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Universe War (Mission Activated) The Haggling of Pearls and Converters
The creature's eyes widened and it squealed gleefully, wriggling in excitement and extending a small forepaw through the bars. "We will pay you!" cried Tsûuri. His voice trembled with emotion. "I'm sure you will," Igon said, with false kindness. "You're honest, valiant people." One hand went to his chin as he added, "But this… thing… is priceless. What can you give me in exchange that could really be worth giving this up?" Tsûuri hesitated. Then he took a small white spherical object out of a pouch at his side.Her pale fingers cupping radiant spheres and bathing her perfect face with them. Fishermen, harvesting pearls in tiny nets, bringing them joyfully to shore— Jasper angrily wrenched himself out of the dream recollection. Tsûuri held the object in his gloved fingers for a moment, then set it down in front of Igon. The "antiques dealer" delicately picked it up in one great hand. The other reached for a large magnifying glass lying on the table. Siruss peered at the pearl through t
Universe War (Mission Activated) The Strange Case of the Floating Arm: A Mission Gone Wrong
Despite the illogical and bizarre, but very real dream connection that Jasper had with the Pearls and the critter, he shrugged slightly. Whatever was going on here was no concern of his; he had his orders."Sorry, guys, I'm not into sharing. Move it!" Slowly and reluctantly, looking almost as if he wanted to cry, the smuggler placed the converter into Eliza's case.Gibson's voice spoke into Jasper's ear. "Guys, move on, now.""Converter in the box," said Jasper to the listening Gibson."Copy," said Eliza's disembodied voice beside Jasper.Jasper kept his weapon trained on the smuggler. A moment later, Gibson's voice spoke in his ear. "Good job, Sergeant. Undetected. Back to base.""Affirmative," Eliza's voice replied promptly. "Jasper? We're good. Get out of there.""I'm on my way," Jasper responded. He hesitated, then grabbed the pearl from the table. It, too, was evidence. Igon watched, helpless, fuming."I'll find you, Federal Agent Jasper," he sputtered, almost choking on his rag
Universe War (Mission Activated) Chasing Jasper: A Kodhar'Khan's Philosophy
Lumwak's duty shift at Siruss's "shop" was not due to begin for over an hour, and he was permitting himself a much-needed break. The pay was good, excellent in fact, but Lumwak could not help but notice the high attrition rate of the crime lord's "staff."Lumwak considered himself a bit of a philosopher—something unusual among the Kodhar'Khans. And after three years of working for Igon here in Big Market, he had formed a philosophy about it. He leaned back in the café seat, sipping something sludgy and potent and wonderful while his enormous gun—which ensured his privacy; few wanted to chitchat with someone who had his weapon out and obvious—lay on the table within easy reach and examined his thoughts as he watched the tourists bustle and buy.There were three kinds of people who came to Big Market per Lumwak's philosophy. One was the original, intended customer base: tourists, with too much money and too much room in their homes, who wanted the delight of visiting a thousand worlds w
Universe War (Mission Activated) The Great Escape: A Twenty-Story Fall into a Toy Store.
In the time it took for Igon's goon to meander toward him, Jasper had already spotted a means of escape. A grate a few inches away opened to something below. He didn't know what, and right now, he didn't care. Slowly, both to not attract notice and, well, because he couldn't move quickly even if he had wanted to, Jasper forced his sleeved arm over the grate.Then, with an effort that made him grunt and the sweat pop out afresh on his forehead, he lifted the sleeve with his other arm as high as he could, and then let it fall."Perhaps my friend, had you not been acting alone, you and I would not now be—hey!"For the briefest of instants, as his superweighted arm smashed through the grate, Jasper allowed himself to snicker in triumph. But, too late, he realized that not only did the sleeve pull him down to the next level—it took him through the next level.And the next... and the next...Crash.Crash.Crash.By the fourth floor, Jasper had figured out that he needed to align the rest of
Universe War (Mission Activated) The Great Escape: Running Through the Virtual Big Mark
The next several minutes or... however long it was, were a blur. Igon Siruss's team was highly coordinated, restricted, apparently, only by the fact that they seemed to want to take the spatio-temporal agent alive. For now, at least. Siruss struck him as someone who could easily change his mind about such niceties.So for now, Jasper ran. He scrambled onto the virtual representations of expensive antiques, launching his rubber-soled feet off the heads of ancient alien rulers to scrabble atop a roof. He ran across illusionary old tiles, unable to see his own body—well, most of it, anyway. He tried to judge if his single available arm was strong enough to grab onto a thick, dangling creeper and swing from one faux rooftop to another—or in one case, crash through a window right in the middle of what appeared to be a formal ceremony involving priceless dishware, which he shattered."It's okay," he shouted back over his shoulder, "remember, they're only virtually real dishes!"This appeare
Universe War (Mission Activated) The Great Escape: Scaling the Compound Wall.
Jasper raced to the end of a street that led to a wall that was wonderfully, magnificently solid. Not just any wall— the wall, the outer wall of the compound. He had never thought chunks of rocks piled atop one another could be so beautiful. He almost wanted to kiss it.He perused the wall, wondering if he could get over it in time. It was old and weatherworn, if thick, so he could easily find footholds…And then he thought of the oversized shoebox attached to his arm and realized it would be impossible to climb with just his right hand. He swore, colorfully. Nonetheless, he gave it a try. He had no other option.He extended his left arm and pulled himself up, scrabbling for toeholds and bracing himself with the Sleeve-encased arm while attempting to cling and release with the other. It was every bit as frustrating as he had anticipated.Frustrating, and potentially deadly. Could he reach the gate? He turned, intending to start following the wall, to see how far away it was, and his e
Universe War (Mission Activated) The Chase: A Race for Survival.
Igon Siruss did not often move swiftly, and even when he did, it was not particularly fast. His guards had notified him that they had Agent Jasper trapped, and he had come with mild rapidity. Now he stood at the end of the street, but all he saw were some unhappy-looking guards and some dead—or baffled—Pit-Ghors, who scampered around, futilely sniffing the ground."Sorry, boss," one of his Kodhar'Khans said."He made it to his world," another supplied. "We're not sure how, but he did."Fury welled inside Igon. His first impulse was to rip the guards apart with his bare hands. He could; it was messy and he preferred to leave that sort of thing to others, but he certainly could.But no. There would be time to deal with them later.He had learned a human saying a long time ago: Revenge is a dish best served cold. Most of the time, Igon found this to be true. But not today. Today, he wanted his revenge swiftly, speedily, and preferably bloodily."Bring me a Megaptor!" he roared.*****Maj
Universe War (Mission Activated) Stowaway in Exospace
Three of the soldiers opened fire through the bars, trying to concentrate on that awful eye and the open mouth. The Megaptor clung on with its hind legs and one of its gigantic forepaws and brought the other one back, then slammed it forward. The bars bent as easily as if they had been made of saplings. The black claws closed around one of the soldiers, piercing his body effortlessly. He screamed and jerked as blood spurted. The Megaptor hauled him out, bit at him, then tossed the body back inside as it reached in for more, murderously swiping at the men with a forepaw now dripping scarlet.Over the screams and the firing, Jasper shouted into his mic, “Alex! We need you!”“On my way, Major,” Alex replied. Eliza thought she had never been so happy to hear a computer’s response in her life.The Megaptor appeared to be unstoppable. It turned its attention from the windshield to the roof, rending it with teeth and claws until, with a protesting groan, the roof at the rear of the bus peele
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