<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0084</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0085.txt">Next (Page 85)</A><BR> " Mallie said, "I don't know, some alteration of the world we were just in? I mean, a clock like that, I mean, you don't find one just--"<P><P>"--I'd say we've arrived at our destination. Hey Daptin? Your comrade has those clocks, doesn't she?" Grant said.<P><P>"Yeah she does," Daptin said. "That could well be one of hers. And I'm just about sure this was the place, though one devastated landscape looks the same as another, I guess."<P><P>"Yeah--and notice," Grant said, "there isn't any overtly incongruous situation here, as we had in the last two worlds we were in."<P><P>"Ug! Don't remind me of that last one!" Iterator of Rail Avenue said. "I'm glad you set off that bomb--cuz that was just... so perverted."<P><P>"Mmm. Hmm," Pantry said, looking up at Iterator of Rail Avenue with a deviant smile.<P><P>"So we just, I guess, should head over that way and, uh, rescue my friend, uh, I--" Daptin said.<P><P>"--that would seem the best course of action, but we should be prepared for combat," Grant said.<P><P>"I wanna try and reason with them," Daptin said. "After what happened to me when I ate the goodbye popcorn and woke up billions of years after the end of the universe, I don't wanna have anything else to do with that damn Cup of Coffee. They can fucking have it."<P><P>"That's fine, Daptin," Grant said, "but remember--our goal is to retrieve your friend and return home safely. We need to guarantee that will happen--and if giving them the Cup does that without loss of life, all the better. But we don't know how desperate they are or what they're willing to do, so let's be on edge."<P><P>"Okay," Daptin said distantly.<P><P>Grant began walking up a slight incline toward the clock, and the rest fell into step behind him.<P><P>"If it's a fight they want," Daptin said, loosely holding his gun to his chest, "it's a fight they'll get."<P><P>"I kinda hope there'll be a fight," Wreckage Mallie said. "I need the exercise."<P><P>"I'm gonna use my magic to kill. Oh yes!" Pantry Lurkin exclaimed.<P><P>"Now Pantry, is that nice?" Iterator of Rail Avenue asked in a lightly-admonishing tone.<P><P>"Yes," Pantry stated, staring blankly off into the distance.<P><P>"I mean--let's put it this way," Daptin said. "If all they want is the damn Cup, they can have it. I should've just brought it."<P><P>"But then we'd have nothing to bargain with," Mallie said. "If they're stronger than us, we'd be dead. As it is, they need us to get the Cup, right?"<P><P>"How the hell are we getting back, anyway?" Daptin said. "I mean, when the true Coffee in my system vanishes, like, I know we're supposed to return, but where? Near the Cup?"<P><P>"I very much hope so," came a female voice from behind them.<P><P>Turning around, they saw Pattern Integrity hovering in the air and pointing her Massive Assault Weapon at them. Instantly, Grant recognized her uniform--it was from the same army he had been in, back in Dramptica.<P><P>"Now just relax," Daptin said, holding up his hands. "We don't need a repeat of last time. I'm willing to give up the Cup, but I need my friends back."<P><P>"If that's true, why'd you bring back-up and why don't I see the Cup?" Pattern asked.<P><P>"Because you are an unknown enemy," Granticaine said, "and force is the universal language. One that we're somewhat fluent in, Major."<P><P>Pattern looked down at the emblem on her shoulder and then back at Grant, studying him.<P><P>"You're not Lord Perion, are you?" she asked curiously.<P><P>"I am Granticaine Perion, young lady. I see you wear the colors of Dramptica, but your uniform and weapon are strange. Are you indeed in the Barzhims?"<P><P>"I was once," Pattern said, raising her weapon away from the group cautiously. "Now I seek the Cup."<P><P>"Where are my friends?" Daptin asked.<P><P>"Over by the clock," Pattern said, and then returned her fascinated gaze to Grant. "How could it really be you? You're long dead.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0085.txt">Next (Page 85)</A>