WAR: NNPack - It's Been A Very Long Time (1/3) 
By: Susan B., Ang, Boomer, Luicia, Rainey, Casey, KC, & NNPack 
Time: Approx. 4:30 - 7:00 AM, November 8th, 2004 
Place: NNP HQ, Airport, etc. Nick's Bldg used
with permission - thanks to the Knighties 

- - - - - - - - - -

"It could have been worse," Soulseeker muttered aloud as she stood
next  to the luggage carousel. "I could have had a dream like the last
time, a  dream featuring Lacroix wearing a tight dress made from a
Canadian flag." She stood entranced, carefully watching the luggage
weave its way along the belt, through the crowd, around and around and
around. "It's been  almost four years..."

"Granted, it's a little slow, but..." an older, white haired woman
next  to her interrupted.

Soulseeker spun around, instantly recognizing the retired librarian.
"Brennan! How on earth did you drive from Boston faster than I flew in 
from Halifax! Never mind. I know. Airport lineups. Have you been to
the  Theatre? How did you know I'd be here?"

Brennan smiled. "I pulled into the Duty Free at the border and called 
the Theatre. Eva, who for some reason I don't want to know insisted we
call  her 'The Blood Donor', or TBD for short, told me that you should
be landing  in about an hour. I simply took a little detour up the
427."

"I'm glad you did," Soulseeker replied, as she suddenly turned
sharply, lunged forward, and hauled up a big black suitcase from the
carousel.  She slammed the overstuffed bag down on the floor.

"Ouch! That was my foot!" Brennan shrieked.

"Sorry," Soulseeker muttered as she once again leaned forward, a
little  more gracefully this time. She scooped up a big grey plastic
container with  the words "LIVE LOBSTER" plastered all over it in big
red letters. "Don't  want this to get past me!" she exclaimed.

Luggage safely in hand, Soulseeker walked while Brennan limped out of 
the airport. As they passed the taxi stand outside, they caught sight
of Michelle, Lisa, and Pat, along with a very pretty redhead that
neither Brennan nor Soul had met before. "Hey!" Brennan shouted,
"anyone need a ride?"

Michelle glanced around at all the luggage. "Sure do," she answered. 
"If we can fit all of this and all of us into your car."

Lisa immediately introduced the shy newcomer, Fallon, to Brennan and 
Soul.

* * *

Rolling along the highway, Ang caught her first good glimpse of the CN 
Tower and recounted the past 28 hours of her life.  After arriving,
finally,  in Fargo, North Dakota, she remembered swiping a hand
wearily across her  eyes. She had found parking without too much
difficulty outside the Space  Aliens Bar & Grill, which surprised her
a bit - usually, it was one of the  busiest places in town, their food
notorious for being some of the best in the  US. She then checked on
Angel, her snake, to make sure the pint-sized  generator she stashed
in the trunk to run the pet's heating pad hadn't run out of juice yet,
then stuffed a few treats in her cat, Shadow's, carrier, to  keep him
quiet.  The treats were laced with a vet-prescribed mild sedative,  to
ensure his usually wild meowing anytime she put him in the car
wouldn't drive her bonkers on the long drive from Washington State
clear across  to Toronto.  With luck, he'd be too blissed-out to
notice he'd been  transported until she was already there.

She recalled entering the popular establishment, her eyes taking a 
moment to adjust to the dimmer lighting, then  immediately sweeping
her gaze over  what she could see of the interior.  Recognizing Emily
from the last war,  she grinned to herself and hurried over to the
other woman's table.   "Emily! It's so good to see you again."

Emily then rose from the table to greet her with a warm hug.  "Good to 
see you again, too."  Emily then turned to introduce her table
companion.   "Ang, this is Lerie.  Lerie, this is Ang; she'll be
driving us up."

She had moved around the table to greet the other woman with a warm
hug  as well. "Nice to meet you, Lerie," she said to the woman with
the  honey-brown hair and hazel eyes.  I'm always glad to meet other
NNPackers."  She  then took one of the empty seats just as the
waitress came to take  everyone's orders; a quick perusal of the menu,
and she knew what she wanted, so ordered easily with the other women. 
"Thanks for agreeing to accompany  me up to Toronto," she continued,
once the waitress had departed.  "I just  miss the city, and want to
see it again.  It's been a long time since the  last war, and I kinda
miss the theatre."

Much comfortable chatter had ensued during their meal, while the three 
got to know each other better.  After they were finished, Emily went
to  retrieve her gecko, Kitt, and the three went out to the car,
piling their  luggage atop the rack on the roof of the 1974 Ford LTD. 
They stowed Kitt's  tank beside Angel's, then stowed Kitt in the front
seat between the driver  and passenger, her little plastic travel
carrier taking up hardly any room  on the long, cushioned bench. After
a short moment or two of debate, it  was decided that Emily would ride
up front with her; and Lerie, quite good-naturedly, agreed to take the
backseat for herself, minus the  small floor space Shadow's carrier
was taking up.  She had  popped the glove  box open before taking off,
grabbing a small blue, green and red box from  inside and handing it
to Emily with a grin.

"I remember your cat allergy from the last war, so I stocked up on 
Claritin for you," she had explained.  "Don't want you getting sick
when we're supposed to be having fun."  With that, she pulled out,
navigating her  land barge through the streets of Fargo, then headed
north towards Canada,  and their anticipated vacation in Toronto.

And now here they were. The three ladies had arrived very, very late - 
or early, depending on your time sense - in Toronto. Deciding to find
a  hotel near the theatre, Ang pointed the car in the direction of the
NNPack hangout, determined to find a place to sleep.  She'd decided to 
marathon drive, once they got close, so they'd have no trouble
sleeping once  they got there.  All three women were wide awake,
gazing out the windows at the  city as Ang made her way through the
quiet, predawn streets, the low growl  of the Ford's engine seeming to
reverberate off the silent buildings around  them. As they drew closer
to the theatre, however, they noticed there was a  bit too much
activity for the building to be deserted.  Casting questioning glances
towards both other ladies, Ang drove slowly around the building  to
the parking lot in the back.  What was supposed to be a deserted lot, 
save for the multicoloured school bus the NNPackers use during wartime
to  get around in, contained several cars and other N&N'ers already
present.   The three piled out of Ang's car, heading for the others
they saw in the  lot, determined to get an explanation of why in the
world so many people  decided to visit the theatre at the same time.

"This is too incredible a coincidence," Emily stated to Ang and Lerie 
in an undertone as they moved towards the theatre.  "Sounds like what 
happened last war.  There can't be another war brewing.... can there?"

As they neared the doors, a big SUV pulled alongside and the driver
got  out. She immediately came round to the rear passenger door and
opened it,  and a large dog leaped out. Moments later she opened the
front passenger door  and helped Rainey out of the vehicle..

"Rainey!" Emily shouted.

"Tut, get away," Rainey's caregiver cautioned. "Let me get her settled 
down inside, and then she's all yours." The woman passed a note to
Emily,  "This is the number where I'll be staying in Toronto. Call me
when she's  ready to go home, or if you have any problems."

Emily, Ang and Lerie followed Rainey and her caregiver into the 
Theatre. Once her caregiver left, Rainey relayed the mysterious events
that led  her to Toronto from Oregon.

"I  woke up a couple of nights ago with my dream interrupted because
my  cat, Salem, jumped up on top of my diaphragm. The very heavy black
cat was telling me something...IT'S TIME TO GO TO CANADA!  Well, the
cat didn't  say that, but my dream did. Moments later Russell, my very
shy, grey  striped cat,  jumped into my bed and buried himself in the
covers." She paused  for a moment, "His antics of rustling underneath
the sheets are what earned  him his name," she said.

"After that, I went over to the phone and called my caregiver, Luna.  
Luna knows I'm psychic, and paid attention to what I said. 'We need to
go to Toronto, Luna,' I pleaded. 'Don't ask me why, we just do.' I
told her  we will be bringing Salem, Russell, and Morgan. Then I told
her, 'yes, I  know Morgan's a big dog, and it's hard to fit the Irish
Wolfhound / Golden Retriever mix in the car, but you know she won't
let us leave her  behind. Besides, she can tell when I'm about to go
into seizure'. Luna replied, 'Okay, Rainey. I've always wanted to
visit Toronto, so if you've got  the meds, I've got the SUV'."

"She was thrilled with the thought of driving to Toronto." Rainey 
laughed, "okay, she had to drive because of my problems with
temperature  changes, but she still got to drive. Besides, there were
a lot of people she could  see on the way."

"We were ready the next day. I was driven to get to Toronto - and not 
just by Luna. The cats were curled up in back, and Morgan was sleeping
on my feet. We were off to see where my dream was going to take us."

"And here you are at the Theatre," said Mary, who along with Barbara 
and Mel had just joined the group after getting out of an airport
limo. After a  few minutes of hugs and hellos, Susan and TBD also
appeared for a quick greeting, before collectively yanking on Mel's
arms and steering her  into the auditorium.

"Where are you rushing off to at five in the morning?" Barbara asked.

"Gotta make an airport pick-up," TBD explained as they rushed towards 
the stage enroute to the back door. Within seconds they were out in
the  parking lot and climbing into the Nick&Natpack's now somewhat
dilapidated bus.  TBD stuck the key in the ignition and turned it, but
nothing happened.  "Damn," she cursed, glancing out the window at the
other cars in the lot.  "There's nothing here big enough!" She jumped
up out of the seat and pushed her  way through the door, the other two
right behind her. "We'll take my  car!"she yelled.

"What, and put The Bruce on the roof?" Susan asked.

"What's The Bruce?" Mel wondered aloud, never having heard the term 
back home in Chicago.

"A very large yellow dog with a big white patch on his chest," TBD 
replied, "and I have a much better idea. Come on!"

They tumbled into TBD's small beige sedan and headed south towards
Lakeshore. TBD glanced over at Mel, "The Royal Agricultural Winter 
Fair," she whispered mischievously. "Lots of big vehicles there.
Honking big pick-up trucks, trailers." Within minutes they made a
right turn into  the Fair's grassy parking lot next to the CNE.
"Susan," she said, " you  take the car back to the Theatre while Mel
and I head up to the airport."

"Do you think you can handle one of these?" Mel asked, glancing 
nervously around the parking lot.

"As long as I don't have to back up," TBD replied. "You look over on 
that side. Try to find something unlocked, or at least without an
alarm  system. Find one with a horse trailer attached." The two women
scurried off in opposite directions.

"Found One!" Mel yelled out a minute later.

After running over to where Mel stood, next to a big, black, extended 
cab pick-up, TBD walked around the black, wood sided trailer hitched
to its rear. She peered through the slats and then looked up. "It's
very  clean," she remarked, "but it doesn't seem very tall. It must be
for ponies."

"Ponies. Sheesh, " Mel groaned. "It's for cattle for crying out loud!"

"Horses, cows, what's the difference." TBD skipped back to the cab and
pulled open the driver's door. "And how convenient that the keys are
in plain sight!," she happily declared.

WAR: NNPack - It's Been A Very Long Time (2/3) By: Susan B., Ang,
Boomer, Luicia, Rainey, Casey, KC, & NNPack Time: Approx. 4:30 - 7:00
AM, November 8th, 2004 Place: NNP HQ, Airport, etc. Nick's Bldg used
with permission - thanks to the Knighties -------------------

Standing before the carousel waiting for her flight's luggage to drop,
Luicia stopped reading her paperback and stood for a moment to think. 
Here she was in a foreign airport, in a foreign country, about to meet
up face-to-face with people she had only ever met on the internet.
Talk  about living life on the edge. Just yesterday she was back home
in Ireland.   "No weather again," she had pondered as she stared out
the large windows of  her college library at the grey November sky.
She was supposed to be  working on another essay due for the end of
the month but something was bugging her..something wasn't right.

She had glanced around at her classmates, a few of them had decided to 
work in the back area of the computer lounge so they could rely on
each  other's help as well as stop each other from slacking off on the
Internet. 'One  peek won't kill me,' she had mused as she logged on to
her Yahell account.

A few minutes later, her Inbox was displayed in front of her.full of 
goodies and treats as she waited for the next bunch of emails. Her
friends  across the water kept her up to date on the latest goings on
between the two lovebirds...it was just a shame that there were so
many barriers  between them. 'Well hopefully Nat will have had another
brainwave' Luicia hoped  as she opened another Toronto update. It was
a simple message, but the implications were staggering. It read,

"Get Here NOW. Something's Up. - Soulseeker"

She had grabbed her floppys and jacket and launched herself out of her
terminal, heading for the exit. It was 2pm. The next Dublin bus from 
Dundalk would leave in 90 minutes.plenty of time to pack.

Her cell phone in hand, she pressed the redial button. The noise of an
airplane meant that her boyfriend, Common, was free to talk. " Hi
babe!  I'm just on a tea break." He excused himself. She knew what
break he was  really taking.

"Com', I'm sorry but I'm in a rush. I need you to get me to Toronto." 
She could hear him coughing on his tobacco smoke as he processed what
she  said.

"What you mean 'get you to Toronto'. What the heck's in Toronto!" It 
was a good thing he loved her because if he didn't, she knew he would
be  pretty miffed at her dictating orders at him.

She remembered taking a deep breath, and while crossing the main road 
over to her apartment, she relayed the message she received from
Canada. Her faction leader was an extraordinarily elusive person, and
to get a  personal cry for help from her was simply... unheard of.

"And what has that to do with you?" he had asked. He didn't want her
to leave him there while she was gone for who knew how long.

"Baby," she replied, "I promised a while ago that if there were any 
problems or hassles or developments, I'd help them out. Now there's a
*BIG* development... I don't know what it is. but they need everyone
there to  help it work out. I have to go so can you get me a flight?"

"You'd have to fly to Germany first," he had said, obviously hoping 
that would make her change her mind; but she didn't like taking
detours for  any reason or for anything, especially when it was
important.

"Don't start Common. I'm going. I've said so." She could hear him 
tutting on the other end of the line.

"Fine," he had finally conceded "Get down here as soon as you can, and 
I'll get you on the next flight I can. Ok?" Sometimes her stubbornness
could  be as annoying as her childish charm when she wanted something.

"Thank you Baby!!! I promise I'll make this up to you!!" She had blown 
a kiss down the phone to him, ended the call, and unlocked her hall
door.

Sitting in the business section of the Germany bound plane, she had 
prayed that she packed enough clothes, especially warm clothes. She
had never travelled beyond the UK in the winter months and from what
she had been told, Toronto could be pretty cold. She remembered
closing her eyes and drifting off as she began to imagine the Theatre
and all of the others waiting there.

The sound of a screaming baby behind her snapped Luicia from her 
thoughts. She scooped her last piece of luggage off the belt, then
flipped open  her novel to finish off the page before setting out.

Laila and Boomer were hurriedly making their way through the crowds in 
the terminal. "Gee, this is not a very auspicious start," muttered
Boomer ,  "... missing our flight was really bad luck. Damned traffic!
Maybe next time  we should just fly out of National or Dulles instead
of schlepping up to  BWI to save a few bucks!"

"Yeah," Laila agreed, "but since we were able to catch another flight 
only an hour later, I think that stroke of luck cancels out any bad
vibes  from missing our original flight. And, besides, I'm looking
forward to  meeting up with all the other Nick and Natpackers. It's
been a few years since we  last saw everyone."

"I can't believe it's been almost four years since the last time we
all gathered together in Toronto," Boomer replied. "Oh, aren't you
supposed  to be meeting a man about a bird somewhere?"

"An owl," Laila gently corrected her traveling companion, "I'll be 
picking him up from my uncle here in Toronto."

As they neared the baggage claim belts, Laila stopped suddenly.
"Look!"  she exclaimed, pointing to a solitary redhead surrounded by
bags and  holding a copy of 'Intimations of Mortality'. "That must be
a fellow FKer."

As Boomer looked over in the direction that Laila was pointing, she 
realized that the lone traveler resembled the description of another
Nick and Natpacker who was expected to be flying in - 5'9" tall,
shoulder length  red hair, wearing red rimmed glasses and flared
jeans. "That must be  Luicia," she surmised. "Let's see if she needs a
lift. We can share a cab to the theatre."

"Luicia!" the two yelled in unison. Luicia looked up from her book, 
startled at the sight of the two women waving and yelling as they made
their way toward her.

"Hi, I'm Laila, and this is Boomer," Laila said as she held out her 
hand. "You must be Luicia".

"Yes, I am, " she replied. "It's great to meet you."

"We were wondering if you'd like to share a cab with us," Boomer 
inquired. "We're heading directly to the theatre as soon as we
retrieve our bags, speaking of which I think I just spied Barney," 
Boomer added as she  rushed over to the belt to claim the big purple
suitcase that her boyfriend  had not-so-nicely dubbed "Barney" on a
recent trip to Italy.

* * *

In the meantime, Brennan had finally arrived at the theatre with Soul, 
Lisa, Pat, Fallon, and Michelle. No sooner had they literally pried 
themselves out of Brennan's car when Soulseeker started giving orders.
"Fallon," she  said, "you can check around for Nitenurse and introduce
yourself. Get  acquainted with the theatre, and with the first aid
station. Hopefully we won't  need to use it for anything more than
headaches."

"Injections and enemas are my specialty," the nursing student advised
enthusiastically.

Soul winced. "Like I said, hopefully, we won't need to use it..."

Fallon ran off towards the Lobby, eager to see what the inside of the 
place looked liked. Lisa, Pat, and Michelle soon followed, their arms
laden  with luggage and the books that Brennan had decided to bring.
Brennan was  eager to create a new, and organized, Library that
contained something more  than wrestling magazines, supernatural
tomes, and paperback romance novels.

Back at the airport, TBD was wishing that the "borrowed" truck and 
trailer weren't so conspicuous as she circled the arrivals level for
the sixth  time. Finally, on this go-round, she caught a glance of a
very tall redhead  she hadn't met before, and a very big yellow dog
that she'd once seen  photos of. "That must be Luicia," she suggested.

"Oh yeah. there's Carrie," TBD muttered. "I see Laila and Boomer too.
I  didn 't realize they were arriving at the same time." TBD pulled
over into  the reserved bus spot, hoping that the irritating 'move
along, move along,' parking police person was out of range.

Mel stuck her head out of the passenger side window, "Anyone need a 
lift!"

Minutes later, they were loaded up and on their way, five women in the 
cab; the luggage, Carrie, and her dog in the trailer.

It was still dark and although rush-hour was looming, it hadn't quite 
begun. It didn't take long for the group to get downtown; but once
there, TBD started to wonder about what to do with the truck and
trailer. They  couldn't take it back to the theatre; but with all the
luggage, they couldn't  park too far away either. It had to be
someplace within walking distance.

"Uh, I think you missed our exit," Boomer announced as the truck
roared passed the Spadina off-ramp.

"I'm taking the next one," TBD explained, an odd-looking grin
plastered  on her face. She gave the truck a little more gas,
relishing the power  after driving a four-banger for so long. After
whipping around the tight  Bay/York exit, she headed east on
Lakeshore, then north, then east again, then  south, confusing
everyone until she pulled in the parking lot of Nick's loft.

"Isn't that?" Luicia sputtered.

"Sure is," Mel giggled excitedly, "this is the first time I've seen
it.

"Me too," Luicia sighed, "it's so surreal".

"Shhhhh," Laila whispered. "You can bet that if  there are N&Ners in 
town, there are Knighties in town too."

TBD quietly pulled the rig alongside the fence at the far side of the 
lot. Leaving the keys in the cab, everyone slipped out of the truck
and  crept around to the back of the trailer, praying that The Bruce
wouldn't  start barking. The opened the doors and a disshevelled
Carrie tumbled out on  the ground along with her dog.  "I need a Bud,"
she groaned miserably. The others helped her to her feet before
gathering up the luggage. Moments  later they had the trailer closed
up and had begun their trek to the theatre  on foot.

"Can I make a quick stop at my uncle's place along the way?" Laila 
asked the crowd. "I want to pick up Sophia, my new owl."

"You have an owl?" Mel asked.

"Yes," Laila replied with a hint of excitement. "She's snowy white - 
like the one Harry Potter has, if you've ever seen that movie."

It wasn't long before six women, one large dog, one huge owl, and a
lot  of luggage, arrived at the theatre.

* * *

"There's something really wrong with a country that doesn't let you
buy  beer at the grocery store," Carrie complained.

"A province," Soul corrected her, "it's not like that all across 
Canada. Besides, you can get your suds delivered if your order's large
enough."

"Oh, it'll be large enough," Carrie declared as she darted off to 
Soul's office to use the phone.

Soulseeker called for everyone's attention. "You have two minutes to 
say your hellos, " she announced. "Then meet me in the Auditorium so
we can figure out what we know, and discuss what we don't."

"First things first," Nitenurse stated with some authority. "I want to 
check out the viability of the first aid kit." She was  fairly certain
that  at least the aspirin would be long past its expiry date. She
arrived at  Soul's office to find Carrie hanging up the phone. "Hi
Carrie! How was your  trip from North Carolina?"

"Great! Out of all the times I've been to Toronto, this was the first 
time I not only flew first class - but I didn't get hassled at
Customs!"

"Oh?" Nitenurse said, as she tugged the big metal first aid kit off a 
low shelf and started rifling through its contents.

"Yeah. You know I intended to bring The Bruce. Well, it all started 
when I couldn't get a doggie crate big enough for him to fly cargo so
I put a harness around him, you know, like a seeing eye dog." She
paused for a moment before continuing. "No one even asked me if I was
blind," she explained. "I didn't offer any explanation. They just
assumed. Anyway,  the guy sharing our seat in coach eventually got
tired of eating Bruce's  tail, so we were upgraded to first class!"

"That's, uh, interesting," Nitenurse remarked. "I was already on my
way  up from Texas via Amtrak to visit friends in Detroit when Soul
called me.  Trust me, passing through Customs in the Detroit Tunnel is
waaaaay better  than the Toronto Airport. I called my friends right
away and cancelled, then  hopped on Via Rail from Windsor to Toronto."

Lisa, accompanied by her two rambunctious dogs, Hermione, the
Akita/Australian/Shepherd mix, and Nikki, a border collie/lab mix, 
suddenly poked her head in the doorway and shouted to Nitenurse and
Carrie, "You  guys better get out of there," she warned them, "Soul's
getting antsy."

* * *

With everyone now sitting in the auditorium, Soul trotted up the
center aisle to the stage, stopping for a minute to admire the
gorgeous "Nick&Nat-in-front-of-the-Fireplace" theatre curtain. She
turned to  face her audience. "Has anyone seen Stacy, Casey, or KC?,"
she asked,  momentarily wondering if she could say that three times
really fast. No sooner had  the words left her lips when Stacy rushed
breathless into the room.

"Sorry I'm late," Stacy apologized profusely. "My plane was delayed. I 
may be a werepanther, but Toronto's too far for me to run through the 
woods!"

A small shriek and large thump suddenly emanated from the direction 
Stacy had just come in from.  "What in the name of Rallos is going
on?!" a perturbed female voice shouted. Walking into the room, Casey
looked  around in confusion.  "Um...where am I? This isn't the Plane
of  Tranquility..." She stopped when she saw the assembled N&NPackers. 
"Oh my god! It's a  War, isn't it?  I don't know of any other magic,
except maybe that damned halfling mischief maker Bristlebane, that
could get me from one reality  to another. One second I'm in the Plane
of Air after a successful fight  against Xegony, the guild leader
calls for a teleport...and then I'm here..."

A collective "Huh?" rang out and Casey, now trying desperately to 
retreat behind Stacy, was bumped by another Nick&Natpacker coming up
the rear.

"That's nothing!" KC gushed. "I was surfing the internet for the best
airfare from Reno when the monitor started to shake! An incredibly 
powerful pressure enveloped me - I felt like I was being shrunk and
pulled all  at the same time. I felt myself breaking down into
molecules, I felt my own molecules being sucked into my computer!"

"Watching too much Star Trek," Barbara muttered to the general 
agreement of those around her.

KC shook her head and continued no less enthusiastically, "Next thing 
you know, I was popping out of someone else's computer. I heard
something  fall and crash on the floor and a sweet spicy fragrance
filled the air. I  looked down to see a broken perfume bottle. I
looked around the room - tiled  walls, hard floor, stainless steel.
Everything was so cold... yet so  familiar." She furtively glanced
around her audience, "It was Nat's morgue!" she  exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah," Pat said, totally unconvinced. "And what did Nat think of 
you just popping in there like that."

"Oddly enough, she wasn't there," KC replied, "and stranger still, the 
place looked quickly abandoned."

"What do you mean?" Fallon asked.

"She's putting one over on you, Fallon," Lerie said. "She probably 
hitched a ride with one of her husband's truck driver friends!"

KC ignored Lerie and answered Fallon's question. "It's probably 
nothing," she said, "only that a cup of coffee and a full carton of
chow mein  were sitting on her desk... the lights were on but no one
was home."

Soulseeker waited patiently, all the while blessing KC with one of the
sternest stares she was capable of. "It could have been much worse,
you know," she finally interrupted. "Nick, Nat, Lacroix, Schanke, the
whole  lot of them could have all dissolved into mini-masses of
molecules. Or  shrunk down to 12" tall versions of their former
selves.

"Wow, a 12" tall Lacroix!" Carrie laughed, her mind bubbling with
possibilities. She suddenly started singing in her best Perry Como
impersonation,

"Catch a small Lacroix and put him in your pocket, Never let him get
away, Catch a small Lacroix and put him in your pocket, Save him for a
sunny day"

The Addicts in the room didn't seem very enthusiastic about the idea, 
and looked almost ready to thump Carrie.

Michelle nudged Susan, "I bet you'd have lots of fun with all those 
episode- oriented FK doll clothes you made."

Obviously annoyed, Soulseeker smacked her shoe hard on the wood floor.
"Excuse me," she said, much louder than necessary. "Do any of you even 
want to know WHY you're here?" The room was instantly silent and Soul 
continued, "Apparently some hidden text was found on the Blackwing
Script."

"DIDN'T ANYONE BURN THAT THING YET!", Susan rudely interrupted, making 
a mental note to speak with those keepers of FK props, the Diehards.

Soulseeker took on her infamous Borg-Queen expression and manner, "I 
brought lobster," she said, "and if you don't SHUT UP, you're not
getting any."  She paused for a moment that, to some people, felt much
longer. "To  continue, I've heard a rumour that the hidden text on the
script might point to a  cure for vampirism."

Everyone gasped, the darker N&Ners in horror, the lighter N&Ners in 
glee.

"Apparently Vachon translated the text and discovered a cryptic 
reference to a large carved rock that contains 'the cure for the
disease that bites viciously like a wolf in winter and often kills.'
This rock is  supposedly somewhere in Southern Ontario, and the
'disease' could be vampirism!"

"Oh *thanks* a whole helluvalot, Vachon" shouted Laila, with firm nods 
of agreement from Stacy, KC, Luicia, and Lerie; and a slight nod of 
agreement from Lisa.

"I've always liked Vachon," the others merrily chided in.

"Southern Ontario's a big place with lots of rocks," Mary remarked.

"Can hives kill you?" Pat asked, "Hives feel as vicious as a wolf bite 
in winter."

"Have you ever been bitten by a wolf in winter?" Brennan asked her.

"Oh, this is going to be a real great couple of weeks," Soul mumbled. 
She cast a look at TBD, "You live in Mississauga. Have you heard
anything  about this?"

TBD squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. "Nothing in The Mississauga 
News about it," she replied, a little more sarcastically than she had 
intended.

Soul then looked at Susan, "Don't you go to the reservation for cheap
smokes."

"Yeah," Susan replied, "DK's. But I go to Six Nations. The
Mississaugas  of New Credit First Nation are a little further away,
but there were once several bands of Mississaugas. Who knows if
they're the right ones?"

"It was a planned shopping mall that stirred things up, wasn't it?" 
Lerie asked.

"And the planned shopping mall was probably fairly close to Toronto,"
Barbara offered.

Susan nodded, "And a couple of hundred years ago the Mississaugas of 
the Credit, now The Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, were
10  minutes down the road from where I live, and probably the closest
band to  Toronto."

Soulseeker made a leadership decision. "Then I think we should focus
on them," she said.

--- The End-