From: coram@ed.ecn.purdue.edu (Chaosmage)
Subject: Angels in Paradise Chapter Thirteen
Organization: Shadow Walker's Anonymous
Reply|to: coram@ecn.purdue.edu (Chaosmage)
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1992 15:58:05 GMT

                           Angels in Paradise
               Chapter Thirteen: The Luck of the Angels.

     Optimism: A cheerful frame of mind that enables a tea kettle
     to sing though in hot water up to its nose.
          -- Anonymous

==================================================================
     "Yuri, I think we've had it," Kei had cried out.
     Yuri was as panicked as Kei, but somehow managed to think
fairly calmly.  "Maybe not.  I think these robots take their power
directly from the base.  When the generator blows, they might let
go."
     "Really?"
     "I hope so.  But, it will be close to see if we can get out
before the eruption."
     Just then, the walls blew inward.  The lights went out, and
the robotic grips fell away.  Yuri stood up, and saw red.  She
blinked, but it didn't fade away.  "Kei!  Get up, everything's
burning!" she screamed.
     Kei struggled to her feet.  "The whole base is on fire!" she
echoed.  The exploding missiles had back lashed down more than the
power tubes; the explosion had funneled down the hallways too. 
Every door and wall had been blown in, and everything flammable in
the hallway was burning.  If it hadn't been for the robots taking
the brunt of the blast, Kei and Yuri would have been flattened. 
The *robots* had been reduced to just so much twisted metal.  "Huh. 
That worked too, I guess," Yuri muttered.
     The Angels dashed toward the remains of the door to the
hanger.  As they reached the hanger itself, the ground started
trembling.  "Hurry!"  Yuri screamed, unnecessarily.  By some
miracle, the hovercar in the center of the hanger was undamaged. 
They couldn't say the same for Sinclair.  The explosion had thrown
him into a wall, and he was bleeding from multiple injuries.  The
Angles looked at each other; as bad as Sinclair was, they couldn't
stand by and let him die.  As one, they moved to his prone body. 
He was still breathing.  Together, they lifted him up, and fought
their way to the hovercar.  While Kei administered what first aid
she could, Yuri lifted off.
     The hovercar shot straight up out of the hanger doors.  Yuri
wanted to get as high and as far away as possible before the
mountain blew.  She grabbed the radio with one hand and frantically
tried to contact the police.  She couldn't get any response. 
Either the radio was dead, or it operated on a frequency that
wasn't being monitored.  She reached up and tweaked an earring. 
"Mughi!  We're in major trouble!  Contact Chuck and tell him that
Mount Abora is going to erupt.  And then come get us.  We're in a
small hovercar heading to the city.  I'd much rather be in orbit in
the _*Lovely Angel*_.  This car isn't going to stand the turbulence of
the eruption!"  With a mrowpt of affirmation, Mughi signed off.
     "Think he'll get here in time?" Kei asked from the rear seat.
     "He'll be here."
     Kei looked out the rear window at the mountain.  "It doesn't
look good, Yuri.  There's several avalanches already, and I see
smoke coming out all over the place."
     "He'll be here.  I hope . . ."
     "Uh, Yuri?  How are we going to get *in* the _*Lovely Angel*_?  
She doesn't have a docking bay big enough for this car."
     "Well, *you* think of something!  I'm busy!"  Yuri sounded
frantic, even to her own ears.
     Several tense minutes passed.  "Yuri, I think the smoke is
getting worse."
     "Kei!  There's Mughi!"  She pointed out the window.
     "Hurray!"
     The _*Lovely Angel*_ flew under their hovercar; then, several
grapple lines were fired from the open hatch.  Yuri maneuvered the
car slightly above the _*Lovely Angel*_.  "Grab Sinclair and get down
those wires.  I'll hold the car steady," she said.
     "What about you?" Kei asked, concerned.
     "Get going!  I'll be okay."
     As Kei left, carrying Sinclair's unconscious form, Yuri
struggled to keep steady.  There was a lot of wind, and she didn't
like the looks of the mountain behind them.  Suddenly she heard
Kei's voice over her earring transmitter.
     "Yuri!  We're in.  Get going."
     Yuri switched on the autopilot, praying that it would hold
long enough.  She clipped her weapon belt to the line and started
down.  At that moment, a cross wind hit, and the hovercar veered
wildly.  Yuri lost her grip, and spun around on the wire.  Her clip
to the line was all that saved her.  She heard a gun shot, and the
cable went slack.  She screamed as she started to fall.  She must
have blacked out for a moment, because the next thing she knew,
Chuck and Kei were bending over her in the _*Lovely Angel*_'s airlock. 
Her belt was tangled with the grapple.  "Wha . . . ?" she mumbled.
     "Kei shot the grapple free, and we reeled you in.  The
hovercar started to go out of control and she was afraid you'd get
dragged with it."  Chuck's voice sounded worried and relieved at
the same time.  "It was a good thing you clipped yourself to the
cable.  Kei saw, and knew the grapple would catch in your belt."
     "The mountain blew just after we got you in.  Mughi went
ballistic, and got us out of there just in time,"  Kei added.
     "Kei?" Yuri weakly mumbled.
     "Yes Yuri?"
     "Don't ever let me do that again.  I thought I was dead when
that gust hit."
     "Don't worry.  I'll take care of you."
     "You do that," Yuri managed to get out, as the darkness
claimed her again.


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