>I'm ready for part 5 whenever you've got it!
Draft 1 is attached. It's short, and no big action, but it does keep things
SK connected.
>"Accidents are conspiricies we don't know about." -Sensei McGee
Like that. I should use that or something like it for the episode where Manx
starts using up his lives like crazy.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I'm glad that you don't think it needs a
major gutting.

B.C.N.U.
Paul Kemner
The Tortie Papers - Part Five - 
I Spell It MegaKat and You Spell It MegaCat 
by Paul Kemner - pkemner@bright.net

"I'm in the office less, and enjoying it more, since Tortie came to 
town." Snowflak had been skeptical of Tortie's suggestion that she 
visit every small business in MegaKat City. But the strategy had been 
paying off! Oh, maybe 75% said that they couldn't afford to buy ad 
space, but the remaining 25% started to add up when you spent most 
of your day at it. Is there was a kat with more schemes and ideas than 
Tortie? If so, Snowflak had never heard of her! Even if some of the 
schemes were duds, the successes started to add up, just like this 
advertising blitz. 

Tortie had said that the Trib was a small business, and that Snowy 
would have a lot in common with the other small-biz kats. Again, she 
was right. Snowy was actually starting to look foreward to talking 
shop with her prospective customers, because they shared the same 
problems. 

This afternoon Snowflak was covering a block in an industrial area. 
When she was done, she'd mark it off on her map and drive to a 
different part of town, so she wouldn't be visiting too many of the 
same sort of business. 

This last place seemed to be some sort of junkyard. Not a great 
prospect, but she had been learning that you never could tell. A big 
sign said 'Megacat Salvage Yard', and Snowy had to supress her 
newspaper-kat's distaste for bad spelling. It would put the place ahead 
of the 10,000 businesses that started with 'Megakat' in the phone 
book, so that was probably the reason. 

She parked her car where she hoped it wouldn't be mistaken for 
salvage, and walked to the door. They apparently ran a body shop and 
auto-repair service here, too, because there was a sign for "Jake & 
Chance Garage". Maybe that is what she should concentrate on. 

Nobody was in sight, but she could hear a tv in the back. "Hello- Is 
anybody here?" 

A kat poked his head around a corner- "Oh, hi- be with you in a sec." 
The tv switched off. After a moment, two kats came out, jockeying for 
position and probably standing a little straighter than usual. 

"Hello there." purred the larger one. "My name's Chance Furlong. 
Got a problem I can help you with?" 

"As a matter of fact, Chance, you can. I'm Snowflak Skaukatt, owner 
of the Trib: 'We Cover the Best in MegaKat City'" she handed them 
both a copy of today's paper. "I'm visiting the best and most 
interesting small businesses in the city, deciding which to eventually 
feature in our 'Small Biz Spotlight'. Kats complain all the time that 
no good news ever gets reported, and I want to change that. What's 
special or unique about your garage? Is there anything that the kats of 
this city would like to know about you?" She deliberately made eye 
contact with both of them. "Is there someplace we can all sit and talk? 
It's a bit difficult to stand and take notes." 

"Sure- right this way." They walked back to a waiting area that the 
mechanics apparently used as a break room, and sat on some well-
worn sofas.

"Most kats who bring their cars here say that we're the best mechanics 
in the city." said the slimmer one. "Between the two of us, we can fix 
just about any kind of vehicle, including ones with bad electronics. If 
you need a reference, just check with the deputy mayor, Ms. Briggs." 

"If I can get in touch with her- she seems to be one of the busiest kats 
in the city. And are you Jake?"

"Yes" he said, a bit surprised "Jake Clawson. Do you think that you 
might actually feature our garage in the paper?"

"Certainly, Jake. *I* would definitely consider competent mechanics 
that can fix my car a newsworthy subject. Some kats might even 
expect a story like that in a 'news of the weird' column. I'll probably 
be putting you and Chance on the list for one of my reporters to visit, 
as soon as my new editor lets them out of the office. In the mean time, 
take a look at my paper. We've got great ad rates right now, and I'm 
contracting with a fantastic graphic design house that can do an ad 
layout for you at a really good price, as long as you don't need it 
yesterday..." 

"Braaap! Braaap! Braaap!" A raucous alarm caused all three kats to 
jump. "That's a call for us... um- we better get going." said Chance.

"Yeah, aaah, we've got to make a towing call for the MegaKat Auto 
Club." continued Jake- "Nobody likes to be stranded one second longer 
than necessary, and it can be dangerous if you're stuck in a high traffic 
area. Can we continue this some other time ?" The two mechanics fled 
to the interior of the garage, leaving Snowy to find her own way out.

"I didn't notice either of them triggering anything, but it seemed 
pretty suspicious that the alarm went off just as I got into my sales 
pitch! If that was a legitimate towing call, they certainly take their 
business seriously." Snowy watched her rear-view mirror for the 

appearance of the tow-truck, but turned a corner before it appeared. 
"Wonder if they had trouble with their own truck?" Her train of 
thought was interrupted by a low-flying jet roaring overhead. 

*** End of The Tortie Papers - Part Five ***

********************* end of part 5 **************************