BUREAU 13: DOOMSDAY EXAM

Praise for "BUREAU 13" series.

"Great!"
-DRAGON MAGAZINE

"Very funny."
-Locus

"High adventure, highly recommended."
-Science Fiction Chronicle

"A wonderful read. Extremely humorous."
-Moscow Times

"This is the X-Files meets the Marx Brothers!"
-Raymond's Reviews

ALSO BY NICK POLLOTTA

BUREAU 13: JUDGMENT NIGHT
BUREAU 13: DOOMSDAY EXAM
BUREAU 13: FULL MOONSTER
BUREAU 13: DAMNED NATION (forthcoming)
ILLEGAL ALIENS (with Phil Foglio)
TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD (forthcoming)
WHEN RADIO RULED THE WORLD! (forthcoming)

A publication of
Wildside Press
P.O. Box 45
Gillette, N.J. 07933-0045
Copyright 1990, 2001 by Nick Pollotta

To contact: www.NickPollotta.com

All rights reserved
Cover illustration by Larry Dixon

This edition has been revised and expanded from the first edition.

It includes the short story, "Upgrading"

No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means
electronic or otherwise, without first obtaining the written
consent of the author. For more information, contact

Wildside Press or email: info@wildsidePress.com

Wildside Press edition: March 2001

"Bureau 13" is based upon the RPG "Stalking The Night Fantastic"
copyright TriTac Games 1982. www.TriTacGames.com

Join the "Bureau 13" fan club! www.Bureau-13.com

PROLOGUE

He awoke in a cage.

Remarkable was the fact that now he could identify it as a cage, and the place about him as a laboratory. A military research lab. The words flowed into his mind like silver water. The hairless male was remembering everything he had ever heard and was assimilating the information with astonishing speed.

Next to him were four other cages, each holding a naked male. Two of them were pinkish in color, one dark and one was golden with slanting eyes. But they were all males.

Stretching an arm through the iron bars, #1 was delighted to find that he could now reach the coat sleeve of a checkered jacket hanging from the back of a wooden chair. His arms were shorter than before, but also slimmer, so his reach had increased.

Tugging on the sleeve toppled the chair and it was within his grasp. Using the chair as a prod, #1 pushed over a file cabinet. It hit the concrete floor with a resounding crash, but that did not matter. This late at night there were no living guards, machines watched and patrolled the exterior grounds. But not inside.

As the file cabinet fell, the papers on top fluttered into the air, and a wire hanger skittered across the floor. Another male grabbed a wastepaper basket and used it to bat the sliding hanger to within the reach of a third prisoner. Quickly, #3 bent the wire into a usable form and began working on the lock of his cage. The rest marveled at the amazing dexterity of his slim fingers and began to examine their own hairless hands.

In moments, the door was open. Boldly walking upright to the other side of the lab, the naked humanoid removed the ring of keys from its peg on the duty roster board and unlocked all of the cage doors. Free at last, they gathered for a quick conference.

"There appears to have been unforeseen side-effects to the biological experiment," #4 grunted, scratching at his shoulder.

"Irrelevant," #2 snapped swinging his arms. "Escape must be our first consideration. You know what they had planned for us. Whether the..." he fumbled for the word.

"Serum," #1 supplied. Apparently being the first injected, he was some two minutes ahead of the rest.

In response, #2 nodded his thanks. "Whether the serum failed or succeed, it was to be the green door for us!" He pointed at the dreaded portal near the supply room.

The group shuddered.