A LONG TIME AGO... ON A NODE FAR
, FAR AWAY (FROM PDPVAX).....

       D E C W A R S


THE EVEN FURTHER ADVENTURES OF LUKE VAXH
ACKER     EPISODE N+2

THE MILLIAMP FALCON HURTLES ON THRU SYST
EM SPACE...

CON SOLO FINISHED CHECKING THE VARIOUS C
ONTROL AND STATUS REGISTERS, FINALLY 
CONVINCED HIMSELF THAT THEY HAD LOST
 THE BUS SIGNALS AS THEY PASSED THE 
TERMINATOR. AS HE RETURNED FROM THE I/O
 PAGE, HE SMELLED SMOKE. SOLO WASN'T 
CONCERNED--THE BOOKIE ALWAYS GOT A LIT
TLE HOT UNDER THE COLLAR WHEN HE WAS 
LOSING AT CHESS. IN FACT, RS232 HAD JU
ST EXECUTED A PARTICULARLY CLEVER MOV 
THAT HAD BLOCKED THE BOOKIE'S DATA PATHS
. THE BOOKIE, WHO HAD BEEN SETTING THE 
ODDS ON THE GAME, WAS CAUGHT HOLDING A
LL THE CARDS. A LITTLE STRANGE FOR A 
CHESS GAME...

ACROSS THE ROOM, LUKE WAS TOO BUSY PRA
CTICING BIT-SLICE TECHNIQUE TO NOTICE 
THE COMMOTION.

"ON A WORD BOUNDARY, LUKE," SAID PDP-1.
 "DON'T JUST HACK AT IT. REMEMBER, THE 
BYTESABER IS THE WEAPON OF THE RED-EYE
 NIGHT. IT IS USED TO TRIM OFFENSIVE 
LINES OF CODE. EXCESS HANDWAVING WON'
T GET YOU ANYWHERE. LISTEN FOR THE 
CARRIER."

LUKE TURNED BACK TO THE DRONE, WHICH W
AS HUMMING QUIETLY IN THE AIR NEXT TO 
HIM. THIS TIME LUKE'S ACTIONS COMPLEMENT
ED THE DRONE'S ATTACKS PERFECTLY.

CON SOLO, BEING AN UNIMAGINATIVE HACKER
, WAS NOT IMPRESSED. "FORGET THIS BIT- 
SLICING STUFF. GIVE ME A GOOD PROM BLAST
ER ANY DAY."

"^^J^^HHJI^^," SAID KENOBIE, WITH NO C
LEAR INFLECTION. HE FELL SILENT FOR A 
MOMENT, AND REASSERTED HIS CONTROL.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" ASKED LUKE

"STRANGE," SAID PDP-1. "I FELT A MOM
ENTARY GLITCH IN THE CARRIER. IT'S 
EQUALIZED NOW."

"WE'RE COMING UP ON USER SPACE," CALLED
 SOLO FROM THE CSR. AS THEY CRUISED 
SAFELY THRU STACK FRAMES, THEY EMERGED I
N THE NEW CONTEXT ONLY TO BE BOMBARDED 
BY FREEBLOCKS."

"WHAT THE..." GASPED SOLO. THE SCREEN SH
OWED CLEARLY: /USR/ALDERAAN: NOT FOUND 
"IT'S THE RIGHT INODE, BUT IT'S BEEN 
CLEARED! TWOIE, WHERE'S THE NEAREST 
FILE?"

"3 TO 5 THERE'S ONE..." THE BOOKIE STAR
TED TO SAY, BUT WAS INTERRUPTED BY A 
BRIGHT FLASH OFF TO THE LEFT.

"IMPERIAL TTY FIGHTERS!" SHOUTED SOLO. 
 "A WHOLE DZ OF THEM! WHERE ARE THEY 
COMING FROM?"

"CAN'T BE FAR FROM THE HOST SYSTEM," SAI
D KENOBIE. "THEY ALL HAVE DIRECT EIA 
CONNECTIONS."

AS SOLO BEGAN TO GIVE CHASE, THE SHIP L
URCHED SUDDENLY. LUKE NOTICED THE LINK 
COUNT WAS AT 3 AND CLIMBING RAPIDLY.

"THIS IS NO REGULAR FILE," MURMERED K
ENOBIE. "LOOK AT THE ODS DIRECTORY 
STRUCTURE AHEAD! THEY SEEM TO HAVE IN A 
TRACTOR BEAM."

"THERE'S NO WAY WE'LL UNLINK IN TIME," S
AID SOLO. "WE'RE GOING IN..."

TO BE CONTINUED???