[Here's my second seg, again. It should now match with Thes's dialogue. maru] ---------------------------- ---- Operation: VRDET, "Aloha, and Welcome to Marraketh" Author: Maruchan, VRDET ---- ---------------------------- Maruchan popped into the dimensional research room just in time to be run over by a frantic-looking Nexxus. "Where do I..." she started to ask. "Go! Over there, back of Theseus!" Nex yelled over the humming of the room, pointing at a man in a line of people standing in front of the gate. Maruchan hurried over and got behind Theseus, brushing him slightly. "Sorry 'bout that!" she apologized. Theseus turned around. He looked like a Smurf through her purple-tinted glasses. "I'm Maruchan," she said, smiling apologetically. "Theseus," he answered, grinning. "Happy?" Maruchan looked at him curiously. "What are you smiling about?" "Oh... nothing." He tried to smile mysteriously. Maruchan shrugged. "Well, it was unusually nice to meet you." "Likewise." Theseus nodded and turned back around. [Damned crazy-looking dude] Maruchan thought, and turned her attention to the gate in front of her. Intimidating. All Maru could see was a jumble of wires andmachinery. That, and Theseus's backpack. Being short had its disadvantages, especially when everyone else was at least a foot taller. She *could*, however, see Nexxus talking to a guy at the controls, the same one who had given the briefing. She had heard someone call him Mal, which meant he was the high councillor. [Dammit, I really should know this already.] She made a mental note to explore the base when she got back, she hadn't been around since VRDET was founded. Nexxus disappeared, and popped into existence near Maru, startling her. "Ok people, let's go!", she yelled, and walked into the gate. Maru watched the people ahead of her walk into the gate and disappear. A man she knew to be Calculus; a tall skinny man; then Theseus. She was next. Now that she was up close, the gate reminded her of the third gateway in _The_Neverending_Story_. She half expected the light in it to flash out and hit her, but stepped up to the platform. A strong wind blew her hair back -- perhaps from the fans placed around the gate -- and she could smell ozone, or maybe it was smoke... [Can't turn back now,] she thought, and stepped into the gate. **** "Oof." Maru slogged through the sand over to the nearest rock and sat down. Teleportation was fine when you did it yourself, but with the gate, and between dimensions instead of in it, well... She scanned the immediate area. They were on a white-sand beach of some sort, no different from the ones at home. Nexxus was a little ways off, looking impatiently at the gate. Calculus and the tall guy were setting up some kind of equipment. Theseus was sitting on a rock near Nexxus. There were two more people walking away from the gate, a woman with two backpacks, and a man wearing a polyester disco-suit type shirt. Five minutes passed, and Maru realized they were still missing some people, one of them the XO of the mission. Nexxus was trying to keep calm, but Maru could tell she was getting worried. "Where the hell is everyone else?!" Nexxus frowned impatiently. Several people answered this question with a worried look. The woman with the backpacks and the disco-dude were talking together with the air of experience, Maru guessed they were probably R&D techies. "Ok, no panic, it's probably just a small delay, someone probably freaked out and they'll be here any minute," Nexxus said, mostly to herself. "I wonder if the gate's stable." The tall guy put down a piece of equipment and walked over to Nexxus. "How long can Mal hold it open?" "Come on, we haven't got all day!" Nexxus pouted at the gate. In retaliation, the gate shivered and disappeared into thick air. Nexxus looked alarmed, then immediately turned and ran towards Calculus. "Cal, can we get a confirmation on their location? Are they still at HQ?" she asked. "That's a negative," Calculus replied. "The connection with HQ was severed when the gate shut down." Maru frowned. That meant they were on their own, at least for the time being... Nexxus screeched loudly, startling everyone. She grabbed the tall guy's hand. "Phoe, you come with me!" she commanded. "Everyone else follow through with the plan, Calculus is in charge. Stick together and avoid running into any more people than you have to. Phoe and I will start looking for the others, assuming that they are here and not dead or stuck in limbo somewhere." The two grabbed their equipment and hurried down the beach out of sight. Maruchan walked over to Theseus. "How does Nexxus know where to look?" she asked, not expecting Theseus to know. Theseus shrugged and bent down to draw in the sand with his fingers. "I'm sure she'll figure something out. She's good at this sort of thing." Maruchan nodded. "What's that?" she asked, looking down at the oblisque figure in the sand. Theseus looked surprised. "I... I'm not sure..." Maruchan shrugged and sat down next to him on the rock. The other rangers were talking together quietly. Several minutes passed. Finally Calculus stood up. "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." Maruchan sighed and began packing. -TBC-