[See subject. Send in any editing requests to me soon... after this, this
segment is going to vredit. 

Op: The Marraketh Connection - Life Happens while you're Making Other
Plans

Segment 1/?

"'Very pretty!' said Gandalf. 'But I have no time to blow smoke- 
rings this morning. I am looking for someone to share in an 
adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find 
anyone.'

"'I should think so - in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and 
have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable 
things! Make you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody sees 
in them,' said our Mr. Baggins..."
- J.R.R. Tokien, _The Hobbit_

	I was in the library when the trouble started. 
	The rest of the day had been normal to a fault. After a 
morning of trying to figure out the exact formula for the 
photogrey tinting for a pair of Joo Janta Peril-Proof Sunglasses 
[1], I had broken for a bit of lunch with Red Paladin. After 
lunch, conversation, and my near-death by french fry, we went our 
separate ways. Red had paperwork to finish up, but I was lucky 
enough to have gotten out of that (desponge pills and the 
aforementioned Sunglasses don't take much beauracracy), so I 
decided to go to the library and finish rereading _The Hobbit_. 
It seemed like that kind of lazy afternoon, perfect for a little 
light reading.
	Needless to say, it wasn't. 
	I finished the book quickly, and then I realized that a 
network game of 'Red Alert' would be a far more interesting way 
to spend an afternoon. Fortunately, the library was well-equipped 
with terminals, and I began to play. Nobody else thought the day 
was as good for reading as I did; I was alone in the library. 
*Hey, all the better, right? Nobody'll get pissed off and ask me 
to turn the thing down.*
	My squadrons were about to die horrible bloody deaths 
(*Doh!*) when everything began to get odd. There was a gentle 
*fwooooop*, then the sudden silence that only occurs when the 
familiar background noises of electrical stuff have suddenly 
disappeared. *The entire electric circuit's down! Damn! At least 
it saved me from teh agony of defeat...* The library was pitch-
black for about 30 seconds, but it didn't strike me as being odd. 
*Some poor weapons tech just blew out a circuit, I bet. Good for 
him. It's a good day to go linkdead.* The emergency lights came 
on, and the main power sources blinked on soon afterwards. I 
could hear commotion from floors below me, though... this was no 
normal power failure. *Damn - what the hell's going down?!?*
	I realized that the only person I had bothered to tell 
about my afternoon library session was Red Paladin. If this was 
as big as it sounded, there had to be someone searching for me 
frantically by now. I was deliberating between waiting it out and 
racing down the stairs when Red barged in the room. 
	"Oh, Brynhild, there you are," he puffed out. He must 
have jogged the stairs with all his strength; I've never seen a 
guy's face so red before or since. 
	"So I am. I just had the best linkdeath of my life; I was 
about to get plowed over by this guy's mammoth tanks... I'll tell 
you later. What's going on out there?"
	"Everyone - or almost everyone - is preparing for some 
sort of mission. I have no idea what kind, since I left before 
briefing to look for you. Thought you might wanna know." By now 
Red was breathless, and he had been talking so fast it had been a 
little hard to keep up.
	"Listen, man, don't hurt yourself. I'm sure it's 
something routine. Give me a minute to get my things..."
	With no further ado, Red took off down the stairs. He had 
my right arm in a visegrip, and I was half-running, half getting 
pulled down the endless flights. *Hope he has a good reason for 
this...* Finally, we were at my quarters. I unlocked the door and 
went in while he stood in front, ready to receive any news.
	My quarters weren't very big, but I'd managed to cram a 
lot of junk on every available flat space. (That's what flat 
space is for, right?) Into the backpack went every little thing I 
could see that I thought might come in useful on a mission. 
First, the copy of _The Hobbit_, which somehow hadn't gotten 
forgotten in the chaos. Next, my St. Dino Pez dispenser, with 
enough refill packs of candy to last for a month. (Hey, I used to 
be a Girl Scout!) I found some experimental pseudo-Jolt pills, 
not yet tested but possibly with the punch of 3 cans of that 
Nectar of the Gods, and slipped them in for safekeeping. My Swiss 
Army Knife was already in my backpack, as it well should be, 
along with my hairbrush. Finally, I swept up 2 Simpsons action 
figures from my desk, reminded of my lunch conversation, and went 
for that final vital object. I found it in a locked desk drawer: 
my WEDJEE Switchblade Vibro-Spork, yet unused but genetically 
coded to me and ready for battle. *Might just come in handy.* I 
slipped it in my pack just in time to hear Red mumbling something 
outside the door. "I heard that!" I shouted, and I went to put on 
my combat fatigues. When I came out (combat fatigues, Crystal 
around my neck where it belongs, WEDJEE Monofilament Wristwatch 
ticking securely, and civvies in pack), I gave him a playful 
punch to the shoulder and a smirk.
	"C'mon, Bryn, you know I'm joking! Now, we're gonna have to 
hurry to catch the mission..."
	More stairs. *By Dobbs, where are all the elevators in 
this building?* Finally, we reached the briefing room and barged 
in.
	Most of the VRDET troopers on active duty were already 
seated around the room. Malaclypse the Seeker was there as well, 
prepared to begin his briefing. "Well, if it isn't our friends 
from R&D! About time. Sit down... I'm just about to start the 
briefing."
(TBC)
[1] Joo Janta Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses were originally worn by Zaphod
Beeblebrox in _The Restaurant at the End of the Universe_. They appear
to be normal shades, but upon noticing the aforementioned peril, the
lenses go completely black as a coping mechanism.