From: coram@ed.ecn.purdue.edu (Chaosmage)
Subject: Angels in Paradise Chapter Ten
Organization: Shadow Walker's Anonymous
Reply|to: coram@ecn.purdue.edu (Chaosmage)
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 16:30:52 GMT

                           Angels in Paradise
              Chapter Ten: It was getting boring anyway.

     The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the
     strong -- but that's the way to bet.
          -- Anonymous

==================================================================
     Like any sensible Trouble Consultant, Yuri had copied the map
to her mini-comp so she wouldn't have to rely on memory alone. 
With a little careful sneaking around, and only needing to hide a
few times to avoid the occasional wanderer, she reached the
computer center.  It was guarded, but Yuri had expected that.  She
had several sleeping gas grenades, just for such an occasion.  The
problem was the door.  Sure, she could pick the lock, or even force
the door, but the door was transparent.  She was bound to be
noticed before she could get the grenades into play.  When that
happened, all hell would break loose; someone was bound to set off
an alarm.  She needed time to think.
     "Kei, come in," she whispered into her earring transmitter.
     "What?" came the terse reply.
     "Are you through yet?"
     "Just about.  As long as you don't keep bothering me."
     "Hurry and get up here.  The door's made all of glass, and I'm
sure to be spotted going in.  You know what'll happen then."
     "Do you still have that package I put in your pack?" Kei
replied after a moment.
     "Yes.  What's in it anyway?"  Yuri had been curious about that
package.
     "Not much, just a few anti-personnel mines."  Kei sounded
smug.
     "What?"
     "I figured they might come in handy.  Rig the hallway with
'em, and I'll get there as quick as I can."
     "Sounds good to me.  Just don't trip them yourself."
     "Hah.  Very funny."
     Kei may be the one who liked explosives more, but Yuri was
good at placing them herself.  It didn't take long to rig the
hallway on either side of the door.  It was obvious, but it would
give her some extra time.  That accomplished, Yuri drew her gun,
and readied a grenade in the other hand.  Hoping that the element
of surprise might let her act before any of the technicians could,
Yuri shot the door open.  The grenade followed right behind the
pieces of the door.
     The shattering door made a lot more noise than Yuri had
anticipated.  :Damn,: she thought.  :Even without an alarm, that's
going to alert the base.:  The gas did its job; within seconds all
the technicians were slumped on the floor.  Yuri quickly ducked
through the doorway.  A quick scan of the various controls revealed
that one of the men *had* managed to trigger an alarm.  She swept a
table clean of its supply of porno magazines, and got out her bag
of tricks.  As she got her things ready, she radioed Kei again.
     "Heads up girl.  The alarm's gone off."
     "Roger.  I'm on my way."
     "I don't need to tell you to be careful, do I?"
     "Shut up.  And keep your eyes open."

     Unlike Yuri, Kei hadn't thought to make a copy of the map. 
She trusted her memory, which proved not to be such a good idea
when she quickly got lost.  Like most people, she refused to admit
it to herself, thinking she could figure out where she was if she
pressed on.  So, press on she did, right into the midst of several
grumpy terrorists.  They were not happy about being awakened by an
alarm, and were more than happy to have someone to take it out on. 
Fortunately, they were more startled than Kei, and she reacted
first.  Her first shot took the nearest terrorist in the face, her
second the man behind him.
     It didn't take long for Kei to take out those first two men,
but it was long enough.  The others brought their weapons to bear,
and opened fire.  Most of the shots missed, but a few connected. 
Kei's polymer armor protected her, but she knew it was time to
leave.  She fell back and rolled, grabbing a smoke bomb from her
belt.  She threw it in the midst of the men, where it made a
satisfactorily dense cloud.  She jumped up and ran back the way she
had come.  The men followed close behind, but not close enough to
get a bead on her.  She took as many corners as she could, scanning
for somewhere to turn the tables on the men following her.
     Suddenly, the hallway opened up into a larger room.  Straight
ahead was a sudden drop off, with a catwalk above.  Kei thought she
saw several ladders leading into the pit, but knew she didn't have
time to climb down them before her pursuers caught up with her. 
The catwalk was out, for the same reason; Kei had no desire to
become a sitting duck up there.  She looked to her left, and saw
several crates stacked against the wall.  It was the best tactical
location she had found so far, so she quickly ran and dove behind
the crates.
     Pausing a moment to catch her breath, Kei holstered her pistol
and removed her larger rifle from her back.  Slapping in a new
cartridge of caseless exploding rounds, Kei readied herself to give
her pursuit a warm surprise.  Running footsteps suddenly echoed in
the large chamber.  Knowing that this meant her pursuers had
arrived, Kei stood and sprayed gunfire down the length of the room. 
There were a gratifying number of explosions and shouts.  Kei
ducked back into the relative cover of the crates.  She was certain
she could hold them off long enough to plan a way out. 
Unfortunately for her, Kei didn't see the figure who had just
emerged on the catwalk, who could see *her* all too well.


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| Kevin C. Coram | INTERNET: coram@ecn.purdue.edu | CompuServe: 72567,2201 |
| "Don't tell me I'm nuts.  I know.  It keeps me sane."                    |
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