“A LETTER" by ‘Tommylee Secrest II Greetings my friend! I found some ribbon it seems, so I can finally write a long overdue letter as is Propper. However I must sadly report that the variety of ribbon with the correction strip is no longer being manufactured, therfore I apologize in advance for the inevitable mistakes. Surprisingly typewritter tape IS still being made and this very strip is brand new. Please forgive the anomalies in margin and alignment while I work out the kinks. I was delighted to recive a certain letter that was written on october fourth in the eleventh year, of the second millenea, of the second age. It was a colourful rendering of thoughts that entertained greatly. Do be sure that your visit to Fourwinds did not go un-noticed. Our friend Max knew you by sight, Of corse the sight of a freeagent from earth is rare enough at Fourwinds, and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your malibu punch. Max says that David Sanborn and his boys were playing that night. His song "Spooky" stands as one of my favorites for it's smooth and easy riff and rythem. Max is the one who books the talent. You know how he is, if he doesnt know sombody personally, then he at least knows someone who knows them. I wouldnt be surprised to discover Max having connections all throughout the Jazz and rock industries of America. The place really couldnt be in better hands. I may or may not have told you that when we first found the place you could almost hear the silent "dibbs" that he called mentally. ‘The man with the pack you saw? Came in and greeted a buddy only a few tables awayfrom you? You said you had woundered where he had been and what he had been up to. Well I hope you know that Max is no snitch, but being a bartender you cant help but hear things. Since he got a kick out of the story (knowing all sides of it) he relayed to me the details. And since you are an Earth agett such as myself, we both figured it would be alright to give you the scoop. First you must know a little of what our old friends C.H.E.S.C.A have been up to. A few months agog C.H.E.S.C.A Corp. changed their name to "LASUR AQUISITIONS" Unfortunatly this banner trade did not signal a change of heart or direction for the company. They are widespread, controlling stocks in everything from oil and ore, to food and services. Having vast resources and somehow knowing how to travel between worlds and planes, "Lasur Aquisitions" can and has been found everywhere, Their R&D reach has at least dabbled in every nefarious branch of practical science you Could care to think of. Specializing in robotics and advanced/ experimental computer technology from the start, the company has expanded its horizons to suchu (how about a tighter margin this page eh?) Areas as: Necromantic science, control of dimentional portals/ time travel/ the the continuum, genetic mastery and control, phsycic control and trans mental domination, chemical and biological weapons, alchemy (mostly including a line ef research to discover purification of the human state, if you can believe it) Magic and divination, magic and divination blended with contemporary technology and artificial/ virtual intellegence, To list a few. As you can see, thei Tesourees are extensive enough that they wont turn down any theory that might give them an edge. Not long before your visit, LA discovered reffrences to a small monolith like statue. A totem pole of sorts, this statue stood around a foot and a half high and was reffrenced as having strong magical abbilities. Reguardles of the fact that nothing said or hinted what these powers actually were, this was still \! obviously a treasure that could not be ignored. As luck (or providence) would ty nave it, they could not get to it imediatly. Something of a great wargane wae aa being held right over the sige where the statue was said to be found. This + wargame (also promoted by Lasur Aquisitions) Seemed to be half recruitment test, = half gladiator competition held in the area in and around a group of old stone ruins. Monitored by placed cameras and tracking/telemetry braclets, we know that there was some kind of gambling setup for rich spectators. Around exeven or twelve mercinary teams were admited to the area (around five square miles in size) to fight to the death for a handsome cash prize and a lucrative special uit contract. It is here we enter one of our favorite wildcards: Daniel Pryde. Dan was one step ahead of Lasur in discovering the statue and it's wearabouts. Dan had discovered (or should I say intercepted) a Lasur message about the artifact and it did not take him long to uncover it's location, When Lasur execs found out where it was the ‘competition! was soon to start. Dan intercepted another comuni- ~cation stating that the game would go ahead undisturbed, and excivation would begin promptly after the game was over. Not wanting to let Lasur get ahead of him, Dan took a silenced special ops rifle he fondly refer.ed to as "Tide" and headed for the game zone. Not knowing if he wovld be able to enter, he found a team i: the start area that was willing to take an extra man. Lasur has bounties out on Dan#él Pryde of corse, but communication in-between worlds is skktchy and not everyone knows him by sight. Joining the contest with no trouble, his first hurrdle came when the shooting started. Dan himself being a capable veteran, quickly lost hope of his team making it far. They were young, inexperienced, and desparate. Pinned behind an ancient stone wall in the wet and rainy green forrested hills he knew what he had to do. AS they tried to fight back and got picked off, Ban slipped quietly awayy Not bothering to try saving the team he had written off as hopless dead meat.in He didnt bother taking off the teRemetry braclet for fear of making anyone suspiciouse before necisary. ‘Taking the thing off would not read the sme as being dead. He didnt think it would matter since they would just think he was sneaking around. Just a dot on a map trying to outmanuger the others. By the time they figured it out it would be too late. Managing to avoid any resistance he found a spot to kneel and take out his codec and notes. The rain always made hia feel good, and he was sure he ran faster and thought clearer when the sun was hidden from sight. Checking his codec map and making some calculations with his noted he figured roughly where he was supposed to go. The statue was resting in a chamber that was very obscured more than actually hidden. freking for a half hour or so he lowered himself over a clif face and looked right into the cave-like chamber. truth be told it really was a cave. Decorated with a few ancient tapestries and wooden furfishings, a cerimonial table stood near the back. Light shon right in through the entrance. Enoughvso that he barely needed his light. The entrance tb the chamber could no be seen from above, and from below it looked like a nook in the cliff face and no more. It was set just right. Dan carfully picked up the small totem after looking around the chamber apraisir He was in no great hurry now. With nothing else of imiediate intrest in the room he examindd the statue. Wood. Some kind of wood carved with four animal totems and likewise painted in the eskimo fashion, Interesting since he was nowhere near the artic ré@gion. At least no on this plane. But that was a small oddity to to the list of oddities seen by a traveller. Wrapping the statue in some rags anc stuffing it into his backpack, he took one last look around and then headed for the rope dangling by the entrance. Upon getting close to the middle of the "game zone” where the bulk of the stone ruins were, he noticed that it was much too quiet. Checking the compact display on his wristband he saw that there were only two teams left: His and that of the "Hellcate". Not the most creative name perhaps, but from what little he saw these were hard and vicious vetran fighters. An all woman team he had thought odd, but they had Proven their iron by finishing off all the other teams, Everyone but hi was dead. Staying low and keeping to the trees he crested a hill in sight of the ruins. Looking through his scope he could see half a dozen of them in the ruins themselves. The origiaal count was closer to 14 fighters, and he knew in his gut that the others were out sweeping the area to find him.Vv The situation at this point was fairly simple: Lasur had setup extensive energy barriers around the game zone, and it hac been announced along with the objectives that those barriesrs would remain active until the last team had eliminated all Competition. Theoretically the game could go on for days if it had to. Now you will understand that eventhough we do not neccisarily scorn working women, woemn soldiers, or women who can defend themselves, please remember that nfether Daniel or myself are what you would call "feminists. Swallowing his distaste for harming women,he saw that these were nasty ruthless merce that had ery intention of hunting him down and ending him. He also knew that he didnt have anything that could disarm or harm the barriers from the inside. To add to the mix, the grand prize included first crack at Lasur directed operations. In short these gunslingere were going to work for Lasurg. In shorter they would eventually be sent to hunt him down anyway, he was sure. Preffering to deal with problems like these sooner rather than later he grit his teeth and snuck closer to their location. Spotting @ patrol of three just this side of the hill, out of sight of the ruins he doubled back and followed them. He waited patiently for his opening. He wanted to do all of this as quietly as possible. Since it was just him and them it seemed that he was free to set his own pace. He had time. They were looking for one or two cowards from that suicide team of incompitant bafoons, not soldiers or experience gunmen. Their formation was laxed because of this and he knew that inatead of all staying in line so they could see eachather one would fall behind. As he silently traailed them they began to walk more in single file than in a sweeping line formatic This would be they8re end. Dan's rifle "Tide was a hand modified Vintar BC. A Spetznatz Special rifle of strong calibur and range, yet it had both single fire, and burst fire modes in agdité ~tion to a full-auto setting. The whole barrel itself was bassically a silencer to boot. It was a masterful weapon in the right hands. Dan did not like killing or jooking for trouble but by neccesity had had seen his share of bloody action. Then they slipped. In a jagged single file the stocképeewoman could not be seen by either of her comrades. Lining up her head under his scope's green crogphaire he squeezed the trigger. she fell lifless with nothing but a wet "SPAK" sound’to mark her passing as her skull split. The second fell in same fassion almost before the first had hit the ground. ‘The third turned hers head around sharply, alerted by the farmilliar sound of pierced flesh. she turned only in time to take a a slug to the side of the head instead of in the back of the head. Nasty work, but unavoidable. Three down, some dozen or so to go. didnt even think about the corpses themselves. No particulay emotion about the fatlen affected him at all. He was not cold, but he was working. And as you may or may not know, /dear reader; there are few things quite so focused or single minded as a dedicated man doing his job. He knew this kind of game well, and he would do what ne had to. ‘Taking his time to circumvent the perimiter of their base of operations he managed to elinanate a second patrol of 4, Stalking about for a time he saw no mtx other patrols, and kept in the area where he had taken the first two, guarding ag against the bodies being found and raising alarm. Satisfied that no one would fdliow behind hig, he aproached the ruins. Bneaking you may have noted, is one of Daniel's oldest and most practiced ‘kills, This is of corse a result of his years of experience as a traveler. ‘Dan began his (often perilous) wandering when he was a boy, and had to adapt to countless situations in which he was smaller, weaker, and slower than those who would do him harm, Now older, his finely honed gravitation towards stealth served him well. Sneaking close to one of the old stone walls in the grey drizzle, he remained undetected. His heart pumped hard as the need for quick eyes, quick reflexes, and split-second dicission making was at hand. Moving quickly he darted from one place of cover to another, peaking about and assesing the situation. Like a game of chess without the luxury of all going in turn, he etratigised and waited for his enemy to arrange thensekves just so. It would not be perfect, but he had to be lightnigkk quick once he started shooting. Then feeling the time had come, he took his first shot. One loner dropped in the outer wall circle, falling out of eight. Less than a second later another dropp just caticorner from her, both of them only twenty or so yards awayfrom him. Running as silently as he could he slid behind another wall not so silent3y, popped straight up, and took a burst of shots at two more talking with eachather. sheer adrenaline let him fire in burst mode and take them out in almost the same instant. In his final count he spotted five left,ggouped in the center together. With a glance and a gut feeling he knew they were heartbeats awayfrom realising that something was wrong. As he dashed for cover in a diffrent location one of the mercinaries looked around as she felt the lack in movment from he other fellows., ~ Seeing no one else the instantly realized their danger. Shouting ensued as rifles were unslung and they wildly searched for an enemy to extinguish. Dan had to act imediatly. He had to keep them off-balance while they were’ still, confused, and before they spread out too far. with a fresh clip he sprayed leaa into the still closly grouped enemies. Two fell as the other three sppead out’ ¢ to either side opening fire on his position. Before they actually sppoted him they knew roughly where he was, regaurdless of his rifle's lack of sound. The loud —gi@i cracking noise of their rifles reverberated and echoed throughout the hills asg Dan rolled out of his position and behind another wall. Rock and lead splintered and flew all over the place wher he had been. Dan whipped around ang fired again.Another fell. Dive, roll, runy shoot, Dive, roll, run, shoot. What lasted less than a minute seemed like an eternal struggle for survival, with death standing by as an eger spectator, hoping to participate. The last opponent fell, and as quickly and abruptly as it began, it ended. Breathing hard and raggedly Dan took the ground his advasdzies had possesed as he continued to scan the ruins for any remaining thretk. The braclet beeped continuously he realised, and he glanced down. The small display indicated that his ‘group’ was victorious and he could xmk returne to the starting area. He stood still for a moment and rested while it sunk in. Offering a quick prayer for the fallen, he removed his braclet and took off for the boundry, His codec's limbted scanning ability read that the barrier's energy signature had disapated. They were massive and could not be turned back on instantly, With a little luck they would think he was headed back to the start area, and would be long gone before they realised his intent. He smirked inside as he ran; they would put the pieces together once they came tb claim the artifacot. Upon reaching the safety of Hymn's manssion, (the house between the worlds, or he Houze") Dan studdied the little totem as best he could. Taking notes and mmx Measurments, and a couple of photographs for his personal files, Daniel failed to discover exactly what kind of power it was supposed to posses. Upon taking it to the master of the house, the only answer Hymn would give was "Now how are you supposed to learn angthing if I just GIVE you the answers?# Standing in the threshhold of Hymn's study, Dan did his best to protest the statment. You should understand dear reader, that Hymn Of corse knew exactly what the statue was, and what it could and could not do. Being cryptic in the best of times, breaking him away from his endless task of documenting the afairs of the world is often met with failure. Hyma's assistant Smee sorted and catalouged the varrious reports and accounts as Hymn continued to re-arrange the books on his main study shelves. Seeing that an answer would not be fourthcoming from this source, he took a shower. Upon changing his clothes he headed for Fourwinds with his pack. As was his way, He related the events to Max as he studied the statue over the bar. "and you really have no idea what its for?" Max put the artifact on the bar and spun it slowly around. "No clue Max. It's pretty but I can't figure out why it's significant at all. I think I'11 just leave it here with you for now, I just dont know what else to do with it. "Oh cool!¥ Max placed it on the end of the bar atop a coaster. "I was just thinking about getting a tiki for the bar! Hey, do you think you could get a hypothetically magical umbrella and beach chair to go with it? I could totally do this place up in an ‘Eskimo Beach' theme," Dan took the statue and slid it back to Max. "Keep it under the bar. We'll figure out what its good for later."vib Now my faithful reader, we come back to the man you saw enter the cafe just before you yourself left. As it turns out this man had aleo aquired information on the statue... about one month late. Here is the conversation as Max reported it to me: ‘The man entering wears dirt brown clothing good for hiking, and indeed it looks like some hiking hes done. He aproaches a man wearing a light blue suit and fedora hat, as if he had stepped straight out of the buisiness world of the 20' Indeed he may have done exactly that, and a smell of wealth eminates from hin, ‘The greying buisnessman Takes the adventurer's hand with a smile. ‘yexkx Jack! Well I'm glad you could make it! Look like you've been halfway Around the world on foot! Have a seat." Both men take a table with two seats, second row from the stage. Jack: Mr. Harrington. Yes it's been quite a trip. You have no idea how dangerous that basin is, and the hills aren't much better. : Harrington: So does that mean your search was unsucsessful? I'd hate to think you travelled all that way for nothing. Jack: Hardly for nothing. I8ve managed to procure some very valuable items I think the family will be very pleased with, *Jack Tripper takks out some of his pack's contents* Harrington: I say you did pretty well alright! This one is 2h carat gold or I don't know a thing about jewelry. That ring is carved jade? Jack: Thats right. Carved into a mobius ring of all things. And this braclet has no less than twelve flawless rubies inlaid in bronze. Harrington: Bronze? Yes, so it is. With so much gold available it seems strange to put such perfect stones in bronze. Jack: My guess is that it's cerimonial in someway. The bronze must have been somehow symbolic to them, Possibly rubies and bronze were symbolic of the house. Like other cultures use colours, plantis and animals to represent their family. All these peices were found in the same burial chamber, so bronze and rubies might have been like his or Yis family's coat of arms. It's a working theory anyway. of ‘The historical implications alone make that braclet am valuable as anything elec BV here I'll bet you. Even without the stones. nal Harrington: Well Jack this is an impressive haul to say the least. Your reputati is well deserved. The family will be emxtatic. You can expect a bonus with your fee I've no doubt. Theres just the mater of the item we asked for, I dont see it here. Surly you're not holding out on old Jhon Harrington? Jack: I'm sorry Mr. Harrington, I covered that digxtgkixx site from top to bott -om. When I got there Lasur Aquisitions had already setup a digsite and it looked Rike they had already been there for weeks. ‘The only noteworthy find was a sealdd burial chamber. That's where all this came from, But no statue.vill Harrington: Are you saying that they didnt find it either? Jack: I searched every storeage bin, chamber and all the excavator's tents. They have no idea where it is. They found the chamber where it was suposed to be. A cave in the clif face itself, but it just wasn't there. Nobody knows what happend to it. Harrington: Well that is unfortunate. The family will be disapointed with this news. Jack: I'm sure the family will be soothed by the knowledge that Lasur doesn't have it either. Harrington: Are you sure it's not in an uncovered chamber? They could be digging it up this very minute! Jack: Their underground xasbiirrex radar is top notch and they've disected the whole area. There ARE no other chambers. It's a dead end. Harrington: In your opinion as a treasure hunter would you say the information was false? Just a story? Or did someone beat us to the punch? Jack: Oh the thing ic real alright. Lasur was there before me, and lady luck got the last laugh by puting someone there before them. Harrington: You have connections Jack, do you have any idea who could have gotten hold of it? Jack: I've got nothing. If I find any leads you'll be the first to know, but this trails already winter cold. Harrington: Well you've brought me quite a colection even if not what we were after. You're a team player Jack, and I like that. Here, your check for the full amount. I trust you'll let me in on anything you might find out. Jack: As I said, you'll be the first to know. But I don't know who could've found it. Max heared the whole conversation as they didn't bother to muffle their voices or any such nonsense as that. Fondling the artifact under the bar, Max took great delight in being in on such a jolly inside joke. Hopfully this wasn't a longwinded and boring re-telling. A bit of diolaouge practise for me. Ong note of your last letter, YOU GOT TO DRIVE A PORSCHE?7!7!717! I hope your Dad byys it too! I don't know if I'd be able to enjoy something so expensive, but I'd be willing to bet I'd have a hard time not doing 120 on 77 at least once. Ushhh.., the love of speed. Its kind of a form of power fix for guys. For me anyway. The fastest I've ever gone is 113. I was in the Benz carpening down a county road behind Malvern, Not bad for a county road I think.\x All in all it's been a good semester so far. I hope to do well in Adv. Tilustrator. As for you anti-social tendancies, Ive never minded. Do what you want, what diffrence does it make what the normals think? I've been in school for 20 years and I'm fine with that. It's nobody elses buisiness what I do or why, I'm listening to smooth jazz and indie rock while sipping fresh milk and hammering away at a type-writer. Nothing in that sentance alinged ne with the mainstream in any way. And I'm sortof fine with that. Unlike most, ive simply discovered that there are sweet little rewards hidden in the oddest places all over this creation. You know a good buisiness to get into? Realestate. I'm buying it all up in outerspace! Grandpa even owns an achre on the moon, Look to the future man that's where it's at! Here I conclude this letter before you get sent a ten page binder. Send shat story my way, and while you're at it, which badge do I get?? Your 'Mad-as-a-cracker' friend in CHRIST, A THOMIAS AMICULUS