Chapter - Defence Alliance

	Chapter - Defence Alliance
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< [Alliance window] >
<Greenback joins discussion >
<Bad Name        > Hi, Greenback.
<BlackEyed Dragon> Hi, Greenback.
<Greenback       > I'm not under attack! Woohoo!
<Bad Name        > I am, but I'm covered. Boo needs help, tho.
<Greenback       > Info?

< [Personal Message from BlackEyed Dragon] >
<BlackEyed Dragon> Hi, Fred.
<Greenback > Hi, John.
<BlackEyed Dragon> Rodney's here, and we have news.

< [Alliance window] >
<Bad Name        > X.XX.17 ETA 6 ticks
<Greenback       > I can get there with 1000 spiders in 4 ticks.
<Greenback       > I'll send 600 phoenixes, too and be there in 6 ticks.
<Bad Name        > Thanks! Boo will be so happy he'll kiss your feet!

< [Personal Message from BlackEyed Dragon] >
<BlackEyed Dragon> Guess who I met today!
<Greenback       > Constable Robertson?
<BlackEyed Dragon> Well, of course, he picked Mom up and took her to supper, but who else?
<Greenback       > Your old boss, Paul?
<BlackEyed Dragon> Your skinheads-for-Christ friend!
<Greenback       > Really!

"Who's that?" Miriam asked. Her new planet was still in protection, so she had bought two asteroids and logged out.

Fred noticed the fresh smell of her skin as she crowded close to him to look at his monitor.

"Um. That's a skinhead who I met right after John and I had been tailed by a skinhead and John had been beat up. I was scared of him and he wanted to prove that all skinheads aren't bad. Turns out he's a friend of Constable Robertson."

< [Alliance window] >
<Bad Name > Are you going to be able to send, Greenback?
<Greenback > Yes. Just a minute.

Fred started clicking on the PA page to get a defence fleet ready.

< [Personal Message from Bad Name] >
<Bad Name        > Sorry I asked you before you were done.
<Bad Name        > Boo is my buddy and he's off-line at the moment.
<Bad Name        > Even with the roid cap, this guy's gonna take 1/4 of his roids in 3 ticks.

< [Personal Message from BlackEyed Dragon] >
<BlackEyed Dragon> He's got an angle on Paul's gang.
<BlackEyed Dragon> He's going to do something this weekend.
<BlackEyed Dragon> Fred, are you there?

"My, it gets busy with all these conversations going on at once," Miriam observed.

< [Personal Message from Bad Name] >
<Greenback > That's OK. I've got 3 or 4 windows
<Greenback > and a RL conversation going all at once here.

< [Personal Message from BlackEyed Dragon] >
<BlackEyed Dragon> Sorry, you must be busy at camp.
<Bad Name > Yup. Busy. What's up?

"Fred, do you wanna go for a walk on the beach when we're done here?" Miriam smiled at him, perhaps a bit anxiously.

"Umm. Sure. Love to. I'll get done here in a moment." Fred's heart began to pound.

< [Alliance window] >
<Bad Name        > Fury attacks the big guys, because of the roid cap,
<Bad Name        > then the big guys attack us.
<Wired Slink     > The roid cap doesn't actually help us. It changes who wipes us out.
<Bad Name        > PA's too small. We need more newbies to crush to get our roids back.
<Wired Slink     > Hey! Don't talk like that! I'm trying to get my girl friend to play!
<Bad Name        > Well, you can protect her, can't you? And we won't attack her.
<Greenback       > I've launched. Cya.
<Bad Name        > Bye, Greenback. Thx a bunch. Call if you ever need anything!

John had been busy typing, too.

< [Personal Message from BlackEyed Dragon] >
<BlackEyed Dragon> Well, anyway, Eeevil Weevil has been out of PA since his brother died.
<BlackEyed Dragon> but he's on IRC sometimes.
<BlackEyed Dragon> I got an email address for him, so I can ask some questions.
<BlackEyed Dragon> We'll look at the names for Paul's files soon.
<Greenback       > Great. You guys are doing great.
<Greenback       > Thanks for keeping me posted. Gotta go.
<BlackEyed Dragon> Bye Fred, have fun at camp.
<Greenback       > OK, ;)
<BlackEyed Dragon> Well, not too much fun. ;)
<Greenback       > Of course not! Bye.

Fred closed IRC and logged out of PA, as he logged out of the computer, he said, "I'm just about ready. You ready?"

"Yes. I'm ready."

Fred's heart pounded. Was Miriam's voice a little shaky too?

As they walked out the door, talking about the swimming session that afternoon, their hands touched, as if accidentally. They smiled at each other and their hands met again, fumbled, and held.

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