Chapter 3 - Brothers in Arms

One man, one goal
One mission
One heart, one soul
Just one sore loser....
- Queen

   Kuno awoke, and immediately wished he hadn't. Damn, that 
hurt...

   He quickly took stock of his situation. The air smelled of 
disinfectant, and the walls were covered with anti-drug and 
AIDS posters....yes, he was in the infirmary. And he seemed to 
be lying down. This was probably a good thing, because his leg 
felt like it had been run over by a herd of elephants. Big 
elephants. Damn those huge grey animals, he would have his 
revenge on them! What were elephants doing in Japan anyway?

   Kuno's mind wrenched itself back to what passed for reality 
with him. It hadn't been elephants that had done this to him, it 
had been that insufferable peasant! Saotome Ranga, or 
something like that. As soon as he recovered, he would 
challenge him to single combat and...

   Something didn't quite fit there, and Kuno had to think hard 
to see what it was.

   Oh yeah. He had already challenged Saodome Ramada to single 
combat. Which was why he was in the infirmary.

   But that implied he had lost, which was ridiculous. No-one 
defeated the Blue Thunder in fair combat. It simply wasn't 
done.

   Which meant it had to have been unfair combat! But how was 
it unfair?

   Kuno dredged his rather fogged mind for ideas. He seemed to 
remember something about elephants. Yes, that had to be it. 
Saokome had used his unnatural power over elephants to win! 
The gall of the man!

   He started to rise for his usual dramatic oratory, but his leg 
informed him that this would be a bad idea. Kuno acknowledged 
the suggestion by passing out.

   When he woke up again, he noticed something leaning against 
his bed. It was a long, narrow package, with a card. Addressed 
to him! The student body, griefstricken by his injury, was 
sending tribute! 

   Kuno opened the card.

   --------------------
    Dear Pink Lightning,

    Sorry I beat the snot out of
    you. Here's a little something
    to help with the leg.

     - Saotome Ranma
   --------------------

   Off came the wrapping paper. It appeared to be a wooden 
crutch. Kuno almost appreciated the thought, and it looked like 
it had been made out of rather expensive wood. The same kind, 
in fact, as....

   His bokken.

   The bastard had made a crutch out of his blade. His weapon. 
The incarnation of his honor.

   Oh, he was going to pay for this. On his word as a samurai, he 
would.

   He'd make Saotome curse the day he ever heard of the house 
of Kuno.

^_-

   Akane waited at the school gate for Ranma. He had said 
something about dropping off a package, and assured her he 
would only be a few minutes...

   "Hi, Sis."

   She spun, startled, to find Nabiki perched on the fence. 
"Oneechan! Don't sneak up on people like that!"

   Nabiki smirked. "So much for the highly acute senses of the 
trained martial artist. How was class?"

   Akane rolled her eyes. "Sensei told us everything we didn't 
want to know about South America. Then came Trig. Ranma was 
about the only one in class who didn't fall asleep."

   Nabiki's expression turned curious. "The jock was 
interested?"

   She nodded. "It certainly looked that way. Detailed notes, 
asked questions, the whole bit."

   Her older sister turned away. "I suppose you saw what 
happened to Kuno?"

   "I was there, yes," she replied. "It was amazing, Nabiki. You 
wouldn't..."

   "I understand he broke Kuno's leg," Nabiki interrupted. "Don't 
you think he went a little overboard?"

   Akane stiffened. "Kuno was the one who attacked first," she 
replied. "And he was really mad, Oneechan. I think he would 
have done worse to Ranma if..."

   Nabiki sighed. "Look, Akane...Ranma's an incredibly skilled 
martial artist, right?"

   She nodded emphatically. "Oh yes. I've never seen anyone 
do..."

   "Well, if he's so good, why'd he have to break Kuno's leg? You 
beat him off every day without seriously hurting him."

   Akane opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out.

   Nabiki glanced back towards the school. "I've gotta get 
going, sis. Just think about it, okay?" And with that, she 
jumped down from the fence and briskly strode off towards 
the center of town.

   As she watched her go, Akane tried to come up with a 
pleasant answer to her sister's question. None came to mind. 
She was able to knock Kuno senseless, but he was always back 
on his feet within a few hours. And if she could place blows so 
as not to cause serious injury, Ranma could as well.

   Which meant that Ranma had decided that instead of just 
winning the fight, he would break Kuno's leg and win the fight.

   He had decided to seriously hurt someone he had just met.

   "Ready to go?"

   Akane gave a little squeak and turned, to find Ranma 
standing a few inches behind her. He shook his head at her and 
clucked in a mock-serious manner. "You shouldn't let people 
sneak up on you like that. All kinds of weirdos wandering 
around these days."

   She tried to glare at him. "I was thinking."

   "Think the weirdo would care?"

   "Nerima's a pretty safe place," Akane returned, feeling a bit 
annoyed. "And the average mugger doesn't move as quietly as 
you do. And even if he did sneak up on me..." She balled her 
hands into fists. "He'd regret it."

   Ranma grinned. "Y'know, I bet he would."

   She smiled back, but the question Nabiki had raised still 
bothered her.

   "Kuno should be all right in a few weeks," Ranma said, his 
voice regretful.

   "You sound disappointed," Akane said before she could stop 
herself.

   Ranma gave her an inquiring glance. "I just sorta feel bad for 
hurting his leg like that. I don't understand why he didn't block 
it."

   It felt as if sunlight shone on Akane. "Ranma," she said 
gently, "not all of us are as good as you. Kuno wasn't _able_ to 
block."

   Ranma seemed abashed. "Yeah, I guess...I just get carried 
away sometimes."

   She patted him on the arm, missing the look of disgust that 
flashed across his face. "Don't worry about it too much. At 
least now he won't be harassing me every morning."

   "Yeah, just the charge of the hentai brigade," he answered. 
"Though I'd think you'd find that flattering."

   Akane's face wrinkled in distaste. "I find it annoying." She 
picked up her schoolbag from it's place on the ground. "Let's go 
home."

   "All right."

^_-

   Across the city, beepers went off.

   The people who picked them up where a varied bunch. A 
rather cute little girl in a sailor fuku, looking more like a doll 
than a human. A curiously nondescript high school student, the 
very embodiment of the word "faceless". A clerk on the Nerima 
Daily Shinbun. An elderly, toothless, homeless man, skin the 
color of old paper.

   Instead of a phone number, a short series of digits. 5235.

   Emergency meeting. Drop everything, and assemble at the 
rendezvous point.

   And they did, because Tendo Nabiki never used that code 
unless something very big was going down. Big, and profitable.

^_-

   He ran. Sometimes it seemed like he had been running 
forever.

   The forest grew thicker, branches whipped at his face. He 
ignored them. Tokyo was around here somewhere, perhaps over 
the next rise! And that was where they were heading. It had to 
be.

   He would have caught up with Saotome long ago, if it hadn't 
been for his sense of direction. 

   It was the standard Hibiki genetic package, his parents had 
told him. You get amazing strength, superb coordination, and 
unsurpassed potential to generate ki. Oh, and you also get this 
slight problem with directions. Go to the store for milk, and 
you wind up in Paris or Istanbul. Look at the bright side, they 
said. It lets you see the world for free.

   And indeed, it was fine for tourism. But when you're hunting 
a murdering demon in a quest for revenge and honor, it really, 
really got in the way.

   He didn't know how long it had been since he had last seen 
Mariko. They had met by a happy accident in Amsterdam a few 
years back, on his birthday, and had gone to a small cafe by the 
flower market. She had ordered coffee, he had ordered tea, and 
they sat and talked and talked and talked, telling each other 
about where they had been, and the wonders they had seen, and 
the leads they had picked up on Saotome's whereabouts. For 
three days they sat together, sometimes talking, sometimes 
just enjoying the other's presence.

   He could have sat there for three more days, or three more 
weeks, or three more years. But you couldn't put a blood feud 
off so you could drink coffee and enjoy yourself. So they had at 
last parted ways, again, and he had cried himself to sleep for a 
week.

   On days when the world seemed against him, when he was 
huddling in the mouth of some nameless cave in some foreign 
land with the rain pouring down outside, he would take out the 
memory of Amsterdam. He would remember Mariko telling him 
about how funny the opera house in Sydney looked, and how 
there was this odd little street in Belgrade, and Mardi Gras in 
New Orleans. And he would cry himself to sleep again, but 
somehow the world didn't seem quite so bleak as it had.

   Aside from the reason for his hunt, which was reason enough 
to cast Saotome into the lowest pit of hell for eternity, he 
would make the bastard pay for keeping him and his sister 
apart for so long.

   The forest parted, revealing a town below. Not very big. Tiny, 
in fact. Almost certainly not Tokyo.

   But it was always best to be sure.

   A few minutes of walking found him in what appeared to be 
the main street. Strangely enough, all the people seemed to be 
busy cowering in fear. Maybe this _was_ Tokyo, and Saotome 
was terrorizing the populace!

   He grabbed the nearest man he could find, a portly gentleman 
in farming clothes. "Is this Tokyo?"

   The man was momentarily snapped out of his terror by the 
sheer stupidity of the question. While he normally would have 
answered with a sarcastic remark ("Why yes, and this is the 
Ginza, and I'm the Emperor."), fear has a way of decreasing 
human wit. So the best he was able to manage was "No, it 
isnOh Shit..."

   Boy and man turned to see a pig. Or, to be more precise, a 
boar. You generally call them Wild Boars, but this one had 
passed that stage, and now qualified as an Out-Of-It's-Tiny-
Little-Mind Boar.

   It charged, because that's what boars do to pass the time.

   And ten seconds later it got it's tiny little mind smeared all 
over the street by a incredibly heavy red umbrella, because 
that's what Hibikis do to pass the time.

   After that, it was easy to get directions to Tokyo.

^_-

   "This, ladies and gentlemen, is Saotome Ranma."

   The assembled group stared curiously at the photo Nabiki 
held up, commiting every detail to memory. No questions were 
asked; the meeting had not yet entered that phase.

   "He's been trained in the Anything-Goes school of martial 
arts. And he's good. Very good. Top twenty in the world today 
good."

   They sat silently, faces set in masks of impassive alertness.

   "Unfortunately, he's also a complete psycho. Mentally 
unbalanced. Even more unfortunately, he's been engaged to my 
sister and is living in _my house_." The last two words came 
out in a hiss of anger.

   "Ranma is going to kill someone, eventually. I'd prefer it not 
be me or one of my family. You are to find out everything you 
can about him. I want him watched every hour of the day. If he 
has weaknesses, hates, fondnesses, habits...I need to know 
about them.

   "I have a list of assignments for each of you. Under no 
circumstances are any of you to approach him. If Ranma thinks 
you're a threat, or a spy....at best, you'll wind up in the 
hospital."

   A high school student raised his hand. "Excuse me, Tendo 
Nabiki-san."

   "Yes, Hikaru?"

   "Your pardon, Tendo Nabiki-san. What profit will this 
undertaking secure for us?"

   Nabiki smiled like a shark. "For one thing, it keeps me alive, 
which should be of interest to all of you. Second, I think 
Saotome will give us ample opportunity to make a bit of 
money. Lastly, should we not net anything from this, I'll 
personally pay all of you out of my own operations."

   Hikaru nodded, as did the rest of them. The leader had been 
probed, and no weakness found. Yet. Her orders would be 
followed. For now.

   Sometimes Nabiki felt like the head wolf in a pack. They 
followed her becuse she was the best hunter. Listening to her 
and obeying her meant that money filled their pockets. But if 
that ever changed...

   Every wolf wants to be pack leader, and is just waiting for 
his chance.

   She was walking a thin line. In order to keep them on 
Ranma's trail, she had to come up with another source of 
income. And in the meantime she had to strike as many blows 
as possible against him. But they couldn't be obvious ones, or 
he'd kill her. It would probably look like an accident, and Akane 
would be griefstricken, and he'd be there to "comfort" her...

   It scared her to death, but it was also great motivation.

   "Suki, you'll watch the Tendo house..."

^_-

   Life settled into what appeared to be a routine.

   Ranma and Akane would get up, go to school, come back, do 
their homework, and eat. Soun and Genma played shogi. Nabiki 
schemed and fumed and sniped. Kasumi cooked and cleaned and 
breathed; all three being, to her, vital functions required to 
support life.

   And during this time, Nabiki and Ranma had talks.

   "Good afternoon, Nabiki-san. Has the day gone well for you?"

   (Found any dirt on me, bitch?)

   "Oh, fairly well, Ranma-kun. And how was school?"

   (I might have. And I saw you made no progress with Akane 
today.)

   "Fine, though I'm having trouble with Trig. Akane's going to 
help me study."

   (Alone in her room. I'm looking forward to it. Gonna try to 
get in the way?)

   "I'm sure she'll be able to help you. Akane's very good at 
working things out."

   (You're a sicko, Ranma. And you won't be able to fool Akane 
much longer.)

   "I'm glad you have such faith in your sister's ability."

   (We'll see. She's _mine_, and she knows it. It's just a matter 
of time.)

   "Yes. Of course, I'm the mathematician in the family."

   (I'll see you in hell first. Stay away from her, little boy.)

   Everyone else marveled at how friendly the two were 
towards each other.

^_-

   "So...where in China did you go?"

   Ranma looked down at her from the fence. "All over. Like I 
said, we moved around a lot. Village after village of men in 
fatigues, rice paddies, temples of monks...most of it was dull. 
Nerima is much more exciting."

   Akane stared at him incredulously. "Nerima? Exciting? 
Compared to China?"

   He shrugged. "Well, yeah. It's very...relaxing. And school is a 
real challenge, and you...well...I never had a real friend 
before..."

   Her head swam. Ranma felt that she was more...exciting...than 
China? She was that important to him?

   Without warning, Ranma leaped off the fence to land beside 
her. "I really do appreciate how far you've gone to make me 
feel welcome. You've been very kind to me."

   "It was nothing, really...well, I mean it wasn't nothing..I 
enjoyed it...I mean..." She was babbling. Why? Ranma pulled a 
bit closer, and she felt a funny, almost nauseous sensation 
rise through her. "I'd like to thank you, somehow," he said, his 
voice almost a whisper. His eyes, burning with something,  
seemed to be locked with hers...why was she moving forward? 
What was she _doing_? Was she about to kiss him? It looked 
like it....

   And then his face went wide with shock, and he stared at 
something behind her. She jerked back, the spell broken.

   Akane had never seen an expression like the one crawling 
across his face. Hate, disbelief, fear...what on earth could 
make Ranma afraid? And hope...just enough of a desperate hope 
to show up on the fringes of what was otherwise a very ugly 
display of emotions.

   "Ranma? What's wrong?"

   He didn't reply, and she turned to see for herself.

   A boy, about their age, stared back at them from across the 
street. A mop of black hair was held in place by a yellow and 
black bandanna, and a large backpack rested atop his shoulders. 
Secured to it was a old-fashioned red umbrella.

   While Ranma's gaze was complex, this boy's wasn't. It held 
triumph and hate, both in terrible quantities.

   "It can't be...," she heard Ranma whisper. "There's no way he 
can be..."

   The boy turned, and dashed off into the crowd.

   Ranma continued to stare for a second, and then ran after 
him, a look of desperation in his eyes. "Ryouga! Wait! Come 
back! RYOUGA!"

   Akane followed as he raced through the streets, frantically 
peering down alleyways, a mad, hunted look in his eyes. 
Finally, realizing that his quarry had been swallowed up by the 
city, he pulled to a stop. His hands slowly began to curl into 
fists.

   "Ranma? Who...who was that..."

   He turned, and her heart caught in her throat at the sight of 
him. Kill, his eyes were saying; he was shaking with a barely 
controlled rage. "Shut up," he spat, the words laced with 
venom, "don't talk to me, you..."

   She shrank back, preparing to leap into a defensive form, 
knowing that it would be useless.

   And then his expression was sheepish and apologetic, his 
stance relaxed and unthreatening. "..oh hell, I'm sorry, Akane. 
It was just...a bit of a shock, there. He was someone I hadn't 
expected to see again."

   She slowly relaxed a little, still frightened. "A-are 
you...feeling all right, Ranma?"

   He nodded, looking embarrassed. "I didn't mean to snap at you 
like that, honest. I just...saw someone I didn't...didn't expect to 
see. I'm not angry at you, and I shouldn't have said what I 
said."

   Something, obviously, had upset him. No, upset was far too 
weak a word. Enraged, possessed, stunned...those all fit it far 
better. Maybe it was the same thing that had filled the house 
with his screams almost a week ago.

   "Can you forgive me? I really didn't mean..."

   "Of course," she said. "Don't worry about it."

^_-

   FINALLY!

   He had looked right into Saotome's face, and seen fear. The 
bastard was AFRAID of him! And then, as Ranma had called 
after him...

  Saotome must think....oh, this was too good to be true. It was 
perfect. It was poetry. No, even better, it was Justice.

   He had thought it would be hard to wait, that he would have 
to fight the urge to destroy Ranma immediately. But no, this 
was much better. Let the fiend sweat. Let him worry about the 
ghost haunting him, let his nerves fray.

   He pulled out a cell phone, carefully packed in a watertight 
bag, and dialed the Number.

   A few rings, and then....

   "*yawn* Hello, moshi moshi, all that?"

   He grinned, in spite of everything. "It's me, Mari-chan. I've 
found him. He's stopped moving."

   Silence for a few moments. "Where."

   "Tokyo. Nerima Ward. The Tendo Dojo."

   "And we meet?"

   "At the Akai no Kasa Kissaten. It's a tiny little coffee shop, 
corner of Fasa and Kurita streets."

  There was a delighted laugh from the other end of the line. 
"Akai no Kasa? How fitting. I'll be there tomorrow, brother 
mine. And then..."

   The thought hung in the air. There was no need to finish it.

   "See you soon, Mariko."

   "Tomorrow," her voice broke a bit, "I'll be there tomorrow."

   "With your sense of direction?"

   "With my sense of direction."

^_-

   Hibiki Mariko hung up, exhilaration rushing through her. It 
would finally be over! Finally! Ryouga's honor would be 
restored, Saotome punished, and she could see her brother as 
long and as often as she wanted. They could travel together, go 
back home, have a conversation that _didn't_ involve hunting 
Saotome to the ends of the earth...

   It was about bloody time, was all she had to say about it.

   Looking around, Mariko spotted a likely-looking person. He 
had a map, a coat, and was fumbling with a set of car keys. 
Perfect.

   She pulled her tan umbrella out from under her trenchcoat, 
and, grasping it by the middle, pulled down. There was a 
*slideTHUNK* noise, and she walked over to the likely looking 
man.

   "Excuse me, sir, could you take me to the airport?"

   He barely gave her a glance. "Get lost, kid."

  She pointed the umbrella towards the ceiling, and pressed a 
stud on the handle.

   As the deafening report faded, the man gaped at the new six-
foot hole in the roof. Mariko calmly pumped the umbrella again, 
and stuck the now-smoking tip in the base of his stomach.

   "Excuse me, sir, could you take me to the airport?"

^_-

   The vagrant watched Ranma and Akane leave. Taking another 
swig from a bottle of cheap rice wine, he stood, the motion 
surprisingly swift for a elderly man at the mercy of the 
elements. Retreating into a dark, secluded alleyway, he pulled 
a cell phone from his clothes and, like Hibiki, dialed a number.

   "Tendo here."

   "It's Geki. The subject just chased after a young man, about 
his age. He seemed...agitated."

   "The subject, or this other?"

   "Both. They don't appear to like each other. In fact, I would 
go so far as to say hate."

   "Interesting....can you describe this young man, Geki-san?"

   "Certainly. He was powerfully built, black hair, carried a 
large, red umbrella of a baroque style..."

^_-

   Akane sat in her room, staring at the walls.

   They weren't particularly interesting walls, but that didn't 
matter.

   She was worried. About Ranma, and about herself.

   Boys. She hated them. So why had she come _this_ close to 
kissing Ranma today?

   What would he have thought of her? He was her...well...friend, 
certainly nothing more. He'd never shown the slightest bit of 
interest in her romantically...

   She probably would have embarrassed him, made him feel 
uncomfortable. He needed her as a friend; a friend she would 
be.

   But who was this boy?

   Ranma had called him Ryouga, and had obviously not expected 
to see him. Just as obviously, there was no love lost between 
the two.

   Ryouga...why did that name sound familiar? Had Ranma 
mentioned him before?

   She would ask Ranma, in a day or two. After he had recovered 
completely from the shock. After....

   After she could be sure he wouldn't reenter that barely 
controlled rage at the mention of this other boy. He wouldn't 
hurt her, of course...but it probably wasn't good for him.

   Damn whoever this Ryouga is, she thought fiercely. The last 
thing Ranma needs is to have old wounds reopened. He needed a 
normal life, with a normal family, and she was going to make 
sure nothing prevented that.

   Idly, she picked up a arm weight, hefting it. Her room was a 
mess; workout equipment and practice gear scattered across 
the floor. She had snuck a look at Ranma's room once, while he 
was out...it had been almost supernaturally clean. And, well, 
barren. A photo of an older woman, who Akane assumed was his 
mother, and a vase of cherry twigs - that was everything.

   It reminded her, oddly, of Kasumi's room. The same sterile 
sense, the feel that you had made the room a mess just by 
entering.

   Akane giggled. Of course, Ranma didn't have frilly sheets on 
his bed, or a teddy bear named Mr. Buttons perched on a 
cupboard, the way Kasumi did.

   She hefted the weight, her spirits better. She'd have Kasumi 
make an extra helping for the Saotomes tonight.

^_-

   At about 6:00 AM, the Akai no Kasa Kissaten opened. Five 
seconds later, a young man walked in, his hair and yellow-on-
black bandanna soaked despite the red umbrella he carried. He 
made a beeline for a two-person booth, and sat down.

   The waitress knew the look on his face. She'd seen it several 
times before. The kid was waiting for someone, someone 
female, and he was desperately hoping she'd show. But knowing 
she probably wouldn't.

   Yeah, she'd read this story before, and knew how the ending 
went. A pity. Stories really should have happy endings.

   But, she mused, you have to follow the script they give you. 
And my part of the script is to walk over and ask him if he'd 
like to order. This will bring him pain at being reminded that 
no-one is with him, and if the girl shows up, it would be rude 
to have ordered. So he will decline, and I'll walk off, and the 
whole routine will have made both of us that much more older 
and grayer.

   "Would you care to order?"

   "No, thank you. I'm waiting for someone."

   "All right."

   It's not much of a script, she thought blackly. Philosophy 
students working in Kissatens think blackly quite a bit. It's an 
occupational hazard.

   Time passed.

^_-

   She said she'd be here today, damn it.

   He wasn't really surprised, though. If you were a Hibiki, you 
were never, ever on time. It just didn't happen.

   He laughed, bitterness filling him. A Hibiki had indeed been 
on time once. Of all the DAMN times for the curse to fail, it 
had to be that one. Hell, that was the way the universe worked. 
Not much he could do about it, except try to clean up his little 
corner of it.

   And the kissaten door opened.

   The girl framed in it was stocky. Not in an unattractive way, 
not fat; just powerfully built. A tangle of black hair tumbled 
out from under a yellow baseball cap, spilling over onto her 
tan trenchcoat. She finished closing her rather bulky umbrella, 
and turned to him.

   Her face was just as he'd remembered, save for a few years 
of age. Bright, twinkling eyes. A crooked, slightly teasing 
smile.

   "Hi there, brother mine. How's it been?"

   He broke out into a big, silly grin. "It's been better. I found 
him, Mariko. I actually saw him, and he saw me. You should 
have seen the look on his face!"

   She slid into the seat across from him. "He knew who you 
were? I'm surprised he'd even remember."

  "Oh, it was priceless. I ran off, and he tried to follow, yelling 
"Ryouga, come back!" Amazing, ne?"

   She stared at him, a small grin slowly building. "You mean..."

   "Yup."

   "Perfect."

   "I thought so."

   "When do we get to kill him?"

   He smiled. "It's not that easy, Mari-chan..."

   "Yes it is. I wait along his route, blow a hole in his stomach, 
and run. Easy."

   "Also lacking in honor."

   She made a face. "Feh, honor is what started this in the first 
place."

   Her brother's face darkened. "No, it wasn't. It was Saotome's 
lack of honor...lack of decency...that caused it."

   Mariko slowly nodded, her face somber. "I suppose. So what 
_is_ our plan?"

   "I'm going to fight him."

   "The hell you are," she flatly replied. "That's just what 
happened..."

   "Listen. I'm going to fight him. He'll do something 
completely dishonorable. He can't help it; it's in his blood, in 
his style...he'll fight dirty. And that releases us from the laws 
of honorable combat."

   "And then?"

   "Then you blow a hole in him with that damn toy you carry 
around."

   She giggled. "It's a useful thing."

   He sighed. "It's also a crutch. A true martial artist..."

   "Bah. I can take just about anyone hand to hand, and you know 
it, brother mine."

   "Then why do you carry that thing?"

   "It's for the handful I _can't_ take hand to hand. Why, it 
saved my life a year ago. I was in Zaire, and this rhino..."

   "Why would Saotome be in Zaire?"

   "I was trying for Nepal. Anyway, it charged me for no good 
reason at all..."

^_-

   The waitress shook her head in amazement. Maybe the story 
had a happy ending after all.

-< End of Chapter 3 >-