Getting Lost

by Nexxus 3 Kline

Popping out of Mal's office, Nex made a quick stopover in her own to ring Maru. She tapped her foot impatiently as the 'linker beeped several times before getting a response to the direct link request she'd sent. Finally there was a response on Mar's end. "Maru, get down to headquarters," Nex rambled. "Katze's been kidnapped." She broke off the connection and popped into the Comms office. Mal wasn't there yet, so she grabbed a seat next to Phoenix at the viewer terminal. A few seconds later Mal walked through the doors.

"You took your sweet time getting here," she said.

Mal, with an exasperated look on his face, replied. "Well, unlike *some* people, I don't teleport wildly all over the place. Now would somebody please explain, *slowly,* what the hell is going on?" Phoe didn't explain, just punched some buttons, and Cal popped up on a big screen at the front of the chamber.

"I'm on way back to HQ with Cyo," Cal said.

"What happened to Kat?" Mal asked, tired of asking and getting no explanation.

"Well, listen to this first, and tell me what you think," Cal said as he leaned forward and hit a few buttons. A song started playing. "o/~ Don't you know we're riding on the Marraketh Express... o/~"

"Isn't that something Kat listens to all the time?" Nex asked.

"Enh, I wouldn't know," Phoe said. "Never heard it."

"'Marrakesh Express', by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Great song," Mal stated. Everybody looked at him kinda funny. "What?"

"Listen closely to the chorus," Cal said.

Phoe tapped a key and the volume increased. "o/~ Don't you know we're riding on the *Marraketh* Express...o /~"

"Marraketh?!" Nex said.

"Yes," Cal said.

"What's that?" Phoe asked.

"That," Mal said in his usual dry manner, "is where Katze is originally from. It's another dimension."

"Oh..." Phoe said, puzzled. "So what does the song mean?"

"I think that's where she's been taken," Cal said.

"We need to organize an expedition, and fast," Nex said. "Mal, get the Gateway ready. Phoe, you go prepare the communications equipment for the trip. I'm going to start calling people in. Cal, when are you gonna be getting here?"

"In about 30 minutes," Cal said.

"Good, I'll need your help organizing this," Nex said. "Come to my office as soon as you get here."

"OK," Cal said, and cut off the transmission. The VR logo replaced his face on the screen.

Nex turned and faced Mal and Phoe. "Well, let's get moving...we've got to save Katze!" Phoe and Mal nodded, everyone splitting up to start their preparations.

Nex hopped into her office (walking would take too long), jumped over a pile of junk in the middle of the floor, and threw herself into her chair. If anyone in this organization was likely to destroy furniture, it was Nex. She tapped a few keys on her keyboard and a list popped onto the screen. "Okee, just call these people and then I'm done," she mumbled to herself.

A few minutes later....

"...Please leave a message after the beep and I'll keep a slice warm for you. [beep]"

"Shad, Kat's been kidnapped, they've taken her to Marraketh so VR is going on a search and rescue. Let the right people know, okay? Just in case..." Nex let the sentence trail off. "Bye." Hanging up the phone, she made a note to clean up her messy office. Kat was always bugging her to clean up her office.

Nex grabbed her backpack and popped herself into the VR Briefing Room. It was starting to fill up as people arrived in singles and pairs from whatever weekend pursuit they'd been enjoying. Most had taken a seat and were talking amongst themselves. Nex opted to pull a chair up behind the podium and take a nap, something she did quite often, but found her mind wandering back to Kat and where she was. Failing to notice that Mal had arrived, she nearly fell out of her chair when he dropped a large hammer on the podium to get everyone's attention.

"Right. Now that I have your *attention,* we can begin the briefing." He began, speaking in a businesslike tone.

"Approximately one hour ago, High Councillor Katze Brenner was abducted by previously unknown Wyrm forces. It is our belief that she has been taken to the nation of Marraketh for interrogation and Goddess-knows-what." He paused, to give everyone just enough time to realize what had happened before continuing.

"Here's the kicker, though: Marraketh lies in another dimension. Specifically, the dimension coded 00-07-00. Fortunately, though, the prototype Gateway can reach Marraketh with...some ease, so we can mount a rescue mission. Seeing as how we're still in the process of getting reorganized, the people in this room represent our strike force. We can't send any more through the gate, anyway, so don't expect backup forces to be charging to your rescue if you screw up."

"Now, this is what we know about Marraketh: Intel is sketchy at best, but we figure a population of around several hundred thousand, most of which are farmers. The capital city is called Rhye, assume population of about ten thou, located approximately at the center of the country."

Nex bolted upright in her chair, the brief forgotten. "How in the hell does he know all this about Marraketh?!" she wondered quietly. "He can't possibly have heard it from Kat, she's never been there and I know damned well there isn't documentation..." Hearing her name, she pulled herself back into the present. Mal had reached the briefing's conclusion.

"All right, mission commander is Nexxus, with Commander Aris as XO. For the R&D people hitching along, Brynhild is in charge, with Selvane as her backup. Any questions?" Mal paused momentarily, scanning the room for raised hands. "Good. Then Godspeed, people. Get your gear and report to Dimensional Research in ten minutes. Dismissed!"

As the group broke up and headed out to grab their gear, Nex spotted Mal making a quick exit. Determined to find out what he'd been up to, she hopped herself directly into his path. "How did you know all that about Marraketh, Mal? I know Cal didn't know that and Katze didn't know that and I certainly didn't know that." She paused slightly. "...or not all of it, so how the *hell* did you find out all of that?" Unsure about what she was feeling, she crossed her arms and waited for an answer, eying Mal suspiciously as he considered his answer carefully.

"I hear all, Nex, and I know all. What I *tell* is my own business," he replied. "Make of that what you will. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a Gateway to open up." And with that, he brushed past her and headed towards the D. R. Lab. Nex was left standing in the hallway, staring back at him confused and feeling a little more than paranoid.

"Yeah, *your* business," she grumbled to herself, kicking the wall as she headed off towards her office. "Make of it what I will?!" she exclaimed out loud as she reached the door. "FINE!" she shouted, kicking her door in. "So long as what you *don't* tell," she continued with a kick of her filing cabinet. "Doesn't get me killed!"

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her pack, stuffed her laptop into it, tossed in a few other things and slid it onto her shoulder. Her ten minutes were almost up, she noted. "Better get down to the Lab."

Slamming the office door, she scanned the hallway for random people before fading out of sight. Nex popped back in behind the rescue team, everyone was waiting just outside the lab door, presumably for Mal to let them in. Most had an anxious look on their face as they stood conversing amongst themselves. Just as Nex decided to breech Lab security and teleport in, the word came for them to enter. Tentatively, everyone began picking up their gear and slowly filed into the lab. Nex let off a sigh of resignation, fighting off the inner feeling that *something* was gonna go wrong.

Once inside, Nex scanned the group for missing people, and popped over to Mal after nearly running over someone. "Are we all set?" she asked.

Mal nodded. "The Gate is open, and should put you all down on the outskirts of Marraketh. If not, well, we'll refund your Frequent Flyer points."

"Gotcha," Nex replied. Mal returned to overseeing the controls as Nex walked over to the waiting group. As she began herding the group to the platform she spotted someone slacking off in the center of the room.

"Hey! You! The lost-looking one! Suit up or get out! We don't have time for gawgling at the base." He swung around quickly, scanning the crowd until he spotted Nex, and began to walk over.

"I assume you're Nexxus," he said as he reached the platform she was standing on. She nodded impatiently. He held out his hand, "My apologies for being late. I am Selvane Vladiva."

"Looks like you made it here just in time." She shook his hand quickly. "You've got all your gear, I hope? Good. You've got about 5 seconds to suit up." Turning quickly to the waiting rescue team, she spoke. "All right, everybody, Mal says the gate's ready, so if you'll all just follow me, we'll get this mission started. Please step into the light." That said, Nex turned and walked through.

To be continued in "Watch that first step..."