After the Move

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

03/21/96:

I was standing in a back corner of the office building where
my new employer was located, I glanced around. Satisfied
that I was alone, I pulled out a small black box from my
pocket.

Flipping it open, I ran my thumb over the single red button
on the inside, and looked into the sky. "I hope you two got
this right." I said, directing my comments to two of the
best engineers on Prid, who currently were operating from
Luna.

When I pressed the red button, a counter lit up, and started
counting down from twenty. I set the box down, and took a
few steps back. As the timer hit zero there was a flash of
blue, and red, accompanied by a large gust of wind, pulling
in towards the box. In less then a second the effect had
fizzled out.

I reached out into the area over the box, and surprisingly
found exactly what I was looking for. Picking up the box, I
opened the now relocated fold, and stepped through onto
Prid.

A blast of cold air hit me as I exited one of the many folds
that ran through Marble Hall. Getting my bearings, I made a
few turns, then entered a transit tunnel car, along with a
dozen other people.

After another three minutes in the tunnel I got out of the
car, made a few more turns, and hit my front door.

I fingered in the code, and stepped inside the closet sized
room. On the far wall was a semi-transparent, glimmering,
curtain of light. Or for the layman, a teleport curtain.

Stepping through it, I was moved over 600 miles to another
such room, just outside of my house.

Keying in that code, I popped opened the front door, and
stepped inside. "Oriana?" I called out.

She looked over the railing from the dinning room, "Oh, Fox,
you made it back?"

I shrugged, "Well, the Brothers' fold moving device worked
like a charm. Though you don't sound too excited to see me."

Coming down the steps, she tugged on her shirt a bit, "I am,
I was just getting worried about you."

I met her at the bottom of the stairs. "Well, no need, I
made it to San Diego all right, and it looks like I'm going
to fit in perfectly there."

"That's great," she said, hugging me, sounding a bit better.

I nodded, "I have the fold set up in a back corner of the
building, it should be safe enough there."

"Now all you need is someplace of your own to put it."

"Ya, though that should be the last move. The Brothers said
that any more than two this close together could destroy the
fold entirely."

She nodded, her hair falling over her eyes, "I know. I
wasn't even sure it would work for this first one."

"No problem," I said, "This looks like it could be the best
move of my life."

-----

This story is copyright 1996-2003 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy
reprints limited to one per person, all other rights
reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except
by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may
not be removed.