From: wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Patrick Chester)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo
Subject: STORY: Settling of Accounts pt.2
Date: 9 Oct 92 17:58:59 GMT
Reply-To: wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Patrick Chester)
Distribution: na
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX
Originator: wolfone@grumpy.cc.utexas.edu

Okay, here's my second part of my story.
Sorry I'm a bit late. If you are very interested in this story and missed part
one, I can email it to you on request. I doubt that will happen because this is
getting off to a slow start and while I am arrogant enough to post my literary
"talent" onto the net, I am not arrogant enough to expect instant fans.


Oh well, here goes....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was raining in Chiba again--big surprise. Kevin Hawke stepped out of the 
maglev unit not too soon after the doors started parting. Michael Stahl moved
quickly after him trying to catch up with his friend. 

"Best keep your guard up, Mike. We're approaching the sprawlzone," Kevin said
calmly. 

Michael glanced around the area and noticed the decay that seemed to get 
steadily worse as they proceeded down the sidewalk. The buildings were  
decaying and were liberally spotted with the craters of stray bullets. People
huddled in alleys or whatever shelter they could find while the predators of 
the street roamed the town looking for prey. The police were nonexistent save 
for aerodynes screaming overhead, the rare ground vehicle patrol and the even
rarer police raids on suspected crime organizations. There were more important
things for the police to concentrate on, so they usually came in force only if
those important things were in this part of town. 

Through this walked two offworlders who had no real knowledge of the area. Oh,
Kevin had general streetwiseness and had a mapchip in the chip socket in his
neck but they hadn't actually been to this area before. Still, people gave 
them a wide berth. It may have been their clothing, Mike in black battle  
fatigues and Kevin wearing a black trenchcoat over a business suit and carrying
a cane. The SMG on Mike's holster kept the lesser vermin away from the two.
The look in Kevin's eyes kept the stronger predators at a watchfull distance.

As they crossed an intersection, Kevin saw the holoprojected sign for the
Chatsubo. He was nearing the bar when two toughs stepped out of the alley and 
blocked their path. When they did not react to his stare, Kevin rested his
cane on his shoulder and smiled.

"Excuse me. We need to pass," Kevin said in a polite tone.

"Not til we finish our biz, Mr. Johnson," the shorter one said."You owe us 
some yen, right?" 

"Yen?"

"No Mr. Wiz stuff, chummer. You owe us 5K. Now pay, corpgeek." He took a step 
forward. Kevin stopped him by poking him in the chest with his cane. "Hey!"

Kevin grinned."I know something you don't know."

"What iz that?"

"I'm not a corpgeek and I'm not left handed."

Short Thug's eyebrows creased in confusion for a moment until his dim wits 
realized his mark had smarted off to him. "Slot-head!!" He screamed. Grabbing
the cane, he swung his right fist out at Kevin.

Kevin easily ducked the blow. Yanking hard on the grip to his cane he drew
the short monosword it concealed with the shhhhhkt! of a blade being drawn from
it's sheath. Pulling back for room, he faced both thugs and fixed both with a
blazing stare.

"Back off..... Now," Kevin stated in a calm voice. Behind him he heard Mike
draw his subgun and click the safety off. 

The two thugs scurried away as Mike scanned the area for more trouble.

"What the hell was *that* all about?"asked Mike.

"Beats me,"Kevin shrugged."Must be Chiba's way of welcoming strangers. Either
that or we have two evil twins wreaking untold havoc among the edgers in the
city." He resheathed the sword and used it as a cane again. Now he was going
to have to find another way to conceal a blade. Within an hour, he knew, word
of that trick he pulled might very well spread to potential foes. Nevermind 
that it was a very old trick. 

They both walked the rest of the way to the Chats undisturbed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


FINALLY!! Finished the frackin' thing. Okay, how many of you *knew* the cane
was a concealed sword? Sit down Kevin, you already knew. Yeah, I figured that
would be very obvious. After all, it is an old trick (ancient in the 25th
century.)

Copyright 1992 by Patrick Chester

Use without permission and you'll be headed for the frontlines to fight the
Krohn. UNDERSTAND?! Good :)
-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Chester            |"The earth is too fragile a basket in which to keep
wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu |  all your eggs." Robert A. Heinlein
Politically Incorrect      |"The meek shall inherit the earth. The rest of us
Future Lunar Colonist      |  are going to the stars." Anonymous
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------