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BIKER MICE FROM MARS

IN

Decisions and Sacrifice

BY

Whipblade

Part 9

"Escaping Mace"

"Transporting over is more dangerous than docking and boarding our target in deep space." A small cream rat stated as she spoke up from the conference table.

"Paige is right, Unlike the conventional Plutarkian Transporters, the new ones the Ikkywara had designed are less stable. The particles that make up the victim are scrambled and then reassembled in the new location." A gray rat with white around his muzzle added in, his sagging belly hid by the table.

"The first year of it being on the market, cadets were horrified to use it. Even now, it's considered a 'Last Resort' option." Paige again spoke out as she fiddled with her place mat.

"Their valid points, but its boils down to the fact that the new transport method is still undetectable by enemy scanners." Lance paused from the head of the table. His brown eyes looked to each of the six gathered crew members. "If you don't want to become scrambled atoms, your welcome to sit this one out."

*****************

Harley slunk in the dark shadows of Karbunkle's lab as Modo, Rimfire, Stoker and Carbine kept the goons busy outside. Her fingers danced over the keyboard as she called up information on Karbunkle's computer.

It took them this long to get back into the Limburger tower and they had yet to hear back from their space bound bros.

Finding the scarce info she printed it out. Clicking the mouse about she started to search for any recent experiments, finding something unexpected she printed that out too. A shadow fell over her, Harley gasped and turned only to see Fred the Mutant peering over her shoulder.

"The live wires are all yours, tough guy." She winked stepping back from the console.

"WHOOPEEEE!" Fred cheered as he bit into the computer wires.

Harley shook her head as the lights dimmed slightly. She slipped out of the lab, back into the sewers without being seen by anyone else.

Charley grumbled as she sat in the idling tow truck. The night sky was ablaze with the sound of laser fire and vehicles locked in battle. She could hear Stokers wild cries over the radio, it reminded her so much of Vinnie.

A figure slipped from the shadows of the sewer, like a shadow it slunk along the beach.

The passenger door open startling Charley out of her thoughts."Ahh!"

"Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you." Harley apologized as she settled in her seat. "I got all we need."

Charley gave a weak smile, thoughts of Vinnie still lingering in her head. She put the truck in gear and picked up the M.C. "Guys, we got it. Head back to base."

"We'll be there soon." Modo reply echoed back.

"I'm surprised Limburger didn't guard or block off the sewer." Harley commented as they left the beach.

"We haven't used it since Carbine brought the Pink Seed flower back to Mars." Charley hummed.

"Villains really aren't as smart as they think." Harley giggled.

"I agree there girlfriend!" Charley laughed, the truck jiggled as it bounced over the curb and onto the near vacant street.

The girls sat about the kitchen table in the Last Chance Garage. The print outs scattered before them.

The lone human sighed deeply. "I can't believe there were only three ships."

"Two run by rats, one by fish." Harley wanted to cry. "Either way....."

"Mace commanded one, his was the only one headed for the Outer Rings and Delta-Ryan quadrants." Charley pointed out.

Modo, Rimfire and Stoker burst through the garage doors with whoops and hollers of victory.

"Did you get everything Harley?" Stoker asked shaking his long light hair free from his helmet.

"Plenty." She frowned watching Rimfire leap off his bike, his tail whipping off his helmet. "Did you see that! I can't believe you did that Stoker! You almost got us killed!" his mature voice laughed as he set the helmet on his bike.

"Yeah, he could have." Modo's eye narrowed at the old mouse. Who in turn gave a sheepish shrug while grinning.

"It worked didn't it?"

"Mmhrm." Was all Modo could say as he stalked to the kitchen table and the mess of print outs. "Where's our bros?" he asked the females.

Carbine skidded in, parking behind the boys bikes. She ripped off her helmet, it crashed to the floor. Her eyes narrowed to one mouse in particular. Her boots clicked sharply as she stalked Stoker, dealing a hard blow to the side of his dark whiskered face. "Do that again and I will personally skin you alive." she snapped spinning on her heels.

Stoker groaned as he peeled himself off the floor. "Yeah, well it saved your ass General. Be thankful your not a puddle of goo."

Carbine paused in mid stride. She turned slowly, her brown eyes bore a viscous hole through Stokers' head. A wisp of a smile appeared on her face. "Thanks."

Stoker chuckled falling in line behind the General.

"You ready for this?" Charley asked looking at the standing warriors. Her gaze seemed to rest on Modo a little longer than the others.

****************

"We've got to be faster! The Pi-Rat ships scanners would have picked you two up already!" Lance shouted.

"Let's try a new transport position Lance, some place closer to the center." Ma'ze suggested as he adjusted the VR goggles.

"If Mace's lay out is anything like previous Pi-Rat ships, the entrance to the medical station would be opportune." Paige said cuing hers and the others VR goggles to the morgue.

"I'm Game." Chip agreed.

"Okay, once more from the top!" Lance clapped his hands and their VR screens once again changed scenes.

************

Noise, it was all noise to Vinnie. He paced the small cell that has been his home for what seemed to be eternity, above his metal tether rattled with each movement. The grinding engines, the humming electricity wires, the echo of the crews voices. It was all noise and all out of reach. The 6 by 6 cage was just enough to pace and sit, on nothing more than cold metal. Vinnie's mask-less face looked towards the hallway entrance, he could once again hear Throttle screaming in agony.

***********

The dry Martian wind picked up briefly fluttering the large groups fur and hair before dying down again. The dimming sky and nip of the on coming cold season seemed to be ignored as everyone gathered, grieved.

Charley hung her head as Stoker, dressed in black Freedom Fighter garb, the old war hero continued with the eulogy. Carbine choked back a sob, beside her a dark mouse handed her a tissue. Harley didn't care, she was already in tears.

"... years have past, as we all hoped to have our bros back with us, we know it will never be..." Stoker went on not caring that he was crying in front of a crowd. ".. Our bros, Throttle and Vinnie, will be dearly missed." he walked off the platform and took a seat.

Modo wrapped an arm around his mentor, the two broke down. Charley leaned against Modo's metal arm, tears running a river along her cheeks. She didn't even notice that the large gray mouse had wrapped his metallic arm around her pulling her against him.

Up on the small platform, wreathes and flowers were placed between two pictures. One of Throttle smiling at the camera, and one of Vinnie who had posed dramatically for the camera. Both photos represented the lost mice well.

Charley saw from the corner of her eye, Carbine, who was being consoled by a tall chocolate brown mouse with a black crew cut. Turbo.

Harley made her way over after laying a potted pink seed plant between the photos. She sat down beside Stoker comforting him on his loss. In truth, Throttle was more like a son to Stoker than either ever admitted to.

***************

The transporter room. Nothing more than a vastly empty space except for the lone transporter of Plutarkian Design, and bright lights. Yellow controls hidden among orange panels laid underneath the black and blue screen showing a red X flashing on a space ship. Five familiar forms stood silhouetted in the bright room. This time they wore only dark cloaks covering their uniforms and faces.

"In and out boys, we'll hit them hard and fast." Lance, the leader of the four said as he passed a large plasma rifle to a hunched rat with a baggy belly and short tail. "Chip, you're taking point."

The lone female medic, tied a rope around her waist to keep the cloak from tripping her.

"Chip and Ma'ze, your lead. Paige, your with me, were cover." Lance said his hood falling back as he approached the transporters controls. "We'll start in the prisoner pens. Last intelligent report said their empty. Minimum risk of encounter." The black and tan Doberman started plugging away at the yellow and orange controls. "Let the party begin." Lances' teeth glittered in his broad smile leading the way into transporters glowing booth.

***

Sharp shooter Chip took point followed by Ma'ze, they stayed to the shadows. Briefly they risked a quick glance at the dead body. Neither one said a thing as they continued on, the sounds of something gnawing could be heard in the dark distance.

Lance, although Commander, took the middle followed by Paige. As soon as he came to the dead body he paused. 'Was that a breath?' he thought and waited, watching. Then indeed the corpse breathed, shallow and shaky.

Looking over the severely emaciated mouse, naked and face down. Lance couldn't help but wonder if the poor thing was worth saving. It was a Martian creature after all. It couldn't have weight more than 60 lbs. soaking wet. Deep cuts on the creatures back formed the word MACE. Patches of fur looked as if it had been ripped out. The mouses hair, short and matted to the scalp.

Paige came up beside the stopped leader. She looked over the should be corpse and frowned. She noted the tail, the lack of fur covering it, vertebras could be seen, the base of the tail had a dramatic kink.

Lance leaned his muzzle against the lone females ear. With words scarcely a whisper he asked "Is it save-able?"

She leaned over touching the dirty brown creatures neck with her gloved fingers. "Yeah, It'll take a while, but we can save him." she said softly. "I don't know if we'd be doing any favors."

Lance frowned. "Hell, take the damn Martian back with us." he moved off at the slight echo of a silenced gun.

"We got a prisoner." Chips old voice grumbled over the communicators link.

The slight echo from a silenced gun woke Vinnie from his nap. His tired pink eyes focused on the body of a rat laying at an awkward angle. It took a moment for Vinnie to realize the red-ish brown oozing slop wasn't the soup. Yawning, Vinnie's brain started to catch up with the reality of the murder. Tilting his head he could make out slight whispering voices several dozen feet away. The mouse stood up from his sitting position.

Although smaller then most rats, Paige was surprised she could carry the poor dying mouse so easily. She pressed a button on her wrist unit, glancing around she missed a pair of shiny eyes before vanishing.

With a hiss, the serpent Herr Doctor smashed the alarm button with his scaley three clawed fist.

Lance turned around hearing the sound of breaking glass. "Chip, check on Paige. Ma'ze, lets get the prisoner."

"Who knew...." Ma'ze's scratchy voice was cut off as an alarm started to wail, yellow lights flashed in every corner.

"Shit!" Chips voice cursed from Lances com-link. "Five are coming down the hall, well armed."

"Paige?"

"She and the cadaver are gone." Chip clarified as he aimed his rifle at the tunnel.

Lance nodded relived that Paige had made it out with the other prisoner.

Two cloaked beings, ones Vinnie never seen before hurried to him. "Not in this life time!" Vinnie hollered. He waited till the cell door opened, then lashed out with all he had. There was no doubt in Vinnie's mind that these rats were going to bring him to Mace. He wasn't going to die like his bro. "Get away from me!" Vinnie yelled punching at the nearest being. There was nothing left. Nothing worth saving, just killing Mace.

"Take it easy mouse. Are there any more on board?" Ma'ze asked his hood falling back as he narrowly avoided the punch.

"Asshole." Vinnie spat at the rat. Still attached to a chain in the ceiling, Vinnie grabbed the top most of the bar of the door frame and swung up, his feet kicking the nearest cloaked rat.

"OOF!" Lance lost his balance with a snarl he fell. His hood fell over his eyes. Landing on his elbow, his plasma rifle jarred, firing.

Vinnie yelped as he dropped from the bar, the shot shattered the middle of the tether. He was Free! Vinnie ran, his tail whipping out and grabbing a rats foot tripping him.

"ARG!" Ma'ze yelled sprawling on top of Lance. The rats mismatched eyes narrowed as the white mouse, rather wobbly on his legs raced towards Chip and Mace's crew position.

"Chip! Catch him!" Lance hollered out struggling to stand. Ma'ze quick to get to his feet, ran after the mouse. It would have been easier if the cloak didn't hamper leg strides.

Chip heard the shout and clicked a button on his wrist unit, he grabbed the white mouse in a spin. Together they disappeared.

"Lance, they 'ported!" Ma'ze yelled whipping out his laser and firing at the emerging Plutarkians.

"Let's do the same!" Lance ordered firing off a few rounds as well.

"What about Mace!?" Ma'ze demanded taking a nick to his arm.

"Fuck 'im. We Gotta go!" Lance roared tapping his wrist unit, Ma'ze followed suit.

The fire storm stopped as the two figures vanished in a haze of smoke and glitter.

************

Vinnie's legs gave out as the hunched cloaked figure caught him. He swore he was swimming in cold water, tripped out on Martian illegal. By the time he fell, his legs crashed against warm carpet.

"Welcome to the Duo Scythe." A computerized voice chimed in greetings.

Chip whirled around letting go of the dirty creature. "That's a hell of a thank you, runt." his creaky vice like voice grunted shaking off the cloak.

"Hu?" Vinnie stood on wobbly legs, he braced himself against the cushioned walls. The older hunched rat with white fur streaked through light gray smirked, the corners of his sharp brown eyes crinkled as he slung his laser over his shoulder.

Vinnie tensed his fists clenched and teeth set ready to fight.

"Take it easy, we hate Mace just as much as you." Chip assured moving aside to let another rat by.

"I'm not sure, but I doubt that fashion statement will catch on." A tall white and black rat dressed in white nurses garbs said eyeing the dirty creature. "Anna Lee, please to meet you."

"Vinnie.." Vinnie said in a daze not sure what had happened. He was still surrounded by rats but couldn't comprehend how everything changed.

Taking off her lab coat she wrapped it around the mouse. "Well Vinnie, how about me and you have a talk over some hot coco?"

Vinnie nodded easing his stance. Feeling a little foolish, he held the lab coat closed.

****

After carefully laying the cold mouse on a Gurney Paige whisked behind a blind. "Punch Code Blue!" she yelled at a near by male dressed in scrubs. She herself struggled out of her combat gear and into doctor garb.

"Great battles and deaths!" exclaimed the normally calm voice of the Chief Medic.

"What!?" Paige gasped peeking her head over the blind while still fighting with her clothes.

Dressed in typical pea-green scrubs Tweak hunched over the emaciated mouse. "You should have left him for dead." Tweak said, his voice carrying a note of sorrow. He turned from the mouse to two near by rats. "Hummer! Ratchet! Prepare O.R. Two and Three."

"Yes sir!" The two snapped in reply before rushing off.

Paige, dressed in dull yellow scrubs stood at the end of the Gurney. "That.... is not natural." her mind went numb for a moment staring down at the unconscious mouse.

******************

Mace roared as he kicked the deceased body of Hammer off the Gurney. "DAMN IT!" He punched at the nearest Plutarkian. "We had it! Had it all!" He growled gripping the back of his captains chair. "Now we need some other mouse to trade those damn snobbish Emu's!"

"What if we just head back to Plutark?" A voice muttered.

Mace's cold red eyes narrowed. His sharp claws ripped off the chairs head. "I'll send you back by my boot!" he roared sending the furniture piece sailing through the air. It hit its mark, knocking the voice's owner out.

"They wanted two mice! Just two mere fucking mice! But noooo You pathetic beasts can't even guard a CORPSE!" Mace whirled around. "YOU! Get this gawd damn dead spy out of here!"

A Plutarkian bowed grabbing the body with help from a rat, they placed it back on the Gurney and wheeled it away.

Mace sizzled in his own rage. "I need that white mouse." he hissed like a viper. "What an irony"

*****************

"Tell me about how you and Throttle became Mace's prisoner." Her soft simple feminine voice insisted as she fussed with Vinnie's wounds.

"Well.... Throttle was captured by Limburger, a Plutarkian on Earth and his twisted side-kick doctor Karbunkle..." Vinnie started he hissed now and then as antibiotics leached into his open sores. "We tried to rescue him...."

Several minutes ticked by, both falling into a silence as Anna Lee finished her work. "I don't know what happened to my bike." Vinnie whined as his wrists, ankles, tail and various other injuries were finished being prodded.

"Your bike?" Anna Lee inquired putting away her medical supplies. She brought another kit from under her desk, full of needles and syringes.

"Yeah, she's the best." Vinnie sighed in fond memory.

"What about your stay with Mace?" she asked swabbing the mouses arm vein to draw blood. As Vinnie talked she finished collecting his blood. She rummaged through a corner closet, finding a uniform she passed it to Vinnie. She looked away as Vinnie dressed and talked.

******

Trusting his crew to tend to the two mice, Lance made his way to his office at the nose of the ship. Once inside he tossed off his cloak, it slapped against the cushioned gray walls before fluttering to the dusty gray blue carpeted floor.

Kicking his feet up onto his desk he stretched. The open door lead to his command post on the bridge. From where he sat he could only see a black female feline with long green hair sitting at her piloting station.

"Are you still tracking Mace?" he called out through the open door to Jade.

"No sir, it's out of range, heading towards the Delta-Ryan quadrant." Jade's soft purr like voice replied.

"Thank you Jade." Lance pressed a button on the corner of his desk and the door slid shut.

******

".........Then Throttle was dragged away and I only heard bits and pieces of what was happening to him whenever Mace or some slob dog wandered down." Vinnie recalled darkly. "I saw Throttle being dragged down the hall by some weird snake freak called Herr Doctor. I thought my bro was dead.... then the rest you know." he finished his fingers running over the right side of his face.

"Hrm, how long do you believe you two have been with Mace?" Full of pity Lee caught the movement and wondered when the older scars on the mouses face happened.

"I don't know... couple years maybe more." Vinnie shrugged eyes narrowing at the way she was studying him.

"Vinnie, the day you and Throttle escaped Plutark, that was the same day I too was rescued." Anna Lee said gently taking a hold of his cup and placing on the table. She put her hands over his. "That was over four years ago."

Chills of coldness washed over Vinnie. "Four.....years?" he muttered stunned.

**************

"Charley babe?" Modo called as he entered the Last Chance. He was the only one to return to Earth with Charley after the funeral.

"In here." Charley called as she fiddled with a door frame. All around her were bare wall frames, flapping plastic and scattered construction tools.

Modo looked around the new addition. "Do you think this is big enough for a kitchen?" he asked looking at the new counter tops still wrapped in Styrofoam.

She paused in her work to look up at Modo. "I'm not expecting this place to hold just the two of us forever, Modo." Charley winked.

Modo smiled kneeling down beside her. "Need help, Charlene?"

"Grab that nail gun. Handsome."

**************

Paige caught a glance of the clean white mouse in a Black Ikkywara uniform. The poor boys snout was pressed against the glass, watching the surgery that was now in its third hour. She swore the albino was crying.

Looking down at the patient on the table she couldn't help but feel for the mice. For one of them to go be so close to death and the other able to stand. "Tweak, keep an eye on the white mouse when we're done here. I got a feeling he's suffering from more than mere survivors guilt."

Tweak frowned his steady hands continuing to carefully work on the skin flaps. "So noted. These idiots hadn't had a clue what they were doing." he complained.

"What were they trying to do?" Paige asked unable to fathom the damaged spine.

"I don't know." Twitch confessed.

"Almost looks like they wanted the tail out of the way, but why?" Ratchet stated his opinion.

"Probity torture." Replied Hummer with a shrug.

"Twitch, are you sure about that?" Paige asked watching the surgeon fuse together two vertebra together.

"Positive." Twitch said. His steady hands, covered in blood worked with the delicate nerves."The tail is still flexible and will function with relative normalcy, even with these two bones merged together. I would be more concerned about how much weight this patient has lost."

Paige kept her eyes on the patient vitals.

"No matter what I do here, I don't think this tail is going to take much weight." Ratchet frowned as he readied a flex-able metallic material.

Twitch carefully drilled holes into bone.

"What does it matter?" Hummer stated checking each diameter of the hole before grabbing some thin cable.

"Mice use their tails for a Varity of things." Paige started.

"Picking things up, like other mice of the same weight." Ratchet continued while fastening bolts to the pelvic girde.

"Like this guys' ever going to need to do that again." Hummer snipped.

"How is he doing?" Twitch called to the technician.

"Still stable." Paige replied.

"Is the Urethra repaired yet?" Ratchet asked "We got some leakage down here."

"I haven't gotten there yet. Nothing I can do about the sheath. It's beyond repairable." Tweak answered. "I'm more afraid of the nerve damage that the urethra sustained in that botched surgery they attempted on him."

"Poor creature." Ratchet muttered passing Hummer a sponge.

*****

Vinnie watched as the crew appeared ready to close. But something was wrong, his bro ....

"What did they do..?" he whispered in near terror. The rats robbed him of his bro! First Mace, now these trash eaters!

"WHAT DID YOU DO!" Vinnie howled in rage ramming open the OR doors.

"GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Hummer screamed. Security rushing up behind the white mouse.

"What did you do to him! You Monsters!" Vinnie went to grab a hold of Tweak. The rat didn't take a step back or forward or even seem as shaken as the other three.

The security team took a firm hold of Vinnie's shoulders and dragged him forcibly out of the room.

"Nurse, re-glove." Tweak ordered his voice level and calm.

Paige swore her heart was in her throat. Her own pulse out beat Throttles'. "Looks like we've got some explaining to do."

"No. We don't. Lance should have mentioned it to that one before we started." he paused ripping off his bloody gloves as the nurse held a glove for him. "Lets finish closing, shall we?" With fresh gloves on Tweak went back to work.

Two stocky Rottweiler's continued to haul the furiously screaming mouse out of the Med-bay and down the hall. They rolled their eyes before literally tossing the mouse into an empty room and locking the door.

"Commander Lance is going to be furious we didn't' haul him to the brig." One said.

"He wants a sick mouse in the cell. He can drag it there." The other said. Both returned to their posts in the Med-bay. To file their reports.

Less then two hours later Tweak and Lance walked together down the hallway.

"How's the thin mouse doing?" Lance asked hearing the muffled screaming and pounding at the other end of the hall.

"He's recovering. Fell into a coma just before surgery began." Tweak replied.

"How bad is he?"

"Lots of trauma to him. He's been used, abused, I'm near certain his botched surgery was preformed while he was awake." Tweak sighed. "He hasn't reacted to the anesthetics. In the short run, completing the change will be successful. In the long run, I don't know if he'll survive that long."

They both stopped in front of the door. It sounded like a heavy metal group was playing a concert inside.

Both security Rottweiler's flanked the Captain and chief surgeon/psychiatrist. "Sirs, we think it best if you don't go in there yet."

"Non sense, Open the door Brutus. On guard Bruno, be ready for anything." Lance ordered.

The two Rotties looked at each other before consecutively inhaling. Brutus opened the door and Bruno caught the flying white fur ball. The two collectively dragged Vinnie back into the room. "Settle down mouse. You'll only hurt yourself!" Bruno growled.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Vinnie screamed, his arms out stretched trying to grab a hold of the gray and white rat who had been in the Operating Room.

"VINCENT!" Lance snapped. The name caught the mouse off guard. "Settle down NOW!"

Vinnie stopped fighting and the two guards sighed in relief. Each holding one of the mouses arms in a firm grip, mindful of the wrappings.

"That's much better. Now Vincent, did you happen to see what Mace did to your friend when you were with him?" Lance asked.

"I didn't' see THAT!" Vinnie snapped glaring at the lone rat.

"That's alright I did." Lance confirmed through a lie. "The medical staff can't reverse everything, just try to ease along what has been started." The Doberman soothed. "Now what did you see Mace do to your friend?"

"His name is Throttle." Vinnie stated his voice still filled with anger.

"Throttle." Lance repeated noting the name. "What did you see Mace to do Throttle?"

Vinnie frowned. "I heard more than I saw."

Lances brown eyes softened. He gestured for the guards to release the mouse. "Did you hear your bro when they botched the operation?"

Reluctantly both K9's released the mouse who in turn rubbed his arms.

"I didn't know what they were doing." Vinnie said. From the corner of his eyes he glared at the two guards.

"Vinnie, there's reason to believe Throttle was awake when the pitiful surgical attempt was preformed. Can you confirm that?" Tweak asked, his voice steady and clam. He didn't seemed phased by the Mouses violent tendencies.

"I heard him screaming.... then he stopped." Vinnie looked at his feet. "I always hear him screaming, it just wasn't followed by the crews laughter like ususal."

Tweak and Lance exchanged worried looks. "Would you be willing to talk some more? " Tweak asked tentatively.

"Can I see Throttle?"

Tweak gave a small sad smile. "Certainly. I have to warn you however, he won't wake up for a while, but he may hear you if you talk to him."

"Is he going to be okay?" Vinnie asked, he felt so tired.

"I can't promise anything. He's touch and go right now." Tweaks dapple gray eyes softened as he took a hold of Vinnie's shoulder gently. "I'll take you to him."

Vinnie nodded weakly, finally fully aware he was surrounded by beings he never seen before, as well as lots of rats. He wasn't sure if they were really friendly or if they too had a hidden agenda.

******

Tweak and Lance sat in the center glass office finishing the last of their meals.

"I better contact the High Command and tell them we're on our way to Mars." Lance said soaking the last of his gravy up with a chunk of bread.

"What are you planning to do once we get there? Star Gazer is rather bare bone to entertain the white mouse for long." Tweak stated watching Lance rise.

"Quarantine first, He'll stick around as long as his brother is unable to go anywhere." Lance reassured before popping the sodden bread into his mouth. Twitch stood. Lance took a glance at Vinnie reading a book to Throttle. The poor tawny thing was hooked up to so much machinery that it dwarfed the progress he was making. What little it was for a month.

"I'm concerned about the mental health of the tawny one." Tweak said his hand resting on the door. "When he wakes up, he may not take kindly to being surrounded by rats. Let alone the forced Reassignment Surgery. According to Lee, they've been with Mace for four years." the old rat stated opening the door to allow the Commander through.

Lance looked over to Vinnie and Throttle once more. The white mouse turned a page not even looking up. "So noted, Doctor." The infirmary doors parted with a whoosh just as Lance was stepping out a toddler ran down the hallway butt naked and giggling.

"RIFF!!" Lee screamed as she raced behind the light brown and black child. In her fists she held the toddlers clothing.

Lance chuckled as he continued on to the bridge.

****************

To Be Continued...

Whipblade

November 2004

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