In a suite inside the Plug'n'Play Port Inn, Calvin "Cowboy" West adjusted his Stetson as he sifted through his myriad data on his laptop.  He paused to grab his squeeze bottle of water, squirting a stream into his mouth and swallowing it.  He rubbed his eyes, then checked his watch.  It was about 1700h.  Normally he'd be waking up about now, being a night person and all.  Unfortunately, he'd been woken up earlier, so now his biological clock was off.

He squirted another mouthful of water, then scratched an itch on his neck.  He looked over at the F'Val woman on the other side of the room.  "Hey, Sil."  She looked up.  "I've got to contact someone to get the password I need to hack the Guardian dBase.  That okay?"

"Who is it?" Sil asked.  She looked up from her armor.  Since she was going to be infiltrating the Crimson Claw, she had to modify her armor so they'd buy her story of being an anti-User activist.  That meant she had to put her Clan's insignia back on her armor.

"Guy named Ken Tenai," Cowboy replied.  "He lives in the Supercomputer."

Sil nodded.  "Use the suite's comm."  She went back to work, scratching Sentry on the head, who wuffled contently.

Cowboy pushed his chair over to the comm and activated it.  He consulted his memory, then punched in Ken Tenai's number.  An Asiatic young man with a round face answered.  "Ken Tenai, who's calling?"

"It's me, Ken, Cal West."

"Who?"

"Cal!  You know, Avi Greenberg's partner?"

Ken thought for a moment, then blinked.  "Oh!  You're...the guy!  The one who always wears all that Texan shit."

Cowboy nodded.  "Right, it's me, Cowboy."

"How ya been, Cal?" Ken asked.

"Can't complain...too much," he replied.  "Listen, Ken, I have a favor to ask."

"Shoot."

"I need to buy a password for the Guardian dBase."

Ken paused.  "Okay, let me give you some advice, Cal.  Have Avi talk you out of this.  You don't want to go to prison--"

"Avi's dead, Ken," Cowboy broke in.  Ken stopped.  "Yeah, I know, I'm still coping.  He and I were working together on that Vector job, remember?"

"Oh yeah!  I heard about that in the news.  Didn't Senator Brosky have something to do with it?"

"Something," Cowboy admitted.  "He refused to acknowledge the work I did in helping purge the system.  Well, Avi was killed by the viruses in the system."

"Oh.  Sorry, man.  But I can't give you those passwords, man.  Not if I want to stay out of jail."

"Come on, Ken!" Cowboy said.  "I need this job.  I'm working for these people who're trying to rescue this Guardian from a terrorist group, and they need data that their employer wouldn't give them!"

"What?  Not those vigilantes that Brosky was going on about after the Vector thing?"

"Same guys, Ken.  Help me out here!"

Ken sighed.  "All right.  Is this likely to piss off certain people in the Government?"

"More than likely.  In fact, I'm sure it'll piss off Brosky."

Ken grinned.  "Then count me in!  Anything to piss off Hacker Enemy Number One.  You got a number where I can reach you?"

"I'm staying at the Plug'n'Play Port Inn in Mainframe," Cowboy said.  "Have the manager patch you through to Cal West."

"Sure thing, Cal.  I should have the password in a day or two."

"Thanks, Ken.  I owe you one."

"You're damn right.  See ya."  Ken hung up.

Cowboy pushed himself back over to his computer and went around to coding for his new program.  Sil glanced over.  "Any luck, Cal?"

"Yeah," the hacker said.  "Ken said he'd help out.  How's it going?"

"Not bad," Sil said, holding her armor up to appraise it.  "I might have to check the data on my Clan's signature style again to make sure this matches."

"What's up?" Cowboy asked.  "I thought your armor was the Clan style."

Sil shook her head.  "Clan Nasen and I aren't exactly on speaking terms.  I altered my armor a while back, around the time I started working with Nat and Dirk.  Makes it easier to function with them."

"Why's that?"

But before Sil could answer, the door opened, admitting Justice, DT-Three, the Bit, and Dirk.  Dirk, however, was leading a gold-furred F'Val in a Crimson Claw uniform.  Justice shut the door behind them, then pulled a chair over and had Dirk put the F'Val in the chair.  Sil got up and came over to prevent Sentry from attacking.  The big Irish wolfhound was growling at the newcomer.

"Sil," Justice said, "allow me to introduce Cen il'Ensar.  Cen, my name is Justice.  This is Dirk and Sil, and that's Cal over there."  Cal blinked, a bit startled at being included in the introduction.

"Who are you people?" Cen asked.  "What am I doing here?"

"You're here," Dirk said, "because you told the Guardians about the capture of Lt. Thomas Burke."

Cen blinked, then looked around at the group.  "You--you were sent by the Guardians?"

"By Prime Jennings himself," Justice said dryly.  "He promises leniency for you if you help us get Burke out of the Claw's hands."

Cen blinked, looking around at the faces, then nodded.  "All right.  What can I do to help, Mr. Justice?"

"First off, why Burke?  Why not just get some other human Guardian?"

Cen got up, starting to pace, but Sentry growled at him.  Cen hastily sat back down.  "Renei was very specific about capturing Lt. Burke.  He didn't want some other human Guardian."

"Why?" Dirk asked.

"Supposedly, Lt. Burke has access to information that Renei wants.  I don't know all of the details, because, as high-up as I am in the Claw, Renei has a touch of paranoia.  He wouldn't give us all the details."

"Is there anyone else who would have all the details?" Sil asked.

"Yes.  Serani, but he's out of reach," Cen said.  He looked at Justice.  "Because he killed him.  Shoved a beer tap in his mouth."

Justice didn't flinch.  "Just defending myself."

"You didn't have to kill him!" Cen protested.

"Would he have been as nice to me?" Justice asked.

Cen hesitated, then shook his head.  "No."

"That's why," Justice said.  He stood in front of Cen, his somewhat larger form looming over the F'Val.  "You willing to help us stop Renei from killing Burke?"

Cen looked up at him, then nodded.

"Then listen up."  Justice turned and walked a way for a moment, then faced him.  "Sil is going to go into the Claw as a new member.  She'll help you get Burke out alive."

"Why should Renei let her join our cell?" the turncoat Claw asked.

"My full name," Sil said by way of explanation, "is Sil al'Nasen."

Cen blinked, then nodded.  "I understand."  Dirk and Justice shared a look, then nodded.  Cowboy puzzled over this, but didn't press it.

But Justice now turned to him.  "How's your work going, Cal?"

Cowboy was relieved to see that Justice remembered not to use his hacker name.  "I've contacted somebody who will sell me the password I need to hack the Guardian dBase for the information you want.  He should have it for me in the next couple of days."

Justice nodded.  "Keep working at it by yourself in the meantime."  He looked back at Cen.  "I'll take you and Sil in the next room and explain how we're going to work this out."

Renei placed his hand on the human's arm, then sent a fairly strong electric shock into him.  Burke cried out as pain shot through his body, spasming a bit.  Renei's eyes narrowed.  "That," he said, "was a mild one.  Tell me what I want to know, or next time the voltage will be higher."

Burke rolled his tongue around in his mouth, then turned his head slightly and smiled slightly.  His lips moved, mumbling something.  Renei blinked, then leaned in, turning his ear to hear better.  "What'd you say?"

Burke hocked and spat a bloody loogie straight into the Khatran's ear.  As the Anthro stepped back with disgust, hissing with displeasure, Burke laughed.  "I said, 'Go cough up a hairball, pussy-cat.'  Screw yourself."

Renei, one hand to his ear, smack-slashed Burke again, then stomped out of the room.  He rubbed at his ear, then grabbed a tissue from a pocket.  He quickly cleaned the disgusting wad of drool, phlegm, and blood out of his auditory canal and shuddered.  He threw the tissue away.  Dem il'Weast was nearby.  The F'Val looked at him.  "Problem, sir?"

"That blasted User!" Renei shouted.  "He spit in my ear!"

Dem scowled.  "Want me to go beat the crap out of him?"

"No," Renei said.  "Let him bleed a while."  He wiped at his ear again, then looked at his subordinate.  "How goes your search for the Users who killed Serani?"

"Not well," Dem said.  "We tried Club Wayside again, but they weren't there."

"Well go back out and find them, you idiot!" Renei snapped.  "Take Xenia with you.  Don't come back until you find Cen and kill those Users!"

"Positive," the pilot replied.  "I'm used to undercover work.  I've done it before."

"This isn't some embassy party," Cen began.

"I never said it was stuff like that," she said.  "We're not spies, just mercenaries."

"Regardless," the treacherous terrorist went on, "the Crimson Claw is a very dangerous group to get tangled with.  You realize that as a test of your loyalty Renei will want you to kill a human?"

Sil tilted her head.  "That's why we brought this."  She held up Dirk's leather glove.  "You said yourself that this 'Xenia' has a good memory.  Think she'll remember it?"

Cen glanced at the glove.  "I don't know.  Maybe.  But I'm still nervous."

Sil smiled, then scratched Sentry's head.  "That's all right.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous myself."

They stood around for another few minutes before Sentry started growling.  Sil glanced up, and instinctively took a defensive pose as a Khatran female and a F'Val male approached.  Sentry barked at them, making them pause.  Then Cen recognized them.  "Dem!  Xenia!"

The two Crimson Claw came up cautiously, wary of the growling Irish wolfhound.  "Sentry, quiet!" Sil ordered.  The big hound obediently did so.

"Cen, you're alive!" Dem il'Weast said.  "I was certain those Users had killed you."

"I was lucky," Cen said.  He nodded at Sil.  "She saved me from them."

"Who's she?" Xenia asked.  She looked Sil over, looking for an energy weapon.

"Sil," the mercenary replied.  "Sil al'Nasen."

il'Weast and Xenia were surprised.  Then the F'Val grinned.  "Boy, you got just the right sort of rescue, Cen.  A Nasen femme?  You lucky bastard."

Cen glared at him.  "Shut up, Dem.  It's not like that."

"Then can I date her?" il'Weast asked.

Sil smiled.  "You have to convince Sentry that that's a good idea."  The dog growled, rising off his haunches.  il'Weast backed up.

"You hate Users, huh?" Xenia asked.

"With a passion," Sil replied.  She jerked a thumb at Cen.  "When I saw him being carted off by those two freaks, I cut 'em a deal.  Leave Cen alone or die."  She flicked out her sword and ran a finger along the flat.  "They chose the latter, I'm afraid."

The two Claws were surprised.  il'Weast asked, "You got any proof?"

Sil dragged out the glove and held it out.  il'Weast looked it over, then sniffed it.  "Gah.  Human.  That's the guy's glove all right.  Smells like the guy who knocked me out in the Club."  He looked at Sil, then at Cen.  "Well, Renei's gonna be happy to hear you're okay.  al'Nasen, you come with us.  Our boss will want to meet you."

"I'm honored," Sil said, smiling.

"That's right," Sil said.  She held out the glove again.  il'Weast stepped forward and handed it to the Claw Leader.

"It smells just like one of the Users that attacked us in the Club," the F'Val Claw said.

Renei nodded, sniffing once, then scowling at the stench of human.  He tossed it back.  "Good work, then.  What is your name, F'Val?"

"Sil al'Nasen," she answered.

Renei's eyebrows raised, and his ear twitched.  "Well..."  He smiled.  "That's excellent to hear.  You'll be working with Cen for a time, until you pass your, eh, probationary period.  For now, the two of you will guard the prisoner.  Try to soften him up, get him to be more cooperative."

Cen and Sil nodded, and Xenia led them to a holding cell.  She ushered them in, then said to Sil, "This User's name is Burke.  We're gonna execute him on live holovision in a couple days.  Try not kill him before then."

"Sure," Sil said as Sentry growled.  As soon as Xenia left, Sil knelt next to her hound and scratched his head.  She whispered in his ear.  "Nice acting, Sentry."  Sentry panted and licked her face.  Sil wiped the drool off her fur and stood and faced the prisoner.

Lt. Thomas Burke was currently unconscious.  He still wore his Guardian uniform, but it was soiled and dirty and torn in some places.  His straw-blond hair was matted with some dried blood and filth.  There were some claw marks on his face, evidently where Renei had cut him during the 'interrogation' sessions.  Burke was tied to a chair, his keytool discarded in one corner.

Sil went over to him and gripped him by the hair.  She shook his head around until he roused.  He winced in pain until Sil released him.  He looked up, then blinked.  "You're new," the Guardian lieutenant remarked.

"In a manner of speaking."  Sil examined his bonds, then looked up at Cen.  "I could cut him loose, if you want."

Cen shook his head.  "No.  This place is way too heavily guarded to get him out of here."

Burke blinked.  "What are you talking about?  Get me out?  You mean to execute me?"  He looked back and forth between the two F'Vali.

Sil explained, "My name is Sil al'Nasen, and I've been sent to rescue you from the Crimson Claw.  Cen il'Ensar here has decided to help out."

Burke stiffened.  "Give me one good reason why I should trust you!" he snapped at Sil.  "You're a Nasen Clan member.  The Nasen Clan is more anti-User than the Apocalypse."

Sil sighed.  "I am not anti-User.  I work for a human named Nathan Justice.  We were sent by Prime Jennings himself to get you out."

Burke digested this, then asked, "How much did the Prime tell you?"

"What do you mean?" Sil asked.

Burke sniffed.  "If you have to ask, then he didn't tell you.  Forget I asked."

"No," Sil said, standing and coming around in front of him, "you keep talking."

Burke sneered.  "I'm sorry, but I cannot.  If the Prime didn't tell you, then you're not supposed to know."

Sil sighed.  "Nat is working right now to find out why you're so important, Lt. Burke.  If you don't tell us, we'll find out anyway."

Burke shrugged.  "Then you can wait.  I'm forbidden, by Guardian regulations, to tell you."

Sil smirked.  "When you meet Nat, you'll change your tune.  He has that effect on people."  She turned back to Cen.  "When can we get him out of here?"

Cen sighed.  "The only time when the guard around him will be lessened is en route to the holovision station, in two days."

Sil blinked.  "That doesn't give us a lot of time.  We have to coordinate our attack on this base and the rescue with the transport."

Cen nodded.  "Can you find a way to contact your colleagues?"

Sil hesitated.  "I think so.  It'll take some doing, but I can do it."

"YeS."

"Did I hear something beeping?"

"yEs."

"What was it?"

"No."

Cowboy blinked again, then glanced down at his faux-icon.  It beeped again.  Cowboy picked up on it and tapped the suite's comm.  Ken Tenai's face appeared on the screen.  "Hey, Cal."

The hacker rubbed his eyes.  "Hey, Ken.  Got the password for me?"

Ken held up a disc.  "Right here.  Did I wake you?"

"Yeah," Cal replied.  "I'm something of a night person."

"Ah.  Sorry."

"S'no problem," Cal said.  "When will you transmit the password to me?"

"Can't do that, Cal.  The Guardians tagged the password.  If it's transmitted, they'll find us.  I don't want to do that to you," Ken explained.

"Good thinking.  When're you going to bring the disc over, then?"

"Sorry.  I'm trying to lie low.  I'll send the disc to a middleman.  I can trust him.  I've used him before.  As long as you pay him enough, he'll do almost anything."

"Who is he?"

"A trucker with one of Mainframe's hovertruck services," Ken replied.  "His name's Emmitt."

"Yeah, why?"

Justice and Dirk shared a glance, then scowled.  "We've met the guy," Dirk said.  "He's drunken bastard."

"In so few words," Justice grated.  "I don't like the guy."

"Well, Ken said he'd send the disc to Emmitt as soon as he got off the comm with me.  By my reckoning, Emmitt should have the disc now."  Cowboy looked around.  "Shall I go get it?"

Justice shook his head.  "Let Dirk and I handle this.  You stay here with DT and the Bit.  We'll be back in a few minutes."

The two mercenaries left the suite, leaving Cowboy to look at the mech and the free bit.  He sighed, then collapsed in a chair.  "Wake me if anything interesting happens."

"Ya here t' buy th' disc?" he asked.

"That's right," came the voice.

"All right," Emmitt said, opening the door.  He went over to a toolbox and picked up a crowbar to get at the disc underneath.  He turned back, then stopped as he saw who it was.

The short stocky man standing in the door had red-brown hair, with two forelocks hanging in his face.  He smirked, running his thumb across knuckles that were at the end of a heavily tattooed arm.  He smirked when he saw that Emmitt recognized him.  "Hey, Emmitt," Dirk Manning said.

"I remember ya!" Emmitt said.  "You're th' guy with th' psycho at th' Club!"

"Glad to see you remember me," Dirk smirked.

"Screw ya!" Emmitt snapped.  "Go home!  I ain't sellin' ya no disc!"

Dirk, however, walked forward and held out a hand.  "Just give me the disc, Emmitt.  I don't have time for this."

The trucker smacked the mechanic's hand away and raised the crowbar to bludgeon him.

-=whhhhisk=--=thunk=-

Emmitt glanced down to see a knife embedded in the worktable behind him.  The knife was placed between his legs, dangerously close to his crotch.  Emmitt looked up to see Nathan Justice leaning in the doorway.  As before, his voice was devoid of any humor when he said, "Wanna see me do that again?"

"J-J-J-Ju-Ju--" Emmitt was trying to get out the mercenary's name, but he was too surprised to formulate complete syllables.

"Justice," he offered.  He stepped forward, raising his hand and plucking the crowbar out of the trucker's hand.  He tossed it aside, then plucked the disc from his other hand.  Justice secreted it away in a pocket, then reached down and pulled the knife free.  He tapped the flat against Emmitt's nose.  "Don't try anything like that again."

He flicked the knife shut and put it away.  He turned away and started out of the garage, Dirk following.  The mechanic smirked at him one last time as he left.  Emmitt, for once in his slimy life, developed a backbone.  "Hey!  What about mah payment?!"

-=whhhhisk=--=thunk=-

Emmitt swallowed as he saw the knife back between his legs.  Justice wagged a finger at him.  "Don't push your luck."

Renei stood in the doorway.  Sil stood up.  She still wore her armor, unlike most of the other F'Vali Claws she'd seen.  She'd learned from Cen that this was because of her Clan's ardent anti-User stance.  Renei let her keep it.   The Leader looked at her, then said, "I require a test of your loyalty to our cause."

"Sir?"  Sil was about to start a longish speech about how she'd been an ardent supporter of her Clan's cause and how she'd killed the two Users who'd abducted Cen, but Renei interrupted her thoughts.

"It's standard, al'Nasen," he explained.  "You go with Dem and Xenia to a User hangout of our choosing.  You go in and kill some Users, in front of them, and then you're done.  Real simple."

Sil swallowed slightly.  She had been confident she'd be able to handle almost anything the Crimson Claw required of her, except for this.  If she'd been sent alone, and merely told to bring back something a User had worn (before the User's death by her hands, of course), she could pull off another fake.  But with il'Weast and Xenia watching, Sil knew she'd have to make it look damn convincing.  Maybe deal a serious and bloody cut without making it fatal --

Renei again interrupted Sil's thoughts.  "You understand, Sil?"

"Of course, sir," Sil replied.  "I can handle this mission, sir."

Renei nodded.  "Good.  You leave in half an hour."  He left.

Sil gulped and looked at Sentry, who looked back at her.  "How am I gonna get out of this one, Sentry?"  The Irish wolfhound wuffed.  "Easy for you to say.  You're not the one being tested."

Fates, grant me the ability to find a way out of this without killing anyone, Sil thought to herself.  She patted her belt, nodded when she felt her sword clipped to it, as it always had been, then checked her disc, clipped to the back of her armor.  Nodding once, she looked at il'Weast and Xenia again.  "I'm ready."

The three Anthros and one hound entered the club.  It was rather deserted, but there was a gang of thugs huddled around a pair of tables, drinking, cursing, and playing cards.  There was a human bartender as well.  Sil prepared herself.  She hesitated, but then Xenia screamed, "Kill the Users!  Death to them all!"

il'Weast and Xenia both drew pistols and started firing.  Sil had asked them earlier to not hit anyone.  Let the random firing frighten the humans, and she'd take advantage of it to do her job.  Sil ducked and whispered a command to Sentry.  The Irish wolfhound gave a howl and jumped forward to tackle the bartender, who screamed in terror.  Hound and human disappeared behind the bar as Sil flicked out her sword and plucked her disc free.

A few of the thugs had stood up when the Crimson Claw had arrived and started reaching for weapons.  Sil flicked her wrist and sent her disc flying through the air toward the thugs.  The blue disc hummed through the air and collided with skulls and torsos, sending thugs to the ground with heavy grunts.  The disc flashed back toward Sil, who snatched it out of the air and moved the disc into the path of a sizzling energy pulse from one of the thugs' guns.  The pulse spanged away and Sil grabbed the nearest thug and unleashed a punch into his face.

The thug cried out as his nose crunched, then snarled and leapt at Sil.  The F'Val pilot caught him and used his momentum to propel them both behind the bar.  She landed beside the bartender, who was staring at Sentry in abject fear.  Sil whispered to them both, "All right, look, I'm not going to kill you, despite what you think."

The bartender nodded quickly, eyes on Sentry, waiting for the dog to go for the neck.  The thug grunted his understanding.

"I'm going to make a slight cut on your necks, then smear some blood.  When the two others come to look, play dead."

The bartender nodded again, and this time, so did the thug.

"I'm sorry I got you into this, but I had no choice."  She raised her sword above the bar, into il'Weast and Xenia's view, then whispered, "This will hurt a bit.  Ready?"

The bartender nodded again.  Sil flashed her sword down, making it appear that she was dealing a fatal cut, but, with expert muscle control, Sil stopped her blade just after putting a shallow cut on the man's neck.  Blood welled up.  Sil smeared it, making the wound appear more serious, then raised her bloody sword again, looking at the thug.  The thug nodded and prepared himself.  Sil gave him a similar treatment.  She then looked up at Sentry and smeared some of the blood on his muzzle.  She whispered to the humans, "Now, play dead!"

Sil stood up, looking out at the club.  The rest of the thugs had abandoned their comrade and fled for their lives.  Xenia and il'Weast holstered their guns and looked at her.  Sil and Sentry came back from around the bar.  il'Weast checked the humans, then nodded to Xenia.  "She did it.  Cut their throats."

Xenia nodded.  She looked at Sil.  "Good work.  Congratulations.  You're one step closer to becoming a Crimson Claw."

I'm no such thing, you stupid bitch, Sil thought to herself, but she put on a grin and cleaned her blade off.  She put it away and said, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Just getting around the last checkpoint," the hacker replied, "and then we'll be able to find out who Lieutenant Thomas Burke really is."

Dirk looked up from his datapad.  He'd been going over the latest pamphlets about engine repair, plotting his overhaul of the Grizzly's engines, then got up, setting the pad down.  He came over, DT-Three hovering overhead.  They crowded around Cowboy, who tapped the last key, and then his screen gave him a prompt:
 

They all looked over the options, and then Cowboy asked, "Okay, Mr. Justice, what do you want me to do?  Run a search?"  No reply.  Cowboy blinked.  "Mr. Justice?"  He looked up and blinked in surprise.

Nathan Justice was staring at the name of the system-user that Cowboy was logged in as.  Although his face's expression hadn't changed, the young hacker could have sworn he detected...shock.  Then, Justice said, "Open file, Burke, Thomas."

Cowboy nodded and keyed in the data.
 

> Open file: Burke, Thomas

Open file on Thomas Burke, Guardian, Lieutenant?

> Yes

Enter password: _

Cowboy checked a separate vidwindow where Ken's password was printed.  He typed it into the prompt.
 

Password accepted.

GUARDIAN PERSONNEL FILE

Burke, Thomas Edward.          Rank: Lieutenant          GID: 789289a-87r

"Looks like pretty standard stuff," Dirk said after scanning some of the biographical data.  "Your everyday Guardian."

Justice shook his head.  "I'm positive there's more to Burke than the file shows."  He looked at Cowboy.  "Check for other parts to the file.  Special assignments and the like."  Cowboy nodded and typed in a command.  A list of separate entries appeared at the bottom:
 

Classified information:

Guardian Special Liaison - Project Metaverse Administration

Former commanding officer - Major N. Gordon, 456812E-23W

"Guardian Special Liaison?" DT-Three inquired.  "What's that?"

"I don't know," Justice said.  "Cowboy, run a search."
 

> Search: Guardian Special Liaison

Information Classified.  Enter b-level password: _

Cowboy blinked, but he checked his password disc, then found the appropriate password and keyed it in.

Guardian Special Liaisons
Division of Guardians.  Duty assignments range from governmental security to the private sector.  Unlike most Guardians, the Special Liaisons have access to classified information within their assignment.  They have discretionary privileges in times of crisis, and the ability to supercede the authority of most other Guardians.
Further information is classified at d-level.

"Sorry, guys," the hacker apologized.  "But I've got passwords only up to Beta-level.  I can't access the rest of the file."

Justice spoke up.  "That's okay.  That tells me enough."  He paced away, then said, "From what we were able to see, the Special Liaisons have a very high classification.  Most Guardians don't even know they exist.  They can supercede a captain's authority, and they have access to classified information within their assignment."

"What's that mean?" Dirk asked.

"It means that Lt. Burke has access to very private data.  It's like this -- Special Liaisons can go into other computer systems at their assignment and do almost anything they want.  They have passcodes for it."

Dirk nodded, then his eyes widened.  "Holy shit.  And Burke's assignment is with Project Metaverse Administration."

"The Teracomputer," Cowboy whispered.

"Exactly," Justice replied.  "You see what Renei's after?  Somehow, he got wind of who Burke really was and saw a way to kill all the humans in the Metaverse.  If he could get Burke to tell him his passcode, Renei could get into the Teracomputer and zero in on each and every human inside the 'Verse and -- click -- so long."

"Holy shit," Dirk repeated.  "This is big."

"It also explains to me why Prime Jennings gave us this job," Justice said.  "If he assigned a regular squad of Guardians to find Burke, they could blow Burke's cover."

"Isn't that what we're doing now?" Cowboy asked.  "I mean, we saw the information."

Justice tapped Cowboy's faux-icon, which was sitting on the table.  The vidwindows of his computer closed.  Justice smirked -- he didn't smile, but he smirked -- and said, "What information?"

Cowboy blinked, then nodded.  "Gotcha."

Justice stood up straight and looked at Dirk.  "We have to contact Sil," the mercenary said.

"You're right," Dirk replied, "but how?  She's in Crimson Claw Central.  None of us are likely to get inside to deliver a message."

"I could," DT-Three said.  "I'm not a human."

"You're a mech of a design that was created by a human," Dirk said.  "I'm pretty sure that's about the same to Renei and his goons."

"So who will deliver the message?" DT-Three asked.

Justice thought for a moment, then looked at the Bit, which was hovering behind them all, observing.  He asked, "Hey, Bit?"

"YeS."

"How'd you like to do a mission for us?"

"You can't be serious!" Dirk said.  "The Bit can only talk in ones and zeroes, Nat!  Sil can't speak binary!"

"She doesn't need to," Justice replied.  "Cowboy, can you set up a secure comm frequency for Sil to talk to us on?"

"I think so," the hacker answered.  "Shouldn't take long.  That was one of the first things Avi taught me."  He reopened his computer and started keying in commands.

Dirk folded his arms.  "How do you propose for Sil to find out what the frequency is?  It'd take her forever to guess the frequency with the way the Bit communicates."

Justice turned to him.  "Back when I was invading Ünres' base in Vector, the door to his lair was locked and coded.  The Bit went to the keypad and somehow entered the code.  I still haven't figured out how it did it, but it did."

"It might be a property of a free bit," DT-Three offered.

"It might," Dirk said.  "There aren't that many free bits in the Metaverse anymore.  No one knows much about them."

Justice turned back to the Bit.  "Can you do this for us?  Find Sil in the Crimson Claw's base and enter the frequency for her?"
"yEs."

"Good," Justice said.  "We know where the base is, at least.  Cen was able to tell us that.  Bit, when Cowboy's done, you go to the base and fulfill your mission.  Once Sil's contacted us, come back."

"We need to scout the route from the base to the holovision station," Dirk said.  "I'll go get to work on that so we can plan an attack."

Justice nodded.  "Go."

"Bit?"

"YeS."

"What are you doing here?  Did Nat send you?"

"yEs."

"What for?"
"No."

The Bit bobbed in the air, then went over to a comm unit.  It hovered there.  "You want me to use the comm?"

"YeS."

"But I can't.  I'm being monitored.  If I place a call, they'll eavesdrop."

"nO."

The Bit's cloud seemed to flicker with light, and then the comm unit activated.  The Bit flickered again, and then the screen on the comm fuzzed with static for a moment.  Sil recognized the pattern.  "A secure frequency."

"yEs."

Sil seated herself in front of the comm and looked at Justice.  "Nat, what's up?"

"Cowboy hacked the Guardian personnel files," Justice replied. "I found out who Lt. Burke really is.  He's a Guardian Special Liaison.  They're really high-up on the hierarchy."

"How high?"

"Let me put it this way: although Burke's only a lieutenant, he can supercede a captain's authority."

"Wow.  What's a Special Liaison do?"

"In Burke's case, he works for Project Metaverse Administration."

"Whoa," Sil said.  "The Teracomputer."

"Exactly.  He has passcodes that could allow Renei to hack inside.  That's bad."

"Very bad," Sil agreed.  "So what do you want me to do?"

"For now, nothing.  Just continue your cover and keep Renei from killing Burke until the transport to the holovision station.  Dirk's scouting the route now, so we should have a plan soon."

"I doubt Renei's going to send me on the transport, Nat," Sil pointed out.  "I'm still low on the ladder in the Claw."

"When the time comes, you help incapacitate the Claws in the base.  That'll prevent the rest of the cell from coming to the rescue."

"Gotcha.  Good luck.  What should I tell Cen?"

"As little as possible," Justice said.  "As helpful as he's been, he's on a need-to-know basis."

"And he doesn't need to know."

"Right."

"Okay.  Well, aht-serat.  Don't die on me."

"Sil, I've taken on a Class-12 virus and lived to tell about it.  I think I can handle a few anti-human terrorists."

Justice cut the communication.  The Bit flickered again and the secure frequency was released.  The Bit bobbed in the air, as if nodding goodbye, then flitted out of the window and into the system noise.  Sil closed the window and looked at Sentry.  "Looks like we got our work cut out for us, boy."

Sentry wuffed.  Sil put her sword away and put her armor back over her purple jumpsuit.  She went out into the corridor and went to find Cen.  She found him in the base's common room.  She summoned him over into a corner.  "Is it safe to talk?" she whispered.

Cen glanced around, then nodded.  "Relatively.  Why?"

"You know that guy?"

Cen blinked, not understanding, then got the hint and nodded.  "What about him?"

"He's gonna do that thing."

Cen digested this, then asked, "When's he gonna do it?"

"He says he'll do it at that time..."

Cen nodded.  "Okay.  I'll try to smooth things over and make things simpler for him.  What about the other guy?"

"Which other guy?  The short one or the one in the hat?"

"The one we were talking to that other time," Cen replied.

"Oh, that other guy.  What about him?"

"What should we do?"

"Nothing.  We'll just wait until that time and let that guy do that thing."  Sil paused, thinking back over this, then nodded.

Cen blinked, puzzling over all this, then got it and nodded.  "Okay.  So what do we do until that time?"

"You do your thing while I do mine and get ready for that thing."

"I hate talking in code," Cen muttered.

"You and me both."  Sil got up and went back to her room.  A few mintues later, Cen went his own way.  Niether of them noticed Xenia seated at a table in the far corner.  Her ear twitched, and she rose to leave.  Down a separate corridor, she entered a code into a keypad and entered the private chamber of Renei.

"Cowboy, you and I will be taking the holovision station team."  He stopped Cowboy before the hacker could protest.  "I know you're not a fighter.  Your job will be to provide a distraction.  Just fire your gun and draw their fire.  I'll take out the Claw and get Burke out of their hovervan.  I'll send him over to you and you get him the hell out of there.  I'll mop up."

"This is not going to work," Cowboy whimpered.

"Oh, grow a spine," Justice said.  "You've got a gun.  Just use it."

"Yeah, Cal, come on," Dirk said.  "You grew up in the Metroplex, same as me.  You mean to tell me you never learned how to fire a gun?"

"No, I did," Cal said, "but it's been years since I last picked one up."

"Aw, it's like riding a hoverbike," Dirk said.  "Once you learn, you never forget."

Cowboy still didn't look convinced, but he didn't push it.  Justice checked his pistol and holstered it.  He looked at Dirk, who tugged a new glove over his tattooed hand, then checked his personal shield on his left wrist.  He grabbed an energy clip off the table and spun it around his finger.  With a snap, he clicked it into his submachine gun, then turned on the safety.  They both looked at Cal, who gulped and checked the clip on his energy gun.  Nodding, he replaced it, cocked the gun, then safetied it.

Justice nodded.  "Let's go.  Remember, if worse comes to worse, reconvene either here or at the Grizzly."

"That's okay," Sil said.  "I can handle things here.  You just make sure that guy doesn't do that thing to you."

Cen grimaced.  "No more code, please," he said.

"Take care of yourself," Sil said.  They both shut up as the rest of the cell entered the muster room.  Actually, only about half of the cell was still there.  The rest were sent to secure the route to the holovision station.  Dem il'Weast and Xenia flanked Renei as he mounted a platform.  The stern Khatran folded his hands behind his back.

"Slight change of plans," Renei told them.  "I will still be taking the User prisoner to the station with Cen il'Ensar.  Dem il'Weast and Xenia will remain here to oversee things.  I have reason to believe that someone in our organization has betrayed us and that someone will try to attack the base."

There was an unpleasant grumbling sound.  Sil was careful not to look at Cen, just as he was careful not to look at her.  They both knew that's what Renei was waiting for, for someone to slip up and look at an accomplice or possible spy, and thus reveal them.  When nobody did such a thing, Renei turned sharply.  "Bring out the User!"

The assembled terrorists started howling their fury at the entire human race at the lone representative as he was pushed out.  Guardian Lt. Thomas Burke stumbled, still struggling against his bonds.  Xenia pulled him upright and thrust him forward, at Renei.  The Claw Leader grabbed him and held him out front, where the other terrorists hurled garbage at him.  Burke grunted, turning his head in a vain attempt to protect his face.

"Users, die!  Users, die!" chanted the terrorists.  Sil felt a chill go through her.  These people -- if indeed that was proper term for them anymore -- were very much different from the Apocalypse ("Users Out.")  "Users, die!  Users, die!"

il'Weast and Xenia flanked Renei as he marched the captive human into a hovervan.  The hand-picked team boarded the van behind their leader, followed lastly by Cen, who tried to steel himself.  Cen seated himself on the other side of Burke.  Renei sat on the other side.  The door to the hovervan closed, then it started to move out of the muster room while the terrorists chanted their mantra.

"Users, die!  Users, die!"

il'Weast and Xenia turned back to the remaining dozen or so terrorists.  "Battle stations!" Xenia ordered.  "Be ready for an attack!"  She scowled at Sil.  "You come with me, al'Nasen."

Sil nodded, following Xenia, then pausing as she saw il'Weast fall into step behind her.  She turned back and continued walking.  I have to do something fast, Sil thought.  I think Xenia knows.  I'd better wait until we're out of sight of the others.

As they entered the control center for the Crimson Claw complex, il'Weast suddenly clubbed Sil on the back of the head with his fists.  Sil tumbled to the floor, momentarily stunned.  Xenia stood in the door while the F'Val terrorist kicked her in the armor.  "Thought you could fool us, stupid kita?" il'Weast said.  "I suspected something was up from the moment I met you."

"The mission we accompanied you on just furthered our suspicion," Xenia added.  "If you were really from Clan Nasen, you would have slaughtered every User in that club with hardly a pause.  You only killed two men."

"She has it right, kita," il'Weast snapped.  "You're no Nasen."

"I hate to disappoint you, rakeshi," Sil said, turning over, sliding one hand behind her back, "but I am a Nasen."  She scissor-kicked il'Weast's legs out from under him as she sat up, pulling her disc free.  She smacked the F'Val in the head with it.  "I just got kicked out of the Clan."

"I knew it!" Xenia roared.  She started forward, but then Sil let out a piercing whistle.  Xenia paused, sensing something behind her.  The Khatran whirled, then screamed as Sentry barreled into her, jaws snapping and claws slashing.

"User-loving traitor!" il'Weast shouted.  He drew a pulser and aimed it at Sil's head.  She smacked it aside with her disc as she drummed her legs into his chest again.  He fell onto his back again, but rolled to his feet and started shooting.  Sil flipped over onto her stomach, holding her disc in front of her.  Shots richocheted off her disc as she got to her feet.  She spun and blocked one pulse, then came around and hurled her disc on the follow-through.  It curved through the air, seeming to go wide.  il'Weast watched it go off in the wrong direction, then laughed, drawing a bead.

-=WHAM=-

The disc smashed into the back of his head, ricocheted back, then returned to Sil's hand.  In a smooth move, she caught it, swinging her arm down to lessen its momentum, then swung it back up into place on the back of her armor.  Sil went over to il'Weast and checked him.  Her breath caught as she saw that the blow from the disc had caved his skull in.  Dem il'Weast wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon.

Sil looked over at Sentry and Xenia.  The Irish wolfhound got off his victim as Sil approached.  Xenia was badly scratched and bitten, but was still barely alive.  Sil flashed a vulpine grin.  "Sorry, Xenia, but you lose."  Xenia hissed weakly, then her head lolled back in unconsciousness.

Sil looked up as alarms started going off.  She checked the console. Users attacking compound, the computer told her.

"Dirk," Sil said.  She patted Sentry on the head, then started dashing back to the muster room.  Sentry ran along beside her, barking and growling with anticipation of battle.

"I wanted to spend my time in Mainframe seeing the sights!"

DT-Three drawed the Claw's fire while periodically firing precision shots at automated gun turrets.  Dirk crouched behind an overturned crate as shots spanged off the sides.  He stood up to fire, then ran for new cover.  The Claw continued to unload shots at him, but to no effect.

"But noooo."

Dirk fired his submachine gun at the attackers, mowing down three of them while the wounded Khatran and Perovanian got back up to continue firing.  He crouched behind his shield, watching the energy get deflected or absorbed.  DT-Three fired a shot into an automatic rifle, sending it from the terrorist's hands.  Dirk leaned out and nailed him before jumping back behind cover.

"Instead, I gotta spend my visit to one of the most famous systems in the Metaverse -- "

More gunfire, two more Claws go down.

" -- kicking your hairy asses!"

There were still seven attackers remaining.  Dirk ran out and fired his submachine gun at the nearest attacker.  He grinned as the Khatran went down, then jumped behind the barrier there and opened fire at the crouching companion beside the now-dead Khatran.

-=click-click=-

Dirk looked down at his weapon.  Shit!  Of all the times for the ammo to run out.

DT-Three beeped and scurried for cover as the Claw started focus on it.  The mech hovered low and came over to Dirk.  "We're not faring so well any more."

"No shit, Sherlock," Dirk said.  He grabbed the Khatran's weapon and got up to fire.  It was nowhere near as good as his submachine gun.  Dirk tossed aside the rifle as it ran dry, then scrambled to find a spare clip in his mechanic's uniform.  Finding one, he grabbed his weapon back and ejected the spent clip and slapped the fresh one in.  Dirk slapped the side of the gun, cocking it, then whipped around to fire at the Claw.

Hot pain knifed through his shoulder as one of the terrorists got off a lucky shot.  Dirk fell back, then raised his shield as he dropped his weapon.  "Goddamn it!" Dirk muttered.  "It had to be my gun hand, too.  What now?"

"I would suggest retreating," DT-Three offered.

"That's gonna be hard to do with those bastards shooting at us."

DT-Three's camera lens clicked as a cover slid over it, then retracted. "Sir, my sensors are picking up a F'Val life sign approaching."

"Great.  Reinforcements."

"There's a rather large canine life sign with it."

Dirk sat up.  "Sil!"

Sure enough, the F'Val pilot leapt into the room, her disc humming through the air to connect with the Perovanian's head.  It bounced and collided with the one-eared Khatran before returning to Sil's hand.  Sentry pounced on the nearest terrorist and started mauling.  Sil deflected shots with her disc as she flicked her sword out to get closer.  She cut down at F'Val Claw and then ducked under retaliatory fire.  Dirk picked his gun back up in his good hand and braced it on his injured arm.  He drew a bead on the firing terrorist and mowed him down.

Dirk stood, sliding the strap on his gun over his shoulder as he went over to Sil.  "Nice to you still alive," Dirk said.

"Nice to still be alive," Sil said.  "My cover was almost blown.  There's one person who's still alive.  I locked her in the control center."

"Was that a good idea?"

"Don't worry.  Sentry chewed her up pretty bad.  I don't think she'll be able to move much for a few months."

Dirk grinned.  "Good.  I wanna bash her in the goddamn head."

"Look at it this way, pussy-cat," Burke snapped.  "In a little while, I'll be free and you'll be the first person I kill."

Renei laughed, then grabbed Burke by the ear and sent a shock into him.  Burke screamed.  "Don't talk back, User."

"Why not?" Burke spat.  "You're gonna kill me, so what's it matter if I piss you off beforehand?  I'm still gonna die."

Renei smacked him.  "Just shut up."

Cen spoke up.  "How far are we from the holovision station?"

"About one-point-five klicks, sir," the driver said.

Come on, Justice, Cen thought.  If you're gonna move, you gotta do it now!

The hovervan rocked as a powerful energy pulse ripped through its repulsors, disabling the hover-generators.  Renei braced his hand on the side of the vehicle and hissed.  "Damn it, what's going on?"

"We're under attack, sir!" the driver shouted.

"Take us down!" Renei ordered.  "Crimson Claw!"

"Sir!  Yes, sir!"

"The Users are attacking!  Death to them all!"

Justice stood and fired three quick pulses.  The three front Claws went down, dead as Justice sprinted for cover.  He stopped behind a parked hovercar, then glanced in the small cafe across the way.  He glimpsed Cal's Stetson ducking behind a table, then stood and fired again.  Another Claw went down.

Justice moved behind a new obstacle as the Claw's shots started piercing through the hovercar.  He stood up and swept the cutting beam across the way.  Two more terrorists went down.

Cen, I know you're in there, damn it, Justice thought. Make your move!

Burke chuckled.  "Well, this is an interesting turn of events," the Guardian said.  "Looks like o/~ Some-one's gon-na di-ie...o/~"

Renei smacked him again.  He looked up with rage in his eyes at Cen.  "It was you, wasn't it?"

"Sir?" Cen asked.

"Don't play innocent with me!" Renei shouted.  "Xenia said she'd seen you and that al'Nasen vixen talking about Burke.  Then there was the attitude the User had after she guarded him the first time!  You and that bitch are the traitors!"

Cen backed up as Renei stalked forward.  The F'Val tripped and nearly fell on Burke's lap.  He dropped something between Burke's legs, then stood up.  Renei sneered as he pulled Cen close.  "You go out there," Renei snarled, "and let that User bastard shoot you.  He's so caught up in the fight he won't notice that he killed his ally until it's too late!"

Cen was shoved out of the van.  Burke glanced down at the object that the traitorous F'Val had dropped.  He blinked, recognizing it.  He slid it down to his feet, then adjusted his position on the seat.  Renei was too busy watching the fight to notice him.  Burke kicked the object into the air, then flopped face-down on the floor.  Renei started to turn as the object fell into Burke's hands.

"Cron, cutter!" Burke shouted.  A sharp beam sliced apart the bindings on his wrists, and Burke rolled to his feet, aiming his keytool at Renei.  Renei hissed with fury and lunged forward.

"Cron, energy beam!"

A second beam flashed out of the keytool and propelled Renei out of the hovervan, sending him tumbling over Cen.  Lt. Burke secured Cron on his wrist, ran a quick check, then nodded and stormed into the front of the van.  He slammed the driver's head into the instrument console and then marched back out the back to contend with his ex-jailor.

Justice came up short as Lt. Burke ran out of the van.  He aimed his keytool down at Cen, then up at Justice out of reflex.  Justice stopped.  Burke blinked as he looked at Justice, and then recognition started to dawn in his eyes.  Justice spoke first.  "Lt. Thomas Burke?"

The Guardian nodded.

"I'm Nathan Justice.  Prime Jennings sent me to bust you out of these bastards' hands."

Burke nodded slowly.  He looked at Cen.  "What about him?"

"He's been helping us," Justice said.  "Don't shoot him."  He ducked as the two remaining Claw terrorists fired at them.  The mercenary blinked as he saw Cowboy stand up from behind his table and fire two quick shots.  The Claws went down.  The hacker pushed his Stetson out of his eyes, then grinned.

"Looks like Dirk was right.  Once you learn, you never forget," Cal said.

"Cowboy!" Justice said.  "Take Burke out of here."

The Guardian looked up.  "What?"

"I have to catch Renei," Justice said.  "You go with Cowboy.  He'll get you to safety."

"I don't need your help getting away safely, Mr. Justice," Burke said.  "I can take care of myself."

"Be that as it may, go with Cowboy, Lieutenant," Justice said.  His voice took on a tone that Cowboy hadn't heard before.  It was almost...military in its precision.

Burke seemed about to protest again, but he caught the tone and nodded.  "Sir!  Yes, sir!" Lt. Burke said, almost half-sarcastically as he went over to Cal, who guided him down an alley.

"You okay, Cen?" Justice asked, pulling him to his feet.

"Yes," Cen said.  "Where's Renei?"

There was a hissing roar as Renei leapt down from the top of the hovervan, taking them both down to the ground.  Justice instinctively turned in mid-fall to land on his back, maximizing the area over which the impact was distributed.  He got back up, glaring at Renei, who glared with unequalled hatred back at him.

Renei hissed again as he lunged at Justice.  The mercenary caught his wrists and rolled backwards, throwing Renei away.  He turned back around to watch Renei carefully as the Khatran rolled out of the throw and got to his feet.  Justice rolled aside as Cen started firing his gun at Renei.  The Claw Leader dodged aside as well, drawing his own sidearm.  He fired in mid-roll.  A pulse punched through Cen's stomach.  The F'Val fell back, crying out.

Justice redrew his pistol and fired at Renei, who fell to the side as he avoided it.  Justice thumbed his secondary fire and swung the cutting beam at him.  Renei dropped his gun as the beam blasted it to pieces.  Renei crouched low and dashed toward him, forcing Justice to back up and thumb back to standard firing mode.  But before he could fire, Renei pounced and took him down with a tackle.  Justice rolled back from the tackle and brought the Khatran down underneath him.  Justice held him against the ground with one hand, raising the other to punch him hard.

Renei rolled to the side, again reversing the position.  He picked up a piece of broken permacrete from the street and hefted it to bludgeon Justice with it.  The mercenary squinted around Renei's hand.  "Nice -- (grunt) -- rock you got there."

"Prepare to die, User," Renei hissed, "as I crush your skull like an egg!"  At the end here, Renei brought the rock down hard, moving his hand at the last second to expose Justice's face.  That moment was all Justice needed to shift aside.  The rock slammed into the street.  Justice right-hooked Renei off from on top of him.

Renei thrashed and got back to his feet, circling around to the side of Justice, who watched him from the corner of his eye.  Renei moved in, and the mercenary swiveled to face him, grabbing him by the uniform front and twisting around to hurl Renei into the side of the hovervan.  Renei beat at Justice, who held him against the van by the throat.  Renei grabbed Justice by the ears, then sent a shock into him.

Justice cried out from the pain, but did not release his grip.  Both of them stopped as they heard a loud whine.  It was coming from inside the van.  As Renei started to turn to look, he suddenly screamed in pain.  Justice stepped away as a very unpleasant burning smell filled the air.  Renei grabbed at his chest as the fur and clothing there started to burn, then finally fell limp against the van.  The whine stopped.  The Khatran slumped to the ground, leaving a blood smear on the side of the van.  There was a hole burned into the side of the van.

Justice looked up as Lt. Burke appeared from inside the van.  Smoke drifted up from his keytool.  Burke glared at Renei's dead body, then looked up at the mercenary.  Justice looked back, then back at Renei.

"He'll spend the next few weeks in the hospital," Dirk said, "in surgery and rehab.  The doctors say it was pure luck that he wasn't completely paralyzed by that shot."

Sil nodded.  "And the Guardians are going to be lenient with him because of his help."

"Right," Justice said.  "Lt. Burke pulled some strings and got Xenia sent to the prison hospital for her own rehabilitation.  After all, she does have to stand trial."

"What about Burke?" Cowboy asked.  "How's he doing?"

Justice shrugged.  "He's all right.  The doctors gave him a once-over to make sure there wasn't any infection from his torture's wounds.  His commander did order him to visit a psychiatrist for a while, to help him cope."

"That's good," Sil said.  "A relatively happy ending for everyone...except for Renei, il'Weast, and Xenia."

"The bad guys," Dirk said, "always lose."