The standard disclaimer: I do not own the Happy Tree Friends; they are the property of Mondo Media. I own only my own characters and this story. Now here's chapter 21:

21 – SETTING THE BUG

The inner Marauder camp was not very large and Petunia had no trouble finding the command tent. It stood in the exact center of the camp and was by far the largest one. This was XL-Jack-3's own tent and it was as big as a five story building, which it had to be considering the size of the occupant. Looking at it, Petunia felt like she had shrunk to the size of a mouse looking at a normal-sized house. And somehow she had to get inside that tent.

Her task sounded simple: she was to try to place an electronic "bug" somewhere in the tent where it was not likely that it would be found, but where it would allow observers back in the Animal City to monitor everything that happened in the tent. Simple, right? All she had to do was actually do it.

Petunia knew it that her chances of success were very slim; before she moved from her concealing shadow she listened very carefully for anyone moving around. All was silent so she crept as quietly as she could across the open space to another shadow right by the entrance to the central tent. Again she waited for sounds of danger. Again all was silent. With great trepidation, but also firm resolve, she cautiously peeked in through the opening of the tent. There was no one within.

A quick glance inside was enough to show Petunia that there were few real hiding places. The tent was sparsely furnished; there were only four objects in it. One was a chair – a really, really, BIG chair. It was entirely functional in its design, with no decorations whatsoever. It was standing beside an enormous table, the top of which was far above Petunia's head, so if anything was on it she couldn't see it. There was also a bed, also really big and also functionally made. This last surprised Petunia as it had been widely rumored that XL-Jack-3 never slept. Finally, over at one side of the tent was a big cabinet with no door. Inside was a dual computer / communication console and a whole bunch of huge drawers.

Petunia considered. If she was to complete her mission it had to be now. Taking a second look in the tent she made her decision. As quickly as she could she ran across to the communication cabinet. She was able to enter the space between the communications system and the drawers quite easily. She made her way to the very back of the cabinet and found that there was enough space behind the communicator and the cabinet's back for her to duck out of sight.

Once she was hidden she reached into a small pouch she was carrying and brought out the bug. It was an extremely tiny disc, so small that unless you were either looking for it (and knew it was there) the chance of your seeing it was extremely slim. However it was extremely powerful; not only could it detect all sounds made in its area, but it also had the ability to filter out extraneous noise from speech. Also it contained an analyzing mechanism which would allow it to scan anything it was attached to and get all the details of it, both inside and out. Only the Mole knew how it worked, although he said that he had made a written record of how to make one for his successor, just in case anything should happen to him.

Petunia looked at the back of the computer system. It was mostly smooth and featureless, but there was one place where inputs entered the back of it. Here there were holes that she could look in, and one of them was even big enough for her to reach inside. Carefully she put her paw through the hole and felt around, hoping not to trip any security alarms. She needn't have worried though; it was also said that XL-Jack-3 didn't need security alarms for his personal tent.

Inside the hole she found a flat surface where she could place the bug. She put it there and it stuck at once. She tapped it once. For one second it glowed a bright red; this was only to let the placer know that it had been activated and was working. Petunia removed her paw from the hole and leaned back against the back of the cabinet. Mission accomplished. They would already know back in Animal City that the bug had been successfully placed. There was nothing more for her to do here.

Like all Animal City field intelligence agents Petunia had been issued an emergency teleporter. This device would, when activated, immediately transport the user to the Mole's office. However as a safeguard should any unit fall into unauthorized hands, each device was personalized to its keeper. It "knew" its rightful owner. If anyone else tried to use it the unit would explode in their hands. The teleporter was an emergency device only to be used as a last resort, as it could only be used once before going inactive. Petunia didn't want to use hers if she didn't have to because she knew that as long as the main Marauder camp was here it would still be necessary to have observers nearby to keep tabs on it (the bug only traced the tent, not the whole camp). She therefore began to slip out from behind the communication system.

Before she got out of the cabinet she heard the very last sound she wanted to hear: heavy footsteps just outside the tent – not ordinary footsteps, but really, really heavy ones. Only one being made footfalls like that. Petunia immediately ducked back into the cabinet. Sure enough those footfalls came into the tent – and stopped.

"Thank you Klure" said a Huge Voice that Petunia had never heard in person before but immediately knew who it belonged to, "that will be all until first light."

"Yes sir" came an oily voice from what seemed like outside the tent, then smaller footsteps fading away.

As quietly as she could Petunia peeked out from behind the computer console – and held her breath. It was as she had feared: XL-Jack-3 was standing just inside the entrance to his tent.

(To Be Continued)

A/N - Wow! Petunia's in quite a spot! What will she do? Find out next time, and meanwhile please leave me some feedback and let me know how you like the story!