...And Into The Fire

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter 4

"What the hell is wrong?" I yelled, smashing my fist into
the table in front of me.

My companion looked up. "Your asking me? Hell, I don't even
know how it all works let alone what's gone wrong."

I sank down on the the floor, resting my head in my
foreclaws. For the past hour I had been trying to contact
are third party member, as she was running an errand on
Prid, but every time I tried to open a small portal to have
her check in, it fell apart from feedback. "It's like the
whole verse has it's folds blocked."

Steven raised an eyebrow, "Can that be done?"

I shrugged, "I have no idea. In theory yes, but in
actuality, I don't know."

He raised his other eyebrow, and went back to his book.

I shook my head, 'Why did Fox have to stick me with him?' I
thought as I looked over my companion.

Steven was a lion-morph, in his early 20es. He had this
large fluffy mane of hair that wrapped around most of his
face, except under his chin, and hug about collar length.
Single kneed, and had the usual shaped tail flicking behind
him. His fur colouring was normal light yellow, with dark
brown for his hair, and the tuft on his tail.

He was in a pair of shorts, and a lose shirt. Not that it
was a bad thing, then temperature on this world must have
been 100 degrees fahrenheit.

He's full name was Steven Mason. Apparently a friend Fox had
meet an a cruise or some such a few months ago. Fox had
apparently gone and seen him a month ago, and asked him to
stay at this place, along with another friend. I guess he
planed to bail out here when all was said and done. Him
sending me here was more in way of protection for me they
anything else.

Sighing, I stood, and leaned against the window, looking out
side. This verse was souly populated by otter-morphs, thus
only the missing member of are party could go out in public
(it was her home verse anyways). A lion would look attract
attention, but a half-dragon would attract a lot more. Thus,
in the past three weeks I've only been able to go out at
night, and I still had to be careful.

Needless to say, I was board out of my mind.

I felt Steven set his paw on my shoulder, just above my
wings. "Ken, you all right?"

I nodded, twirling one of my clawfingers around, making it
leave a trace of magical light in the air. "I'm worried
about Kalie."

I felt him lean up against me a bit. "She's been gone a long
time."

"Ya, two hours over schedule."

I looked at him. "Something must have happened to keep her
on Prid. Something she can't get past."

Steven nodded, his hair flicking around his face a bit. "I
guess you need to get that portal open."

I looked back over to the table, where a modified portal
controller was laid out along with a com laser setup. Only a
few feet away, at the edge of the small apartment, was a
fold.

"I know, but as I said. It was like it was blocked off. The
feedback that I'm getting is collapsing the fold. Even the
most powerful natural known wouldn't be able to keep it
open."

He looked at me, right into my eyes, with a deep level on
sincerity. "Listen, your the mage here. Can you just, I
don't know, shuffle the feedback over to the side or
something."

I paused, thinking for a few seconds. Then glancing out the
window and the slowly setting sun. "Maybe... A slight
temporal spell, nothing to big to need a full circle. Just
enough to keep the portal out of sink with the feedback.
That may just work."

I grinned at Steven. "We'll need some supplies."

He nodded. "Can you make a list?"

I tilted my head a bit, I really wasn't allowed out of the
apartment, so Steven would have to do the shopping. "I
should be able to. You do have a translator chip?"

He tapped the back of his head in response. "Fox insisted
that I get one. And Kalie had me download the language, did
you do the same."

Nodding, I waved my foreclaw a bit, dismissing it. "Ok, I
have about an hour to make the list. You get together what
money you can, and finding something to cover yourself in."

Patting me on the back, right between my folded wings, he
said. "Right on it." and then dived into the back room.

Sitting myself down at my work table, I pulled out a fresh
piece of paper from the stack on the floor, and slowly
started to write out what I needed for the spell.

* * *

Wiping the tears off my muzzle, I took a couple of ragged
deep breaths. I had to think, I couldn't just give up like
this. Another of those things my Grandfather always told me
was, 'Never give up, it's just another way of saying you
didn't try.'

So I couldn't give up. I was in this position where I had to
do something, anything at all. If I was the last one of us
left alive, or at least free I had to do something.

I chewed my lip a bit, I just had no idea where to start.
The first thing I had already decided to do was to get out
of the Hall, but that was already not an option.

'How about communications?' I though to my self. They might
not be cut off out of the Hall. Maybe I could get a message
out, or at least find out what was going on.

Standing, I started to walk down one of the walls of piping.
It looked like most everything for this area of apartments
came through this one room. I hoped there was a video-phone
conduit around, or at least a data-wave line.

I was even luckier then that. Tucked away in the back of the
room, I found a box of different maintenance tools,
including one of those line checkers for the video-phones.
You know, they kind that let you use the line or just listen
in. As a bonus, it looked like it could work on the
data-wave lines that where scattered through the room.

Sitting down next to a near by tube, labeled as a 'Phone
Trunk' I opened the accesses panel. Inside was a large
panel, covered with about two-thousand clips for the
portable unit I had found.

Picking one at random I slip the connection over it. The
unit light up, and showed my static, as well as a read out
of the phone number for it.

Nodding to myself, I turned off the micro-camera, and dialed
Fox's number. Hopping maybe he had somehow got the com-lines
back up to his place.

All I got back was a "No Line" notice. Grimacing, I punched
in another number. This time one out of the Marble Hall.
Near instantly the static faded, and was replaced with a
single message, blinking on the screen. "External
Communications have be Shutdown."

"Damn!" I yelled, yanking the connection off of where I had
it. The Hall was blocked even over the communication lines.
I considered trying the a data-wave connection, but they
went out of the Hall the same way.

Closing the unit, I slid it into it's caring case that I had
found it in. Then paused to think for a second. There was no
way into the Hall, and no way out. That, at least to me,
implied the Hammerheads didn't have full control yet.

'Well, the Hall is a city unto it's self' I though. I knew
from pilfering records there where at least a two-hundred
thousand people living in the Hall. If I where trying to
take it over, I would want to make sure they where on my
side before I tried for the rest of Prid.

But surely the Hall being closed would cause a panic. It's
the seat of government the all of Prid, and a few of the
other worlds, as well as a trading mecca. Most of the
industry on Prid would shut down, or be disable, with the
Hall being closed.

I paused in my thought for a second, wondering how many of
the industries on Prid where under Hammerhead control, or in
collusion with them. They could start trying to get the
population on there side.

Surly though, there had to be people who knew what happened.
All Council sessions where transited out on one of the video
channels. And all the local Media hangs off of it like they
did back home.

So they question becomes, "How do you keep it just on Prid?"

"That's easy," I said, speaking aloud, "Keep anyone from
leaving."

But how could anyone be keep from leaving. About 10 percent
of the population is certified to use the portal
controllers.

The it hit me, when I was going through the Hammerhead
database, I came on more then a few references to a
Magic/technology mix, that was suppose to generate some kind
of feedback loop in the ether.

The ether was an old way of describing the folds, and if
they where able to do that, everyone was trap on Prid.

I started wringing my fingers again. It was looking bleaker
and bleaker, even if I wasn't right. I needed to verify all
of this, and try and find some allies, but how?

Looking down at the cir-trics controller around my wrist, a
grin slowly spread accost my muzzle.

One thing my Grandfather loved to say was, 'When you get to
a point where there is no way to win, you may just have to
change the rules until there is.'

I was going to do him proud, I was going to cheat.

* * *

Fox was an interesting person to be around, especially at
times where he felt he had to move fast.

This was one of those times. In the past ten minutes, while
I got together a few days worth of food, some clothing, and
a few minor things, he had pulled out some back up clothing,
rain clothing, shoes for me, the flora and fauna database, a
compass, some hiking clothing, a control for me, and three
sets of temps implants.

There was only two things I question in all of that. Why did
I need shoes, my species didn't use them, and I didn't like
them. And why the temps.

"The shoes are for extra safety, and the temps are just in
case."

"Just in case of what?"

"Just in case." He said while putting the stuff he had into
his backpack, along with three more PADDs. Zipping up the
back, he slug it over his shoulder. The compass in his hand.
"Ready?"

I nodded, I had also changed into some clothing that was a
little more durable for hiking. "I guess."

He nodded back, glancing around the house a bit. Then
sitting up from where he had been on the couch he headed for
the slider, and out onto the dock.

He only paused to for a few seconds to check the compass.
"That was is north-east." He said, pointing I that
direction. "The nearest town is in that direction."

He started off, walking around the large lake that was
behind our house. I matching his pace with mine, trying to
keep it brisk.

With a final glance over my shoulder to the house, I shook
my head a bit, hopping to some day see it again.

Looking forward again, I keep walking just behind Fox. A few
minutes after starting out, we entered into a large forest
area. In the distance the twin suns of Prid slowly where
falling from the sky.

Looking to the sky, to the stars blotted out by the suns, I
prayed to Thyrn, the one true God of my people. I prayed
that we would live through all this, some how.