A SOLDIER's Weapon

By Oniko

Chapter 9

… … …

Sephiroth tried calling Cloud, no reply. After being nagged by Heidegger, Sephiroth probably would've turned off his phone too. Instead he activated his PHS's tracker and followed it to Cloud. What he found made the Second's statement about bikes and sex suddenly makes a lot more sense. Fenrir had been stripped down to the bare structure, the engine completely dismantled and scattered about, along the better part of at least three Mako batteries. In the midst of the chaos Cloud was running his strong hands along the front suspension and muttering softly under his breath completely heedless of the fact that he was nearly naked. Stripped down to his black pants, his skin was streaked with grease, bright Mako and red welts from the Mako burns.

"Hand me the Materia slot," Cloud said, with a start Sephiroth tore his eyes away from his mentor and looked at the other man working with him. The young man was about Sephiroth's age with dark blond hair in a short military cut. He was dressed more sensibly to be working with raw Mako in heavy rubber gloves, apron, and boots over sturdy clothes. He also had a welder's mask on but that was pushed up to make room for the cigarette dangling from his lower lip. The young man handed Cloud needle-nosed pliers with shining metal bracket wedged at the end.

It was the young man who spotted Sephiroth first, Cloud being completely focus on affixing the Materia slot to part of the bike's structure. "Wha'd'ya want?"

It took Sephiroth a moment to decipher what he was asking. "I wish to speak to Cloud a moment."

He rolled his head from side to side loudly cracking the vertebrae. He didn't even bother to look at Cloud. "He's busy."

Sephiroth bit back an unpleasant snarl. Who did this little… little shit think he was? "It's important," Sephiroth said stiffly.

The cocky young man smirked. "I'm sure you think it is."

"Cid," Cloud said the warning clear in his voice.

"Yeah, boss?"

"Knock it off."

"No teasing the SOLDIERs, got it." The blond sighed. "You never let me have any fun."

"Sephiroth," Cloud greeted him with a nod, setting the pliers down on the cement floor. "This is Airman Cid Highwind. Cid, Sephiroth."

The name was familiar, but Sephiroth couldn't remember where he had heard it before. Cid nodded at him and flicked his cigarette into an open beer can before lighting another.

"Heidegger called me, looking for you," Sephiroth said. Cid snickered. "He says he has a mission that he wants you to do."

"I'm a little busy," Cloud said. He picked up a piece of the engine and fit it into place on the bike's frame, paying special attention to the newly attached Materia slot.

"What are you doing?" Sephiroth asked.

"Improved Mako engine," Cid said with a wide grin.

Sephiroth was the first to admit that his knowledge of Mako started and ended at the showers that were part of the SOLDIER treatments. While he was dimly aware that Mako was an energy source used to power a multitude of things it was different to see it actually at work. He was curious despite having no previous interest in the subject. A half naked Cloud probably helped as well. "Why?"

"Mako engines are crap," Cloud said shortly. "No pick-up, no speed, slow response time."

"But see," Cid interjected. "We figure it ain't the Mako that's the problem. It's the configuration of the Materia matrix that runs the engine. Just need to be streamlined and… boosted a bit."

Sephiroth blinked at them. "There's Materia in the engine?"

"Shit, man." Cid hawked and spat. "There's Materia in everything. Haven't you ever taken your PHS apart to see how it works?"

"No."

"Seriously? Look," Cid fished out a civilian model, a clunky piece roughly half the size and weight of a brick, and popped the cover off easily with the flick of his thumb. Nestled in among the wires were three tiny Materia beads the size of seeds, and familiar green glowing drop of Mako. "Lightning to run the electrical system, Comm to hook up with the PHS network, and Sense."

"Sense?" He'd used the Sense skill in battle, but couldn't think of why it would be in the PHS.

"Shit, yeah. How else do you think the phone'll recognize you? Pick up yer voice? Take pictures?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "I hadn't really considered it."

"Gaia's green fields," was the politest in the string of epitaphs that spewed from Cid's mouth. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Cid, hand me the Mako tubing," Cloud ordered. He had gone back to doing mysterious things to the bike's engine while Cid and Sephiroth had been talking. Cid picked up a length of thin rubber tubing and placed it in Cloud's outstretched hand. Without taking his eyes from what Cloud was doing he snapped his PHS back together and pocketed it with his other hand.

"How does the Materia work without someone to activate it?" Sephiroth asked.

"The Mako," Cloud grunted shortly as he picked up a socket wrench and screwed some bolts into place.

Cid nodded and flicked his cigarette ash into the beer can. Sephiroth could hear liquid sloshing around in the small metal container. "Mako'll set off a bead as if someone cast the spell. And better, you don't have to constantly think about it. Just push a button and go."

"They use a lot of fused and refined Materia; smaller beads with only one spell to activate," Cloud said. He measured out more lengths of tubing and cut them with a battered utility knife stamped with SAF.

Sephiroth frowned as he thought about it, remembering the Mako springs in the Mythril Mine dotted with the shining specs that were naturally forming Materia. "But Materia is formed from Mako, what keeps it from exploding in the spring?"

"Affinity," Cloud said absently as he focus an attaching the tubing to various portions of the engine.

Cid nodded and flicked ash off of the end of his cigarette. "It's like an electrical charge. As long as there's an imbalance you get a reaction. After a while it evens out and you get nothing. Tha's why you gotta swap out the batteries every so often."

"I suppose this would be as good a place as any to stop and see what Heidegger wants," Cloud said, sitting back on his heels he picked up a filthy rag to wipe his hands off with.

"Aw, come on," Cid whined. "We almost got the grid working right last time."

"Yeah, and if it blows again I want the time to clean up the mess," Cloud said.

"Fine, fine," Cid held up one hand. "You go deal with your General Assface. I'll just tidy up here, overworked slave that I am."

"Well, I wasn't going to make you pick up the mess by yourself," Cloud said as he stood up, rolling easily to his feet amid the scattered debris. "But if you're offering."

"Yeah, get going," Cid waived him away. "Besides if your PHS buzzes anymore it'll vibrate a hole through the concrete. Don't worry about your bike. I wouldn't take off with your baby."

"Of course you wouldn't. He doesn't fly."

Sephiroth started a bit at the masculine pronoun, given the declaration that he had heard less than an hour earlier. He glanced at Cid but the airman didn't seem to find the pronoun odd at all. He just grinned widely at Cloud. "Give me five minutes with hunk of Float and a soldering iron and see if it don't."

Cloud shook his head with a small smile and gathered his things. As he walked back towards the hotel he flipped open his PHS he scrolled through the messages. Sephiroth fell into step behind him. "You going to follow me all the way to Icicle Inn?"

"Sorry?"

Cloud waved his PHS at Sephiroth. "The mission, you going to follow me the entire way there?"

"Heidegger seems to think you need a babysitter," Sephiroth said.

"All right, just give me minute to get cleaned up, and then we can see if ShinRa has anything decent in the motor pool we can requisition."

"Of course." Cloud showered and changed quickly, he still had grey shadows smeared across his skin in places where he didn't scrub thoroughly enough. Then they were out the door, pausing just long enough for Cloud to stuff a pack of Ether vials into his pocket. In all it took less than hour for Cloud to get cleaned up and for them to find out that Heidegger had already assigned a chopper and pilot just waiting on them to lift off. Once they were safely in the air, Sephiroth cleared his throat and tapped the headset's mike, conveniently provided for in-flight communication. "What is the mission objective?"

"Didn't Heidegger tell you?" Cloud asked looking surprised.

"No."

"And you didn't ask?" Cloud observed. "I thought I was teaching you better than that."

"It seemed imprudent at the time," Sephiroth said dryly.

"Hm," Cloud pulled out his PHS to review the mission specs. "The communication relays keep getting knocked offline. Several repair crew have been sent out, the last tech's report claims that the damage had to have been done by human action. There is some concern regarding anti-ShinRa sentiment."

"Terrorists?" Sephiroth scoffed. "It's the middle of nowhere."

Cloud gave him a hard look that had Sephiroth straightening, reflexively, into a sharp parade rest, or as close as he could get to it while strapped in to the helicopter's bucket seat.

"Sorry."

"What is your evaluation of the situation," Cloud asked. Sephiroth tried not to groan, or roll his eyes though he was sorely tempted to do both. When Cloud got into his 'mentor' mode he could have Sephiroth analyzing every possible angle on a given situation for hours.

"My first inclination is an animal that frequents the area is causing the damage," Sephiroth said, after a moment's consideration. "Human action could be due to kids, this is a resort area known for a transient population so you may have people feeling free to cut loose and cause trouble in ways that they wouldn't at home. And yes, anti-ShinRa groups are a possibility. Except that it's CommWorks that maintains the relays and they are not widely known as a ShinRa company, so terrorists are less likely."

"What would you advise for a plan of action?" Cloud asked, settling back into the seat.

"Survey the area, set up a defensible position around the relay until repairs are complete, then retreat to a secondary position to observe," Sephiroth answered promptly.

"Good, I'll leave you in charge of that, then." Cloud said it so matter-of-factly that it took a moment for Sephiroth to process what he said. Sephiroth's snapped his head over to stare at Cloud wide eyed in shock.

What? "What?" Sephiroth asked surprised. After how badly he botched the Mythril Mine mission he was fairly sure that he was never going to see command again. Besides, as the ranking officer Cloud was in charge of the mission. "Are you sure?"

"I'll be working on the repairs," Cloud said, he watched out the window at the endless blue of sea and sky. "If the damage is as extensive as the reports have indicated I'll have my hands full, and I want you to focus on the mission's defense aspect. Think of it as another exercise in logistics."

"Oh," Sephiroth said weakly. He tried to adopt Cloud's nonchalant manner but was too keyed up by the unexpected responsibility. "How long is the mission expected to last?" When he tagged along without grabbing anything but Ashura he was expecting a basic monster hunt, Cloud hadn't grabbed anything either outside of his monster of a weapon and… a pack of ethers. That more than anything should have cued Sephiroth in on the fact that Cloud was expecting either real trouble or a long haul, and Sephiroth doubted that his mentor would deliberately let him tag along if there was real trouble brewing. And he had no change of clothes. "What resources do we have?"

"We have two full winter kits, and whatever Icicle Inn happens to have available, which would probably be everything." All at exorbitant prices no doubt, Sephiroth thought, silently agreeing with Cloud's assessment.

"What Materia do we have?" Sephiroth asked barely before Cloud had finished answering the first question. He was just carrying his standard, Restore-All combo, Vital Slash, and Fira-Elemental. Sephiroth had never actually seen Cloud carry combat Materia, but he recalled Yuffie referring to Cloud's Materia collection and she had implied that it was extensive. The First Sword certainly held enough slots that if Cloud ever chose to equip them-

"Fire-All, Ice-All, Lightning-All, Earth-All, Restore, Heal, Life, Cover, Counter Attack, Pre-Emptive, Steal, and Bahamut." Sephiroth thought for a moment that the cabin had been breached; the air had been completely sucked out of his lungs at the shock as Cloud rattled off his list.

"Just Fire?" Sephiroth asked weakly.

"Fully mastered, naturally formed." Which meant that he had the full range of all three spell levels.

Then Sephiroth's brain caught up to the last item on the impossibly long list. "Bahamut? You have a summons?"

Summons were… powerful and rare. They were worshiped as gods in ancient times for a reason. In some places they still were for that matter. Cloud just looked at him. Right, logistics exercise.

"We probably don't need to double up on the Restore," Sephiroth said. "I can remove mine and take the Pre-Emptive- i- if that's okay with you?" Since he was the one walking the perimeter it would make more sense for him to have that edge on the awareness.

Cloud nodded. "I can take your Restore, so you don't lose any growth."

"Thank you," Sephiroth said weakly, as he handed his Materia over and accepted the other, still feeling a little pole-axed over the Bahamut revelation. The All next to the Pre-Emptive would be practically useless, but there wasn't much he could do about that. "What do we know about the location of the relay?"

"It's in an open plain south of Icicle Inn." That was a complication. An open area meant that he'd have to cover all sides. It would be nearly impossible to funnel any attackers into a more strategic location.

Previously, Sephiroth hadn't thought twice about rushing into a mission and killing everything in sight, but after having Cloud's more cautious, information first approach drilled into him, he was finding that he didn't like this situation at all. "It will be difficult to determine what kind of defense perimeter we will need until we get there to look at the terrain. Can you guess how long it will take for you to effect the repairs?"

"Not until I see the extent of the damage. I also have to set up a secondary subroutine in the matrix. That alone can take upwards of an hour," Cloud said.

"What is our fallback position?"

"We have two options; one, we can bivouac in the foothills, we have the minimal supplies necessary, or two, we can hole up in the ShinRa lodge at Icicle Inn."

Sephiroth considered the possibilities. Camping in the cold northern tundra would be their best option only if they needed to remain unnoticed. "Minimal supplies? Would we have to go into Icicle Inn?"

Cloud nodded. "The protein packs aren't enough to sustain SOLDIER constitution in the cold for more than a few days."

"Aren't we supposed to supplement it by living off the land?"

"Not much out there to live off of," Cloud said. "We'd have to spend most of our time hunting if we tried."

"And we won't have this problem if we stay at the lodge?"

Cloud shook his head. "The buildings at Icicle Inn hold heat better and our bodies wouldn't need to burn so much to compensate."

"So, whether we stay there or not we will have to go in to Icicle Inn?" Cloud nodded. Sephiroth sighed. "We might as well stay there, then, if there's no advantage to camping out. Do you have any other information that would be necessary for the successful completion of the mission?"

"No, sir," Cloud said without a hint of sarcasm.

Sephiroth's mind was buzzing with half formed plans and possible complications. Cloud spent the time staring out the window. Eventually the blue waves beneath them turned to icy tundra. The chopper didn't even fully land, just dumped the two of them and their packs before retreating southwards. The open valley was walled in along the north, west, and south with high white expanses that could have been snowy mountains or glaciers for all Sephiroth could tell.

Sephiroth frowned at the featureless expanse. "How am I supposed to create a defensible perimeter with this?"

Cloud pulled out his PHS, flipped it open, and turned in a slow circle before setting off in a north-north-east direction. "You don't, really. Just keep your eyes open for movement. If we need to, there's a thing with ice blocks I can show you."

"Ice blocks," Sephiroth said flatly.

"Yep," Cloud paused and checked the PHS. "It should be around here, the pilot did a good job dropping us close to the marker."

Sephiroth looked around. "I don't see anything."

"Of course you wouldn't," Cloud said. "You didn't think they make the relays easy to find did you?"

He was actually expecting something like the thin metal towers that were scattered the length and breadth of Midgar, but he didn't see anything that matched that description sticking out from the featureless plain. The only things that stood out were him and Cloud in their dark SOLDIER uniforms as they trudge across the white field.

"Here we are," Cloud knelt down and swept aside snow off of a small dome made of some hard white plastic, nearly indistinguishable from the rest of the tundra. Inside it was a tangle of wires, a large chunk of pale amethyst colored Materia and industrial-grade green Lighting. Cloud unrolled a long leather pad that had numerous tools nestled each in precisely sized pocket. Also included were vials with small seed beads of purple and green similar to what he had seen in Cid's PHS earlier. Cloud started unraveling some of the wires, twisting others together, and generally creating a bit of a mess as he pulled the inner workings of the dome out onto the snow.

Sephiroth paced around him, continuously moving to keep warm. He was always careful to examine every direction in irregular intervals to avoid setting a predictable pattern. The sunlight reflected off the snow like sheets of light laid out on the flat plains surrounding them. Nothing was moving. Nothing was out there. Eventually his eyes were drawn back to Cloud.

"What are you doing?" Sephiroth asked.

Cloud glanced up at him. "You're not supposed to be watching me."

"Sorry," Sephiroth turned outwards to scan the expanse of nothingness around them.

"The Sense Materia I'm adding should get the stats and take a picture of anything that comes into contact with the relay and dump the info into the system, which I can then download with my PHS."

"If you can download it, doesn't that mean that anyone else can as well?"

"Theoretically," Cloud said. "You'd have to know where to look for it first, and that will tell us just as much about our troublemakers as a stats-shot will."

"And they needed to send two SOLDIERs out for this?" Sephiroth asked. Any of the CommWorks techs could probably have done the same.

Cloud's hands on the wires went still. "Two SOLDIERs… impossible it's too soon."

The words were soft, possibly not meant to be overheard, but Sephiroth was more enhanced then a standard SOLDIER. "Cloud?"

Cloud quickly snipped off some excess wires, stuffed some back and pulled others out. He worked swiftly detangling the wires, cutting one here twisting together a pair there. "Keep your eyes up, we are not safe here."

The harsh order had Sephiroth snapping to attention. He continued his small short circuits, but despite the sudden tension there was no change in the featureless plain. The back of his neck crawled with the feeling that they were being watched, although he was reasonably certain that it was just his imagination over reacting to Cloud's sudden anxiety. "Is there anything in particular I'm watching for, sir?"

"Enhanced human."

"SOLDIERs?" Sephiroth asked, startled.

"Anti-ShinRa," Cloud said, his words short and even more clipped than usual.

"Terrorists have SOLDIERs?" Sephiroth asked. Did ShinRa know about this?

"Not… not real SOLDIERs, but the principles are the same," Cloud said.

"And they took out two SOLDIERS?"

"Captured."

Sephiroth blanched. That was even worse. "What happened?"

Cloud hesitated; he was obviously reluctant to talk about it. Sephiroth could only imagine why, ShinRa preferred to bury their embarrassments. And usually any witnesses along with them. "Two SOLDIERs on patrol in the Icicle Area were ambushed and captured, by an anti-ShinRa faction. It took another SOLDIER and a Turk to take out the faction."

"And the captured SOLDIERs?"

"They had been tortured, experimented on, and… changed. They were killed by the Turk."

Sephiroth nodded. "That was probably for the best. Who knows what secrets they may have already betrayed."

Cloud shot him a dark look, but didn't say anything. He just focused on the task, carefully wiring in the additional Materia Beads. As soon as Sephiroth realized that he was watching Cloud again he spun around to look out at the surrounding terrain. Even with the knowledge of potential enemies bearing down on them, it was surprisingly difficult to keep his attention focused on their empty surroundings. Even when he could force his eyes to remain on the snow his mind started to wander.

Sephiroth was puzzled by his sudden cold turn. Wouldn't it be better? He knew if something like that happened to him he would prefer dying at the hands of a friend, like Cloud or, perhaps, Angeal. Someone who knew him, who cared. At the very least, let it be another SOLDIER or a Turk, and not some terrorist, practically a civilian, who just happened to get lucky.

Sephiroth heard the sharp click as Cloud closed the dome back up, but he didn't turn to look. "Let's get going."

The short trip up the valley to Icicle Inn was silent and watchful. Once they entered the resort town Cloud waved Sephiroth towards the main building. "Get the ShinRa lodge key from the hotel clerk. I'm going to report in."

Sephiroth considered objecting to splitting up, since Cloud was so worried about ambush, but he decided that the risks within Icicle Inn itself were probably minimal. He doubted anyone would be stupid enough to try the same trick twice if was going to bring both SOLDIER and the Turks down on their heads.

The hotel clerk's face light up as Sephiroth walked through the door. "I thought I heard someone say that the lines were back up. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"The key to the ShinRa lodge," Sephiroth said, unconsciously mimicking Cloud's short way of speaking.

"Ah, of course," he reached under the counter and after a brief moment of unseen locks clicking and doors sliding produced a simple key with the ShinRa logo embossed on the brass tag. "Would you like the turn-down service for your stay?"

"No," Sephiroth picked up the key. He turned go back outside but paused as a thought occurred to him. "Will the kitchenette be stocked?"

"Not currently, sir," the man replied with a small shake of his head. "We keep the lodges empty when not in use. If you'd like, we can warm up the building and stock the cupboards. You can dine in our downstairs lounge area while you wait."

"That would be acceptable," Sephiroth nodded.

"Very good, sir. Do you want anything in particular for your rooms?"

"No, just the standard." He said, hoping that there was a standard, because he had no idea where to start with stocking a kitchen.

"Very good, sir. Enjoy your stay." Without another word Sephiroth crossed the lobby, and braced himself to walk back out into the biting cold air.

"No. Look, Yuffie, forget ShinRa a moment. Check for any active ties to avalanche," Cloud was saying into his PHS, he glanced over his shoulder at Sephiroth. "Just do it." He ordered and snapped the phone shut. He tucked it away and turned to Sephiroth with an expectant look.

"I have the key," Sephiroth said, promptly handing over said key to Cloud. "The clerk said they can heat up the building and stock the kitchen. There's a lounge were we can wait."

"If I recall they serve food there right?" Cloud said as he entered the building.

"Yes, sir."

"Good, it's been a long time since breakfast."

They were ushered into a small table equidistant from any other occupied table. Sephiroth felt his mind spinning with the new information and odd connections. Why would Cloud call Yuffie? Wasn't she still investigating crooked chocobo races at the Golden Saucer? And what was 'avalanche'? What connections could any of it possibly have to their mission? He glanced up at Cloud who was staring down at the menu, mind obviously elsewhere. It was possible it was nothing; Yuffie could have contacted Cloud for his opinion on her mission. Given Cloud's tone with the girl, however, Sephiroth doubted that such was the case. If only he could get the pieces to fit. "How did the report to Heidegger go?"

Cloud glanced up, a flicker of blue. "He wants us here until the situation is resolved."

"How long do you expect that to take, sir?"

"The relay would go down again usually three days to a week after the techs left the area," Cloud said. "I expect it's going to take at least that long if they are unaware of our presence here."

"You think that they might be?"

"It's possible," Cloud said. "Doubtful, but possible. They'd have to come into Icicle Inn semi-regularly for supplies. They won't be able to miss our presence."

"So, what is the plan?"

"You tell me."

Sephiroth considered it. "Wait for them to move. Watch for suspicious activity."

Cloud nodded, their conversation fell silent as a waitress in black skirt far too short for the polar region stopped by to take their order. They were silent as they ate. The meal was warm and filling with red meats in rich sauces and starchy tubers. They didn't linger for dessert but retired to the ShinRa lodge soon after. The building was cozy with a built fire in a central fireplace, heavy curtains were drawn across the windows and numerous lamps had been turned down to a comfortable level that was easy on SOLDIER eyes after a day of dealing with bright glare from the snow and ice. Sephiroth hadn't even realized that it was an issue until the muscles around his eyes relaxed, and he could feel the tension draining from his face. Cloud let out a soft sigh of relief as well.

He headed directly for the upstairs loft. Uncertain of what else to do Sephiroth followed. The loft area was warmed but the rising heat from the fire downstairs. There were three full sized beds lined up against the one wall. Two of them had with a bedside lamp glowing with soft golden light, and warmed sheets turned down, their packs resting at the foot, apparently untouched. Sephiroth identified his, laid his weapon down within easy reach and flopped down on the bed. Cloud stood next to the far window with one arm leaning against the wall he gazed out at the snow and ice, still lit bright as day even though Sephiroth knew that it had to be well past 2200 hours.

Sephiroth's eyes wandered to where Cloud had rested his Fusion Sword against the wall near the head of his bed. The metal gleamed with a shine of thin oil and all of the pieced fit together perfectly to form a single broad blade. He had seen Cloud dismantle and re-assemble the swords enough times that he could name each of the blades. Cloud handled his weapon with care and respect. Cloud handled everything with the same care and respect, from what Sephiroth had seen. He wondered if Cloud would handle a lover the same way.

Laying on the bed watching Cloud, Sephiroth let his mind wandering to places other than missions and anti-ShinRa terrorists. He found his eye drawn to admire Cloud's toned muscles and wonder if the skin was as smooth as it looked. He sat up and nervously twisted the dark knit top in his hands. "Cloud?"

"Hm?" Cloud didn't even turn to look at him, his gaze distant as it had been ever since they came in from the tundra.

"Are you gay?" The question was a hazard, a guess based on an odd comment about a bike and some idiot's…. Cloud went absolutely still a moment before turning around. He leaned against the wall, bracing himself.

"If it makes you uncomfortable I can sleep downstairs," Cloud said, not looking Sephiroth in the eye.

… … …

AN:One of my favorite things about fantasy novels is the appendix in the back where the author takes the time to explain in more detail the background and world building that went into the story. When working up the concepts for A SOLDIER'S WeaponI did a lot of background work extrapolating how Materia could be used, not just in combat as was demonstrated in the game, but in everyday life for the people in the world of Final Fantasy VII.

I thought I can share some of this with you all in case there is anyone here who, like me, enjoys reading this kind of world building and meta. Rest assured, this is not required reading to understand the concepts needed for the story. Those are explained in fic for all the necessary bits. And there will be not spoilers for the plot. Some of the concepts mentioned in the essay never came up in the story, but still forms and underlying unity for how things work whether the characters, or you, know the reason for them.

If you do find these things interesting please enjoy my LiveJournal entry: oniko-inuki. livejournal 17309. html (enter without spaces or go to my profile to follow the link.)