Part 2
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	Chapter 9
		Knuckles joins the Freedom Fighters
_______________________________________________________________________
	A silent shadow slunk into Robotropolis that night. No one noticed
it; no one could. It sank into blackness every time a robot passed,
then continued its glide forward. It was Slasher, of course. She was
the darkest of shadows, and just as quiet. She kept to the back alleyways
between buildings, avoiding the pools of light cast by streetlights.
	It would have been easier to fly into the city, but a storm
was brewing, and a thick layer of smog filled the sky. Besides, it
was more fun to sneak in on foot. Slasher loved sneaking to avoid
detection and was quite good at it. (When she was younger, her raptor
playmates wouldn't let her play hide-and-seek with them, for she
would vanish and no one would find her.)
	Slasher made her silent way into the heart of Robotropolis,
aiming for what had been the castle, but was now Robotnik's fortress.
Serena had provided some info on it, mainly the location of the little
side door where she had entered. The center of the city was a maximum
security area, but if an amateur hedgehog had gotten out, then an expert
velociraptor could get in. And so far Slasher was undiscovered.
	At the thought of Serena a half-smile spread across Slasher's face.
	Sonic, as a joke, had snuck up behind Serena, grabbed both arms
and doubled them up behind her. "March," he had hissed in her ear, and
march she did--for three steps. Then she dropped to the ground like a
dead weight, which made Sonic stoop over her. Quick as lightning her legs
whipped up and locked her knees around Sonic's neck, then flipped
him up and over her in a wide arc. He hit the ground flat on his back
with a groan and just lay there, breathless and stunned. Serena
jumped to her feet and asked, "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Sonic closed his eyes and played dead until his lungs started
working again. Then he sat up and rubbed his neck. "Where'd you learn to
do that?" was the first thing he said.
	"Well, I kinda made it up," was the reply. "In my village all the
roughest kids picked on me. They would ambush me, twist my wrists
up between my ears and march me away to be their prisoner. So I would
knock the wind out of whoever grabbed me, then I'd get up and whale the
stuffing out of him."  As an afterthought, she added, "I didn't flip you
as hard as I did that echidna, the one named Knuckles. He looked like a
fish out of water!"
	That proved the newcomer had a few tricks up her sleeve. No one
had picked on her since.
	That's why Robotnik's after two hedgehogs, instead of just one,
Slasher thought. Well, that's tough, `cause he'll never get either one
of them.
	She was nearing the fortress. It was in sight now, indeed, a
little too plainly. The building was illuminated with searchlights for a
hundred feet in all directions. Slasher paused, crouched in the shadows
behind a pile of cement pipes, and tried to figure out a way to reach
the fortress without being spotted. SWAT-bots were everywhere. Slasher was
not afraid of them (rather, she scorned them as 'total wimps'), but knew
that if she was discovered she would be chased out and reported to
Robotnik. That was one thing Slasher didn't want. She preferred to be
anonymous.
	The sound of tramping metal feet reached Slasher's ears. Instinctively
she pressed herself into the corner, flattening out, becoming invisible.
The raptor watched as four SWAT-bots and two U-SWATs walked by, headed
for their patrol station. She was in no danger from their scanners. The
robots never initiated extra safety measures until they left the security
blocks. Wimps, she thought.
	As soon as the bots were a safe distance away, Slasher crawled out
of the shadows. She looked around sharply as she emerged from hiding, for
sometimes badniks lurked around every corner. Well, not tonight. Everything
seemed quiet. A flash of lightning lit the sky for an instant, and
Slasher figured she knew why. The robots were under shelter; Robotnik
was expecting a downpour. An icy breeze blew down the street,
carrying more than a threat of rain. Very interesting, Slasher thought.
A snowy thunderstorm. That shouldn't happen normally. Oh well, it's
probably because of the continuum.
	Slasher began to circle the fortress, looking for the small side
door Serena had described. Halfway around she spotted it. Again she sank
into the shadows, considering. There was a brightly lit patch of
fifty feet, and a surveillance camera slowly panning back and forth.
It seemed impossible to reach the door, so Slasher did the next best
thing: she waited.
	She was in no real hurry; she had all night. Another lightning
flash and a rumble of thunder reminded her of possible danger from the
elements, but she figured she could weather the storm. She turned so
she was facing into the cold gusts of wind that came whipping through
the dirty streets, and angled her wings to shelter her body from the
cold. There. Let the storm come; she was ready.
	Ten minutes later, a sound caused her head to whip around. The
little door was opening. Slasher immediately narrowed her green eyes so
they would not reflect the light. To her surprise, out stepped Knuckles.
He closed the door behind him, then turned to face the wind. She heard
him draw in a deep breath of the wild air with enthusiasm; the
pollution and closeness of Robotropolis was beginning to stifle
him. A few seconds later he pulled out his com-link and spoke into it.
	"Doc, I'm headin' out to Maintenance C." Robotnik's voice crackled
through the microphone. "Hmm, well, all right. Maintenance C needs to be
checked, anyway. Get back here right afterward. You aren't finished with
the robotic upgrade yet."
	"Yeah, yeah," Knuckles replied. "What's the clearance code for
Hanger Four?"
	"Ten-six-eighty-one."
	"Copy that. I'll sign on later. Knux out." The scarlet
echidna clicked off the com and headed down the street.
	Slasher listened to this with interest.
	10681, eh? Hmm. I'll have to see what's inside this 'Hanger 4,'
she thought as she glided along behind Knuckles.
	I wonder what Maintenance C is? It's gotta be a codeword.
	Knuckles ran with the wind, keeping to the lighted main streets.
Robotropolis gave him the creeps, anyway, especially at night. This didn't
work out so well for Slasher, so she leaped to the roof of a building
and followed him from the air, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
After a few minutes, Knux began to get the feeling he was being followed.
The street was empty behind him, but his instincts cried out he was being
trailed. The stormy wind and thunder didn't help. He couldn't listen for
footsteps. Somewhere, in the depths of his memory, something stirred.
A memory of being stalked through the darkness by something he couldn't
see. Something with glowing green eyes and a black shapeless form.
Something with a soft purring breath. Knuckles started running.
	Slasher watched him as he grew uneasy and began to look over
his shoulder more and more often. She wondered if he remembered their
little game of 'hunt and stalk' in the Carnival. He must, for he was
afraid.
	The storm was worsening. A drop of rain streaked down, and another.
Then the sky seemed to open. A blinding sheet of water poured down.
Each raindrop had a little hard core of ice to it; it was turning
to snow. The wind blew it into a slant, and it got colder by
the minute. Slasher, nearly blinded by the onslaught, cleared her
vision in time to see Knuckles duck into a side street. She followed him
in leaps and bounds.
	Knuckles came to a stop before Hanger Four. It was locked tight.
He didn't go to the big sliding doors, but to a smaller one in the wall
beside them. Mounted next to it was a keypad for the combination for
the electric lock. Hurriedly he punched in 'ten-six-eighty-one.' The
door swung inward silently. He slipped inside, shaking the ice water
out of his eyes and hair. Then he slammed the door shut and leaned
against it. Whatever was out there couldn't get in. (He assumed.)
He heaved a sigh of relief, snapped on the lights and walked
off among the different ships.
	Outside, Slasher landed next to the door, shook the water from one
hand, and typed '10681.' The door opened. She jumped inside and
quietly closed the door behind her. A furtive look around revealed many
different attack ships and a number of hovercraft. The room was dominated
by an enormous cargo freighter, parked just behind the hanger doors.
One side door was open, showing the disassembled parts of several ground
mechs.
	I wonder where those are going, Slasher thought.
	She glided into the deep shadow under a hoverbike and peered around
for Knuckles. He was on the far side of the hanger, tinkering with
something. A moment later a hoverbike engine roared to life, and toned
down to a steady purr.
	 The red echidna came into view. He was riding a very small
hovercraft; a hover-scooter. It had been a prototype for scooters
Robotnik had discarded as too light. Knuckles had recovered it and fixed it
to suit his needs. It had a hoverbike's engine, which gave it considerable
speed, and was highly maneuverable. Knux used it often, as was evident
by the fact he put on a helmet first. It wasn't the little craft was
dangerous--far from it. It was, well, a little _too_ much fun at times.
And it's better to be safe than sorry.
	Knuckles rode the hoverscooter to the big hanger doors, but
hesitated a moment before opening them. He could hear the wind flinging
handfuls of sleet at the side of the building. It sounded like someone
trying to get in....
	He jumped off the scooter and ran to the rear of the building.
The parked ships blocked Slasher's view of him, but he reappeared
a few minutes later. As he walked he was slipping into a sort of cape
with a hood. Slasher noticed the blaster rifle slung across his chest
and decided to take no chances. Knux certainly wasn't.
	He remounted the hoverscooter and pressed a button on the wall.
The doors slid open with a noisy rattle and Knux coasted out into the
wild night. Slasher wasted no time following him, but this time she
kept a street between them.
	The storm was gaining strength. The wind was stronger than
ever now, and the rain was mixed with ice. Slasher pressed her wings
tightly against her body to keep her vital organs warm, but her clawed
feet splashed wetly through the icy streets. It took more than cold to
hurt Slasher, but she grew worried as she lost all sensation in
her feet. She couldn't thaw them while on the move, which put her in
danger of frostbite.
	Knuckles was headed out of Robotropolis. He had the cloak wrapped
around him, his head was bowed against the rain. Whatever Maintenance
C was, it was important enough to bring him out into the storm. Slasher
pondered this as she sped along on numbed feet, breath chugging out of
her nostrils in clouds. She didn't dare get closer to him, for she knew
Knuckles was nervous, and would shoot first and ask questions later.
He was also a dead shot with a blaster. So she simply trailed him by the
sound of his craft's engine.
	The little craft struck a path that wound it's way out of the
city. As it entered the garbage dump that formed the outskirts of
Robotropolis, Slasher fell in behind Knux. The rotting hulks of
machinery provided cover, and Knuckles seemed to be relaxing.
	They had gotten about halfway through the dump when
all the lights faded from the sky behind them. Knuckles stopped by
jerking the little craft around sideways on the path, looking back.
Slasher instantly melted into the shadow of some rusted pipes, but
out of curiosity she too looked back.
	Robotropolis had suffered a massive power failure. All lights
were out. "Shoot," hissed Knuckles through his teeth, except he didn't
say 'shoot.' He reached forward to the scooter's handlebars and
clicked on the headlights, then dug into his pocket and pulled out the
`com link. He clicked it on and said hastily, "Doc, are you there? What
happened?" At first the only reply was static, but then came Robotnik's
 voice; seething with rage. "Bleeping lightning must have struck
the main bleeping powerstation.- - - - -! I can't believe this! No- - - -power
anywhere!!"
	What Robotnik said next is unnecessary to put down, but
Knuckles turned the com's volume way down until he finished.
	"Knuckles, where are you?" Robotnik's voice seemed sufficiently
calmer.
	"I'm just leaving Robotropolis," the echidna replied.
	"When you get to Maintenance C," Ivo continued, "divert half power
to the city's main systems for one hour. That should give me enough
time to get backup power going. Comprende?"
	"Yeah," Knuckles answered. "Copy that. I'll give ya power in
fifteen minutes. Over and out."
	Knuckles turned off the com and looked at his watch. "That should
be enough time," he muttered. He punched his ship into gear, whirled it
around and took off.
	Slasher glided out of hiding again. Now she was really interested. To
get backup power, the whole city needed electricity for thirty
minutes at the minimum. Whatever was in Maintenance C must be very powerful.
	Knuckles left the dump before opening the throttle all the way.
Slasher settled into a ground-gulping stride to keep up. They covered
the five miles of open plain in less than five minutes.
	 Knux slowed down and turned on the muffler, muting the
engine's noise. It also dragged him down to twenty miles an hour.
Slasher followed him as he entered the woods. The scooter apparently
had passed that way many times before, for it had blazed a trail
through the underbrush.
	The forest broke up the wind and rain, but it was still cold.
Everything was sopping wet, and the tossing trees flung gallons of ice water to
the ground. Knuckles knew the way like the back of his hand, however,
and steered expertly through the trees. Slasher, now back in normal
surroundings, became the ghost of a shadow and twice as silent. Sure,
she was drenched and half frozen, but so intent on her quarry she hardly
noticed.
	Knuckles entered a small clearing. Slasher watched him from behind
a large fern grove as he parked the scooter and dismounted. He walked to
a pile of branches piled haphazardly against a tree trunk and
pulled them away, revealing a square metal object. After a furtive look
around the wild woods, he seized it and dragged it into the open. He
fooled with it a few seconds, then reached over and switched on the
scooter's headlights so he could see. The beam of light revealed a complex,
folded metal thing. It looked like a curled-up spider. Knuckles expertly
began to unfold the legs and plant them in the ground. Slasher didn't
recognize the contraption until it was completely unfolded.
	It was shaped like a star, and in the middle was a translucent disk
the size of a dinner plate. When Knuckles flipped a switch the disk began
to glow with a faint blue light, and hum softly. Slasher suddenly realized
what it was. It was a portable teleporter. This was the largest of
the portables; usually they were small enough to be carried under the arm.
	Knuckles stepped onto the disk. His weight triggered the teleporter,
and a sudden blinding beam of light surrounded him; so bright it was nearly
solid. Slasher crouched, staring into the beam. As soon as Knuckles vanished,
she leaped forward and entered the light as well.
	For two seconds there was a floating sensation as the teleporter gathered
itself up and warped them to their destination. As the light faded, Slasher
leaped out of the beam and away from the receiver dish. Though she was
still half-blinded, her other senses told her her location.
Instantly she remembered every possible hiding place. She leaped behind a
nearby pillar.
	As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she recognized the rough texture of
cave walls. The black pillar she leaned against was crowned with a huge, glowing,
red super emerald. Around her were six other pedestals, each one supporting an
impressive colored emerald. Supers were the only thing more powerful than the
chaos emeralds. For sheer magnitude of power, however, there was the green
Master emerald. It was as big as Slasher, and set in a bed of smaller crystals.
	Knuckles beamed down. He stood on the receiver plate until the beam was
completely gone, then walked off among the glowing gems. Slasher waited until
he was a safe distance away, and shook herself vigorously. She also reared up
and beat her wings a few times to get the water out of them. Feeling much
better, she stepped out of hiding and looked around the cavern.
	The place was called Hidden Palace. It was hidden for good reason, for
if the power stones fell into the wrong hands there would be no telling
what could happen. Slasher had not been there in a long time. She stepped into the
middle of the grouped pillars, looking around, drinking it all in. All
the emeralds seemed to be in good shape. Slasher cast a glance in the
direction of the Master emerald's pedestal. Then she looked again.
	The Master emerald was missing. The little green crystals were
still there, lining the hole where the big stone had been, but the gem
itself was gone. The big raptor walked up to the holder and peered over
the edge, just to be sure. But the emerald was gone.
	Slasher whirled around. The only ones who knew where it was were
Knuckles and Robotnik. She was not about to ask the latter, but
the former was here. He could talk to her. Slasher turned in Knuckles's
direction, lowered her head and snorted loudly.
	On the far side of the cavern Knuckles snapped erect.
What was that? his mind screamed. He turned slowly, pulling his blaster out of
its holster as he did so. Something was here. He felt sure it was
whoever had trailed him through Robotropolis. Knuckles pulled the
safety off the gun with a loud click.
	"All right," he called stormily, "I know you're in here. Show your
face!" His heart leaped into his mouth as a soft voice purred in reply,
"No. _You_ come to _me_." It came from around the receiver dish. Carefully,
quietly, Knuckles began to make his way there. "Who are you?" he
called, and his voice didn't sound nearly as bold.
	"Oh, you know me quite well," was the answer. Knuckles paused.
	"I don't know your voice. If I know who you are, why don't I recognize
your voice?"
	"Because you have forgotten how it sounded, that's why." Silence. Then,
"Hurry up. I'm getting tired of waiting."
	Knuckles was losing his nerve, and he knew it. "Are you going to
kill me?" He might as well ask.
	"No," the voice replied airily. "I won't hurt you unless you hurt
me first. I don't normally kill old friends in cold blood, you see."
	"Old friends? Who are you, anyway?"
	"Come and see."
	The red echidna looked down at his hands and saw they were
shaking. Angry at himself for being a wimp, he stole forward to the
first pillar. He leaned back against it, and holding the blaster at
ready, peered around it. A large shadowy form was standing in the
center of the pillars, waiting for him.
	In one smooth motion Knuckles stepped away from the pillar and
aimed the gun at the creature's heart. But before he could fire, it said,
"Are you sure you want to do that, Knuckles?"
He hesitated, uncertain.
	"Well, uh, state your identity and business!" he snapped. The creature
laughed. "Is that your impersonation of a SWAT-bot? Or Robotnik?"
As it spoke it glided forward, and in one liquid motion took the blaster
from his hands. Robbed of his weapon, the next thing that kicked in was
instinct. Knuckles raised his fists and flung himself at her.
	Slasher dodged backward, still chuckling. She caught one of Knux's
flailing arms, then the other, and quicker than you could say 'knife'
he was on the ground. He leaped to his feet, unhurt and fighting mad.
He had been scared for too long, and now he was going to take it out
on someone. His reluctant opponent backed away. "I don't want to fight
you, K-T-E," she said to him.
	"Why? Scared?" he snarled at her.
	"No. I'd have to end up hurting you."
	"Oh," he sneered, "you're one of those purists. One of those
'violence-never-solved-anything' types. Well, I'm gonna teach you
differently!" Knuckles lunged at her, but was met with a blow that
sent him reeling backwards. Slasher swung her whip-like tail back,
ready for another blow, but she looked sad. "I didn't want to do
this to you, but here goes!"
	She dealt him another stunning blow with her tail, then let him
attack her. His hands and knuckle-spikes were powerful weapons, and he
hurled them with deadly accuracy. Slasher blocked his blows as best
as she could, but one struck home, a powerful uppercut to her jaw. The
pain aroused her ever-present temper, and she attacked Knuckles with moves
only a velociraptor could know. Her first whirlwind rush should have left
him torn open and dying, but Slasher wasn't going to kill him, only teach
him a lesson. And so she charged him again and again, striking with her head,
forearms, hindlegs, and tail.
	No one, not even one as tough as Knuckles, could withstand a beating
like that for any length of time. He collapsed to the ground, sick, winded
and dizzy. Slasher crouched over him, spreading her wings a little to
hide him. "By rights," she panted, "your life is forfeit to me. Or in
other words, you started it and I won. I could kill you right here."
	"Then do it," Knuckles wheezed.
 He was lying on his back; a vulnerable position when a velociraptor has
you. He turned his head and closed his eyes, waiting for the blow to
fall. But it didn't. Instead, Slasher stepped away and crouched down
beside him.
	"I'm sorry I did this to you," she said quietly. "I should have
introduced myself to you first. I'm Slasher, remember?" Painfully
Knuckles sat up. "Slasher? I remember hearing that name a long time
ago...." he wiped a thin stream of blood from his lip and broke off.
"Yeah," Slasher replied. "Back before the Interweb." Knuckles sat bolt
upright and stared at her. One eye was already turning a nice shade of
purple; a real shiner, but the other eye opened wide in terror.
"Don't even say it's name," he gasped. "It was horrible. I don't
want to remember it. I can't remember it! Not there!"
	Slasher nodded understandingly. "I know. Sonic told me about
it." A strange light came into Knuckles's good eye. "No. What Sonic
and Tails went through was nothing compared to what happened to me.
They were at least together; I was all alone. It was--Hell, Slasher.
That has to be what Hell is like." He shivered.
	"How'd you get out?" the raptor asked him.
	"I guess I went through the last portal. I don't remember much
about the last part. It had warped my mind so badly that I just hid
on my island until the nightmares stopped and I could look people in
the eyes again. But why am I telling you all this? You're a complete
stranger to me."
	"Not really," Slasher sighed. "Can you remember anything
before--It?"
	Knuckles shook his head. "No. Well, sometimes something
slips through. A thought, a feeling, a memory. But I can't recall
all of it."
	"Let me jog your memory, then," Slasher said. "Tonight I was
following you through Robotropolis. And you knew it. It brought
back the memory of another time something like that happened.
Am I right?" 
	Knuckles nodded wordlessly.
	"Now, watch me," she commanded. Slasher slipped away into the
shadows between the pillars and began to prowl back and forth, letting
her green eyes catch the light and purring with each breath. Knuckles
stared at her and his mouth dropped open. "I've seen that before," he
breathed, and the memory was not pleasant.
	"Now," Slasher said as she walked toward him, "tell me where this
has happened before." She slipped behind Knuckles and drew her long
claws down his back. He started violently and leaped to his feet. "You!"
he hissed through clenched teeth. "I remember that night in the Carnival.
It was the only other thing that's ever happened to me that came close
to matching the terror of the Interweb!"
	"Well then," Slasher said calmly, "you seem to remember that quite clearly.
Do you remember why I did it?"
	Knuckles thought a few seconds, then shook his head.
	"Because you were going to rough up Sonic and Tails so they would
lose the fight against Robotnik. And I wasn't about to let you do that."
	Knuckles allowed himself a rueful grin. "Yeah, I do remember something
about that." Then he frowned. "Tell me more. I don't enjoy having a blank
spot in my memory."
	So Slasher spent over an hour telling him about everything. When
she finished, Knuckles was no longer afraid of her. He was also no
longer on Robotnik's side. "Heck, I can't figure out why I'm working
for that jerk again! How'd I get myself mixed up with him?"
	"I'll tell you. You have a lot of ability he discovered when he
hired you the first time, and he figured since you didn't remember what
he did to you before, he'd get you again."
	They both stood up. "Now," said Slasher, "I have something a little
more serious to tell you." And she informed him of what the continuum
was doing to Mobius's orbit. Knuckles knew about the continuum, but had
no idea that it was causing any harm. "And so," Slasher said soberly,
"we need to disable it, and ASAP. Do you know how it's maintained?"
 	A half-smile spread across Knuckles's face. "That's why we call Hidden
Palace 'Maintenance C.' C stands for Continuum. Its base is here." He
beckoned to Slasher and led her to the far corner of the room. There,
clasped in a big machine, was the Master emerald.
	"Right now, power has been diverted from it to power Robotropolis."
He pointed to a massive cable which ran into the wall. "That's why it isn't
glowing too brightly. This contraption harnesses it's power and directs
it."
	"Does it control the continuum?" Slasher asked interestedly. Knuckles
shook his head. "Nope. The Master only provides the raw power.
There are seven points around Mobius that maintain the continuum. I know.
I helped Doc get his hands on each and every time stone."
	"WHAT?!"
	"You think you can manufacture a break in the universal continuum
with plain machinery? Are you kidding? So we ransacked Little
Planet and got all seven of `em. We outfitted each base with
a stone, powered `em up, and presto! Here we are."
	Slasher sighed heavily. "I didn't think it would be easy. Well,
do you know where each station is?" Knuckles shrugged. "Yeah, but I
couldn't lead you. I'm terrible at directions. You'd do better if you
had a map."
	"Is there a map?"
	"Yep. In Doc's desk."
 	"Can you get it?"
	"Nope."
	"Why not?"
	"Are you crazy? He'd filet me alive!"
	"Hmm. Well, could someone else, say, Sonic, get in?"
	"Maybe. His office is--wait a minute. You already know where it is!"
	"Where?"
	"The girl hedgehog. She crashed the computer system. When the
SWATs caught her about three weeks later, someone rescued her. We assumed
it was the Freedom Fighters."
	"Well, you assumed correctly. Her name is Serena, and she
has indeed joined us."
	"She could tell you where his office is." Knux glanced at his watch
and gasped, "Oh great! I was supposed to be back right away! It's already
midnight! Oh man, Doc's gonna kill me!" He ran back to the receiver dish.
Slasher followed him, deep in thought. As he began powering up the teleporter,
Slasher asked him, "Are you a very good liar?"
	Knuckles just shrugged. "Sometimes, when I hafta be. Why?"
	"Look at me."
Knuckles glanced up at Slasher, then back down at what he was doing.
	"Yep, it'd work."
	"What?"
	"You're already beat up pretty bad. You could make up some story
about a roving band of Freedom Fighters intercepting you on your way
back and shoving you around. We could even splatter you and your speeder
with mud to give the story credibility."
	Knuckles put his hands on his hips and looked up at the big
velociraptor. "I like that. That sounds pretty good." Then he snickered.
"It's almost true. Except I was intercepted here. I encountered
a Freedom Fighter who roughed me up big-time, then turned around and
allied me to her side. Ha! But wait a minute, what about my blaster?"
Slasher picked it up from where it had been flung during their fight.
"Say they hit you so fast you didn't have time to use it."
	"Okay. C'mon, let's head back."
	Knuckles donned his helmet and cape, and re-slung the blaster
across his chest. As he turned on the teleporter, Slasher asked him,
"Does this work the same as the old ones?"
	"Yep," was the reply. "I haven't upgraded them in a long time,
and I'd like to keep them easy to use."
	"Good. I have a feeling that I'll be coming back to Hidden
Palace again." Knuckles shot her an agonized look, and she quickly
added, "Alone. I wouldn't bring the others here, and you know it."
	They teleported back outside. The storm had abated somewhat,
and the ground was streaming ice water. It was very dark. Slasher
helped Knuckles mount the hoverscooter. It was none the worse for wear
for having been left out in the rain, although it was dripping wet. The
big raptor guided him out of the tossing trees (the wind was still blowing),
and onto the plains. There they found a muddy spot and got Knux fairly
dirty. "There," he said as he climbed upon the bike again, "how do I look?"
	"Like somebody just beat the heck out of you," was the reply.
"And you'll really feel it tomorrow morning."
	"Thanks," Knuckles called as he jammed the craft into gear and took off.
"I think," he yelled over his shoulder.
	Slasher watched him leave, a wide grin on her face. The she turned
and headed into the woods. A minute later, the teleporter fired up and
transported it's operator back to Hidden Palace. She didn't return until
morning.
______________________________________________________________________

	Chapter 10
		Scouts
______________________________________________________________________
	Tails flattened himself against the ground, pressing his small
body into a hollow in the earth under the spreading bushes. He sat there
motionless, watching and listening.
	It was early morning. The sky still bore tatters and shreds of
last night's storm. The woods were drenched and dripping, and it was
only twenty degrees. Tails was cold, but it wouldn't make him
give away his position. He and Sonic were acting as scouts. Ten feet
to his right was the road that led through the Great Forest, across
the plains, and into Robotropolis. Sonic was somewhere on the far side
of the road, but like Tails, was hidden and invisible.
	But not for long. A sudden crash marked Sonic's location. Tails
saw him picking himself up as he muttered, "Who put that branch there?
Dumb place for it; in the middle of a forest." He backed into hiding
once more, then spoke into the communicator strapped to his wrist. "Ya
there, Tails?"
	"Yep, I'm here, grace."
	"Oh sure, rub it in, will ya? Are you in position?"
	"Uh-huh. I have a clear view of the road and part of the plains.
If I were up a little higher I could see Robotropolis."
	"Sound's cool. Start scanning. I've got my infra-red goggles;
I'll be the lookout."
	Slasher hadn't come home last night, and was still out there
somewhere. Sonic and Tails had been in three different places already,
searching with scanners and infra-red, but so far had turned up nothing.
	Tails pointed the scanner out toward the plains and clicked it
on. The screen was clear; nothing of interest. Slowly the young fox
swung it from side to side, panning over the landscape. Nothing. Tails
twisted a knob to increase the range. Again he swept it from
side to side. A blip appeared on the screen.
"Sonic, I've got something," Tails hissed.
	"What?"
	"I don't know. It's almost out of range, but it looks like it's
coming this way."
	"Where at?"
	"A little to the south of Robotropolis."
Sonic looked that way with his goggles. He could see something, but
couldn't make it out. "Tails, is it a life-form or a `bot?"
	"Uh," Tails adjusted a dial. "Life-form. Think it's Slasher?"
	"Could be. I'm gonna try the whistle. Stand by."
	Sonic always wore the whistle around his neck, now. Somehow, he
felt closer to Slasher when he wore it, for all he had to do was blow
it and she'd come running. Now he grasped it, lifted it to his lips,
and blew one piercing blast on it. Tails was watching the figure with
the area scan, and saw it begin to move rapidly in their direction.
	"Well Sonic, it's either Slasher or a very fast velociraptor."
	"Good," Sonic replied, relief evident in his voice. He put on the 
goggles and looked toward Slasher. She had broken into a swift flowing 
run and was gaining speed. The jubilant smile on her face was apparent as 
she drew nearer. "Wait until she gets a little closer," Sonic said into the 
com, but he and Tails stepped out of the woods and onto the road.
	The big raptor slowed to a limping walk as she reached them.
"Hiya guys, miss me?" Slasher asked as she gave them both high-fives
in greeting. 
	"Miss you?" Sonic demanded. "What kind of sissy do you
think I am?"
	"Yes," Tails interrupted him, "he was so worried about you that he got
me out of my warm bed at four this morning to look for you. I'm glad you
showed up, 'cause Robotropolis was our next stop."
	Slasher flashed a grin at Sonic. "C'mon, you know you don't have to
worry about me. How's that song go--'there is no circumstance that you
can't handle--when you use your mind'?"
	"Yeah," Sonic replied, "but that song is about me, not you. Where were
you, anyway?"
	"Befriending Knux, like I said I would."
	"All night?"
	"Well, no, just until midnight."
	"What were you doing the rest of the time?"
	"Ah, that is the question of the hour! Tell ya when we get back to
Knothole."
________________________________________________________________________
	Chapter 11
		Sonic's special abilities enabled
________________________________________________________________________
	An hour later found the Freedom Fighters grouped into the
large community hut. A fire was roaring in the fireplace, and Slasher
was stretched out on the hearth, warming her frozen feet and preening one
of her wings. Between intervals when her attention was fixed on her feathers,
she told them about all she had done the night before. The whole band was
amazed at her for befriending Knuckles, for it was commonly known he
trusted no one.
	"Yep," she said, "we can stop the scouting missions. I took care
of all of them. And so," she finished nonchalantly, "there are two things I have
for Sonic."
	"What?" he asked eagerly.
	"The first is a mission. You and Serena need to sneak into Robotnik's
fortress and steal a map. This map shows the locations of the places
a time stone is being used to maintain the continuum."
	"And the second?"
	Slasher's eyes sparkled with a supressed smile. "A new toy."
	Sonic jumped to his feet. "Straight up? What?" Slasher reached
up to her throat, and her hands made a motion like they were grasping
something; but nobody could see what. Then she looked down and
fooled with something. There was a click, and all at
once a long strip of leather appeared in her hands. Everyone gasped.
"Where'd that come from?" somebody demanded. Slasher handed it to Sonic.
He took it and looked at it. It was a beautiful leather belt, intricatly
engraved, set with seven glowing crystals. Except it didn't feel exactly
like leather. As he turned it over and over in his hands, Slasher seemed
to read his thoughts. "It's not leather. It's a unique type of plastic--
I think. It's from Cockytus, so I don't really know what it's made of.
The stones had fallen out a long time ago, so I put those in."
	"This is from Cockytus?" Sonic asked. "Way past cool! And you're giving
it to me?"
	"Yep, but it has a bit more value to it than that. Look at the stones."
Sonic did, and discovered touching them made his fingers tingle, like
touching a live wire.
	"What are they? Don't tell me--don't tell me; the chaos emeralds,
right?"
	All eyes flew to Slasher. To have all the chaos emeralds was an unheard-of
feat. Slasher slowly shook her head, and everyone sighed in disappointment.
	"No, not the chaos. Those are super emeralds."
	The casual way she spoke made everyone say, "Oh. Just the super emeralds.
The SUPER EMERALDS!?!"
	Sonic nearly dropped the belt. "These are--these are--you mean
these--you mean I'm holding--"
	Slasher nodded. "You know what they are, right?" Sonic gaped at her.
"Yeah, but, I mean, how in the world did you make this? Supers are great big!"
	"It was easy. You had all supers when you were sucked into the
Interweb. As you entered, the emeralds gravitated back to their original
home. I took the miniatures you were carrying and inserted them into
the belt. I figured they'd be easier to carry that way."
	Sonic stared down at the belt again, this time with new respect.
"What are super emeralds?" Serena spoke up. She had been lost when they
started discussing the power stones. Still looking at the belt in his
hands, Sonic murmured, "Supers are far and away more powerful than the
chaos. They take power directly from the Master emerald, and one time
they drained the chaos emeralds of their power, too. There's no end to the
stuff I can do with 'em." He looked up at Slasher.
	"I've only used them twice. Do you think it'll work again?"
Slasher shrugged. "Donno. Should. Do it outside, though, and about
ten feet away from anybody."
	"What are you two talking about?" Sally demanded. "You started talking in
code or something." Sonic looked at her, his eyes glowing with intense
excitement. "I can use them to become Hyper Sonic," he said in almost
a whisper.
	Five minutes later they were all outside. Sonic stood a short distance
away from everyone, Slasher showing him how the belt clasp worked. Sonic
strapped the belt around his waist, and as soon as he fastened it it vanished.
Everyone gasped in surprise, but Slasher calmed them by saying, "When you wear
the belt, it becomes invisible to all but the wearer. Calm down. You can
still see it, right Sonic?" He nodded.
	"Okay, everybody, stand back! I'm gonna see if I remember how to do
this." Sonic crouched down, crossing his arms in front of him. Then he
leaped into the air, at the same time snapping his arms across the emeralds
and behind his back. A bright light shown from the belt for an instant,
and Sonic's cobalt blue turned a variety of flashing colors. His
spikes stuck nearly straight up, as if charged with electricity, and
balls of energy, like fireworks, spiraled up and around him before
burning out. This was Hyper Sonic.
	 Sonic looked down at himself, then up at his staring friends. "Coooooll!"
he yelped, then took a running leap and bounded all the way across
Knothole and back in two seconds. He moved at nearly the speed of light
and was completely invincible. "Yip-ee!" he shouted. He leaped into the air,
came out of his spin and flew around ten feet above the ground.
He landed lightly before the wide-eyed Freedom Fighters. "This is so much
fun!" he said to them. "I feel like I weigh five pounds, and I can run faster
than when I have a power ring! Way past cool!" He took off in another
series of aerial stunts.
	"Showoff!" Tails yelled. Sonic landed before him. "Whassamatter, little bro?
Wanna use the belt?"  Tails shook his head. "Aw, c'mon," Sonic said,
swiping one hand across the belt to de-hyperize himself. He took it off and
held it out to Tails. The young fox shook his head. "No, I can't, Sonic.
It wouldn't be right to use it without the birds."  Sonic sobered. Tails
was right. With the flickybirds dead, there wouldn't be any point to it.
	Sonic re-strapped the belt around his waist. He figured he would
make it a permanent part of his person, like Slasher's whistle. And
indeed, it proved useful in the adventure that followed.
______________________________________________________________________
	Chapter 12
		The Maps
______________________________________________________________________
	"C'mon, Sonic, this way!"
Sonic ducked back into the alley and looked uncertainly at Serena.
"You sure, 'Rena? This ain't the safest way to get to the fortress."
"This is how I got away from it," the girl hedgehog replied. "I think,"
she added under her breath. Sonic heard her, but made no comment.
"Well then, let's speed," he said.
	It had been two days since Sonic had received the belt, and since
Knuckles had joined their side. Sally had used the hand-held computer
known as 'Nicole' to break into the newly online computer system and
contact their new ally. He had offered to help Sonic and Serena get
access to the map by doing a few small things, such as conveniently having
the surveillance camera by the door upgraded, taking it off-line
for several hours. The only catch was they had to be in and out
before their time was up.
	It was about eight o`clock in the morning but rather dark,
for above the thick blanket of pollution and smog was a layer of
clouds. It was bitterly cold, and the occasional snowflake sifted
down, promising the blizzard to come. Slasher had said she had a lot
of neat stuff to show them to do with snow, so they were looking forward
to this storm, instead of dreading it.
	The two hedgehogs were planning to be back before the storm started.
Snowstorms usually weren't a problem in their area, but the weather had
been changing lately, and they didn't know what to expect.
	Sonic and Serena slunk through the filthy streets and alleyways,
making their fugitive way to Robotnik's fortress. Serena was leading the
way, with Sonic following a bit hesitantly. He had been there more
than she had, and had a pretty good idea of the city's layout. The road
they were following, Sonic knew, led straight to the fortress. It was also
flanked by two SWAT-bot guardstations. The area could be swarming with
robots at a moment's notice, they were walking right into it.
	Sonic said nothing, however, until they were one street away from
the guardstations and Serena hadn't stopped. Then he grabbed her by the
arm and growled, "Stop!" Serena irritably tried to break his hold.
	"Sonic, we're almost there. Leggo!"
	"No!"
	He whirled her around and pressed her back against a building.
"What are you, nuts?" he hissed in her face. "You're walking into a
security block!"  Serena opened her mouth to reply, but Sonic shut
her up by covering her mouth with his hand. "Shh. Now, look around
the corner and tell me what you see." She did so. 
	"I don't know. I see the street, and a couple of newer buildings on either 
side, but I don't see anyth--" Sonic cut her off. 
	"Those 'newer buildings' are SWAT-bot guardstations! Do you know what would 
happen if an unauthorized person walked between them?" 
	Serena shook her head. 
	"You become Swiss cheese, that's what! They use you for target practice, and then take whatever's left of you to the robotizer. Get me?" Serena nodded.
"Maybe you should lead the way," she said uncomfortably.
	Five minutes later found them three blocks away and running.
Sonic wasn't one for just moseying along; he liked to cover a lot of
ground in a short amount of time, and they were doing just that.
Serena could run surprisingly fast; she was holding her own with him,
and wasn't getting tired. Sonic didn't really have time to marvel at
this, for he was concentrating on navigating the dark streets. He
followed such a twisting, turning path that Serena was completely lost
in a matter of minutes. Once Sonic stopped, and noticing the bewildered
look on his companion's face, asked her which way was north. She pointed
randomly to their right. "Nope. That's southwest," Sonic chuckled.
"How do you know that?" she asked him. "Carry a compass in my head,"
he replied, then took off again.
	Thirty seconds later Sonic led her out of the alleys, and before
them was Robotnik's fortress. Serena stared up at it, then at Sonic.
"Where'd it come from?"
	"Been here the whole time. We just came a back way, which is also
the safest. Hey, check out the camera."
	They were on the side of the fortress where the little side door
was. The security camera mounted next to it was off-line, as was shown by it's
flashing red light. "Perfect," Sonic murmured. "Knuckles is supposed to
meet us here, so we'd better wait for him. Let's go over there." They
trotted over to another door, but this one was barred and locked,
probably a emergency exit. The two hedgehogs leaned into it, pressing
themselves into it for cover.
	Everything was quiet for a few minutes. Serena whispered, "Maybe
he forgot or something."  
	"Naw, I don't think so," Sonic replied in a low voice. "He turned off the camera, didn't he?" They were quiet a few minutes more. While they had been moving they hadn't 
felt the cold much, but now it was apparent. It was the raw, bitter kind of cold that sinks
in and makes it hard to get warm again. Well, at least the winds' not
blowing, Serena thought. A single snowflake fluttered down. It reminded
her things could be worse.
	Her thoughts were jerked back to the present as the door they were
watching opened a little, then a little more. Knuckles leaned out,
looked around and called in a half-whisper, "Hey! You guys out here?"
"Yeah," Sonic answered as he stepped out of hiding and beckoned to Serena.
"Well, hurry up! I only have a few minutes!" The two hedgehogs dashed
through the door and into the warm interior of the building. Knuckles's
eyes narrowed a bit when he saw Serena, but he said nothing to her.
	They found themselves in a very large entry hall. Sonic stared
around, bewildered, but Knux hissed, "The hall's only empty a few minutes
at a time. Hurry, follow me!" He led the two hedgehogs to an unimportant
looking door off to their right, opened it, and they all moved in.
Knuckles shut the door quietly, then leaned against it with a sigh of relief.
"Man, I just knew somebody'd see us," he said. "Robotnik's nephew,
Snively, is always looking for a way to get me in trouble. He doesn't
like me much, `cause once he crossed me and I punched him out."
	Sonic had been looking Knuckles over from head to toe. He still
looked kind of beat up. Slasher had inflicted no superficial wounds,
but he still bore many sizable bruises. His black eye had turned a greenish
color, but Knux could see out of it. He noticed Sonic staring at him.
"What? I don't look that bad, do I?" Sonic looked away, drew a shuddering
breath, and said, "No. Y-you look fine." Knuckles detected a tone in
Sonic's voice that said otherwise. He grinned at him. "Well Sonic, let
me give you a bit of advice. Never tangle with a velociraptor, and you'll
stay un-hurt and healthy." His gaze shifted to Serena. "Or a girl, for
that matter."
	Knuckles glanced at his watch. "Well, we'd better head upstairs.
I was transferring some files, and they should be done by now." Sonic
walked to the foot of the stairs and looked up. "We have to climb all
these?" he asked. "Nope," was the reply. "Doc went up them twice, then
had the elevator put in. It's over here. C'mon."
	The three of them stepped through the sliding doors and into the
elevator. Knuckles pressed a button, and the elevator started up. "Hey
Sonic, remember the rotating transport elevators back on Launch Base?"
Sonic nodded. "Do I ever! Those were the bomb! Why?"
	"`Cause that's what this'n used to be."
	"Straight up? Cool! How come it ain't spinning, though?"
	"I was working on it one day, and Robotnik didn't know and used
it. It went so fast it almost killed him. When he found out why, he
almost killed me. So he modified the elevator so it wouldn't spin anymore.
Too bad, huh?" Sonic shrugged. "I thought they were a blast, but they made
Tails sick."  He looked at Serena. 
	"Bet you wouldn't be able to handle it, either." Serena held up both hands 
and shook her head. "I have no idea what you two are talking about, so I really can't say anything." She looked at Knuckles. "I want to apologize for flipping you a couple weeks ago. I didn't mean to do it so hard, but I was scared." Knuckles put a hand on
her shoulder and gazed sternly into her eyes. 
	"The only thing I'll say is this," he paused. Serena just knew that he was going to yell at her, but then his scowl gave way to a smile. "You gotta show me how to do that
sometime." In other words, he forgave her; no hard feelings.
	The elevator, which had been moving smoothly upward with a soft
hum, slowed down and stopped. The doors opened, and the trio trooped
out. They were at the top of the stairs, on the landing. Directly
opposite them was the door to Robotnik's bedroom. Serena hung back as
Sonic and Knuckles walked in. She was thinking about what had happened
last time she went through that door. Sonic didn't notice, as he was
staring around the richly furnished room in wonder. Knux had seen it
all before, and looked back at Serena. Seeing the hesitant look on her
face, he beckoned to her. Nervously she made her way inside. Knuckles
shut the door, the said, "Whassamatter, scared?" 
	Serena shook her head no, then said, "Yes." 
	Sonic glanced at her and chuckled. "So, Knuckles, where is the infamous computer?"
	"In here. C'mon."
	The red echidna led the two hedgehogs to the back of the room
and showed them into the computer room. 
	"So this is the central computer," Sonic said incredulously. "Pretty big."  
	"Well, this is some of it," Knuckles replied. "We're still trying to get it all on-line again. She did a good job," he jerked his thumb in Serena's direction, "but
fortunately I had just backed up the entire system. I'm in the middle of
feeding those files back into the hard-drive."  He tapped a smaller
computer which was plugged into the big one. It was making a 'zit-zit-
zzziiiizz-zit-zit'. "Once this gets done, I have to go in and un-zip
all those files. Lotsa work. Wanna hear some good news, though?"  Sonic
and Serena both nodded. "The operational files for the robotizer were all
lost. Without those files, the robotizer can't run. Heh heh. Don't let
Doc hear I said that, though. He's plenty ticked about this, anyway."
He sideyed Serena. She had a humorous, but rebellious, look on her face.
"You'd do it again, wouldn't you?" he said to her. 
	"In a heartbeat," she replied.
	Knuckles slid a few boxes and other things aside to reveal the
desk. It was buried and covered over with the computer equipment. "Hey,
I didn't know that desk was there," Serena said in surprise. 
	Knux glanced at her and muttered, "Good thing, or you'da vandalized it, too."
He opened one of the drawers, rooted through it, and pulled out two maps.
 He handed one to Serena and the other to Sonic. "Copies," he explained.
 "If something happens to one, you have the other to fall back on.
I had 'em both--uh, what's the word, um,...laminated for you. That
makes 'em waterproof, windproof, bulletproof, and fire resistant. I
thought it would be a good idea, considering the places you guys have to go.
Make any sense outta 'em?"
	Sonic turned his this way and that before answering. "Yeah. This
is a complete map of Mobius, right?"
	"Yep."
	"I've never seen one this good before. It's--well, it's like a photograph.
Where'd ya get it?"
	Knuckles shook his head. "I haven't been able to figure out how Doc made
'em. I'd be willing to bet, though, that he's got satellites out there.
It's the only way to explain the high resolution." Sonic looked at Serena.
She was studying her map intently. "What are these little scribbled stars?"
she asked, indicating several. Knuckles smiled. "The object of the game."
	"Huh?" 
	Knuckles took the map from her. Sonic and Serena looked over his
shoulders as he said, "The stars mark each time stone generator. There's
seven of 'em. Count 'em." Silently they did so. 
	"Hey," Sonic said suddenly, "one of them is right here in Robotropolis! Look, a star right on top of us!" The hedgehogs looked at Knuckles. "Where's it at?" they asked in
unison. In reply, Knuckles dug into his pocket, pulled out a gleaming
object and tossed it from hand to hand. Sonic recognized it as a time
stone; a gold one. Knuckles tossed it to him. Sonic caught it and studied
it.
	It was about five inches long and three inches wide. It wasn't
really gold, but a deep yellow crystal. There was a glowing yellow
spark in the center. The gem was cool and heavy in his hands, and
seemed to vibrate ever so slightly. It had a power, yes, but a
different sort of power than the chaos and super emeralds.
	"Where was it?"
	Knux pointed to the ceiling. "The generator's mounted on the
roof; right over our heads. I figured it'd be a good place to start,
so this morning I climbed up on the roof and took the stone out. When
I did I found out something. If you take the stones out of all the
generators, one by one they all self-destruct. Fail-safe. You know."
	Sonic nodded. "Just like before. When Death Egg blew, it signaled the
other bases to blow up, too. Robotnik must like doing that." He handed the
time stone to Serena, who looked at it carefully before handing it back
to Knuckles. "What're we gonna do with 'em?" she asked.
	"Take 'em back to Little Planet, what else?" Knux replied. "Oh,
and one more thing. Before you disconnect the last stone, contact me and
make sure I'm not in this tower. Those thing's explosions equal ten
sticks of dynamite."  Sonic grinned. "It'll wipe out the computer again,
won't it?"
	"Yep. I'll be running for Knothole when that happens. There's a human
case of explosives that I want to avoid."
	Knuckles beckoned to them and led them back into the bedroom.
He got down on his knees beside the bed and shoved a few boxes around,
looking for something. "What are you looking for?" Sonic asked him.
	"Almost--got--it--there!" Knux pulled out a medium--sized box. He
slid it into the middle of the floor and opened it. In it were six
pairs of short-wave radios. He handed one to Serena and another to
Sonic. "These are the handiest things," Knuckles said. "I use 'em
all the time. They have a range of about a hundred miles max; better
than most we have. If you want I'll give you the whole box.
Make sure everybody on the search for the stones has one. Use this
channel," he held up one and turned it's dial so a blue light
came on. "Red, green, yellow, and orange are all operational
frequencies around here. Nobody uses blue."
	"Sounds cool," Sonic said. "Give me three pairs." Knuckles
handed them to him. Sonic hooked them onto his emerald belt,
forgetting Knuckles didn't know about it. Knux stared at him.
	"How're you doing that? They aren't attached to anything!" 
	Sonic looked down, then snickered. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Slasher got
her claws on the down-sized versions of the super emeralds and put
them in a belt. The belt's invisible as long as I wear it. See?"
He unclasped the belt, then refastened it. 
	"Neato!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Do they work?"
	"Yep. Real well, too."
	Suddenly Knuckles's watch started beeping loudly. He snapped
it off and hissed, "Great! You have less than five minutes to get
out of here. I can't escort you; Doc's due to come up any time. Take
the stairs; they're safer." He shoved the box back under the bed
and started to re-enter the computer room. He paused with his hand
on the door. 
	"Thanks, K-T-E," Sonic said to him.
	"Right. Now get going!" Knuckles snapped.
	The two hedgehogs headed out and started down the stairs. "What
does 'K-T-E' stand for?" Serena asked Sonic. "Knuckles-The-Echidna,"
Sonic explained. "I thought it was pretty obvious."
	They descended ten feet more. "Sonic," Serena panted, "try going down
these with both arms twisted up behind your back." Sonic smirked at her.
"I'd rather take your word for it." They were both winded by the time
they reached the bottom, and rested a few steps up from the floor. Suddenly
Sonic's radio clicked on. "Are you guys out of the building?" came
Knuckles's voice. "No," Sonic replied.
	"Ya got thirty seconds. Scram!"
It clicked off. Serena looked at Sonic. "I think we'd better go."
	"Yeah, so I noticed. Let's jam!"
	They lunged through the little door, turned left and jumped through
the outside door. A shock of cold air met them, along with a flurry of
snow. There were already two inches on the ground. The hedgehogs
left the fortress at a run and ducked into the dismal streets. They got
about five blocks away from the fortress before they stopped. "That was
 kinda close," Sonic exclaimed. 
	"Yeah," Serena agreed. "Wow, look at the city! If you don't look very closely, it almost looks pretty!"
	Sonic smiled at her through the falling snow. "The snow won't be white
for very long, thanks to the factories. By the way, did you mean to
 make that rhyme?"
	"Nope. Brrr, it's cold. Let's go back to Knothole."
	"Sounds cool to me," Sonic replied. "Let's take it easy. I can't see
very far in this, and I don't want to run into any SWAT-bots. C'mon,
'Rena."
_____________________________________________________________________
	Chapter 13
		Packbell
____________________________________________________________________

	They settled into a fast walk. Sonic stayed a few feet ahead,
straining his eyes to see through the curtain of swirling snow. It
was getting deeper by the minute, and their tracks were soon covered.
Everything was muffled and very quiet. Even all the city noises
were hushed by the falling snow.
	Serena pulled out her map again and studied it. On the far side
of the map, it showed a small X with the words, 'Floating Island formerly
here.' Why would somebody write that on a map?
	"Sonic, why--," she stopped. Sonic wasn't there. She looked
around, then down at the snow. Only her own footprints marked the
soft powder. Somehow, she had taken a wrong turn. I'm lost, she
thought. Lost in Robotropolis in a snowstorm. "Son-ic!" she called
piercingly. Her voice didn't carry very far. Shivering, she started
walking. I found my way out once, I can do it again, she thought to
herself. She walked down a couple of streets without seeing anything
familiar. The swirling snow obstructed her vision, disorienting her.
The silence was beginning to get on her nerves, too. And as her
discomfort increased, she remembered Robotnik wanted her dead,
that he knew who she was, and she was lost in his city.
	Serena made her way down a dark alley, wishing for a flashlight
and a change of clothes. She was half-way down it when she suddenly
felt that someone else was there. And it wasn't Sonic. An eerie feeling.
 She shrank to the side and pressed herself against the wall, straining
with eyes and ears to make out who or what it was. Silence. Nothing
happened. She could see nothing but the dancing, swirling snow, and hear
nothing but the pounding of her own heart.
	Maybe I just imagined it, she thought after a few moments. But
something told her that Someone was close by. He was watching her. He
knew who she was. He hated her on sight. And he was completely motionless.
"Who's there?" Serena called after a few more minutes of suspense. Motion!
Something big and dark came at her out of the shadows. One hand closed on
her arm, and with iron strength it pulled her out of hiding and threw her
on her face in the snow. She automatically rolled over and tried to get up,
but suddenly her limbs turned to lead and she couldn't move. She stared up
at the dark form. It had one hand extended toward her, pointing at her.
The figure made no move, so she asked it, "Who are you?"  
	"Me?" it replied. Its voice was deep, and had an evil quality to it that rivaled Robotnik's. It had another quality, too.... "I can ask you the same question.
What are you doing in Robotropolis, Freedom Fighter?" The question
was not kind. 
	"None of your beeswax," Serena snapped. The creature made
 a sound in it's throat like a growl. "Haven't you figured out who I am?
I am Packbell. Give me the information I want or I'll kill you."
	Serena had heard nothing about Packbell, or she wouldn't have been
as arrogant. "Packbell? Who's Packbell? I ain't never heard of anyone
named that."  
	"I'M Packbell, idiot!" he roared. He reached up and flicked
on a small light protruding from the wall above him. Serena found herself
staring up at--a human! He was dressed in a brown uniform and shiny black
boots. The light shown on his sandy hair and his harsh features. His eyes
seemed to be lit from within by a fierce light. They stared down at Serena
intently. She returned his gaze a moment, but was forced to drop her
eyes. "Now," he hissed, "what are you doing here?"
	"What makes you think I'm a Freedom Fighter?" was the ready retort.
	"Because," Packbell replied, "you are a fugitive and a spy. I know as well
as you what you did to the computer. I should destroy you right here, but
Dr. Robotnik wants you alive, if only by a little."  Serena struggled.
	"Let me go!" she snarled. 
	"Why would I do that?" Packbell replied icily. "You'd escape. What are you holding?" He had spotted the map. He snatched it from her grasp and examined it. "Well well well," Packbell said dryly, "what have we here? A satellite map of Mobius! Where did you get this?" She didn't answer him. "Where did you get this?" Again no reply. "ANSWER ME!!" Still she said nothing, which infuriated the android. Serena's mind was racing. How had
he paralyzed her like this? It had to be the object he was pointing at her;
a little black box with a wire coming out the end, like a walkie-talkie.
Walkie-talkie. Her radio! For the first time she remembered it. It was hooked
onto her hip, but she couldn't reach it now.
	Packbell was enraged. "SPEAK!!" He hit her so fast she never saw
it coming. It knocked her over sideways into a snowdrift. It hurt.
Serena gritted her teeth and made no sound, eyes fixed on the thing in
Packbell's hand. The big creature kicked her in the side, hard. She
realized she would probably take a lot of damage before he let her go.
	Packbell grabbed her by one arm, lifted her all the way off the
ground, then threw her down. Now this was pain. She had landed on the
radio. As she rolled off it with a half-stifled moan, she saw the blue
light was on. Immediately she cried, "HEELLPP MEEEE!"
					* * * * * *
	It had taken Sonic a bit longer to find out Serena wasn't with him.
He had said, "Hey 'Rena, keep a lookout behind us, in case we're being
followed, all right?" No answer. He had turned around and found that he was
alone. A wave of sickening dread washed over him. He fought it down with
an effort, then began to re-trace his steps. The snow made everything
confusing, even for him, so a few minutes later he stopped, cupped his
hands to his mouth and shouted, "'Re-na! Ser-e-na!" Then he listened.
His voice seemed hushed by the tons of falling snow. No answer.
	Sonic began to run. He ran up and down streets and alleyways,
calling Serena's name until he was so breathless he had to rest. No
reply. No sound anywhere, it seemed. He was alone in this dim world
of cement, metal and falling snow. "Where is she?" he panted into the
mist, breath coming in white clouds. "This is as bad as when Tails was
lost in the cave. Except this is worse, 'cause I have no idea where
Serena is!" He took one of the radios that were hung around his waist,
clicked it to channel blue and said, "Serena, are you there?" Static.
"Man, I wish I knew how Knux turned mine on like that." He was
interrupted by Serena's cry for help. It not only came from the speaker,
but from somewhere behind him and to his right.
	Sonic whirled around and headed that way. As he ran, he could hear
sounds of struggle coming through the speaker. It made him mad; somebody
was beating up his friend, trying to get her to talk, most likely. His
blood ran cold as he recognized Packbell's voice. Packbell was bad news.
He was a highly sophisticated android, so human it was impossible to
tell otherwise. Robotnik had built him as a prototype, but he had turned
out a little too successfully. Packbell was commander of Robotnik's army,
and had a hand in building the Ultra SWATs. He did everything from
patrolling to murder. The only robot possibly worse was Metal Sonic.
	Sonic skidded into a dark, narrow alley. He saw Packbell standing
over Serena's limp form. He had just pulled a gun from it's holster. "I
see you require a different form of persuasion," Packbell was saying. 
	"Hey moron!" Sonic shouted. "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"
Packbell snapped erect. "Hedgehog! I should have figured; you
wouldn't let anything happen to your sister, would you?" He fired three
laser blasts at Sonic. "Man, you need to take safety lessons for that
gun," Sonic taunted. "You almost hit me." He crouched down, crossing his
arms in front of him. He sprang into the air, activating his super
emeralds. Then he stood still, confident and fearless. "Shoot me. I dare
you," he said to Packbell. He made a good, brightly lit target. The
android took aim and fired, but stared in shock as each blast bounced
off his enemy. "See?" Sonic laughed. "I'm invincible." Then he leaped
through the air, splitting it as he whizzed across the twenty feet
separating them, and landed, feather-light, between Packbell and Serena.
His body broke the stunner's beam, and Serena was released. She painfully
 got to her feet as Sonic confronted her attacker.
	Sonic made one lightning-quick move and toppled the android into the
snow. "Give me her map," he said to him, for Packbell still clutched
Serena's map in one hand. "Never," Packbell snarled. Sonic touched him
lightly on the chest, then withdrew his hand. Packbell responded as if
Sonic's hand had been a live wire, writhing backward as panic filled his
eyes. 
	"I'll touch you, and I won't let go 'till I short-circuit everything
in your operational core," Sonic growled. "Give me her map!" Packbell
didn't move. Sonic placed both hands on his chest and leaned into his face.
Packbell struggled, the power from the emeralds hurting him in a real
physical way. But Sonic was strong, and he couldn't throw him off. 
	"Enough! Take the stupid map!" he cried at last. He threw it in Sonic's face.
Sonic tossed it to Serena, then reached down and hit the side of
Packbell's head; not slapping, but a hard cuff. Packbell was out like
a light.
	Sonic got off of him and walked over to Serena. "I've always
wanted to shut that jerk down," he said. "He'll be back on-line in a
few minutes, though. Are you okay, 'Rena?"
	"Well, to be honest, no," she replied.
	"What's wrong?"
	"What's wrong? He just beat the tar out of me, and you ask what's
wrong? I don't think I'll be able to walk home, if that's what you mean."
Sonic shook his head sympathetically, then crouched down. "Here, climb on
and I'll carry you home. Think you can hang on?" Serena climbed on his back.
"I donno. I think so."
	"All right, 'cause here we go!" And Hyper Sonic was off. He ran two steps,
then settled into the easy glide that came with the power stones. He
 also left no tracks.
	The city went by in less than five minutes, and then they were
out on the open plains. The five miles of open space before them
excited Sonic, and he said, "Here's where we put the 'hyper' in Hyper
Sonic. Hang on, 'Rena, cause in ten seconds I'm gonna leave the speed
of sound in the dust."  
	"How fast are you gonna go?" Serena asked in alarm. 
	Sonic laughed and said, "Well, lets just say light is
starting to get jealous." Before Serena could protest she wasn't
invincible like he was, he took off.
	Sonic leveled out and began to pour on the speed. As he flew,
he counted down from ten. When he reached one, right on time he
hit the sound barrier. It was a literal barrier; suddenly the air and
gravity seemed to drag at him, slowing him down. Sonic had blown it
many times before, though, and a rippling sonic boom marked when he
did. Now, above Mach 1, he could really haul. "'Rena, watch this!"
he yelled into the wind, and grabbed the belt with both hands. It
worked the same as flooring the gas pedal. His speed increased greatly.
By now he had crossed the plains not once but several times, and was
ready to head for home. He decided that running through the trees would
slow him down (not to mention he might mow somebody down), so he drew
both knees up to his chest, aimed at the ground, and kicked out. It sent
him flying up at an angle, and with his incredible speed he stayed
fifteen or twenty feet above the ground. A backward glance over his
shoulder showed the energy stars trailing out behind him like the tail
of a comet.
	To someone who has exceeded Mach 2, Knothole was not very far away.
In fact, it was too close. Sonic had to fly in big circles, trying to
slow down enough to land. When he dropped below Mach 1, the sonic boom
announced his arrival. As he landed, his friends came out to meet him.
"How'd it go?" Sally asked him as she shielded her eyes from his brightness.
	"Fine. Got the maps and some pretty cool radios." He rubbed his wrist
across the belt to de-hyperize himself, and noticed with annoyance
Serena was still on his back. She was heavy. He had hardly noticed her
while he was hyper.
	"'Rena, get off! We're home!" She didn't answer him. Slasher
approached. "What's the matter?"
	"Serena won't get off my back."
Slasher looked at the young hedgehog, then down at Sonic. "Good grief, Sonic!
She's unconscious! Did you forget that she's not invulnerable? How fast
did you go, anyway?" Sonic looked down and seemed to study the snow
under his feet. "Over Mach 2."  "Mach 2!" Slasher exclaimed. "I'm
surprised she's not dead! Hold still; she's got a death grip on your
quills."
	In the end they had to cut her loose from Sonic's back. He grumbled
about this, but at the same time worried about her. They put her to
bed until she recovered. "What's wrong with her, Slasher?" Sonic asked
anxiously as the big raptor covered her with a blanket. 
	"You hit speeds that no one can survive unless they're invincible. Serena couldn't
breathe, so she passed out. I think the only thing that kept her from
getting killed was that she must have absorbed some of your energy.
Poor kid. You wanna tell us what happened?"
____________________________________________________________________
	Chapter 14
		Plans
____________________________________________________________________
	Sonic told everyone about the maps and the radios and meeting
Packbell. He pointed out the locations of the generators and told them
what would happen when all seven stones were recovered. "Boom!"
he said. "I want to know, who wants to go with me'n Slasher to get the
stones?" The Freedom Fighters all looked at each other. Slasher noticed
their hesitation and said quietly, "Who feels qualified to go?" Tails
raised his hand. "I'll go," he offered. "I've been on dangerous trips
with Sonic before." Sonic slapped him on the back. "I knew you'd come,
little bro. Anybody else?" The group looked at each other again, uncertain
and afraid. Sonic's eyes narrowed. "Are you guys too scared to save Mobius?
C'mon, this is a matter of life and death!" They were all quiet a few
minutes. Then Sally said, "Sonic, I'd volunteer, but--"
	"But what?"
	"It's such a long way from here. Across the Dark Mountains and
into places we've never seen before. How are we going to get there?"
The question hung in the air like a mist. Sonic looked at Slasher,
who was watching all this without a word. "Good question," she replied.
"I've been thinking about that. You know, only about a hundred and eighty
miles of ocean separates us from the east coast. You could hijack one of
Robotniks' big cruisers and fly out there."
	Slasher had been looking at one of the maps. Now she spread it
on the table before them and said, "Look. One--no, two of the generators
are near the east coast. One is right here, on Copie Wright Island.
The other is about sixty miles inland. If a team of three took a big
attack ship and flew across the ocean to right here, you'd be able to
knock out both of these in about twenty-four hours."  Sally studied
the map. "You know, Slasher, you might have something. If we all team
up we could get this done." She looked at the map again. "What if the
bases are guarded?" Slasher thought a moment. "Then you'll have to
have weapons." Suddenly she snapped her fingers. "Ah-ha! The great
mind strikes again! Listen; while I was in Robotropolis, I got the
access code to Hanger Four. There was a really big ship in there. It
was like a cargo freighter, but it was armored and had guns. It was
transporting ground mechs."
	Everyone gaped at Slasher. The raptor seemed to be thinking.
"It'd be one heck of a job to get it out of there, though. If you
landed it anywhere near the city, you'd be intercepted by a SWAT patrol
for sure. Better just fly straight west so you wouldn't get snagged."
She looked around at the circle of astonished faces. "Who can drive
a ground mech?" Sally, Rotor and Bunnie raised their hands. "Do you
three want to do this?" They all nodded. "All right, then. Sally, you're
the best leader. Think you could lead the mission and get everybody back
alive?" Sally looked at her two friends and said, "I think so."
	"Sonic, give them their radios."
Sonic was still carrying the seven radios around his waist. He took off
all of them and handed one to each of his friends. He hooked one
back on his belt, and as an afterthought, gave one to Tails.
	The remainder of the day was spent setting up a base for all
the radios to tune in to. Roter modified an old radio from Robotropolis
to pick up all the channels, and even flash the band's color light.
Bookshire, the old raccoon, would be in charge of it and any
computer hacking they might need done. Slasher laid out the plans for
how they would get each generator off-line, and even did a rough estimate
of how long it would all take. Another loose end--when to start--was
fixed by a radio call to Knuckles. He liked their plan, and told them
that the big armored freighter was going to a military base further
south, and was scheduled to leave in seven days. It's cargo was
four ground mechs and their fuel. The Freedom Fighters decided to hijack
it the day it was to leave, so it would be completely fueled up.
	Everyone had forgotten Serena. She was curled up on Slasher's
pallet, a thick blanket covering her. She was unconscious for about four
hours. Slasher looked in on her every so often, but no one bothered her. The
young hedgehog woke up, though, eventually. Slowly her senses kicked
on again. She was aware she was lying in bed. It was quiet. It was also
rather cold. Her hands felt cramped. She looked down at them, and
noticed they were still curled in clenched fists. Slowly she opened them.
In each hand was a fistful of Sonic's quills. As she stared at them,
she remembered going incredibly fast, hanging on to Sonic for all she
was worth. The spikes in her hands were blue, instead glowing all the
colors of the rainbow. She dropped them, flexed her stiff fingers, and
stretched. She slid off the bed and carefully straightened up. Boy,
was she sore! Her left shoulder, side and leg were bruised and aching
from Packbell's beating.
	Serena limped to the door and opened it. It was late afternoon
and still snowing. The low-hanging clouds made it seem like dusk. The
snow was thick and soft; there was a foot of it. She looked
around. The village seemed devoid of life and empty. Then she spotted
the lights in the biggest hut. It looked like that was where everybody
was. Serena made her way out into the deep snow. She floundered across
the clearing, and was wet, cold and tired by the time she reached the
community shelter. As she entered she was met by cries of greeting.
Sonic was the first to reach her, and the first thing he said was,
"Gee, I'm sorry for going so fast. Are you okay?" Everyone echoed his
question. Serena replied that she was fine, and what are you guys doing?
	Slasher told Serena their plans. The youngster was impressed
and excited, and asked, "Can I go, too?" 
	Slasher replied with a question of her own. "Can you handle a ground mech?" 
	Serena's face fell, and she shook her head. "No. But isn't there something else I could do? Can't I go with you, Sonic and Tails?"  Slasher considered. 
	"Climb on my back. I need to see how heavy you are." Serena mounted her.
	"Hmm. You're pretty light. I could carry three, I suppose. And if you
stayed on Sonic's back while he was going close to two thousand miles
 per hour, I guess you could stay on me. Do you know anything that
might be useful?"  Serena slid off her back. 
	"I donno. I depends, I guess. Can I look at the map again?" Both maps were 
spread on a nearby table. The young hedgehog walked over and looked at
them. One of the maps had been marked with a red pen. Four of the
generators were numbered, and the two Sally, Roter and Bunnie
would tackle were circled and their coordinates scribbled next to
them.
	"By the way, why does it say 'Floating Island formerly here?'"
Serena asked Sonic, who was standing next to her. 
	"Because," he replied, "that's were it was when we had our little adventure on it a couple years back. Knux made note of it right there to remind me 'n Tails."
____________________________________________________________________
	Chapter 15
		Preparation and departure
____________________________________________________________________
	The days following were busy ones. Knothole village was preparing
for the departure of their intrepid adventurers. Sally, Rotor and
Bunnie were all outfitted with survival packs. Slasher instructed them
on what to do until they felt like they'd already done it. Serena
learned how to ride Slasher almost as well as Sonic and Tails. And by
the time the seven days had passed, everyone was more than ready to go.
					 * * * * * *
	Three hours before dawn, Sonic, Tails and Serena put on their
short-wave radios and light packs, mounted Slasher, and took off. As
soon as they were out of sight in the eastern sky, the three on the
ground took off on their mission. They took the hovercraft Slasher
had swiped when they were rebuilding the village, and headed to Robotropolis.
	Sally parked their craft in the dump, and the trio headed into the
city on foot. All three of them carried concealed weapons. Hijacking a
ship practically under Robotnik's nose was a dangerous business. They
snuck through Robotropolis as inconspicuously as possible, trying hard
not to be seen. They saw a few worker bots and a couple SWATs, but other
than that were unchallenged.
	It took thirty minutes to reach the hanger. They hid behind some
piled junk and watched the entrance to Hanger 4. A group of SWATs seemed
to be standing guard. "You know," Rotor panted, "I'm really not used to
this kind of thing. 
	Sally and Bunnie replied with a fierce "Shh!"
	"Can you run faster than me, Bunnie?" Sally asked in a whisper. 
	"Ah don't know, Sally girl," Bunnie replied in the same whisper. "But if'n Ah lead
them 'bots away, ya hafta make sure ya'll don't shoot me." Bunnie slipped
out of hiding and circled back around the building. She came around and
found herself eyeball-to-gun-muzzle with the SWAT-bots. 
	"Halt, Freedom Fighter!" one of them barked. Bunnie whirled around and took off, the
robots in hot pursuit. She heard the sound of laser blasts as her friends
picked them off one by one. A backward glance revealed only one SWAT-bot
was after her now. Bunnie ducked around a corner and waited for it. As
the robot came around the corner, she clenched her robotized hand into
a fist and punched the robot in the chest with it. The SWAT crumpled
and fell to the ground. 
	"That'll teach you bots not to mess with me," Bunnie said to it.
	As soon as the coast was clear, Sally leaped out of hiding and
ran to the smaller door beside the main doors. She hurriedly punched in
10681 on it's keypad. The door clicked and swung inward. "Bingo," she
muttered, then beckoned to Rotor. He came running and ducked inside.
Bunnie came back, and she too entered the building. Sally carefully
closed the door. "All right guys, see if we can find the cargo freighter."
	"Don't need to," Rotor replied. "Look." Sally turned around and saw the
biggest freighter she had ever seen. It was parked directly behind the
doors, ready to go.
	"Let's fly this puppy outta here," Roter exclaimed. He was already
in love with the big ship. The three of them made their way up the boarding
ramp and into the cockpit. Rotor sat down in the pilot's seat, and Sally
and Bunnie strapped themselves into the passenger seats behind him. 
	"Can you fly this thing?" Sally asked him.
	"Sure. Well, I think so."
	He stared at the control panel. Experimentally he pressed a button marked
'power.' The lights on the control panel lit up. "Uhh," he muttered aloud.
Rotor hit another button on a smaller panel near the top of the control panel.
The big hanger doors, outside, began to open. "Oops, that must be the
garage door opener," he mumbled.
	"I thought you said you could fly this thing!" Sally said apprehensively.
	"Sure I can. I just can't get the dumb thing started!"
	"Uh-oh," Bunnie said suddenly. "Ah think we've got company." She
pointed out the cockpit window to the big outside doors. Two SWAT-bots
were standing in the doorway, suspiciously looking around. "Can they
see us?" Rotor asked.
	"No, the windows are tinted, so they can't see in," Sally pointed
out. "Get the ship started! If they board us, the jig's up!"
	Suddenly all three radios crackled to life. "This is Knuckles. Are
you three having trouble?" 
	"No," Rotor started to say, but Sally interrupted him with, 
"Yes. We can't get the engines started. Can you help us?"
	Knuckles sighed into his radio. "Thought so. That ship's a little hard to
get on-line. Well, do you see the button marked 'power'? Press it."
	"We already did that," Rotor replied.
	"Oh, okay. Well then, do you see the big knob in the top left
of the control panel? Pull it down five clicks." Rotor did so. The
trio was startled by the sudden sound and vibration as one by one the
ship's systems began to come on. 
	"Did it work?" Knux asked.
	"Yeah, I think the engines are on."
	"Good. Now, as soon as the little screen in the middle blinks
'system ready,' release the clamp on the flightstick."  Rotor did. "Now,
pull down the three levers that are mounted above the little screen. That
opens the fuel lines." Rotor eased the levers into position. "Now you're
ready to take off. Somebody needs to be co-pilot and handle elevation
controls. Don't forget, you're in a highly sensitive hover-freighter."
	Sally slid into the co-pilot's chair. Knuckles told her how to handle
the controls, then to Rotor, "You're in charge of steering and gun controls.
If you encounter air-to-air resistance, turn on autopilot. The computer
will automatically nuke all attackers. The controls are super-sensitive,
so don't over-steer. Got it? Now, maneuver out of the hanger."
	Rotor pulled up on the flightyoke and nearly slammed them into
the ceiling. "Oops, sorry," he said weakly, and aimed the nose of the
craft at the open doors. 
	The ship jolted twice, and a computer voice said, "Robots firing at six`o clock. Destroying." All three of them looked at each other, then back at the two SWAT-bots. Two guns on the wings swiveled around, locked, then fired once. "Enemy robots destroyed,"
the computer said complacently. 
	"Gosh," Bunnie muttered, "Ah'm glad we ain't them SWAT-bots." They all turned back around, and Rotor edged the ship toward the exit. 
	"Sally, are we clear of the top of the doors?"
	"I think so," she replied. As they taxied out of the building, the ship
lurched and there was a grinding, screeching sound as it hit the top
of the doors. 
	"Sally!"
	"Oops. I guess we're not."
	She lowered their altitude a few feet, and they were outside. "Well,"
Knuckles said over the radio, "you sure butchered your way out, didn't
you?"  
	Bunnie picked up her radio. "Knuckles, can ya'll see us or somethin'?"
	"Yep. I'm on the roof of a building about three hundred feet to
your right. Come out all the way, then get to an altitude of four
hundred yards. Oh, and turn on the VAL 9000. She's a better instructor
than I am."
	"How?"
	"Just say, 'computer on.'"
	"Computer on," said Rotor.
	Through the ship's stereo system came a voice. "Testing. Testing."
The sound of someone blowing into a microphone. "Hey, is this thing on?"
As the trio looked at each other and Knux burst out laughing, a
smoother, pleasanter voice came on. 
	"Hello, I'm the VAL 9000. Please identify." Sally spoke into her radio. "What do we say, Knuckles?"
	"Tell her your names, what else?"
	"I'm Rotor."
	"I'm Sally."
	"Ah'm Bunnie." The computer waited a moment, then said, "Computer
network login completed. How can I help you?"
	"Um, can you give us instructions on how to fly the ship?"
	"Choose your destination, and I will fly for you."
	A big map slid out of the ceiling and lit up. It was a complete
map of Mobius, like the one they were carrying. "Touch the area on the
screen you wish as a destination." Rotor held out his hand to Sally,
who handed him the map. He looked at it, comparing it to the computer's.
Then he touched a place between the two stars. "The selected area,"
said VAL, "is restricted. Do you wish to continue?"  
	"Yes," he answered firmly. 
	"As you wish," the computer said indifferently. The engines
fired up with a rich hum, and the armored freighter rose into the air
until it was level with the tops of the buildings. And then Knuckles
spoke into his radio again. 
	"VAL, this is operative Knuckles. Proceed to area 19276998 point 0001. Park 
for five minutes, then continue designated course."
	"What in the world did you just say?" Bunnie asked him.
	Knuckles laughed, his voice tinny over the speaker. "I'm coming with
you," he said.
					* * * * * *	
	Forty miles in the opposite direction, two hedgehogs and a fox
were riding a winged velociraptor over the big desert which separated them
from the Dark Mountains.
	Sonic's radio was on. All four of them were quietly listening
to all this. They were almost out of range, so at times the station
drifted and became static. But enough came through so they knew what
was going on. As Knuckles announced that he was going with the Freedom
Fighters, Sonic leaned forward and said, "Slasher, is that all right?"
	"Sure," Slasher replied leniently. "Knuckles can handle any machine
ever built, and well, you've seen him in a mech. He knows the territory,
too, and that's a big plus."
	"I'm glad he's going," Tails said.
	"Yeah," Serena put in. "This way we won't have to worry about
blowing him up."
					* * * * * *
	Deep in Robotropolis, someone else had a radio also tuned
to channel blue. He was well hidden in his guardpost, and the dim light
that filtered in gleamed dully off his tarnished metal body. His red
half-circle pupils glowed brightly in his black eyes as he listened.
"I thought Knuckles had been acting funny," the robot purred to himself.
"And now he has joined the Freedom Fighters. He is probably even friends with
that--Sonic!" It spat the name with sudden fierce hatred. "Well," he resumed
his calm voice, "he will suffer for it. And perhaps I can settle the score
with--Sonic." The robot fondled the razor-sharp strips of metal on his
lower arms with his claw-like fingers.
	The robot switched channels on the radio to orange. "Dr. Robotnik,
I have news for you." He relayed what he had just heard to his master.
	"Curses!" Robotnik exclaimed. "I thought Knuckles acted strange when he
heard about Packbell. Now I know why. Come to the fortress, Mecha, and
we will form a counter-attack."
_______________________________________________________________________
	Chapter 16
		The calm before the storm
_______________________________________________________________________
	For several hours nothing interesting happened. VAL 9000 flew the
ship smoothly northwest as Knuckles directed Sally, Roter and Bunnie
how to fly the ship in case of a computer failure, and the best way to
handle the mechs. They encountered no resistance, for Robotnik knew
what the freighter would do to any opposing ships.
	Heading the opposite direction, Slasher was carrying her three
passengers into the heart of Mobius. She was breaking the monotony of
the long flight by riding an updraft way up, then dropping toward the
ground. She gained a lot of speed this way, and would skim along the
ground, wings half-folded and beating rapidly. When she began to tire,
she would glide into another updraft and do it all over again. The effect
was somewhat like a roller-coaster; go up slowly, then drop straight
down, gaining speed as you go. Then you level out and streak along and
then hit another long steep hill that takes forever to climb. But when
you reach the top you shoot down again. Sonic and Tails loved it. Serena
was uneasy at first, but after an hour she was more than used to it.
	During one of the boring ascents Sonic dug out his map and
looked at it. "Hey Slash, just over the mountains is number two. To
the southeast. It's only about--" he compared the map scale to the map
"--a hundred miles from the Great Forest."  
	"Let me see," Slasher replied.
	He handed it to her. She studied it a moment or two before giving it back.
	"That one'll be our target for today. I'm going to wait until we're in
the mountains before changing course, though. Hang on, we're at the top
of the updraft!" After that nobody said anything for a while.
	Another two hours brought them to the mountains. Slasher's wings
were weary from the flight (or so she said), so they landed next to a
small stream and had lunch there. Afterward, as they rested a little,
Sonic started fooling around with his radio. He couldn't reach
Knothole with it. Experimentally he flipped through the other channels.
On station green he picked up something. It was a voice reciting
something into the radio and relaying it someplace. It seemed to be a
code or something, for it was all numbers and a few letters. It wasn't
coming from Robotropolis; if pointed in that direction the signal
became fuzzy. It seemed to be coming from somewhere further back
in the mountains.
	"I'll betcha I could tell you where it's coming from," Sonic said
suggestively, and his eyes strayed to the map. Serena was examining
it.
	"But according to this, we're still way out of range of the first
generator!"
	"Yeah, I know," Sonic agreed, "but that signal has to be
coming from somewhere. Maybe the map scale ain't all the way accurate
or something."  Slasher turned on her own radio and went through the
same motions Sonic had, pointing it in all directions.
	"It does seem to be coming from the mountains," she admitted.
"What say we track this transmission before we go on?"
	"Yeah!" everyone agreed.
	Five minutes later they were all in the air. Slasher was holding
her radio in her clawed hands and was following the clearest part of
the signal. 
	"What if it's a trap?" Tails worried. "I mean, we are in
the Dark Mountains, and Packbell has a base somewhere in here. What if
it's coming from there?"
	"We've all got weapons," Slasher pointed out. "Besides, Packbell's base
is supposed to be somewhere further north. Who'd set a trap way out here,
anyway?"
	"Robotnik," Sonic replied. "He suffers from extreme paranoia."
	As they flew over the mountains, Slasher noticed it was the
straightest possible route through. She didn't have to swerve out of
her way to avoid an occasional rocky crag or peak. The scenery was
ruggedly beautiful. It was cold, too. A light powder of snow covered
everything. The higher they went the denser the woods below became.
	Looking down at it, Sonic commented, "Boy, I'm glad we don't have to
walk through that. It'd take forever!"
	Fifteen minutes later the mountains dropped away in foothills
and steppes into a very large valley. The mountain range stretched
north and south, and further south extended eastward. To the north
another spur also branched out eastward, but they couldn't see it from
where they were. Most of the valley was cloaked with lush forest. The
trees descended from the mountains and had not yet taken over, so the
center of the valley was grassy and treeless.
	As they soared out over the immense valley, Slasher said, "Well,
the signal could be coming from anywhere down there. I wish we had a
radio tracker. Then we could tell--whoa!" Slasher's body went ridged
and she seemed to freeze for an instant. 
	"Slasher!" her three passengers cried in alarm. The big raptor drew a 
deep breath and shook her head. 
	"I'm okay," she reassured them. Then her eyes became bright with sudden
fear, and she gasped, "I can't move! I can't move my wings!" She tossed
her head back, sighed heavily and seemed to regain her composure.
"I know what it is," she said matter-of-factly.
	"What? What's wrong?" Tails demanded.
	"Nothing is wrong with me. Ha! It sounds ridiculous, but I'm locked
into some sort of tractor beam. I won't be able to move until it brings
me in."
	"Brings you where?" Serena demanded.
	"I donno. The beam seems to be coming from a long distance, so I'd say
from around the generator. There's probably a guard outpost or something."
	"Can you break out of it?"  Sonic asked.
	"No. I tell you I can't move. At all. There's nothing I can do,
so I guess we sit back and enjoy the ride."
	For a long time nothing happened. The tractor beam was coming
from such a distance it wasn't pulling them very fast. This gave
the four of them time to plan what they would do when they landed.
Slasher had them take off the gear she was carrying and put it in
their packs. "That way they might believe me if I say I'm just passing
through," she explained. She told them to wait until she was
within ten feet of the ground before bailing out. "I don't know if
I'll be forced to crash or what, but if I do I don't want to hurt
you guys, too."
	After a while they began to gain speed and sink closer to the
ground. "We're getting close," Slasher warned. Her three riders sat
up straight and craned their necks, trying to see down into the woods,
hoping for a glimpse of the generator, or perhaps the tractor beam. All
they saw was the roof of a low-lying building and a long narrow landing
strip. "Well, at least I don't have to land in the trees," Slasher
commented, relived. "Get ready to jump."  They dropped lower and lower,
faster and faster. Soon it seemed as if they were skimming the treetops.
	"Jump yet?" Sonic yelled.
	"No, wait until I tell you!"
They descended for what seemed like hours. The racing ground below seemed
awfully close.
	"Tumble and roll when you hit the ground, got it?" Slasher called.
	"Got it," the three replied.
	"Okay. . .now. . .jump!"

Part 2 completed.