ThunderCats

Bio-Booster Armor Guyver

Eye of the Storm

Episode Three

Yeah, Lisker thought as he beheld the map on the oaken table, Alamo, anyone? This fucking blows... Mayor Gil's house was not opulent, nor even extravagant, but it was indeed sizeable. Furniture upholstered in gleaming brown leather offset the timbers which streaked across the A-frame ceiling and the polished wooden floor. A fireplace which could hold the one in Lisker's own home as well as a chunk of the living room rested in the far wall with a merry blaze already burning away in the hearth. The entire foyer was nearly the size of his entire house. The Camber family, it seemed to him, had not been anywhere near as prosperous as farmers as he'd thought. The jewelry he'd found had to have come from some other source of income.

"No way the Clutch's employers are gonna stick to the main roads," Lisker said as he and Gil studied the map. "There's just too damn much open space."

"They won't be able to go through the forests north and west of here," Gil replied. "Those're mostly the turf of a goodly-sized tribe of Warrior Maidens, and they don't truck with outsiders at all."

"Meaning they won't lift a finger to help us," Lisker said. "Unless our friends are dumb enough to try marching through those woods. Since we can assume they're not that stupid, it at least leaves one avenue of approach out of the question."

"Even so, they can still surround us," Gil said as he pored over the map. "One thing we can be sure of is that they won't come here until winter is over. The cold makes shipping goods vitually impossible, much less marching armed men."

"That gives us, what, six months?"

"Thereabouts," Gil replied. "What did you think of our weapons?"

I think you're better off with mud pies, Lisker had the good manners not to say. "All your swords are made of iron?"

"It's the best metal for sword-making."

"What do your smiths know about making steel?"

"About making what?"

"Steel," Lisker began to explain, hiding his exasperation, "is made from purifying pig iron."

"How is this done?" Gil asked with rapt attention at such a concept.

"First, though, I'll need to show you how to make a smelter," Lisker said. "A forge alone isn't gonna get hot enough to make steel, at least any worth using. After that, I can make stronger swords. I can improve your long-range capabilities while that's being made."

"Better bows and arrows?"

"Not exactly," Lisker said as he unrolled a scroll of parchment he'd found in the bedchamber of his house, on which were designs he'd made from memory. "This, Gil, is called a musket."

"How does it work?" Gil's eyes were glued to the sheet, drinking in every line with naked curiosity.

"It fires a lead ball, that one," he said, pointing to a black sphere beneath the image of the gun, "into a target a lot faster than an arrow flies. The only downside is that you only get one shot before you have to reload. Just one of these isn't gonna cut it. I'll have to show some of your people how to make them, so we can get as many as we can."

"I see. How do you fire it, then?"

"For that, I'm gonna need to make some gunpowder..."

"How about the powder Vargas discovered?" Dendel piped up, "would that do?"

"Depends. What's it look like?"

"It's black," Dendel replied. "When you set fire to it, it makes a loud bang. We couldn't find a real use for it, truthfully, but if it helps you make this musket thing..."

"I meant the texture," Lisker explained. "Was it powdery, or gritty?"

"Powdery," Dendel replied after some thought. "Yes, that was it."

"Black powder," Lisker said. "Not what I need, but it's a start. Where can I find sulfur around here?"

"Sulfur?" Gil asked. Lisker wanted to shake the man. How much has humanity forgotten?!

"It's a mineral. Yellow, and stinks like rotten eggs."

"I know where to find some of that," Gil said. "There's a cave not far from Watershed, we call it the Stench."

"The smell," Likser mused, "gotta be lots of the stuff down there."

"We've never had a use for it, the sulfur, and the smell's so bad that no one even wants to go in there."

"Well, we're gonna have to, or these muskets won't have enough bang to matter."

"It's amazing, really," Dendel said as he looked over the design of the gun, "almost as if you know a thing or two about ancient technology."

More than you'd believe, Lisker thought. Muskets. What I wouldn't give for an M-1 tank and a gunship or two. Watershed, he knew, was nowhere near that kind of war machine tech. Despite himself, he found that thought relieving.

"How are you today, William?" Maria asked as she brought the tray bearing a bowl of porridge and a glass of juice over to his lap. He lay on the bed, still looking pale and thin, but his blue eyes were shining. Just having been brought home had seemingly been enough to put the boy's body back on a healing track.

"I'm well, Miss...?"

"Maria."

"Miss Maria. Thank you!" he exclaimed as she set the tray before him. "I was starting to get hungry!"

"Enjoy," Maria said, smiling at the boy. She tended to him only because Lisker had asked her to. Maria could understand why, the boy needed someone to look in on him. Also, Wollos were far from warriors. Battle planning was something none of her kind knew much of. Nurturing the injured, on the other hand, was something women of her people knew scores about.

"Cinnamon?" William asked before dipping the spoon in.

"Yes. Your favorite."

"Is it ever!" William blew on the spoon a few times before putting it in his mouth. "Did father tell you about this?"

"He did," Maria said as she dragged a stool to his bedside and sat atop it.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked after another spoonful.

"Of course."

"Are you a Wollo?"

"I am," Maria replied.

"I've never seen a Wollo before," William said. "You're very pretty."

"Why thank you!" Maria exclaimed. "And, might I say, you're a rather strapping young man yourself!"

"I know father doesn't buy slaves," William said, his eyes now betraying knowledge beyond his years. "And Wollos don't live around here. Can I ask how you got here?" William's face became apologetic. "I have to know."

"I'm not here for Gil," Maria said. "I'm here with Lisker."

"I've heard that name," William said after downing more porridge. "I heard father and Dendel talking just after Natalie brought me back here. I heard the name 'Risker'."

"Well, it's Lisker. He's the one I'm here with. I'm not his servant, nor his slave."

"Then, why are you with him? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"That's a long story," Maria said as she stroked a stray lock of William's hair back behind his ear. "Let's just say that I want to be with him, and leave it at that."

"Okay. So, was it him?"

"What?"

"The golden bug-man. It was him, wasn't it?"

Such a perceptive young man, Maria thought. "Don't worry yourself about that. If all goes well, he won't have to appear here again."

"It is him, I knew it!" William sat bolt upright in his bed. "I knew when I first heard that Lisker's voice!"

"William," Maria said, her voice stern, "do not tell anyone about that."

"Why?"

"Just trust me, please. The only others who know besides us are your father and Dendel." That little pervert... "Please, William, you must keep this to yourself." Maria recited the lines as Lisker had given her, knowing that this innocent young boy would likely put two and two together. "If anyone else knows, the Clutch may find out."

"I understand," William replied, his eyes shadowed with terrors inflicted on him.

"I'm glad," Maria said warmly. "Now, eat your porridge. It gets nasty when cold, cinnamon or no cinnamon."

"Yes, Ma'am," William replied with a wink. Maria responded in kind before taking her leave.

"So, Pumyra," Siberias said as he walked into the cheerily-lit Infirmary, "what is it you so wished to show me?" He studied his former student carefully, noting how the excitement seemed to radiate from her. Whateve this was, it had to be something huge.

"This concerns Sho," she began, patting a seat next to her which faced a data panel. "Or, more correctly, the Guyver."

"I'm rather curious about that armor," Siberias replied as he took a seat. "I admit I was somewhat skeptical when you told me it is, in fact, a lifeform."

"From what I can tell," Pumyra began, "the Guyver is a symbiote, a creature whose relationship with its host is beneficial for both. I have no idea what the bio-booster armor gets from Sho, but we've all seen what it gives him."

"What is this truly about?"

"Right to the point," Pumyra said with a shake of her head, "you haven't slowed down one bit. What most interests me, and will interest you, is this." Pumyra tapped a sequence of commands into the data station to call up her files on Sho's first battle with Guyver Two.

"Hmmm..." Siberias studied her notes with a keen eye which grew wide with shock as he fully absorbed the data. "This is... it's patently impossible!" he gasped. "Those wounds should have killed him!"

"I saw first-hand how the Guyver healed not only Sho, but itself as well," she replied before calling up another file. An image of a stretch of desert appeared onscreen, populated with the Lunattaks, Mumm-Ra, Grune, and a large white-furred creature who stared down Sho in his armored form. The image of herself hanging in chains alongside WilyKat pulled up no feelings of humiliation, partly from time and mostly because of her professionalism. "The observations and readings I took confirmed that the bio-booster armor is indeed alive, though I have no idea if it's actually sentient. This video file also raises some questions on whether or not it's intelligent, and also displays a rather frightening power it holds. Just watch."

"What manner of creature is that?" Siberias asked as the recording began.

"Ma-Mutt. Some kind of familiar for the demon Mumm-Ra, the grey one in the cloak. That form, though, is shaped after something Sho calls a zoanoid. We don't know much about them, but the only true one we've encountered was called Dyme, the one who's making the dirt move like that."

"Fascinating..." The playback continued as Sho fought against the two super-monsters. "I witnessed this one as it killed Primor." After dodging a strike from the larger creature, on screen Sho drove his vibrating blades into the living soil. "And, I'd been wondering what had truly happened to it," Siberias said as the humanoid earthen form reached for help only to crumble and blow away on the wind.

"This is what I wanted to show you," Pumyra said with a grimace at the sight of the creature called Enzyme speared Sho's limbs and tore open the back of his head with its dripping fangs.

"Obviously," Siberias said, keeping his voice even to hide his horror at the grotesque sight, "Sho survived. But, how?"

"One thing about my... well, predicament, was that I had a unique vantage point," Pumyra replied. "Professor, I saw his brain tissue regenerating even while the Guyver was fighting the Lunattaks.

"Looks more like a slaughter," Siberias said with a grimace as the playback continued. "Clearly, Sho could not have consciously done all of this."

"We were told that the Guyver enters a defensive state if the host is ever mortally wounded. Also, that the control medal cannot distinguish between enemies and friends."

"I had no idea the Guyver was so terrible a weapon," Siberias said once the playback ended. "Having said such, I must admit I am more than curious to learn how it is able to regenerate so quickly."

"I wasn't in a position to take any specimen samples from the incident you just saw," Pumyra said, "but I was able to collect several from his first fight with Guyver Two."

"Never let an opportunity to learn slip." Siberias replied with a gentle smile. "You were such a good student."

"After analyzing them," Pumyra broke off, staring intently into Siberias' eyes, "the possibilities for medical science are just astounding!"

"And frightening," Siberias said at length. "You cannot deny that the Guyver is, all told, a weapon."

"Of course not, but understand," Pumyra said, "that this may well be the breakthrough we've been waiting for! You've seen fatal wounds healed as if they were scratches! They healing ability of the Guyver could propel our knowledge of medicine decades forward!"

"Yes, but what of unforseen cirmustances?"

"What?"

"An organism which can heal the most grievous wounds," Siberias began, "and can not only restore, but reanimate a dead body into a ruthless warriror. Pumyra, you must see the potential consequences of such research."

"I've already factored that in," Pumyra replied hotly. "Professor, this could be the making of a new era in Thunderian medical science!"

"Also the ushering in of new bio-weapons," Siberias replied. "Things that even the Code of Thundera was not prepared for!"

"We cannot abandon this reasearch! The potential yeilds alone are staggering!"

"As well as the risks. Pumyra, I'm not saying we should abandon the research, but that we should proceed with caution. We are dealing with a life form no Thunderian has ever encountered before."

"In truth, the same could be said for every form of life on Third Earth," Pumyra said. "Animal, vegetable, and otherwise. In my years on Third Earth, I've encountered species unlike anything I ever dared dream of. This is a foreign world, with foreign life. I've learned quite a bit, but the Guyver exceeds all my experience. If we're to harness the good it can do for medicine, then we have to get started now."

"I agree," Siberias said at length. "However, we must strictly control the direction this research will take. We must not try to develop weapons with the... what do you call them? The specimens you collected, I mean."

"Guyver Cells. G-Cells for short, and I have no intention of..."

"I know, but as your former teacher I must reiterate this. We do not develop bio-weapons. From what I have seen of the Guyver, the development of such would be all too easy."

"How well I know it," Pumyra said. "I told you I factored that in. I have no intention of weaponizing any of this, nor will I let it happen."..

"Coming from you, I believe that," Siberias replied with a small grin. "You do realize that this will be the work of years, if not generations?"

"I realize that. So long as we lay the groundwork, our medical science can only benefit."

"Then, let us begin."

"You're real quiet," WilyKat said from his position behind Tygra in the ThunderStrike's left outrigger pod. Half of the neccessities they'd need were stored in the aft compartment, with the other compliment of searchers and supplies equally stored in the opposite. Sho leaned back against his seat which rested at the very rear of the pod and lay the book in his lap.

"Just reading," he said mildly before casting a brief glance outside. "I've got some time, so why not?"

"We're gonna explore other parts of Third Earth," Kat said, "don't you have any advice for us?"

"Other than be careful?" Sho replied. "This world is as alien to me as it is to you, y'know."

"This world has changed since Sho last walked it," Tygra said from his place at the outrigger's helm. "The places and things he knows likely aren't here any longer."

"What's got you so wound up, anyway?" Sho asked.

"I'm just so... bored!"

"Read something," Sho replied. "I've got some..."

"Aw, that's boring." Kat replied offhandedly. "A ThunderCat does adventure better than he does reading about it!"

"Lion-O used to say that," Tygra added. "He learned better, and I think you'd best follow suit."

"It's still hours before we get to base camp," WilyKat added.

"Then get a nap," Sho said, "Or borrow a book. Failing that, I can sing 'One Hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall'."

"What?"

"Trust me, your not missing much if I don't. Just calm down, WilyKat."

"Tygra to Outrigger Pod Two," Tygra said, "how are you doing over there?"

"Everything's normal on our end," Cheetara said after activating the comm. "You boys behaving yourselves?"

"Party of the year over here," Sho's voice replied. "We just broke out the beer, and you should've seen Tygra's kegstand."

"Well, don't get too hammered over there," WilyKit joked.

"Everything's fine," Tygra said over the laughter. "It seems Sho is in rather high spritits. No pun intended."

"Until we reach base camp, then. Cheetara out."

"You okay back there, Laheela?" WilyKit asked, glancing back at the new ThunderCat.

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm fine." Laheela said, snapping out of a doze. "This seat's pretty comfortable."

"Anyone who needs a nap had best get one while they can," Cheetara said. "Once we touch down, we'll have to hustle to get camp established before dark."

It's all so strange, she thought as she resumed staring at the sky of her new homeworld passing by all around. In the weeks since her and her countrymen had been rescued, life had seemed so hectic. Laheela shook her head at the madness of her life, moving without warning or preamble from accounting assistant on Thundera to waitress on a space station to sex slave and from there to slave laborer and then to key instrument in Lisker's bid for her people's freedom. Topping it all off her been her recent naming as a ThunderCat. For most, it would have been the happy ending to a tale of tragedy and loss. No matter how hard she tried, though, Laheela could not see things that way. She'd endured too much horror and degradation to believe in happily ever after, no matter how badly she wanted to.

At least Myrlha's happy about everything, Laheela thought as she recalled the quick kiss she had seen the former share with Sho just before departing. It had been brief, yet full of emotion. Those two were ass over teakettle for each other. Is that what I need? Someone to care for that way? She shook her head slightly at the notion. No matter what, she would never let any of her fellow Thunderians feel the yoke of Mutant - or any other race's - oppression. That notion by itself was enough to validate her new title of ThunderCat.

She gazed out of the lone window of her hut to behold an endless vista of reds and golds as the leaves changed once more, leaving her own Treetop Kingdom a dazzling display of Autumn in full swing. Verona had always loved this time of year, the stark colors of the leaves as they fell to nourish the lush earth below before the cold set in and tunics were exchanged for thick furs. The meats hunted throughout the Spring and Summer which had been cured for the long winter were squared away, and her own tribe of Warrior Maidens were well prepared for the oncoming freeze.

However, they were not prepared for another arrival who had taken up residence in an outsider village not very far away and who could pose a severe threat. Verona looked down at the message which had arrived from the the Southern Tribe, decimated by recent events.

Events involving outsiders, she thought bitterly. Lily, you fool. I told you...

"I have come as bidden, m'lady," Natalie said, dropping to one knee on the rough floor of her hut.

"Good," Verona said, turning to face this young maiden. "Tell me again about the golden bug which you saw that night."

"If it pleases," Natalie began, "I had been snared in that net, when it appeared and slaughtered those beasts which clothed themselves as men. As I said before, it bade me escort the young boy home in exchange for my freedom."

"Truly a strange thing," Verona said slowly. "Tell me, do you know this face?" Verona asked, handing the rolled paper to the still-kneeling Natalie. The younger woman gazed upon the features inked on the paper with no trace of recognition.

"No. Should I?"

"From the letter sent to me by Analee, this is the true face of the creature you saw."

"Analee? She lives?!"

"Indeed, though I cannot say the same for many of my sister's failed experiment." Verona took a deep breath at that. "To make a long story short, this man is the same as another Analee has warned others of us about. He is called a "Guyver".

"Guyver, you say?"

"What you saw," Verona began, already pacing back and forth before the window which granted one of the grandest view of their trees, "is a transformed state of a man who has gained incredible power, if what Analee has written is true. Be at ease, young one, for I trust her word completely."

"Exactly how powerful is this man?"

"Far moreso than your report of his sighting in the wood indicates, young Natalie. Do not wear that troubled face," Verona said. "You had no way to know. As such, the recent sighting of this Lisker has me greatly troubled."

"If it pleases you... ?"

"Of course."

"I don't think this Lisker, if he is the one I saw before, is a threat to us."

"What makes you think this?"

"His concern seemed to be my safety, as well as the outsider boy," Natalie explained. "He could have demanded a far higher price for my seeing the child home, but he did not."

"This proves what, exactly?"

"M'lady, I'm confused. Why are you asking me these questions?"

"Ah. Indeed, I should have shown you this," Verona said languidly as she sauntered over to her table. From its surface she plucked a roll of parchment which she then proceeded to hand to the younger woman. As Natalie read the words inked on it, her eyes grew to saucer-like proportions, color draining from her face.

"Unbelievable..." she breathed after reading for a second, then a third time. "Guyvers are truly so powerful?" Verona brushed a lock of midnight hair, now streaked with some lines of grey, back behind an ear before replying.

"Had this come from any other than Analee, I would have discarded it as paranoid wonderings. Since it did not, I must regard it as true. I sent her to accompany Lily all those years ago for a reason." With that, she resumed her place on the ornate wicker throne which was hers by birthright. Brilliantly colored plumes from the birds which called her forest home during the warmer times were affixed to the outer ridge of the throne's back, violets and reds and greens. "Rise, Natalie, you've been on the floor long enough."

"Yes, M'lady."

"Having read this," Verona began, "you can see my concern, I trust?"

"Forgive me, but..."

"I forget how young you are, sometimes," she said with a shake of her head. "This Lisker is not only an outsider, but a man. We may belittle then men of our tribe, I do not deny it. We do not allow them to learn the ways of battle for the simple reason that once they taste power, of any sort, they become beasts."

"I know the old stories," Natalie replied, "of how women were once subservient to men."

"More than stories, Natalie, history. The man called Lisker has tasted of power, greater than any we have ever known. Though he did rescue you and that outsider boy, and those beasts who had captured you deserved their grisly fate, you must realize that this act was good and noble only on the surface. We don't know what his true intentions are."

"You think he means us harm? Forgive my ignorance, but why?"

"I do not know what he wants here," Verona said with a sigh. "It may be possible that he wants nothing to do with us."

"You don't sound like you believe that," Natalie ventured.

"To tell the truth, I don't. A man with such power..." she said, trailing off toward the end. "We must learn all we can about him, about his aims in these lands. This Lisker could cause serious trouble for us."

And so the months of winter dragged on in their usual drudgery as the people of Third Earth hunkered down against the cold. Snow and ice coated much of the fertile lands as they did since time immemorial, transforming lush greenery into frozen white before melting and giving way to life once more.

For the ThunderCats, the journey into the unexplored hinterlands of Third Earth had borne fruit. The party had discovered a viable place to begin building a new home with land whose texture was rich and black with nutrients. Near a fast-flowing river to the west, which stretched seemingly into forever, they had found both farmland and bountiful fishing. Sho had remarked that this river had not existed in his time, and mirrored another to the east. After failing to recall what the word "Mississippi" meant, other than it being the name of the eastern north-south river, he told them that it likely stretched from an undiscovered source to the north all the way to the southern reaches of the ocean named the "Pacific".

In the bunker beneath the Tuska lands just across said western river, Panthro had discovered that the heavy machinery stored within could be converted to run on thundrillium, though with extensive modifications. The cold months in the desert of the Tower had been spent laboriously making them able to run on the most precious resource of ore, a task which he relished in. Bengali's forge glowed hot indeed as he taught Sho how to make plowshears, the most basic skill of the blacksmith. The human took to it in the same manner as a duck to water, learning this skill in little time and providing much needed assistance. Sho found the work of a blacksmith rewarding, using his sweat and labor to make something so simple and yet so necessary.

Pumyra's stomach became more and more round as the months went by, finding her wearing loose clothes by the oncoming of early spring. Gestation for a Thunderian woman was eleven months, during which her belly grew at a steady rate. By the time spring came around and construction of a new home began, and the demolition of the Tower of Omens ended, she was well heavy with cub and restricted to light duties. Siberias proved a constant comfort along with Kyranna, whose rudimentary skills had served her well in the role of Royal Nurse. Siberias's experience helped prepare the Lion female to be a capable midwife, and the two women had formed a fast friendship.

Lion-O, day by day, grew more comfortable in his position as both Lord of the ThunderCats and King of Thundera. He listened to the other ThunderCats, now also his Royal Advisors, with a more open ear than ever before. Lion-O was becoming more and more a king with each day that passed, leaving behind the childish tendencies he'd had as a glorified prince.

Cat's Lair, and New Thundera Colony, began to rise on the selected site once the warmer days began and the Tower was brought low. The main reactor from the former Lair had been discovered to be intact and the remaining rubble had been cleared away with Sho's megasmasher. From there, the quarried stone from the north helped lay the blocks for the Lair and for a new township for the Thunderians. The Western Berbils helped construct their new home as well as give instructions on how to grow their specialized trees.

Oswald Lisker found himself immersed in harvesting sulfur and giving the slightly mad old human Vargas the formula for gunpowder. At first he was wary, given the white haired Vargas' near-fanatical view on all things pyrotechnic. Within a week, though, he had grasped how to make gunpowder and Lisker had taught the smiths of Watershed how to make steel once the smelter had been completed. Lighter and stronger swords were forged and he found himself explaining how to make exploding arrows before muskets. By the time winter began to thaw into spring, Watershed's defensive perimeter was shaping up, though at nowhere near the pace needed to fend off a coming assault. The making of muskets was slow work at first. Though production began to increase during the winter months, the long-barrelled weapons simply could not be churned out fast enough for a viable force of them to be assembled.

Food, at least, had not been as much of a problem as he'd feared. The Clutch had not demanded overly much of foodstuffs and water, mostly finished products and jewels. Lisker found himself puzzled over that. If their intent had been to drain Watershed completely dry, taking all of the food would have gone a long way toward that. Day by day, he pondered more on exactly who had hired them and why, or if anyone had at all and he was overreacting along with Mayor Gil and Dendel. Regardless, he continued to help strengthen Watershed's defenses in the event he was not.

Despite all of it, though, Lisker knew that his direct involvement would be necessary. What people about town were calling the "Bug-Man" would have to make another appearance.

Maria found herself spending rather a lot of time with the boy William during his convalescence. She found him to be charming and likeable, one with a naturally sunny disposition. He taught her the game of chess, in which she was wholly absorbed while Lisker busied himself with preparing Watershed for battle. Lisker had smiled broadly at her when she told him of the game, and encouraged her to learn of it. He had called it the game of kings, and had offered to play it with her once the matter of the Clutch was settled.

Maria was glad that the preparations kept him so enveloped, despite the fact that it meant they spent less time alone. It kept him from training to fight the other Guyver again, and she hoped it might force all thoughts of a rematch so far from his mind that he would not pursue it. She still recalled the look on his face, nearly obsessive, when he had made the still-unused punching post.

Even with the amount of effort he put into the task, Lisker still found time to be with her, both emotionally and physically. The physical aspect of their love was not often realized, but the time between merely made the experiences all the sweeter. He went out of his way, even when exhausted, to show that he was devoted to her. When she was not tending to William, she completed the work she had planned on the jacket he had given her when they first shared a living space. She kept it veiled in their home, and had told Lisker in no uncertain terms that it would not be revealed until Watershed was safe from the Clutch's masters. Once he saw it... Maria found herself imagining that from time to time when she ended up sleeping alone. It did, contrary to what she had been taught among her fellow Wollos, beat knitting.

Verona kept as close a watch on Watershed as she could, knowing that she could not sneak spies into the town unnoticed until the merchants came again. For a time, she had thought that hope lost until runners from Watershed had been sent along the roads to proclaim the town open for business once more. The growing defences about the town served to reinforce her nebulous belief that Lisker was a threat. When the days began to warm, she sent Maidens dressed as spies to report on what they saw. Natalie was not among them, and the reports she heard did not ring entirely true.

Meanwhile, high above Third Earth, a lone satellite broke orbit after retrieving all the data it could. It merged into the hyperdrive unit which bore it there and laid in a course to rendevouz with the Warhammer at a predetermined point in space.

The forces of good and evil make ready to clash once more. What is Ratar-O's plot? What evils from Second Earth will he unleash before he attains his ultimate goal? All this and more in the next episode of Eye of the Storm.