|| -------- -- -----  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 11--"CRIME" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Foreman Ittener Pier  ||  -------> (Cup SRfi011, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "I can grow underwater." the device said. "This method will take 9.15 hours to complete. Then, a Waver will be dispatched to pick you up--it will be the dark of night then." "Okay." I said. "So what do I do?" "Throw me out into the water, Prince Ferrajalt. I will take water in, and weave a propulsion device. Then, the weaving of Stormbolthouse Lunatether will begin." "Okay," I said, "so just throw you out there and you'll be okay?" "Yes. Whenever you're ready." I thought about using superstrength, but figured it was unnecessary. So I just hurled the matter handler as hard as I could with normal strength, out into the sea, hoping the voice in the box knew what it was doing. "Okay." I said, looking at Hilltop. "We have nine hours to kill, and I'm damn hungry. Let's just go to a restaurant, chow down, and not pay. What the hell can they do to us?" "Sounds good to me!" she said. So we walked down the boardwalk for about half an hour and found a nicely crowded restaurant. We ate a whole lot, and after a few hours, we just walked right out. We got back to the general area where I threw the matter handler, and hung out in an amusement arcade. Frustrated at not having any money, I left Hilltop and strolled the boardwalk a little until I saw a clerk at an ice cream stand finish ringing someone up. She walked into a back room, and I quickly jumped over the counter and, using superstrength, tore the cash register open and grabbed all the paper money out of it. I was away in a flash and was pretty certain no one saw me. So my life of crime had begun. Back at the arcade, I changed some of the bills into coins and gave a handful to Hilltop. "Don't ask." I said in response to her questioning glance. I was a little paranoid at first, but my fears quickly subsided. This was clearly a more innocent age, where folks weren't as careful as they'd have to be in a tech class P or Q Earth. The hours rolled by, and finally things began to close. So we staked out a little corner of beach by the boardwalk and relaxed. I tell you, I liked Hilltop a lot--but I didn't want to just go rushing in and make a move. I looked for little signs--like looking into her eyes and seeing if she responded, but she didn't really. Oh well--maybe I could just be good friends with Hilltop. You know? Ah, who am I kidding? I was thinking of making love with her every moment we were together. I couldn't help it. But my actions, I could help. I guess we just lied down and fell asleep, both of us. 'Cause the next thing I heard was Lunatether's voice saying "Wake up Prince Ferrajalt, wake up Hilltop Jone Rallity." over and over again. "I'm up! I'm up!" I said, looking through bleary eyes at the Waver on the sand in front of us. Hilltop woke up a few moments later and said "Looks like it worked." "Yup." I said, getting up and stumbling over to the Waver. "Everything work out okay?" I asked. "Weave time was 9.22 hours. Discrepancy due to chemical composition of seawater here." "No problem." I said. Like .07 hours meant shit to me. "So it's done?" I said. "Ready to move? Shall we get in?" "Stormbolthouse Lunatether is fully woven, and ready to travel. You may enter Waver Double-Zero One at any time for transport to the Stormbolthouse." "Okay." I said, getting into the thing. Hilltop soon followed. The Waver took off, and we flew at a high altitude over the sea. "How far out is it?" I said. "Thirty miles--out of scanning range of any resident vessel." "Scanning?" I said. "In this case, just telescopically-enhanced human sight, human hearing--no apparent radar or other complex scanning methods." "Huh." I said. After about 10 or 15 minutes, we got to the Stormbolthouse, which was surrounded by only a wispy ring of clouds. Beautiful in the moonlight. "No storm?" I asked. "The Stormbolthouse is in stand-by/stealth mode. Lightning would be visible for quite a ways, after all." "No problem." I said. Was it me, or did this thing have a personality? Oh well. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----