See the just-sent-out segment 1. Basically same thing here... made some
minor edits (mostly for description, but also changed the sucky title to
something more manageable). Look this over, and then it's going to
vredit.


Op: Marraketh - "There..."

Segment 2 of ?

"As soon as a still-to-be-finished computer task becomes a life-
or-death situation, the power fails."
- Wood's Axiom [1]

	Surprisingly, Mal's briefing didn't take as long as I thought it would.
Perhaps it was because I was paying more attention than I'd ever paid to
anything, before or since: *Katze's been kidnapped? To another
dimension, even? And we get to hop through a possibly unstable beta
device just to get there, THEN we get to attempt to rescue her? Guess
I'm too far into it now to say ‘Nope, sounds a bit dangerous, think I'll
stay home'.*

	Once the briefing was over, Mal led us to the gate. The sucker looked
like something beta out of VRDET R&D, all right; there were gobs of
flashing lights, multi-colored buttons, and DO NOT PUSH/PULL/SWITCH
notices. All in all, it looked like the exact kind of thing to come out
of an overstressed VRDET lab. *At least Mal's piloting this thing, with
keeb nowhere in sight... otherwise, no way!*

	Now it was time for things to go to work. Mal, in a distinctly
mad-scientistic manner, began to push buttons, flip switches, and light
consoles. Before the waiting cohort of Jihaddi, equipment in hand, a
circle of pinkish light opened, crackling with odd power. It was the
actual gate itself, a kaleidoscopic portal of light and plasma,
reminding me of too many late-night sci-fi movies. *Whoa. I'm NOT going
first.*

	*Have a little faith in your R&D, Bryn. If Mal can honestly recommend
it, it won't explode... at least not seriously.*

	*Still, I'm not going first!*

	We filed down the line of Jihaddi, with the bravest and most sure of
the R&D team's stuff going first. I found myself near the end of the
line, directly behind Red. Behind me, for whatever reasons they may have
had (time to work up some nerve? Just being late?), were several
troopers from Explorations I didn't recognize, as well as Kapella. 

	Finally, I saw Red jump through the gate and disappear. Now I was
directly in front of it; it hummed ominously. My stomach was not
particularly happy with the situation, but I realized I really couldn't
stall. Quickly, I muttered a prayer to St. Dino, and stepped up to the
jump-off point.

	"Here goes nothing!"

	Before I could work up the nerve to stop myself, I jumped headfirst
through the gate. 
						***

	The next thing I knew...

	*THUD*

	Maybe some people have seen beautiful sights in interdimensional ether;
perhaps for them reality-hopping can actually be graceful. Not for me,
that's for sure. I found myself, disoriented, on unfamiliar but pretty
solid ground.

	To borrow an old cheesy line, I picked myself up and dusted myself off.
To my relief, the area around me was filled with my fellow Jihaddi,
setting up camp and attending to personal matters. *See?*, the rational
side of my mind scolded me. *You jumped into that giant bug zapper, and
you're fine. You've got all your stuff* - I glanced down to notice
myself carrying two backpacks, the standard issue VRDET survival pack
and my normal junk-filled one - *and you're even in the right place.* 

	With some relief - for the first time in VRDET history, an R&D device
had worked completely correctly, without anything exploding - I went to
fraternize with my fellow troops. Most people were idling around,
playing Solitaire and talking, because the setup for the temporary camp
was finished. As I talked, I learned that the third group (the people
directly behind me) hadn't come through the gate yet. Nobody knew what
had happened, but most supposed there were last-minute duties, or that
they were just running late.

	Red had entered the gate right before me, and I found him easily. He
was looking around nervously. 

	"What the... ? What's happened to the portal?"

	"What do you mean? The portal's right..." I turned and pointed... at
nothing. "... there?" *Great, this really is beta technology!* "Oh,
well, it's prolly just some routine malfunction. Mal will have it up and
running again in no time. Prototypes do this."

	Red nodded. Although we were nervous, as only true R&Dites who know how
often a machine can break can be, we managed to make small talk for a
while. 

	Finally, Calculus, the leader of the group, stood up to make an
announcement. "I know that nobody's sure what the other group is doing.
However, we will be leaving in fifteen minutes, regardless of whether
the other group is here or not."

	I sighed. *Well, I hope nothing's wrong on the other side...* Still, I
didn't worry. After all, I had gone through perfectly, and they'd come
just after me... but anything could have happened to the gate in a
second.

	Still, even with matters of malfunctioning dimensional portals weighing
heavy on my mind, I had time to take stock of the scenery. I realized
that, for a place controlled by the minions of the Hellwyrm, Marraketh
was a pretty nice place. *Yeah, and it'll be even nicer once the
B'harnate forces are gone. Have fun, but remember... you're on a
mission. Try not to get killed.*

	*Welcome to Marraketh, Bryn. Have a pleasant ride.*

*****************************************************************

[1] All right, so this wasn't technically a life-or-death _computer_
situation, but the general theme of complex electrical devices is the
same. %)