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                                  Andrew Roller Presents
 
                                   THE FADING UNIVERSE

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                                      Chapter Nine

         Frankie peered through a pair of digital binoculars at the low 
cliffs that meandered across an arid plain.  Wispy cirrus clouds 
formed white rivulets in the sky as they glided overhead.  Here no 
ceiling was visible.  The area had once been a vast, lush forest 
preserve, but more pressing needs in the centuries that followed had 
diverted the water supply; the pines and redwoods had withered and 
died.
         Frankie caught sight of a caravan as it trundled between the 
sere bluffs.  He studied it closely, attempting to determine what 
sort of cargo it carried.  Frankie spoke into a miniature microphone 
that was attached by a plastic rod to a headset.
         A voice crackled in Marvin's slim stereo headphones.
         "I've spotted four tractor trailers coming toward us," Frankie 
reported.
         Marvin looked up, scanning the ridge where the dwarf stood.
         "Great.  We'll be heading up right away," Marvin said.
         Soon Marvin, Elsa, and Flaherty were clambering up the face of 
a precipice which ran parallel to a dirt road.  Perry and Harrigan 
ascended the opposite bank of the ravine to join Frankie.
         Twenty minutes later the four trucks chugged into the canyon.
         "I wish I knew what those babies were hauling," Marvin 
remarked as he sighted down the barrel of his gun.
         "We'll find out soon enough," Elsa breathed.
         "It's a lot of SOMETHING," Flaherty said.
         At a signal from Perry an explosion ripped open the far end of 
the pass.  Tons of sand cascaded down upon the road, blocking it off.
         Marvin and the others cut loose with a salvo of laser beams, 
killing the drivers.
         "We got 'em," Marvin crowed.  He grabbed the tether that 
dangled down into the defile and bounded over the side.  
         Marvin was busily scampering earthward when a fusillade of 
plasma suddenly ripped open his back.  The force of the blast twirled 
him about.  Marvin felt his back slam against the chasm wall as he 
regurgitated a fountain of blood.
         For a moment Marvin hung motionless above the road, his hand 
clenched about the rope.  Below him a flood of soldiers were 
disembarking from the four stalled diesels.
         "Oh my God, it's a troop transport...We've ambushed an army 
convoy," Marvin spluttered, blood gushing down his chin.
         One by one the fingers of Marvin's outstretched hand revolted 
against the strenuous task they were being demanded to perform.  
Marvin emitted an inaudible groan.  His palm separated from the line 
and he fell.

30

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