From alt.pub.dragons-inn Mon Dec 6 19:46:43 1993 Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Path: netcom.com!csus.edu!decwrl!decwrl!concert!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!news.cyberstore.ca!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!unixg.ubc.ca!kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca!alberta!amisk.cs.ualberta.ca!aaron From: aaron@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca (Aaron V. Humphrey) Subject: [MI][Fire] A Well-Meaning Friend Message-ID: Originator: aaron@gsb003.cs.ualberta.ca Sender: news@cs.UAlberta.CA (News Administrator) Reply-To: aaron@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca Organization: The Anna Amabiaca Fan Club Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1993 01:20:33 GMT Lines: 73 ADMIN: This post copyright 1993 by me; Toshima is property of Marc Seebass, used with his permission, but all others used herein are mine. "So when you gonna go out lookin' for this nun?" Moriarty asked. Queriche shrugged. "I might as well go out now, hey? Not that the trail can get any colder, by now." Just then they heard someone opening the street door, then footsteps coming up the stairs. "Busy tonight," Moriarty muttered. The office door opened and in came a shortish fellow. Well, maybe not so short, for an Etarus'ian--pitch-black hair and slanted eyes were a dead giveaway. He was good-looking, with dark brown eyes. "My name is Toshima, and I am a friend of Mariko's. I am told that she came by here." he spoke with a strong accent, but Moriarty was impressed by the fact that he wasn't mixing up his r's and l's, like many Etarus'ians did. He must have had a good Common teacher. Moriarty glanced at Queriche, who shrugged. He was about to say that they hadn't seen anyone named Mariko lately, when the man said, as if just realizing something himself, "Oh, yes, she is calling herself Fire here. I just want to know to where she went." "She was by earlier," Moriarty said guardedly. If she was just looking for her parents, then she shouldn't have anyone on her tail, but he didn't want to let this guy know by how little he'd missed her. "If you leave a message here for me, I'll see she gets it." "I have already left a message at this Dragon's Inn, thank you." He smiled ruefully. "I can see that you are not trusting me. I assure you that Fire is one of my dearest friends, and I have her best interests at heart. My name is Toshima, by the way." Moriarty shrugged. Fire could handle this guy. "She was here not long ago. She said she was going out of town on a tracking job, and had some things to buy before she left." Toshima clicked his tongue a couple of times. "My poor luck. Ah, well. May I ask what she was doing in here?" "She hired me for a job. And that's all I can tell you--if you want to find out more, ask her yourself." "I only want to help," Toshima protested. "Surely you can use help in this matter?" Ah, hell, Moriarty thought. Looking up parents you've never seen isn't exactly a super-risky operation. "Okay, what the hell. She just wants to find her parents, or at least find out who they were. You spent a lot of time in Generica?" "Not very much," Toshima said, "but I can handle myself." Moriarty grunted. "Q, your call. What do you think?" Queriche looked at Toshima speculatively. "He looks like he can hold his own. And things are unsettled in Low City right now. A backup could be nice." As far as he was concerned, if Moriarty was willing to tell Toshima about the case, then he was trustworthy enough to fight alongside. "Okay, fine. And hey, if you do good on this, maybe there's a job here for you." Moriarty smiled crookedly to indicate that this could be taken as a joke. -- --Alfvaen(Editor of Communique) Current Album--Paul Simon:Still Crazy After All These Years Current Read--F&SF July '90 "What you just spoke--was that a parable, or a very subtle joke?" --CTD