14 -

sneak, sneak, sneak. tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe. trip. snerk. giggle

"Ladies."

Oh shit! Awake Straker. Gun. Run Away! Grab at tesserect as Straker deftly removes it from taloned fingers. Futile grab.

"Starbuck's?" he asked as he gave the thing in his hand a cursory once over.

"Uhm ... well ...not this time."

Scowl.

Shit.

Tap, tap. Straker turned his head to find a pair of bright blue eyes in a roundly elfin face behind a very servicable .22 Ruger just a little closer to his head than he appreciated. She made the universal hand movement of "give it back" with her free hand.

"Rini!" dragon objected to the threat level.

SQAddict sighed and dropped the retrieved tesserect back in dragon's hand. "I told you he was dangerous."

Thunder cracked outside the house, out of a clear sky. "Yeah, well so is you-know-who and he's a Thunder god," dragon hissed as she frantically pushed buttons and then hit the "go" one.

Straker stood there both bemused and a little frightened. Neither the one with the inch long red nails nor the young lady with the ... pink? ... hair seemed like they'd be part of an alien plot, but the ease with which they slid into and out of his home was terrifying.

With a thankfully non-destructive blast of plasma, a tall, white haired, vaguely orientally dressed man appeared where the older woman had stood a moment before. Lightning played in his eye sockets and around his hands.

"Where is she?" a voice like doom demanded.

Straker swallowed, presumed his gun was next to useless and answered. "She just left. I don't know where she went."

The electricity level dropped and the entity's eyes returned to their usual dark color. He looked Straker's immaculately pale cream suited figure up and down. "At least she controlled her love of tie dying things," he commented, nodded and vanished.

The doorbell rang.

Feeling much like an over tightened guitar string, Straker opened the door to a delivery person in full, historical Chinese garb. "Yes?" Heaven knew he didn't really want any answer at this point.

"You Mr. Straker?"

"Yes."

"Kowloon Nine Dragon Inn delivery service. Please to show servants where to place dinner."

"I did not ... It's paid for?"

The man bowed. "Chun Ki Lun, owner of Inn owes personage who ordered. All is taken care of."

With that half a dozen small Chinese persons entered his house, turned his living room into a brocade resplendent area and departed leaving his coffee table smothered in covered porcelain and metal dishes, all of which smelled bothy exotic and delicious. Straker locked the door, not that it seemed to be proof against at least two sets of intruders, and sat down to a meal that the last Emperor of China might have enjoyed, including the aromatic hot tea.

giggle, giggle. snicker. See, I told you he'd enjoy it.

SQ Addict, patiently. "Yes, mom. Now, where exactly are we again?" She pointed to the trio of white masked beings who were regarding them curiously.

"Uhm," dragon squinted at the unit in her hand. "Not the SeaQuest, apparently ... " She looked at a nearby sign post. "Karakura?"

"Mom ..." sigh