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was probably how the women paid the rent.
    Sure enough as she walked past the door to number nineteen she heard the familiar grunts and moans accompanied by the rhythmic bouncing of bed springs. Ignoring them as usual Carla stopped and opened the door to her own room, being sure to lock it behind her not only with her key but also the pair of heavy dead bolts Karl had insisted on installing for her. Joseph was the only other person who was supposed to have a key to her room but with the Legion of Doom in charge Karl thought it was better for he r to be safe than to be sorry.
    Carla removed her cloak and through it onto the back of the only comfy chair she possessed. She passed quickly through the living room and into the tiny kitchen, little more than an old fashioned gas cooker and a microwave. There was also a small refrigeration unit standing on top of a cracked work surface. She moved the refrigeration unit out a few centimeters and pulled a portable combined computer terminal and communication unit from behind it. She hid the device, another gift from Karl, in case Joseph or any of the gang upstairs took it upon themselves to have a look through her things. It would be too tantalizing a prospect for any thief, the dinner plate sized device would be worth a great many credits.
    She took the leads that came with the unit from their hiding place down the side of her chair and plugged them into the unit and the corresponding ports in the wall. The damage to the hotel was only cosmetic the data cables and electricity cables worked well most of the time except for when there was a sector wide shut down. Occasionally the warm water would stop or the water would come through a rusty brown but Carla could put up with a few cold showers.
    She switched the terminal on and opened the lid to reveal a small full color high resolution screen, on the underside of the top, and a keyboard and tracking ball on the corresponding surface. She entered her password when prompted, it was just a four letter name; Karl, and scrolled down to open a connection with the communication unit in Karl's home. His was a full sized wall mounted unit that he could leave in full view because it wasn't out of place in the neighborhood where he lived. After a few moments she was presented with the choice of leaving a message for Karl to access later or for sounding an alert to get his attention for a real time conversation. She chose the latter. After another short wait she was informed that the user wasn't answering and was again given the option of leaving a message or prompting an alert. She chose the latter. After another wait she was told once more that the user wasn't answering and this time was presented only with the option of leaving a message.
    Karl had drilled into her time and again that it was dangerous for her to be connected to him in any way and that if she contacted him it had to be in real time not by leaving him messages so she backed up and severed the connection.
    Carla sat and stared at the screen waiting for her next instructions and blinked when the screen became dark. The terminal had a ten minute inactivity cut-off and Carla had been inactive for that time without even realizing it. She pulled the leads out of the terminal and closed the lid. She sat there for a further few minutes as the options ran through her head. Just because Karl wasn't answering it didn't mean he had still been at the statue when the terrorist attack took place. He had told her that he had to go there to meet somebody who would be able to help her. Then she could get back to a normal life instead of the insane existence she was currently trapped in.
    Carla reopened the terminal and reconnected one of the leads to the wall socket. She called up the current news sites and scrolled through a number of them, both local, national, Confederation and world-wide, searching for a list of hostages. She had no luck none of the sites even contained information on an