--------------------------------------------------------------- PROBLEMS? Please try viewing this with Netscape Navigator. --------------------------------------------------------------- _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Andrew Roller Presents THE FADING UNIVERSE _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ 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 ----------------------- Dreamgirls! ----------------------- -Back issues (and stories): type http://www.dejanews.com/ into your browserÕs ÒLocationÓ window. Press your ÒreturnÓ key. Click on ÒQuick SearchÓ, then type in: roller39@idt.net Press your ÒreturnÓ key. Scroll to the very bottom of the page that appears. Change ÒStandardÓ to ÒCompleteÓ roller39@idt.net is already typed into the window. Click in the window behind the ÒtÓ in Ò.netÓ Press your ÒreturnÓ key. -Other providers: Usenet Newsgroup: alt.sex.stories.moderated or by e-mail: file.request@backdrop.com or via the Web: http://www.netusa.net/~eli/erotica/assm/ -Free minicomics: send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Jim Corrigan, P.O. Box 3663, Phenix City, AL 36868 - JOIN the worldÕs greatest organization! Send $35.00 to The North American Man/Boy Love Association for a one-year membership. NAMBLA, P.O. Box 174, Midtown Station, New York, NY 10018. -Naughty Naked Dreamgirls (Library of Congress ISSN: 1070-1427) is copyright 1997 and a trademark of Andrew Roller. Work by others copyright 1997 by the respective copyright holder. -END OF story EMISSION