<--- cut here --->


                           Bubblegum Crisis
                                 ****
                      The Tempest Chronicles II
                                 ****
                        (c) Robin Smith 1995/6

                 Bubblegum Crisis is copyright Armtic,
                     Youmex and Toshimichi Suzuki.
          Other copyrights belong to their respective holders.
                              =========

Chapter 2.17
------------

[Monday Night]

Linna and Nene both suffered similar fates; their bodies thrown wildly 
across the sky before being unceremonially deposited on the shore line 
a full kilometre away from where they were standing only moments 
before.

Nene slowly came round and wondered why she felt wet and cold; 
eventually she noticed the gentle sound of the lapping of the ocean.
As full consciousness returned she became aware of a severe pain in her 
right arm. She tried to move it but couldn't; crying out as waves of 
pain washed over her and she almost passed out again.
The pain's intensity lessened; Nene relaxed a bit and she noted that 
all of her hardsuit's monitoring systems were non-operational.
Her helmet's visor was so badly crazed and cracked it was impossible to 
see through and it took some effort to remove it using only her left 
hand. With this accomplished she paused to catch her breath before 
feeling around carefully for any further damage.

Panic welled up when she failed to find her right arm; however after 
more careful exploration she realised it was twisted behind her back.
Slowly but surely she managed to prop herself into a sitting position 
by using her helmet as a support block. Gasping hard from the effort 
Nene gingerly tried to move her right arm; the pain flooded back with 
avengeance.
Eventually after much pain and gentle manipulation she had moved her 
right arm round so she could see the damage; the outlook was not good. 
The right gauntlet was almost entirely missing and her hand was badly 
smashed up. The pain killing drugs built into her hard suit were 
beginning to take effect and the plasti-skin had stopped the majority 
of the bleeding.
Her forearm was also clearly broken where the hardsuit had been 
crushed; a legacy of when she raised her right arm to shield her visor 
from the orb's corona.

Nene shuddered as she thought of what might have happened had she not 
shielded her visor with her arm.

Nene sat in the surf and considered her position; her hardsuit's servos 
were at least functional; she would never have been able to sit up 
otherwise. Use of the thrusters was clearly out of the question since 
her helmet was non-functional. After a little more effort she got to 
her feet and looked around her; she could see no-one or any immediate 
threats.

Picking up her helmet she began to walk slowly towards the steps set 
into sea wall. Between her and steps was a small outcrop of rocks that 
she would have to negotiate with care; if she slipped and fell Nene 
knew she would have a difficult time getting up again.
One side of the outcrop had a gentle gradient and was the shortest 
route, but it was over seaweed covered rock. Nene opted for the longer 
walk over the sand where she could maintain her footing better and the 
walk seemed to invigorate her a little.

As she walked round the rocky outcrop and approached the steps Nene 
noticed the railings were twisted and some of the supports were folded 
over and pointing towards the ocean.
"Hmm I guess I went through those."
She mused, stopped walking and her sight followed the direction in 
which the supports pointed. Her attention was caught by something in 
amongst rocks that was clearly not rock nor seaweed. As a precaution, 
Nene looked around to make sure she had no observers and was relieved 
when she found none.
Moving closer to the rocks she could distinguish that the object was a 
familiar blue foot protruding from one of the rocks. Carefully 
negotiating a flat section of seaweed covered rock Nene moved closer to 
Priss; she was confident it was Priss, after all how many blue 
hardsuited figures where there in MegaTokyo ?
Rounding the last rock that was earlier obscuring her vision her 
emotions went from joy to sorrow. Joyful at finding Priss and Linna 
(who was laying face down underneath Priss's recumbent form) and sad as 
she realised they were both injured.

Priss had a piece of the metal railings protruding from her left thigh 
and Linna's right leg could not be seen. Unable to use the radio Nene 
restored to a sharp rap on her comrade's helmets.
"My radio's not working, can you hear me ?"
She called out loudly.

This elicited several grunts and groans followed by a muffled, "What 
the hell happened ?"
Priss tried to rise; as she did both she and Linna screamed as Priss 
shifted her weight and managed to knock the end of the railing embedded 
in her thigh.

"Whoa, hold on a minute."
Nene called.
"Okay, this will hurt a bit; I'm going to lift Priss off you Linna. 
Give me your left hand Priss and place your right foot against my left 
foot."
Nene braced herself as she clasped Priss's left hand; she pulled gently 
at first, using her body weight to pull Priss near upright as Nene 
leaned back until she was in a kneeling position. Priss moaned heavily 
through clenched teeth and Linna cried out as Priss's weight came off 
her legs. Priss managed to find a suitable against which she could lean 
so taking some of the load off her leg.

"How's that now ?"
Nene asked Linna.

"That's a lot better thank you."
Linna sounded relieved.

"Have either of you got a working radio ?
With our current condition, we could do with contacting Sylia or 
Mackie. Say, has anyone seen or heard from Sylia ?"

"Radio's out, the visor's badly cracked but I can still see through it. 
The power unit must be all right though; I don't think I could stand up 
if it wasn't.
Hey what happened to you ?"
Priss enquired.

"My helmet's useless; I can't see a thing through it."
Nene replied.

"Not your suit !
I meant your arm."
Priss testily replied.

"Oh, that; hmm I guess the pain killer is working properly now.
My forearm's broken and my hand is badly smashed up but the bleeding 
has been stopped by the plasti-skin.
At least I'm alive."
Nene sounded almost casual as she described her injuries; something 
that Priss wouldn't have believed possible had she not heard it.

Nene surprised Priss and Linna again with her next question.
"Think you could find something we could use to splint Linna's leg with 
?

She hesitated for a split second and added.
"Like some bits of the railings; they're light and strong.; we'll need 
two bits for the actual splint and something to bind them with."

Pausing a moment to consider Nene's suggestion, Priss replied.
"Yeah, I think I can cut them up if I use my main cannon on low power. 
Shield your eyes Nene; I'm going to fly over there to keep the stress 
off my leg."
Priss waited until Nene had covered her face and turned around before 
she launched skywards towards the railings. She landed as gently as she 
could and began to chop up the railings.

"Linna, are you still awake ?"
Nene asked; concerned that Linna had been silent for a while and knelt 
down beside her stricken comrade.

"Yes, just trying to ignore the pain and my vision seems to be a bit 
wonky, unless my suit's playing up as well. My right leg hurts like 
hell but I'd say it's broken for sure; you seem to think so as well 
from what you asked Priss to fetch. How are you holding up ?
It sounds like you've had a pretty rough time as well."

"Well ..."
Nene paused unsure of how to tell Linna about her leg.

Linna noted the pause and surmised something further was wrong.
"Come on something's wrong, what is it ?"

Nene sighed and took a deep breath before answering.
"Okay, you're correct about your leg; I'm sure it is broken; the 
problem is you're lying on it as it's doubled over the wrong way at the 
knee."

Linna cursed heavily; the tendons and muscles would be badly stretched 
down the back of her leg and as for the damage to the knee itself .... 
It would mean she'd unable to walk for a long time let alone dance; and 
that was an optimistic outlook as well.

Nene broke the silence that had followed Linna's initial curse.
"When Priss returns we'll turn you over and splint that leg first."
The sound of Priss approaching caused Nene to close her eyes and shield 
her face as best she could; an eyeful of sand would not help anyone at 
this point.

As the jet's noise abated there was a yell and loud clatter as several 
pieces of metal fell onto the rocks.
"KUSO! Damn it that hurts."
Evidently one of the dropped items had caught the end of the piece of 
railing stuck in Priss's left leg on the way down; the result was 
inevitable.

Nene looked at the items Priss had brought back; three pieces of 
railing (to act as splints) and some strong wire for binding.
"Priss you're wonderful.
I didn't see any wire round here, where did you get it from ?"

Priss raised her visor.
"The electric company donated some to a worthy cause."
She paused and grinned.
"Mind you after I'd taken it the lights went out in some of those old 
warehouses; rather odd really."

Nene would normally have admonished Priss for 'liberating' the cable 
but this time she couldn't help smiling a little. Nene's training on 
the ADP first aid course was going to very useful now and she made it 
perfectly clear what everyone would need to do.
"I think this is going to hurt you a lot Linna, but it's the best plan 
I can think of. It will be a difficult manoeuvre since all three of us 
are incapacitated to one degree or another; I'll be to Linna's left and 
Priss to the right. We'll use Linna's right side as the pivot point; it 
will mean less movement on her leg.
Linna, you'll have to push up your left side with your arm; then I'll 
get my knees under you and roll you over towards Priss who can then 
lower you down onto your back.
Priss you'll have to be careful not to let her drop suddenly or catch 
that railing in your leg.
Anyone got any questions or suggestions ?"

"How do we stop Linna suddenly falling towards me as she goes past the 
point of balance ?"
Priss queried asked.

"How about if we use the wire. Linna holds onto it with her left hand, 
you pull until Linna's just on the point of balance and then I pay out 
the wire to slowly let her down.
Think that will work ?"
Nene asked.

Priss looked thoughtful for a moment before replying.
"We'd be better off swapping places, because you won't be able to pay 
the wire with only one hand; you should be able to exert a steady pull 
by walking backwards though."

"Hmm, I see what you mean. All right I'll pull Linna upright and you 
let her down; it also has the advantage that you're less likely to 
knock that piece of railing in your leg."
Nene responded after considering Priss's suggestion.

"Hey don't I get any say in this, after all it's me who's going to 
rolled around ?"
Linna cried.

"Well, any suggestions then ?"
Priss and Nene chorused.

"No, I haven't but it would be nice to be asked though."

"Are you ready for this now ?"
Nene asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be; let's get it over with."
Linna sighed and mentally braced herself for the pain that was sure to 
come.

Priss and Nene took their respective positions and Linna gripped the 
wire with her left hand.
"We start when I reach one.
Three, two ...."
Linna took a deep breath just before Priss said.
"One."

Linna thrust her shoulder upwards and Nene began to stand up; pulling 
the wire steadily as she did so whilst Priss made sure there was no 
slack as she assisted Linna. As Linna reached the point where she began 
to tip over onto her back, Nene ceased pulling. Priss was now lowering 
Linna whilst Nene did her best to support Linna's leg.

"All right, you can leave go the wire now."
Priss said when Linna was finally on her back.

"Thanks."
Linna replied through clenched teeth.
"Arrggh, that hurts."

"Scan the area and if there's nothing about then hand me your helmet 
please."
Nene told Priss.

There was a short silence before Priss replied.
"All clear. Why do you want my helmet though ?"

"My helmet's not working and I need to interface with Linna's suit to 
fix the pain killer system before we try to splint her leg."
Explained Nene.

"Can you do mine as well then ?
My thigh's giving me hell."

"I'll need to sort out Linna's helmet display; but that shouldn't be a 
problem. Could put your helmet on my head please ?"
Nene asked.

Priss removed her helmet and placed it carefully over Nene's head; as 
she did so Nene's hardsuit synchronised with Priss's helmet.
Nene now had access to most of her suit's functions. She removed the 
interface leads from their storage compartments and plugged them into 
Linna's helmet and hardsuit diagnostic ports.
After a diagnostic check to isolate any problems, she set the pain 
killing and medical systems to active. Once she was satisfied that it 
was functioning correctly; Nene tried calling Mackie or Sylia but got 
no response; the radio was dead. She set her own and Linna's suits to 
send out the automatic distress signal; that way Mackie or Sylia should 
be able to locate them quickly.

"How's that now ?"
Nene asked Linna.

"Much better thank you; the pain is a lot less now."
Linna responded.

Nene did one more check before unplugging her interface leads.
"Okay Priss. Can you put your helmet back on and put Linna's on me 
please; then I can sort out your suit."

Priss did as Nene requested; whilst Linna who now had a clear view; 
breathed in sharply at the sight of Nene's injured hand.
Once connected,  Nene now repeated the procedure with Priss's suit; 
activating the pain killer, medical facilities and the auto distress 
beacon. She noted it was unfortunately that there was still no response 
from Mackie or Sylia; perhaps they were in equally bad shape and 
Linna's radio was also non-functional.

Priss returned Linna's helmet to her as Nene was unable to easily place 
it back on Linna's head. She tidied up her interface cables and stowed 
them in their storage compartments.

Nene looked to both Priss and Linna and asked.
"Is the pain killer working now ?"

"Yes, thank you. I didn't know the suits had that facility in them.
Is it a new feature ?"
Priss asked.

"I don't know if it's new or not I found it by err ..."
Nene blushed and since she had no helmet on it was clearly visible.
"I accidentally found it when checking over the diagnostic routines."

"Hmm for accident read hacking and naturally your's is working."
Sneered Priss.

"Hey come on you two; are you going to leave me like this or splint up 
my leg."
The last thing Linna wanted was Nene and Priss having a good bickering 
session.

Priss relented and looked to Nene.
"Okay okay.
You'll have to hold Linna down whilst I manipulate her leg back into 
position.
Is that what you had planned ?"

"Can't think of any other way."
Nene addressed Priss first and then turned to Linna.
"Even though the pain killers are working I think this is going to hurt 
like hell as Priss straightens your leg."

Sounding rather annoyed Priss said.
"Are you saying I can't do it correctly ?"

"No it's just that the pain killers do have a limited effectively.
If they were capable of blocking all the pain I think I'd be out cold 
by now or maybe floating on cloud nine."
Nene pondered her last words and thought.
'I don't know why I'm still standing upright at the moment, let alone 
thinking coherently.'

"All right let's get this over with; ready Linna ?"
Nene asked as she sat on Linna's chest, her good hand gripping Linna's 
left hand to steady herself. Priss meanwhile moved into position by 
Linna's right leg.

"As I'll ever be and if I scream; keep going.
Okay, do it !"
Linna clenched her teeth together.

Priss slowly moved Linna's lower leg and Linna made little or no sound 
until her foot was almost upright. Just as Priss felt a slight 
resistance and she applied a bit more pressure Linna yelped in pain.
Priss hesitated until Linna said through her clenched teeth.
"Damn it keep going!"

Doing as Linna requested, Priss resumed the movement; then was an 
audible <click> accompanied by a loud scream from Linna. After that 
Linna's leg moved smoothly back to a normal looking position.

"Okay I think that's done.
How are you feeling ?"
Priss was concerned about what she'd put Linna through.

"F.. fine I think; just don't do that again in the next five minutes, 
huh ?"
>From the sound of her voice; Linna was obviously in some considerable 
pain. The problem was there was nothing that could be done about it at 
the present; more extensive medical facilities would be needed for 
that.

"Okay get it splinted up whilst I'm in the mood for pain."
Linna sighed heavily and prepared for some more pain.

Nene handed Priss two pieces of railing and the wire. Priss bound a 
piece either side and one done the front of Linna's knee to prevent it 
from bending. Priss gave the cable a final tighten and Linna gasped as 
the pressure gripped her leg and held her knee rigid.
Fed up with watching the stars through gaps between the clouds; Linna 
sat upright and was surprised when she got only a slight twinge from 
her leg. They sat there for a while gathering their thoughts and energy 
before considering their next action.

Linna was the first to impinge upon the gentle sound of the ocean 
dashing against the rocks behind them.
"Well where do we go from here and how ?"

"Where is here, precisely ?"
Nene asked not having the benefit of a working helmet.

"According to my locator; we're part way between the fault edge and Hot 
Legs; that means we can try to make the shop or go to Raven's garage 
and it's slightly nearer as well."
Linna answered.

"All right, I think given our current status, we opt for Raven's."
Nene proposed.

"Why go to Raven's ?
You have a broken arm and your hand is a mess, Priss has that big chunk 
of metal in her leg and my knee-cap' is probably shattered.
The shop has far better medical facilities to attend to our injuries."

"True, but we stand a far greater of being seen and giving away the 
location without my jamming or the KnightWing. Although less well 
equipped medically, Raven's is much easier to sneak into unseen, also 
he is quite likely to be there as well."
Nene's logic was difficult to argue with.
"Or would you rather phone Leon for a lift ?"

"How do you propose we get there; Mackie and Sylia aren't responding; 
so KnightWing or the truck is out of the question.
You can't fly, what with your helmet being broken; Linna and I can't 
walk, and neither can you come to that."

"Nothing wrong with my legs; so what's stopping me from walking ?"
Nene protested.

"Helmet dummy; you said you couldn't see through it and you can't 
exactly walk around MegaTokyo with it off."

Priss was also correct.

Nene stopped to consider the situation; walking was certainly out.
If only she could control her flight systems ... of course !!
Mentally she cursed herself for not thinking of it earlier.
"Linna put you helmet on me again please; I have a solution to our 
transport problem."

"What do you have in mind ?"
Priss wondered what Nene was cooking up now.

"Simple, we fly.
Priss you go in the middle; Linna to your left and me on your right.
I can link all our flight systems to yours with my interface cabling; 
then we can all lift off together.
We can link arms for extra stability as well."

"Sounds a bit dangerous to me."
Priss didn't like the sound of this.

"You fancy walking then ?"
Nene smiled.
"Besides, you two can still fly independently if needs be; I'd be the 
one with the problems if it breaks."

"Okay Einstein, you win.
Go ahead and do it."
Priss wasn't entirely happy with the idea, but it was sure to be 
preferable to walking.

Nene linked their suits and made the necessary changes to the flight 
systems so they all mastered off Priss's suit but would revert to 
individual control if the link broke down. She made a further change to 
her system so that in the event of the loss of the control signals she 
would have some rudimentary control by moving her left hand around. It 
took her about five minutes to make all the changes to the suit's 
software.
"That just leaves one thing to be done after you have your helmet 
back."

"What's that then ?"
Linna asked.

Nene paused to pick up her helmet and lifted the outer visor up.
"Knock out the inner screen please; I can't see through it.
I can wear my helmet with outer visor closed to protect my eyes whilst 
in flight and once on the ground I can open the outer to see."

"Makes sense I suppose. Okay close your eyes."
Linna punched at Nene's helmet with her knuckle bomber and smashed away 
the clouded inner screen. A few more sharp raps with left hand cleared 
away the remains of the screen.
"All right all done, give it a good shake first.
I think all the bits are gone though."

Nene checked carefully and found one piece lodged in the front vent and 
after shaking it loose she donned her helmet.

                                ******

"All ready then ?"
Priss asked.

"Yes, let's go and get the weight off my leg."
Linna replied.

"No wild manoeuvres thank you."
Answered Nene.

"With this lump of metal in my leg, you must be joking."
Priss grinned, knowing that Linna and Nene wouldn't see her.
"Pilot to crew, prepare for takeoff."

With no more comments forthcoming, Priss activated her flight system 
and all three of them lifted off as a single entity. She refrained from 
flying high but instead kept to a height of about fifty feet, following 
the rift as it was the most direct route to Raven's garage.
It was quite an exhilarating experience as they sped along the valley 
formed by the earthquake; approaching the beltway Priss decided to fly 
under it and they dipped to within ten feet of the ground. The sight as 
they roared under the highway and dodged between the supports was 
breathtaking.
The three hardsuits banked from left to right as one, zoomed up and out 
the far side of the concrete forest of columns almost clipping a set of 
electricity cables.

This aerial game of dodgems continued for about fifteen minutes as 
Priss began to enjoy herself and although Nene wouldn't have said so 
out loud she too was secretly enjoying the flight. Linna had persuaded 
Priss to keep the speed and tight turns down after one near miss and 
that high speed put a strain of their injured legs.
They were within a kilometre of Raven's when Priss changed course to 
the North. Nene couldn't ask why; her outer visor was closed and even 
had it been open the wind would have whipped her words away, so she had 
to wait until they set down. Priss had landed them in a courtyard 
formed between three old derelict buildings.
Looking about her, Nene recognised it as the place where Lisa Vanette 
had tried to photograph them during a training session; it ended with 
Priss destroying Lisa's camera.

"What on earth made you set down here ?

It's over a kilometre to Raven's garage."
Nene protested.

"Linna picked up a faint trace on Sylia's suit beacon as we approached 
Raven's. She's in that building over there."
Priss pointed to the building where she'd crushed Lisa's camera.
"Do you want to borrow my helmet for some better readings; since your 
suit has the superior sensors ?"

"Mmm, it would be a good idea to check the place out first since we're 
not exactly in prime condition."
Nene responded as she awkwardly removed her helmet and stood in front 
of Priss so it would be easier for Priss to swap helmets.

Priss placed her helmet on Nene's head and put on Nene's helmet; this 
would at least mean if anyone tried to over look them the risk of 
identifying them would be minimised.

When her suit had resynchronised with Priss's helmet, Nene ran a full 
sweep of the area with her sensor suite. To Linna and Priss it seemed 
an eternity had passed until Nene spoke.
"It's definitely Sylia's suit all right.
My scan shows her power unit is down and the auxiliary unit is almost 
drained; that's why the beacon's strength is so weak.
I've also located another body near to her and but the life signs are 
weak and there's a strange energy reading close to Sylia and the body.
That's as much as I can say at the moment, not all of my sensors are on 
line; some of them must have been damaged earlier.
Apart from that, we've got nothing else near us for about 700 metres 
and they're not moving; so it looks like we can investigate safely."

"I don't like the sound of that energy source.
Do you think it's a buma ?"
Linna was concerned about Sylia, but taking on a buma in their current 
state would be stupid.

"No, the readings are all wrong for a buma and the energy level is 
fairly low. I don't think it could harm us in our hardsuits."
Nene replied.

"Hmm, all the same I'd be happier if I could shoot back if necessary."
Priss said as she swapped helmets with Nene again and brought her 
weapons systems on line.
"Do we split up and go in as a group ?"

"Well splitting up is going to be silly, since we won't be able to co-
ordinate our entrances."
Pausing as she pictured the building's layout Linna replied.
"From what I recall there's a large window on the west side of that 
floor that we could fly through."

"Well, flying suits me right now.
Are you both ready ?"
Asked Priss.

"Yes, let's go."
"Aye aye captain."
Linna and Nene replied respectively.

"Hey don't you start that; Tempest was bad enough."
Priss launched the three of them skywards, looping over the eastern 
most building and halting in a hover by the fourth floor window.
Nene's scan had been correct; towards the mid point of the room were 
two prostrate forms and between them a flickering light. With her 
suit's enhanced vision Priss could make out that the form on the far 
side of the light was Sylia's hardsuit; the form to the left was curled 
up in the foetal position and seemed vaguely familiar.

During the few seconds they spent hovering outside the window the light 
suddenly flared brighter; the left hand form pivoted to a kneeling 
position before rising. As it stood up they could now see quite clearly 
it was Mackie; he took a few faltering steps towards the light that 
seemed to reach out to him. The light touched his torso; he screamed 
and collapsed as a finger of fire reduced him to a carbon outline on 
the floor.

"Nooooo!"
Three anguished screams pierced the night air as one.

The helmet-less Sylia was further away, but she too was now slowly 
rising to a standing position. Priss could stand no more; pushing the 
flight systems to the maximum three hardsuits flew as one towards 
Sylia. Jinking around the light they careened into Sylia and pushed her 
back some two metres.

"Arrgh, damn it that hurts!"
Linna cried out as her injured leg impinged with Sylia's hardsuit.

Priss fared no better as the piece of railing made contact with Sylia's 
hardsuit.
"KUSO!"

Somehow they remained as one; the hardsuit's servos holding them 
together through the impact. For a moment they continue to fly away 
from the light; then as one the four hardsuits were drawn back towards 
the light.

"Priss we're going backwards!!"
Exclaimed Linna.

"Thanks, I'd never of guessed that.
Hang on tight."

Priss rejoined as she pushed the flight systems to maximum; it was to 
avail though for they continued their backward motion as if nothing had 
happened.

"Don't hang about Priss, do something !"
Nene yelled above the noise.

"I have done; it's had no effect.
We're at maximum now; how far can I push it ?"
Priss asked Nene.

"Umm, the emergency boost is about 120 per cent; after that the systems 
will shut down automatically to prevent blowing up."

"Okay, going to emergency boost, now!"
They slowed and for a moment it seemed it would work; then they resumed 
their backward motion. Priss realised the situation was hopeless; she 
released her grip on Linna and Nene and tried to push them away.
'No point in us all losing our lives.'
She thought.
Noble as Priss's gesture was; it was all for naught. Linna and Nene 
remained by her side.
"Why haven't you two left ?"
Priss asked.

Nene answered first; shouting above the noise of the whine of the 
heavily stressed flight systems.
"We fight this together, we're a team; remember ?
I'm not giving up on Sylia; besides even if I wanted to leave I doubt 
that I could; that thing is over-riding three hardsuits; one would be 
simple."

"I agree with that as well."
Linna answered; as she spoke their over stressed flight systems cut out 
and fell silent; strangely though their speed of motion didn't change.

Priss whirled round; breaking the links between the suits as she did 
so. Targeting the light she loosed off several blasts from her main 
cannon together with a fusillade of railgun spikes.
A chilling voice announces,
"It is not life that is short but death that is long.
One will die so that the others can live.
Embrace and welco..."
The final words were never completed; the pillar changing into a 
frighteningly familiar orb that begins to expand. The growth ceases, 
the orb hovers for a moment before exploding; releasing a blackness 
that spreads throughout the room. Like blotting paper soaking up ink, 
all light and sound stops as consciousness slips from their grasp.

                                ******

[Tuesday Morning]

A figure lies tossing and turning over the bed, beads of sweat soaking 
into the bed clothes. Occasionally moans of pain can be heard as 
nightmarish images ride wildly across the subject's mind.  Suddenly a 
blood curdling scream pierces the temporary lull and the sheets are 
tossed across the room as the figure attempts to push some imagined 
horror away from them. The figure lies still for a moment before 
sitting bolt upright, falls back to the bed and begins to scream again.

                                ******

She wakes screaming to find the bedclothes strewn across the floor and 
sweating profusely.  Nene lies back down on the bed and sobs gently 
with relief; realising the terrible scenes she saw were just a bad 
dream. She tries to think about her dream; but finds only a hazy 
recollection of some terrible incident where she and the others either 
died or came close to death. All other memories of the events have 
gone.

Lying there for a while, Nene sheds tears of joy until the alarm clock 
sounds signalling the start of another day. Silencing the alarm with a 
well-placed slap; Nene turns on the radio and heads for the comfort of 
a warm refreshing shower. She basks in a stream of warm water; 
invigorated by the cascade of droplets dancing on her skin she twirls 
around shaking head from side to side.
Part way through a second rotation she catches the wall with her hand 
and a violent pain rips through her arm. She drops to her knees with a 
scream and closes her eyes as the pain claws its way along her arm; in 
so doing she glimpses a fragmented image; a hand bloodied and shattered 
to the point of uselessness. Within a second the image has faded and 
the pain has dissolved into the dark, from whence it came.

A legacy of her dream Nene wonders? Fighting off the feeling of nausea 
Nene stands upright once; finishes her shower and dries herself off, 
wrapping a towel around her head. After drying her hair with a towel, 
Nene fluffs out her radiant red hair, teasing out the tangles as she 
plays a jet of hot air over it.
Familiar scents of summer's blossom wafted through the window as Nene 
puts on her ADP uniform; save for the jacket.

Now refreshed and free of the sweat's rancour, Nene happily entered the 
kitchen for breakfast some fifteen minutes later thinking.
'It was just a nightmare; thank heavens for that.'
Carefully placing her jacket over the back of a chair she prepares 
herself some tea and couple of thin slices of toast. Sitting down at 
the small breakfast table to read her morning paper, she munches on the 
toast and occasionally sipping her tea.

"And now a late item of news.
Last night an area of the old city warehouse district was destroyed by 
a gigantic fireball; so far only one body has been found. The identity 
was confirmed to be that of Troy Tempest; one time chief of the AD 
Police and late of the WWLA; a full statement will be issued later."

There is a loud gasp that is followed by the sound of a cup shattering 
on the floor ....

                                ******

<End of Part 2.17>

TO BE CONTINUED ....
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(c) Robin Smith 1995/96                   Tempest@ktsabers.demon.co.uk
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<--- cut here --->

-- Mink/Tempest   aka Robin Smith        Author: "BGC : The Tempest Chronicles"
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2302    Lichfield, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
"I was committed once, but the fools let me out for good behaviour !"
IRC :  Mink  or  Tempest-    [ but "Mink" most of the time ^_^ ]