|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- FOREMAN ITTENER PIER--CUP 2--"HILLTOP JONE RALLITY" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Foreman Ittener Pier  ||  -------> (Cup SRfi002, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Hilltop Jone Rallity gently rubbed her eyes and looked around the room, quickly finding me. "Whatever happened?" she said, looking at me. "Um, I don't know." I said, approaching her. She started getting up, but she sat back down, shaking her head. "Try 80-C." I said. She nodded her head. "80-C Clarity. Huh. That's a little better." I got to the couch and sat down next to her, glad to get off my feet. She looked at me with those wide blue eyes. "It never ends, does it?" I said. "Nuh-uh. Things just go from bad to worse these days." "Yeah. So okay--what do you remember?" "Uh, just listenin' to that Bith and that Kesh guy argue." I looked around. Bith was lying face down on the floor, looking awfully stiff. Near him was a pile of green cloth. It made sense, I guessed--Kesh was really only a little tile, and he animated his clothes and stuff into a humanoid form. So he lost consciousness too. Interesting... "Yeah?" I said. "Yeah. And then... I don't rightly know. Then nothin'. That was it." "Yeah, me too. So something must have happened to knock us all out." She nodded, looking awfully confused. I bit my lip and looked around in thought. "Okay." I said. "We have to wake everyone up. Then we'll have to find our way to that hangar bay with all the Wavers and get out of here." "Okay." she said, starting to get up. "Yeah--so try to wake someone up." She got up and carefully walked through the dizziness over to where Ow Muchy Moyar was resting peaceful in a comfy chair. I knelt down and began shaking the large form of Bellicose Billion. "C'mon big guy. Wake up." I said. He grunted a little and turned over, but was no nearer consciousness. "Okay girl, rise and shine!" Hilltop said, but she was likewise getting nowhere. I let go of Billion and looked up at the girl. "Why do I have a feeling all the rest are gonna be equally uncooperative." "Uh-huh. I have that same feeling." I made a grimace and stood up. "Okay everyone!" I yelled. "Wake up! You have to wake up NOW!" A few people stirred a little, and a snorer briefly stopped, but otherwise it was no good. Hilltop threw up her hands and said with a smile of gentle resignation "Guess it's just you and me!" "Yup." I looked around some more, thinking, but I knew what had to be done. "Let's get to that hangar." I said. "Okay." Hilltop perkily responded, and she followed me as I headed for the big entranceway we had all entered by. We found the hangar quickly--it wasn't far from the banquet hall. "It's not so bad in here." Hilltop said. "No, you know what? It's not." And indeed, the feeling of disorientation was a lot less pronounced in the hangar bay. "So whatta we do--get inta wonna these skeeter thingies?" "I think so." I said. "Just hope we can figure out how to get it open." She nodded, and we approached the nearest Waver. I started looking it over, feeling along the rim of the cockpit window, when the thing suddenly began to open. "Guess it's automatic." I said. "You'd think." she said. "So, uh--Hilltop is it?" I asked, and she nodded. "Uh, I guess you know this may be dangerous and all, right? I mean, I know it's obvious and all, but I just..." "No--I know it. We have no idea what's out there. So no, uh--Ferrajalt?" she said, and I nodded. "So no Ferrajalt--I know the risk. Everything in Overwhelm is a risk. We just have to take that one step over the line if we even hope to accomplish anything." "Yeah. So let's get in, and I don't even know what's gonna happen." She took a deep breath and followed me into the Waver. Shades of my first Warhome biplane flight with Treyess. (Wish I could forget all about her.) But the Waver had two totally separate seats, so no--Hilltop's ass was not right between my legs. Kinda wished it was but... no. I had to stop thinking with my dick! It was getting kind of outta hand. Hilltop Jone Rallity. QUEEN Hilltop Jone Rallity... Ah, forget it. There were more pressing matters at hand right now. Soon after we settled in--me in the front and Hilltop behind me--the hatch closed and the systems in the Waver came to life--fans, whirrs, buzzes, all that. Then we began to rise, and my stomach was full of adrenaline. "Here we go!" I said out of nervousness. "Yee-ha! Bring it on!" Hilltop said. Her bravado eased my fear a little. Just a little. An iris door turned open and the Waver headed for it. There was the gray of a storm beyond it, but that didn't tell us much. We flew through the artificial storm, and then broke out of it. We were over a sea, and a normal sun was shining high in a sky dotted with white clouds. I breathed a sigh of relief. And the dizziness was totally gone. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----