Through the subtropical forest, the two mymar women drove their hovercraft. Since leaving the base, they had lowered the visors on their flight suit helmets. They were going down a natural trail, Karmlyn taking the lead on her hoverbike while Jinx took up the rear on the sweep, leaving a thin cloud of stirred up dust and a few leaves. Glancing at the map on her datapad, now mounted onto the bike with it's instrument panel, Karmlyn figured this trail would take them toward the old military base for about another hour. Then they'd have to leave it as it took a bend in another direction.

Karmlyn couldn't help but glance at the scenery at times. The trees here were visually pleasing, with their leaves a natural kaleidoscope of colors, a mix of green, yellow, red, purple, pink, and others. The bark had a smaller variety, usually brown or green, but sometimes black or red. Occasionally, a small or medium animal could be briefly be seen. Usually, it was on the side if the trail, and would scamper in fear as the hovercraft approach. But a couple times, there was some sloth-like animal in the trees that would seemingly gaze in wonderment at these incredibly fast "new creatures" that had suddenly entered their domain, and disappeared as quickly as they came.

Then Karmlyn's attention was diverted back to the road as it made a slight curve. She easily adjusted her course. Then she saw up ahead part of what had created, and been maintaining, the trail. The creatures were large mammals, herbivores, about the size and roughly the stature of a hippo, only with hair. A herd of them were going along the trail, and the women had happened to catch up with them at this bend.

Karmlyn quickly applied the brakes, and gave a hand signal to Jinx behind her in case she didn't see. Her bike quickly slowed down to a more comfortable speed. Glancing behind, she saw Jinx was doing the same with no trouble. Karmlyn then moved to the side of the trail, between the forest and the beasts. The herd animals became a little edgy at the close presence of the hoverbike and it's passenger, snorting a bit, and backing off a bit to the other side.

It occurred to Karmlyn that some of the mobsters here might have done some hunting, including possibly these animals. If so, why weren't they fleeing in a stampede or attacking. Glancing behind her, she saw a possible reason. Jinx had raised her visor, and had her index and middle finger to her temple, clearly concentrating.

Karmlyn raised her own visor, and called out to her, "(I guess that comes in handy with wild animals.)"

"(It does.)" Jinx replied in a quieter tone.

Karmlyn then looked back ahead. She continued to navigate between the trees and the herd. She took care to avoid antagonizing one particular beast which had a couple young with it. Just in case, she was prepared to make a quick acceleration if it made a move at her. The huge herbivore kept looking at her with a seemingly menacing glare, but did nothing as she passed by.

Finally, they passed the leader of the herd. Maybe it was Karmlyn's imagination, but it seemed to snort "good riddance" to her as she and Jinx passed by. They were now past this obstacle. The path itself was straightening out, now visible ahead by a great distance.

While they were still at slow speed, Jinx pulled up beside of Karmlyn, "(How much further do we go down this path?)"

Karmlyn pulled off her helmet, "Whew!" She pointed to the map on her datapad, "(This trail'll take us down about an hour, at the pace we've been going. Then we'll have to leave it)." She pointed to a curvy blue line, "(Maybe we could go down this stream. Hovercraft can travel over water.)"

Jinx took off her helmet, "(I'm not sure it's a good idea to keep going down clear paths. What if our 'friends' set up an ambush?)"

"(We took out their hovercraft, remember. We need to get to the abandoned base before those bozos manage to fix their comm system and call for reinforcements.)"

"(Yes, but we don't know what they have out there. We better not take any chances,)" she paused, "(like that one you took taking shots at the mobster.)"

Karmlyn frowned, "(That mobster was Nastrum himself! After what he's put us through -)"

"(His death would not have stopped their going after us, and by slowing down you made us both a better target.)"

Karmlyn was clearly getting angry, "Jinx, (how can you possibly defend the life of that son of a -)"

"(Quiet.)" Jinx looked in the direction of the trail ahead, her hand cupped to her ear.

"(What?)"

Jinx was quiet for a moment, her eyes narrowing in concentration at one point, then she quickly turned to Karmlyn, "(Hovercraft! We need to hide, now!)"

As soon as she spoke, they could see something appearing ahead in the distance, stirring up a few debris. It was immediately followed by two more. It took only a split second for them to realize what they were. Karmlyn swore a choice word followed by, "(I second that motion.)"

Jinx then drove her sweep into the forest, followed by Karmlyn. Karmlyn hoped they weren't seen, but her gut feeling told her otherwise. Their best hope seemed to be to loose their pursuers in the trees. Unfortunately, a problem quickly became apparent. The forest undergrowth of shrubbery, vines, and other plants was fairly thick. The hovercraft could get over and through it, but made a trail as they went: a giveaway to the men chasing them.

Karmlyn noticed this, and thought a moment, "(Hey Jinx!)" she called out to her friend over the whine of the repulsor engines, and explained out the trouble.

"(Then we better head back to the road around them.)" Jinx called back.

"(Yeah, but one thing first. Make a slight turn and hold it.)"

"(What good will that do?)"

It wasn't long before a group of hoverbikes, got to the place they saw the two craft they had been told to watch for. Seeing the trail of pushed-aside vegetation, they turned and went down it, having to trouble staying on it.

After they zipped by a certain point not too far from the dirt trail, there came the sound of two repulsor engines springing to life. The thick vines that had hidden Karmlyn Jinx and their hovercraft were pushed aside, by both engines and arms, and the two piloted the craft forward at the same angle as before, completing the circle.

"(Now let's back up a bit,)" Karmlyn told Jinx, "(on the way they came.)"

They did so, leaving the circle. After several feet, Karmlyn got out, engine still running, and quickly pushed the vegetation more or less back to the way it was, "(This will help make them think they're still following us, when they're really going around in circles.)" Jinx also got off her sweep and gave her a hand. They quickly finished, turned the bikes around, and headed back to the dirt trail.

Karmlyn couldn't help but laugh some, "(I wonder how long it'll take those lug-nuts before they realize they've been going around in circles?)"

Jinx made no response. She still seemed edgy.

When they finally got back onto the dirt trail, they heard a "You there, halt!" The women turned, and saw one pursuer had split off from the pack for whatever reason, and had parked his bike by the trail not far from them. After spotting them, he began fumbling for his blaster.

Karmlyn swore and promptly exclaimed, "(Let's beat it!)" She and Jinx hit their hovercraft full throttle, and headed down the trail at top speed. Several seconds later, blaster bolts shot passed them, missing. Karmlyn reacted by making very slight left and right movements. At her speed, she didn't dare to do so more than just a touch, fearing she'd run into a tree.

After what seemed like an eternity, but what was probably no longer than ten seconds, the shooting finally stopped. Karmlyn still continued heading at full speed and the side to side movements a little more. Then they approached a slight curve. Karmlyn slowed down just enough to round it, and noticed Jinx did the same.

I think we better install our comms in our helmets Karmlyn heard in her mind.

"Huh?" she spoke aloud, then realized what was happening. She turned to Jinx, and saw she had her helmet back on, though the visor was still up, and her hair that wasn't tucked in flew in the breeze. She was correcting course after drifting to the side. Karmlyn tried to shout over the loud repulsor engines, "(That was you, I hope.)" She then realized she had a hard time hearing herself over the sound, let alone Jinx being able to.

It was. Just put the comm on. I can't keep this up for - YIPE!!

Jinx had drifted too close to the trees and hit a branch. It was thin, so it just broke off. But still, it was enough to alarm both she and Karmlyn. Karmlyn kept one hand on the controls while her other tried to shove her helmet on her head. She fumbled a bit, but got it on in a few seconds. She then clipped the comm on.

"Jinx? (You okay?)"

"(I am, unhurt. Just surprised. Psionics can be tricky to use while doing something else, especially telepathy. Hard to do both at the same time.)"

"(You certainly had me scared for a second.)" Karmlyn couldn't help but smirk, "(Here we were getting shot at , and we nearly loose it over a branch.)"

"(You mean it was nearly I who lost it, nearly lost my sweep to a crash. In any event, I would not relax yet. Most likely, that mobster is comming his friends, who will soon be after us again.)"

"(Time for a Plan B.)" Karmlyn looked at her datapad map again, glancing back up every few seconds. There were no signs of any offshoots of the dirt trail, but they were coming to a place where there were some stretches of marshland in the forest. It was closest to the trail about where there was a bend in the trail.

Even if the hovercraft left a trail in forest underbrush, it wouldn't leave one as they went over the swampy places.

"(I think we've found our Plan B.)"

They approached the bend near the end of a long section of trail that was almost completely straight. As they rounded it, Karmlyn made a quick glance to the back, then groaned. She commed Jinx, "(Damn, that last guy's catching up to us)"

Jinx answered back, "(He's going to know something's up when he doesn't see us up ahead.)"

"(Hopefully we can loose him in the swamp.)" Karmlyn then slowed further, and turned her hoverbike into the forest, Jinx going in behind her. As before, t he craft were leaving a trail in the underbrush. But this time, the trail would only lead so far.

It wasn't long before a break in the forest came, and they came upon what looked like a river of green mud, a few plants, and a small amount of water in the middle. Instead of dust, the hovercraft kicked up water and muck. Even though it was all behind her, Karmlyn didn't like it, "Mar, (I'm glad I'm not wearing my dress, going through a swamp.)"

"(This is no time to get squeamish.)"

"(Easy for you to say, considering all the gear-grease you've been through.)" She glanced down, "(I just hope we don't stall or anything. What if that water has leeches or something?)"

"(Never mind the leeches. We have more important problems, like the men on hovercraft with blasters chasing us.)"

"(Don't worry. They'll soon be long behind.)" It was at this time the swamp river took a sharp curve, and they soon found themselves comming toward a mass of vines that had somehow crossed the marsh and formed a tall wall of foliage that they could barely see through. Karmlyn put her hoverbike to climb, trying to get over it. She almost made it, but wount up going through the mass near the top, "Agh!" Jinx managed to get her sweep over the mass without hitting it.

When Karmlyn touched back down, there was some vegetation on her and on her bike. She grumbled a bit, and started to pick the vines off her pilot's suit.

"(Are you all right?)" Jinx commed her.

"(I will be in a minute)" Karmlyn grumbled, cursing a little under her breath. Then she thought she felt something move at her feet. Alarmed, she glanced down, and saw something crawl from the vines tangled around her leg, a scraggly brown rat.

"AIIIIEEEEEEE!! " Karmlyn's bike nearly went out of control as she frantically tore at the foliage and thrashing her leg about. All her attention on the vines and rat, she was not looking ahead.

Jinx was alarmed, "Karmlyn! (What's wrong!)" She heard only screams and curses. With the bike wavering around, getting close at times to the trees, she edged over to try and grab her bike.

But then Karmlyn managed to get enough self-control to apply the brakes. Unfortunately, she applied them too fast. And not in a secure position, she fell from her bike. Instead of hitting the water, however, she fell into a mass of tall dry grass by the shore.

Jinx circled around, got hold of the still floating hoverbike, and drove back to Karmlyn. Karmlyn was a little dusty from pieces of dry grass, but the vegetation had cushioned the blow. Only her shoes were wet. Still, she was quite upset, and showed it. Jinx reached her, "(What happened?)"

Karmlyn grumbled as she swept the rest of the vines from the hoverbike, "(What happened? There was a damn rat in those greens! A rat! ")

"(That's all?)" Jinx was perplexed. While a rat would have been surprising, she sensed a lot more agitation from Karmlyn that she showed with most obstacles.

"(I hate rats, Jinx!)" Karmlyn scowled, "(I really hate 'em ! )" She thought she saw the rodent swimming away in the water. She then picked up a rock from the shore, and hurled it at the water, "Mmph! " It landed in the water making a small splash. It missed the rat, but it shrieked, and sped away in another direction. Karmlyn then panted a bit, and the expression on her face started to relax. Jinx could sense she was starting to calm, having vented her frustration.

"(I'm sorry.)"

Karmlyn sighed, "(Let's just get out of here!)" She climbed back onto her bike, and got back into her position. She then resumed her progress, and Jinx followed her.

A mymar afraid of rats , Jinx thought, what would the humans think?

Karmlyn and Jinx continued to ride down the marsh. As they went on, the swampy areas going through the forest were getting wider and wider, becoming more marshland, and less forest. They soon found themselves in a mostly open area that was mostly swamp with some groupings of trees.

With the terrain less treacherous, Karmlyn took occasional glances around. She happened to notice Jinx at one point. She seemed perfectly relaxed riding the sweep, with a calm look on her face. In fact, she seemed to have a slight smile.

Karmlyn recalled that since their meeting at the casino, Jinx had only once given any hint at all of a smile, and it was very brief. She wondered what it could be that caused the wistful expression on the usually stoic psionic. At one point she thought Jinx might be amusing herself by thinking of her misfortune with the rat. But she quickly had second thoughts, That doesn't seem like her from what I've heard and seen. She then recalled she had regularly ridden on a friend's sweep back on Absolin. This led to thoughts of just what kind of "friend" this might have been, A boyfriend perhaps? A smile came to Karmlyn's own lips, Maybe you haven't always been so prudish, Jinx.

Things continued to go smoothly, then Karmlyn noticed something appearing from behind one of the groups of trees: hovercraft. There were two hoverbikes and two sweeps. Still fairly far away, but were heading their way at full speed, "Jinx! (We got trouble. Look to the right.)"

Jinx's wistful expression vanished, "(It would seem once again, we are under pursuit.)"

"(Damn! How in the hell did they find us?!)"

"(I doubt this is the best time to discuss that.)" Jinx began to speed up.

"(No kidding.)" Karmlyn put her hoverbike at full speed. The pair headed to a forested area with a marsh river going in. Glancing at the map, Karmlyn saw the path intersected with a few others, making a simple maze in places, one marsh line eventually leading close to the dirt trail they were on earlier. But first, they had to get there. One of the hovercraft, another sweep, was already firing blaster shots at them. At this distance, there wasn't much chance of hitting them, and of course they missed. But it served to remind the women of the danger behind them.

They got to the marsh river with their pursuers slowly getting closer. There was a sharp turn just behind the mouth. Karmlyn had to lower the throttle and apply the brakes to keep from hitting the trees in her turn, then applied full power again. Jinx was managing to keep up with her. It was only seconds before there was another turn. Karmlyn did another cutting of the throttle, braking, and making a tight turn.

Karmlyn was thinking, Oh damn, please not another turn like those last two . When the course straightened, Karmlyn saw she had gotten her wish, but was not thrilled about how it turned out. The path ahead was uncomfortably straight for a fairly long length. "(Full throttle and then some!)" she yelled over the comm, as she pushed her hoverbike to it's limit. Jinx kept up with her. Karmlyn's eyes fearfully fixed on the slight bend way up ahead, hoping they would make it in time.

The seconds that passed seemed like an eternity. They were almost there, Karmlyn thinking they had made it, when blaster shots streaked by. Karmlyn started to dodge side to side a little, but her bike was struck by a shot. The craft shuddered from the blow, and she fought for a couple seconds to keep control. Finally, they made the turn. Karmlyn took a quick peek at the damage, and saw the shot hadn't hit any vital systems.

Ahead was another fairly straight long stretch of marsh river, that crossed with another. Karmlyn decided they should take the left one. They were close to slowing down to making the turn to it, when two more mob hoverbikes appeared up ahead. Karmlyn couldn't believe it, "(What the - ! Jinx, brace yourself!)"

Blaster bolts flew their way from the front now. Karmlyn hated the idea of slowing down to make a turn, but had little choice. She could do little but raise the bike as she turned, hoping to keep their aim off. One shot barely missed her shoulder, and another grazed the hoverbike. She hadn't been going slow enough, and she went through tree branches in her wide turn, her bike's back end scraping a limb.

"(Okay, that's it, I'm mad!) No more Miss. Nice Girl." Karmlyn cut her engine and made a quick 180¡ spin as Jinx zipped by. She then drew her blaster rifle, and aimed it forward, set on standard fire.

Jinx made a quick, less reckless, turn, "(What are you doing?)" she yelled, rather than use her comm.

"(What does it look like?)" Karmlyn yelled back getting her rifle, "(Get your blaster ready)"

Jinx did so, getting ready for their pursuers.

The two mob hoverbikes reached the intersection and began making the turn, thinking their quarry was still in flight. Instead, they saw them lying in wait, and almost immediately were under fire. One was hit by several shots, including some maneuvering jets, and steered around right into the trees. It smacked into a trunk, and exploded. The other found himself struck by stunbolts. One hit the pilot, and the bike plowed into the marsh.

Jinx used her telekinetics to keep the unconscious man's head above the muck, and lift him onto a log the bike had landed next to. Karmlyn noticed this. She felt little sympathy for the mobster, but spoke nothing to Jinx, Guess she still has to be her. She then began reving up her engines. There was a clip on her swoop that allowed her to mount the blaster rifle on it. She placed it there.

"(Now what?)" Jinx asked.

"(Get ready to charge, guns blazing.)"

"(Karmlyn, this is insane.)"

"(I mean after they come in. What's insane is how they keep finding us, and we have to do something to even the odds.)" Karmlyn's craft was going at high throttle with brakes applied. Jinx, with some reluctance, reved up her swoop's engine, and placed her rifle in it's mounting clip.

They tensed a little as the seconds went by, knowing the first four hovercraft were closing in. Then they saw the two sweeps turning in. They then released their brakes, and simultaneously fired away. They couldn't aim that well, but figured the blaster bolts would add to the surprise, which it did. One sweep lost control, and plowed into a tree, the pilot getting knocked off before the craft hit the trunk and blew up. The other just barely managed to keep from crashing, but had to steady himself before he could start to turn around.

The two mob hoverbikes were just making the turn when their quarry appeared right at them. Jinx avoided them cleanly. Karmlyn tried to angle her turn to bump the other bike out of control. She missed, but came close enough to nerve the pilot enough to swerve, and crash sidelong into a tree trunk, snapping the bike in half, and sending the pilot tumbling to the ground.

The two mymar headed the way they came, at high speed. Jinx commed Karmlyn, "(We still have to more. What now?)"

"(I have an idea, but you'll just have to follow my lead for now. They might be listening in and have a translator.)"

The two mobsters on hovercraft, one hoverbike and one sweep, went down the river of marsh through the forest. They kept an eye up ahead for the two alien women who had surprised them and doubled back.

They approached the mouth of the marsh river where it emptied into the main swamp, and began slowing down. Getting close, they drew their blasters. They had been ambushed once before, and were not about to fall for another trick so easily.

They slowly edged up to the mouth, and kept their guns aimed to the sides, ready for the pair. The shorelines slowly came to view ... nothing! The mobsters were puzzled. Looking around, there was nothing but forest and swamp. No sign of anyone else.

Then one noticed what seemed like a glint of reflection off something in some thick undergrowth in the nearby woods ... metal?

He then realized what it was, and quickly jerked his blaster upward.

But he was too late.

He was struck in the chest by a stunbolt and toppled over. Fortunately for him, the impact of the shot knocked the upper half of him onto the shore. He heard other stun shots, and saw his partner lean to the side, still held on by his seat belt.

As the mobster slipped into unconsciousness, he heard hover engines starting up, and the two alien women rode out from their hiding places in the underbrush. The white one checked his partner over, while the other took the blaster and shot both men's hovercraft in the engines, disabling them. The blaster was then chucked into the marsh, then both of the alien women sped away on their craft.

Before long, Karmlyn and Jinx left the marsh area where it was closest to the road. Shortly afterwards, they got back onto the dirt trail they had been forced to leave. Worried about detection, they hadn't used their comms, and once they were on the road, Karmlyn slowed down enough so she wouldn't have to shout over the engine, and Jinx cut her speed as well. Both lifted their visors.

"(Finally back on the road.)" Karmlyn sighed.

"(Yes.)" Jinx knew Karmlyn had more to say than just this.

"(I'm still wondering, how did those mobsters know where we were, and where we were headed?)"

"(Obviously, they had the information somehow.)" Jinx put her middle and index fingers to her forehead, concentrating.

"(We shot their comm center to hell, so they shouldn't have been able to access the satellite to scan the surface.)"

"(It's possible they had a backup.)" Jinx continued to concentrate.

"(Yeah, it is. But I've got a feeling that's not the case.)" She glanced at Jinx, "(What's that psionic stuff of yours telling you?)"

"(Your feeling is correct.)" Jinx paused, "(It, is, -)"

"(A bug!)" Karmlyn promptly halted her hoverbike. She then dismounted, and began looking it over. Jinx stopped as well, but continued concentrating. Karmlyn searched the bike over, looking in various places here and there. Then she checked the seat, and found out it lifted. Underneath was a secret compartment, with a few small devices, including a small stingbeam blaster small enough to fit in a shirtsleeve, a small recorder, and one small device Karmlyn recognized. She lifted it up, "(A location transponder. No wonder they were able to find us.)" Karmlyn noticed Jinx was still concentrating, looking ahead. "(What, more trouble?)"

"(Not quite. I sense something not far ahead, of someone in recent trouble.)" She looked more sober than ever, "(Serious trouble.)"

Still clutching the bug, Karmlyn followed Jinx down the dirt trail to whatever it was the psionic's mental senses were alerting her too. By now, the sun was getting close to the horizon, and it would soon be dusk. The light shining through the trees was developing a reddish tint. The pair continued on for a while, then Jinx slowed down, and came to a stop next to some marks on the trail. Karmlyn slowed and stopped next to her. Both women dismounted.

"(So what's up with this place?)" Karmlyn asked.

Jinx bent down, pointing at the marks on the ground, which had the outline of boot and shoe prints, "(Several men came here, I would guess on one of the transport hovercraft. She then pointed to some disturbed dirt and some small red spots, "(Blood.)"

"(One of the mobsters was hurt?)"

Jinx brought her middle and index finger to her forehead and concentrated, "(No, he was beaten by the others.)"

"(Beaten? What, were they disclipining one of their own for a dumb mistake?)"

"(No.)" Jinx pointed to some other marks. The nearby underbrush was bent, as if something was dragged through. On top of some other disturbed ground, there were a few animal tracks, the split hooves of a grazer, "(They got some animal, stunned probably. I sense it recovered while the man was beaten.)" She pointed to the animal tracks leading away, close together at first, but then more widely spaced, "(The animal ran off in a hurry after the group was done.)"

"(Done what?)"

Jinx looked around, and then bent and came back up with a small length of cord, "(The man was a prisoner. After the animal was almost recovered, they tied him to it. It ran off carrying him.)"

Karmlyn frowned, "(Those sons of .... )" She paused, "(I'll bet Nastrum ordered this. It wasn't enough just to shoot him, he had to get his jollies imagining this man die out here.)"

Jinx shuddered, "(Who would he single out for this, torture?)"

Karmlyn wondered who it might be. Bayle Riveryn? It was all too possible, but Karmlyn had a gut feeling it couldn't have been him. This Lexxon Kessler whom Jinx had met? It was all too possible.

Jinx was also going through possibilities, "(Maybe we can catch up to him.)"

"(I don't know.)" Karmlyn sighed, "(That animal's not going to leave as clear a trail through these woods as hovercraft. Plus, it'll be dark soon.)" What Karmlyn didn't say was that this victim of the mob had probably already met his fate.

"(Wait, what about our lights?)" Jinx flicked a switch on her swoop, and a headlamp on the nose popped up. But it was unlit. Jinx flicked the switch off, then on again. The lamp retracted, then came up again, but remained unlit.

"(Burned out.)" Karmlyn flicked a switch on her hoverbike, and when it came up, the lamp was shattered. "(Must've happened when I bumped either the tree or that mobster.)"

"(Maybe I can use my senses to find him.)" Karmlyn saw Jinx bring her middle and index fingers in her habitual gesture of concentration. After some moments, she seemed to be trying harder. After a while, her hand balled into a fist, and she was obviously straining.

"Jinx?"

Jinx finally stopped, panting a couple times, her face showing worry and concern, "(Nothing. I can't find him. I can't even get a direction.)"

Karmlyn noted the concern Jinx had about this mystery victim. Well, there is that one slim chance , "(I guess it wouldn't hurt to look around a little while there's still some light.)"

Jinx seemed more hopeful now. She pointed to the tracks, "(The animal went this way, at least at first.)"

Karmlyn then brought something else up, "(Wait, we still have to ditch this transponder.)" She held it out in the open, "(We didn't look, but I'll bet your swoop has one under the seat too. We could just simply ditch them, or we could try something else.)" She then developed a slight grin.

It was dusk, the sky now reddish where the sun had set, and the other two thirds of the sky increasingly darker shades of purple. Down the trail, four hoverbikes, all with signs of damage, sped down the dirt path. Their leader kept an eye on a scanner, which showed they were getting closer and closer to a blip on the screen.

Finally, the leader began slowing down. He drew a blaster pistol, and came to a stop near a spot where the undergrowth was particularly thick, thick enough to high a hoverbike and swoop. The leader motioned to the others, and they carefully approached, aiming their guns in various directions, wary of anything.

"Careful," the leader told them, "They beat the team that was sent out earlier. No telling what they'll pull."

"No kiddin.' " One of the others commented.

They looked and looked some more. There didn't seem to be any sign of the two alien females, or their hoverbikes.

"You two," the squad leader bellowed, "show yourselves and come out with your hands up!"

No response.

The mobsters continued to approach. Their leader began to suspect something was not right.

About then, there was a rustle in some bushes. One of the mob gunmen turned, and fired his blaster at it. There was a shriek, which made them think at first they got one of their quarry. Their hopes were dashed when they saw a rodent dash from the bushes, still shrieking a bit.

It was at this point one mobster looked down, "What the - " He reached down, and came back up with three devices, two location transponders, and a small recorder.

The leader stared at the three little devices momentarily, "Those miserable little," he swore a few choice words under his breath, "They've tricked us again!" He went over, and got them. Noticing the recorder showed it had a message, he pressed the button to play it.

The recorder was silent for a few moments, then came the voice of the green-eyed alien female, "Ten, nine, eight, seven, ..."

The squad leader swore, then swung back and hurled the recorder away with all his might. It didn't travel very far before hitting a tree, which failed to stop it, "... four, three, ..." The men all dropped to the ground, waiting for the expected explosion.

"... two, one, " there was a momentary pause, followed by, "Suckers!! Fooled ya! Mar, are you ever gullible." This was followed by a few seconds of laughter, folowed by, "Guess 'ol Nasty can't get good help these days." The recorder then fell silent.

Infuriated, the squad leader drew his blaster, and repeatedly fired at the recorder. He fired shot after shot, the sounds filling the air. When it was over, however, the recorder was still in one peice, and the squad leader shaking his fists with rage.

One of the others remarked to another, "Do you believe in omens?"

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