------------------------------------------------------------------------ [s] The best laid plots of furry-tailed rats (12/13) Newsgroups: alt.devilbunnies From: adm@accessone.com (Chit) Message-ID: <57h2gi$8rb@kanga.accessone.com> Reply-To: DEVILBUNNIES-L@xmission.com Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 21:37:59 GMT Organization: hashing with chaining Chit wasn't a terribly fast runner, but he was faster then guards encumbered with all their equipment, and easily outdistanced them, at least at first. Apparently, one of the guards had had the same thought, because someone pounced on him from behind as he reached the main corridor, slashing at his sides and back with inexpert claws. But scouts, unlike security, actually study the art of unarmed combat, and while Chit was hardly a master he'd learned a few things from Kara's teaching. He also outweighed the guard by almost a pound. So after the initial surprise he easily subdued his assailant and continued on his way. When he was sure the guards had lost his trail -- although they hadn't stopped searching, and he had to keep ducking into alcoves and running down side corridors to avoid their search pattern -- he headed back to the arcade. The tape was gone -- they hadn't been able to put it back right, and had figured passing squirrels were less likely to notice its absence then their clumsy attempts at repair -- so he just slipped inside and shut the door quietly behind him. "Please," he whispered to whatever gods might be listening, "no more." But his blood froze as he approached the back of the room, for a squirrel was standing on the keyboard operating the computer. Could he stay hidden until the operator left, rifle the system for files, and still make it out before security caught up with him? Not likely. Even less likely than that, in fact. Perhaps he hadn't been as quiet as he'd thought in his futile prayer, or perhaps his breathing or scent had given him away, but the squirrel at the computer noticed his presence and turned... "Chit!" Zander said, hopping down off the table, "Frith! You look like hell." "I'm fine," Chit said, surprised at the mumbled tone of his own voice. "How..." "All the guards ran after you, so I just walked away. [flick] No one said a thing... [giggle] I think some of them left too. I knew you'd come back here, though." Chit jumped up to the keyboard, but fell a little short and had to scrabble to make it up. "Gaia's sake, you're bleeding! [chitter] You didn't leave a trail of blood here, did you?" Chit limped over to the keyboard. His legs felt a little stiff, probably from all the running. "No, it looks like it just opened up when you jumped. But you should go to the clinic or something. [flick]" "I'm fine," Chit mumbled, quitting the screen-saver and logging in as 'guest'. He attached his portable to the socket provided for the purpose and started copying files. "What did you do, take out all of security single-pawed?" "Just one," Chit said, checking all the personal directories for users who'd left their files unlocked. He found a few, but less than he'd hoped. Security seemed to be fairly tight... "Are you *sure* you're okay?" Chit tried Teral's favorite backdoor, but the new operators must have taken it out. Not that he blamed them, he'd badgered Derek into letting him take it out of UCirc's system. Username 'foo', password 'bar' indeed. "Chit?" "Chit!" All the scratches and cuts the guard had given him flared to life as Zander started shaking him, and Chit hissed as he got to his feet. "Llluuuuh..." He gritted his teeth and concentrated. "Let's get ow-out of here. Fast." Chit stumbled off the keyboard, struggling to keep his eyes open, and tripped over something small and rectangular. He focused on it... a minidisk, labeled... with a sudden burst of energy, he snatched the disk and shoved it into a pouch. Then, grinning, he leaped down off the table. "OOOOOWWWWW!" "Just follow me," Zander said as Chit stumbled across the floor, "I'll get you out of here. [chitter]" "T-t-terminal," Chit said, "We can s-s-sssss..." "Steal a transport! [flick] Cool! But first I'd better bandage up those cuts, unless you want to leave a nice trail of blood for the guards." == Chit ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Usenet Web 1.0.3 (development) / webmaster@netimages.com