Chapter 1: Bat Tunnel to Heaven
Staff in hand, Mitch crept down the rough-cut halls of the dungeon. Beside him, orange in the glow of Mitch's infrared vision, marched the Dread Lord Baron. The huge half-elf bristled with weapons, yet made no noise.
Must be using his Walk Silently ability, Mitch thought. This was his seventh visit to VRRP world, and he was starting to learn the other players' preferences. With each episode, the detail and sophistication of Hammerston's alternate world continued to astound him. Even the odor of old laundry in the closet, invisible beyond Mitch's VRRP goggles, added a tang to the air that helped him believe he was in a dungeon.
A roar rattled his earphones. Mitch spun to put his back to the wall, holding up his staff. Behind him dropped a Hall Stalker that had been hiding on the ceiling. It raised a clubby paw to attack.
Mitch's goggles rapidly scrolled his list of spells in a window on his right, as Baron bashed the stone monster in the chest. It staggered, then came on.
But now Mitch had located his Stone-to-Flesh spell. Fumbling at his belt pouches, he gathered the necessary ingredients and cast the spell just as the half-elf reeled from a vicious blow.
The creature bloomed pink as the spell took effect. The monster looked down at itself, then looked back up. "Uh-oh," it said.
It held up a paw, but Baron's sword cleaved its arm at the elbow. Strangely, the creature continued to back away, saying, "Hold it, you guys. I think they're onto us."
The Dread Lord Baron paused. His sword vanished as he consulted a tiny monitor set into his breastplate. "Shit!" His image winked out, followed closely be the Hall Stalker. Then the world disappeared as Mitch tore the VRRP goggles off his head.
The restored reality of the dorm room showed Baron, reduced to human (though still formidable) size, leaping for the computer controls. He yanked off his data glove and began typing furiously.
Mitch dumped his own goggles and glove on his bed as he bounded toward Baron. Of course Baron had the fastest computer and physical connections money could buy, but even that couldn't keep up with the keystrokes that Baron hammered out as he navigated the complicated windings of his security program. Views kept altering, screens popped up and disappeared, against a background of tightly written code. Baron was supposed to be only minoring in computer science; theoretically (so to speak) his major was physics. But Baron's minor was equivalent to anyone else's master degree, even given the keen competition at Southwest Tech. Mitch knew at least one major corporation who had already offered Baron a programming job, and had been turned down.
Arthur Hammerston, divested of his own goggles, lumbered over from the other desk. The hairy-limbed, muscular dungeon master was tall enough to look right over Baron's broad shoulder. Even with his wire-rim glasses and mild, intelligent expression, Hammerston resembled nothing so much as a tame grizzly bear in a shirt.
Mitch went back to watching Baron's keystrokes. "Are we busted?"
Baron's face was a mask of calm, his forgotten VRRP goggles perched on his head. "Stand by."
Mitch bounced on his toes. Behind him, several of his fellow "Pubbers" and other dormmates pounded past his open door, giggling. Although intrigued by what might have triggered a mass stampede toward the lobby, he couldn't tear himself away from the more immediate problem.
"I hope you have backups," Mitch said quietly to Hammerston, not wanting to bother Baron again.
"Not really," said Hammerston.
A wave of anxiety rippled through Mitch. "Why not?"
"VRRP is too sophisticated to run on a home computer," said Hammerston. "That's why we had to break into Los Alamos in the first place. Any programming I did there will have to be duplicated--assuming we can find another supercomputer to break into."
"I see." Mitch broke off, chewing his lip.
Jesse stumbled backwards into the room, arm raised defensively, as yet another masculine swarm hurtled toward the lobby. "Good thing I know karate," she said breathlessly. "A girl could get killed around here."
"What's going on?" Hammerston asked.
"Beats me. They're all crazed." Jesse straightened and approached Baron. Like her boyfriend, she was tall and green-eyed with brown hair. While Mitch wasn't exactly short, it was slightly intimidating that this closest friends were so large. He'd be lucky to get out of college without developing short-guy's complex.
Jesse looked at the incomprehensible computer display. "What are you guys doing?"
"Getting busted by Los Alamos security," said Hammerston.
"Not getting busted," corrected Baron.
"Are we safe?" Mitch asked quickly.
Baron's green eyes studied the display. "That remains to be seen. I think I've got them sidetracked, but ..." He trailed off, bouncing a forefinger against his lips, his habitual gesture while thinking.
Concerned, Jesse asked, "Will you get in trouble?"
"Not if I've really got them sidetracked," said Baron.
Jesse pursed her lips. "Well, it serves you guys right. You risk getting a criminal record, and for what? So you can play some game that sounds like a belch."
"You don't have to worry about that now." Hammerston gathered up the papers on his desk. "There's no way we can go back to VRRP world tonight. We'll have to find something else to do."
"How about something constructive," said Jesse, "like karate?"
"Isn't that destructive?" asked Hammerston.
"It builds character," she said.
"So does VRRP," said Mitch.
"How?" Jesse challenged.
"Anyone who plays it is a real character," Hammerston said.
"Actually," said Baron, "anyone who plays it is a virtual character."
Jesse pummeled Baron's back. "I'll build some character for you!"
Leo wheeled himself in. White teeth flashed in his red beard. The slender man rocked onto the rear wheels of his wheelchair, thin legs swinging. "You guys missed all the excitement."
"I don't think so," said Mitch, as Baron thoughtfully tapped a key. "What's going on?"
Leo smiled smugly. "Charlene Kent was in the lobby."
Mitch froze. Baron stopped in mid-tap, then looked over at Leo. "Charlene Kent was in our lobby?"
"Yeah. She was on her way to the Cats audition, and she was wearing this little ... tiny ..."
Baron yelled, "Charlene Kent was wearing a tiny thing, and you never came and got us?"
Leo shrugged. "I didn't want to lose my spot in the lobby."
Jesse rolled her eyes. "That was all the excitement? Stupid Charlene Kent in some outfit?"
"If she was headed for the audition," said Mitch, "what was she doing in our lobby?"
"She was here to pick up Kim--you know, that little Japanese girl who never talks?"
Mitch didn't know any Japanese girls who didn't talk, but it figured Leo would. He knew everybody, especially if they were cute females. Mitch figured he could ask Terri about her when she returned, since Terri had gone to the Cats audition herself tonight.
Baron groaned and lay his head on his fist. "They're gone, and I missed it."
"You were saving VRRP world," Mitch reminded him.
"Save a world, lose your soul," said Baron.
"It's better than losing your eyes," said Jesse, "which I'm going to scratch out in a minute if you don't change the subject."
"Too bad I didn't have VRRP abilities," said Leo, ignoring her. "I could have used some X-ray vision." Leo's front wheels came crashing down, but he immediately pushed himself back up.
"Vision." Mitch's head whipped around to the closet. Baron's newly arrived box lay on a shelf there. "Infrared," he murmured.
"What for?" asked Leo. "We already know Charlene is hot."
"Not for her!" Mitch sprang to the closet, pulling down the box. He flipped off the lid and removed the heavy set of goggles. "We can take these to the Bat Tunnels, and record the steam pipes in infrared! That way we can add realistic infrared effects to VRRP world!"
Jesse rolled her eyes. "Now that's a project worth pursuing."
A smile spread over Baron's face. "Hey, that's not bad. We can play VRRP without actually playing VRRP!"
"Imagine my excitement," said Jesse.
"If you're doing that," said Leo, "how about if I bring along some ammonium nitrogen tri-iodide? I could throw it into the steam tunnels as a signal in case any cops or security guards come by."
Hammerston rumbled, "And what about those of us who are in those tunnels?"
Leo tried to look contrite. "I wouldn't throw it down if anyone was standing directly underneath," he promised.
"Aw, let him bring it," said Baron, always bored with safety considerations. He typed a few last-minute instructions into the computer, then held out his hand. Mitch handed him the goggles, which Baron tucked under his arm. "Celery?"
"Lettuce," the others responded.
It was nearly midnight when the four "Pubbers"--Mitch, Baron, Jesse, and Hammerston--crept down the dried bed of the Bat Stream toward the sage-covered mound that marked the Bat Tunnels. Leo had set out earlier, both to collect his ammonium nitrogen tri-iodide, and because he had to take the sidewalk. Mitch preferred to approach the tunnels from the so-called Bat Stream, because it meant the group didn't have to pass the police station, trying to look casual.
The Bat Tunnels were subterranean concrete corridors which housed the steam pipes from the experimental nuclear power generator. Southwest Tech was remote enough that "concerned citizens" hadn't yet shut the plant down--although they might have tried had they known the allure it held for college students. Year-round the pipes beckoned the adventurous--and the Pubbers were the sort who couldn't say no.
Access holes were placed about fifty yards apart on the long, sandy rise. Inside, the tunnels were barren; no insect or creeper could withstand the furnace environment. Four parallel pipes channeled the superhot steam from the plant. Each pipe wore a brightly colored insulating wrapper and was as big around as a man. The continuous roar of distant fans, ticking of pipes, and infrequent hiss of steam accentuated the feeling of danger. The Pubbers found it invigorating, and dropped in occasionally during the winter to cure a cold.
The manhole they were headed for lay in the shadow of the Engineering Building, where Leo could unobtrusively keep watch when he wasn't busy throwing down explosives on his friends. As the group neared the yellow cover, Leo rolled out from behind the building's big dumpster.
"No security guards," Leo whispered, "and no cops except on the street."
"Great." Baron flipped a few settings and handed the goggles to Leo. "Here, guard us."
Leo removed his glasses and donned the goggles eagerly. "Neat!" he said, turning his head in all directions.
Stooping, Baron inserted his fingers into the central holes on the access cover and pried up the lid.
Mitch was expecting either a shaft of light from the corridor below, or uniform blackness if the lights were off. Instead, in the blackness of the access tunnel, hung a disembodied, moonlike face. "Boo," it said.
Baron nearly dropped the manhole cover. He recovered immediately, then bellowed, "Dexter!"
Mitch shushed him, his own heart racing. He glanced around for anyone alerted by Baron's cry.
"Good thing we took all this trouble to creep up quietly," Jesse said between her teeth.
Cackling, Dexter climbed out of the hole. "Hot in there," he chuckled, wiping sweat from his pale brow. He grinned, looking more than ever like a chubby, blue-eyed imp with a curly blond beard.
Baron was still furious. "What were you doing in there?"
"Leo told me you were coming," Dexter said. "I wanted to join you."
"You wanted to scare us," said Mitch.
"Anticipating your reaction was a master stroke of inspiration. But I also wanted to test this." Dexter held out a metal tube that gleamed in the moonlight.
"What's that?" asked Hammerston. "A blowpipe?"
"It shoots popcorn," Dexter explained. "I wanted to try it out in the Bat Tunnels and see of the popcorn explodes from the heat."
"If you want exploding popcorn," said Leo, "you should let me coat the kernels with phosphorous and potassium chlorate."
"Not if I have to put them in my mouth," said Dexter.
"Well, you shouldn't be shooting in the Bat Tunnels anyway," said Mitch. "If you startled someone, they could run into a pipe."
Dexter bobbed his pale blond eyebrows. "That was the general idea."
"I'll throw you into the pipes," snarled Baron. "See how funny you think you are then."
Baron marched back to the manhole. From the purposeful way he descended the ladder, Mitch thought Dexter had better take the hint, and keep his blowgun in his pocket. Baron disappeared. From the gaping opening came the rumble of distant machinery.
Leo rolled up quietly, looking into the opening with his goggled head. Mitch, standing beside him, couldn't see a thing. Then Leo flicked his wrist, flinging a packet of white paper through the darkness. Mitch's eyes were dazzled by a purple-white flash that let off an echoing boom. Mitch seized Leo's wrist as a chemical smell stung his throat. "What are you doing?"
Leo grinned, unrepentant.
"Damn your ass, Leo!" Baron shouted up the manhole.
Mitch said to Leo, "I thought that was supposed to be our emergency signal."
"I had to make sure it would work, didn't I?" said Leo. "Don't worry, I waited until he was out of the way."
Mitch leaned into the hole. "You okay, Baron?"
"Leo had better be in real trouble the next time he does that," hollered Baron, "or he soon will be."
Leo shrugged happily. Seeing no more explosives in his hands, Mitch glided down the rungs. Cool night air rushed past him, drawn in by powerful fans. He sensed Baron's presence to his right, and heard the clicking of switches. "What's up?"
"The lights don't work."
"Blown fuse?"
"Probably."
Mitch helped Baron try different combinations of On and Off settings, while the rest of the party filed in. Eventually Jesse, Hammerston, and Dexter stood in a knot under the manhole, faces raised to the breeze rushing in from above.
Hammerston ran his flashlight beam along the wall. "If you can't get the lights to work, we can check for leaks with this."
"Did someone bring my goggles?" asked Baron.
Dexter snapped the goggles off his head and handed them over. Mitch passed them longingly to Baron, who held them, strap dangling, before his eyes. "Cool!" He bent toward the pipes, looking insectoid in the yellow gleam from the flashlight. "Hmph! I'll have to fix my color-conversion program to filter out visible light."
"Can I see?" asked Mitch.
Baron passed him the goggles. When Mitch slipped them on, the steam pipes turned into huge glowworms. The four parallel cylinders emitted a yellowish radiance, interrupted periodically by bright white where metal struts from the ceiling secured them. The pipes held a perfectly straight course for a hundred yards before executing a twenty-degree turn and eventually vanishing behind a distant wall. The cement walls were green with bluish patches, except for where Hammerston's light traveled. The roving beam turned whatever it touched into a weird conglomerate of colors--that must be what Baron wanted to fix.
"Can I have a turn?" Jesse said near his ear.
Mitch looked back. The assembled Pubbers appeared in hues of red and orange, with their clothes darker shades on top. He could see them so clearly, he was amazed when he removed the goggles and they reverted to dim outlines in the flashlight's glow. He handed the goggles to Jesse as the group moved forward, following Hammerston's light.
Mitch shuffled along in the rear, trying to see past the silhouettes of the others. The cement walls were stained brown in places from the occasional torrential downpour, but there was no current moisture that might indicate a leaky pipe. At one spot a tangle of brass pipes overhung the corridor; the obstruction was carefully spotted until the entire party was through.
The second manhole they came across did not have a set of lights, but the Pubbers lingered as they passed, lifting their faces to the coolness rushing in. They followed the tunnel around its gentle bend. By the time they arrived at the next manhole, Mitch's throat was baked dry and his lips were cracking. The group clustered around while Baron tried the light switches. Nothing.
"Well, that was fun," rasped Dexter.
"Did your popcorn pop?" asked Jesse.
"I don't think so," said Dexter. "Want me to put a kernel on a steam pipe so we can watch it?"
"I can see that on my stove any time," said Hammerston. "Right now I want to get out of the heat."
"Give me my goggles before you go," said Baron. "I want to get a clear shot of the corridor with no one in it."
Hammerston surrendered them. He had already started up the ladder when Baron, a little way down the hall, shouted, "Wait, Hammerston. Shine your light over this way."
When he did so, the others gasped. The beam revealed a newly riven cleft in the wall, where all should have been smooth concrete.
Mitch hurried forward. "What is it?"
Hammerston's light outlined a jagged passage heading off ninety degrees from the main corridor.
"It's a tunnel," said Baron. "Let's go look in it." He stepped into the sandy opening.
Jesse pushed past Mitch. "Be careful, my one!"
Baron made a face. "It's only a stupid hole in the wall."
"Jesse's right." Hammerston lumbered up and flickered his light inside the shaft. "The ground here is nothing but sand, and there's no support in that tunnel."
"Are you saying it could cave in on us?" asked Mitch.
"Basically, yeah."
Mitch had to think about that, as the creator of VRRP world was also a geology major and ought to know these things.
Baron was adamant. "Well I want to look in the tunnel." He stood just inside the opening as the flashlight played over the rough-cut walls. "Hammerston, do you really think this thing is unsafe?"
"I certainly wouldn't go in there."
"Aw, what do you know? It looks pretty solid." He thumped the ceiling, and a shower of dirt rained down.
"Come one, my one," said Jesse. "Leave it alone."
"This we then do," said Mitch, turning back toward the ladder.
"Hey," said Baron, "there's something glowing back there!"
Mitch perked up. "What? Where?"
"When Hammerston took his light away, I saw it. It's a faint, green light coming from around the bend."
Mitch craned his neck, but Hammerston and Dexter blocked his way to the opening. He could barely see Baron in the tunnel, with Jesse hovering just outside.
"Go ahead, Baron," said Dexter. "Get radiation poisoning if you want to."
"Get real," said Baron. "Who would put radioactive wastes in the Bat Tunnels?" He started down the shaft.
Jesse called, "What are you doing, my one?"
"Investigating."
"What if the tunnel caves in?"
"I am perfectly safe," Baron called, his voice deadened by the dirt walls. "I cannot think of anything more safe than being in a completely sterile, enclosed environment." The scuffling of his feet grew fainter. "Think of how much more dangerous it would be if I was standing in the street." There was a pause, then Baron invoked the most popular Jew.
"What is it?" called Mitch.
"It's an egg."
"Did he say egg'?" Dexter asked. Mitch shrugged.
"It's glowing green from a point near the center," Baron's muffled voice reported. "It has this translucent covering. It's about two feet long and is lying on a dirt shelf."
"Don't touch it!" Jesse cried.
"I'm not."
Dexter muttered, "So what is an egg doing in the Bat Tunnels?" He glanced over his shoulder toward Mitch, and screamed.
Jesse immediately shrieked in response, then flattened against the wall as Dexter bolted. Mitch spun around. Hammerston's flashlight beam hit a wall of golden fur not five feet past Mitch. The beam followed it up, and up, to a pair of round yellow eyes that stared down at them.
The thing wasn't moving. It didn't seem to have moved at all after Dexter's discovery. It stood blocking the tunnel with the immensity of its body. Mitch's skin crawled when he wondered how closely the thing might have been following them in the dark. It looked vaguely like a golden ape, eight feet tall and hairy, with oddly soft yellow eyes and powerful-looking, leathery fingers. Points of light glanced off the short, black nails. There were no pupils in its eyes.
Sounds of frantic scrambling issued from the tunnel. Baron poked his goggled head out, looked around, then pulled it back in. The next instant he bounded from the tunnel in a spray of sand. Spinning to put his back to the pipes, he faced the creature, half-crouched. The beast didn't move.
Everyone held still. Dexter whispered, "Let's get the hell out of here!"
"Wait a minute." Baron straightened slowly. "It's not doing anything." He peered into the creature's face, which was largely a hairy knob with an eye set to either side of it. The top of its head brushed the ceiling.
"You were just in its nest, Baron," hissed Dexter. "We should get out before it gets pissed."
Still, no one made a move to go. The large eyes were softly compelling. Fine strands of fur glinted in the light.
Baron tapped his fingers to his chest. "Man."
"Baron." Mitch squared off so he and Baron blocked the creature's path to the others. "We really ought to leave it alone."
"No, I think I can communicate with it."
"You think perhaps it's an English-speaking ape?"
Baron spread his hands. "We won't hurt you. Friends."
"Speak for yourself," came Dexter's faint whisper.
"Friends," Baron repeated. "Do you understand?"
A distant boom rolled down the hall; the pipes reflected a flicker of light. The beast turned and fled--back the way they had come, in the direction of the explosion. Mitch felt his insides constrict. "Leo," he said.
Beside him, Baron bolted after the creature. Hammerston crushed Mitch against the wall as he pushed past, pounding in Baron's wake. Left in total darkness, Mitch said over his shoulder, "Dexter, Jesse, get above ground fast! There might be more of those things down here."
"What about Baron?" Jesse wailed.
"The ladder just past me comes out near the Music Building," said Mitch. "You can call for help there if you want to."
"Aren't you coming?"
"I'm going after Baron. Leo might need us."
He turned and sprinted into the dark. Ahead of him he saw Hammerston's bobbing flashlight beam. Of Baron and the giant creature, he could see no sign.
Baron led the chase down the Bat Tunnels, so he was the one who nearly killed himself on the overhanging pipes. With a split second to react, he threw out his hands and twisted. "Look out!"
Hammerston smashed into him anyway, and the two of them fell in a heap. Baron shook his head twice, to clear it. Behind him came the rapid patter of approaching footsteps. Still tangled with Hammerston, Baron whipped his head around, only to see a human shape resolve itself in his goggles.
Mitch ducked under the overhanging pipes. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," said Baron, extricating his foot from beneath Hammerston's arm.
"Let's get out of this heat," Hammerston panted.
"Right." Baron reseated his goggles, which had been jarred loose by the impact. "Wasn't there a manhole just past this thing?"
Hammserston swung his light around; a metal ladder gleamed. They raced for it. Mitch reached it first and bounded up the rungs. Baron stood below him, holding onto the railing as he caught his breath. Metal grated on concrete. Suddenly Mitch writhed and let go. Baron barely snatched his hand away in time.
Mitch crouched on the floor, bent double. Baron stooped to his side. "What is it?"
Mitch hugged his hands to his chest. "Something stepped on my fingers when I lifted the lid."
Baron looked up. Above him, leathery fingers slid the manhole cover firmly into place. Baron pulled Mitch to his feet; together the three flew to the next manhole. This time Baron scrambled up the ladder. He pressed on the cover, only to feel it lifted away from his fingers.
"Next one!" he called, dropping back into the heat.
His goggle advantage allowed Baron to beat Mitch to the next shaft again. Cautiously he felt for resistance, found none, and heaved off the lid. He popped his head out, and was startled by the touch of the wind. He glanced around. The infrared goggles showed something furry crawling into the manhole they had just left.
"It's in the tunnel!" Baron scrambled out. Mitch popped up behind him. Baron stared toward the Engineering Building. They had overshot it by one manhole. He couldn't see Leo, just the big dumpster where he'd been hiding.
"Trouble," said Mitch.
He was looking into the manhole. Baron stepped to his side and looked down. Hammerston lay sprawled at the foot of the ladder. His dropped flashlight rolled back and forth in an arc.
"He was on the rungs," said Mitch, "then just let go."
Baron thought quickly as Mitch started to climb back in. No point in one of them going after Leo; both of them would be needed to get Hammerston out. Unwilling to do nothing, Baron cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered, "Leo, get the hell out of here!"
Something moved in the shadow of the Engineering Building. For a moment Baron thought Leo had heard him, then he processed what he was seeing: two hulking shapes, wheeling Leo's chair out from behind the dumpster. Leo slumped forward, head on his chest.
Baron grabbed Mitch's shoulder. "They got Leo!" Mitch didn't respond. "Mitch?"
His friend was frozen in place, foot still on the first rung. Just below Mitch's feet, a fur-covered face looked up. Things were starting to get ... hairy.
Baron glanced back toward the Engineering Building. The creatures had stopped. One of them pointed a small box in his direction.
"Down!" Baron dropped to the ground, pulling Mitch with him. Mitch blinked rapidly, then froze.
Suspicious sounds came from the manhole. Glancing in, Baron saw the creature below start to pull Hamerston away from the ladder.
Enough was enough. "Damn its furry ass," he said, and jumped on its back.
Apparently the creature had not expected him. For all its bulk, Baron knocked it easily to the ground. Unfortunately, he didn't knock it out, for the next moment it threw itself backward to slam him against the wall. Baron's breath left in a hurry.
Then Mitch dropped in and started pummeling the creature somewhere around the midsection. It kicked at Mitch and missed, hopping absurdly to keep its balance. Baron would have laughed if he'd had any breath left. Mitch dodged a ridiculously off-target swing by a double-thumbed paw, and came on again.
But now Baron had his breath back. He drove his shoulder into the creature where the kidneys would be on a man. With a grunt, the creature fell to its knees. Mitch socked it in the face, and it socked Mitch in the face. Mitch landed on his back several feet up the hall.
Baron drew back a fist, but suddenly became dizzy. He
swayed and put a hand to the wall. His oversized opponent collapsed, narrowly
missing Hammerston's limp form. The world grew dim. The last thing Baron
thought as he toppled forward was how fortunate he was to have this wide
furry back to land on.
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