CHAPTER FIVE

WAR PLANS, PART 2

"What's our first stop, love?" Ray asked.

Mouse keyed in the coordinates in Ship's computers, then looked up at the Surfr. "A small system, called Kompu." She pressed a button, and a map of the Web came up on the screen. Ray leaned in to see.

There were gold blips spread out all over the map, each representing a system. Mouse pointed at a smaller blip on the far left. "That's Mainframe." She then placed her hand over the right side of the map, where there were other systems, some bigger, some smaller. "Daemon's hit the most systems over here. Ah believe her arc of control extends to about — here." She drew a crude crescent over almost half the systems.

Ray's eyebrows shot up. "That's a lot of systems already, ain't it?"

Mouse sighed. "Yep. Although, Ah don't know if Daemon's actually invaded each one. Fer all we know, there are a few good systems in that arc she hasn't gotten to yet. Kompu's on the border of that arc, so we're gonna start there, and explore through that area for any good systems."

"Hopefully, we'll find somethin'," Ray said.

Mouse nodded. "It's gonna take a while, though. Once we get through the systems that are alive and on to the ones we have no idea, it's gonna be a lot of searching and picking through. And granted, there's a lot of space between each system, so we're gonna be out here fer a while."

"Let's go then, love."

"I think things are definitely looking up," Bob said, as he and Matrix watched the CPUs go. He offered Matrix his hand. "Good job."

"You too," he replied, shaking Bob's hand. Then, his expression darkened, and he said, "Bob . . . Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, Enzo."

Matrix flinched again at being addressed by his first name; and Bob wondered if it had something to do with what Matrix wanted to talk with him about. Matrix started, "Well, it's —" but suddenly Bob saw Dot walking across the room with AndrAIa.

"I forgot that I need to talk to Dot," he said, interrupting Matrix. "About Mouse and Ray," he added. "Sorry. Do you think we could talk another time?"

Matrix nodded, though he frowned slightly. "I guess so. But this is important, Bob."

"I know," Bob said. "And we will get to talk about it, I promise."

Matrix sighed and nodded, and Bob went to talk to Dot, whereas the renegade went to meet AndrAIa.

"How goes your end of things?" Dot asked.

"Pretty good," Bob said with a smile. "And you guys?"

AndrAIa sighed. "We still have a lot of shielding to do. It's going to take some time, that I'm not sure we have."

"Well, it's your lucky second, folks," a distinctive voice said. A red blur in front of them materialized into a sprite: grinning, with his hands held out as if to offer something. "I happen to know of two well-worthy people who can help you out."

Stripe appeared next to Rasta Mon and nodded. "He's right. We volunteer to assist you with the shielding."

"We work pretty fast," Rasta Mon added. "And no charge; just some help for our Protected and their system."

Dot smiled and clasped Rasta Mon's hand in hers. "Thank you, Ras. You too, Stripe. We appreciate it."

They smiled back; even Rasta Mon couldn't mask his own apprehension at Daemon, and his desire to help, if it could save them all.

"We were on our way to the Diner for a break," Dot said. "Maybe you'd like to join us?"

Bob and Matrix nodded; "We'd love to," Stripe said with a small smile. The four sprites and two Protectors headed for Baudway.

"Heading into Kompu's atmosphere," Mouse reported. She looked out the window, to Ray surfing in front of her. He gave her a thumbs-up, responding that he understood.

They had decided that Ray should be outside while she piloted the ship. He could warn her of any dangers she might not immediately see. Plus, Ray seemed like he missed surfing in the Web. He had never complained in Mainframe, though he had once invited her to come with him, so now Mouse let him do as he wanted.

Ray went first, with Mouse following. As they came into the system, Mouse saw Ray point at the ground. She followed his gaze to see that sprites and binomes had appeared from out of the pyramid-shaped structure that must be their Principle Office. They all watched the descending ship in awe.

Mouse waited until Ray had touched down on the ground before she landed Ship. She couldn't see where Ray had gone as she unbuckled herself and strapped on some weapons before she emerged from the ship.

As she opened the hatch and stepped out, the muzzle of a gun appeared between her eyes.

Mouse glanced at Ray without moving her head and saw that he was being held, still in his websuit, by two sprites. Another held his Baud and pressed a gun to it.

Idiot! Mouse cursed to herself. We must look like invaders. We shoulda warned `em that we were comin' — but we didn't think. If she didn't think quick, she and Ray could be stuck in their first system.

"Look," she said; quietly, because the gun pressed harder into her forehead, "we're not here ta hurt ya. The opposite, actually. We're from another system, called Mainframe."

A sprite pushed through the crowd. He had off-white skin and bright blue hair — and he wore the icon of Command.com. "What do you want with us?" he asked.

"We're from Mainframe," Mouse repeated. "Ya may have heard of us."

The man's eyes widened. "Yes. Yes, we have! Let them go; they're all right."

The sprite released Mouse, with a small apology. The other three did the same with Ray.

"I apologize for the misunderstanding," the Command.com said. "Come with me to the Principle Office." Mouse and Ray obediently followed him; the Surfr clicked back into his normal clothes.

They went inside the Principle Office. There were already some binome guards posted at the doors; so this system was already on the alert.

The Command.com had them sit. Mouse opted to lean against the arm of her chair, while Ray stood beside her with his Baud.

The Command.com introduced himself as Sans. Mouse replied with her and Ray's own introductions: "Ah'm Mouse, and this is Ray Tracer."

Sans nodded. "Yes, I've heard of you, like I've heard of Mainframe."

"How much do ya know about Mainframe?" Mouse asked.

"We've heard some about the war against the viruses," the Command.com replied. "Some information's gone around the Net: just that you won back your system from the virus Megabyte, and that you're one of the last clean places since Daemon's come.

"Now, tell me about your reason to be here."

Mouse began to explain, "Daemon's taken over a lot of the Net by now. The Command.com of our system sent us to find other systems that could help us to fight Daemon."

The man nodded, rubbing his chin as he listened. "We'd be glad to help."

Mouse started slightly and exchanged a look with Ray; their first system, and they already had allies!

"If we agree to help you, what will happen to us?" Sans asked.

"We store the addresses of every system we visit," Mouse explained, "and we take the addresses back to Mainframe. Our Command.com will then go to each of the systems to gather ev'ryone."

Sans nodded. "I like that idea." He shook Mouse's hand. "Let me write it down for you."

Mouse and Ray waited until Sans had written down the address. Then they stood and thanked him.

"No, thank you," the sprite answered. "And safe journey."

The three emerged from the Principle Office. There were still sprites waiting anxiously to find out why two strange visitors had come to their system.

"These two sprites have come to give us hope," Sans said while Ray and Mouse stood by his side. "When they return to their home system, their Command.com will visit Kompu for help against the super-virus Daemon." He turned back to Mouse and Ray and shook their hands once more. "Thank you for helping us."

"Your welcome," Ray said with a smile.

"Can you stay, just for the second?" the Command.com asked hopefully.

Mouse shook her head. "No thanks. We've gotta be goin'."

Sans nodded. "May the Net be with you."

The two sprites headed for Ship. Mouse got in, while Ray took up his Baud. He flew up and waited for her to power up the ship. Then he surfed up and away, with her following.

The inhabitants of Kompu watched the ship slowly fly up to the edge of the system's barrier against the Web. Then, the engines glowed bright; and with a burst of power, Ship shot away.

"Ah don't believe it," Mouse murmured. "That was too easy."

Ray, sitting beside her, reached out and gently stroked her hair. "No. We just found one system that was alive. It was a blessing, but I doubt there are gonna be a lot more like that."

Mouse shook her head with a sigh. "Ya ready, then?"

Ray nodded. He clicked into his websuit, then mounted his Baud and flew through Ship's opening, out into the Web. Mouse settled back in the pilot's chair and brought up the map. She drew a check over the gold blip that represented Kompu.

"One positive. Tons more ta visit."

Never in her life could Dot remember three cycles going by so quickly. But with all the work to be done in Mainframe, she was also partly surprised that it had been only three cycles, and not three minutes.

The CPUs were steadily getting better at their drills and Bob and Matrix's combined ideas made for a plan "that even Daemon would have trouble dealing with." Dot smiled as she remembered Bob's confident words.

Dot hadn't had time to check on AndrAIa, Rasta Mon, and Stripe, but she figured that with the help of the two Protectors, the CPUs' shielding should be going smoothly.

Dot had been able to find some time late one night, while Enzo was sleeping peacefully, to play the log from the Twin City. Unfortunately, the first time she had put the disk in the machine, the screen had displayed only static. She later found out that the log was encrypted, with an old code that would take forever to decipher. Dot had replaced the log in her desk with a weary sigh, reminding herself that she would find a way to crack the code and watch the history of the City.

Now they were reaching close to a minute of the war plans and preparations. Dot sat at her desk in her office at the P.O. and she accessed a VidWindow to the Diner. When the preparations had begun, she had found that with her duties as Command.com she didn't have any time to run the Diner, so she had passed on the responsibilities to Cecil. The server had performed them admirably, but Dot missed working there. She wondered if she could take just a few milliseconds to check up on business . . .

"Dot?"

"Yes?" She jerked back, her hand on the "call" button.

Bob stood in the doorway. Behind him were AndrAIa, Matrix, Rasta Mon, and Stripe. The Guardian glanced at the VidWindow for a nano; then he looked back to Dot and said, "You called us all together for a meeting?"

She nodded. "Right, right, yes. Come in, all of you."

They seated themselves in chairs or leaned against the wall. The door opened again, and Phong wheeled in. "Hello, my children. I am sorry I'm late."

"It's all right, Phong," Dot said. "I was about to begin.

"In-between the preparations of the last few cycles, we've been looking in the Read Only Room for information on viruses — their types and kinds, their characteristics — to find something that could help us better understand Daemon. I called all of you here to go over what we've found, and to review all of the information we have about Daemon." She began to open several VidWindows. "I think we have a good grasp on viruses now, enough to make some assumptions about Daemon's nature."

The windows opened over her desk, showing a listing of contents under the heading "TYPES OF VIRUSES." Dot pressed a box on the screen, and the picture shifted to that of three different, yet very familiar, viruses.

"We've only had experiences with three viruses, but it's enough to give us useful information," Dot explained. "We have Megabyte, Hexadecimal, and Gigabyte." Information about each virus appeared next to its picture on the VidWindow. "Hexadecimal was harmless" — a look that said she didn't quite agree passed over her face — "though she had an infinite amount of power. On the other hand, Megabyte was strong and powerful, and hungry for control no less. Gigabyte was a mixture of Megabyte and Hexadecimal, in power supply and attitude; but he had to leech his power from the energy of others.

"From looking at these viruses and documents of others, there haven't been any that could have as much power as Daemon seems to have, so I figure she's the first super-virus the Net's dealt with. That means there are going to be surprises we could not know about when dealing with her. What we do know is that she has a lot of power, to infect the entire Guardian Collective and still go on to the Net. No one has seen an image of her, which is unfortunate; we could guess more about her if we did."

"But Hex said Daemon takes hosts," Bob put in.

Dot nodded. "She did. So, we'll have to assume that Daemon doesn't have a true form, to be using the bodies of other sprites. She would have to have much more power, to be able to infect hundreds of hosts as well."

Dot sighed. "Basically, Daemon is a power-hungry, very, very powerful super-virus who is slowly infecting the entire Net."

Bob whistled. "This is bad."

"Very bad," Dot finished, and she smiled at Bob for a nano.

AndrAIa raised her hand. "Dot?"

"Yes, AndrAIa?"

"First, I wanted to say that the shielding on the CPUs is going much faster, now that Rasta Mon and Stripe are helping out. We're nearly done, actually; I think we'll be finished by the end of the minute.

"I realized that once that is done, there's another matter we should discuss. When Turbo was deleted" — there was no mistaking the look of grief on Bob's face, but AndrAIa continued — "we lost our only contact with the Supercomputer. Mouse sealed Mainframe off from the rest of the Net during the Web World War, but we also lost contacts because of that, though she did recently tell us that some information about us has leaked out to other systems."

Dot took off her glasses and leaned forward on her desk. "What exactly do you want to do, then, AndrAIa?"

The game sprite took a deep breath. "I think we should go to the Supercomputer and get Mainframe connected again."

"Go to the Supercomputer?" Rasta Mon asked incredulously. "That'd be like walking into a trap, if you're not careful." He glanced at Bob. "Could you even make it?"

He thought for a few nanoseconds. "Well, the Supercomputer is the relative center of all communications in the Net. Connecting Mainframe again would certainly be risky, but it could get us important information. But we'd need a way to get inside it."

"I think you would be better to figure that out," AndrAIa said to Dot with a smile. "Sorry, Dot — some of your planning skills have rubbed off on me, but not enough."

Dot smiled back, then pushed herself out of her chair and went to sit on the edge of her desk as she contemplated the idea. "We need to figure out the overall idea first: who goes, how and when they go, and that you know exactly what you're going to do there. We can figure out the smaller things once we wrap up our preparations as of now. How about, we meet in one cycle and plan it all out?"

She looked to each of her comrades. Each of them nodded, looking as if they were going to agree to AndrAIa's idea.

Bob ran a hand through his hair. "We definitely need to know how we're going to get into the Supercomputer, since it's going to be tightly guarded by Daemon's Guardians." A slow smile spread across his face. "I think I know of someone who could help. I'll check on that after Matrix and I finish with the CPUs for today. Enzo?"

The big sprite nodded, and the two of them left for the hangars.

Dot looked at AndrAIa. "That was a great idea, AndrAIa. Hopefully, we can achieve it."

The young woman nodded. She glanced at the two Protectors who had also stayed behind, then to Dot. "If you'll excuse us, we have more work to do."

Dot nodded and patted her on the shoulder. "Then go."

The three stood and went to leave. As they passed through the doorway, Dot heard Stripe say to AndrAIa, "Seems like you've picked up aspects of both Mouse and Dot, with all the mechanics you've been doing, and this plan."

AndrAIa laughed lightly. "I'm a game sprite. It's in my format to learn and develop from those around me."

Dot watched them go, then she sat back in her desk. Her hand hovered over the button to call the Diner again, but with a sigh she closed that window and got up to go to the Read Only Room. Maybe, if Phong helped her, they could find out about the Supercomputer's security.

They moved from system to system with some successes, albeit slowly. Mouse tried to plot a course so that they could reach each system in a few micros, leaving them time to convince the residents to help in their plan and then take quick naps in-between. They got some sleep at night, sometimes just hovering in Ship and taking shifts; or, when they were lucky, in the Principle Office of a system.

In the first few systems they visited, they found large amounts of people. One system, Trimmean, had only a few families left, but at the sight of Mouse and Ray, they gave their system's address and many blessings to the two sprites as they left.

In one system, Hyperlink, the residents had been fully expecting them, with open arms even. It seemed, Mouse noted, that news spread fast.

Not all the systems were so hopeful, though. Mouse remembered the system they had just left, Bios. The lost look in the eyes of the citizens made Mouse feel as if she had been stabbed in the chest by her own katana. The system hadn't even had a Principle Office or Command.com left in the destruction Daemon had set upon it.

Mouse swiped a hand across her eyes. Bios had brought back haunting memories of her own home system, lost long ago to an invading force that could have been (and probably had been) Daemon.

"You okay, love?" Ray's voice came over the communications, sounding slightly concerned.

Mouse smiled. Since when had she found a man who was both charming and handsome — and considerate? Not since Bob, she realized. "Ah'm fine, Sugah," she answered. "Next stop: System Hybris." She glanced at the map, where several gold blips had been checked or marked with an X, in some more unfortunate cases. The next system looked as if it still had some inhabitants. They couldn't be sure, though, since they were now on the edge between the systems that were alive and the systems that were probably dead.

Mouse sent a small message ahead — as they had learned to do after the incident at Kompu — simply stating that they were from another system and coming to give an offer to the system.

There was no reply; but nonetheless, Mouse flew Ship in towards Hybris' atmosphere, watching the small figure of Ray up ahead.

Mouse peered through Ship's window at what she could see of one of Kompu's sectors. It was getting to be downtime, and there were no lights to illuminate the dirty, abandoned streets. Mouse could make out the gray silhouettes of broken-down buildings, and up ahead was an area where it looked like an office had once stood.

Up ahead, Ray formed a ball of Surfr-energy that he used to shine around him, but it was sucked up by the darkness.

"Let me help, Sugah," Mouse offered. She switched on Ship's headlights. Their light cut through the dusk, tinting the surroundings a pale yellow-white.

Spotlights snapped on, blinding Mouse with their brilliance. She hit Ship's brakes. "Ray, don't move!" she shouted to the Surfr. He stopped in his tracks and looked around.

"What do you see?" Mouse asked.

Ray shaded his eyes with one hand and replied in a low voice, "There are three towers around us. Each has a large gun mounted and pointin' at us. If we move, we'll probably be deleted."

Mouse peered through the gloom. She was over her momentary blindness, and she could see the three towers that Ray had described with their guns, noticing that the gun on the fourth tower had been blasted away. "Got ya," she affirmed. She swallowed hard, her hands gripping the throttle. She waited for breathless moments, watching the weapons for movement.

Finally, the guns pointed away from them, and from the first tower a binome came. Some signal unknown to Mouse and Ray went off then, and more binomes and a few sprites emerged from behind the damaged office building Mouse had noticed before.

Some of the sprites and binomes carried weapons, but none were pointed toward Mouse and Ray, and they had stopped their attack, so she found it safe enough to land Ship and get out. Ray glided in smoothly on his Baud

The spotlights had been turned off, but Ship's headlights were still on, and from the illumination Mouse could see the lead sprites. A male sprite and a female sprite stood in front of her and Ray, scrutinizing them. The male had dark red-orange skin and pale green hair. The female's skin was a bright magenta, and her hair was a slightly darker shade of teal than AndrAIa's. Both wore clothes that looked dirty and frayed. The same could be said for the binomes standing anxiously behind them.

The female extended her hand, and Mouse cautiously shook it. "Welcome to Hybris," she said. After a pause, she asked, "Is it true? Are you two from another system, here to help us like you did the others?"

"Yes," Mouse answered. "We're from Mainframe. Ah'm Mouse, and this is Ray Tracer."

Gasps and murmurs rose around them, and the other binomes and sprites clustered in to get a look at the two sprites.

The young woman smiled. "I'm DiSUM. We are so happy to have you here."

Her companion stepped forward and shook Mouse's hand, then Ray's. "Hi, I'm Joshi. I'm sorry for giving you a scare, but we weren't sure if we could believe the message you sent. You see, we've just survived an attack by some of Daemon's forces —"

"Daemon was here already?" Ray gasped. "That's not good, mate."

Joshi sighed. "I know. They nearly destroyed the system; all of the other sectors are like this one, or worse." He gestured at the wreckage around them. "What's worse is that we know they're coming back — but we don't know when, or how much force. And the truth is, though we have some firepower left, it's just not enough to stop them."

"But now you're here to help us," DiSUM said; her face and voice were bright. "You could take us away from here in your ship!"

"Yes!" Joshi grinned, but it faded as he looked at Mouse. "Could you do that for us?"

"Ah — Ah think so," Mouse said, with only a hint of uncertainty. "But it depends on how many people are here. Mah ship can only hold so much."

"Yes, you're right." Joshi nodded gravely. "I'll get you a list of the sprites and binomes we have left." He jogged toward the fourth tower and disappeared inside.

"Do you have a Principle Office?" Mouse asked DiSUM, fearing she already knew the answer from the destruction around them.

The young woman shook her head. "Daemon's forces destroyed most of it. Our files, our CPUs, you name it. The core is still there, but it's highly unstable. One of my fears is that we're going to be deleted by a system overload. These towers are what remains of our security system. We use those three for shooting, and the fourth is our temporary base. It's not enough, though."

Joshi returned, with a small file. He handed it to Mouse and she scanned the number of inhabitants left in Hybris after Daemon's attack.

"Let me introduce you to some other members of our team," Joshi said to Ray. He gestured some binomes forward and introduced them to the Surfr.

"First we have Qic. He's one of our few CPUs that made it out of the destruction of our Principle Office." Qic, an old zero binome colored dark gray, nodded at Ray.

"Then we have Atanh and Occer," Joshi continued. "They're also from our staff at the P.O." The two one binomes, a girl and a boy, shared pale gray coloring; but Atanh had black hair, whereas her brother Occer had dark red hair.

"Most of us were at the P.O. when Daemon's forces attacked," Joshi explained. "We escaped through a secret passage, but not all of us were so lucky, like the other CPUs. We also have some citizens with us. A lot of them are sole survivors, having lost their families in the attack."

"We have even less sprites than we do binomes," DiSUM put in. Her voice was heavy with sadness as she said, "A lot of my friends were deleted."

"I'm sorry," Ray said softly. "Really, I am."

Joshi put an arm around DiSUM's shoulders. "Thank you," he told Ray.

The Surfr nodded, then excused himself to talk to Mouse. "How do things look, love?" he asked once he made sure they were out of earshot of the others.

Mouse expelled a long breath. "According to this list, we've got a few sprites and ten binomes. There are 14 people in all, plus you and me. Mah ship's no ABC, but Ah think if we cram everyone together, we can evacuate `em all before Daemon comes back."

"Thank the Net," Ray breathed. "Do you want to tell them, or should I?"

"Ah'll do it," Mouse answered. "Joshi, DiSUM."

The two sprites came over. "Yes?" the boy asked.

Mouse took a deep breath. "We can take all yer people," she said.

DiSUM's mouth opened, but no sound came out. Joshi looked amazed, then he smiled warmly. "Thank you, thank you," he said, shaking her hand, then Ray's.

"Thank you so much," DiSUM said, beaming. "Oh, User," she breathed, "this is amazing. We'll start immediately."

Once the news was spread and given a few nanos to sink in, DiSUM explained to her comrades the plan of how they would load the sprites and binomes into Ship.

After she had explained everything, Joshi turned to Qic and two other binomes. "Each of you take a tower and watch out for any sign of intruders."

"Yes, sir," Qic grunted, and they quickly left for the three towers. The rest of Hybris' inhabitants began to load everyone into Ship. Mouse supervised with DiSUM and Joshi while Ray flew up on Baud to scout.

As each binome or sprite stepped into Ship, Joshi checked their name off on the list he had given Mouse. She helped each person find a spot to sit or stand so that everyone could fit.

There were only four sprites left; besides Joshi and DiSUM, there was a male and his daughter. Mouse had them sit on Ship's floor, then she helped binomes in. Luckily, binomes were smaller and easier to cram into spaces. The atmosphere was a little more crowded than everyone was used to, but it wasn't suffocating.

Suddenly, the guns on each tower pointed upward. Joshi and DiSUM's heads snapped up, and they searched the cobalt sky. There were two transports hovering just outside the system's atmosphere, and there was another one arriving. Each had the black-and-gold Guardian icon painted on its side.

Ray swooped down in a blur and floated outside Ship. "Watch out, `cause they're here!" he called.

Mouse appeared through Ship's hatchway. She looked up at the Guardian transports and cursed under her breath. "No, not now, dammit!"

"I'll be right back," Joshi said, and ran for the towers.

"Joshi!" DiSUM shouted after him. She drew in a shaky breath as she watched his retreating figure. "I hope he makes it out there okay," she whispered.

The child sprite peeked out around Mouse. "Is everything okay?" she asked in a small, trembling voice.

"It's fine, Honey," Mouse said. "Just go back inside."

The girl looked up, and she made a frightened little sound and ducked back inside. Soon murmurs of fear could be heard from the people inside the ship.

DiSUM raised her voice over the noise. "Everyone calm down," she commanded. "We're going to continue to get everyone inside the ship. Just keep going."

"You," Mouse said to the male sprite, "help people get in here." The sprite nodded, and Mouse ran to the pilot's seat and quickly checked to make sure the controls were functional. They would have to make a clean getaway, and they needed speed more than anything, because she knew that while Ship had an adequate amount of firepower it wouldn't be enough in an aerial battle against those transports.

When she was sure everything was ready, Mouse pushed herself up and out of Ship and helped DiSUM carry in the last few binomes.

"Wait!" Joshi called, running towards them. He carried a few files in his arms, and the three binomes following him had the same.

"Get in!" Mouse called, watching as the first two transports turned their guns toward them. The ships were now right above them. "Get in, get in," Mouse repeated, pushing the last binome inside.

Bullets spattered the streets, raising small chips of rock. Mouse jerked to the side and fell. She tried to reach the hatchway to Ship, but more bullets riddled the ground in front of her and she had to dodge the shots.

"Ray!" she cried.

"Right behind ya, love," the Surfr's voice said into her ear. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into Ship as the hatch closed behind them.

The Guardians opened full fire then, with lasers burning ruts in the ground. The waves from the blasts shook Ship, and the sprites and binomes inside cried out in fear as they were roughly jostled. Mouse stumbled to the cockpit and jammed her hand down on the power button.

They shot up, and Mouse grabbed the throttle. Ship wove a shaky course through the air until she was able to steady it, and they flew like a rocket for the edge of the system.

The transports slid into a path after them. One rose right in front of Ship, and Mouse stopped in her tracks. The transport's guns began steadily pumping shots at them, and Mouse jerked the throttle, sending them into a sharp sideways turn.

She righted Ship and pointed the guns at the transport that had just shot at them. She aimed them, then pressed the trigger. The shots raked through the transport's side, tipping it off-balance, but it came back with several blasts that made Ship's shields buckle, and Mouse had to abandon the guns to keep her ship in the air.

"DiSUM, Joshi, somebody get up here!" she screamed as she turned Ship and flew around the side of the wounded transport.

Joshi and Ray ran into the cockpit. "What can we —" the Hybris citizen started to ask, but Mouse cut him off.

"Get ta th' guns," she said, jerking her head to the seat beside her. Joshi understood immediately, and he jumped into the seat, strapped himself in, and grabbed the controls for the guns. He aimed for the wounded transport and squeezed the trigger. Bright red shots struck the transport's engines, and the Guardian ship exploded in a giant flare. The other transports swerved to avoid being caught in the shock waves.

"Good job," Mouse said.

"Watch out on the left!"

Mouse reacted without thinking, and turned Ship to the side. Joshi turned the guns towards the transport that had almost gotten them and began pumping shots at it. Only about half of them hit targets on the ship.

"Not so many shots," Mouse reminded the younger sprite.

"Right." Joshi scanned the area in front of them for more ships. His fingers flexed as he caught sight of a small shape, but a nano later he shook his head. "Careful up there," he warned Mouse. "The Surfr's out."

"What?" Mouse's eyes darted over the scene before them, and she saw the form of Ray on his Baud, gliding ahead, swerving away from shots from the transports.

"What's wrong with him?" she shouted as she tried to pilot Ship after him. "Has he gone random?" She fumbled for the communications panel and finally switched on a channel. "Ray, what are you doing?"

His voice came back sounding slightly fuzzy. "I'm trying to lead you away from these ships," he answered. "Follow me. I can create a portal up ahead."

"Got ya," Mouse sighed, and switched off the comm. "Easier said than done," she added to herself, but she turned Ship toward the path Ray was leading. "Be ready with those guns," she warned Joshi. "When Ah tell ya to, shoot. But only enough to delete `em." She glanced worriedly at the power levels. "We don't have much firepower left."

"Roger that," Joshi said with a smile. He flexed his fingers over the buttons and watched the transports around them. "Uh-oh. . . ."

The other two transports — one slightly wounded, the other fully functional — closed in around them, their guns pointing at Ship.

"This is bad," Mouse muttered under her breath. "Now here's what we're gonna do," she told Joshi. "Ah'm gonna do what Ah did before. See the transport on the right? It's already been hit. You finish it off — but only enough shots — and Ah'll fly in that way. All right?"

"All right," Joshi answered grimly.

"Mouse!" Ray's voice came urgently over the comm. channel. "I've made a portal, but I can't keep it open forever. Get over here!"

Mouse affirmed his statement and gripped the throttle tighter, eyeing the two transports. Ah hope DiSUM keeps ev'rabody steady back there, she thought, `cause this is gonna be a bumpy ride.

Mouse turned Ship as if to attack the transport on the left, making sure that she could still turn. The ship's guns aimed right at her. A split nano before they could shoot, she yelled "Now!" to Joshi. She changed directions and sent Ship into a sharp right as he rotated the guns toward the ship on the right and began to shoot. The boy had talent, Mouse realized. She flew through as he hit all the spots he had before, then shot again for the engines, and the transport went up in a blaze of fire.

"Hang on tight," Mouse warned, as she pushed the power levels into overload and flew with all her power towards where Ray was waiting.

It didn't take long for the Guardians on the second transport to realize that they had been tricked. Mouse glanced back and saw the transport speeding up to meet them.

She scanned the power levels again feverishly and sighed in relief. "We've got a laser left," she told Joshi. "Shoot the transport like you did last time. That'll give us enough time to get through the portal. Get ready Ray!" she yelled up ahead.

Joshi turned the guns behind them as Mouse flew faster than ever. The portal grew ever nearer, and so did the ship behind them. Just as the transport was a ship's length away, Joshi let the laser fly. At that moment, Ship's power levels overloaded, and they were jerked roughly. His shot went awry, glancing off the top of the transport. Nonetheless, the Guardians were jostled, and it was enough as Ship sluggishly slid through the portal. Ray followed close behind, and then the portal closed neatly, leaving only one Guardian transport amidst the wreckage of its fellows.

Even people who aren't alive can get frustrated. So it was no surprise that the lead Guardian in the only remaining transport slammed his fist down on the console and hissed as he glared at the spot where the portal had been.

The Infection gripped him again, and he retreated into cold indifference. "Is it true, then?" he asked the Guardian beside him. "Was that indeed the ship from Mainframe?"

"Yes, sir," the other Guardian replied. "That was the one."

"Meddling sprites," the leader muttered. "Did you get a lock on it?"

"Yes, sir," the Guardian said again. "We can't catch up with them right now, but we'll know where they're going."

"Good. I'll report to Mistress Daemon."

Mouse slumped back in her seat, her cramped muscles loosening themselves in relief. In the seat beside her, Joshi released his grip on the guns with a grin. "We made it," he gasped. "Great piloting."

"Ya weren't so bad on the guns yerself," Mouse replied.

Joshi grinned. "I'm gonna go check on DiSUM and the others." He unbuckled himself and ran to the back of the ship.

The hatch opened a fraction, and Ray's Baud came in. Mouse jumped out of her seat and ran to him as the Surfr materialized, grinning. "We did well, eh, love?"

"Ray Tracer, don't you ever do that to me again!" Mouse shouted furiously. Ray's eyebrows rose, and he tried to argue, but he was silenced as Mouse grabbed him in a tight grip and kissed him firmly.

"Never, ever do that," she whispered when they stopped, and she realized that her voice was shaking.

"I won't," Ray answered in a soft voice, hugging her close.

Mouse had surprised herself with her action; nonetheless, she let Ray hug her for a few more nanos. She finally let go of him to go check on everyone in the back. DiSUM happily reported that that aside from a few bruises from the rough bumps and turns, they were all fine.

After all that was done, Mouse went back to the cockpit and checked to see where they were. "Where did that portal bring us, Sugah?" she asked Ray.

"I'm not entirely sure," he confessed. "I just set it up. I think we're right around . . ." He pointed at a spot on the map of the Web. ". . . here."

Mouse looked. They had appeared close to the dead systems, in a different spot from where they had been when they traveled to Hybris. There were some gold blips a little ways up on the map. Mouse calculated that it would take a few microseconds' flight to reach those systems.

Mouse settled herself in the pilot's seat. "Y'all can take a rest back there," she called. "`Cause it's gonna be a few micros till we find civilization again."

Ray stood behind Mouse and massaged her shoulders. "You all right about doing this again, right after that mighty escape?"

She grinned up at him. "Ah'm fine. Thanks, Ray. By the way, would ya like ta take a seat next ta me? Ah could use the company."

"I'd love to." He grinned charmingly and took a seat next to her.

It was slow moving, as Ship had been damaged in the fight and was moving about two-thirds as fast as she usually did. But after five microseconds, Mouse could see systems surrounding them again.

DiSUM came into the cockpit and watched as Ship hovered outside the systems.

"Where are you going to take us?" she asked.

"Lemme see," Mouse said as she scanned over the different systems. "We need somewhere we can take you all and be sure that you'll be all right till Dot comes.

"Thank the User! There's a system up ahead, Paix, and from what the scanners say, it's still together. We can take everyone citizens there."

Mouse sent ahead a message, but aside from stating the usual facts she added that their ship carried several sprites from a dying system and was in need of repair. The command center replied immediately and cheerily, which was a good sign.

Mouse landed Ship in Paix's Principle Office. She and Ray got off first, then they helped each sprite and binome from Hybris out.

Guards directed them inside, where they met the Command.com, Lewi Yozak. Lewi looked a few hours younger than Dot, maybe 2.6, with pale blue skin and dark green hair.

After he welcomed them, the young Command.com looked over the group of sprites and binomes and asked, "Why have you brought these people to us?"

Mouse replied, "When we came to Hybris, all we found were these fourteen people. They had lost their homes and families from Daemon's troops, who were due to come back any time. We had to bring them up in Ship, and this was the first system we came upon. We'd like to ask if you would take care of them for the time being."

"Whoa, hang on!" Lewi said, waving his hand as if to swat away a pestering bug. "How did you come upon system Hybris anyway?"

"We're on a mission from Mainframe to go from system to system and list all the living systems so that the Command.com, Dot Matrix, can come to ask for aid later on," Ray explained.

"And we need to leave Hybris' citizens here, so we can go look for more systems," Mouse finished.

The young man's eyes widened at the amazing responsibility. "Oh. Oh! Yes, I — I guess they can stay here. I mean, yes, they will."

"We also need repairs on mah ship," Mouse said.

Lewi nodded hurriedly. "Yes, I'll have them get right to it. Come and get some food," he added. "You must need nourishment.

"Make sure the citizens from Hybris find shelter and food in the Principle Office as well," he commanded the binome guards. They nodded and left.


Lewi, Ray, and Mouse followed the guards as they led the binomes and sprites from Hybris to the guest quarters of the Principle Office. They gave everyone food and energy shakes to drink. The sprites and binomes thanked them immensely, and then they were silenced as they dug into their meals.

The Hybris citizens weren't the only ones eager for food; Ray laughed as he saw Mouse wolfing down her food. She glared and threw a roll at him.

After they had eaten their fill, they were led to the showers and guestrooms. Mouse waited for everyone to shower until she herself got cleaned off.

DiSUM sighed and rubbed the sleeve of her new shirt against her cheek. "Fresh fabric . . . thank the Net," she murmured. Ray noticed that her hair wasn't really a dark teal color; with the dirt washed out of it, it looked more the shade of AndrAIa's. Joshi also looked happier, cleaned and in fresh clothes.

Mouse stepped out a few milliseconds later, dressed in a white tank top and black stretch pants, drying her hair. "Ah feel so much better," she sighed, then yawned loudly. The fatigue of the last few seconds had suddenly rushed up to meet her, and she stumbled over to a bench.

"Here — take a short nap, love," Ray said, wrapping an arm around her. She said nothing but curled up beside him, with her head on his shoulder. Ray rested his chin against her fiery hair and soon he was sleeping too.

Someone nudged her, and Mouse reluctantly opened her eyes. "It's time," Ray said. Mouse nodded and got up from the bench.

They met Lewi outside. "Feeling better?" he asked with a wry smile. Mouse nodded.

"Everyone's sleeping now," Lewi continued. "We'll take good care of them."

Mouse shook Lewi's hand and said, "Thanks a lot. We're gonna keep Paix listed, so wait for Dot Matrix to come."

He followed Mouse and Ray outside, as they prepared to get into Ship. "What if Daemon attacks us?" he asked worriedly.

"Ya better hope she doesn't," Mouse answered with a grin.

Lewi gulped and turned to go back inside. In the spot where he had stood were DiSUM and Joshi.

The young woman smiled hesitantly and stepped forward. "We wanted to — to thank you," she said. "You helped us so much, by bringing us out of there before Daemon's Guardians could get to us."

"Thank you," Joshi echoed. "I can't wait until your Command.com comes."

"Take care of yerselves, you two," Mouse said.

"And one another," Ray added with a smile.

DiSUM's cheeks flushed an even brighter shade of magenta, and Joshi smiled shyly.

Mouse and Ray accepted hugs from the two younger sprites and made their way over to Ship. They got inside and powered up to go. As they lifted into the air, Mouse looked back down at Paix, at the two sprites standing outside the Principle Office and waving. Despite herself, she smiled and felt a warm feeling of pride.

Ray caught her smiling. "What is it?" he asked.

Mouse looked at him as Ship flew past the barrier and into the Web. "Somehow Ah'm thinking that Ah could get used to bein' selfless and helping others. Crazy, ain't it?"

"Not at all, love," Ray said.

Mouse checked off the gold blip of Paix on the map. She sat back and looked at all of the systems they had visited so far. Beside her Ray said, "You did well, Mouse. You did well."