From: ZOT GNOP            
To: ALL                 
Subject: Bleedin' Weird 
Date & Time: 09/05/90 00:42:03
Message Number  8545

  The dwarf looks up into the bewildered insurance salesman's face.
  "ZOT! WHERE !?!"
  He looks around desperately as if to locate some imagined foe. 
  "Oh. Oh yeah, me. Well, uh... So Ruf, how ya been?"
  Suddenly perplexed by his old friend's odd behavior, Rufus barely 
notices the giraffe and baboon that have chosen this moment to enter the
bar.
  "Ghods, Zot! How did you get here? I thought you had been killed when 
that Vogon ship exploded."
  "It's...er...a long story. I'll tell ya bout sometime, eh." Zot 
answers vaguely. 
  Looking around again, this time taking a better look at his 
surroundings, Zot gives forth a long low whistle.
  "These are some WEIRD bleedin' dudes in dis joint!" Spying the giant, 
Zot exclaims, "Hey, get a load of the BIG guy! He's like somethin outta
THOR."
  "By the way, is it always so violent in here? I was under the 
impression that firearms and energy weapons were tabboo on this hunk of 
rock."
  Rufus is about to suggest a hasty withdrawal to avoid any more mention
of high tech paraphernalia around the authorities, when his attention is
drawn to the strange noise emenating from Zot's long black bag. 
  It starts at the edge of his senses, almost imperceptible, like a gnat
buzzing around his ear. But soon it grows to very audible proportions. 
So audible, in fact, that soon several other patrons of the bar hear it
too. A high pitched whine that sounds vaguely familiar, yet also very
alien. However, it is not just a solid tone. Slight changes in pitch and
vibrato soon become apparent, until a definite melody is at last 
achieved. 
  Turtle listens intently, head cocked to one side. 
  "That sounds a lot like an intro to a Metallica song I know."
  "No its not. Its an ancient mariner's song. I'd recognize it 
anywhere."
  "You're both wrong. It is that song which the Valkyries sing as they
ride to a battle."