Yuri up and down quickly. All she could feel for the
little woman in front of her was disdain. Non the less she took advantage
of Yuri's blind side for her uppercut.
     Yuri only had time to jerk back slightly before the punch hit her to
the side of her nose.
     Her head jerked back, she could feel the blood begin to run out of her
nose. I think the cow broke my nose, Yuri thought. She shook her head and
then looked up at the woman.
     The woman looked down at Yuri, amazed that she was still on her feet.
Not what she had expected at all. Kei smiled and stepped back to give Yuri
some room.
     "At least there's no cameras allowed in here." Yuri said in a resigned
tone.
     Had the woman had any idea of who she was dealing with it might have
given her some warning. As it was she was totally unprepared.
     Yuri shifted back and drove her foot into the woman's stomach, then
she shattered a kneecap. She stepped back and fired off a spin kick that
took the falling woman in the head.
     "Nice moves." Kei said, "Been watching kung foo vids again I see."
     "Skill and natural ability." Yuri told her.
     "Good then you won't need my help to handle her friends." Kei
indicated several men and women, who were dressed much like the unconscious
woman at Yuri's feet, heading towards them.
     "Oh well." Yuri sighed. Then she blocked the first man's punch and
broke his arm.
     Security arrived just in time to stop a riot from starting. They had
help from the band who played some calmer sets to relax everyone
afterwards. The people who had attacked Kei in Yuri were in no state to
disagree with the story the two trouble consultants told. That Kei and Yuri
also had back stage passes swung favour in their direction. They were soon
sitting back in their seats while their attackers were tossed out.

     "I liked the way you two handled yourself." Dennis, the lead singer
told Kei. They were back stage during the after show party.
     "Thanks." Kei took a drink of her rye and coke.
     "You two wouldn't be happening to look for work would you?"
     "Why do you ask?"
     "Well I could use two bodyguards who could also double as back up
singers." Dennis told Kei.
     "And how much would this be worth to you?"
     "Well let's say rooms, meals and travel expense free to start with and
five thousand each show for you and you friend to split."
     "Not interested." Kei told him as she leapt up too sit atop the grand
piano.
     "Well how much would interest you?"
     "There's not enough money in the universe." Kei leaned down to finger
a few piano keys.
     "And why do you say that." Dennis took a seat on the piano bench.
     "Because Yuri and I have jobs that satisfy us, and because I have no
doubt that the body guard duties would extend into your bed." She told him,
swinging her legs onto the piano and turning onto her stomach staring him
in the eyes.
     "Well you can't blame a guy for trying." He smiled, looking down her
top.
     "Yes I can." Kei told him.
     Dennis shrugged his shoulders and started playing the piano. He
launched into a love song. Kei found it all rather endearing.

     The bands doctor put his med scanner away in his coat pocket. He was
shorter than average and balding but it looked good on him. Not quite
handsome, his nose was a bit too big and his eyes seemed to be squinting
all the time.
     "Your nose isn't broken, close mind you but still no bone damage. The
swelling should be going down even now." He told Yuri.
     "Thanks." Yuri was holding a cold pack over her nose. She slid off the
examination table.
     "How long ago were you involved in that accident?" The doctor asked,
looking at the screens behind the table that had all her medical
information on them.
     "Pardon?" Yuri picked up her jacket and slid her arms into the
sleeves.
     "You have a lot of old injuries, all of them are healing nicely, must
have been what, two months ago?"
     "About that." Yuri smiled, lying. Healing fast was a basic requirement
for a trouble consultant.
     "So what happened?"
     "Slammed my ground effects racer into a track pylon at almost two
hundred klicks." She lied again. It was better then the truth at the moment.
     "Well perhaps I can show you a thrill that will keep you away from
such a dangerous past time." He said slyly as he expertly backed her
against a wall, his hands on either side of her shoulder, holding her
there. Not a bad opening, Yuri thought.
     His smile was that of a predator. Being the in house physician doctor
for rock band may not have been the most respectable position but he did
enjoy a number of fringe benefits, such as the young women. All in all he
thought he had a very good deal.
     "Can I tell you something?" Yuri asked softly, almost hesitantly.
     "Of course." He leaned close and brushed his lips across hers.
     "It's sort of a secret." Yuri leaned forward and put her lips to his
ear."I'm not caressing you." She whispered. "This is a slim line derringer
that has been pressed into your groin. It's got two .38 hollow points
filled with mercury. Let me go or I scream rape and you start singing
soprano." Her voice was smooth.

     The evening was cold. Except for a region four hundred kilometers on
either side of the equatorial line, Beronvus was covered in glaciers.
Cities in the equator region were built in valleys for extra protection. In
the day it was quite warm but at night the glaciers reminded everyone of
their presences, even Termma, which sat right on the equator.
     Kei shivered slightly and wrapped the jacket the bassist had given her
tighter around her shoulders.
     "I'm bored." Yuri said, she traced her fingers through the cold water
of the fountain they sat on.
     "Too bad the party ended so fast."
     "You'd think those vice cops would have something better to do."
     "Yea I guess." Kei said. "Hey, why was that doctor giving you the
major cold shoulder?"
     "Oh him." Yuri smiled. "He thought I would be "ever so thankful". Yuri
said in her little girl voice. "For the simple fact he told me my nose
wasn't broken. He got more than a little fresh but I convinced him that it
wasn't a good idea."
     "Wait a minute. You didn't stick a weapon into his crotch and threaten
to emasculate him did you?"
     "No I politely asked him that he respect my wishes and he being a
gentleman did just that." Yuri's tone dripped with sarcasm.
     "Well can't you figure a better way to stop unwanted advances. A knee
in the groin works just as well and the tabloids don't get a nice story
about us being overly violent." Kei said angrily.
     "Well excuse me." Yuri took her hand out of the water and laid it
across the bridge of her nose. "The next time some one tries to rape me
I'll let them do so just so we can get a reputation as good little girls
who let anyone walk all over us." Yuri said with anger and tears in her
voice.
     "Yuri!" Kei almost yelled. "I didn't mean that. Look I'm sorry."  Kei
told her.
     "Good." Yuri said brightly, all anger and tears gone from her voice.
     "Why do I always let her fake me out?" Kei asked the sky.
     "So do you want to continue ranting at the sky or do you want to do
something useful?" Yuri asked her.
     "Should we go back to the hotel?"
     "It's not even midnight, or is it. I forget this planets time cycle.
Anyways the night is still young."
     "Well I've heard of a after hours jazz club with a few nice pool
tables." Kei said.
     "Sounds nice." Yuri said as she stood up. "By the way, why aren't you
spending the evening with Dennis?"
     "Oh he offered." Kei stood. "But he expected me to share him with his
back up singers and any other woman who caught his interest. He had a
rather inflated opinion of himself."
     "Come on." Yuri shivered. "Let's go somewhere warm. I'm freezing."




           CHAPTER 3
                           People are often surprised to discover
                 that many of the agreements and deals that have a
                 great effect on many others are all too often made
                 in dimly lit bars and restaurants.
                            Varman Rouge, Mega Corporations and 
                            Governments. The Slime Chase.


     Alpha Centauri III had been one of the very first planets to be
colonized by Terrans, using one of the first warp drives, which had had a
nasty habit of occasionally destroying the ship using it.
     It had been a grand dream to build a civilization using all that had
been learned from the past mistakes made on Earth.
     They had learned well and their mistakes were much grander than any of
the ones Earth could boast of.
     It was a dirty planet with crowded cities, undeveloped farm land, high
crime rates and no useful industry to boast of, unless one considered
organized crime an industry.
     The city of New Toronto was possibly the worst off all the cities.
Strangely enough, or perhaps not so strange, it had a large number of five
star restaurants and very nice bars, controlled by the Yakuza. If one was
brave, or foolish enough, or if they had enough bodyguards, they could
enjoy possibly the finest dining in all of UG space.
     Bann Takmal placed his utensils across the fine bone china plate. He
wiped his mouth with his napkin, smiling. The 3WA liaison officer had found
the meal particularly enjoyable. His lovely dinner companion couldn't say
the same.
     Catherine Sato was with United Galactica Intelligence. Usually when
she and Bann met it was he who had to do the cajoling and buy the dinner,
but not this time. She needed a big favour from him, or more to the point,
from 3WA. She was not impressed with the entire situation.
     "Thank you for the most delicious meal." Bann smiled.
     "Stop your gloating Bann, it's unbecoming. Miss Jiinas needs help.
Help that only your organization can provide."
     "Why can't you do it. I mean UG intelligence has its own resources
that should be more than up to this."
     "We'd rather not be directly involved." Catherine said hesitantly.
     "Neither would we." Bann told her.
     "Well we can't get involved. We are having enough trouble with Mega
corporations. If we help the owner of one directly it will cause all kinds
of problems. At this point we can not afford to take sides, not until the
United Galactica is in a greater position of strength."
     "So you want 3WA to do your dirty work for you. You know as well as I
do 3WA was formed as an answer to threats that could threaten the entire
United Galactica. While I sympathize with Miss Jiinas I can not authorize
3WA trouble consultants for use as bodyguards."
     "Tamikia Jiinas is a very powerful woman. She has connections
throughout the business community as well as the governments of many
planets. Do you realize how much of a danger that represents if it were in
the hands of a person with a less favourable opinion of the United
Galactica?"
     "So you want me to authorize trouble consultants to provide protection
on a hypothetical basis?"
     "More or less." Catherine said.
     "I'm not really convinced but I will run a check to see if any trouble
consultants can be spared. Even if they are assigned we'll probably pull
them out after a short time. Unless of course we find something that does
indeed represent a credible threat."
     He pulled a  laptop computer from his briefcase and plugged the
interface cable into the neural socket at his left temple. He had no real
need to run the check. 3WA had been keeping an eye on Tamikia Jiinas for
quite a while. The Central Computer had been suggesting a 3WA investigation
for almost a month.
     A few days ago he had had travel suggest Beronvas to the Lovely Angels
as a nice place for a rest. Throwing in a refit for their ship at the
planet's shipyards had ensured they would go. Costly, but worth it.
     Bann worked on his tax returns for almost ten minutes before looking
up at Catherine.
     "Your very lucky, as is Miss Jiinas. We have two trouble consultants
who are available, on Beronvas no less, which if I recall is where she is
residing at this time. Unfortunately one is currently convalescing. It
would be against my better judgement to activate them at this time."
     "Bann you know I wouldn't ask you to do this if it wasn't important
and I hate the idea of making you activate a hurt operative but this is
very important." She said, wondering at the convenience of 3WA trouble
consultants being present on the planet. She wondered if Bann was jerking
her chain. It would be just like him.
     Bann stared at his computer keyboard for a minute, looking as if he
was in deep thought. He was actually trying hard not to smile. Being one up
on the intelligence agent was a rare occurrence for him.
     "Okay. I'm still not sure there is a problem but you seem to think
there is. I'll have one of our courier ships make the run and deliver the
messages, more secure then FTL communication." He winked at her.
     It only took him a few seconds to uplink with the courier ship that
sat in high orbit awaiting his go signal. Once he gave them the go ahead
everything went forward without his assistance. He turned his attention
back to his taxes and spent several more minutes on them.
     "Okay, that's taken care of. He pulled the interface cable from his
neural jack. "The Angels will be on the case in about seven hours."
     "The Lovely Angels, the Pair!!" Catherine said horrified. "I wanted
you to protect Tamikia, not get to her first."
     "Chill." He smiled. "You should know that most of the things the press
reports is just hype. They've never failed to solve a case." He put his
deck back into the briefcase.
     "I have a very bad feeling about all this." Catherine told him.
     "Such is life." He stood and moved around the table to pull the chair
back for her. "Let's go."
     The intelligence agent tossed a handful of universal credits on the
table to cover the tip. She preceded Bann out to the cloak room and then
into the well lit and protected parking lot.
     Now that he had finished with all the games Bann found his eyes drawn
to Catherine's rather attractive figure. Dealing with  the blue eyed,
blonde was one of the more pleasant aspects of his job.
     "What are you doing tonight Catherine?"
     "Why?" She pulled on the leather jacket she had retrieved from the
cloak room.
     "Like to spend the night together."
     "Maybe." She straddled her motorcycle, the skirt rode up her legs and
Bann did his best not to stare. "You're not planning on leaving halfway
through after getting me all fired up like last time are you?" She arched
an eyebrow.
     "That wasn't my fault, I didn't want to leave." He protested.
     "Well do you think that practical little car of yours can keep up with
my baby." She lay a hand across the gas tank of her red racing bike.
     "You'd be surprised." He smiled.
     "The next shuttle for the ship I'm on leaves in about thirty minutes.
If you are on board it....." She trailed off suggestively.
     "Sounds fair."
     "See you there." She kicked her cycle's starter and raced out of the
parking lot, her hair streaming out behind her. Catherine didn't believe in
helmets. It was a bit of stupidity that Bann found so charming.
     Bann tossed his briefcase into his car and jumped in after it. He was
moving at a good pace before the car's door was even fully closed. His only
real worry was what medical was going to do to him when they found out he
had taken Yuri off the injured list. He would worry about it tomorrow.

           CHAPTER 4
                           "You can't always get what you want."

                                 Rolling Stones, song lyric
                                   Late twentieth century.


     "Is that my blouse?" Yuri asked as she brushed out her hair.
     "Might be, it is a little tight around the chest." Kei told her.
     "And around waist as well no doubt."
     "My, that was a rather catty remark."
     "You should know." Yuri looked around the room for her purse.
     "What about breakfast?" Kei took a seat on the foot of her bed.
     "I don't care, anywhere you want. I'll pay."
     "You'd better, considering how much money you hustled off those guys
last night."
     "They really fell for the, "I don't know which end of a pool stick to
use" act, didn't they."
     "The vacant look in your eyes and that mindless giggle helped a lot."
Kei told her. "Where did you learn those bank shots."
     "Some old vid, The Colour of something."
     "Any good?"
     "I thought the lead was cute." Yuri found her purse.
     "How about the place across the street?"
     "For breakfast?" Yuri sild the purse strap over her shoulder.
     "Yea."
     "Sounds good to me."
     "Then let's go." Kei stood.
      
     "Nose still bothering you?" Kei asked as she wiped her mouth with a
napkin.
     "Just a little, I suppose it will teach me not to get involved in your
fights."
     "Are you possibly suggesting I need your help?"
     "No, but it may very well be true." Yuri dabbed the corners of her
mouth with her napkin.
     "Oh sure." Kei snorted.
     "I suppose you could watch your own back from now on?"
     "It might be safer."
     "For who."
     "Yuri, you do realize that continuing this conversation may be
hazardous to your health."
     "Oh I'm so scared." Yuri dead panned.
     "I'll give you reason to be scared." Kei stated.
     "You would attack a blind person." Yuri accused.
     "Only half blind and as soon as the med techs put your new eye 
in I'll......"
     "Beat the hell out of me." Yuri supplied.
     "Well I was thinking more on the lines of short sheeting your bed but
if your into pain."
     "Careful Kei."
     "What do you want to do today anyway?"
     "I don't know, rent a plane and see the glacier fields?"
     "Sounds sort of boring."
     "Why don't we just be spontaneous, something interesting will happen,
it always does." Yuri pushed her chair back.
     "Excuse me." An attractive, middle aged woman said as she approached
their table. "You would be the Lovely Angels, correct?"
     Kei and Yuri made a quick examination of the woman. She was average
height, slim, dark brown eyes, blonde hair, conservatively dressed in a
skirt, blouse and jacket. About two meters behind her were a man and a
woman whose presence screamed body guard to the trouble consultants.
     "Maybe." Kei said, unsure about the woman.
     "Yes." Yuri admitted, hoping it was the right thing to do.
     "I'm Tamika Jiinas. Over the past months several kidnapping attempts
have been made on myself and my family and recently there have been a few
attempts on my life. I need your help."
     "Uh huh." Kei said. "Perhaps you haven't realized, we're 3WA not
mercenaries, we can't be hired. There's also the fact we are not baby
sitters. Perhaps Miss Jiinas you should go to the planetary authorities
with your problems."
     Tamika shook her head, a smile on her face. She placed a briefcase on
the table and opened it. Slowly, as not to make the trouble consultants
nervous, she removed several sealed envelopes. All bore 3WA markings.
     "This is for you." She handed one of the envelopes to Yuri.
     Yuri inspected it, making sure the seal had not been broken, then she
opened it. There were several pages inside but she only read the first one.
     Paper work still had its uses even in a society that almost always
used computers. In some ways it was more secure. As long as your courier
wasn't compromised hard copy information was very safe.
     Still, to deal with the possiblilities of fraud 3WA, most of the
United Galactica angencies and many of the Mega Corps made use of
verification chips. Yuri removed the small chip from the top right corner
of the page.
     Verification chips were very hard to forge, they had both software as
well as hardware codes. Yuri took a reader from her purse and slid the chip
into it. She scanned the page again, seeing the encrypted bits of
information that were the final bit of verification. The possiblity of
being able to forge the chips and the encrypted data was slim
     "It's authentic." Yuri popped the chip free and let it fall on the
table. "I've been taken off the injured list, we are reactivated."
     "That's ridiculous." Kei slammed her hand against the table. She
looked up at Tamika. Tamika handed her another envelope.
     Kei scowled as she broke the seal and pulled out the documents. She
peeled the verification chip off the front page and handed it to Yuri.
     Yuri looked over at the pages in Kei's hands and the readout on the
small screen of the reader.
     "They check out." She told Kei.
     Kei began flipping through the pages, scanning each quickly. When she
finished she tossed them onto the table.
     "Well it seems we have been assigned to one Tamika Jiinas's case. From
the description given, this is her." Kei nodded at Tamika.
     "One more thing." Tamika handed Yuri a small envelope.
     Yuri opened it and removed the page. There was no verification chip
but it was not the sort of document that needed one. She re-read it twice
just to make sure she had not misread it the first time.
     "What does it say?" Kei asked.
     "That we are supposed to be on our best behaviour and give Miss Jiinas
our full cooperation, to play nicely as one of the signers put it. There
are also a few veiled threats and the signatures on it are pretty high up,
Goulet and others."
     "Let me see." Kei took the paper from Yuri. "I don't know, we can
forge most of these ourselves."
     "The other two are authentic so we are working for her."
     Tamika was not sure she liked them taking about her as if she was not
there.
     "Can't we protest this or something?" Kei asked. "Your not finished
convalescing no matter how much speed heal is floating around in your
blood, and that eye should be replaced."
     "We could but I don't think it would be worth the trouble it would
cause. We might as well do it, hopefully it will be a slack mission."
     "I suppose." Kei conceded.
     "I think we can cancel any plans we thought to make."
     "You were right though, something did come up."
     "Unfortunately."
     "Well Miss Jiinas..."
     "Tamika please."
     "Well Tamika just let us get our luggage together and we can leave."
Kei told her.
     "No need. I've all ready had your belongings removed from your hotel
room and sent to my mansion."
     "Major invasion of privacy." Yuri said.
     "I thought you would appreciate the efficiency." Tamika said, seeming
not at all bothered by Yuri's complaint.
     "Come on Yuri." Kei stood. "Not much we can do about it now."
     "I just hope none of my underwear goes missing this time." Yuri said
quietly as she dug a hand full of crumpled currency from her purse and
tossed it onto the table.
     "We'll have to stop off at the Drackon ship yards." Kei told Tamika.
     "Why?" She asked.
     "To pick up a friend."
     Tamika led them out of the restaurant, the body guards fell in behind
them, to a black Rolls Royce parked just outside the doors. Before they
exited the restaurant the female bodyguard had removed a small remote from
her jacket pocket, and started the car with it.
     The male bodyguard opened the door to the passenger compartment while
his partner circled around to the drivers door.
     "Nice car." Kei said.
     "Thank you." Tamika entered the car.
     "They still make these?" Yuri asked as she got in after Kei.
     "Only about a hundred every other year. Rolls Royce is more dedicated
to warp drives these days. The cars are made only as a way of staying in
touch with past traditions." Tamika told them. "Candice, take us to the
ship yards please." She said into the intercom.
     "We'll need information on your security system." Yuri told her.
     "These lap tops." Tamika indicated the two small computers beside her.
"Contain all the information you will need."
     Kei picked up the computers and handed one to Yuri.
     "I'll handle personnel and equipment, you take the security system."
Kei said.
     "Fine." Yuri unwrapped a interface cord and plugged herself into the
computer. Kei followed Yuri's example.
     Tamika watched them work. There actions when she had first met them
had worried her but now she felt reassured. Neither woman was quite what
she had expected from what she had heard.
     They were dressed much more modestly then she would have thought. Yuri
was wearing a dark blue skirt that ended below her knees, a white blouse
and black slippers. Kei had on a pair of tight jeans, a red blouse and
ankle high boots. Neither seemed to be armed which both surprised her and
worried her. They were supposed to be providing protection after all.
     She watched them work, Kei using a lot of key strokes to access the
information she wanted. Yuri seemed to give herself fully over to the lap
top, almost never using the keys.
     "We're here." Tamika told them a few minutes later.
     "Pardon?" Kei looked up from the lap top.
     "The ship yards."
     "Oh." Kei pulled the interface cable from the jack behind her ear.
"I'll be back in a minute." She opened the car door and slid out, closing
it behind her. Yuri didn't even seem to notice. She was deeply engrossed in
her work.
     A few minutes later the car door opened again. Instead of Kei a large,
black, feline leapt into the car. Tamika might have screamed if not for the
fact that Yuri took a second to scratch the cat behind its ears and then
push its head off her lap.
     Kei slid in after, taking up her lap top after she had closed the
door.
     "Don't mind Mughi." Kei told her. "He's rather harmless."
     "Are you sure." Tamika inched back.
     "I'd bet your life on it." Kei said as she plugged the interface cable
back into her neural socket.
     "I feel so much better." Tamika said sarcastically. "Can I get  you
something, a drink or a small mammal?" She asked Mughi.
     Mughi yawned.
     "Home." She told the driver.
 
     Kei finished her work first and toggled the lap top off. She tugged
the interface cable from behind her ear and let it fall across her legs.
She rubbed at her temples for a moment to ease a small discomfort. Sims,
computers, she hated having to plug her head into anything, except weapon
systems. The psytechs told her it was psychosomatic, Kei told them where
they could put their theories.
     "Would you like something to drink?" Tamika asked.
     "No thanks." Kei reached down and removed a small disk from the
computer. "This contains all my recommendations but I'll give you the
basics now." She handed the disk to Tamika.
     "That was fast." Tamika took the disk.
     "We're good. First of all you will need about two hundred more
security people so we can set up a proper defensive perimeter. Make sure
you can trust them."
     "No problem. I have several installations on this planet, I can pull
trustworthy personnel from them."
     "Good. Now I think you could use some armour, tanks, or better yet
battle frames." Kei said hopefully.
     "I can get battle frames, how many?"
     "Let's say fifty heavy ground based models and twenty five that are
flight capable as well as support crew."
     "You'll have them in about six hours." Tamikia told her.
     "You can do that?" Kei was truly surprised. She was asking for more
than she needed in hopes she would get the numbers she actually felt would
be able to do the job.
     "I own several arms companies right out and have stock in quite a few
others. Getting weapons won't be a problem."
     "Perfect. Your biggest problem now is that you're too open to air
strikes. I think twenty SAM launchers will take care of that. We'll also
set up thirty AA batteries around your house to take care of anything that
makes it past the missiles."
     "Any particular missile in mind?"
     "No, they're all similar enough for our purposes."
     "Any thing else?"
     "Arm any of your household staff you can trust and who know how to
handle a weapon. Make them think they are the only one with a weapon just
in case you have a leak. What do you carry?"
     "Carry?"
     "Weapons." Kei said.
     "Nothing."
     "Wrong answer. You know how to fire them?"
     "Yes."
     "Good, we'll find you something then. How about you kids?"
     "I suppose we could give Catherine something. She's responsible and an
excellent shot, at least on the target range."
     "All right. Like I said, the rest of my recommendations are on that
disk. Put them into effect as soon as possible. If I think of anything else
I'll tell you." Kei leaned back into the seat.
     "I'm sorry I ruined your vacation."  Tamika said.
     "Don't be. Things like this do tend to happen. It just would have been
nice if they had put Yuri's new eye in."
     "What?" Yuri asked, looking up from her work.
     "Just telling Tamika about you fetish for rubber undergarments." Kei
smiled.
     "Uh huh." Yuri went back to her work.
     "I hate it when she does that." Kei shook her head.
     "What?" Tamikia asked.
     "Tunes me out like that. Once she starts fooling around with a
computer it takes something big to get her attention."
     "Some of my computer specialist are like that." Tamikia said.
     "Pet hackers?" Kei asked.
     "I prefer to think of them as somewhat tame."
     "You know I often think Yuri was lucky she got into 3WA, if she hadn't
she'd have probably been arrested for computer crimes." Kei seemed to think
about it for a minute. "Well maybe not arrested, but she'd certainly be
wanted for them."
     "She still breaks ice doesn't she."
     "Mostly on cases but occasionally for a bit of fun and to keep her
reflexes up. I think its sort of sad but she's a bit of a wallflower." Kei
smiled.
     "Many of my companies have a lot of trouble with people like that."
     "Well its not like Yuri steals any thing or dumps viruses." Kei said
indignantly.
     "Thanks for defending me." Yuri shut off the computer.
     "Nice to have you back. What do you think?" Kei asked.
     "There's not much I can think of that would make the security system
better. It's on the cutting edge. I suppose we could rig up some panic
buttons, disguise them as jewellery and tune them to our coms system." Yuri
closed the lap top.
     "Sounds good." Kei said.
     "What sort of computer do you have running things, that information
wasn't included?" Yuri asked Tamikia.
     "A Heckler and Kotch 5000 D." She told Yuri.
     "That would explain it. A properly programmed 5C could take care of
you better then many of the things we could suggest, and a 5D."Yuri shook
her head. "I didn't even know they were out on the market."
     "They're not, but I have some connections. It's a good computer."
Tamikia said.
     "I prefer their weapons." Kei said.
     "You would." Yuri told her, she reached down and pushed Mughi off her
feet.
     "Oh sure, and that VP70M you acquired isn't one of you prize
possessions."
     "I'm not denying that they made good weapons and still produce a very
fine limited edition but they are a computer company now."
     "Do you have any other ideas." Tamikia asked them.
     "To improve you security, no. As for the other attempts on you life
and the kidnappings, they all seem strictly amateur. We have no idea who's
behind it but you have quite a few potential enemies as well as anyone
looking to make a lot of money. The possibilities are almost limitless."
     "Give us a little time, we'll solve this case." Yuri said.
     "We always do." Kei told her.
     Tamikia could not help but feel worried.

     "Very Nice." Kei said as the crossed through the large double doors
that led into the large tiled foyer that was lit by the skylights high
above.
     "Thank you." Tamikia said. "The house is my main center of operation."
     "The stone of the outside walls won't stop a determined attack." Yuri
said as she looked around. The painting on the wall looked like a Picasso
but it couldn't be, at least she thought it couldn't be.
     "There's twenty five centimeters of dura alloy behind the stone."
Tamikia told her.
     "Think that will stop a determined attack?" Kei needled Yuri.
     "If not we can always use something really dense, like your brain."
Mughi moved a few steps away, as if he sensed a fight brewing.
     "Oooh."
     "Would you two like to see your room." Tamikia asked, interrupting
them. "I've put you in the same room but I can change that if you want."
     "No, that's fine." Yuri said.
     "Oh good, I'll have a maid show you to your room." As if Tamikia's
words had worked magic a young woman in a maids uniform was there. She gave
Mughi a nervous glance but came forward non the less.
     Discrete servants, Kei thought making a mental note to be more
observant.
     Cute uniform, Yuri thought, cute girl. Moves like a fighter though,
interesting.
     "Anna, could you take Kei and Yuri to the room I had prepared for
them."
     "Yes ma'am." Anna gave Tamikia a small bow. "If you will come with
me."  She said to Yuri and Kei.
     She led the two trouble consultants and Mughi off towards the family
wing.
     Tamikia was about to head to her offices when her Majordomo, Pell,
came into the foyer and headed straight towards her.
     "Ah Pell, good. The 3WA agents have arrived, make sure they get
anything they want."
     "Of course, but Tamikia, I'm not sure about those two. They do have a
rather unsavoury reputation and they will not be a good influence on your
children."
     Tamikia was rather surprised by that. Pell was usually tolerant of
almost everybody. She knew Kei and Yuri had a bad reputation but she also
knew the press tended to be more interested in selling news than in telling
the truth. She mentally shrugged. If Pell didn't approve of the trouble
consultants that was a minor problem. She had better make her opinion on
the matter clear though, she thought.
     "Pell, those two young ladies have never failed a case. Right now
their job is to protect my daughters and myself. As for being a bad
influence I'd rather have Catherine and Susan corrupted than dead, or
worse."
     "Of course." He said, a slight hint of surprise in his voice. "I never
suggested otherwise. I'm sorry I upset you."
     "Don't be sorry Pell. I put you in charge of the household because you
would question me." She reached out and patted Pell's shoulder then turned
and left him, heading for her offices.



           CHAPTER 5
                               "It's all fun and games till someone
                     gets hurt, then it's just fun. When someone gets
                     killed it's our job and when an entire city is
                     destroyed it's not our fault."
                               Remark attributed to Kei by an
                               anonymous reporter.
 

     "You should see the view from the bathroom." Kei said as she walked
into the bedroom, a towel wrapped around her, steam flowing out of the door
behind her.
     "Why would anyone want a great view from a bathroom?" Yuri asked, more
rhetorically than anything else.
     "I don't know, you can make the glass cloudy or even opaque just like
the window in this room though."
     "That would lessen ones' worries about voyeurs."
     "Nice room she gave us." Kei said as she tossed herself onto one of
the canopied beds.
     Yuri nodded.
     The room had two beds in it, several chairs, two couches, a coffee
table in front of each. A book shelf covered the wall opposite to the beds.
It held an entertainment center, two computer workstations and of course
books. The door leading to the bathroom was between the beds. Opposite to
the door that led out into the hall way was a picture window that made up
the outside wall of the room.
     Yuri sat on the window bench staring out at the manicured lawns and
the forest two hundred meters away. She knew that the security system
covered the forest so well that every animal in it could be counted and
identified. It would be nearly impossible to get through the forest
undetected.
     Her fingers tapped absently at the keys of the lap top she had found
in the room. She hardly paid any attention to it, so absorbed by the view
as she was.
     "So why do you think 3WA went to so much trouble to get us here?" Kei
asked from the bed where she was towelling her hair dry.
     "You noticed that to." Yuri looked away from the view to see Kei nod.
"I suppose we'll find out some day. At least we're getting the Angel
refitted almost two years before the set date or it being trashed."
     "Bet you politics are involved one way or another."
     "Probably." Yuri said as she looked at the screen of the computer.
When did I load a game into this thing? She wondered.
     "How long do you think this case is going to last?" Kei opened one of
her suit cases and began tossing clothes onto the bed.
     "Not too long." Yuri turned the computer off. "I mean how long do you
think they can afford to just leave us here?" Yuri stopped and considered
the implications of what she had just said.
     "They wouldn't." Kei said, having reached the same unpleasant
conclusion Yuri had.
     "Of course not."
     "Good." Kei said knowing that neither she or Yuri were all that
reassured. By silent agreement they both decided to forget it.
     Kei put on her undergarments then took a seat at the vanity table to
brush out her still damp hair. Yuri simply stared outside, letting her mind
wander.
     A few minutes later Yuri was snapped back to the present by a knock at
the door.
     "Yea." Kei called.
     "It's Tamika, can I come in?" She called from the other side of the
door.
     "Sure, it's not locked." Kei said.
     Yuri went back to looking out the window.
     Tamika pushed the door open, entered the room and took a look around.
She had not been quite sure what to expect, guns strewn about the room with
a scattering of immodest clothing had filled her mind. She was almost
disappointed.
     Yuri was sitting on the window bench, staring dreamily out the window.
Kei was sitting at the vanity, checking her bangs for split ends.
     "So what can we do for you?" Kei asked, finished with her hair.
     "I just came to tell you that your suggestions have been put into
effect or soon will be. Also I'm going to a formal party tonight...."
     "Great, we love parties." Kei interrupted. Yuri came out of her
thoughts and turned her head towards Tamika.
     "Well I only want one of you to come with me, the other will stay here
and ensure the safety of my children."
     "Have fun with the kids Kei. Now what should I wear?" Yuri said.
     "Oh no Yuri, I took the less pleasant aspect of the case last time."
     "I seem to remember that I was the one being tied up and beaten and
you may think that's fun but I'm not into it."
     "Yea, but I had to sit in that drop ship worrying about you."
     "Why do I get the feeling you two don't care for children?" Tamika
asked.
     "No offence meant." Kei said.
     "Let's flip a coin." Yuri suggested.
     "Let's not, no matter what the admin types say you're still on the
injured list. Stay here with Mughi acting as back up. The house is a lot
safer."
     "That's hardly fair." Yuri told Kei.
     "But the fact you might be at a disadvantage at the party has nothing
to do with what's fair."
     "Okay, I'll stay, but you owe me big." Yuri pouted.
     "My children aren't that bad." Tamika insisted. "Well usually at
least."
     "Oh sorry Tamika, we just like to uhh party, yea that's it." Kei
finished lamely.
     "Your both going armed." Yuri said as she stood and stretched.
     "I seem to recall you saying something like you had a target range?"
Kei asked Tamika.
     "Yes, in the sub basements."
     "Might you also store arms there, pistols, rifles, and other assorted
party favours?" Kei leaned back in her chair.
     "Of course."
     "Good, just let me get dressed then we'll go looking." Kei stood and
walked to her suit cases.
     Tamika walked over to look at something she had seen on the pillows of
one of the bed. It was a grey plush cat with a red ribbon around its neck.
She picked it up. It was a beautiful toy, very well made, eyes that seemed
almost real. It was nice to find a little something innocent with the
trouble consultants.
     "This is very cute." She said.
     "That's Yuri's." Kei said. "She needs it for security."
     "I can understand that." Tamika placed the cat back on the pillow.
     "It's great." Yuri came up beside Tamika and picked up the cat. She
reached into a hidden opening in the cat's stomach and pulled out a pistol.
"Kei thinks that something under the pillow is enough but I like the extra
surprise this provides. I can even fire out of it, the round exits right
between the eyes."
     Tamika sighed and turned away.
     Yuri slid the pistol back into the cat and then placed the plush
animal gently back on her pillow. She bent down to fix the ribbon and
touched the cat's nose before straightening. She saw Kei looking at her
with a smile. Yuri stuck her tongue out.
     "So what are you comfortable shooting?" Kei did up the last button on
her blouse.
     "Assault rifles, rail pistols, the very occasional heavy assault
weapon." Tamika said.
     "Assault rifles tend to be a bit conspicuous." Yuri said.
     "Oh I don't know, remember our graduation party? You could have
brought a field piece in there without anyone commenting."
     "Well let's go down to the range and see what we can find before we
start trotting out the artillery." Yuri said.
     "Come on, we can take the elevator in the next hall way." Tamika said
as she headed to the door. Kei and Yuri followed her.

     "Bang." Yuri said as she sighted down range with the Heckler and Kotch
rail rifle.
     "Having fun?" Kei asked slyly.
     "Okay, I'll admit they make a fine as weapon as they do a computer."
Yuri pulled the first stage of the trigger and the laser sight came on. She
squeezed the second stage and fired a burst into the human shaped target,
blowing its head from the rest of the body.
     "Nice grouping." Kei commented, looking at the scoring screen.
     Yuri put the weapon on safe and ejected the magazine. She touched a
recessed button inside the weapon where the magazine had just been. A
single flachette fell into her hand. She looked at the fin stabilized dart.
So small but so deadly.
     "Too bad you couldn't use the grenade launcher." Kei said.
     "Let's not get greedy." Yuri let the flachette fall beside the
magazine. She turned and walked into the weapons lock up.
     "See anything you like?" Yuri asked Tamika who was looking at a rack
of rail pistols.
     "I never realized how many damn weapons I have down here." She shook
her head.
     "You are very lucky. Did you buy them all?" Kei asked, coming into the
room.
     "Some, most are samples from the companies I own or own stock in."
     "Must be nice." Kei pulled a DEFTEC combat shotgun from its place in
the rack.
     "I think the Berreta Streamline Four would be a good choice." Yuri
took the pistol from the rack. "Rail pistol, sixteen rounds, one in the
barrel if you don't care about safety. Accurate up to a fifty meters,
reliable, easily concealed, it should suit your needs."
     "It lacks stopping power." Kei said as she put the shot gun back in
its rack.
     "Sure, if you want to drop an elephant."
     "What about a small mech, or a full conversion borg?"
     "Not a pistol in the galaxy that can do that." Yuri handed Tamika the
Berreta.
     "What about a Terror?"
     "Only in bad vids."
     "Blood bath twelve was not a bad vid."
     "Excuse me ladies." Tamika interrupted them. "Mind if I give this a
test." She held up the pistol and a magazine.
     "Go for it." Kei said.
     Tamika walked to the firing point, slid the magazine into the grip and
aimed down range. She slowly squeezed the trigger, controlling her
breathing. The weapon discharged. The score screen read a hit in the center
of the target's head.
     "Well?" Tamika said smiling.
     "Nice, if the person you're trying to shoot lets you take the time you
need and refrains from firing at you." Kei told her.
     "And you're so much better?"  Tamika said defensively, realizing even
as she said it how stupid it sounded.
     Kei took the pistol from Tamika and tossed it to Yuri. Yuri lifted her
hand, waited for the pistol to pass near and closed her fingers over it all
in one smooth motion.
     Turning on her heel, she waited until the pistol's barrel lined up on
a target and began to fire. The smooth turn continued, Yuri emptying the
magazine as fast as the targets presented themselves. While few of her hits
were dead center to the head, they were all stopping shots.
     "Now it isn't realistic to expect you to be that good." Kei said once
Yuri finished. "That is after all why you have body guards and why we've
been assigned to you."
     "Try firing from a kneeling position or prone." Yuri handed her the
pistol and a new magazine. "It will make you that much harder to hit."
     "And remember to use surprise. No one will expect you to be armed. If
you can wait until your target gets close and then."  Kei put her hands
together with her trigger fingers extended to form a pistol shape. She made
a firing motion.
     "And don't be afraid to just blow off an entire magazine. Keep their
heads down and make them waste time." Yuri said.
     Tamika nodded then knelt down and began to fire, trying for speed
rather then accuracy. She fired twenty magazines worth of ammunition before
the trouble consultants were pleased. Tamika had to admit she had picked up
several tips that could prove quite helpful.
     "What about my daughter?" Tamika asked a few minutes later while she
ran a diagnostic check on the pistol.
     "Catherine?" Kei asked.
     "Yes."
     "Get her down here and we'll see what we can do."
     Tamika put the pistol aside and walked to the phone on the wall.
     Kei walked back onto the range where Yuri was firing at a holographic
target sequence with the rail rifle she had used earlier.
     "A weapon for Tamika's daughter, what do you think?" Kei asked Yuri.
     "How old?"
     "Fifteen."
     "Something small, easily concealed, it doesn't have to have a lot of
range." Yuri said.
     "How about a hold out pistol, the one you used in the Jenki sting was
nice."
     "Perfect." Yuri said after a moments thought. She walked into the
weapons lock up to see if she could find one. Kei picked up the rifle, slid
a new magazine in, and began to fire.

     Catherine rode the elevator to the sub basement. She was fifteen and
at the awkward stage between child and adult. She was an attractive child,
one could tell that she would be quite beautiful in a few years,
unfortunately Catherine couldn't. Adolescent insecurities preyed on her.
She twined her long, dark brown hair in her fingers, her brown eyes held a
down cast look to them.
     She was in two minds about the presence of the Dirty Pair in the
house. In one way they were two women who Catherine idolized in a strange
sort of way. They were counter culture heros to many young people.
     On the other hand they were both very attractive and between her
mother and all the female servants the last thing she needed were more
beautiful women to feel inferior to.
     The doors of the elevator slid back revealing the range to Catherine.
She stepped out of the cubicle.
     The one with long, black hair, Yuri she recalled, was firing down
range with a machine pistol. Catherine remembered once being told that
machine pistols were inherently unstable and not very accurate.
     No one, it seemed, had ever told the 3WA agent about it, her score was
high and continued to increase. And that, she noted, was with only one eye.
The eye patch some how made Yuri look dashing, glamorous almost.
     The red head, Kei, was talking to Catherine's mother, using a tone
Catherine had trouble believing her mother would take. Life seemed even
more screwed up to the insecure teenager.
     "So you must be Catherine." Yuri said, snapping Catherine out of her
thoughts.
     "Yea." Catherine mumbled. She noted that Yuri was not using a
condescending tone, that made her feel better.
     "Glad you're here. Try a few shots with this." Yuri held out a small
pistol. "See if you like it."
     "Pardon?" Catherine was confused.
     "Your mother decided it might be a good idea if you were armed." Kei
told her.
     "Really?"
     "Yes." Yuri said smiling as she put the pistol in her hands. "Down
range." She pointed at the targets.
     Catherine shifted the pistol in her grip, walked up to the firing
point. raised the pistol and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.
     "Just a sec." Yuri knelt down behind Catherine and reached around the
girls slim shoulders. "You have to press this button." She placed
Catherine's thumb against a concave surface on the back of the pistol.
"That will connect the battery to the magnetic coils. Safety feature." Yuri
pushed on Catherine's thumb and there was a small click.
     Yuri stood up, letting Catherine aim again.
     "Go for a head shot." Kei told her. "That pistol is notoriously
ineffective against armour, hold outs are like that."
     Catherine shifted her aim, pulled the trigger. The projectile barely
hit the top of the target six meters away.
     "You're pulling the trigger." Kei said. "Squeeze it and the entire
grip. When it fires it should be a surprise."
     "Control your breathing." Yuri said after Kei had finished speaking.
"Breathe in, half out, aim and fire."
     "I know." Catherine muttered. She did know, she had just forgotten.
     She did what they said though and fired again. Almost dead center in
the targets head. She fired a few more times, more head shots.
     "Try it kneeling." Kei instructed.
     Catherine dropped to her knee and fired some more shots. She found it
harder but quickly got the feel for it.
     When she ran out of ammunition Yuri handed her another tube magazine
of the teflon coated, steel balls. Halfway through the magazine the
weapon's power cell went dead.
     "Good enough." Kei took the pistol from Catherine.
     "You won't need to get off that many shots anyway." Yuri told her.
     "Why not?" Catherine and Tamika asked almost simultaneously.
     "You want to work with surprise." Yuri said addressing Catherine. "No
one is to know you're armed. If it comes down to using that weapon you'll
only get a few shots off, probably at very close range."
     Kei had slid a new battery into the pistol and pushed a new magazine
into it.
     "Don't connect the battery and the coils until you're going to use
it." Kei handed her the pistol and a holster. "Do I have to give you the
standard lecture about weapons safety?" Kei asked her.
     "No." Catherine said as she took the weapon.
     "Fine, I can't remember the standard lecture anyway. I'll just give
you the warning one of my instructors gave me. Fool around with that, treat
it like a toy, and I'll shoot you in the knee caps." Kei smiled, taking
some of the bite out of the warning, but not all of it.
     "Yes ma'am." Catherine said.
     "Kei." The red head's smile was warmer.
     "Where should I keep this?" Catherine held out the pistol.
     "That's a stealth holster. It will clip on almost anywhere. Put it
into the waistband of your jeans and pull the tails of your shirt over it."
Yuri told her.
     Catherine did so, she could hardly feel the pistol but was sure it
must be creating a huge bulge.
     "About tonight." Tamika said to Kei.
     "Yes." The red head turned.
     "I'll send my tailor up to fit you for something to wear at the
party."
     "This isn't some jab at my taste in clothing is it?" Kei asked.
     "No."
     "She's lying to spare your feelings dear Kei." Yuri said. "You have no
taste. Can I borrow this?" Yuri held up the rail rifle and looked at
Tamika.
     "You can have it." Tamika said as she walked over to the elevator and
tapped the call button. The doors opened immediately.
     "We can't accept gratuities." Kei said, getting back at Yuri for her
earlier comment.
     "If anyone asks I stole it." Yuri said as she followed the others into
the elevator.
     The doors closed and the elevator began its ascent.


                   CHAPTER 6

                               "I mean they were like the biggest zeros
                   I ever met. There was this party once and Yuri was
                   doing a wallflower act, sitting in the back, plugged
                   into that computer of hers. We all thought she was
                   doing her homework but later we found out anyone who
                   gave her a hard time suddenly had a criminal morals
                   charge. Not that I can prove anything but do I really
                   need to?
                               Kei was just as bad but in a different way.
                   She was fine until some one ticked her off and then the
                   next day at least one person was getting their nose 
                   reset.
                               Like I still don't know how they got into
                   the sorority and why no one ever kicked them out. They 
                   must have had something on somebody."

                                     Buffy Vanderbrass.
                                      as quoted in:
                         Phalasia Drast's  Guns, Bad Karma, and Babes.
                         (Unauthorized, unreleased, and under litigation
                          Biography of the Lovely Angels.)


     "What do you think?" Kei asked as she pulled her hair over her
shoulder to tie it off with a black ribbon.
     "Clothes or case?" Yuri asked from where she lay on the bed, looking
at Kei's back.
     "Either, both."
     "You look fabulous, that tailor really knows her stuff. I'll probably
be fine, you might have some trouble, stay on your toes."
     "I don't need a tailor to look good." Kei remarked as she spun on the
heel of one of her black pumps to face Yuri. She was wearing a black dress
that left her shoulders bare and clung to her tightly down to her waist
where it flared out into a skirt that ended just below her knees. An
embroidered seam ran down the back of her black stockings and the pumps had
a dull shine on them.
     Yuri had to admit, with a tinge of jealousy, that it did things for
Kei that were just amazing. It looked like it had been made for her, which
was possible considering Tamika's resources.
     "So what do you want in the way of weapons?" Yuri asked.
     "I don't know, the smallest pistol I have won't fit into this purse."
Kei held the small handbag up. "Yuri be a dear, you have all those cute
little pistols. Lend me one."
     "Cute little pistols." Yuri said slowly. "You are so kind." she slid
partway off her bed and reached under it. She came up with a briefcase.
     Inside the case were several pistols packed in foam. Yuri ran her
hands over the guns then pulled out two.
     "Energy or ballistic?" Yuri asked.
     "Better go with ballistic you've never had much luck with energy
weapons."
     Yuri shrugged her shoulders and put one of the pistols back in the
case. She handed the other to Kei.
     "Tan Mai." Kei was looking at the pistol. She took a magazine from
Yuri and slid it into the weapon. She put the pistol, and two more
magazines, into her purse. "Now all I need is something for back up."
     "I have a  few hold out pistols." Yuri told her.
     "No, I have a better idea." Kei smiled.
     She walked to the wardrobe where all her clothes were packed and
searched through the small chest of drawers.
     "Here it is." Kei said, holding up a knife. "Hold this." She tossed
the knife to Yuri while keeping the sheath.
     Yuri couldn't help but panic a little as the thorn of steel spun
towards her. Her first grab slapped the handle and sent it off on a
different tangent. Her next grab caught it but at the expense nick on her
thumb.
     "That was stupid." Yuri said putting her cut thumb to her mouth.
     "Sorry, thought you were more coordinated. Maybe your reflex boosters
need a check."
     Yuri stared and the knife in her hand and then at Kei, very tempting
she thought. She took her thumb from her mouth, the bleeding had already
stopped. It was a small cut.
     Kei took a seat on her bed and pulled the skirt of her dress up around
her waist. She unclipped the garter clasps on her left stocking and pushed
it down. After strapping the sheath to the inside of her thigh she pulled
the stocking over it, careful not to put a run in it, then snapped the
clasps back on. The opening of the sheath was above the stocking top.
     "Here." Yuri handed Kei the knife handle first.
     "Thanks." Kei took the knife and slid it into the sheath. She stood
and let the skirt fall back into place.
     "How does it feel?" Yuri asked.
     "Fine. Does it show?"
     "Turn around." Kei did so. "No."
     "Good. I'm ready then." She picked up her handbag from where it lay on
the bed.
     "Don't get into too much trouble Kei." Yuri warned.
     "We'll see." Kei smiled.
     "I might as well see you off. I'm sure that Tamika will have a few
things to tell me." Yuri stood up.
     "Look on the bright side." Kei turned to make a final check in the
mirror. "This give you a chance to use those oft neglected maternal
instincts of yours." Kei headed towards the door.
     "The only thing I have maternal instincts for are fast, sporty
vehicles that have outrageous price tags." Yuri said dejectedly as she
followed Kei out of the room

     Very interesting, Yuri thought as she slipped deeper into the police
computer system. She had decided to see what the police had uncovered about
the attempts made on Tamika and her family. Yuri didn't expect much, she
was certain the information Tamika had provided was more in-depth than what
the police might have.
     Still breaking into the system was good practice.
     She had discovered a promising looking back door. She knew that any
unguarded path that looked so inviting couldn't have gone unnoticed by the
police computer techs. She had suspected a trap and she had found one.
     It was a nasty piece of work. A brain fryer if she ever saw one. And 
what would the reaction be if it became known that the police were putting
killer programs in their system? Something to think about Yuri decided as
she began to circumvent the program.
     She was almost through when someone shook her knee, moving the deck on
her lap. Usually the work she did with the keyboard was inconsequential to
her work but she had lately she had been experimenting with transferring
some of the control functions to the clumsy input device, more to show off
really. That cost her.
     Suddenly the dormant attack program was active. She put up every
defense she had, tossed out enough ghosts to keep a hundred programs busy
and got ready to punch out. The program was not deceived and made straight
for her. She downloaded some offensive programs and lashed into it with all
the skill she had. The program faltered, nano seconds at the most, she
punched out.
     Yuri looked down, back in the real world once again. She found Susane,
Tamika's five year old daughter, looking up at her. Yuri looked at her
deck, eight of ten red LEDs were blinking.
     The design of the hardware was meant to protect the user, the circuits
burning themselves out when the attack program entered them, in theory
stopping it. According to the manufacturer only one was needed. Fortunately
Yuri had never believed in advertising and had gone with redundancy.
     She was glad she had, shivering slightly at the thought of what that
program have done to her wetware. The nastier programs tended to use
positive bio feed back. Not satisfied with just stopping a heart, instead
they increased the heart rate until cerebral arteries started to blow. Not
one of the more pleasant ways to die and very little chance of
resuscitation afterwards.
     The press would be getting a nice little story about what the planet's
police had hidden in their computer system.
     "You wanted something?" Yuri asked Susane.
     "Are you a pirate?" The five year old asked. She was very cute, blonde
hair in a ponytail, green eyes with intelligence and curiosity in them, her
green dress matched her eyes, a blue sash around it matched the ribbon in
her hair.
     "No I'm not a pirate, well at least not professionally."
     "Why do you wear an eye patch then?"
     That confused Yuri for a second until she remembered childhood stories
of old Earth water pirates. These days when she thought of pirates she
thought of slick corporate raiders, hackers, and the occasional mercenary
unit that dealt in piracy. None of them would wear an eye patch any longer
then it took them to get a replacement.
     "I'm wearing this patch because I did a very stupid thing."
     "Huh?" Susane looked confused.
     "Let's just say I did something that seemed like a good idea at the
time and it turned out not to be."
     "Did it hurt?" Inquisitiveness and empathy warring for dominance in
the child's eyes. Yuri smiled.
     "Only for a little while." Yuri told her.
     Catherine, who had left the entertainment room for drink, came back at
that moment. She noticed the flashing lights on Yuri's deck and knew what
they meant.
     "What happened?" She asked.
     "Nothing much." Yuri leaned back into the couch.
     "Susane, didn't mom tell you not to be a nuisance?" Catherine asked
her little sister.
     "I wasn't bothering her." The young girl stated but she sounded if she
might start crying.
     "She wasn't bothering me." Yuri told Catherine, the last thing she
wanted was a bawling five year old to deal with.
     "Told you." Susane said, vindicated.
     "But your deck."
     "Nothing that can't easily be put right." Yuri lied. "And I do have
some things I have to do." Yuri put the deck on the coffee table after
shutting it off and removing the data jack. She reached over and pulled her
tracer kit towards her.
     "Come on Susane, let's watch a Vid." Catherine led her sister to the
large flat screen.
     Yuri opened the kit and took out several trays. Looking at the
contents she wondered what Tamika might wear. Diamond studs, she thought,
she had been wearing diamond studs when she had picked them up and when she
had left with Kei. Yuri found a pair and placed them down. One was the
activator, the other was the signaller.
     "Mughi." Yuri said to the big cat sitting on the other side of the
couch. "I want you to set these for our com frequency." She touched the
small box containing the ear rings.
     Mughi twisted around, one of the tentacles on the side of his head
picking up the box, the other scooping up a small electronic tool kit. He
jumped off the couch onto the floor where he would be able to work.
     The problem with the ear rings were that they could only produce a
signal for a short time. Yuri had all ready inserted a program into the
house computer that would turn every com into a signal relay and booster
but that would only work if Tamika was in the house or on the mansion
grounds. If the ear rings were a bit larger it would not be a problem.
     Yuri rummaged through the kit until she found what she needed. An old
lip stick tube and a signal booster.
     Mughi laid the completed ear rings on the table and Yuri gave him the
booster. With his knowledge of electronic systems, the surprisingly nimble
tentacles and his ability to effect electric fields Mughi could do in
minutes what would take Yuri an hour.
     Yuri considered what other things Tamika might wear that she could put
a panic button in. She couldn't think of any thing else though and had to
hope the ear rings would be enough.
     She would have liked to rig something up for Susane but decided the
girl might not appreciate the seriousness of it. Catherine was another
matter entirely.
     "Catherine, come here for a minute." Yuri called to her, pitching her
voice to carry over the loud music the girls had playing.
     "What?" Catherine asked as she approached Yuri.
     "That ring you're wearing, how long have you had it?" Yuri asked her.
     "This one." She looked down at the jade set ring. "Only about two
weeks but I've been wearing similar ones for almost eight years."
     "Perfect." Yuri smiled. She looked through the kit and took out
several rings that were close matches. "Try these on, see if any of them
are a good size."
     "What are they for." Catherine asked as she took off her own ring and
began trying on the others.
     "Panic button. If anything happens you activate it and it gives Kei
and myself warning."
     "It can't have that much range." Catherine said as she found one that
was almost a perfect fit.
     "You'd be surprised but I have set up relay points. Actually that ring
has a range of almost thirty kilometers and can broadcast its signal for
almost twenty minutes."
     "Impressive." Catherine said.
     "My ear rings," Yuri touched the triangular piece of metal dangling
from her ear. "Are actually com links, I can reach the Lovely Angel from
almost ninety Kilometers but the ship does have a tight frequency scanner.
Effective range is more like ten kilometers."
     "Do those ear rings have the same set up." Catherine indicated the
studs sitting on the table.
     "Unfortunately no. Once you go under a certain size the drop off in
effectiveness is exponential. It's too bad your mother doesn't go for
bigger jewellery. Here let me see the ring."
     "Here." Catherine took the ring off and dropped it into Yuri's palm.
     "To activate this you twist the stone, either way, until you feel a
click, then press down on the stone. Mughi," she said to the cat as it
approached the table with the tuned booster. "Set this one up." She placed
the ring on the table.
     Catherine was still not comfortable with the ferocious looking cat and
backed away a few steps.
     "I guess that's it." Yuri began to pack away the kit. She slid the
booster into the lipstick case and placed it beside the ear rings.
     "Can I ask you something?" Catherine said.
     "Sure." Yuri finished putting away her equipment.
     "You went to a normal school didn't you?"
     "Now that's an interesting question, what exactly do you meant by
normal?"
     "Well a regular school, the sort most people go to."
     "I went to Meizuira University, I suppose you could call it a regular
school, in the loosest sort of definition of regular."
     "I've gone to a few very exclusive private schools, but mostly I have
had private tutors all my life. Shortly before the kidnapping attempts
started I told my mother I wanted to go to a regular school."
     "To see how the other half lives?" Yuri asked her.
     "No. Because I want to have fun."
     "Well I did have a lot of fun. Probably because of Kei but let's not
let her know that."
     "So when you were my age what sort of things did you do?" Catherine
took a seat on the couch beside Yuri.
     "Came real close to failing psychology." Yuri leaned back against the
couch.
     "Pardon."
     "I know it doesn't sound like fun but there is a nice story behind
it."
     "You see during one semester Kei and myself had a spare after lunch
then the psychology class in question then the rest of the day free. Kei
suggested that if we skipped that lecture we'd have time to see some
movies, check out some bars with our false ID and scope out a few members
of the opposite sex. There were also a few minor crimes which have since
been purged from every know data base in the known universe." Yuri smiled
as she thought back on those times.
     "What happened?" Catherine asked her.
     "Missed a lot of classes, saw some good movies, found out our forging
techniques needed work and met a lot of laimoids." Yuri laughed.
     "What about your psychology class?"
     "Oh let's just say a copy of the final found its way into our hands
and we did reasonably well. You know thinking back on that I come to
realize just how bad of an influence Kei has had on me."
     Mughi placed the ring he had tuned on Yuri's knee. Yuri handed it to
Catherine. Catherine slid it on, wondering if a regular school was such a
good idea after all.

     Kei stifled a yawn. She decided she should have let Yuri come instead.
God she was bored. The string quartet would have been fine for a funeral
but Kei was far from dead. She wasn't sure she could say the same for the
majority of others in the large hall though.
     The hall had a high ceiling, white pillars stretched from floor to
ceiling along the walls. There were many alcoves, like the one Kei was in,
that offered people places to sit. A buffet lined one of the walls. Waiters
bearing trays of drinks moved though the crowd. Kei didn't feel like eating
and alcohol was off limits. She was so bored.
     When she had first arrived she had stayed with Tamika, who had
introduced her as business partner to several groups of people. Kei scanned
the crowd discretely for what must have been the hundredth time and picked
out Tamika talking to several older gentleman.
     An hour ago things had gone from excruciatingly boring to incredibly
painful. A very annoying man, who had introduced himself as Thomas Valwrom
the third, had decided he was going to make her night. He was only a few
years older then Kei but looked older and acted younger.
     She had tried to loose him several times but had not had much luck. If
she didn't have to watch Tamika she would have hidden in the ladies rest
room.
     He prattled on endlessly about how he was going to inherit his fathers
fabulously successful electronics firm in only a few years and how it would
make him very rich. Only if his father was a complete idiot Kei thought
disgustedly. Thomas was an fool who would not know a board room from his
elbow.
     She leaned back in her seat and swirled her drink, soda water and
lime, lazily. She felt another yawn coming and let it show, hoping the
idiot in front of her might take the hint. He didn't, obviously thick as a
brick.
     Kei looked around the room again, she saw three new guests enter. Like
she had done with all people arriving she watched them. they all seemed to
belong and she might have passed them by if not for the man on the right.
     He twitched, almost constantly. It might be drugs, it could be
neurological disease, or it might be the effects of a bad reflex boost that
had been pushed to far. When one had their reflexes jazzed too high without
the proper controls they tended to react to everything without realizing
what they were doing. A constant twitching was the effect.
     Kei slid her hand into her purse, wrapping her fingers around the
pistol's grip. She watched the two men and the woman as they moved into the
room. She had a relatively clear shot at them, and would for about five
seconds more she guessed, noting the group of people slowly moving into her
field of fire.
     The three looked around smoothly, locked on Tamika and began moving
towards her.
     The twitcher reached into his coat, Kei let him pull his pistol out
fully before firing on him.
     She put three shots into his head, a tougher shot but she didn't have
to worry about armour.
     The woman had an SMG out, how she had hidden it was a trick Kei would
have liked to know. She didn't have time for aiming, she went for center of
mass. If the woman had been wearing armour it didn't do her much good.
     The last one had his pistol out and was looking around for the source
of the attack. Bad move Kei thought, most unprofessional. If he had tried
to take Tamika out there and then he might have succeeded.
     Kei fired, shattering his wrist, causing him to drop his pistol. She
fired twice more, one to each knee. Disarmed and alive for questioning.
Yuri would be so jealous.
     At that moment the people supposed to be providing security for the
party seemed to realize what was happening. They didn't take any chances
and sprayed the would be assassins with auto weapon fire, killing the one
Kei had hoped to talk to.
     Kei noticed Tamika slip something back into her purse. At least no one
had seen she was armed.
     The red head put her own weapon back in her purse and took out her 3WA
ID. She would be having a nice conversation with planetary police no doubt.
She looked up and noticed Thomas staring at her.
     "Go away." She told him flatly.
     Surprisingly enough he did.
     "Should have tried shooting some one earlier." Kei said quietly to
herself as she stood up.

     "So what do you think?" Tamika asked Kei as they entered the mansion.
She handed her coat to one of her maids and caught up to Kei.
     "They were professionals." Kei told her. "Not the best but good
enough. If one of them was still breathing I could tell you more."
     "What did the captain say to you?"
     "Little of use. A bit of this, a lot of that, a few rather stupid
things, and some poorly veiled threats. The normal crap I get from
planetary police when they think I have no right being on their balls of
rock. Oh, she also promised me that she'd send me all the information the
autopsy and computer searches turn up."
     "You don't expect much do you?"
     "No. It will take weeks if not years for any of the DNA prints to turn
up a positive ID and that's supposing their DNA is registered somewhere. By
the time any useful information is found the trail will be cold and
useless."
     "So you just have to wait until the next attempt is made." Tamika
sighed. "And that's assuming you can get one alive and make them talk."
     "If we get our hands on a live body we can make it talk." Kei stated
flatly.
     "I don't appreciate being bait." Tamika said as they turned into the
family wing.
     "Who does, ask Yuri how she lost her eye." Kei took her pistol from
her purse, ejected the magazine and safetied it.
     Tamika stopped in front of the door to the entertainment room hearing
noise behind it. She pushed it open softly and the music grew louder, but
not much. She smiled.
     "Cute, isn't it." Tamika pushed the door open wider so Kei could see
in.
     "Adorable." Kei agreed as she winked at Mughi and put a finger to her
lips. She took out the camera she had used earlier to take pictures of the
bodies. She put it to her eye and pressed the record button.
     Catherine was sleeping in front of the vid screen which had shut
itself off. Yuri lay on the couch, looking rather innocent in sleep. Her
skirt was tangled around her ankles and her blouse was bunched up below her
breasts. Susane had curled up between the couch back and Yuri and was
asleep also.
     Yuri was suddenly awake but she didn't move. After taking a look
around she relaxed and brushed the hair out of her eyes.
     "I'm almost positive I told these kids to go to their rooms." Yuri
said.
     "Haven't dealt much with children have you." Tamika gathered Susane up
in her arms. The five year old mumbled sleepily then was quiet again.
     "How did you guess." Yuri yawned.
     Tamika took Susane out of the room.
     "These pictures will look so cute, unlike most of the pictures of you
which are only fit for porn mags." Kei laughed softly as she held up the
camera.
     "If you don't want to die you'll give me the camera." Yuri told her.
     "Don't be ridiculous. They will go straight to 3WA public relations.
You know they've been dying to get some nice pictures of us, granted your
half naked but it has an innocent air to it." Kei smiled.
     "I swear." Yuri said as she pulled her skirt up and pushed her blouse
down.
     Tamika slipped back into the room and woke Catherine. The girl yawned
and left the room.
     "Good night girls." Tamika said as she followed her daughter out.
"Don't stay up too late." Then she was gone.
     "Anything of great interest happen?" Yuri stood and stretched.
     "Attempted assassination." Kei told her.
     "Body count?"
     "Three out of three bad guys dead. I had an unwanted assist on the
last one."
     "Oh well. The police doing the standard check?"
     "Yes."
     "Don't expect much?"
     "No." Kei walked across the room to the stereo and turned the music
off.
     "So we wait?" Yuri yawned again and dropped back on the couch.
     "Looks like it." Kei turned.
     "Party any fun?"
     "Loads." Kei lied, smiling.
     "Damn. Yuri said.

           CHAPTER 7
     
                               1. Operating an illegally modified 
                                  spacecraft.
                               2. Exceeding safe speed in a heavy
                                  traffic zone.
                               3. Unsafe manoeuvers.
                               4. Threat to other spacecraft.
                               5. Refusal to comply to an official
                                  order by orbital control.
                               6. Resisting arrest.
                        List of charges placed against Kei and Yuri (Ages
                   17 and 16) by the Mezuiliuan space police. Dropped due
                   offenders age and the crashing of all computer files
                   related to the case.
         

     Tamika leaned back in her grav chair, it bobbed slightly before the
effect fields compensated. Her gaze rested on one of the several monitors
that covered her desk. She reached forward and tapped the screen to get a
printout. The laser printer began to hum softly.
     "Tanis." She called out into the room. "Get in touch with my tax
lawyers. I need to know what the UG capital gains tax will cost me if I
take over the entire industrial capability of Gelves world and if there are
any loop holes. Oh and start some tea."
     "Yes ma'am." The computer answered in its soft contralto, voice.
     "Have on of my hackers get into Manson's account and remove the money
he's been embezzling, then report him to the proper authorities. If he
manages to get away have a price put on his head. Dead or alive, preferably
dead, mangled in fact."
     "How much should the price be?"
     "Half the interest the embezzled funds have earned, that should be
enough."
     "Yes ma'am." The computer said.
     "That's all."
     She looked at the other monitors on her desk, tapped a few keys,
shrugged her shoulders. Nothing else that really needed her personal
attention. She would have the computer check the accounts for Ty Tech and
that cleared her work load for the next several hours.
     She spun her chair around and stared out the large, tinted, picture
window that took up the entire outside wall of her office.
     Yuri, Kei and Mughi were out on the lawn with her daughters. The two
trouble consultants had been up since very early in the morning, Tamika
wondered if they had even slept. They had  checked the house, looking for
anything suspicious, attics to sub-basements, quite a bit of work.
     Then they had put subcutaneous transmitters into her daughters and
herself at breakfast. Tamika rubbed at her arm, the pain had long since
faded but she did not like having a transmitter inside her.
     After that the trouble consultants had left to check out the perimeter
defence and security. Her security commanders had sent in reports praising
the trouble consultants. If she didn't count Kei breaking the arm of one of
the guards they had handled themselves very well. It made her feel better.
     They were wearing those revealing uniforms however and she couldn't
help remembering Pell's earlier comment about them corrupting her children.
She pushed the thoughts away, also remembering what she had told him. At
least they're probably cool she thought.

     "Now if you do end up going to a university one of the first things
your going to want to do is pledge a sorority." Kei told Catherine.
     She was lying on a bench under a large tree, its canopy providing
shade from the late morning sun. She reached down, pulled a blade of grass
from the lawn and began chewing on it.
     "Why?" Catherine asked, she was sitting on the same bench.
     "A sure way to get involved in parties for one thing." Kei took the
blade of grass from her mouth. "Lots of sort of friends who will try to
screw you around while your trying to do the same to them. Make sure you
have a friend you can trust to watch your back and you should be fine. It's
great fun."
     "I don't get it."
     "It sounds confusing at first but once you get into the flow of things
it makes a lot of sense, or at least it did to me."
     "What did Yuri think about all this?"
     "Who do you think explained it all to me?  Oh granted she looks
innocent enough but she's been known to tamper with brakes and put a
person's credit rating in the toilet. Quiet yes but not harmless."
     "Do you have any other suggestions?" Catherine asked.
     "It wouldn't hurt to have your mother buy you a nice car maybe a yacht
with a good fold drive. Being able to make a trip to another system is
always a good way to make people very jealous of you."
     "That's important, making people jealous?"
     "No, but it is good for laughs. Remember school only happens once."
     "Strangely enough it sounds like good advice." Catherine said sagely.

     Yuri sat on the lawn, her back up against a sleeping Mughi. Susane was
also using the cat as furniture, she didn't seem alarmed by him like her
sister.
     Yuri listened to the five year old's triad as she picked shapes out of
the clouds. Yuri found herself being reminded of the imaginary worlds one
could see in the soft billowy clouds. Susane had an excellent imagination
and was not ashamed to let it run wild.
     She was brought out of the quiet reverie by the soft beeping from her
left ear ring. She reached up and brushed her hand across it to activate
the comlink. She answered the call quietly as not to disturb Susane. There
was a flesh coloured com dot pasted to her neck which acted as a
microphone.
     It was the ship yards calling to tell her that the refit on the Angel
had been completed and they could pick it up. She thanked the person,
signed off and then called Tamika.

     The buzz of the phone on her desk took Tamika's attention from what
was going on outside. She turned and placed a hand on the speaker,
activating it.
     "Yes." She said.
     "Tamika, this is Yuri." Tamika was slightly surprised at  getting a
call from Yuri when they were only about twenty meters away from 
each other.
     "What can I do for you?"
     "I got a call from the ship yards and the Lovely Angel is ready. I'd
like to bring it back here so we can use it if necessary. Would it be a
problem if Kei or myself went and got it?"
     "You can both go, the grounds are more than secure enough. Take that
walking carpet with you, my people are beginning to complain, he's
terrifying them."
     "Thanks, we'll be back soon."
     "Good. You can take whatever vehicle you want from my garage."
     "Thanks again. Good bye." Yuri shut her com off.
     "See you later Susane." Yuri stood. "Come on Mughi." She tapped his
side with the toe of her boot. He woke but waited until Susane was no
longer leaning on him before getting to his feet.
     "Where are you going?" She asked.
     "To get my ship. I'll give you a ride when we get back." Yuri knelt so
she was almost eye level with the five year old.
     "Promise?" She asked.
     "Promise." Yuri reached out to straighten one of the bows in Susane's
hair then stood and strode across the lawn to Kei.
     "Come on Kei, we're going to pick up the Angel."
     "Doesn't Tamika want one of us to stay?" Kei asked.
     "No, she's letting us get out for a while. I guess we did a good job
of securing the place."
     "Nice of her. Catherine we'll continue the conversation when I get
back." Kei stood.
     "Sure." Catherine said.
     "Are you filling that poor girls mind with bad advice?" Yuri asked as
she set off for the garage.
     "And what would you consider good advice. Lock yourself in a room and
study every single hour of the day? I'm telling her how to enjoy her self."
     "Did you tell her to find a friend who could hack into the schools'
files and change her marks?"
     "You never did that." Kei said.
     "Do you actually think you passed on the basis of your scholastic
merit?" Yuri asked lightly.
     "Where do you want me to send your body?" Kei smiled. Always a bad
sign with that tone of voice Yuri knew.
     "Kei, your shoes are untied." Yuri said. Kei looked down. Why she
could never be sure. Only Yuri could get her to fall for a line like that.
Yuri took full advantage of it and swept Kei's feet. Then she sprinted
towards the entrance of the underground garage, Mughi at her heels.
     "You little.." Kei yelled as she got to her feet and ran after Yuri.
     When Yuri was far enough into the garage she stopped and turned to
face Kei. She waited until the redhead was only three meters away before
speaking.
     "Tamika said we could take what ever we want." Yuri smiled.
     Kei stopped short, just in front of Yuri. She looked around the huge
garage and at all the vehicles it contained. She let out a whistle of
appreciation.
     "I'm still going to hurt you Yuri." Kei called over her shoulder as
she walked between a set of APCs.
     Yuri smiled and headed in the opposite direction, Mughi at her heels.
     The place was incredible to the point of being ridiculous. She
wondered if Tamika had actually decided on the set up or if some architect
had decided if for her. There were so many damn vehicles in the place as
well, a number of them military.
     "How about a tank?" Kei yelled from somewhere behind Yuri.
     "Can't parallel park a tank." Yuri yelled back as she scanned a row of
racing bikes.
     "Yuri come here." Kei called a few seconds later.
     Yuri left off her examination of the bikes and headed in the direction
of Kei's voice. She circled around a tank, Mughi leapt atop it, dropping
down on the opposite side. Kei was waiting for her, sitting in a black
sports car. It was low, streamlined and looked like it would cut through
the air like monfilament.
     "I'll take this one." Kei smiled up at Yuri.
     "Any reason." Yuri leaned against it and stumbled forward as her hand
slid off the car. "This thing is frictionless!" Yuri said.
     "Almost. I had a bitch of a time getting the door open."
     "It's ridiculous. Why would anyone design a car like this?"
     "I think it's a prototype that never got into production. Some bored
engineer with nothing better to do probably designed it. It's probably the
only one in existence."
     "Could be. It's just the sort of thing an engineer would come up with.
A good idea but impractical, probably due to cost."
     "Whatever. Go get the keys." Kei said.
     "Why should I get them?"
     "Because if I do you'll grab the driver's seat."
     "Would I do that?" Yuri asked innocently.
     "In a second."
     "So true."
     "Get in the back Mughi, and don't tear the upholstery. Yuri see if you
can get me a pair of sun glasses while you're at it." Kei called as Yuri
set off towards the chief mechanics office.
     "I suppose you'll want me to make your bed next." Yuri muttered.
     The office was small, enough room for a desk, several chairs and a
large cabinet full of keys.
     The woman in charge didn't seem to want to give Yuri the keys to the
car, in fact she seemed horrified by the thought someone would even
consider driving it. She told Yuri the car had never been driven.
     Yuri tried to reassure her by telling the woman that they would break
it in. It had the opposite effect. It took a bit of convincing but Yuri
finally got the keys.
     "Here." She called to Kei a short time later, tossing her crystal rod
that contained the starting codes for the car.
     "Thanks." Kei slid the rod into a slot on the steering column. The
fusion generator began to hum. The indicators on the dash went into the red
then fell back into the green. "Yea." Kei whispered.
     Yuri walked around the car, grabbed the door handle and her hand
slipped from it. This is stupid, she thought, reaching under the handle to
find a patch that offered some grip. She climbed into the car and slammed
the door behind her.
     "Shall we go?" Yuri handed Kei one of the two pair of mirror shades
she had received from the woman in the office.
     "Road trip." Kei said as she put the car in gear and edged it around
the tank. Once in the clear she shifted up, popped the clutch and raced out
of the garage.
     The chief mechanic stood in the doorway of her office and shook her
head as the crown jewel of her charges left. Things just would not be the
same.

     The car was stopped at the west gate of the inner shield wall. The
captain of the guards smiled when he recognized them.
     "Off to town ladies?" He asked, touching a switch on the inside arm of
his armour that caused the gate to open.
     "Girls just want to have fun." Kei told him, quoting some old, obscure
song lyric. She put her foot down on the accelerator, the rear tires spun
and sprayed the guards body armour with loose gravel. She turned the wheel
sharply and passed through the half open gate.
     "You almost ruined the paint job." Yuri said.
     "What sort of active defences have been set up between the inner and
outer walls?" Kei looked around the area.
     "Dormant warbeasts for the most part." Yuri leaned back in her seat.
     "Those things take forever to get back up to speed." Kei saw it as an
easily exploitable weakness in security.
     "Not these, specially designed. Extra adrenal and endocrine glands, as
well as a symbiotic bacteria that produce stimulants and other nasty drugs.
They can be functional within ten seconds of activation and fully operable
in forty."
     "With all those drugs they can't be too stable." Kei said.
     "Probably not. Oh yea, each is fitted with a laser cannon."
     "Tamika is certainly pushing the bounds of legality isn't she."
     "It's the golden rule, she who has the gold makes the rules. Anyway
it's not that bad. Each has a cortex bomb set to go off if they leave the
area between the shield walls. If one goes rouge nothing embarrassing will
happen. Unless you happen to be within the shield walls."
     "Very nasty."
     "Remind me never to get Tamika ticked off at me." Yuri told Kei.
     They were stopped once again at the outer wall gate. It was more
decorative than the inner wall but almost as an effective barrier. Then
they were out on the road.
     "Do you think the fan jet is real or just for looks?" Kei asked.
     "Well, there is one way to find out." Yuri said suggestively as she
reached over and flipped the safety cover off the ignition control.
     "Should I?" Kei tapped the green touch sensitive plate, the car shook
as it aerodynamics changed slightly, in preparation for the firing of the
fan jet. Her hand hovered over the red activation plate.
     "Of course you shouldn't. We don't know what the effect will be, if it
is a real fan jet it probably can only be used on a special test track,
especially if this is a prototype vehicle."
     "I suppose you are right."
     "None of which is going to actually keep you from activating it so
what the hell." Yuri tightened her four point restraint harness.
     Kei smiled an pushed her hand against the control.
     Ten seconds and nearly a kilometer later the fan jet cut out. As Kei
fought to keep the car from going airborne she wondered if the jet had
blown or if a safety feature had cut it. As the car slowed to two hundred
kilometers an hour she reached over nonchalantly and closed the safety
cover.
     "Quite a ride." Yuri dead panned.
     "Adequate." Kei matched the lack of emotion.
     "All the stress indicators went into the red right after we hit four
hundred then dropped back into the yellow at four fifty."
     "Maybe we blew the diagnostic chips or maybe its a wimp safety
factor." Kei mused.
     "Think we did any damage?"
     "Wouldn't surprise me one bit."

     They dropped the car off at a high security parking lot in the space
port. Shortly after they had arrived in town the fan jet assembly had
started making funny sounds that Kei didn't particularly like. As she got
out of the car she activated the internal fire extinguishers which flooded
the engine compartment with foam. Better safe than sorry she thought.
     A moving side walk took them from the public space sport into the ship
yards. Mughi had his usual effect on people, the Angels found that they had
a large clear space around them. They showed their identification to the
security personnel and were allowed to enter.
     The Lovely Angel had just been pulled out of the work hanger and it
shone in the mid-day sun. They cycled the port hatch open and entered their
ship.

     "So what's new?" Kei asked as she started the pre-flight check.
     "Let's see." Yuri took a sheaf of freshly printed paper from the
printer tray at her elbow.
     "I like the new seats and a stereo in the cockpit was a nice idea."
Kei increased the volume a few decibels.
     "We have a new fusion reactor, a Hurricane mark two." Yuri said it
like it was supposed to mean something to Kei. "An overall increase of
thirty six percent in available power."
     "Useful."
     "Here's something you'll like. Total replacement of the thrust system
which means a whopping fifty two percent increase in speed and a forty five
percent increase in acceleration." Yuri was impressed.
     "We can take her out on the racing circuit." Kei laughed. "What about
manoeuvring?"
     "Just a sec." Yu