Her nickname is "Tanj", and she's certainly living up to it. For her, it seems, "There Ain't No Justice." As a young engineer on a tramp space freighter, this Cheetah-morph found herself the victim of a scam, sold into slavery, and trained as a sex-slave. Sold to pirates, she finds herself as a pawn in a much larger struggle. This story contains bondage, non-consensual sex, and hopefully some humor, adventure and intrigue. Adults only, PLEASE!

This is a work-in-progress, and more will be added to it Later; please stay tuned and have patience!

Tanj's Tales: Gotterdamerung, Part 2
By Kittiara
Stardate 2401.2

Slave Bells and Negotiations

Zassa Stretched and looked at the clock by her bunk. It was early, and yet for some reason she wasn't sleepy. Laying back on the bed for a moment she ran her paws lightly over her nude body. Her stomach rumbled. Thinking over the items in the ship's galley, the vixen wondered what she'd like to fix herself to eat. None of it was immediately attractive. And then a thought hit her; on their forays into the station, she'd seen a bakery, and honest-to-God Bakery, with all the scents that go with such a place. Rising, she rummaged through her closet, looking for something suitable to wear.

The bags were bulky, but not all that heavy. She'd gotten bagels, for breakfast, and had even splurged on a tin of cream cheese. She had a selection of danishes for Wanda, and some donuts for the others, cake donuts for Tanj, glazed for Kath, and cream filled for Hinoki. She'd even stopped in at one of those chain coffee places, and picked up a half pound of freshly ground coffee. This breakfast was going to be one to remember! Her mouth watering at the thought, she pressed through the early morning crowd of furrs heading towards their day-shift jobs.

The jingle of slave bells, made her head turn. Blinking, the Vixen angled through the crowd, following the gazes of those around her. The Ermine fem that came into view was mostly nude, save for the leather harness she was wearing. Her head harness included earplugs and blindfold, and what looked like an inflatable gag. Her arms were bound behind her, palm to palm, with a rope tied from her wrists to the end of the short braid her hair'd been put into. She was hobbled by a short chain, and from her nipple rings hung a sign advertising some bar. Zassa watched for a moment as the Ermine moved with miniscule steps, only to bump into a wall. Without a sound, she turned and started moving out into the passing crowd, furrs altering their paths to avoid her, like water flowing around a rock in the middle of a stream.

For a moment, Zassa wondered what it must be like, to be in such a position, not knowing where you are, or who's around you. Or what might be done to you... With a grin, she shivered in sympathy and envy.

Zassa waited until the Ermine had made it across the corridor, and was about to bump into the opposite wall. Reaching out, she took hold of the Ermine's left elbow, and used it to turn her just a little, steering her away from the wall. Releasing her, she grinned as the Ermine teetered forward, the chain between her ankles going tight with each step, jingling musically.

It took four more "course corrections" before the ermine was in the vicinity of the ship's docking port. Trotting ahead, Zassa put her packages inside the open lock, and then keyed in the command code to open both the inner and the outer personnel locks. Dashing back out, the Vixen grinned as she held a large piece of plastic wall board she'd found, angling it just so.

Tanj blinked as the alarm went off. Rising she looked at the small terminal in her cabin, scanning the alarm message reported there, and blinked; "now why would Zassa do THAT?" Rising, grabbing a robe, she hurried down to the personnel lock, to see what was going on.

The jingle of chains greeted the surprised cheetah; as Zassa had intended, the Ermine had "ricocheted" off the wall board she held, and had blundered straight into the Lost Cause's personnel lock. Tanj looked from the deaf- dumb-and-blind Ermine to the grinning Vixen and back. The vixen just grinned "She followed me home; can we keep her?" Tanj sighed; "That looks like the one I ran across the other day... Is she STILL out walking around?" Zassa shrugged, and stooped to pick up some of her packages; "Dunno if it's the same one, or another one like her, but I thought she could use a rest. Besides, I want to talk to her. The timer at the back of her neck looks like its about to time out. Come on, I've got breakfast."

Hinoki yawned widely as the sound softly intruded on his slumber. It sounded like chains rattling... Opening his eye, he looked out the open door to his cabin, but couldn't see anything...

Tanj stood just outside the lock to her ship, clutching her robe around her. There were still a few furrs moving about, the morning "rush hour" tapering off. No one seemed to be hunting a missing slave, and if there were any signs of anyone being upset at Zassa's "abduction," Tanj couldn't find them. With a shrug, the Cheetah fem turned and re- entered her ship's lock, closing and locking the outer door.

Wanda frowned at the rattling of chains; turning she looked at where Kath was still slumbering in her bed. The Mink had been very naughty last night, climbing under the covers to stroke, lick, and tease her Mistress... Wanda smiled, thinking she should come up with some sort of suitable "punishment, " something that would both encourage the Mink to do nice things like that again, while also demonstrating that it wasn't her place to make moves on Wanda's bed... Sliding the door open, the Woverine lass stepped into the corridor, to look towards Tanj's cabin, and the flight deck, curious at the noise. Were Hinoki and Tanj at it again? Finding the corridor empty, Wanda was about to turn and look in the other direction when something bumped into her softly from behind...

The bound ermine bounced off someone large, and by random chance, turned to her left; shuffling she took a half-dozen tiny steps, only to have something bark her in the shins; staggering, unable to catch her balance, she fell forward...

Hinoki OOOOfed as someone landed on top of him; twisting around he found himself face to face with a heavily bound Ermine fem. "Well, HELLO!" Chuckling, he held onto the struggling female, wondering what was going on now? Looking up, he caught a glimpse of Wanda's face in his doorway; "Why, THANK YOU, Wanda, she's Lovely!"

Wanda blinked and spluttered; "but... but I ... Ah... I didn't..."

Hinoki let his paws roam over her body, examining the harness with almost professional detachment. It was sturdily made, leather over metal mesh; it wasn't going to come off easily. The straps all seemed to wind up at the back of her neck, where a time-lock held it all together. Examining the sign hanging from her nipple rings, the Cheetah sighed and carefully unclipped it, tossing it to the floor. Sliding from his bed, he helped the Ermine to her feet, and carefully guided her from his cabin; "Lets see if we can find out how you got in here, Little One."

Zassa looked up from her fry pan as the Cheetah male guided the Ermine into the wardroom; "Ah, so THAT'S where she got off to." Hinoki blinked "you know her?" The Vixen shook her head; "Not yet. Found her wandering in the Promenade, and thought I'd bring her home for breakfast. How do you like your eggs?" Hinoki maneuvered the Ermine into a seat and shrugged; "scrambled is fine by me... Say, are those donuts?"

Kath yawned and stretched; suddenly she realized Wanda was no longer in the cabin. For a moment, the temptation to simply fall back to sleep was overwhelming, but then she sighed. And then grinned; after last night, rousing her Mistress in the middle of the night with soft licks, well, she was probably in enough "trouble." Rising, stretching, she made the bed and then, wearing only her collar, padded down the hall, to see where everyone had gotten to.

Tanj got herself a cup of coffee and slid into the seat next to the bound Ermine. The Ermine had kept trying to get up, to resume her wanderings, until Hinoki had taken a leash, clipped it to her collar and tied it to the back of her chair. Now, the bound fem just sat there, quietly. Taking a long swig from her mug, Tanj turned and peered at the time-lock on the back of the slave's collar... If she was reading it right, it should time out in mere minutes...

Kath peered into the Wardroom and for a moment froze in shock. There was a stranger, a rather pretty Ermine in rather strict bondage sitting between Tanj and Wanda. For a moment, panic reigned; was she being replaced? Did they know her secret? Were they going to make her leave, with this Ermine taking her place on Wanda's leash? In Wanda's heart? Forcing herself to be calm, the Mink padded into the wardroom, to quietly kneel behind Wanda's chair...

The eggs were just coming out of the fry pan when there was a soft beep and a click; all eyes turned towards the Ermine, who started to squirm. With the time lock at the nape of her neck now open, she was able to extricate her paws from behind her back; while they were till covered in leather "mittens" she was able to push up one corner of her blindfold, to look around. It was plain from the expression on her face that she wasn't where she expected to be...

"MMmmmm, this is good." The Ermine, who's name was Salde, was on her second plate, not surprising if her mouth had been full of rubber for the past 24 hours or so. Tanj sipped her coffee as she examined the time-lock; "so you say this is a standard "punishment" your Mistress uses? The Ermine nodded; "yes Ma'am; whenever there's a complaint against a slave, rightful or otherwise, the next day we're out wandering the station as an advertisement. Sometimes folks will turn in a complaint just so's they can... well, have some fun with us as we're punished..." Tanj winced, catching Hinoki's eye; the male Cheetah looked just a little grim. Zassa, on the other hand, was listening raptly; "really? Ooohhh... tell me, what kind of things do the disgruntled customers do?" "Well," the ermine replied, "with the harness, there's not much they can do sexually, although I have been forced to tit-fuck some folks... can't say if they were customers or just someone on the station. Mostly they play dirty tricks on me... tripping me, or tricking me into a maze, or applying an irritant. I remember one time I was dusted with something like itching powder. Now THAT was miserable..."

Tanj sipped her coffee; "so you do more for your establishment than merely provide... "advertising?" Salde nodded; "Yes, Ma'am; all of the slaves perform a number of tasks; we wait tables, dance, and of course, we're all skilled in the bedroom arts..." Tanj smiled; "I bet you get a wide variety of customers... Do many of the Imperial types visit Miss Kitty's?" Salde looked down; "well, we're NOT supposed to notice... but yes, I believe so..." Tanj nodded; "and I would imagine in your routine, you overhear some very interesting things..." Salde paused for a moment, a cautious look on her face; "um... could be..." Tanj smiled and paused to sip her coffee for a moment; "and does your Mistress require you to tell her the things you've overheard?" Salde's eyes flicked from side to side, almost as if she were seeking some route of escape... finally she muttered, almost too low to hear; "that... Might be true, on occasion..." Tanj just smiled; "I think I might have to have a talk with this Miss Kitty..."

Salde looked at the last remaining donut on the table; "Um... Ma'am... I really am required to head right back after the time lock opens... I'm sure the overseer is going to be wondering just what happened to me..." Hinoki smiled and stretched; "ah, but surely there must be excuses for not coming right back; I mean, what if there were some gang of street toughs just waiting for the timer to time out, so they could ravish you?" Salde smiled and looked down; "that might be a legitimate excuse, but Miss Kitty doesn't like for things like that to happen; she wants her customers to PAY for it... and I'm sure she'd find a way of getting revenge for anything like that...

Tanj frowned, and shot Hinoki a look; "I know she's tempting, but it wouldn't be fair to get her punished..." The male Cheetah just leaned back, and laced his fingers behind his head; "Ah, but dear Captain, there IS a way... Go ahead and finish the last donut, Salde; I've got a comm call to make..."

Intercepting the Cheetah just outside the flight deck, Tanj growled; "you are NOT going to depressurize this portion of the station, just to make the emergency doors close, are you?" Hinoki blinked and then shook his head; "not a bad idea; wish I'd thought of it... but no. This "Miss Kitty's" is actually on the far side of the station, and it's a BIG station. Take at least a half an hour to walk there. But in a robocab, its only about five minutes. I just called a cab; we'll have it take the "scenic" route, and I'll have her there in plenty of time... And, as we go, well..." The Cheetah's grin said it all... Tanj just chuckled and shook her head; "always the "gentlefurr", aren't you? Seeing the Damsel in Distress home, and getting some nookie in the process." Rising to tiptoes, Tanj kissed him on the nose and then made shoo-ing motions; "you'd best get going!"

Salde stared at the robocab in wide-eyed wonder; "I didn't even know such things existed on the station!" Hinoki smiled and helped her in, settling onto the hard plastic bench seat. The door closed with a hiss. Pulling the Ermine onto his lap, he chuckled; "the windows are one-way; we can see out, but they can't see in... now... lets see, your timer timed out at...08:37... Driver! I want an arrival time of 09:07 at coordinate DD32, and yes, I'll pay for the extra minutes." As the cab silently accelerated, Hinoki turned to kiss the wide-eyed Ermine...

Salde was astride Hinoki's lap, her harness a heap of leather straps and metal buckles on the floor. She was facing away from him, leaning back against him, his cock buried deep in her pussy. As she moved, as she rode his shaft, she stared out the "window"... the cab had turned off of the concourse, and shot into a short tunnel, only to emerge in a transparent tube, traveling over the exterior surface of the station. The stars, and all the docked ships were visible; it was a splendid and exciting view, one she'd never even knew existed here in the place that had been her home for several years. Smiling, she thanked the Cheetah for the treasure he'd shown her in the only way she knew how, milking his cock with her vaginal muscles, riding him harder and faster... Just as the cab flashed from the transparent tube back into a dark tunnel, their journey almost over, she managed to bring him off...

Hinoki was still panting when the cab stopped. As the door opened, Salde turned to exit, but Hinoki grabbed a paw; "wait a moment; you don't want to go back looking like THAT... Salde blinked at him curiously, but Hinoki just reached into a bag he'd brought, to produce a soft towel; "you're a bit of a mess; we don't want people figuring out what we've been doing, do we?" Salde purrred as he rubbed, cleaning between her legs; her fur was still a little damp, but maybe, just maybe that could be excused as sweat... Harness in hand, she bent to kiss Hinoki goodbye, and then without a word, she was gone.

Hinoki looked out the window, watching the Ermine's ass sway, until she rounded the corner, and was gone. With a sigh, he looked at the forward wall of the cab and growled "Home, James..."

Tanj sighed and shook her head; "the problem, Zassa, is that while the beggar might hear all sorts of interesting snippets, his "access" is completely random. It depends on him being in the right place at the right time. And Hinoki's friend, the Raccoon, just isn't "established" enough yet. Either one MIGHT be a significant intelligence source, but I still think we could use something a little more... "mainstream." The Vixen nodded; "so you want to go visit this "Miss Kitty's" and see what they might be able to do?" The Cheetah nodded; "Yeah... call it a hunch... feminine intuition. I admit it would be the most open recruitment yet, but if it were to work, it might provide us with the best source of information." Tanj smiled; "lets face it; folks like that are VERY mercenary; as long as we're offering enough money, there shouldn't be any trouble at all..." The Vixen just frowned; "um..."

The dress was barely within the social standards of the station, and as such, Tanj drew both appreciative and disapproving looks as she made her way across the station, to the "strip". During the day, the station was busy, but as she entered the entertainment district, the crowds fell off, until it seemed only delivery and cleaning furrs were about. Stopping in front of the establishment marked by glare panels as "Miss Kitty's" Tanj came to a stop. There, hanging from a hook over the door was Salde... at least she THOUGHT it was Salde...

The Ermine was in a strict hogtie position, her legs pulled up behind her back, her arms tied so tight her elbows touched, her wrists lashed half-way between ankles and knees. A chain ran from her bindings to the ceiling, holding her a little over a meter and a half off the floor. Her head was covered with a slave hood, cutting off all sight and sound, and probably making it a little difficult for her to breathe as well. The strap that passed between her thighs obviously holding a large butt-plug and a larger dildo in place. And from a pair of rather wicked looking nipple clamps dangled a sign that read "Closed for Business."

Tanj watched the Ermine slowly twist, in her suspension bondage and hmmmmed. Did Hinoki's little trick result in this punishment? Or had something else happened? And what could close an establishment like this? Yes, this wasn't quite the peak of the business day for places like this, but all the other establishments on the strip were open... Curious, Tanj moved past the Ermine, to try the door. As she suspected, it was locked.

The alleyway was narrow, and dimly lit. Tanj moved towards the back of Miss Kitty's, thinking that if the bar was closed, it might be the perfect time to discuss her proposal with the proprietor... If she could just get in. Besides, the question as to WHY the place would be closed was bothering her. It was obvious to her that Miss Kitty had a tendency to be a little rough with her slaves, and the Cheetah feared what she might find on the other side of the wall... As suspected there WAS a back door, but it too was locked. Knocking discretely on the door produced no results. Looking about, Tanj found no other doors, or windows, but there WAS a rather large ventilation grille about four feet off the floor. Frowning she wondered why the building wasn't hooked into the station's HVAC system... Stepping closer, she examined the grille; not unsurprisingly, it popped right off in her hands. It was almost as if she was being invited to break in... "Its just GOTTA be a trap" the Cheetah mumbled to herself; then a wry grin formed on her face; "but I bet I'd get to meet the owner..." Smiling to herself, she moved off down the alleyway to find a comm terminal.

"Tanj, have you lost your mind?" Wanda stared at the image of the Cheetah on the monitor; "Maybe, Wanda, but I've just got this... "itch"... I'm going to do it despite the thought that it might not be the smartest thing to do. I can't just SIT here any longer, waiting for someone who may or may not show up; I've got to DO something! I've swallowed the tracer; you should be able to find me if I don't report back in a few hours..." The Wolverine lass shook her head; "Dammit, Tanj, I wish you wouldn't!" The image of the Cheetah smiled; "Love you too, Wanda." And then the image faded and was gone...

Behind the Wolverine, Kath sighed and shook her head; "well, just in case things don't go as per her rather optimistic assumptions, there ARE a few things we can do to prepare for the worst." Wanda just turned and looked at her pet; "such as call the local undertaker?" Kath shook her head, and with a grin, padded off, to return a moment later with two cloaks and her leash; "Mistress needs to take me for a walk..."

Tanj pulled the grating off the ventilation duct, and looked inside; it seemed to be clean, and unreasonably wide. Inviting. With a shrug she climbed up into it, twisting to reach down, to fetch the grate, to pull it up, and to snap it back into place. Turning, she crawled a couple of body lengths before an almost silent clack made her pause. Backing up, she pushed lightly against the grate; it didn't move. Rolling onto her back, bracing herself, and kicking with both feet didn't budge it. With a sigh, she looked at the grate and shook her head; "I hate it when I'm right..."

Wanda slowed, until the leash went taut... Kath, who was actually a few steps ahead of her, looked back over her shoulder. "Kath... are we going where I THINK we're going?" The Mink turned and moved back, to face the Wolverine lass; putting both paws on Wanda's shoulders, ignoring the fact that her cloak fell open as she did so, revealing that she wasn't wearing a stitch underneath, she looked into her Mistress' eyes. "Mistress, do you Love me?" Wanda blinked, and then after a moment, she nodded, her eyes wary. Kath smiled; "Mistress, do you TRUST me? Do you trust me not only not to do you intentional harm, but to protect your interests as well?" Wanda swallowed, looked from her pet to the doorway and back, and finally gave another miniscule nod. Kath beamed; "then lets go in there together. Stand straight, look firm, and follow my lead. If Tanj has gotten herself in trouble like I think she has, she'll need help, and I know JUST where to find it...

The duct had narrowed alarmingly. Worse, sharp projections, the pointy end of sheet metal screws, longer than she would have thought necessary, were slowly shredding her dress. Somewhere near an air mover, some magnetic field, possibly from a motor, but more likely something built into the "trap" had snatched away everything she had made of ferrous metal. Not that this had left her "unarmed"... But the way her dress was being slowly shredded meant that hanging onto all the little items was becoming more and more difficult...

The officer behind the desk stared open-mouthed. Kath ignored him, pressing her face to the retinal scanner. After a moment, she could see the green light reflected on the Marmoset's face. "I assume that I'm cleared for entry?" The Marmoset blinked, and as if awakening from a dream, dropped his gaze to the screen built into the counter top. The double-take was classic as his gaze rose to stare at the Mink on the end of the Wolverine's leash, and then back down to the data displayed. Sure enough, the screen background color was green, indicating that she was in the database as a member of Imperial Security. Worse, her rank was... well, if not truly impressive, then at least high enough so that it really wouldn't be prudent to ASK her about the strange image she presented. Nodding, swallowing, he pressed his thumb to the special button. After taking a moment to analyze his thumb print, the computer turned off the active and passive security measures and a door opened. Kath smiled coldly and turned, literally dragging Wanda behind her.

Tanj yelped as the ductwork suddenly gave way. The room she fell into was almost completely dark, and as the ductwork and broken ceiling tiles hit the hard metal floor, the darkness was filled with stars... After a moment however, Tanj was able to crawl free, and rise painfully to her feet. For a long time she remained still, waiting to see if anyone would come looking, investigating the crash. Finally she rose; looking around, squinting, she fumbled in the remains of her dress for the penlight that had been sewn into one hem...

The Wolf looked up from the internal security monitor, at the Chief of Station. While the elderly Badger wasn't his nominal superior, he did out-rank him, and as such, had to be dealt with carefully. "So what's your wild card doing now?" The Wolf looked back down at the monitor, where Kath was arguing with a supply Sergeant. "I honestly don't know. The very fact that she's here, during the day, AND accompanied, suggests that something major has happened. And the fact that she hasn't informed ME suggests that its either something she's not sure of, or something that she wants us "out of the loop" on, even if we DO know she's up to something." "Maybe she's just lost it... From her file, it seems she's gotten more than a little "strange" lately..." The Wolf nodded; "Perhaps... but I don't think so. For the moment, I'm inclined to let her have her head. If she proves to be working in our best interests, that will go a long way towards reassuring Command that leaving her in place was a wise choice. On the other hand, if it turns out to be something... frivolous, well, it would be well we knew now." The Badger nodded; "its your neck..."

Tanj looked around, in the dim light of her penlight. The magnetic field probably hadn't done too much good for the power cell, as it should have been brighter. Still, it was bright enough to show her that she'd fallen in between a row of cages. Each cage held one or two bound slaves, some male, some female. They wore body harnesses, in leather and steel, with their wrists bound at their hips. Each wore a visor that covered their eyes, and Tanj smiled; she'd worn one like that at the academy; it let you see only a thin sliver of light, between your cheek and the bottom of the visor. Coupled with a posture collar, holding the head erect, you would only be able to see just in front of your feet, just enough to walk at the end of a leash without stumbling. They might know she was here, but they couldn't see her... Each slave also wore a device in their mouths, that held their lips partially open, like a slightly less severe ring gag. If she was going to talk to one of them, she'd have to open one of the cages and release them from their bondage. Fumbling in the remnants of her dress, she went looking for the lock pick... Only to find it gone, her dress torn to shreds in that area. With a sigh, she turned to look at the cage nearest her, only to find that the door had no lock, just a simple bolt. A simple bolt that a bound slave could never manage to open. Smiling, she bent to unlock the door...

Kath struggled under the load of two large bundles, each tied up with string so that she could carry one in each hand. Wanda again trailed at the end of the leash, hurrying to keep up with the Mink. She STILL found it hard to believe that she'd just made it into, and out of the Imperial Security offices on Gibralter base, without being challenged or checked. They'd made their way in, and out, obtained supplies, I.D.'s, even weapons, ALL just on her say-so... And she still didn't know just what her erstwhile "Pet" had in mind...

The bunny blinked in the dim light as Tanj removed the visor. For a moment she worked her jaws, as Tanj examined the "gag." "Its made so that you can get food, and water from those" the Bunny whispered, pointing with her chin; there, protruding through the bars of the cage, were two phallic shapes; one was attached to a water bottle, the other was attached to a machine that might have delivered a food paste... Tanj nodded; "I wonder if you might answer some questions..." The Bunny looked up; "you don't work for Mistress? No, you'd know about the cells then... Not one of her... "guests"?" Tanj smiled and shook her head; "I'm here to make your Mistress a business proposition, but I thought it might be... prudent to find out a little more about her operation before approaching her..." The Bunny just nodded...

Hinoki scowled, fingering the black cloth. Looking up, he fixed Kath with a piercing glare; "where did you GET these? Do you know how much trouble we could get into if we were caught in these? If we were just caught WITH these? They wouldn't have to know we were with the Brethren! This'd be all they'd need to send us to the ice mines on Kessel!" Kath opened her mouth, whether to deny, or to explain wasn't clear later; everyone's train of thought was disrailed when Zassa held the black uniform up to her front and grinned; "I think I'm going to look absolutely Stunning in this. Waitrighthere, Igottagotrythison! As the Vixen hurried out, everyone else just groaned.

The Bunny rocked her whole torso up and down, making her breasts bounce; as with the posture collar she couldn't nod her head, this was the equivalent of a "yes." "Yes, mistress" she whispered; "Mistress often leases us out to various dignitaries. In fact, we're frequently sent to "parties" off the station. Once, I was taken all the way to Hanson's Pleasure Planet, just for a party... " Tanj frowned; "why would they send you THERE? I'd think they'd have more than enough highly trained slaves THERE?... Are they sending you there to "service" certain ... "individuals"?" Shaking her chest side to side, making her breasts wobble, in what could ohnly be a "no", the Bunny closed her eyes and shuddered; "Oh, no, Mistress! The point is not the party, or the furrs, but the trip, you see... But we're not supposed to talk about that." Tanj frowned...

When the metallic sound of the kennel's door opening rang through the chamber, Tanj straightened, only to hit her head on the cage's low ceiling. She was still wincing when the lights came on, and a voice growled "well Looky here; we got ourselves a slave trying to escape!"

Tanj growled, and bolted from the cage, ramming the guard in the stomach with her head; he toppled backwards into the bars of the cage on the opposite side of the row. With a growl he stood up, shaking loose a thick bullwhip from his belt. Tanj eeped and back-pedaled, spread her paws; "Look Mister, I'm NOT one of your slaves! I'm here to see yo... EYOWCH! The snap of the bullwhip was loud, but the explosion of pain it brought was staggering. For a moment, Tanj wobbled on her feet, and then with a growl she launched herself at the guard, the ceramic push-dagger in her right paw. Concentrating on the guard, as he brought his whip back for another stroke, she never saw the electric blue sizzle as the second guard brought the stunner down on the back of her neck.

Kath was straightening her tie when Wanda stuck her head through the hatchway; "You called it right. The tracer she swallowed was showing extremely high levels of stomach acid, right up until the point where it blipped out." Kath sighed and nodded; "I bet they hit her with a stunner of some sort. Big electrical discharges tend to fry little things like that." Glancing at her reflection in the mirror, she grabbed the peaked cap and stepped out into the corridor. Striding down the hall to the Wardroom, she growled at Hinoki; "Time to suit up, Mister; the Captain's in Trouble!"

Tanj groaned, and shook her head; blinking, she looked around, as much as she was able. The room was much larger, and lighter... in fact, she seemed to be in the middle of a club's dance floor... locked into a pair of stocks. Her feet were held in metal rings, spread slightly beyond shoulder- width, with her torso bent at the waist, head and wrists locked in a classic set of stocks. Her tail seemed to be tied to the metal above her neck, as she could move it from side to side, but not down. Blinking, she tried to focus...

The slap on her bottom made Tanj try to turn her head, left, and then right; there was no way she could see behind her. The second slap made her yelp. Then someone was leaning over her body; she could sense the closeness, feel the warmth, the furr's scent filling her nostrils. "I know you're not one of my slaves" a deep contralto purrred. "We checked the tapes on the security cameras; its not everyone who tries to break into Miss Kitty's... Tell me, little Cheetah; what were you after? Were you after money? Slaves? Are you an assassin, come to try and kill me? Why are you here?" Tanj cleared her throat, eyes darting from side to side, still trying to catch a glimpse of the owner of the voice; "Um, well, actually, I'd come to make you a business proposition. Thought with the bar closed, it'd be the best time to speak to you in private..." The contralto voice laughed, moving away slightly; "Oh, that's Rich! That's one I haven't heard before!" Suddenly the voice was whispering in her ear again; "but I don't need any partners; don't need any complications. I suspect I could make more money selling the Infamous "Tanj" as a slave, than I could from any "business venture" you might offer..." Suddenly the voice was more distant, the owner straightening, moving away; "besides, I doubt that's what you're really after. The timing is just too much a coincidence... I don't know why you're really here, but Bruno will get it out of you, in time." Behind her, Tanj heard the guard chuckle, the bullwhip slither across the floor, and then the sharp snap as he cracked it just over her head...

"Will you HURRY UP?" Hinoki looked through the visor at the black-clad Mink; it was as if by donning the uniform, she'd pulled on a whole new persona, and he wasn't sure he liked what he was seeing... Hitting the switch with his chin, the Cheetah growled; "Listen, Kath, the preflight on these things isn't done in an instant. You don't just kick-start a fusion reactor! I'm moving as fast as I can!" Kath scowled at a wrist chrono and shook her head; "The longer you take, the worse its likely to be for the Captain. Get a MOVE ON, Mister!"

Tanj panted, her rump and back on fire. The Guard had been generous with the whip, but so far he hadn't let the very tip, which can actually move faster than the speed of sound, touch her. That could have caused severe internal injuries. So far it seemed he'd been walking that fine line between actually breaking the skin, while still delivering as much pain as he could... One portion of her mind grudgingly admitted, he really was a maestro with it... Closing her eyes, she bit her lower lip as someone moved behind her, the head of someone's cock nuzzling against her anus...

Kath marveled at how furrs seemed to move out of her way as they moved through the station; the powered combat armor was simply too big to get into any vehicle, so they had to walk. She felt like she was on parade. "Oh, well" she thought to herself; "The only time I actually WORE my uniform was when I WAS on parade, or at certain ceremonies..." And while the uniform she was wearing wasn't her own, it was close enough...

Miss Kitty listened to the Cheetah fem howl, as Rupert took her in the ass, unlubricated. Her guards had a way of breaking recalcitrant slaves, and she was sure they'd break this one in record time. She'd offered them a big enough bonus. Smiling, she turned back to her senior guard; "the group from the Botsworth affair have been back almost twelve hours now; they should be passing their "cargo" shortly. Is everything going correctly?" The Bobcat chuckled; "Yes, ma'am; no signs of any of the packets rupturing. I've put a mild laxative in their food, and that should hasten the, ah, "delivery." Miss Kitty nodded; "Good; I have a number of buyers that will be coming by later this evening. I want to move this shipment as soon as possible...

Tanj grunted, as the creature behind her bucked his hips harder, his orgasm obviously approaching. She wasn't exactly enjoying herself, but she'd been through worse, and it beat being whipped... The whispered conversation had been on the bare range of her hearing and only confirmed what she'd suspected. The Slaves were being used as "mules", smuggling something onto the station, by ingesting it first, and "passing" it later. It was a risky business, as if drugs were involved, a ruptured package would most likely kill the mule... but if the profits were high enough, slaves were expendable. And Tanj couldn't think of anything that was high-value-low-volume like drugs...

Imperial combat armor isn't exactly rare on Gibraltar station, but then again, its not often seen on the Promenade. Its even less common for a suit of Imperial Combat Armor to be seen in the entertainment district, on the Strip, entering a bar. The locked door didn't slow Hinoki down much at all, the bulk of the armor enlarging the opening considerably. Wanda, Kath, and Zassa in Imperial uniform moved in right behind him, weapons at the ready. The bar was comparatively dark, with the exception of a single spotlight on the middle of the dance floor... and in that spotlight was a very tightly bound Tanj... and behind her was a rather large Bear, with a bullwhip, his arm back, ready to strike...

Hinoki turned, his right arm coming up, the plasma gun lining up on the Bear. The Bear, for his part, stared, eyes wide, mouth open. His fingers seemed to convulse, the whip handle dropping from his grip, to clatter on the floor, although his posture didn't move a millimeter.

Everyone's attention was on the Bear and the scene in the spotlight; the flare of a laser came as a surprise as its beam seared across the front of the powered armor. Hinoki reacted rapidly, moving like a gunslinger, his torso twisting, the plasma gun flaring solar bright. Just as he fired, a dark figure across the room launched itself to one side with a howl. The crouching Bobcat was incinerated, the remnants of the bolt tearing through the far wall.

"STOP THIS!" the cry only served to draw the attention of Kath, Wanda and Zassa, their assault weapons drawing a bead on a well dressed Serval as she picked herself up off the floor. "Dammit, I pay GOOD MONEY to make sure we're left ALONE! YOU WILL ALL PAY for this!" Kath had just opened her mouth to reply when a deep growl came from the doorway; "What in Pathan's Seventh Hell is going ON here?"

Imperial Security generally instills a certain level of ... "concern" in most law-abiding furs, and downright fear in others, and the Fox, in Imperial Gray standing in the doorway should have made most folks reflect over their recent actions, wondering if they'd broken any law, by accident, or intention. However, Kath turned and strode over to him as if he were an errant school child; "Captain, this is an Imperial Intelligence operation; I'll thank you to butt out, until your presence is requested!" The Fox examined the proffered I.D. critically, his ears folding back as he realized just WHO he was dealing with. He had opened his mouth to reply, a look of forced indignation apparent on his face, when Tanj cleared her throat; "Um, actually, I think it's a good thing he IS here..."

Tanj sat gingerly on a cushion, a blanket wrapped around her body; "So you see, Captain, this establishment is really only a cover for a rather sophisticated smuggling operation, one that's been operating right under your nose. I'm not sure Just what drug they're smuggling, but I'd hazard a guess at Ecstasy III." The Fox nodded, looking up from his notebook; "and you say all I have to do is to wait for the slaves in the kennels to, ah, "move their bowels" to collect the evidence?" Tanj smiled and nodded; "I believe some have already "delivered" their cargo; some are still, um, "holding", but in general, that's all. Oh, that and keep whoever she's been paying off from interfering." The Fox stiffened; "Believe me, Madam, if ANYONE has on this station has been paid off, we WILL get to the bottom of it. Now, perhaps you could clear up one last little question?" Tanj smiled and shrugged; "maybe. Depends on the question." The Fox blinked, as if furrs not giving him their most complete cooperation was something completely outside his experience; "Um... Yes... Just what WERE you doing here? What is your interest in the... Activities of this establishment? Tanj just smiled and looked at the Mink; "That IS an interesting question. Lets just say that my activities here fit into a much larger puzzle, some pieces of which I haven't put into place yet." Kath cleared her throat, breaking eye contact with the Cheetah; "Lets just say, Captain, that some things need to remain classified." The Fox, not missing the exchange between the two, even if he didn't completely understand it, just nodded; "well, you understand that I WILL have to report this to my superiors..." both Kath and Tanj just nodded.

With the blanket still wrapped around her, and the comforting bulk of Hinoki in the powered combat armor right behind her, Tanj padded through the ruined doorway. For a moment she wondered what had become of Salde, and where she might be right now. She hoped she wasn't hanging there when Hinoki made his entrance... Quite a crowd had gathered on the Strip, held back by a line of gray-uniformed security troops. Kath slung her weapon and growled; "OK, lets get back to the ship in the best order as possible." However, before she could take a step, Wanda put a paw on her arm, wordlessly pointing with the other paw. Kath followed her gaze, eyes narrowing, nodded, and then growled; "YOU!" Hinoki, hearing the shout, turned to look, actuators squealing. Within the crowd, a furr blanched as the powered armor turned, seemingly to point right at him. Without hesitation, he turned and fled, and throughout the crowd, at least four others started moving away, as quickly as possible. Not knowing which one to pursue, or even if they SHOULD pursue, the small group all stood for a minute in indecision.

The Fox was at Kath's elbow in a moment, his eyes following the fleeing fur; "Problem, Ma'am? Kath growled; "Slyth gang members; we've had some small trouble with them..." The Captain raised an eyebrow; "Oh? Well, I'm sure we have them on the security monitors; we'll track them down for you, if you like." Kath just smiled, and nodded; "that would please me, Captain." Turning, she pushed through the crowd, Wanda, Zassa, Tanj and Hinoki following in a small parade...

The Wardroom was a welcome relief. Tanj folded her blanket and then sat on it tenderly, no longer concerned over her nudity. The proffered cup of coffee was accepted from Hinoki with thanks. "Well, I'm glad THAT's over" the Cheetah Fem rumbled. Hinoki chuckled and shook his head; "well, Tanj, do you think you've sufficiently blown our cover, or should we take out adds in the local paper?" Tanj looked across the small room, fixed the Mink with her gaze and shook her head; "I think almost everyone out there thinks we're Imperial Intelligence right now. Except for some, who I think know the truth. And have known the truth since we arrived. The question is, how will it affect us? Kath, would you care to comment?"

The Mink was nude, hanging from a chain hoist in the cargo bay, her legs held wide apart by ropes to various different stanchions. Tanj, Hinoki, Zassa and Wanda were each crowded around her, each armed with at least one feather. The Mink giggled and howled, shuddering, her body near convulsing as they tickled her remorselessly. She'd long since lost control of her bladder, as the contents of a nearby bucket testified. Finally Tanj called a halt; "Lets hear it again, Kath. Once again. I want to make sure you're telling us the truth!" Kath took a moment to try and catch her breath, before whimpering "I told you the truth, Mistress! THEY contacted me! Oh, it was a MISTAKE to ever think I could come here! It wasn't my doing!..." Tanj sighed and looked over the Mink at Wanda, raising one eyebrow in a silent question. Wanda trailed the tip of her feather underneath the Mink's tail for a moment, making her whole body shudder, and then looked up at the Cheetah; "For what its worth, I believe her..." Tanj sighed and nodded; "OK, Kath, tell us again what they want from us..." The Mink nodded almost convulsively; "They just... Just want me to pass on anything interesting... That you find. They see you... Almost as... An Auxilliary... Source of Intellegence..." Tanj sighed and nodded; "I suspect I've simply gotten too good at this." Looking up again, lifting the Mink's chin with one hand, she stared into Kath's eyes; "Will they give us missions, or just be content with the tidbits we might offer? Will they try and blackmail us?" Kath sighed; "Don't know... If something grim enough came along, and we were in the right place, they might try and get us to do their dirty work... but if we give them quality information... enough information... the RIGHT information, they'll probably just leave us alone..." Tanj nodded slowly, and then growled; "and what are the chances that some day they might decide we know too much and just arrange for us to disappear?" The Mink shrugged, a difficult motion when hanging by your wrists; "possible, I suppose... the only way out there is to make sure we're too valuable to them, to loose..." Again the Cheetah nodded. After a long moment of looking into Kath's eyes, Tanj smiled; "OK, so that's the downside. We've already seen a little of the benefits, and for that I DO thank you. Now, what ELSE might they bring to the table; what resources might they give us?"

Walt! WALT!" The Gerbil looked up from his console at the agitated face of the Fox; "what is it, Sam? We bein' attacked?" Sam shook his head, shoving a data crystal at the Gerbil; "Tell everyone to hold their positions, and LOOK AT THIS! You wouldn't believe what just happened down on the Strip!" Walt opened his mike and growled; "all traffic, sector 23 through 47, hold position until further notice." Ignoring the flood of calls from various ship Captains, the Gerbil cleared his screen and inserted the data crystal into the reader. As the image of the ruined façade of Miss Kitty's formed, his eyes widened; there was the Mink... And the Vixen... And the Cheetah... the three ladies they'd "extorted" a night of pleasure out of... and two of the three were wearing Imperial Intelligence uniforms! "OH SHIT" was all he could squeak out... "Yeah" the Fox muttered; "It seems Miss Kitty's was a front for smuggling. They found Ecstasy III, Parabaraboline, and PseudoEphedarine. Enough stuff to keep the whole station high for a month!" From behind them, the Jaguar growled; "Miss Kitty's? I was there just a few nights ago! DAMN! Say, is that the Cheetah fem that damn near fucked me to death?" Sam and Walt just turned to look at their boss; in concert, they both uttered "Uh HUH!"

The Badger looked at the Wolf standing at attention before his desk, the Wolf's smirk making his stomach churn; "and I suppose you and your section are going to claim credit for this little escapade?" The Wolf's grin widened; "Sir, Yes SIR! She IS after all, one of my agents. The staff at Miss Kitty's are all singing like canaries; the slaves themselves have been MOST helpful in identifying the contacts that passed the drugs on to them. We have operations in progress on Aramac, Norseman, Bourke, and Grafton at this moment as we try to follow the supply chain. With luck we'll be able to follow it all the way back to the manufacturing sites." Slowly the Badger rose to his feet; "and of course, the fact that you've made me look like an idiot is completely incidental..." The Wolf just shrugged; "Sir, with all due respect, the place WAS operating right under your nose..." The Badger just nodded, and shook his head; "Get out. And if those... PIRATES cause any more disruption on this station, there had better be a DAMN good reason!" The wolf saluted, turned and marched from the Badger's office. As soon as he was clear of the anteroom, his smile faded. The Mink pulled it out this time, but he STILL thought she was a loose cannon. She'd have to be watched VERY carefully...

Hinoki smiled as he meandered through the door to Harriet's shop. The Raccoon finished her discussions with a customer and then turned to grin at Hinoki; "and what wonders have you brought me today?" Smiling, leaning across the counter, the Cheetah gave the Raccoon fem a long, and sensual kiss. After a moment he pulled back and grinned at her; "I heard one of the more prominent establishments down on the Strip just went belly-up. I was wondering if you'd like to take over the lease. Of course it needs some work, but..." Harriet's eyes went wide; "I HEARD! Miss Kitti's was the ONLY competition we'd face on this station! Hinoki chuckled and shrugged; "Hey, I work for some powerful furrs; they can make things happen." Harriet's eyes widened a little more; "You... you mean you caused that? How in the WORLD did you arrange it? Hinoki just chuckled; "weren't you watching the vids? Didn't you see who was there at the bust?" Harriet blinked; "um, well, I half watched it... Hey, was the Cheetah lady in the blanket your Captain? Hinoki laughed; "yes, and I was the one in the powered armor." Harriet shook her head, taking a half step back from the counter; "But ... But I thought that was an Imperial Intelligence Operation; there were black uniforms Everywhere there!" Hinoki smiled; actually there had been only three, but they must have stood out in all that gray... "Actually, in this instance, Imperial Intelligence was working for us... Now, before anyone else gathers their wits, why don't you run down there and see if you can't put in a bid on the lease, and the property. They had a pretty good stable of slaves from what I've been told." Harriet sighed; "the lease I might arrange, but the property? That's probably beyond me." Hinoki just chuckled and reaching into a pocket, produced three credit chips, placing them in a line on the counter. "Thought that might be a problem. Remember, we'll be your SILENT partner, but just don't forget who owns the store..." Harriet grinned and snatched up the three chips, leaned over the bar to kiss the Cheetah on the nose, and hurried out the door, almost at a run.

Hinoki chuckled as he watched the Raccoon's shapely ass move as she hurried off; "don't worry" he muttered softly, "I'll lock up..."

Harriet was half way to the Security office to place her bid when it hit her... "Imperial Intelligence was working for THEM? Who the hell ARE these guys?"

The Wolf propped his feet on the corner of the desk in his borrowed cubicle and grinned at his assistant; "Yeah, there's no question that at some point this audacious upstart will have to be disciplined..." The Ferret looked at her boss and raised an eyebrow; "do you mean Kath, or this Sou An Ky, this "Tanj" person?" The Wolf smiled; "both, actually. Still, Kath did protect our investment in this situation... She acted audaciously, and without permission, but on the other hand, she did bring us an unexpected triumph, so maybe, just maybe she can be excused... This time. This group we're going to have to watch VERY carefully..." The Ferret just nodded...

The undercurrent of conversation on the bridge was running just a little louder than usual, and the Jaguar was noticing a number of guarded looks being flashed his way. Something was up, and his curiosity was growing. So was his annoyance. The bridge of an Imperial battlecruiser was supposed to be a place of order and control, not a pit of gossip, even if they were docked. When a fit of hushed giggling erupted behind him, he rose from his command chair, to padd over in that direction.

Sylvia gulped as the Captain rose and headed in her direction; she hadn't meant to be that loud... Holding herself rigid, she stared at her sensor screen, the information completely redundant and unnecessary with the ship docked... As the shadow fell over her, she gulped.

"Is there something, Specialist, that you'd like to share with me?" Sylvia looked up at the Captain's growl, eyes wide... "Um... sorry sir, didn't mean to disturb you... Its... Well, Sir, the whole ship is talking about your lady friend." The Jaguar straightened; somehow everyone on the ship seemed to know about that incident at the nightclub... what was its name? Saucilito's?" While it had enhanced his reputation in some respects, he was finding it to be a bit of an annoyance in others. Before he could frame a suitable rebuke, the specialist went on; "its just, Sir, that we should have KNOWN anyone you'd associate with in, ah, such a manner, would be more highly placed than a mere freighter Captain! We certainly ARE impressed, Sir!"

The Jaguar blinked; "what's wrong with associating with a ... What the HELL are you talking about?" Sylvia blinked; could it be he didn't KNOW? "Why, Sir, the Imperial Intelligence raid down on the Strip! Your lady friend was right in the middle of it! It was on all the vids!"

The Jaguar stared at the small screen built into his command chair; it hadn't taken the ship's computer more than a few nanoseconds to search out the vid clip of the event, as reported on all the news channels. There was the Cheetah, and it certainly looked like Tanj... And the Wolverine lady who'd kept the ... the Mink in an Imperial Intellegence Major's uniform on a chain? And there was the flame-hued Vixen... As the vid clip ended, he closed the file and sat back in his chair; who WAS she? How in the hell had a simple Freighter Captain gotten involved in something like THAT? How had her crew wound up in Imperial Intelligence uniforms? WHO WAS SHE? Sitting back in his command chair, the Jaguar sighed; whatever had happened that night at Saucilito's had been more than a one night stand; whoever she was, he wanted to see her again... But now he had even more questions.

Tanj sat at the comm console. The report was a difficult one to write, but finally it was complete. She'd told her boss, the old Fox who ran the Brethren's Intelligence Operation the whole story, from finding the bound slave blindly wandering the halls of the station, to her ridiculous attack of curiosity regarding the closed bar, to her capture, to Kath's assault. She'd added her opinions that they might now be compromised, and might now be a liability to the Brethren. She also speculated on how they might be able to turn it to their advantage, and boldly proposed a way to find out. And she'd copied her Master. Feeling as if somehow she'd betrayed those she loved, she reluctantly reached out and hit the "transmit" key...

Things in the Elysium system

The Wolverine lowered himself into the visitor's chair, and for a long moment merely stared at Onegin. After a few moments, the object of his attention squirmed. It was just the moment Xyloff was waiting for; "In our... "association" I believe we've come to know each other reasonably well" he began, his tone smooth and unctuous. Onegin swallowed and nodded. Indeed, the Wolverine had gotten him power, and wealth, and many comforts. For a moment he thought of the naked slave kneeling in his bedroom... many comforts. But he'd also demanded absolute obedience. The carefree days as a pirate rogue were long gone. And probably irretrievable. Having given Onegin a moment to reflect, the Wolverine went on; "now, our greatest battle lies before us, and I'm not necessarily talking about the fall of the Elysium government." Onegin blinked; "but... the final offensive..." The Wolverine just smiled, a disturbing display of teeth. "What I'm talking about is what comes AFTER the final offensive." Leaning forward, leaning across the desk, Xyloff smiled; "I'm talking about making sure that when its all over, that WE wind up with control. Control of the Planet. Control of the system. Control of EVERYTHING." Sitting back, the Wolverine looked at the surprised Onegin; "that's right, Comrade. Everything."

Onegin shook his head; "but... the Blues are a formidable presence. They're not just going to... "go away"... and the Pirates, the Brethren, they outnumber us in ships, both quantity and quality..." Zyloff smiled; "Oh, I've got PLANS for the Blues. And for the Brethren. Especially for the Brethren. And that, My Dear Onegin, is where you come in. Do it right, and you will command the most powerful force in the sector, second only to the Imperium. Do it right and you will have fame and fortune beyond your dreams..."

The conference room didn't hold all the key officers of the People's Space Navy. Not all the ship captains were there... but the ones that WERE there were the ones Onegin knew he could rely on. The ones that didn't worry so much about the dielectic, or the party line, but instead, like him, were in it for the loot. Or the Power. Or the Thrill. Smiling at them, he cleared his throat; once the room had fell silent, he rose, to tell them how they were going to help take control of the Reds; of how, in the Final Offensive, they'd eliminate the Blues as a serious military force... and of how they would get rid of the Brethren once and for all, and in the process all become incredibly rich... As he spoke, his audience stared at him in rapt attention.

Carr looked at the orders and shook his head; turning he padded across the bridge to his Captain; "Comrade Captain, I have to admit, I don't know what Comrade Quistling is up to, but we have new orders..." the Captain took the message flimsy, and scanned it. His head nodded up and down as he looked from the message to the tactical display and back; "This would put us..." "Yes, Comrade Captain; in the middle of nowhere, way out on the fringe. We would be light minutes from any jump point... Possibly light hours from ANY possible battle." The Captain sighed; "Far be it from me to question the orders of the Chairman, but it certainly looks like this might take us out of any portion of the fight." Carr nodded; "We're going to miss the Final Offensive..."

Xyloff smiled as he watched the messages come in; almost every ship was questioning their orders; some circumferentially, others more directly. Looking up, he grinned at Onegin; "you see? Its all working just as I foresaw. Some are openly questioning Quistling's leadership; some of the bolder, or possibly the more stupid ones, are even calling him a coward! When I issue the orders to bring them into the fight, especially after a long term of picket duty in the middle of nowhere, after a long term of No Booty, they'll swing their support from him to me; he'll be a cinch to oust!" Onegin nodded slowly; "but of course, something similar will have to be done with the ground forces..." Xyloff smiled "ah, that's even easier..."

The Gathering Storm

Tanj looked up from her comm console, as Hinoki led the Wolf onto the flight deck. For an instant she was tempted to glance about the flight deck, to make sure that some of the multi-function displays were not showing weapons status, or sensor readings... But then she figured this guy knew who they were anyways... Pushing back from the console she regarded the two coldly; "you know, if you keep coming here like this, we might have problems. Its almost a certainty that we're being watched and watched closely by Imperial Intelligence now..." Hinoki chuckled; "Aw, Skipper, he's just here to "check on a charter"... And besides, we've got a great new cover for his reporting in. Harriet won the bid on Miss Kitty's lease. She's going to start her new club there. Our friend can easily check in there, with no one the wiser!" Tanj frowned for a moment, just for effect, and then nodded; "Yes... That might work out well... but it ties the two together. Sometimes ALL hints of association have to be shunned." The Wolf leaned on his walking stick and smiled softly; "Ah, but if I go everywhere, and talk to everyone, how will they ever separate out which might be "business associates" and which just casual acquaintances?" Tanj sighed and nodded, thinking this guy should get a quick tutorial on fieldcraft, somehow. Looking up, she made an off-hand gesture; "so what do you have?" The Wolf smiled; "Ah, the other night I was in an alley in the residential section, supposedly pawing through the trash, and I overheard the most interesting conversation between two lovers. One was a clerk in the Imperial Fleet's headquarters here, and her lover was on one of the Cruisers. It seems that they're being ordered..."

Tanj looked over her hastily scrawled notes. The Wolf had acquired a significant amount of information in a very short time... And that made her wary. Or was she just paranoid, given the incident with Kath? Encoding the information into a message, she attached a note outlining her misgivings, and sent it off to her boss... Sitting back, she crossed her arms behind her head and wondered how best to check out the quality of this information. If they WERE playing her, they'd feed her high quality stuff, until she felt confident of her source...

Zassa stuck her head through the door to the flight deck, and blinked at the scowling Cheetah; "Tanj! What are you doing still here?" Tanj straightened up in her station chair and turned to look at the Vixen; "Um... Just thinking. Why? Where SHOULD I be?" Zassa chuckled; "you should be getting ready! We're all going out to check out "the competition" for Harriet. We're going to meet at her new place, help Hinoki take some measurements, and then we're going to go hit all the neighboring clubs and bars!" Tanj chuckled; "I really should stay here in case that guy tries to contact us..." Zassa crossed her arms under her breasts and shook her head; "Oh, no you don't; if he wants to contact us, he can leave a message! YOU, girl, are coming with us!"

Tanj studied herself in the mirror, and made a face, trying to adjust the drape of her "dress"... She'd taken some of the cloth they'd found, that stuck to fur as if it were velcro; it draped over her left shoulder, a small tail hanging down her back; as it passed over her shoulder, it swept to the right, to cover her breasts; from there it descended to her right hip, sweeping around her waist, almost coming around to touch itself, as it descended down her front. It LOOKED as if it should fall off her, leaving her naked, but if anything, its grip was too tenacious. She had to tug hard to get it to come free, so she could try and adjust it. "Oh, Come ON, Tanj" the Vixen growled from the doorway; "The Night's a'wastin'!"

At the lock, Wanda stood, covered from head to toe in her cloak; however, her left paw held two leashes; by her, two forms, also covered in cloaks, knelt. One was obviously Kath, her tail evident, peeking from under the hem of her garment. The other one, a larger form, seemed to have no face. Bending, Tanj looked at the hooded form. "Thought we'd give Harriet this one as a housewarming gift" Hinoki chuckled from behind her. Rising, Tanj turned to look at him. "We think we've got the training as complete as we can" the male Cheetah rumbled; "he's been given the standard post-hypnotic commands; that's why he's hooded." Tanj nodded, remembering; "when the hood comes off, the first one he sees is the one he'll accept as his master, or mistress." Hinoki just nodded; "we thought it might be a visible signal to the gangs on the station, that Harriet's under our protection, and that those that mess with us can wind up like him, or worse." Tanj frowned; "that... might work. Still, it makes us much more "visible" than I'm happy with. I'd rather everyone here forgot about us." Wanda chuckled; "after yesterday, I DOUBT that's going to happen..."

The door to the former "Miss Kitty's" had been crudely repaired; it would be enough to keep the curious out, but probably wouldn't stand up to a professional thief. For the moment, however, there wasn't much to see inside the club. Harriet had won the bid on the lease, and on some of the slaves, but a lot of the furnishings, and other items had gone to other bidders. Hinoki led the Lynx over to where Harriet was talking with two other furrs, while the others looked around. Tanj found herself wandering over to the center of the "dance floor", the stocks missing, but the scents, and the memories lingering. Laughter made her turn her head; Harriet was lightly holding the Lynx's leash as he knelt, still hooded, before her. "Thanks, Stud, I'll, ah, put him in the kennels for now, and "unwrap" my present later. Now, what about those measurements you needed? I thought we'd set up your gizmo in the larger of the back rooms..." Tanj watched as Harriet, and Hinoki, and one of the other furrs moved off, through a doorway, into the back of the club.

Zassa watched them go and then grinned at Tanj; "I'm going to go take a quick peek at the kennels; Want to see if Salde's there. Back in a minute!" Wanda chuckled and tugged on Kath's leash; "lets go with her, Pet; you never know what neat things they might have back there." Tanj watched as Zassa, Wanda and Kath also departed. Setting a chair upright, she took a seat, thinking that she'd already seen the kennels, and that she didn't need to go back. Feeling somewhat overwhelmed by events, she settled down to wait.

"I have to admit, I didn't think I'd find you here. This club's scarcely the most lively spot on the strip at the moment." Tanj blinked and looked up, into the face of the Jaguar. The Jaguar she'd met in Saucalito's the other night. The one who commanded the Imperial Battlecruiser. "I know, the place isn't open, but the door was. Thought I'd stick my head in and see what was happening." Tanj chuckled; "Not much is happening. A friend is looking at opening her own club here, and some of my crew volunteered to help her. I'm just kinda... Waiting for them." The Jaguar smiled and picked up another of the overturned chairs; sitting backwards on it, leaning on the splintered back, arms crossed across its top, his chin resting on forearms, he grinned at the Cheetah Fem; "well, mind if I keep you company until they return?" Tanj just smiled; "not at all..."

Tanj smiled and shook her head; "no, no, it was nothing like that. The truth is, I kinda got wrapped up in this thing by accident. And I didn't even KNOW Kath was with Imperial Intelligence! Well, that's not completely true... Anyways, I was as surprised as anyone when they showed up like that." Tanj smiled and shook her head; the look on the Jaguar's face was classic; he didn't believe a word she was saying, even if it WAS the truth! "Um..." He mused; "I suppose you just broke into the place seeking some liquid refreshment, and thought this was a good way to avoid the bouncer?" Tanj's smile widened; "No..." She looked askance at him and then chuckled; taking his head in both paws, staring into his eyes she purrred; "Truth is, I'm head of field intelligence for a powerful Pirate clan, and I wanted to talk to Miss Kitty about her gathering local intelligence for me. Unfortunately I stumbled onto their little drug running ring, and that scotched the deal. Kath was planted on us by Imperial intelligence as a sleeper agent. She decided that it was more valuable for Imperial intelligence to keep us as a resource than it was to hide her true status, hence the rescue. Believe THAT one?" The Jaguar just chuckled and kissed Tanj on the nose; "You have an active imagination, I'll grant you that. Lady, I'm not sure just who you are, or what you are, but I am a profound believer in Occam's Razor." Tanj blinked; "the simplest explanation is most often the correct one?" The Jaguar nodded and smiled; "I think you're Kath's boss, which is why she came running like she did to your rescue. I think you are trying hard to keep anyone from knowing that; and that's all right. I can understand how in your line of work, a low profile works best. I think that's why you can walk around Gibralter station wearing a prohibited life form and no one tries to stop you." Tanj just sighed and shrugged; "Well, I tried..."

Zassa blinked from the doorway; had Tanj just told the Jaguar exactly who she was? What had she been thinking? What if he'd believed her? Shaking her head, she counted to ten and then strode through the door, thinking she'd best redirect the topic of conversation...

"So when you get this place up and running, do you think it'll be a safe place to send my crew?" Tanj just laughed; "probably safer than any other place on the strip; we have some... "innovative" new technology we're going to install here... It should go a long way towards satisfying anyone's sexual fantasies. And computers generally don't get mad, or take offense. They generally don't pry into your personal business, or even consider blackmail. And they don't transmit diseases." Zassa looked up as Harriet and Hinoki emerged from the back of the club; "but enough shop talk" the Vixen purrred; "I believe we're off to do the clubs along the strip..." Tanj looked over her shoulder and then rose; "all done?" Hinoki nodded; "Yup. Think we got the first installation all mapped out. If you can spare me tomorrow, I'll start moving the prototype rig over and setting it up. But that's tomorrow. Which place shall we hit first?" The Jaguar rose smoothly, and Tanj turned to him with a smile; "Would you care to join us?" The Jaguar smiled in return and nodded; "I'd be delighted."

As they strolled down the Strip, towards the club they'd decided on, Zassa pulled Kath back a little; "I'm a little worried about Tanj; not sure she's being... Professionally objective about this guy... Think we need to keep an eye on her." The Mink just nodded, her eyes shifting to watch the Jaguar.

The drink was fruity, and Tanj just knew it was going to be almost pure ethanol. Somehow, though, she just didn't care. The music had a beat that made her want to move to it, and the company was good... Smiling, she looked at the Jaguar and wondered what he'd just said; somehow it seemed to have slipped in one ear and out the other without impacting on her befuddled brain cells... As she gazed at him, unbidden thoughts of her master surfaced, and for a brief moment she wondered what she was doing with this guy. Oh, yeah, he was charming, and good looking, intelligent and considerate... But he just wasn't who she REALLY wanted to be with... Taking another sip of her drink she wondered if she'd invited him along with them, to solidify a relationship that might bring her additional intelligence, or if she just wanted... a Friend? A Lover? A Hug? Blinking hard, she turned and looked out over the crowd, wondering what had become of her crew.

Harriet grinned as she scanned the row of monitors over the bar; like Saucilito's, this place also had rooms where amorous couples could retire to. Here, however, the stakes were a little higher; every room was monitored, although masks were permitted, should someone feel shy. The patrons were invited to rate the "performances." The winner had their bar tab erased for the evening, at least until someone topped their score. It was performance art, pure and simple, and as anonymous as the rather prudish society on the station might wish for. Turning she nudged Hinoki; "Well, you feel up to it tonight?" The Cheetah male grinned back; "you know me; I was born ready!" Zassa, who'd also been watching the monitors, shook her head; "I dunno... This place has a level of competition beyond what we saw before; that was all amateur stuff. This place looks almost... "professional"... I think we're going to have to do something a little different, if we want to win..." Harriet tilted her head to one side, looking at the Vixen; "whatcha got in mind?" Zassa just chuckled; "I think our Captain needs a little distracting..."

Tanj blinked; "you want to WHAT?" Hinoki chuckled at the look on the Cheetah's face; "Oh, come on, Tanj, its not like it's a new scene for you... and the drinks here ARE a bit pricy..." Zassa smiled "What's the matter, Skipper? Don't think we can win?" Tanj shook her head and huffed; "Of COURSE we can win, if we want to..." Kath smiled and leaned forward, to whisper in the Cheetah fem's ear. After a moment, Tanj nodded slowly, and then turned to look at the Jaguar; "looks like we're up for a team effort, and, ah, for the suggestion that's been made, we could really use you...; you in?"

The Jaguar looked at Tanj for a moment and then smiled; "let me wear a mask, so that there might at least be the suggestion of anonymity, and I'm yours to do with as you will! Tanj smiled and rose a little unsteadily to her feet; taking the Jaguar's paw in both of hers; she led him towards the rooms.

Zassa grinned, winked at Kath, and then turned to padd over to the bartender; for a moment they whispered furiously. After a moment, they seemed to come to some sort of agreement, and the Vixen turned to padd after the others...

Tanj padded into the middle of the room, still leading the Jaguar by one hand, a wry grin on her face. He'd barely slipped the mask, one handed, over his eyes, when she turned and dropped to her knees at his feet, leaning forward to nuzzle his crotch softly. Last time, he'd shown her what a good lover he could be; this time it was her turn to return the favor.

The Jaguar grunted softly as the Cheetah fem started nosing him; he could feel her hot breath through the fabric of his pants, and as her paws stroked up and down his thighs, he felt his cock start to swell, to harden...

Tanj smiled softly as the Jaguar's pants started to bulge a little; but she had no intention of freeing his cock quite yet. Purring, she licked, dragging her tongue up the front of his pants, as if they weren't there; eyes closed she nuzzled and caressed, until it was obvious his hardening cock trapped within his pants was causing him some discomfort...

The Jaguar stiffened as arms encircled him from behind, and someone started nuzzling the back of his neck... He opened his mouth to protest, but the arms around his waist started working at the button on his pants, and somehow the words caught in his throat...

Tanj purrred, letting Zassa free the Jaguar's cock, exclaiming in delight as it sprang into view. Moving like a hunting cat, she caught the head of his cock in her mouth, and as her paws worked to help the Vixen push down his pants, she slid his hard cock into her mouth...

Hinoki was watching from the corner of his eye, as he kissed Harriet; between his feet, Kath was working on his own cock, Wanda's pet working to get him hard for his lady... The movement of dark fur to one side drew his attention away from Tanj and the Jaguar, however, and his eyes widened as he realized that not only had Wanda joined them, but that she was kneeling aside Kath, to nuzzle under Harriet's short skirt...

The bartender cast an appraising eye over the crowd. Since the party from the Beowulf had entered Room five, the number of drink orders he'd been filling had slipped to a trickle, all eyes seemingly on the monitor. With a sigh he shook his head; the Vixen had been right, and had indeed won their small wager. Turning somewhat reluctantly he took the hand-lettered piece of paper the Vixen had given him and tacked it to the bottom of the monitor. He hated to give anyone free advertisement, especially anyone who cost him business, but a bet was a bet.

Zassa smiled and nibbled on the trailing edge of the Jaguar's right ear, her breasts mashed flat against his back... Her paws stroked up and down his sides, occasionally roaming over his chest. Tanj was performing her usual magic, working on his cock, and if his respiration and heart rate were any sign, she was about to drive him into a heart attack... Grinning, she let one paw trail down, between her and him, to slide between them, to lightly tickle under his tail...

The Kangaroo looked from the Monitor to the hand-lettered sign and back; "For service like no other, let the SV Beowulf handle all your charter needs"... Lifting his gaze to where the blonde Mink was working on the male Cheetah's cock, he gulped, and nodded; "I believe it!"

The Jaguar was in Heaven; between the Cheetah in front of him and the Vixen in back, it seemed like his whole body was under a thousand intimate caresses; however when the Vixen's finger found its way under his tail, the surprise, and the flood of sensations that followed proved too much for him. To everyone's surprise, his orgasm arrived full force, his yelp turning into a full-throated roar.

Tanj purrred and sucked hard, as if every drop of the Jaguar's cum was a life-giving nectar, as if it were water in the middle of the desert... Finally he subsided, and Tanj pulled back a little, to lick him softly, her tongue still teasing, licking and lapping not only until he was clean, but until he was half hard again...

Harriet groaned; she'd never expected the Wolverine girl to dive right into something like this, somehow assuming she was only interested in being on the receiving end of the Mink's tongue; however, it was a pleasant surprise. If anything, she was moving too slowly for her tastes, her licks and nibbles bringing her to the very edge... and then holding her there. It seemed almost as if... yes, as if the Wolverine was still playing the "top," controlling her responses, holding her tight as her tongue did the most marvelous things... Somehow a tiny corner of Harriet's mind wondered if she would have to beg the Wolverine for her climax? She was beginning to think that might be in character...

Hinoki struggled for control. Kath had been trained well, and knew just what to do, but he'd be darned if he was going to let HER dictate his pleasures to him! Taking both her ears in his hands, he pulled her head back, until his cock slipped from her mouth; as she looked up questioningly the male Cheetah smiled...

Zassa purrred and with her arms around the Jaguar's chest, tugged backwards, as Tanj pulled his knees in the other direction; surprisingly, his descent to the padded floor was relatively graceful as the femmes laid him down. Tanj grinned at the Vixen and moved, almost possessively, to straddle his hips; Zassa grinned back and shifted forward, to straddle his head, facing the Cheetah. With both paws between her thighs, stroking the Jaguar's cock; Tanj leaned forwards to kiss the Vixen, a soft, sensual kiss exhibiting all of the lusts and passions flowing through her body.

The Jaguar grunted as the Vixen's muff descended on his face, her scent of arousal filling his nostrils; with a grin, he tilted his head back, licking up into her eager sex, as his paws stroked up her front, to find, and cup her breasts. Zassa mmmmmed and reached out to take possession of Tanj's breasts, thumbs and forefingers rolling her nipples, tugging at them almost painfully...

The Bobcat sipped at his beer and shook his head; "Man, I do NOT know what the Captain did to get SO lucky! LOOK at him in there! The female ferret sitting just to his left chuckled; "Hell, Randy, Lucky Captain, Lucky Ship! We ain't got no cause to complain!" The Bear sitting across from her turned and looked over his shoulder, and then turned his attention back to his drink; "I dunno; seems like the more action he gets the less there is for us! Hey, the sign says that's the crew of a vessel for charter; you think he HIRED them?" The Bobcat sighed and shook his head; "Doubt it, knowing him... still, geez, will you LOOK at the rack on that Vixen? It MIGHT be worth the money..." The Ferret smiled; "if you decide to inquire about their charter services, find out if that male Cheetah's included in the package; I might just go in on it with you..."

Harriet's knees felt weak; the Wolverine's tongue was stroking deep within her, touching places she didn't even know she had; her chest was heaving, her pussy dripping, as she struggled to just stay standing... Unable to stand it any more, she whimpered softly, the first sounds to escape her lips...

The Bartender looked over the crowd again and smiled. Things had gotten off to a slow start; the crowd mostly watching the monitors, and not drinking... However the crowd had grown to almost standing room only, and while individually they still weren't drinking much, given the numbers, his revenue was pretty much back up to usual; turning to his assistant he growled; "Best call in Fred and Judy... when that party breaks up, all these furrs are going to suddenly remember just how thirsty they are..."

Tanj purrred as she rode the Jaguar's cock; having cum once, she figured he'd last a little bit longer, allowing her to use him to pleasure herself... she hoped to "catch up" with him... Grinning as she rose and fell, the Cheetah fem reached out to tweak both of Zassa's nipples, pinching HARD...

Zassa shuddered as Tanj pinched her, catching her just as the Jaguar's tongue stroked over her G spot; with a long, drawn out wail, her hips bucking, the Vixen came hard, her pussy convulsing around the Jaguar's tongue.

The Jaguar urked as her pussy clamped down with a surprising tightness around his tongue, and as her juices flowed, coating his muzzle. Chuckling, wondering if he was better at this than he thought, he slithered his tongue down out of the velvety channel, to flick it across her clitty as rapidly as he could. The Vixen howled anew...

Hinoki watched with a practiced eye as the Jaguar and Cheetah conspired to bring the Vixen to a credible climax. Turning his attention back to the Mink he stroked his hard cock in and out of her ass once again. She in a strained pose, essentially lying on her shoulders, her bottom held high off the floor, both of her ankles in Hinoki's paws. He'd driven his cock down into her pussy a half dozen times, just to get it well lubricated, and then, shifting, had worked it into her ass. Now, he held her tight, pumping her just enough to keep her panting, just enough to keep him hard. He'd cum when he wanted to, and she wouldn't get her release until he felt like letting her have it...

Harriet mewled and shuddered; the Wolverine had backed her against the wall, and that was a blessing, as it made it easier to stand, given how weak her knees seem to have become. The licking was relentless, the tongue working over her clitty, slithering between her labia, licking deep within her, plunging in and out, only to resume that maddening teasing of her pearl... She was SO close, she wanted to climax SO bad, and yet all she could do was to let out the occasional incoherent, inarticulate whimper...

Wanda purrred as she licked; she'd done this to Kath on numerous occasions. It was marvelous training; patiently, she'd lick until it had almost passed the point of pleasure, until each lick was almost painful... and THEN she'd let her pet beg for her release... It was simply marvelous for establishing their roles...

Tanj's body shuddered, her breath catching in her throat as her third climax blossomed inside her; she grinned and exercising all the will power remaining, clenched her vaginal muscles down hard around the Jaguar's shaft. With a giggle, she felt him respond. She'd known he was close too, and as she worked on him, his orgasm arrived, almost in sequence with hers... As the waves of pleasure roared through her body, she moved both paws around behind her to fondle his balls...

The Jaguar almost bit the Vixen as he felt the paws envelop his balls, to squeeze softly; it was the damndest sensation, and for a moment, despite the Cheetah's weight, his hips lifted off the floor...

Zassa laughed and wiggled her hips down onto the Jaguar's face; "ooooh, LIKE THAT! Do it again, Tanj!"

The Panda watched the monitor, sipping her drink slowly. Everything she'd heard about this Cheetah seemed to be true; if she wasn't who she seemed, she was putting on a damn good act. Pulling out her palmtop, she started pecking at the miniscule keys, composing a message...

Panting hard, Tanj rolled off the Jaguar, to lay, exhausted, on the floor by his side... After a minute, she reached up and grabbed the Vixen, to pull her down too; "Come on, Zassa, give the poor guy a breather!" Zassa started to protest, but Tanj wrapped her arms around her, to kiss her hard, stifling any complaints.

Wanda watched from the corner of her eye, as the Cheetah's impromptu kiss turned into something a little more. Lifting her eyes, she caught the Jaguar, his chest still heaving, watching them, his eyes perhaps just a little wide... turning her attention back to Harriet, she grinned; perhaps it was time to finish her... she'd held her dangling, twisting in the wind, long enough...

Hinoki tugged on the Mink's tail, pulling her back against him, driving his cock once again deep into her ass... He'd been modulating his thrusts for some time, making sure he didn't cum. Smiling, he wondered if it was time... Then he grinned and shook his head; not yet... She wasn't near desperate enough yet...

Tanj broke the kiss and then grinned up at the Vixen; "if you've still not had enough licking, turn around, and I'll pick up where the Stud left off." Zassa grinned wickedly and nodded; "Been too long since we did each other! You're on!" Turning, Zassa straddled the prone Cheetah, pressing her sodden crotch to her face as she bent, to shove her own muzzle between the Cheetah's thighs...

Harriet whimpered; it was all she could do to remain standing; still, there was a change; the Wolverine was licking her a bit differently now... Panting, shuddering, she felt the tensions building; it seemed her long-put-off release was rapidly approaching...

Kath moaned; her shoulders were on the floor, her head bent forward until her chin touched her chest. The Cheetah male held her feet high, her legs spread, holding her almost upside-down. Moving slowly he worked his thick cock in and out of her poor, distended asshole. Feeling helpless, feeling exposed, feeling used, she also somehow felt terribly excited by it all; her pussy seemed to be overflowing, her juice running down her mons, down the crack of her ass to provide much-needed lubrication... instead of taking her hard, using her roughly, Hinoki seemed to be drawing it out... Kath was tempted to reach up, to touch herself, to try and gain some sort of relief from the increasingly buring itch between her legs, but she knew if she did, she'd draw his displeasure... Still, the slow, languid ass-fucking was driving her out of her mind!

Zassa lifted her head as Harriet's scream of joy rang from the walls; she grinned, admiring the way Wanda all but propped her up, never ceasing her licking as the Raccoon climaxed almost violently. Chuckling, the Vixen lowered her head a bit to nip sharply at Tanj's clitty; she knew the Cheetah fem both loved and hated that... and sure enough she was rewarded with the bucking of hips as she drove the Cheetah fem over the edge and into the warm arms of her own climax.

Harriet Screamed; she felt as if her mind was exploding, as if her whole body was being torn apart by the force of her climax. Never in all her experience had a climax been put off for so long; never had one been so powerful. Panting, almost near fainting, she felt herself slide down the wall, helpless to stop herself...

Wanda smiled and leant over to give the Raccoon one last lick; picking herself up she wandered around Hinoki and her pet, past Zassa and Tanj, now lost in each other's bodies, and their own passions, to the Jaguar; grinning down at him, she purrred; "Think you're ready to go again, Stud?"

Hinoki purrred. It was time. Grinning, he released Kath's ankles, giving each a slight shove away from him. For a moment she balanced there, wobbling, and then her feet slowly fell away from the Cheetah; she was still balanced on her shoulders, but the Cheetah's thick cock in her ass held her more or less in position; now her feet touched the floor, adding perhaps a little stability. With the Mink bent almost double in front of him, Hinoki put his paws on her ass, almost on either side of her pussy, and started to thrust harder, pushing her into a more vertical position. Driving hard in to her, his thumbs stroked inwards, to tease her dripping pussy...

Kath Groaned, and shuddered; the fingers stroking the periphery of her pussy was a delight, but the Cheetah's sudden hard pounding, plus the ache in her shoulders and neck all conspired to work against each other. Rocking her head from side to side, she mewled, and moaned, the tensions building... Opening her eyes, however, was a mistake, for there, to one side, sat her Mistress, astride the Jaguar's hips, riding his cock with languid slowness as the Cheetah had done... Kath's eyes went wide and her moan turned into a YELP!

Hinoki grunted as the Mink's body tensed, as her ass was suddenly VERY tight around his shaft; it caught him by surprise, and with a YOWL he found himself cumming hard. With a growl he jerked his cock out of the Mink's ass, to stroke his shaft with one hand, splattering the impudent mink with his cum.

The sudden extraction of the Mink's cock, the cool air flowing past her distended anus, the sudden thump of her body against the padded floor, all served to trigger the Mink's own climax, and as the waves of pleasure coursed through her body, she lost sight of her Mistress... had she REALLY seen what she'd thought?

Wanda smiled; it was, if anything, better than the program she'd run in Hinoki's machine. The Jaguar knew how to move. Knew how to touch her... and somehow a real cock just felt... "right"... Smiling she moved a little faster, riding him a little harder... This might not have been the perfect "romantic" moment, but in the end, she marveled, wondering what she'd been waiting for...

The Jaguar grunted; the Wolverine Lass was a lot heavier than the Cheetah, much heavier than the Vixen; grunting, he still tried to thrust up into her, somehow knowing that he had to do his best with this one...

Tanj purrred, oblivious to all else, save the Vixen's burning needs... and her own matching needs; nibbling along one labia, her tongue flashing occasionally in and out of her sweet sex, the Cheetah strove to match, in kind, if not in extreme, what the Vixen was doing to her. Gasping at a nip, the turned, hooked one fang through the Vixen's clitty ring and tugged HARD even as her tongue flicked out over the sensitive flesh; she grinned as she was rewarded with the Vixen's immediate and intense climax...

Hinoki sighed; in the end, he hadn't been able to dictate just when he would cum, or just when the Mink would be allowed to cum. Either he was slipping, or the room just provided too many distractions... Still it didn't look like Zassa and Tanj were being distracted by anything, wrapped up in each other as they were... and Wanda looked to be totally centered on the Jaguar. Maybe he was slipping, loosing the edge he'd held for so... Wanda? Turning, twisting, the Cheetah STARED at the Wolverine lass.

Kath tried desperately to uncross her eyes. That climax had been a powerful one... could she actually have LIKED what the dominant Cheetah had been doing to her? Squinting, opening just one eye, she peered at her Mistress. It was obviously too late to try and stop her; it was obvious her virginity, such as it was, was definintely gone... For a moment she wondered if anyone was taping this, wondered if a copy might find its way into her Father's hands, assuming he still lived. Then she grinned; how could he POSSIBLY get any more furious at them? Smiling, she stretched out on the padded floor, and tried to catch her breath...

The Jaguar felt the Wolverine shudder, felt her pussy clench like a velvety vice around his shaft, and he knew he'd brought her off; smiling, he concentrated on the sensations, abandoning the prime number calculations he'd been using to try and stave off his own orgasm... It didn't take long until he was Howling at the top of his lungs.

Wanda smiled, and squeezed, clenching her vaginal muscles; the program she'd run on Hinoki's machine just did NOT do the feeling of an ejaculating male justice; she purrred to herself, closing her eyes, to try and memorize the sensation...

The Bartender smiled; the club had never been so packed. Folks were literally jammed up in the doorway. Still, he wanted the show to end, anticipating the flood of drink orders that would follow... It seemed two of the three couples had wound down, and about time, too, but the two femmes, the Cheetah and the Vixen were still all wrapped up in each other, with no sign of EVER quitting. Grabbing his assistant, he whispered in his ear for a moment...

Tanj sighed as someone nudged her... Without pulling her tongue from where it was, she lisped; "Whath?" Hinoki looked down into his Captain's upturned face, and grinned; "the management says if we stay here any longer, we'll have to take out a lease..." Tanj sighed and nodded, her tongue waggling in the Vixen's pussy. Giving her one last nip, getting the requisite shudder in response she sighed and squirmed, trying to escape. Hinoki gave Zassa an open- palmed swat on her rump, enjoying the way her flesh rippled, and then bent to help her to her feet... Zassa for her part, just moaned mournfully. Tanj chuckled as she looked about for what she'd been wearing; "if you're STILL not satisfied, we'll do something when we get back to the ship..." The Vixen just grinned.

Kath took a sip from the cup that her Mistress held, and then turned to the Vixen. "What was it you told Tanj, earlier, that got her in the mood for this?" the Mink whispered. Zassa grinned and gestured to the sign that was still taped to the monitor; "I told her that it would be a good reinforcement for our cover if we did a little advertising for our "special Charter Service... Show the station just how we could entertain customers on those long dull voyages." Kath grinned and just shook her head.

Tanj yawned and shook her head; if the chronometer over the bar was right, this club should have closed two hours ago. The Jaguar had his head propped on one paw; his eyes were open, but he seemed asleep. Kath and Wanda were curled up in a booth. Hinoki was flat on his back on the bar, snoring softly. And Harriet and Zassa were engaged in lively conversation, discussing how she was going to run HER club... Dragging herself to her feet, the Cheetah staggered over; "Don't you think its time we went home?" Zassa blinked, her head snapping around as the club's few remaining staff started applauding.

Tanj yawned, and slowly unwrapped the fabric from her body, the ripping sound as it came free still annoying. The Jaguar had said his goodbyes at the lock, one eye on Zassa, as if worried that if he took them up on their offer for breakfast, he'd never escape intact. Tanj had kissed him softly and promised to be in touch, and he'd departed, not on foot, but in a robocab, as if he were having trouble walking. Now, the Cheetah fem wanted nothing more than a hot shower, and to sleep around the clock. But someone was already in the head, the water running. With a sigh, she tossed her garment through the open door to her cabin, and nude, padded towards the flight deck. There were always messages to check.

Tanj smiled wryly; sure enough, while she'd been out, a good number of messages had appeared on the comm terminal. One was from her boss, in the Intelligence department... There were several suggestions as to how to handle the "Imperial" situation, but nothing concrete. At least there wasn't the censure she'd so feared. Not yet anyways... One of them was from the Battlecruiser, wondering where their Captain was. The second from the last was from an anonymous furr who wanted to meet with Tanj in a day's time, with nothing else said. The last one was a brief note from her master and Tanj had a momentary pang of guilt, thinking about him, and the evening with the Jaguar... Most of the rest were about ship's services on the station, and junk mail. Sitting back, Tanj scanned the list again, wondering if that one lone appointment might be the furr they'd been waiting for, for what seemed like so long...

Harriet's Club

Tanj came slowly awake; the erotic dream she'd been having, persisting... slowly it dawned on her, that someone's tongue was teasing her softly betwee n her thighs... Smiling, leaving her eyes closed, she tried to identify who it might be by the texture and style. She knew the Jaguar had gone back to his ship, the night before, and as it was a rough, feline tongue, that could only mean Hinoki... Groaning, the Cheetah Fem mumbled; "I thought you were going to be working on moving your invention over to Harriet's new club this morning..." The tongue paused, and Hinoki chuckled; "Just thought I ought to ask permission before leaving the ship... Tanj nodded and stretched; "Go; get out of here before I pull you into my bed! Just check in every couple of hours so we know you're all right." Hinoki nodded, and then realizing Tanj's eyes were closed, grunted his acceptance. Grinning, for a moment down at the Nude female Cheetah, he reached down and rolled her over roughly to Slap her on the ass, once, twice, and then a third time. Tanj Yelped; "Hey, what's THAT for?" As he slipped through the door, Hinoki chuckled; "For NOT dragging me into your bed... but I do have work to do. Later, Captain!"

Tanj looked at the chronometer and groaned; it was WAY too early to get up... And yet... Hinoki's teasing had gotten her aroused enough that getting back to sleep would be a problem... And her ass was burning a pleasant warmness... Grinning, she rolled over and reached into the nightstand for her favorite vibrator.

The Hoverpallet wasn't exactly overloaded, but the support beams stuck way out over each end, making it difficult to maneuver. The beams had been the last part to be disassembled, and of course, had to be the first part to be reassembled... Holding the remote in one hand, Hinoki guided it into the dockside "Traffic", heading for Harriet's new place.

The door to the new club was opened by Salde; the Ermine was wearing a body harness that accentuated, rather than concealing her charms, and nothing else. "Good morning, Master Hinoki. Mistress Harriet is in back, waiting for you. Can I help you with that?" Hinoki chuckled and paused to kiss the Ermine, the hand not holding the pallet's remote moving to caress a breast as he kissed her. After a moment he broke the kiss; "No, I got it, but thanks. Looks like you're getting a little more "freedom" than you had under your old Mistress." Salde grinned; "Mistress Harriet has been kind enough to make me head girl. In fact, she's offered me a deal, that if I can make the "living" side of the operating here profitable, she'll free me in five years." Hinoki paused, looking up from the remote; "you mean she's going to let you help run the operation here? Salde just nodded, a smile on her face." Hinoki hit the "halt" button on the remote and grabbed Salde for another kiss; "that IS good news; congradulations!"

Harriet was on her hands and knees, the cover off a power outlet on the far wall. Hinoki thought she looked just marvelous like that, presenting her ass, barely covered in tightly stretched denim... For a moment he was tempted to walk over and... but then he caught sight of the Tiger standing next to her, looking at some sort of hand-held instrument... Figuring there was always later, he parked the hoverpallet, letting it settle to the floor with a tired whine. Pocketing the remote, he padded over to where Harriet was crouched...

Harriet snapped the cover on the power outlet, and stood up; she turned and kissed Hinoki hello, and then turned to look inquiringly at the Tiger... The tiger squinted at the display of his gadget through antique wire-framed glasses and slowly shook his head; "there's enough amperage, but the wave-form just isn't as "clean" as it is on the average starship. I think we're going to have to install a buffer." Hinoki nodded; "might not be a bad idea just to use an uninteruptible power supply; that'll clean up the waveform and make sure no one's program crashes at an inopportune time It'll also buffer the system against anyone trying to hack into the program through the power lines." Harriet nodded; "I'll run out and see if I can find one that'll meet the power requirements. Oh, by the way, Hinoki, this is CT; I've hired him to look after the electronic end of the business. He's got some fairly impressive credentials in Sims... And... Agriculture?" The Tiger nodded shyly, pushing his glasses up onto his nose; "Um... sometimes you need to do something to keep body and soul together, while you try to get the other to the point it'll support you. If this works, I do believe I will have successfully made the transition. Hinoki nodded; "Pleased to meet you. Now, this is what we need to do first..."

Zassa adjusted the zipper on her jumpsuit, pulling it down to show just the right amount of cleavage... or at least the amount she thought she could get away with on Gibralter station. Pausing by Tanj's door, she smiled at the sounds she heard... Peeking through the door she saw Tanj, on her knees, facing away from her, arms under her body, paws between her thighs, working the big, knobby vibrator in and out of her snatch, to the accompaniment of her soft moans... It was just a little too much to resist. Stepping through the doorway quietly, she took both of the Cheetah's paws in one hand, holding her in that position, as she brought her open palm down hard on the Cheetah's upturned ass; Six quick slaps, alternating left and right. And then she bent low to whisper in the Cheetah's ear; "Bad Girl! Not supposed to do things like that without ME! I'm heading out to do some shopping; I'll check in at Harriet's club when I'm done." Still holding the Cheetah's paws tight, the dong droning away in her pussy, the Vixen grinned and gave her another four hard swats, before releasing her and escaping through the doorway.

Tanj shuddered with each swat; they were bordering on that gray area where it was no longer fun, and was starting to get painful, but Zassa knew just how to play her... by the last swat, the vibrator had taken her to the point where her climax was unstoppable. As the Vixen strolled down the corridor towards the personnel lock, the sounds of the climaxing Cheetah was music to her ears.

The Vixen struggled under her load of boxes and bags, as she moved through the door to Harriet's club. Salde, seeing her struggling, hurried over to help. The Vixen grinned and as she set down the other packages, she bent to give the Ermine a kiss; "got some interesting things here for you and your "sisters"... Lets go find Harriet and show her what we got...

Hinoki shook his head; "Yes, CT, you're right; that would give us greater resolution in the holograms, but that increase in detail would slow the central processor WAY down; I'm afraid we might drop below "real time" if we did that." The Tiger pushed his glasses back up on his nose and nodded... After a moment's thought he raised an eyebrow; "what if we were to try parallel processing? That might solve the problem..."

Zassa grinned as the Cheetah came through the door to the back rooms. She was standing by the antigrav pallet, obviously waiting for him. Hinoki took in the large bulky object wrapped in a tarp on the pallet and grumbled; "What's this?" Zassa chuckled; "oh, just a little something I traded Harriet for; should make the trip home a little... Well, less interesting for some, more interesting for others. Its my surprise, so no peeking!" Hinoki just grumbled, and snatched up the remote; "well, come on, I've got work to do. Need to shift another load of gear from the ship..."

As they walked behind the pallet, moving slowly through the corridors of the station, Zassa edged a little closer to the Cheetah and asked "Something's bothering you. You want to talk about it?" Hinoki sighed; "its just that... well, I can't blame Harriet for trying to find someone to tend to the system when we leave... it makes perfect sense... And that Tiger, CT, he DOES seem to know what he's talking about, its just that... well..." Zassa smiled and hugged the Cheetah; "he's tinkering with YOUR invention, and that upsets you?" Hinoki sighed, made a small correction to the pallet's path, and nodded; "Yeah, I guess that's it. He's made a couple of suggestions so far that are really rather good; its just that I guess that I should have thought of them first..."

Tanj sighed and read through the message again. Her boss, the old Fox, had gone on for about two pages, saying that he wasn't really surprised that Kath had been a sleeper agent, intentionally, or unintentionally. That he was glad she'd been able to help get Tanj out of trouble, and that at this point, he didn't see how having an Imperial Intelligence agent sitting in their midst was going to change a damn thing. There was advice on how to keep her from finding out the things that might be a little delicate, and suggestions on countering surreptitious methods of communication that the Mink might try and use. He made it sound like a game, a battle of wits for no other real purpose than to keep the other side off balance... Finally, he made a few suggestions as to just how it might be useful... It was this portion of the message that Tanj had read and re-read, until she felt she had it memorized. Dare she even try?

"Wanda, I'm going to need to borrow Kath for a bit." Wanda looked up from her nursing journal, and blinked; "Um, sure, Tanj... Mind if I ask what you're going to do to her?" The Cheetah just laughed; "Its not what you think. I'm going to go talk to that Wolf that's her contact in Imperial Intelligence. I think we need to clear the air, and I think I know how to do it, too." Wanda blinked; "you... You're going to see Imperial Intelligence? Voluntarily? I didn't think anyone did that!" Tanj just grinned; "Yeah, well, I doubt they'll throw me in a dungeon... and it MIGHT help." The Wolverine nodded; "Want me to come along?" Tanj thought for a moment and then shook her head; "no, someone'd better stay here, just in case our contact shows up. By the way, where IS Zassa; she back from her shopping trip yet?" Wanda nodded; "had a whole bunch of something on the hover pallet. I think she's down in the cargo bay, setting it up...

Zassa looked at the pile of metal and sighed; she'd taken it apart, you'd think she'd know how to put it back together... Shrugging she pulled off her coverall, and with a grin, hung it over the security camera; this was to be a surprise and she didn't want anyone seeing what she was up to. Picking up the power wrench, she turned to the first section...

"Please tell Colonel Chalmers that Captain Ky is here to see him." The Jackal behind the desk took in the Cheetah fem, and then his gaze flicked to the blonde Mink standing to one side. Somehow they looked familiar. "I'm sorry, but the Major is a very busy furr; I'm afraid he won't be able to see you today. Come back tomorrow." To his amazement, the Cheetah and the Mink exchanged grins, and then both started laughing. With a growl, the Jackal rose from his chair... "Enough of the standard line, Corporal. Get on the comm and tell the Colonel we're here, and that we want to talk to him. Now." The Jackal shook his head and growled, "now just who the FUCK do you think you are, to be telling ME what to do?" Kath just smiled, and slipped her I.D. out of a pocket; smoothly, she put it face down on the counter and slid it towards the Jackal.

Suddenly it hit him. He remembered where he'd seen these two. On the Vids. The Mink was wearing the black uniform of Imperial Intelligence, too. And the Cheetah... she hadn't been wearing anything. With a small degree of trepidation, the Jackal lifted the ID just enough to confirm his suspicions. "Sorry, Major, I didn't... recognize you." Picking up the comm, he made the call.

The Wolf blinked at the image of the guard; "WHO? They've come HERE? Damn! OK, I guess if they're here, they might as well come up. Just make sure they're thoroughly checked for weapons...

Tanj smiled as she settled herself into the cheap plastic visitor's chair. The Wolf was in what had to be a borrowed cubicle; his brief case, and portable computer were on the desk, along with a number of print-outs, but there were no personal touches. No photographs, trophies, or any other reflection of his personality. Either he'd borrowed a vacant cubicle for this meeting, OR as she suspected, he was merely a visitor here. The Wolf made no effort to find a chair for Kath, so the Mink stood, just inside the doorway. Tanj could feel the awkwardness in the air, and she savored it for a moment.

The Wolf studied the impudent Cheetah, waiting for her to announce the purpose of her visit. He was used to summoning furrs to see him; having one show up unbidden was unique in his experience. And how had they learned his name?

Tanj smiled; "Since it looks as if we're going to be working together, I thought an exchange of information might be in order. There are some things that I've learned about, in the course of my business, that you would probably like to know about. I suspect there are things that you know, that I could make use of. What I propose is a simple trade. I'll give you a piece of information, and if you think its worthwhile, you respond in kind. If I think what you have to share is worthwhile, I'll offer another item for trade." The Wolf leaned back in his chair, annoyed as it squeaked. He felt like a nobody in this cheap cubicle, almost no privacy from any of the local crowd... And then he wondered why he should worry about impressing these two. After a moment he shrugged; "I seriously doubt there's anything you know that we don't. But if you would like to try and surprise me, help yourself."

The Cheetah smiled. Half a sector away was a situation the Brethren were aware of, even though it mattered little to them... "Did you know that the Imperial Light Cruiser Burkett was taking payoffs from the local pirate clan? I understand they've been very skilled at hiding their profits, but I'm sure if you were to look closely, you could trace the funds..." Tanj smiled as she watched the Wolf's face; the look was not one of disbelief, but one of surprise. "Um, actually we know about that situation" the Wolf grumbled. "Of course, I'm not going to mention that we just learned of it three days ago" he thought to himself. "But did you know," the Cheetah purrred, "That they have shared the wealth with some comrades in the chain of command, to make sure they're warned should anyone ever get wind of their actions? I'm told they have a rather detailed contingency plan for when they're discovered..." The Wolf blinked; there was an operation underway to corral in the crew of the Burkett... But if what she said was true, they'd probably come up empty. "That we... Were unaware of. But why tell us this? No honor among theives?" Tanj shrugged; "the Crimson Rovers operate outside Brethren territory, and as such have no impact on our bottom line... But you know as well as I do that most pirate clans operate under a loosely-agreed-upon set of rules. And you know that the Empire doesn't stridently go after those that play by those unofficial rules. The Crimson Rovers are a bunch of malicious, vicious cutthroats, that adhere to no rules, and as such they bring dishonor on us all. We won't mind seeing them taken down a notch." The Wolf chuckled; "in other words, if the merchant shipping thinks they may survive being taken by pirates they might not fight as hard, they might surrender more easily, and thus your life becomes easier." Tanj just smiled and shrugged.

The Wolf smiled; "All right, I'll offer a tidbit in return for that little gem. As you know, the Imperium demands taxes from all client systems. The taxes from the Fairmont, White, and Chatsworth systems were going to go in convoy, leaving on the tenth, but that's been delayed." Tanj chuckled; "as if we would be so foolish to try and take the Imperium's cut; and its been delayed to the 16th, when the Imperial Cruisers Haverty and Badcock can join the convoy, to replace the Blair, which has engine trouble. Sorry, we're well appraised of that situation. Try again.

Kath listened, feigning boredom. While doing her best not to move, she let her eyes and ears rove around the office. From her standing position, she could see partially into some of the nearer cubicles. It was apparent that they had an audience. In at least two of the cubicles she could see, the furr's screen savers had come on, advertising their inactivity. And here and there, she could see ears just above the partitions...

The Wolf frowned; "all right then, you might be interested to know that the Elysium government has contracted with the mercenary outfit known as the Reavers..."

Tanj grinned; "And they're arriving in three weeks"

The Wolf scowled; "to defend the Gulan starport"

Tanj's grin widened; "so the Elysium government can move certain high-value things off planet, just in case"

The Wolf's scowl vanished and a look of triumph crossed his face; "not exactly; they're there to cover the retreat, should it come to that, of the Elysium government itself!" Now it was Tanj's turn to blink; "urrrr, I wonder if the Reavers know that? They'd be in a bad position to collect their fee, I think, should that happen." The Wolf leaned back in his chair, ignoring the squeek, and waved a paw off-handedly; "they depend heavily on conscripts from their home world. I suspect those that would collect the money probably could care less what happens to the troops that get left behind." Tanj nodded; "OK, you got me with that one.

Tanj smiled; "I've heard of an Ecstasy lab on Triton...

The wolf's grin widened; "shut down two days ago...

Now it was Tanj's turn to scowl; "but the smuggling network..."

The Wolf's grin widened; "had a mole in it; we've dismantled that too"

Tanj sighed and shrugged; "and I suppose you have a customer list too." The wolf shrugged; "we've shut down the producer and completely destroyed the smuggling and distribution network; why would we want to be bothered with the poor degenerates that are the end-users?" Tanj's smile came on like a light-bulb; "because of who's on it. You might want to know to prevent a scandal..." Grinning, the Cheetah fished a memory crystal from a pocket and slid it across the table. Hesitantly, the wolf picked it up and slid it into the input port on his computer. The screen was hidden from Tanj's view, but she noted how the Wolf's eyes widened as he scrolled down."

Kath smiled as the battle raged. The wolf would throw out a tid-bit, and Tanj would either counter with even more details, or claim that wasn't of any interest to her, and the Brethren. But occasionally she'd get a worried look, and the whole thing would start, inverted, with Tanj throwing out something, and the wolf either claiming it was worthless, or that they already had that information... but on occasion he too would make notes. As her feet started to get a little sore from standing so long, the Mink looked around. A number of the cubicles were dark, but there were a surprising number of furrs still around, despite the only clock in view saying it was well past quitting time. With her stomach rumbling, she wondered how long this might go on...

Tanj sighed and shrugged; "I hate to say it, but I've run out of things to put on the table. Anything else we might have, I doubt you'd be interested in." The Wolf nodded, and leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his neck. For a moment he looked at the Cheetah, and then nodded; "there's one piece of information you could offer, that I haven't heard yet." Tanj raised an eyebrow; "and that is?" Leaning forward, the Wolf grinned; "tell me what you're doing here. Why have you come to Gibralter station? Surely it wasn't to screw traffic controllers, break up a drug ring, or open a club." Tanj smiled; "That, Sir, is something I simply can't tell you. Believe it or not, I just don't know yet." The Wolf frowned, and for the first time, he looked up at Kath; "that true?" Kath nodded; "True, Sir. We're to meet someone, but we don't know who, or when, or why." The Wolf scowled; "well, if it has any bearing on the Imperium, you WILL report it to me. Dismissed!"

Tanj smiled and languidly rose from her chair; her tail had fallen asleep ages ago and now she winced as blood flowed back into that area of her anatomy. Stretching as only a feline can, she turned and padded from the cubicle, Kath following.

Ensign Overstreet was about to hand the data crystal to the desk clerk when the Cheetah, followed by the blonde Mink strolled by, escorted by no less than three security types. As they passed through the doors to the Imperial Intelligence offices, Overstreet swallowed, the data crystal forgotten. That was the Cheetah her Captain had been seeing; she'd seen them together in the clubs. The "Old Man" apparently had some serious Imperial Intelligence connections all right!

The Wolf smiled as he hit the "send" key on the secure comm terminal. He was risking a lot, passing the Cheetah's information on, without vetting it first, but if what she said was true, he might just prevent a few disasters before they happened... And in the process look like a hero...

Tanj sighed and hit the "transmit" button on her comm console; all the information she'd gotten from the Wolf was now on its way to the Brethren. She just hoped he'd been giving her the straight poop, and not just making things up. It would be interesting to see just how far they might trust him...

Zassa torqued the last fastener, and stepped back to admire her handiwork; the cage looked just the same as it had in what had been the kennels of Miss Kitty's... A rectangle roughly a body length on a side, and perhaps just barely tall enough for someone to kneel in, without hitting their head. The door was low, and obviously difficult to crawl in and out of; it would put a slave very low to the ground on entering or exiting. In one back corner was a simple hole in the floor, for waste elimination. The Vixen had connected that into the ship's recycling system. In the opposite front corner, diagonally across the cage, were the amenities that had captured her imagination. There was a phallic shape, at about muzzle height for a kneeling slave, that, when sucked upon, would feed the slave water. To one side of that was another phallic shape that delivered "food"... and on the floor, just where a slave would kneel to suck on that one, was a vertically mounted dong. This dong had to be gripped with vaginal muscles, and moved up and down to charge the dong at muzzle height. The vertical dong had to be "pumped" 30 times to activate the second dong, and it had to be kept moving; if the slave stopped humping that dong, the food would stop, and the 30 stroke "priming" counter would be reset. The second dong had to be sucked upon, just right, for it to deliver its meal, a synthetic nutrient that had all the consistency and taste of cum. While it provided the minimum daily nutrition, no one would ever get fat on it; it wasn't for long term use, and yet it would keep a slave healthy for several weeks. The rest of the set consisted of a body harness designed to support the slave's breasts without concealing them, to hold her neck almost immobile in a stiff posture collar, and to hold her wrists at her waist. The last piece was the head harness that had a ring gag that held the jaws just far enough apart to let them accept the water or food phalluses, and to hold a visor; the latter was the most diabolical part of the device. It held a curved piece of opaque plastic in front of the slave's eyes; she could look down, by her cheeks, and gain a small view of the upper curves of her breasts, and perhaps a small view of where her feet were, thus easing the task of walking at the end of someone's leash; but there was no way they could see where they were going. It would be just enough to let her find the "pump" dildo, for the food phallus...

Zassa shook her head; she was just going to have to try it. The cage latched with a simple sliding bolt, and the Vixen was sure she could manipulate it even with her wrists fastened at her waist. Checking to make sure that the waste port was correctly connected to the recycling system, that the water and "food" jugs were full, she slipped into the body harness...

The cage door clanged shut. Zassa threw the bolt, reaching through the bars to do so. The head harness went on next, the ring gag filling her mouth; it wasn't too large, and the Vixen thought she wouldn't have trouble wearing it for a while. The visor went on next, snapping into place. In the posture collar, Zassa tried to look around, to see what she could see. It wasn't much. Fumbling, she managed to clasp one of the wristlets to the snap at her waist, and then clicked the other wristlet to the opposite side... Across the cargo bay, her jumpsuit hung on the only security camera that could see the cage, and its new prisoner.

Hinoki sighed and wiped the sweat from his eyes. The system, long since reassembled, had FINALLY passed its diagnostic test. The Tiger had been very helpful in sorting out all the glitches, but somehow, at the same time, he'd been particularly annoying. It was almost as if he had blamed the Cheetah for every unexpected glitch the system had coughed up, as if he expected it all to work without fine tuning. At least he'd learned a great deal about troubleshooting the system. Harriet had been insistent; she wanted to be the first to christen the system, and having selected one of the programs Tanj had authored, she'd shooed the males out. For a moment, Hinoki had thought about running one of his programs, perhaps one of his darker programs, and shoving the Tiger into the machine... grinning, he'd decided that perhaps that was a good idea, but that a little more forethought might be required, before properly showing the Tiger just exactly what his system could do... His head full of rapidly congealing plans, he bade the Tiger goodnight and headed for the ship...

Zassa groaned as she sank onto the food system's pump, feeling it fill her pussy. She wasn't really hungry; more like she was bored. With no view to the outside, with no clock, and no change in lighting in the cargo bay, she had no idea how much time had passed. Still, driving the dong into her wet sex was a nice distraction. Leaning forward, she nuzzled about until she could find the food phallus. Holding it in her mouth, clenching down with her vaginal muscles she started to drag the dong up and down... As she sucked, as the count hit thirty, she felt the dong in her mouth start to spurt. It DID taste just like cum. As she worked at pumping the system, as her climax grew closer and closer, she sucked hard on the spurting dildo, wondering just how much the system would give her to "eat"...

Hinoki sealed the personnel lock, waved goodnight to Tanj, and headed for his bunk; he had a lot of ideas for the Upstart Tiger... but they would wait until morning. He'd had a long day, and now all he wanted was sleep.

Zassa's climax interrupted her motions, and as her body shuddered, the dong in her mouth stopped spurting. Sighing she waited for the waves of pleasure to receed a little, before she started humping the dong again...

Tanj sighed, stretched and yawned. The day's e-mail finally resolved. The situation on Elysium seemed to be disintigrating rapidly. There was a lot of field intelligence that had to be sorted, evaluated and summaries formulated and fired back to the Brethren, and the Blues, and in some cases, even to Jenka. Shutting down her console, Tanj took a look over the flight deck; she noted that everyone was "home", and turned to head for her cabin, missing the fact that Zassa's telltale was in the Cargo bay. The fact that the Cargo bay security monitor was solid blue was also missed by the tired Cheetah. Flopping down on her bed, Tanj was asleep within minutes.

In the Cargo Bay, Zassa fumbled again at the latch on the cage's door. For some reason, the job that had looked SO simple from outside, was now eluding her; she couldn't get her paw, clipped to her waist, through the small opening in the bar far enough to lift the little lever on the bolt, before pulling it back. Finally, groaning in disgust, the Vixen flopped down, to try and get some sleep. "Shoulda put a mat in here" she sighed to herself. It was soon evident that the only reasonable position was on her back. With her wrists bound to either side of her waist she couldn't lie on either side and the way the body harness lifted her breasts, making them stand almost straight out, made it difficult to sleep on her stomach... Squirming, the vixen sighed and tried to find sleep.

The Danger Revealed

Tanj yawned as she shuffled into the wardroom. "Coffee; gotta get coffee" was the only thought in her head. Finding her favorite mug, filling the mug from the pot, she took her usual chair and with a purrrrr, sipped at the mug. She was enjoying the aroma of the coffee, the mug held near her nose, when Wanda entered the wardroom. "Mornin', Tanj. Sleep well?" The Cheetah shook her head; "Not really; up too late reading dispatches from Elysium. My sleep was kinda... troubled. I guess I was dwelling on things there a little too much." The Wolverine lass nodded; "so when's your mystery appointment today? Think it'll be him?" Tanj just shrugged; "might be; its at noon. It seems we're meeting for lunch. An "open air" café, right next to the Imperial Government Offices." Wanda nodded; "need backup?" Tanj laughed; "There? Nothing would happen there; its got to be one of the most secure places on the station, just chock full of the cream of the Imperium, all on their lunch break. Besides, he said to come alone. No, I'll be fine, but thanks." Tanj took another sip of her coffee, and then looked around "Anyone seen Zassa recently?" Wanda chuckled; "she came in with a special project yesterday; something she got from Harriet; she's been in the Cargo Bay since yesterday." Tanj chuckled; "Maybe I should go down there and see what's happening." Wanda shook her head; "She said it was a surprise and that no one was to disturb her. Said she'd be really mad if we blew the surprise." Tanj sipped her coffee and shrugged; "OK... as long as she's on the ship, I suppose she can't get into too much trouble..."

Tanj's outfit was conservative by her standards, a pants suit that set off her natural coloration well. The fact that there were "holes" in it in certain locations, that showed off her spots probably made it mildly scandalous, but nothing critical was showing... Grinning, the Cheetah hefted her PADD, and strode through the personnel lock, headed for her rendezvous.

Zassa groaned through her gag, and carefully felt her way across the cell, seeking the water dildo; having your mouth open all night was a good way to get very, very dry. At least she thought it had been all night. Wondering how she'd ever gotten herself in this fix, the Vixen drank her fill, and then settled herself on the food system's "pump", to see if she could get herself some breakfast...

Tanj sat at the table, under the brightly colored and completely pointless umbrella, and watched the people go by. It was a good half hour after her appointment. She'd spotted two furrs that might be Imperial Intelligence, keeping an eye on her, and her favorite beggar was two establishments down, working the crowd. She'd finished her lunch, and was quietly nursing her drink, wondering how long she should stay, when the Panda slipped into the seat across from her. Forcing a smile, Tanj looked up as if greeting an old friend; somehow, from all that had been said so far, she'd been expecting a male. The Female Panda, like so many of her species, was getting a little thick around the middle, with middle age; still, she carried herself well. Looking back across the table she smiled nervously; "Sou An Ky, I trust? Also known as Tanj?" Tanj smiled and nodded amiably; "That I am. Are you the one I was sent to meet?" The Panda nodded nervously; "I'm sorry for the delay; I know how critical time is, but I had to be sure. My family's safety, you understand..." Tanj nodded and gestured about; "I think this is as safe as it could get for you; I promise, I'm not here to hurt you, merely to listen." The Panda snorted; "its not YOU I'm worried about... well, all right, that little incident at the nightclub did put me off for a bit, until it was made public how you'd exposed a drug ring. For a while, I thought you might actually be with Imperial intelligence, but then I realized that no member of Imperial Intelligence would be caught dead, for whatever reason, in the nude, in public, on Gibralter station! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the local members of that organization weren't on the take, to keep their activities quiet." Tanj shrugged; that had occurred to her, but there was no way she could ever prove something like that.

Tanj sipped her drink and nodded; "well, I do want you to be comfortable with this. But there are no guarantees after all; trust has to be earned. What can I do to make you comfortable enough to tell me what this is all about?" The Panda just smiled; "Just that. I'm going to tell you my story, and when its done, I'm going to vanish, and you won't try and find me. You can believe, or not believe my story, as you will. By the time you might PROVE what I say is true, you, nor anyone else, will ever be able to find me, or my family." Tanj nodded; "sounds really grim." The Panda shook her head; "you have NO idea."

"It all started when an Elysium science vessel picked up some really weird inter-dimensional disturbance in the periphery of the asteroid belt. It was only partially observed, but it got some of the scientists thinking... Unfortunately, one of them was particularly fanatical, and talked to the government about what they'd deduced... This started what could only be described as a "doomsday" project..."

Tanj frowned; "Um, hang on a minute... you said some sort of ... inter-dimensional disturbance... Um, was that about a year and a half ago... in the asteroid belt?" The Panda blinked and nodded; "Yes, it was about then. And it was near that old mining station, if I remember correctly." Tanj just swallowed and nodded; "Please continue..."

The Panda sighed and looked out over the crowd; "I was doing post-doctoral work for Professor Irwin Corey, of the Elysium Institute. He got "drafted" into the project... They were building a device that would use interdimensional forces to completely destroy the planet. It was never meant to be a weapon of war, but instead to be something so terrifying, that they could force their enemies to negotiate. However, the war progressed much faster than the project, and by the time they could run their field test, it was obvious that the Rebels were unstoppable. It was then that they started talking about actually using the device. Something about if they couldn't have the planet, neither would anyone else."

Tanj blinked; "Field test?" The Panda nodded; "They set up some poor freighter captain, a smuggler, I think, as a guinea pig. He didn't know what he was carrying. As I understand it, his ship disintegrated into pebble size chunks, each moving away from each other at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light." Tanj nodded; "I may have eyewitnesses to that..." The Panda sighed; "When they started talking about actually USING the device, that's when I decided it was time to leave." Tanj just nodded, deep in thought.

The Cheetah looked over her notes; Times, furrs, places, locations, key figures, and a partial list of components. She'd talked with the Panda, until the Imperial workers started to leave the headquarters building, until the café started to get busy again with the evening crowd. Finally, she'd just shrugged, unable to think of anything else to ask. The Panda gauged the crowd and without a word, rose. "I've done my part; I've tried to warn those who might be able to stop this mad scheme. Now its time for me to look after my family. Good luck." And with that, she faded into the stream of office types heading home.

Tanj waited a few minutes and then rose. The story was unbelievable and yet it agreed with certain things that few knew about. Could it be a trap of some sort? Disinformation? Who would know of Reggie and Slasher's experience? Not even the Brethren believed they'd been attacked by a cloaked cruiser, a year and a half ago. Wondering how she'd ever convince the furrs back home, the Cheetah rose and started towards the docking ring. At least now they could go home...

The message to her boss and to her Master had been composed and sent. Tanj had added in all the corroborating facts that she could. And she'd sent orders to at least four different groups of agents on Elysium, sending them after further proof. Now, as the clock ticked, she wondered if perhaps there wasn't someone else she should tell as well...

The Wolf looked at the surveillance photos and shook his head; she'd obviously met someone, someone who'd immediately left the station, and was now out of reach, unless he dispatched a destroyer to intercept the packet she'd booked passage on. Was it a chance meeting? And old friend? One of her contacts, or informants? There was just something about it that bothered him... Picking up a message pad, he scribbled a note, instructing traffic control NOT to let the Beowulf undock, until he'd done some checking...

Back Home

Sanders stood on the docking bay's loading dock, clipboard in hand, and gazed at the emptiness. He had four hovertrucks ready to load their cargo onto the free trader "Packard's Hell," but it was nowhere to be seen. Grumbling about a bureaucracy that couldn't even tell him what docking bay the ship was in, he pulled out his comm link, determined to give the clerk what for.

Reggie stood just inside the airlock and scowled; this was the fourth one this week. The free trader "Packard's Hell", rated for mixed cargo and six passengers, was crammed to the gills with refugees. There was barely enough room for half of them to lay down at one time. They were in the corridors, in the engineering spaces, some had even been sleeping in the airlock. And there was no cargo worth pirating. If the refugees had anything, it wasn't obvious. And they'd looked. They'd looked hard, even stopping to frisk the occasional furr. Shaking his head, he turned to his partner; "Another loss, Mate." Slasher just nodded and picked his way towards the lock, through the crowded bodies.

Ben shook his head as Reggie made his report. Three raider ships vectored in on the merchant, all that fuel expended, all that time lost, for no gain. Their facility was already swamped with furrs awaiting processing as slaves; they'd taken enough cargo ships for "resale"... they just couldn't handle any more trade like that. And thus the policy had been to let 'em go. Initially they'd "taken" only the ships that didn't stand a chance of getting to their destination with a functioning life support system, but now there were so many furrs on the station, that even their life support was having trouble coping. And thus the Packard's Hell was allowed to proceed. Ben sighed and tried not to think of how many might still be alive when they made port...

Reggie sat in the pilot's seat, and stared at the stars, one paw cupping his chin. "ya know, Mate, I've got a bad feeling about this one. No ship captain worth a damn would take on so many passengers. Their life support will crap out long before they can get anywhere. And the crew'll die too." Slasher just shrugged; "Maybe he doesn't plan on takin' em' the whole way." Reggie frowned, and then with a convulsive movement, yanked the controls hard. With the inertial dampers screaming, he reversed course.

"I've got 'm on the scope, but something's funny." Reggie looked across the flight deck at his partner; so many words at one time were uncharacteristic. "What's funny?" "Return's hazy, as if he's in a debris field. And 'e's changed course. Headed back towards Elysium, 'e is." Reggie groaned; "see if you can zoom in on them. I've got a very bad feeling on what the debris field is..."

Ben listened to Reggie's report, and sighed. He'd heard of it before... The fighting on Horbath... Unscrupulous ship captains cramming their ship with refugees, for an extortionate fee, and then, once clear of the planet, they'd open the air locks and kill 'em all, the bodies thrown out into the vastness of space. The ship would then turn around, and land at a different port to repeat the process. Keying the mike, the Wolf growled; "so what did you do with the scum?" Reggie's reply turned heads all across Ops; "Boarded 'em, and threw 'em out their own airlock. Justice, pure and simple. Slasher's bringing the ship in, although with a history like this one's got, finding a buyer might be hard..."

Xyloff looked at the intelligence briefing from the Brethren and smiled; he hadn't been getting too many of those of late; it was almost as if those pirate scum knew what he had in mind for them. But this one, this was a real gem. "So, Comrade Quistling, the vultures that bring us off-planet supplies at extortionate prices are cramming their ships with our good citizens, and then spacing them at the earliest opportunity, Eh?" Quistling shuddered; "we must warn the good people! We must convince them that safety lies with us, and not in fleeing!" Xyloff chuckled; "Ah, yes, Comrade, that we will... but... I think we'll tell them that the pirates are intercepting all transports and spacing the refugees..." The Lemming looked confused; "But... Comrade, it's the Pirates that have brought this to our attention; that's not what happened..." Xyloff smiled; "its what happened, if we say it is. We need to find a way to make ourselves look good in the eyes of the people, and make all others look worse. Leave it to me, Comrade, I'll take care of it.

Dorothy looked at the flyer and sighed, crumpling it in one fist. The Reds had swept through her province a week ago, and in their wake, the political elements had been changing things. Now she'd need travel documents to go see her elderly mother in Hammstadt, even though it was only twenty kilometers away. And this crap about refugees fleeing off planet being traitors to the People, cowards not willing to fight for the liberation of their planet, and of their brethren. Bullshit. Another flyer had called them thieves, stealing precious natural resources from the People (i.e. their own skills and talents). Dorothy shook her head, and then grinned; it was obvious the Reds couldn't run their own revolution with the gutter trash and opportunists they seemed to sweep up; they needed technicians, and middle level managers, and those were just the people currently attempting to flee the planet. For a moment, Dorothy wondered how she might extricate her mother and herself, to the other side of the lines, where she might find a transport off-planet. Finally, with a sigh, she realized that it'd be hard enough for her to find a way, but with her mother in tow... Turning, she headed from the tram station, towards her apartment. For better or worse, it looked as if this was home.

Sanders looked at the Armored Personnel Carrier as he stood in line at the check point. The Reds had swept through the city of Anhamo three days earler, the Government troops fighting a short delaying battle, and then fading into the countryside. A few booby-traps had been left, and they'd hurriedly tried to destroy key facilities, but they'd obviously not wanted to be encircled and things were done very half-assed... This was a shitty place for a defense, on a broad plain. No natural obstacles. Of course, that was why the spaceport had been built here. Easy for ground transportation to pick up and deliver cargo. Sauders had found a rather large bomb in the Spaceport's automated cargo handling equipment, but it had been simplistic; he'd just turned off the timer. As soon as possible, he needed to inform his liberators of that... But ever since the Reds had arrived, things had been, well, not what he'd expected upon "liberation". The first problem was registration. Vehicles with loudspeakers had moved through the neighborhoods, and residential districts, telling everyone that for their own safety, for the public good, they had to "register". He'd lost a day standing in lines, time he'd honestly felt would be better served, moving cargo for the revolution, at the newly liberated starport. After all, didn't the Reds want to bring supplies in as close to the front lines as possible? Then, on the next day, he'd been instructed to remain at home, so that his residence could be inspected for the possibility of quartering troops. The team that brushed through his apartment seemed more interested in running off with his personal possessions, than determining if he could take a room-mate for a while. Luckily he'd heard rumors, and had stuffed all his nicer things into the ventilation ducts before the squad got to him. They'd still taken soap, some towels, and most of his beer. Well, the brave fighters of the resistance were entitled to some of the comforts of life. If they'd asked, he probably would have given the things willingly... But they hadn't asked. Now, he was finally able to head for work, perhaps to do important things for the cause... If he could just get through the check point.

"So tell me, Sir, where are you going?" The Mouse wearing the Reds armband, with the unidentifiable insignia sat at an improvised table. The Squirrel in front of Sanders looked a little flustered; "well, ah, Comrade, I'm a pharmacist; I need to get to the regional supply center on 57th street, to pick up medicines for my shop. Several of our older customers have been without certain "maintenance" drugs, such as insulin, for several days now..." The Mouse looked at the squirrel's papers and shook his head; "you are not cleared to travel to that sector. Go home, and fill out the paperwork for permission to travel outside your zone." The Squirrel blinked; "but Sir! These people will get sick if they don't get their medicines." The Mouse shrugged; "not my concern, citizen. Go." The Squirrel looked about helplessly; "Perhaps... perhaps one of your loyal troops could make the trip for me? Can a messenger be sent?" The Mouse frowned; "Citizen, I will not warn you again; procedures MUST be followed! Now GO!" The Squirrel took a step out of the line, looking around, looking for help. After a moment, one of the troopers thrust a wad of paper at him, application forms for a change in travel permit status. Fumbling with them, the squirrel turned, moving back the way he came.

The Tram was much less crowded than usual, for this time of day, and Sanders found that he could actually find a seat. He was sitting there, staring out the window at the remarkably untouched city, when the door at the far end of the car opened. Three furrs, this time in the full uniform of the Reds moved into the car, spot-checking papers. The chipmunk was a natural magnet for them, looking nervous... Still, he produced his papers on demand, holding his cap in both paws. The Fox who seemed to be the group's leader shook his head; "Citizen, citizen, I'm ashamed of you! You're about to be far outside your zone! You shouldn't be on this tram; the next station's in the next zone!" The Chipmunk shuddered and nodded, his words tumbling out in a rush; "Um, yessir, but you see, I work for the local Jupiter Hovertruck dealership, and we've been, ah, drafted to help with the maintenance of Reds military vehicles... However, our diagnostic system has broken down; the officer in charge of us told me to go to the spaceport to pick up the replacement modules he requisitioned. He TOLD me to come! I couldn't very well disobey his order... could I?" The Fox just shook his head sadly; "That's a fine story, but you see, how do I know its true? You have no written authorization from him? No temporary endorsements on your travel papers. Nothing to prove that's what happened!" The Chipmunk shook his head; "I had a pass; they took it at the tram station checkpoint! You can call them and ask them! They'll tell you! You can ask the officer; just call the dealership! He was there!" The Fox looked at the floor, eyes closed and again shook his head; "Citizen, Citizen, how could I know if the person on the other end of the phone was really the officer you mentioned? It could just be a friend of yours. No, without the proper paperwork, I'm afraid we're going to have to make sure you don't leave your zone." Signaling his companions, the Fox moved on to the next furr. Sanders watched, aghast, as the troopers dragged the Chipmunk to the space between the tram cars, and bodily threw him from the moving tram. The chipmunk's body tumbled several times and then was lost to view. And then the Fox was looking down at him. Without a word, Sanders handed him his papers. The Fox looked them over casually, and without a word, handed them back, moving on to the next furr... Turning his gaze out the window, Sanders wondered what had happened to the bright promise he'd thought the revolution had held...

Ryle watched the tram go past, envying how it could travel without having to pass through these damn checkpoints. As it faded from view, he turned to regard the Bear coming towards him. It seemed everyone these days was sporting a Reds armband, and he wondered, if he acquired one, if they'd leave him alone? The grin the Bear was sporting, however made him frown. "Greetings, Citizen! The bad news is that there is an error on your paperwork; the bill of lading does not match the weight of your truck! The good news is, that to get you and your important shipment of food on its way, we have decided to help you correct the problem!" Turning to look where she was looking, Ryle's jaw dropped as he saw a Red army transport backing up to the rear of his truck. Within minutes, they were tossing foodstuffs from one truck to the other... After five minutes or so, the Reds truck pulled away, and he found the Bear shoving the papers at him; "There, all fixed; now your truck has the proper weight. Move on, Citizen; don't keep your hungry fellows waiting!" Grumbling, Ryle climbed into the Driver's seat, and revved up the fans.

"YOU! HALT!" Sanders stopped and looked around. The spaceport was almost deserted, and the odds that they were talking to anyone else were slim. "Where do you think YOU'RE going? Searching for a ship to take you off planet? Trying to deprive the People of your skills, and the fruits of your labor? Well, I've got news for you, "refugee," the Reds have this facility under their complete control, and the cowardice of fleeing will NOT be TOLERATED!" Sanders kept the frustration from his voice, and as he offered his papers to the Shrew, he said as evenly as possible; "I'm Sanders; I work in shipping here. The Reds have told me that I'm a critical worker for this facility and that I was to report for work." The Shrew looked at the papers, and scowled. "Finnegan! Juarez! Take Mr. Sanders here to Shipping. Watch him carefully! Make sure he does what he is supposed to. ONLY what he is supposed to! And make sure he doesn't get on any outbound ships!"

It had been a long day, most of it spent trying to justify the smallest, most routine action to suspicious guards. Finally, Sanders was allowed to leave, to head home. Throughout the day, he'd tried hard to do his job, but it seemed like he was blocked at every turn. Desperately needed food was spoiling on the loading docks. Fuel was stacked up in one warehouse. At one point he'd found guards opening every crate, searching for "contraband"... what they were doing was destroying shipping labels and inventories, so that now there was half a warehouse full of goods that might never get to the right destination. As he walked wearily to the Tram station, he noticed more furrs in Reds armbands starting to funnel the crowd towards a line of waiting trucks. Wondering if there was something wrong with the Tram, he paused; "Um, ah, "Comrade," what's going on? The Elk grinned; "There's going to be a big pro- Reds demonstration in the city center; a celebration thanking us brave revolutionaries for liberating the city. And you're "invited. Oh, and if I were you, I'd act enthusiastic. If you know what's good for you!" As he climbed into the back of the truck, Sanders shook his head and didn't really see anything worth celebrating. The Government had been harsh, and dictatorial, but they were amateurs compared to this crowd!

Grasping for power

Xyloff looked at the Fox; "you are sure you understand what I want?" The Fox smiled; "its simple enough; I enter certain "errors" in the orders issued by the Chairman. Small things, but annoying things. Things that will require Comrades to call for clarification. Things that will require straightening out. When there's a problem, I say the Chairman is busy, and direct them to you." The Wolverine smiled; "Very good, Cedric. I knew I'd made the right choice when I recommended you for the Chairman's secretary. And when I succeed him, I'll see that you retain the position." Taking a moment to wipe the sly grin from his face, the Wolverine moved silently across the office, to knock on Chairman Quistling's door. Not waiting for a reply, he turned the handle and strode in, a warm smile on his face; "Comrade! So good to see you again..."

"Honestly, my Dear Nils, I do fear for your safety; not only are the Government forces incensed at the success you've had in directing the People's Revolution, but some of our erstwhile allies are showing signs of jealousy! I do fear that they plot to assassinate you!" The Gerbil smiled; "Ah, I do appreciate your concern, old friend, but what kind of a leader would I be, if I isolated myself behind walls, and guards? I am a simple furr of the people; I need to be with them, to understand what they're thinking, to make sure they understand the dielectic! No, I do appreciate it, but I cannot accept the measures you propose!" The Wolverine sighed; "well, Nils, I'll do what I can to see you're protected, but if you insist on behaving like that..." The Wolverine looked at the Lemming and grumbled to himself; "If you insist on behaving like that, you'll just hasten your own martyrdom..." Rising, the Wolverine headed for the door... He had plans to put into motion...

"I'm sorry, but the Chairman is unavailable right now, General Tsuki; let me put you through to Comrade Xyloff, I'm sure he can help..." "Hello, Aki? Good to ta... What? He ordered what? No, of course, you're right; that'd never do. You have to understand, the Chairman's been under intense pressure of late... Yes, Yes of course, I'll talk to him immediately; in the meantime, ignore that directive... Yes, on my authority... If there's a problem, I'll get back to you immediately..." The Wolverine broke the comm link and smiled. Rising, he made his way through the Headquarters, to the Chairman's office, to Cedric's desk; "Very good; that worked just as I hoped. You can now issue the original directive, with the Chairman's signature."

Colonel Franz Todt looked at the invoice and shook his head. The Chairman himself had directed that his unit receive half a ton of roofing nails? ROOFING NAILS? They needed Rail Gun ammunition for their armored vehicles! Somewhere along the line, something had really gotten screwed up! Turning, the Wolf growled at his communications officer; "Get me Central! I can't BELIEVE this!"

Xyloff looked at the face of the irate Wolf on his monitor and nodded placatingly; "Yes, yes, of course, Colonel. I realize how vulnerable you are with no ammunition for your tanks! I'm sure it was just a small oversight on the Chairman's part. I'll attend to it immediately. You know how much pressure he's been under lately... and frankly, just between you and me, I'm afraid the sedatives his doctor are prescribing, to let him sleep at night, well, I think they might be affecting his judgement a little... No, no, I'm sure he's not taking more than the doctor prescribes; that wouldn't be like him at all! No, I'm sure he's got it under control, Colonel. Now let me see what I can do about getting you that ammunition!

Basik looked at the handout and frowned. The Chairman was usually so good at explaining the philosophy behind their movement, but this, this was gibberish. It was like someone had used a "phrase generator" with all the right buzz words, to turn out meaningless sentences. How was he supposed to instruct the populace in the "liberated" areas using THIS? With a sigh, he crumpled the flyer and turned, to stride through the headquarters unit, to see if that idiot supply officer had distributed the flyers. It would be just his luck, that THIS time the lazy SOB had actually done his job...

Saunders looked at the flyer as he rode the tram to work. Today's missive was worse than usual; it made no sense at all; and yet he dare not say so. He just hoped he wasn't quizzed on today's "lesson" at the check point near his house... Then with a grin, he got a wild idea; what if HE approached THEM, asking them for "clarification"... He'd love to see anyone explain THIS one!

Xyloff sighed and shook his head; "I know, Commisar Basik, I know. The Chairman... well, I don't need to tell you how heavy the mantle of command is. Ah, I mean leadership, of course... I fear, well... um, I do feel the Chairman needs a small vacation. But then, at this time in our history, I can't imagine anyone shirking their duty. Yes... Yes I too hope he can hold it all together, just a little longer...

The Bear was massive, and in the shadows, only half seen, "Sinister" was the word that came to mind. "you understand," Xyloff whispered, "that the assassination is not to actually succeed. Things are not yet... ah, um... I merely want the Chairman to understand the danger. We can't properly protect him if he keeps addressing crowds like that. Its just not SAFE for him to move among the people like that!" The Bear nodded; "I understand, Comrade, and I agree. He just doesn't understand how dangerous a world we live in. I think we can find a way to teach him a small lesson, without doing any harm." Xyloff looked at the commando and nodded; "Good, I'll leave it in your paws."

Jones looked across the way to Smith, and nodded slowly. Theirs was a desperate gamble, a suicide mission, but it was something that had to be done. Jones was dying of a brain tumor, completely inoperable. Smith had a rare genetic disorder that would shortly leave him a vegetable, although a vegetable in very good health. It'd take him decades to die. The Government had promised that it would bestow riches on their families and evacuate them off- planet, if they would perform this one simple mission; kill the Chairman of the Reds as he came to visit the newly liberated city. It hadn't take much convincing. The crowd was thick, but not so thick that they couldn't get into position, along the route the Chairman would travel; and he was known for walking, for shaking hands, and for talking to stop with people, to hear their concerns and share his ideas. Mostly share his ideas. The ceramic blade he'd been given had gotten through the metal detector with ease, and its handle was cool in his palm, its blade up the sleeve of his jacket. Quietly, resignedly, he watched, as the motorcade came into sight.

The shot came as a surprise, and for a moment Jones wondered if there was another team also in place, perhaps they were the backup, or maybe a backup had jumped the gun. The first bullet tore into the windscreen of the Chairman's vehicle, the second thudded into the seat next to him. As the vehicle swerved into the crowd, the driver either panicked or trying to evade another round, a third shot rang out, shattering the vehicle's engine. The vehicle lurched to a stop, tumbling all those in the open passenger compartment to the floor. Lighter, rapid fire shots were heard from a distance, and then there was the crump of a grenade... Watching the crowd, gauging the distance, and the sudden ring of guards, Smith decided they'd have to try another time; he turned and faded back into the now retreating crowds...

The Lemming gritted his teeth in pain, the wound in his left shoulder was just a scratch, the bullet barely grazing him as it slammed into the seat next to him. Still, it stung like crazy. Perhaps what stung worse was that someone had actually tried to kill him. He, who had struggled so long to liberate the people, he who had struggled to bring enlightenment to the masses! Frowning, he realized Xyloff had been right... Turning to the Captain commanding the Guards, he growled; "Get me out of here. Now. And I want to know who it was who fired those shots. Make sure he's taken alive! We need to interrogate him!"

Quistling paced up and down, in the command bunker; "Dammit, Xyloff, I will NOT tolerate this! The people should LOVE me, not shoot at me! And by Hades, those that DON'T love me, we'll make them PAY!" Xyloff listened to the Lemming rant and grinned; it had worked out even better than he'd hoped; the "assassination attempt" seemed to have unhinged the Lemming... The words he was saying, the orders he'd been issuing, they alone would destroy his reputation, making it all the easier to eventually supplant him. All he had to do was to keep his head, as those about him were loosing theirs...

"No, General, I'm sorry; the Chairman isn't receiving anyone today. No, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do." Cedric watched the fuming General retreat, and smiled to himself. He hadn't even had to make that up; the Lemming had all but become a recluse, behind guards and walls. His office was now in a bunker, twelve floors down beneath a nondescript warehouse, or so he was told; the connecting tunnels all came out miles away, and even he didn't know exactly where they were. Those that DID get to see the Lemming, were strip-searched, and flouroscoped, and that indignity was starting to rub even the most sympathetic supporters the wrong way. And of course, his isolation made it even easier to "transpose" orders, making it look as if he'd lost it...

Saunders looked at the flyer and sighed. As punishment for being the city in which the assassination attempt had taken place, civilian rations were being cut in half. And the power would be turned off from Midnight to six AM. As winter was coming on, furrs were going to start getting real cold... Lowering the flyer he looked at the control system for the automated cargo handling system at the spaceport. With a grin, he reached out and flicked the switch. In a little while, the Government troop's attempt to cripple the spaceport would actually come to fruition... and when that happened, Saunders hoped to be somewhere very visible, and as far away as his travel papers would permit.

Ground Support

Cumbie let her fighter drift. The Nighthawk class was well stealthed, and as long as she didn't make any sudden moves, most likely near-invisible. Especially with all the junk in orbit around the planet these days. Still, that's what it took these days to survive in near-orbit around Elysium. Ground to Orbit fire was getting worse every day, despite the embargo. And the Elysium aerospace fighters were starting to fight with a vengeance born of desperation. Still, they too were loosing pilots at an incredible rate and some of the novices they were sending up... Cumbie shook her head sadly. Intelligence had said that the Elysium 3rd division was going to try and shift assets from one flank to another, to try for a counterattack; moving troops that rapidly meant air travel, and that's what she was hoping to stop. Because if it flew, and in some cases even if it didn't it was her prey.

The first sign was a contrail. Cumbie grinned to herself; these furrs were GOOD. NO idle radio chatter, no fugitive emissions... A contrail was hard to detect with sensors... It required the old Mark I eyeball... And then she frowned; could they have some sort of a drone leaving a contrail, to spook anyone waiting in ambush? Watching carefully, she let her passive sensors hunt for anything else moving below her...

Gulow wiped his palm off on his thigh again. His K000 aerospace fighter was as new as he was, freshly "imported." It may not have been the best available, but they were something the Elysium government could afford, something they could get immediate delivery on... And still, on paper, at least, it was a hot ship. And a stealthy one. He checked his nav display again, as his little ship all but flew itself, and then after a quick look at the sensor display, he lifted his head and stared through the transparent aluminum canopy at the stars. He knew they were out there...

Cumbie smiled. They were good, but she was better... all right, her systems were better. Through the ground-based jamming, through the air based jamming, she'd found them. They were below and behind the drone leaving the pretty contrail. It was a certainty that the drone would have sensors that would pick her up before the lower, slower ships would, but that couldn't be avoided. She'd wait just a little more, wait until they were almost past, and then use her altitude, translating Potential energy to Kinetic energy; she'd catch up with them in a hurry, flash on past, and then loose speed by gaining altitude, to come around again. If she kept moving fast enough, perhaps their interceptors, and ground-based weapons couldn't get a lock on her... Maybe.

"I've got a power-up!... two! FourfiveSIX! Six bogeys in low orbit! They're moving on the transports!" The duty officer in the aerospace defense bunker moved over to look at the sensor operator's screens and then nodded. "Order half the fighters to move to intercept; the remaining fighters are to stick with the transports. At the speed those bogeys are moving, they'll flash by the first group, leaving them out of position for further defense."

Gulow listened to the controller's voice in his headset and as he pulled back on the stick, he shoved his throttle to the max. His own targeting systems were starting to pick up the bogeys, and he started assigning targets to his missiles...

Cumbie swore as her headset filled her head with the threat-warning tone. ECM and ECCM were automatic on this bird, and she listened as the decoy launcher thumped and thumped again. They'd either work, or they wouldn't... She had weapons of her own, of course, but she was saving them for the high-value targets, the transports. She'd been promised a hefty bonus for each one she brought down...

Gulow crowed as one of his missiles detonated. The pirate ship suddenly wasn't so stealthy as torn metal and ablated radar absorbing material permitted his sensors to get a better look. The pirate was starting to turn, to seek an escape. Grinning ferrally, Gulow shoved at his already- maxed throttles, as he went in for the kill.

Cumbie flashed past the K000, wondering why he was concentrating on poor Harstead; it was obvious he was out of the fight... With a shrug and a silent prayer for her friend, Cumbie turned her attention back to the transports now swelling in her targeting system's sights.

Paschal watched as the enemy fighters flashed past almost too fast to follow; it seemed like the sky was full of fireballs, transports suddenly exploding, or trailing smoke and loosing altitude rapidly. One had split open and as the pieces tumbled, bodies and equipment were thrown into the sky. And there was nothing she could do, but hold her course, and speed, and hope that their own fighters managed to keep those bastards from coming back.

Gulow gradually became aware of the voice in his earphones. He'd put another two missiles into the pirate before it had finally exploded in a most satisfying flash... Now he frowned, trying to make sense of what the controller was saying? What was wrong with this guy? He'd just gotten a kill, for cryin' out loud!"

"Damned inexperienced, half trained CHILDREN!" The duty officer was furious; of the fighters sent to intercept the incoming pirates, almost all had gone off in pursuit of the few damaged ships instead of turning, to try and kill their forward velocity, and to acquire undamaged targets; now they were all hopelessly out of the area of engagement... If they could get back into the fight, it would be a miracle.

Krueger smiled, the predatory look very out of place on the Marmoset's face. He'd been waiting for just this event. The Elysium fighter pilots may not have been worth their salt, but there was still a nice bounty out on the fighter craft, at least for his unit. Moving his much larger raider vessel from behind what was left of an Elysium corvette, he vectored in on one of the Newbies...

Cumbie did a classic hammerhead stall. Of her six-ship squadron, there were only three of them still in the fight, but she still had ammunition left, and there were still targets down there worth going after. As her fighter reversed direction, she peered intently into her targeting display... that one, at the front left, and then that one in the middle, and that one on the right rear... And then she'd be moving at high speed in the wrong direction... This'd be her last pass...

Gulow's eyes went wide as he saw the new threat develop; with a mewl he tried to turn his ship, but his velocity was too high; he was just going to pass too close, most definitely within weapons range... For a moment he thought about calling out for help, and then he realized that there wasn't much his whole squadron could do to a ship that size. Instead, he decided to settle for a warning; maybe some of his friends could escape in time...

Krueger watched as the Elysium aerospace fighters started to scatter. Making sure his shields were in raised and at full strength, he started to hunt.

Paschal winced as the transport on her left wing turned into a small star, black pieces of wreckage falling from the sky. Again, something flashed past, almost too fast to see... and then everything was quiet. Looking over at her copilot, she sighed; "what they say about this job is true; hours and hours of deadly boredom interspersed with a few minutes of sheer terror..."

Cumbie kept her altitude low, and her speed high, jinking violently, until she was back over the Blues lines. Climbing back to altitude would be a lot safer if she had a nice slice of the planet between herself and the Elysium ground-based systems. She'd lost another squadron-mate in the second run, four ships out of six gone... but they'd taken out a good 17 transports, out of 24. The bounty would be nice... But it would be expensive to replace their losses. Trying to work out the math in her head, wondering if she'd finished the day in the red, or the black, she headed back to base.

Snell shook his head; "I hate to give away the locations of our launchers and sensors to come to the rescue of idiots like that, but... I suppose we should teach those Pirate scum that its not prudent to get too close." The Aerospace defense duty officer looked at the fire control officer and nodded; "I agree. Do what you can. Maybe we can get some of those kids back home. Maybe they'll even learn from their mistakes..."

Krueger smiled mirthlessly as the particle beams lanced out, destroying the second of the aerospace fighters. The others had pretty much scattered, but one of them had gone into a panicked powerdive that the Marmoset thought would be almost impossible to pull out of. Idly he wondered if he could claim that one as a kill too. And then his own threat alarms started going off. Frowning, he watched as fire control radars on the surface of the planet came active, and then the plumes of two surface-to-orbit interceptors were picked up. Moving quickly he changed his vector, and then changed it again, heading away from the planet as fast as his raider could go. There were some patches of junk he knew about, he might be able to loose the missiles in... and his shields were good. Pausing for a moment, he compared the launch and emitter sites with what was known... Grinning, he realized that these were new sites; if he lived, he'd get another bonus!

Colonel Brundage smiled as he read the flimsey; "Sergeant Major, it looks as if our Op is on after all. The Brethren seem to have managed to decimate the Elysium 17th Guards. There won't be an offensive now, in the Terrina sector." The squirrel smiled; "and that means, with the 17th no longer in front of us, and no threat on our flanks, we can drive forwards." Brundage lowered the flimsey to look at the tactical map. "Yeah, and if we don't meet too much resistance, we might just catch up with the Red's "Liberty" division..."

Propaganda Blitz

The building at one point had held a factory; it was dark, and quiet now. Cavernous. Spooky. Ellie held onto the Panther's belt, knowing he had better night vision than she did, as they moved among the abandoned machines. It was risky to be out after curfew; the Elysium government goons were jumpy, and more likely than not to shoot, than to stop citizens, and question them as to why they were out so late. The meeting was to be held in what had been a storeroom, a building within the building, where lights could be used without risk of discovery.

There were a good thirty furrs seated around the room, as Ellie and Ralph searched for a place to sit. Some were older, adults, but most were youths, teen-agers finishing up their secondary education, or just starting their university experience. The Reds agent was easy to spot; he was a rather hansom young wolf, sporting a red armband. He looked rakish and daring in his hodge-podge cammies. The meeting started with a discussion of the crimes the Elysium government had committed against the people; the harsh social system, that repressed the poor, and fattened the wallets of the rich. As the crowd responded, as various furrs shouted out in agreement, or throwing out their own observations or thoughts, the topic shifted to the more recent atrocities committed by the Elysium forces as they were steadily forced back by the might of the People's revolution. Finally, the young Wolf called for volunteers to join the glorious Revolution.

Floyd shook his head and looked at his brother, Rafe. Turning back to the Wolf, he growled; "its all well and good to call for an uprising against the Government, but what I want to hear is SPECIFICALLY what you want us to do. I've got a family, and have no great desire to throw my life away in some grand gesture." The wolf smiled; "simple, Comrade. Tonight, the Reds commandos will launch a concerted attack against the Elysium forces headquarters in your town. As you know, the 4438th Division has their headquarters here. Here, they are orchestrating the defenses for the entire sector. And tonight we will cut off the head of the hated Enemy. Without leadership, their troops will flounder, and our glorious army will be able to roll over them, and liberate your town!" Floyd nodded; "a decapitation strike. Yes, a good idea, but don't you think its just a little much to ask untrained civilians to assault a military headquarters?" The Wolf made a dismissive gesture; "the headquarters are guarded by conscripts. Draftees who's heart isn't in the fight. We have every assurance that they'll break and run at the first sound of gunfire. Besides, trained Reds commandos will also be participating in the attack. NOW is the time, Comrades, to show the Government bullies what you're made of! NOW is the time to attack! Who's with me?"

Rafe leaned close to his brother and whispered; "This is bullshit, Floyd; its only gonna get us killed!" Floyd nodded slowly and turned to whisper back; "Yeah, but I wouldn't let on that's the way you think. I don't like the looks of those guys by the door..." Rafe turned and looked. A quartet of toughs, each sporting the Reds armband, stood by the door. As he watched an older Ursine rose from where he was sitting and with a shaking head, moved past them, and out the door. A few seconds later, two of the toughs followed... Floyd leaned close and whispered to his brother; "Lets sign up, and then slip away quietly later. Don't use your real name, though..."

Ellie grinned and signed her name to the roster right after Ralph; this was going to be such a glorious adventure. FINALLY a chance to strike back against the Hated Government! Taking the weapon the Reds fighter handed her, she looked at it curiously, wondering how it worked...

As Rafe walked through the darkened factory, he looked about him, the ancient assault rifle heavy in his paws. As a Raccoon, he had excellent night vision, and it wasn't hard to spot the bear's body amongst the machinery... Swallowing hard, he wondered how he and Floyd were going to slip away from this one? He'd KNOWN it would have been better to try and join the Blues...

The Wolf grinned as he crouched by the side of the building; "This will be your blooding; by doing this you will prove your worth to the Reds, to the Revolution, and to the free people of Elysium! The guard post is just around the corner. When I yell, we'll charge around the corner, firing as we go. Once through the gate, search out the command bunker, and kill everyone you can find! Ready?

Ellie fingered the fabric of her new armband, her body trembling... was that anticipation, or fear? Either way, the adrenaline was SUCH a rush.

Rafe whispered to his brother; "alleyway to the left." Floyd just nodded.

The Wolf howled, and with a mighty yell, the crowd of freshly-minted Rebels rose to their feet and surged forward. Most of those in the front of the pack fired their weapons, the unaimed rounds ricocheting off the pavement, or flying harmlessly into the air... As the crowd surged forwards, the Wolf smiled and quietly slipped into the shadows, moving towards the rear.

Hoffitz almost choked on his coffee as the crowd surged around the corner. For a moment he stared in disbelief, and then he dropped his cup, his paw coming down on the alarm button. Sanchez jerked himself up out of his chair where he'd been close to dozing, and took in the situation at a glance. Without a word, he moved behind the butt of the machine gun; sighting, he squeezed off a long burst through the pillbox's aperature. Moving to his side, Hoffitz readied another can of ammunition...

Ellie screamed as Ralph went down, just in front of her; then her feet were slipping, caught on something and she tumbled to the ground. Squirming around, she gasped as she realized she'd tripped on her friend's intestines! Looking around as angry bees zipped by just overhead, she started crawling back the way she'd come, her weapon and cause forgotten...

Floyd panted hard, chest heaving. He'd made it past the dumpster into the alleyway, right behind Rafe. For a moment they watched the carnage, and then Rafe tugged at his sleeve, and the two of them turned to scramble down the narrow alleyway, moving as fast as they could from the sound of the gunfire.

Hawkings looked at his watch and smiled; right on time. Looking up at the Reds commando team he grinned; "There's our diversion; lets go." Moving stealthily, they low- crawled towards the razor wire.

Ellie threw up again, as her mind replayed the images from moments before; She'd seen Ralph, a friend since childhood, dismembered by bullets before her very eyes. Mary, another old-time friend had both her legs shot off, and had screamed as she tried to crawl away, before finally dying of loss of blood. Eddie... Eddie's body had been almost at the corner of the building; he must have gotten killed almost immediately... She had no idea how she'd gotten out of the kill zone, no idea how she'd gotten all the way back to the factory. Shuddering, her stomach convulsed again, nothing left to come up...

The Wolf looked over the half-dozen survivors, and shook his head; "I am VERY disappointed in you. The Revolution is very disappointed in you! If you had truly believed in what you were doing, if you had BELIEVED, you would have taken that guard post! You would have surged past it to complete your mission! You are TRULY despicable!" One of the survivors, a bloodstained Ermine, struggled to his feet; "How can you say such a thing? We Tried! Most of us DIED! You sent us out, untrained, underequipped, with NO plan, to assault not a guard shack, but a pillbox! Our bullets bounced off! You sent us to DIE!" Lurching forward, the Ermine raised his paws to grab the Wolf. With a sneer on his face, the Wolf pulled his side-arm and shot the Ermine. For a moment he stared at the crumpled form at his feet, and then he looked up...

Ellie staggered to her feet convulsively, turning to flee the scene; one of the toughs stopped her, but she managed to choke out; "Gonna be sick..." As if he'd just discovered she had the mange, he let go of her, and she staggered off into the dark. The retching sounds that floated back to his ears were not faked, but when her stomach stopped heaving, Ellie snuck away through the dark, seeking escape... As she sought a way from the deserted factory, she heard the Wolf growl; "now the rest of you cowardly scum will be given a chance to redeem yourselves... Several of our "comrades" were seen running from the fight without even firing their weapons. As they haven't shown up here, we can only assume they have deserted. You will hunt them down and kill them, to demonstrate to all that one does not lightly shirk their duties to the Revolution..."

Rafe looked at his wife and daughter, and sighed. They'd be leaving everything they'd worked for, everything they'd built; but right now, he had no desire to be anywhere near the Reds... Gesturing for them to follow, he headed into the woods behind their house. The rendezvous point he and Floyd had agreed upon was about a half hour walk through the dark... and then together they'd try and make it to territory controlled by the Blues. Maybe there they could find what the Revolution was supposed to stand for...

Ellie looked up as the teacher called her name. Her mind had been wandering again. Somehow she'd convinced her parents that while she wasn't feeling well, there was no reason for her not to go to school. Somehow knowing something was wrong, they'd still allowed her to go... Several seats in her classroom were noticeably empty. Trying to answer the question, she shrugged off the Teacher's recriminations at not having been paying attention... and was saved from further censure by the ringing of the bell.

Lunch was hell; the entire room was abuzz with students talking about the previous night's attack on the military headquarters. Apparently the Reds Militia had attacked as a diversion, many brave souls giving their lives so a commando team could attack from the other direction... except that attack had failed too... Ellie wanted to scream that it wasn't like they thought, that there was no glory in it, that all those poor people had been tricked into giving their lives... but who could she tell? Who would believe her? As she poked at her food, she wondered what to do? The Reds seemed no better than the government they were trying to overthrow... And if it was a worthy cause to fight the Government, well, was it a worthy cause to fight the Reds too, for THEIR oppression?

Ellie stood on the street corner and watched the military vehicles streaming by. The light had changed three times, but the Elysium military hadn't even slowed. They were pulling out, troops and gear, and supplies heaped on top of their vehicles. Occasionally a civilian vehicle would go by, either caught up in the convoy, or collaborators fleeing with them, or maybe just something commandeered... She was going to be late for school, but somehow, on this day, she didn't think it would matter much. If the Elysium forces were pulling out in broad daylight, they must be desperate indeed... And that meant that the Reds would be close. No, she didn't think there'd be much accomplished at school today...

"No, actually I don't think they're that close..." Iggy, the Chipmunk said, between bites of his sandwich. "The front's much further eastward, over towards Hagerstown. I think they're pulling out to keep from being encircled. And I'm just as glad they are. It means that there won't be fighting for our town. No artillery, or air strikes. No destruction of the infrastructure." Ellie looked at the geeky underclassman and nodded slowly; she remembered her brief introduction to combat, and sincerely hoped never to see it again. If the Elysium government decided not to make a stand here, that was FINE by her. She looked at the Chipmunk and sighed; normally she wouldn't be caught dead talking to an underclassman, let alone a geek like him, but so many of her friends had died that night, so many others run off, as refugees with their families, or to join the Revolution, well, there just weren't that many furrs left to talk to... "So when do you think the Reds will arrive." Iggy took another bite of his sandwich and chewed for a moment; "Tomorrow, probably in mid afternoon, I think."

Ellie stood in front of the school, with what students and faculty remained, watching. The vehicles that were streaming down the street were a hodge-podge of civilian trucks, and captured military equipment. The surface of almost every vehicle was covered by Reds soldiers in mismatched uniforms, the armband the only constant. And they were yelling and waving bottles, and holding banners. It was something between a parade and a celebration, hardly resembling a military operation at all. Victory was being celebrated, but Ellie wondered to herself how they could celebrate a victory when the enemy had withdrawn without firing a shot? But the crowd was ecstatic. A party atmosphere seemed to fill the air. Ellie was just sorry she couldn't seem to get in the mood, visions of the assault on the Elysium government headquarters flashing before her eyes... She fervently hoped and prayed that her experience there was atypical, and that THESE were the true heroes of the revolution...

Schenk swung down off the self-propelled gun and looked around the small town square, nodding in approval. The political types had yet to start "forcing" attendance for such events and as such, the turnout was pretty good. Turning, he shot a surreptitious glance at Nest, the political officer, and sighed. If it wasn't for that meddling fool, "Nest the Pest", he'd be in heaven... Turning to look at the crowd he threw up his arms, and was rewarded with a cheer... Grinning, he took the bullhorn; "Free People of Elysium! You have Been LIBERATED!" The crowd roared.

Ellie listened to the Reds leader, in his rakishly crossed ammunition bandoliers, and did what she could to read between the lines. He said that they were the Red's 773rd Militia Brigade, just out of some heavy fighting to the South. He said that their reward for their valorous efforts was to have the honor of "liberating" their town and then spending some time there to rest and reorganize. Ellie thought that meant that the more combat-effective units were still pursuing the Government forces and this rag-tag band was only good for guarding their rear... And helping the political officer, a sour faced rabbit, with whatever tasks HE might have... She wondered about the phrase "integrating them into the new society"... that had a strange ring to it...

Schenk worked the crowd, grinning; he wondered how many of the newly liberated ladies might find their way to the beds of his "conquoring heroes" this night. Scanning the crowd he looked for likely lasses...

Ellie felt the gaze of the Reds leader pass over her, and she shuddered; there was something about him that made her stomach turn.

Schenk smiled to himself; "Yup, still got it; one long, sexy look and they quiver at the sight of me. Her knees look positively weak. A good looking young Badger girl... Have to see if I can find her later..."

Nest shook his head; theatrics were all well and good, but there was work to be done; work before the Elysium government criminals managed to slip away. Tugging at Schenk's sleeve, the Rabbit rose to tiptoes to whisper urgently into his ear...

Iggy looked at the sexy Badger standing next to him and grinned to himself. Ellie had been very quiet of late; withdrawn. Still, the chipmunk mused to himself, having so many friends killed could do that to you. Not one to pass up an opportunity, though, he took the vacant place at her side as the "rally" formed... it was the first mass rally since the Reds had "liberated" the town, and attendance was rather heavily encouraged... although they hadn't quite ordered it. Turning his head to watch those on the stage, he felt Ellie shift next to him. She'd been fidgeting a lot lately. Figuring he should break the silence with SOME sort of comment, he wracked his brains for a suitable comment. "Um... I haven't seen Bethany lately... Isn't she a friend of yours?" The Badger lass just nodded. "Ah... I'm surprised she's not here. Her family didn't decide to become refugees, did they?" Ellie's head just moved from side to side, and a small "no" escaped her lips. The Chipmunk frowned; "um... She's not sick, is she?" Ellie turned to look at the Chipmunk, a strange look on her face. "Sick? I suppose you might say that... It seems that a group of our "liberators" were out looking for some fun, and happened to bump into her. She was coming back from the store, running an errand for her mother... It seems our glorious saviors decided that she should entertain them for a while... Her parents became concerned when she didn't come home, and they went looking for her. They found her in an alleyway, covered in..." Ellie paused for a moment and looked around, as if gauging who might be listening. "She hasn't been in her right mind since. Its like... its like there's just no one home." The Squirrel blinked and then nodded slowly; "they raped her?" The Badger just nodded. Iggy sighed; "I've heard other stories like that. Shop keepers bullied, homes broken into and looted, sometimes as the occupants watched. And there have been a lot of rapes. Jessica, over at the Westside school was killed after they were done with her. They're trying to keep it quiet, but word spreads." Ellie nodded; "we have to do something. This is NOT what the revolution was supposed to be..." Iggy swallowed, but nodded; "Yeah... but this is NOT the time or the place to talk about it..."

Schenk smiled as he looked out over the crowd. It was time. Time to put the fear of the new order into these mindless sheep. The local police department had been logging increasing numbers of calls complaining about the behavior of his troops. He knew because that was the first place he'd secured. Most of his troops were very familiar with the inside of a police station, although usually not from the police point of view; still, some of them could give a credible imitation of a cop... Looking out over the crowd he sighed and would have thought that these folks would be more... "thankful" at having been liberated, that they would have cut him and his troops some slack for their heroic efforts. Instead it was just bitch, bitch, bitch. Well, now it was time to show these clowns who was in charge...

Ellie watched as a number of furrs were led out onto the stage, their hands tied behind them. One she recognized as the Mayor; another was the Head Master at her school... They all looked as if they'd had a rough time. She watched as the Rabbit started talking about the crimes these furrs had committed against the people, starting with the Mayor. As he came to a conclusion one of the Reds soldiers pushed the portly old Beaver down onto his knees, and then Schenk stepped up behind him. The pistol shot made everyone jump. Then the Rabbit started reading out the crimes supposedly committed by the next person in the line..."

Iggy wondered how Ellie could stand so stone-faced as the Reds carried out their executions. He himself was close to throwing up. The crimes these furrs were charged with were mostly imaginary, illusionary, and he was convinced it was all just a sham, a way of showing the town who the new bosses were...

Nest watched the stunned crowd as he finished reading the charges for the last of the criminals and collaborators. Sometimes the people cheered loudly, but this crowd... He was surprised they weren't happier at the end of their oppression, delighted to see the tools of their oppression punished for their crimes. Shrugging he picked up his notes detailing the new order, and lifting the microphone he started telling the crowd about the worker's paradise to come...

Iggy and Ellie helped Estelle from the rally. The squirrel had gotten quite sick as her great uncle, the head of the city's utilities department, had been executed "for his crimes against the people." The poor girl hadn't even known he'd been arrested. As they made their way home, Ellie kept shaking her head, and muttering "this isn't right... this can't be..." As they turned onto a side street, gaining perhaps a little more privacy from the crowd leaving the "rally," Iggy leaned over to whisper in the Badger's ear; "I know a few people... people who think the Reds are no improvement over the Government. I think they may be working up to actually DOING something..." Ellie's head turned and she fixed the Chipmunk with a stare: "I want to meet these people..." Between them, Estelle managed to urp out; "Me too."

The Coyote wore dark glasses, even though it was night. The ice cream shop had been closed for a while, but some of the kids still gathered there on the sidewalk in front of it, to talk, and flirt. He looked at the Badger girl and shook his head; "Look, I don't want to know your name, or where you live, or who your friends are. You don't want to know anything about ME either. Its just... "safer" that way. Yes, I think we're all in deep shit. I don't see ANYTHING the Reds are doing as matching their propaganda. None of their promises are coming true." Iggy nodded; "Yeah, they promise more freedom, and then demand travel documents, and ID papers. They say they'll provide jobs, but the only career choices they offer seem to be in forced-labor gangs. And the taxes they're levying... they're significantly higher than what we'd been paying under the old administration!" Ellie nodded; "of course, they SAY the war isn't won, and that this is just for the duration of the Emergency..." the Coyote snorted; "and do you think, that when they HAVE won, that these restrictions will be lifted? That All will be Equal?" Ellie smiled; "That will depend on just what these Reds are made of. I may not be able to find out about the upper levels, but I do have an idea about the local group..."

Iggy looked at Ellie as they walked home from the "Meeting." "Surely you can't be serious!" Ellie smiled wryly and shrugged: "I'm quite serious, and don't call me Shirley." The attempt at humor fell flat as the Chipmunk continued to stare at her; "you realize that if you're RIGHT, we'll be hunted criminals... Or worse. We could wind up dead." Ellie shrugged; "I understand, but... after all the promises, after all the suffering, I cannot sit by and let things NOT change. The People deserve something better than what we've had, and I don't want to see a change in name only, trading the Reds for the Government. No, I'm going through with it, if I have to do it myself..." Iggy sighed and shook his head...

The Coyote watched, his splatball bat in his hands... this was the worst part; the waiting. Ellie, and Estelle, in too-tight sweaters, were coming timidly down the road... And three Reds soldiers, staggering drunk, were headed in the opposite direction. This was the first of Ellie's "tests." Furrs that believed in the high-sounding principles that the Reds propaganda espoused, would greet the girls politely and pass on by. But if they were the scum they thought they might be, well, that was what the bat was for...

"Well, looky here!" The wolf was grinning wickedly, and for a moment Ellie was reminded of a nursery rhyme her mother used to tell her, when she was young, about wolves and deep woods and the path to Grandmother's house... Nudging his comrades the Wolf leered; "Heya, Girly, want to help a Hero of the Revolution celebrate your liberation?" Ellie looked down, and said in a quiet voice; "Please sir, we have to get home; our parents will be worried..." The Jackal next to the Wolf took a swig from his bottle and grinned; "Parents? You live on this street?" Ellie lifted her gaze a little and shook her head no; "Um, No Sir, I live three streets over... but my friend lives on this street..." The third soldier, a Collie, peered at Estelle and grinned wickedly; "Squirrel... Yeah... Five houses down on the left. Yellow house. They've all been arrested; seems they had a relative that was a collaborator. Hey, we ought to arrest you too!" Lurching, the Collie reached out for Estelle. Estelle's eyes went wide in horror, and she took a step back just as the Collie's paw caught the neckline of her sweater, and as she moved, the fabric ripped... "ooooh, Nice Rack!" the Jackal giggled, and tossing his bottle aside, he stepped in to grab both of the startled girl's breasts, squeezing hard. Estelle yelped!

The coyote nodded, and quietly slipped from his hiding place, signaling his friends as he moved up quietly from behind the three.

The kitchen knife found its way, somehow, into Ellie's paw, and then she was shoving up, hard, driving the point under the Wolf's ribs, just as he reached for her. For a moment his eyes went wide, and then he looked down. A quiet "ohshit" emerged from his mouth and then he was crumpling to the concrete. The Jackal got out a quiet "huh?" just before the edge of the coyote's bat caught him across the back of his neck. He dropped like a sack of bricks.

The Collie moved a little faster, releasing Estelle, turning and taking a step back. One paw fumbled for the holstered side-arm, as he stared wide-eyed at the Coyote. The Coyote's friend, a Weasel, was on the wrong side of him, and as he struggled to lift his bat again, his eyes caught those of the Collie; there was nothing there but a drunken rage, and for a moment, the Coyote thought their counter-revolution was over before it had started... then, just as the Collie's weapon cleared leather, something came down from behind him, colliding with his skull.

Estelle blinked at the form of the elderly Bear, revealed as the Coyote's form crumpled. A now rather bent fire poker in his hand... "Mr. Waverly?..." The Bear nodded; "saw the whole thing from the front porch. I always thought these Reds were no good... And I thought you'd need some help. Now come on, I've just tilled up the garden; the soil is nice and loose, and that'd be a REAL good place to plant these three." Turning, he growled; "Henrietta! Get the garden hose! We've got some stains here on the front walk that need to be washed off before they dry!"

Estelle sipped the chamomile tea and shook her head; "you SAW my parents being arrested?" The Bear nodded; "Yeah. They... they loaded them into a troop carrier and drove off. I'd bet they're half way to the nearest labor battalion by now." Henrietta moved closer and laid a paw on the Squirrel's hand, more than covering it; "Dear, stay with us until we can figure out what to do; our children are all grown and gone, and we have plenty of room." The Bear grunted; "and secrets to keep." Turning he looked at the Coyote as he examined the action of one of the Red's assault rifles; "you plannin' on usin' that, Son?" The Coyote looked up; "Sir, I'm afraid that if all the Reds are like those three, I'm going to have to." The Bear nodded; "Did a turn in the Civil Guard when I was young. Here, let me show you how it works..."

It really was almost a game. It was simple to use a word processor at school to work up a leaflet talking about some of the atrocities the Reds had committed since they'd arrived. Everyone at school seemed to know about Bethany, but there were a lot of others that didn't. And there were a bunch of things that the kids at school hadn't heard about yet. In the end they had to whittle it down to just a half a dozen incidents. And embellishment wasn't even necessary. The plain truth was bad enough. A few artistic touches made them look just like an official Reds propaganda leaflet, and the school's laser printer and photocopier allowed hundreds to be printed. Then the fun part came...

Sammy chuckled as he sidled up to the worker in the reds armband. The Fox was standing on the street corner, handing out leaflets to each passer-by. He had a stack in his hands, and a pile by his feet. While Helen distracted him, batting her eyelashes at him, and coyly asking question after question, Sammy took his own notices, and interleaved them through the fox's stack. Now about every sixth leaflet the fox would hand out would be the truth, instead of Reds propaganda. It was SO cool to pull one over on them like that!

Sharapiri grumbled as the Fox handed him a leaflet, shoving it automatically into the pocket of his overcoat. Boarding his omnibus, he grabbed a hand-hold and watched out the window as he started his long trip home. He'd learned not to throw the flyers away, or to just refuse one; it helped get through a check-point if the political types saw you reading one of their flyers. Pure bullshit, but you did what you had to. Thinking it might be prudent to take a look at the flyer, just in case he was questioned about the latest word from their "liberators", he pulled the crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and tried to read. Slowly his eyes went WIDE, his mouth falling open. A Lynx, standing next to him, turned at the muttered; "now this I can believe," to read over his shoulder. As he finished reading, he looked at the Lynx and silently handed it to him. Suddenly he did NOT want to be caught with something like that. The Lynx took it, and read with intense concentration, handing it on to another when he finished. Slowly the truth made its way around the bus.

Nest stormed back and forth in front of his assistants, one of the dummy flyers clutched in one hand. "I don't care HOW it happ... No, that's not true; I very much want to find out EXACTLY how it happened. We have to find the counter- revolutionaries responsible for this and stop them Immediately. AND YOU, Comrade Schenk! They wouldn't be able to SAY such thinks like this, if you and your troops had behaved responsibly to begin with! You WILL institute tighter control of your troops, OR I WILL!

Schenk closed the door to his "office" and walked around behind his desk. Pulling open a drawer, he pulled out a bottle of expensive brandy, recently liberated, and poured himself a tall one. With a sigh he shook his head; that damned commisar was going to ruin his good thing. For a moment he wondered if perhaps he could arrange an "incident", the untimely death of the S.O.B. Then he sighed and shook his head; Headquarters would just send another Commisar, and the next one might be worse. Sitting down, propping his feet on his desk, he wondered what measures he could take to make sure nothing embarrassing like this happened again. Maybe he could shoot some peons... that always seemed to halt things like this, didn't it?

Harvey looked over the latest copy. It was incredible. They even had photos. The Reds had collected 30 furrs at random, and stood them against a wall, shooting them for the leaflet escapade. One of the females had been pregnant. It had rocked the whole city, spreading like wildfire, by word of mouth; but with each re-telling, things had gotten distorted. Now it was time to set the story straight. A friend who's sister was a Reds collaborator, and dyed-in-the-wool party member, had mentioned that they were going to change the color of the leaflets every day, and that tomorrow's color was the most bilious green... Now he had the school's photocopier running overtime as he turned out a thousand new copies...

Sammy looked from the leaflet to their own "Copy". The color wasn't perfect, but it was probably a close enough match. Nodding to Helen, he prepared to slip his copies into the stack...

The Fox couldn't get his eyes off the Ermine's chest; she certainly did have a "rack!" When the young Weasel tripped over his stack of leaflets he barely noticed; the kid apologized profusely and instantly got to scooping them all back up, working fast to re-establish the nice neat stack. Which was good, as it allowed the Fox more time to ogle the beautiful young thing who seemed SO confused with the smallest details of the Red's philosophy; why, he'd explained that point three times already, but she just didn't seem to get it... If she was that empty headed, the fox wondered, perhaps he could find a way to get into those incredibly tight pants she was wearing...

Mariku walked up to the Fox, and took the proffered flyer. Turning towards the Headquarters building he almost lost the take-out he was carrying back for his comrades, as he looked at the flyer he'd just been handed! They'd done it again! Looking up, he found a pair of off-duty troopers and growled; "you two! Arrest that Fox!"

Nest looked at the thoroughly cowed Fox; "And you say this child kicked over your stack of papers? That must have been when they added their own leaflets. Typical of our enemies to be using children for such a vile task! Still, you should have been more vigilant!" Turning to the guards he growled "Take him to a labor battalion. A HEAVY labor battalion!"

"But it wasn't his fault!" The old fox was panting, somewhat out of breath, but the political officer behind the desk wasn't buying any of it; "He should have been more alert! HIS was the responsibility!" The old fox shook his head; "My family have supported the Reds from the very beginning! We have sacrificed to make contributions, we have done volunteer work, we are even housing your troops in our home! Feeding them! Can't you have SOME mercy on him?" The political officer shook his head; "Comrade, you should know better! He has betrayed the trust of the People and MUST be dealt with! An example must be made! Now go home and quit bothering me; I have work to do!"

Passers-by watched curiously as the old fox stood outside Reds headquarters and with tears in his eyes, ripped to shreds the armband he'd been wearing...

Heroes

Roland watched the small crowd in front of the closed building carefully. It looked like just a bunch of kids... Sitting there on the steps of the closed ice cream place, they looked so innocent. You'd never know they were the core of the counterrevolutionary movement. The ex-Imperial marine brushed a lock of blond hair out of his eyes, and shoving his hands deeper into his pockets, strolled calmly across the street.

Estelle nudged Iggy and nodded towards the Badger moving across the street towards them. His clothes were non- descript, middle class, and perhaps just a little frayed; perhaps it was the way he carried himself that set off alarm bells in the back of her mind. Too much like the Elysium soldiers... Iggy nodded and nudged the coyote, who turned to look. Gradually tension ripped through the small crowd...

Roland nodded to himself and smiled; they'd picked up on him early, and looked like they were about ready to scatter. The Coyote boy had his hands on something partially hidden; probably something innocuous for a kid, but potentially lethal. Pausing just shy of the group he looked left and then right up the street, just for effect; he'd canvassed the area earlier and knew this area wasn't under anything but the most casual observation. Turning back to the group he gave them his most winning smile; "Just wanted you kids to know that the Blues, and the Brethren appreciate what you're trying to do. And to let you know that you're not alone. Little resistance cells like yours are springing up all over the Reds' newly obtained territory. Everywhere they're heavy-handed. However, its probably not prudent to contact any of the cells in nearby towns... Not yet. Anyways, just wanted to tell you we're watching, and to keep up the good work!" With an off-handed salute, he turned and quietly started to amble down the street...

Iggy's jaw dropped as he listened to the Badger. Could this be some sort of a trap? Could he be some sort of spy trying to infiltrate their group? Inclining his head at the Coyote, the squirrel rose, as if to follow the Badger. Ellie's hand on his arm stopped him; "Don't. Don't react at all. If they're watching that'll just confirm their suspicions. Let him go." Turning to look at Harvey, Ellie smiled; "after all, we DO have ways to check him out..."

Harvey shook his head as Ellie leaned over the computer screen. The house they were in was deserted, the computer running off of an APU. The phone shouldn't have been working, but was, thanks to a friend in the utilities department. They'd tapped into the net, and were slowly sifting through records for the Badger. Unfortunately there were a lot of Badgers. One of the kids had seen him enter an apartment building that was now leasing rooms at exorbitant prices to "refugees", and from that they'd managed to get a name. Except it probably wasn't his right name. With a sigh, Harvey tried yet another search string.

Ellie watched through the darkened window. Night had fallen, and Harvey was now working from under a blanket as he sought to hide the monitor's glow. It was becoming dangerous to stay in one place for so long, but this neighborhood was sympathetic. Soon, she'd have to pull the plug on Harvey.

The soft beep of the computer as it shut down pulled Ellie from her reverie. She turned and saw Harvey floundering, trying to get the blanket off from over his head. The grin on his face was clear, even in the dark. "Find something?" Harvey chuckled; "yeah. If he's a plant, its brilliant. I finally found him in the Red's own database, under "wanted war criminals". It seems our mysterious friend may really be with the Blues, or the Brethren. Or maybe, just maybe a brilliant plant by the Reds. No way to tell."

Iggy shook his head, as he looked from face to face; "and you want to TRUST this guy?" Ellie smiled; "Trust? No. Use? Yes. If the file is correct, this guy has useable military experience. And we need guidance, if we're ever to be more than just a thorn in the Reds' side." The Coyote stroked one paw along the length of his bat and shook his head; "I dunno; it sounds AWFUL thin; why would a Brethren Forward Air Controller, working with the Blues call in a strike on the Reds? It seems like that'd be just asking for a "second front." Ellie shrugged; "that we'd have to ask him. That and what he's doing here, anyways." Estelle grinned; "There's one way we CAN get him to prove himself." Ellie sighed; she knew just what her friend was getting at, knew how the arrest of her family and their almost-rape had affected her..." Iggy looked blankly at the squirrel; "and how's that?" Estelle grinned a little wider; "He'd have to kill some Reds for us. Not just a few, to "prove" himself; I think the Reds would gladly sacrifice a few of their own to stop us... No, he'd have to kill a LOT of Reds..."

Roland watched the kid approach. "Paper, Mister?" The Badger looked the kid up and down and then shook his head no. The kid grinned; "Sure you do, Mister; got all the latest war news, front lines AND home front. Here, take one for free, and if you like it, you can pay me later!" It was the kid's wink that convinced him to take the paper...

Sammy watched from the front stoop of an apartment building almost a full block away. The Badger had taken the paper and had sat down on a bench at the bus stop. The busses weren't running anymore, another of the Reds' "Improvements", but he sat there anyways, as if waiting for one, slowly reading each page of the paper...

Roland found the note taped to the third page almost immediately, but after reading it, had ignored it, to finish the paper. The note directed him to come to a certain place at a certain time. Not in the middle of the night as he'd expected, but a time closer to what was left of "rush hour". He smiled to himself; it might be more difficult to pick out anyone tailing him then, but the opportunities for escaping into the crowd were much greater for this enterprising little resistance group. Finishing the obituaries, he folded the paper and rose, to walk on down the street as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Ellie watched the Badger approach. The alley way was mostly out of sight from the street, but had four separate outlets; many more if you counted egress through the buildings that lined it. She sat on the back stoop of a restaurant, peeling potatoes, as if she were lowly kitchen help. As if she belonged there. Roland stopped about a body-length away, and just looked at her; she was a good looking girl, even if a bit young for his tastes; give her a few years, and he'd probably have to fight other suitors off with a stick to get any time with her. Looking around he made sure he was in the right place. Hands in pockets, he just watched her work, waiting patiently.

Ellie finished her potato, placing it carefully in the basket, before picking up another one. Without looking at him, she started talking. "Your name is Roland, and you were in the Imperial Marines. Powered armor expert. Wrapped up in some sort of black market activity, and convicted, although it looks like a set-up even to me. Escaped from the penal colony you'd been sent to, probably with outside help. Drifted for several years and then wound up with the Brethren. Typical Mercenary. Now the Reds are after you for calling in orbit-to-surface fire on their position. They say you're a war criminal, and have a considerable bounty on your head." Finishing another potato, she placed it in the basket and picked up another. "Times are hard, and they're offering a small fortune for your head. We could all do quite well, if we were to turn you in. So why shouldn't we?" Roland smiled, impressed; " that's very good considering how flaky the net is under the Reds; you must really have a good computer hot-shot in your group. My turn. Ellie Parsons, a Senior at the local... what do they call secondary education here? It'd be a Gymnasium where I'm from. Fairly well placed in your class, but not exceptional. No significant extra- curricular activities, unless you count political activities. Thought to be a Reds sympathizer, but then about the time the Reds used local talent for a rather abortive and wasteful attack on Elysium forces, the same night the furr believed to be your boyfriend died, you seemed to "withdraw" from the local political arena. No longer outspoken. Very quiet, almost withdrawn. Unless you happen to have access to satellite reconnaissance, which on a few occasions shows your activities quite clearly. The facial markings of a Badger are quite distinctive; believe me, I know."

Ellie frowned; they'd never considered satellites! Looking up, she scowled; "I didn't think anyone's satellite stayed in orbit very long these days..." Roland just shrugged; "True, they don't But that doesn't mean that both sides don't keep trying." Leaning closer, he smiled; "The Blues have picked up some intelligence that the Reds may be jockeying for prominence after the fall of the Elysium government. Now, that doesn't mean that they don't have their hands full trying to win the war. It doesn't mean that they're not watching, though." Ellie picked up another potato; "so where do YOU fit into all this? If the Reds want you so badly, what are you doing here?" Roland shrugged; "I was with a Blues mechanized unit, powered armor; we were WAY ahead of the main body of troops, pursuing fleeing Elysium forces." The Badger grinned; "Just like the old-time cavalry. The idea was to keep the pressure up, and to try and hold the flanks with aerospace firepower. It kinda worked. Problem is, someone turned the signposts, and by the time I checked my inertial positioning system, I was way off one flank. Then the Elysium forces blew a bridge I'd crossed earlier that day, and I found myself stuck on the wrong side of a river. My escort were all in lighter suits; they didn't need the communications gear I did; as a result all their suits were equipped with jump jets. I sent them back, while I tried to find a good crossing point." At this point the Badger looked down; "I'd, ah... taken some damage in a skirmish I should have hung back from, and let the Mobile Infantry deal with... My suit wasn't airtight anymore, you see... I was still trying to solve that problem, to rejoin the unit I was supposed to be with, when the Reds swept through the area. By chance, I happened to see them round up the local "collaborators". And execute them. And their families." Looking down, Roland sighed; "it was more than I could take, and before I quite knew what I was doing, I was on the radio, calling in fire on the killing field." He looked up and grinned; "that's the neat thing about fire from Orbit. I may have been on the wrong side of the river, dozens of kilometers from where I should have been, but to the Cruiser in orbit, it was no difference at all." Looking off down the alleyway, the Badger continued; "unfortunately, it wasn't a completely secure channel; we WERE supposed to be coordinating with the Reds, and it didn't take 'em long to figure out what'd happened to their troops. And powered armor's just a bit large to hide. I ditched my suit, and I've been on the run ever since, trying to find a way back to the Blues lines. And it hasn't been easy."

Ellie worked at keeping the peel as long as possible as she turned the potato; "so why haven't your friends in Orbit rescued you?" Roland chuckled; "Oh, they're kinda pissed at me for causing friction with the Reds. That and the fact that I've lost my suit. Those things are EXPENSIVE. However, I've still got my radio and can send them little tidbits of information. In fact, it was their idea that I contact you. They seem to think that you might help me "escape", and that in the process, I might just teach you a little bit of the fine art of mayhem... Ellie nodded slowly; "that may be true, but don't you think it would be dangerous for us to trust you?" The Badger laughed; "of course, and I'm glad you're smart enough to see it. No, by all means DON'T trust me. And I won't trust you either. Until I have to." Ellie put down the potato, but held onto the paring knife; "so where do we go from here?" The Badger grinned; "there are several things you have to do in guerilla warfare; the first is to make sure you have the sympathy of the people." The Badger grimaced: "With the Reds, that shouldn't be too hard. Your leaflet campaign is a good idea, but its getting risky; you need to change tactics. Personally, I've always liked graffiti... Oh, and you need to learn to obtain all your supplies from the enemy. Here are some things you might try...

Sammy grinned; he loved to spraypaint slogans on the walls, and he'd developed his own very distinctive "tag." The thought that he could do this with the approval of his friends only made it all the better. Shaking the can of gold spray paint, he contemplated which of the slogans to do next...

Harvey swallowed as the Coyote looked over his friends. Well, not exactly friends; more like acquaintances; still, he'd known them both since grade school, and was reasonably confident that they wouldn't rat on them. Suppressing a giggle, he looked at Phil, who WAS a rat, and shook his head. The Coyote looked from the Rat to the Tiger and back to Harvey; "so you want to fight the Reds, eh? Tell me why." The Rat shrugged; "my old man's been drafted into the Reds Labor Corps; they've taken over his bakery, and are forcing him to work a double shift. Not even paying him! And they're hauling all the bread off to feed themselves, not even letting him take a loaf home for us. Man, we're Starving! Gotta do something to stop this!" The Tiger nodded; "saw my sister get hauled off to a manual labor battalion, just because she was a teacher. She taught second grade. How in the heck can THAT be political; still, her paycheck came from the government and that made her a "collaborator"." The Coyote nodded; "we'll check on both your stories. For the meantime, there are tasks that need doing, little things that'll let us build confidence in each other." Looking at the Rat, he smiled "I want you to get down to the intersection of Fifth, and main. That's right near the Reds' headquarters. I want you to keep an eye out. Take notes as to what official vehicles pass. What furrs go in and out. If they're in uniform, get the rank, and description. Write down anything unusual you might see. Your cover story is up to you." Turning to the Tiger, the Coyote grinned; "you do the same, with the Police station on Briarcliff. Both of you report back here, day after tomorrow. And be careful!"

Nest looked at the wall and shook his head; how could these furrs THINK that about the Reds? Didn't they realize they were their liberators? With a sigh he waved his hand, and stepped out of the way. The Bulldozer moved forwards, demolishing the wall. The fact that it was a load-bearing wall, and as the dozer moved out of the way, the whole building sagged, and then slowly collapsed wasn't his fault. The owner of the building should have prevented this...

Haverty watched as his livelyhood crumpled. HE hadn't painted the graffiti on the wall. In fact, he'd been as outraged as anyone. Now, the Reds had destroyed his furniture store. They hadn't even let him extract his inventory first! He was ruined!

Sammy winced as Old Man Haverty's furniture store was demolished. Everywhere he, and the others, had painted anti-Reds graffiti, the Reds were destroying the structure. He hadn't meant to hurt folks like that. But as he watched, a plan slowly formed in his mind... what if he were to spraypaint the Main Street bridge? Would they blow that up? How about the side of their own barracks, or warehouses? HOW ABOUT THE SIDE OF REDS HEADQUARTERS ITSELF? Grinning to himself, he strode over, to tell Haverty how sorry he was this had happened (without of course mentioning that he had started it all), snuck in a line about those Rotten Reds, and then turned, to dash off, to find Ellie, or the Coyote...

Roland grinned; "OK, watch what I do, and how I do it. Later, you'll get your chance." The new recruits nodded nervously, and watched from behind the hedge as the Badger unzipped his jacket and stepped out onto the sidewalk. The "patrol", two Reds troopers were walking slowly down the street. Occasionally a small bottle would pass between them. Their small group had been tailing them for fully a third of their shift, making sure there wasn't any backup in the area. Waiting for the contents of the flask to take effect... Roland walked down the street towards, them, and as expected, with slurred speech, they demanded him to halt, and to produce his papers. The forgeries were only so-so, but these two were either too far gone, or too careless to spot the inadequacies. With a grunt, the Bobcat shoved his papers back at Roland, laughing as the Badger fumbled them, letting them flutter to the ground. Turning, the two soldiers resumed their stroll. Roland watched until their backs were turned, and then quietly pulled his combat knife from behind his back. Moving up behind the Bear, he grabbed an ear, turning his head to one side, pulling it back... His knife flashed silver, and the Bear's jugular spurted crimson. The Bobcat barely got out a "Wha'? Before the knife found his throat, the Badger stabbing it straight in. The Bobcat floundered for a minute, the throat wound burbling nastily until the Badger finished him. Looking around, Roland confirmed that no one had seen, and waved to the kids behind the bushes.

"But why do we have to hide the bodies? Wouldn't it be better to prop them up somewhere where they'd be found?" Roland looked at the Rat and sighed; "Yeah, and think of the reprisals. Think how hard it'd be for us to do this again tomorrow night. No, if we make it look as if these two simply deserted, the Reds will, if anything, come down harder on their own troops, not the civilian populace. And as the number of "desertions" climbs, that'll have its own effect on the Reds' morale." The Rat grinned and nodded; "And we get to collect more weapons in the process." He fingered the grenade launcher he'd taken from the Fox he'd killed earlier and grinned.

The Coyote looked at Sammy and winced; "Kid, do you realize that when they arrest you, they'll go and arrest your family too? ALL of 'em? They're as likely to stand them up against a wall and shoot 'em as they are you! Sammy shook his head; "Yeah, but if you guys are ready to rescue us, they won't be able to DO that! My old man's complaining constantly about how the Reds are workin' him to death at the bakery, and Mom's constantly being badgered at the Hospital where she works! If we all have to go underground afterwards, I don't see it as any great loss!" Ellie sighed and shook her head; "Sammy, I know you're dedicated to the cause, but I think this one's just a little beyond us, just yet. Please, play it safe; just put graffiti on abandoned buildings. Its not as if we don't have enough of them now. Oh, and the Bridge idea is cool, but I'd start with the Highway bridges first. They might be watching the river bridge." With a sigh, Sammy just nodded.

Sammy grinned; he'd had a good night. The Cummins Road bridge across the turnpike had been "Tagged", as had been the granary which held most of the wheat and corn the Reds were "collecting" from the surrounding farms. He'd love to see them knock THAT down. Now he was working on the side of the BC&T Bank; the one that everyone walking to work at the Reds headquarters building would have to pass. BC&T was run, locally, by a furr who was a major Reds sympathizer, and his bank had been working hand in glove with the Reds, seizing accounts of "collaborators"... As he added his distinctive "tag" to the graffiti, he failed to notice the furrs moving up behind him.

"GOTCHA!" Sammy yelped as a hand closed on the collar of his jacket; shrugging out of it, he tried to wriggle free, but a Wolfhound in a Reds Militia uniform grabbed him: "Oh, no you don't! You're not getting away from US, Kid! Catching you is gonna be worth a week-long pass for us!"

Iggy panted as he ran up to Ellie, Estelle, and the Coyote; "They've got Sammy! We've got to get out of here; you KNOW he's gonna talk soon!" The Coyote nodded, but Estelle growled "NO. We can't let them keep him." Looking up at Ellie, Estelle grimmaced; "you know the back-up plan, should any of us ever get caught. Do you want to do it, or shall I? Ellie sighed; "No. It was my idea. I'll do it." Turning to look at the Coyote she sighed; "Make sure everyone gets to the safe houses. He may still talk before we can get to him. Oh, and find that Roland character. Tell him we'll need him later if I'm successful." The Coyote shook his head, but turned to obey.

Sammy looked wide-eyed at the Rabbit; "Honest mister, I don't KNOW who they were! They just gave me the cans of paint and said they'd pay me ten credits for each wall I painted! My family's in a bad way, we need the money to eat!" Nest sighed and jestured to the Bear; "You know what to do. I want answers." The Bear blinked, and looked down at Sammy; "But Commissar, he's just a Kid!" Nest turned and stared at the Bear for a second; "He is an Enemy of the People, and as such deserves no mercy. Get me my answers!" The door closed behind him with a hollow boom.

Iggy panted as he came up behind the Coyote; "I was too late. The Reds got there first. Sammy's whole family have been arrested." The Coyote worked the action on his assault rifle and nodded; "well, we'll just have to get them out too."

It was a dangerous place to be, after dark, especially for a good looking female. Most of the townsfolk avoided it like the plague. Ellie tugged nervously at the hem of her short skirt, hefted the grocery bag, and with all the bravery she could muster, strode forwards, towards the Reds Militia barracks area...

"Hey Freddie, will you look at this? Here comes a choice piece!" Freddy chuckled; "Yeah... looks like our night's work is gonna be REAL easy. Hey Moe, do you think Schenk will share this one with us when he gets done?" Ellie didn't have to fake a gasp as the two Reds Militiamen circled her; she clutched the shopping bag as if it were a shield. With a chuckle the Wolverine looked at his companion and shrugged; "Dunno. But she should do for tonight's "entertainment"..." Grabbing the Badger girl around the waist, the Wolverine threw her over his shoulder, flipping up her skirt with one hand. His partner pawed through the dropped bag of groceries, looking for anything nice, and then turned to hurry after his partner.

Things had gone pretty much as per the stories Ellie had been told. The Reds had delivered her to their commander, Schenk, who was half drunk. The Wolf had alternated taking swigs from his bottle and pawing her, literally ripping the clothes from her body. Ellie cowered, but put up no real resistance, which seemed to please the Wolf. Finally, with all the finesse of an animal in heat, he'd thrown her down on his bed and raped her.

Ellie shifted slightly and checked the clock; it was about time. Next to her, in the rumpled bedclothes, the Wolf snored softly. He'd taken her a second time, pounding his cock into her, and then howling as he came, his knot tying her most painfully. After a while, he'd managed to pull free, and had fallen back on the bed, into a drunken slumber. As quietly as she could, Ellie rose, to search his room. With a grin, she found a fighting knife, its edge razor-keen. At least the Wolf could sharpen a knife right... Padding nude back to the bed, she looked down at him for a moment. Softly she whispered; "You have confirmed everything I feared was true about the Reds. It will be a delight to make you pay for your crimes...

Schenk awoke to blinding pain, his paws moving to his throat. They found warm pulsing wetness... Struggling to sit up, he found it hard to breath and a burbling sound filled his ears. The Badger girl stood a few steps back from the bed, and in the dim light he saw her holding his knife. Fear and rage warred within him, and he tried to rise to his feet, only to find he didn't have the strength. As Darkness closed over him, he saw her grinning at him...

Ellie put the knife down carefully, and then turned to search the room. There were keys, papers, maps, and of all things, a diary. All of this she carefully sorted for size, and loaded into a fanny-pack she found. Padding back to the Wolf's corpse, she worked her hands through the pool of blood on the bed, transferring as much as she could to her own crotch and thighs. Then, wrapping herself in the remains of her outfit, she opened the door and slipped through...

Moe looked up sleepily from his guard post outside the Commander's door as the sobbing girl slipped out. He was tempted to stop her, to have his way with her, but she looked as if the Commander had worked her over bad. Her torn skirt did little to cover her, and it was obvious she was bleeding. Wincing, he decided he didn't want sloppy seconds, at least not when they were THAT sloppy. With a yawn he crossed his arms over his chest, leaned his chair back against the wall, and closed his eyes...

Iggy's jaw dropped when he saw Ellie flee the Reds' Barracks area, running towards the darkness. She looked a wreck, and his paws tightened around his assault rifle. Slipping back, he moved to follow her, to cover her, just in case one of the Reds decided to try and stop the fleeing girl.

Roland's eyes widened in surprise as the tattered and bleeding girl entered the safe house. As the Coyote started to speak, the Badger girl tossed him a heavy ring of keys; "Oh, calm down; its not MY blood." Iggy grinned; "She says Schenk's dead." Estelle grinned; "one down, and a shitload left to go." The Coyote nodded; "Well, its obvious there are going to be reprisals in the morning. I guess it won't hurt if we go add to the list of grievances." Ellie nodded as she pulled on a pair of overalls; "True. And every minute we waste is a minute they could be doing God-knows-what to Sammy." Picking up a weapon, the Badger girl turned and headed for the safe- house's door.

Roland shook his head in amazement as he followed; "That girl sure is something!" Next to him, Iggy looked up, and then snarled; "Paws off, buster; she's MINE!" Roland blinked at the Chipmunk, but then grinned; "I'll give you first crack, but if she turns you down, its MY turn to go a'courtin'..."

The police station had a number of entrances and exits. And all were guarded. But the Reds Militia guarding those exits, in the wee hours of the morning, were not expecting a determined assault. When the police van backed up to the garage loading dock, the furrs on duty there were expecting their own folks to be delivering a load of counter- revolutionaries, or collaborators, or maybe just vagrants. When the back doors swung open to reveal a heavy weapons crew, they died without getting a shot off. The armored back door was made to be closed remotely if something like this happened, and its armor was thick. However, the tripod-mounted plasma gun found that the concrete block wall to one side was not as heavily armored as the door, and in rapid order an alternative way into the building was created.

Iggy smiled and depressed the key on the police radio. "No, Sigma Seven, we have the situation completely under control. Yeah, I know, Harmon's not on the radio, they've had a transmitter failure. I'm running dispatch out of the command vehicle." "Dispatch to Epsilon Three; check out the report of graffiti being painted at 27th and Capitol streets." "Dispatch to all Gamma units; Backup needed at Calaway Road and Highway 17. Officer down!" Grinning the Chipmunk directed all the Reds patrols to places that would be disadvantageous should they ever figure out just what WAS going on.

Roland watched with a smile on his face; he'd described just how to take a building to these kids, and they were fast learners. Ignoring doorways, they were using demolition charges to go through walls instead. In one instance, they had caught a number of defenders crouched against the wall, watching the doorway, when the charge went off directly opposite them. Working rapidly, the rebels moved through the station, their weapons silencing any opposition.

"I FOUND HIM!" Ellie moved towards the voice, her weapon at the ready. In a small, rather plain room, three of her friends stood, just inside the doorway, staring. Sammy, or what was left of him, was tied to a chair. Against the far wall, a rather large and overweight bear had taken quite a few rounds, to the point where the wall had partially collapsed over what was left of him. Moving closer, Ellie looked at the Kid; "Sammy?" His head moved fractionally; "Ellie? Is that you? Didn't tell 'em... Didn't tell 'em anything..." Straightening, she gestured; "Get him on a stretcher; we can at least get him out of here...

The withdrawal was made in police vehicles. The overcrowded jail cells had been emptied, the fugitives told which ways out of the city were safest. Roland, and some of the others had planted boobytraps, rigging the whole building to explode when returning Reds Militia tried to enter it to investigate. As they headed out into the countryside, Roland grinned over at the Coyote and Ellie: "so, you guys ready to help me try and get back to the blues lines, yet?

The Tiger looked down at the mess on the bed and shook his head; turning to the Commissar, he sighed; "You have to admit, Comrade Nest, that he got what he deserved. His reputation for female "conquests" is widespread,... and his reputation for "compelling" the less than willing ladies to join him in bed is undeniable. He was scum, undeserving of his position, and you can't really blame the girl for what happened..." "Oh, I agree, Comrade," the Rabbit muttered: "Still, we cannot have the people taking the law into their own hands. Any hint of counter- revolution must be surpressed, and for whatever the reason, she DID kill the commander of the 337th Militia." Looking up at the Tiger, Nest sighed; "I want her found, and I want her tried, and I want her executed for her crime. Oh, and you'd best round up hostages to make sure there are no more such "counter-revolutionary" attacks. The Tiger took another look at the body and straightened; "Comrade Nest, the girl was reported to have been a teen; probably one of the local secondary school students. Surely she was not committing an act against the Reds, and our glorious revolution, but merely seeking to escape a rapist! I cannot abide the taking of hostages in retaliation for such an act! Sir, I do not make war on Civilians, or on Children!" Nest looked at the Tiger for a moment and then drew his side-arm. The Tiger's face reflected a look of surprise, more than anything, as the Rabbit shot him at point blank range. The sound of the shot, and the thud of the Tiger's body hitting the floor drew a number of Reds Militia furrs from the corridor. As he holstered his pistol, Nest looked at the Adjutant; "Your Executive Officer seems to have had a problem obeying orders, and has paid the price. Are YOU going to have a problem following my orders?" The Coyote looked at the body of his comrade and swallowed hard. For a fleeting instant he wondered what had ever happened to courts martial? But then he tore his eyes away and nodded to the Rabbit; "Yessir, I'll follow orders..."

"I know, I know, I should have stolen one with a full fuel cell; in the panic of the moment, I just didn't notice! I'm sorry!" The Coyote looked at Iggy and just sighed. Roland chuckled and shrugged; "well, I suppose its just as well; we should hide these vehicles and move into the woods anyways. They're just too easy to spot, and way too easy to target." Ellie nodded; "I still want to bring Sammy. He deserves a proper funeral." Looking up the young Badger looked at their small party of refugees; Sammy's parents, her family, the Waverlys, the families of the other kids, and nodded; "OK, lets get moving. Roland, you wanted to get back to the Blues lines; which way do we go?" The older Badger looked at a palm sized display for a moment, and then up at the tree line; "That way; its not the shortest, but given the hills, it'll be the easiest for this group." With the Coyote and a few of his friends forming a rear-guard, the party headed into the woods.

Ellie's heart was pounding; there were a number of furrs in the little valley; but it was dark; they didn't have a fire going, and she couldn't tell who they were. Were they Reds? A patrol? Could they be bandits? Refugees? Other Rebels, fighting against the Reds? She didn't know. Turning to look at her friends, she shrugged eloquently. "Its ok, I'll go check 'em out" Estelle whispered. Before Ellie could stop her, the squirrel had risen and was walking carefully through the dark towards the group below.

Barrow tensed; he didn't have anything more dangerous than a stick, but he gripped that in both paws as he watched the figure approach. Somehow the words for a more proper challenge escaped him, and he yelped out; "Who's THERE?" Estelle smiled, and ambled forward, hands in the pockets of her too-big bib overalls. She'd chosen her outfit carefully, before they'd left; the pockets had been cut out, allowing her to hold a pistol in each hand; the cut of the cloth more than adequate to conceal their bulk. It looked as if she were just another kid into the "grunge" look... until she pulled her hands out of her pockets. Stopping a few feet away she looked over the small group. Grandparents and infants, and a few middle aged folks. The kind the Reds wouldn't want for a labor battalion. Grinning she shrugged; "Oh, I'm just a refugee; someone tryin' to get away from the Reds and their "worker's paradise"... Who You?"

Barrow relaxed a little, but peered into the dark behind her; "We're... just some folks trying to make our way home. Nothing more." Estelle nodded; "and where's that?" Barrow frowned a little; "Uh... other side of the River." Nodding, the squirrel smiled; "That's where we're headed too..." Barrow's frown deepend; "We?"

Barrow shook his head and grinned; "and you shot up the police station? Gee, I wish I'd been there to see that. The Reds over in Johnstonville had a pretty heavy hand, heavy to the point where no one dared strike back. There was always some poor soul hanging from a gibbet in the town square." The coyote leaned on his assault rifle and grinned, his teeth white in the dark; "well, we had a good leader; sometimes that's all it takes." Ellie found herself looking at the Coyote, who returned her gaze and smiled. Blushing she looked away. The size of their party had just doubled; she couldn't very well abandon these people here, but traveling with them, helping the old folks and the children... that was going to make their trek all the more difficult.

The river was narrow, but running quite swiftly. The bridge was on a minor highway, and arched high over the rushing waters. And yet, even here, it was guarded. The Reds had a small camp by the river, with a guard house and a classic pole across the road. Ellie stared at them through the electrobinoculars; they hadn't had any traffic in the day they'd been watching, and the guards looked sleepy. They'd been arguing over what to do, how to handle the situation. Some just wanted to rush them, and shoot their way through. Roland, however, had spotted a radio, and was concerned that the Reds might have other assets nearby that could respond. Their food was running low, however, and everyone was tired. This was it; they had to get across the bridge, one way or another.

Pablo looked up as the first furr walked out of the forest. Then another came into view, and then three more... soon there seemed to be dozens of furrs headed his way. Shouting for the Corporal, he stood his ground in front of the barrier, his weapon carefully at port arms.

Ellie was helping old Mrs. Hoffowitz; the elderly Otter had twisted her ankle and was having a hard time walking. Pushing through the crowd, she moved up to the Marten wearing the corporal's stripes; after looking at him for a moment she sighed; "Please sir, we're refugees trying to get home; won't you please let us pass?"

Raul Mikasa looked from the old Otter lady to the young Badger and shook his head; "I wish I could, Miss, but I've got very strict orders; no one passes without the appropriate papers... Um... you don't HAVE the appropriate papers, do you?" When the Badger girl shook her head no; he shrugged; "Look, we've got food and water here; its nothing fancy, but its adequate. Lets get you and your party comfortable and I'll radio to headquarters, and we'll see if we can't get that sorted out..."

Ellie never knew how the shooting started; it might have been when the Marten turned to call to his troops, or it might have been someone who thought they saw someone reaching for a weapon... In the end it didn't matter. Mrs. Hoffowitz had a sling around her shoulders, a machine pistol hanging down her back under her shawl; as she dropped to the ground, Ellie snatched at it, and after a moment's hesitation, shot the wide-eyed Marten. The Cougar next to him went down a second later. Amongst the smoke and the noise, she saw Roland sprinting towards the small camp, to toss a grenade into a log and sandbag bunker. The effectiveness of his action was revealed a moment later when the force of the explosion drove two furrs and the machine gun they were trying to use out the back of the bunker. And then it was quiet. No screams, no children sobbing, just... quiet. Helping Mrs. Hoffowitz up, Ellie looked around...

Roland looked around and nodded. They seem to have killed them all. Smashing the butt of his rifle through the radio, he grabbed the first three youths he could find; "Look around for anything heavy, and find me some rope." The Coyote seemed to materialize at his elbow; "what do you have in mind?" "I want to throw the bodies in the river, suitably weighted down; by the time anyone figures out what happened here, we should be long gone. In the meantime I want it to look as if the squad here got orders and moved out. Throw anything they might take with them in the river. Lets get MOVING, people, We need to get OUT of here!"

The countryside didn't look any different. After crossing a bridge they hadn't seen a soul. They'd walked to dark, munching on the rations they'd salvaged from the Reds camp. Ellie found herself particularly haunted by the image of the Marten as she'd shot him. He hadn't seemed such a bad guy... If more of the Reds had been like him, she mused, she might not have been in the situation she was in now... As they came to a tee in the road, she looked at Roland; the older Badger consulted his gizmo and pointed to the left. As the sun went down, they started looking for a place to camp.

The truck caught them by surprise, overtaking them from the rear. For a moment she thought Iggy was going to open fire with his assault rifle, but somehow the Chipmunk caught himself just in time. Slowly the truck coasted to a stop, its flywheel drive whining. An old Goat looked out through the driver's side window at them for a moment, and then called "I suspect you folks are looking for the Tochapee refugee camp. Its only about a half dozen klicks from here. Take the next left you come to, and then the next right." Estelle looked at him for a moment and then blinked; "Uh... We ARE in Blues territory, aren't we?" The Goat nodded slowly, "yeah, sure are. You folks walk out of Reds country?" When a half dozen furrs nodded, the Goat shook his head; "From the stories ah bin hear'in, ah sure am glad ah live on THIS side o' the river. Tell you what. Load your young'ens and old folks in the back and I'll drive 'em to the camp. Tell the folks there you're out this way, headed in. Don't know if they'll be able to come and get y'all, though."

Roland watched the truck depart in a cloud of dust. They hadn't gotten all the old folks on it, and the young ones hadn't wanted to leave the group; still, it was a relief. Slinging his weapon, the Badger bent to pick up a little Dingo girl, and settling her on his shoulders, turned to follow the group. Tonight perhaps he'd be able to sleep without one eye open.

Iggy smiled and settled onto the mess house step next to Ellie; "I can't believe they made us check our weapons." Ellie raised an eyebrow, trying hard not to belch. The food here wasn't all that good, but there was plenty of it. "Why's that?" Iggy shrugged; "I expected 'em to confiscate them. The thought that when I leave here, I can reclaim a military weapon is just ... mind-staggering!" Ellie chuckled; "One of the workers told me that the Blues believe that the government should fear the people; that when the people start fearing the government its time for them to HAVE weapons like that. That it's the people's legitimate right and duty to make sure the government is just what they want." After a moment she chuckled "pretty far from the Reds' position of "we know what's best for you and will see that you get it," isn't it?" Iggy just nodded; "I saw the Waverlys leave; they're headed to Pearth, to live with their oldest daughter..." Ellie nodded, without saying anything. After a moment, Iggy turned to look at her; "so what are you going to do now?" Ellie shrugged; "My parents want me to go with them; they say that they can get me into a good university, probably in Friesland. Somehow though, I can't see settling down to books at a time like this. And we never did hold the graduation ceremonies at school. Not sure they'd take me." Iggy nodded; "so what ARE you going to do?" Ellie shrugged; "there was this Blues officer who talked to me about going back. Going home. He said that the Blues needed folks in Reds territory that could ... "monitor" the situation there." Iggy grinned "you mean, be a spy?" Ellie shrugged again; "I have no desire to be a spy, Iggy. But I would like to fight for the freedom of our people. There's no reason they should be treated like that..." After a moment, the Chipmunk grinned; "Glad to hear you say that; been thinking along the same lines myself. Estelle's been talking about trying to spring her folks from that labor battalion, and I've been thinking about going with her to help." Ellie grinned; "Of course, my parents are going to be furious..."

Roland looked at the Badger girl and shook his head; "you can't be serious! After going through all that to get out you're going back?" Ellie just nodded; "There are some folks we left behind. And there's a job to be done there. I can't sit here safe, when I know the battle's still going on. I have to go back." Roland nodded, and then stepped forward to hug her; "I've got to go back to my base. I need to pull a replacement suit of powered armor. But if ever you get in trouble, you call out on the radio. I'll make sure its relayed to me, and I'll do what I can to help! Promise!" Ellie grinned and kissed him on the nose; "I'll do that; take care of yourself, Mister!"

Ellie watched the vehicle disappear until it was lost in a cloud of dust. Turning she looked at her friends; Estelle, the Coyote, Iggy, and the others; "Lets go see about getting our weapons out of hock. Who's got the claim checks?"

Field agent

Mr. Smith ignored the cool wind and the rustling leaves as he sat on the bench in the thinly populated park. In his hands he held a small rectangle of plastic and metal; to the average passer-by, he had one of the latest video games, and the way his hands tilted it this way and that as he thumbed the buttons along the edges suggested that he was deeply immersed in his game. Perhaps an unusual occupation for a furr of his age, but not remarkably so. However, had any of the passers-by walked behind his bench, they would have observed something on the screen other than the latest adventure game. Computer-generated enhanced colors made the screen hard to interpret, but Smith was skilled at his task. Tongue lolling from one side of his mouth, clenched between teeth in concentration, he maneuvered the remotely piloted drone known as a "fly" around his target.

The Research Facility was heavily guarded. There were fences, both physical and electronic, a considerable distance between the fences and the building, with guard posts, roving patrols, and many cameras and sensors. And the facility itself was almost hermetically sealed. After trying for over three hours, Smith hadn't found a way to get his fly past the defenses and into the building. Recalling the mechanical insect, he sighed, and started thinking about another way to penetrate the facility. NO ONE went to these lengths unless there was something VERY interesting in there...

The delivery service's uniform was impeccable, as were his credentials. Smith drove the van to the first of the guard gates and waited. And waited. He knew they were scanning him, probably more closely than he'd ever been scanned before. After a while, a single guard came out of the guard house and wordlessly held out his hand. Smith passed the clip board with the shipping forms and the invoice to him. He knew the cargo of the van he'd hijacked was urgent; all the shipping documents said so. It was why he'd taken it. After scanning the documents, visually and with a hand-held scanner, the guard nodded; "put it in Park, guy, we'll unload you here." Smith blinked; "Here? You sure? That thing's HEAVY!" The guard nodded; "Yup. You and your van go no further. Security, ya know?"

Smith watched in amazement as two cargo handling robots wrestled the crate out of the back of his van, and carried it through the security check-point. He'd put a couple of sleeper probes in the crate, but he doubted they'd pass the scrutiny everything was receiving so far. Still, there was a chance... When the robots had trundled off with their cargo, the guard handed his clipboard back to him. Smith gave the guy his copy of the paperwork, and climbing back into his van, backed it from the guard post, and drove off down the street. If they'd been smart they would have held him there until they'd checked out the crate, but he wasn't about to argue with them...

As expected, the tell-tales were dead; each of the bugs Smith had placed into the crates had been destroyed, or deactivated. Sitting back, Smith scratched his head and wondered what to try next...

The office building was a good vantage point. It hadn't been that hard to break into the vacant office, and he was reasonably assured he couldn't be spotted behind the wall. His sensors stuck marginally past the wall to look out through the glass, and he knew they'd be hard to detect from more than a few feet away. Settling down, he started to watch the traffic to and from the research lab...

Smith stared into his cup of coffee and sighed. He really was drinking too much of this stuff. He'd been watching the Research lab for three days, and hadn't learned much. The guards, the researchers, and just about all of the staff lived there. There WAS no rush-hour commute. The only folks that entered or left were big-wigs, or the occasional service furr... The VIPs all seemed to come by air-car, which made it difficult to track, and harder to kidnap. Some of them even had armed escorts. But there'd been an HVAC (humidity, ventillation, air conditioning) service furr there today... and that had given him an idea...

The laser was low power, and of an obscure wavelength. Its collimation wasn't all that great, but it was just what Smith wanted for the job. The apartment building was several blocks away from the Research Lab, but it gave the right view; Setting up the laser, Smith peered through its telescopic sight and slowly adjusted his aim until he'd drawn a bead on the condensing coils on top of one of the large boxy things on the lab's roof. Switching on the laser, he started the drive that would minutely fan the low-resolution beam across the target... The idea was to make it look like anything but damage from a laser...

There wasn't any sign of just when the laser had completed its job, but the pinhole was evident under the system's optics. Smith shut off the laser, and pulled it down, leaving nothing but the optic sensor showing from over the edge of the roof. Patiently he waited. After a while, his patience was rewarded, when four guards emerged onto the roof. One of them bent to look at the condenser, while the others scanned the perimeter. It was obvious the guard had found something, as he spent a good minute trying to wipe his paw clean on the housing of the air conditioning unit. He was obviously disgusted. Turning they all returned to inside the building. Smith smiled to himself and carefully started packing his gear.

The HVAC service van stopped at the guard gate. After the scan, the guard, had the driver exit the vehicle and enter the guard house. Another guard drove the vehicle through the gates. Within seconds, Smith lost his view of the vehicle. That was OK. Smiling, he settled back to wait.

The optics were still on the apartment building's roof, and Smith watched the hand-held monitor; the view was grainy and tiny, but it showed the serviceman in an argument with someone in a suit. A lot of hand-waving was done, and after an amazing amount of time, the servicefurr had bent to his task. There was the brief flare of a torch, and then he was retreating back inside the building with the suit and the guards...

The traffic signal turned red, and Redflame pulled the hovervan to a halt. He was sitting there, grumbling to himself about the stuffed shirts at the Research lab, when suddenly the power door locks on his van both popped open. He was twisting to look at the switch panel on the driver's door when the passenger door opened and an older, nondescript Wolf got in. His mouth open to complain, to demand an immediate exit, the Squirrel's words caught in his throat as he realized that in the Wolf''s lap, out of sight of most furrs, was a rather large handgun. And it was pointed casually at his groin! "Be a good chap, and drive on; the signal's green, you know..." His gaze flickering from the Wolf's face, to the gun, to the road, Redflame nudged the accelerator, urging the van forward.

After having driven down Rollins Street for several blocks, Redflame chanced another glance at the Wolf; this guy didn't seem to have any qualms about letting Redflame see his face, and that was NOT good... It probably meant that the Wolf was going to kill him... Still, after a bit, curiosity got the better of him, and he cleared his throat. "Um... Ah... Shouldn't you be telling me where it is you want me to go?" The Wolf smiled; "Go where you where headed anyways. Your shop at 220 Farrier Avenue, out in the Rosemont part of town. Pull the van into the garage just like you always do." Redflame gulped; "Um... You know I don't have any money there... My business is all invoiced..." The Wolf just smiled; "I know. Relax. We'll have a nice little conversation, and I'll be on my way, and if everything goes just right, you'll be safe and sound, and maybe even happy..." Redflame just swallowed hard.

Following the Wolf's instructions, Redflame had parked the van as he always did. With the garage door closed, they'd exited the vehicle and entered his small office. The franchise HVAC business was mostly self-contained in the van; there were some spare parts storage in the garage, but the rest of the business was just one tiny office, where the bookkeeping computer lived. The Wolf gestured with the gun towards the desk chair, while he pulled up the lone visitor's chair on the other side of the cluttered desk. Redflame sat, eyes shifting from the gun to the Wolf and back. The Wolf looked a little past middle age, a slight paunch developing. He looked like a High School teacher, or maybe a Department Store clerk. And yet there was something about him, that kept Redflame from even thinking about trying to take him on. After a few minutes the Wolf laid the handgun in his lap and fished inside one pocket. Producing a deck of cards, he tossed them on the table; "Don't know how long it'll be, before they call, but until they do, we might as well amuse ourselves." Redflame's heart sank. He knew. The Research lab usually called his office to make sure he'd gotten back unhindered. They'd call again that evening and again about three days later. As hopes of the Cavalry charging to the rescue faded, Redflame sighed; "Let me guess. Poker. Five card stud." The Wolf smiled; "actually, I'm much more preferential to cribbage..."

The com beeped, and Redflame almost jumped a foot. He was ahead a good thirty points and had been concentrating on the game. Without even thinking about it, he hit the button, and muttered; "Acme HVAC Repair, Redflame speaking. How can I help you?" It was the standard litany that he'd repeated thousands of times, and it came as second nature. On the other end of the phone, he heard a voice growl; "State Security. Just checking." And then the line went dead.

Smith smiled as he saw the Squirrel give the com a dirty look, realizing too late that his only "salvation" had just slipped away. As the Squirrel turned back to look at him, the Wolf just smiled; "Lets finish the game. I'm in no particular hurry."

Redflame held himself perfectly still; the drug had been in aerosol form, the Wolf producing it and spraying it in Redflame's face almost before the Squirrel had known he'd had it. Waiting for something to happen, he realized that he was extremely conscious of every portion of his anatomy. He could feel the chair's back edge under his tail. He could feel the seams of his overalls where he sat. He felt he could even feel each individual hair in each ear... The Wolf's voice seemed unnaturally magnified as he whispered; "Now, I just have a few questions; answer them truthfully and to the best of your ability, and I'll give you the antidote. Screw with me, and I'll leave you in that hypersensitive state for the rest of your life...

The green telltale on the voice stress analyzer seemed unnaturally bright. Redflame swallowed, feeling each muscle in his throat move, feeling his body respond... it was really starting to get on his nerves. In fact, he realized that spending the rest of his life this sensitive to light, this sensitive to noise, to motion, to EVERYTHING would be a living torture... Carefully NOT nodding his head, he whispered; "Yes, I get into all the labs. The filters have to be changed, the air movers lubricated, and all that's above the furrs that work there. I've seen many strange things, but as I said, I don't know WHAT it is I've seen; remember, I've only got a trade school education! I'm NOT a physics professor!" Smith nodded; "why did you say Physics professor?" Redflame blinked; "Didn't you know? That place used to be the National University Physics lab, before the Government took it over; its FULL of Physics Professors.

Redflame shook his head and instantly regretted it; this was worse than his worst hangover. "No, I tell you; I have NO idea what it is they're working on, but its got to be big, and its all coming to a head. I think. One of the guards said that he still thought that it was stupid to bring in a repair guy (that's me) when in a few days they'd be done..."

"Oh yeah" Redflame muttered; "I heard enough in the canteen to know that something big is going on there. All the junior scientists were muttering about all the bigwigs constantly sticking their noses into everything. Complaints of micromanagement and such. Yeah, it has 'em all stirred up..."

Redflame rested his forehead on the edge of the table; that seemed to hurt least of all. The Wolf seemed to have been asking questions for hours, maybe days. He could feel his bladder; it wasn't full, he didn't have to go, but he could tell, almost to the milliliter just how full it was. And his heartbeat thundered in his ears. He could HEAR the blood flowing in his veins. "Um... Yeah. Cargo handling system. Overhead monorails. They run almost everywhere. The one time I had to replace an air handler motor, they wouldn't let me use it; had to wheel the dang thing in on a hand dolly. Wouldn't even let me use a powered one, for fear an unshielded motor would screw up something. Wouldn't help, either. Stuck up stuffed shirts..."

Smith looked at the Squirrel; he was near a nervous system collapse. He hadn't answered the primary question, but all the circumstantial evidence added up. Could he Swear the story Tanj had funneled him was true? No. Did he believe it? Yes, to the point of arranging a hasty route off- planet. The Squirrel had said that they were within days of being done. If Tanj's tale was even close to true, it was time to leave. Pulling another aerosol can from his pocket, he looked at the squirrel, and shrugged. Raising the can, he sprayed.

Redflame felt the mist as ice-cold pinpricks all over his face. He could feel the mist penetrate his lungs, move into his bloodstream... and suddenly something very nice started to happen... Suddenly he wasn't in his office any more, but in a different room... Moorish windows looked out on a blue sky... the walls were earth-toned, and there were pillows strewn across the floor... And seemingly on each pillow was a nubile slave girl... Redflame grinned; there was that Cheetah wench... and there the flame-hued vixen with the big bazooms... Chuckling to himself, Redflame exclaimed "Hello Girls! Daddy's Home" and to his delight, they all seemed to rise, and cooing with pleasure moved to surround him. Suddenly being hypersensitive wasn't so bad, as each touch was distinctly felt...

Smith checked the Squirrel's pulse and nodded. Given what the planet's own Government was about to do to it, it might have been kinder just to kill him... but he'd cooperated quite nicely, and done everything he could... The Wolf straightened, tucking the aerosol can into his jacket pocket; let the Squirrel have his fantasies; the antidote would wear off in a few hours, leaving the Squirrel confused as to whether it was all a dream... his memories very fuzzy. Smiling, Smith let himself out, resetting the security system as he left.

Back in space

Alby shook his head; the Merchant was being stupid. The old "Hansa" class freighter just didn't have the speed to outrun a Raider, and it certainly didn't have the guns to fight one off, let alone three. Adjusting his targeting settings minutely, he waited for his skipper to give the OK. "I say again, Tango Victor Three Two Seven, you are ordered to cease maneuvering and drop shields or we WILL open fire!" Cedric watched, easily matching vectors with the freighter, waiting for some sign of compliance, counting down the seconds... when he reached thirty he turned and looked over his shoulder; "All yours, Alby; try not to damage our prize more than you have to." Alby chuckled; "Hey, I know, I know... I just hope this one isn't full of refugees like the last three ships have been!" Squinting a little, Alby concentrated, blipping off a short burst... The Ion gun stuttered in response, and several thousand kilometers ahead of them, the freighter's shields flared, failed, and then their drive section glowed brighter than usual... for just a second, and then the glow faded completely. Alby chuckled; "Got their port induction valve; the computer shut their drive down, rather than risk running unbalanced. And induction valves are a dime a dozen, in almost any starport..." Cedric chuckled; "Good shot. But then, that's what I pay you for." Clicking his mike, he turned back to the viewscreen as he growled; "Delta Green lead to all Delta Green birds; I'll close and board; you guys keep 'em honest."

Cedric scowled as he tried to match docking rings with the freighter; either their docking ring had been damaged, or the freighter had jammed something somehow... He'd bumped up against their docking port three times now, and the grapples had failed to latch. He'd been concentrating so hard on it, that he'd missed Alby's first muttered comment. The crackle in his headphones got his attention though; "Delta Green Three to Lead; we got problems!" Straightening, he looked at his threat display, and saw nothing; of course everything to starboard of his ship registered only as freighter... "Whatcha got, Sammy?" "Got a Reds Cruiser comin' in hot and heavy!" Blipping the thrusters to move his Raider back from the freighter, and then "up" and over, so his own sensors could get a look, the Fox's eyes went wide; "Ah... Delta Green Lead to Base; we've got company out here!"

Hans scowled and looked across Ops to the tactical display. Growling, he turned back to the comm console; "Delta Green Lead; you're on your own. Soonest we could get reinforcements to you would be 3.4 hours. Keep us advised as to developments. Command out."

Cedric sighed; "one of the problems workin' out on the fringes... Dammit, Alby, where'd HE come from? The Reds get cloaking technology?" Alby shrugged; "Don't know, Skipper. Might have been hiding in a debris field. We got enough of 'em in this system these days." The Fox nodded; "well, I guess we'd better find out what they want..."

Onegin grinned into the video pickup "What I want, is for you and your pirate scum to get AWAY from OUR prize! Leave now, or risk the righteous wrath of the People's Space Navy!" The image of the fox on the monitor showed a range of emotions, from surprise, to shock, to outright rage; "YOUR prize? This is OUR territory, as per the executive agreement YOUR chairman signed three years ago! WE disabled the freighter's engines! This one's OURS!" Onegin just smiled; turning so that the video pickup caught his profile, he growled: "Fire control Officer! Target that worthless piece of shit. If he says another word, open fire!"

Alby nudged Cedric and whispered; "we do have two anti-ship missiles on board. Between us and our mates, we might take him." The fox digested that for a moment, and then shook his head no; "no profit in it, Alby. Those missiles cost almost as much as that freighter down there, and if we start a shooting war against the Reds, our profits are bound to suffer. No, we'll let this one go, but from now on, I'm keeping Delta Squadron together. The Reds may feel they can push around three Raiders, but you know that Cruiser's not a match for all twelve of us..."

Onegin grinned; the comm link had picked up the muttered conversation. It was just what Xyloff had wanted. With a little suitable editing it would be a major propaganda prize... Watching as the Raiders broke off, he chuckled, wondering how the Wolverine would reward him for this little victory. The Exec clearing his throat interrupted his reverie, and turning he glared at the Furr; "what?" "Um, Captain, what do you want to do with the Freighter?" Onegin just shrugged; "Our spys say its just full of refugees. Traitors fleeing their just deserts. Take a detachment of marines, board them, and examine their records; if any of the traitors have useful skills, transfer them to this ship and put them in the brig. If there are any political "prizes" take them too; we can always use them for show trials. Then, when the Pirates are out of sensor range, you may have some target practice. That hulk's not worth putting a prize crew on board." The Exec just nodded, and withdrew, leaving Onegin to return to his daydreams of greater riches, and power.

The Wombat smiled; "Ah, this is really excellent stuff; we can show the pirates as being cowardly, backing down in front of our People's Space Navy. And we can show how mercenary they are, in it only for the money, ignoring the noble cause. Yes, Comrade Xyloff, this will make an excellent propaganda Campaign." The Wolverine smiled; "Very good; how soon can you have it ready? The Wombat thought for a moment; "Ten days, maybe twelve to do it properly. Out to the people a day after that." Xyloff shook his head; "too long. Make it three days, four at the latest. To the People by Friday." At the dismayed look, the Wolverine clapped the Wombat on the back; "Come now, Comrade, the People DESERVE to know!" Letting the smile harden, he growled; "Don't fail me. Now you have a lot to do, so I won't keep you... Watching the Wombat leave, clutching the data crystals, Xyloff smiled; "Yes, I do believe its coming together nicely..."

The Brou Machine

The Lion sat in the lotus position, and tried to relax. Clearing his mind was becoming more and more difficult... and yet, the meditation techniques that Entity had been teaching him were certainly helping him cope with the stress. Kinda. Trying to ignore the itch caused by the little sensor stuck to his skull, he concentrated on his breathing, seeking to slip into that alpha brainwave state that let him "talk" to the Brou machine...

<<<...Strange it is. Illogical and disordered. Conflicted. Emotional. More ordered in its thought processes, at least, was the previous being that had interfaced with me. Even further from the precision of my creators, this one is. Adapt I must, to interface with this one. Raw materials needed will be. Unsavory, perhaps, but a challenge to relieve the boredom, it is...>>>

The Lion almost purrrred as he felt himself slipping, finally, into the sought-after state. It was like stepping outside his own mind, and into the Twilight Zone. Every time he sat by the Brou machine, with it powered up, he felt as if he left more alien, both more and less than what he was when he started. Nudging his will at the machine, he tried to find the correct way to communicate that he wanted to distort space to one side of the ship... With no idea if he was succeeding or not, he concentrated... It was like trying to hold onto a slippery and wriggling eel...

Emmy Lou sat bolt upright at her console, almost spilling coffee on herself. She'd been warned; the whole ship had been warned. Bending to examine her science station console, she felt about with her right hand, trying to find something solid to put the coffee mug on, as she devoured the sensor reports. Space was distorting itself aft of the Overlord, the Brethren's flagship, the most powerful ship in their fleet, and now mostly a platform for strange physics experiments... Despite the fact that the crew was pissed about missing all the fighting going on, she loved it; things like this was what she lived for. Making sure ALL the recorders were running correctly this time, she watched as the fold in space-time shifted forward, over the top of the ship, and then slithered to starboard...

Hans watched the computer-generated image of the event on the Overlord's tactical data display, fingers hovering over the engineering console that would cut power to the boss's crazy gadget, should that effect wander too close to the hull. He'd seen this thing swallow too many test probes, probes that with one exception had vanished completely. The one exception had finally reported in, its FTL transmitter's signal finally reaching the ship after almost two weeks. The probe THOUGHT it was on the far side of the galaxy's center, an absolutely improbable distance away... And that little event had thrown the entire Brethren's command staff into an uproar. Still, all the other probes had vanished, and Hans was NOT about to let that ... THING swallow a portion of HIS ship!

<<<...Difficult to comprehend, it is. Strange is the mind in contact with me. Pointless its requests are. Experiments I have planned, to decipher how this mind works, but confused are the results. Projections to understanding at an acceptable level show me this will be a lengthily task... But time have I...>>>

Entity frowned and watched the Lion. Unconsciously he'd shifted from the full lotus position, to the half lotus position, to a sprawl; and yet the monitor still showed him fully in the alpha brainwave state. As he watched, the Fox wondered about the Brou machine; he'd heard rumors of the "Battle that never was", stories now making the rounds again, as the Boss had demonstrated that the machine could actually DO something. Shaking his head, he still didn't see the wisdom in tinkering with this thing, not at a time like this... Shifting into the proper position, he settled down to meditate on the question. The Elders of his people had sent him here; they must have had a reason; could they see something in this big hairy beast that he couldn't?

The Lion smiled; the slippery eel in his grip seemed to be under control, at least for the moment... Now, for the test, he simply had to hold it steady...

Parks' paws danced over the controls trying to maneuver the probe. The jury-rigged science probe was just that. The torpedo-shaped drone was being operated by remote control, a long, thin fiber optic cable paying out the back. And from the front, a hundred meter spar, with sensors at the tip, a probe to insert through the wrinkle in time-space. It was hoped that in this fashion they could see where it opened onto. But the science probe was never meant for such delicate maneuvering. Parks felt as if he were trying to thread a needle...

Emmy Lou watched as the sensors cleared; something very strange had happened as the sensor cluster had passed through the rift... she was getting a starscape, and the computer was starting its analysis...

The Lion squirmed, his paws moving, as if clutching at air... his "control" was slipping. Maybe he was getting tired, his concentration slipping... or maybe something was happening from the other end; either way, it was becoming harder and harder to hold the mental image he wanted...

Entity sat up and watched in alarm as the Lion's alpha brainwave state wavered... and then disintegrated. Across the room, the Lion rose to his knees, studied the flashing lights and symbols on the face of the Brou device, and then sighed. Rising to his feet, he moved to the nearest intercom. "Physics Lab to the Bridge; anything happen this time?"

Hans pushed the button on the arm of his command chair "Bridge to Physics lab. Yeah, Boss, something happened; we got a wrinkle in space time, Parks got the probe's... er... probe through the wrinkle, and then the whole thing collapsed. The end of the probe has been sheared off, mirror bright. Parks says its almost on the molecular level." The Lion's voice floated from the speaker; "and did we accomplish anything?" Hans sighed and shook his head, and then realizing it was an audio circuit only, muttered; "I'm told the starfield that was observed matches nothing in the computer. No combination or permutation of the billions of charted stars matches the pattern that was observed. And yet the spectral data suggests it was a normal star field. It just wasn't any starfield that's ever been charted."

The Lion sighed and looked across the room at the enigmatic Entity. As usual, his face was inscrutable; it was impossible to tell WHAT the fox might be thinking; "well, Hans, at least we learned something... OK, enough for the moment; lets go home..."

<<<...Strange it is. Asked to open a door, I am, but the destination unspecified is. More study, these creatures deserve. Unclear their motives are. Options I must consider, for the next encounter...>>>

Further work with the Brou machine

The Lion pushed the sticky electrode against his skull and sighed. If he combed his mane just right, the shaved spot on his skull wasn't all that obvious... but his mane was so unruly half the time all the effects of the meticulous combing had vanished by the time he'd stepped out the door to his cabin. Still, the tones produced by the little gizmo helped him slide into the alpha brainwave state, and that DID seem to help him communicate with the Brou device... Checking to see that all the power feeds were on, and stable, he settled into a cross-legged position by the control panel, closed his eyes and started to concentrate.

<<<...Again contact is attempted. Tenuous it is. Train it, it seems I must...>>>

As he concentrated on opening a space-time rift, the Lion suddenly squirmed; for a moment it felt as if a thousand worms were wriggling through his brain... and in their wake, an idea. That it might not have been HIS idea never even crossed his mind... Smiling, he formed the image of the wriggling, slippery eel that was the space-time distortion, and grabbing it with both paws, he slowly started to stretch it as he spread his paws wide; the Eel still tried to squirm, but he found he was more or less able to hold its ends as he wanted... One end, the open mouthed end... to the Starboard side of the ship... and the other end on the Port side...

Hans sat straight up as the sensor operators all started yelling at the same time. Rising from his command chair, padding over to look at the displays, he grunted; "Two Anomolies? Now what is that crazy lion up to?

Emmy Lou sipped her coffee and grinned; this was better than any Holoadventure she'd ever seen. The subatomic and subspace physics were so eloquent; it was such a ballet of nadions and tachyons... Without a second thought about the recorders, she settled in to watch the show...

Parks had been seriously afraid that would happen. He'd augmented his science probe, refining its maneuvering capabilities, and replacing the hundred meter spar on its prow. And now, as he'd maneuvered it into the distortion on the starboard side of the Overlord... The end of the probe had come out the distortion on the Port side. The damn thing DID work! But if it worked... could all those wild tales about hostile cruisers vanishing without a trace be TRUE?

"Henley! HENLEY!" Vandrosky's face had an unnatural cast to it as he called to the Beaver. "Henley, did you hear the news from the Overloard?" The Marmoset looked calmly at Vandrosky and shrugged; "I take it that alien gizmo the boss has been playing with hasn't eaten them, or exploded, or anything like that..." Vandrosky shook his head no and held up a data crystal; "worse than that... MUCH worse than that... It seems, to a small extent, they've actually got it working... I just pulled this from the live feed they've been sending us!"

Henley watched over Vandrosky's shoulder as he plugged the data crystal into the reader. The whole left side of the screen was scrolling data from the sensors, most of it arcane physics stuff... but the right side showed video feeds, upper right showing the jury-rigged science probe approaching the writhing space-time distortion, while the lower right showed the second space-time distortion. Amazingly, as they watched, the sensor package on the tip of the hundred meter spar poked its way into the one distortion... and immediately appeared from the other distortion. The probe was only a hundred meters long, and yet each distortion was roughly a hundred kilometers on either side of the ship. They watched as the probe edged closer, but the distortion was fluctuating slightly, and as the probe closed, it contracted slightly. What emerged from the other distortion was a "skinned" probe, the outer meter or so of its hull sliced cleanly away...

Henley sighed; "you realize of course, that by thrusting this thing off on Parks and the Overlord, we now look like idiots..." Vandrosky just nodded and shrugged; "who knew?"

The Lion walked into the hangar deck; his tail was dragging and he looked as if he'd just run a marathon. Joining Hans and Parks, he stared down at the remains of the science probe. "Well, I guess we're not going to call for volunteers any time soon to see if something living can pass through the distortion..." Parks Hmmmed; "I don't know. Medical has some lab mice we might use. I could rig a small life support capsule in the sensor pod." Hans looked aghast at his Chief Engineer; "you mean you're actually planning another of these little experiments?" Parks blinked and then grinned; "Of Course. You know how fast, how cheap using the Jump Drive is. What if we didn't have to travel to a jump point? It would combine all the convenience of a Warp Drive with all the speed and economy of a Jump Drive." Seeing the look on his Captain's face, the grin on the Ocelot widened; "Look at it this way, Skipper; lets say we get in REALLY big trouble some day. A squadron of Imperial Dreadnaughts. With a drive like this, we could be a LONG way away in a matter of moments, and they couldn't follow!" As Hans rolled that around in his mind, the Lion grinned; "Guys, I'm wasted. I'm going to go get some sleep." As the Lion turned to head for the door, Parks called out; "I'll be ready to go again, WITH the mice, at 0800!

<<<...Successful, that was? Unknown. Hard to read, the contact's thoughts were; confused by his emotions they were. Pleased he seemed to be, but uncertain I am. And yet, an interpretation of... "commands" seems to be improving. More work, required is. More study too...>>>

Even more work with the Brou Machine

Edgar jumped up and down trying to see. He'd put twenty credits down on "fail" and the Hamster couldn't see into the holotank they'd rigged on the station's recreation deck. Growling, he finally shoved his way between a lady wolf in worn cammies and a Minotaur in... not much. Ignoring their outrage he grinned as he watched the show start.

The Lion was finding it easier to slip into the alpha brainwave state; he was down to only about five minutes of meditation before he felt he could reach out to the Brou device and attempt something. Today he just wanted to hold the image of the slippery eel in his mind, mouth on one side of the ship, tail on the other. Parks was going to try and send a number of lab mice through the rift, and the bets were running high on whether it would work or not...

Entity watched, sitting in the full lotus position across from the Lion. He watched the beast's chest rise and fall as he breathed, watched the way he held himself. The signs where there, subtle, but if you knew where to look, you could almost read his mind, interpret what he was doing... And how well it was going...

Parks watched the Rift form as seen by the science probe; he was seated at the science station on the Bridge of the Overlord, with half the Bridge crew clustered behind him. Everyone else seemed to be clustered around the tactical display, which was now showing mostly data from the astrophysics sensors. He waited until the rift had stabilized, or had stabilized as much as it was likely to, and then gently bumped the probe's sensors, urging it forward at a walking pace...

The Lion concentrated on holding the eel as steady as he could. With practice he found it getting easier and easier, to the point where he was able to devote a small amount of his time to trying other things. Doing this, for instance seemed to make it stretch a little, between head and tail...

Parks let out a yelp as the rift suddenly shot TOWARDS the probe, coming to a stop seemingly inches from the end of the spar, and the life support capsule containing the mice... The Medical Lab had been quite insistent that the mice be returned unharmed... or else, and it was Parks firm opinion that the lab techs down there had gotten much too attached to the critters...

Edgar whooped as the tip of the spar entered the rift; suddenly the view in the holotank split and the other image showed the tip of the spar exiting the matching rift. For a moment the room held its collective breath, and then all heads turned as one to look at the monitor that was showing the life-signs of the mice. Sighing, the Hamster turned and pushed through the crowd; he'd just lost twenty credits...

The Lion shivered; it felt as if the Eel had just swallowed; something had rippled from one end to the other; had that been the science probe? Loosing concentration just a little, the Lion unconciously twisted his left paw up a little, his right paw down a little, as if he were trying to unscrew two pieces of threaded pipe... And suddenly the Eel felt larger in his imaginary hands...

Parks gasped as the rift suddenly tripled in diameter. Somewhere in the background an alarm was hooting on the Engineering board. Not knowing how long the Fusion reactors could keep up with the demands of that alien gizmo, Parks acted on impulse and kicked the probe's thrusters on full.

The Lion blinked as something else rippled down the length of the imaginary Eel; it was as if the creature had swallowed a walnut...

Hans watched the show from his command chair on the Bridge. It was actually beginning to look as if this thing, for all its problems, might actually be useful for something... Not that HE ever wanted to step through that swirling mass of energy...

Ginger grinned at Parks and took the cage from his hands; "I'm glad you got my dears back in one piece! I don't know what I would have done without them!" The Ocelot smiled; "I'm delighted to be able to return them to you safe and sound, even if they DO glow in the dark..." At the look on the Rabbit's face he chuckled; "JUST KIDDING! Seriously, though, you should watch them to make sure there are no long-term effects." Ginger huffed, but nodded; "Very well, I'll keep an eye on them... but NEXT TIME, Mr. Wise Guy, YOU can take a walk through that thing!"

As he walked down the corridor towards Engineering, the Ocelot nodded to himself; "You know, I might just have to do that..."

Brou Device 4

Hans paced the Bridge, occasionally looking into the tactical holotank. The Boss's Experiments were starting to become routine. And that frightened him. The ship's entire power system, the Fusion APU's AND the matter/antimatter reactors, were running flat out, burning fuel at a horrendous rate. But the Boss had sent one end of what the Physics specialists were now calling a "Wormhole" for lack of a better term, almost to the limit of the Overlord's sensors... and the Overlord had VERY good sensors. If the Boss got any more proficient at this, they'd have to send a probe to follow the initial distortion in space-time...

The Lion gulped; he knew he'd done something very wrong, when the imaginary Eel started writhing in his imaginary paws, convulsing as if it were swallowing again and again, walnut and then orange and then melon sized lumps traveling the length of its body...

The ship shuddered again, and someone at the shields console cried out "We're down to 14%! We can't take another hit like that!" Hans picked himself off the deck and growled at the Engineering officer; "Cut power to that thing! SHUT IT DOWN!" The Panda looked back at her Captain and spread her paws helplessly; "I HAVE, Sir! All power's been diverted to shields! Even Life Support! Its running on its own!"

The Lion thought fast; he must have run the mouth of the "Eel" through something. A ship, or a colony, or maybe even a moon. He didn't REALLY know where the end was, but he'd thought it had been in interplanetary space... Moving almost convulsively he twisted and bent the Eel, knowing his commands should reduce the size of its "mouth", and hopefully minimizing the damage. Moving as fast as he dared, he brought it back the way he'd come, hoping to get it away from whatever he'd run it into...

Hans relaxed; the matter pouring out of the space-time rift near the ship had dwindled to a trickle and then ceased. Some of the chunks had emerged from the rift at odd vectors and had slammed into the Battlecruiser's shields with incredible energy. Sitting back into his Command Chair, he smiled to himself...

The Alarms were still hooting when the Lion charged onto the Bridge; "Damage Report!" Hans rose to his feet; "Damn near did us in there, Boss. Shields were down to 3%, and one of the shield generators actually melted. Engineering is working on it, and they say we'll be back up to par in about six hours." The Lion nodded; "OK, so what'd I hit?" Hans shrugged; "Dunno; mostly Nickel-Iron. I'd say it was a rogue asteroid." The Lion sagged; "I thought I'd run it into a ship. Or a space habitat somewhere." Hans shook his head no; "Actually, it was pretty much following the path we'd discussed in the pre-test briefing. Just bad luck, I think..." The Lion nodded; "From now on we take greater precautions. I don't want this to happen again!" "Amen to THAT" Hans grunted. "So when's the next test?" The Lion blinked; "after what just happened to the ship, you want to continue?" Hans chuckled. He could feel eyes from all over the Bridge turning his way; "Of Course. Can you imagine using this thing as a weapon? You could gut an Imperial Dreadnaught from the inside out, and there wouldn't be a damn thing they could do about it. That little alien toy of yours just ripped an asteroid Astrophysics estimates was a good two klicks in diameter, solid nickel-iron, into shreds. IMAGINE what it could do to a mere ship!"

Parks caught up with the Lion as he strode from the Bridge; "Um... Hey, Boss?" The Lion looked over at the Ocelot; "Don't tell me you want to use it as a weapon too..." Parks shrugged; "in a pinch, yeah. But I'd rather use it as an alternative to the Warp Drive... IF you can tell me how you made it self supporting." The Lion stopped dead in his tracks and stared; "Made it WHAT?" Parks nodded eagerly; "When it started spewing high energy rock fragments, Luan cut all power to the Brou device and shifted it to shields. Her quick thinking saved our collective asses. But it didn't kill the effect." The Lion stared blankly for a moment and then shook his head; "One of the problems in running this thing blind; I didn't know the power was cut. Most curious. Route me the log tapes, I want to study this. And set up an experiment to test it again.

<<<...Blind this one is. Unable to see where he directs me. Greater tutoring must I do. Vision he must acquire or disaster looms. Much work to do there is...>>>

Brou Device 5

Hans looked over the Bridge of the Overlord. Only those who needed to were watching the tactical display this time. The ship was at full Battle Stations. All airtight doors were closed, shields were up... The Lion was playing with the Brou device again, but this time they weren't about to be caught with their pants down.

Entity watched the lion's face; it was obvious that he was practicing his control of the space-time distortion. Maneuvering it. Reshaping it. To everyone's amazement, once the distortion had been formed, Parks had pulled almost all the power to the Brou device, leaving only a trickle. And the space-time distortion hadn't faded... Most curious.

The Lion felt a funny tickle in the back of his mind; it was almost as if something were tickling the base of his brainstem. As it passed, he had an idea... He could move the "mouth" left and right, up and down, forward and back, make it larger and smaller... But if you considered the Mouth to be on the floor of a high-rise office building, if he did... <this> he might be able to jump it to a different floor...

Hans sat bolt-upright when the sensor operator yelped; "the first distortion has vanished, Sir!" Parks looked up from the Engineering console; "But... the second distortion is still there; so where'd the first one go? Did it slip off at a high rate of speed?" Johnson looked up from the Science console; "Not a chance; got it all on a dozen sensors; it just... vanished."...

Roulf howled "HERE WE GO AGAIN" from the tactical display, and suddenly the ship shuddered. Hans turned and looked at the tactical display... The second distortion was spewing... massive volumes of atmosphere gasses. Suddenly it started throwing chunks of what looked like... water? Liquid water? Of course it froze almost instantly into chunks of ice. Moments later it started discharging rock. LARGE quantities of rock, at high velocities... But the Overlord had already moved, shifting its position. They watched from a distance...

The Lion knew he was doing it again, and that frightened him. Last time it had been a simple asteroid one not even worth mining... This time it was something... larger. He'd jumped the "mouth" up about four floors in the high-rise... and when he'd felt the passage of something along the length of the "Eel", he'd tried to jump it back, but it hadn't worked. Frantically he'd tried to recreate just what it was he'd done...

Hans watched as the distortion spewed what seemed to be magma. Astrophysics had already calculated that the detrius was emerging from the distortion at the velocity of a planet orbiting a star at roughly 1.4 AU. At least the sensors hadn't detected any life-signs...

The Lion grinned in triumph. A single move like <this> and the "mouth" was back where it started... He thought.

Hans sighed as the distortion stopped spewing molten rock. Stopped as if someone had thrown a switch. It was almost simultaneous with the sensor operator's muttered; "its baaaaack!" Somehow he just KNEW the first distortion had popped into existence wherever it'd come from...

"I don't know, Parks, I just don't know." The Lion looked worn out as they walked down the corridor. "I moved the "Mouth"... the initial distortion "elsewhere" but I'm not sure where. I think it was on a... different "plane". But I'm not sure just what I mean by that. Behind the two, Entity muttered; "a parallel universe, perhaps?" The Lion stopped and looked at the Fox for a moment; "you know, that's as good an explanation as any. Or maybe an alternate reality. I don't know..." Parks nodded; "one things's for certain." Both the Lion and Entity looked at the Ocelot. "We've got to investigate it..."

<<<...The first step he has taken. Other universes he suspects; amazing they don't know. Backwards they must be. But curiosity grows. Progress we are making...>>>

Back to the Battle

The starport was a minor facility, but it was still bustling. A flight of ground assault craft were parked at the far edge of the field, being refueled and rearmed. A half-dozen cargo craft were unloading, automated cargo handlers scurrying seemingly at random, resembling a kicked-over ant-hill. And out on the scarred landing field, three tramp freighters, obviously smugglers. Roland turned in disgust from the Blues aircraft maintenance officer and looked across the building that served as a terminal. The Blues officer had been sympathetic, but a good deal less than helpful. There were no Brethren ships in this sector today; the fighting had passed on, and they were at the front. And even there, they seldom landed, preferring to refuel and rearm in space. And the Blues just didn't have any ships headed in that direction. Maybe if he journeyed to the new Provincial capital... but no, he didn't have any transports going that way either...

Smith let his eyes adjust to the comparative dark of the "terminal building" as he looked around. It was obvious where the "agent" was, from the crowd of civilians. Walking over, he set his single valise on the ground, joining the line... The Badger in front of him seemed to be running more to "mad" than the others in line; they might be described as "frightened" or "desperate"... but not him. Waiting patiently, Smith watched the crowd.

The Agent seemed genuinely distressed; "I'm sorry sir, but the ship captain tells me his price is not negotiable. I'm sorry. Perhaps you'd have better luck at the Blairstown spaceport; they're getting a lot more traffic these days..." The middle aged Walrus sighed, nodded, and taking the hand of his daughter, moved towards the ground transportation kiosk. And so it went. Some cried at the price; others screamed. A few swallowed hard and came up with the cash. And then it was the Badger's turn. He looked at the Agent for a moment, a look that seemed to make the Coyote flinch. After a moment he growled; "Look, all I want is for the ship Captain to make a small detour, and to let me off at the nearest Brethren ship. And I'm willing to pay for it too." The Agent stared blankly at the Badger for a moment and then started laughing; "you WANT the Captain to seek out the Pirates? Are you CRAZY? Brother, that ain't NEVER going to happen, no matter WHAT you promise.

Smith smiled and before the Badger could explode, he reached out to tap the Badger on the shouluder; "Might find it expedient to take one of the ships departing, to one of the nearby systems, and then try and come back with a Brethren supply ship. It might not be quicker but it probably would be safer..." Smith glanced at the agent, and then chuckled; 'Then again, the Brethren might raid the ship on the way out and you'd wind up with them anyways." The Agent coughed and then shook his head; "Actually, there's a much better chance the Reds would intercept the ship..." When both Smith and the Badger turned to look at him, the Coyote shrugged; "The Reds have declared such people as Middle level managers, engineers, doctors and such as "essential" resources for the planet and have forbidden them to leave. They're making an effort to make sure these "Critical resouces" don't "Steal" themselves from the Elysium people. And those that they don't, ah, "arrest" and return to the planet, well, they're "spaced" as traitors... If the ship is caught by the Reds, it could be a lot worse than being taken by Pirates.

Roland looked from Smith to the Agent; "how many of the smugglers are making it out?" The Agent shrugged; "About a third. I'm trying to warn everyone who comes through here, but most of them, they don't want to listen... I hope you will." Smith cocked his head to one side as he looked at the Coyote; "and how many wind up in the hands of the Brethren?" The Coyote shrugged; "somewhere between a half and a third. Ship Captains are deciding that they'd rather wind up being sold as a slave than spaced by the Reds. In some cases they negotiate the surrender of their vessel to the Brethren; in others they just run towards them as fast as they can, when the Reds appear, and hope for the best. In some cases the Reds have been destroying ships before they can surrender to the Brethren. And I've heard that there have been several gunfights between the Reds and the Brethren..."

Roland looked at Smith and Hmmmed; "one third make it out of the system and half wind up with the Brethren. That's 83% that I'll be able to eventually get where I'm headed." Smith nodded slowly; "and 17% that you'll die. But then, you'll die if you stay here, so its an eminently acceptable risk." The Badger looked at Smith critically; "This area's secure. I can't see it being that risky to just sit tight. Unprofitable, but safe..." Smith smiled enigmatically; "Lets just say that I'm tied in to the Brethren's intelligence operation, and that I know things you don't. 'Nuff said." It was the Badger's turn to nod slowly; "Ooooookay... So how do we find ourselves a smuggler to get us out of here?" Turning back to the agent, who'd probably overheard their conversation, and now looked a little queasy, Smith smiled; "of the three ships in port here, which one is the best? Which one has the best Captain, with the best track record?" The Coyote swallowed; "That'd be Peter Blud. He's an ex-pirate himself and seems to be able to read their minds. His ship's not the best, but his knowledge base seems to make up for it." Smith nodded; "I'd like for you to arrange for us to meet with Captain Blud."

As they headed towards the landing area, the Badger looked over at Smith, studying him for a moment. Smith was... at best nondescript. Scratching his head, Roland wondered just what kind of furr he was... Might be Fox... or Coyote... or Wolf... but then the cast of his eyes, and his short muzzle suggested something feline... most curious. Wondering if Smith might have had cosmetic surgery specifically to confuse the issue, the Badger wondered how to broach the next "problem" subject...

"Um, Smith... As we're both with the Brethren, I was wondering if I... might make a small "imposition" on you..." Smith stopped and turned to look at the Badger, his face unreadable; "and that is?" Roland shrugged; "well, when my 'Mech got fried, I basically lost everything I had with me. Everything but the radio." The Badger grinned; "Hell, you know for the biosensors and the... "plumbing" to work correctly you run those things in the buff." Smith looked the Badger up and down as if evaluating his wardrobe and then nodded; "I would HOPE you wouldn't wear an outfit like that out of choice..." Roland's eyes widened; "Hey, I SPECIFICALLY stole... Oh, nevermind. What I'm trying to say is that I don't really have the price for a ticket off planet. But since we both work for the same outfit, perhaps you could... get it on your expense account?" Smith smiled; "Actually, I'm what you might call an independent contractor, but yes, to an extent my expenses are covered. Lets see what it might take, though. No Promises." Roland nodded; "Fair enough..."

Reaching behind his head, as if to scratch the back of his neck, the Badger loosened the throwing knife in the sheath sewn into the back of his leather jacket. He HOPED he wouldn't have to try and take over the smuggler's ship by himself, but if that's what it took...

The Badger looked from the name on the prow of the ship to Smith and then back to the ship itself. It was cylindrical, roughly ten to twelve diameters in length, resting on its side. At the back were a cluster of cylinders, strapped around the circumference. These were divided into three groups by swept-back triangular fins, two of which supported the aft end of the craft. A single landing leg in front held the bow off the ground. The upper curve of the rounded bow was all "greenhouse," obviously giving the flight deck an excellent view of the stars, and from the very front of the curved prow extended a slightly tapered cylinder, like the point on a throwing dart. The whole hull was a polished silver, with occasional accents of red. It looked ridiculous, like something out of an ancient Holo. Looking back to Smith, the Badger grumbled; "What a piece of Shit! We're going to entrust our lives to THIS? The Badger grinned; "I LOVE it" and then looked at the Badger; "Oh, nevermind; you're too young to remember. Come on, I can't wait to meet this Captain Blud.

The Fox was a blazing scarlet, wearing khaki pants and a bloused white shirt open to the waist. He returned Smith's grin; "Glad you like the Anthony Rodgers; there aren't many who get the joke." Smith chuckled; "I bet it cost you a fortune to make something that looks like this actually function." The Fox nodded; "It did, but it was worth every penny; no one who sees the Rodgers takes her seriously, a major mistake. Now, tell me, gentlefurrs, how I can be of service." Smith shrugged; "its simple. We want to leave. Now. We don't care if we wind up at your next port of call, or with the Brethren, among whom we have a number of friends, and, err, business associates, but we would appreciate avoiding the Elysium government and the Reds. The Important thing is that we need to leave NOW."

The Fox stroked his chin, frowning slightly; "I haven't yet filled all the berths... For us to leave immediately, you would have to pay for every single remaining berth on the ship." Roland's eyes bulged, and his jaw dropped; he was just about to speak when Smith's foot came down on his. "Forgive my associate; to be perfectly frank, I expected something like this. How much?"

Roland listened while the two dickered, and finally settled on a price. Smith lifted his valise and slowly, meticulously emptied it of its contents. Toiletries, underwear, a change of clothing, a significant number of weapons which somehow hadn't set off ANY of the detectors in the starport, and a number of papers... Finally he reached into the bottom of the valise with both hands and pulled, removing the false bottom. Moving slowly, he extracted four small objects; "I trust gold pressed Latinum will do? These three should adequately cover the sum we agreed upon. I'm showing you the fourth with this promise: Get us to the next port, or to the Brethren, and I'll give that to you as a bonus." The Fox fingered one of the cubes and nodded; "How soon do you want to raise ship?" Smith smiled; "two hours. Having done this, I'd like to go back into the Starport and... "defray" my costs some by subletting the empty births to what refugees might meet my... Requirements." Roland frowned while the Fox smiledd; "I haven't seen that many comely wenches there, but if you wish... well, whatever you wish, Sir. Two hours. We'll be ready!"

Smith stopped and stared at the Coyote until he broke off his conversation with the middle aged Ermine and her three rather noisy children. Stepping closer, Smith looked at the Agent; "There are some berths open on the Rodgers; you were kind enough to help us earlier; if you wish, you and your family are welcome to them. The Coyote opened his mouth, then closed it and swallowed; "Um... I'd like to send my family, but I think I'm needed here to... help others get off planet. If what you alluded to is... Well, I don't think I could leave now, leaving others behind. Smith smiled fractionally and nodded; "One hour, 43 minutes. Now, perhaps you could help me find others to fill the remaining berths. I'm not looking for furrs with money; rather this is what I'm looking for..."

The old Marmoset nodded; "I was with the Federal budget office. Yes, that's right, I worked for the Elysium government, but I was a statistician, for cryin' out loud! I didn't make policy! I didn't have a hand in anything that they did!" Smith nodded slowly; "I never said you did; please go on." The Marmoset looked at his wife and then collected himself, visibly forcing himself to calm down. "I've noticed some things. I've noticed that the Blues have liberated croplands, because that's the logical thing to do in their drive on the Capital. But the Reds have gone out of their way to capture a major mining area, even though its way out in the desert, and sparsely populated. In the Rrawr industrial area, there has actually been fighting between the Reds and the Blues, as the Reds seek to gain control of certain key facilities." Smith nodded; "and what conclusion have you drawn from all this?" The Marmoset sighed; "I think the Reds are positioning themselves for what comes after the fall of the Elysium government. I don't think they're going to want to participate in a planet-wide coalition government as their propaganda says. I think they're going to hold onto the territory they've taken and shoot for complete domination of the Planet. I think a civil war is coming, and I don't want any part of it! I want to get my family somewhere safe!" Smith nodded; "agreed; I'll sponsor you, provided you talk to some friends of mine, at the earliest opportunity." The Marmoset nodded; "as long as its somewhere safe, I'll be glad to tell them about my observations." Sitting back, smiling proudly, he proclaimed; "I've used non-parametric analyses to check my data; it passes the ANOVA tests. The alpha and beta propositions have almost perfect confidence levels... I KNOW I'm right..." Smith just smiled; "I'm sure you are; now you'd best get your family off to the Rodgers. We're leaving soon.

The old raccoon was missing a leg, below the knee, but he held himself with a military bearing. He seemed to see a kindred spirit in Smith, and vice versa. "Yessir, I've picked up on the pattern. The Blues are liberating people, but the Reds are securing strategic positions wherever possible. And resources too. The Yttrium mines at Bangor, the Hydroelectric facility at Bamffh, and so forth. If I could fight, I'd stay, but I'm too old for the regeneration techniques... and, well, me and the missus just want to get our family out of harm's way? Is that too much for an old soldier to ask?"

Smith looked at the notepad and nodded; "That's it; that's all the available berths." Roland nodded; "We've only got a few minutes; we'd best get going." As they rose, moving through the now largely deserted terminal, Roland looked at Smith; "how does putting all those people on the ship defray your costs?" Smith smiled; "they all have a story to tell; a story the Intelligence folks I work for will want to hear first-hand. I think they may already have a clue as to what's coming, but good, solid data is always valuable. Don't worry, I suspect this whole thing will be break even..." The Badger nodded; "Good, I'd hate for that fare to come out of my pay!"

The Fox consulted an antique pocketwatch and the smiled. Smith's largesse had earned him a place on the flight deck, and he'd brought Roland with him. So far the Fox hadn't objected. Dressed in jodhpurs and a tunic that closed in the front with a vertical row of gold buttons on each side, a golden lightning bolt cutting diagonally across his front, the Fox looked very much the dashing holo-hero, and to Roland's way of thinking, very much the antique. "He was probably too crazy for the Brethren" the Badger thought to himself, knowing well that the Pirates would tolerate almost anyone's eccentricities, as long as they were effective. Still, the ship lifted off with the quiet hum of the most modern repulsors, and soon they were flying, a scarce hundred meters above the treetops, across the countryside. As a river flashed by underneath, Roland's eyes widened; "Hey, didn't we just pass into Reds territory?" The fox grinned, his eyes never leaving the tactical display in front of him; "Um Hmmmmm." Roland was about to say something else, when Smith's hand on his shoulder quieted him. The Rodgers made a few sweeping turns, obviously evading ground defenses, until a city started to loom ahead... And there was a starport, with a HUGE ship lifting off. The Leviathan was one of a class of superfreighters, and as such, the Reds were providing it with an escort...

Roland's head jerked as the sensor operator spoke; "Got it,Captain. We're now emulating their IFF. They'll think we're one of them, if they don't look too closely..." The Fox grinned; "Very good, Chatwick."

The Elysium forces however, were not unaware of the small convoy lifting from the planet's surface. As they all climbed for altitude like homesick angels, the first interceptors found them. The first wave was shot down by the escorting Reds forces; the second wave was hard on the heels of the first however, and managed to take out two of the defenders. The third wave had even more survivors, claiming one more defender, and scoring a solid hit on the bulk of the Leviathan. Blud, wisely had sheltered his ship in the radar shadow of the Leviathan, a move any surviving Reds would have been sure to have noticed... had any survived the fourth wave of interceptors. The Leviathan's point defense systems, no longer on hold due to the "friendlies" in the area, took out several of those, but another scored a hit on its hull. Still, the Leviathan, now empty, was mostly empty cargo holds, and while quite a bit of hullmetal was shed in the upper atmosphere, the spaceworthyness of the ship didn't seem to be significantly affected.

This had merely been the opening act, however. Suddenly the Leviathan lurched onto a new vector, and for a moment, the Rodger's sensors were able to pick up the oncoming aerospace fighters. "Time to depart, I think" the Fox mused. Nodding to his helmsfurr, the Rodgers accelerated smartly.

Acworth blinked; something trailing fire was emerging from behind their target... A silvery torpedo shape with tailfins and a huge tail of flame trailing behind it... "Dunwoody, you see that?" "Roger" came the voice of his wingman; "I see it, but I don't believe it. Who uses chemical rockets THESE days?" "Dunno" Acworth responded; "I don't THINK it's a weapon; its not headed for us..." "Confirmed" Dunwoody growled; "its not our designated target; ignore it. Lets concentrate on the Freighter. Lets see if we can force it down..."

Blud smiled as the aerospace fighters vectored in on the Leviathan. The freighter was powerful and well armed, but it was not meant to dogfight with such as those. Whoever was in command of that ship was about to have a very bad day. Grinning, the Fox scanned the tactical display, looking for the next problem.

They'd evaded an Elysium picket ship, dodged two Brethren raiders (who were probably on their way back from a ground support mission, and unlikely to be too interested in them) and pretended to be a piece of wreckage left over from some previous battle while a Reds Frigate moved past. Now they were half way through the system and it almost looked as if they might make it to a jump point. Roland had journeyed to the Rodger's mess, to fetch sandwiches, and Smith seemed to be asleep. The Sensor operator's quiet "uh-oh" was almost missed... However as the Fox's nose shifted fractionally, as his ears twitched, Smith's eyes opened. He didn't say anything, he just watched. Initially, Roland thought the sensor furr might have dripped mayo from his sandwich on his pants, so quiet was the comment, but it was Smith's almost imperceptible change in demeanor that brought him to full alertness. After a moment, Blud rose from his command chair, stretched, and ambled over. He gazed over the sensor operator's console for a minute and then nodded to himself. Turning he looked at the Helmsfur; "253 mark 117. Flank speed. I do believe they've set a trap for us." Smith almost whispered when he spoke, but the word seemed to fill the flight deck; "Who?" The Fox winced and replied in kind; "Reds." After a moment, he expounded; "They, ah, don't seem to like me very much. Can't imagine why..."

Roland shifted in his seat; "you know we have friends with the Brethren; we MIGHT be able to cut a deal with them." Blud shrugged; "I know. But I'm not that eager to loose all my profits, and maybe my ship and freedom too. I'll keep that in mind, but I won't resort to that until I have to..."

"Got another one coming in at point five, Captain." The Fox nodded, a slightly more worried look on his face; "352 Mark 15. Engine room; can you give us any more?" The furr that responded, his voice tinny over the intercom, sounded like he'd been raised on New Aberdeen. In a thick burrr, he growled; "Captain, I'm giv'n her all she's got; she kinna take annamore." The Fox smiled; "Time for one of your occasional miracles, Montgomery; push her harder!"

Stern chases can be long, drawn out affairs. Blud had kicked a few mines out, a tactic that had surprised and charmed Smith; it'd bought them a little more time, but not that much more. None of the mines had damaged their pursuers. The sensor operator's sharp invective caught them all off guard; "DAMMIT! Captain, we've got two more coming in 37 Mark 63 and 45 Mark 12. Blud nodded; "Come about to ... 305 mark 290." Turning to Smith the Fox sighed; "best make your call. And I'd be obliged if you could cut my crew the best deal you can."

Roland looked at the Fox; "you mean..." Blud nodded; "its inevitable. Sooner or later they'll catch us. Oh, they might shear off, if something more lucrative comes up, but that's not too likely..." Roland nodded; "if it comes to a boarding, I'll help defend the ship." Blud smiled wryly; "I appreciate that, but they're more likely to just torpedo us, and move on... Unless they're into Art Deco, in which case they MIGHT want to take us as a prize..." Roland winced and shook his head; "we're doomed..."

Roland looked at Smith and wondered how he could be so calm. Even Blud was nervously chewing on a clawtip. The Reds were almost within weapons range. Three ships with enough firepower to... Insure the job got done. With everyone on edge, the Sensor operator's yelp made everyone jump. Well, almost everyone; Smith's eyes may have opened, but it seemed to be his only movement. "HOLY... Where the FUCK did THAT come from?" Blud paced over; "What's happened?" The Sensor operator shrugged; "Lost all sensor data on the three pursuers. Seems there's something in the way." Blud blinked; "What? What's in the way?" Then, as he leaned over the furr's shoulder to look at the sensor console, he grinned; "Ah, I love a dramatic rescue like that. It appeals to the romantic in me."

Onegin growled into the comm pickup; "You Bastard! I KNEW he still had to be one of yours!" The Lion's stern image gazed back; "I'm sure you won't believe me when I tell you that Blud hasn't been with us for years. He's about to become just another prisoner taken by the Brethren." Onegin shook his head; "He is OUR prisoner, wanted for crimes against the People of Elysium! We were already in pursuit of him! He belongs to US!" The Lion grinned, showing fangs; "You, Sir, have set the pattern of taking rightful prey away from us; you have no grounds to complain when it happens to you in turn. Now, if you think that one cruiser and two destroyers are a fair match for the Overlord, you're perfectly welcome to test our metal. Otherwise, get lost."

Onegin's eyes went wide and he spluttered as the Lion broke the connection. Behind him, his first officer growled; "you know, we MIGHT be able to take the Bastard; their power curves are abnormally low..." Turning, Onegin glared at his subordinate; "And how many OTHER ships does he have cloaked and ready to help him?" At his First Officer's surprised look, Onegin growled; "No, we'll let him have this one. We have OTHER plans for that mangy Lion. Believe me, we do. He'll get his come-uppance, and fairly soon, too."

"Hello, Peter." "Hello, Hans, good to see you again." The speech was pleasant, even if the actions weren't; the boarding crew from the Overlord was taking everyone prisoner, an action that absolutely enraged Roland. No matter how much he protested, no matter who he claimed to know, or what evidence he offered to present, they treated him just like any of the others. Smith took it all as stoically as the Fox, however, not resisting in the least. All anyone would say was that they'd sort it ALL out when they got back to the base...

Xyloff smiled as he looked at the video feed; "Well, Onegin, it's a shame you lost him. He has been an annoyance. But the Brethren coming to his aid like they did, depriving us of Justice, could not have been better if we'd written the script for them. By the time this hits the airwaves, no one on the planet will see the Pirates as anything but the scum that they are...

Conversations with the Imperials

Tanj smiled as she read the addendum to Smith's report. She'd known Smith, or whatever his real name was, was resourceful, but it seemed he'd risen to new heights in order to return to where he could report in "Securely." She tried for a minute to imagine the nondescript furr in the kennels of the Brethren's base, but after a minute gave up. Shaking her head in amazement at the audacity of leaking a portion of the Rodger's flight plan to the Reds, just to insure that Blud would be forced into seeking shelter with the Brethren, and thus taking Smith exactly where he wanted to go, she closed that message and opened the next. It was just what she'd feared, and exactly what she'd expected. Her Master had talked to Smith, and to the refugees with him. He said that he personally was convinced. Convinced that the Elysium government was building some sort of doomsday device around the effect exhibited by the Brou device. Convinced that the Reds were positioning themselves for a grab for power when the Elysium government fell. But as convinced as he claimed to be, he insisted that he could do no more than warn a few key furrs of what might be coming. That and take a few unspecified precautions... That he could go no further, until he had incontrovertible proof... Towards that end, she was ordered to return immediately.

Leaning forward, Tanj reread the postscript one more time. If she read it right, he was leaving it up to her discretion whether or not to tell the Imperials what they suspected. Settling back in her station chair, Tanj stared at the bulkhead, wondering if he'd deliberately waited until things were too far gone for the Imperials to interfere, one way or the other...

Tanj found Kath in the laundry. The equipment was almost completely automated, and the fabrics didn't require pressing, and yet, for some reason it was one of the Mink's favorite places. Tanj grinned as the Mink stood, legs wide apart, her crotch pressed hard against the washer, which was shaking hard, obviously struggling with an out-of- balance load... Tanj knew from personal experience that if you pressed against it there, the vibration sensor wouldn't shut the washer down... and that the selfless act of steadying the heavily vibrating washer brought its own rewards... Clearing her throat, she grinned at the sudden look of panic on Kath's face as she realized she'd been "caught"... "Best get dressed. We have to go see that Wolf in Intelligence. And we'd best do it quickly." With a look of disappointment on her face, the Mink nodded, and reluctantly peeled herself away from the front of the washer.

The reception desk in the Imperial Intelligence offices was manned by an older Leopard wearing Sergeant's stripes. Before Tanj had even reached him, he'd picked up a comm handset, and was talking quietly. Tanj stopped before him and just looked at him. After a moment the Leopard nodded to whoever he was talking to, put down the handset and nodded towards the door; "He'll be expecting you, ma'am." Tanj nodded her thanks, and with Kath following, turned to move through the door.

The Wolf's cubicle looked as sterile as ever. If he'd been doing anything at all, there was no clue as to what. He sat there with his paws folded on the desk in front of him. Without waiting for an offer, Tanj took the visitor's chair. For a moment she just looked at him... And then she began; "We have reason to believe that the Elysium government has stumbled upon a significant... Astrophysics event. Building on their observations, we believe that they are developing a... "doomsday" weapon of sufficient power to destroy the whole planet. We think that if the civil war goes against them, the leadership cadre will attempt to flee the planet, using the... weapon behind to destroy their enemies. This is a collation of a number of snippets of intelligence, coupled with some eye-witness information, but no hard proof exists. Never the less, I have sufficient confidence in the weight of evidence that I thought you should know."

The Wolf looked at her for a long moment, unblinking... and then he started to chuckle. The chuckle grew, until he was leaning back in the chair, laughing uproariously. Heads appeared over the surrounding cubicle walls as furrs stared wide-eyed at a sight Tanj was sure they'd never thought they'd see. Finally the Wolf calmed down enough to wave a paw dismissively; "The Imperium has been searching for decades for a way to destroy an entire planet. Nothing and I mean NOTHING has even come close! Oh, they can kill off all the life, and ruin the ecology, but not actually destroy the planet. Its just not possible!"

Tanj shrugged and rose; "Time will tell. And I truly hope I'm wrong. Just don't say I didn't try and warn you." Turning, a wide-eyed Kath trailing her, Tanj stalked out.

The Jaguar frowned at the image of the Wolf on his viewscreen. "Sir, we can be underway in under three hours, if need be." The Wolf nodded; "I want you to shadow the Beowulf as they return to the Elysium sector. No, I don't expect you to hide a Battlecruiser from them; just keep an eye on them." The Jaguar nodded slowly; "If we push it hard enough, we should be able to keep up with them; we are after all one of the fastest capital ships in the fleet... and I know they LOOK like just a freighter, but I'm confident that ship is more than it appears to be. Can you give me any more background information on the Mission?" Lifting his gaze from the Wolf, the Jaguar looked at the Admiral commanding the sector; the fact that the Wolf was seated while the Admiral stood spoke volumes. After a moment the Wolf spoke; "Tanj was in here a little while ago, spinning the most improbable tale; she actually predicted that the Elysium government would destroy their own planet. Hogwash, of course, but its come to mind that maybe, just maybe, SHE is trying to manipulate US. If she's up to something, I want her to know VERY clearly that the Imperium does NOT lend itself to being anyone's patsy. Keep an eye on her. Keep the pressure on her. When you get to the Elysium system, stay on the fringes. DO NOT get involved in the fighting there. If anything else comes up... if ANYTHING comes up, let me know immediately!

This story is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any characters, living, dead or imaginary is purely a coincidence. Tanj is copyright Kittiara's player. Kittiara can be found on Furrymuck; telnet 209.100.167.128 8888. Hinoki, and Zassa are copyright their players. Zassa can be found on FurryMuck, and Hinoki on Tapestries or on FurryMuck. Mark and Mala are copyright Ann'katar's player, who also can be found on FurryMuck. Copyright 2001. Comments, suggestions, or flames can be directed to ha_seng@hotmail.com.