~ Meanwhile back in the jungle . . . ~

BJ slammed the phone back into it's little holder.

The near-cracking sound was so nice she did it again.

And again.

And again.

Feeling a little better, she strode back to where her motorcycle, a hodgepodged beauty of no particular make, waited. She threw one leg over, settled into the saddle, and paused a moment.

"Okay babe, reality check. You've been incognito by choice for months, in which time the folks were supposed to get the U up and running, for some much needed R-and-R, now all of a sudden, just when you're trying to get ahold of someone still able to speak in coherent sentences, everything's down? In the words of the man himself, I've got a bad feeling about this. God I hope they didn't change the phones around again."

With that, she donned a helmet, kick-started her ride, and got moving.

Way off in the distance, she heard a female voice cry to the heavens:

"'EYE OF THE BEHOLDER' IS *NOT* A MOVIE ABOUT ASHLEY JUDD!!!"

"Oh shit. Here we go again."

~ Meanwhile back in the States . . . ~

"What the hell just happened?"

Since everyone said it at roughly the same time (although the level of profanity varied from case to case), it doesn't really matter who specifically started saying it.

The entire HSU complex, all one completely confuseled building and assorted vacant lots of it, lay inert and lifeless, and more importantly, dark. And in the middle of the night, darkness is a bad thing. Especially since most desert containers are fragile and breakable. Kee-rash.

Total silence.

Everyone looks up. From what, in some cases, it is better not to know.

And a lone figure, chuckling madly, ran from the little shed with the fuse box, holding a fistful of house fuses in one little hand.

~ Meanwhile, back in the jungle . . . ~

BJ grit her teeth as she turned onto the gravel road leading to the back door to the HSU main building. "Wonder if they ever got around to naming the damn place," she muttered, concentrating on keeping her ride upright and her body from shaking apart.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something in the woods (not cleared away at her expressed command, too long indoors tended to drive her nuts) running like hell away from the building.

What the hell, the place would wait for another hour. BJ turned the bike on a dime (adding an unneccessary flourish) and roared back in the other direction, giving chase.

Whatever it is, it knew it'd been spotted, and it gave up stealth in favor of speed, moving so fast she had to keep the throttle at full to keep it in sight. The darkness pressed around her, broken only by her bright headlight.

The thing emerged from the bush, running alongside the road, and in a desperation tactic, it darted across and tried to upset the bike.

BJ yelled in shock as she tried to hit the brakes, but it was too late. She slammed into the whatever at roughly thirty miles an hour.

The thing flew a good fifteen yards before landing in a swearing thump on the gravel. BJ stopped the bike, cut the engine, and ran to it.

And began to swear herself in utter disbelief.

~ Meanwhile back in the States . . . ~

"No, I *don't* know what the hell the problem is," Diebin grumbled, looking like she'd stepped out of the wrong end of a woodchipper.

"The power's out, the phone's're down, the computers have all had their hard drives reformatted, most of the Nutella is congealing on the floor, and someone took the ice cube trays out of the freezer," Emmy summerized, adjusting her tiara.

Everyone shuddered.

"What kind of a sick shit takes the ice cube trays out of the freezer?" the General asked.

As one, everyone else in the room gave him the queerest *look*.

Even Space Dog.

Mentally instant replaying his last sentence, he said, "Don't look at me like that. I know how to curse. I'm in the Navy. Cursing is one of the job prerequisites."

"What about the com frequencies?" Emmy asked him.

"I tried. I'm not picking up anything. Anyone with any sense is asleep at this hour."

"No shit sweetie," someone grumbled.

Suddenly the sound of a wolf howling cut through the night.

Most of the Grrls jumped . . . on the General of course.

A few of them, due to darkness and disorientation, missed, landing on the furniture . . . and each other of course.

"Darry get your knee out of my . . ."

"Die your heel is spiking my . . ."

"Jael, you're dog's nose is . . ."

"Keep your hands to yourself for Christ's sake . . . !"

Another howl, louder and closer, echoed through the dark room.

"What if it's . . ." Dandelow paused for the appropriate effect, "Darth Ginsu?"

"YOU SHITHEELS OPEN THE FUCKING GATE!!!!!"

"No no, it's not Ginsu," Die waved aside, tottering to her heels.

"Oh I forgot," Emmy groaned . . . twice. The General grinned, taking his hand off her shoulder.

"Who is it?" Dande asked, clutching her belly protectively. "Another enemy come for my unborn and I?"

"Worse."

~ Meanwhile back in the jungle . . . ~

BJ took a deep breath, prepared to yell some more; all night if necessary; but just as the air began to leave her lungs, she saw someone burst out of the back door. The air left her chest in a whoosh.

With Die, Emmy, and the General forming the vanguard, the staff of HSU ran to the inert gate.

"BJ!" Emmy exclaimed in surprise. "What's with the tiara?" BJ drawled, her hands on her hips.

"Where have you been?"

"Vacating. Will someone do me a favor and open this fucking gate already?"

Looking a little ashamed of himself, the General waved his hand. The locks, rendered motionless and thus unlockable due to the power outage, clacked open and the gate swung apart.

"'Bout fucking time."

BJ strode in, tiny compared to most of the other Grrls. She gave Die an amused once-over. "Love the heels hon."

"I missed you too," Diebin said dryly.

"Don't be silly. I missed you guys like crazy. Do me a favor. The next time I want to take a vacation to the other side of the universe without taking a phone, don't let me."

With that, she strode over the the General, yanked his head down, and spent the next five minutes or so trying to eat his tongue.

~ Meanwhile back in the States . . . ~

"Why didn't you call and let us know you were coming back?" Emmy asked.

"I tried this morning. The phones were dead. Listen, does anybody have any Mountain Dew? I've been riding all day and my back feels racked."

"Yeah but it's warm. The power's been out for hours," Jael pointed out.

"I think I might have found out why." BJ indicated the knapsack she carried, dumping it on the table. "Obi honey, you'd better do the honors. I hit him with my bike. He's probably still got a headache."

Looking a tad uneasy, the General zipped open the bag, revealing . . .