Trust nothing.....


                        RHYME & REASON
                       By Michael Demcio
                PART III: Playing By The Book.

                        Section 1 of 4

*****
                         
      1:05.....

      After two buses, one car, and catching a quick trip on the
back of a bicycle, Chip arrived at the library of Heights and
Ashbury. The building wasn't anywhere near as large as the one
he'd been to in New York City or the library of Congress, but
even so, it seemed a very roomy, and comfortable place. Inviting
in a sense, and not stuffy at all as some libraries were, it was
more akin to a homey, well stocked bookstore that provided tables
and chairs, enticing one to sit and browse. Two immense, ornate
stone lions lay in repose along either side of the steps, adding
to the relaxed ambience of the locale. Glancing briefly through
the window at the interior as he garnered these pleasant
impressions, he made his way around to the side of the building
where a much smaller, rodent sized entrance was located in an
alleyway.

     Through this entrance, unknown to the humans, was a library
every bit as expansive as the one they used, perhaps even moreso.
Situated behind the bookcases of the human's library, rows upon
rows of mouse sized books lined the interior of the walls, on
shelves from floor to ceiling. Upon wide planks that
interconnected wooden beams and metal pipes throughout the area,
private booths and spacious tables were arranged at intervals on
various levels, giving all who entered a multitude of places from
which to sit and read in solitude, or gather together in pairs
or groups as the occasion merited. Looking around, Chip smiled
in spite of his reason for being there. The place was just like
the library he made excellent use of near home, only on a much
grander scale. Just like the human's library, the place was warm
and inviting, smelling richly of wood. Strings of white Christmas
lights, such as the ones the Rangers used at their own home, were
integrated throughout the area, providing sufficient illumination
where it was needed. Not having any windows to allow for the
entrance of added sunlight, the library *was* somewhat on the
dark side, but like all rodent libraries, even moreso for this
one in particular, it added a sense of quiet charm to the open
space that made it seem quite peaceful and relaxing, if even a
touch intimate. As if being in a restaurant where every table was
lit by candlelight. 
     "Can I help you?" a pleasant sounding voice asked from
beside him. 
     Caught up in the ambiance of the place, Chip had not noticed
the person's approach. Startled out of his reverie, he glanced
over to his left,...*and found himself perfectly speechless.* The
reason being was that he found himself face to face with a young,
exquisitely beautiful redheaded female mouse. Slightly taller
than him, she looked to be about his age, with an athletically
trim figure that told of someone who led an active lifestyle.
Certainly not someone who just sat around after working with
books all day. Losing himself for a moment within the deep
emerald green of her eyes which sparkled as brightly as that very
same gem, he looked away at last, embarrassed at himself for
having stared at her so.
     "Are you alright?" she asked with a kind, concerned tone at
observing his reaction.
     Looking back at her, Chip still found himself unable to
speak for a moment though he didn't question why. He knew he was
not usually one to let a pretty face turn his head so, nor one to
get him so tongue tied. In fact, there were only three other
times in his life when such a thing had happened to him, one of
the times being when he'd first met Gadget. All he knew was that
like Gadget, one very seldomly encountered a girl as lovely as
her, as this one certainly was. Looking back at her, he found her
regarding him with a cheerfully curious expression. Not one of
oddity, as if she thought him strange, but of one he thought,
perhaps of interest. Whether it was just wishful thinking of his
imagination, or a fact, he wasn't sure, but he was sure that he
didn't have time to think about such trivial things. Much more
pressing matters needed his attention as he remembered the reason
for his urgent visit. 
     "Yes. I...." was all he said before his words fell away, his
train of thought derailing with a crash as he looked into her
eyes once more. Quickly putting his hand up to his mouth, he
uttered a few pretend coughs, trying to save face as he bowed his
head, looking away from her again. He remembered why he was
there, but now he couldn't even remember what for! /What is the
*matter* with you?!/ he reprimanded himself harshly, wanting
to smack himself. /Pull yourself together! You've got no time to
be getting toungue tied, ogling over this girl! The Rangers
lives are at stake!/ Steeling himself with these thoughts, he
looked up at her once more, finally composing himself with an
effort. She did not appear to be impatient for his reply, but
simply stood there with her arms beneath some books, considering
him with her gaze. "Sorry." he said with a sheepish smile, "Had
something caught in my throat." Reaching into his jacket pocket,
Chip pulled out the paper which held the book number he'd gotten
as a clue back at the treehouse. The book number which was to
serve as his next clue in his quest to finding his fellow Rescue
Rangers. "Could you help me find..." he said, starting to present
the paper to her. Suddenly, he looked at the paper in surprise,
crumpling it up and shoving it back into his pocket. "Seemed to
have taken the wrong note." he said ashamedly, grinning at her
once more. "Could you help me find a book on...ahhh, what was
it?" he said, looking forgetful as he scratched his chin. Finally
a few seconds later, he looked at her with a helpless smile. "I
can't believe this." he stated, shaking his head, "I forgot what
I came here for, and I don't have where I wrote it down." he
shrugged innocently.
     "Don't worry about it." the girl said sweetly with a chuckle
as she smiled at him, "I've had that happen too. If you remember,
just let me know." Turning, the girl walked off. Chip watched her
for a moment before venturing further into the library himself,
never noticing the discrete glance that the girl threw over her
shoulder in his direction. Walking further on, Chip sighed and
shook his head, smacking it for good measure. /I can't believe I
nearly blew it so bad!/ he thought as he looked around for the
right section. At the last split second before he had shown her
the clue in his hand, he had remembered the warning within
Ivana's poem: "This game is yours solely, this must be quite
clear, since help from anyone, would only I fear, turn your
friend's chances from slim straight to none, and since I'll be
watching, their fate would be done." He didn't know whether Ivana
would consider a simple thing like having a librarian help him
find a book as "help in the game". After all, he would be the one
interpreting the clues he found. He did however know one thing,
that had made him pretend to be so forgetful. /When dealing with
a deranged lunatic,/ he thought wisely to himself, /it's best not
to take chances. I'll have to watch myself a lot more carefully./
     Sighing again, a slight note of despair touched his heart.
It seemed all too clear just then, just how alone he was on this
case, even without his teammates beside him. He could trust
neither friend, nor friendly stranger for fear of hurting his
friends as a result. Reaching into his pocket once more, Chip
absently uncrumpled the paper upon which he'd written the clue.
Not that it was really necessary though, he'd already memorized
the call letters of the book on the way here. "Reference." he
mumbled to himself, remembering the "R" at the end of the call
number as he scanned about him for that section. Spotting the
area in question a distance away, he increased his pace, glancing
quickly up and around him at the various female animals
that were using the library. Looking at them, he wondered which
one of them if any, could be "Ivana." It even occurred to him
that the beautiful creature he'd just met could be his deranged
adversary. As the saying was all too appropriate to his present
surroundings, /*You can't judge a book by it's cover.*/ he
thought. /After all,/ he considered, /hadn't the ravishing
Desa'rae Delure<> turned out to be a back stabbing witch?/ Still,
he doubted it was the girl he'd just met. As a detective, he knew
he was a pretty good judge of character. As he continued walking,
a final matter occured to him, something that he had been too
anxious to think about before now. The idea being that the person
following him didn't necessarily have to be Ivana. He believed
quite logically that she would have needed help getting all the
Rangers, especially Monterey, out of headquarters and moving them
to wherever they were now being kept. /And when you keep
someone prisoner,/ he thought further, /you sometimes want to
keep an eye on them *personally.* So I really don't know whether
I should be on the lookout for a female or a male./ he concluded.

     As he approached the section which began around the corner
of the wall, he thought briefly about keeping a discrete eye out
to see who might be watching him, but then thought better of it.
/Ivana really wouldn't have been able to put together this "game"
as she called it, so expertly, if she or any of her gang were
sloppy enough to be spotted like a rank amateurs./ He considered.
/Maybe I'm giving them too much credit before it's due,/ he
grimly mused to himself, /but I've learned before through hard
experience, never to underestimate an opponent./ Arriving at the
reference section, he swiftly located the book who's call letters
matched the one he'd memorized. Moving to a nearby vacant booth,
he sat down and quickly began to flip through the book, wondering
what exactly he should be looking for. The previous message at
headquarters had told him to expect a new clue in rhyme here, but
upon the first inspection, the book turned up dry. No note was
folded within the pages, no message was written within the
margins, nothing was written on the jacket or the cover, no
outlined words or sentences,...*nothing*. It was upon a second,
closer inspection of the book however, that something caught his
eye. A tiny, almost imperceptible line had been drawn underneath
one of the letters on one of the pages. Spotting two more lines a
few pages further, he then spotted a third still further on. The
pages seemed to have been picked at totally random intervals.
Starting at the beginning of the book once more to make certain
he didn't miss any, Chip scanned the book carefully, jotting down
all the underlined letters. A few mintues later, he read the
message they revealed: "Vernal or Autumn, with a solstice is
linked," he read to himself, "what's the connection, to a game
that's been inked?" 
     "Hmm, interesting." he stated to himself, pondering
the riddle for a moment. /A game that's been inked *could be*
referring to a crossword puzzle,/ he thought, /but somehow I
don't think so. You never find those in a library...except
perhaps in a magazine or a newspaper!/ he realized. /Before I
check this out though, I want to make sure I'm on the right
track./ Locating a nearby thesaurus, he looked up the word "game"
within it. /Ivana gave me a play on words as the last clue which
has two things similar, he thought, so maybe this time she's
giving me a clue that has *many* things similar to one another./
"Let's see here." he said softly to himself, "A 'game' is
synonymous with a 'competition' which is synonymous with an
'event'. And pretty much anything having to do with an 'event'",
he added to himself as he located the word, "like an 'incident'
or a 'happening' *would* be something that would be inked into a
newspaper!" *True, an "event" has two totally different
meanings,* he mused, *but so did the "leaves" in my last clue.*
he shrugged, snapping the book shut. "Okay, I believe I've got
the first part of the clue," Chip mumbled to himself, getting up
from the table, "and I think I know where to get the second."
Finding the access tunnel that led into the human's library, Chip
looked around for some indication as to where the microfilm room
might be stored. Larger libraries like this one usually offered
such a facility. Not finding the machines upon the second or
third floors, he made his way back down to the main level. There
he spotted a sign he'd missed before, pointing the way to a
descending circular stair. Taking the quicker way down via
sliding down the banister, he discovered the small microfilm room
open and empty, save for an attendant who was too absorbed in his
book to notice him enter.
           *                  *                 *
     Silently lowering himself on his line so as not to alert the
attendant, Chip descended down the file cabinet to the microfilm
drawer he wanted. Tying the rope around his waist to secure
himself, he silently braced himself and pushed open the drawer
from the side, removing the second box in line within it. Tying
the left over part of his rope to the box behind him, he
reascended the cabinet with the file in tow. Over the next two
minutes, he made eight more such trips, nearly emptying the
contents of three of the drawers. Pushing the nine films down the
length of the cabinet and carrying them all down to a projector
at the far end of the room proved no easy task. "Whew!" he
breathed heavily, stopping somewhere along the sixth trip to
catch his breath. "I sure wish Monty was here," he breathed, "he
could've carried all of thesethings in *two* trips. Come to think
of it," he added after a pause, a frightened realization coming
into his eyes, "Monty would probably wish more than *me* that
*he* were here too." Redoubling his efforts at this thought, Chip
rapidly finished his task and got the first film loaded in record
time. As he'd hoped, he was too far away from the attendant for
him to notice the light or noise from his machine. Making his way
through the microfilm, he scanned the newspapers contained upon
it, having a pretty good idea of what he was looking for.
"Something having to do with the sun." he murmured once more
as he kept the control button depressed, the headlines whirring
by before his eyes. 
     Back upstairs when he'd deciphered the second half of the
clue, he knew almost for certain that his original premise had
been right. That the clues had many things in common. That was
what had lead him down here to the microfilm achives. Regardless
of being shown in relation to Autumn, the only thing that the
word "vernal" was ever used for was in conjunction with an
equinox; one of two opposite points at which the sun crosses the
celestial equator, when the days and nights were equal. The dates
of the Vernal and Autumnal equinox were normally about March 21
and September 21 respectively. The solstice, since the rhyme
didn't specify, could have been talking about either the *Summer*
or *Winter* Solstice, the time when the sun was at it's greatest
distance from the celestial equator, either North or South. The
dates of the Summer and Winter solstices were normally about
June 22 and December 22 respectively. These four dates, give or
take a day or so on either side, gave him an idea of upon which
day's newspaper to look for the next clue. Unfortunately, the
rhyme had also not said what year to look from, which had merited
his having to take so many films. The newspaper upon which the
clue would be contained was simple. The only newspaper which bore
a relation to the subject of the others: The L.A. *Sun* Times. 

      The first few films turning up nothing that fit his search,
Chip proceeded to load yet another film into the machine.
He'd half expected to find some sort of clue on the weather page
of each one, but disappointedly, such a lead never materialized.
He was even so careful as to scan all the bylines for a lead.
After all, he didn't think Ivana was above using an Oriental name
like Sung, Soong, both with a silent "G" and pronounced somewhat
like Sun, or some other similarly spelled name to fool him.
Still, no such name appeared within any of the editions. Finally
around the sixth film, something promising turned up. An article
about the Aztecs stood before him now, and how a conservation
research group was working to turn one of their temples in Peru
into eco-tourist attraction and archeological site. He already
knew that the Aztecs were one of the few ancient empires
of South America that had worshiped the sun as a deity. Therein
lied a *definite* connection he knew. The article was done by
a contributing writer to the paper, who had also published a book
about the environment. The article listed the name of it at the
end. Writing down the title of the book and the author that the
article listed, he proceeded to check through the other three
films that were left, just for good measure, and found nothing
further to go on. Leaving the films behind for lack of time since
he hated to be as sloppy as Dale, Chip made his way back behind
the walls to the animal library.
                *                  *                   *
     Standing at the card catalogue, Chip began rapidly flicking
his way through the listings that would hold the author's last
name, attempting to ascertain whether the book he needed was at
this branch in either the animal or human sections. "Let's see,
Grim, Grimbal, Groler,-" he mumbled.
     "Hi!" a cheery sounding and familiar voice said from beside
him. 
     Looking over, Chip found himself face to face once more with
the gorgeous female mouse he'd met earlier. "Oh, hi!" Chip
answered, smiling at her.
     "Did you ever remember what you were looking for?" she
asked. 
     She stood there with her hands folded before her, regarding
him with that almost undiscernibly curious expression he thought
he'd noticed earlier. Her stance seemed to be casual, but there
also seemed to be a hint of something else behind it, as if she
were waiting for something. "I did thanks." he said, nodding.
"I'm just finding another book."
     "....Well,..do you need help with anything else?" she asked
after a moment, the look now seeming a bit more noticeable.
     /Am I *seeing* things here?/ Chip wondered to himself,
unsure as to the reason for her gaze. After becoming a Rescue
Ranger, he had spent countless hours training himself in the
skill of observing humans and animals. The fact that body
language and other seemingly insignificant things about a person
like their clothing or even their walk, could tell volummes about
them he well knew. He also knew though, that although he had
become somewhat proficient in this skill, he still had a way to
go. Whether the expression he saw was real or imagined, it was
simply too subtle to tell. Whatever the case though, he knew he
had to get back to work. "No thanks." he said politely, half
turning back to the card catalog. "I appreciate the offer
though."
     The girl paused for a moment at his reply, as if unsure of
what to do next.
     "Well,...if you *do* need anything, just stop by my desk and
ask me." she said, her melodious voice taking on a sweeter,
somewhat inviting tone as she extended her hand, her intentions
now obvious even by her smile. "By the way, my name's Nicole." 
     /Looks like I *wasn't* seeing things!/ Chip mused, surprised
at this sudden advance as he took her hand and shook it. "Nice to
meet you Nicole, I'm Chip." he said, toning down his surprised
look, and giving her his most charming and delighted smile. "I'll
be sure to stop by later when we're both not so busy. Perhaps for
some dinner?" he asked meaningfully.
     "Great!" Nicole said, beaming at him. "I'll see you later
then,...*Chip.*" Turning, the girl named Nicole slowly walked
off. As she did though, she threw a last glance over her
shoulder, her eyes shining warmly at him as she smiled.

     Smiling back at her as she walked off, Chip waited until she
was out of sight before turning back to the card catalog. /Nooo,/
he thought with a touch of humor, his smile lingering for a
moment before it faded altogether, /I don't think *she's* Ivana!/
Chip uttered a heavy sigh then, but not one of pleasure at this
pleasant surprise. /I sure hated to lie to her like that,/ he
thought guiltily as he continued to flip through the cards,
searching for the name he wanted, /but I just *had* to cut the
conversation short./ He knew that he couldn't afford more small
talk. Not now. Not when getting this far in his clue hunt had
taken this much time. Two other factors were also responsible for
his as yet, unapparent brush off. The first being that whoever
was following him might take even his asking for the time as
an infringement of the "game rules". Or a misunderstanding by his
"tail", not knowing what he was talking about to another person
could be taken as the same thing. After all, how could you hear
everything that was being said clearly, when you had to stay far
enough away so you didn't tip yourself off? he considered. No. It
was just too risky to talk to anyone at all. He would have to try
to avoid all contact if he could.     
     The other reason for his lie was a lot more simple. Her name
was *Gadget.* Although he and Gadget were still just "friends"
for the most part, even after all this time, he knew he was
deeply in love with her. Even after all the petty feuding and
playing "one-upmanship" with Dale to win her heart. Even after
all this time of him and Dale trying to convince her that she
wouldn't cause a rift in the team or between him and Dale. Even
after all his attempts of trying to get closer to her, and trying
to win her trust. Even after all this time, when it didn't seem
as if his standing with her would ever be much of anything beyond
a close friend, he was still in love with her. After all, here he
was, ready to pass up what could be a chance of a lifetime since
if he and his teammates made it through this case alive, he could
easily come back to explain and apologize to Nicole, instead of
choosing never to see her again. He was completlely ready to pass
up the chance to be with a beautiful, sweet, and obviously
intelligent girl, passing up something that could grow into a
very meaningful thing, all for a chance at something that might
never happen at all. Was it smart? No, he couldn't say it was. It
was just simply *love.* /Really,/ he considered, /what more was
there to say?/

     "Grommand, Grommel, Grommond," Chip mumbled, continuing his
search. "Ah, *here* it is!" he said finally, eyeing the card
within the stack, "Grummett!" Writing down the call number, he
ran like a flash up to the third level on the adjacent wing where
the books on the environment were located. It took him a minute,
but at last he found the volume he was looking for. The title of
it being "The Edge of Extinction", a book about habitat
destruction in the rainforests. /Now I *know* I'm on the right
track! This has to be the "forest" that the clue back at the
treehouse was talking about!/ he thought with an excited
satisfaction. Opening the book, and flipping to the first page,
the clue that he expected would be inside came fluttering out to
land at his feet, almost as if to instantly reward his diligent
search. Stooping down, he retrieved the piece of paper and looked
it over. Upon it, yet another new rhyme was located.Strangely
though, the rhyme was constructed from words that were cut out of
the book, specifically out of a page which featured a
reproduction of an article from a newspaper. The article was
about the dwindling number of a certain species of leaf eating
insects within the rainforest. The rhyme though, read as such:
"Through all of the clues, and what they all share, is how you
might find, a place that is rare." There was one extra twist to
the message though, that separated it from the other messages
he'd encountered so far. Underneath the rhyme, it simply read,
"Check out page 86, Rescue Ranger." Intrigued, Chip flipped
through the book to page eighty six. Opening to the requested
page, another piece of paper fluttered out. Catching it in
mid-air, he turned it over to read it. "It's the nineties
Chipper," the message read, "surely you've heard of the
*information explosion?*"      
     Feeling his heart skip a beat, Chip stared at the message a
split second before he began running, running as though his life
depended on it, *since he knew that it did.* Screaming a warning
out to everyone within earshot, shouting at the top of his lungs,
he was no more than a few feet away before it happened. 
The world turned *red.* 

*****

                        Section 2 of 4

*****
                         
    1:00.....

     Monterey Jack frowned upon his red nosed chipmunk friend, a
touch of bitterness evident in his incredulous expression. What
in the world could be so urgent that Dale would have the nerve to
interrupt such a tragic moment? Furthermore, why didn't he appear
to be upset at all when he'd just been told that his best friend
had been disposed of like some.......*insignificant plaything?*
Dale was not one to hold his emotions inside. If anything, he was
normally the most expressive of the group emotionally. How could
he appear to be so calm as to what they'd just been informed of?
He shivered visibly, not so much from the frigid bath they'd just
escaped from, as from the flickerings of imagination as to what
Chip's last moments might have been like: alone, as well as
terrified and confused as to the reason for his fate. He was
about to put his questions to Dale, when Gadget and Zipper beat
him to the punch with queries of their own.
     "What is it?" Gadget signed, her face visibly pained as she
wiped streaming tears away. Her expression showed she was clearly
wondering the same things as Monterey.
     "And why are we talking in sign language?" Zipper added,
still quite upset as well. 
     "You saw how Ivana could hear the slightest whisper, guys."
Dale answered, giving a quick rub to his arms to warm them,
"She's probably got microphones hidden all around this place.
We're in her playground, playing her game, so I think anything we
can keep hidden from her we can use to our advantage."
     Monterey cut in then, his biting tone and anger toward Dale
evident in his face and his gestures. "So what's so ruddy
important as to make you forget that your best mate's just been
done in by that......*monster?!*" Monterey signed vehemently,
checking himself from using stronger language for fear of
offending Gadget. "Has it even hit your dense head yet that
Chip's *gone*?!!" he finished, glaring fiercely at Dale.  
     Dale took a fearful step back, putting his hands before him
as he implored Monterey to calm down. He had been on the
receiving end of Monterey's temper before, but it was nothing as
intense as this. "You don't understand." he quickly signed as he
felt his heart increase it's pace at Monterey's ire, "*I know who
Ivana is*." 
     Any trace of annoyance or anger instantly wiped from their
faces, Monterey Jack, Gadget and Zipper blinked in complete
surprise at their friend, their jaws dropping.
     "*WHAT*?!!" The three Rangers signed, wondering if they'd
read Dale's sign language right. 
     "Or at least I know who she's *trying* to be." Dale
continued, resisting the urge to grin at their shocked and slack
jawed expressions. "Also, I don't think that Chip's dead."
     "What are you talking about?" Zipper asked, his brow
wrinkled in confusion as beside him, Gadget considered Dale
carefully, wondering how he had come to these conclusions. In
all modesty, she knew herself to be the next best member on the
team in the art of deduction, after Chip. /What could I have
missed that he picked up on?/ she wondered, scrutinizing him with
her gaze.
     "Let's start moving," he signed, "and I'll tell you on the
way. Whatever time we've got, I don't want to stay her any longer
than I have to." The others nodded, only all too agreeable with
this sentiment. Glancing over his shoulder, Dale peered at the
single set of wooden doors situated across the room from them
that seemed to be the only entrance or exit. Motioning towards
it, he began to tell of his discovery as he carefully trotted
backwards, casting a glance behind him every so often so as not
to bump into the many pipes of the scaffolding that lay between
them and the door. 
     "I think that whoever's behind all this is lying about
killing Chip." Dale signed as he began, his eyes intently focused
upon the others.
     A skeptical gaze crossing her face, Gadget fought to keep
her emotions under control. She feared if she allowed her hopes
to rise, they would only be dashed to pieces by what she
suspected was Dale jumping to conclusions, or just wishful
thinking from a state of shock. Even worse, Dale could be in a
state of denial from what had happened to Chip. Tragic news could
cause anyone to react such a way she recalled, remembering her
own denial of her father's passing long after it was clear that
he wouldn't be coming back. But if Dale was in a state of denial,
she wondered, why would he say that he knew who Ivana was? "What
makes you so sure?" she asked after drying the tears from her
eyes. 
     "Because whoever's behind this is lying about who she is."
Dale returned. "Ivana *may* even be her real name, but the person
we're dealing with is a character from a book."
     The others blinked again, this time from both surprise and
confusion.
     "What, a *comic book*?" Monterey signed, quirking an eyebrow
at him.
     "No, a mystery." Dale signed, "From the library."
     "But how would you know?" Zipper signed, "You don't read
mysteries."
     "No, but Chip does." Dale replied. 
     "I don't understand." Zipper and Gadget signed at him,
shaking their heads while Monterey just stared at him curiously.
     "A little less than a year ago," Dale began, "Chip took a
book out of the library called "The Entropy Agenda" or
something." he shrugged. "It was a bestselling spy/mystery
thriller, along with a few other novels like it. The day they
were due back, he was sick with the flu, so I offered to take
them back for him. On the way there I was looking at the covers
of the books when the cover of "Agenda." caught my eye. It got me
curious, so I looked at the first page and ended up reading the
thing through in a few hours. I just couldn't put it down."
     "Never mind that, mate." Monterey signed impatiently,
"What's this have to do with Ivana?"
     "Ivana M. Killjoy." Dale signed, "She was the villainess of
the book. A lady scientist who became unbalanced and went over
the edge. She had a plan to wipe out all the major cities of the
world, especially the capitals. A really sick character."
     /Sounds like an acurate description./ Zipper thought to
himself. 
     "It took me a minute or so to remember the book, but what
with her name, her attitude about others lives, her schizo
temperament, and having us in the dark before, it matched the
character exactly. I knew "Ivana" had to be the same one from the
book."
     "What are you saying Dale?" Gadget asked, still unsure of
his point. "That whoever's pretending to be Ivana is having us
act out roles from the book?"
     Dale shrugged. "That's what I can't figure out." he replied.
"In the book, Ivana killed a lot of people, but she never tried
to do it by kidnapping them and trying to drown them. The other
thing is, there is a part in the book where
she blacked out a building in a plan to eliminate the people
trying to stop her, but it was near the *end* of the book. It
doesn't seem like we're following the plot of the story at all."
     "But Dale," Gadget seemed to insist in confusion, as if
trying to convince him, "we weren't pursuing her. She was after
*us*."
     Again Dale shrugged, giving her a helpless grin. "I never
said it made *sense*."
     "If Chip's still alive though," Monterey asked, casting his
gaze at each of them, "what do you suppose she's done with him?
And why?"
     "Maybe she's holding him hostage in case we find our way
out, so we'd have to go back for him." Zipper suggested grimly. 
     "I don't know," Dale signed as he slowed his pace, "but
there've been a few other times when we thought Chip was a goner.
Until I know for sure, I'm not just taking the word of
someone who lies for a hobby about who she is." In spite of these
seemingly calm and sensible words, the others saw from Dale's
expression that his emotions mirrored their own. He was worried
sick about what had happened to his best friend. 
     Approaching the set of double doors, and seeing that the
bottom was too small to squeeze under, the Rangers looked over
the bar lock release mechanism, an established plan already in
their minds as to how to open it. Even without Chip's height to
form a living ladder, releasing the latch wouldn't prove to be
any problem. In their profession, they'd found many times that
there was more than one way to open a door. After Zipper had made
sure that the door's deadbolt was unlocked, Monterey and Dale
stepped back a distance from the wooden barrier to a place
indicated by Gadget after some quick calculations on her part. As
Monterey and Dale locked their hands together, Gadget hunkered
herself down in a racing position, a few lengths away from them
as she readied herself. The plan was for Monty and Dale to
catapult Gadget up, propelling her onto the bar as Zipper struck
it with his weight as well. They knew from experience that their
combined force should be more than enough to unlock it. Signaling
her readiness to the others, Gadget broke into a run. However,
just as she was about to throw herself into a rapid series of
handsprings to build up more speed, she skidded to a halt, her
eyes widening. The others turned to look where she was staring.

     Moving with an eerie slowness, the Rangers watched, rooted
to the spot as before them, the door latch released, seemingly of
its own accord. With a long shuddering creak, like that of a
crypt revealing its terrifying contents, the door slowly opened
before them. Clustering hastily together, the four Rangers
cautiously made their way toward the partially opened doorway,
never noticing the glint of a spyglass as it disappeared back
into the ceiling above the aquarium, the small cut section of
ceiling moving silently back into position a moment later.

               *              *              *

     With a groan, Chip began to pick himself up off the floor,
his ears still ringing painfully. He wasn't sure for how long,
but he knew he'd been knocked out by the blast. It was a moment
before he realized where he was, and when he did, he couldn't
believe his own eyes. He was upon the ground level, about a foot
and a half down from the third which was quite a good distance
since he was only about three inches tall, and at least ten or
more feet away from where he'd been when the explosion took
place. If the book cases he was now up against hadn't been there,
he knew he might've gone a lot farther. Luckily, he'd been able
to throw himself from the level before the bomb had detonated. If
he'd been at ground zero, he knew there would have been almost
*no way* he would've survived. Where he'd been had been close
enough for him though, for it had proven to be an extremely
powerful blast. Although the situation had been quite fortunate
for him, for the rest of the library, it was a total disaster.
Pandemonium reigned, with fires raging on every level, consuming
the books and shelves, with the flames beginning to spread onto
the platforms where the sitting areas were located. Debris of
every type from the blast lay about, making the place look like a
battlefield. The air abounded with cries and shouts as animals
ran all about, most of them trying to get to  the exits. Looking
around, Chip knew that he couldn't have been out for too long.
The smoke from the fires had only just begun to spread, and he
could still see most of the place fairly clearly. 
     Getting carefully to his feet, he gingerly ran a hand down
the side he'd landed on, wondering if anything had been broken.
As his hands made their way over his ribcage, he visibly winced,
feeling like he'd just been tackled by Arnold Mousenegger. In
spite of the extremely sore sensation though, he was able to move
about without too much discomfort. Looking around him, he spied a
squirrel lying in the debris a few feet ahead of him, and making
his way over, he sincerely hoped that unconsciousness was the
only thing wrong with the person.
     "Hey!" Chip called, bending over him, his own words
bringing a new throbbing to his head as he saw the squirrel
beginning to stir. "Are you all right?" he asked. The squirrel
was awake now, and quite a bit scratched up, but worse than that,
he was not by any means in an even marginally alert state.
Obviously, Chip saw, the guy had taken a worse blow to the head
than he had.
     "Yeah, I'm okay." The Squirrel mumbled, his eyes rolling
lazily about. "By the way, what time's the next movie? I'm
meeting my friends in Alaska at nine."
     "Oboy." Chip murmured, shaking his head. /This guy's in no
shape to walk./ he realized, seeing the obvious signs of a
concussion. He knew he had to get the squirrel out of the area
and *fast*. Helping him to sit up, Chip carefully crouched down
and pulled the squirrel onto his back. "Hang onto me!" he called,
hoping that his companion was coherent enough to understand
him. Fortunately, he was. Hoisting himself to his feet, Chip
tried to ignore the pain in his side as he kept the squirrel's
legs wrapped securely around him. Carrying his passenger in
piggyback style, he soon reached the emergency exit which had
already been opened. Outside near the door, a young boy mouse
wearing a scout uniform stood. Observing the pair come out of the
somewhat smoke filled entrance, he pointed to his left. "Go back
around the building toward the main entrance sir." he instructed
politely but with authority, as though someone had posted him
there. "The rescue team just got here. They'll be able to help
him."
     /Rescue team?/ Chip thought, a curious look flashing across
his face as he followed the boy's directions. /He couldn't be
talking about the Techno Rats could he?^/ He hadn't seen the
Techno Rats around for some time, though he knew they were still
activ1e. And yet who else could he be talking about? The Wasp
Patrol() hardly qualified for crime fighting let alone rescue
work, and the Fabulous Frogs{} had quit looking for adventure
after that nearly lethal battle with Fat Cat last year. True the
Techno Rats weren't nearly as competent as his own team in Rescue
work, but right now, he was glad for any help he could get. The
place had been quite full, and he knew there still could be a lot
of hurt animals still left within the library. As he rounded the
corner which led to the main entrance within the alleyway though,
the Techno Rats were nowhere to be found. Besides the crowd of
those who had got out safely, all he saw was a group of five
mice, two squirrels and one chipmunk near the entrance, tending
to the animals that were injured in the explosion with medical
equipment. Of varied ages but no older than Monty, each of them
sported a strange type of shiny clothing in a bright yellow
color,  almost like a uniform. 
     As Chip approached, a male member of their ranks emerged
from the entranceway, a lady mouse using him for support. After
releasing the squirrel into the care of one of the strangely clad
animals who came running up to him, Chip approached the rescuer
that had just appeared, another one of his mouse teammates coming
up to take the lady into her care.
     "How many more are in there?" he asked urgently, as the
rescuer relinquished the lady mouse over to his female teammate.
     "One of the librarians said most of the people got out." The
mouse answered assuredly, wiping his brow of the sweat caused by
the heat within. "We should get the rest, soon eno-"
     Brushing past him before the mouse was able to finish, Chip
ran back into the burning building. Staring after him a second,
the mouse turned to his teammate who'd just
witnessed this scene as well. "Do *you* know who that was, Lynn?"
he asked the girl. 
     "Can't say that I do, Kit." Lynn stated, giving him a
perplexed look before turning back to her patient. A surprised
look still on his face, the mouse called Kit turned and raced
back into the library after Chip. Catching up to him near
the entryway to the second level, Kit laid a hand firmly on his
shoulder, stopping him.
     "Get out of here!" he called as he looked at Chip, shouting
to make himself heard over the roar of the flames. "It's not safe
in here!"
     "Look, I know you don't think there's that many left," Chip
said, leaning close to him and shouting as well, "but there's a
lot of ground here to cover! How many of your team is in here?"
     "Including me, six." Kit stated. "But I don't-"
     "How many are on the upper levels?" Chip asked, interrupting
him as he pointed.
     "Four." he answered. "Another person and I are checking out
the ground floor wings."
     "There's *ten levels* which stretch around this place!" Chip
pointed out urgently. "Look, I'm already familiar with the layout
around here, and you're obviously going to need some help!
Whether you like it or not, I'm staying!"
     Looking at Chip, the mouse seemed to consider him for a
moment with mixed emotions, as if he were not entirely thrilled
with his decision, yet not totally dissatisfied. Chip couldn't
say that he was entirely satisfied with his decision either. He
knew he had to get back on the trail to save his friends. Still,
even though his friends were in danger, he knew he couldn't just
abandon the animals who might need help here. Even with six
rescuers and himself working to save the ones still in this
inferno, they would still be cutting it close. The whole place
looked as if it could come down at any time. Much as it tore at
him, he knew he was needed here now, more than on the case of his
missing friends. 
     "Okay," Kit said after a moment, giving him a grim half
smile. "but be careful though. You don't have a fire retardant
suit to protect you like we do."
     Nodding, Chip started rapidlyup the plank leading to the
second level. /A fire suit!/ he thought, /So *that's* what those
uniforms are for!/ Well he may not have a fire suit, he knew, but
he knew the tough leather of his bomber jacket ought to protect
him pretty well at any rate. /Strange though,/ he considered, as
he gained the second level and raced now toward the plank leading
toward the third, /I don't remember anything about a fire brigade
of animals in this town./ 
     Coordinating his efforts with those of the rescuers he met,
close to two dozen animals were saved from the upper levels. Chip
himself was responsible for a great deal of those saved, bringing
a new injured animal outside practically every five minutes. His
climbing rope soon proved invaluable to him though, as parts of
the connecting planks burned through and fell away, leaving no
way to get back down except for those rescued to hang onto Chip
and his new allies as they used their own climbing gear to repell
themselves back down to the ground floor. 
     Through a quick conversation with one of the female fire
team members, Chip soon learned that there had been not one, but
*five* explosions of different intensities. Three in different
parts of the animal library, with two in the human's library,
which explained to Chip how the damage had gotten to be so
widespread. As the rescue effort wore on, the smoke from the
fires began to grow quite thick, almost too thick to see through,
making it somewhat difficult to breathe. Using his hat as a
makeshift filter, he still managed to plunge ahead through the
flames, finding and rescuing two more would be victims. Repelling
back on his rope, on his way down from the tenth level with yet
another rescued animal, he was approaching the second level when
a large piece of the floor planks from above him broke loose.
Through the smoke, he never saw it coming until it was too
late..........     

*****

                        Section 3 of 4

*****
                         
     /Why do I 'ave the feeling I'm stickin me 'ead into the
lion's mouth?/ Monterey wondered to himself, glancing around
nervously as they slowly proceeded through the doorway. Normally,
Monterey knew no fear or for that matter, showed barely any
caution in a dangerous situation. In this case for some reason
though, he couldn't shake the sinking feeling that somewhere out
here, like a predator stalking its prey, someone was waiting for
them,...*waiting to strike*. The corridor they had emerged into
was darkened and deathly quiet, the only sound being that of the
soft hum of dim emergency lights above them. The silence was the
same as that of the meeting hall, save for the ominous feeling of
danger that seemed to exude from it. Whether it was his
imagination or a sense of premonition, Monterey didn't know. He
only knew he wasn't that eager to find out which of the two it
was. 
     
     No sign presented itself as to who or what had opened the
door for them, or why it had been done. /All things considered,/
Monty thought to himself, looking down the shadowy passage, /I
would've preferred an ambush right off. At least *then* I would
'ave something real to fight against./ Instead, he knew he would
only end up fighting against himself. Accurately enough, he 
fought to reign in his imagination as it began seeing menacing
shapes everywhere he looked. Taking a slow breath, he tried to
calm his somewhat frayed nerves as well.
 
     "How many do you think are out there?" Monty signed, keeping
one eye on the hall. 
     "How many what?" Dale replied reflexively, not really
thinking about the question. 
     "Thugs, goons, *whatever*." Monty returned, "Crikeys Dale,
you don't think one little shela got all of us out here by
herself do ya?"
     "Depends on how big "Ivana" is Monty." Gadget pointed out.
"We could be dealing with a cat."
     "A....C-CAT?!!" Monterey gulped, his heart suddenly a small
triphammer in his chest. No wonder he felt so uneasy, he
realized. Cats were one of the few things he was uncontrollably
terrified of. /Still....,/ he considered, sniffing the air
carefully, he didn't *smell* a cat. In fact,....he didn't
smell *anyone new at all*. No mechanism was attached to the door
either he saw, allowing for the only possibility that someone had
opened it somehow by hand. /How the heck could someone open the
door, disappear so quickly, and yet not leave their scent?/ he
wondered, the skin on the back of his neck beginning to crawl.
Such a trick fairly smacked of sorcery and other things arcane.
Another thing he stood in fear of. His hand reflexively reached
for his lucky charms which he wished were still in his pocket. 
     "Hey guys, look!" Zipper signed, pointing to a small folded
placecard standing in the middle of the hall, a dozen feet ahead.
Quickly retrieving it, Zipper deposited the card into Monterey's
hands, perching on his shoulder as Gadget and Dale gathered
around him. /I wonder what it says?/ Zipper thought curiously.
     Unfolding the card, Monterey read it through, a frown
darkening his face as Dale read it aloud: "So you know who I am,
but who I might be, will never be known, for you'll never see,
the face of the foe who through this one time, will kill all the
Rangers through reason and rhyme. Whether Chip is still living,
though to think so is lame, I will tell you that, he's still part
of the game, which for you and quite soon, will quit being
tame. Now before I go I really must balk, at the sad bid at
secrecy when you did walk, for you did not think, that like you,
'I can talk.'" These last four words were not printed as words,
but as pictures of hand signals of the sign language. The sarcasm
of the message was evident enough as they all grimaced at these
last three words.

     "I think she's onto us mates." Monterey said sourly,
crumpling the message after they had all read it. "But how'd she
see-" Gadget asked, With a sudden gasp, she and the others
whirled back around again, a shiver of fear tingling down their
spines. The lights of the meeting hall had been abruptly
extinguished behind them, plunging the corridor into an even
gloomier obscurity. 
     "Golly," Gadget whispered, "I-I...think I liked having *no*
lights better than *this*."
     "Wellp...!" Monterey began, inhaling a quantity of air
and summoning up what he could of his bravado, "we can't be
standing around 'ere all day mates!"
     "Right." Dale replied nervously, glancing around. "We should
try to find Chip."
     "I don't get it." Zipper stated. "Just how does Chip fit
into this "game"?"
     Just then, before anyone could respond, Ivana's voice
entered the conversation.
     "Your friend and leader might be found, searching the
chambers that abound, but upon which level I cannot say, for that
would spoil the game in play, and really quite soon,
this very same day, from the medium of air,....*one shall fall
prey*." her voice whispered sinisterly from the speakers around
them. As the message ended, Dale Gadget and Monterey, all looked
worriedly at Zipper, the reference to "air" leaving no doubt in
their mind as to who the last part of the message was meant for.
     "Well," Zipper quipped weakly, in an attempt to break the
uncomfortable looks the others were giving him, "how's that for
service?! Now we know what she did with Chip!"
     "Gosh," Gadget said softly, her body silhouetted against the
dim light above, "No wonder she gave us so much time to try to
get out of here!"
     "And no wonder she called all this a game!" Zipper fairly
growled in anger, "She's using Chip as the grand prize!" Adding
silently and more broodingly to himself, his earlier idea having
been correct, /Though she's treating him more like *bait*!/
     "Yeah. *Try* to pass "go", to collect $200.00 and one best
friend." Dale added, his mood no lighter than Zipper's in spite
of his rather flippant analogy. 
   
     "Too right mates!" Monterey thundered heartily, his boldness
having returned at hearing of his friend's peril. "So let's be
off then! We've got a teammate to get back!!" 
     Gadget, Dale and Zipper responded to Monterey's courageous
words the best way they knew how. "RESCUE RANGERS.." they boldly
cried as one, joining Monty who led the cheer, "AWAY!!!"

     After venturing down the corridor for a distance, it was
Gadget who broke the silence next, stepping naturally into the
role of team leader as doorways began to appear on each side of
the hallway. "We'll have to split up guys," she stated as they
halted before the first two rooms. "to cover more ground quicker.
Check the room as carefully as you can. Chip may be hidden
beneath or behind something and may be difficult to spot,
especially with so little light to see by. He also may be
unconscious or gagged or...well..., just don't assume he can
respond even if he can hear you." She stated quickly, cutting
short the distressing line of thought. "Monty, you and Zipper
take these two rooms, Dale and I'll take the next two. When you
finish, just let us know and keep going. And Zipper...,"
she added lastly, gracing her friend with a tenderly concerned
look, "*Please* be careful."
     "I will Gadget." Zipper said, smiling appreciatively before
flying into one room. 
      "Good luck mates." Monterey said, looking confidently at
them and turning toward his own room. "We'll find him."
     Watching as Monterey departed, Gadget turned around. "C'mon
Dale," she said to him, laying her hand in his to comfort them
both, her voice still tinged with nervousness. "let's go."
     As they hurried along to the next group of doors many yards
away, Dale silently and discretely considered his beautiful
friend and teammate from the corner of his eye. Even in so gloomy
a situation as this, he couldn't keep his emotions for her from
surfacing, if only for a moment as he enjoyed the sensation of
her touch with her hand in his. He so admired everything about
her. Her beauty, grace, and compassion, and equally as much, her
intelligence, determination and cunning. All unmatched by any
girl he had ever known. Not even Foxglove who was quite special
in all those ways could quite equal her. He often wondered if he
would ever get his courage up enough to tell her that he loved
her.....as he often wondered as well with a touch of longing, if
she would ever consider him anything more than just a friend. As
they arrived at the next pair of doors, he paused for but a
moment as he watched Gadget slip inside the far room, the soft
light playing across her delicate form, before his thoughts
quickly returned to the more important matter at hand. Turning,
he entered the room across from hers to join in the search.

     For a little over an hour, the search proceed as such. The
only sounds heard throughout the hushed level being that made by
each Ranger in the thorough investigation of his or her
respective room, and the sound of all their voices as they called
out to their missing friend. The search proceeded down many
corridors and cross corridors, leaving no space unexamined,
including even the occasional bathroom and broom closet. All
doors lay unlocked and open for their scrutiny, a fact that made
their task that much easier, but somehow also served to increase
their unease as to why a captor should make anything easy at all.
To that question, the silent speakers in the ceiling above seemed
to mock them in reply. With the level almost completely covered,
the Rangers began to consider moving to the nearest stairwell,
the elevators being without power, to proceed down to the next
floor. It was soon after that when something happened.......

     /*Boy-oh-boy!*/ Zipper thought wearily to himself as he
emerged from the room Gadget was in. Having informed her that he
would be in the next one over, he flew down the hallway toward
it. /I don't know how we're going to search *all* the levels of
this place. Just *one* of 'em is big enough to tire me out!/ The
building was in fact, according to Gadget's approximations, about
as long and wide as two city blocks, making for the largest
building they had ever been in, while so far from what they could
tell, it wasn't the tallest. Entering the new room, Zipper
hovered in the air a moment, considering the space in total.
"Chip?!" he called out as loudly as he could, as he had so many
times before. Listening carefully, and hearing no reply of any
sort, he began his search, repeating the call every so often. 
     The room was pretty much like all of the others that he had
been in so far. A single and simple office desk and chair, this
time along with a small potted plant, was all that stood in
the room. The relative spareness of the decor however, did not
serve to make his exploration any quicker. For as Zipper well
knew, when living in a world of giants as the Rescue Rangers did,
there are many places you can hide....*or in this case be
hidden.* With a great deal of effort, his strength quickly
draining with each repetition of the exercise from previous
rooms, he opened the drawers of the desk. Finding them empty, he
proceeded onto the rest of the room. Stopping for a moment to
acknowledge Gadget's call of moving onto the next office, he
inspected behind the cork board for any sort of hole or hidden
passage. For such a passage he inspected behind the two weathered
posters that hung on the adjacent walls as well. 
     The baseboard heater lining the walls, the dirt beneath the
potted plant, and the lighting compartment in the ceiling were
the next to be checked. In short, he checked anything and
everything moveable that he thought big enough to hide a chipmunk
behind or within it. However, like all of the other rooms before
it, the search revealed nothing. 

     Feeling his fatigue beginning to weigh him down, and
deciding that a quick break would help to restore his flagging
energy, Zipper landed upon the grill atop the radiator.
Its cool metallic surface feeling wonderfully invigorating
against his overheated body, he lay back upon it with a grateful
sigh, and turned his head to consider the nearby window. Like all
of the rooms upon this level that had one, the window was the
most curious thing within it. All the windows seemed to have been
spray painted, a blackish color that appeared to take on a
lighter hue where the emergency light from beyond the doorway
touched it. All the same, the entire pane was completely covered,
so that not an iota of daylight was visible through it. What was
even stranger about the paint was that it wasn't ordinary paint.
It seemed to have been mixed in with a much harder substance,
possibly even *cement*. Back when Dale had discovered the first
window upon entering a new corridor, they had all had the idea of
opening the window to send him off to retrieve Foxglove, and
hopefully even the Techno Rats if he could find them. However,
the crank mechanism for opening the window had been painted over,
jamming it. No amount of pushing by all of them even budged it.
Moreover, when Monterey had tried to "take a swing" at the window
with a wooden leg he'd twisted off a straightback chair, he
succeeded only in breaking the makeshift bat in half. The paint,
let alone the window, was not even cracked by his mightiest blow.
The sight of Monterey's face would have been quite funny if they
hadn't *all* been so shocked.

      So here they were on their own, racing against time and
facing a very tricky and malevolent adversary with the cards
stacked in her favor. All factors that he and his teammates had
faced many times before.....but for some reason in spite of all
their experience, Zipper didn't exactly have the greatest feeling
of confidence. Being a captive was always an unnerving
experience, a trial that could shake even the most confident
personality. But there was more to it than that. There was a
feeling shared all around, evident in all their somewhat tense
expressions and movements, that there was more to this "game"
than just an escalated version of hide and seek. The feeling they
shared was that of being pursued, stalked, even *hunted*,....*and
that the predator might soon pounce*. Suddenly,...it felt
just a bit *too* quiet within the room. Uncomfortably quiet. His
stomach twisting uneasily, Zipper sat up and flew towards the
doorway, his strength not having returned entirely. Not that it
mattered really. No matter how long the break, he knew that none
of them were going to feel rested or relaxed until they had found
Chip and found their way out of these bleak surroundings. That
is, he amended to himself with a shiver, if they were able
to.........

     The alarmed cry which bordered on a scream ripped through
the still air, shattering the silence like breaking glass. In
their respective rooms, Monterey, Gadget and Dale jerked
their heads up at the shout, their every hair standing on end.
All ears recognized the squeaky voice responsible for the
panicked call. It was *Zipper's*. 

               *              *              *

     2:15.....

     Lying upon the ground, slightly dazed from the collision and
fall, Chip looked over toward the bird with the injured wing and
leg that  he'd been bringing down when they'd been hit. Luckily,
the fall hadn't been that far. Like him, she only appeared to be
slightly winded.
     "Hey, I need some help over here!" One of the fire team
yelled, calling to one of his teammates as he ran up to Chip and
the bird. "I saw you fall. Are you all right?" the mouse asked,
handing Chip his scorched and battered hat as he helped him to
sit up.
     "Yeah," Chip said somewhat tiredly, his sore side beginning
to hurt fairly intensely now. "I'm okay." Trying to stand on his
own, he stumbled a bit as he tried to regain his balance.
     "Come on." the mouse said, supporting him as his teammate
helped the lady bird outside. "Let's get you looked at."
Objecting slightly that he was all right, the mouse still gently
persuaded Chip to take a short breather as he led him toward the
outside. 
     "Take good care of him, Rick." The mouse stated once they
had exited the building, handed Chip over to one of his
teammates outside. His voice filled with respect as he looked
over at Chip. "He's been a lot of help to us." 
     "Look, I'm fine." Chip said stubbornly, shrugging the mouse
off as he began to head back toward the entrance. "And I'm going
back in." 
     Stepping ahead of him, the black furred mouse called Rick
blocked his path. "Sorry, uhh...." he said, holding his hand out
toward him.
     "Chip." Chip stated, looking the new mouse in his face, a
resolute expression etched on his own as he ignored the
outstretched hand.
     "Right. Sorry, Chip." the mouse replied letting his hand
drop after a moment. "I can't let you go back in. I was about to
have Stuart here find you pull you outside anyway." he said,
gesturing to the younger mouse beside him that had helped him
out.
     "Why?!" Chip demanded to know, an annoyed look crossing his
face.
     Before Rick could respond, another one of his teammates,
wearing an oxygen tank and mask, passed a set to the mouse named
"Stuart" before proceeding back inside.
     "*This* is why." Stuart said, holding up the tank and mask.
"You've seen how thick the smoke's getting. You won't be able to
rescue *anyone* if you can't breathe."
     "Don't you have any more?" Chip implored him hopefully.
     "Sorry." Stuart shrugged apologetically. "We haven't had
*time* to make more."    
     Staring past the two mice at the smoke that was now
beginning to pour from the building, Chip grimaced. He hated to
give up, but he knew they were right. Besides, considering the
fact that his friend's lives still depended on his completing
"the game", he could hardly afford to be overwhelmed by smoke
inhalation now. He would be too sick to go *anywhere* then.
"You're right." he stated with obvious reluctance. "I'll stay out
here."
     "We really do appreciate your help." Stuart said as he began
to don his tank and mask. "Hey chief, he continued, looking
toward Rick, "I think he'd be a great new recruit for the team,
huh?" 
     "I don't think so Stu." Rick said, looking at Chip. "He's
already *part* of a team."
     "Really? Which?" Stuart inquired, a curious look on his
face.
     "I'll tell you later." Rick replied, pointing back toward
the library. "You'd better get going. Tell the others we'll have
their masks waiting at the entrance." 
     "Right chief." Stuart said, waving a goodbye salute to Chip
before heading back in.
     Watching as the young mouse disappeared into the smoke, Chip
turned toward Rick. "He called you "Chief". Are you the leader of
this group?" 
     "You could say that, although 'Chief' is just a nickname
that the others gave me." Rick replied, looking back at him.
"Although I was the one that first created S.A.M.A.R.I.T.A.N.S.,
we're organized kind of like you and the Rescue Rangers. I lead
the team unless a situation comes up that one of us knows more
about what to do than me. Then that person leads." he shrugged.
"We're flexible."
     "S.A.M.A.R.I.T.A.N.S.?" Chip asked, staring at him intently
as he wondered where these people had popped up from. "How do
you know about me and the  Rescue Rangers? We've never met
before!"
     "Sorry." Rick replied, guesturing around him at his
teammates as they continued to help the victims of the blast.
"S.A.M.A.R.I.T.A.N.S. stands for the Small Animal Medical And
Rescue Teams. 'S.A.M.A.R.I.T.A.N.S.' for short. We're something
of a volunteer fire department, rescue squad, paramedic team, and
veterinary team rolled into one. We handle everything except
crime fighting. That we leave to groups like you guys, although
we will help out any way we can if we're needed. I got this team
together only three weeks ago which is why we're a still a little
short on equipment,....particularly a rodent sized water cannon
that we're still working on. That would've been real helpful
here...." he said, his voice filling with regret as his gaze fell
upon the entrance to the animal library and all of it's works
that were going up in smoke. "As for how I know about you and the
Rescue Rangers," he said, taking a deep breath as he continued,
"Gadget told me all about all of you. I recognized you right off,
but I kind of forgot your name."
     "Gadget?!" Chip exclaimed in surprise. "She never said
*anything* about you guys!"
     "I don't know how she couldn't." Rick stated, surprise in
his voice as well. "She helped to design and construct all our
ambulances for us!" Gesturing, he pointed toward the three
covered skateboards, all of which bore a resemblance to the
Rangermobile, standing at the far end of the alleyway. 
     Looking at the three vehicles, a recent memory clicked in
Chip's mind. Gadget *had* mentioned Rick and these people after
all! It was just that at the time that she was telling of the
paramedic and rescue group she was building the vehicles for,
they hadn't had a team name yet, nor any of their fire fighting
equipment. "Oh, yeah. Now I remember." Chip said nodding. "Gadget
did talk about your group. I always meant to come down and take
a look at these things when she said she had built them." He
himself had been visiting his cousin Chet> through the day that
Gadget had spent in volunteering her time to build the vehicles,
accoucting for his absense.        
     "Speaking of Gadget," Rick said looking curiously at him.
"where is she? I haven't seen her or any of the other Rangers
anywhere around here."
     "Hmm?" Chip said, having been momentarily distracted by the
sight of the ambulances.
     "I said *where are the other Rangers*?" Rick asked
purposefully. 
     Without looking at him, Chip glanced over toward where a
line of white handkerchiefs covered up the less fortunate victims
of the explosions. 
     /*Good question*/. He thought grimly, staring at the
handkerchiefs with a shiver, /and unless I can figure out this
rhyme clue in time, *I may never know the answer again.*/  

*****

                        Section 4 of 4

*****
                                               
     Fear clutching at their hearts, the three Rangers raced from
their rooms, tearing down the hallway in the direction of the
call as fast as their feet could carry them. It was at the small
adjacent hallway near a stairwell  where they began to hear the
muffled moans of their teammate.
     /No! Not me little pally!/ Monterey thought frantically,
sweeping his gaze around desperately for his small friend.
"Zipper!! Mate!! Where are you?!!" he called out, his voice
fraught with anxiety. /If anything's happened to him I'll never
forgive meself!/ 
     As the frightened calls of Dale and Gadget mixed in with
Monterey's, they almost didn't hear the tiny, weak sounding voice
which answered them.
     "Up here." Zipper's sullen voice came back. 
     Casting their gaze upward in the direction of the voice, the
three Rangers spotted Zipper perched upon the doorknob to the
stairwell, but a few feet away from them.
     "Zipper! What happened?! Are you alright Zipper?!" Gadget
asked worriedly as she, Dale and Monterey clustered together
beneath the doorknob where Zipper sat.
     "Yeah, what happened, Zip?!" Dale added, looking up at him.
     "Who attacked you, mate?!!" Monterey demanded angrily,
standing in back of Dale and Gadget. His brow darkening with
rage, he jerked his head from alertly from side to side as he
nimbly began to dance about, his best boxer's stance at the
ready. Fully expecting another attack, he was relieved but
somewhat taken aback by Zipper's reply.
     "I'm alright. Nobody attacked me." Zipper answered, his chin
cupped in his hands.
     "Then *what happened*?!" Dale asked again anxiously.  
     "*This* happened." Zipper replied, smacking the side of the
doorknob with his free hand. "The door won't budge. I thought
they might be locked, so I was going to try to get one open while
you guys finished up the few rooms left."
     Gadget, Monterey and Dale exchanged relieved but confused
glances.
     "That's nothing to get so upset about, Zip." Gadget stated
soothingly. "The lock's probably jammed. We'll get it open." 
     "You don't understand." Zipper said tiredly, shaking his
head. "There's *no way* we'll be able to get this door open."
     "Why?" Dale asked in confusion. "You've unjammed jammed
locks before."
     In response, Zipper dipped his hand into the keyhole,
drawing out a string of something soft looking. "Not when they're
jammed with rubber cement." he replied morosely, letting the glob
snap back into place.
     "Oh." Dale replied in a small voice, feeling his heart sink.
     "What about the other two stairwells?" Gadget asked
hopefully.
     "I already tried them. They're all gummed up." Zipper
stated, his face sinking even more. "We can't get out the
windows, we can't use the elevators, there's no way to get to the
air ducts with them being painted over, and we can't even get
down the stairs! How're we supposed to find Chip and get out of
here now?!" Zipper cried in frustration, burying his head in his
hands. 
     "Here now, Zipper me lad! Buck up!" Monterey returned
cheerfully, hating to see him so upset. "We've been in sticky
wickets before. We'll find a way out. You'll see."  
     For a moment or two, Gadget and Dale stood pondering the
problem to themselves before Zipper lifted his head from his
hands. "I know Monty," he said now in a calmer voice, "but
I-..hey, where'd Monty go?" Zipper asked, noticing his friend's
sudden absence. 
     Dale and Gadget turned around. "He was right behind us a
second ago." Gadget stated.
     "Maybe he went to go finish checking out the rooms." Dale
suggested.
     "I guess." Zipper and Gadget agreed. Sighing, Zipper flew
down from the doorknob to join his two teammates. He had just
landed on Dale's shoulder when he caught the scent.
     THE SCENT OF CHEESE.
     It was a Brie to be exact. He had been friends with Monterey
too long not to have recognized his favorite by now. Definitely
not the type of cheese that's left for bait in a mousetrap. As
*another* type of bait however..... His eyes going wide with
realization now as to the *real* meaning of Ivana's message,
Zipper streaked off of Dale's shoulder and down the hallway after
Monterey. Catching the scent on their own, as well as Zipper's
expression, Gadget and Dale were not far behind in turning to
persue him as well. Outdistancing his friends in a heartbeat,
Zipper still struggled to catch up to Monterey as he streaked
down the corridor towards the rooms at the end of the hall. It
was little wonder to Zipper that Monterey was outrunning him, the
fastest member of the team. During his cheese attacks, Monterey
was just like "The Mightiest Mouse" cartoon character, save for
the flying abilities. He was faster than anything, stronger than
anything, more cunning than anything. Literally an unstoppable
juggernaut, Zipper knew that in all likelyhood, he didn't even
have a chance. He had barely covered half the distance between
them before Monterey, not hearing the warning shouts from his
companions, swerved into one of the last rooms on the hall and
disappeared from view. 

     Watching as his friend vanished from sight, Zipper also
noticed to his increasing terror, that the door to the room
Monterey had entered was slowly beginning to close behind him.
Putting everything he had into a last, desperate burst of speed,
Zipper still found himself a split second too late, nearly
slamming himself silly at full tilt against the door as it shut
with a "click". Veering off at the last possible instant, he
looped around to vainly try the door handle, finding it as he
thought it would be: *locked*, with the lock gummed up as well.
Releasing the handle, he hovered before the narrow pane of
glass set into the center of the door. Looking in, he saw
Monterey preparing to wolf down the last of what looked to have
been quite a large slab of cheese. He cried out to him, but
Monterey still didn't appear to hear as he inhaled the last
chunk in a single gulp. His instinctive gluttony sated, Monterey
sank to the floor on his back, a blissfully satisfied smile
on his face. Slowly, his bushy mustache unfurled, his eyes lost
their wild, glazed over look, and with a blink, his cheese attack
was over. 
     
     "Ahh, that was blumin good *snack*!" Monterey said, patting
his belly where he'd taken in what would've been considered
Thanksgiving dinner for a large family of mice. "Nothin like a
good Brie to satisfy yer stomach. Just what I needed to keep me
strength-eh?!" he called. He had just gotten to his feet and
turned around when he cut himself short, noticing where he was,
within the room with the closed door between him and his friends.
Rushing to it, but finding no way to attain the handle with
nothing for him to stand upon to jump up to or upon it, even
without the gummed up lock, the door was just as immovable to him
as Zipper had found. Through the door, the wood and glass being
too thick for them to hear each other's voices through, Gadget
signed that she, Dale and Zipper would try to find something to
break through the glass with, before they turned to reluctantly
leave, giving him what they could muster of a look of assurance
that was obviously mixed with intense concern. The cheese not
feeling quite so satisfying now in his unsettled stomach,
Monterey tried to keep calm, as he paced slowly about, knowing
that he probably just landed himself in a whole mess of trouble.
It was but a few seconds later when he heard.....
     "Allo *Monzy*," a sultry French voice said from within the
dark reaches of the room. "Ow 'ave you been?" Monterey spun
around, trying to pinpoint the owner of the voice. He'd
recognized the voice immediately, the simple sentence playing
across his emotions in spite of the tempestuous history behind
it. Then, remembering the trick that had been played on him with
Chip's voice, he grew suddenly suspicious...that is until he
caught the scent of the perfume. 
     "Desa'rea?" Monterey called out in shock, hardly believing
his own nose. "Is that *you*?" Taking a few steps into the
darkness, he saw the form and face of the mouse he'd once loved. 
     "Of *course* it is Monzy!" the the svelt French girl
laughed. "Ow *good* it is to see you again. Though zat was a
nasty trick you played on me back at ze airport, switching ze
labels on ze crates to keep moi from taking ze stolen priceless
chair."<> she scolded mildly. 
     "Nastier than trying to turn me into mouse mulch with a
buzzsaw?"<> Monterey returned, his tone biting. "Are you the one
who's behind all this?!" he demanded.
     "Sadly, no." Desa'rea replied casually, "I am ow' you say,
un *associate* of Ivana's."
     "And she sent this "associate" to get rid of me, did she?"
Monterey asked, his voice cold as he stood ready, poised for any
sort of attack.
     "Humph!" Desa'rae sniffed insultedly, her nose in the air.
"I only wanted to see you one last time, but since you 'ave
no'ting to zay to me...!" Spinning around, Desa'rae promptly
broke into a run, further away into the room. Staring after her
for a split second, Monterey started after her, immediately
realizing two things. One: That there had to be another way out
of the room since he could not fathom another reason why she
would run *away* from the door, and Two: That a simple
"associate" or no, Desa'rae was far too valuable to allow to
escape. For as a captive, she could possibly lead them safely
through whatever else "Ivana" had planned for them, or risk the
same fate. It seemed a fair trade, the rules of Chivalry not
applying to a traitorous rat like her, he told himself. He did
however, not realize a *third* important thing. Catching up to
her around the middle of the room, Monterey grabbed her arm in
his meaty paw. As she twisted around, he prepared to catch her
other arm which he suspected would hold a nasty right cross, but
was not prepared at all for the compact from which she swiftly
blew powder into his eyes. 
     Momentarily shocked, his eyes burning, he had no chance to
avoid the kick to his stomach which doubled him over, forcing him
to release Desa'rae's other arm. As he swiftly cleared his
tearing eyes and looked around the room, he discovered to his
surprise, his quarry to be nowhere in sight. Desa'rae had
disappeared like a shadow. Walking further into the room,
Monterey began to scan along the wall for the passage that he
believed to be somewhere nearby. Lost in his intent search, he
was almost completely oblivious to the large, looming shape which
rapidly began falling toward his turned back.......until it was
almost too late. Luckily however, Monterey did have the good
fortune to *hear* the slight scrape of the object on the carpet
as it fell.

     The plummeting mass of stone which had been propped up
against the far wall fell upon him, slamming him to the ground,
but not before he had the chance to brace the object with his
hands, forming a last desperate space before the structure would
have crushed him entirely. It was here, as he struggled to keep
the overwhelming weight off him that a third important
realization came to him, far too late. That being
there were different kinds of bait...*and he'd fallen for both of
them*. "Crikeys!!" Monterey spat from between gritted teeth, his
forearms beginning to shake with his mammoth effort, "'ow could I
'ave been so blumin *blind*?!" His entire will focused upon the
oval rock, Monterey tried his best to slide out from under it,
but found that there was just no way he could afford to move his
wedged arms even a fraction. Taking even a tiny bit of strength
away to try to shift position, and he knew he would be a Monterey
*Mousse*. /Just 'ave to wait til me mates get 'ere!/ he thought.
About two dozen feet to his left, Monterey heard the sounds of
the glass in the door being struck repeatedly as the other
Rangers tried to work their way through. /That is..../he added to
himself, sweat streaming down his face, /if...I
can....hold...out...that...long!/ 
     The seconds ticked by as Monterey continued his lone
struggle, listening to the sound of his friends, chipping the
glass away, and watching his breathing space ever so slowly start
to decrease as his strength began to wane. A minute passed. Then
ten more seconds. Then another ten.....*and Monterey knew then
that he was a goner*. The sounds upon the glass were about the
same, meaning the others had made very little headway in breaking
through the thick barrier, and he was about out of strength. The
stone now stood only a hair's breadth away from his nose and
slowly began to sink upon his chest. Another few seconds, and the
weight now sat mercilessly upon him, beginning to crush him. *He
could barely breathe now*. /That's it, Monty ol boy./ he told
himself, /another few seconds, and yer' *finished*!/ he could
barely even think clearly now, what with the pain the weight was
causing him. /Ye've led a grand life, ye've had a lot of great
mates, and ye've gotten through more'n  yer share of scrapes on a
bit o' luck. But this time lad, ye luck's just run out! I just
wish,/ he told himself, drawing in one more full breath before
the stone's weight cut his air off almost entirely, /that I could
have gotten a chance to say goodbye to the others
before...I...go..I sure hope...they...find....Chip....alright.../
     What happened next is not something that can easily be
explained. Nor something that can easily be believed, even to
those who have experienced it. It can only be said that within
each and every living being there exists a place where the
direst of circumstances can cause the most dramatic of events to
occur. A place that can cause the ignorant to become wise, the
cowardly to become courageous, the weak to become strong,....and
the strong to become truly Herculean. A place seemingly of
miracles. Some would call it adrenaline. Some might call it other
worldly assistance. Some have theories of their own, but the fact
is this. While this place does not always come to the assistance
of those who need it for whatever reason, it now came to Monterey
Jack's aid,and with a vengeance. Lying there beneath the stone,
still fighting for his life for Monterey was seldom a quitter,
as he expected the end to come at any moment, something unseen
and uncatchable flashed across Monterey's mind like a spark. It
was then that it happened. Something seemed to click inside him,
and in a rush, his strength returned *threefold*. He didn't
speak, but thought of the Rangers and how they might not get out
of here alive without his help. The stone lifted slightly and his
breath returned. He thought of Chip. Where he might be and what
might be happening to him right now, and the stone lifted some
more. He thought of himself, and how he wouldn't allow his life
to end this way, not when there was so much more he wanted to
see, do and accomplish. The stone began to rise. From then on he
didn't speak, he didn't think, he didn't hear, but just looked
straight ahead, staring at the stone as if he could bore right
through it with force of his will. To see him, to see his face,
he truly looked like some ancient gladiator or hero of old,
locked in mortal combat with some horrific monster. 
     The battle took only a few seconds as Monterey slowly pushed
the stone up, still struggling with it all the while. At last he
was able to bring it up enough to shift and bring his legs in
under him, joining their strength to the fray. He pushed the
stone up another quarter inch, then a half, and then summoning
every last bit of his strength, he let out a scream that ripped
throughout the room, telling of his effort. Heaving the stone
up slightly, he threw himself to the side, rolling swiftly out of
the way and clearing the weight as the gargantuan rock plummeted
back to the floor with a thundering crash. 
     Getting to his feet, shakily at first and then steadying
himself, Monterey considered the massive stone slab that had
nearly been his waterloo. Even *he* was amazed at the size of it,
and the fact that he had been able to lift it. He didn't know how
he had done it, but he knew was how glad that he had been able
too. Looking it over, a begrudging frown curled his mouth agrilly
as he realized the something of the significance of the stone
piece that had been set as a trap for him. 
*It was an unchisled gravestone*.

     Turning, Monterey walked back toward the door to join his
friend's efforts in helping them to get through the glass. It had
only been a few minutes, *but he just couldn't wait to see them*. 
     Needless to say, Gadget, Dale and Zipper were almost as
overjoyed to see Monterey as he was to see their smiling and
relieved faces once more. After hearing the scream and
thunderclap of noise only moments before, they'd had no idea of
what had happened and had frantically begun to fear the worst. 
     In a short time, the glass was broken through and Monterey's
tale was told as they all gathered around the immense stone, each
of the others casting an astounded look upon him that he had been
able to accomplish such an astounding feat. Walking around the
object, Gadget studied it carefully, her brow furrowing in
thought. As Monterey had noticed, there were no marks chisled
upon the headstone, but still Gadget looked at it carefully as if
something were troubling her.
     "What's is it luv?" Monterey asked, recognizing the look on
her face all too well.
     "It's strange, Monty," Gadget replied, "but I'd swear that
Ivana left this as some sort of clue." She lifted her head up,
examining the rest of the room with her gaze.
     Monterey frowned slightly. "A clue?" he asked "What for?"
     "And a clue to what?" Zipper asked.
     "I don't know." Gadget said uneasily in a soft voice, still
a bit disturbed by the object.
     "Shouldn't we start looking for that passage?" Zipper asked,
looking at Gadget, trying to get her mind off the macabre object.
     "Too right, mate!" Monterey replied in agreeance. "Time's
slipping away too fast as it is." 
     Spreading out, the Rangers began to scour the room for the
secret passage that Desa'rae had to have escaped by. This search
however, took a great deal less time than the last one as a few
seconds later, Zipper called out his success. Monterey, Gadget
and Dale came running over to a point along one wall which a few
minutes ago, had once stood *behind* the tombstone. As they
approached, Zipper pointed to a large, cut out seam in the
carpet, practically invisible in the darkness of the room.
Lifting it, Monterey discovered what he'd hoped to find. A tunnel
of some sort that seemed to lead straight down. Hopefully he
thought, to the next level.    
     "Monty?" Dale asked from beside him.
     "Yeah, mate?" Monterey answered, his eyes not leaving 
his study of the black passage as Gadget
and Zipper embraced one another in celebration of the little
fly's discovery.
     Dale gulped audibly. "I think you may have just met Ivana." 
     "Huh?!" Monterey exclaimed, whirling around to meet his gaze
as Gadget and Zipper did likewise. "What do you mean, mate?" he
asked quickly in an shocked tone.
     "These." Dale stated, pulling from behind him, a mask of
Desa'rae's face and a wig of her hair. "I spotted them wedged
behind the file cabinet." he finished, pointing toward the tower
of metal, about half a foot away from the passage along the wall.
Taking the wig and mask Dale handed to him, Monterey walked a few
steps off, staring at them in shock with an ashen face. The
others waited a moment, looking first at Monterey, and then at
one another before going to his side. As Zipper hovered before
him, Gadget laid a comforting hand on his arm.
     "Monty?" she asked, are you alright?
     "Crikeys Gadge!" Monterey whispered, "Who *is* this shela?
She knows me favorite cheese, she knows me past, she even knows
our *cases*! What *else* does she know that she can use against
me?" he finished, giving her a scared, almost haunted look. "Or
*any* of us?"
     "Take it easy, Monty." she said gently, "She won't be able
to trick us again."
     "How?" Monterey asked, not sounding at all sure.
     "We'll have to pair up into teams to search the next level,
just to play it safe."
She looked away then uneasily, considering if her decision was
the right one. "I just hope we have enough time...." she stated
worriedly, thinking of Chip. 
     As Gadget and Monterey continued this exchange, Dale gave a
quick glance back at the passage, his instincts seeming to give
him an unconscious tap to get his attention. Turning back, he did
a sudden double take then, his eyes widening as he stared at the
tunnel........... 
     "What-?" Gadget called inquisitively, observing Dale's
sudden motion as he spun about. "Wait, Dale! *Don't*!!" Gadget
cried lunging toward him, trying to stop her suddenly sprinting
friend as Monterey spun around to do the same. Grabbing for his
shirt collar as did Zipper, the two Rangers only succeeded in
grabbing handfuls of empty air as the chipmunk, his eyes glazed
over from the smell of *chocolate* wafting through the air, dove
headfirst into the waiting passage...........
       
^,(), {} The "Techno Rats", the "Wasp Patrol", and the "Fabulous
Frogs" were all first met the Rescue Ranger in Disney Comics,
"Chip and Dale, Rescue Rangers," Issue #15
<> CDRR- "Love is a many splintered thing."
> Chip's cousing Chet was first seen in the Disney Adventures
CDRR story: "The Whiz Kid of Elm Street."