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PART TWO(2)

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'Upstairs', OCley Two was digesting the details his tocus had fed him and deciding on a course of action ~ and what to say to OLie Three down below.

He registered OLie's pressing query and asked Rendal grimly, "How many of the crew, if you stop right now?"

Knowing his master was unhappy, the tocus answered sorrowfully, and with an air of regretfulness about him, as well. [Not more than four safely.]

OCley Two's upper lip curled, and he snarled in fury, "By the damaging storms of Rainier, I should have sent more poke`mon down and fewer men!"

Rendal blinked at the vehement force of his master's voice. [Is this situation life and death bad, Master?] he asked the man quietly, meaningfully. [If so,] he went on with clear conviction, [I will gladly sacrifice myself for some of the others.]

OCley's eyes widened and he said hurriedly, "It's not good; but it's not THAT bad, either." An expression of fondness flooded his face, and he patted the poke`mon lovingly on the head with his free hand, as he commended it. "That was very brave and noble of you to offer, though." He opted to finish on that note, rather than asking, 'Who did you have in mind to play God: yourself or myself?'

" 'Four safely'," he repeated darkly, adding, "That bungles things up quite nicely. I knew mission stores should have given us a psy-point booster elixir!" Time was of the essence now, so he didn't take long to decide whether to give the order or not.

"Very well, then: Cease psy-shifting in the tunnels," he told the tocus gruffly, "and rest up until it's time to do the 'tele-outs'.

Rendal nodded solemnly, and settled his posterior upon a cut ebony stone that lay somewhat level, nearby.

It was high time he got back to his look-out position, so OCley turned and began picking his way through the ruins, as he opened the link to below.

"Bad news, kid; you have to get a move on," he informed OLie Three simply, but not without a pained hitch in his voice.

*\"Dare I ask why?"/* came the quiet response.

"Tons of silt and no decent space for Rendal to psy-shift the cave-in debris around easily," OCley Two explained carefully.

There was a pregnant pause over the comm. link, and then OLie Three ventured hesitantly,*\"Any good news? Plan B?"/*

OCley smiled despite the tightened schedule they were now running on, as he unclipped a small but powerful radio command transmitter device from his waist belt and activated it, as he confirmed cheerfully, "We are good to go with Plan B, just as soon as you release your grubbles at the terminus of your excavation efforts." He figured there was probably a quiet sigh of relief from OLie down below, but he couldn't hear it, of course.

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OLie Three was feeling somewhat relieved and he did let out his breath inaudibly, but he couldn't afford to waste a second's worth of their time or precious oxygen.

He snapped his fingers, and the sharp sound echoed through the relative silence like the mildest summons of the gods and goddesses themselves. Needless to say, he had his rigging teamer's attention.

"Listen up," he began in his commanding voice. "Don't talk unless you have to, and breathe evenly. Don't ask why, just get your jobs done." He gave each of the six a forceful look, which was not without its intended effect, because one of the divers was passing in front of him, just then.

There was a general trading of looks between these six of his crew, but no exchange of words ~ naturally.

He moved from his position in the center of the chamber, to the out-passage's entrance arch, where the forgeers and the detennon were expectantly waiting, drawn back down from their excavation point, by his summons.

OLie Three unclipped seven poke`balls from his equipment belt and handed them to the pair of tawny colored forgeers. "You three have done excellent work," he commended them collectively, as he unhooked the detennon's poke`ball, as well. "Thank you, Tanner," he added, as he thumbed the poke`ball's expansion switch and recalled the detennon into it.

To the forgeers he said commandingly, "Take these grubbles up as far as you have cleared the passage, and release them there. Give a shout when you have done so, and get back down here, on the double."

They nodded wisely at him, their usually shaky hands holding onto the poke'balls tightly, and turned to perform their assignment ~ with an odd grace to their movements.

One thing about forgeers; they aren't clumsy when they work at a forge ~ or when they are nervous about something.

'I daresay they sense in me a fear I don't yet realize I feel,' OLie thought silently, tiredly, as he turned at the sound of a metal tool on stone: Someone was trying to get his attention the smart way.

It was Two Dash One, hanging suspended at the pivot point of Rig-zone Two, who said in behalf of the other pivot riggers, "We're ready." It was unnecessary to add, 'to drill'.

OLie Three nodded his acknowledgement of the fact, and contacted OCley Two, cursing himself, because something had only then occurred to him.

"Archeology team; seismic detectors; drilling," he said shortly, trusting that OCley would get the thrust of these speech fragments. There were no worries, however ~ either communication wise or vibration wise.

*\"Rev 'em up!"/* came the equally short response, and OLie Three quickly gave his high-riggers a thumbs-up.

*\"Grubbles deployed?"/* the OC added impatiently.

A mild but sufficiently loud call from one of the forgeers came down the passage to OLie Three's ears, just at that moment, and he told the OC, "Go!"

He gave OCley Two a moment to activate the beacon rig he knew was reposing in a target zone that Rendal had psy-shifted into existence earlier(and with no little effort), and then inquired on a hopeful tone, "Tele-out; any?"

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Once more in view of the enemy camp, and swearing to himself that he would recommend OLie Three for a promotion to OCley status, because he had thought of the seismic detection angle, OCley Two was glad he could answer this query of OLie's affirmatively.

"Four assured; more at successively increasing risk," he told the Operations Leader cautiously, and this time he heard the resulting sigh of relief from OLie Three.

"Give me a buzz when you have a free teamer and I'll get Rendal onto them pronto," OCley suggested helpfully, and dropped his comm. unit to his waist and clicked it in.

*\"Soon,"/* he heard from the unit, and he shook his head pityingly at the tension in OLie's voice, as he set his binoculars on one of the tents in the camp before him.

Insider was flashing a message to him:
'F..A..L./.D..O..W../..R..E..S..T..L..E..S..S../..T..I..M..E../..S..H..O..R..T..*'

'Oh Goddess!' OCley Two thought with chagrin. ' 'When it rains it pours'!' ~ And that is when he felt the first drops upon the backs of his hands.

His eyes narrowed critically and he looked heavenward at the clouded skies. "Oh, the blackest of curses!" he muttered vehemently. "A cure for Fallendow's rollickingly early-morning constitutional, but OLie's really going to be in the soup now!"

He cast his eyes in the direction of Rendal's position and added grimly, as he rose and flew recklessly that way, "Break out the pots and pans, friends below, and the water you have coming to dinner very shortly, will set the table."

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