>"It's a repeat, you've seen it twice. Now come. We need to find Conway
>before the assassins do."
>
>Zander's eyes lit up. "Assassins? [grinflick] Let me at 'em!"

Next time we go on an assassin hunt, Chit reminded himself as he and Zander
leaped from tree to tree, bring a flashlight. It was dark, and while the
streetlamps and neon provided enough illumination for normal purposes, a
bright pink glowing tentacled thing could have hidden among the unnatural
shadows and glare. Let alone a squirrel not going out of his way to be found.
Let alone a trained assassin or six.

Zander seemed not to care, not to be looking, for that matter. He seemed to
be randomly running and jumping through the treetops, leaving Chit to scurry
after or be left behind. The result was as far from stealthy as they could
get without bells, and if he could just *catch* the fur-brain...

"Zander!" he hissed, "Slow down! We don't want them to hear us!"

"What?" Zander asked in a normal tone of voice. Chit winced so hard he almost
fell off the branch. But with a couple quick jumps he landed next to Zander
and whispered in his ear.

"Oh! [chitterflick] But they're not here yet. And we *want* Conway to find
us, it's not like we'll be able to see him in this light! [flick]"

He had a point.

But if the assassins weren't here, Conway wasn't in much danger -- the
bunny warren was miles away, and they didn't come out this far very often.
And if they were here... the two of them were in as much danger as the one
they were looking for. He explained that to Zander, who agreed to move a bit
more cautiously. "We'll never find him, though. [flick]"

"Maybe we'll get lucky."

Lucky wasn't the word.

Zander just stared in shock. "Is that... was that..."

"Yeah," Chit said softly, staring, "I'm going to kill them. You know that,
don't you? And then I'm going to go to UCirc and kill Loren."

"I'll help."

"Let's go."

"Now???"

"Back to the warren. They're out here, we're unarmed."

Zander gestured vaguely at the grisly scene. "Shouldn't we... [shudder] 
we can't just *leave* him! [chitter!]"

"It's a trap," Chit said, "We're too close as it is. Let's go." He grabbed
Zander's shoulder and turned him away, then the two hurried quietly home.

The warren was quiet. Too quiet. Chit knew he was being illogical -- the
tunnels were designed to deaden sound from within -- but Zander felt it too.
The two of them hovered by the entrance, wondering whether to go inside.

"I'll go first!" Zander said, darting in. Chit grabbed him by the haunches
and dragged him out despite his struggles. "Ow! [angryflick!]"

"I'll go," Chit said, as Zander licked the scratches, "If they get me, they
might let you go."

"That didn't work for Conway. [flick]"

"Well, if you hear a bloodcurdling scream, run." Chit smiled and entered.

When he wriggled through the s-curves and it was still quiet, he knew
something was wrong. Ozone and smoke. Those weren't normal warren smells.
Not even for this one. Burning flesh. That was a very *bad* sign. Bodies
strewn about the main room... he went back and got Zander.

Five. Lasered. They hurried past to check out the rest. One more in the
corridor. Two in a private burrow. Names, names... he wasn't going to think
about the names. Keep it abstract. He hurried faster towards the chamber at
the end...

The computer was smashed into tiny bits. The tranq guns likewise. The spears
were burned -- he could smell the vanilla in the ashes. The lasers were gone.
Chit started digging.

"What are you doing?"

Chit handed Zander a small whitish object about the size of an acorn, then
another. "Grenades. Kara stashed them. Don't drop them."

Zander held them in his forepaws and sniffed them. His whiskers twitched.
"Why not?"

"They're armed." Zander squeaked and leaped backwards. The grenades fell to
the ground, harmlessly. "Just kidding. Hee hee." Chit dug up a third and set
it next to the other two, then stopped. "I think this is all." He picked
them up then looked around. No pockets. Er...

"Open up!" he shoved one toward's Zander's mouth and popped it inside, then
put the other two in his. "Mmph!"

"Wha?"

He spit them out. "Follow me, we have to find Kara and Charlie before the
assassins do. It looks like Sly and Iris got the others away too." He popped
them back in and they ran for the entrance. 

As they stood by the entrance and looked around into the darkness, Chit
wished they'd set up some kind of emergency meeting place... of course.
He set off, Zander in tow.

==
Chit