My Mirror, My Shadow Part I

			Story by: Brian Randol
					

			First Draft Completed: August 30, 1998

			Alethia appears courtesy of Kylen Miles

			Huntress appears courtesy of Greywolf Lupous

			Air Rover is the creation of Marc Weinstein

Special thanks to Marc Weinstein for thinking of this title. It was perfect.

[Author’s Note: Extra special thanks to Kylen Miles, Marc Weinstein, and
Ricky Galahad for inspiration and support throughout my effort to write this
story. You guys are the best.
Also, for the faint of heart, this story contains mild descriptive violence.
You have been warned.]

[This story is strictly for entertainment purposes only. Road Rovers, 
settings, etc. are the property of Warner Bros., 1996-1998, and the author is
in no way affiliated with Warner Bros. Neither is this story meant to 
infringe on those copyrights.]

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General Parvo scratched his head and sighed.   Would he ever win?  It seemed as 
if he wouldn’t, after what seemed like such a dreadfully long time. And how
long was that? It didn't matter, one way or the other.  No matter how much time had passed,
Parvo could not deny that it was time wasted. Not to mention the headaches. 
He snorted and shook his head.
	"Problem, general?" Groomer turned around from her chair in front of 
him. Her face was impassive, but her eyes showed a hint of genuine concern. 
He hadn’t noticed her sitting nearby, but he had no reason to be surprised.
She was always at his side, always engrossed hin her work
	He grinned ruefully. "More like problems, Groomer.  As in... Road 
Rover problems."   
	She just looked at him. "Am I supposed to appear shocked right now?"
	"No," he said, getting up.  "Just think about it a little bit." He 
took a breath. "Can you even remember the number of times we’ve crossed paths
with the Rovers?  Of course you can’t; it’s impossible to even keep track.
And what has been the result of all these encounters? The same things it 
always has been: they win, we lose..  There are only so
many plans left that we haven’t done." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Is it possible, Groomer, that we may never win?"
	Groomer’s eyes grew wide. "General? We have always vowed to triumph
against those meddling dogs...  Are you saying give up now? Just like that?"
	"No," he said,  suppressed a cough. "I’m just saying that maybe we 
should rethink our plans slightly.  No more games.  No more chances. No more 
plots where the Rovers may or may not interfere. I think we should finally
dedicate ourselves to destroying the Rovers once and for all."  He sighed,
coughed. "The only question is, as always, how we
plan to do that."
	Groomer frowned ever so slightly, but it faded into a grimace as 
Parvo’s coughing became harsh and rasping. She stood up and thrust her hand 
into her pocket, revealing a metal device.
	"Lozenge?" she asked. 
	"Thank you," he said. His face was red, streaked with sweat.
	Groomer gazed at him and stood while his coughs subsided.  He nodded
to her once, then squared himself up and trudged across the command room 
toward his chair.
	"Always," she said to his back, her eyebrows raised, a small grin on 
her face.  She turned to her own seat and sat down.  
	The smile did not fade even as she resumed her work.
	
	The blackness of night seemed to enfold road rover mission control like a
sort of half-remembered dream.  It was a night unlike any other, except that
someone within was having a restless sleep.
	Alethia  found herself tiptoeing into the kitchen.  Her meditations 
usually relaxed the Japanese Spitz enough to where she could fall asleep with
ease.  This night, however, was filled with enough tossing and turning to 
make her want to shred her pillow with her bare teeth.
	She got a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water.  After 
several deep pulls, she downed the drink.  While she felt mildly refreshed,
she still wasn’t ready to go back to bed--not yet.  She didn’t know the
source of her unease, but just the thought of creeping back into bed chilled
her to the bone. She shivered.
	Then she made the most unusual of moves.  Alethia crept outside.
She stepped as lightly as she could to one of the luges, and with a WHOOSH found
herself above ground.
  Outside of the headquarters, she seated herself on one of the few 
grassy knolls that could be found in a desert wasteland.  Sighing, she gazed up at the
stars.  Her heavy eyelids closed within
seconds...

	The world was on fire.  Everywhere was the smoke, choking the life
out of those who dare breathe it.  The white haired cano-sapien female was
not surprised at this.  She glanced around indifferently at the destruction,
ignoring the helpless calls of the victims,
and saying nothing.   Laying below the white-haired female, silent as
blackness, were more bodies.  More cano-sapiens.  She smiled.
	Behind her came two people, a musclebound man and a hardfaced woman.
They looked down at the bodies and gazed at the white-haired female.  Their
eyes were wide, but then they nodded at what they saw.  They seemed pleased.
The white-haired female understood, and smiled again.

	Alethia awoke with a start.  She was no longer on the grassy knoll,
but in her own bed.  She frowned.  How had she gotten inside?  Then she
shivered as the images came tumbling back to her.  What, for Buddha’s sake,
had possessed her to dream such terrible things?   And about her friends?
	She drifted downstairs and found the other Rovers in various stages
of morning routine.  Most of the Rovers, with the exception of Hunter, were
seated in the family room.	
	Alethia found Colleen staring at her.  "Looking a bit rough around
the edges, eh, gov?" Colleen’s smile was playfully sarcastic.
	"Yeah," Huntress quipped. "You look like something the dog dragged
in."
	Alethia shrugged and fluffed her beautiful white hair.  "I had
some.... difficulties sleeping last night."
	"Ja, you’re telling me," Blitz put in.  "I had to put pillows up to
mein ears to keep from going crazy after all ze banging on ze wall!"
	Colleen smiled crookedly at Blitz. "Oh, a new Rover! And who might
you be?"
	The others smiled and shook their heads while Blitz’s face fell. He
lowered his head. "Gee, maybe I should get my name tattooed on my
forehead..."
	Huntress laughed. "Or on your toosh is more like it! Oh, er, did I
really say that Blitzie?"
	Alethia’s eyes burned as they scanned the group. "Can’t you do
anything but make jokes at each other’s expense?"
	The others looked at her. An uneasy silence followed.  
	"Hey, a moment of silence.  I would not have predicted this.  So who
died?"
	Hunter‘s voice sounded even more uplifting as usual.  He strode in
and took a seat at the table,  looking very relaxed.  Alethia’s eyes softened
when she saw him, though she would have preferred to be without his perpetual
cheeriness.
	"Al’s just being a downer again, huntie wuntie," Colleen said
matter-of-factly.
	"Oh really," Hunter said. "That’s new. So who died?"
	Alethia was astonished.  Hunter’s trademark carefree manner was cute
most of the time, but sometimes she just wished....
	She stood.  "I’ll be in my room if you need me.  I think I need to
think about a few things on my own." With that, she turned and walked out
before they could reply.
	Hunter looked confused. "Was it something I said?"
	"No, huntie," Colleen said, tapping his paw reassuringly. "Al’s just
being Al." She paused.  "Maybe I should go up and talk to her?"
	"I think maybe I should go insteadski," Exile suggested. "I think I
would be the best one."
      "I agree," Huntress said.  "No offense Colleen, but you’re not exactly
the subtle type." 
Huntress smirked mischievously.
	"Blimey, none taken," Colleen replied. Her smile dripped with
syrup..	
	"Hmm,"  Hunter said.  He shook his head and turned to the
blue-furred Husky.  "Well, do what you think is best, Exile. But prepared for
anything." He grinned suddenly.  "Just don’t use your frozen eyes this time,
okay?"
	Exile looked confused. "Why would I do that? I love being Road Rover!
Besides, this may be good opportunity to finally understand herski."
	Hunter nodded. 
	
	***
	
	Alethia sat down on the floor, her hands spread wide apart. She sat
down and crossed her.  She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but it seemed like
the answers, as usual, would lie within herself. She took several deep
breaths, letting herself relax further with each one.  She closed her eyes
and took more deep breaths until her breathing became slow, deep, and
rhythmic.  
	She tried to empty her head of all thoughts. While she did this her
body so relaxed until all sense of herself floated away on a dark wave of
nothingness.  In her mind’s eye she saw many colors in intricate patterns
that shifted like some sort ofsurreal painting. Instinctively, she reached
out with her thoughts, trying to penetrate the mass of  shifting colors. 
	 In response to this mental probing the gray cleared somewhat,
revealing a....she wasn’t sure.  She pressed further with her thoughts until
the gray dissipated even more.  	
	She saw a laboratory, and a highly unusual one at that. The walls
were painted an ugly starchy white that only mad scientists would cherish. On
one side of the room, tube after tube lined the wall. She willed her
conciosness closer, until that she could see that all the tubes were filled
with a clear, bubbling viscous fluid.  She was puzzled over one tube
in particular, as she could only make out an indistinct white blur.  
Upon closer inspection, it was easy to tell what it was.
	It was her in the tube, floating lifelessly.  Just her.
	Alethia shrieked.	
	
	***
	
	She bent down on her knees, holding her face.  Exile burst through
the door, looked around frantically.  His eyes rested on Alethia, tears
oozing through her fingers.  Exile paled beneath his blue fur.
	"Alethia.....," he stammered, searching for the words that didn’t
come.  "Are you alrightski?"
	She stared at him with eyes that radiated a mixture of fear and 
increduality.  She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out except 
a pitiful croak.  She fought back the tears, but they came anyway.
	"What in the name was-" Hunter and the rest of the Rovers entered 
Alethia’s room.  The fear and dread seemed to choke the air.  Hunter shook 
his head in amazement.
	"What? Another vision?"
	"Another vision," Alethia confirmed.  Her voice was strong and clear,
but she knew that she was not fooling the others into thinking she was fine. 
And she knew that the others  realized how much she had to fight just to keep
her voice even.
	"What happened?" Hunter pleaded.  "Please, you have to tell us."
	Alethia rose from her knees, and she slowly got up into standing 
position.  "You don’t want to know, trust me." Hunter opened his mouth to 
protest, thought the better of it.
	"Yes, we do," Huntress said, giving her brother a sidelong glance as
she stepped into the room.  "We want to help you. Now please--"
	"You don’t understand," Alethia interrupted with icy calmness.  "No 
one can help me! No one!"
	She dashed out of the room with impossible speed. Her friends tried 
in vain to restrain her, but before they even knew it, Alethia was gone. Out
of Road Rover Mission Control.  Out into the unknown.

	***
	
	"General, take a look at this.  I think I may have found something."
Groomer pointed to the screen.  On it had a three-dimentional rotating image 
of a Japanese Spitz cano-sapien.  Various characteristics were showing on the
screen about it.
	"Hmm," Parvo said, scratching his chin thoughtfully.  "Who is she?"
	"Well, she’s certainly one of the Rovers," Groomer said.
Parvo snorted. "Well, obviously. What’s so special about her? So we’ve seen 
her before.  What’s your point?"
	Groomer sighed and spread her hands. "This one is a mystery. The Road
Rovers had had countless problems with her because of her more...emotional 
nature.  Yet, they seem to value  her above anyone else, despite the many 
problems she causes.  Why?"
	Parvo nodded impatiently. "Yes, it is all very puzzling, Groomer.  
But....what are you getting at?"
	Groomer stared at him. "With all due respect General, but are you 
dense? Don’t you see how this team member could be the one thing we’ve been 
overlooking all this time? The key to the Rover’s undoing, even?"
	Parvo nodded, thoughtful, amused. "What are you proposing, Groomer?"
	She sat in her chair, stared at the screen a moment before 
responding. "I say we just find out for ourselves," she said innocently.
	Parvo grinned widely.
	"Any idea of what she’s doing now?" Parvo asked.
	"Well, we could find out," Groomer said. "Since we’re not doing 
anything, they aren’t either. Chances are they aren’t on the best of guard 
right now, anyway."
	"Well, what if they have some sort of defense that we don’t know 
about?" Parvo asked. "They may be annoying, but they sure aren’t stupid."
	"Attacking Road Rover Headquarters should be a last resort," Groomer 
said bluntly. "We’ll scout over the areas we’ve made contact with the Rovers.
Make a few scans.  We’ll see what turns up.  If nothing...." She shrugged.
	"And when we capture her, we’ll have, what, the whole Rover team out
to get us?  And if we are successful, so what? For such a brilliant idea, 
you’re being awfully vague."
	She shrugged again, smiled. "Patience, my dear general. We’ll be a 
lot more subtle than just attacking them directly.  As for this Alethia.....
we’ll figure out something.  After all, are we not both experts at exploiting
the weak? Especially interesting speciments?"
	She stood, and her smiled widened even more. "Shall we be leaving, 
General?"
	Parvo could only shake his head.

	***	
	
	The present Rovers: Hunter, Colleen, Exile, Blitz, Huntress, and Shag
stood in the RRMC control room.  Through the silence they stared up at the 
grave face of The Master. Their faces were so drawn with distraught that they
couldn’t look each other in the eye.  Hunter sighed and turned to the Master.
	"Alethia is gone. What should we do?" His voice wavered ever so 
slightly.
	The Master frowned. "You should look for her, Rovers."
	Hunter was puzzled. "But where? The Street Rover is gone, and who 
knows where she could be by now."
	"Why don’t you look where she has fled before? Perris Park seems to 
always call to her, and that won’t be a very long drive for her," the Master 
said.
	"Ack, why bother!" Blitz shouted. "If you ask me she is always doing 
this! Just let her come home on her own!"
	The others just stared at him.  Shag shuffled over,  blubbered 
something in Hunter’s ear. Hunter nodded, and then turned to Blitz.
	"He says that you should keep your mouth shut, or he’ll bite your 
tooshie." Hunter smiled blandly at Blitz.
	Blitz screamed.
	Hunter shook his head, and the Master ahemed.  Blitz stood up 
straight, his ears flattened against his head.  He trembled.
	"It is very important, Blitz." The Master’s eyes flashed. "Alethia is
a member of our team, and she doesn’t do this to get attention. We should 
have learned that by now.  Now, go Rovers, and find Alethia!!"
	"Yeah!," Hunter exclaimed. "Let’s hit the road, Rovers!"
	The Rovers howled in reply

	***
	
	"So, um,  where are we going exactly?" Huntress leaned forward. She 
sat behind Hunter in the Air Rover.  Her brother sat at the controls, with 
Colleen as his copilot.  Next to Huntress was Blitz, and behind them were
Exile, Shag, and Muzzle.
	"Why, we’re going to find Alethia," Hunter said cheerfully. 
	Huntress rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know that," she said with more than
a trace of annoyance.  "But where are we going to look?"
	Hunter shrugged. "We’ll look around," he said vaguely.  "Perris Park
is a good try, like the Master said."
	Huntress sat back in her chair, a big frown on her lips. "That sounds
wonderful," she muttered.
	Hunter raised his voice. "What was that, sis?"
	"Oh nothing," Huntress replied innocently. "I was ,uh,  just saying 
how nice it’s going  to be to finally retreive Alethia and go home."
	"Don’t you worry, my sweet honey-dumpling," Blitz tapped her paw 
lovingly.  "You can stay in here with me.  There will be no toohies to bite 
at the awful place anyway."
	Colleen turned around ubruptly. "Now look here, guv," she said.  "We 
need to find Alethia, and we need to help her. Perris Park is an awful place,
but we’re all involved in this.  We hate it as much as you." Her eyes rested 
on  Blitz. "And you Bluster! You need to help with the tracking down."
	"Yes, don’t be weird boy." Exile put in.
	Shag mumbled in concurrence.
	"Hey guys, guys," Hunter said.  "First, we need to stop arguing.  
This isn’t helping Alethia one bit, not to mention our morale.  Second, we 
need to be focused, if we’re ever going to accomplish this mission."
	Colleen stared at Hunter with a wide-eyed look somewhere between 
shock and approval. The rest just stared forward.
	The Air Rover continued its flight despite the silence.

	***
	
	"See anything yet?" Parvo looked over Groomer’s shoulder at the video
monitor she was studying.  The ship, which was currently in New Mexico,  
glided through the air in silence.
	Groomer hesitated. "Er, just sand General. Lots and lots o’ sand." 
She sighed. "I just don’t know what to look for.  The Road Rovers have always
come to us.  We’ve never actively looked for them." She rubbed her forehead. 
"Any ideas?"
	"Hmm." Parvo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, what information do
we have on the Rovers?"
	Groomer thought a moment. "Well, other than their names, nothing very
useful. We haven’t really had the opportunity to find out these things."
	Parvo began to pace the floor. "Well, what about the things we know 
from our own ‘Rovers,’ the Cano-Mutants? What do you know about their 
physisology?" 
	She shrugged. "Well, their DNA is obviously different. Also, maybe 
slight differences in body temperature and metabolism."
	Parvo stopped. "How slight?" he asked.
	"Actually, it’s more like a pattern," she admitted. "These heat 
patterns are unique to all Cano-Mutants, and even all warm-blooded organisms.
Infared."
	Parvo stared at her. "All warm-blooded organisms?"
	She nodded. "Yes. But why do you want--" Then she stopped. She 
understood.  She stared up at Parvo’s face.
	"Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Groomer?" Parvo’s eyes lit up.
	She nodded. "I’m thinking so, General."
	Parvo stood. "Good.  Let’s not waste time second-second guessing 
ourselves. Set the sensors or whatever to detect the heat of Japanese 
Spitzs--Cano-Sapiens though." He grinned.
	Groomer did as she was told. When she was finished, she saw through 
the apparently endless sand, a white blip appear on the screen.
	"Yes!" she exclaimed.
	"Now, let’s hurry and invite her to join us.  No matter what happens,
the Rovers are always close behind..."
	Groomer nodded again. She didn’t even bother to conceal her smile.

	***

	"We’re here, team." Hunter eased the Air Rover down in one of the 
more open spots in the Perris Park compound.  With a whoosh, the door opened 
and he and the others stepped out, their steps clinking on the metal of the 
landing platform and echoing all across the silent compound.
	"Blimey, this place gives me the creeps," Colleen said. She walked  
away a bit, her eyes scanning the place. She quickly walked back to where the
group had assembled, just outside the Air Rover.
	"It’s more than that," Hunter said. "This place is filled with pain. 
It’s hard to believe that Alethia really had to endure a place like this..." 
He shook his head. The others waited.
	"Okay," Hunter began, shifting from one foot to the other. Walkie 
talkie in hand, he in turn handed one to Exile, Colleen and Blitz.  "Exile 
and Huntress will come with me. Colleen, you go with Muzzle, who we happened 
to bring into Cano-Sapien form, and.....the Doberman." Hunter smiled 
ironically.
	"Ooh, great choices Huntie," Colleen murmured, just loud enough for 
Hunter to hear.
	Hunter ignored her. "And remember: this place is probably empty, but 
always be on your guard. Not from Alethia, of course, but from any of the 
other creeps who like to hang out at places like this. And keep in touch at 
all times. Report if you see anything, and I mean it."
	"Roight Hunter," Colleen said. She turned to Muzzle and Blitz. "Come 
along, you blokes!"
	Blitz sighed. "I hope at least I get to bite some tooshies at this 
creepy place." He shivered. "Or maybe not..."
	Blitz and Muzzle, after the slightest of delays, followed the Collie 
as she disappeared into the thick fog.
	Exile sighed as he watched the trio leave. "I hope Colleen and 
weird-boy and crazy-boy will be alrightski." He stared at Hunter’s earnest 
and grave face.  
	Hunter nodded, and returned Exile’s gaze. "Colleen will be fine," he 
said. "They’ll be fine; they can take care of themselves."
	Huntress nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too," she said. 
	A momentary silence followed, and Huntress touched her brother’s paw.
"Do you really think we’ll find her here?" she asked gently.
	Hunter looked at his sister’s hopeful expression. "I hope so, 
Huntress.  Whether she’s here or not, I just know that wherever she is, 
she’s going to need our help, and fast."

	***

	"We’re heading right toward her," Groomer said, watching her screen 
intently. The ship flew ever closer to the white blip on the screen, and it 
would be a matter of seconds before the white female Cano-Sapien would be 
within reach.
	"Excellent," Parvo said from his command chair. "Better and better." 
He laughed, then paused. "Will she suspect anything?"
	Groomer shook her head, shrugged. "I doubt it, General. This thing 
flies at spersonic speeds. She’ll have to have ears like a wolf to pick us 
up. And before she’ll know it, we’ll be right on top of her....so to speak."
	Parvo raised his eyebrows. "Good."  He licked his lips. 
	"Shall I begin now, General?" Groomer asked, a nasty smile on her 
face.
	Parvo gestured theatrically. "By all means, Groomer.  Just don’t hurt
her....too much.  She won’t be much good to us dead. or even critically 
injured."
	Groomer frowned, but said nothing.

	***
 
	Alethia felt only the wind in her hair and the worry in her heart.  
She could only remember the dream, now one of seeminly hundreds tuat seemed 
to seal her fate.  It seemed that the only thing to do would be to distance 
herself from the place where the dreams happened.  But where would she end 
up? She didn’t know.  All her Heart-friends were gone, and the only friends 
she had were the Road Rovers. There was no turning back, but still...
	She eased the Street Rover down the lonely and isolated highway to 
the destination that she didn’t know. Lonely and isolated.  That seemed to be
a reacurring phrase these days, Alethia thought. 
	Then she shrugged.  She had always been there for her team, her 
family, and she wasn’t about to leave them.  She allowed herself a rare 
smile, yes, there had been some good memories. Almost enough to overshadow 
the darkness that she experienced earlier in life, but still, she didn’t need
to dwell on her past. Her friends would find a way to help her get through 
this on her own. Besides, they were probably worried sick about her.
	She laughed in spite of herself.  She was actually thinking about 
returning to Perris Park, that dreadful place where it seemed her very soul 
was severed in half? What would that have accomplished, save bring back 
memories that she was trying to forget? She glanced behind her, made sure it 
was clear, and swung the Street Rover in the opposite direction.  
	She hadn’t been gone that long.  She would return on time even for a 
late supper, she thought.
	As she flew down the highway, gaining speed as she did, a glint, or 
something, caught her eye in her rearview mirror.  She squinted her eyes, 
ready to turn her mirror to be rid of the annoying shining thing, but the 
glint of light vanished almost as soon as it came.
	Except that it didn’t just vanish.  Alethia watched in horrid 
facination as a ship appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, that immediately 
blocked out the twilight of evening and cast a menacing shadow over the 
Street Rover. Unsure of what to do, and too shocked to do anything anyway, 
Alethia just froze.
	Fssht!	
	A powerful blast of some sort of energy rocked the Street Rover,
shattering the windshield into a million pieces and sending chunks of debris 
flying toward Alethia, missing her face just slightly. She wanted to cover 
her face, but she knew if she did, she would lose control of the vehicle.  
She closed her eyes, burning at the things that were hurtling toward her face, 
and desperately trying to stay on the highway,
	Fssht! Fssht!
	Two more blasts from above, aimed at the side, sent the Street Rover 
spinning out of control. Flames and metal seemed to be everywhere. Alethia 
had lost all track of what was happening, and felt a strange sensation. She 
realized that she was flying through the air, and she screamed as the ground 
rushed toward her to slap her in the face.

	***
	
	Above the mass of tangled metal and fire on the highway, two sets of 
eyes surveyed the scene.  Their faces were tight, their eyes cold.  The woman
looked at the man, and he gestured to her to land the craft.
	They landed silently beside the highway and exited the ship.  They 
looked at the mass of tangled metal, and then at each other.  They found the 
white-haired Cano-Sapien female about three yards away from the mess, 
apparently having been thrown clear of the car after one of the blasts.  
The two stepped closer to where she lay--some nasty cuts existed on her body and 
face, but nothing life-threatening, it appeared. Parvo turned to Groomer.
	"Was that last barrage really neccessary?" he asked her,  slight 
anger darkening his face. "You could have killed her."
	Groomer met his eyes and shrugged. "I did what I thought was 
neccessary.  I was instructed to stop her, and I did. Besides, I don’t do 
this sort of thing to be nice and orderly. I do what needs to be done." 
Groomer turned and walked to the fallen Cano-Sapien, bent down on one knee, 
and gingerly lifted the shoulders into almost a sitting position.
	"Sir, I require your assistance," Groomer said mildly, her face 
strained from the exertion. "And," she added, "We may soon have unexpected 
guests to deal with, and I’m not talking about the Road Rovers."
	Parvo raised his eyebrows, but nodded, and together he and the 
Groomer carried the body to the ship, and strapped her to one of the tables.
Parvo gave a heavy sigh as he sat in the command chair.
	"Let’s get out of here," he said.
	Groomer turned from her chair. "Already taken care of," she said, 
giving a silent smirk.
	The ship floated from the crash site, leaving in its wake the flames,
the smoke and the tangled mass of twisted metal.

	***

	The mist continued to hang over Perris Park.  The dark buildings were
as silent and unsettling as ever, although the visitors were among it.
	 Hunter, together with Exile and Huntress, plogged along the silent 
ruins of the park, their eyes searching, looking for a sign, anything that 
might reveal their missing friend’s whereabouts.
	"This place is like a graveyard," Huntress muttered, speaking up for 
the frst time since she left the ship.  She had fallen in step beside Hunter,
while the earnest Exile scouted ahead of them just a bit, searching with his 
keen eyes. "And where did this mist come from anyway?" Huntress asked. "It’s 
the middle of spring, for Buddha’s sake. Not to mention that this is desert 
wasteland."
	Hunter shrugged, keeping his eyes forward. "It’s much worse than a 
graveyard," he told her. "There, at least the dead can rest in peace..." His 
voice trailed off, and Huntress shivered.
	Hunter’s walkie talkie beeped, and he looked down in surprise. 
"Hunter?"

	Colleen’s voice was tinny over the walkie talkie.
	"This is Hunter, over," Hunter said pleasantly. "Any luck, Colleen? 
Over."
	"No, that’s a BIG negative, Huntie," Colleen said, her voice bored. 
"We’ve been searching every square centimeter of this place, and haven’t seen
 or heard anything, much
less Ally. I don’t think she’s here. What about you? Over."
	"About the same," he replied. "Exile has been searching with those 
eyes of his for a long time, and, like you, hasn’t come up with anything. 
Did Blitz or the others see anything? Over?"
	There was a silence. "Who?" Colleen asked, her puzzlement apprent.
	"The Dob-" Hunter shook his head. "Mr. Fluffypants?" he said finally.
	"Oohhh!" Colleen’s voice sounded excited, but then dropped down low 
again.
	"No, not him either. Or the others" Her voice sounded strange, 
detatched.
	"Uh, Colleen, are you alright?" he asked.
	"Huh?" Colleen sounded confused yet again. "Oh, yes. Muzzle just did 
something really funny just now." She gave a strange girlish giggle.
	Hunter laughed, sounding a bit more than puzzled. "You’ll have to 
tell me about it later.  Anyhow," he said, his voice taking on a slightly 
more commanding note. "Let’s regroup and head back home; we’ve looked every 
square inch of this place, and still not a trace of her." He clicked of his 
walkie-talkie.
	"How do you know that?" Huntress whispered.
	"Just think of it as a leader’s instincts," he whispered back. 
"Besides," he said gesturing all around him. "Do you really want to keep 
searching here?"
	Huntress shook her head in reply.
	"I thought so," he said. "We’ll just have to search the main highway 
routes then, I guess. There aren’t too many of them way out in the middle of 
nowhere, luckily for us."
	Huntress nodded again as they headed toward the Air Rover, meeting 
Colleen and her group at about the same time, and headed off once again.

	***
	
	Alethia awoke slowly. At least, she thought that she was awake. 
She tried to move her arms, but they were bound. Her legs were the sameway. 
She was blind! Trying to cry out, she discovered that the onlysound she could
get out was a whffft. 
	Where was she, and who had brought her here?
	"Ah, I see our guest is awake." The voice was a woman's, with a 
thick, familiar accent. Trying as she could, Alethia could not place who the
woman was. 
	"Here, see if this helps." The woman's voice rang out, and suddenly 
Alethia felt cold hands around her face. The bond was removed, and Alethia 
instantly recognized who this mystery woman was. She stood by where the 
Japanese Spitz was shackled. Her eyes cold, her face grave. 
	"Yes, it's true. Parvo and me are your captors. Nice to see you 
again. It's been a long time." The woman smiled. Her eyes did not,  though. 
"But do not fret...Alethia,you'll soon discover that you have nothing to fear
from us."
 	Groomer's false smile broadened even more. Alethia trembled. She 
looked around. The room was a starchy white, strange tubes lined the 
walls....where had she seen this before? She knew that is was somewhere 
important, but she could not remember.  However, she was certain that 
whatever Parvo and Groomer had planned for her, it wouldn't be kind and 
gentle. That was for certain.
 	"And yes," she continued.   "We're also very aware that your friends 
the Road Rovers will be looking for you. I very much doubt they'll have any 
luck finding us,though.  All they'll find at most is the remains of your 
unfortunate Street Rover." Groomer frowned.  "Actually, that isn't exactly 
true. They'll find you all right. But we better do this fast. They'll
find you any second." Groomer’s wicked smile returned yet again, and with a 
brief flick of her wrist, withdrew avery long, and apparently very sharp, 
hypodermic needle. 
	Alethia'seyes widened when she saw it. As Groomer lurched toward the 
captive Cano-Sapien, needle glinting in the harsh white light. Alethia let 
out a low growl, which even her gag could not conceal. Groomer halted her 
advance. 
	"Ooh, you're feisty today." Groomer's eyes narrowed, and she smirked.
"Unfortunately, you're not in a position to be protesting anything,dearie. 
Now don't worry; I won't feel a thing."
	Alethia’s screams were barely muffled by the gag as the needle jammed
into her neck. The needle seemed to be laced with acid; she had never felt 
such excruciating pain. She had gotten shots or something like this before, 
but they had been painless.
	As the needle withdrew, Alethia panted heavily. She looked at the 
woman that held her captive, her eyes wide and afraid. Her blood? Alethia 
didn’t want to know...
	"This will finally be your precious Rover’s reward for always messing 
everything up, and in more ways than one." Groomer held up the vial, dark red
from its contents. A look of cruel triumph appeared on her face. 
	"Since you’ve been so helpful, Alethia, allow me a brief moment of 
kindness."  Groomer withdrew yet another needle, and injected it as she had 
before. Except that this time, an odd feeling overcame Alethia.  After the 
briefest of pains, Alethia realized that she would not have to feel pain any 
longer, for a very long time.

	***
	
	"Where now, O glorious brother?" Huntress leaned forward to where her
brother was sitting in the Air Rover, her face weary. The others sat behind 
her with similar expressions on their faces.
	"I’m open to suggestions, sis." Hunter’s face was hidden to Huntress,
but she sat back as she sensed what he was feeling. It was tense.
	"Um, how about we start with that flaming heap of a car over there?"
Colleen pointed at the window. The others leaned forward, and gasped.
	"Hmm, an accident that bad in the middle of nowhere. Must be one bad 
driverski." Exile said.
	"Exactly, Hunter. At least it looks suspicious. I say, for the sake 
of the Queen, we check it out." Colleen gazed at Hunter hopefully.
	Hunter shrugged, then nodded. "I’ll be willing to try anything, even 
a car accient that most likely involves humans." He swung the Air Rover 
around, seemingly oblivious to the tense vibes in the air, but worried 
himself.
	He landed the Air Rover a short way from the tangled mess, and the 
ramp came down with a slight clunk. The car was in sad shape: the windshield 
was shattered, the frame of the car was bent at very unnatural angles, and 
the ever present flames were all-consuming.
	"Oh no! NOOOO!!" Huntress suddenly cried out, sagging to her knees. 
She put her hands to her face, and started to sob.
	"What’s wrong, sis?" Hunter put his hand on Huntress’s shoulder. 
Huntress gazed up at him, tears pouring down her cheeks. "Don’t you see? How 
can you not see?!?!" she asked, her body wreaked with sobs. "Look at it!! 
Don’t you think it looks a little TOO similar to the Street Rover?!?"
	Hunter looked like he had just seen a ghost. Colleen came and tapped him on the shoulder.
He slowly turned toward her.
	"Er, Hunter," she said uncertainly, not looking him in the eye. "Me 
and Bluster just checked the car, and there’s nothing in it...except...." Her
voice trailed off.
	"Except...what?" Hunter asked, not certain if he really wanted to 
know.
	"Except for some blood, and a lot of white fur." Colleen turned away 
from Hunter, tears streaming down her face. "I don’t know that that means," 
she croaked. 
	Hunter was aghast. He swallowed. "Where is she? Are you sure that she
wasn’t....." He couldn’t finish the sentence.
	"Yes, we’re quite sure. She’s just.... gone," Colleen said.
There was an ahem sound. This time, both Hunter and Colleen turned to see the
earnest Exile staring at them. "Then," Exile asked. "Who is thatski?" He 
pointed down the road.  The others’ eyes followed. MUCH further down the 
road.
	"Oh my God," was the only sound, carried by the wind, that the others
uttered.

	***
	
	The white-haired Cano-Sapien female followed the road, confusion 
blazed upon her beautiful face. She had no memories prior to this; all she 
knew is that she was alive, and walking on this hot, dusty road.  She simply 
existed.
	A sound startled her. A ways down the road, she saw some people 
running toward her. Or, at least, what appeared to be people. As they got 
closer, she could tell that they weren’t human. They were wearing strange 
uniforms.  She looked down at her own hands. She wasn’t wearing the most 
normal of clothes, either. These people were like her. Could they tell her 
anything about where she came from? The strangest thing was, she wasn’t 
afraid as they came bounding toward her.
	One of them stopped just a short distance from her. He was a golden 
retreiver, that she could tell. He stared at her a moment, and she stared 
back. 
	"Alethia?" he asked. The female Cano-Sapien repeated the strange 
words to herself. She timidly looked around, not sure of what to do.
	"She acts like she doesn’t remember us," a female Collie added in an 
interesting accent.
	The Golden Retriever stepped foward. "Alethia, we’re your friends. 
What are you-" He shook his head in confusion. "Are you hurt?"
	Was that her name? Alethia? She put a hand to her head. Although she 
had no physical injuries,she felt strange. "I...don’t know," she finally 
said, her confusion only deepening. She shook her head helplessly. But she 
sensed that these people meant no harm. She held out her hand. "I should...
come with you?"
	The male Golden Retriever looked concerned. "Yes. Please come with 
us." He held out his hand. After a brief moment, she took it. "I will go with
you," she said, as she followed the other Cano-Sapiens onto the ship.


TO BE CONTINUED....