Path: usenet.ins.cwru.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!uhog.mit.edu! news.kei.com!travelers.mail.cornell.edu!news.tc.cornell.edu!newsserver.sdsc.ed u!nic-nac.CSU.net!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!xmission!xmission!not-for-mail From: Andrew Weitzman Newsgroups: alt.devilbunnies Subject: Kralk emerges Followup-To: alt.devilbunnies Date: 2 Dec 1994 18:36:52 -0700 Organization: DevilBunnies News<->Mail Gateway Lines: 68 Sender: snowhare@xmission.com Distribution: world Message-ID: <3boi3k$8kc@xmission.xmission.com> Reply-To: Andrew Weitzman NNTP-Posting-Host: xmission Kralk winced in pain. Breaking the mind-link, he had his puppet pull away from the rock face. Damn. His human counterpart's hands were gashed and bleeding, scored by the tough digging. Mind-linking did that; one could see and hear and smell, but the more sensitive sense of touch was severely dampened. In the future, he would have to be far more careful. Kralk glared at the short tunnel he had been able to dig. It was only half a meter long--a quarter of the required distance. Air would run out... Kralk's new ears picked up the hypersonic whine emanating from beyond the walls. He hopped over, laying one long ear firmly against the stone. Yes--that strange sound was there. And, faintly, other noises-- patterings, chittering... "Hoi!" Kralk shouted through his puppet's throat. A streamer of dust fell from the cracked ceiling. "Dr. Kralk? Are you in there?" Sounded like Mercan. "What does it sound like? Yes, I'm here." "Jedda, point the borer three degrees to the left. Doctor, please stand back. We'll be breaking through in a moment." Kralk piloted his human form to the boulder in the middle of the devasted laboratory. Himself he secreted behind a mound of tailings from his go at tunneling. The whine of the borer increased until it filled the room. With a spray of pulverised rock, the whirling tip of the borer machine broke through. The rest of the contraption soon followed, grey Jedda huddling behind the operator's shroud to avoid the airborne pebbles. "Kralk, please hurry. This area's *real* unstable [nervousflick]!" Mercan's red fur was a salve for Kralk's color starved eyes. "No need to urge me, Mercan." Kralk concentrated. It was easier now; one had to learn how to avoid feeling the sensations of one body when existing in the-- The ceiling overhead buckled. "Move! Now!" Mercan screamed. Jedda shifted the borer into reverse. Kralk writhed with the strain of controling two bodies at the same time. His human form went shambling by instinct down the passage, while his devilbunny body found little purchase in the shifting floor. A pit opened before him. His mind broke as he was swallowed into darkness. ******* Kralk came to in a metal-lined tunnel. Well, he admitted, being a devilbunny does has its advantages. Night vision being one of them. What would have been impenetrable darkness was rendered into simple dimness. Hmmm. These look like airducts. I hope they come out somewhere. Kralk crawled forward. TBC (over to you, Teral) ------------------------------------------------- Andrew Weitzman aweitz@CAM.org alt.devilbunnies characters: N!klot, Jeremy Hillis, Dr. Lawrence Kralk, and Admiral Marlin!