When Worlds Collide: Part 2
                    by Mikazo

A second installment... mostly dialogue, but hang in there.
______________________________________________________

     
     "You guys are in debt?" asked Tauer.  The two kats nodded.

     "Well, if we stayed with you, you'd be in more debt," continued Tauer.  "We 
don't have any money here."

     "I have some money," said Jackson.  "It's American money, though.  I doubt we 
could use it for anything."

     "How much do you have?" asked Tauer as he checked his pockets and found 
sixty-five bucks.

     Jackson counted the cash.  "About forty-five bucks."

     Campbell and Torres checked their pockets.

     "I've got about fifty," said Campbell.  "You're not getting any of it though.  I 
need it for hookers."

     "I have thirty," said Torres.  "I think we need our ship more than we need 
money.  We have food and ammo and stuff in there."

     "I know," said Jackson.  "We need to find out where they took it."

     "Why don't you guys come in?" the brown kat said.

     The mercenaries stepped into the small shack.  The shack actually looked bigger 
on the inside than the outside.  It consisted of a living room, with a couch and a 
television set.  There was another door that led into the kitchen.  The kitchen was 
on the other side of the wall.  There was a refrigerator and a small table.

     "My name's Jake, by the way," said the brown kat.  "This is Chance."

     "Nice to meet you," said Jackson.  "I'm Marvin Jackson, and this is Scott Tauer,
Ron Campbell, and Stephen Torres.  Thanks for inviting us in."

     "Sure," said Chance.

     The mercenaries looked around as Tauer removed his helmet and gas mask.  The 
other mercenaries then followed suit.  Chance and Jake had to stare, even for a few 
seconds, at life forms no kat had seen before.

     "So, uh... what do you guys do here?" asked Campbell.  "Hang out?"

     "We fix vehicles," said Jake.  "And we keep trash back there to salvage for 
parts."

     "The neat thing," said Chance, "is that we can keep what's out there and build 
vehicles for ourselves."

     "Neat," said Campbell.  "Maybe we can patch the ship up with it.  It looks like 
you've got more than enough trash out there."

     There looked to be around 20 to 25 large trash heaps in the area behind the 
shack.  The rusted frames of cars and helicopters completely littered the area.

     "Well, what should we do first?" asked Tauer.

     "I say we get our ship back," said Campbell.  "Then we patch it up and get out 
of here."

     "Uhh, Campbell," said Jackson.  "It ain't as simple as that."

     "What do you mean?" asked Campbell.

     "The ship's a complete wreck," said Jackson.  "It wasn't just armor damage.  
The electronic system was completely fried too.  That's what the fire came from."

     "Maybe you guys could find another ship," suggested Jake.

     "You have anything here that flies into space?" asked Tauer.

     "Yeah," said Chance.  "But it's enforcer equipment.  We'd have to get the 
parts salvaged if we ever hope to build one, or get one."

     "Well, still, we need to get our ship," said Jackson.  "We've got a lot of
things in there... food, weapons... They were all in heavy cases, so they couldn't
have sustained damage.  We had suppressed MP5's, pistols, some more assault rifles, 
sniper rifles, gas mask filters, NBC suits, ammunition... everything we had to 
survive with is in that ship.  We need to get it and bring it here."

     "And we can use the parts off of it for salvage," said Tauer.

     "That's right," said Jackson.  "If it even works still.  We need to 
make getting that ship our highest priority.  And to do that, we need to find out 
where it's at.  Do some recon work."

     "We have a jet," said Chance.  "Maybe we can scout for it."

     "You have a jet?" asked Campbell.  "How'd you get the money for a jet working here?"

     "We built it," said Jake, smiling.  "Total salvage."

     "Wow!" said Campbell.

     "Hey Chance, what do you say we scout for it now?" asked Jake.

     The two took off at that point.  They seemed to take a great deal of trust 
in the mercenaries.

     "What's with them, man?" asked Torres.  "We're sitting here in their house, 
we can take whatever we want, and they just leave us here."

     "They're just really hospitable," said Tauer.  "I think it's a nice 
surprise."

     "Yeah," said Torres.  "I think they're just tricking us.  Like those Islam 
motherfuckers tried to trick us.  But those turban-wearing bastards couldn't pour
piss out of a boot even if the..."

     "Would you shut the hell up already?" Tauer interrupted, yelling.  "This 
isn't Iraq for chrissakes."

     "I'm just saying is all," said Torres, getting defensive.  "They'd fuckin' 
better not trick us."

     "I'm hungry," said Campbell.  "Let's see if they have anything to eat in 
here."  He headed for the kitchen.

     "Oh, for god's sake," said Tauer.  "We're not going through their goddamn 
cupboards like burglars, for crying out loud.  We have MRE's.  Let's eat them."
  
     Campbell rolled his eyes in disgust.  "Who are you to tell us all what to do?"

     "No, I think he's right," said Jackson.  "We eat their food when they give it 
to us.  Do you want to lose two friends and find somewhere outside to sleep?"
     
     Campbell looked around.  "Well... I... well, no, not really."
     
     "Then, we don't go around stealing their shit.  Look at them.  They work at 
the scrapyard.  They can't possibly make very much."  Tauer and Jackson took a 
few packages from their butt packs and sat down, feeling hungry themselves.  
They unwrapped the packages and started to eat the dehydrated tortellini and 
pasta mixes.
     
     Torres opened one of his MRE's and started to eat.  "I'm not taking anything 
from them," he said.  "It might be poison to us or something."  Torres didn't 
trust anyone or anything he didn't know anything about.  That was a philosophy he 
held on firmly to.  Campbell decided to give in and eat out of an MRE when Chance 
and Jake returned.
     
     "We found it," said Jake.  He held up a bird's-eye view photograph of a 
large complex.  The photograph was large and showed the surrounding area as well.  
It looked like some kind of technology center.  The perimeter was protected by a 
large fence and had a tower at each corner, as well as on each end of the main 
entrance gate.
     
     "This should be easy," said Torres.  "Their security is full of holes.  
Look at this."  He pointed to a section of fencing on the photograph.  "They 
must think fences are indestructible or something.  They're not even fucking 
guarding this thing.  Jackson could probably cut it with his torch.  And our 
ship's right there.  All we'd need are some heartbeat sensors, which we could 
get once we get inside the ship.  Then we could tell if anyone's coming and get 
the hell out."

     "But how are we gonna carry all that equipment?" asked Tauer.

     "Good question.  Do you have a truck, Chance?  Jake?"

     "Yep," they replied.

     "Well, we could use that, and carry bags of equipment out, and load it in 
the truck.  And if we had to abort, we'd just take off."

     "In broad daylight, right?" asked Jackson.

     "No, at night.  Doing this in broad daylight would be suicide.  We'll just 
use the night vision goggles.  We should have those on us."

     "What if we get caught?" asked Tauer.

     "Then we fight back," said Torres.  "It's better to risk that instead of being 
naked and defenseless the whole time we're here."

     "I can't argue with that," said Tauer.

     "Can we borrow your truck?" asked Torres.  Chance and Jake nodded, probably 
interested in seeing if they'd be successful.

     "Great, thanks.  Okay, here's what we're gonna do..."  Torres traced his 
finger over the photograph, showing the place and method of entry, and laid out 
all of his plans.  Nobody disagreed with his ideas.

     "Great," said Torres.  He looked at a clock that was hanging on the wall, and 
saw that it was 6:00 PM.  "We'll go at 0100 hours."