Project Boussh: Sliced `N Diced
By Alison Sky

     The four officers in the security room watched the monitors half 
heartedly as they talked about the latest scores from the recent 
blastball game aired on the holonet.  They longed for the life and 
homes they had left behind on their worlds, and wished they were 
there now, instead of being in orbit of this force-saken world that 
the Admiral was interested in.
     Suddenly, a low alarm and red flashing lights filled the room.  
One officer went to slap the alarm silencer while the other three 
looked to find the problem.
     "Level 6, section 9," one officer stated, and he pulled up the 
holocam transmission from the area.  All the screens changed to this 
image of two female officers on the ground, fighting.  The male 
officers sat back, smiling.
     "This could be interesting to watch," one stated.
     "I bet 10 credits that the redhead wins," another said.
     The fourth officer studied the screen intently.  "What's this?" 
he said, and magnified the rightmost edge of the screen.  The image 
zoomed in, and they saw a third female officer standing in the 
doorway of what was a very high security rooms backdoor.
     "Call for a patrol to get them."
     The fourth officer nodded and sent out the call.  Then they all 
sat back and proceeded to watch the catfight and build up the bet 
pool.

     Turning away from the fight that she knew she couldn't break up, 
Morwen looked into the room that she had discovered.  The humming of 
machinery was distinct, almost as if she was standing right next to a 
power generator.  She stepped further inside, pulling a glowrod from 
her pocket.  Using it to illuminate the dark, she gasped at the sight 
before her.
     Hundreds of screens, with 1's and 0's zooming in tiny columns 
from top to bottom, were mounted into the wall.  Below them, circuits 
and keypads were placed, though what controlled which Morwen doubted 
that she would learn.
     A low whistle escaped her mouth as she realized the significance 
of the room.  She had just stumbled into the main computer hive of 
the Addy.  From here, if she wanted to--and could figure out how to--
she could control anything that runs off the computers, from the 
defense system to the caf machine in the mess hall.
     "Hey guys!" she shouted out the door.  "You've got to see 
this!"  Quickly she dropped Alison's laptop on a table and ran back 
out to where the two fought.  "Guys!"

     Kirney held Alison up against the wall, her left forearm tucked 
under Alison's chin.  She pressed her weight into that arm, so that 
it held Alison a few inches off the ground, as well as proceeding to 
choke her.  Kirney's face was a mixture of red marks that were sure 
to be bruises in a few hours, plus a few scratches around her eyes.  
A trickle of blood came from the split on her lip.
     Alison looked as beat as well.  A large gash was across her 
forehead from hitting the ground, and the cheek below her right eye 
was already turning purple.  Her arms were both clutched to Kirney's 
forearm, desperately trying to tear it away from her neck.
     "You ain't so hot without your sword, are ya?" Kirney taunted.  
She held Alison's sword in her right hand, the blade just inches out 
of Alison's reach.  Alison tried to speak a comeback, but pressure on 
her neck kept any words from coming out.
     Kirney felt someone grab her arm, and she twirled around, 
whipping the sword down at the attacker while still keeping her arm 
on Alison's neck.  Morwen had just enough time to jump back, but 
still she heard the ripping sound as the sword nicked the edge of her 
shirt.  
     "What do you think you're doing?" Morwen shouted.
     "She is a menace, one that I plan to take care of right now, 
once and for all," Kirney spoke, and she turned back to Alison.  "And 
Face isn't here to defend you now, is he?"
     Alison's eyes went wide as Kirney turned the sword as so the 
point was facing her.  Morwen grabbed at Kirney's arm again.  "Don't 
you think you're taking this a tad too far?"
     "If you've seen half the things that she's done--"
     Kirney suddenly stepped a few feet back, her arms going to her 
stomach.  Alison had taken advantage of Morwen's distraction to kick 
her feet out.  Now, she slid her back down the wall, working to get 
her breath back.
     Morwen went to check on Alison, who eyed the redhead 
carefully.  "I don't know what your problem is--but find someone else 
to take it out on," Alison said between gulps of air.
     "After what you've done--"
     "What the hell HAVE I done?" Alison shouted.  She reached out 
and grabbed the sword that had fallen to the ground.  "I haven't done 
a single thing to you, yet you have all this anger at me."
     "You mess with my friends and their feelings, and you mess with 
me."  Kirney growled.
     Morwen looked at Alison.  "What is she talking about?"
     Before Alison could respond, the sound of boots stopped at the 
end of the hall. The three women looked up to see a squadron of 
stormtroopers at the end of the hall, blaster rifles aimed at 
them.  "Freeze!" one of them stated.
     Alison looked at Morwen, whose body was hiding the sword that 
was in her hand.  "When I say go, I want you and Kirney to jump into 
that room."
     "What about you?" Morwen asked.
     Alison turned her head to look at Kirney.  "Whether I like it or 
not, my job is to protect you."
     "I don't need you protecting me," Kirney said.
     "But you need to protect Morwen."
     "But what about you?" Morwen asked again, getting Alison's eye 
again.
     "Stand and put your hands above your head, now!" the trooper at 
the end of the hall shouted.
     "I can take care of myself," Alison stated.  "Ready?"
Morwen nodded, and turned to face Kirney.  The redhead gave Alison a 
glare, then nodded.
     "Go!"

     Morwen and Kirney leapt to their feet, then ran down the hall a 
bit to where the doorway was for the computer room.  Alison stood in 
the middle of the narrow hallway, her sword held out in front of 
her.  _This is really stupid, Alison_, she told herself as she 
watched the troopers react to the scene.  
     _Your job is to protect Morwen and Kirney_, a voice whispered in 
the back of her head.  _Protect them with your life_.
     The conversation ended as blaster shots screamed down the 
hallway at her.  Alison kept taking steps backwards, deflecting the 
multitude of blaster shots that flashed past her.
     Then suddenly, a burning pain went up her right side, and she 
fell to one knee.  She squeezed her eyes shut in pain, holding the 
sword in front of her like a thin shield.  She knew that the door to 
the room was only another few inches behind her.  _Don't give up!_ 
Her mind shouted in her head.  She could see Kirney and Morwen at the 
edge of the door, Kirney pulling out her blaster while Morwen 
motioned for her to jump inside the room.
     But then another flash of pain hit her left shoulder, and her 
world went black.